• The history of Assyria, briefly described in this article, is full of conquests. It was one of the states of antiquity that played a significant role in the development of the history of Mesopotamia. Initially, Assyria was not a strong power - the state of Assyria occupied a small territory, and throughout its history its center was the city of Ashur. The inhabitants of Assyria mastered agriculture and grew grapes, which was facilitated by natural irrigation in the form of rain or snow. They also used wells for their needs, and by building irrigation structures, they managed to put the Tigris River at their service. In the drier eastern regions of Assyria, pastoralism was more common, facilitated by the abundance of green meadows on the mountain slopes.

• The first period is called Old Assyrian. While most of the common population of Assyria was engaged in cattle breeding and agriculture, in the city of Ashur, through which the main trade routes passed, along which trade caravans passed from Asia Minor and the Mediterranean to Mesopotamia and Elam. All this was allowed

• Assyria, and first of all, its ruler. At the border of the 2nd and 3rd millennia, Ashur was already trying to establish his own trading colonies, and began to conquer the colonies of neighboring states.
  The country of Assyria was a slave state, but during this period the tribal system, from which society had already moved away, still left its influence. belonged to the king a large number of lands and farms, and the priesthood took over no less. However, the community owned most of the land in the state.

• In the 20th century BC. near the Euphrates, the state of Mari gained power, and traders from the country of Assyria lost most arrived, which was also facilitated by the resettlement of the Amorites in Mesopotamia. As a result, the Assyrian army, which at that time had developed advanced siege weapons, headed west and south. During these wars, the northern cities of Mesopotamia and the state of Mari itself submitted to Assyria. It was then that not just a state was formed, but the entire kingdom of Assyria, which was one of the most influential forces in the ancient Near East.
  The rulers of the state eventually realized how large of an area they had captured, so the state of Assyria was completely reorganized.

• The tsar headed a huge government apparatus, concentrated judicial power in his hands and became the supreme commander in chief. The territory of the state was divided into khalsums, which were led by governors elected by the king. The population was obliged to pay taxes to the royal treasury and perform certain labor duties. Professional warriors began to be recruited into the army, and in some cases militia were used. The Old Assyrian period ended in decline - the state of the Hittites, Egypt and Mitanni undermined the influence of Assyria in their markets.

• This was followed by the Middle Assyrian period, during which the kingdom of Assyria tried to restore its influence. In the 15th century, Assyria entered into an alliance with Egypt, as a result of which the power of Babylonia was shaken. Soon, King Ashur-uballit 1 installed his entourage on the Babylonian throne. Mitanni fell, a hundred years later Assyria captured Babylon, and sent successful expeditions to the Caucasus. However, wars were so frequent and continuous that in the 12th century BC. The Assyrian Empire weakened. Half a century later, the situation improved a little, but later the Arameans invaded Western Asia, capturing Assyria and settling on its territory, and there was no historical information left about the 150-year period from that moment.

• The Assyrian Empire reached its greatest prosperity and achievements in the third period of its existence (the New Assyrian period), spreading its influence from Egypt to Babylon and part of Asia Minor. However, old enemies were replaced by new ones - in the 6th century BC. Assyria was unexpectedly attacked by the Medes, who betrayed the alliance. The undermined power of Assyria played into the hands of Babylon, which in 609 BC. captured the last territories belonging to the Assyrian state, after which it left the world forever.

Culture

Art

Of course, one of the most developed states of the ancient Near East was Assyria. And, while the Assyrian troops roamed the expanses of neighboring countries, annexing and capturing them, in the most major cities Assyrian art developed and improved. However, its origins should be sought in even more ancient times....

Cities

Throughout almost the entire history of the cities of Assyria, the first of which was Ashur, they were the center of culture and trade activity of the entire region. Ashur was the capital of Assyria, and remained so until the destruction of the Assyrian state under the blows of the Babylonians. The city was named after the supreme deity of the Assyrian pantheon - Ashur. Most likely, it was built on the site of ancient settlements....

Capital

The capital of Assyria for most of the history of this ancient empire was the city of Ashur, also known as Assur. It was he who gave the name to the entire state.

Map of Assyria

The ancient state of Assyria was one of the most influential in the Middle East. The map of Assyria was constantly changing, as its kings continually carried out conquests and annexed new lands. There were also conquests from outside.

King of Assyria

Unlike ancient Akkad and Egypt, the king (queen) of Assyria was never revered as a god.

Territory

The territory of Assyria throughout the existence of this state was constantly changing, since the Assyrians themselves constantly waged wars of conquest, and their neighbors carried out raids every now and then.

Rulers of Assyria

Initially, the rulers of Assyria did not play a decisive role in the state. In the early stages of the history of the city of Ashur, and the state formed around it, the king was only the highest dignitary of the priesthood, and was in charge of only some issues in the city, and in war time could lead troops.

Wars

IN early period existence, Assyria was not a warlike state. It developed due to active trade, and for a long time was under the dominion of other civilizations.

Laws

The laws of Assyria throughout history have been characterized by brevity and extreme cruelty.

Gods

The inhabitants of Ancient Mesopotamia worshiped a single pantheon of gods, only sometimes different nations The names and powers patronized by their deities were somewhat different. The gods of Assyria were no exception to this rule.

Army

The army of Assyria was one of the most powerful in its time. Assyrian commanders were masters of siege warfare, and in battle they used different kinds tactics.

Fall of Assyria

The Assyrian Empire, which existed for almost one and a half thousand years, at the end of the 6th century BC. was destroyed.

Religion

The religion of Assyria was closely connected with the entire religious cult that was professed by the peoples of Mesopotamia.

Geographical location of Assyria

The area along the Euphrates and Tigris rivers was extremely favorable for the peoples living here.

River in Assyria

The main river in Assyria, which played an important role in the development of the state, is called the Tigris.

Conquest of Assyria

Assyria was engaged in constant conquest throughout most of its history.

Architecture

Between the 11th and 7th centuries BC. Assyria became the most powerful slave state in Western Asia.

