The Assyrians
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Transcript The Assyrians
Assyria
existed around 2000-612 BCE
lived in northern Mesopotamia on the Tigris River
middle bronze age
Consisted of city-states
and Semetic kingdoms
Shamshi-Adad I was the
monarch after he
captured the city of
Ashur
Ashur was the base city
from which Assyria was
born
Middle Assyrian Period
Most of the empire’s
expansion occurred in this
time period under TukultiNinurta I
The Assyrian law code was
created, giving women less
rights
Economics
Assyrians had good farming systems with irrigation
had large cities for trade
few slaves, but didn’t play big part in the economy
made iron
Individuals
Monarchs:
-Tiglat-Pileser(1116-1090 BCE)-extended authority to Syria and
Armenia
-Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 BCE)-conquered Mesopotamia and
modern day Lebanon
-Shalmaneser III (858-824 BCE)-conquered all of Syria,
Palestine, Armenia, Babylon, and Southern Mesopotamia
Culture
literature was one of their finest achievements
first used cuneiform, later used Aramaic writing
wrote down medicine, legal issues, and history
had sculptures and wall carvings
Technology
battering ram
excavation
concepts of engineering
made chariots popular
worked with metals like bronze and iron
Warfare
had good weapons and a well trained army
conquered many cities and made them pay tribute
army consisted of foot soldiers, chariots, archers, and
cavalry
weapons made of iron
Art
Their art depicted battle scenes and destruction of the
cities they conquered
Their sculptures were used to guard the king’s court
Fall of the Assyrian Empire
In 612 BCE the Chaldeans captured the capital city of
Nineveh
The empire fell without the control of Nineveh
Located in North Mesopotamia
Expands over 4 countries (Turkey, Iran, Syria,
& Iraq)
Goes to Euphrates
Tigris runs through it
The Taurus and Zagros Mts. To the north and
east
Southern limestone plateau
Rich and fertile land
The Arbel and Nineveh plain make up the
middle of Assyria
Wrote on clay tablets in cuneiform
Spoke Akkadian
750 BC they started using papyrus paper
Aramaic was the 2nd official language
Monotheist’s
Ashurism was the first religion (until 256 AD)
1st to accept Christianity
1st Golden Age
1st Dark Age
2400 BC to 612 BC
Fruitful time
Sargon of Akkad was the 1st ruler
Ended with the tragic fall of Nineveh
3 major cities: Ashur, Nineveh, Arbel
Successful warriors
One of the 1st empires
612 BC – 33 AD
Empire collapsed in 612
Employed by Persians as troops
Failed attempt to reestablish in 350 BC
Persians killed 400 of the Assyrian leaders
Kings were in charge of everything except
religion
Kings oldest son handled administrative
affairs.
Some low taxes and freedom to choose to not
join the military.
150,000-200,000 men
First to use large Calvary squadrons
Had 3000 horses a month for use in battle
Had the most modern equipment
Consisted: helmet, body armor, boots, and
backpacks
Weapons: composite bows, ands swords
Protection: helmet, body armor, shields.
Shields were so strong they could withstand a
firearm up to Napoleons time.
Bows were not matched until the Prussian
needle gun in 1871
Kings and his advisors lived in luxury
Followed Hammurabi’s code
Citizens spent time working in their farms
People became slaves one of two ways:
prisoner of war, owed debt.
Mostly people who owed debt.
Slaves worked for wages.
Family was extremely important.
Men wore skirts to show their significance
(long=important, short=not).
Marriages were monogamous.
1st son received largest inheritance.
Assyria was a beautiful and fertile land.
The people were to unsettled to be peaceful
Big on military and family.
Assyria was one of the most successful
empires in the ancient world.
The Assyrians were
people who lived in
northern
Mesopotamia.
The Assyrian
empire began as
the small city of
Ashur, located in
Northern
Mesopotamia.
Slowly, they began
to grow into an
empire.
Nineveh was the
capital city of the
Assyrian empire.
It was located on
the bank of the
Tigris river, at a
very important
trading spot.
Assyria covered
modern day Turkey,
Iraq, Syria and Iran.
The Tigris and
Euphrates rivers run
through the land,
creating fertile soil.
The main religion
that they practiced
was Ashurism.
They practiced this
until they eventually
adopted
Christianity in 33
C.E.
The Assyrians wrote
on clay tablets
using a style of
writing called
Cuneiform.
More recently, they
used modern ways
of writing, such as
parchment or
leather.
Some famous
leaders wereSargon of Akkad
Ashur-uballit
In the 24th and 23rd
centuries B.C.E.,
Sargon led the
Assyrian empire on
a conquering
rampage.
He is known as one
of the first people
to record a multiethnic empire ruled
by one government.
Ashur-uballit ruled
the Assyrians from
1365-1330 B.C.E.
He began the
Assyrians reign of
power.
The Assyrians were
known for their
beautifully crafted
stone sculptures.
The most famous
sculpture is the
Bull-Man, Lamassu.
They made great
advances in
building.
One of their most
useful
accomplishments
was heating bricks
to harden them,
and make them
sturdier.
They were
conquered by
Babylon who was
under the rule of
Hammurabi.
Eventually, they
regained power.
The Assyrians were
a powerful empire.
Under the rule of
Sargon of Akkad,
they conquered
anybody who stood
in their way.
They advanced
things such as
building and
sculpting.
Bibliography
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Assyrians#Old_
Assyrian_city-states_and_kingdoms
http://www.aina.org/aol/peter/brief.htm
http://wsu.edu/~dee/MESO/ASSYRIA.HTM
http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/westasia/history/
assyrians.htm
www. aina.org/aol/peter/brief.htm#Geography
http://www.bible-history.com/assyrian-socialstructure/index.html
World Book Encyclopedia A-1 pg. 822-823
Joshua Williams
Jake lindee
Sam Jones
Landon Johnson