Ancient Assyria: A Very Short Introduction

Very Short Introductions #424

by Karen Radner

Assyria was one of the most influential kingdoms of the Ancient Near East. In this Very Short Introduction, Karen Radner sketches the history of Assyria from city state to empire, from the early 2nd millennium BC to the end of the 7th century BC. Since the archaeological rediscovery of Assyria in the mid-19th century, its cities have been excavated extensively in Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Israel, with further sites in Iran, Lebanon, and Jordan providing important information. The Assyrian Empire was one of the most geographically vast, socially diverse, multicultural, and multi-ethnic states of the early first millennium BC. Using archaeological records, Radner provides insights into the lives of the inhabitants of the kingdom, highlighting the diversity of human experiences in the Assyrian Empire.
ABOUT THE SERIES:
The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Genres: History, Ancient History, Nonfiction, Middle East, Archaeology

160 pages, Paperback

First published March 26, 2015

About the author

Karen Radner is Alexander von Humboldt Professor of Ancient History of the Near and Middle East at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München.

Reviews

[Prerna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I still don't understand why I love reading about ancient civilizations and their cultures, I suspect I'm looking for rudimentary elements (at the very least) of a universal human nature that I dread so much. I am possibly looking for proofs of two contrasting hypotheses: that we are not so different and that we are poles apart.

Ancient Assyria is said to have set the rules, the norms, the functioning patterns for the empires to come after it, in that sense it was the very first empire. And so there are the timestamps, the monarchies, the conquests, the high priests, the eunuchs, pantheism (a clever trick they used to guarantee the co-operation of the conquered was to install the sieged Gods in their own temples), the oppressed women. Same old, same old. I did not particularly like the pattern of this book, it was very different from the ones I'm used to, the ones you find in history textbooks. It wasn't set in a chronological order, rather it was divided into different themes. I sometimes found it difficult to connect the different timelines and events.

But as with every civilization, Ancient Assyria had its own unique quirks and much of that is presented in this book. So I also found what I was looking for: polyamory, polygamy, infidelity, sexy goddesses, drunk bastards, sibling rivalry between power hungry princes, fetishes (most famously for clay tablets?) lechery and wine.

[Sense of History]

In the 19th century, the archaeological finds from the period of what is called the Neo-Assyrian Empire (8th and 7th centuries BCE) were so lavish and impressive that at first the whole study of Mesopotamian history was called "Assyriology". The discovery of the library of Ashurbanipal in the city of Niniveh in particular sparked the imagination, as copies of just about every text we know today from Mesopotamian history were found there. Only gradually the ancient history departments realized that Assyria was lord and master of the Two-Streams Land for only a relatively short time and that considerably more areas and cultures had made their own contribution.
In this booklet, Karen Radner (°1972, professor at the University of Munich, Germany, and University College London) outlines many aspects of Assyrian history in the narrow sense of the word. It appears that this area, which must be situated in the east of Mesopotamia, was determinative in several time periods: early 2nd millennium BCE, in the 14th-12th century BCE, from the 9th century BCE onwards and especially in the Neo-Assyrian period, 747 -609 BCE. The Assyrians have always had a particularly vicious reputation in popular historiography, especially through the Biblical references to their brutality (with the systematic destruction of cities and forced migrations). But that has to be put into perspective: Assyria certainly did not follow a gentle approach, but in relation to other peoples and cultures in this time period they were barely a degree more cruel. Personally, I think Radner could have emphasized a little more how much this culture stood in a very long continuum of Mesopotamian history, from the end of the 4th millennium to about 330 BCE.

[Marc Lamot · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is no doubt that Karen Radner (°1972, professor at the University of Munich and University College London) is well versed in the history of the Assyrian Empire, as evidenced by her very long list of publications. And in this booklet she demonstrates her knowledge and skills in a convincing way. Only, for the layman it is not so well structured in my opinion. Radner follows a rather thematic approach, so that as an unsuspecting reader you do not always realize that she moves through eras that are sometimes many hundreds of years apart. The Assyrians were prominent in Mesopotamian history from ca 1900 BCE to 500 BCE, but with great intervals. Radner's approach makes those different phases seem like one big mess of the same thing. On the other hand, her thematic approach also offers advantages: I found the chapters in which she highlights concrete persons from various social backgrounds especially interesting. More on Assyriology, in my review in my History account on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show....