Writing

Historians have been able to learn a lot about the writing of Assyria thanks to numerous clay tablets found in the ruins of ancient cities.

Achievements

Undoubtedly, Assyria was one of the most powerful states in the history of Ancient Mesopotamia. Its history lasted almost 1.5 thousand years, during which a small new state turned into a powerful empire.

Reliefs

In the 9th century BC. During the reign of King Ashurnasirpal II, Assyria reached the greatest prosperity in its history.

The first empire of the Ancient World was Assyria. This state existed on the world map for almost 2000 years - from the 24th to the 7th century BC, and around 609 BC. e. ceased to exist. The first mentions of Assyria were found in ancient authors such as Herodotus, Aristotle and others. The Assyrian kingdom is also mentioned in some books of the Bible.

Geography

The Assyrian kingdom was located in the upper reaches and stretched from the lower reaches of the Lesser Zab in the south to the Zagras Mountains in the east and the Masios Mountains in the northwest. IN different eras During its existence, it was located on the lands of such modern states as Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Israel, Palestine, Turkey, Syria, Cyprus and Egypt.

More than one capital of the Assyrian kingdom is known to centuries-old history:

1. Ashur (the first capital, located 250 km from modern Baghdad).
2. Ekallatum (the capital of upper Mesopotamia, was located in the middle reaches of the Tigris).
3. Nineveh (located in modern Iraq).

Historical periods of development

Since the history of the Assyrian kingdom occupies too long a period of time, the era of its existence is conventionally divided into three periods:

• Old Assyrian period - XX-XVI centuries BC.
• Middle Assyrian period - XV-XI centuries BC.
• New Assyrian kingdom - X-VII centuries BC.

Each period was characterized by its own internal and foreign policy states, monarchs from various dynasties were in power, each subsequent period began with the rise and flourishing of the statehood of the Assyrians, a change in the geography of the kingdom and a change in foreign policy guidelines.

Old Assyrian period

The Assyrians came to the territory of the Euphrates River in the middle of the 20th century. BC BC, these tribes said. The first city they built was Ashur, named after their supreme deity.

During this period, there was no single Assyrian state yet, so the largest ruling nome was Ashur, who was a vassal of the kingdom of Mitania and Kassite Babylonia. The nome retained some independence in the internal affairs of the settlements. The Ashur nome included several small rural settlements led by elders. The city developed quite quickly due to its favorable geographical location: trade routes from the south, west and east passed through it.

It is not customary to talk about the monarchs ruling during this period, since the rulers did not have all the political rights characteristic of bearers of such status. This period in the history of Assyria was highlighted by historians for convenience as the prehistory of the Assyrian kingdom. Before the fall of Akkad in the 22nd century BC. Ashur was part of it, and after its disappearance it became independent for a short period of time, and only in the 21st century BC. e. was captured by Ur. Only 200 years later, power passed to the rulers - the Ashurians, from that moment the rapid growth of trade and commodity production began. However, this situation within the state did not last long, and after 100 years Ashur loses its significance as a central city, and one of the sons of the ruler Shamsht-Adad becomes its governor. Soon the city came under the rule of the king of Babylon, Hammurabi, and only around 1720 BC. e. The gradual flourishing of the independent Assyrian state begins.

Second period

Beginning in the 14th century BC, Assyrian rulers in official documents are already called kings. Moreover, when addressing the Pharaoh of Egypt, they say “Our brother.” During this period, there was active military colonization of the lands: invasions were carried out on the territory of the Hittite state, raids on the Babylonian kingdom, in the cities of Phenicia and Syria, and in 1290-1260. BC e. The territorial formation of the Assyrian Empire ends.

A new rise in the Assyrian wars of conquest began under King Tiglath-pileser, who was able to capture Northern Syria, Phenicia and part of Asia Minor; moreover, the king sailed several times on ships to the Mediterranean Sea to show his superiority over Egypt. After the death of the conquering monarch, the state begins to decline, and all subsequent kings can no longer preserve the previously captured lands. The Assyrian kingdom was pushed back to its native lands. Documents from the period XI-X centuries BC. e. has not survived, which indicates decline.

Neo-Assyrian kingdom

A new stage in the development of Assyria began after the Assyrians managed to get rid of the Aramaic tribes that came to their territory. It is the state created during this period that is considered to be the first empire in human history. The protracted crisis of the Assyrian kingdom was stopped by the kings Adad-Nirari II and Adid-Nirari III (it is with his mother Semiramis that the existence of one of the 7 wonders of the world - the Hanging Gardens - is associated). Unfortunately, the next three kings could not withstand the blows of an external enemy - the kingdom of Urartu, and carried out an illiterate domestic policy, which significantly weakened the state.

Assyria under Tiglapalaser III

The real rise of the kingdom began in the era of King Tiglapalasar III. While in power in 745-727. BC e., he was able to seize the lands of Phenicia, Palestine, Syria, the kingdom of Damascus, and it was during his reign that the long-term military conflict with the state of Urartu was resolved.

Successes in foreign policy are due to the implementation of domestic political reforms. So, the king began the forced resettlement of residents from the occupied states, along with their families and property, to his lands, which led to the spread of the Aramaic language throughout Assyria. The king solved the problem of separatism within the country by dividing large regions into many small ones led by governors, thus preventing the emergence of new dynasties. The tsar also took up the reform of the militia and military colonists, it was reorganized into a professional regular army that received salaries from the treasury, new types of troops were introduced - regular cavalry and sappers, Special attention was given to the organization of intelligence and communications services.

Successful military campaigns allowed Tiglath-pileser to create an empire stretching from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea, and even be crowned king of Babylon - Pulu.

Urartu - a kingdom (Transcaucasia), which was invaded by Assyrian rulers

The Kingdom of Urartu was located on the highlands and occupied the territory of modern Armenia, eastern Turkey, northwestern Iran and the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan. The heyday of the state occurred at the end of the 9th - mid-8th century BC; the decline of Urartu was largely contributed to by the wars with the Assyrian kingdom.

