The Assyrians: everything you wanted to know

Summary

History Extra Podcast: "The Assyrians: Everything You Wanted to Know"

Release Date: March 2, 2025

---

The History Extra Podcast, produced by Immediate Media, presents a captivating deep dive into the ancient Assyrian civilization in the episode titled "The Assyrians: Everything You Wanted to Know." Hosted by the team behind BBC History Magazine, this episode features an insightful conversation with Paul Collins, curator at the British Museum, who expertly unpacks the complexities of the Assyrian Empire. Below is a detailed summary of the episode, organized into clear sections to guide listeners through the rich history and legacy of the Assyrians.

---

Introduction to the Ancient Assyrians

[02:36] Podcast Host:
Paul Collins opens the discussion by introducing the Assyrians, highlighting their origins around 2800 BC in the city of Ashur, located on the River Tigris in modern-day northern Iraq. He explains how the Assyrians transitioned from prosperous merchants to formidable conquerors, ultimately establishing a military empire that dominated the Middle East for centuries.

Rise and Expansion of the Assyrian Empire

[03:59] Paul Collins:
Collins outlines five landmark events that chart the rise and fall of Assyria:

1. 1350 BC - Reign of Asha Ubalit:
   Collins notes, "Asha Ubalit begins campaigns from Ashur, conquering Nineveh and Arbela, establishing the heartland of Assyria."

2. 870 BC - Founding of Calh (Nimrud) by Ashurnasirpal II:
   He emphasizes the strategic importance of Calh as a royal center and its role in shaping Assyrian kingship.

3. Reign of Sennacherib:
   Collins describes Sennacherib's shift of the capital to Nineveh, transforming it into a vast royal center and solidifying Assyrian dominance.

4. Reign of Ashurbanipal:
   Under Ashurbanipal, the empire reaches its zenith, but internal conflicts and civil war weaken its structure.

5. Collapse Around 612 BC:
   The combined forces of the Babylonians and Medes invade, marking the fall of the Assyrian Empire.

Assyrian Military Prowess and Innovations

[08:17] Podcast Host:
The host highlights the Assyrians' reputation as a military powerhouse, noting their pioneering use of iron weapons, chariots, and tunnel digging techniques.

[08:17] Paul Collins:
Collins concurs, stating, "Military innovation was crucial, evolving over centuries through experience." He attributes their success to a combination of strong military forces and a sophisticated administrative system that maintained control over conquered regions.

Administrative Systems: The Backbone of the Empire

[09:52] Paul Collins:
He elaborates on the Assyrian administrative system, asserting, "The Assyrians effectively created the world's first empire by managing diverse populations through a centralized administration." Collins explains how a network of roads and swift communication enabled the Assyrian kings to govern efficiently, appointing provincial governors to oversee different regions.

Life Under Assyrian Rule

[11:22] Paul Collins:
Addressing questions about daily life, Collins notes, "Many people in the empire may not have been acutely aware they were under Assyrian rule, especially in rural areas." He describes a society where local customs persisted, but centralized administration ensured stability and order.

Rebellions and the Assyrian Response

[12:32] Paul Collins:
Collins acknowledges the frequent rebellions within the empire, citing the famous revolt against Sennacherib in 701 BC by Phoenician cities like Tyre and Sidon. He recounts how Sennacherib personally marched his army to quell the rebellion, reinforcing Assyrian authority through decisive military action.

Notable Rulers: Sennacherib and Ashurbanipal

[14:15] Paul Collins:
Focusing on Ashurbanipal, Collins describes him as a pivotal figure who embodied both the empire's zenith and its decline. He states, "Ashurbanipal not only expanded the empire to its greatest extent but also initiated the creation of his renowned royal library, a testament to his devotion to knowledge." However, internal strife and civil war during Ashurbanipal's reign significantly weakened the empire, paving the way for its eventual collapse.

