The origin of Assyrians

The Assyrians come from Mesopotamia, the area between the two famous rivers, the Tigris (Idiglat) and the Euphrates (Purattu). It is a well-known fact that Mesopotamia was the center of an enormously rich culture. Its history goes back to the dawn of civilization and of sedentary society. Assyria is to be found in the North of Mesopotamia.

Originally, Assyria was the region around the city of Ashur, situated east of Aram Naharaim, along the banks of the river Tigris, but after the Assyrian kings had subjugated much of the ancient Near East, it also became the name of the Assyrian empire (c. 1,300 -612 BC).

The Assyrians occupied Babylon for a brief period in the thirteenth century B.C. Invasions of iron-producing peoples into the Near East and into the Aegean region in approximately 1200 B.C. disrupted the indigenous empires of Mesopotamia.

The first Assyrian ruler bears the title of Ishakku, which seems to mean priest-prince, and implies subjection to some other ruler elsewhere. These early rulers must have been subject princes of the kings in Babylonia. Apparently the first of them are Ishme-Dagan and his son, Shamshi-Adad I.

The latter of these built a great temple in the city of Asshur and dedicated it to the gods Anu and Adad. The capital of the Assyrian Empire was a city called Nineveh. Nineveh became a great city of learning. It had a famous librarythat held thousands of clay tabletswith writings from Sumer and Babylon. The Assyrians began to expand to the west in the early part of the ninth century B.C.; by 859 they had reached the Mediterranean Sea, where they occupied Phoenician cities.
The origin of Assyrians