Having received the throne after the death of his father, King Tiglath-Pileser III sought to return control of the Asia Minor trade routes to his state. In 735 BC. e. In the decisive battle on the western bank of the Euphrates, the Assyrians were able to defeat the army of Urartu and advance deeper into the kingdom. The monarch of Urartu, Sarduri, fled and soon died, leaving the state in a deplorable state. His successor Rusa I was able to establish a temporary truce with Assyria, which was soon broken by the Assyrian king Sargon II.

Taking advantage of the fact that Urartu was weakened by the defeat received from the Cimmerian tribes, Sargon II in 714 BC. e. destroyed the Urartian army, and thus Urartu and the kingdoms dependent on it came under the rule of Assyria. After these events, Urartu lost its significance on the world stage.

Politics of the last Assyrian kings

The heir of Tiglath-pileser III was unable to retain in his hands the empire founded by his predecessor, and over time, Babylon declared its independence. The next king, Sargon II, in his foreign policy was not limited to possessing only the kingdom of Urartu, he was able to return Babylon to the control of Assyria and was crowned as the Babylonian king, and he also managed to suppress all the uprisings that arose on the territory of the empire.

The reign of Sennacherib (705-680 BC) was characterized by constant confrontation between the king and the priests and townspeople. During his reign, the former king of Babylon again tried to restore his power, this led to Sennacherib brutally dealing with the Babylonians and completely destroying Babylon. Dissatisfaction with the tsar's policies led to a weakening of the state and, as a result, outbreaks of uprisings; some states regained independence, and Urartu regained a number of territories. This policy led to the murder of the king.

Having received power, the heir to the murdered king Esarhaddon first set about restoring Babylon and establishing relations with the priests. Concerning foreign policy, the king managed to repel the Cimmerian invasion, suppress the anti-Assyrian uprisings in Phenicia and undertake a successful campaign in Egypt, which resulted in the capture of Memphis and ascension to the throne of Egypt, but the king was unable to maintain this victory due to unexpected death.

The last king of Assyria

The last strong king of Assyria was Ashurbanipal, known as the most competent ruler of the Assyrian state. It was he who collected a unique library of clay tablets in his palace. His reign was characterized by a constant struggle with vassal states wishing to regain their independence. During this period, Assyria fought with the kingdom of Elam, which led to the complete defeat of the latter. Egypt and Babylon wanted to regain their independence, but as a result of numerous conflicts they failed. Ashurbanipal managed to spread his influence to Lydia, Media, Phrygia, and defeat Thebes.

Death of the Assyrian Kingdom

The death of Ashurbanipal marked the beginning of the turmoil. Assyria was defeated by the Median kingdom, and Babylon gained independence. The united forces of the Medes and their allies in 612 BC. e. The main city of the Assyrian kingdom, Nineveh, was destroyed. In 605 BC. e. At Karchemish, the Babylonian heir Nebuchadnezzar defeated the last military units of Assyria, thus the Assyrian Empire was destroyed.

Historical significance of Assyria

The ancient Assyrian kingdom left behind many cultural and historical monuments. Many bas-reliefs with scenes from the life of kings and nobles, six-meter sculptures of winged gods, a lot of ceramics and jewelry have survived to this day.

A great contribution to the development of knowledge about the Ancient World was made by the discovered library with thirty thousand clay tablets of King Ashurbanipal, where knowledge on medicine, astronomy, engineering was collected, and even the Great Flood was mentioned.

Engineering was at a high level of development - the Assyrians were able to build a water canal and an aqueduct 13 meters wide and 3 thousand meters long.

The Assyrians were able to create one of the strongest armies of their time, they were armed with chariots, battering rams, spears, warriors used trained dogs in battles, the army was well equipped.

After the fall of the Assyrian state, Babylon became the heir to centuries-old achievements.

Assyria is one of the first empires in the world, a civilization that originated in Mesopotamia. Assyria dates back to the 24th century and has existed for almost two millennia.

Assyria in ancient times

Assyria was one of the most powerful empires in the 1st millennium BC. e., its heyday and golden age occurred precisely during this period. Until this time it was a simple state in the north

Mesopotamia, which was mainly engaged in trade, since it was located on important trade routes.

Assyria was then subject to attacks by nomads such as the Arameans, which led to the decline of the state in the 11th century BC. e.

In total, historians roughly divide into three periods:

• Old Assyrian;
• Middle Assyrian;
• Neo-Assyrian.

In the latter, Assyria becomes the world's first empire. In the 8th century, the golden age of the empire began, when it was ruled by King Tiglath-pileser III. Assyria crushes the state of Urartu. At the end of the 8th century, she subjugates Israel, and in the 7th century she also captures Egypt. When Ashurbanipal became king, Assyria subjugated Media, Thebes, and Lydia.
After the death of Ashurbanipal, Assyria could not resist the onslaught of Babylon and Media, and the end of the empire came.

Where is ancient Assyria now?

Now Assyria as a state does not exist; in the 21st century, the following countries are located on the territory of the former empire: Iraq, Iran and others. On its territory live the peoples of the Semitic group: Arabs, Jews and some others. The dominant religion in the territory of former Assyria is Islam. The largest territory belonging to Assyria is now occupied by Iraq. Now Iraq is on the brink civil war. On the territory of Iraq there is a diaspora of those ancient Assyrians who founded the world's first empire, which conquered almost the entire Arabian Peninsula (Interfluve).

What does the territory of Assyria look like in modern times?

Now the world, according to some data that has not been confirmed, is inhabited by about a million Assyrians. IN modern world they do not have their own state, they inhabit Iran, Iraq, the USA, Syria, there are also small diasporas in Russia and Ukraine. Modern Assyrians primarily speak Arabic and Turkish languages. And their ancient, native language is on the verge of extinction.
Modern Assyria is not a state, but only one million descendants of the ancient Assyrians, who carry the unique Assyrian culture and folklore.

