01 Overview (including regional history) (Assyro-Babylonian Mythology)
Description
This article is from the Assyro-Babylonian Mythology FAQ, by Christopher B. Siren cbsiren@hopper.unh.edu with numerous contributions by others.
01 Overview (including regional history) (Assyro-Babylonian Mythology)
First, some definitions: Mesopotamia, in general, refers to the
area of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Assyria, was the northern
portion of Mesopotamia, who's capital was Ashur, and whose reach
included the major city of Nineveh. Sumer refers to the southern delta
region, who's primary cities included Ur, Uruk, and Eridu. Akkad was a
region north of Sumer which included the area around modern Baghdad as
well as the ancient sites of Babylon, Kish, and Nippur.
The political organization of the region was basically a
collection of city-states. Sargon of Agade (2371-16 BC) united the
regions of Sumer and Akkad. His descendants eventually lost control
of the empire due to pressures from the Hurrians, the Hittites, and
other invaders, not to mention internal pressures. In the south Sumer
again gained ascendancy, dominated by the city-state Ur. Sumer then
collapsed under the Amorites around 2000 BC. They established many sub-
kingdoms including Assyria and Babylon. Assyria attained a brief period
of dominance under Shamshi-Adad (1813-1781 BC) but was soon superseded
by Babylon under Hammurabi (1792-50BC) who established what was once
thought to be the first written law codes (more recent discoveries indicate
law codes from a coupl centuries prior to Hammurabi). The first Babylonian
dynasty collapsed in 1595BC when the Hittites sacked its eponymous capital.
Assyria had been taken over by the Mitanni but established its independence
in the mid 14th century BC. Under Tukulti-Ninurta I Assyria dominated the
entire fertile crescent in the late 13th century. By the time of Tiglath-
Pileser I, about a century later it had directed more of its attention
westwards towards Palestine and lost control of Babylon and the south.
Slowly Assyria began to expand again, reaching its apex between 750 and
650 BC under the rulers Tiglath-Pileser III, Sargon II, Senacherib, and
Ashuribanipal(668-627 BC). The empire collapsed from invaders with
Nineveh falling to Nabopalasar of Babylon in 612 BC and the empire dying
in 605 BC. Meanwhile, Babylon had been reasserting itself. Under
Nebuchadnezzar Babylon expanded westward, taking Jerusalem in 586 BC.
Babylon fell in the mid-540's to Cyrus the Persian whose empire lasted
until the late 300's BC when Alexander of Macedon established his empire
and renamed the area "Mesopotamia".
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