The Brutal Assyrian Empire
The Assyrian Empire began at the city of Asshur during the Bronze Age,which was close to the Tigris River that provided fertile ground and water supply. For over 300 years the Assyrian Empire spread conquering their opponents and taking control of their land. This enormous empire ruled over the Middle East from Egypt and the eastern coast of the Mediterranean to parts of Turkey, Iran and Iraq. Now When you think of it there had to have been something to give the Assyrians a great advantage to take and keep control of these lands, and not only keep control but flourish with resources for such a long period of time right?
During the rise of the empire, Assyria was weakened and dominated after the death of their king Shalmaneser III. The empire rose up again to rule all of the Middle East. When an Assyrian king named Tiglath-pileser III came to power he promised to make the military strong, and so he did. Thousands of young men enlisted to become soldiers. The Assyrian army had converted to a chariot warfare style which gave them an advantage alone. Even better yet, they had added another person onto the chariot so that one would drive and the other would shoot utilizing both mobility and fire power. Not only that, but they began using iron which was far stronger than bronze. They would have Iron helmets/hats as well as weapons which gave them a massive advantage. Pileser reorganized his army to become “the model of efficiency, training, and tactics”. Iron was a huge factor to their power and why they ruled for so long. Not only was Iron but so was their brutality.
The assyrians had a system where if they conquered another territory that would become a vassal or pretty much a slave king. If the vassal rulers obeyed and were obedient and paid tribute they were secure, but if they dare rebelled, they would be overthrown, publicly humiliated or killed and then replaced with a ruler that would cooperate. Not only would they do that but they would also deport and resettle the conquered peoples. Depending on the skills of the conquered settler they would be shipped off to a place where they would better benefit Assyria. Now you may ask yourself why wouldn’t a place rebel against them?
After the Assyrians conquered a place they would force them to pay tribute and when called upon, to fight for Assyria to conquer more lands. The vassals usually did not rebel against them but if they did they would pay the price. The Assyrian army would come to their front doorstep and slaughter everyone and they would impale the leaders that would not pay tribute. For those of you that don’t know what impalement is, that is when a big stake is put in the ground and the leaders are dropped on top of it. It is a method used not only to terrorize people but also to send a message to anyone else that dares to defy them. All of this made the Assyrian Empire one of the deadliest and most powerful Empires of all ancient Mesopotamian civilizations.
Below is a video over the Assyrian Empire and how brutal they were and how they used their warfare to expand. The video is a little long but is both very interesting and provides a lot of information. I inserted a video but it wouldn't play for me so I also added the link below it.
Below is a video over the Assyrian Empire and how brutal they were and how they used their warfare to expand. The video is a little long but is both very interesting and provides a lot of information. I inserted a video but it wouldn't play for me so I also added the link below it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpKxRJDmnQI
Sources:
https://www.historyonthenet.com/assyrian-empire-the-most-powerful-empire-in-the-world/
https://www.ancient.eu/assyria/
Haywood Classics Book
What an interesting read. I am somewhat surprised that the Assyrian Empire was able to grow so quickly based on this 'conquer and pay tribute' methodology. With so many people eventually paying tribute, I wonder if they were able to all rise up and defeat the assyrian empire when their collective numbers were enough. It doesn't surprise me, however, at how brutal they were. In this time period people respected others based on threats. With this brutal and ruthless way of battling and conquering others it is no surprise they were a highly powerful empire.
ReplyDeleteI like the topic that you chose and I believe it is a topic that is pretty interesting to read about. It does not surprise me that the Assyrian Empire was able to expand solely on conquering other places. Once you are able to gain power, the more and more places you conquer, the more powerful you are obviously going to become. And like Zach talked about, in that time period, the more power that you have, the more respect that your city or civilization is going to get. Great job on your post!
ReplyDeleteThis topic is definitely interesting and reminds me of ‘Game of Thrones’, especially the impaling part of it. I see a lot of parallels between the Assyrian Empire and the United States.
ReplyDeleteTo us the type of power used by the Assyrians seems barbaric, but is what we in the United States do any better? We may not physically hurt people, but we continuously belittle people we see as a threat and don't welcome other countries in based on fear. Also when our country was still very young we too took over areas that weren't ours as well, such as all of the Native American land and the land that was once belonged to Mexico's