The rise and fall of the Assyrian Empire - Marian H Feldman

3,059,728 views ・ 2018-04-24

TED-Ed


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Before the sun never set on the British Empire,
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before Genghis Khan swept the steppe,
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before Rome extended its influence to encircle the Mediterranean Sea,
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there was ancient Assyria.
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Considered by historians to be the first true empire,
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Assyria’s innovations laid the groundwork for every superpower that’s followed.
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At its height, in the 7th century BCE,
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the Assyrian Empire stretched across modern Iraq,
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Syria,
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Lebanon,
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Israel,
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and parts of Turkey,
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Iran,
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and Egypt.
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Its wonders included a vast library and large botanical and zoological park.
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But the story of Assyria’s rise to dominance began many centuries earlier,
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in the Late Bronze Age, in a city called Ashur.
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Ashur was a tin and textiles trading center
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located along the Tigris River in northern Iraq.
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It shared its name with a god thought to be an embodiment of the city
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and later of the entire empire.
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For the administration-minded Assyrians, politics and religion were closely linked.
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Around 1300 BCE, a high priest named Ashur-uballit I took the title of king
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and initiated a tradition of military campaigns,
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effectively transforming Assyria from a city-state to a territorial state.
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This meant that a single administrative entity
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oversaw many places, cultures, and peoples.
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For the next 150 years, Assyria extended its reach and thrived.
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In the 12th century BCE,
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a mysterious catastrophe that still bewilders archaeologists
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caused the Assyrians to lose much of their territory.
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A few hundred years later, however,
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Assyrian kings began a new round of conquests.
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This time, they honed their administrative system
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into an empire that would last generations.
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Assyrians were military innovators and merciless conquerors.
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During their conquests,
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they used siege tactics and cruel punishments for those who opposed them,
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including impalement and flaying.
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The growth of their empire was due, in part,
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to their strategy of deporting local populations,
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then shifting them around the empire to fulfill different needs.
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This broke peoples’ bonds with their homelands
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and severed loyalties among local groups.
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Once the Assyrians conquered an area,
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they built cities connected by well-maintained royal roads.
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Often, when a new king came to power, he would build a new capital.
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With each move, new palaces and temples were erected and lavishly decorated.
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Although kings claimed absolute power,
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we know that an extensive system of courtiers,
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provincial officials,
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and scholars influenced affairs.
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At least one woman, Sammuramat, ruled the kingdom.
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Assyrian rulers celebrated their military excursions
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by having representations of their exploits
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carved into the walls of their newly built palaces.
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But despite the picture of a ruthless war state projected by these records,
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the Assyrian kings were also interested in the cultural traditions of the region,
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especially those of Babylonia, a separate state to the south.
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Babylonia had been a cultural leader for millennia,
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stretching back to the beginning of writing
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at the end of the 4th millennium BCE.
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Assyria saw itself as the inheritor and protector of this tradition.
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Assyrian rulers supported scholars
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in specialties ranging from medicine to magic,
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and the capital cities, like Ninevah,
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were home to elaborate parks and gardens
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that housed plants and animals from around the empire.
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One of Assyria’s final rulers, Ashurbanipal,
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sent scholars throughout Babylonia to gather up and copy ancient literary works.
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Ashurbanipal’s library took the form of clay tablets
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inscribed with cuneiform in the languages of Akkadian and Sumerian.
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The library was lost during the final sack of Ninevah in 612 BCE.
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But thanks to a 19th century archaeological excavation,
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many masterpieces of ancient literature,
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including the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Babylonian Creation Epic,
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survive today.
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After centuries of rule,
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the Assyrian Empire fell to the Babylonians and Medes
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between 612 and 609 BCE.
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Yet the innovations that the Assyrians  pioneered live on.
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Their emphasis on constant innovation,
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efficient administration,
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and excellent infrastructure
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set the standard for every empire that’s followed them in the region
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and across the globe.
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