Neo-Assyrian Empire

Ekallatm.[8] Following this it found itself under short periods of Babylonian and Mitanni-Hurrian domination in
the 17th and 15th centuries BC respectively, followed
by another period of power from 1365 BC to 1074 BC,
that included the reigns of kings such as Ashur-uballit
I, Tukulti-Ninurta I (r. 12441208 B.C.), and TiglathPileser I.

The Neo-Assyrian Empire was an empire in

Mesopotamian history which began in 911 BC and
ended in 609 BC.[1] During this period, Assyria assumed
a position as the most powerful state on Earth, successfully eclipsing Babylonia, Egypt, Urartu[2] and Elam for
dominance of the Near East, Asia Minor, Caucasus,
North Africa and east Mediterranean, though not until
the reforms of Tiglath-Pileser III in the 8th century
BC[3][4] did it become a vast empire.

1.1 Middle Assyrian Empire

The Neo-Assyrian Empire succeeded the Middle Assyrian period and Middle Assyrian Empire (14th to 10th
centuries BC). Some scholars, such as Richard Nelson
Frye, regard the Neo-Assyrian Empire to be the rst
real empire in human history.[5] (However, the Akkadian Empire[6] and ancient Sumer[7] also have their proponents.)

Ashur-uballit extended Assyrian control over the rich

farming lands of Nineveh and Arbela to the north.[9]
Tiglath-Pileser controlled the lucrative caravan routes
that crossed the fertile crescent from the Mediterranean
to the Persian Gulf.[10] Much campaigning by Tiglathpileser and succeeding kings was directed against AraDuring this period, Aramaic was also made an ocial maean pastoralist groups in Syria, some of whom where
language of the empire, alongside the Akkadian lan- moving against Assyrian centers. By the end of the secguage.[5]
ond millennium B.C., the Aramaean expansion had resulted in the loss of much Assyrian territory in Upper
Mesopotamia.[9]

Background

After the death of Tiglath-Pileser I in 1076 BC, Assyria

was in comparative decline for the next 150 years. The
period from 1200 BC to 900 BC was a dark age for the
entire Near East, North Africa, Caucasus, Mediterranean
and Balkan regions, with great upheavals and mass movements of people. Assyria was in a stronger position
during this time than potential rivals such as Egypt,
Babylonia, Elam, Phrygia, Urartu, Persia and Media[11]

Assyria was originally an Akkadian kingdom which

evolved in the 25th to 24th centuries BC. The earliest Assyrian kings such as Tudiya were relatively minor rulers,
and after the founding of the Akkadian Empire, which
lasted from 2334 BC to 2154 BC, these kings became
subject to Sargon of Akkad, who united all the Akkadian
and Sumerian speaking peoples of Mesopotamia under
one rule.

2 History

The Akkadian nation of Assyria emerged in the 21st century BC, evolving from the dissolution of the Akkadian
Empire. In the Old Assyrian period of the Early
Bronze Age, Assyria had been a kingdom of northern Mesopotamia (modern-day northern Iraq), competing for dominance initially with the Hattians and Hurrians
of Asia Minor, and the ancient Sumero-Akkadian city
states such as Isin, Ur and Larsa, and later with
Babylonia which was founded by Amorites in 1894 BC,
and often under Kassite rule. During the 20th century
BC, it established colonies in Asia Minor, and under the
20th century BC King Ilushuma, Assyria conducted many
successful raids against the states of the south.

2.1 Adad-nirari II (911-891 BC)

Beginning with the campaigns of Adad-nirari II, it again
became a great power, overthrowing the Twenty-fth dynasty of Egypt and conquering Elam, Urartu, Media,
Persia, Mannea, Gutium, Phoenicia/Canaan, Arabia,
Israel, Judah, Philistia, Edom, Moab, Samarra, Cilicia,
Cyprus, Chaldea, Nabatea, Commagene, Dilmun, Shutu
and neo Hittites; driving the Nubians, Kushites and
Ethiopians from Egypt; defeating the Cimmerians and
Scythians; and exacting tribute from Phrygia among others. Adad-nirari II and his successors campaigned on an
annual basis for part of every year with an exceptionally
well-organized army.[8] He subjugated the areas previously under only nominal Assyrian vassalage, conquering

Assyria fell under the control of the Amorite chieftain,

Shamshi-Adad I (c. 1809 1776 BC) who established
a dynasty and was unusually energetic and politically
canny, installing his sons as puppet rulers at Mari and
1

3 TIGLATH-PILESER III, 744727 BC

and deporting Aramean and Hurrian populations in the

north to far-o places. Adadinirari II then twice attacked
and defeated Shamash-mudammiq of Babylonia, annexing a large area of land north of the Diyala river and the
towns of Hit and Zanqu in mid Mesopotamia. He made
further gains over Babylonia under Nabu-shuma-ukin I
later in his reign. He was succeeded by Tukulti-Ninurta
II in 891 BC, who further consolidated Assyrias position
and expanded northwards into Asia Minor and the Zagros
Mountains during his short reign.

