Who were the Assyrians?

The Assyrians will always be remembered both for its antiquity as a civilization, and for its brutal military methods that terrorize the entire Middle East and part of the West. Their armies, their soldiers, and their ferocity on the battlefield brought them resounding and respected success during the 9th and 7th centuries BC. C. in the Mesopotamia region. They extended their dominions from the Turkish part, passing through Iran until reaching Egypt.

But it was not all blood and violence with the Assyrian people. They had a great predilection for art and architecture, stamping great works wherever they stepped on. They wanted to impose their regional hegemony facing the Babylonian Empire, which was the power of the moment and which He managed to survive by joining forces with another competitor, the Medes, who formed a coalition to lay waste to the Assyrians.

In this article we will give a brief review of the history of the Assyrian people, one of the most important elements that occurred in the cradle of civilizations.

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The origin of the Assyrians

The Assyrians were a set of nomadic peoples of Semitic origin who moved through what is known today as the Middle East. The origin of its name corresponds to what was the main capital of the Assyrian people, Assura or Ashura in Arabic. This word was dedicated to the god Assur, who according to ancient mythology means "the God of Life", originally represented in the form of a tree.

Although a priori the God Assur represented the creation of the whole, of vegetation, of life, of order and of the infinite, as the Assyrian empire, his figure was distorted, until it was given a more perverse and warlike meaning to encourage the soldiers to promote new conquests. He was the King of Gods and God of Kings, and every Assyrian citizen or ruler was to perform a ritual to get your blessing.

According to archaeological discoveries made in the city of Assura, al-Charquat in present-day Iraq, on the shores of the splendid river Tigris, this was a colony of the Babylonians that happened to be of the Assyrians after their total destruction. This ancient city was revealed in 2003 and was declared a World Heritage Site in Danger of Disappearance by UNESCO.

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Imperial period

Like any other ancient empire, the Assyrian went through the cycle of life that all share: birth, splendor and decline. Here are three moments that explain the existence of the Assyrian empire.

First Assyrian Empire

It was in this period (1814-1781 a. C.) where the Assyrian Empire was consolidated with such a category. The increase of the Assyrian population outside their regions exploded the first tensions and battles with neighboring nations. Under the mandate of king Shamshi Adad I until 1760 a. C, since in that year it was defeated by the Babylonian Empire.

Middle Assyrian Empire

This was a tumultuous time of great confusion throughout the Mesopotamian region, especially for the Assyrians. Once annexed to the Babylonian Empire, they began to suffer invasions by other powers emerging as the Hittites and the so-called Peoples of the Sea from the peninsula of the Balkans.

It is here that the Assyrians began to carve out their legacy, a legacy feared for years to come. They resisted against all the attacks suffered by all fronts against the Hittites, Egyptians, Arameans or the Mitani. So they territorially extended their dominions, and established the practice of terror as a weapon of war, burning, assassinating and devastating the conquered regions.

The Neo-Assyrian Empire

Interestingly, just the more ruthless militarily the Assyrians seemed, they wanted to lay the foundations of an administrative system of assimilation of the peoples, avoiding their destruction and taking care of their fellow citizens. In each region a province was established with a governor and their respective representative buildings (usually temples).

King Sargon II, of the Sargonid dynasty, was in charge of bringing another less warlike element to his empire: art, architecture and urban modernization. The gardens and plants is one of the splendid attributes of the time, making the capital Nineveh one of the most beautiful in Mesopotamia.

However, all this - even with the accommodation of the masses - was done with an iron fist and in a despotic way. The inequality and cruelty with which the second-class inhabitants were treated made the empire fall into a spiral of weakness and lack of control, which it would culminate with the reconquest of the Babylonians around the year 609 a. C.

The artistic legacy

We have had a lot to do with the conquests and military battles of the Assyrian empire. In his cruelty and political administration. However, not everything was fights and skirmishes between archaic ethnic groups and nations. There was also an artistic radiance of which priceless remains are still discovered today.

Regarding architecture, the Assyrians assimilated part of the Chaldean art, improving and enlarging the palaces and temples that they built to demonstrate their might and greatness. A differential detail was the identification plates that adorned the facades of the buildings: fired brick and glass were the material used to give beauty to the monuments. Art historians agree that the Assyrian temples are the most spectacular in Mesopotamia, highlighting that of Sargon II from the 8th century BC. C.

The Assyrians were brilliant in descriptive reliefs, carved with special care and finesse. Basically, they represented the battles won, the heroic characters who carried them out, and the rulers who subdued the people. Firmness, power and hierarchy was the theme present in all Assyrian representation. In the paintings there is no variation in the narrative, but the most used colors were blue, yellow and red. Vibrant colors that recounted the daily life of Assyrian culture. The remains that are preserved today are witnesses to the greatness of this civilization.