The largest empire the ancient world had yet seen, spanning Mesopotamia, the Levant, Egypt, and parts of Iran; famed for systematic deportation of conquered peoples and a sophisticated military machine before its sudden collapse in 612–609 BC.
Destroyed in 612 BCE when a coalition of the Neo-Babylonian Empire under Nabopolassar and the Median Empire under Cyaxares besieged and sacked the capital Nineveh, killing king Sinsharishkun; the last remnants were crushed at the Battle of Harran in 609 BCE.
A sweeping, readable modern narrative of Assyria across its Middle and Neo-Assyrian empires by a leading Assyriologist.
Includes a substantial treatment of 'the glory of Assyria,' setting the Neo-Assyrian war machine and its sudden 612-609 BC collapse in their Mesopotamian context.