The long and bitter civil war had allowed the Babylonians
to the south, the Medes, Manneans, the Persians to the
north and east, the Arameans, and the Neo-Hittites in
the west to largely shake o Assyrian rule, and ShamshiAdad V spent the remainder of his reign reasserting control over those peoples. During this period, Urartu took
the opportunity to reassert its inuence on the region. As
a result of all these events, Assyria did not expand further during the reign of Shamshi-Adad V. Adad-nirari III
was a boy when succeeding his father in 811 BC, and for
ve years until 806 BC, his mother, Queen Sammuramat
The next king, Ashurnasirpal II (883859 BC), embarked
on a vast program of expansion. During his rule, Assyria (also depicted as Semiramis) ruled as regent in his stead.
Many legends abound regarding this queen; however she
recovered much of the territory that it had lost around
[9] is mentioned little in Assyrian records of the time.
1100 B.C. at the end of the Middle Assyrian period.
Ashurnasirpal II also campaigned in the Zagros Moun- In 806 BC, Adad-nirari III took the reins of power.
tains in modern Iran, repressing a revolt against Assyrian He invaded the Levant and subjugated the Arameans,
rule by the Lullubi and Gutians. The Assyrians began Phoenicians, Philistines, Israelites, Neo-Hittites and
boasting in their ruthlessness around this time. Ashur- Edomites. He entered Damascus and forced tribute upon
nasirpal II also moved his capital to the city of Kalhu its king Ben-Hadad III. He next turned to Iran, and subju(Calah/Nimrud). The palaces, temples and other build- gated the Persians, Medes and Manneans, and penetratings raised by him bear witness to a considerable devel- ing as far as the Caspian Sea. His next targets were the
opment of wealth and art. Ashurnasirpal II introduced a Chaldean and Sutu tribes of south eastern Mesopotamia
policy of mass deportation of conquered people, which whom he conquered and reduced to vassalage.
continued on a greatly increased scale under his son,
Shalmaneser III.[12]

2.3 Period of stagnation, 783745 BC

2.2

Shalmaneser III (859824 BC)

Ashurnasirpals son, Shalmaneser III (859824 BC), had

a long reign of 35 years, when the capital was converted
into an armed camp. Each year the Assyrian armies
marched out to campaign. Babylon was occupied, and
Babylonia reduced to vassalage. He fought against Urartu
and marched an army against an alliance of Aramean
states headed by Hadadezer of Damascus and including
Ahab, king of Israel, at the Battle of Qarqar in 853 BC.
Despite Shalmanesers description of 'vanquishing the opposition', it seems that the battle ended in a deadlock, as
the Assyrian forces were withdrawn soon afterwards.
Shalmaneser took the neo Hittite state of Carchemish in
849 BC, and in 842 BC, marched an army against Hazael,
King of Damascus, besieging the city and forcing tribute,
but not taking it. In 841 BC, also brought under tribute Jehu of Israel, and the Phoenician states of Tyre, and
Sidon. His black obelisk, discovered at Kalhu, records
many military exploits of his reign.[2]
The last four years of Shalmanesers life were disturbed
by the rebellion of his eldest son Ashur-nadin-aplu that
nearly proved fatal to Assyria. Twenty seven cities,
including Assur, Arbela, Arrapkha (Kirkuk) and other
places joined the pretender. The rebellion was not directed primarily against the king, but rather against the
provisional governors such as Dayan-Ashur who had assumed disproportionate power. The revolt was quashed
with diculty by Shamshi-Adad V, Shalmanesers second son, who succeeded him upon his death in 824 BC.

Adad-nirari III died prematurely in 783 BC, and this led

to a period of true stagnation. Shalmaneser IV (783-73
BC) seems to have wielded little authority, and a victory
over Argishti I, king of Urartu at Til Barsip, is accredited
to a general ('Turtanu') named Shamshi-ilu who does not
even bother to mention his king. Shamshi-ilu also scored
victories over the Arameans and Neo-Hittites, and again,
takes personal credit at the expense of his king.
Ashur-dan III ascended the throne in 772 BC. He proved
to be a largely ineectual ruler who was beset by internal rebellions in the cities Ashur, Arrapkha, and Guzana.
He failed to make further gains in Babylonia and Aram
(Syria). His reign was also marred by Plague and an ominous Solar Eclipse. Ashur-nirari V became king in 754
BC, but his reign seems to have been one of permanent
revolution, and he appears to have barely left his palace
in Nineveh before he was deposed by Tiglath-Pileser III
in 745 BC, bringing a resurgence to Assyria.

3 Tiglath-Pileser III, 744727 BC

Main article: Tiglath-Pileser III
When Tiglath-Pileser III ascended the throne, Assyria
was in the throes of a revolution. Civil war and pestilence
were devastating the country, and many of Assyrias most
northerly colonies in Asia Minor had been wrested from it
by Urartu. In 746 BC, the city of Kalhu joined the rebels,
but on the 13th of Iyyar in the following year, an Assyrian
general (Turtanu) named Pulu, took the name of Tiglath-

MEDIA

Gozam
Ninevah
ASSYRIA
BETH-EDEN

Asshur

Hamath

Eu

ph
rat
es

Byblos

Riv

Samaria
Jerusalem

Tig

er

Damascus

ris

Babylon

Assyrian Empire
9th century BCE

Deportation by
Tiglath-pileser III
(734-732 BCE)

Area conquered by
Tiglath-pileser III
(745-727 BCE)

Deportation by
Shalmaneser V & Sargon II
(724-729 BCE)

