Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Assyrians [a] are an indigenous ethnic group native to Mesopotamia, a geographical region in West Asia. Modern Assyrians share descent directly from the ancient Assyrians, one of the key civilizations of Mesopotamia. While they are distinct from other Mesopotamian groups, such as the Babylonians, they share in the broader cultural heritage of ...
Assyrians celebrate many different kinds of traditions within their communities, with the majority of Assyrian traditions being tied to Christianity.A number include feast days (Syriac: hareh) for different patron saints, the Rogation of the Ninevites (ܒܥܘܬܐ ܕܢܝܢܘܝ̈ܐ, Baʿutha d-Ninwaye), Ascension Day (Kalo d-Sulaqa), and the most popular, the Kha b-Nisan (ܚܕ ܒܢܝܣܢ, 'First ...
A giant lamassu from the royal palace of the Neo-Assyrian king Sargon II (r. 722–705 BC) at Dur-Sharrukin The history of the Assyrians encompasses nearly five millennia, covering the history of the ancient Mesopotamian civilization of Assyria, including its territory, culture and people, as well as the later history of the Assyrian people after the fall of the Neo-Assyrian Empire in 609 BC.
In the Old Assyrian period, when Assyria was merely a city-state centered on the city of Assur, the state was typically referred to as ālu Aššur ("city of Ashur"). From the time of its rise as a territorial state in the 14th century BC and onward, Assyria was referred to in official documents as māt Aššur ("land of Ashur"), marking its shift to being a regional polity.
From Assyrian times, lamassu were depicted as hybrids, with bodies of either winged bulls or lions and heads of human males. [3] The motif of a winged animal with a human head is common to the Near East, first recorded in Ebla around 3000 BC. The first distinct lamassu motif appeared in Assyria during the reign of Tiglath-Pileser II as a symbol ...
The Neo-Assyrian Empire succeeded the Old Assyrian Empire (c. 2025–1378 BCE), and the Middle Assyrian Empire (1365–934 BCE) of the Late Bronze Age. During this period, Aramaic was also made an official language of the empire, alongside Akkadian. [6] The Assyrian army is said to have included as high as 300,000 soldiers at its prime.
The language was at first called Babylonian and/or Assyrian, but has now come to be known as Akkadian. [19] From 1850 onwards, there was a growing suspicion that the Semite inhabitants of Babylon and Assyria were not the inventors of cuneiform system of writing, and that they had instead borrowed it from some other language and culture.
The Old Assyrian period was the second stage of Assyrian history, covering the history of the city of Assur from its rise as an independent city-state under Puzur-Ashur I c. 2025 BC [c] to the foundation of a larger Assyrian territorial state after the accession of Ashur-uballit I c. 1363 BC, [d] which marks the beginning of the succeeding Middle Assyrian period.