Rise To Power: The Assyrian Empire

Horrific violence, terrifying threats and public terrors strike fear into the hearts of thousands who oppose the Assyrian Empire. “An Assyrian Emperor’s Resume: Ferocious Conquests a Specialty” remains a paragon of these unspeakable tragedies transpiring around 875 B.C. Written by Ashur-Nasir-Pal II (or one of his subjects), this anecdote highlights his conquests as he claims ancient cities’ wealth, while brutally murdering foreign people and destroying their lands. Geographically, the story takes place in the Middle East, specifically North Mesopotamia. According to the author, he conquers places like Hudun, Zamua, Zamru, Iritu and Ammaru. The historical value behind this piece portrays prominent aspects of their society and depicts how Assyrians reigned, while hinting at the empire’s values; therefore, this historical account provides evidence, which exhibits the attributes of the Near East during Ashur-Nasir-Pal II’s reign.

The article “Grisly Assyrian Record of Torture and Death” by Erika Bleibtreu gives an insight into the ways of the Assyrian military campaigns and battles. During Mesopotamian times, wars were what divided ruling periods. There were many different groups of people that dominated Ancient Mesopotamia, and the Assyrians were one of them. Assyria, a powerful ancient empire, once sprawled across the entirety of the Fertile Crescent. It encompassed land in four modern day countries: Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria. The Assyrians were a force to not be reckoned with, for they destroyed cities and devastated crop fields and killed many people. The Assyrians did so well mainly because of their great talent to resist and overwhelm their enemies. There was never a point in time that the Assyrians were ever at peace, they were always involved in some sort of conflict.

From 1567 to 330 B.C. humanity experienced many subsequent development as well as decline in its civilizations. Among these events emerged three colossal empires that had shaken the world and forever changed the course of human history. The Egyptian, Assyrian, and Persian Empires have been instrumental in influencing technology, religion, and ideas throughout the world. Various factors have contributed to the success and downfall of these giants. Each of the “World Powers” have similarities as well as distinctions in its government form and organization, religion, and economy that contributed to their triumph.

In Myths of Empire: Domestic Politics and International Ambition, author Jack Snyder seeks to explain why overexpansion has been so common among the great powers. Sometimes, Snyder argues, states over-expand so aggressively that their actions risk the survival of the states themselves, as was the case of Germany and Japan in the World War II era. Snyder explains that the ‘central myth of empire,’ which he considers ‘defensive realism,’ is that states think that their security can only be safeguarded through further expansion. Snyder explains that this myth of empire is the counterproductive aggressive foreign policy that was the major force that propelled

The Middle Assyrian Laws are a collection of laws that were put together for the people of Mesopotamia, although the author is unknown. These codes of law were originally written in Akkadian, one of the earliest Semitic languages. The excerpts are from the Code the Assyrians, which was made in 1075 BCE. According to the document, They were found during the twentieth century in ancient Assur (currently Northern Iraq) at the site of Qal’ at Shergart. These laws are significant because they implemented structure into their society by setting standards for what women and men can and cannot do. They are important to us today because they give us valuable ideas as to how ancient society was in Mesopotamia, particularly gender roles in 1075 BCE.

The Assyrian and Babylonian military were great in older times.They were experts at the usage of the military during wars by using tactics and strategies to come out on top.Things as simple as chariots were critical and used in their unique way of war.Babylonia used creative ideas like damming out city-states water sources.

The Assyrian empire spans over modern day Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and Iran. The rivers Tigris and Euphrates both ran through the Assyrian empire which also contained rich and fertile land. The spoken languages they used were Akkadian and Assyrian ( Assyrian Neo- Aramaic) while writing with cuneiform. The Assyrians participated in the religions Ashurism and Christianity. Assyrians were often militaristic and known their advanced and developed strategies. The Assyrians were known for their highly aggressive behavior during war as well as their technological

The Assyrians are well known for their vicious military conquest and known to be as the “most war like people in history.” The Assyrians showed there military monarchy by torturing and killing the people that confronts them in any way. However, the Assyrians also had a very refined military technique. Some of the techniques were demolishing walls and gates and developed a variety of siege machinery. In contrary, the Persians used a modern day diplomacy technique to establish their empire. The Persians formed effective institution of government and building of roads. Unlike, the Assyrians, the Persians did not torture the people they have conquered, instead they allowed and respected them for who they are. The conquered people were allowed to exercise their own native traditions, values, and religions. Persians benevolence also

