Over the following centuries, vast quantities of luxurious goods, often embellished with carved ivory in local, Syrian, and Phoenician styles, accumulate in the palace, much of it as booty or tribute. When the construction of the palace is complete, Ashurnasirpal throws a weeklong party to which he invites nearly 70,000 guests. A cuneiform inscription, incised across the panel, gives the king’s titles and enumerates his achievements. These show the king hunting, engaged in ritual activities, and defeating his enemies. Lamassu, colossal stone reliefs of human-headed winged lions and bulls, protect the palace entrances ( 32.143.2).The interior walls are decorated with enormous alabaster slabs carved in low relief with painted details ( 32.143.4). 883–859 B.C.) moves the Assyrian capital from Ashur to Nimrud (ancient Kalhu, biblical Calah). By the end of the first century B.C., the Seleucid empire ceases to exist: Mesopotamia is in the hands of the Iranian Parthian empire while northern Syria faces the advance of the Romans.Īshurnasirpal II (r. Following Alexander’s death, his generals divide the empire, with the region from Syria to India falling to Seleucus. Under his Achaemenid successors, the Persian empire stretches from India and Central Asia to Egypt and Greece. After more than 200 years, the Persian empire is seized in 331 B.C. The Babylonians dominate Mesopotamia until 539 B.C., when Cyrus the Great of Persia, who has already overthrown the Medes, incorporates it into his rapidly growing empire. to the combined forces of the Babylonians and the Iranian Medes. By installing Assyrian governors in conquered capitals, and through the mass deportation of defeated populations, they create a unified empire. From northern Mesopotamia, the Assyrians renew their military campaigns over an ever-wider region. Their armies defeat cities as far west as the Mediterranean Sea and Egypt and carry back to Assyria vast quantities of booty and tribute. This period is characterized by an age of empires.
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