Riv
er

Deportation by
Sargon II
(716-715 BCE)

in 732 BC he took the chief Aramean state of Damascus,

deporting many of its inhabitants and the Israelite inhabitants of Samaria to Assyria. He also forced tribute from
the Arabs of the deserts in the Arabian peninsula.
In 729 BC, Tiglath-Pileser III went to Babylonia and
captured Nabu-mukin-zeri, the king of Babylon (ABC
1 Col.1:21). He had himself crowned as King Pulu of
Babylon. Tiglath-Pileser III died in 727 BC, and was
succeeded by Shalmaneser V. However, King Hoshea of
Israel suspended paying tribute, and allied himself with
Egypt against Assyria in 725 BC. This led Shalmaneser
to invade Syria (2 Kings 17:5) and besiege Samaria (capital city of Israel) for three years (ABC 1 Col.1:27).

Deportation of Israelites by the Assyrian Empire

pileser III, seized the crown, and made sweeping changes 4

to the Assyrian government, considerably improving its
eciency and security.
4.1
The conquered provinces were organized under an elaborate bureaucracy, with the king at the head each district paying a xed tribute and providing a military contingent. The Assyrian forces at this time became a professional standing army; and Assyrian policy was henceforth directed toward reducing the whole civilized world
into a single empire, throwing its trade and wealth into
Assyrian hands. These changes are often identied as the
beginning of the Second Assyrian Empire.

Sargonid dynasty
Sargon II, 721705 BC

When Tiglath-Pileser III had ascended the throne

of Assyria, he invaded Babylonia, defeated its king
Nabonassar, and abducted the gods of apazza; the
Assyrian-Babylonian Chronicle informs us (ABC 1
Col.1:5). After subjecting Babylon to tribute, defeating Urartu and conquering the Medes, Persians and
Neo-Hittites, Tiglath-Pileser III directed his armies into
Aramea, of which large swathes had regained independence, and the commercially successful Mediterranean
seaports of Phoenicia. He took Arpad near Aleppo in
740 BC after a siege of three years, and razed Hamath.
An Assyrian winged bull, or lamassu, from Sargons palace at
Azariah, king of Judah had been an ally of the king of
Dur-Sharrukin.
Hamath, and thus was compelled by Tiglath-Pileser to do
him homage and pay yearly tribute.
Shalmaneser V died suddenly in 722 BC, while laying
siege to Samaria, and the throne was seized by Sargon
II, the Turtanu (commander-in-chief of the army, which
3.1 Invasion of Israel (738 BC)
the Old Testament refers to as Tartan), who then quickly
In 738 BC, during the reign of Menahem, king of Israel, took Samaria, eectively ending the northern Kingdom
Tiglath-Pileser III occupied Philistia (modern-day south- of Israel and carrying 27,000 people away into captivity
western Israel and the Gaza Strip) and invaded Israel, im- into the Israelite diaspora. (2 Kings 17:16, 24; 18:7, 9).
posing on it a heavy tribute (2 Kings 15:19). Ahaz, king
of Judah, engaged in a war against Israel and Aramea, appealed for help to the Assyrian king by means of presents
of gold and silver (2 Kings 16:8); Tiglath-Pileser III accordingly marched against Damascus, defeated and put
king Rezin to death, and besieged the city itself. Leaving
part of his army to continue the siege, he advanced, ravaging with re and sword the provinces east of the Jordan
(Nabatea, Moab and Edom), Philistia, and Samaria; and

Sargon II waged war in his second year (721 BC)

against the king of Elam, Humban-Nikash I, and his ally
Marduk-apal-iddina II (the biblical Merodach-Baladan),
the Chaldean ruler of Babylon, who had thrown o Assyrian rule (2 Kings 20:12), but Sargon was unable to dislodge him on this occasion, as told in ABC 1 Col.1:3137. Sargon, able to contain the revolt but not actually retake Babylon on this occasion, turned his attention again to Urartu and Aramea, taking Carchemish

SARGONID DYNASTY

in 717, as well as re conquering the Medes, Persians

and Manneans, penetrating the Iranian Plateau as far as
Mount Bikni and building several fortresses. Urartu suffered a crushing defeat, its capital city was sacked and its
king Rusas committed suicide in shame. The neo Hittite
states of northern Syria were conquered, as was Cilicia
and Commagene.

Sennacherib plundered Babylonia and pursued Mardukapla-iddina through the land. At his return to Assyria,
Sennacherib installed a puppet ruler, Bel-ibni as king of
Babylon (ABC 1 Col.2:12-23). Bel-ibni however committed hostilities, so Sennacherib returned to Babylon in
700 BC and captured him and his ocers. Sennacherib
instead installed his own son Ashur-nadin-shumi on the
Assyria was belligerent towards Babylonia for ten throne of Babylon (ABC 1 Col.2:26-31).
years while Marduk-apla-iddina ruled Babylon (ABC 1
Col.1:41-42). In 710 BC, Sargon attacked Babylonia and
defeated Marduk-apla-iddina, who ed to his protectors
in Elam (ABC 1 Col.2:1-3). As a result of this victory
the Greek rulers of Cyprus gave allegiance to Assyria and
king Midas of Phrygia, fearful of Assyrian power, oered
his hand in friendship. Sargon also built a new capital at
Dur Sharrukin (Sargons City) near Nineveh, with all
the tribute Assyria had collected from various nations.

