The Assyrian Empire: Mesopotamia, Modern Day Iraq

The Assyrian Empire was an empire in Mesopotamia, modern day Iraq. Although the civilization did have importance revolving around the city of Nineveh, its main capital was Assur, which was named after its god. It existed around 1365-609 BC, however it was such a long time ago that archaeologists have never exactly been sure. Assyria started with what was called “Kings that lived in tents”, and then when the first temple was built Assur had gained a claim as a legitimate city. This grew to be an important trade center. The government was an absolute monarchy, and many kings such as Sargon 2 who conquered a lot of land, or Ashurburnipal, who was credited for creating the world 's first library, are recognized as the more famous of Assyrian leaders.

They were the ones that sacked Babylon. Their demise was brought by Babylon, and Babylon dominance was taken down by Assyria. Ironically, most of the Mesopotamian history is known because of Ashurburnipal’s library in Nineveh, therefore we would not know if it was not for Assyria. Assyria also played a key role in taking down Ancient Egypt, which is also idolized. Assyria were the big bad wolves of the middle east, but also possibly the most civilized as

With their legendary army, extremely high tech for their day, they set about making the rest of Mesopotamia bow down. They are also responsible for most of the historical documentation of Mesopotamia. They were far ahead of the rest of Mesopotamia, but like all empires, they cannot last forever. Assyria also had a long period of “Kings that lived in tents.” This was the time where Assyria technically didnt have a city and yet