Assyria
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Secrets of times gone by |
“”Before me, cities, behind me, ruins.
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— Esarhaddon [1] |
Assyria was a large nation for its time today considered one of the first empires.[2]:2-3 While the time at which it officially became a sovereign state and not just an independent territory is disputed, it can be said with certainty that Assyria fell around 609 BCE.[3] At its height, Assyria reached around the edge of the Mediterranean Sea from Egypt to the Caucasus Mountains.[4] The nation was incredibly religious throughout its existence, something that grew out of its origins as a temple city. Almost equally prominent was the drive from leadership to expand Assyria and conquer nearby lands, a motivation that prevailed through most of the empire's existence and facilitated its rapid growth. It is likely that this thirst for conquest is also one of the major causes of Assyria's descent from a fairly democratic nation[note 1] to a nearly unrestrained, essentially totalitarian monarchy.
Rise and beginnings[edit]
Assyria began as little more than the city of Ashur, so named after the god its people worshipped.[2]:32 Ashur was located along the Tigris River (the same one that bordered Mesopotamia, along with the Euphrates), which allowed it to have great influence as a trading power even despite its small size. This provided Assyria with a stepping stone into international recognition and power, an advantage it would soon capitalize on.[5] As Assyrian merchants flooded foreign markets and Ashur remained neutral in the many conflicts in the area, several neighboring city-states and nations developed a trade reliance on Assyria. This led to a boom in wealth and power, ultimately allowing Assyria to strengthen its military enough to begin considering the application of force to external bodies.
At this point, Ashur had a simplified form of the democratic system echoed in Old Assyria, albeit with a much heavier focus on religion than later periods; the city itself was dominated by the ziggurat and temple to Ashur, which were the largest and some of the most developed structures in the region.[2]:Map 3 This emphasis lessens with the start of the Old Assyrian Period, as the region dons the name of "Assyria" that distinguishes it from the then-capital and deity of the Assyrians. While a single ruler did exist during this time period, it is unclear whether they were appointed by the City Assembly or through their heredity; arguments have been made that they either represented Ashur's legislature or worked in tandem with it, and neither has surfaced as a clear victor so far.[2]:39
Ishtar[edit]
In the time before the Old Assyrian Period, the goddess Ishtar held equal or greater influence than Ashur in many regions that later made up Assyria. Some pre-Assyrian Princes of Ashur held titles glorifying Ishtar, such as Inin-labba, or "Ishtar is a Lion." Ishtar was also one of, if not the first deity to have a significant temple in Ashur, and the city of Nineveh (which would later become Assyria's most famous capital) was almost entirely focused on her worship. A scattering of other cities in the region shared the same pecking order, making Ishtar a strong competitor for being the original chief god of the region.[6] However, as Assyria came into its own as an autonomous body of notable power, Ishtar slowly faded out of the cultural spotlight and her position at the head of the Assyrian pantheon was replaced with Ashur. Of course, there were major hurdles preventing Ashur from reaching this point.
Influence of Ur III[edit]
By 2100 BCE, Assyria had been subjugated by the third dynasty of the kingdom of Ur, also known as Ur III. During this time, a king of Ur III by the name of Shugli likely elected an Assyrian named Zarriquim to govern Ashur as a figurehead. Zarriquim was so interested in garnering the favor of Ur III that he named his child what translates roughly to "Shugli is my god." Subtle.[7]
Indirect Ur rulership continued for decades, though as the kingdom grew, it started to choke on its own over-complicated bureaucracy. By (circa) 2020 BCE, it had lost control over Ashur. Freshly liberated, the city-state moved into the Old Assyrian Period. [2]:41
Old Assyrian Period[edit]
2020 BCE marks the earliest point around which modern historians[note 2] classify Assyria as an Empire, though at this point it had not expanded much; instead, indicators such as independence from Ur III and increasing military aggression serve as landmarks in this regard.[Rest: ambitions &etc.]
Theodemocracy[edit]
Old Assyria fuctioned under a theodemocratic system, which made Ashur the state god but did not necessarily put the clergy in control of state. Instead, Assyria was governed by the joint authority of the Steward,[note 3][8] a genealogically-determined office that would eventually morph into that of King, and a loose organization of the most influential citizens. These two categories, at least theoretically, had more or less equal power in Old Assyria.[2]:32 The Steward served mostly as a temple-keeper at this stage, and has relatively little authority compared to the City Assembly.
