"And the word of the Lord came to Jonah, the son of Amathias: Arise, go to Nineveh, the great city, and preach in it, for his wickedness has come down to Me."
(Jonah 1: 1, 2).
“Tell about Assyria? I hope it will be interesting for many …”, because ancient Assyria is truly an amazing country. We know a lot about her thanks to the efforts of archaeologists who found her cities, bas-reliefs and statues, as well as clay tablets. Thanks to the fact that Assyria was excavated in the era of imperialism, when some countries could rob others with impunity, archeology took not only whole statues to museums in Europe, but even the fortress gates of the city of Babylon! But … what would have happened today if it had not happened then? Today, religious fanatics would simply destroy much of all this, or all these finds would become victims of the war. So the robbery of some countries by others is not always bad. It can be said that this is the salvation of outstanding cultural values for all mankind. Thanks to this, the sculptures of the Assyrian kings carved from stone, made in full growth, have survived to us; whose faces and figures express invincible power and complete determination to sweep away all obstacles in their path. Looking at them, you see their gazes, like the predatory gazes of an eagle, and their arms with mounds of muscles are more than like a lion's paws. Lush hairstyles with hair curled in rings and laid on the back, this is also not without reason - this is a lion's mane, and the king himself is like a lion and a bull at the same time, he stands so unshakably on the ground! These are the thoughts that come to mind when we look at the examples of Assyrian art.
When the Assyrian kings were not fighting, they hunted. Like this! On local Asian lions. Standing on chariots. Fortunately for us, the Assyrian sculptors paid great attention to the transfer of details. Thanks to this, we can, if not restore, then at least imagine how the Assyrians lived and what they did in such a distant time from us, down to such trifles as the details of the horse harness. Bas-relief from the palace in Nimrud 865-860. BC. British museum.
But they are only a pale, albeit majestic, shadow left over from a great power. Although, for example, during the reign of the Assyrian king Sinacherib (about 700 BC), Babylonia, Syria, and Palestine, along with Judea, and a number of regions of Transcaucasia were part of his power. And under his successors, the Assyrians managed to annex Egypt and Elam to their power (albeit for a short time) - that is, to conquer almost "the entire inhabited world" - the entire Ecumene (even within the limits known to them). But before they became so warlike, before the people of Asia Minor tremble at the mere mention of the Assyrians, the history of this state was … unusually peaceful! And it is with this circumstance that we will begin our story.
The very first capital of Assyria was the relatively small city of Ashur, after which the whole state was named. In 1900 BC, getting on its streets, we would see few soldiers there, but many merchants, which, by the way, is easy to explain. After all, Ashur was located in the upper reaches of the Tigris River, where at that time trade routes converged from north to south. Precious metals, gold and silver, copper, tin, and also slaves were transported from the north to Mesopotamia. On the contrary, the gifts of the fertile South were sent to the north for sale: grain and vegetable oil, as well as handicrafts. Residents of Ashur quickly realized that there was nothing more profitable than intermediary trade, in which they acted as "switchmen", even if only very smart, very cunning and fearless people could be such. After all, they had to fight off the robbers; they had to know foreign languages and customs, and also be able to find a common language with the leaders of numerous wild tribes who sold him slaves; be courteous with foreign kings, nobles and priests, because they resold their most expensive goods to all these people!
As you can see, the ancient Assyrian horsemen did well without stirrups, had helmets and shells made of metal plates and knew how to act at a gallop with a spear.
It was the merchants who ran all the affairs of the city in Ashur. The priests served the gods, by whose prayers the trade only flourished. There were no kings in Ashur at that time, because there was simply no place for them in this tandem - “your soul, our body”. The city grew, became rich and did not really need risky military campaigns. The city also grew rich because the Assyrians lived in the fertile steppes. The land here gave rich harvests without additional irrigation, so there was no need to dig canals and fill earth dams, as in Egypt. The peasant families were large and easily worked on their land plots. Neither the neighbors, nor even the priests were asked for help, and why bother the gods, if the Assyrian peasant could well feed himself and his family on his own. And if so, he was independent, and he paid relatively small taxes. And this independent, and very well-to-do peasantry was the main support of the Assyrian state. As in Egypt, the position of the peasants remained practically unchanged for many centuries and the primitive order was just as long - that is, the unlimited power of the father over family members, strong spiritual ties between peasants who belonged to the same community. The villages were engaged in the fact that they regularly supplied food to the city, and … young men to the army of Ashur. But the city itself practically did not interfere in village affairs.
