Assyrians

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The Assyrians ( Assyr . Assūrāju ) were a people who lived in ancient times in central and northern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Turkey). They have been since the 2nd millennium BC. Archaeologically proven on the middle Tigris . The Assyrians rose to dominate northern Mesopotamia and northern Syria several times. They could also conquer Babylon . The Assyrians were distinguished by martial activity, but also accomplished high cultural achievements. The culture of Assyria , like that of the Akkadians, was influenced by Sumerians , but influences of the Hurrians , Hittites and Iranians can also be identified. Their main god was Aššur , the patron god of the capital of the same name.

Assyrian language

Assyrian is one of the two main dialects of Akkadian , a Semitic language , alongside Babylonian .

history

In the 8th century BC The New Assyrian Empire rose to become a great empire and partly ruled Babylonia and Egypt. The culture of Assyria, like that of the Akkadians, was influenced by Sumerians . In the Neo-Assyrian period, influences from the Aramaeans , Babylonians and Iranians can also be identified. Their kings carried, among other things, the title "King of Sumer and Akkad ".

Outside of their heartland on the central Tigris , the Assyrians formed the upper class of administrative officials and the military in their empire at many times.

One of their most stubborn enemies was the empire of Mittani , which temporarily ruled Assyria, and later Urartu , which almost collapsed Assyria. The Assyrian Empire was crushed by the Medes and Babylonians, who died in 612 BC. Destroyed the capital Nineveh . Some of the structures of the Assyrian Empire survived until the 6th century BC. The Assyrian dialect of Akkadian was still in use until the third century.

religion

The Assyrians had a polytheistic religion that was influenced in many ways by their Mesopotamian, Syrian, and Anatolian neighbors. Their national god was Aššur , which was also the name of one of their capitals. Like many ancient religions, it was characterized by belief in many different gods and spirits, but also by ancestor cult .

literature

  • Eva Cancik-Kirschbaum : The Assyrians. History, society, culture . CH Beck, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-406-50828-6 ( CH Beck knowledge ).
  • Francis Joannès: Dictionnaire de la civilization mésopotamienne . Robert Laffont, Paris 2001, ISBN 2-221-09207-4 .
  • Francis Joannès: La Mésopotamie au I he millénaire avant J.-C . Armand Colin, Paris 2000, ISBN 2-200-26120-9 .
  • JN Postgate: The ownership and exploitation of land in Assyria in the 1st Millennium BC . In: M. Lebeau, P. Talon (eds.): Reflêts des Deux Fleuves: Volume des mélanges offertes à Andrè Finet . Peters, Leuven 1989, pp. 141-152.
  • Karen Radner : Ancient Assyria , Oxford University Press: Oxford 2015.
  • Johannes Renger : Institutional, communal, and individual ownership or possession of arable land in ancient Mesopotamia from the end of the fourth to the end of the first millennium . In: Chicago Kent Law Review Vol. 71, 1995, pp. 269-319.
  • Ephraim Stern: Archeology of the Land of the Bible. Vol 2 . Doubleday, New York 2001, ISBN 0-385-42450-7 .
  • TJ Wilkinson: The structure and dynamics of dry-farming states in upper Mesopotamia . In: Current Anthropology . Vol. 35/5, 1994, pp. 483-520.
  • Johannes Renz:  Assyria / Assyrians. In: Michaela Bauks, Klaus Koenen, Stefan Alkier (eds.): The scientific Bibellexikon on the Internet (WiBiLex), Stuttgart 2006 ff., Accessed on July 18, 2017.
  • Kemalettin Köroğlu - Selim Ferruh Adalı (eds.), The Assyrians. Kingdom of the God Aššur from Tigris to Taurus / Assurlular. Dicle'den Toroslar'a Tanrı Assur'un Krallığı, Istanbul 2018, ISBN 978-975-08-4305-1

Web links

Wiktionary: Assyrians  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations