essayassyria

** Essay: Rise of Assyria ** __By: Erin Masters__ .......... The Assyrians’ rise to power in the 9th century B.C. was not their first. For over 4000 years the Assyrians had been struggling to gain power over their neighbouring countries. During their most notable ascendance, they gained reign over almost all of the Middle East including the Caspian Sea and Northern Egypt, this being at the peak of the Assyrian Empire. But were the thousands of years of warring worth their mere 300 years of supremacy? I believe that this constant conflict that led to Assyria’s rise was just as much responsible for its fall. We can learn from the faults that led to their demise and how we might be making the same mistakes. .......... The rise of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, in the most direct sense, started with the invading of their near by countries. Yet despite the centuries of conflict, the long term factor that led to Assyria’s rise was based on their co-operation and stability. Assyria was generally in a good spot geographically and politically. They were at the heart of Mesopotamia, and an ideal spot for trade. They gained a great amount of wealth and would have kept doing so for the foreseeable future (similar to the peak of the Western world). Their neighbours spoke the same language as them and there were no major political or religious divergence that would lead to war. But Assyria became greedy and wished to expand their territory. If they had remained content with their already prosperous life, they would not have created bad bloods near (and within) their borders. What’s interesting is that, eventually, Mesopotamian countries’ ability to cooperate, which led to Assyria’s rise, was turned against them. Three other Mesopotamian tribes combined forces against Assyria to bring it to its final end. .......... This clashing has affected Assyria’s legacy to a great extent. Mesopotamia was thriving and one of the most developed civilizations in the world at the time. New innovations were being made in mathematics, medicine, astrology, writing, art, agriculture, the list goes on. Why is it then, that there is so little written about Assyria’s contributions to these developments? This Empire’s fixation with militaristic conquest had so eclipsed every other facet of life that, despite their advanced nature, we remember them as a brutal, violent and hostile people. Even their art reflected Assyria’s imperialist and martial ways. Great, carved, stone reliefs were constructed as tools of psychological war-fare, to instil terror in their enemies. Are those the things that //we// would want to be remembered for? Our arts and culture (music, film, games, literature etc) already show great amounts of violence in them. And we always seem to be connected, in some way, to a war. Is that the legacy that we, as the Western population, are making for ourselves? .......... A more pressing matter, however, than what future eras will think of us, is the immediate cost of this kind of conflict. Although this vehemence brought Assyria to power, it required great losses in the process. The obsession of expanding their empire meant that battles were frequently being fought; resulting in thousands and thousands of lives being lost. For instance, in 853 B.C. Shalmaneser III attacked a coalition of bordering states. However the opposition was prepared and so Assyrian soldiers suffered greatly. Another even more significant example is the fall of Assyria itself. Unlike many other cultures whose decline can be followed over centuries, Assyria’s was abrupt, if not unpredictable. Spending hundreds of years making enemies of your neighbours would not go without retribution. The Assyrian Empire collapsed after an attack from the Medes, Scythians and Babylonians tribes, which it could simply not recover from. There were a number of battles which incured such a high number of fatalities that we //still// rember them. But one cannot discount the scores of men who died every time Assyria went to war. .......... In conclusion, the Western world should recognise our similarities to Mesopotamia. We are a culture at its peak, cooperating easily with our neighbours. However if we focus on our affluence to the point where we would be willing to break the bonds between our countries to increase domain, we would suffer to the highest degree. When Assyria became combative to gain power, it lost much of its culture not to mention countless lives. It is important to draw these lines of comparison and remind ourselves that our prosperity is reliant on our collaboration not conflict with the rest of the world.

