The capital of Assyria: a city that was called the "lair of lions", "the city of blood"

The history of the ancient world is very fascinating. A special highlight is the presence of white spots, which only warm up interest, causing a stormy flight of fantasy. Among the first civilizations of mankind, attention deserves Assyria, located in the Mesopotamia, in its northern part. The early capital of Assyria is the city of Ashur (or Assyria), named after the supreme deity of Ashur. The whole empire received its name from it.

A bit of prehistory

In the second half of the third millennium BC, the climate in the Arabian Peninsula deteriorated sharply. This caused its inhabitants (the Semitic tribes) to move in search of a more suitable place for life. Traveling to the north and east, they reached Mesopotamia, where their immediate relatives - Akkadians - settled.

One by one, they founded the villages, which later became part of the empire. The main cities were Nineveh, Ashur and Arbel, which until the XV century. BC. Existed on their own, apart from each other.

The first capital of Assyria

It is considered to be the city of Ashur, which became the center of a small state engaged in trade. The power in it belonged to the merchants, and important decisions were made by their community. They were the first to arrive in Asia Minor, where several colonies were founded. The ruler of the city (ikshyakkum) did not have full power, and his title was inherited. His sphere of influence was religion, that is, he was the supreme priest and commander-in-chief of the army, and also served as the head of the Council. Much later, people joined the Council as close as possible to the Ishiakkum, which turned into a true monarch.

In the XXIII century. BC. The region (the capital of Assyria included) fell under the authority of the Akkadian kingdom, and after its subjugation the people of Kutiev gained independence. Today you can see the ruins of this once great city, 260 km from Baghdad.

Other settlements

• Dur-Sharrukin. Although this city is not the first capital of Assyria, it played an important role in the life of the state. Located three hours' drive from Nineveh, it was the second residence of the monarch. The settlement was founded in Sargon II in 711 BC. Dur-Sharrukin (Khorsabad today) was surrounded by massive walls, and inside there was an extensive palace for two hundred rooms. Discovered rich sculptural ornaments are currently stored in the Louvre (Paris).
• The ruins of Nimruda (Kalhu) today are located on the territory of Iraq near the city of Mosul. The settlement was founded by Salmanasar I in the 13th century BC, and four hundred years later Ashur-natsir-apal II made it its capital. Much later, this settlement destroyed the army of Medes and Chaldeans. Here towered a magnificent palace, surrounded by fortress walls and structures. During the excavations were found statues of fairy-tale creatures, numerous reliefs, carvings, clay slabs with cuneiform. Unfortunately, during the Iraq war the ancient city was badly damaged.

The Terrible Nineveh

This is another capital of Assyria. The city was called the lair of lions, the city of blood. It was located near modern Mosul (Iraq) on the left bank of the Tigris - on the Kuyundzhik hills. Its name is familiar to all of the Bible. According to historians, Nineveh was founded around the middle of the fifth millennium BC. The main city of it was made by Sennacherib and his son Ashurbanipal.

During its heyday, Nineveh stretched along the river for four kilometers, and the main street was 26 meters wide. The capital of Assyria was distinguished by a clear and strict planning, which was strictly forbidden to violate.

But a powerful settlement was also subdued. The capital of Assyria, the city of Nineveh, was destroyed by the Babylonians together with the Medes. After digging up the ruins, archaeologists discovered the remains of the famous royal Kuyundzhik library, where about thirty thousand clay tablets were kept. Also found polychrome ceramics, bronze sculptures, numerous reliefs and statues of guardians of the gates - winged bulls and lions.

The appearance of the city

The capital of Assyria in ancient times was a small settlement. But in biblical times, when God sent Jonah to Nineveh, it was already incredibly huge. The founder of it is the son of King Sargon Sinaherib. He also made the city his capital and arranged it on a big scale.

The capital of Assyria - "the lion's den" - was surrounded by a massive wall with a length of twelve kilometers. It housed fifteen gates. The water flowed into the city through a canal 20 meters wide and over 50 km long, which ran along a tunnel or along an aqueduct. The ruler was generous with the builders of the canal, as evidenced by the inscriptions found.

The capital of Assyria, the city of Nineveh, was inhabited by 170,000 people! Its circumference reached 150 km. Within the boundaries of the settlement there were not only royal palaces and temples, but also pastures and gardens. Tsarskaya Street, flooded with asphalt, was adorned with skilful statues and was wider than Nevsky Prospekt in modern Petersburg.

The fall of the great city

But the capital of Assyria was doomed. The city was called the lair of lions, the city of blood, and its inhabitants proud and cruel people. The Bible foretold Nineveh's death, turning into a desert. But she sustained the first siege by the Medes during the reign of Ashurbanipal. The end of the power of the Assyrian empire came when the conquered peoples furiously sought to throw off the yoke.

In 614, separated Babylon joined forces with the Medes and besieged the city. Its inhabitants gave a worthy rebuff, but the forces were unequal. In addition, the attackers went to the trick: they destroyed the dam, giving the Tigger the opportunity to get out of the coast and blur some of the fortress walls. The conquerors sacked the once great capital and razed it to the ground. Only in the middle of the nineteenth century, Nineveh again returned from non-existence thanks to the efforts of the archaeologist Aston Henry Layard.

Mark on history

Although the capital of ancient Assyria fell, commemorating the death of the whole empire, yet it was not lost in the labyrinths of history. Mention of its inhabitants now and then appear in the pages of later chronicles, which is a rare exception for science.

The Assyrians were not destroyed, not assimilated, but retired to the inaccessible mountains of Kurdistan, where they continued to follow the traditions of their ancestors. The inscriptions of the time of Darius I testify that during the construction of the palace cedar, brought by the Assyrians from Lebanon, was used. Arab authors of the Middle Ages argued that the ancient people continue to live on their land. And the bishopric of the Armenian church in Mosul is now called the Assyrian. In the first month of the year, the Nineveh Day is celebrated here with an unprecedented triumph and scope. Also, the descendants of the Assyrians observe a special post, just as their distant ancestors did. And they wear cone-shaped hats of felt, exactly like those depicted on ancient bas-reliefs. And similar headgear was not distributed nowhere else in the East.

Instead of concluding

The Bible tells of a bad city, which, like Babylon, drowned in sins and pride. Therefore, he died just as it was predicted. But historians and archaeologists are discovering something completely different - a settlement of surprisingly large dimensions for that time was arranged according to a carefully thought out plan. His wealth could not help attracting other states that were only gaining strength and needed money. That is why other cities came to replace the Assyrian empire, which in many respects were inferior not only to Nineveh, but to Nimrud and Ashur.