WHO
ARE THE ASSYRIANS
![](whoareassyrians.jpg)
Dated
from the beginning of the seventh century B.C., it shows Assyrian
slingers in action at a siege of the Israelite city of Lachish in
710 B.C. (Image credit: British Museum)
The
Assyrians are a people who have lived in the Middle East since ancient
times and today can be found all over the world.
In
ancient times their civilization was centered at the city of Assur
(also called Ashur), the ruins of which are located in what is now
northern Iraq. The city had a god that was also called Assur or
Ashur. The territory that the Assyrians controlled could be vast,
stretching at times from southern Iraq to the Mediterranean Coast.
The
city of Assur first gained its independence about 4,000 years ago.
Before independence the city was controlled by a people known as
the Sumerians and only gained its independence after the Sumerian
civilization declined.
Modern-day
scholars often divide Assyrian history into three periods: the Old
Assyrian, Middle Assyrian and Neo-Assyrian periods. The timespan
that each period covers is a source of debate among scholars.
Old
Assyrian Period :
The "Old Assyrian" period generally refers to the time
after Assyria first gained independence around 4,000 years ago.
Ancient
texts indicate that Assyria's size and power were limited in the
period after it gained independence. Its early rulers didn't refer
to themselves as a "king" in their inscriptions. Instead
they called themselves a "vicegerent" (a word that can
mean "governor") of the god Ashur.
"Erishum,
the vicegerent of the god Ashur, son of Ilushuma, vicegerent of
the god Ashur, built the entire temple area of the temple of the
god Ashur…" reads part of an inscription found on an
Assyrian temple's stairway (translation by Albert Kirk Grayson).
Why Assyria's early rulers used such modest titles is a mystery
that scholars are still trying to understand.
All
pretense of modesty came to an end when a ruler named "Shamshi-Adad"
(sometimes spelled Samsi-Adad) conquered, or otherwise took over,
Assur, adding the city to an empire that controlled a vast swath
of territory across modern-day Iraq and Syria. Study of inscriptions
and archaeological remains indicate that Shamshi-Adad lived sometime
around 3,800 years ago and based himself not at Assur but at a site
in Syria which is now called "Tell Leilan." Rather than
giving himself a modest title, as the earlier Assyrian rulers had
done, he instead gave himself a title which scholars often translate
as "king of the universe."
Shamshi-Adad's
empire did not last for long. After his death the Babylonian Empire,
led by Hammurabi, and a kingdom known as "Mittani" or
"Hanigalbat" took over Shamshi-Adad's lands. Ancient records
indicate that by 1500 B.C. the city of Assur was heavily influenced
(if not directly controlled) by Mittani.
Middle
Assyrian Period :
During the 14th century B.C., the Kingdom of Mitanni began to fade
and those in charge of Assur began to assert the city's independence.
Modern-day scholars often call this period of newfound Assyrian
independence the "Middle Assyrian" period. At the start
of this period Assur-Uballit I (reign ca. 1363-1328 B.C.) conquered
territory near Assur and sought diplomatic recognition of his status
from the kings of Egypt and Babylonia.
His
successors further enlarged Assyrian territory. Adad-nirari I (reign
ca. 1305-1274 B.C.) conquered Mitanni, taking over a kingdom that
had ruled Assyria a century earlier. Adad-nirari I claimed that
he "sowed salt over" the Mittani capital of Taidu and
imposed labor obligations on the city's survivors. He constructed
a palace over Taidu saying that he built it "from top to bottom"
and deposited a stelae to mark his control of the city (translation
by Albert Kirk Grayson). Adad-nirari I also used the title "king
of the universe" to describe himself, a title which future
Assyrian kings would also use.
Ancient
records say that the successors of Adad-nirari I continued to expand
Assyria. The Assyrians conquered Babylon during the reign of Tukulti-Ninurta
I (reign ca. 1243-1207 B.C.) and reached the Mediterranean coast
during the reign of Tiglath-Pileser I (1114-1076 B.C.). Tiglath-Pileser
marked the achievement by bringing back cedar wood for building
projects.
