AssyriaAssyria was a kingdom on the Tigris River. Its first capitol was Assur. When this kingdom grew in power and became a great nation, it took over all of the Fertile Crescent, Egypt and a great deal of Anatolia. The Fertile Crescent is the portion of the Middle East where Iraq is now, also known as The Cradle of Civilization. Assyria is also where the story of Jonah and the whale takes place. Jonah went there and preached a message of repentance due to the sin of the people. He told them that unless they repented, God was going to destroy them. They repented but apparently it did not last long for they were destroyed in 612 B.C. The new kingdom covered the northern portion of Mesopotamia, with Babylonia covering the southern portion. Nineveh became the capitol of the new nation now known as Assyria Proper. I think it is fascinating to note that the people of this great nation contributed to ancient history by developing the idea of having a corps of engineers who would build bridges over the rivers using pontoons. They made skins that could be blown up to float for swimming. They also invented battering rams to knock down city walls in excavation projects.
The kingdom was established before 2000 BC, but historians are not sure of an exact date. They have found inscriptions that start from 2000 BC. This area has a long history of building up empires, losing power, and then rebuilding again and that is what they and the people of Babylon did, back and forth. This nation is mentioned in the Bible many times. You can look up some of the references in II Kings 17:1-24 and Isaiah 7:17-18. The people of this nation took the Israelites into captivity around 722 BC. A long and bloody history continued after this significant event between them and Babylon. It finally fell in 612 BC when its capitol city of Nineveh fell by the Medes. This nation was known for its sculpture and bas-relief art. Beautiful jewelry with gemstone work was found in royal tombs at Nimrud. The people were also known for having great accuracy in astronomy. They kept detailed records of the movements of planets and the locations of stars and other happenings in the night sky. Astronomy fascinated them. Archaeologists found what they think is an ancient telescope made out of crystals. It is on display in a British museum.
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