Assyrian Research

2010
Assyrians
Research Paper
Ancient History, Geographical, Era’s, Population, Wars, Trade,
Culture, Kings, People, Population, Religion, Language, Racial
Type, Historic Moments
Shujaat Hussain Bhatti

Shahbaz Ahmad Siddiqui
31st October 2010
[ASSYRIANS] October 31, 2010
Table of Contents
Table of Contents.............................................................................................2
Brief Introduction.............................................................................................4
Time Lines
Assyrians was firstly known around 2300 BC, when Sargon of Akkad invaded
their small kingdom to the north. After 2000 BC, when Assur became
independent of the collapsing 3rd Dynasty of Ur, the Assyrians became well-
known traders, who travelled constantly between Assur and southern Turkey
with their donkeys, carrying cloth from Assur and tin from beyond the Tigris
to the east, and trading it in southern Turkey for gold, silver, and other
metals. But as the Hittites took over Turkey around 1800 BC, this trade
gradually collapsed. The last Assyrian caravan to Turkey was in 1780 BC.
Desert in Iraq (Assur): By 1700 BC the Assyrians had been conquered by the
Amorites, and later they were controlled by the Hurrians for a long time. But
when the Hurrian kingdom collapsed about 1360 BC, the Assyrian governor
of Assur, whose name was Assur-uballit, saw his chance and began calling
himself the King of Assyria. Assur-uballit and the Assyrians soon had to fight
both the Hurrians and the Kassites in order to stay independent, but they
won their wars and were able to establish themselves. They made a lot of
alliances with the Kassites to their south, with many Assyrian princesses
marrying Kassite princes and vice versa.........................................................6
Prisoners of war, taken by the Assyrians:....................................7
WAR on Land and SEA.....................................................................................8
Geographical location......................................................................................9
Emergence: beginnings to 2400 B.C...........................................13
Research Paper Page 2

First Golden Age: 2400 B.C. to 612 B.C......................................14
First Dark Age: 612 B.C. to 33 A.D.............................................17
Second Golden Age: 33A.D. to 1300 A.D.....................................17
Second Dark Age: 1300 A.D. to 1918 A.D....................................18
Diaspora: 1918 A.D. to the present:...........................................18
Old Assyrian Period..................................................................20
Middle Assyrian Period.............................................................22
Neo-Assyrian Period.................................................................24

References:
http://www.aina.org/
http://www.Wikipedia.com
http://www.atour.com
Brief Introduction
The Assyrians of today are the indigenous Aramaic-speaking descendants of the ancient
Assyrian people, one of the earliest civilizations emerging in the Middle East, and have a
history spanning over 6760 years. Assyrians are not Arabian or Arabs, they are not Kurdish,
their religion is not Islam. The Assyrians are Christian, with our own unique language,
culture and heritage. Although the Assyrian empire ended in 612 B.C., history is replete
with recorded details of the continuous presence of the Assyrian people till the present
time.
Being one of the main base roots of Mesopotamia, the Assyrian kingdom encouraged
urbanization, building of permanent dwellings and cities. They developed agriculture,
improved methods of irrigation and systems of canals and aqueducts. They enhanced their
language that served as a unifying force in writing, trade and business transaction. They
encouraged trade, established and developed safe routes, protecting citizens and property
by written law. They excelled in administration, documented their performance and royal
achievements, depicting their culture in different art forms. They built libraries and archived
their recorded deeds for prosperity. They accumulated wealth and knowledge; raised
armies in disciplined formation of infantry, cavalry and war-chariot troops with logistics; and
built a strong kingdom, an unique civilization and the first world empire.
The heartland of Assyria lays in present day northern Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern
Turkey, and northwestern Iran. The remains of the ancient capital of Assyria, Nineveh, is
next to Mosul in northern Iraq.
Prior to the Assyrian Holocaust which occurred before, during and

after World War I, the major Assyrian communities still inhabited the
areas of Harran, Edessa, Tur Abdin, and Hakkari in southeastern
Turkey, Jazira in northeastern Syria, Urmia in northwestern Iran, and
Mosul in northern Iraq as they had for thousands of years.
The world’s 4 million Assyrians are currently dispersed with

members of the Diaspora comprising nearly one-third of the
population. Most of the Assyrians in the Diaspora live in
North America, Europe and Australia with nearly 460,000 residing in the United
States of America. The remaining Assyrians reside primarily in Iraq and Syria, with
smaller populations in Turkey, Iran, Lebanon, and Jordan.
The Assyrians are not to be confused with Syrians even though some Syrian citizens
are Assyrian. Although the name of Syria is directly derived from Assyria and Syria was an
integral part of Assyrian civilization, most of the people of Syria currently maintain a
separate Arab identity. Moreover, the Assyrians are not Arabs but rather have maintained a
continuous and distinct ethnic identity, language, culture, and religion that predates the
Arabization of the Near East. In addition, unlike the Arabs who did not enter the region until
the seventh century A.D., the Assyrians are the indigenous people of Mesopotamia. Until
today, the Assyrians speak a distinct language (called Aramaic [Syriac]), the actual language

spoken by Jesus Christ. As a Semitic language, the Aramaic language is related to Hebrew
and Arabic but predates both. In addition, whereas most Arabs are Muslim, Assyrians are
essentially Christian.
The Assyrians were among the first to accept Christianity in the