[Iset · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the third A Very Short Introduction I’ve read in three weeks, after The Ancient Near East and Babylonia, so it’s worth noting that a little bit of fatigue has set in where it normally wouldn't. There’s a fair bit of crossover in these three books, and this one had a slightly harder time holding my attention whenever I came across something that was being discussed for the third time - but that's not the fault of the book. As far as praise goes, I’m not sure what to write because the book’s strong points are exactly the same as the ones I pointed out in my reviews of the first two books. Just to recap, those are: an author who is an expert in their field; well-written text which clearly and simply explains the subject; and a book that achieves what it sets out to do, and is useful as a starting point for newcomers and a refresher for more experienced readers. Radner does present the text a little differently to the previous authors, focusing on individual case studies to highlight wider trends in certain historical phases. This provides some tantalising glimpses of the personalities of the real human beings of history, but on the other hand I found it slightly harder to grasp the broader context. Still a book I would really recommend though, and a good read.

8 out of 10

[جلجامش Nabeel · Rating 4 out of 5]

أتممتُ البارحة قراءة كتاب "بلاد آشور: مدخل قصير جدا" لعالمة الآشوريات النمساوية كارين رادنر. الكتاب صادر عن جامعة أكسفورد ويضم تفاصيل رائعة وجديدة عن بلاد آشور وتفاعلاتها مع الشعوب والدول المحيطة بها، والآشوريين داخل بلاد آشور وخارجها – كتجار في الأناضول – وسفراء وهجرتهم في عهد تغلاتبلاصر الأول بسبب القحط، فضلاً عن أمثلة عن الأجانب في بلاد آشور مثل المصريين والعيلاميين وتفاصيل كثيرة عن البلاط والنزاعات الملكية والمكتبات والعبودية والتجارة وغيرها. الكتاب يتطرق للموضوع بطريقة فريدة من نوعها وجذابة للغاية بالاعتماد على مصادر أصلية مكتوبة وفنية.

Quotes:

- We may share the Assyrian taste for good wines, but perhaps would not choose locusts on a stick for nibbles. A fresh water supply, indoor toilets, and a well-functioning sewage system in the family home are as important to us as to urban Assyrians, but we may find it less essential to have an underground burial chamber accessible from the living room.

The foldable parasol was a practical Assyrian invention, but carrying one was dangerous: its use was exclusively reserved for royalty and without entitlement was an act of treason.

These housed the burials of several Assyrian queens of the 9th and 8th centuries bc whose sumptuous grave goods include over fifty kilograms of intricately crafted gold jewellery and luxury vessels made of gold and rock crystal, many with in-scriptions. When excavated, bodies and garments were in relatively good condition, but although anthropological and fibre analyses were quickly initiated, the start of the Gulf War in 1990 and subsequent trade sanctions have prevented the burials from being studied in the scientific detail that this extraordinary discovery merits.

#GilgameshNabeel

[Phalgun · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The tall grain thrives, but what do we understand of it? The meager grain thrives, but what do we understand of it?.” – An Assyrian proverb.

Ancient Assyria: A Very Short Introduction takes a distinctly unusual path, --in relative to how I was schooled in history-- a mode of narrative which primarily employs material legacies of actual people, through letters, lists and official documents, which archeologists have unearthed and painstakingly parsed through, to paint a vivid and verdant picture of the old empire. Merchants, scholars, hostages and other accounts of courtly intrigue populate the plurality of the pages of the book, chronologically erratic, to present a perspective bottom-up which was refreshingly fresh. The lack of solid footing in time might pose a problem to readers who are completely unfamiliar with the topic, which might be a large portion of the total considering that the book is an ‘introduction’, but it also surprisingly dispels the dryness that a lot of history books are burdened with, thus in the end becoming a non-factor. In conclusion, a wonderful read!

5/5

[Josh Issa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lots of random names and places, pretty dry, and focuses way too much on the kings. Would’ve been cool if there was some cohesive story rather than just a list of facts.

It is very informative on what it talks about, and I’m sure it’s quality research, but wow what a drag compared to other short introductions.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Years ago I somehow acquired the idea that the Assyrians were a fierce and brutal warrior society whose military had conquered much of the ancient Near East that lay between the kingdoms of Ur and the mighty Hittite Empire of Anatolia. This idea was reinforced when I visited such museums as the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Oriental Institute in Chicago and the British Museum in London and viewed the awesome reliefs and monumental winged Lammasu, an Asssyrian protective deity usually depicted with the body of a lion or ox, the head of a human and the wings of a raptor, that once adorned the palaces of Assyrian kings like Ashurnasirpal II.

Recently, though, Oxford Press sent me a review copy of a small book by Karen Radner entitled "Ancient Assyria: A Very Short Introduction" and I finally had a chance to explore this culture in greater depth. What I discovered was the Assyrians had a very sophisticated culture, enjoying fine wines, a fresh water supply, indoor toilets and a well-functioning sewage system. Sounds rather Roman doesn't it? But the Assyrian culture was founded in the 3rd millenium BCE although it didn't reach its apex until the 1st millenium BCE.

