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Definition:
The Assyrian Empire was based near the Tigris River and was a dominant force throughout the
Near East for three hundred years - from 900 through 600 BCE. The capital city was
Nineveh, the same city
Jonah was commanded to go to by God. They had taken over for the Sumerians, but
nevertheless attempted to preserve much of that civilization's learning and culture.
The Assyrian Empire regularly plays the role of the villain in the Bible. Israel became a vassal state of the Assyrians under Tiglath-pileser III. Later, Shalmaneser V conquered Israel and Sargon II made Israel one of Assyria's western provinces, deporting nearly thirty thousand Israelites back to the Tigris-Euphrates region. This was the end of Israel and the Divided Kingdom, leaving just Judah.
Under Sargon II Israel was renamed Samaria and new settlers were introduced. Although he had them educated in the ways of the Jews, they did not completely convert - this, then, was the origin of the Samaritans.
One of the imporatant ideas which the Assyrians developed was that of a universal empire. They did not originate it, however, - they took it from Sargon and the Akkadian kings who conqured the Sumerian empire. Not only the idea of a universal empire, but also the idea of a univeral deity, which was a fundamental component to such an empire, was later adopted by other religions and cultures.
| Assyrian Rulers | |
| Ashur-dan II | 934-912 |
| Adad-nirari II | 912-891 |
| Tukulti-Ninurta II | 891-884 |
| Ashurnasirpal II | 884-859 |
| Shalmaneser III | 859-824 |
| Shamshi-Adad IV | 824-811 |
| Adad-nirari III | 811-783 |
| Shalmaneser IV | 783-773 |
| Ashur-dan III | 773-755 |
| Ashur-nirari V | 755-745 |
| Tiglath-pileser III | 745-727 |
| Shalmaneser V | 727-722 |
| Sargon II | 722-705 |
| Sennacherib | 705-681 |
| Esarhaddon | 681-669 |
| Ashurbanipal | 669-627 |
| Ashur-etel-ilani | 627-624 |
| Sin-shumu-lishir | 624-623 |
| Sin-shara-ishkun | 623-612 |
| Ashur-uballit II | 612-609 |
| all dates aproximate, BCE | |
For more information on Assyrian history and culture, visit the Introduction to Assyria page on the Ancient/Classical History site.
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Alternate Spellings: none
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