first century A.D. through the Apostle St. Thomas. Despite the
subsequent Islamic conquest of the region in the seventh
century A.D., the Church of the East flourished and its
adherents at one time numbered in the tens of millions.
Assyrian missionary zeal was unmatched and led to the first
Christian missions to China, Japan, and the Philippines. The
Church of the East stele in Xian, China bears testament to a
thriving Assyrian Christian Church as early as in the seventh
century A.D. Early on, the Assyrian Church divided into two
ancient branches, the Syrian Orthodox Church and the Church
of the East. Over time, divisions within these Assyrian Churches
led to the establishment of the Chaldean Church (Uniate
Catholic), Syrian Catholic Church, and Maronite Church.
Persistent persecution under Islamic occupation led to the
migration of still greater numbers of Assyrian Christians into the Christian autonomous areas
of Mount Lebanon as well. With the arrival of Western Protestant and Catholic missionaries
into Mesopotamia, especially since the nineteenth century, several smaller congregations of
Assyrian Protestants arose as well. A direct consequence of Assyrian adherence to the
Christian faith and their missionary enterprise has been persecution, massacres, and ethnic
cleansing by various waves of non-Christian neighbors which ultimately led to a decimation
of the Assyrian Christian population. Most recently and tragically, Great Britain invited the
Assyrians as an ally in World War I. The autonomous Assyrians were drawn into the conflict
following successive massacres against the civilian population by forces of the Turkish
Ottoman Empire, Kurds, Arabs and Persians. Although many geopolitical and economic
factors were involved in provoking the attacks against the Assyrians, a jihad or holy war was
declared and served as the rallying cry and vehicle for marauding Turks, Kurds, and
Persians. Although the Muslim holy war against the Armenians is perhaps better known,
over three-fourths, or 750,000 Assyrian Christians were also killed between 1843-1945
during the Assyrian Holocaust.
The conflict and subsequent Assyrian Holocaust led to the decimation and dispersal of the
Assyrians. Those Assyrians who survived the Holocaust were driven out of their ancestral
homeland in Turkish Mesopotamia primarily toward the area of Mosul Vilayet in Iraq, Jazira in
Syria, and the Urmi plains of Iran where large Assyrian populations already lived. The
massacres of 1915 followed the Assyrians to these areas as well, prompting an exodus of
many more Assyrians to other countries and continents. The Assyrian Holocaust of 1915 is
the turning point in the modern history of the Assyrian Christians precisely because it is the
single event that led to the dispersal of the surviving community into small, weak, and
destitute communities.
Most Assyrians in the Diaspora today can trace their

emigration from the Middle East to the Assyrian Holocaust of
1915. Many, who fled from their original homes into other
Middle Eastern countries subsequently, just one
generation later, once more emigrated to the West. Thus,
many Assyrian families in the West today have

experienced transfer to a new country for three successive generations beginning, for
instance, from Turkey to Iraq and then to the United States.
On account of the Assyrians siding with the victorious Allies during World War I, Great Britain
had promised the Assyrians autonomy, independence, and a homeland. The Assyrian
question was addressed during postwar deliberations at the League of Nations. However,
with the termination of the British Mandate in Iraq, the unresolved status of the Assyrians
was relinquished to the newly formed Iraqi government with promises of certain minority
guarantees specifically concerning freedom of religious, cultural, and linguistic expression.
The Assyrians lost two-thirds of their population during the World Wars.
The Simele Genocide (Syriac: Premta d-Simele) was the first of many massacres committed
by the Iraqi government during the systematic genocide of Assyrians of Northern Iraq in
August 1933. The term is used to describe not only the massacre of Simele, but also the
killing spree that continued among 63 Assyrian villages in the Dohuk and Mosul districts that
led to the deaths of an estimated 3,000 innocent Assyrians. Today, most of these villages
continue to be illegally occupied by Arabs and Kurds.
Currently, the Assyrians are religiously and ethnically persecuted in the Middle East due to
Islamic fundamentalism, Arabization and Kurdification, leading to land expropriations and
forced emigration to the West.
Time Lines
Assyrians was firstly known around 2300 BC, when Sargon of Akkad invaded their small
kingdom to the north. After 2000 BC, when Assur became independent of the collapsing 3rd
Dynasty of Ur, the Assyrians became well-known traders, who travelled constantly between
Assur and southern Turkey with their donkeys, carrying cloth from Assur and tin from
beyond the Tigris to the east, and trading it in southern Turkey for gold, silver, and other
metals. But as the Hittites took over Turkey around 1800 BC, this trade gradually collapsed.
The last Assyrian caravan to Turkey was in 1780 BC.
Desert in Iraq (Assur): By 1700 BC the Assyrians had been conquered by the Amorites, and
later they were controlled by the Hurrians for a long
time. But when the Hurrian kingdom collapsed about
1360 BC, the Assyrian governor of Assur, whose name
was Assur-uballit, saw his chance and began calling
himself the King of Assyria. Assur-uballit and the
Assyrians soon had to fight both the Hurrians and the
Kassites in order to stay independent, but they won
their wars and were able to establish themselves. They made a lot of alliances with the
Kassites to their south, with many Assyrian princesses marrying Kassite princes and vice
versa.
Under their king Tukulti-Ninurta I (known in the book of Genesis as Nimrod), about 1225 BC, the
Assyrians conquered the Kassites and the
city of Babylon, capturing the great statue of

the god Marduk there and bringing it back to Assur. But people objected to this sacrilege, and
the conquest of Babylon, and a mob led by his son burned Tukulti-Ninurta to death by setting
fire to his palace, and freed the Kassites again. A Dark Age overtook West Asia about this time,
with the invasions of the Sea Peoples and a lot of movement among the Hittites, the Hurrians,
and the Jews, and the gradual collapse of the Kassites as a result.
The Assyrian king: The Assyrians were the only big kingdom in West Asia not to collapse as a
result of the Dark Ages, and so they were in a good position to take over afterward. By 1115 BC,
under their king Tiglath-pileser I, they were able to expand south into Babylonia again (being
more careful to respect the ancient gods there this time), and west. At first, these were basically
plundering expeditions. The Assyrian army, which was feared everywhere, started out pretty
much every spring going south along the Tigris river, and then cross to the Euphrates and follow
that upstream until it got home again to Assur, around the end of the summer.
Prisoners of war, taken by the Assyrians:
More prisoners of war: Along the way the soldiers

