Assyria - the most ancient and almost the most powerful state of antiquity - existed as early as 1500-2000 years BC, completing its history only at the end of the 7th century AD. It occupied a vast area between the eastern Mediterranean in the west, the Caspian Sea in the north and the Persian Gulf in the south. The kings of Assyria managed to subdue numerous tribes in these lands and even overthrew such a powerful state as Babylonia. In the occupied territories, they founded several large cities, of which Ashur, Nineveh, Nimrud (Kolhu), Uruk became the most famous. The bulk of the inhabitants of this country were Semites-Akkadians.
Archaeologist Layard's discoveries
The largest British archaeologist Henry Austen Layard (1817-1894), as a child, decided to devote himself to the study of the secrets of the East. In this desire, his acquaintance with the Arabian tales The Thousand and One Nights of Scheherazade played an important role.”Already at the age of 20, he traveled extensively in the Middle East, and from 1843 he began to serve at the British mission in Turkey.
Getting the money for the archaeological expedition that Layard had dreamed of was extremely difficult. However, the British ambassador S. Canning, leading the zeal of his employee, allocated him personal funds to organize a small expedition. It was at this time that the French excavated the largest Assyrian city of Nineveh. The British Museum of Archeology, unwilling to concede further the priority of discoveries in the area, soon allocated substantial sums to Layard for the expedition. In 1846, Layard began excavations in the area of the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud (Kolhu). He paid the main attention to the hills, where he managed to find an alabaster slab with cuneiform writing. Later, Layard discovered the ruins of two royal palaces and a sanctuary.
Walled cities
For many centuries, the Assyrian kings had to repel the attempts of enemies to oust them from the Mesopotamia region in the basin of the Tigris and Euphrates, where Iraq is now located. Therefore, almost all major large cities were surrounded by high (up to 14-18 meters high) walls, the thickness of which reached six meters below! In addition, the walls, built of baked bricks, had combat towers placed along the entire perimeter of the fence every 20 meters. The buildings located behind the fortress wall were zik-kurats (sanctuaries) where divine services and sacrifices were performed, palaces of kings and residential buildings with flat roofs. Since the Assyrians had many gods (most of them were borrowed from the Sumerians and Babylonians), the inhabitants erected several ziggurats. The largest ziggurat was dedicated to the main deity - Ashur (an analogue of the Babylonian Marduk). Ashur could be called "the father of the gods", "the ruler of countries" and other exalted titles. The ancient sculptors depicted him as bearded, winged, with a bow and arrow against the background of a solar disk.
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Assyrian army
Already in those distant times, the army was a formidable force and could number many thousands of soldiers. The general leadership of the army was carried out by the tsar and the commanders subordinate to him. The Assyrians were armed with war chariots, rams, long spears and bows. Often specially trained dogs were used in battles with the enemy. The Assyrians easily crossed the water barriers, establishing crossings or, in extreme cases, using wineskins. The warriors were well equipped and mastered hand-to-hand fighting techniques. They were taught to be cruel towards enemies and to tolerate their own pain.
Decoration of palaces
Through the efforts of Layard and other archaeologists, it was possible to excavate Nimrud, Ashur, Nineveh and other cities. The archaeologists were shocked by what they saw. For example, the portal of the palace of King Ashurnasirapal II (883-859 BC) in Nimrud was decorated with huge six-meter winged bulls with human heads! An unknown carver carved them from an easily workable brown alabaster. According to local beliefs, bulls, considered good spirits, protected the ruler from the forces of evil.
There Layard dug up the Black Obelisk of King Shalmaneser III (827 BC), also made of alabaster. It was decorated with numerous bas-reliefs with images of conquered vassal kings bringing tribute to their master - gold, slaves, horses, food, etc. But the main thing that Layard managed to find during the excavations of Nineveh is a huge book depository containing over 30 thousand cuneiform tablets! This is the largest library of antiquity, which went down in history as the "Kuyundzhik collection of texts", founded during the reign of Tsar Ash-Shurbanipal (669-633 BC). There were texts depicting the most important milestones in the history of the Assyrians, including the description and procedure for the treatment of many diseases, war records and ritual texts. Having deciphered a number of records, historians received information about a grandiose flood, probably the samewhich is described in the Old Testament in the Bible, when, by the providence of God, righteous Noah was saved with his family, and with them the animals gathered in the ark.
art
Sculptures, reliefs and, to a lesser extent, painting are represented in Assyrian art so widely that only the culture of Ancient Egypt can compete with them! The peculiarity of this genre is that the artist gives animals a much greater individuality than people. The real masterpieces are the scenes of the royal hunt for lions (then they still lived in Asia), for wild horses and gazelles.
Here the viewer sees a picture: a madly racing chariot, which is attacked by a mighty lion. He is already wounded, but, apparently, he will fight to the end! The gallop of the horse, the tense faces of the hunters, including the tsar, the taut reins - all this is so true that it is as if you see with your own eyes this hunt, which is 2500 years ago from our days! The palaces of the Assyrian rulers surprise with the number of halls and rooms. Their number sometimes reached two hundred, and the halls were 65x25 meters in size! Many rooms had wall paintings depicting genre scenes - for example, feasts, in which sometimes thousands of people participated! Such festivals were held in honor of military victories or the completion of the construction of palaces and were accompanied by the offering of gifts and punishment of slaves. The Assyrians were very cruel. It was forbidden to discuss the orders of the kings,and for their failure to comply, punishment was due with whips or even painful death.
Source: “Interesting newspaper. Mysteries of Civilization №24. Y. Metelev