I. Assyrians and PersiansII. The Middle Assyrian PeriodIII. The Neo-Assyrian EmpireIV. A Society Organized for WarV. Creating the Persian EmpireVI. Maintaining the Persian EmpireHIST 101 1st EditionLecture 5Outline of LectureI. Assyrians and Persians- The Assyrianso The Middle Assyrian Periodo The Neo-Assyrian Empireo A Society Organized for War- The Persianso Creating the Persian Empireo Maintaining the Persian EmpireWhat is the optimal way to run an empire?What does it take to create an empire?Lecture NotesII. The Middle Assyrian Period- A Semitic people in northern Mesopotamiao Assur (Ashur): city and god – how they got the name Assyrians  Assur is the God of War People of war- Ashur-uballit I, r. 1362-1327 B.C. o Ambitious governor of Assur turned king Starts with city and spread out from there- Mesopotamia, Babylonia as “theirs” – believed the history is theirso Kassites – the people from away, moved into Mesopotamia - Tukulti-Ninurta I, r. 1244 -1208 B.C.o Sacking of Babylon Drive out/utterly destroy the Kassiteso Kassite king and Marduk (!) as hostages  Marduk – a god; created by Hammurabi  Marduk is a statue (representation of the god)o Tikulti-Ninurta becomes king of Babylonia - Opposition and declineo Everyone hates the Assyrians because of aggression/brutality  Possibly due to “Sea Peoples” (from Agean Sea)III. The Neo-Assyrian Empire- Ashurnasirpal II, r. 883-859 BC – establishes a brand new empire (even more brutal)o Kalhu/Calah (Nimrud) – temple/palace- Regional alliance against Assyrian ambitions – natural fear o Does nothing to halt expansion- Sargon II, r. 722-705 BCo Sargonoid Dynasty  Family dynasty Military commander (took throne by force)  Amps up idea that they are the true descendants of Hammurabi – Mesopotamia is THEIRS o Sargon of Akkad (r. 2334-2279 BC) and his Akkadian Empireo Assyria the dominant power in Near East Conquest- Empire reached from Babylonia, through Phoenicia, to Egypt o Art depicted Nubian boy (below Egypt) eaten by Lion found in Kings palace at Nimrud Lions = represent the violence of the Assyrians  Tribute: “gifts” to show respect and loyalty for Kingo Statue of Gilgamesh found in Assyrian king’s throne room  Gilgamesh was a hero in old Mesopotamia – shows relationship to Mesopotamia  Hospitality and rebellion- Sennacherib, r. 704-681 BCo Punishing Judah, 701 BC Judah stood up to the Assyrians- King Hezakiah of Judah, r. 715-686 BC?- Jerusalem - Lachisho New palace at Nineveh- Ashurbanipal, r. 669-627 BC – “enlightened” Assyrian Emperor o Sponsored a library of collected texts o Showed interest in technologyo Conquest of Egypt (667 BC) Message of courage shown through art depicting Lion Hunting  Shows power of Emperor because he is casually killing the most dangerous animal in the empire – importance of lions in Assyrian artIV. A Society Organized for War- Brutal war as religious pietyo Demand to worship Ashur; gods as “hostages” Only way to show faith in gods is to engage in brutal war Absolutist way of ruling o Enmity to Assyria = enmity to Ashur  If you are disrespecting Ashur, the Assyrians will immediately kill youo Sennacherib in the Hebrew Bible: “Has any of the gods of the nations ever delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?” (2 Kings 18:33) Says to Hebrews that even their god, YHWH, can’t do anything either- How to conquer; how to governo Captives Sold into slavery, impaled, etc. o Conquer, then divideo Publicizing and celebrating their atrocities How do know when to be afraid of Assyrians? Because they show it everywhere Siege warfare: getting into a walled cityo Military bureaucracy – the state is run by soldiers- A “pyrrhic victory” over enemies and subjects - only a victory on the surface o The Chaldeans (southern Babylonia) Nabopolassar, r. 626-605 B.C.  Allied against Assyrians o The Medes (northwestern Iran)o Sacking of Nineveh, 612 B.C. – end of Assyrian Empire Showed that you cannot govern strictly with brutality V. Creating the Persian Empire- People on the northeastern shore of the Persian Gulf - Subject to the Medes- Cyrus, the first king of Persia, r. 559-530 B.C.o Prince of a southern Persian tribe, 559 B.C. o Conquers lands of the Medeso Cyrus invades Chaldean Mesopotamia, 539 B.C.  Hebrews return to Palestine - “Babylonian Captivity,” 586-538 B.C. - Cambyses, r. 530-525 B.C.o Egypt and Libya- Darius I, r. 521-486 B.C.o Northwestern IndiaVI. Maintaining the Persian Empire- How can you effectively govern a territory that big? o From Lybia to NW India - Persepolis – near Persian Gulf- Satrapy = a province of the empireo Satrap = provincial governor (“protector of the land”) “The king’s eyes”- The “royal road,” canals, postal service – infrastructure made it possible to rule- Toleration for conquered peoples – keep your culture, keep your traditions, keep your gods, just be loyal o Zoroastrianism Zoroaster (Zarathustra), c. 600 B.C.?- But “tolerant” overlords are still overlords…o Ionian Revolt, 499-494 B.C.o Battle of Marathon, 490