City Assembly[edit]
A great deal of Ashur was controlled by the City Assembly, or Ālum. The Ālum controlled matters of law and the courts, and first formed well before the Old Assyrian period. It may have had direct authority over the Steward, and in any event were represented by oligarchs (limmum) they appointed. The Ālum remained in power until Babylonian occupation, at which point its influence was seriously limited. It eventually regained its authority, but by the Middle Assyrian Period had been reduced to an essentially powerless council. [2]:18, 39, 44
Surprise! Iiiiit's Babylon![edit]
Change in Ashur[edit]
Connection with Nineveh[edit]
Ethnonationalism[edit]
Middle Assyrian Period[edit]
[Rest: Transition period ( independence lost & gained, prosperity, and et cetera)]
Shift towards monarchy[edit]
[Gov.t: viceroys – p.15 &etc.]
Deemphasis on religion[edit]
By the time the Middle Assyrian Period rolled around, religion had already been losing its grip on Assyrian society for a long time. Even in the Old Assyrian Period, religious practices were ignored or temporarily neglected in favor of practicality with increasing frequency[9], a trend that only continued during the transition to a newer Assyrian era. Eventually, this secular trend reached the point where the title of "Prince" was mostly abandoned in favor of "King," a title previously reserved for Ashur. Despite this, religion far from vanished from Assyria; to the contrary, the longer Ashur remained top god of all Assyrian lands, the more Assyrian mythology grew and intertwined with other Mesopotamian myths[note 4][10] Even so, religion was increasingly used as a tool of the monarchy instead of a limit on it.[citation needed]
Grand Vizier[edit]
Neo-Assyrian Period[edit]

Starting in the 900s BCE, Assyria came into power once more, rising even above its former heights. This is today commemorated with the convention-smashing "neo-" prefix, which sets the era apart from previous stages of Assyrian development. Or something. [Rest: Gov.t, rapid growth, religion, etc.]
Putting the ass in Assyria[edit]
Neo-Assyrian leadership was more than willing to indulge a variety of war crimes, including mass killings and far-spanning deportations bordering on the millions; many of these exoduses (exodece?) were organized to heal Assyria's stretched out economy, which faced difficulty at the relatively large sizes seen in the Neo-Assyrian Period. Still more atrocities seem to have been orchestrated for what amounts to sport, while others were undertaken specifically to harm or disperse a community.[2]:22
Death[edit]
The Neo-Assyrian Period came to an abrupt end when within the span of just a decade, the recently-thriving Assyrian Empire eroded and collapsed. This sudden change was brought on by a coalition of neighboring kingdoms which banded together to stop Assyria from getting even more powerful than it had already become, likely in the name of self-preservation. The conquering wave swept through Assyria —which was already going through an extended period of economic turbulence — and utterly wiped it out.[3] This draws a sharp contrast with the Roman Empire, which managed to persist in one small and fractious form or another for long after it lost the power of its glory days.
Climate change?[edit]
A select few Assyriologists feel that climate change was a major factor in the sudden downfall of the Assyrian Empire. It is argued that over-hunting and deforestation brought on by the rapidly expanding Assyrian economy led to the country's downfall, explaining the alacrity with which the superpower buckled in on itself. While this is true (elephants had nearly gone extinct in the region and nearby forests were completely razed, and this did put strain on Neo-Assyria), it is unlikely to be the leading factor in Assyria's destruction; shorter-term issues overwhelmed Assyria before a dessicated environment could take its full toll.[2]:28
Legacy[edit]
In the Bible[edit]
Assyria was depicted unfavorably in the Bible, which — justifiably — cast it as a merciless and conquering force that claimed the land of Israel along with several others.[11] In the Book of Nahum, it is claimed that Assyria will be struck down by God. Unless the Babylonians and Medes[12] were sent by God, this did not come to pass.