collected whatever took their fancy: cloth, gold,
artwork, or slaves. Assyrian inscriptions call this
"tribute", but people either gave it in order to
keep from being attacked, or the Assyrian
soldiers attacked them and took it anyway. These
plundering expeditions continued more or less
every year for hundreds of years, down to
Assurnasirpal's reign in the 800's BC.
Assurnasirpal's son Shalmaneser III decided to

expand the Assyrian empire even more. He took the plundering expeditions even further west,
where he first met the Jewish kingdoms of Israel and Judah. At first they resisted him
successfully, but by the 830's Shalmaneser seems to have placed pro-Assyrian Jews on the
thrones of both kingdoms, and we guess that he collected tribute as well.
But in 827 BC a great revolt, centered on Nineveh, at the end of Shalmaneser's reign forced the
Assyrians to abandon their conquests in the west, and they were weaker for some time. The
army did not go out every year to plunder anymore, and when the army did go out it was mostly
just along the old route to the south. It didn't cross the Euphrates to the west anymore.
A powerful king from a new family usurped the throne of Assyria in 744 BC. His name was
Tiglath-pileser III, and he was very ambitious and very strong. He began taking the army out
every year again, and he took it not just along the old route, but west again, where he

conquered Israel, the Phoenicians, and many other small western kingdoms. In the later part of
his reign, there was another Babylonian revolt, but Tiglath-pileser succeeded in putting it down.
By the reign of Sennacherib in 705 BC, the Assyrian army again stopped going out every year on
plundering campaigns. They had conquered everything near enough to rule, and even
dominated Egypt. Now the kings concentrated more on providing services to the conquered
people that would keep them from wanting to revolt. The Assyrian kings now built highways and
bridges and water systems, established courts to settle disputes among their subjects, and
encouraged scholarship and art with great libraries at their palaces. This was the time of the
great kings Esarheddon and his sons Assurbanipal (in Nineveh) and Shamash-shum-ukin (in
Babylon). (the prophet Ezra refers to him as "the great and honorable Ashurbanipal" (Ezra
4:10).) But Assurbanipal and his brother got into a civil war in 652, and by the time Assurbanipal
won four years later, the Assyrian empire was terribly weakened.
The western territories - Israel, Judah, Phoenicia, and others - began to revolt, and the
Babylonian territories to the south as well. By 612 BC only Egypt remained loyal to Assyria, as
a great alliance between the Jews, the Medes, and the Babylonians combined to crush the
last, weak Assyrian kings. Egypt's efforts to send help to the last stand of the Assyrians were
stopped by Josiah at the battle of Megiddo in 609 BC. By 605, both Assyria and Egypt had to
surrender to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, and the Babylonians took over control of
West Asia.
WAR on Land and SEA
One common theme in the history of West Asia has been the conflict between land-oriented
people and sea-oriented people. Often there is a group of people living in West Asia who are
mostly land-oriented. These people don't sail boats much, and they think of their kingdom as
covering a certain piece of land. They often think that their land should include everything
between the mountains of Afghanistan and the Mediterranean Sea. Some people who have
thought this way are the
Assyrians, the Persians, the
Seleucids, the Parthians, the
Sassanids, and the Umayyads.
But at the same time there is

often a group of people living in
West Asia who are mostly sea-

oriented. These people sail boats a lot, and they think of their kingdom as being all the land
around a certain body of water. These people often think that their land should include
everything around the Mediterranean Sea. Some people who have thought this way include the
Egyptians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Byzantines, the Crusaders, and the Ottomans.
But it is impossible to make both groups of people happy at the same time. They are always
fighting over the strip of land which is in West Asia, but borders on the Mediterranean Sea
(modern Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, and Israel). Even today, these are countries where there is a
lot of fighting. So the Egyptians fought the Assyrians, the Greeks and the Egyptians fought the
Persians, the Egyptians fought the Seleucids, the Romans fought the Parthians and the
Sassanids, the Islamic Umayyads fought the Byzantines, and the Seljuks fought the Crusaders.
Geographical location
Assyria is located in north Mesopotamia and spans four countries: In Syria it extends west to
the Euphrates river; in Turkey it extends north to Harran, Edessa, Diyarbakir, and Lake Van;
in Iran it extends east to Lake Urmi, and in Iraq it extends to about 100 miles south of
Kirkuk. This is the Assyrian heartland, from which so much of the ancient Near East came to
be controlled.

Two great rivers run through Assyria, the Tigris and the Euhprates, and many lesser ones,
the most important of which being the Upper Zab and Lower Zab, both tributaries to the
Tigris. Strategically surrounding the Tigris and the two Zabs are the Assyrian cities of
Nineveh, Ashur, Arbel, Nimrod and Arrapkha.
To the north and east of Assyria lie the Taurus and Zagros mountains. To the west and south
lies a great, low limestone plateau. At the southern end of Assyria the gravel plains give way
to alluvium deposited by the Tigris, and farther south there is insufficient rainfall for
agriculture without irrigation. These two features create a geographical boundary between
Assyria and the neighboring land to the south.
To the south of Baghdad lies Babylon. There is a stark geographical distinction between
Babylonia and Assyria. To quote Saggs,
A journey in spring from Baghdad, the capital of modern Iraq and within the Area of Ancient
Babylonia, to Mosul [Nineveh], which is near several old Assyrian capitals, takes the traveller
into what is manifestly a different country. In the region of Baghdad and southwards the
predominant vegetation is palm trees. . .The terrain is flat to the horizon, and for most of the
year its sun-parched earth is arid and dead wherever irrigation ditches do not reach.
Approaching Mosul [Nineveh] the traveller finds a striking change. The flat terrrain gives way
to undulating plains, in spring green with pasturage or cereal crop and gay and scented with
flowers and clover. The rolling plains are cut with wadis, aflow after spring rains, with higher
ranges of hills on the horizon. The traveller has reached Assyria.[Might that was Assyria,
page 5]
The Assyrian land is rich and fertile, with growing fields found in every region. Two large
areas comprise the Assyrian breadbasket: the Arbel plain and the Nineveh plain. To this day
these areas remain critical crop producers. This is from where Assyria derived her strength,
as it could feed a large population of professionals and craftsman, which allowed it to
expand and advance the art of civilization.
Racial type
Assyrians are Semitic peoples indigenous to Mesopotamia. They are Mediterranean

