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Centered on the Tigris in Upper Mesopotamia

Centered on the Tigris in Upper Mesopotamia (modern northern Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and the northwestern fringes of Iran), the Assyrians came to rule powerful empires several times. Making up a substantial part of the greater Mesopotamian "cradle of civilization", which included Sumer, the Akkadian Empire, and Babylonia, Assyria was at the height of technological, scientific and cultural achievements for its time. At its peak, the Assyrian empire stretched from Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea to Iran, and from what is now Armenia and Azerbaijan in the Caucasus, to the Arabian Peninsula, Egypt and eastern Libya.

Assyria is named after its original capital

Assyria is named after its original capital, the ancient city of Aššur, which dates to c. 2600 BC, originally one of a number of Akkadian city-states in Mesopotamia. In the 25th and 24th centuries BC, Assyrian kings were pastoral leaders. From the late 24th century BC, the Assyrians became subject to Sargon of Akkad, who united all the Akkadian- and Sumerian-speaking peoples of Mesopotamia under the Akkadian Empire, which lasted from c. 2334 BC to 2154 BC.

After its fall, the greater remaining part of Assyria was geopolitical region and province of other nations between the mid-2nd century BC and late 3rd century AD, with a patchwork of small independent Assyrian kingdoms adjacent to it. The region of Assyria fell under the successive control of the Medes, the Achaemenid Empire, the Seleucid Empire, the Parthian Empire, the Roman Empire, and the Sasanian Empire. The Muslim conquest of Persia in the mid-seventh century finally dissolved it as a single entity, after which the remnants of the Assyrian people gradually became an ethnic, linguistic, cultural and religious minority in the Assyrian homeland, surviving there to this day as an indigenous people of the

 Subartu and Aluminum prior to the rise of the city-state of Aššūr

Assyria was also sometimes known as Subartu and Aluminum prior to the rise of the city-state of Aššūr, after which it was Aššūrāyu, and after its fall, from 605 BC through to the late seventh century AD variously as Achaemenid Assyria, and also referenced as Atouria, Ator, Author according to Strabo, Syria (Greek), Assyria (Latin) and Asōristān (Middle Persian). "Assyria" can also refer to the geographic region or heartland where Assyria, its empires, and the Assyrian people were (and still are) centered. The modern Eastern Aramaic-speaking Christian ethnic minority in northern Iraq, northeast Syria, southeast Turkey, and northwest Iran are the descendants of the ancient Assyrians (see Assyrian continuity).

c. 2600 BCc. 2025 BC →
Capital Aššur
Languages Akkadian language
Religion Ancient Mesopotamian religion
Government Monarchy
King
 • c. 2450 BC Tudiya (first)
 • c. 2025 BC Ilu-Shuma (last)
Historical era Bronze Age
 • Established c. 2600 BC
 • Disestablished c. 2025 BC

Today part of Iraq

The city of Aššur, together with a number of other Assyrian cities, seems to have been established by 2600 BC. However, it is likely that they were initially Sumerian-dominated administrative centers. In the late 26th century BC, Eannatum of Lagash, then the dominant Sumerian ruler in Mesopotamia, mentions "smiting Subartu" (Subartu being the Sumerian name for Assyria). Similarly, Inc. the early 25th century BC, Lugal-Anne-Mundu the king of the Sumerian state of Adab lists Subartu as paying tribute to him.

Of the early history of the kingdom of Assyria

Of the early history of the kingdom of Assyria, little is known. In the Assyrian King List, the earliest king recorded was Tudiya. According to Georges Roux, he would have lived in the latter half of the 25th century BC, i.e. somewhere between 2450 BC and 2400 BC. In archaeological reports from Ebla, it appeared that Tudiya's activities were confirmed with the discovery of a tablet where he concluded a treaty for the operation of a karum (trading colony) in the Eblaite territory, with "king" Ibrium of Ebla (who is now known to have been the vizier of Ebla for king Ishar-Damu).

Tudiya was succeeded on the list by Adamu and then a further thirteen rulers (Yangi, Shuhlamu, Harharu, Mandaru, Imshu, Harshu, Didanu, Hanu, Zuabu, Nuabu, Abazu, Belu, and Azarah). Nothing concrete is yet known about these names, although it has been noted that a much later Babylonian tablet listing the ancestral lineage of Hammurabi, the Amorite king of Babylon, seems to have copied the same names from Tudiya through Nuabu, though in a heavily corrupted form.