How did the first empire arise and fall? History of the Assyrian state

Assyria - this name alone terrified the inhabitants of the Ancient East. Exactly Assyrian power, possessing a strong, combat-ready army, was the first of the states to embark on a broad policy of conquest, and the library of clay tablets collected by the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal became a valuable source for the study of science, culture, history, and ancient Mesopotamia. The Assyrians, who belonged to the Semitic language group (this group also includes Arabic and Hebrew) and came from the arid regions of the Arabian Peninsula and the Syrian Desert, through which they roamed, settled in the middle part of the Tigris River valley (the territory of modern Iraq).

Ashur became their first major outpost and one of the capitals of the future Assyrian state. Thanks to the neighborhood and, as a result, acquaintance with the more developed Sumerian, Babylonian and Akkadian cultures, the presence of the Tigris and irrigated lands, the presence of metal and forest, which their southern neighbors did not have, thanks to the location at the intersection of important trade routes of the Ancient East, the foundations of statehood were formed among the former nomads , and the settlement of Ashur turned into a rich and powerful center of the Middle East region.

Most likely, it was control over the most important trade routes that pushed Ashur (that is what the Assyrian state was originally called) onto the path of territorial aggressive aspirations (in addition to the seizure of slaves and booty), thereby predetermining the further foreign policy line of the state.

The first Assyrian king to begin a major military expansion was Shamshiadat I. In 1800 BC. he conquered all of Northern Mesopotamia, subjugated part of Cappadocia (modern Turkey) and the large Middle Eastern city of Mari.

In military campaigns, his troops reached the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, and Assyria itself began to compete with the powerful Babylon. Shamshiadat I himself called himself “king of the universe.” However, at the end of the 16th century BC. For about 100 years, Assyria fell under the rule of the state of Mitanni, located in northern Mesopotamia.

A new surge of conquests falls on the Assyrian kings Shalmaneser I (1274-1245 BC), who destroyed the state of Mitanni, capturing 9 cities with the capital, Tukultininurt I (1244-1208 BC), who significantly expanded the possessions of the Assyrian power , who successfully intervened in Babylonian affairs and carried out a successful raid on the powerful Hittite state, and Tiglath-pileser I (1115-1077 BC), who made the first sea voyage in the history of Assyria across the Mediterranean Sea.

But, perhaps, Assyria reached its greatest power in the so-called Neo-Assyrian period of its history. The Assyrian king Tiglapalasar III (745-727 BC) conquered almost the entire powerful Urartian kingdom (Urartu was located on the territory of modern Armenia, up to present-day Syria), except for the capital, Phenicia, Palestine, Syria, and the fairly strong Damascus kingdom.

The same king, without bloodshed, ascended the throne of Babylonia under the name Pulu. Another Assyrian king Sargon II (721-705 BC), spending a lot of time on military campaigns, seizing new lands and suppressing uprisings, finally pacified Urartu, captured the state of Israel and forcefully subjugated Babylonia, accepting the title of governor there.

In 720 BC. Sargon II defeated the combined forces of the rebel Syria, Phenicia and Egypt that joined them, and in 713 BC. makes a punitive expedition to Media (Iran), captured even before him. The rulers of Egypt, Cyprus, and the Sabaean kingdom in South Arabia fawned on this king.

His son and successor Sennacherrib (701-681 BC) inherited a huge empire, in which uprisings periodically had to be suppressed in various places. So, in 702 BC. In two battles at Kutu and Kish, Sennaherrib defeated the powerful Babylonian-Elamite army (the Elamite state, which supported the rebel Babylonia, was located on the territory of modern Iran), capturing 200,000 thousand prisoners and rich booty.

Babylon itself, whose inhabitants were partly exterminated and partly resettled to various regions of the Assyrian state, was flooded by Sennacherib with the released waters of the Euphrates River. Sennacherib also had to fight a coalition of Egypt, Judea and the Arab Bedouin tribes. During this war, Jerusalem was besieged, but the Assyrians failed to take it due, as scientists believe, to tropical fever that crippled their army.

The main foreign policy success of the new king Esarhaddon was the conquest of Egypt. In addition, he restored the destroyed Babylon. The last powerful Assyrian king, during whose reign Assyria flourished, was the already mentioned library collector Ashurbanipal (668-631 BC). Under him, the hitherto independent city-states of Phenicia Tire and Arvada became subordinate to Assyria, and a punitive campaign was carried out against Assyria's longtime enemy, the Elamite state (Elam then helped Ashurbanipal's brother in the struggle for power), during which in 639 BC. e. Its capital, Susa, was taken.

During the reign of the Three Kings (631-612 BC) - after Ashurbanipal - uprisings raged in Assyria. Endless wars exhausted Assyria. In Media, the energetic king Cyaxares came to power, expelling the Scythians from his territory and even, according to some statements, managed to attract them to his side, no longer considering himself to owe anything to Assyria.

In Babylonia, a longtime rival of Assyria, King Nabobalassar, the founder of the Neo-Babylonian kingdom, who also did not consider himself a subject of Assyria, comes to power. These two rulers formed an alliance against their common enemy Assyria and began joint military operations. Under the prevailing conditions, one of the sons of Ashurbanipal - Sarak - was forced to enter into an alliance with Egypt, which by that time was already independent.

Military actions between the Assyrians and Babylonians in 616-615. BC. went with varying degrees of success. At this time, taking advantage of the absence of the Assyrian army, the Medes broke through to the indigenous regions of Assyria. In 614 BC. they took the ancient sacred capital of the Assyrians, Ashur, and in 612 BC. The combined Median-Babylonian troops approached Nineveh ( modern city Mosul in Iraq).

Since the time of King Sennacherib, Nineveh has been the capital of the Assyrian power, a large and beautiful city giant squares and palaces, the political center of the Ancient East. Despite the stubborn resistance of Nineveh, the city was also taken. The remnants of the Assyrian army, led by King Ashuruballit, retreated to the Euphrates.

In 605 BC. In the Battle of Karchemish near the Euphrates, the Babylonian prince Nebuchadnezzar (the future famous king of Babylon), with the support of the Medes, defeated the combined Assyrian-Egyptian troops. Assyrian state ceased to exist. However, the Assyrian people did not disappear, maintaining their national identity.

