From 1200 BC e. Aramaic nomads, who were looking for land for settlement, conquer Mesopotamia. Little Assyria - a state on the banks of the Tigris - is gathering a powerful army to stop the invasion. And then, in turn, he begins to conquer foreign territories. Since 900, the Assyrians, thirsty for victories, have undertaken a series of attacks on neighboring peoples - the Babylonians, Phoenicians, Arameans - and conquer them; all of them, after bloody battles, deportations, destruction and looting, were forced to submit to force. The Assyrian Empire extended over the entire Middle East. The most famous conquerors - Ashurnasirpal II and his son Shalmanasar III, Tiglatpalasar III, Sargon II, Ashurbanapal - called themselves incomparable rulers of the world empire: “Mighty king, king of the universe, king of Assyria, who established his rule from one end of the earth to another,over all "four sides of the world" and put his governors everywhere"
Ashurnasirapal II, who made Nimrud his capital, was, together with his son Shalmaneser II, one of the fiercest Assyrian conquerors. Dressed in a ceremonial dress, he holds a scepter and a hook - symbols of royal power.
All the kings strove to take a place of honor near the gods, for which they erected grandiose structures in their honor. Hoping to surpass their predecessor, each monarch built spacious palaces and founded new cities. As the administrative center, royal residence and dwelling of the gods, the palaces were designed to demonstrate the strength and wealth of their inhabitants.
Palace in Nimrud.
In order to make the necessary impression on the visitors, reception halls and courtyards for honorary guests were decorated with colored bas-reliefs, on which the great feats of the king were glorified:
Hall of the palace in Nimrud.
Scenes of military victories symbolized the strength of the army; the images of the conquered peoples walking in rows to bow to the new ruler illustrated the boundless power of the conqueror king.
The rise of winged bulls was carried out after they were found in the 19th century. at the entrance to the palace of Ashshurnasirapala II In Nimrud, where from the 9th century. BC e. carried their vigil.
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The latter, however, was entirely dependent on the gods and owed his glory to them. Wanting to secure heavenly protection for himself, the king built temples from the most noble materials brought from afar. At the entrance to the palace, he installed fabulous creatures that, with the magic of their presence, could ward off trouble.
Over time, however, it turned out that even the entire pantheon of gods was not enough to save the empire, which had exhausted its forces in endless conquests, from its ambitious neighbors - the Babylonians and Medes; Assyria was not helped by its main god Ashur, whose symbol is a winged disk, was depicted above the royal throne.
God Ashur. God of war, warrior god, the main deity of the ancient Assyrians.