Ancient Assyrian Period
| The old Orient | |
|---|---|
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| Timeline based on calibrated C 14 data | |
| Epipalaeolithic | 12000-9500 BC Chr. |
| Kebaria | |
| Natufien | |
| Khiamien | |
| Pre-ceramic Neolithic | 9500-6400 BC Chr. |
| PPNA | 9500-8800 BC Chr. |
| PPNB | 8800-7000 BC Chr. |
| PPNC | 7000-6400 BC Chr. |
| Ceramic Neolithic | 6400-5800 BC Chr. |
| Umm Dabaghiyah culture | 6000-5800 BC Chr. |
| Hassuna culture | 5800-5260 BC Chr. |
| Samarra culture | 5500-5000 BC Chr. |
| Transition to the Chalcolithic | 5800-4500 BC Chr. |
| Halaf culture | 5500-5000 BC Chr. |
| Chalcolithic | 4500-3600 BC Chr. |
| Obed time | 5000-4000 BC Chr. |
| Uruk time | 4000-3100 / 3000 BC Chr. |
| Early Bronze Age | 3000-2000 BC Chr. |
| Jemdet Nasr time | 3000-2800 BC Chr. |
| Early dynasty | 2900 / 2800-2340 BC Chr. |
| Battery life | 2340-2200 BC Chr. |
| New Sumerian / Ur-III period | 2340-2000 BC Chr. |
| Middle Bronze Age | 2000-1550 BC Chr. |
| Isin Larsa Period / Ancient Assyrian Period | 2000–1800 BC Chr. |
| Old Babylonian time | 1800–1595 BC Chr. |
| Late Bronze Age | 1550-1150 BC Chr. |
| Checkout time | 1580-1200 BC Chr. |
| Central Assyrian Period | 1400-1000 BC Chr. |
| Iron age | 1150-600 BC Chr. |
| Isin II time | 1160-1026 BC Chr. |
| Neo-Assyrian time | 1000-600 BC Chr. |
| Neo-Babylonian Period | 1025-627 BC Chr. |
| Late Babylonian Period | 626-539 BC Chr. |
| Achaemenid period | 539-330 BC Chr. |
| Years according to the middle chronology (rounded) | |
The ancient Assyrian period is a section of ancient oriental history. With the beginning of the Assyrian eponym lists in 1975 BC, he continued. And ends with Babylon's hegemony over all of Mesopotamia in the middle of the 18th century BC. They are followed by a Dark Age . The term is only used for the northern part of Mesopotamia; the roughly corresponding epoch of southern Mesopotamian history is called the Isin-Larsa period .
historical development
prehistory
The fact that the epoch named Aššur has been around since the middle of the 3rd millennium BC. BC, can be deduced from the remains of houses from the Akkad period (24th – 22nd centuries BC) and the foundations of a large cult building. Since the 23rd century BC First written finds are also known, including a stone club head with the dedicatory inscriptions of the Akkade rulers Rimuš (2283–2274 BC) and Maništušu (approx. 2299–2284 BC). It is largely assumed that Aššur belonged to the territory of the Akkade Empire at this time , so the presence of Akkadians in the settlements of Tell Brak and Tell Mozan further to the north has been proven.
After the fall of the empire of Akkade around 2200 BC. The region around Aššur fell at the beginning of the 21st century BC (cuneiform sources make the Elamites and the Guteans, who invaded from the Iranian highlands , responsible). Apparently the rulers of the III. Sacrifice to the dynasty of Ur and its empire.
Creation of an Assyrian trade network
Towards the end of the 3rd millennium BC As a result of the collapse of the empire of Ur , Aššur gained its independence. The most important written finds from the following period do not come from Aššur itself, but from the central Anatolian town of Kültepe . Around 21,000 cuneiform tablets were found here towards the end of the 19th century AD . Contrary to the first assumption, these "Cappadocian tablets" (named after the ancient landscape of Cappadocia in which they were found) were not written in an Anatolian language , but in one of the oldest forms of Akkadian spoken by the Assyrians (based on this period too Called "Old Assyrian"). From these texts we learn that since the middle of the 20th century BC. On the outskirts of Kültepe ( called Kanesch in ancient times ) there was an Assyrian trading post with the Akkadian name Karum , which translates as "(trading) quay". Further evidence of the existence of local trading establishments in the Upper Habur and Balich area can be found in Schechna , among others . This trade system required contracts between Aššur and the respective local princes in Anatolia and northern Syria. An important text from this period is the treaty between Till-Abnû, the ruler of Apnum, and the city of Aššur. The most important objects of exchange were tin from the Iranian highlands and textiles from southern Mesopotamia, while in return coveted precious metals such as gold and silver were made from the Anatolian highlands received. Aššur, which developed into a hub of trade during this time, is likely to have limited its power-political influence to the immediate vicinity. Around the year Karum was destroyed by a previously unknown cause, possibly tensions between the local princes. How long the trade relations in the Anatolian highlands then ceased cannot be said with certainty, but it is assumed that trading operations were resumed shortly.
Šamši-Adad I and the reorganization of northern Mesopotamia
The first major changes in the area of political power in the ancient Assyrian period were carried out by Šamši-Adad I , who comes from an Amurrian ruling dynasty from Ekallatum . After this around 1830 BC. Chr. Had taken the throne in Ekallatum, he subjugated in 1808 BC. BC Aššur, deposed the ruling king Ērišum II. And climbed the throne there himself. After he had brought all of northern Mesopotamia under his rule, he appointed his two sons Išme-Dagan in Ekallatum and Jasmach-Adad in Mari as sub-regents, while Šamši-Adad I himself chose Schechna as his residence and this then her new name Šubat -Enlil ("abode of the god Enlil") gave. After the death of the great king Šamši-Adad I (his two sons only had the title of king), the empire quickly fell back into the former local principalities.
End of the ancient Assyrian period
Then northern Mesopotamia fell into an era (1700–1500 BC) from which only a few documents are known. In the final phase of the ancient Assyrian period, Aššur was conquered by the Mittani and until 1380 BC. A vassal state of Mittani until Eriba-Adad I (1380-1354 BC) freed Aššur from the Mittani and founded the Central Assyrian Empire.
archeology
Archaeological finds from this era come from Kültepe , z. T. from Aššur itself, also from Šubat-Enlil , Mari , Tuttul , Samsara and Tell al-Rimah .
literature
- Klaas Veenhof : History of the ancient Orient up to the time of Alexander the Great (= floor plans for the Old Testament, vol. 11). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2001, p. 113 ff.
- Eva Cancik-Kirschbaum : The Assyrians. History, society, culture , CH Beck, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-406-50828-6 .