The Assyrian Fighting Machine
Assyrians: Masters of War
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpKxRJD
mnQI
What does this picture tell you about
Assyria and its culture?
Ashurbanipal,
The first great librarian!
What goes up….
Why did the Assyrian empire
start to fall apart?
Philosophy, in brief
Judging from what you know about the
Assyrians come up with a suitable slogan
for their Empire.
Examples:
You never walk alone- Liverpool FC
“Hell no, we won’t go” anti-Vietnam War protests
“Better dead than red”-anti-communists
The greatest tragedy is indifference- Red Cross
“Liberty, Equality, Brotherhood” French Revolution
“God wills it!” Motto of the 1st Crusade (1095 AD)
“Plop. Plop. Fizz. Fizz. Oh what a relief it is” Alka Seltzer
YOLO- The uneducated masses
The Purrrrrrsians or
watch out for
Persian cats with
guns?
What is our image of the Persians?
Image vs. Reality
Where does this image come from?
Ethnocentrism
“Evaluation of
other cultures
according to
preconceptions
originating in the
standards and
customs of one's
own culture”
Crash Course on Persians (and Greeks)
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmkVSasZIM
Persia v. Assyria
How did the Persian approach to Empire
building
differ
from the Assyrian approach?
Cyrus (The “Great”)
... I am Cyrus. King of the world. When I entered
Babylon... I did not allow anyone to terrorise the
land... I kept in view the needs of people and all
its sanctuaries to promote their well-being... I
put an end to their misfortune. The Great God
has delivered all the lands into my hand; the
lands that I have made to dwell in a peaceful
habitation...
Cyrus and Darius Forget (Cambyses)
• No burning and
looting
• Religious tolerance,
honoring local
customs
• Local control
• People spoke their
own language
• Absolute rulers!!
Religious Tolerance
Why was religious tolerance
so important to the peoples of
the Persian Empire?
2 Tools that United the empire
● 1. Royal Road
o Went from Persia to Anatolia (modern day Turkey)
o 1,677 miles
● 2. Standard Money
o All providences used the same money, didn’t need to exchange
to local currency
o This promoted trade
o Trade allowed them to hold the empire together
http://www.history.com/topics/exploration/marco-polo/videos/persias-royal-road
Quotations from Cyrus
OK, OK Cyrus the Great