Another relief from Nimrud, c. 883-859 biennium before. n. NS. Pergamon Museum, Berlin. As you can see, the chariots of the Assyrians had more massive wheel rims than the wheels of the chariots of the Egyptians, and in the chariot itself there was a whole arsenal - two quivers with arrows and a heavy spear.
So this city would have lived further, but around 1800 the neighboring Babylon and the new kingdom of Mitanni, as well as the Hittites, began to oust Assyrian merchants from rich markets. Residents of Ashur tried to regain their positions by force of arms, but the opponents turned out to be stronger, and it all ended with the fact that he lost his independence. And it all ended with the fact that this trading city on the Tigris River lost its significance and for several centuries went into the shadows.
Around 1350 BC The Assyrians were helped by the Egyptians and with their help they again became independent from both Mitanni and Babylon. But this was not enough, it was necessary to control the roads that led to the Mediterranean coast and the rich coastal Syrian cities. It was even more important to control the crossings across the Euphrates, because none of the merchants could pass them. But in order to achieve all this, an army was needed. And not just an army. Ashur had such a thing. The needed army was led by a single commander. And then the mayor Ashura ("ish-shiakkum"), whose power was traditionally inherited, decided to take the royal title and at the same time became the commander-in-chief.
Relief from Nimrud. British museum. The three warriors depicted in this relief provide excellent evidence that the Assyrians have a well-trained army. We see here a "battle troika": two archers and one shield-bearer with a large easel shield. Obviously, good preparation was required for the combat cohesion of such combat units to be at their best.
Soon military success came to the Assyrians. They crushed the kingdom of Mitanni, annexed part of its lands, and in 1300-1100. BC. took control of the ferries that went through the Euphrates and the roads in the direction of the sea. Having crushed the closest opponents, the Assyrians began to send their troops on long campaigns. Returning from a campaign, the tsar-military leader very often built himself a capital-fortress, and shut himself up in it along with his treasures. Nineveh, the most famous among the Assyrian cities, became just such and the most luxurious among such fortresses-capitals of the capitals. Well, Ashur himself gradually faded into the background. And not so much merchants as warriors began to fill the streets of new cities. It turned out that plundering is much easier than trading and making a craft!
Assyrian reliefs often depict archers. Here is a relief from the southwest palace of Nineveh (room 36, panels 5-6, British Museum); 700–692 biennium BC.
It is interesting that the kings in Assyria were strong, but their power was frankly weak. A strong king was not needed by either the nobility or the priests. Even the famous commander and conqueror of Babylon, king Tukulti-Ninurta I (1244-1208 BC), they were able not only to declare him insane, but also to deprive him of the throne. And all because he tried to establish his unlimited power in the state and introduced magnificent court etiquette following the example of the Babylonians. The country, as before, was ruled by wealthy merchants and priests; they still conceded military glory and plundered spoils to the tsar, but they did not want to share power with him in any way. Moreover, in peacetime, no one particularly felt the need for a king. However, this is the case now with us. Well, who remembers the officials and the authorities, if everything is fine with him? We only remember them when something happens to us, don't we?
Gregorian Egyptian Museum, Italy. "The head of a warrior in a helmet", Nineveh, c. 704-681 AD The warrior has a helmet on his head, and with headphones.
Around 1100 BC Assyria was attacked by the Aramean nomads and inflicted such a strong blow on them that they lost all their possessions on the Euphrates. But around 900 BC. they again began to wage wars of conquest and for the next hundred years had no worthy rivals in Asia Minor.
At the same time, the Assyrian kings used a method of waging war that was new for that time, which allowed them to win one victory after another. First of all, they attacked the enemy always unexpectedly and with lightning speed. The Assyrians most often (and especially at the beginning!) Did not take prisoners: and if the population of the attacked city resisted them, then it was completely destroyed for the edification of everyone else. The word "woe to the vanquished" for the Assyrians was by no means an abstract concept. Their hands were cut off, which lay in the hills, the skin was torn off alive from which the border pillars were covered, teenagers of both sexes were burned. Very popular, as evidenced by the bas-reliefs on the walls of Assyrian palaces that have come down to us, was the planting of people on a stake, depicted with all the details. Like the Inca Indians on the other side of the globe, they deprived the defeated of their homeland, resettling them to other areas, and often very far, where people spoke other languages. It is clear that this prevented the collusion of the disaffected. Well, the Assyrians who submitted to them then plundered the countries for decades.