I learned the Assyrians enacted consumer protection for the buyers of their goods and even offered extended warranties although we usually don't think of these extending to the sales of human beings (slave sales were subject to a 100-day guarantee against epilepsy and mental instability!)
They were rather protective of some of their inventions, though. Assyrians invented the foldable parasol but its use was restricted to royalty on pain of death!

The Assyrians were not all that brutal in the conduct of warfare either, although they were highly skilled in the use of chariots and clearly embraced nuanced deployments of chariot, cavalry, archers, slingers and infantry. The Assyrians were more interested in obtaining human resources from their conquered lands than in wholesale slaughter. Skilled craftsman and educated scholars would be sorted out and relocated to the Assyrian heartland, initially centered on the religious capital of Assur. Although slaves were sometimes taken, most conquered laborers were often relocated to areas needing colonization.

"It has been calculated on the basis of references in the royal inscriptions that 4,400,000 + or - 900,000 people were relocated from the mid-9th to the mid-7th century BC, of which 85% were settled in central Assyria - a gigantic number, especially in a world whose population was a small fraction of today's. For all of these people resettlement was meant to provide a better future while at the same time benefitting the empire. Of course, their relocation was at the same time an effective way of minimizing the risk of rebellion against the central authority."

These conquered colonists were well provisioned and reliefs depict them without fetters. An 8th century BCE letter from an official to King Tilgath-pileser III, details the provisions allocated to a group of settlers from western Syria:

"As for the Arameans about whom the king my lord has written to me: 'Prepare them for their journey!' I shall give them their food supplies, clothes, a waterskin, a pair of shoes and oil. I do not have my donkeys yet, but once they are available, I will dispatch my convoy."

Once the new colonists reached their destination, the king provided further support:

"As for the Arameans about whom the king my lord has said: 'They are to have wives!' We found numerous suitable women but their fathers refuse to give them in marriage, claiming: 'We will not consent unless they can pay the bride price.' Let them be paid so that the Arameans can get married."

Obviously the king wanted the colony to be a successful community of thriving families.

Although the above passage makes women appear to be chattel this was not necessarily the case, either. Assyrian women were allowed to engage in business and I read that if the male head-of-household ended up fathering a child with a slave, the husband could not choose to adopt the child without his wife's consent. So women obviously had some rights.

From the text, it appeared average Assyrians were primarily monogamous although traders gone from home for extended periods sometimes took a secondary wife in one of the cities along their trade route. However, such secondary wives never took precedent over the first wife.

Knowledge was revered in Assyria, so much so that by the 9th century BCE Assyrian King Assurbanipal II is depicted in reliefs in the North Palace in Nineveh with a writing stylus tucked into his belt, instead of the more usual knife. The Assyrian's great library was already in existence in the 13th century BCE, almost a thousand years before the Great Library of Alexandria. Radner tells us that when King Tukulti-Nimurta I sacked Babylon in the 13th century BCE, he records that he brought back library tablets to add to his holdings. Scholars estimate that the library collection probably extended all the way back to the 14th century BCE under the reign of King Assur-Uballit I.

So obviously I found Radner's little tome brimming with information punctuated by actual quotations from translated cuneiform tablets of the period. She also included some black-and-white images, diagrams of excavated structures, maps, a timeline, a recommended reading list and index. I must admit I struggled a bit with Assyrian names and the fact that Assyrian archaeological sites like Nimrud had a totally different name in antiquity (ancient Kalhu). I would have also preferred a more linear organization of material about the administration and achievements of specific rulers, but, I still found the book to be a welcome addition to my resource library.

Although this is the first book of this series I have ever seen here in the states, Oxford produces a number of them on a variety of topics. They kindly sent me another one on Roman Britain that I look forward to reading as well.

[Andres Felipe Contreras Buitrago · Rating 3 out of 5]

El libro me parece una gran introducción para el tema del imperio asirio, aunque eso sí, no está ordenado de manera cronológica y no toca temas muy diversos. Se agradece que toque temas culturales y sociales, no se centra solo en lo político.