The
martial prowess and skill of the Assyrian kings continued to be
emphasized in ancient inscriptions. Tiglath-Pileser I boasted in
one inscription that "altogether I conquered 42 lands and their
rulers" from across the Middle East, adding that he was a "valiant
man" with an "unrivalled bow" who was such a good
hunter that "I killed on foot 120 lions with my wildly vigorous
assault" (translation by Albert Kirk Grayson).
However,
inscriptions from Tiglath-Pileser's time, and that of his successors,
point to problems Assyria was experiencing. Cities and civilizations
across the Middle East were collapsing as a group of people from
the Aegean arrived in the region, displacing local populations and
collapsing trade networks. Assyrian records indicate that Tiglath-Pileser
and his successors frequently fought against the Arameans, a group
of people who were displaced or otherwise caught up in the chaos.
In the two centuries following Tiglath-Pileser's conquest, Assyria's
territory gradually contracted, the kingdom retaining control of
Assur and territory near it. Assyria didn't expand again on a large
scale until the 9th century B.C.
![](ashurbanipal.jpg)
This
statue depicts the Assyrian King Ashurbanipal carrying a basket
of earth on his head. The relief and text depict the king as a builder,
helping to rebuild Esagila, the temple of Marduk at Babylon. It
dates to around 668 BC-655 BC. (Image credit: Owen Jarus)
Neo-Assyrian Period :
The time period from the 9th century B.C. (when the Assyrians started
expanding again) to the destruction of the Assyrian Empire (before
600 B.C.) is often called the "Neo-Assyrian" period by
modern-day scholars. During this time the territory that Assyria
controlled reached its greatest geographic size.
Under
Ashurnasirpal II (reign 883–859 B.C.) the Assyrians reconquered
much of the territory that they had once controlled, again reaching
the Mediterranean coast. In recognition of his achievements, Ashurnasirpal
II constructed a new palace at the city of Nimrud and used this
city, rather than Assur, to control Assyria. This policy of the
king keeping himself some distance from Assur would be continued
by future Assyrian kings. Sargon II (reign ca. 721-705 B.C.) founded
a new city called Khorsabad, making it his capital, while Sennacherib
(reign 704–681 B.C.) constructed a new palace at Nineveh,
moving the Assyrian capital there.
Why
Ashurnasirpal II and his successors chose to distance themselves
from Assur, the traditional capital city of Assyria, is a source
of debate among scholars.
Throughout
Assyria's history the king wasn't the only one jockeying for power
over the kingdom notes Karen Radner, a professor at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität
München. She said that at Assur the king had to deal with nobles
and a council that may have been elected. Assur was also the home
of the god Assur and, while that god was of great importance to
the ancient Assyrians, he was not the only deity that the Assyrians
venerated.
"The
relocation of the seat of royal power must be primarily seen as
a strategy to, firstly, emancipate the king from god Assur and,
secondly, weaken the influence of the aristocratic and democratic
powers whose influence were strongest and most visible in the city
of Assur," wrote Radner in a paper published in the book "Revolt
and Resistance in the Ancient Classical World and the Near East"
(Brill, 2016).
Radner
notes that in addition to a new capital Ashurnasirpal II and his
successors also abolished hereditary governors, replacing them with
individuals who owed their position to the king. The Assyrian kings
also relied increasingly on eunuchs, men who had their genitals
chopped off. As these men couldn't have offspring, any power a eunuch
gained couldn't be passed on through a family line, minimizing the
danger they posed to the king and his successors.
During
the Neo-Assyrian period the kings of Assyria increased their kingdom's
size to its largest yet. In addition to retaking Babylon, and part
of modern-day Lebanon, the Assyrians launched a series of campaigns
into modern-day Israel and Palestine, earning them numerous mentions
in the Hebrew Bible.
