Meaning of ASSYRIA

The great kingdom of Assyria was situated near the Tigris River, bounded by Armenia to the north, by Mount Zagros and Media to the east, Babylon to the south, and Syria and the Syrian Desert to the west.

But there is no doubt that its borders were not always the same. Nineveh became its capital. Its ruins are now within the territory of Iraq.

The first allusion to Assyria is found in Genesis (Gen. 2:4), where we read that one of the rivers of Paradise "goes to the east of Assyria" (alternative translation: "went east to Assyria").

The name Assyria appears to have derived from its first capital, Assur (now called Qal 'at Sarqat), on the Tigris.

Apparently, people from Babylon established a monarchy there, and there were several kings before Shalmansar I (around 1300 BC).

His descendants held the throne for six generations until Tiglath-pileser I (around 1130 BC). The latter can be considered the founder of the first Assyrian Empire.

He beautified Nineveh and led his armies in various directions. After him, the kingdom entered into decline under Rimón-nirari II, 911 BC, but his son, Assurnatsir-pal, 883 BC, once again strengthened the kingdom, taking territory from the Phoenicians and the "Kaldu" (Chaldeans). ).

He was succeeded by Shalmansar III, 858 BC, who further expanded his borders, and left accounts of his conquests, of which three monuments are preserved in the British Museum, one of which is the so-called Black Obelisk.

In it, Ben-hadad, king of Syria, and Ahab, king of Israel, appear as allies against him. These were defeated at the Battle of Karkar in 853 BC.

Hazael of Damascus was also defeated; he received tribute from Yahua, the son of Khumri, that is, from Jehu, whom he incorrectly calls the son of Mori, king of Israel.

The next king to invade Syria was Rimon-nirari III, 810 BC. He extended his victories to what he calls "the coast of the setting sun," which is undoubtedly the Mediterranean, and imposed tribute on the Phoenicians, Israelites, Edomites, Philistines, and Damascus. After this the power of Assyria faded for a time.

The next notable king was Tiglath-pileser II or III, 745 BC, who is considered the founder of the second Assyrian empire.

He consolidated the various colonies, deported the turbulent populations, and divided the country into provinces, each of which paid a fixed annual tribute.

In his inscriptions appear the names of Jehoahaz (Ahaz) of Judah; Pekah and Hosea, from Israel; Reson (Rezin), from Damascus, and Hiram, from Tyre. The name of Merodach-baladan is also found.

He took Hamath and had all of Palestine within his reach. He attacked the tribes beyond the Jordan, and led the Reubenites, Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh into exile (1 Chron. 5:26).

Ahaz sought to ally himself with him against Rezin, king of Damascus. Rezin was killed and Damascus taken, and there Ahaz met the king of Assyria (2 Kings 16:1-10; 2 Chron. 28:16-21).

He also took over Babylon, which later regained its independence under Merodach-baladan.

Some Assyriologists consider that Tiglath-pileser (whose name appears to have been Pulu) is the same as the Pul mentioned in the Scriptures, but this does not agree with the biblical chronology; Furthermore, in one passage (1 Chr. 5:26) Pul and Tiglath-pileser are mentioned as two different people.

Shalmansar IV acceded to the throne in 727 BC. Hosea, king of Israel, was his tributary; When it was discovered that he had allied himself with the king of Egypt, Samaria was besieged (1 Kings 20:1; 2 Kings 17:3-5).

Sargon succeeded him in the year 722 BC, and it is he who conquered Samaria. An inscription of his in Corbasad says: "I besieged the city of Samaria and deported 27,800 men who lived there, and took fifty chariots from them, and ordered the rest to be taken.

I set my judges over them, and imposed on them the tribute of the former kings. He also brought new settlers to Samaria, but it is to be assumed from the names of the places from which they came that such a thing was not done immediately.

He conquered Carchemish, punished the king of Syria, and had the king of Hamath flayed alive. Sargon is mentioned by the prophet Isaiah as sending his general to Ashdod, which he took (Is. 20:1).

An inscription mentions the fall of this city. Sargon defeated Merodach-baladan in Babylon, but was killed in 705 BC. His name was Sharru-kenu, "faithful king."

Sennacherib succeeded Sargon, his father, in 705 BC. Hezekiah had been tributary; When Sennacherib rebelled, he took the walled cities of Judah, and then Hezekiah sent him the treasures of his own house and those of the temple.

Despite this, Jerusalem was attacked and blasphemous speeches were given against the God of Israel. Hezekiah humbled himself before God and the angel of the Lord killed 185,000 Assyrians.

Sennacherib returned to his land and was murdered by two of his sons (2 Kings 18:13-19:37). Writing in the first person, Sennacherib relates: "I locked Hezekiah himself like a bird in a cage within Jerusalem, his royal city... in addition to his previous annual tribute and gifts, I imposed on him another tribute and the honor due to my majesty, and I imposed it on them.

One tablet shows Sennacherib seated on a throne receiving the spoils of the city of Lachish. He is supposed to have lived 20 years after he left Palestine, before being murdered.

It says nothing of the loss of his army, and it is possible that he never recovered from this crash.
Esar-haddon succeeded him in 681 BC. It is said of him that he reigned from the Euphrates to the Nile.

He also conquered Egypt and divided it into 20 provinces, ruled by Assyrians. According to an inscription, he claimed sovereignty over Babylon, and held his court there. This explains why he, as king of Assyria, took Manasseh captive to Babylon (2 Chron. 33:11).

He is also mentioned in Ezra (Ezra 4:2) as having sent settlers to Judea. After reigning for 10 years, he associated the famous Assurbanipal with him in the kingdom.

Once again he was conquered. He assembled a famous library at Kouyunjik, the terracotta tablets of which there are a number preserved. Assurbanipal died around 626 BC.

The glory of the kingdom of Assyria was declining, and around the year 606 B.C. Nineveh was taken and destroyed (Nah. 1-2).

The Assyrians were idolaters. From the inscriptions you can see hundreds of names of gods.

The language of the Assyrians was a branch of the Semitic languages, and came from Akkadian. It was written with cuneiform writing.

Assyria was used by God as his rod to punish his people Israel for their sins. Also this same rod, for its pride and wickedness, had to suffer the judgment of God (cp. Is. 10:5-19; 14:25; Ez. 31:3-17; Nah. 3:18, 19; Zeph. 2:13).

Some of the passages that speak of the king of Assyria are prophetic, and refer to the eschatological future that awaits its fulfillment. when, as "kings of the north", they will have to do with Israel again, and it will be judged by God.

Indignation against Israel ceases with the destruction of the Assyrian (cp. Is. 10:12; 14:25; 30:27-33). A notable passage speaks of the outpouring of blessing upon Assyria with Egypt and Israel (Isa. 19:23-25):

"Jehovah of hosts will bless them, saying: Blessed is my people Egypt, and the work of my hands is the Assyrian, and Israel is my inheritance." We thus see that the Assyrians have a great place in the Scriptures both in the past and in the future, undoubtedly because they have had to do, and will still have to do, with Jehovah's earthly people, "the Israel of God."

The Assyrian is the overwhelming scourge of God's wrath because of Israel's relationship with idolatry.