4.2

Sennacherib, 705681 BC

In 705 BC, Sargon was killed in battle while driving

out the Cimmerians, who had come down from their
homeland on the shores of The Black Sea and attacked
the Assyrian-ruled colonies and peoples in Iran, forcing
its Persian subjects southwards from their original lands
around Urmia. He was succeeded by his son Sennacherib
(2 Kings 18:13; 19:37; Isa. 7:17, 18), who moved the
capital to Nineveh and made the deported peoples work
on improving Ninevehs system of irrigation canals. His
rst task was to arm his control over Cilicia, which
was attempting to rebel with Greek help. Sennacherib
marched into Cilicia, defeating the rebels and their Greek
allies. He also reasserted Assyrias mastery of Corduene
in Asia Minor.
The Egyptians had begun agitating peoples within the Assyrian empire in an attempt to gain a foothold in the region. As a result, in 701 BC, Hezekiah of Judah, Lule
king of Sidon, Sidka, king of Ascalon and the king of
Ekron formed an alliance with Egypt against Assyria.
Sennacherib attacked the rebels, conquering Ascalon,
Sidon and Ekron and defeating the Egyptians and driving
them from the region. He marched toward Jerusalem,
destroying 46 towns and villages (including the heavily
defended city of Lachish) in his path. This is graphically described in Isaiah 10; exactly what happened next
is unclear (the Bible says an angel of the Lord killed
185,000 Assyrian soldiers at Jerusalem after Hezekiah
prayed in the temple)[13] Sennacheribs account says Judah paid him tribute and he left.
The Hebrew Bible states that Hezekiah did pay tribute once, and the Assyrians left, but returned a second
time when the soldiers were then killed; however what
is certain is that Sennacherib failed to actually capture
Jerusalem. Marduk-apla-iddina had returned to Babylonia during the reign of Sennacherib. The Assyrian king
attacked him in 703 BC outside Kish and defeated him.

Assyrian warship, a bireme with pointed bow, 700 BC

Sennacherib launched a campaign against Elam in 694

BC and ravaged the land. In retaliation, the king of
Elam attacked Babylonia. Ashur-nadin-shumi was captured and brought back to Elam and a new king called
Nergal-ushezib was installed as ruler of Babylon (ABC
1 Col.2:3645). The Assyrians returned the next year
to Babylonia and plundered the gods of Uruk. Nergaluezib and his Elamite allies were defeated by Assyria,
and he was taken prisoner and transported to Assyria
(ABC 1 Col.2:46 Col.3:6). Another native ruler, called
Mushezib-Marduk, soon seized the throne of Babylon.
He held on to it with help of his Elamite allies for four
years until 689 BC, when the Assyrians retook the city
(ABC 1 Col.3:1324). Sennacherib responded swiftly by
opening the canals around Babylon and ooding the outside of the city until it became a swamp, resulting in its
destruction, and its inhabitants were scattered.
In 681 BC, Sennacherib was murdered while praying to
the god Nisroch by one or more of his own sons (allegedly
named Adremelech, Abimlech, and Sharezer), perhaps as
retribution for his destruction of Babylon.[14][15]

4.3 Esarhaddon, 681669 BC

Sennacherib was succeeded by his son Esarhaddon
(Ashur-ahhe-iddina), who had been governor of Babylonia, and was campaigning in the Caucasus Mountains
against Urartu at the time of his fathers murder, where
he won a victory at Malatia (Milid). During the rst year
of Esarhaddons rule, a rebellion broke out in the south of
Babylonia. Nabu-zer-kitti-liir, an ethnic Elamite governor of the mat Tamti, with the help of the Chaldeans laid

4.4

Ashurbanipal, 669627 BC

siege to Ur. The Elamite and his Chaldean allies were

defeated and he ed to his kinsmen in Elam (Hal-Tamti);
however, the king of Elam took him prisoner and put
him to the sword (ABC 1 Col.3:3942); also in (ABC
14:14).
In 679 BC the Cimmerians and Scythians (a horse-riding
horde (army) from what is now southern Russia) crossed
the Taurus Mountains and harassed Assyrian colonies in
Cilicia. Esarhaddon swiftly attacked and drove these marauders away where they instead fell on Phrygia.
As king of Assyria, Esarhaddon immediately had Babylon rebuilt, and made it one of his capitals. Defeating
the Scythians, Cimmerians and Medes (again penetrating to Mt. Bikni), he then turned his attention westward
to Phoenicianow allying itself with the Nubian/Kushite
rulers of Egypt against himand sacked Sidon in 677
BC. He also captured King Manasseh of Judah and
kept him prisoner for some time in Babylon (2 Chronicles 33:11). Having had enough of Egyptian meddling,
Esarhaddon raided Egypt in 673 BC. Two years later he
launched a full invasion and conquered Egypt, chasing the
Pharaoh Taharqa back to Nubia, thus bringing to an end
Nubian-Kushite rule in Egypt, and destroying the Kushite
Empire which had begun in 760 BC.

