Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 02.djvu/189

ASSYRIA. affluents, between two of which — the Greater and the Lesser Zab — lay the finest part of the country, known at one time as Adiabene. This history of Assyria can now, with the aid of the cuneiform inscriptions recovered from the excavations in Mesopotamia, be traced back to about B.C. 1800, when its rulers, with their seat in the city of Ashur, first began to make their presence felt. How far beyond this period the settlements reach back, it is impossible to say. So much, however, is certain: that the earliest settlers of whom we have any knowledge belonged to the same branch of the Semitic race and spoke the same language as those settled in the south and known as Babylonians. Whether these settlers of Mesopotamia came from the north or the south — a question still in dispute, with indications, however, in favor of the south — the Mesopotamian culture begins in the south (see ) and spreads northward. As a consequence. Assyrian civilization, including its methods of government, its arts and sciences, is an offshoot of Babylonia. and it was only in improved methods of warfare that the Assyrians displayed any notable originality. The Assyrians were a more rugged and more warlike people than their southern cousins, and while the latter are not by any means lacking in political ambition, it is the Assyrians who consistently carry out the policy of territorial aggrandizement, and furnish the most noteworthy examples, prior to Alexander the Great, of the attempt to place the whole world under submission. The extension of power in Assyria begins, as in Babylonia, with the growing importance of a central society. About B.C. 1800 we find the rulers of Ashur, who bear titles which indicate that they exercised religious as well as secular leadership, holding sway over the northern part of Mesopotamia, and already beginning to extend their dominion even beyond these boundaries. They pass first of all into the mountainous regions of the east, and subsequently advancing to the west, they encounter the forces of Egypt, whose Asiatic campaigns begin about the same time as the rise of Assyria. Indeed, but for the Egyptians, who checked the extension of Assyrian power toward the west for some centuries, we should have seen the standards of the Assyrian armies planted on the shores of the Mediterranean. As it was, these armies directed their chief attention toward obtaining control of Babylonia. The conflict between Babylonia and Assyria, once begun, never entirely ceased. Occasionally there were temporary intervals of peace, brought about through stress of circumstances; but toward the end of the Eleventh Century Assyria, under the leadership of Tiglathpileser I. (c. 1120 to 1090 B.C.), obtained a large measure of control over Babylonia, and the ruler emphasized this by taking to himself the title of 'King of the Four Quarters of the World,' which had previously been a prerogative of the rulers of the south. He extended and fortified his dominions to the north, northeast, and northwest. With him, too, begins that devotion to the arts which characterized the great monarehs of Assyria no less than their military expeditions. He once more made Ashur the capital of the kingdom, in place of Calah, to which the seat of government had been removed by Shalmaneser I. (c. 1300 B.C.) and rebuilt the city, adorning it with extensive palaces and beautifying the temples of the gods.

A reaction appears to have ensued after the death of this King, for we find that under his successors Babylonia continued to occupy an independent position. From time to time the Babylonians crossed arms with the Assyrians; but while losing ground steadily, they continued to maintain themselves up to the period when Assyria reached the highest point in her glory. After two centuries which were comparatively uneventful, we reach in Asurnazirpal, who reigned from B.C. 885 to 860, a ruler of the first order, who, by his vigorous campaigns waged on all sides, brought Assyria permanently into the rank of great empires. Babylonia was humbled, and for the time gave up hope of regaining political supremacy. The Aramæan tribes skirting the Euphrates from south to north, who had given the Assyrians a great deal of trouble, were brought under firm subjection, and from all sides tribute poured into Nineveh, which had been made the capital shortly after the death of Tiglathpileser I. Nineveh now rapidly rose to the position of mistress of the Eastern world; and as one king succeeded another, each tried to outstrip his predecessor in adding to and beautifying the public structures and palaces and temples. Although Asurnazirpal did not undertake any campaigns farther west than the Orontes, the cities along the Phœnician coast sent him gifts as a conciliatory act. His successor, Shalmaneser II. (B.C. 859-82.5), actively pushed his armies in a westerly direction. For 20 years he maintained an unceasing military activity. Twenty-one times he crossed the Euphrates; no less than six campaigns were directed against Syria and Phœnicia; but although the King constantly speaks of victories and plunder, Assyria was unable to maintain her control at such a distance from the seat of government. In the north and northeast, likewise, the nations embraced every opportunity to revolt against the Assyrian yoke, and thus it happened that Assyrian kings were obliged to keep large standing armies, which were never idle.

A new source of trouble arose for these rulers in the internal disturbances that frequently shook the foundations of the Empire. The death of a ruler was generally the signal for an uprising, and often the heir to the throne organized a rebellion in his father's lifetime. It argues well for the strength of spirit displayed by her kings, and for the greatness of her resources, that Assyria was able to maintain herself for several centuries, on the whole, with a steady extension of her power and influence. In the days of Tiglathpileser III. (B.C. 745-27), the Aramaic States of Palestine, as well as the Kingdom of Israel, received a serious blow, and in the days of his successor, Shalmaneser IV., Samaria, the capital of Israel, was besieged: but before it was taken Shalmaneser died, and Sargon II. mounted the throne (B.C. 721-705). With him we approach the climax of Assyrian supremacy. A usurper, he had even greater difficulties to contend with than most of the rulers of Assyria; and yet he completely subjugated Babylonia, put an end to the power of the Hittites, who from their strongholds on the Orontes were a constant menace to Assyria, and checked the advance of Assyrian arms to the west. The Kingdom of Israel fell, Judæa became a vassal, and the cities of the Mediterranean were obliged to pay tribute. The districts of Musku and