Assyria: Map & History
Assyria was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization that existed from the 21st to the 7th century BCE which conquered and administered most of West Asia from the Assyrian heartland in Upper Mesopotamia.
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Assyria was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization that existed from the 21st to the 7th century BCE which conquered and administered most of West Asia from the Assyrian heartland in Upper Mesopotamia. Assyria is called the first true military superpower in human history, and pioneered major inventions and advances in the first libraries and large-scale preservation and accumulation of knowledge, as well as in statecraft, centralised government, bureaucracy, warfare, military organisation, propaganda, art, and architecture.
Modern Countries Once Part of Assyria
At its mapped extent, Assyria covered territory in 4 present-day countries. The period shown is when the mapped borders include that country, and the note says how much of it.
- Iraq1800–901 BCE · nearly all
- Syria1300–1001 BCE · a large part
- Turkey1240–1001 BCE · a small part
- Iran1220–1201 BCE · a small part
Largest Present-Day Cities in Its Territory
Each opens on the live map inside Assyria's borders of that time.
Derived by testing mapped cities against this polity's dated territorial polygons, so the list is indicative and follows the borders in the source dataset.
Assyria in Depth
History
Agricultural villages in the region that would later become Assyria are known to have existed by the time of the Hassuna culture, c. 6300–5800 BC. Though the sites of some nearby cities that would later be incorporated into the Assyrian heartland, such as Nineveh, are known to have been inhabited since the Neolithic, the earliest archaeological evidence from Assur dates to the Early Dynastic Period, c. 2600 BC. During this time, the surrounding region was already relatively urbanized. There is no evidence that early Assur was an independent settlement, and it might not have been called Assur at all initially, but rather Baltil or Baltila, used in later times to refer to the city's oldest portion.
Government and military
In the Assur city-state of the Old Assyrian period, the government was in many respects an oligarchy, where the king was a permanent, albeit not the only prominent, actor. The Old Assyrian kings were not autocrats, with sole power, but rather acted as stewards on behalf of the god Ashur and presided over the meetings of the city assembly, the main Assyrian administrative body during this time. The composition of the city assembly is not known, but it is generally believed to have been made up of members of the most powerful families of the city, many of whom were merchants.
The king acted as the main executive officer and chairman of this group of influential individuals and also contributed with legal knowledge and expertise.
Culture
The ancient Assyrians primarily spoke and wrote the Assyrian language, a Semitic language (i.e. related to modern Hebrew and Arabic) closely related to Babylonian, spoken in southern Mesopotamia. Both Assyrian and Babylonian are generally regarded by modern scholars to be dialects of the Akkadian language. This is a modern convention since contemporary ancient authors considered Assyrian and Babylonian to be two separate languages. Only Babylonian was referred to as akkadûm, with Assyrian being referred to as aššurû or aššurāyu. Though both were written with cuneiform script, the signs look quite different and can be distinguished relatively easily.
Given the vast timespan covered by ancient Assyria, the Assyrian language developed and evolved over time.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Assyria (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Assyria: Key Facts
| Capitals | Assur, Ekallatum, Nineveh, Tell Leilan |
|---|---|
| Official languages | Akkadian, Aramaic, Sumerian |
| Founded | 2025 BCE |
| Dissolved | 609 BCE |
Facts from Wikidata Q41137 (CC0).
Assyria Map Over Time
Dated world maps on which Assyria appears, with the other states of the time.
Assyria Timeline
Key historical inflections from foundation to peak territorial expansion
Expansion to peak recorded area of 599,270 km² in 1210 BCE.
Assyria: Frequently Asked Questions
When did Assyria exist?
Assyria is dated to 1800 BCE – 901 BCE, in the Bronze Age Civilizations era.
What was the capital of Assyria?
The capital of Assyria was Assur, (c. 2025–1233 BC), Kar-Tukulti-Ninurta, (c. 1233–1207 BC), Assur, (c. 1207–879 BC), Nimrud, (879–706 BC), Dur-Sharrukin, (706–705 BC), Nineveh, (705–612 BC), Harran, (612–609 BC).
How large was Assyria at its peak?
At its peak in 1210 BC Assyria covered about 599,270 km².
How did the map of Assyria change over time?
Assyria appears on 3 dated world maps in the atlas, from 1500 BCE to 1000 BCE. Each shows its borders in that year next to the other states of the time.
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