Assyrian Empire
A Mighty Military Machine
• Beginning around 850 Assyria
began to acquire an empire
because of its military
• Assyrians lived in northern
Mesopotamia, where they were
vulnerable to attacks
• Built a strong army to ward off
invaders
• Sennacherib- Assyrian king who
sacked cities and villages, burned
Babylon
The Assyrian Military
• Society glorified military strength
• Soldiers covered in metal armor,
iron helmets
• Weapons were iron swords and
spears
• Advance planning and technical
skill allowed them to win
• Before attacking a city, they
would dig beneath the city walls
• Trained cavalry
• Killed or enslaved victims
• Many of the defeated were
beheaded
Assyrian Rule
• 850-650 kings of Assyria defeated
Syria, Palestine, and Babylonia; then
Egypt and Anatolia
• Assyrian officials governed land closest
to Assyria as provinces and made them
dependent territories
• Chose rulers of provinces
• Or they supported kings who aligned
themselves with Assyrians
• Assyrian armies protected these
territories
• Military campaigns added new territory
• Brought taxes and tribute to the
treasury
Assyrian Culture
• King Sennacherib established
the capital city Nineveh along
the Tigris River
• Finely curved sculptures were
found
• Held the world’s largest library
The Empire Crumbles
• Ashurbanipal was one of the
last Assyrian kings
• Assyrian power spread too thin
• Assyrians had a lot of enemies
in conquered people
• 612 BCE Nineveh crumbled
after a combined army of
Medes and Chaldeans
destroyed it
Rebirth of Babylon under the Chaldeans
• Chaldeans made Babylon their
capital
• Nebuchadnezzar restored Babylon
• Hanging gardens in the palace are
one of the seven wonders of the
world
• Ziggurat stood tall and was the place
where priests recorded changing
position of the stars and planets,
which would be the basis for both
astronomy and astrology
• Nebuchadnezzar’s death meant the
end of the empire