The Role of Assyrian Queens

[18:09] Paul Collins:
Collins shifts focus to the influential queens of Assyria, such as Sammuramat (later known as Semiramis) and Nakia (Zakutu). He highlights their critical roles in governance and religion, stating, "Queens fulfilled essential religious roles and were instrumental in maintaining the empire's stability through political maneuvering."

Religion and Worldview

[20:01] Paul Collins:
Exploring Assyrian religion, Collins explains, "The Assyrians were polytheistic, worshipping a pantheon of gods that personified various aspects of the cosmos." He underscores the significance of gods like Ashur, Ishtar, Shamash, and Nabu in shaping Assyrian society and governance, emphasizing that religion was deeply intertwined with their worldview and administrative practices.

Interactions with Contemporary Empires: Egypt and Babylonia

[21:14] Paul Collins:
Collins delves into Assyria's complex relationships with neighboring powers. He describes the initial distant interactions with Egypt, which later evolved into direct military confrontations as Assyria expanded its reach into the eastern Mediterranean. Regarding Babylonia, he states, "The relationship was tumultuous due to Babylonia's political fragmentation, leading to recurrent conflicts and the eventual weakening of Assyrian control."

Ashurbanipal’s Library: A Treasure of Knowledge

[24:48] Paul Collins:
One of the most celebrated aspects of Ashurbanipal's reign was his establishment of a vast royal library in Nineveh. Collins remarks, "Ashurbanipal's library was one of the most significant collections of the ancient world, akin to the later Library of Alexandria." He details how the library amassed over 30,000 clay tablets, encompassing scholarly, religious, literary, and medical texts, thereby preserving invaluable knowledge for posterity.

Legacy of the Assyrian Empire

[32:55] Paul Collins:
Discussing the lasting impact of the Assyrians, Collins asserts, "Their administrative systems set the blueprint for subsequent empires, including the Babylonians, Persians, and even the administrative practices of Alexander the Great's successors." He emphasizes that the Assyrians' innovations in governance and military organization influenced countless civilizations that followed.

Preservation and Modern-Day Significance

[33:53] Paul Collins:
Collins highlights the dispersion of Assyrian artifacts across major museums worldwide, such as the British Museum, Louvre, and Pergamon Museum. He also touches on the ongoing threats to Assyrian heritage, particularly due to modern conflicts like the rise of ISIS, which led to the destruction of significant sites like Nimrud and Nineveh.

[35:48] Paul Collins:
Addressing the contemporary connection, Collins notes, "Modern Assyrian communities, both in Iraq and worldwide, maintain a strong sense of identity linked to their ancient heritage." He points out that symbols of Assyrian civilization, such as the Lamassu, serve as enduring emblems of cultural pride and resilience against oppression.

Conclusion

[37:06] Paul Collins:
In closing, Collins reflects on the enduring legacy of the Assyrians, emphasizing their unparalleled contributions to administration, military strategy, and cultural preservation. He states, "The story of the Assyrians is not just a tale of conquest and empire but also one of innovation, knowledge, and resilience that continues to inspire and inform our understanding of ancient civilizations."

---

Notable Quotes:

• "Military innovation was crucial, evolving over centuries through experience." — Paul Collins [08:17]

• "The Assyrians effectively created the world's first empire by managing diverse populations through a centralized administration." — Paul Collins [09:52]

• "Ashurbanipal's library was one of the most significant collections of the ancient world, akin to the later Library of Alexandria." — Paul Collins [24:48]

• "Their administrative systems set the blueprint for subsequent empires, including the Babylonians, Persians, and even the administrative practices of Alexander the Great's successors." — Paul Collins [32:55]

---

This episode of the History Extra Podcast offers a comprehensive exploration of the Assyrian Empire, shedding light on their rise to power, military innovations, administrative brilliance, cultural achievements, and lasting legacy. Through Paul Collins' expert insights, listeners gain a nuanced understanding of how the Assyrians shaped the ancient world and left an indelible mark on subsequent civilizations.

