[caocao74]

THE ASSYRIAN EMPIRE

The Early Period, “The Kings who lived in Tents”

1. Zuabu; 2. Nuabu (son of Zuabu); 3. Abazu (Viceroy of Manishtusu and son of Nuabu); 4. Bellu (or Tillu) (son of Abazu); 5. Asarah (son of Belu/Tillu); 6. Ititi; 7. Enlil-Kabkabu; 8. Ushpia (from c.2020BC); 9. Kikkia; 10. Akiya; 11. Puzur-Ashur I (from c.1975BC); 12. Shallim-Ahhe; 13. Illushima; 14. Erishum I (1938-1900BC); 15. Ikunum

In early history, Assyria referred to a region of the Upper Tigris, named after the capital-city of Asshur (or Ashshur), but came to become a nation then empire. At its peak it covered the northern half of Mesopotamia (the second half being Babylonia), a mountain region reaching as far as the Carduchian range in Armenia.
The early history of Assyria is relatively unknown, largely based upon conjecture and traditions. In one tradition, Asshur was founded by a son of Shem, Asshur, who was deified as the city’s patron god, from the period when the region was ruled from Akkad (northern Babylonia). After Asshur, three other royal cities developed; Calah, Nineveh and Arbela. The region was devastated by the attacks of the Gutian era, but then Asshur was rebuilt before being absorbed by the 3rd dynasty of the Empire of Ur. At some time around 1900BC, Assyria gained independence, under the leadership of Bel-Kap-Kapu.

From the city-state of Asshur stretched a wide-ranging network of contacts over the Anatolian plateau. One feature of regional relations were the ‘karum’ (‘merchant colonies’, from the Akkadian word for ‘port’) established in Cappadocia between 1920-1840BC and 1798-1740BC. Written records no longer demonstrate the extent of trade relations, but it is widely assumed that the trade was based upon tin from Anatolia, textiles from Assyria.
Asshur fell to Shamshi-Adad I (1813-1791BC) as the Amorite tribes entered the Khabur delta. Once the city had fallen, at nearby Ekallatum Shamshi-Adad I placed his son, Ishme-Dagan upon the throne. However, after the death of Shamshi-Adad, his sons soon fell from their positions and Hammurabi of Babylon took Asshur. At this stage the work of the karum ceased as Babylon and their partners imported Assyrian goods.
But Asshur’s bad days had not yet ceased. In the 15th Century BC, King Saushtatar of Hanilgalbat (otherwise known as the Hurrians of Mittani) sacked Asshur, making Assyria its vassal. Mittani power was short-lived though, and collapsed under Hittite pressure, thus allowing Ashur-Uballit I (1365-1330BC) to make Assyria independent once again, and strong enough under Adad-Nirari I (the ‘Sharru Rabu’ (‘Great King’) to conquer Hanilgalbat.


The Akkadian Empire

1. Sargon I (of a United Mesopotamia of Sumer and Akkad); 2. Puzur-Ashur II; 3. Naram-Sin; 4. Erishum II; 5. Shamshi-Adad I (1813-1781BC); 6. Ishme-Dagan (1780-1741BC); 7. Mut-Ashkur; 8. Rimush; 9.Asinum; 10. Puzur-Sin; 11. to 16. unlisted; 17. Adari (c.1700BC); 18. Belu-Bani (1700-1691BC); 19. Libaia (1690-1674BC); 20. Sharma-Adad I (1673-1662BC); 21. Iptar-Sin (1661-1650BC); 22. Bazaira (1649-1622BC); 23. Lullaia (1621-1618BC); 24. Kidin-Ninua (1615-1602BC); 25. Sharma-Adad II (1601BC); 26. Erishum III; 27. Shamshi-Adad II; 28. Ishme-Dagan II; 29. Shamshi-Adad III; 30. Ashur-Nirari I (1547-1522BC); 31. Puzur-Ashur III (1521-1498BC); 32. Enlil-Nasir I; 33. Nur-Ili; 34. Ashur-Rabi I; 35. Ashur-Nadin-Ahhe I; 36. Enlil-Nasir II; 37. Ashur-Nirari II; 38.Ashur-Bel-Nisheshu; 39. Ashur-Nadin-Ahhe II (d.1393BC)


The Middle Assyrian Period

In 1120BC the Euphrates was crossed by Tiglath-Pileser I who went on to defeat King Carchemish of the Hittites, and then pushed on the Mediterranean itself. He is widely seen as the founder of the Assyrian Empire. However, with him the expansion ceased as their neighbours checked any advances, while wars with Aramaean nomads and Urartu absorbed the time of both weak and strong rulers. Gradually the expansion resumed, primarily to the disadvantage of the states of northern Syria. Assyria reached the Mediterranean again under, this time under Ashur-Nasir-Pal II (883-858BC) who exacted tribute from the naval power that was Phoenicia.

