the Assyrians
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From 2500 the Assyrians three main cities Abal, Nineveh and the capital Ashur (Western bank of Tigris river), would be built to start the Assyrian Empire.
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Uspija (Last King in tent - taken from the King list) city of Ashur formed for Assyrians, his son Apiasal was the first King to live in the city.
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It is said that Puzur-Ashur I founded the Assyrian dynasty. However little is known until Shamshi-Adad I (1809-1776 BC), an Amorite, came to power. Trade was prominent throughout the Akkadian empire and beyond.
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Shamshi-Adad I ruled Ekallatum from 1833, after not inheriting the throne of Assyria from his father. Naram-Sin of Eshnunna attacked Ekallatum and Shamshi-Adad was forced into exile. When he returned he conquered Ekallatum and then went on to conquer Ashur. He then conquered the areas around Assyria for the Assyrians and pronounced the capital as Subut-Enlil. King of Mari enters a long war with Shamshi-Adad and loses. Shamshi-Adad proclaims himself “King of all”
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Iame-Dagan rules after his fathers death, but loses most of the territory gained by Shamshi-Adad, leaving the Assyrians with the three main cities of Abal, Nineveh and Ashur.
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Hurrian King of the Mitanni Saushtatar sacked Ashur and turned it into a vassal state to Saushtatar.
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It is believed, by 1400, Assyria had regained independence and had gained a structured border with Babylonia. It is believed that after the Hittites sacked Mitanni and left, the Assyrian took control of some of their lands.
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Ashur-Uballit, with control of the lands, previously owned by the Mitanni empire, started correspondence with Egypt.
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Ashur-Uballit, King of Assyria, attacked and defeated the Kassites in Babylon, after a people’s revolt that deposed and killed the reigning King of Babylon Kara-Hardash and his wife, who was Ashur-Uballit’s daughter. He sacked the city, killed King Nazi-Bugash and put Kurigalzu in power.
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Ashur-Uballit died and so started war and conflict between Babylon and Assyria, with neither gaining ground.
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Assyrian king Tukulti-Ninurta I, battles with the Hittites and then heads South to attack the Kassite Babylonians and sacked Babylon and their holy cities. Tukulti-Ninurta was assassinated by his own people, who believed the Gods had turned on him for the sacking of the holy cities.
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With Tukulti-Ninurta dead, Assyria fell into decline with the Kings that followed.
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The reign of Tiglath-Pileser I, brought back the Assyrian strength as they conquered and expanded North and West, beyond anywhere they had previously been.
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Ashur-Dan II came to power and started attacking to the North, regaining control of territories they had once held and to the West attacking the Aramaeans, rebuilding wherever he gained control, whilst building a larger army with the conquered.
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Adad-Narari II, Ashurnasirpal II and Shalmaneser III continued the fight against the Aramaeans and also battled against the Babylonians in the south. Ashurnasirpal II also built the major city of Kalhu.
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During Shalmaneser III reign, eleven kings banded together to stop the expansion of the Assyrian empire. The battle is known as the Battle of Qarqar. Many of those who opposed Shalmaneser III ended up having to pay tribute to the Assyrians. With expansion and ruling over the huge area, individuals started to gain power and squabbles turned to battles, including that of Shalmaneser’s sons.
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Shamshi-Adad V, one of Shalmaneser’s sons involved in the squabble, gained power. Expansion stopped and the King became a symbol without power over the Assyrian domain, which was split into different areas, ruled by different people.
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Tiglath-Pileser III changed things and started to rule the whole of the Assyrian kingdom, he also went to war with anyone who opposed his rule.
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Sargon II started expansion again, attacking and defeating the Urartu to the North-East. Then he headed North capturing Tabal When the Elamites attacked Babylon, but were forced to retreat and garnish a treaty with Sargon II. Sargon II was later killed in battles, attempting to subdue an uprising.
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Sennacherib, son of Sargon II, he moved the capital to Nineveh. The Babylonian Marduk-apla-iddina joined with the Chaldeans, the Elamites and the Aramaean tribes to battle the Assyrians under Sennacherib. The Elamites did most of the fighting but were defeated by Sennacherib. Elam Hallushu then battled Sennacherib and lost and on return to Elam was assassinated.
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Sennacherib attacked the Kingdom of Judea and besieged Jerusalem. He is said, according to the Bible, as needing to retreat because of an angel. Historically, he returned to Babylon, to defeat Marduk-apla-iddina again, as he had returned to take Babylon. When Sennacherib attempted to attack Elam via the South, Babylon was taken by the Elamites, as a result Sennacherib returned and destroyed Babylon.
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Sennacherib was assassinated and his son Esarhaddon marched in Ninevah and defeated those who committed the deed. Esarhaddon rebuilt the empire, including Babylon, he then went on to expand the empire again, including Southern Egypt’s (Northern Egypt as it is now) Memphis.
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Ashurbanipal and Shamash-shumu-ukin, Esarhaddon’s sons, became Kings of Assyria and Babylon respectively. War between the two brothers in Assyria and Babylon started up again, with the Elamites supporting Shamash-shum-ukin. Ashurpanipal destroyed his brothers armies and continued on to march into Elam and destroyed it.
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Ashurpanipal died in 631 and the following Kings lasted for short and disruptive periods of time. Nabopolassar and the Medes, under Cyaxares, took advantage and started pushing into Assyrian lands, the latter reaching and destroying Ashur. Naboplassar and Cyaxares then sacked Nineveh.