The people known as the Ancient Assyrians existed from roughly the second millennium BCE to 612 BCE. They were from the kingdom of Assyria which was located in northern Mesopotamia in what is modern-day Iraq. This general area was one of the places where civilization first originated, where people first began cultural practices such as writing, agriculture, and city-building. The Assyrians arose from this area to become a massive international empire which, through their literature, culture, and military conquests, had a profound effect on the different civilizations that existed in this and surrounding areas over the next several centuries. Although the Assyrians are thought as a great empire many believe them to be bloodthirsty savages, as
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Their aggressiveness was partially attributed to their geographical location. With no natural borders like shores or mountains they were extremely vulnerable to attacks from any direction. As a way of protecting themselves the Assyrians built up a reputation of a strong and mobile army. The Assyrians achieved this by each year marching on the neighbour that posed the greatest threat and as historian Leonard Cottrell points out they fought with “a calculated use of violence and terror' never extending what they believed necessary.” From this analyses of Ancient Assyria’s vulnerability by attacking their neighbors prove that the civilization were great people and by attacking as a way of warding off attacks towards themselves and using enough force deemed necessary shows that they were not bloodthirsty savages but a civilization trying to preserve and expand their culture.
The culture that the Assyrians were trying to protect was often recorded on clay tablets or in reliefs. It is necessary to remember Assyria’s great libraries. The most extensive of these was Ashurbanipal’s, which preserved not only the literary works of their own land but also those of many other regions of Western Asia. It was in Assyrian libraries that archaeologists found the great works of Sumerian literature, many religious texts that characterized Mesopotamian …show more content…
Their belief in their God and through the leadership of their many kings is why the Assyrians began their imperialistic expansion. Historian Simon Anglim writes: “While historians tend to shy away from analogies, it is tempting to see the Assyrian Empire, which dominated the Middle East from 900-612 BC, as a historical forebear of Nazi Germany: an aggressive, murderously vindictive regime supported by a magnificent and successful war machine. As with the German army of World War II, the Assyrian army was the most technologically and doctrinally advanced of its day and was a model for others for generations afterwards. The Assyrians were the first to make extensive use of iron weaponry [and] not only were iron weapons superior to bronze, but could be mass-produced, allowing the equipping of very large armies indeed.” While the reputation of being ruthless is understandable, unlike the Nazis, the Assyrians treated those who were conquered well and considered them Assyrians once they had submitted to the Assyrian Ruler. And also unlike the Nazis there was no concept of a 'master race' in Assyrian policies, everyone was considered an asset to the empire whether they were born Assyrian or were assimilated into the
Their aggressiveness was partially attributed to their geographical location. With no natural borders like shores or mountains they were extremely vulnerable to attacks from any direction. As a way of protecting themselves the Assyrians built up a reputation of a strong and mobile army. The Assyrians achieved this by each year marching on the neighbour that posed the greatest threat and as historian Leonard Cottrell points out they fought with “a calculated use of violence and terror' never extending what they believed necessary.” From this analyses of Ancient Assyria’s vulnerability by attacking their neighbors prove that the civilization were great people and by attacking as a way of warding off attacks towards themselves and using enough force deemed necessary shows that they were not bloodthirsty savages but a civilization trying to preserve and expand their culture.
The culture that the Assyrians were trying to protect was often recorded on clay tablets or in reliefs. It is necessary to remember Assyria’s great libraries. The most extensive of these was Ashurbanipal’s, which preserved not only the literary works of their own land but also those of many other regions of Western Asia. It was in Assyrian libraries that archaeologists found the great works of Sumerian literature, many religious texts that characterized Mesopotamian …show more content…
Their belief in their God and through the leadership of their many kings is why the Assyrians began their imperialistic expansion. Historian Simon Anglim writes: “While historians tend to shy away from analogies, it is tempting to see the Assyrian Empire, which dominated the Middle East from 900-612 BC, as a historical forebear of Nazi Germany: an aggressive, murderously vindictive regime supported by a magnificent and successful war machine. As with the German army of World War II, the Assyrian army was the most technologically and doctrinally advanced of its day and was a model for others for generations afterwards. The Assyrians were the first to make extensive use of iron weaponry [and] not only were iron weapons superior to bronze, but could be mass-produced, allowing the equipping of very large armies indeed.” While the reputation of being ruthless is understandable, unlike the Nazis, the Assyrians treated those who were conquered well and considered them Assyrians once they had submitted to the Assyrian Ruler. And also unlike the Nazis there was no concept of a 'master race' in Assyrian policies, everyone was considered an asset to the empire whether they were born Assyrian or were assimilated into the