What was the Assyrian state like?

Army. Attitude towards conquered peoples.

The Assyrian state (approximately XXIV BC - 605 BC) at the highest peak of its power owned, by the standards of that time, vast territories (modern Iraq, Syria, Israel, Lebanon, Armenia, part of Iran, Egypt). To capture these territories, Assyria had a strong, combat-ready army that had no analogues in the then ancient world.

The Assyrian army was divided into cavalry, which in turn was divided into chariot and simple cavalry and into infantry - lightly armed and heavily armed. The Assyrians in a later period of their history, unlike many states of that time, were under the influence of Indo-European peoples, for example, the Scythians, famous for their cavalry (it is known that the Scythians were in the service of the Assyrians, and their union was secured by marriage between the daughter of the Assyrian king Esarhaddon and the Scythian king Bartatua) began to widely use simple cavalry, which made it possible to successfully pursue the retreating enemy. Thanks to the availability of metal in Assyria, the Assyrian heavily armed warrior was relatively well protected and armed.

In addition to these types of troops, for the first time in history, the Assyrian army used engineering auxiliary troops (recruited mainly from slaves), who were engaged in laying roads, constructing pontoon bridges and fortified camps. The Assyrian army was one of the first (and perhaps the very first) to use various siege weapons, such as a ram and a special device, somewhat reminiscent of an ox vein ballista, which fired stones weighing up to 10 kg at a distance of 500-600 m at a besieged city The kings and generals of Assyria were familiar with frontal and flank attacks and a combination of these attacks.

Also, the espionage and intelligence system was quite well established in countries where military operations were planned or were dangerous for Assyria. Finally, a warning system, like signal beacons, was quite widely used. The Assyrian army tried to act unexpectedly and quickly, without giving the enemy the opportunity to come to their senses, often making sudden night raids on the enemy camp. When necessary, the Assyrian army resorted to “starvation” tactics, destroying wells, blocking roads, etc. All this made the Assyrian army strong and invincible.

In order to weaken and keep the conquered peoples in greater subordination, the Assyrians practiced the resettlement of the conquered peoples to other areas of the Assyrian empire that were uncharacteristic for their economic activities. For example, settled agricultural peoples were resettled in deserts and steppes suitable only for nomads. So, after the capture of the 2nd state of Israel by the Assyrian king Sargon, 27,000 thousand Israelis were resettled in Assyria and Media, and Babylonians, Syrians and Arabs settled in Israel itself, who later became known as the Samaritans and were included in the New Testament parable of the “Good Samaritan”.

It should also be noted that in their cruelty the Assyrians surpassed all other peoples and civilizations of that time, which were also not particularly humane. The most sophisticated tortures and executions of a defeated enemy were considered normal for the Assyrians. One of the reliefs shows the Assyrian king feasting in the garden with his wife and enjoying not only the sounds of harps and tympanums, but also the bloody sight: the severed head of one of his enemies hangs on a tree. Such cruelty served to intimidate enemies, and also partly had religious and ritual functions.

Political system. Population. Family.

Initially, the city-state of Ashur (the core of the future Assyrian Empire) was an oligarchic slave-owning republic governed by a council of elders, which changed every year and was recruited from the wealthiest residents of the city. The tsar's share in governing the country was small and was reduced to the role of commander-in-chief of the army. However, gradually the royal power strengthened. Transfer of the capital from Ashur without visible reasons to the opposite bank of the Tigris by the Assyrian king Tukultininurt 1 (1244-1208 BC) indicates, apparently, the king’s desire to break with the Ashur council, which became only a city council.

The main basis of the Assyrian state were rural communities, which were the owners of the land fund. The fund was divided into plots that belonged to individual families. Gradually, as the aggressive campaigns are successful and wealth is accumulated, rich community members-slave owners emerge, and their poor fellow community members fall into debt slavery. So, for example, the debtor was obliged to provide a certain number of reapers to a rich neighbor-creditor at the time of harvest in exchange for paying interest on the loan amount. Another very common way to fall into debt slavery was to give the debtor into temporary slavery to the creditor as collateral.

Noble and wealthy Assyrians did not perform any duties in favor of the state. The differences between the rich and poor inhabitants of Assyria were shown by clothing, or rather, the quality of the material and the length of the “kandi” - a short-sleeved shirt, widespread in the ancient Near East. The more noble and rich a person was, the longer his candi was. In addition, all the ancient Assyrians grew thick, long beards, which were considered a sign of morality, and carefully looked after them. Only eunuchs did not wear beards.

The so-called “Middle Assyrian laws” have reached us, regulating various aspects Everyday life ancient Assyria and which, along with the “laws of Hammurabi,” are the most ancient legal monuments.

In ancient Assyria there was a patriarchal family. The power of a father over his children differed little from the power of a master over slaves. Children and slaves were equally counted among the property from which the creditor could take compensation for the debt. The position of a wife also differed little from that of a slave, since a wife was acquired by purchase. The husband had a legally justified right to resort to violence against his wife. After the death of her husband, the wife went to the latter's relatives.

It is also worth noting that external sign It was free for a free woman to wear a veil to cover her face. This tradition was subsequently adopted by Muslims.

Who are the Assyrians?

Modern Assyrians are Christians by religion (the majority belong to the “Holy Apostolic Assyrian Church of the East” and to the “Chaldean catholic church), speakers of the so-called northeastern New Aramaic language, successors of the Old Aramaic language spoken by Jesus Christ, consider themselves direct descendants of the ancient Assyrian state, which we know about from school history textbooks.

The ethnonym “Assyrians” itself, after a long period of oblivion, appears somewhere in the Middle Ages. It was applied to the Aramaic-speaking Christians of modern Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey by European missionaries, who declared them descendants of the ancient Assyrians. This term successfully took root among Christians in this region, surrounded by alien religious and ethnic elements, who saw in it one of the guarantees of their national identity. It was the presence of the Christian faith, as well as the Aramaic language, one of the centers of which was the Assyrian state, that became ethnically consolidating factors for the Assyrian people.