Looking at such reliefs, one involuntarily begins to think that the Assyrians were completely sadists and maniacs, which may be quite possible, because everything in the world depends on upbringing. Before us is a scene in which the Assyrians flay the skin from their captives. Slowly, so that they suffer longer, and the kids are watching all this. British museum.
But here's what is interesting: with all this, neither the Assyrian kings, nor the merchants, nor the priests were able to unite the inhabitants of their state, which had become truly huge, into a single whole. And then the same thing began, which happened later with other countries that embarked on the path of successful conquests. More and more soldiers were needed in the army and … there was no one to sow the fields and engage in handicrafts.
And here is another scene of torture. First, the hands were chopped off, then the legs, and then they could put them on a stake, let them also experience it in the end … A frame on the gate from the palace of King Shalmaneser II in Balavat. British museum.
But this gate looks like a reconstructed one. On either side of them are the winged Assyrian human-oxen lammasu or shedu. The surviving winged shedu can be seen today in many museums around the world: the Parisian Louvre, the British Museum in London, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Oriental Institute in Chicago. Life-size copies made of plaster are also exhibited in the State Museum of Fine Arts named after A. S. Pushkin in Moscow. They are also in the National Museum of Iraq in Baghdad, but who will go there to see them, and are they intact there at all?
The Assyrians had too many military leaders and at the same time few officials capable of collecting taxes. However, once having entered this path, the Assyrians could no longer leave it, because the invaders were hated by all the peoples around them and were forced to endure their oppression only because of their armed forces. That is, more and more soldiers were required. But there was an unwritten tradition, according to which the trading cities not only had privileges in respect of paying taxes, but also their inhabitants were exempted from military service. The Assyrian conquerors did not want to preserve these privileges at all, but they could not cancel them either, because they feared possible revolts and the reduction of potential buyers of their goods.
However, all these petrified horrors helped the specialists in one thing: they were able to very accurately convey in their reconstructions the appearance and clothing of Assyrian soldiers and kings. Drawing by Angus McBride.
Among such free cities, Babylon occupied a very important place, to which the Assyrians treated with considerable reverence, since in the past they adopted from her culture, religion, and writing. Their respect for this great city was so great that it became something like the second capital of the Assyrian state. The kings who ruled in Nineveh tried to bribe the Babylonian priests with rich gifts, tried to decorate the city with palaces and statues, and, despite all this, the city did not accept its conquerors and continued to remain the center of conspiracies against their power. This opposition went so far that the Assyrian king Sinacherib in 689 ordered to destroy Babylon to the ground and even flood the place on which it once stood. This terrible act of the king caused discontent even in Nineveh itself, and although the city was then rebuilt under the son of Sinacherib, Assarhaddon, Babylon's relationship with Assyria soured forever. Therefore, Assyria could no longer rely on the authority of the main religious center of Western Asia.
Babylon was for the Assyrians the object of both secret envy and admiration at the same time. Which, however, is not at all surprising if we look at this reconstruction of the gate of the goddess Ishtar in Babylon, which can be seen in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin.
And here in the north a young and strong state of Urartu arose and began to fight the Assyrians (800-700 BC). Under the blows of the Urarts, the Assyrian state more than once found itself on the verge of defeat. But there were not enough peasants to replenish the army, and around 750 BC. The Assyrians replaced the militia with an army of mercenary soldiers specially trained in military craft. But in order to maintain this army, the Assyrian kings had to set off again and again on their predatory campaigns. So the circle was closed, and this was the beginning of the end.
Naturally, the Assyrians tried to build the walls of their Nineveh no worse than the Babylonian ones, although this did not save them!
The situation of the free peasants, who had previously joined the militia, has now changed dramatically. The nobles began to enslave them, since they no longer played the previous role, and their number decreased very noticeably. And it so happened that the Assyrians themselves in their own country were … in the minority, and the majority in it were prisoners of war who hated their enslavers and driven from different lands. The power of Assyria began to weaken rapidly and it all ended with the rebellious Medes taking the city of Ashur by storm in 614, and two years later, together with the Babylonians, defeated and destroyed the city of Nineveh. Everything turned out the way it was said in the Bible: “And He will stretch His hand to the north, and destroy Asshur, and turn Nineveh into ruins, into a dry place like a desert, and flocks and all kinds of animals will rest among her; the pelican and the hedgehog will spend the night in her carved ornaments, their voice will be heard in the windows; destruction will be revealed on the pillars of the door, for there will be no cedar paneling on them”(Zephaniah 2:13, 14). But the only thing the Assyrians wanted was that no one would interfere with their trade!
