ASSYRIANS    900 B.C. - 612 B.C.
Superb army, efficient government, terrorist policies. Built a huge empire Assur and Nivereh - Major cities with lots of construction. Largest empire in the world at the time.

Assyrian culture was based on the pre-existing culture of Mesopotamia. Assyrians used cuneiform writing, adapted the law code of Hammurabi, and worshiped the gods of Babylon,adding their own principal god, Ashur. Located in a land-locked region with barely enough wheat fields to support the population, Assyria was hemmed in by rival kingdoms or mountains. From about 1950 BCE, Assyrian merchants established colonies along trade routes and in regions as far away as the Anatolian peninsula.

By the fifteenth century BCE, the Assyrians had fallen under the power of other kingdoms and had lost their independence. When they regained it in the fourteenth century BCE, they were stillland-locked and resource poor because they had insufficient amounts of food, metal, and timber. Unlike the early Assyrian kings, however, the new breed of kings used more aggressive tactics to gain resources and markets. They created a military state that, between 1120 and 606 BCE, made them the largest and most powerful empire in the world. At its greatest extent, the Assyrian empire included Egypt, a chunk of the Anatolian Peninsula, the eastern edge of the Mediterranean (the Levant), and the Tigris-Euphrates Valley.

ASSYRIAN ARMY
    The Assyrian empire achieved its enormous size through force. Its foot soldiers were armed with shields, helmets, spears, and daggars.  It also had units of cavalry, charioteers, archers, and used battering rams. To insure order, the Assyrian kings kept troops in conquered territories. Their power was due partly to their weapons of iron.   Owners of iron weapons and tools had an edge over their neighbors because iron was harder than copper or tin.
    The Assyrians controlled subject populations harshly with taxes and force. When conquered peoples protested, the Assyrians kept them in line by "exiling" troublesome leaders to another part of the empire. The assyrians were cruel warios. The emperors made examples of stubborn cities by destroying them and slaughtering their populations. One Assyrian king bragged that he had sacked 9 cities and 820 villages, burned Babylon, and ordered most of its inhabitants killed. Another boasted of burning to death 3,000 captives. Still another let it be known that he had dealt with rebel chiefs by flaying (skinning) some of them, walling up others, and impaling still others.  Some people were so frightened by the stories that they surrendered.

King and Government
Ashurnasirpal (883-859 B.C.)
Tiglath-Pileser III (745- 727 B.C.)
Sennacherib (704-681 B.C.)
Ashurbanipal (669-626 B.C.)

Kings divided their empire into provinces. They then choose a governor for each province.  A governor’s duty was to maintain the roads, feed the troops and traveling officials, and protect the merchants.  To move troops quickly from one hot spot to another, the Assyrians built roads and developed a postal system that allowed the king to learn instantly of any unrest. This communication system also allowed the king’s spies to keep him informed about the loyalties of his governors in the conquered lands.  The empire became to big to be governed. In 612 BC the Chaldeans conqured Ninevh, the Assyrian capital.

Laws
Adapted the law code of Hammurabi

Writing
Cuneiform writing was used.

Religion
Adpoted the gods of Babylon.

 Contributions
Ashurnasirpal started one of the world'd first libraries.  It held 25,000 tablets of hymns, stories, and biographies.  Among the great mathematical inventions of the Assyrians were the division of the circle into 360 degrees and were among the first to invent longitude and latitude in geographical navigation. They also developed a sophisticated medical science.

TimeLine

Bibliography
Eppley, Felicia; World History For Us All  13 October 2007

Hooker, Richard; The Assyrians October 13, 2007