---

Access More History Extra Content:

Unlock full access to HistoryExtra.com for six months for just 99p here.

Transcript

[Advertiser 1]

Your data is like gold to hackers. They'll sell it to the highest bidder. Are you protected? McAfee helps shield you blocking suspicious texts, malicious emails and fraudulent websites. McAfee Secure VPN lets you browse safely and its AI powered tech scam detector spots threats instantly. You'll also get up to $2 million of award winning antivirus and identity theft protection, all for just $39.99 for your first year. Visit mcafee.com/incancel anytime terms apply.

[Marvel Promotion]

Daredevil Is Born Again on Disney why did you stop being a vigilante? The line was crossed. Sometimes peace needs to be broken. Chaos must reign. On March 4th, the nine episode event begins. I was raised to believe in grace, but I was also raised to believe in retribution. Marvel Television's Daredevil born again. Don't miss the two episode premiere March 4th only on Disney plus.

[Advertiser 1]

At New Balance, we believe if you run, you're a runner. However you choose to do it. Because when you're not worried about doing things the right way, you're free to discover your way. And that's what running's all about. Run your [e-mail] running.

[Samsung Assistant]

I can say.

[Advertiser 1]

To my new Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra.

[Samsung Assistant]

Hey, find a keto friendly restaurant nearby.

[Restaurant Staff]

And text it to Beth and Steve. And it does without me lifting a.

[Advertiser 1]

Finger so I can get in more squats anywhere I can.

[Samsung Assistant]

1, 2, 3.

[Podcast Host]

Will that be cash or credit?

[Samsung Assistant]

Credit.

[eBay Advertiser]

4 Galaxy S25 Ultra the AI companion that does the heavy lifting. So you can do. You get [e-mail] compatible with select apps. Requires Google Gemini account. Results may vary based on input. Check responses for accuracy.

[Samsung Assistant]

Foreign.

[Paul Collins]

Welcome to the History Extra Podcast. Fascinating historical conversations from the makers of BBC History Magazine. Why were Assyrian armies so powerful? Did the Assyrians produce the ancient world's greatest cultural treasure? And what should we make of claims that they founded the world's first empire? Here in conversation with Spencer Mizzen, Paul Collins of the British Museum answers your questions on the ancient civilization.

[Podcast Host]

So Paul, thank you very much for joining us today. I wondered if you could start by introducing us to the ancient Assyrians. Who were they? Where was their famous empire based? And what kind of time frame are we talking about here?

[Samsung Assistant]

So the ancient Assyrians really have their origins as far back as 5,000 years ago. We're looking at a period around 2800 BC when the city of Ashur on the River Tigris in what is today northern Iraq became the center of a sort of major trading center. They dominated A crossing of the river Tigris. And so the inhabitants of the city started to become very wealthy. And it's really from that beginning that we start to see the Assyrians reaching out across the Middle east, initially as merchants and traders, but eventually, after a couple of thousand years, developing a powerful military empire which came to dominate the entire Middle East.

[Podcast Host]

Would it be possible? I know this empire spans a vast amount of time, but just to give our listeners a real framework of the rise and fall of the empire, is there any way you could give us sort of the five main landmark events in the story of ancient Assyria in.

[Samsung Assistant]

