The Assyrians Essay, Research Paper
The Assyrians
There are different periods of the Assyrian imperium. The first was called the
Old Assyrian period which lasted from 2000-1550 BC. Then there was the Middle
Assyrian period which lasted from 1550-1200 BC. The last was the Neo-Assyrian
period which lasted from 1200-600 BC. The concluding stage of the Neo-Assyrian
period is called the Assyrian Empire.
The Old and Middle Assyrian periods ( 2000 & # 8211 ; 1200 BC )
The name Ashur was used by the Assyrians to denominate non merely their state,
but besides their most ancient metropolis and their national God. The metropoliss of Ashur
( near modern al-Sharqat ) , Nineveh, and Irbil formed a trigon that defined the
original district of Assyria. Assyria & # 8217 ; s early history was marked by frequent
episodes of foreign regulation. Assyria eventually gained its independency around 2000
BC. About this clip the Assyrians established a figure of trading settlements in
Cappadocia ( cardinal Anatolia ) , protected by pacts with local Hattic swayers.
The most of import of these was at Kultepe ( Kanesh ) , north of contemporary
Kayseri, Turkey. Political developments Brought this endeavor to an terminal in
1750 BC. Assyria lost its independency to a dynasty of Amorite. Then Hammurabi
of Babylon took over and established himself swayer of Assyria. The prostration of
Hammurabi & # 8217 ; s Old Babylonian dynasty gave Assyria merely impermanent alleviation. It shortly
fell under the control of the Mitanni, until that province was destroyed by the
Hittites c.1350 BC.
The Early Neo-Assyrian Period ( c.1200-600 BC )
After the prostration of Mittanni, Assyria regained its independency and was able
to keep it thanks to the failing of its neighbours. The most of import event in
Assyrian history during the 13 century BC, was the gaining control of Babylon by King
Tukulti-Ninurta ( r.1244-1208 BC ) . Although the conquering was short-lived the
memory of it remained strong. In the undermentioned centuries the main antagonists
of the Assyrians were the Aramaeans, who settled in Syria and along the upper
Tigris and the Euphrates rivers, where they founded a figure of provinces. In the
9th century BC, under Ashurnasirpal II ( r.883-859 BC ) and Shalmaneser III ( 859-
824 BC ) , the Assyrians eventually managed to suppress Bit-Adini ( Beth-Eden ) , the
most powerful Aramaen province on the upper Euphrates. Shalmaneser so tried to
occupy the Syrian heartland, where he met with serious opposition from a
alliance of male monarchs that included Ahab of Israel. They successfully opposed him
at the conflict karkar in 853 BC. Internal dissensions marked the terminal of
Shalmaneser & # 8217 ; s reign, and many of his conquerings were lost.
Assyrian power began with Tiglath-Peleser III ( r. 745-727 BC ) taking over the
throne. He began on administrative reforms aimed at beef uping royal
authorization over the states. Districts were reduced in size and placed under
governors straight responsible to the male monarch. Outside Assyria, slave provinces were
taken over and made into Assyrian states. In Syria, Tiglath-Pileser fought
and defeated a figure of anti-Assyrian confederations. In 732 BC he ruined Damascus,
behaving its population and that of northern Israel to Assyria. In 729 he
captured Babylon to guard against a Chaldean-led rebellion there and was
proclaimed male monarch of Babylon under the name Pulu ( Biblical Pul ) . His
administrative reforms and military triumphs laid the foundation of the
Assyrian Empire. Tiglath-Peleser & # 8217 ; s boy, Shalmaneser V, is remembered for his
besieging of Samaria, the capital of Israel ( recorded in 2 Kings: 17-18 ) . H died
during the besieging and was succeeded by Sargon II, who took recognition for the
devastation of Samaria and theexile of its people in 722 BC.
The terminal of the Assyrian Empire
The Assyrian Empire was faced with many challenges, Babylon successfully
resisted Assyrian efforts to take a Chaldean tribal head who allied with
Susiana for over 10 old ages, a campaign against the northern province of Urartu, which
resulted in their licking and combating with rebellious coastal metropoliss. The war
against his Elamite ally continued for several old ages with indecisive consequences.
Finally, after another rebellion in Babylon, Sennacherib conquered the metropolis and
destroyed in 689 BC. He was assassinated by members of his ain household in 681 BC.
Esarhaddon ( r.608-669 BC ) , boy of Sennacherib, rebuilt Babylon and tried to
pacify the Babylonian & # 8217 ; s. During his reign, incursions by the Cimmerians and
Scythians posed serious menaces to Assyrian ownerships in Anatolia and Media
( northwest Iran ) , the latter of which was a major beginning of Equus caballuss for the
Assyrian ground forces. Esarhaddon & # 8217 ; s principle achievement was the conquest of Egypt,
begun by him in 675 BC, but completed by his boy Ashurbanipal ( r.668-627 BC ) .
Ashurbanipal, was the last great male monarch of Assyria and had to cover with many
rebellions. He led an expedition against Elam and captured Susa, its capital metropolis.
After his decease, nevertheless, the imperium bit by bit disintegrated. In 626 BC,
Nabopalassar, a Chaldean Lord, proclaimed Babylonian independency and,
allied with the Medes, set out to dispute Assyria. In the old ages 614-609,
Ashur and Nieveh were captured by the Medes, and the Assyrian male monarch fled to
Harran on the northwest frontier. In 605 BC, Nabopolassar & # 8217 ; s boy, Nebuchadnezzar,
defeated an Egyptian ground forces that had come to the assistance of the Assyrians, therefore
finishing the devastation of the Assyrian province.
Assyrian Society and Culture
Before the development of modern archeology, the Bible was the main beginning of
information about Assyria. The image of Assyria by the scriptural histories is one
of resistless military might. It was seen as an instrument of God & # 8217 ; s wrath
against a iniquitous people. Archaeological diggings, have unearthed the
memorials and written records of the Assyrians male monarchs, corroborating this image
of military art and awful ferociousness. They maimed, burned, speared and
denounced harshly their prisoners. They wanted to transfuse panic and discourage
rebellion. They besides deported to metropoliss and farmlands the enemy populations.
Assyria dominated Babylonia politically, nevertheless, culturally was dependent on
the South. The first major aggregation of cuneiform tablets discovered by 19th-
century excavators & # 8211 ; the library of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh & # 8211 ; consists of myths,
heroic poems, rites, lexical texts, wisdom literature, and prophetic and charming
texts, supplying a representative sample of Babylonian scholastic literature.
Assyrian art is normally associated with the colossal winged bulls and king of beastss
that guarded the entrywaies of their castles, but even finer are the bas-reliefs
on the castle walls and the carven tusks used to adorn their furniture.
The bas-reliefs portray the Assyrian male monarchs runing, kneeling before their Gods,
or suppressing foreign metropoliss.
