THE ASSYRIANS – The Cruelest Empire in Ancient History

One of the first major empires to rise in the extensive and intriguing history of Mesopotamia was the Assyrian. It is considered the largest of the Mesopotamian empires due to its territorial size and efficient military strategies. Found in northern Mesopotamia, the Assyrians started their journey as a rather unassuming nation-state in the second millennium BC. The Assyrian narrative begins in the city of Assur, in the heart of Mesopotamia, today's Iraq. From 26 BC, the city grew prosperous as its merchants became wealthy through trade in the region. With this affluence, Assur grew and became the epicenter of the later Assyria. The biblical book of Genesis claims that the city was founded by a man called Ashur, the son of Shem and grandson of Noah, following the flood. It seems that he founded this and other important Assyrian cities. The Assyrians later came to worship a god of the same name, and this is where the term Assyria comes from. The Assyrians were initially speakers and writers of Akkadian, but later adopted Aramaic as their most widespread and accessible language. This linguistic change illustrates the adaptation and evolution of the Assyrian people through the ages. Aramaic was closer to speech and became the predominant language, simplifying communication and writing within the empire. Historians have split the history of the Assyrian empire into three main periods, the Old Empire, 2600-2025 BC, the Middle Empire, 1363-912 BC, and the Late Empire, also known as the Neo-Assyrian Empire, 911-612 BC. These witnessed the rise and fall of the Assyrian power, each with their own accomplishments and challenges. During Orisum around 1974-1934 BC, a very special development took place in Assur, free trade. It meant that rather than having the government oversee the exchange of goods with other locations, the population itself bore this responsibility. It was a groundbreaking idea at the time. As a result, Assur developed into a very important city for trade in northern Mesopotamia. It rapidly gained a reputation for being a place where trade happened dynamically. Over time, however, trade in Assur encountered challenges. The increasing wars and conflicts between neighboring near-eastern states impacted the city's trade rather negatively. Often threatened by larger foreign kingdoms, Assur found itself undergoing an unstable cycle. During the Pesur-Ashur I dynasty, around 1808 BC, Assyria experienced a decline, with power struggles vying for control of the city. Throughout this same period, many civilizations struggled for power and influence, among them the Hurrians and Hittites, important in the Anatolian region. On the other hand, to the north of Mesopotamia, the city of Assur had been slightly neglected. But a new force was rising in Babylon. The Amorites. They had grown increasingly powerful over time, seizing land and resources. The Amorite king Sin-Mubalit ascended the throne and paved the way for his son, the famous king Hammurabi, who became ruler around 1792 BC. Not only did he cement the Amorites' control over Babylon, but he also expanded his territory, capturing the lands of the Assyrians. As Babylon rose to the fore, the city of Assur and Assyria did not stand still. The Assyrian king, Shamshi-Adad I, forced the Amorites out of their lands and established the Assyrian borders, claiming Assur as the capital of his kingdom. Led by him, Assyria started to emerge as a regional power. The extensive conquest of Shamshi-Adad in northern Mesopotamia led to the formation of the Kingdom of Upper Mesopotamia. Yet, dependent on Shamshi-Adad's strength and charisma, it did not survive for long, and collapsed after his death in around 1776 BC. When Hammurabi died in 1750 BC, the Babylonian Empire endured difficult times. There was a turbulence as it began to decline, and Assyria attempted to regain control of the region around Assur. The Assyrian kings of that period encountered numerous challenges, especially during the reigns of Adassi around 1726-1691 BC and his successors. Efforts were made to bring stability back to the Assur region. Adassi was instrumental in this effort, addressing threats of civil war and uprising. His successors followed his policies, keeping the region under control, but without expanding it further. They focused instead on fortifying their borders and securing stability within the empire itself. The Middle Kingdom started some time later, spanning a crucial period from the rise of King Ashur-Ubalith I around 1365 BC to the death of Ashur-Dan II in 912 BC. The period was of great transformation and expansion for Assyria, establishing it as a true regional empire. When Ashur-Ubalith I began to rule, Assyria was striving for independence from the grip of the Mitanni Kingdom of the Hurrians. Ashur-Ubalith's emergence was a crucial turning point, as he not only asserted Assyria's independence, but also longed to become a great king, equal to the Egyptian pharaohs and Hittite monarchs. This ambition was not merely territorial, it was also ideological, attempting to balance the frontiers and absorb uncivilized territories. His warfare was primarily against neighboring states to the south of Assyria, and he also became involved in diplomacy with Babylon and Egypt. Assyria began to expand during his rule, and became one of the great powers of the ancient Near East. Ashur-Ubalith's