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Early Assyrian period AI simulator
(@Early Assyrian period_simulator)
Hub AI
Early Assyrian period AI simulator
(@Early Assyrian period_simulator)
Early Assyrian period
The Early Assyrian period was the earliest stage of Assyrian history, preceding the Old Assyrian period and covering the history of the city of Assur and surrounding areas of Upper Mesopotamia, and its people and culture, prior to the foundation of Assyria as an independent city-state under Puzur-Ashur I c. 2025 BC. Very little material and textual evidence survives from this period. The earliest archaeological evidence at Assur dates to the Early Dynastic Period, c. 2600 BC, but the city may have been founded even earlier since the area had been inhabited for thousands of years prior and other nearby cities, such as Nineveh, are significantly older.
The archaeological evidence suggests that Assur was originally inhabited by Hurrians as well as Semites and was the site of a fertility cult devoted to the Assyrian goddess Ishtar. The name "Assur" is not historically attested prior to the age of the Akkadian Empire in the 24th century BC; it is possible that the city was originally named Baltil, used in later times to refer to its oldest portion. From approximately 3000 BC, centuries before the rise of the Akkadian Empire in the 24th Century BC, the Semitic-speaking ancestors of the Assyrians, Akkadians and Babylonians settled in Assur and throughout Mesopotamia, either displacing or assimilating earlier populations. Founded in a both holy and strategic location, the city itself was gradually deified during the Early Assyrian period and eventually became personified as the god Ashur, firmly established as the Assyrian national deity by the time of Puzur-Ashur I in the late 21st century BC.
There is no evidence so far discovered that Assur was independent at any point in the Early Assyrian period. Throughout the centuries prior to Puzur-Ashur I or Ushpia in the early 21st Century BC, it is instead evident that the city was dominated by a sequence of powerful states and empires from southern Mesopotamia. In the Early Dynastic Period, Assur and other Assyrian cities experienced considerable Sumerian influence, and for a time fell under the hegemony of the Sumerian city of Kish. In the 24th to 22nd centuries BC, the city was part of the Akkadian Empire as an administrative centre in northern Mesopotamia, a time later Akkadian speaking Assyrian kings saw as a golden age. In the final geopolitical stage preceding Assur's independence, the city became a peripheral city within the Sumerian empire of the Third Dynasty of Ur (c. 2112–2004 BC).
Agricultural villages in the region that would later become Assyria are known to have existed by the time of the Hassuna culture, c. 6300–5800 BC. The city of Assur was probably founded at some point in the Early Dynastic Period (c. 2900–2350 BC), or perhaps earlier, though there is no evidence of the city being an independent state prior to the time of Puzur-Ashur I, who ruled c. 2025 BC, although independent rule is credited in later Assyrian annals to have begun with Ushpia some sixty or so years earlier. The earliest archaeological evidence known from Assur predates the Akkadian Empire by only a few centuries, being from c. 2600 BC or c. 2500 BC. At this time, the surrounding region was already relatively urbanized, a development that might perhaps have resulted from being influenced by the heavily urbanized southern Mesopotamia. Archaeological evidence from the Early Dynastic Period is in general far more scarce in northern Mesopotamia, including around Assur, than in southern Mesopotamia. Much of the early historical remains of Assur may have been destroyed during the extensive construction projects of later Assyrian kings, who worked to create level foundations for the buildings they erected in the city. Very little concrete information is known about Assur in the early period, and most researchers do not treat the city as liable for much historical analysis until the Old Assyrian period, initiated by Puzur-Ashur I.
Early Assur was probably a local religious and tribal center, suggested by the early presence of temples at the site. The presence of monumental temples suggests that there was a town of some size surrounding the temples, and that the site was not just a small cult place. Assur was built in a highly strategic location; on a hill overlooking the Tigris river, protected by a river on one side and a canal on another. The region was however relatively arid, located just north of the artificially irrigated lands of southern Mesopotamia.
Later Assyrian kings used the name "Baltil" or "Baltila" to refer to the earliest portion of Assur, or perhaps to a preceding settlement in the same location. "Baltila" is a name of Hurrian origin, attested as a personal name among Hurrians near the city of Nuzi. According to a stele erected by the Neo-Babylonian king Nabonidus some two thousand years later, Baltila was the capital of the land of Subir. Subir, which also appears in the variants Subar and Subartu, is attested as a name for the land surrounding Assur, but the later Assyrians rarely used it. The reason for the name being dropped in later times appears to be that it took on a derogatory meaning: during the Old Babylonian Empire (c. 1894–1595 BC), so many slaves were imported from "Subartu" that "Subarian" in effect became a synonym for "slave".
During much of the early Assyrian period, Assur and Upper Mesopotamia was dominated by states and polities from southern Mesopotamia. The city was occupied by the Akkadian Empire and then the Third Dynasty of Ur. Prior to this, Assur had also for a time been one of the many Mesopotamian cities under the loose hegemony of the Sumerian city of Kish.
The Akkadian Empire probably conquered Assur in the reign of its first ruler, Sargon (c. 2334–2279 BC), and is known to have controlled the city at least from the reign of Manishtushu (c. 2270–2255 BC) onwards, as contemporary inscriptions dedicated to Manishtushu have been recovered from the city. One inscription dedicated to Manishtushu was inscribed on the bronze point of a spear by Azazu, a local ruler of Assur who was the Akkadian king's vassal. Azazu's inscription was also dedicated to a deity, but the name, perhaps Ashur, is not clearly preserved. Texts of the Akkadian period from Nuzi illustrate that Assur was an important local outpost and administrative center under the Akkadian Empire, frequently staffed with Akkadian officials. A palace, similar to a palace built by the Akkadian king Naram-Sin at Tell Brak, was also constructed in the city.