We know practically nothing about the inhabitants of ancient Assyria (the backbone of which occupied the territory of modern Iraq) after the fall of their state under the attack of Media and Babylonia. Most likely, the inhabitants themselves were not completely exterminated; only ruling class. In the texts and annals of the Persian Achaemenid state, one of the satrapies of which was the territory of the former Assyria, we encounter characteristic Aramaic names. Many of these names contain the name Ashur, sacred to the Assyrians (one of the capitals of ancient Assyria).

Many Aramaic-speaking Assyrians occupied quite a number of positions in the Persian Empire. high positions, such as, for example, a certain Pan-Ashur-lumur, who was the secretary of the crowned princess Cambysia under Cyrus 2, and the Aramaic language itself under the Persian Achaemenids was the language of office work (imperial Aramaic). There is also an assumption that the appearance of the main deity of the Persian Zoroastrians, Ahura Mazda, was borrowed by the Persians from the ancient Assyrian god of war Ashur. Subsequently, the territory of Assyria was occupied by successive different states and peoples.

In the II century. AD the small state of Osroene in western Mesopotamia, inhabited by Armenian-speaking and Armenian populations, with its center in the city of Edessa (the modern Turkish city of Sanliurfa 80 km from the Euphrates and 45 km from the Turkish-Syrian border) thanks to the efforts of the apostles Peter, Thomas and Jude Thaddeus for the first time in history adopted Christianity as the state religion. Having adopted Christianity, the Arameans of Osroene began to call themselves “Syrians” (not to be confused with the Arab population of modern Syria), and their language became the literary language of all Aramaic-speaking Christians and was called “Syriac”, or Middle Aramaic. This language is this moment practically dead (now used only as a liturgical language in the Assyrian churches), became the basis for the emergence of the New Aramaic language. With the spread of Christianity, the ethnonym “Syrians” was adopted by other Aramaic-speaking Christians, and then, as mentioned above, the letter A was added to this ethnonym.

The Assyrians were able to maintain the Christian faith and not dissolve into the Muslim and Zoroastrian population around them. In the Arab Caliphate, Assyrian Christians were doctors and scientists. They did a great job of spreading secular education and culture there. Thanks to their translations from Greek into Syriac and Arabic languages, ancient science and philosophy became available to the Arabs.

The real tragedy for the Assyrian people was the First World War. During this war the leadership Ottoman Empire decided to punish the Assyrians for “betrayal,” or more precisely, for helping the Russian army. During the massacre, as well as from forced exile in the desert from 1914 to 1918, according to various estimates, from 200 to 700 thousand Assyrians died (presumably a third of all Assyrians). Moreover, about 100 thousand Eastern Christians were killed in neighboring neutral Persia, whose territory the Turks invaded twice. 9 thousand Assyrians were exterminated by the Iranians themselves in the cities of Khoy and Urmia.

By the way, when Russian troops entered Urmia, from the remnants of the refugees they created detachments, headed by the Assyrian general Elia Agha Petros. With his small army, he managed to hold back the attacks of the Kurds and Persians for some time. Another dark milestone for the Assyrian people was the killing of 3,000 Assyrians in Iraq in 1933.

August 7 is a reminder and day of remembrance of these two tragic events for the Assyrians.

Fleeing various persecutions, many Assyrians were forced to flee the Middle East and were scattered throughout the world. Today, the exact number of all Assyrians living in different countries, cannot be installed.

According to some data, their number ranges from 3 to 4.2 million people. Half of them live in their traditional habitat - in the countries of the Middle East (Iran, Syria, Turkey, but most of all in Iraq). The remaining half settled throughout the rest of the world. The United States has the second largest Assyrian population in the world after Iraq (the largest number of Assyrians live in Chicago, where there is even a street named after the ancient Assyrian king Sargon). Assyrians also live in Russia.

For the first time the Assyrians appeared in the territory Russian Empire after the Russian-Persian War (1826-1828) and the signing of the Turkmanchay Peace Treaty. According to this treaty, Christians living in Persia had the right to move to the Russian Empire. A larger wave of emigration to Russia occurred during the already mentioned tragic events of the First World War. Then many Assyrians found salvation in the Russian Empire, and then in Soviet Russia and Transcaucasia, such as a group of Assyrian refugees walking along with Russian soldiers retreating from Iran. Influx of Assyrians into Soviet Russia continued further.

It was easier for the Assyrians who settled in Georgia and Armenia - there the climate and natural conditions were more or less familiar, and there was an opportunity to engage in familiar agriculture and cattle breeding. The same is true in the south of Russia. In Kuban, for example, Assyrian immigrants from the Iranian region of Urmia founded a village of the same name and began growing red bell pepper. Every year in May, Assyrians from Russian cities and neighboring countries come here: the Hubba (friendship) festival is held here, the program of which includes football matches, national music, and dances.

It was more difficult for the Assyrians who settled in the cities. Former mountaineer farmers, who were also mostly illiterate and did not know the Russian language (many Assyrians did not have Soviet passports until the 1960s), found it difficult to find something to do in urban life. Moscow Assyrians found a way out of this situation by starting to shine shoes, which did not require special skills, and practically monopolized this area in Moscow. Moscow Assyrians settled compactly, along tribal and single-village lines, in the central regions of Moscow. The most famous Assyrian place in Moscow was a house in 3rd Samotechny Lane, inhabited exclusively by Assyrians.

In 1940-1950, the amateur football team “Moscow Cleaner” was created, consisting only of Assyrians. However, the Assyrians played not only football, but also volleyball, as Yuri Vizbor reminded us of in the song “Volleyball on Sretenka” (“The son of an Assyrian is an Assyrian Leo Uranus”). The Moscow Assyrian diaspora continues to exist today. There is an Assyrian church in Moscow, and until recently there was an Assyrian restaurant.

Despite the great illiteracy of the Assyrians, the All-Russian Union of Assyrians “Hayatd-Athur” was created in 1924, national Assyrian schools also operated in the USSR, and the Assyrian newspaper “Star of the East” was published.