Eriba-Adad I (1392-1366BC); 2. Ashur-Uballit I (1365-1330BC); 3. Enlil-Nirari (1330-1319BC); 4. Arik-Den-Ili (1319-1308BC); 5. Adad-Nirari I (1307-1275BC); 6. Shalmaneser I (1274-1245BC); 7. Tukulti-Ninurta I (1244-1208BC); 8. Ashur-Nadin-Apli; 9. Ashur-Nirari III; 10. Enlil-Kudurri-Usur; 11. Ninurta-Apal-Ekur (1192-1180BC); 12. Ashur-Dan I (1179-1134BC); 13. Ashur-Resh-Ishi I (1133-1116BC); 14. Tiglath-Pileser I (1115-1077BC); 15. Asharid-Apal-Ekur (1077-1074BC); 16. Ashur-Bel-Kala (1074-1057BC); 17. Shamshi-Adad IV (1057-1050BC); 18. Ashurnasipal I (1050-1032BC); 19.Shalmaneser II (1031-1020BC); 20. Ashur-Nirari IV (1020-1016BC); 21. Ashur-Rabi II (1016-973BC); 22. Ashur-Resh-Ishi II (973-967BC); 23. Tiglath-Pileser (967-935BC); 24. Ashur-Dan II (934-912BC)


The Neo-Assyrian Period

Ashur-Nasir-Pal II was succeeded by Shalmaneser III (858-823BC), who carried the war to Urartu, then during the reign of King Ahab of Israel against the Syrian states. The Syrian states allied themselves together to face the Assyrian threat but their army was smashed at Karkar in 854BC. Ahab threw away his links with Damascus and joined Judah, and together with his new allies retook Carchemish in 849BC. Confident, in 841BC he then marched on King Hazael of Damascus and took the city after a brief siege. He also brought under his sway through tribute Jehu of Isreal, Typre and Sidon. Assyrian was beginning another period of decline.
In 745BC, Pul usurped the throne, assuming the title Tiglath-Pileser III. Under him, Assyria’s power began to rise again, Urartu was beaten, and Babylon was subjected to tribute. Again Assyrian armies marched into Syria, taking Arpad near Aleppo in 740BC after a three-year long siege. According to the Old Testament (2 Kings 15:19), in 738BC, during the reign of King Menahem of Israel, Tiglath-Pileser III occupied Philistia and invaded Israel, forcing a particularly heavy demand for tribute. Tiglath-Pileser III then received a present of gold and silver from King Ahaz of Judah, along with a request that the Assyrians march against his current foes, Syria and Israel. With little more encouragement needed, the Assyrians smashed through Jordan, Philistia and Samaria, before taking Damascus in 732BC (deporting its population to Assyria).
When Tiglath-Pileser III died in 727BC he was succeeded by Shalmaneser V, who set about a reorganization of the fabric of the Empire. A number of vassals had proved troublesome so Shalmanaser V chose to divide the Empire into provinces under the control of Assyrian governors. However, King Hoshea of Isreal remained a threat to the Empire’s stability, especially after he refused to pay his tribute and allied himself with Egypt in 725BC. Shalmaneser was unfuriated (as expected) and invaded Syria, besieging Samaria for 3 years. The slow progress of Shalmaneser brought his downfall in 722BC, when he was deposed by Sargon the Tartan (Commander-in-Chief). He quickly secured Samaria, transported 27,000 captives to Assyria and effectively killing-off the Kingdom of Israel, before overrunning Judah and taking Jerusalem.
However, no sooner had Jerusalem been taken when Sargon was forced to return his attentions to Babylon. In 721BC, Babylon (under the Chaldean prince Merodach-Baladan) violently threw off Assyrian rule, while Sargon was busy crushing the threats from Syria, the Medes and Urartu. With these issues resolved, Sargon turned his attentions again to Babylon, retaking it in 710BC. Assyria was riding another wave of successes, and with the sums of tribute arriving, Sargon constructed a new capital at Dur Sharrukin (‘Sargon’s City’) near Nineveh.
In 705BC, Sargon was succeeded by his son Sennacherib, who put the captive peoples to work on Nineveh’s irrigation system. Like his predecessors, Sennacherib had to focus upon crises in the Southwest of the Empire. In 701BC, Hezekiah of Judah had formed an alliance with Egypt, so the Assyrians marched again on Jerusalem, destroying 46 villages en route. Isaiah 10 destroyed the invasion, but then says an angel of the Lord smote the Assyrians. Whatever really occurred, the Assyrian army was decimated and Jerusalem remained in Judean hands. Twelve years later, in 686BC, Babylon revolted again, but this time Sennacherib emerged victorious. The canals around the city were opened and it was destroyed as it turned into a swamp.
Five years later in 681BC, Sennacherib was killed (probably by one of his sons), and was succeeded by his son Esarhaddon (Asshur-Aha-Iddina), who had been governor of Babylon. He rebuilt it and made it his capital. War loomed large again, and victories over the Medes and Cimmerians were followed by further crises in the West. Phoenicia (then allied with Egypt) was attacked again, and Sidon was sacked in 677BC, and Manasseh of Judah was taken captive and taken back to Babylon. Much of the problem in his eyes was the meddling of Egypt, so it was invaded in 674BC, conquering it by 670BC. Assyria had reached its geographical peak, but it was only a temporary success as the Assyrian governors in Egypt were forced to flee by the restive population. Esarhaddon attempted to lead another arm of conquest into Egypt but he died en route in 669BC. The campaign in Egypt was continued by his son and successor, Assur-Bani-Pal (Ashurbanipal, Ashurbanapli or Asnappur) but again the Medes and Cimmerians reemerged as threats to the east and north respectively. He installed Psammetichus as the vassal King in Egypt in 663BC so he could concentrate on the other threats, but by 652BC Psammetichus was strong enough to declare his independence from Assyria. In the same year, the governor of Babylon, Shamash-Shumukin (brother of Ashurbanipal) revolted. The civil war lasted four bitter years until 648BC when Babylon was sacked. By the time of Ashubanipal’s death in 625BC, the Assyrian Empire was falling apart. Babylonia gained its independence, and its king (Nabopolassar) allied with King Cyaxares of Media attacked and destroyed Nineveh in 612BC. Ashuruballit, an Assyrian general, held out at Harran, but this last remnant of Assyrian power was destroyed in 605BC. Assyria no longer existed as an independent political entity.

