Fun Facts about the Assyrians

1. This usurper to the throne, who ruled 745 B.C. until 727 B.C., is
regarded as the founder of the second Assyrian empire. What was his
name?
Tiglath-Pileser III. During the reign of Tiglath-Pileser III Damascus was
taken and Israel was captured and made a vassal state. He also
crowned himself King of Babylon in 734 BC and established himself
among the great line of kings of the Babylonian empire.
2. What was the capital of the Assyrian empire at its founding in 745
B.C.?
Nimrud. Nimrud was founded by Shalmaneser I during his reign in the
13th century B.C. and became capital under Ashurnasirpal II. This
monumental city was laid out with lush gardens and parks and was
surrounded by a great wall enclosing 200 hectares. It remained capital
until 710 B.C. when it was replaced by Dur-Sharrukin (the city of
Sargon).
3. The second ruler of the Assyrian empire, Shalmaneser V (son of the
founder) began his rule in 727 by immediately going to work on
reducing Israel to a province. He died while laying siege to Israel's
capital, which was located at...?
Samaria. Despite the support of Egypt, Israel eventually fell to the
Assyrians, but only after a 3 year siege of their capital city at Samaria.
Shalmaneser V died during the siege and the credit for its final capture
was taken by his successor Sargon II.
4. Shalmaneser's successor, by usurpation, was which great Assyrian
king that ruled from 722 B.C. to 705 B.C.?
Sargon II. During the reign of Sargon II constant war prevailed, as the
Assyrians completed the reduction of Samaria, destroyed their
enemies in Urartu and Phrygia and successfully defended their empire
against the Cimmerians.
5. An invasion of which people was successfully diverted in 705 B.C.?
Cimmerians. The Cimmerians were a people from the area of modern
Ukraine (Crimea is named for them) who were forced south by the
Scythians in the 8th century B.C. In the area now occupied by modern
Turkey, the Cimmerians found a new, fertile ground for themselves,
but first they were forced to make room for themselves by warring
against the kingdoms already existing there. They successfully
defeated the Armenians but were turned back by the Assyrians in 705.
Later they laid waste to Phrygia and Lydia but were defeated by the
Assyrians once again in the 7th century B.C.
6. It was during the reign of Sennacherib (704-681 B.C.) that the
Assyrian capital was moved to which location?
Nineveh. Nineveh was made the capital of Assyria by Sennacherib, who
decided on a more defensible position than that selected by his father
who had built his new capital at Khorsabad. Hence, Assyria went
through three different capitals within 50 years!
7. Which of these important events did not happen during
Sennacherib's reign?
Jerusalem was looted and destroyed. Babylon had rebelled against
Assyria very early in Sennacherib's reign and he elected to destroy the
city as a lesson to other potentially rebellious subjects. When the
Elamites, who dwelled along the foothills of the Zagros mountains in
Persia, came to the aid of the Babylonians, Sennacherib's army
defeated them too, but at a high cost to the Assyrian army. In the
west, the Egyptians convinced the kingdom of Judah, under the reign
of King Hezekiah, to attack the Assyrian position in the levant region.
The Assyrians defeated Hezekiah and made him a vassal, but left the
city of Jerusalem intact.
8. Perhaps the greatest reign of Assyrian history was enjoyed by
Sennacherib's successor. What was the name of this great king?
Esarhaddon. While Esarhaddon only reigned for 12 years, from 681
B.C. to 669 B.C., his rule was rather eventful. It included the conquest
of Egypt and capture of the capital at Memphis, and the rebuilding of
Babylon. The Assyrian empire was at its greatest extent during his
reign, which had begun with the quelling of a rebellion started during
the latter years of Sennacherib's rule.
9. Who was the last great king of Assyria, ruling from 669 until 627
B.C., and presiding over the disintegration of the empire?
Ashurbanipal. It was during the reign of Ashurbanipal that the various
vassal states revolted en masse, beginning in Egypt and ending with
rebellion of Media. The final collapse of the empire occurred only 15
years after his death when Nineveh was captured and destroyed.
10. The capital of the Assyrian empire was captured and plundered in
the year 612 B.C. by which pair of former Assyrian vassals?
Babylon and Media. Thus ended the great reign of the later Assyrian
empire.

Hittites

• Dominated Asia Minor (modern day Turkey) between 1750 and

1180 BC
• Hittite History is divided into three kingdoms: Old (1750-
1500BC), Middle(1500-1430BC) and the New(1430-1180BC)
• Were a relatively open minded and liberal civilization in
comparisson to those of Mesopotamia - Hittite Laws rarely made
use of the death penalty
• Had many deities in fact the Hittites were called the 'people of
the thousand gods'. These included: Arinna - the sun goddess,
Tarhunt - god of thunder who battles the serpent Illuyanka and
Ishara - the goddess of the oath
• Famous leaders include: Labarnas II(unified people - set up
capital at Hattusa), Musilis (grandson of Labarnas - won control
of Syrian trading routes and reached Babylon), Suppiluliumas I
(defeated Mittanian kingdom - set up Hittite Empire), Muwattlalis
(Rival of Egyptian pharaoh Ramases II - fought Ramases' trrops
to a stalemate at Kadesh) and Hattusillis III (concluded peace
treaty with the Egyptians)
• The city of Troy is believed to be a Hittite vassal state
• Its Empire was bought down by attacks from the Sea People and
Archaen Greeks.
• Smaller Hittite kingdoms in Syria and Asia minor survived until
the seventh century BC.
• Kingdoms were finally overrun by the Neo-Assyrian Empire.
• The Hittites spoke an Indo-European language
• The Hittites should not be confused with Hattians an earlier
population that occupied the Asia Minor region
• Hittites are thought to be an influential force in driving the Iron
Age. They were well known for their chariot construction.
• The Hittites are mentioned in the Bible - in Genesis Abraham
buys land from a Hittite for example, Esau marries a Hittite
woman. They are also mentioned in Joshua, Judges, Samuel,
Chronicles, Kings, Ezekiel and Ezra.
• Like the Mesopotamians the Hittites used cuneiform letters
• The Hittites are thought to have had the first constitutional
monarchy
• Another important Hittite city was that of Nesa
• The Hittites sold Abraham the cave where he buried his wife
Sarah, when the Israelites came to Palestine.