Caucasoids, and are ethnically distinct from Arabs and Jews.
Language
Assyrians have practiced two religions throughout their history: Ashurism and Christianity.
Ashurism was, of course, the first religion of the Assyrians. The very word Assyrian, in its
Latin form, derives from the name of Ashur, the Assyrian god. Assyrians continued to
practice Ashurism until 256 A.D, although by
that time, most Assyrians had accepted
Christianity. Indeed, Assyrians were the first
nation to accept Christianity, and the Assyrian
Church was founded in 33 A.D. by Thomas,
Bortholemew and Thaddeus.
Religion
o Faith - Polytheism
o Worship places - Church
Era
• Emergence: beginnings to 2400 B.C.

• First Golden Age: 2400 B.C. to 612 B.C.
• First Dark Age: 612 B.C. to 33 A.D.
• Second Golden Age: 33 A.D. to 1300 A.D.
• Second Dark Age: 1300 A.D. to 1918 A.D.
• Diaspora: 1918 A.D. to the present:

Population
Country▲ Population
Armenia 15000
Australia 30000
Austria 7000
Belgium 15000
Brazil 10000
Canada 23000
Denmark 10000
France 20000
Georgia 15000
Germany 70000
Greece 8000
Iran 50000
Iraq 1500000
Italy 3000
Jordan 44000
Lebanon 100000
Mexico 2000
Netherlands 20000
New Zealand 3000
Russian Federation 70000
Sweden 120000
Switzerland 10000
Syrian Arab Republic 700000
Turkey 24000
United Kingdom/Great Britain 8000
United States 400000
--Other-- 100000
Total 3,377,000

Historic moments
Emergence: beginnings to 2400 B.C.
In 1932, Sir Max Mallowan, the eminent British

archaeologist, dug a deep sounding which
reached virgin soil ninety feet below the top of
the mound of Nineveh; this gave a pottery
sequence back to prehistoric times and showed
that the site was already inhabited by 5000
B.C.. Very soon after that, the two other great
Assyrian cities were settled, Ashur and Arbel,
although an exact date has yet to be
determined. Arbel is the oldest extant city, and
remains largely unexcavated, its archaeological
treasures waiting to be discovered. The same
holds for Ashur. It is clear that by 2500 B.C.,
these three cities were well established and
were thriving metropoli.

This period of history saw the development of the fundamentals of our civilization: animal
domestication, agriculture, pottery, controllable fire (kilns), smelting, to name but a few. As
regards Assyrians, because of it rich corn fields, Arbel was one of the very earliest
permanent agricultural settlements.
Between 4500 and 2400 B.C., complex societies appear in the form of cities, with craft
specialization and writing. These features were associated with the Sumerians, but they
quickly spread to other parts of Mesopotamia, including Assyria. In Assyria, settlements had
become large and guarded by fortifications walls, which implies the risk of attack from
outside, and hence the need for defense and warfare.
First Golden Age: 2400 B.C. to 612 B.C.
We enter into an extremely fruitful period in

Assyrian History. This period would see 1800
years of Assyrian hegemony over Mesopotamia,
beginning with Sargon of Akkad in 2371 B.C.
and ending with the tragic fall of Nineveh in 612
B.C.
Sargon of Akkad established his kingdom in

2371 B.C., becoming the first king to assert
control outside of his city-state. His model
would be followed by all succeeding empires,
down to our times. From his base at Akkad,
south of Baghdad, Sargon would come to
control territories stretching north to Ashur and west to the Mediterranean.
Shamshi-Adad I would establish his kingdom in 1813 B.C. Shamshi-Adad forever united the
three cities of Ashur, Nineveh and Arbel into one cohesive unit, and brought Arrapkha firmly
into the Assyrian sphere, so that henceforth these four cities, and Nimrod, would constitute
the very core of Assyria. Under Shamshi-Adad I, the long established Assyrian merchant
colonies of Cappadocia saw renewed activity. Shamshi-Adad accomplished this through his
administrative efficiency and political skill.
In 1472 B.C. or there about, a Mittanian king

annexed Assyria, and this lasted for about 70
years. Mittanian control was decisively thrown
off by about 1365 B.C. by Ashuruballit, who laid
the foundation of the first Assyrian empire.
Invaders from the Taurus mountains, north of
Assyria, posed a significant threat to Assyria,
and occupied Arik-den-ili for a number of years,
but were successfully repelled, paving the way
for Adad-narari (1307 B.C.) to establish the first
Assyrian empire, which lasted until
approximately 1248 B.C.
A new power from south-west Iran, the