Chau’s thesis that the rise and fall of empires was due to tolerance, inclusion, difference, and diversity is shown to be true of the Roman Empire because of the way that tolerance allowed and caused the empire to rise, enter its golden age, and fall. The Roman Empire was a “hyperpower” that lasted from 44 BCE to 476 CE. The empire contained Western, Southern, and Eastern Europe, along with North Africa; thus, there was an abundance of culture from many different conquered groups. Romans wanted to make these conquered nations provinces of Rome. The Roman Empire began (and the Roman Republic ended) with the assassination of Julius Caesar, who wanted to be a dictator. No longer a republic, the lands already ruled by Rome became part of an empire. The government became centralized with a single ruler, the emperor. However, even before the empire, during the Republic, there was also the similar feeling of wanting to conquer other nations was there.

The Middle Assyrian Laws are a selection of laws also known as the Code of the Assyrians. They are composed in the wedge shaped writing system of ancient Mesopotamia. There are only twenty-eight given in the source but the actual number of codes in the society is uncertain. The codes listed are out of order and many numbers are missing. The documents were written in Akkadian, one of the earliest Semitic languages, in the Middle Assyrian dialect. The particular author of these codes is unknown. The existing copies though were apparently edited during the reign of the Assyrian king Tiglath- pileser I. The texts were found during the excavation of the site of Qal’at Shergat (ancient Assur) in northern Iraq in the early twentieth century. The existing copies number about fifteen tablets, one of which is duplicated by a copy that dates to the Neo – Assyrian period, around 900-612 BCE. The relationship of the document to each other is unclear. The evidence as to why these were written and whom they directly affect is not clear. The laws primarily target the relationship between male and female. The significance of the source is ambiguous, but based off of the time in history and people targeted in the law codes, the people who lived here were men and woman in relationships with one another. The codes explain the consequences, rules, and way of life in this time period.

Their advanced skills in machinery, weaponry, and the ability to strategize military advancements for future and present invasions. Another strength for the Assyrians would be their ability to communicate and gain assistance from individuals in the regions around them. However, one possible weakness for the Assyrians were there persistence to fight constantly, this cause a great strain on soldiers, many would die in battle which can cause doubt and exhaustion within the army.

The Persian Empire originated as a result of the great king known as Cyrus who united the Mediterranean and Asia Minor into one United Kingdom. Many of Cyrus’ qualities as a leader led to the Persians unspoken success in expanding their civilization into the largest and most powerful empire the world had ever seen. His campaign inspired the Persians to develop their nation by making expeditions through Media, Babylonia, Lydia, and Egypt. These four provinces had a major affect on Cyrus’ vision of creating an unstoppable empire. Therefore this opened a lot of possibilities for Cyrus and his army as they planned to conquer these regions of Asia Minor. There were many reasons as to why Cyrus was so successful and the main reason was his ability to be so humble and welcoming to his enemies. Through his strength in military command, imperial administration, and respect for his people he forged an Empire that became one of the strongest powers in Asia Minor.

The discovery of iron opened up an immense amount of possibilities to numerous empires in the world. The Assyrians were one of the first groups who took advantage of iron using it to invigorate and spread their empire. By the start of 3000 B.C., The Assyrian army was greatly feared for the combination of iron weaponry and their barbaric lifestyle. The use of iron weapons led the Assyrian military to dominance, because the Assyrians were the first to use iron weaponry, iron was stronger than the materials used by their enemies, and the wide range of weaponry that iron enabled.

By juxtaposing the Mesopotamian and Egyptian religion and royal power, we can see how these two different ascendancies acted similarly and antithetically as they both affected their people's fabrications. These strong concepts, religion and royal power (starting around approximately the early,ancient 3500 B.C.E.) compelled their people to follow their rulings. Mesopotamian & Egyptian cultural architecture, writing/arts, and geographical location act as evidence to exhibit how religion and royal power were sovereignties that influenced these creations. The royal power and religion of Egypt and Mesopotamia both affect the architecture of their region. Document 2 is the Step Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara, c. 2648 B.C.E.; a monument, which stood at 204 feet

The Assyrians were able to conquer so much land because they were superior in tactics and organization. They were also superior in weapons and their army was enormous consisting of half a million troops fighting for glory.