After the fall of the Akkadian Empire in 2080 BC, it eventually coalesced into two separate nations Assyria in the north, and later Babylonia in the south. Their descendants still live in the region today, and they form the Christian minority in Iraq. The term Assyria can also refer to the geographic region or heartland where these empires were centered. Assyria was also sometimes known as Subartu, and after its fall as Athura, Syria and Assuristan. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur. Their legendary barbarity and fierceness was a deliberate policy intended to foster the submission of enemies and minimize the threat of revolt by vassals.Īssyria was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom centered on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia (present day northern Iraq), that came to rule regional empires a number of times throughout history. For a period they rose to the challenge of being surrounded by enemies and became the most powerful military force in the known world. Lord Byron began his poem "The Destruction of Sennacherib" with "The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold." At the height of their power, the Assyrians were very much like a wolf among sheep, although their reputation is enhanced by several references to them in the Old Testament and by the extensive battle scenes that were found on their ruins.
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