Early Assyrian period
The Early Assyrian period was the earliest stage of Assyrian history, preceding the Old Assyrian period and covering the history of the city of Assur and surrounding areas of Upper Mesopotamia, and its people and culture, prior to the foundation of Assyria as an independent city-state under Puzur-Ashur I c. 2025 BC. Very little material and textual evidence survives from this period. The earliest archaeological evidence at Assur dates to the Early Dynastic Period, c. 2600 BC, but the city may have been founded even earlier since the area had been inhabited for thousands of years prior and other nearby cities, such as Nineveh, are significantly older.
The archaeological evidence suggests that Assur was originally inhabited by Hurrians as well as Semites and was the site of a fertility cult devoted to the Assyrian goddess Ishtar. The name "Assur" is not historically attested prior to the age of the Akkadian Empire in the 24th century BC; it is possible that the city was originally named Baltil, used in later times to refer to its oldest portion. From approximately 3000 BC, centuries before the rise of the Akkadian Empire in the 24th Century BC, the Semitic-speaking ancestors of the Assyrians, Akkadians and Babylonians settled in Assur and throughout Mesopotamia, either displacing or assimilating earlier populations. Founded in a both holy and strategic location, the city itself was gradually deified during the Early Assyrian period and eventually became personified as the god Ashur, firmly established as the Assyrian national deity by the time of Puzur-Ashur I in the late 21st century BC.
There is no evidence so far discovered that Assur was independent at any point in the Early Assyrian period. Throughout the centuries prior to Puzur-Ashur I or Ushpia in the early 21st Century BC, it is instead evident that the city was dominated by a sequence of powerful states and empires from southern Mesopotamia. In the Early Dynastic Period, Assur and other Assyrian cities experienced considerable Sumerian influence, and for a time fell under the hegemony of the Sumerian city of Kish. In the 24th to 22nd centuries BC, the city was part of the Akkadian Empire as an administrative centre in northern Mesopotamia, a time later Akkadian speaking Assyrian kings saw as a golden age. In the final geopolitical stage preceding Assur's independence, the city became a peripheral city within the Sumerian empire of the Third Dynasty of Ur (c. 2112–2004 BC).
Agricultural villages in the region that would later become Assyria are known to have existed by the time of the Hassuna culture, c. 6300–5800 BC. The city of Assur was probably founded at some point in the Early Dynastic Period (c. 2900–2350 BC), or perhaps earlier, though there is no evidence of the city being an independent state prior to the time of Puzur-Ashur I, who ruled c. 2025 BC, although independent rule is credited in later Assyrian annals to have begun with Ushpia some sixty or so years earlier. The earliest archaeological evidence known from Assur predates the Akkadian Empire by only a few centuries, being from c. 2600 BC or c. 2500 BC. At this time, the surrounding region was already relatively urbanized, a development that might perhaps have resulted from being influenced by the heavily urbanized southern Mesopotamia. Archaeological evidence from the Early Dynastic Period is in general far more scarce in northern Mesopotamia, including around Assur, than in southern Mesopotamia. Much of the early historical remains of Assur may have been destroyed during the extensive construction projects of later Assyrian kings, who worked to create level foundations for the buildings they erected in the city. Very little concrete information is known about Assur in the early period, and most researchers do not treat the city as liable for much historical analysis until the Old Assyrian period, initiated by Puzur-Ashur I.
Early Assur was probably a local religious and tribal center, suggested by the early presence of temples at the site. The presence of monumental temples suggests that there was a town of some size surrounding the temples, and that the site was not just a small cult place. Assur was built in a highly strategic location; on a hill overlooking the Tigris river, protected by a river on one side and a canal on another. The region was however relatively arid, located just north of the artificially irrigated lands of southern Mesopotamia.
Later Assyrian kings used the name "Baltil" or "Baltila" to refer to the earliest portion of Assur, or perhaps to a preceding settlement in the same location. "Baltila" is a name of Hurrian origin, attested as a personal name among Hurrians near the city of Nuzi. According to a stele erected by the Neo-Babylonian king Nabonidus some two thousand years later, Baltila was the capital of the land of Subir. Subir, which also appears in the variants Subar and Subartu, is attested as a name for the land surrounding Assur, but the later Assyrians rarely used it. The reason for the name being dropped in later times appears to be that it took on a derogatory meaning: during the Old Babylonian Empire (c. 1894–1595 BC), so many slaves were imported from "Subartu" that "Subarian" in effect became a synonym for "slave".
During much of the early Assyrian period, Assur and Upper Mesopotamia was dominated by states and polities from southern Mesopotamia. The city was occupied by the Akkadian Empire and then the Third Dynasty of Ur. Prior to this, Assur had also for a time been one of the many Mesopotamian cities under the loose hegemony of the Sumerian city of Kish.
The Akkadian Empire probably conquered Assur in the reign of its first ruler, Sargon (c. 2334–2279 BC), and is known to have controlled the city at least from the reign of Manishtushu (c. 2270–2255 BC) onwards, as contemporary inscriptions dedicated to Manishtushu have been recovered from the city. One inscription dedicated to Manishtushu was inscribed on the bronze point of a spear by Azazu, a local ruler of Assur who was the Akkadian king's vassal. Azazu's inscription was also dedicated to a deity, but the name, perhaps Ashur, is not clearly preserved. Texts of the Akkadian period from Nuzi illustrate that Assur was an important local outpost and administrative center under the Akkadian Empire, frequently staffed with Akkadian officials. A palace, similar to a palace built by the Akkadian king Naram-Sin at Tell Brak, was also constructed in the city.