En el primer capítulo se nos expone como asiria fue muy influyente, ya que fue el primer imperio mundial, el inicio de asiria empezó en la ciudad de Assur esta se volvió una ciudad de Estado independiente con habitantes asirios en el 2000 antes de Cristo estos habitantes siempre conservaron su identidad regional, los asirios aprovecharon la debilidad de estados cercanos en el final de la edad de bronce como es el caso del reino hitita. Para la creación de un imperio era necesario la ventaja de tener carros en sus tropas además de contar con una gran extensión territorial el fin de este imperio se dio con la rebelión de los babilónicos los cuales conquistaron Nínive esto llevó a un problema porque el rey al no poder ser coronado en Assur perdía legitimidad, el centro de poder ahora giraba en torno a Babilonia y las ciudades asirias fueron olvidadas, pero, los persas siempre respetaron a los asirios ya mucho después esto se convirtieron al cristianismo.

En el segundo capítulo se nos menciona que las 2 ciudades más importantes del imperio asirio fue Assur y Nimrud, sobre la primera hay que mencionar que esta está ubicada en una fortaleza natural la cual era fundamental debido al comercio de metales principalmente el estaño y el cobre que se usaba para realizar el bronce estos elementos venían de las minas de Asia central la agricultura que se practicaba allí era de secano y el suelo se prestaba para el pastoreo de ovejas, posterior a esto se nos habla del Dios Assur para posteriormente hablarnos sobre cómo se descubrió esta ciudad en la que las casas tenían tumbas subterráneas también en este lugar había templos. Otro lugar importante que se nos habla es Kanes este puerto cerca de Turquía era una Colonia Siria en donde los habitantes locales aprendieron mucho sobre el comercio sirio estos últimos no vivían tan alejados de su pueblo Natal porque mantenía correspondencia, estos empresarios se centraban en la importación de estaño el cual era envuelto y movido en burros, el príncipe de este sitio tenía derechos e impuestos sobre el estaño y los textiles que traían allí, las caravanas que venían con mercancía duraban entre 5 a 6 semanas desde Assur.

Nimrud fue la nueva sede del poder político ya no lo era más la ciudad de Assur desde el 879 antes de Cristo debido a la elección de Asurbanipal II, este nuevo capital sirvió para mostrar el nuevo poderío imperial se nos habla sobre cómo se encontró esta ciudad a manos de los arqueólogos, en esta ciudad había templos y mullas, además de un palacio real en los que se celebraban festines para mostrar el poder del rey hacia sus invitados. En este mismo capítulo se nos habla sobre una ciudad que estaba al occidente de Asiria, en la cual se hablaba mucho el arameo y había una industria textil local.

El tercer capítulo se centra en las condiciones de vida y experiencias humanas en el imperio asirio todas estas datan del siglo séptimo antes de Cristo y la mayoría es fuentes es de la vida urbana, las fuentes reales se centraban en las hazañas del rey en exceso nos habla de cómo un rey estaba con gran desconfianza y paranoia lo que llevó a ejecutar a muchas personas por traición este mismo tenía aliados desde el mar caspio hasta la península arábica en este último lugar es que los asirios consiguieron aliados para conquistar Egipto. Se nos habla de un rey solitario, el cual no era feliz, tenía depresión y miedo a la muerte. Esta debilidad era una forma en que supuestamente los dioses abandonaban y castigaban a los reyes asirios. Es por eso por lo que el rey pone un suplente cada cierto tiempo para no poner en peligro su vida.

Posterior a esto se habla sobre un erudito el que era un cargo muy importante, puede ser el que adivinaba sobre el futuro del rey, así el cual hacía uso de la astrología, también se nos narra la vida de un terrateniente el cual contaba con grandes propiedades tenía pastores y podía comprar esclavos. El siguiente personaje es un comerciante de vinos el cual transportaba su producto en pieles de animales principalmente de ovejas y cabras esta bebida era muy consumida y hay que mencionar que entre más lejos era el vino era de mayor lujo los clientes de este comerciante pagaban con el metal de La Plata y muchos inversores invertían en la empresa vinícola una de las grandes clientes de este empresario eran las mujeres egipcias, puesto que tenía más independencia para comprar cosas.


El cuarto capítulo es sobre los asirios que están en el extranjero los comerciantes asirios que estaban en la península de anatolia duraron mucho tiempo lejos de su familia de vez en cuando las mujeres viajaban con estos hombres, pero estos hombres podían casarse con locales, esto no implicaba que los comerciantes adoptarán el lenguaje Tito porque estos preferían escribir en asirio, estas personas se podían casar con las locales de allí, pero esta unión se acaba una vez estos volvían a su hogar. Con la expansión egipcia los asirios se sintieron muy interesados por el oro egipcio es por ello por lo que el rey asirio mandó un enviado a la capital egipcia este mandó un regalo de lapislázuli y recibió a cambio oro como regalo, también hay personas desterradas que viven en las montañas en las que las bajas lluvias provocan hambrunas lo que llevó al canibalismo estas sequías lleva un gran debilitamiento del imperio asirio.  Los gobiernos locales se hacían para mantener el orden en las provincias controladas por el imperio asirio estos gobernantes locales debían proporcionar recursos y hombres al imperio, pero muchas veces son gobernantes cuando era muy inclinados hacia Asiria se protestaba el problema es que si el rey asirio lo quería los mandaba asesinar. Posterior a esto se nos habla del control asirio de babilonia, control que no fue fácil debido a la rivalidad entre los hermanos, ya que cada uno controlaba tanto a Siria como babilonia esto causó una guerra entre ambos lo que conllevó una hambruna en babilonia conllevó también a que Egipto se saliera del control a asirio