Hard times for Soviet Assyrians came in the second half of the 30s, when all Assyrian schools and clubs were abolished, and the small Assyrian clergy and intelligentsia were repressed. The next wave of repression hit the Soviet Assyrians after the war. Many were exiled to Siberia and Kazakhstan on trumped-up charges of espionage and sabotage, despite the fact that many Assyrians fought alongside the Russians on the fields of the Great Patriotic War.

Today, the total number of Russian Assyrians ranges from 14,000 to 70,000 people. Most of them live in the Krasnodar Territory and Moscow. Quite a lot of Assyrians live in former republics THE USSR. In Tbilisi, for example, there is a quarter called Kukia, where Assyrians live.

Today, Assyrians scattered throughout the world (although in the thirties a plan to resettle all Assyrians to Brazil was discussed at a meeting of the League of Nations) have retained their cultural and linguistic identity. They have their own customs, their own language, their own church, their own calendar (according to the Assyrian calendar it is now 6763). They also have their own national dishes - for example, the so-called prahat (which means “hand” in Aramaic and symbolizes the fall of the Assyrian capital of Nineveh), round flatbreads based on wheat and corn dough.

Assyrians are funny cheerful people. They love to sing and dance. All over the world, Assyrians dance the national dance “Sheikhani”.

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BABYLON AND ASSYRIA- historical region in Mesopotamia. Ancient Babylonia included the Tigris and Euphrates valley from modern Baghdad in the northwest to the Persian Gulf in the southeast. Before the rise of Babylon around 1900 BC. this area was known as Sumer (in the southeast) and Akkad (in the northwest). Assyria lay north of Babylonia along the upper Tigris and the basins of the Greater Zab and Lesser Zab rivers; in our time, its borders would be the borders of Iran in the east, Turkey in the north and Syria in the west. Overall, modern Iraq north of the Euphrates includes much of the ancient territory of Babylonia and Assyria.

Sumerian-Akkadian period.

The Sumerians, the first civilized inhabitants of the Babylonian Plain, took possession of the area around the Persian Gulf around 4000 BC. They drained swamps, built canals and practiced agriculture. By developing trade with surrounding areas and creating an economy that relied not only on Agriculture, but also for the production of metals, textiles and ceramics, the Sumerians by 3000 BC. had a high culture, characterized by urban life, an elaborate religion and a special writing system (cuneiform). Their civilization was adopted by the Semites (Akkadians) who lived in the northwest of the plain. History of Sumer and Akkad 2700–1900 BC. filled with constant clashes between the various Sumerian city-states and wars between the Sumerians and Akkadians.

The Sumerian-Akkadian period ended c. 1900 BC, when power in the cities of Mesopotamia is seized by a new Semitic people - the Amorites, who settled, in particular, in Babylon. Gradually, the city of Babylon extended its influence to the Tigris and Euphrates valley, and by 1750 BC. Hammurabi, the sixth Amorite king, completed the process of Babylonian expansion, creating an empire that included Sumer, Akkad, Assyria, and possibly Syria. Babylon was the capital of this vast kingdom, and from then on the region that had previously been called Sumer and Akkad became known as Babylonia.

Babylonia.

Despite the fact that the civilization of the Babylonians at the time of Hammurabi was based on Sumerian, Akkadian became the official language. There were three main classes: the highest, consisting of the feudal landowning nobility, civil and military officials and clergy; secondary – traders, artisans, scribes and representatives of liberal professions; the lowest - small landowners and tenants, urban and rural dependent workers, as well as numerous slaves. Under Hammurabi, the Babylonian government was a well-organized bureaucracy, headed by a king and ministers. The government conducted wars, administered justice, directed agricultural production, and collected taxes. The business documents of the Babylonians, preserved on clay tablets, speak of an astonishing development and complexity of economic life. Among the business documents found were receipts, receipts, debt records, contracts, leases, inventory lists, and ledgers. Large tracts of land were owned by private individuals, the rest of the land belonged to the king or temples. It was processed by free Babylonians, slaves and indentured laborers. There were also tenant farmers, who could be tenants or sharecroppers.

Some Babylonian artisans owned their own workshops, others worked in palaces and temples for food and wages. There was an apprenticeship system, artisans united in guilds according to their professions. Trade was carried out with Egypt, Syria, the northern mountainous regions and India. The media of exchange were gold, silver and copper; The Babylonian system of weights and measures was used, which became the standard throughout the Middle East.

The Babylonians were the first to use a seven-day week and a 24-hour day (with twelve double hours). They achieved significant success in astronomy (used to compile the calendar); astrology played a large role in their lives. The Babylonians had the knowledge of arithmetic and geometry necessary to measure land plots, as well as in algebra.

Kassite rule and the rise of Assyria.

The early stage of Babylonian history (Old Babylonian period) ended c. 1600 BC, when Babylonia was invaded by invaders from the north. The Hittites, firmly established in Asia Minor, ravaged and destroyed Babylon in 1595, after which the Kassites surged from Elam and destroyed the Amorite dynasty.

After the capture of Babylonia by the Kassites, the rise of Assyria as an independent state began. During the reign of Hammurabi, Assyria was a Babylonian province, but the Kassites were unable to keep Assyria in subjection. Thus a situation arose in which, along the banks of the Upper Tigris, the warlike, predominantly Semitic Assyrians began to lay the foundations of an empire that over time surpassed the size of all its predecessors.

Main milestones in the history of Assyria.

The history of Assyria after its first rise to the scale of a great power falls into three main periods.

1) About 1300 – approx. 1100 BC The first task that the Assyrians had to solve was protecting the borders. In the west was the once powerful Mitanni, in the north was Urartu, in the east were the Elamite tribes, in the south were the Kassites. During the first part of this period there was a continuous struggle with the Mitannians and Urartu, waged by the great Assyrian king Shalmaneser I (1274–1245 BC) and his successors. Towards the end of the period, when strong borders with their neighbors were established in the east, north and west, the Assyrians were able, under Tiglath-pileser I (1115–1077 BC), to occupy the southern borders, where the Kassite dynasty had recently fallen in Babylon (1169 BC). AD). At the beginning of the 11th century. BC. Tiglath-pileser captured Babylon, but the Assyrians were unable to hold it, and pressure from the nomads forced them to focus on the western borders.