Elamites, would assert control over Babylon for
30 years. This affected Assyria slightly. The death of Ashurdan in 1135 B.C. brough

instability as his two sons vyed for the crown. Their terms only lasted one year, and Ashur-
resh-ishi I ascended to the thrown in 1133 B.C.
The Middle Assyrian empire began in 1307 B.C. with Tiglath-Pileser, who greatly expanded
Assyrian territory. It is also during his reign that a significant development occurs, that of
the Aramean migrations into Assyria. This would have a profound impact on Assyria and
Assyrians, as we shall see. Tiglath-Pileser states "I crossed the Euphrates twenty eight
times...in pursuit of the Arameans." This would ultimately prove unsuccessful.
Tiglath-Pileser was not only a military man, but also a sportsman. Upon reaching the
Mediterranean, he took the time, he tells us, to go dolphin hunting. He also established
several zoos in Assyria, as he had a fascination with foreign animals.
The Aramean problem persisted during the reign of Tiglath-Pileser's successor and son,
Ashur-bel-kala 1074-1057), who tells us that the Arameans were penetrating deep into
Assyrian territory, including Tur Abdin, Harran and Khabur. For the next century Assyria
declined, the Aramean disruptions being the principal cause. It was not until 934 B.C., by
which time the Arameans had settled into stable kingdoms in Mesopotamia, that Assyria
would reemerge.
Ashur-dan II would concentrate on rebuilding Assyria within its natural borders, from Tur
Abdin to the foothills beyond Arbel. He built government offices in all provinces, and as an
economic boost, provided ploughs throughout the land, which yielded record grain
production. He was followed by four able kings, who used the foundation which he had laid
to make Assyria the major world power of its time.
The four Kings that followed Ashur-dan II were Adad-nerari II (his son), Tukulti-Ninurta II,
Ashur-nasir-pal II, and Shalmaneser III. Adad-nerari would provide the final solution to the
Aramean problem. He defeated the paramount Aramean chief at Nisibin and, marching up
and down the Khabur, he obtained formal submissions from a series of Aramean controlled
cities.
Ashur-nasir-pal II would bring under Assyrian control the area from south Lebanon to the
Zagros mountains, with loose control over the Taurus region. Diyarbekr was under direct
Assyrian control.
Skipping ahead to Shamsi-Adad V, and because his wife was none other than
Sammurammat, or Shamiram, whom so many Assyrian woman are named after today.
There is a stele about her, it says:
• Stele of Sammurammat
• Queen of Shamshi-Adad
• King of all, king of Ashur
• mother of Adad-nerari
• King of all, king of Ashur
• Daughter-in-law [kalta] of Shalmaneser
• King of the four regions

We come to now the beginning of greatest

expansion of the Assyian empire with Tiglath-
Pileser III (745-727); through a series of able
kings, Sargon II, Sennacherib, Esarhaddon,
Ashurbnaipal, Assyria would extend its rule over
a vast area, from Egypt up to cyprus to the
west, through Anatolia, to the Caspian in the
east.
The Assyrian empires, particularly the third one,

had a profound and lasting impact on the Near
East. Before Assyrian hegemony would come to
an end, the Assyrians would bring the highest
civilization to the then known world. From the
Caspian to Cyprus, from Anatolia to Egypt,
Assyrian imperial expansion would bring into the Assyrian sphere nomadic and barbaric
communities, and would bestow the gift of civilization upon them.
And though today we are far removed from that time, some of our most basic and
fundamental devices of daily survival, to which we have become so accustomed that we
cannot conceive of life without them, originated in Assyria. One cannot imagine leaving his
home without locking the door; it is in Assyria where locks and keys were first used. One
cannot survive in this world without knowing the time; it is in Assyria that the sexagesimal
system of keeping time was developed. One cannot imagine driving without paved roads; it
is in Assyria where paved roads were first used. And the list goes on, including the first
postal system, the first use of iron, the first magnifying glasses, the first libraries, the first
plumbing and flush toilets, the first electric batteries, the first guitars, the first aqueducts,
the first arch, and on and on.
But it is not only things that originated in

Assyria, it is also ideas, ideas that would shape
the world to come. It is the idea, for example, of
imperial administration, of dividing the land into
territories administered by local governors who
report to the central authority, the King of
Assyria. This fundamental model of
administration has survived to this day, as can
be seen in America's federal-state system.
It is in Assyria where the mythological

foundation of the old and new testament is
found. It is here that the story of the flood
originates, 2000 years before the old testament
is written. It is here that the first epic is written,
the Epic of Gilgamesh, with its universal and timeless theme of the struggle and purpose of
humanity. It is here that civilization itself is developed and handed down to future
generations. It is here where the first steps in the cultural unification of the Middle East are
taken by bringing under Assyrian rule the diverse groups in the area, from Iran to Egypt,
breaking down ethnic and national barriers and preparing the way for the cultural unification
which facilitated the subsequent spread of Hellenism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

First Dark Age: 612 B.C. to 33 A.D.
The Assyrian empire collapsed in 612 B.C. The

Assyrian people survived the loss of their state,
and they remained mostly inconspicuous for the
next 600 years. The Persians mention
employing Assyrians as troops, and there is the
failed attempt at reestablishing an Assyrian
Kingdom in 350 B.C.; the Persians squelched
this attempt and castrated 400 Assyrian leaders
as punishment.
Second Golden Age: 33A.D. to 1300 A.D.
Assyrians continued living in their homeland