El quinto capítulo es sobre un rey extranjero que dominó a asirio el cual no era muy bien visto debido a que no era muy cercano a la Élite asiria que había eran mucho más cercano a Hammurabi por ello intentó legitimar su autoridad por medio de los antepasados babilónicos siempre fue un punto de conflicto entre asirios y babilónicos por eso se quería acabar con las rebeliones babilónicos, había gente iraní quién a Siri había todo un clan en azul los iraníes adoptaron parte de la identidad asiria, pero conservaron parte de su pasado iraní.  Hay que mencionar que tener esclavos era un símbolo de estatus y privilegio en el imperio asirio la mayoría de los esclavos eran extranjeros, aunque también había locales que se vendían debido a deudas esto es principalmente servían para labores domésticas estos también eran resultado de los botines luego de una guerra, se mantenía juntas a la madre e hija para una mejora integración en asiria.

En el capítulo 6 la idea principal es que asiria fue un pionero en la creación de un imperio en una primera etapa la infantería estaba compuesta por agricultores carros con un conductor y un arquero los carros eran conducidos por personas semi profesionales ya posteriormente habría un ejército de reclutas movilizados yo no de combatientes profesionales también en las guerras ganadas se absorbían las tropas de los lugares capturados el ejército era muy mixto por lo que muchos generales combatían por el reconocimiento del rey en estas tropas también había unidades auxiliares y estos se distinguían debido a su uniforme, en pocas palabras la composición del ejército imperial estaba formada por carros, caballería e infantería dividido en arqueros a distancia y lanceros de combate cuerpo a cuerpo. Mientras el ejército marchaba se construían campamentos, la caballería ligera se usaba según la disponibilidad del terreno porque en terrenos más escarpados era difícil el uso de esta, con el paso del tiempo se mejoró el blindaje de los carros y se le agregaron más hombres, cabe mencionar que asiria no fue una gran potencia marítima, ya que no necesitó del dominio de los mares y la poca marina que tenía era manejada por griegos y fenicios, el asedio también era una característica importante de los asirios los cuales hacían uso del asedio en forma de escaleras y arietes, aunque este no se usaba mucho para conquistar porque siempre se usaba la persuasión para conquistar la rendición era respetada y aceptada por el ejército asirio.

El rey Asurbanipal en su nuevo palacio queríamos tratar el poder de un rey al ser el representante de Dios este olvido el templo de Assur, bajo la idea de que este no lo necesitaba para comunicarse con los dioses, el rey era separado de los humanos y era superior a esto, este monarca tenía una gran red de comunicaciones en las cuales había estaciones dentro de las carreteras, pero estas servían únicamente para el estado, en esta se encontraban sellos para sellar cartas importantes y era muy común el uso demoras debido a que eran más fuertes y resistentes que el caballo. Los habitantes asirios eran controlados por medio de inscripciones reales. Los asirios movían a muchas personas en las ciudades destruidas, pero mantenían a las clases altas como las élites urbanas, artesanos, eruditos y militares. Muchas personas fueron reubicadas. Uno de los grandes logros del imperio asirio fue la construcción de la primera biblioteca en la que se tiene registro la biblioteca de Asurbanipal los textos que allí se contenían eran para realizar rituales o ayudar a las decisiones del rey esto demuestra el gran interés que tenía el rey por el conocimiento.

En conclusión, es un buen libro para introducirse en el estudio del imperio asirio, pero, es necesario leer otros libros para comprender mejor este vasto imperio.

[Michael Huang · Rating 4 out of 5]

The city of Assur was founded in the 3rd millennium BCE as a trading emporium to supply Sumerian cities (now in Southern Iraq) with merchandise from the north. They are often incorporated into a larger state centered in the south. After disintegration of one such kingdoms, Assur became an independent city state around 2000 BCE. Its ruler called themselves the representative of the God Assur. By 18th century BCE, they came under control of a larger state again, but maintained cultural identity. They started to become an empire by 9th century BCE. The resulting Assyrian empire is about the size of Rhode Island with three major cities (Assur, Nineveh, and Arbela). In 614 BCE, Assur was captured by Babylonian king and its temple was burned, ending the empire.

