The Assyrian Empire

From The Sennacherib Prism Assyrian Empire c. 850 -612 B.C. From The Sennacherib Prism In my third campaign I marched against Hatti. Luli, king of Sidon, whom the terror-inspiring glamor of my lordship had overwhelmed, fled far overseas and perished.... As to Hezekiah, the Jew, he did not submit to my yoke, I laid siege to his strong cities, walled forts, and countless small villages, and conquered them by means of well-stamped earth-ramps and battering-rams brought near the walls with an attack by foot soldiers, using mines, breeches as well as trenches. I drove out 200,150 people, young and old, male and female, horses, mules, donkeys, camels, big and small cattle beyond counting, and considered them slaves. Himself I made a prisoner in Jerusalem, his royal residence, like a bird in a cage. I surrounded him with earthwork in order to molest those who were his city's gate. Thus I reduced his country, but I still increased the tribute and the presents to me as overlord which I imposed upon him beyond the former tribute, to be delivered annually. Hezekiah himself, did send me, later, to Nineveh, my lordly city, together with 30 talents of gold, 800 talents of silver, precious stones, antimony, large cuts of red stone, couches inlaid with ivory, nimedu-chairs inlaid with ivory, elephant-hides, ebony-wood, boxwood and all kinds of valuable treasures, his own daughters and concubines. . . Assyrians came from Northern Mesopotamia Earlier, Assyrians were target of other invaders Over time Assyrians became adept at defensive and offensive warfare Sennacherib c. 700-682 B.C. – Assyrian king bragged he had destroyed 89 cities, 820 villages, burned Babylon and killed most of the Babylonian citizens.

Assyrian Military Society glorified the Military and its achievements They were skilled ironworkers who incorporated it into their weapons and armor Armor was stiff leather and metal plates, padded loincloths with leather and metal skirts on top Copper or iron helmets, iron swords and iron tipped spears

Military cont. Used technical skill and engineering when attacking cities Siege towers – used to raise up soldiers to wall height so they can shoot over walls, hit defenders and eventually go over walls into city Battering rams – used to ram through gates and collapse brick walls Sappers – soldiers who would dig underneath city walls to allow entrance and weaken supports Would build floating bridges on pontoons to cross rivers

Military cont. After taking over an enemy city, they would often torture and kill the enemy soldiers The surviving civilians were either enslaved or banished to distant regions in order to reduce rebellions

Empire Expands Between 850-650 B.C. Assyria defeated Syria, Palestine & Babylon, then went on to defeat Egypt and Anatolia Assyria would put in local governors who were Assyrian or promote kings who were loyal to Assyrian rule – Early Central Government These provinces would then have to pay tribute to the Assyrian king Newly conquered peoples could reduce the damage by paying large sums of taxes and tributes

Assyrian Culture Brutal Kings were also lovers of art and culture Sennacherib – was also a builder of cities and art Nineveh- Capital city of Assyrian Empire, located on the Tigris River 3 miles long and 1 mile wide – walled city had many relief walls and carved statues Ashurbanipal- collected over 20,000 clay tablets for his library including the Epic of Gilgamesh and other ancient documents It was organized by subject and catalogued

End of the Assyrians Ashurbanipal- was the last great Assyrian King Empire had stretched itself too thin, and its brutality earned it many enemies After Ashurbie’s death, Nineveh fell to the Medes and Chaldeans in 612 B.C. Chaldeans made Babylon their new capital c. 600 B.C.

Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon Nebuchadnezzar was a Chaldean King who restored Babylon to new grandeur Hanging Gardens – One of the Ancient Seven Wonders of the World – terraced gardens that rose 75 feet off the desert floor Walls were so thick that a 4 horse chariot could travel on top 7-tiered ziggurat that was used by astronomers to track the stars- they determined that the stars moved across the sky and that the sun, moon, Earth and five other planets were part of the same system After Nebuchadnezzar’s death, Chaldean Empire quickly fell