2) 883–763 BC After two centuries of unrest that followed the death of Tiglath-pileser I, at the beginning of the 9th century. BC. The Assyrians created a completely militarized state. Under the three great conquering kings - Ashurnasirpal II, Shalmaneser II and Adadnirari III, whose reign spanned the period from 883 to 783 BC, the Assyrians again expanded their possessions to their former northern and eastern borders, reached the Mediterranean Sea in the west and captured part of the lands of Babylonia. Ashurnasirpal II, who boasted that he had “no rival among the princes of the Four Countries of the World,” fought with one or another of Assyria’s enemies almost every year of his long reign; his successors followed his example. A hundred years of unremitting efforts could not but lead to a natural result, and the Assyrian state collapsed overnight when, after a solar eclipse of 763 BC. Riots broke out throughout the country.

3) 745–612 BC By 745 BC Tiglath-pileser III restored order in his kingdom, completed the re-conquest of Babylonia and was crowned king in 728. ancient city Hammurabi. During the reign of Sargon II, founder of the new Assyrian dynasty (722 BC), the truly imperial age of Assyria began. It was Sargon II who captured the kingdom of Israel and resettled its inhabitants, destroyed the Hittite fortresses, among them Karchemish, and expanded the borders of the kingdom to Egypt. Sennacherib (Sinnacherib) (705–681 BC) established Assyrian rule in Elam, and after the revolt in Babylon (689 BC) he razed the city to the ground. Esarhaddon (681–669 BC) carried out the conquest of Egypt (671 BC), but during the reign of his son Ashurbanipal (Ashurbanibal) (669–629 BC), the Assyrian Empire, having reached its maximum size, began to disintegrate. Soon after 660 BC Egypt regained its independence. Last years Ashurbanipal's reign was marred by Cimmerian and Scythian invasions of the Middle East and the rise of Media and Babylonia, which drained Assyria's military and financial reserves. In 612 BC. The Assyrian capital Nineveh was captured by the combined forces of the Medes, Babylonians and Scythians, and this marked the end of Assyrian independence.

Assyrian civilization.

The Assyrian civilization was modeled after the Babylonian one, but the Assyrians introduced a number of important innovations into it. The formation of their empire was called the first step in the creation of a military-political organization in the ancient world. The conquered territories were divided into provinces, which paid tribute to the royal treasury. In remote areas, the provinces retained their own system of government, and the officials who carried it out were considered vassals of the Assyrian ruler; other areas were governed by local officials under an Assyrian governor, who had a garrison of Assyrian troops at his disposal; the remaining regions were completely subjugated by the Assyrians. Many cities had municipal autonomy, granted to them by special royal charters. The Assyrian army was different the best organization and was tactically superior to any other army of previous times. It used war chariots, had heavily armed and lightly armed infantrymen, as well as archers and slingers. Assyrian engineers produced effective siege weapons that the most powerful and impregnable fortifications could not withstand.

Scientific progress.

In the fields of medicine and chemistry, the Assyrians advanced significantly further than the Babylonians. They achieved great success in leather processing and paint production. In medicine, the Assyrians used more than four hundred plant and mineral potions. Surviving medical texts report the use of amulets and spells in the treatment of illnesses, although in many cases the Assyrians resorted to more effective means. For example, doctors prescribed cold baths to relieve fevers and recognized that dental infections could be the cause of a number of diseases. There is evidence that Assyrian doctors also treated mental illness.

Terrorist methods.

The Assyrians were masters of psychological warfare. They deliberately spread stories about their own ruthlessness in battle and the brutal reprisals that awaited those who resisted them. As a result, their enemies often fled without engaging in battle, and their subjects did not dare to revolt. Official Assyrian inscriptions are full of stories of bloody battles and severe punishments. It is enough to quote a few lines from the Annals of Ashurnasirpal II to imagine what it looked like: “I slaughtered every one of them, and with their blood I painted the mountains... I cut off the heads of their warriors and made a high hill out of them... and young men and I burned their virgins in the fire... I destroyed an innumerable number of their inhabitants, and set the cities on fire... I cut off the hands and fingers of some, and cut off the noses and ears of others.”

Rise of Babylonia. Nebochadnezzar II.

The history of the last Babylonian kingdom, called Neo-Babylonian, began with a rebellion in 625 BC, when the Chaldean leader Nabopolassar broke away from Assyria. He later entered into an alliance with Cyaxares, king of Media, and in 612 BC. their combined armies destroyed Nineveh. Nabopolassar's son, the famous Nebuchadnezzar II, ruled Babylon from 605 to 562 BC. Nebuchadnezzar is known as the builder of the Hanging Gardens and the king who led the Jews into Babylonian slavery (587–586 BC).

Persian invasion.

The last Babylonian king was Nabonidus (556–539 BC), who ruled jointly with his son Belsharutsur (Belshazzar). Nabonidus was an elderly man, a scholar and a lover of antiquities, and apparently did not possess the qualities and energy necessary to rule the kingdom at a time of extreme danger, when the other states of Lydia and Media were collapsing under the onslaught of the Persian king Cyrus II the Great. In 539 BC, when Cyrus finally led his troops into Babylonia, he did not encounter any serious resistance. Moreover, there is reason to suspect that the Babylonians, especially the priests, were not averse to replacing Nabonidus with Cyrus.

After 539 BC Babylonia and Assyria could no longer regain their former independence, passing successively from the Persians to Alexander the Great, the Seleucids, the Parthians and other later conquerors of the Middle East. The city of Babylon itself remained an important administrative center for many centuries, but the ancient cities of Assyria fell into disrepair and were abandoned. When Xenophon passed at the end of the 5th century. BC. As part of a detachment of Greek mercenaries across the territory of the Persian state, the location of the Assyrian capital of Nineveh, a once thriving, noisy city, a large trading center, could only be determined by a high hill.