Gods are important in antiquity. With every conquer, Assyrians brought back the statues of the Gods of the conquered. Because these gods are now “guests of Assur”, it’s for all to see the sovereignty of Assur. It is important to keep them happy by providing regular sacrifices. Special beardless chefs will receive ingredients to from all over and prepare them. The Gods, though, only consumes by smell. The left over is distributed over considerable distances as it’s important blessing.

Assyrian traders had an outpost in Kanes in Anatolia. A trip one way takes 6 weeks (1200km) and many live there long term and even have a local wife. The resulting letters to and fro gave us written records of the life back then. (e.g., one sister bemoans a brother for loving money more than life.) Extravagance of the Assyrian kings can be seen by the 50kg of gold in jewelry buried in the queens’ grave, the iconic statues of winged bull with human head guarding the entrance of royal palace (200m x 130m), and the celebration of the new city involving 70,000 people, 10,000 tubs of beer and 10,000 skins of wine. Records and excavations also reveal the lives of non-royalties, such a wine merchant who had a 5000 sq.m. mansion.

Climate change is not a new phenomenon. Drier weather led to crop failure and famine, and war for food or land to produce food. Record shows people escaping into the mountain. Boundaries of empires are quite fluid. At the height of its power, Assyria had 65 provinces where the king sent his ambassadors. One of these were particularly unpopular and locals sent letters pleading the king to recall him. Around 672 BCE, Assurbanipal become crown prince. But his dad gave the southern part of the empire (Babylon) to Assurbanipal’s brother and this led to civil war between the brothers around 652.

Assyria is a bonafide empire. It has all kinds of people living in it. One of the earliest kings is in fact a foreigner (he believes a different god). Another kings fought a coalition of 23 Anatolian kings. Upon victory, he took back their sons as hostages. There are also records of a mother and young daughter pair from Iran living in Assyria, most certainly as booty from war. By mid 9th century BCE, it has an standing army, a little bit of a navy, a vast road and courier system for kings to dispatch messages. It has mass-relocated about 4million people and created a library of 20K tablets (all wax boards were lost).

[Chris Jaffe · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't get much out of it, and that wasn't a product of its length. It's prioritization of info seemed really off. There is a REALLY brief overview - even for a book like this too brief - of Assyria. Then the book discusses certain elements of Assyria, but it's not clear why those things prioritized. For instance, we get a ton on the original capital of Assur, but virtually nothing on Nineveh, the capital during it's peak. Heck, there's more on Kanes than on Nineveh. The book leans heavily on archeology (fair enough) but focuses so much on particular cases that it's hard to make much out of it - it comes off like grains of sand rather than a sense of the entire desert. The last chapter is good, but I felt it should've been the second chapter in the book as it gave a broader view of Assyria than the middle chapters did.

[Vinay · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent introduction into the Assyrian civilization of the ancient world, this book corrected a lot of misconceptions that I held about them. The book doesn't bore the reader for an instant, and the writing style and organization of topics kept me quite engaged and craving for more.

Of course, this book is very short and meant for the casually curious. It does not get bogged down in the details - so if you are an Ancient near-east neophyte looking for a quick intro to Assyriology, this book is for you. I'd suggest reading this along with the accompanying introductory book on Ancient Babylonia (by Trevor Bryce).

[Ahdom · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have read many of the Oxford "A Very Short Introduction" books. They are all great introductions to their respective subjects. This one is great on learning about Ancient Assyrian culture and history. While not super entertaining, it is super enlightening. I have plenty of follow up for the Ancient Mesopotamian history, including some GReat Courses, and I plan to finish off with reading The Epic of Gilgamesh. There are some great maps, graphs, and images in this as well!

[Marcas de B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

7/10—As the title suggests, it is indeed short. But there is enough information to get a clear picture of who the Assyrians were and their general chronology, but not too much to be overwhelming. Radner provides the reader with all the right points and teasers of more to make you want to find out all about ancient Assyria as soon as possible.

[Francisco Vazquez · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book that requires a minimum level of knowledge of Assyrian civilization.

[Robert Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good intro to Ancient Assyria! My one critique is the layout. Whilst good, the thematic approach seems muddled to me. Then again I'm no expert. Solid 4 stars!

[Keith · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good entry into the Oxford Very Short Introduction (VSI) series, providing a primer for a complex topic. The ancient Middle Eastern civilization Assyria existed from the 21st century BC to the 7th century BC, and was inarguably among the most influential because it “emerged in the 9th century bc as the first world empire” (p. 1).