4.4 Ashurbanipal, 669627 BC

Ashurbanipal, or Ashur-bani-apli (Ashurbanapli, Asnapper), succeeded his father Esarhaddon to the throne.
He continued to campaign in and dominate Egypt, when
not distracted by having to deal with pressures from the
Medes to the east, and Cimmerians and Scythians to the
north of Assyria. He installed a native Egyptian Pharaoh,
Psammetichus as a vassal king in 664 BC. However, after Gyges of Lydia's appeal for Assyrian help against
the Cimmerians was rejected, Lydian mercenaries were
sent to Psammetichus. By 652 BC, this vassal king was
able to declare outright independence from Assyria with
impunity, particularly as Ashurbanipals older brother,
Shamash-shum-ukin, king of Babylon became infused
with Babylonian nationalism, and tired of being subject
to his brother began a major civil war in that year. However, the new dynasty in Egypt wisely maintained friendly
relations with Assyria.
Shamash-shum-ukin attempted to raise a huge rebellion
encompassing many vassal peoples against Ashurbanipal,
however this largely failed. This rebellion lasted until 648
BC, when Babylon was sacked, and Shamash-shum-ukin
set re to the palace, killing himself. Ashurbanipal then
set about punishing the Chaldeans, Arabs and Nabateans
who had supported the Babylonian revolt. He invaded the
Arabian Peninsula and routed and subjugated the Arabs,
including the powerful Qedar tribe, taking much booty
back to Nineveh and killing the Arab kings, Abiate and
Uate. The Nabateans who dwelt south of the Dead Sea
and in northern Arabia, and the Chaldeans in the far south
east of Mesopotamia were also defeated and subjugated.
Elam was the next target; it was attacked in 646 and 640
BC, and its capital Susa sacked.

The Babylonian Chronicles retells how Egypt was sacked

and its gods were abducted (ABC 1 Col.4:25); also in
ABC 14:2829. The pharaoh Tirhakah ed Egypt, and
a stele commemorating the victory, was set up at Sinjerli in Asia Minor, north of the Gulf of Antioch, and is
now in the Pergamon Museum, Berlin. The Bible graphically recounts Egypts demise in Isaiah 20:4 So shall the
king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners, and
the Ethiopians captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, even with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame
of Egypt. 5 And they shall be afraid and ashamed of
4.4.1 Legacy of Ashurbanipal
Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their glory.
Assyria defeated Urartu, annexed much of its territory
and reduced it to vassalage, and expanded southwards
as far as Dilmun (Bahrain) and into Arabia at this time.
This was perhaps Assyrias greatest territorial extent.
However, the Assyrian governors and local puppet rulers
Esarhaddon had appointed over Egypt were obliged to
ee the restive native populace who yearned for independence now that the Kushites and Nubians had been
ejected.

Ashurbanipal had promoted art and culture, and had built

a vast library of cuneiform tablets at Nineveh. After the
crushing of the Babylonian revolt Ashurbanipal appeared
master of all he surveyed. To the east, Elam was devastated and prostrate before Assyria, the Manneans and the
Iranian Persians and Medes were vassals. To the south,
Babylonia was occupied, the Chaldeans, Arabs, Sutu and
Nabateans subjugated, the Nubian empire destroyed, and
Egypt paid tribute. To the north, the Scythians and
Cimmerians had been vanquished and driven from Assyrian territory, Urartu, Phrygia, Corduene and the neo
Hittites were in vassalage, and Lydia pleading for Assyrian protection. To the west, Aramea (Syria), the
Phoenicians, Israel, Judah, Samarra and Cyprus were
subjugated, and the Hellenised inhabitants of Caria,
Cilicia, Cappadocia and Commagene paid tribute to Assyria.

A new campaign was launched by Esarhaddon in 669 BC,

However he became ill on the way and died. His elder son
Shamash-shum-ukin became king of Babylon and his son
Ashurbanipal became king of Assyria, with Ashurbanipal
holding the senior position and Babylon subject to Nineveh; see ABC 1 Col.4:3033 and ABC 14:3132, 37.
Bel and the gods of Babylonia returned from their exile
in Assur to Babylon in the rst year of Shamash-shumukin, and the akitu festival could be celebrated for the
Assyria now appeared stronger than ever. However, his
rst time in twenty years; ABC 1 14:3439 and ABC 1
long struggle with Babylonia and Elam and their allies,
Col.4:3436.
and the constant campaigning to control and expand its

5 FALL OF ASSYRIA, 627609 BC

ing his rivals, Sinsharishkun faced a much larger threat.
His Babylonian vassal state had taken advantage of the
upheavals in Assyria and rebelled under the previously
unknown Nabopolassar, a member of the Chaldean tribe,
in 625 BC. What followed was a long war fought in
the Babylonian heartland. Nabopolassar tried to capture
Nippur, the main Assyrian center of power in Babylonia,
but was defeated by Sinsharishkun . However Nabopolassar did take the actual city of Babylon after a popular
uprising there, and was crowned king of the city in 625
BC.
Sinsharishkun then lost more ground, before succeeded in
recapturing Uruk in about 624 BC only to quickly lose it
again. When Sinsharishkun led a large army to Babylonia
in 623 BC in an attempt to nally crush the rebellion yet
another war broke out in the Assyrian homeland. A relief
army was sent back from the Babylonian campaign but
changed sides so that the usurper could reach the capital
Nineveh without interference, and claim the throne. Sinsharishkun was able to quell the homeland rebellion but
precious time was lost to solve the Babylonian problem,
and Nabopolassar was able to consolidate his position.

