1. The Neo-assyrian Empire
WORLD HISTORY READERS
Level 2-⑦
The Neo-assyrian Empire

2. The World’s First Empire.
The Assyrian Empire
Where and when did the
Neo-Assyrian Empire exist?
The Assyrian people lived
4,500 years ago in the Middle East, mainly in a small area in the rich fields of central Iraq.
Who were some of the empire's famous kings?
King Shalmaneser III
The Neo-Assyrian
Empire lasted from
912 BC to 612 BC.
Adad Nirari II, and later Shalmaneser III and his son, expanded the empire from central Iraq to cover most of modern-day Iraq and parts of Turkey.

3. How did the Assyrians create their empire?
A War Machine.
How did the Assyrians create their empire?
The Assyrians became powerful because they created new ways to make war.
Their use of iron allowed them to make strong weapons.
The Assyrians also learned how to use chariots and built armies of fast horsemen.
They learned to fight with big machines to break the walls of cities.

4. Who were some of the kings of the Assyrian Empire?
Kings of the Empire.
Who were some of the kings of the Assyrian Empire?
Tiglath Pileser III (around 730 BC)
Shalmaneser V (around 720 BC)
Sargon II (around 710 BC)
Under the rule of Tiglath Pileser III and Shalmaneser V, the
Neo-Assyrians captured Babylon in 729 BC and later Israel.
Tiglath Pileser III
Sargon II was a great military leader who not only built the empire, but improved roads and laws.
A copy of Ishtar Gates, Babylon
After Sargon II died, his son moved the capital to Nineveh, which he restored. The empire’s cities were busy and full of artists. There were great libraries and great works of art, beautiful buildings, and huge palaces.

5. How did the Assyrians treat the people they conquered?
The Cruel Assyrians.
How did the Assyrians treat the people they conquered?
The Assyrians took all the treasure from conquered cities and ordered everyone to be loyal to them.
They forced people to forget their own culture and become Assyrians.
Those that did not were punished.
The Assyrians also made many people become slaves and live thousands of kilometers away from their homes.

6. The Result of Brutality
What happened as a result of the way the Assyrians treated people?
Ruins buried in sand
In 612 BC, the many enemies of the
Neo-Assyrians came together to attack the city of Nineveh, the Assyrian capital.
The city was destroyed and burned to the ground.
What happened to the city?
Was the city rebuilt?
No. Slowly, the ruins were buried and the city was lost to the desert.
Nineveh today

7. Life from the Ruins
What did archeologists find that was related to the Neo-Assyrian Empire?
In 1847, a British diplomat and archeologist named Austin Henry Layard discovered Sennacherib’s palace.
King Sennacherib reigned the Assyrian Empire from BC.
Who was King Sennacherib?
An archeologist digging in ruins
image of Nineveh
He was the son of Sargon II who moved the capital to Nineveh.
The palace lay buried and forgotten for almost 2,500 years until Layard discovered it.

8. What is the cultural legacy of the Neo-Assyrian Empire?
The Neo-Assyrians created many of the basic things we still use today.
They were the first to use locks and keys, and they divided time into units of 60.
They built paved roads, the first postal system, libraries, toilets, guitars, and they also made the first arch.
The Assyrians were also the first people to understand that to run an empire well, it needed to be broken into smaller areas each with their own governors who report to a leader.
We see this model in the USA and in other countries today.

9. Lessons Learned
Did the empires that came after the Neo-Assyrians learn anything from this early empire?
Many of the empires that were to follow later on did not make the mistakes of the Assyrians.
Yes.
The great Persian Empire of Cyrus II and Darius I had kind kings who understood that cruelty and terror do not win loyal subjects.
Alexander the Great and the Romans also learned these lessons of history.

10. Vocabulary chariot n. empire n.
a cart with two wheels that was used in ancient times and was pulled by a horse or horses
empire n.
a group of countries that is ruled by one person or government

11. Vocabulary iron n. library n. a dark gray metal
a place with a lot of books and texts

12. Vocabulary paved road n. postal service n.
a long, hard surface built for transportation
postal service n.
a method of sending letters and packages

13. Vocabulary terror n. toilet n. a feeling of extreme fear
a device that you sit on or stand near to get rid of waste from your body