Assyrian empire
Also called: Assyria · Topic: Bronze Age Civilisations: Mesopotamia, Egypt, China · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 1 "Writing and City Life"
Meaning
Assyria was the kingdom of northern Mesopotamia. The Class 11 textbook says the Assyrian kingdom arose c. 1100 BCE. It later became a great Iron Age empire (720–610 BCE) that reached as far as Egypt. Its economy was predatory: it lived by taking labour and tribute (forced payments) from the many peoples it ruled. Assyrian rule over the south ended when Nabopolassar freed Babylonia in 625 BCE.
Example
Assurbanipal (668–627 BCE), the last great Assyrian king, ruled from Nineveh. He saw Babylonia as the home of high culture and collected about 30,000 clay tablets there.
Don't confuse with
- Early Assyrians (Class 9): the Class 9 textbook describes an early power at Assur (from c. 2154 BCE) that took over from the Akkadians and stayed dominant until the early 1700s BCE. Class 11 uses "Assyria" for the later kingdom and empire. Quote each textbook for its own claim.