[Image: Map of the Neo-Assyrian Empire at its height in the 7th century BC]

The information Ancient Assyria: A Very Short Introduction is interesting, although as only a fan of history rather than an expert, I found the structure used to be a little confusing. Professor Karen Radner uses a thematic approach rather than attempting a more straightforward history of the civilization. These are the six chapters:

Introducing Assyria
Assyrian Places
Assyrians at home
Assyrians abroad
Foreigners in Assyria
Assyria world domination: pathfinder empire

Perhaps for a society with such a long and complex history, a chronological approach would have been untenable in the intentionally brief VSI format. Dr. Radner’s book has instilled in me a greater interest in Assyriology, which was probably the author’s intention all along.

Some quotes:
“By the mid-9th century bc, Assyria’s former maximum extent had been re-established. The state in the resultant form is today called the ‘Assyrian Empire’. Its political organization was profoundly transformed in the king’s favour by the creation of the mega-city Kalhu as the imperial centre and a sustained and extensive programme of relocating its populations to best serve state interests.” (p. 4).
*
“Over time, as the Assyrian realm grew, more and more gods came to ‘live’ in the Aššur temple, in part the result of the practice of seizing the divine statues of defeated enemies and relocating them in Aššur’s shrine…
The strategy of god-napping was designed to persuade enemies or reluctant allies to follow their deities’ lead and to accept Assyrian dominion. It was often successful, as in this case.” (p. 16).
*
“Palaeoclimatologists explore past climatic conditions by analysing materials whose properties were influenced by the surrounding climate in order to recover proxy data. Two approaches work well for the ancient Middle East. The first method uses a very big drill to recover ancient sediments, preferably from the bottom of lakes (‘lake cores’), and collect pollen and other climate indicators in order to measure temperature, oxygen content, and nutrient levels, as well as charcoal in order to date the layers through carbon dating. The other method uses a much smaller drill to cut into karst cave formations (speleothems) to recover sequences of the microscopic layers, added annually as water drips down and whose chemical properties differ each year.” (p. 67).
*
“In this section, we will focus on two of them, mother and daughter, and trace their how they came to live in Aššur as slaves. Like many Assyrian slaves, they were of foreign extraction. But native free-born Assyrians, too, could be sold into slavery as a last resort in lieu of debt; they could be released if they, or someone else on their behalf, paid up. Most slaves that we encounter in the sources served as domestic staff and lived in their owner’s house.” (p. 91)
*
“Winning an empire is a challenge, but making it cohere is an even bigger one, and Assyria faced this task with aplomb.” (p. 95)
*
“Messages were exchanged either by letter only, passed on from courier to courier, or by envoy (who might or might not carry a letter). Sending an envoy, who travelled the whole distance, was the preferred means of communication when the message was very sensitive or when it was important that a decision could be made on the spot…
The disassociation between letter and messenger was an Assyrian innovation of the 9th century bc, radical at the time. Until the advent of the telegraph, this relay system set the standard for communication speed for almost three millennia.” (p. 106)
*

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[Image: Book Cover]

Citation:
Radner, K. (2015). Ancient Assyria: A very short introduction (eBook). OUP Oxford. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...

Title: Ancient Assyria: A Very Short Introduction
Author(s): Karen Radner
Series: Oxford Very Short Introductions #424
Year: 2015
Genre: Nonfiction - Ancient History
Page count: 160 pages
Date(s) read: 5/31/25 - 6/1/25
Book 115 in 2025
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[Jeremy · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting survey of Assyrian history and day to day life. The book is split into 6 chapters covering, in turn, an overview of Assyrian history, important cities in the empire and their characteristics, sketches of native Assyrian lives inside the empire from primary documents, sketches of native Assyrian lives outside the empire from primary documents, sketches of conquered foreigners' lives from primary documents, and important military and civil characteristics of the empire.

The king's library, Assyrian military, and the famous postal system are covered, as are the religious and civic life of the people, including the king, civic servants, merchants, and slaves. The two most interesting things I learned were that things sold had a money back guarantee, including slaves which were guaranteed for 100 days to be free from epilepsy and mental instability, and about the activities of Assyrian merchants. The Assyrians liked wine, but it wasn't produced in the core of their empire. Merchants would gather subscriptions, paid for with silver, as well as textile goods for trading. The silver and goods would all be loaded onto donkeys and then driven upriver to the trading posts in Anatolia where wine was produced. There everything, including the donkeys, was sold. Wine was bought and put into containers made of animal skins, usually from goats or sheep. These were tied to logs and floated downriver to the Assyrian cities. There those who had subscribed got their share, and everything else was sold. The wine was decanted into other containers and the logs were prized for building fortifications, since the Assyrian cities were in flat plains without any trees. A fascinating insight into an ancient civilization.