The earliest kings

The earliest kings, such as Tudiya, who are recorded as kings who lived in tents, were independent semi-nomadic pastoralist rulers. These kings at some point became fully urbanized and founded the city-state of Ashur in the mid 21st century BC.

during the Amarna Period (14th century BC)

← 1392 BC–934 BC →

during the Amarna Period (14th century BC), showing the great powers of the day: Egypt (orange), Hatti (blue), the Kassite kingdom of Babylon (black), Assyria (yellow), and Mitanni (brown). The extent of the Achaean/Mycenaean civilization is shown in purple.
Capital Aššur
Languages Akkadian
Religion Ancient Mesopotamian religion
Government Monarchy
King
 • 1365–1330 BC Ashur-uballit I (first)
 • 967–934 BC Tiglath-Pileser II (last)
Historical era Mesopotamia
 • Independence from Mitanni 1392 BC
 • Reign of Ashur-dan II 934 BC

Middle Assyrian Empire

Beginning with the campaigns of Adad-nirari II from 911 BC, it again became a great power over the next three centuries, overthrowing the Twenty-fifth dynasty of Egypt and conquering Egypt, driving the Ethiopians, Kushites, and Nubians from Egypt. The Middle period (1365 BC - 1056 BC) saw reigns of great kings, such as Ashur-uballit I, Arik-den-Ali, Tukulti-Ninurta I and Tiglath-Pileser I. During this period, Assyria overthrew the empire of the Hurri-Mitanni and eclipsed the Hittite Empire, Egyptian Empire, Babylonia, Elam, Canaan, and Phrygia in the Near East.

The Middle Assyrian kingdom 

The Middle Assyrian kingdom was well organized and in the firm control of the king, who also functioned as the High Priest of Ashur, the state god. He had certain obligations to fulfill in the cult and had to provide resources for the temples. The priesthood became a major power in Assyrian society. Conflicts with the priesthood are thought to have been behind the murder of king Tukulti-Ninurta I.

The Middle Assyrian Period

The Middle Assyrian Period was marked by the long wars fought that helped build Assyria into a warrior society. The king depended on both the citizen class and priests in his capital, and the landed nobility who supplied the horses needed by Assyria's military. Documents and letters illustrate the importance of the latter to Assyrian society.

Assyria needed less artificial irrigation than Babylonia

Assyria needed less artificial irrigation than Babylonia, and horse-breeding was extensive. Portions of elaborate texts about the care and training of them have been found. Trade was carried out in all directions. The mountain country to the north and west of Assyria was a major source of metal ore, as well as lumber. Economic factors were a common casus belli.

All free male citizens were obliged to serve in the army for a time, a system which was called the ilku-service. A legal code was produced during the 14th and 13th centuries which, among other things, clearly shows that the social position of women in Assyria was lower than that of neighboring societies. Men were permitted to divorce their wives with no compensation paid to the latter. If a woman committed adultery, she could be beaten or put to death. It's not certain if these laws were seriously enforced, but they appear to be a backlash against some older documents that granted things like equal compensation to both partners in divorce.

The women of the king's harem

The women of the king's harem and their servants were also subject to harsh punishments, such as beatings, mutilation, and death. Assyria, in general, had much harsher laws than most of the region. Executions were not uncommon, nor were whippings followed by forced labor. Some offenses allowed the accused a trial under torture/duress. One tablet that covers property rights has brutal penalties for violators. A creditor could force debtors to work for him, but not sell them.

Assyria was open to homosexual relationships between men

Assyria was open to homosexual relationships between men. In the Middle Assyrian Laws, sex crimes were punished identically whether they were homosexual or heterosexual. An individual with a higher social class faced no punishment for penetrating someone of a lower social class, or whose gender roles were not considered solidly masculine. However, homosexual relationships between social equals, or those where a social better was submissive or penetrated, were treated as rape. Omen texts referred to male homosexual acts without moral judgment or affirmation. One historian notes that the laws would not be so detailed "if homosexual behavior were not a familiar aspect of daily life of early Mesopotamia."