throughout this dark age, until that momentous
moment in human history, when the Lord Son
of God gave himself for the salvation of mankind. Very soon after the crucifixion, the bulk of
the Assyrian population converted to Christianity, although there remained to be Ashurites,
until 256 A.D. It was the Apostle Thomas, with Thaddeus and Bartholomew who came to the
Assyrian city of Edessa and founded the Assyrian Church of the East, the first and oldest
church in the world.
Armed with the word of God, and after 600 years of dormancy, the Assyrians once again set
out to build an empire, not a military empire, but a religious empire founded on divine
revelation and Christian brotherhood. So successful was the Assyrian missionary
enterprise, by the end of the twelfth century the Assyrian Church was larger than the
Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches combined, and it spanned the Asian
continent, from Syria to Mongolia, Korea, China, Japan and the Philippines.
When Marco Polo visited China in the thirteenth century, he was astonished to find Assyrian
priests in the Chinese royal court, and tens of thousands of Chinese Christians. The Assyrian
missionaries had reached China in the sixth century. With only the bible, a cross, and a loaf
of bread in hand, these messengers had walked thousands of miles along the old silk road to
deliver the word of God. So successful were the missionaries, when Genghis Khan swept
through Asia, he brought with him an army over half of which belonged to the Assyrian
Church of the East. So successful were the missionaries, the first Mongolian system of
writing used the Assyrian alphabet.
Armed with the word of God, Assyrians once again transformed the face of the Middle East.
In the fourth, fifth, and sixth centuries they began a systematic translation of the Greek
body of knowledge into Assyrian. At first they concentrated on the religious works but then
quickly moved to science, philosophy and medicine. Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Galen, and
many others were translated into Assyrian, and from Assyrian into Arabic. It is these Arabic
translations which the Moors brought with them into Spain, and which the Spaniards
translated into Latin and spread throughout Europe, thus igniting the European renaissance.
By the sixth century A.D., Assyrians had begun exporting back to Byzantia their own works
on science, philosophy and medicine. In the field of medicine, the Bakhteesho Assyrian
family produced nine generations of physicians, and founded the great medical school at

Gundeshapur. Also in the area of medicine, Hunayn ibn-Ishaq*s textbook on ophthalmology,

written in 950 A.D., remained the authoritative source on the subject until 1800 A.D.
In the area of philosophy, the Assyrian philosopher Job of Edessa developed a physical
theory of the universe, in the Assyrian language, that rivaled Aristotle*s theory, and that
sought to replace matter with forces.One of the greatest Assyrian achievements of the
fourth century was the founding of the first university in the world. The School of Nisibis had
three departments: theology, philosophy and medicine, and became a magnet and center of
intellectual development in the Middle East. The statutes of the School of Nisibis, which have
been preserved, later became the model upon which the first Italian university was based.
When Arabs and Islam swept through the Middle East in 630 A.D., they encountered 600
years of Assyrian Christian civilization, with a rich heritage, a highly developed culture, and
advanced learning institutions. It is this civilization which became the foundation of the Arab
civilization.
But this great Assyrian Christian civilization would come to an end in 1300 A.D. The tax
which the Arabs levied on Christians, simply for just being Christian, forced many Assyrians
to convert to Islam to avoid the tax; this inexorably drained the community, so that by the
time Timurlane the Mongol delivered the final blow in 1300 A.D., by violently destroying
most cities in the Middle East, the Assyrian Christian community had dwindled to its core in
Assyria, and henceforth the Assyrian Church of the East would not regain its former glory,
and the Assyrian language, which had been the lingua franca of the Middle East until 900
A.D., was completely supplanted by Arabic (except amongst the Assyrians). This, from 1300
A.D. until World War One, became the second Assyrian dark age.
Second Dark Age: 1300 A.D. to 1918 A.D.
The Assyrian missionary enterprise, which had been so successful throughout the Asian
continent, came to an abrupt end with the coming of Timurlane the Mongol. The
indiscriminate destruction leveled by Timurlane against the civilizations he encountered put
to a permanent end the Assyrian missionary enterprise. A large segment of the Assyrian
population escaped the ravages of Timurlane by fleeing into the Hakkary mountains (present
day eastern Turkey); the remaining Assyrians continued to live in their homelands (presently
North Iraq and Syria), and Urmi. The four Assyrian communities, over time, begin defining
themselves in terms of their church affiliation. The western Assyrians, all of whom belonging
to the Syrian Orthodox Church, began identifying themselves as "Jacobites". The remaining
communities belonged to the Assyrian Church of the East. After the division of the Church of
the East in 1550 A.D., the Chaldean Church of Babylon, a Roman Catholic Uniate, was
created, and members of this church began to call themselves Chaldean. By the end of the
nineteenth century, these three communities no longer saw themselves as one and the
same.
Diaspora: 1918 A.D. to the present:
In this century, Assyrians have suffered massive genocide, have lost control of their
ancestral lands, and are in a struggle for survival. The Assyrian nation today stands at a
crossroad. One third of is in a diaspora, while the remaining two-thirds lives perilously in its
native lands. These are some of the dangers facing the Assyrians:
• Denominationalism and fragmentation

• Islamic fundamentalism

• Arabization
• Cultural immersion and absorption into Arab societies
• Mass emigration to the West, and absorption into Western societies
Tribes:
• Albaq Tribe • Tyari Tribe (Upper)

• Alqosh Tribe o Banimatu
• Barwar Tribe o Byalta
• Baz Tribe o Kelaita
• Botan Tribe o Lakina
• Chal Tribe o Romta
• Diz Tribe • Urmia Tribe
• Gawar Tribe o Baradost
• Halim Tribe o Margawar
• Jilu Tribe o Salamas
• Kasran Tribe o Somai
• Kakov Tribe o Tergawar
• Nochiya Tribe o Ushnuk
• Qodchanis Tribe • Walto Tribe
• Taimar Tribe • Tur Abdin
• Tkhuma Tribe o Beth Haydo
o Gunduktha
• Tyari Tribe (Lower) o Bet Shimun
o Asheetha
o Bnematha
o Biraul
o Lizen
o Minianish
o Sulbag
o Zawita

The Assyrian Kings
Old Assyrian Period
King name Reigned[9][10] Notes[9][10]
fl. ca. 1800 BC

"son of Ilu-shuma"; contemporary of Samu-la-El of
Erishum I (short)
Babylonia; said to have built the temple of Ashur
(30 or 40 years)
Ikunum (damaged text) "son of Ilushuma"
Sargon I (damaged text) "son of Ikunum"
Puzur-Ashur II (damaged text) "son of Sargon (I)"
Naram-Suen (damaged text) "son of Puzur-Ashur (II)"
Erishum II (damaged text) "son of Naram-Suen"
"son of (local ruler) Ila-kabkabu, went to

