Assyria: The Rise and Fall of the World’s First Empire

Definitely fascinating. It was news to me that "Assyriologist" was a job description, but I'm grateful to Frahm for being one and writing this book. For most people, Assyria is some vague ancient civilization, famous for some rock reliefs in the British Museum and Lord Byron's immortal simile "the Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold." Frahm touches on both of these. Indeed, at one point he says the job of most Assyriologists has been putting together the pieces of a gigantic jigsaw puzzle that is in the British Museum. And of course it's not a very safe profession these days: the places you need to go are wartorn, scalding hot ruins, and ISIS and others have committed monstrous cultural crimes by blowing up priceless remnants of the Assyrian civilization, just as the Taliban did with those giant Buddhas. Actually, we learn here that Ashur, the capital located north of Babylon, had a comparatively pacific early history which makes its later belligerence startling. It's not easy, apparently, to pinpoint what caused it. Certainly disease was a factor, Frahm says, and here there is an eerie modern ring given what U.S. leaders did with Covid: "As if a large death toll wasn't enough of a blow to these societies, the measures taken to curb the spread of epidemics could have disastrous consequences of its own." There are some false modern notes here. I'm no fan of "CE" for dates, and it's not true, as Frahm claims, that "climate change" toppled the Mayan civilization in the 10th century. I've spent a day in the ruins of Copan with the man who showed it came to a violent end. And I found the "Distorted Perceptions" chapter absurd. Those quibbles aside, however, there is plenty of violence and fascinating history here. It was all so long ago it's incredible Frahm is able to paint such a vivid picture. One reason, we learn, is because inscriptions made on clay cuneiform tablets are "almost indestructible," particularly when compared with information once contained on leather or papyrus. There are some familiar road markings - Xenophon, for instance, is mentioned. And Frahm writes in a straightforward, engaging style: "Homer was hardly an Assyrian eunuch living in Cilicia, despite recent attempts to substantiate such a scenario. That the Assyrians had some influence on the Greek work undoubtedly, for the most part through intermediaries, is nonetheless plausible," he says. The author is also great at providing dates frequently which really helps this reader. Assyria's story hits its stride with Sennacherib, Sargon II's successor, who took the Assyrian throne in 705 BC. His reign was in several regards remarkable. Under Sennacherib, Nineveh became the capital, and it was transformed into a splendid city of its time. We are also at the gates of Jerusalem in 700 BC, and here Frahm works through the threads of the Bible and Assyrian manuscripts (the former says Sennacherib suffered a defeat; the latter claims victory). The sweep here is epic. Later, we will encounter Nebuchadnezzar II who wins a crushing victory over Egypt in 605 BC. There's a nice historical comparison in Chapter 9, "Sennacherib's Babylonian Problem," in which Frahm notes Assyria is to Babylonia as Rome is to Greece. That's a great chapter overall. In 729 BC we get Tiglath-pileser III (what a name!), who dies quickly after capturing Babylon as does his successor, Shalmanasser V. Sargon II then appears, exits the stage violently, and we have Sennacherib. Unfortunately, Sennacherib destroys many of Babylon's temples when he sacks it after a fifteen-month siege in 689 BC. That gives us this great line: "Asher, king of the Gods...who brings devastation like the Deluge to the land that has been treacherous and evil." There is an interesting and lucid account of Ashurbanipal, one of the most famous Assyrian kings (who knew?) and one of the last "great" kings. "Ashurbanipal," Frahm says, was "a scholar, sadist, hunter and king." He launched repeated forays against Egypt and sacks Thebes. Ashur is a similar figure, we learn, as "even if one were to apply the word in the broadest possible sense, Ashur was also no humanist. He was, instead, a spiteful, brutal man who lived in constant need of affirmation." As that chronology shows, "Assyria" is packed with accounts of Assyrian armies looting from Memphis to Susa on the edge of Persia. This history spreads from the eastern edge of the Mediterranean to the western edge of the Zagros Mountains. And Frahm offers a take on why, perhaps, Assyria has become a shadow despite its contemporary successes: "An 'empire' without a mission, except for the accumulation of power and wealth, Assyria had never been particularly good at creating something akin to an Assyrian 'identity' beyond its core territories...It had little symbolic capital to offer the citizens it ruled. Those citizens, in turn, had little reason to support their Assyrian overlords when the latter suddenly found themselves under fatal military pressure. As I hope these notes show, this is a rich, rewarding book. Highly recommended.