At
the time they encountered the Assyrians the Jewish people were divided
into a northern kingdom called Israel and a southern kingdom called
Judah. The two Jewish kingdoms frequently clashed with each other.
Both
Assyrian inscriptions and the Hebrew Bible say that the Assyrians,
under King Sargon II (reign ca. 721-705 B.C.) completely destroyed
Israel. Sargon II said in an inscription that he "conquered
and sacked" all the towns and cities in Israel and "led
away as booty 27,290 inhabitants." He also recruited charioteers
from among the defeated Israeli forces (translation by Adolf Leo
Oppenheim).
His
successor Sennacherib (reign ca. 704-681 B.C.) turned his attention
to Judah, conquering its cities and towns and laying siege to Jerusalem
itself. However while accounts from both the Hebrew Bible and Assyrian
inscriptions say that the siege took place, it's unclear exactly
how the battle ended.
The
Hebrew Bible said that the siege was a complete failure. It says
that the Assyrians had to fight the Egyptians, something that caused
the Assyrians to divert some of their forces away from Jerusalem.
The remaining Assyrian forces were supposedly destroyed by divine
intervention "the angel of the Lord went out and put to death
a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the
people got up the next morning — there were all the dead bodies!"
(2 Kings 19:35 and Isaiah 37:36)
An
Assyrian inscription says that Hezekiah, the king of Judah, was
trapped in Jerusalem "like a bird in a cage." The inscription
says that Sennacherib called off his army when Hezekiah agreed to
pay tribute to the Assyrian king, the inscription saying that Hezekiah
gave Sennacherib a vast amount of gold, silver, ivory, elephant
hides and even his own daughters (translation by Adolf Leo Oppenheim).
Regardless of what happened, the Assyrians did not conquer Jerusalem
and the Kingdom of Judah continued on.
Assyria
continued to expand west, invading Egypt during the rule of Esarhaddon
(reign ca. 680–669 B.C.). The Egyptian pharaoh Taharqa was
defeated in 671 B.C. and the Assyrians captured the Egyptian capital
of Memphis. The Assyrians then tried to govern Egypt using a series
of vassal rulers.
Fall
of Assyria :
While the Assyrians had pushed far to the west trouble was brewing
in the east. During the 7th century B.C. Assyrian rulers had to
put down a series of rebellions in Babylonia. Meanwhile a group
called the "Medes," based in what is now Iran, also launched
attacks on Assyrian forces.
Under
attack from two groups, while trying to maintain their holdings
in the west, the Assyrian military came under pressure. The Babylonians
became fully independent during the reign of the Babylonian King
Nabopolassar (reign ca. 625–605 B.C).
In
612 B.C. the Median king Cyaxares (reign ca. 625–585 B.C.)
launched a major attack on Nineveh, which the Assyrian king Sinsharishkun
(reign ca. 622–612 B.C.) tried to stop. A Babylonian inscription
said that the fight for Nineveh went on for a few months. "Three
battles were fought" in that time, following which the Medians
stormed the city itself. The city fell and was destroyed by the
Median army who turned the city "into ruin hills and heaps
of debris," (translation by CJ Gadd).
The
Assyrians fought further battles but their military was gradually
drained and their territory destroyed or taken over. It's not clear
if Sinsharishkun died at Nineveh or sometime later in a future battle.
By 600 B.C. the Assyrian kingdom had been completely destroyed.
Although
many Assyrian cities were destroyed or badly damaged, some Assyrians
survived the downfall. The survivors, and those descended from them,
lived through a long line of rulers. In the period after the time
of Christ, the Assyrians converted to Christianity, a religion which
they have kept through present day.
Today,
the Assyrian homeland is still in northern Iraq; however, the destruction
brought about by the terrorist group ISIL (also known as ISIS or
Daesh) has resulted in many Assyrians being killed or forced to
flee. ISIL has also destroyed, looted or heavily damaged many Assyrian
sites, including Nimrud.
Source
:
https://www.livescience.com/
56659-assyrians-history.html