Assyrian civilization
[CP]
A city-state in the northern part of Mesopotamia with its capital at Assur. From about 1300 bc the Assyrian kings, all great warriors, developed an empire that, at its maximum, included Egypt, much of the area west of Mesopotamia as far as the Mediterranean, Elam to the east and parts of Anatolia to the north. Assurnasirpal II transferred the centre of government to Calah (Nimrud, Iraq) where he rebuilt the city; Nineveh, Iraq and for a while Khorsabad were co-capitals. He was also the first king to create pictorial reliefs to supplement cuneiform inscriptions. The fortunes of the empire were fairly turbulent between the 9th and 7th centuries bc and in 614 bc the empire collapsed when the Medes invaded Assyria capturing Calah and destroying Assur.