A choice of finding sort of milestones to chart the rise and fall of Assyria? I think I would begin in the 14th century BC, so around 1350 BC, when a king called Asha Ubalit begins that campaigns out of his capital city of Asher to conquer the surrounding region. And he conquers Nineveh, modern day Mosul, and he conquers Arbela, modern day Erbil, and that creates the heartland of Assyria. So that's one fundamental shift. Another one, I would say, was the movement by an Assyrian king called Ashenasipal ii in the 9th century BC, so around 870 BC, to found the city of Calh, modern day Nimrud, as his royal centre. And this is a big strategic move. But the ideology of kingship that he creates as a result of that, largely through building a massive palace lined with fantastic wall reliefs, sets up the Assyrians to understand that they should be ruling the cosmos. If we move on in time, then we come to the reign of Sennacherib again, a famous name who shifts the capital to Nineveh, creating again this vast royal centre. And the echoes of Sennacherib are found in stories long after the Assyrian empire. Such was his power and authority dominating the entire Middle east and then probably bringing the story to an end. So under Ashurbanipal, the last great king of Assyria, we see the creation, of course, of his great royal library, but also conflict, civil war, which weakens Assyria, so that by the time of ashurbanipal's death around 6:30, and we're not sure exactly when he dies, such as the administration is beginning to crumble. We start to see within 20 years, Assyria under threat by invading forces, the Babylonians and the Iranian Medes, combining their forces and bringing the empire to an end.

[Podcast Host]

Now, we had a series of questions in on social media from our followers. One of them was submitted by somebody called Max H F Quigley, and he basically wanted to know, how did the Assyrians rise to power? So could you basically just give us an explanation of, like, the beginning of the empire, how they sort of rose to prominence in the area?

[Samsung Assistant]

The Assyrians really began to expand their power across the Middle east at the end of the second millennium B.C. so from around about 1350 B, when we start to see the kings of Assyria based at the city of Assur, beginning to send their empires north and west to conquer territory. And this was because they wanted to mirror what was happening elsewhere in the Middle East. Egypt was developing their own empire. The Hittites in the region of modern day Turkey were expanding their control. And the Assyrians really wanted to join this club of great powers. And that was the basis then for the great Neo Assyrian Empire, which from around 900 BC began to expand again through great military conquests to reach right the way across to the Mediterranean in the west, to the highlands of Iran in the east, and up into the mountains of Armenia and modern day Turkey to the north. And so between around 900 and 600 BC, the Assyrians came to dominate that.

[Podcast Host]

Entire region you mentioned there, the Assyrians military prowess. And reading about the Assyrians, what comes through very strongly to me is they were a real military powerhouse. You read that they pioneered the use of iron weapons, that they were among the first to dig tunnels, to break into cities, that they used chariots as well. I mean, how important was military innovation to their success?

[Samsung Assistant]

I think military innovation certainly was important, but it happened over several centuries. And of course, it was through experience. In a way, they had the advantage by around 1000 BC of being the only power in the region with a strong army, which gave them the advantage over smaller states in the region. And, of course, they took chariot forces out across the Syrian steppe, but then encountered, when they came to the mountains, more difficult terrain, and developed as a result of warfare with nomadic cavalry, horse people. That skill of cavalry and cavalry became the main weapon of war really, for the Assyrians over the great height of their empire. Certainly, that ability to gather horses from the neighbouring region, as well as the metals that were necessary for their weapons, was a crucial part in the expansion of their empire, as they sent armies north into the mountains to acquire both those really important resources. And as a result, they came to control extensive regions. But fundamentally, I would argue it was less the army in a way, that enabled the empire to exist, rather than strong administrative order. So once they had conquered regions, they held it together by a very sophisticated administrative system.

[Podcast Host]

So can you tell us a little bit about that administrative system, then what set it apart from his rivals.

[Samsung Assistant]

It was really, in a way, the world's first empire, depending how you define empire. But certainly if you think of a region which is being conquered, which contains diverse populations, different religions, different languages, different cultural traditions, and that is run directly, administered directly from a center. And that's what the Assyrians did really, for the first time in history over a wide area of the Middle East. And in order to do that through that, they appointed the kings, appointed provincial governors to run different provincial centres which were organized for agriculture and general administrative control. But what really held everything together was the ability of the king in the centre to send messages and of course, armies very rapidly across the Middle East. And that was achieved by roads. And so a whole network of roads were established, messages carried on donkeys, messengers rapidly transported the orders of the king to the edges of the empire and therefore enabled things to be held together.