Karduniash in the time of Naram-Suen. In the
eponymy of Ibni-Adad, Shamshi-Adad went up
fl. ca. 1700 BC from Karduniash. He took Ekallatum, where he
Shamshi-Adad I (short) stayed three years. In the eponymy of Atamar-
(33 years) Ishtar, Shamshi-Adad went up from Ekallatum. He
ousted Erishum (II), son of Naram-Suen, from the
throne and took it."; He was in turn conquered by
Hammurabi of Babylon.
Ishme-Dagan I (40 years) "son of Shamshi-Adad (I)"
son of Ishme-Dagan I, married to a Hurrian

Mut-Ashkur (unknown) queen; not included in the standard King List, but
attested elswhere[11]
included in the alternative King List fragment, last

Remu... (unknown) part of name lost; not included in the standard
King List[11]
grandson of Shamshi-Adad I, driven out by vice-

regent Puzur-Suen because he was of foreign
Asinum (unknown)
extraction; not included in the standard King List,
but attested in Puzur-Suen's inscription[11]
Seven usurpers:
• Ashur-
dugul
• Ashur-
apla-idi

• Nasir-
Suen
• Suen-
namir
• Ipqi-
Ishtar
• Adad-
salulu
• Adasi
Bel-bani (10 years) "son of Adasi"
Libaya (17 years) "son of Bel-bani"
Sharma-Adad I (12 years) "son of Libaya"
Iptar-Suen (12 years) "son of Sharma-Adad (I)"
Bazaya (28 years) "son of Iptar-Suen"
Lullaya (6 years) "son of a nobody"
Shu-Ninua (14 years) "son of Bazaya"
Sharma-Adad II (3 years) "son of Shu-Ninua"
Erishum III (13 years) "son of Shu-Ninua"
Shamshi-Adad II (6 years) "son of Erishum (III)"
Ishme-Dagan II (16 years) "son of Shamshi-Adad (II)"
" son of (another) Ishme-Dagan, brother of
Shamshi-Adad III (16 years)
Sharma-Adad (II), son of Shu-Ninua"
Ashur-nirari I (26 years) "son of Ishme-Dagan"
"son of Ashur-nirari (I)"; contemporary of Burna-
Puzur-Ashur III (24 or 14 years)
Buriash I of Babylonia[3]
Enlil-nasir I (13 years) "son of Puzur-Ashur (III)"
Nur-ili (12 years) "son Enlil-nasir (I)"
Ashur-shaduni (1 month) "son of Nur-ili"
"son of Enlil-nasir (I), ousted him (Ashur-shaduni),
Ashur-rabi I (damaged text)
(and) seized the throne"
Ashur-nadin-
(damaged text) "son of Ashur-rabi (I)"
ahhe I
ca. 1420–1415 BC
Enlil-nasir II "his (Ashur-nadin-ahhe I's) brother, ousted him"
(short)
ca. 1414–1408 BC
Ashur-nirari II "son of Enlil-nasir (II)"
(short)
Ashur-bel- ca. 1407–1399 BC
"son of Ashur-nirari (II)"
nisheshu (short)

Ashur-rim- ca. 1398–1391 BC

"son of Ashur-bel-nisheshu"
nisheshu (short)
Ashur-nadin- ca. 1390–1381 BC
"son of Ashur-rim-nisheshu"
ahhe II (short)
Middle Assyrian Period
King name Reigned[13][14][15] Notes[9][10]
ca. 1380–1353 BC
Eriba-Adad I "son of Ashur-bel-nisheshu"
(short)
Ashur-uballit ca. 1353–1318 BC

"son of Eriba-Adad (I)"
I (short)
ca. 1317–1308 BC
Enlil-nirari "son of Ashur-uballit"
(short)
ca. 1307–1296 BC
Arik-den-ili "son of Enlil-nirari"
(short)
ca. 1295–1264 BC
Adad-nirari I "son of Arik-den-ili"
(short)
Shalmaneser ca. 1263–1234 BC

"son of Adad-nirari (I)"
I (short)
Tukulti- ca. 1233–1197 BC

"son of Shalmaneser (I)"
Ninurta I (short)
Ashur-nadin- ca. 1196–1194 BC "during the lifetime of Tukulti-ninurta (I), Ashur-

apli (short) nadin-apli, his son, seized the throne"
Ashur-nirari ca. 1193–1188 BC

"son of Ashur-nadin-apli"
III (short)
Enlil-kudurri- ca. 1187–1183 BC

"son of Tukulti-Ninurta (I)"
usur (short)
Ninurta-apal- ca. 1182–1180 BC "son of Ila-Hadda, a descendant of Eriba-Adad (I),

Ekur (short) went to Karduniash. He came up from Karduniash

(and) seized the throne."
Beginning with Ashur-Dan I, dates are consistent and not subject to middle/short
chronology distinctions.
Ashur-Dan I ca. 1179–1133 BC "son of Ashur-nadin-apli"
Ninurta-
ca. 1133 BC "son of Ashur-dan (I), briefly"
tukulti-Ashur
"his (Ninurta-tukulti-Ashur's) brother, fought him and

Mutakkil-
ca. 1133 BC took him to Karduniash. Mutakkil-Nusku held the
nusku
throne briefly, then died."
Ashur-resh-
ca. 1133–1115 BC "son of Mutakkil-Nusku"
ishi I
Tiglath-
ca. 1115–1076 BC "son of Ashur-resh-ishi (I)"
Pileser I
Asharid-apal-
ca. 1076–1074 BC "son of Tiglath-pileser (I)"
Ekur
Ashur-bel-
ca. 1074–1056 BC "son of Tiglath-pileser (I)"
kala
Eriba-Adad II ca. 1056–1054 BC "son of Ashur-bel-kala"
"son of Tiglath-pileser (I), came up from Karduniash.

