Assyria

Overview map of the Ancient Near East in the 15th century BC (Middle Assyrian period), showing the core territory of Assyria with its two major cities Assur and Nineveh wedged between Babylonia downstream (to the south-east) and the states of Mitanni and Hatti upstream (to the north-west). Assyria was a major Semitic kingdom, and often empire, of the Ancient Near East, existing as an independent state for a period of approximately nineteen centuries from c. 2500 BC to 605 BC, spanning the Early Bronze Age through to the late Iron Age. For a further thirteen centuries, from the end of the 7th century BC to the mid-7th century AD, it survived as a geo-political entity, for the most part ruled by foreign powers, although a number of small Neo-Assyrian states arose at different times throughout this period. Centered on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia(Iraq), the Assyrians came to rule powerful empires at several times. Names[edit] Pre-history of Assyria[edit]

Nineveh Nineveh (English pronunciation: /ˈnɪn.ɪv.ə/; Akkadian: Ninwe; Classical Syriac: ܢܸܢܘܵܐ; Hebrew: נינוה‎ Nīnewē; Greek: Νινευή Nineuē; Naynuwa; Persian: نینوا‎ Latin: Nineve Arabic: نينوى‎ Ninawa) was an ancient Assyrian city on the eastern bank of the Tigris River, and capital of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Etymology[edit] The origin of the name Nineveh is obscure. Possibly it meant originally the seat of Ishtar, since Nina was one of the Babylonian names of that goddess. Geography[edit] Ancient Nineveh's mound-ruins of Kouyunjik and Nabī Yūnus are located on a level part of the plain near the junction of the Tigris and the Khosr Rivers within an area of 750 hectares (1,900 acres)[3] circumscribed by a 12-kilometre (7.5 mi) brick rampart. Nineveh was an important junction for commercial routes crossing the Tigris. History[edit] Nineveh was one of the oldest and greatest cities in antiquity. The king hunting lion from the North Palace, Nineveh seen at the British Museum Biblical Nineveh[edit]

Neo-Assyrian Empire The Neo-Assyrian Empire was an empire in Mesopotamian history which began in 934 BC and ended in 609 BC.[1] During this period, Assyria assumed a position as the most powerful state on earth, successfully eclipsing Babylonia, Egypt, Urartu/Armenia[2] and Elam for dominance of the Near East, Asia Minor, Caucasus, North Africa and east Mediterranean, though not until the reforms of Tiglath-Pileser III in the 8th century BC[3][4] did it become a vast empire. The Neo-Assyrian Empire succeeded the Middle Assyrian period and Middle Assyrian Empire (14th to 10th centuries BC). Some scholars, such as Richard Nelson Frye, regard the Neo-Assyrian Empire to be the first real empire in human history.[5] During this period, Aramaic was also made an official language of the empire, alongside the Akkadian language.[5] Historical context[edit] Assyria was originally an Akkadian kingdom which evolved in the 25th to 24th centuries BC. Pre-reform Assyrian Empire 911-745 BC[edit] Expansion up to 858 BC[edit]

Ashur (god) A Neo-Assyrian "feather robed archer" figure, symbolizing Ashur. The right hand is extended similar to the Faravahar figure, while the left hand holds a bow instead of a ring (9th or 8th century BC relief). Ashur (also, Assur, Aššur; written A-šur, also Aš-šùr) is an East Semitic god, and the head of the Assyrian pantheon in Mesopotamian religion, worshipped mainly in the northern half of Mesopotamia, and parts of north east Syria and south east Asia Minor which constituted old Assyria. During the various periods of Assyrian conquest, such as the Assyrian Empire of Shamshi-Adad I (1813-1750 BC), Middle Assyrian Empire (1391-1056 BC) and Neo-Assyrian Empire (911-605 BC), the Assyrians did not require conquered peoples to take up the worship of Ashur; instead, Assyrian imperial propaganda declared that the conquered peoples had been abandoned by their gods. An Assyrian standard, which probably represented the "world column", has the disc mounted on a bull's head with horns.