1. Adad-Nirari II (911-891BC); 2. Tukulti-Ninurta II (891-883BC); 3. Ashurnasirpal II (883-859BC); 4. Shalmaneser III (858-824BC); 5. Shamshi-Adad V (823-811BC); 6. Adad-Nirari III (810-783BC; Regent Semiramis (810-805BC); 7. Shalmaneser IV (783-772BC); 8. Ashur-Dan III (772-755BC); 9. Ashur-Nirari V (754-745BC); 10. Tiglath-Pileser III (744-727BC); 11. Shalmaneser V (727-722BC); 12. Sargon II (722-705BC); 13. Sennacherib (705-681BC); 14. Esarhaddon (681-669BC); 15. Ashurbanipal (669-c.627BC); 16. Ashur-Etil-Ilani (627-c.623BC); 17. Sin-Shar-Ishkun (623-c.612BC); Ashur-Uballit II (c.612-c.609BC, an Egyptian-supported general ruling over the remnant of the Assyrian court which escaped to Harran after Nineveh fell to the Medes and Babylonians)

[caocao74]

Images from the NW Palace at Nimrud

[caocao74]

Images of the Royal Lion Hunt, at Nineveh

[caocao74]

USC, on May 24 2005, 02:10 AM, said:

Caocao74
thanx your post. interesting.....kind of hard to remember all king's name.
since u brought up. cud we then say, the Assyrian then move on to the Indus valley becoming Indo-Assyrian, and those who move north become European who
had a fairskin and blue eye?? They're the so called caucasian group??
USC

Regarding the Caucasian-link you mentioned, I could be very wrong, but I don't think so. Presently, the Kurds and Anatolian Turks hark back to Assyrian heritage.

[Gubook Janggoon]

I can never get over the Assyrian beards. They're so curly and straight..an interesting paradox.

[caocao74]

Gubook Janggoon, on May 26 2005, 10:15 AM, said:

I can never get over the Assyrian beards.  They're so curly and straight..an interesting paradox.

I'm not sure whether the beards were worn?/groomed? like that because of class, rank, or nationality. In the images of the siege both forces have chaps with the rather dashing beards, but then the guards at the royal lion hunt are clean-shaven.

[Chris Weimer]

They were often, along with their hair, groomed (some even fake) being a measure of prestige. Their hair were worn in the same way, and no, the Assyrians are not an Indo-European people. They were Semitic, so related to Levantine, Arabian, and Babylonian peoples. Hrm, well, at least linguistically, I'm not positive about ethnically, but Assyrian is a Semitic tongue...