Shamshi-
ca. 1054–1050 BC He ousted Eriba-Adad (II), son of Ashur-bel-kala,
Adad IV
(and) seized the throne"
Ashur-nasir-
ca. 1050–1031 BC "son of Shamshi-Adad (IV)"
pal I
Shalmaneser
ca. 1031–1019 BC "son of Ashur-nasir-pal (I)"
II
Ashur-nirari
ca. 1019–1013 BC "son of Shalmaneser (II)"
IV
Ashur-rabi II ca. 1013–972 BC "son of Ashur-nasir-pal (I)"
Ashur-resh-
ca. 972–967 BC "son of Ashur-rabi (II)"
ishi II
Tiglath-
ca. 967–935 BC "son of Ashur-resh-ishi (II)"
Pileser II
Ashur-Dan II ca. 935–912 BC "son of Tiglath-Pileser (II)"

Neo-Assyrian Period
King name Reigned[16][17][18] Notes[9][10]
Adad-nirari II 912–891 BC "son of Ashur-Dan (II)"
Tukulti-Ninurta
891–884 BC "son of Adad-nirari (II)"
II
Ashur-nasir-
884–859 BC "son of Tukulti-Ninurta (II)"
pal II
Shalmaneser
859–824 BC "son of Ashur-nasir-pal (II)"
III
Shamshi-Adad
824–811 BC "son of Shalmaneser (III)"
V

Shammu-ramat, regent, 811–808 BC
Adad-nirari III 811–783 BC "son of Shamshi-Adad (V)"
Shalmaneser
783–773 BC "son of Adad-nirari (III)"
IV
"son of Shalmaneser (IV)"; solar eclipse

Ashur-Dan III 773–755 BC
763 BC[3]
Ashur-nirari V 755–745 BC "son of Adad-nirari (III)"
Tiglath-Pileser
745–727 BC "son of Ashur-nirari (V)"
III
Shalmaneser
727–722 BC "son of Tiglath-Pileser (III)"
V
End of the document known as Assyrian King List; the following kings reigned
after the list had been composed.
co-regency with Shalmaneser V from

Sargon II 722–705 BC
722–709 BC
Sennacherib 705–681 BC
Esarhaddon 681–669 BC
The dates of the last kings are not certain.
669–between 631 and

Ashurbanipal
627 BC
Ashur-etil-ilani ca. 631–627 BC
Sin-shumu-
626 BC
lishir
Sin-shar-
ca. 627–612 BC fall of Nineveh
ishkun
In 612 BC, Nineveh, the Assyrian capital, fell to the Medes and Babylonians;
supported by the Egyptians, an Assyrian general continued to rule for a few years
from Harran.
Harran defeated by Nabopolassar of

Ashur-uballit II 612 BC–ca. 609 BC
Babylonia

Assyrian Research

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Assyrian Research

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Shujaat Hussain Bhatti

Prisoners of war, taken by the Assyrians:....................................7

WAR on Land and SEA.....................................................................................8

Emergence: beginnings to 2400 B.C...........................................13

Research Paper Page 2

First Golden Age: 2400 B.C. to 612 B.C......................................14

First Dark Age: 612 B.C. to 33 A.D.............................................17

Second Golden Age: 33A.D. to 1300 A.D.....................................17

Second Dark Age: 1300 A.D. to 1918 A.D....................................18

Diaspora: 1918 A.D. to the present:...........................................18

Old Assyrian Period..................................................................20

Middle Assyrian Period.............................................................22

Research Paper Page 3

Prior to the Assyrian Holocaust which occurred before, during and

The world’s 4 million Assyrians are currently dispersed with

Research Paper Page 4

The Assyrians were among the first to accept Christianity in the

Most Assyrians in the Diaspora today can trace their

Research Paper Page 5

Research Paper Page 6

Prisoners of war, taken by the Assyrians:

More prisoners of war: Along the way the soldiers

Assurnasirpal's son Shalmaneser III decided to

Research Paper Page 7

WAR on Land and SEA

But at the same time there is

Research Paper Page 8

Research Paper Page 9

Assyrians are Semitic peoples indigenous to Mesopotamia. They are Mediterranean

o Worship places - Church

• Emergence: beginnings to 2400 B.C.

Research Paper Page 11

Research Paper Page 12

Emergence: beginnings to 2400 B.C.

In 1932, Sir Max Mallowan, the eminent British

Research Paper Page 13

First Golden Age: 2400 B.C. to 612 B.C.

We enter into an extremely fruitful period in

Sargon of Akkad established his kingdom in

In 1472 B.C. or there about, a Mittanian king

A new power from south-west Iran, the

Research Paper Page 14

Research Paper Page 15

We come to now the beginning of greatest

The Assyrian empires, particularly the third one,

But it is not only things that originated in

It is in Assyria where the mythological

Research Paper Page 16

First Dark Age: 612 B.C. to 33 A.D.

The Assyrian empire collapsed in 612 B.C. The

Second Golden Age: 33A.D. to 1300 A.D.

Assyrians continued living in their homeland

Research Paper Page 17

Gundeshapur. Also in the area of medicine, Hunayn ibn-Ishaq*s textbook on ophthalmology,

Second Dark Age: 1300 A.D. to 1918 A.D.

Diaspora: 1918 A.D. to the present:

• Denominationalism and fragmentation

Research Paper Page 18

• Albaq Tribe • Tyari Tribe (Upper)

Research Paper Page 19

The Assyrian Kings

Old Assyrian Period