The Assyrian Empire
Life under the Assyrians
- The Assyrians were created by warlike people in Mesopotamia.
- Assyria lays north of Babylonia
- The Assyrians had lived in Mesopotamia for a long time
- They briefly had an empire because they were conquered by Hammurabi
- The Assyrians rose to power again towards 900 B.C.E when a series of rulers began training them for war.
- With their trained army the Assyrians began to expand their empire.
- The Assyrians were feared for their military might and their cruelty.
- Their greatest achievements were their new weapons and war strategies
- They perfected the use of horses and iron weapons in battle
- They became extremely good at siege warfare
- The Assyrians developed new ways of attacking cities.
- They were the first to use battering rams- these were long poles on wheels that were used for punching holes in walls
- The Assyrians also built movable towers that could be rolled up to a city’s walls.
- The Assyrians were often ruthless.
- They made entire populations leave conquered areas
- The Assyrians spread tales of their cruelty far and wide. Creating fear among their enemies as part of their military strategy.
- One tale was that after cutting off the heads of enemy leaders, they forced defeated soldiers to march barefoot wearing their leaders’ heads around their necks.
Life under the Assyrians
- Religion remained very important in the social and political order
- Kings were obligated to obey the gods
- The Assyrians believed that kings were special beings
- They built beautiful palaces for them
- The great palace in the capital city of Nineveh had many, many rooms
- Some palaces were built on tall mounds so they were higher than all the surrounding buildings.
- Huge sculptures of winged and human-headed bulls or lions stood at the entrances
- While the kings ruled, ordinary people farmed on land
- The Assyrians dug canals to irrigate their land and keep it fertile
- They also built some of the earliest aqueducts
- A system of canals and aqueducts brought drinking water to Nineveh from 30 miles away
- Assyrian craftspeople were known for their two-dimensional sculptures called bas-reliefs.
- Many were on walls
- They were amazingly realistic
- Often they showed the king hunting, fighting in battle, or enjoying family life.
- The Assyrians also used ivory to decorate thrones, beds, chairs, and doors.
- The Assyrian empire lasted about 300 years.
- At its height, it lasted from Egypt to the Persian Gulf.
- This vast territory proved too big to control
- The army was stretched thin, and the Assyrians could not fight off neighbors who rose up against them.
- In 612 B.C.E., Nineveh was plundered by a combined army of Babylonians, Scythians, and a group called Medes.
- The Assyrians power was broken forever