I'm 78. I have several degrees in history and have been a member of the American Historical Association for almost 50 years. I've been reading history since grade school. And "Assyria" has to be one of the best history books I've ever read. How many of you have skipped ahead in a history book to see what happened? You will with this book. How many of you have been sad when you come to page 430 and it's the end of the book? You will with this book. It gives an excellent history of Assyria, along with "how do we know that"? information. There are quotations from Assyrian writers throughout, often paragraph length. Perhaps the best was the queen mother's scathing letter to her daughter-in-law, the queen. He also deals with the influence of Assyria on the Bible. The concluding chapters go beyond ancient history. One chapter is about the influence of Assyria on later history. My specialty is the Middle East, but I'm ashamed to say that it never dawned on me that "Syria" is derived from "Assyria." The concluding chapter brings us up to date on ISIS and the destruction they caused. Perhaps the most notable thing about the book is the writing. The author is German, and all his degrees are from Heidelberg. Nevertheless, the writing is masterful. No academic jargon, but also no talking down. It reads like he's a friend sharing a conversation about Assyria. Noteworthy also are the aphorisms from modern (and a few ancient) authors and personalities (Thomas Mann, Karl Popper, Nicolae Ceausescu, John Le Carre, Horace, Lord Byron, Benedetto Croce, Dante, and others).

I am surprised Hollywood doesnt copy Assyrian quotes by kings for their movies. The author spends some time on this and gives some good overall info on all three Assyrian eras and the main rulers with some good historical background as well. There is some discussion as well regarding to the bible, which is where things get a little weak. Note is made of the Deuteronomy/ Esarhaddon succession treaty debate, but no mention of the similarity of Deuteronomy to Hittite vassal treaties of the 13th to 14th centuries BC as well, which would have been nice. Dr Carly Crouch has a book devoted to this situation which will be my next read. I think maybe a little more primary quotes/writings of Assyrian kings and people would have been nice but that's my opinion. Frahm does delve into daily life and social mores and includes some humorous points which were a nice touch. Being a Yale guy he even mentions climate change, which in terms of droughts was well done.

Easily the most accessible introduction to Assyrian civilization available to the general reader right now. Eckart Frahm manages no small feat condensing a civilization that lasted for fifteen centuries into a single volume without losing the narrative or getting lost in the little details.

I had always thought of Assyrians as brutal and gangsterish, but Frahm explains that they gained power by being more the latter than the former: they would roll into a town, demand protection money (oops, tribute) which presumably they used to roll into more towns. War crimes were apparently a last resort more than the first resort. We don't really know why the Assyrian Empire disintegrated as rapidly as it did. Frahm suggests that climate change may have led to bad harvests. Also, Assyrian kings had huge harems, which meant that their many wives had many sons, some of whom weakened the Empire by fighting for the throne. (By contrast, monogamous Rome had the opposite problem: most emperors outlived their small families).

Very nice book. Package was satisfactory. I am really delighted to have received the book.

人類史の黎明期にメソポタミアの肥沃な大地に花開いた古代文明のアッシリア。 シュメールの跡を受けて紀元前3千年紀の半ば頃にティグリス河畔に勃興し繁栄を誇ったアッシリアだが、紀元前600年代に衰退消滅して長きに亘り謎の文明とされた。 ほぼ2千年の時を経て19世紀の発掘で掘り出された金銀細工の精巧さや造営物に刻まれた楔形文字の解読によって四大文明の一つで世界最初の大帝国の全貌が解き明かされていく。 この本を読めば古代アッシリアが高度の文明を築き上げていたことに誰しも驚くこと必定。 碑文や粘土板などの楔形文字の解読で明らかになった歴代国王治世下の年代記録が本書のベースになっているので史実としての信憑性は極めて高い。 長い間謎に包まれていたアッシリア文明が1840年代以降の古代遺跡の発掘で解き明かされていく過程など最初の30ページほどの導入部でアッシリア文明のあらましを予備知識として提供してくれる著者の心配りが嬉しい。 噛んで含めるような語り口に加え味わい深いエピソードを散りばめて読者を飽きさせない。文明の源流を辿る壮大な歴史の旅を楽しめる本で本当に感銘を受けた。 終わりに近い17章では後世の語り草になっている「セミラミス(古代アッシリア伝説王ニノスの王妃)」にまつわる伝説がとても面白いので読み飛ばさないでほしい。 最初から最後まで楽しめる本と言いたいが、終章一歩手前で18章のISISによるアッシリア遺跡の徹底的な破壊は読むのが辛い。 発掘された紀元前9世紀頃の浮き彫りの中でアッシリア国王とバビロニアの支配者が今日広く諸国に広まっている友好的なマナーである「握手」をしている構図があるというのは驚き。そんな昔から戦火を交えた宿敵同士の間で文明的な和解のポーズの習慣があったというのは目から鱗。

Fondamentale studio sull'impero assiro

I was delighted to learn so much about this old people of the Middle East. Especially with respect to my iranian origin. We learned nearly nothing about them at school and yet I recognize the immense influence they had on the architecture, reliefs and the military of the Achamenid Empire we take so much pride on.

A very readable and informative book that manages to pull an account that is more than the usual list of kings and battles from an amazing number of sources in a large variety of ancient languages and dialects.