[Robert Morris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this one a bit disappointing. The book packs in the Very Short Introduction series's trademark wealth of information in a very small package. But the organization was kind of irritating. The book was grouped by themes. There was a quick capsule history of the various Assyrian polities at the beginning of the book, and some discussion of misconceptions and the legacy of the Assyrian empire's greatest period of power at the end of the book. Unfortunately most of the book leaves out chronology.

The author focuses on different themes for each of the chapters, home life, the experiences of foreigners, etc. The author's strategy here is rational, but I don't think it's particularly successful. She uses the wealth of information we have, thanks to surviving clay tablets, to provide descriptions of the lives and lifestyles of a series of individuals. But without the chronology, and with little attempt to contrast the experiences of people in different eras, I didn't feel like I learned much. Each chapter's diving into the lives of individuals separated by centuries didn't seem very useful. It wasn't clear to me if each individual lived during the millennia when Assur was just another city state, or during the few centuries after the Bronze Age crisis when the Assyrian Empire ruled most of the Middle East. There's a lot of good information in the book, but I think it could have been better organized.

[Roisin Vess · Rating 2 out of 5]

while I loved the last entry of this series I read, The Ancient Near East: A Very Short Introduction, this one was an irritating trudge through lists of kings', scribes', and archeologists' names. it's organized topically rather than chronologically, which only obfuscated the evolution and cultural interactions of assyria over time, and, more notably, the author has a marked difficulty of staying on the topic at hand to begin with. there are frequent and jarring diversions into listicles of Great Men and droll descriptions of ancient power exchanges, and there's significantly less information on cultural and religious practices than in the previously mentioned entry. i feel more confused in regard to assyria than I did before reading this, which is... problematic, to put it lightly, for any historical writing.

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Very Short Introductions (VIS) are exactly what they say they are. The authors tend to explore different ways to talk about their subject from VIS to VIS. This one is split into 6 sections: Introducing Assyria; Assyrian Palaces; Assyrians at Home; Assyrians Abroad; Foreigners in Assyria; and Assyrian World Domination: Pathfinder Empire.

Each section uses the latest archaeological evidence to discuss their relevant topics. The use of cuneiform tablet, which have survived in various locations has given us a solid insights into how the Assyrian Empire worked both as a government and as an economy.

I picked this up as the first skirmish in my 'Epic of Gilgamesh' project: background to the background so to speak. It gets one mention in the book, which is during the discussion of the great Assyrian libraries. But not much else. Still all useful grub for the brain.

[Kim Skytte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and factual this introduction does what it promises - it gives you an initial insight into one of the earliest historic cultures, often referred to in both middle eastern, western and eastern early history. While in these Assyria is typically cast as an enemy or a bordering civilisation, this introduction takes you on inside of this cultures' geography, religion and history. Of course, much more could be wanted, but as a very short introduction it fills its purpose, though I would have liked a better map and timeline including parallel neighbouring cultures.

On a curious note, the term 'god-napping' was new to me and I believe it will stick.

[Matteo Bagnoli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Libro piu divulgativo che accademico secondo me. Il libro è per la maggior parte un insieme di esempi di vita del tempo mentre la storia in sé viene riassunta nelle prime pagine lasciando un lettore inesperto sull'argomento a interrogarsi continuamente sul contesto in cui avvengono gli episodi raccontati. Non è il mio modo preferito di procedere quando si cerca di raccontare la storia, ma in generale la lettura è stata leggera, scorrevole e con spunti interessanti.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating book which would enlarge one's understanding of not only Assyrian history but also of the Old Testament. In my case it shed light on 2 Kings 23: 29 as I had not realized Necho was in power in Egypt as result of the Assyrian conquest of that land.

Reading it is very enjoyable.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 2 out of 5]

For something so short, it felt like it went on an on...more of a love-in about Assyrian archeological history than a straightforward account of ancient Assyria from start to finish. Useful as a research tool, but not as a relaxing read.

[Anton Tymkiv · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply amazing. Short but with extensive set of information, amazing introduction with carefully chosen examples.

Yet I wouldn’t really said its great for beginners. I enjoyed pictures and list of rulers at the end is quite handy

[Jacabaeus · Rating 4 out of 5]

excellent little book. highly readable. not as dry and heavy as many books and articles in this subject area.

[T. Stranger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Introduces Ancient Assyria well.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very short yes but also very informative.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decent little introduction to the structure of Assyrian society and structure.