Assyria

Later, as a nation and Empire, it also came to include roughly the northern half of Mesopotamia (the southern half being ' Babylonia '). Assyria proper was located in a mountainous region, extending along the Tigris as far as the high Gordiaean or Carduchian mountain range of Armenia , sometimes called the "Mountains of Asshur".

It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur ( Akkadian : [𒀸𒋗𒁺 𐎹 Aššūrāyu ] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup ( help ) ; Arabic : أشور [Aššûr] Error: {{Lang}}: unrecognized language tag: arLatn ( help ) ; Hebrew : אַשּׁוּר Aššûr , Aramaic : ܐܬܘܪ Aṯur . The term Assyria can also refer to the geographic region or heartland where these empires were centered. During the Old Assyrian period (20th to 15th centuries BCE), Assur controlled much of Upper Mesopotamia and parts of Asia Minor. In the Middle Assyrian period (15th to 10th centuries BCE), its influence waned and was subsequently regained in a series of conquests. The Neo-Assyrian Empire of the Early Iron Age (911 – 612 BCE) expanded further, and under Ashurbanipal (r. 668 – 627 BCE) for a few decades controlled all of the Fertile Crescent , as well as Egypt , before succumbing to Neo-Babylonian and Median expansion, which were in turn conquered by the Persian Empire .

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 Mesopotamian East Semitic kingdom, and empire, of the Ancient Near East , existing as an independent state for a period of approximately six centuries from c. 1250 BC to 612 BC, spanning the Early Bronze Age through to the late Iron Age . Centered on the Upper Tigris river , in northern Mesopotamia (modern northern Iraq , northeastern Syria and southeastern Turkey ) the Assyrians came to rule powerful empires at several times. As a substantial part of the greater Mesopotamian " cradle of civilization " which included Sumer , Akkad and much later Babylonia , Assyria was at the height of technological, scientific and cultural achievements for its time. At its peak, the Assyrian empire stretched from Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea to Persia ( Iran ), and from what is now Armenia to the Arabian Peninsula and Egypt . Assyria is named for its original capital, the ancient city of Aššur (a.k.a. Ashur ) which dates to c. 2600 BC (located in what is now the Saladin Province of northern Iraq ), originally one of a number of Akkadian city states in Mesopotamia. In the 25th and 24th centuries BC, Assyrian kings were pastoral leaders, and from the late 24th century BC became subject to Sargon of Akkad , who united all the Akkadian Semites and Sumerian -speaking peoples of Mesopotamia under the Akkadian Empire , which lasted from c. 2334 BC to 2154 BC. Following the fall of the Akkadian Empire c. 2154 BC, and the short lived succeeding Neo-Sumerian Empire which ruled southern Assyria but not the north, Assyria regained full independence. The history of Assyria proper is roughly divided into three periods, known as Old Assyrian, Middle Assyrian and Neo-Assyrian. These terms are in wide use in Assyrology and roughly correspond to the early to Middle Bronze Age , Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age , respectively. In the Old Assyrian period, Assyria established colonies in Asia Minor and the Levant and, under king Ilushuma , it asserted itself over southern Mesopotamia. From the mid 18th century BC, Assyria came into conflict with the newly created state of Babylonia , which eventually eclipsed the far older Sumero-Akkadian states in the south, such as Ur , Isin , Larsa and Kish . Assyria experienced fluctuating fortunes in the Old Assyrian period. Assyria became a regionally powerful nation with the Old Assyrian Empire from the late 21st century to the mid 18th century BC. Following this, it found itself under short periods of Babylonian and Mitanni - Hurrian rule in the 18th and 15th centuries BC respectively, and another period of great power occurred with the rise of the Middle Assyrian Empire (from 1365 BC to 1056 BC), which included the reigns of great kings, such as Ashur-uballit I , Arik-den-ili , Tukulti-Ninurta I and Tiglath-Pileser I . During this period, Assyria overthrew the Mitanni -Empire and eclipsed the Hittite Empire , Egyptian Empire , Babylonia , Elam and Phrygia in the Near East . Beginning with the campaigns of Adad-nirari II from 911 BC, it again became a great power over the next three centuries, overthrowing the Twenty-fifth dynasty of Egypt and conquering Egypt , Babylonia, Elam , Urartu , Armenia , Media , Persia , Mannea , Gutium , Phoenicia / Canaan , Aramea ( Syria ), Arabia , Israel , Judah , Edom , Moab , Ammon , Samarra , Cilicia , Cyprus , Chaldea , Nabatea , Commagene , Dilmun , Libya , the Hurrians , Sutu and Neo-Hittites , driving the Ethiopians , Kushites and Nubians from Egypt, subjugating the Cimmerians and Scythians and exacting tribute from Phrygia , Magan and Punt among others. After its fall (between 612 BC and 605 BC), Assyria remained a province and geo-political entity under the Babylonian, Median, Achaemenid , Seleucid , Parthian , Roman and Sassanid empires until the Arab Islamic invasion and conquest of Mesopotamia in the mid-7th century AD, when it was finally dissolved, after which the remnants of the Assyrian people (by now almost exclusively Eastern Rite Assyrian Christians ) gradually became an ethnic, linguistic, cultural and religious minority in the traditional Assyrian homelands , surviving there to this day. Georges Roux (1964), Ancient Iraq Parpola, Simo (2004). Journal of Assyrian Academic Studies (JAAS)

