Neo Syrian Kings Conquest range from the ninth to the seventh centuries B.C.
Assyria success came from a series of extremely effective leaders who expanded the borders far beyond the northern plains. Beginning in the ninth century B.C., the Assyrian armies controlled the major trade routes and dominated the surrounding states in Babylonia, western Iran, Anatolia, and the Levant. The city of Ashur continued to be important as the ancient and religious capital, but the Assyrian kings also founded and expanded other cities.
During Ashurnasirpal’s rule, Assyria recovered much of the territory that it had lost around 1100 B.C. at the end of the Middle Assyrian period. Shalmaneser III (r. 858–824 B.C.) succeeded his father, Ashurnasirpal, as king and attempted to consolidate earlier military successes both to the west in Syria …show more content…
704–681 B.C.), who chose the ancient city of Nineveh as his capital. When Sargon II’s son Sennacherib came to the throne in 704 bc, revolts were sprouting everywhere in his empire. Those restive states hoped that the hitherto-untested new monarch would not be a match for his militant father or his powerful grandfather, Tiglath-Pileser III. Among the first to rebel in 705 was King Hezekiah of Judah. Had it not been for the fateful interaction between Hezekiah and Sennacherib, the landscape of modern civilization would be much different.
Despite the militaristic tradition he had inherited, Sennacherib was more than just another Assyrian king bathed up to his neck in blood. He also accomplished a mammoth renovation of his capital city, Nineveh, situated on the Tigris River in what is now northern Iraq. He crowned Nineveh with extensive gardens and aqueducts and was in fact the first town planner in the Western world. Sennacherib’s varied interests and activities show he was a determined and complex man. Nevertheless, he wasted little time in shoring up the threatened flanks of his
Assyria success came from a series of extremely effective leaders who expanded the borders far beyond the northern plains. Beginning in the ninth century B.C., the Assyrian armies controlled the major trade routes and dominated the surrounding states in Babylonia, western Iran, Anatolia, and the Levant. The city of Ashur continued to be important as the ancient and religious capital, but the Assyrian kings also founded and expanded other cities.
During Ashurnasirpal’s rule, Assyria recovered much of the territory that it had lost around 1100 B.C. at the end of the Middle Assyrian period. Shalmaneser III (r. 858–824 B.C.) succeeded his father, Ashurnasirpal, as king and attempted to consolidate earlier military successes both to the west in Syria …show more content…
704–681 B.C.), who chose the ancient city of Nineveh as his capital. When Sargon II’s son Sennacherib came to the throne in 704 bc, revolts were sprouting everywhere in his empire. Those restive states hoped that the hitherto-untested new monarch would not be a match for his militant father or his powerful grandfather, Tiglath-Pileser III. Among the first to rebel in 705 was King Hezekiah of Judah. Had it not been for the fateful interaction between Hezekiah and Sennacherib, the landscape of modern civilization would be much different.
Despite the militaristic tradition he had inherited, Sennacherib was more than just another Assyrian king bathed up to his neck in blood. He also accomplished a mammoth renovation of his capital city, Nineveh, situated on the Tigris River in what is now northern Iraq. He crowned Nineveh with extensive gardens and aqueducts and was in fact the first town planner in the Western world. Sennacherib’s varied interests and activities show he was a determined and complex man. Nevertheless, he wasted little time in shoring up the threatened flanks of his