Costumes of an Assyrian High Priest (left) and a King (right).

vast empire in all directions, left Assyria exhausted. It

had been drained of wealth and manpower; the devastated
provinces could yield nothing to supply the needs of the
imperial exchequer, and it was dicult to nd sucient
troops to garrison the huge empire.
Assyria, therefore, was ill-prepared to face the renewed
hordes of Scythians who now began to harass the frontiers
to the north and north east. After the Assyrians destroyed
Elam, the Medes had begun to grow powerful, becoming
the dominant force among the Iranian peoples who had
begun to settle the regions to the east of Mesopotamia
circa 1000 BC. at the expense of the Persians and the
pre-Iranian Elamites and Manneans, and they were by
the end of Ashurbanipals reign only nominally under
Assyrian vassalage. Asia Minor too was full of hostile Scythians and Cimmerians who had overrun Urartu,
Lydia and Phrygia, before being driven back by the Assyrians. However, while Ashurbanipal lived, he was able
to contain these potential threats.

Fall of Assyria, 627609 BC

Upon Ashurbanipals death in 627 BC, the empire began

to disintegrate rapidly after a series of bitter civil wars
broke out involving a number of claimants to the throne.
Ashur-etil-ilani succeeded Ashurbanipal, but was immediately embroiled in a civil war with one of his own generals Sin-shumu-lishir who seized control of Babylonia
and then briey took the throne of Assyria itself. He in
turn was deposed by Sinsharishkun. After nally defeat-

In 620 BC Nabopolassar nally captured Nippur, nally

making him master of Babylonia. While these events
were unfolding, the Medes had also freed themselves
from Assyrian domination and consolidated power in
what was to become Persia. In 616 BC Cyaxares the Median king, made an alliance with Nabopolassar and with
the help of the Scythians and Cimmerians attacked Assyria. Assyria now faced overwhelming odds, and after
four years of bitter ghting, the coalition nally destroyed
Nineveh in 612 BC after a long siege followed by house
to house ghting.
Thus the Assyrian empire fell, Sinsharishkun being killed
in the process. A general called Ashur-uballit II was declared king of Assyria, and with belated military support
from the Egyptian Pharaoh Necho II whose dynasty had
been installed by the Assyrians, held out at Harran until
609 BC.[16] Egyptian aid continued to the Assyrians, who
desperately attempted to curb the increasing power of the
Babylonians and Medes.
In 609 BC at the Battle of Megiddo, an Egyptian force
defeated a Judean force under king Josiah and managed to reach the last remnants of the Assyrian army.
In a nal battle at Harran in 609 BC the Babylonians
and Medes defeated the Assyrian-Egyptian alliance, after
which Assyria ceased to exist as an independent state.[16]
In 605 BC, another Egyptian force fought the Babylonians, helped by part of the army of the former Assyria,
but this too met with failure, with the defeat of the Assyrians and Egyptians. It is not known if Ashur-uballit
II was killed at Harran or Carchemish, or if he survived,
however he disappeared from the pages of history. One
hundred and seventeen years later, Assyria made a nal
attempt to regain independence with a large scale rebellion against the Achaemenid Empire in 482 BC which was

7
and Greek corruptions of Assyria.[20] ) where it still surAssyria nally succumbed to a coalition of Babylonians, vives.
Chaldeans, Medes/Persians, Scythians, and others at the Assyrian people survive to this day as the indigenous inFall of Nineveh in 612 BC, and the sacking of its last habitants of northern Iraq, northeast Syria and southcapital Harran in 609 BC. More than half a century east Turkey, as well as in northwest Iran (see Assyrian
later, Babylonia and Assyria became provinces of the continuity). They began to convert to Christianity as
Persian Empire. Though the Assyrians during the reign early as the 1st century AD,[21] and remain so today,
of Ashurbanipal destroyed the Elamite civilization, the with most being members of the Assyrian Church of
Assyrians culture did inuence the succeeding empires the East, Syriac Orthodox Church, Chaldean Catholic
of the Medes and the Persians, Indo-Iranian peoples who Church, Ancient Church of the East, Assyrian Pentehad been dominated by Assyria.[17]
costal Church and Assyrian Evangelical Church. Assyrian personal names are still given, and the modern day
Assyrians still speak Akkadian inuenced and infused dialects of Eastern Aramaic, modern evolutions of the Ara5.1 Environmental factors
maic that replaced Akkadian. An Assyrian Calendar is
[22]
A.W. Schneider and S.F. Adah have suggested that still used, dating to the founding of the city of Ashur.
suppressed by king Darius II.

increased population coupled with severe drought

contributed to signicant economic and political
instability.[18][19] Conquered peoples were often
deported great distances and resettled in Assyrian
provinces to minimize the possibility of revolts.[8] The
Assyrian heartland had undergone a population explosion
during the late eighth and early seventh centuries, largely
due to the forced resettlement of conquered peoples into
the empire.

Assyria after the fall

7 Role of the Aramaic language

From the 8th century, the Aramaic language had gradually established itself as a lingua franca of the Empire.
By the 6th century, it had marginalized the Akkadian language so much that Aramaic came to be the imperial language of Achaemenid Assyria. One of key factors contributing to the use of Aramaic was the rise and fall of Assyria; during her rule, deportations, colonizations and interbreeding increased contact between Aramean and Assyrians.