Major Mesopotamian civilization This article is about ancient Assyria. Spanning from the early Bronze Age to the late Iron Age , modern historians typically divide ancient Assyrian history into the Early Assyrian ( c. 2600–2025 BC), Old Assyrian ( c. 2025–1364 BC), Middle Assyrian ( c. 1363–912 BC), Neo-Assyrian (911–609 BC) and post-imperial (609 BC– c. AD 240) periods, based on political events and gradual changes in language. Assur , the first Assyrian capital, was founded c. 2600 BC but there is no evidence that the city was independent until the collapse of the Third Dynasty of Ur in the 21st century BC, when a line of independent kings beginning with Puzur-Ashur I began ruling the city. Centered in the Assyrian heartland in northern Mesopotamia, Assyrian power fluctuated over time. The city underwent several periods of foreign rule or domination before Assyria rose under Ashur-uballit I in the early 14th century BC as the Middle Assyrian Empire. In the Middle and Neo-Assyrian periods Assyria was one of the two major Mesopotamian kingdoms, alongside Babylonia in the south, and at times became the dominant power in the ancient Near East . Assyria was at its strongest in the Neo-Assyrian period, when the Assyrian army was the strongest military power in the world and the Assyrians ruled the largest empire then yet assembled in world history , spanning from parts of modern-day Iran in the east to Egypt in the west. The Neo-Assyrian Empire fell in the late 7th century BC, conquered by a coalition of the Babylonians, who had lived under Assyrian rule for about a century, and the Medes . Though the core urban territory of Assyria was extensively devastated in the Medo-Babylonian conquest of the Assyrian Empire and the succeeding Neo-Babylonian Empire invested little resources in rebuilding it, ancient Assyrian culture and traditions continued to survive for centuries throughout the post-imperial period. Assyria experienced a recovery under the Seleucid and Parthian empires, though declined again under the Sasanian Empire , which sacked numerous cities and semi independent Assyrian territories in the region, including Assur itself. The remaining Assyrian people , who have survived in northern Mesopotamia to modern times, were gradually Christianized from the 1st century AD onward. Ancient Mesopotamian religion persisted at Assur until its final sack in the 3rd century AD, and at certain other holdouts for centuries thereafter. The triumph of ancient Assyria can be attributed not only to its vigorous warrior-monarchs but also to its adeptness in efficiently assimilating and governing conquered territories using inventive and advanced administrative mechanisms. The developments in warfare and governance introduced by ancient Assyria continued to be employed by subsequent empires and states for countless centuries. Ancient Assyria also left a legacy of great cultural significance, particularly through the Neo-Assyrian Empire making a prominent impression in later Assyrian, Greco-Roman and Hebrew literary and religious tradition. There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or templates on this page, but the references will not show without a template or template (see the help page ).

Major Mesopotamian civilization This article is about ancient Assyria. Spanning from the early Bronze Age to the late Iron Age , modern historians typically divide ancient Assyrian history into the Early Assyrian ( c. 2600–2025 BC), Old Assyrian ( c. 2025–1364 BC), Middle Assyrian ( c. 1363–912 BC), Neo-Assyrian (911–609 BC), and post-imperial (609 BC– c. AD 240) periods, based on political events and gradual changes in language. Assur , the first Assyrian capital, was founded c. 2600 BC, but there is no evidence that the city was independent until the collapse of the Third Dynasty of Ur , in the 21st century BC, when a line of independent kings starting with Puzur-Ashur I began ruling the city. Centered in the Assyrian heartland in northern Mesopotamia, Assyrian power fluctuated over time. The city underwent several periods of foreign rule or domination before Assyria rose under Ashur-uballit I in the early 14th century BC as the Middle Assyrian Empire. In the Middle and Neo-Assyrian periods, Assyria was one of the two major Mesopotamian kingdoms, alongside Babylonia in the south, and at times became the dominant power in the ancient Near East . Assyria was at its strongest in the Neo-Assyrian period, when the Assyrian army was the strongest military power in the world and the Assyrians ruled the largest empire then yet assembled in world history, spanning from parts of modern-day Iran in the east to Egypt in the west. The Neo-Assyrian Empire fell in the late 7th century BC, conquered by a coalition of the Babylonians, who had lived under Assyrian rule for about a century, and the Medes . Though the core urban territory of Assyria was extensively devastated in the Medo-Babylonian conquest of the Assyrian Empire and the succeeding Neo-Babylonian Empire invested few resources in rebuilding it, ancient Assyrian culture and traditions continued to survive for centuries throughout the post-imperial period. Assyria experienced a recovery under the Seleucid and Parthian empires, though it declined again under the Sasanian Empire , which sacked numerous cities and semi-independent Assyrian territories in the region, including Assur itself. The remaining Assyrian people , who have survived in northern Mesopotamia to modern times, were gradually Christianized from the 1st century AD onward. Ancient Mesopotamian religion persisted at Assur until its final sack in the 3rd century AD, and at certain other holdouts for centuries thereafter. The triumph of ancient Assyria can be attributed not only to its vigorous warrior-monarchs but also to its adeptness in efficiently assimilating and governing conquered territories using inventive and advanced administrative mechanisms. The developments in warfare and governance introduced by ancient Assyria continued to be employed by subsequent empires and states for centuries. Ancient Assyria also left a legacy of great cultural significance, particularly through the Neo-Assyrian Empire, making a prominent impression in later Assyrian, Greco-Roman , and Hebrew literary and religious tradition. There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or templates on this page, but the references will not show without a template or template (see the help page ).