Racquel Fox History 2 November 13, 2012 The Great Assyrian Empire Assyria was a mighty empire in the

Middle East. Its capital was Assur and it spanned four countries (Syria, Turkey, Iran and Iraq). Assyria was on flat exposed farmland and grew a surplus of crops such as apples, figs, olives, pomegranates, almonds, mulberries, barley and wheat. They grew onions too, but onions were considered peasant food. The climate was cold and wet in the winter, and warm and sunny in the summers. The empire lasted from 1813-1781 BCE. The Assyrians achieved more than the Babylonians. One of the reasons that the Assyrians achieved more is that they had more military superiority. The Assyrians developed new weapons and war strategies. They were the first empire to ever use battering rams and moveable towers. To find out if they would be successful in an attack or not, they had divination experts to interpret the will of the gods. With their trained army, they expanded their territory. The Assyrians were also very skilled artists. They made beautiful winged bull and lion sculptures. They were well known for creating fine 2-dimensional sculptures called bas-reliefs. The Assyrians loved violence and made many gory pictures. They also made sculptures of their kings fighting the kings of other citystates. The Assyrians made beautiful art that no other empire could have made. The Assyrians made a lot of technology that we still use now. They used kilns, which are also known as controllable fire. They built some of the earliest aqueducts. Assyrians were the first to use locks and keys. They also were the first to divide a circle into 360 degrees and invented the geographic term, longitude and latitude. The best technology the Assyrians developed was medicine that eventually influenced doctors as far away as middle Europe. What makes the Assyrians more superior than the Babylonians they had more technology that we still use today. The Assyrians had extreme war strategies

that no other empire could compare to. There are still many parts of them that still live on and will forever.