After its fall, Assyria came to be ruled by the Median Empire as Athura for a short period. Ironically Nabonidus,
the last king of Babylon was Assyrian, originating from
Harran, as was his son Belshazzar. After this it was ruled
by Achaemenid Persia (Assyria revolted against Persia in
520 BC), Seleucid Greece, then again by various Persian
dynasties, Sassanids, Parthians etc. For a brief period under Trajan, it was ruled by Rome.

In eect the populations of both Assyria and Babylonia had become an ethnic mix of native Akkadians and
Arameans. As the Empire fell, only the elite knew how to
read and write the Akkadian script. The savage sacking
of Ninevah and Assur, as well as numerous other Assyrian cities ensured that few of these elite survived to pass
the language on. It is known however that some cities
such as Arrapkha were spared the destruction.

Assyria survived as an entity, a subject province. The

name survived also in various forms (Athura, Asuristan,
Roman Province of Assyria, Seleucid Syria etc.) and the
land was recognised as such by the Persians, Greeks, Romans, Armenians, Georgians and Byzantines. After the
Arab conquest of the late 7th century AD the province of
Assyria was nally dissolved.

The Akkadian language did survive the fall of Assyria; the

last recorded writings in Akkadian cuneiform date from
the 1st century AD, and writings in the Akkadian language (but in Aramaic/Syriac script) date as late as the
3rd century AD.

Assyrian culture survived, Assyrio-Babylonian gods were

worshipped well into Christian times, as late as the 4th
century AD , and temples were still being dedicated to
the god Ashur in his home city in the late 3rd century
AD. A number of kingdoms that were Neo Assyrian
such as Assur, Hatra, Osroene and Adiabene sprung up
in Assyria between the 2nd century BC and 4th century AD. Christianity took hold between the 1st and
3rd centuries AD, and Parthian and Sassanid Assyria
(Asuristan) became the center of the Assyrian Church
of the East, Syriac Christianity and Syriac Literature,
(the term Syria and Syriac being early Indo-European

8 Culture
Further information: Art and architecture of Assyria and
Ancient Assyrian religion
Several of the most ancient works of Mesopotamian
literature are best preserved in Neo-Assyrian copies.
Thus, there are 7th-century copies of both the Epic of
Gilgamesh and the Enma Eli from Ashurbanipal's library in Nineveh, as well as Neo-Assyrian versions of the
Atra-Hasis.

10

Neo-Assyrian cuneiform is the nal stage of the long evolution of the cuneiform script. The number of glyphs
was reduced, and the glyph shapes were standardized
and simplied, so that modern cuneiform sign inventories are usually based on the Neo-Assyrian glyph shapes.
Neo-Assyrian cuneiform remained in use alongside the
Aramaic alphabet well into Parthian times. The Aramaic
language from the 8th century BC was adopted as the
Lingua Franca of the Assyrian Empire and continued by
the Achaemenid Empire. Assyrian scribes are often depicted in pairs: one writing in Akkadian on the cuneiform
tablet, the other writing in Aramaic on the parchment or
papyrus.
The main cities that existed in Assyria itself were
Nineveh, Ashur, Kalhu (Calah, Nimrud), Sippar,
Opis, Arrapkha (Kirkuk), Harran, Arbela (Erbil) and
Ekallatum. Outside of Assyria proper, major cities
at various times under Assyrian domination were
Babylon, Damascus (Dimashq), Thebes, Memphis, Tyre,
Sidon, Ecbatana, Hattusa, Jerusalem, Susa, Persepolis,
Carchemish, Sardis, Ur, Uruk, Nippur and Antioch.

REFERENCES

[3] Assyrian Eponym List. Retrieved 23 November 2014.

[4] Tadmor, H. (1994). The Inscriptions of Tiglath-Pileser III,
King of Assyria.pp.29
[5] Frye, Richard N. (1992). Assyria and Syria: Synonyms.
PhD., Harvard University. Journal of Near Eastern Studies. And the ancient Assyrian empire, was the rst real,
empire in history. What do I mean, it had many dierent
peoples included in the empire, all speaking Aramaic, and
becoming what may be called, Assyrian citizens. That
was the rst time in history, that we have this. For example, Elamite musicians, were brought to Nineveh, and they
were 'made Assyrians which means, that Assyria, was
more than a small country, it was the empire, the whole
Fertile Crescent.
[6] Liverani, Mario, Akkad: The First World Empire (1993)
[7] F Leo Oppenhiem - Ancient Mesopotamia
[8] Neo-Assyria, Colorado State University
[9] Assyria, 1365609 B.C. in Heilbrunn Timeline of Art
History Department of Ancient Near Eastern Art, The
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,(originally published October 2004, last revised April 2010,)

At the end of the Bronze Age, Nineveh was much smaller

than Babylon, but still one of the worlds major cities
(population about 33,000). By the end of the Neo- [10] Boardman, John and Edwards I. E. S., The Cambridge Ancient History, Cambridge University Press, 1982, ISBN
Assyrian period, it had grown to a population of some
9780521224963
120,000, and was possibly the largest city of that time.
All free male citizens were obliged to serve in the army [11] Roux, pp.282-283.
for a time, a system which was called the ilku-service.
[12] Parpola, Simo. National and Ethnic Identity in the NeoThe Assyrian law code was compiled during this period.
Assyrian Empire and Assyrian Identity in Post-Empire

See also
Assyria
Achaemenid Assyria
Assur
Assyrian continuity
Assyrian people
Mesopotamian Religion
Ancient Near East
Military history of the Neo-Assyrian Empire
Babylonia

10

References

[1] Roux, Georges (1982) Ancient Iraq, p.283, 376 (Penguin, Harmondsworth)
[2] Black Obelisk, K. C. Hansons Collection of
Mesopotamian Documents. K.C. Hansen. Retrieved 23
November 2014.