The Bible then goes on to compare Assyria to a prostitute, a unique little analogy that further served to mire Assyria in the religious community's mind. This stain continued even as tales of Assyria grew ever more elaborate, eventually proclaiming Ashur and Nineveh to be almost impossibly mighty fortresses. As the Bible became more widely circulated following the Renaissance, Assyria became more and more well known until the nineteenth century. [Rest: further explanation, impact]
In the Victorian Era[edit]
The 1800s marked the start of a revival in Assyrian interest, especially amongst the European powers of the time. It was commonly cast as a blasphemous outgroup to be contrasted with the pious depictions of societies such as ancient Israel. Even still, Colonialist European military leaders could appreciate the conquest-oriented aspects of Assyrian society.[13]:3:1 By the 1850s, however, a sequence of archaeological breakthroughs (including the translation of cuneiform) would put Assyria in a more positive light and discover remnants of Neo-Assyrian culture. As Assyrian artifacts were exported to Europe with greater frequency, public opinion there had an about-face and the ancient empire had a sudden bout of popularity in the Anglican world; as with all fashion trends, though, it shortly died out. [2]:6-9
Modern times[edit]
Nowadays, Assyria receives very little attention, especially when compared to its previous infamy. As part of a ongoing campaign to erase the cultural history of the Middle East, DAESH obliterated the potentially enriching city of Nimrud.[note 5] The destroyed ruin included large stores of ivory and complex wall paintings that gave priceless insight into ancient battles from the Neo-Assyrian Period.[14][15] Also, Answers in Genesis released an, er, subtly-named piece by Gregory Cook that stated that the Book of Nahum did not, I fact, claim that Assyria was struck down by God, but instead that it was dispersed;[note 6] this claim leans on the idea that Assyrians were the ones who built the Tower of Babel.[16] Yeah, sure.
See also[edit]
- Ancient Egypt: a country that did not like Assyria
- Judaism: a religion that mostly doesn't like Assyria
- Sargon of Akkad: a reactionary YouTuber who apparently really likes Assyria
Notes[edit]
- ↑ For its day, at least
- ↑ The more focused of whom self-identify as "Assyriologists"
- ↑ Or prince, depending on their leanings; initially, the title of king was reserved for Ashur (the god, not the city).
- ↑ Especially Enlil, who was patially merged with Ashur to guarantee that both deities would last longer in the public memory.
- ↑ Sound like anyone?
- ↑ Cook leans on an interpretation of Nahum as a poet, ironically for a website that leans so heavily on Biblical literalism.
References[edit]
- ↑ Burgess, Rebecca (December 18, 2023). "The First Empire". Law & Liberty. The Liberty Fund Network. Retrieved April 6, 2025.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 Frahm, Eckart (2023). Assyria: The Rise and Fall of the World's First Empire. Basic Books. ISBN 978-1-5416-0515-2.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Wolter, Teagan (2025). "Assyria". Encyclopaedia Britannica. the Editors at Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved April 6, 2025.
- ↑ "The Assyrians". Lumen Learning. Boundless. 2025. Retrieved April 6, 2025.
- ↑ Mark, Joshua (30 June 2014). "Ashur". WorldHistory.org. World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved April 6, 2025.
- ↑ RIMA 1, 7
- ↑ Steinkeller, Piotr (2013). Corvée Labor in Ur III Times. From the 21st Century BC to the 21st Century AD.
- ↑ Pope, Jeremy. Beyond the Broke Road: Kushite Intervention and the Limits of l'historie événementielle. Sennacherib at the Gates of Jerusalem. p. 116-117. ISBN 978-1-5416-0515-2.
- ↑ Dossin, George (2005). Correspondance de Šamši-Addu et ses fils. Imprimerie Nationale.
- ↑ Foster, Benjamin (2005). Before the Muses: An Anthology of Akkadian Literature (3rd edition). CDL Press.
- ↑ 2 Kings 17:4-17:6, 17:23-24, 17:26-27, 18:7-16, and so on.
- ↑ Gonzalez, Susan (May 26, 2023). "Assyria: Chronicling the rise and fall of the world's first empire". YaleNews. Bess Connolly. Retrieved April 6, 2025.
- ↑ Frahm, Eckart (2006). Images of Assyria in Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Western Scolarship. Sheffield Phoenix Press.
- ↑ Martinez, Michael (March 6, 2015). "ISIS bulldozes ruins of ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud, Iraqi ministry says". CNN. CNN World. Retrieved April 7, 2025.
- ↑ Shaheen, Kareem (March 9, 2015). "Isis attacks on ancient sites erasing history of humanity, says Iraq". TheGuardian.com. The Guardian. Retrieved April 7, 2025.
- ↑ Cook, Gregory (December 14, 2016). "Blessed Be Assyria: Implications of Nahum's Allusion to Babel". Answers Research Journal. Answers Research Journal 9. Retrieved April 7, 2025.