successors were not as effective at expanding and consolidating Assyrian power as he had been. This made the new kingdom grow shakily and fragile. By 1265, during the reign of Shalmaneser I, Assyria had peaked, and he decided that he would no longer bow to Babylon. He wanted Assyria to lead Western Asia, and envisioned a great Assyrian empire. He seized distant lands, fighting the Hittites in Anatolia and establishing colonies in Cappadocia. When he captured Carchemish, a strategically important trading place, it strengthened Assyria's foothold in the region. Shalmaneser I's son, Tukulti-Ninurta I, extended the legacy of his father. He was a valiant king who invaded Babylon and proclaimed himself King of Sumer and Akkad, a highly prestigious title. Assyria quickly became the uncontested leader in Mesopotamia, ruling Babylon firmly for seven years. But history did not always follow a straight path. During an uprising in Babylon, Tukulti-Ninurta I was murdered by his own son, and this spelt the end for one of Assyria's most powerful reigns, restoring Babylon's independence. Although it faced setbacks, the Assyrian empire preserved in its pursuit of expansion. Tiglath-Pileser I excelled as one of the world's leading conquerors, taking the empire to distant lands. He conquered places like Armenia in the north and Cappadocia in the west. These achievements further developed the power and territory of the Assyrian empire. After Tiglath-Pileser I's reign, the Assyrian situation moved into a new chapter with Ashurnas III. He reigned from 883 to 858 BC, and he was the first great king of the Neo-Assyrian empire, expanding its borders in all directions and influencing its power. Assyria flourished under his rule, not only in territory, but also in wealth and art. And yet the story of this king is also marred by cruel and brutal deeds that horrified the people of the time. There are tales of appalling punishments meted out to rebels and prisoners captured on his campaigns. The stone reliefs have remained over time, showing agonizing torture scenes and executions ordered by him. From 745 to 727 BC, the reign of Tiglath-Pileser III ushered into a new era for Assyria. The empire adopted a completely new form during his tenure. His quest to centralized power set him apart from his forerunners. For the first time in history, Assyria brought in the concept of a centralized bureaucratic government. The conquered lands were arranged into provinces, each with its own bureaucracy, and charged with paying taxes and providing soldiers for the army. And speaking of the army, the Assyrian forces under Tiglath-Pileser III became a true warfighting powerhouse. It was no longer a temporary army for specific campaigns, it was a permanent force, prepared to move at any time. One of Tiglath-Pileser III's first steps was to assert control over the main trade routes heading towards the Mediterranean. This meant controlling the Phoenician seaports, a strategic move that allowed Assyria significant influence over the regional trade. But he kept going. In 729 BC, the acme of Tiglath-Pileser III's ambition was achieved when he was crowned ruler of Asia in the splendid city of Babylon. Babylon, one of the world's oldest cultural and political centers, now fell under Assyrian control. But the boom of the Neo-Assyrian Empire brought with it a dreadful human cost. During the campaigns to conquer Israel, Tiglath-Pileser launched the first wave of mass deportations of the Israelites. Unfortunately, this practice, later to become common under Assyrian kings, was an attempt to unsettle the resistance of the conquered populations. After the fleeting reign of Shalmaneser V, Tiglath-Pileser's son, Sargon II, 722-705 BC, ascended the throne and conquered Carchemish and annexed Ecbatana, reinforcing Syrian control over these regions. Sargon II's son, Sennacherib, 704-681 BC, tried to replicate his father's power, but he entered history in a different way. Sennacherib razed the ancient city of Babylon to the ground, ushering a period of terror and destruction in his kingdom. Following the death of Ashurbanipal, the last great Assyrian king, in 631 BC, the empire started to crumble due to external invasions and pressures. The Scythians and Cimmerians, nomadic peoples from the east and south, pushed into Assyrian lands, sparking a series of events that would lead to Nineveh, the Assyrian capital, falling in 612 BC, and the people caught fleeing to the last Assyrian strongholds in the west were massacred or imprisoned. Archaeologists who'd explored the site discovered many unburied skeletons as evidence of this appalling event. With the fall of Nineveh, the Assyrian empire ended, with the Medes and Babylonians splitting the provinces formerly belonging to the Assyrians. Once conquered, the Assyrian region went through a series of shifting powers over the centuries, being dominated by the Medes, Babylonians, Parthians, Romans, and finally the Sassanid Empire between 224 and 651 AD. In the middle of the 7th century, the Assyrian region was captured by the Islamic Arabs, which meant the demise of Assyria as a separate entity. Following this conquest, the remaining Assyrians, who had converted to Christianity, gradually became a minority in their own land, losing their ethnic and cultural identity. If you enjoyed learning more about this great empire, please like the video and subscribe to the channel.