Times, Journal of Assyrian Academic Studies, Vol. 18,

no. 2, 2004
[13] I Kings 18-19
[14] Dalley, Stephanie (2007-11-29). Esthers revenge at Susa.
pp. 6366. ISBN 9780199216635.
[15] According to 2 Kings 19:37, while praying to the god
Nisroch, he was killed by two of his sons, Adramalech,
and Sharezer, and both of these sons subsequently ed to
Ararat; this is repeated in Isaiah 37:38 and alluded to in 2
Chronicles 32:21.
[16] Grant, R G. Battle a Visual Journey Through 5000 Years
of Combat. London: Dorling Kindersley, 2005 pg 19
[17] Hirad Dinavari. More alike than dierent. The Iranian.
The cultural give and take inuenced the many things
some of which are the cuneiform writing and the building
of ziggurats which the later Assyrians and the Achaemenid
(Hakhamaneshi) Persians inherited. The Assyrians for
the most part were responsible for the destruction of the
Elamite civilization but the Assyrians inuenced the cultures of Media and Urartu and the inuence of Elam lived
on among the Medes and Persians. The various Iranian
speaking peoples who had been coming into what is now
Caucasus Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asia since around
4 thousand BCE were heavily inuenced by the aboriginal Elamites and the Semitic Babylonians and Assyrians.
This dierence can be most noticed when one compares
other Iranian speaking peoples who lived in Eurasia like

the Scything and Sarmatians whose culture was very different with that of Iranian tribes who settled in the Iranian
Plateau and became more intertwined with Slavic peoples.
So from that far back Iran (the geographic location) has
been multi-ethnic.
[18] Schneider, A. W. and Adah, S. F., No Harvest Was
Reaped, Climate Change, pp.435-436, 2014, DOI
10.1007/s10584-014-1269-y
[19] Schuster, Ruth. Assyrian Empire was destroyed by
drought and crowding, study says, Haaretz April 11,
2015
[20] http://www.aina.org/articles/ttaasa.pdf
[21] Assyrians after Assyria. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
[22] http://www.jaas.org/edocs/v19n1/
Biggs-Biography-final.pdf

Women and their Agency in the Neo-Assyrian Empire, Saana Teppo, Masters Thesis, April 2005.
University of Helsinki, Faculty of Arts, Institute for
Asian and African Studies, Assyriology.

11

Sources

Roux, Georges (1982) Ancient Iraq, (Penguin,

Harmondsworth)

12

External links

http://www3.uakron.edu/ziyaret/historical.html
http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http:
//www.geocities.com/garyweb65/neoassy.html&
date=2009-10-25+22:30:02
http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-55456/
history-of-Mesopotamia
Chart of World Kingdoms, Nations and Empires All Empires
Lanfranchi, Giovanni B., The Expansion of the
Neo-Assyrian Empire and itsperipheries: Military,
Political and Ideological Resistance
BetBasoo, Peter. Brief History of Assyrians, Assyrian International News Agency

10

13

13
13.1

TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

Text

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Woohookitty, Mandarax, WBardwin, BD2412, Rjwilmsi, Stephenb, The Ogre, Benne, Wagens, Rwalker, Wknight94, SmackBot,
Timeshifter, Random Pipings, Srnec, Gilliam, TimBentley, Hibernian, Valenciano, SashatoBot, Chaldean, Onlim, AndrewHowse, O
cara~enwiki, DumbBOT, Sweetmoose6, Thijs!bot, Epbr123, Marek69, Folantin, Kathovo, Jimhoward72, EdJohnston, Nick Number,
MER-C, Barefact, Kirrages, Hbent, R'n'B, Mohammad adil, AlCracka, Gabr-el, Squids and Chips, arukinu, Mlsutton, Nadsozinc,
Jirt, SieBot, StAnselm, Til Eulenspiegel, Velvetron, ClueBot, A2rya69, Mild Bill Hiccup, Robert Skyhawk, Adimovk5, SchreiberBike,
B'er Rabbit, DumZiBoT, SilvonenBot, Hosnnan38, Ordtoy, Addbot, Jncraton, MrOllie, AgadaUrbanit, Yug2~enwiki, Jarble, Luckasbot, Yobot, Fraggle81, AnomieBOT, Shmayo, Citation bot, Crimsonmargarine, LilHelpa, Xqbot, Tad Lincoln, Couglinetde, J04n, Jun
Kayama, Mattis, FrescoBot, Orijentolog, King Zeppelin, LucienBOT, Nikhil8896, Izzedine, TonyLoco23, Pmokeefe, RedBot, Alexander
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Eyadahmed, Y-barton, L Kensington, Kaveh94, ClueBot NG, Jack Greenmaven, Phoenicians8, MelbourneStar, , Catlemur, RoyYa,
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