[Podcast Host]

And another question we've had is from somebody called Taffetane on Facebook, and it's kind of related to the last question he asked what was life like for ordinary people living under the Assyrians, and how varied were the people that lived in this empire?

[Samsung Assistant]

Well, I suppose like many empires, many people may not even be conscious of the fact they were living within an empire. That life continued, as always, in the small villages and towns scattered across the region. And maybe in the larger cities, you would have been much more aware of an Assyrian presence. Obviously, the Assyrian governor might have been based there, and with him a whole court of administrators. But what many people wouldn't have seen, perhaps rather surprisingly for an empire established by military might, was actually the presence of soldiers. This wasn't an empire where soldiers were strategically, as it were, located across the entire region, only based at the edges of the empire in areas where they might encounter problems from beyond, or perhaps occasionally from within. But generally the military presence was not that visible, as far as we can tell, within the empire itself.

[Podcast Host]

So how did they impose their power? Were there any rebellions during the time of the Assyrian empire? And if so, what did they do to meet the challenge of that?

[Samsung Assistant]

So there were rebellions aplenty.

[Podcast Host]

Right? Okay.

[Samsung Assistant]

So yes, although they may not have seen soldiers on a day to day basis, people of the empire would have been very much aware that the Assyrians were a military empire, a military based empire. And therefore when there was a rebellion, when either a local king or a local governor decided that they would take a chance and claim independence or join forces with others, then they would be perfectly aware that what they would face would be the might of the Assyrian army. And this happened numerous times across the Assyrian empire. Perhaps one of the most famous examples occurred in 701 BC when one of the greatest Assyrian kings called Sennacherib, was face by a major rebellion along the Mediterranean coast. The so called Phoenician cities, places like Tyre, Sidon, Byblos rebelled against Assyrian authority led by the city of Sidon. And so Sennacherib gathered his forces together at his capital, the great center of Nineveh, marched across the Middle east down the Mediterranean coast and re established his firm control over the region. The king of Sidon fled and Sennacherib appointed a ruler in his place.

[Podcast Host]

So you mention one great ruler. I wonder if we could mention another famous ruler and that is the figure of Ashurbanipal. He looms very large, doesn't he, in histories of the Assyrian Empire? What makes him such an important personality in this story?

[Samsung Assistant]

Ashurbanipal certainly does loom large, but actually of course, he's at the very end of the Assyrian empire. So he comes at the end of several centuries of dominating the Middle East. And what makes him particularly famous is because of course the empire reaches its greatest extent, to some extent, under him. He conquers Egypt and southern Mesopotamia, southern Iraq, today the region of Babylonia. He marches into the mountains of Iran and conquers the kingdom of Elam. But he's also very famous because under him a civil war breaks out. He has to battle the forces of Babylonia, southern Mesopotamia, that come together under his brother. And so we see Ashurbanipal fighting his brother to retain control over the Middle East. Ultimately he's successful, but it weakens Assyria dramatically and that ultimately leads towards the fall of the empire. But before that, Ashurbanipal celebrates by building himself a new royal centre in Nineveh, a new palace building which he decorates with some of the most famous monuments from ancient Assyria. The great lion hunt reliefs. So stone panels set into the walls of his mud brick palace which show the king hunting lions and defeating them just as he had defeated his brother in battle. So we know a lot about the voices of the Assyrian king. But one very important chapter for me was thinking about the other people at the royal court, the senior administrators, the scholarly specialists, the religious specialists. But very, very importantly and very often not given the coverage they deserve, the queens of Assyria and the queens were in many ways as important as the great kings. They fulfilled important religious roles. They represented goddesses like Ishtar, they administered vast amounts of land accrued great wealth, just like the Assyrian kings themselves and were immensely important. They may not feature so much in the famous Assyrian reliefs, those were designed to show the power of the king, but nonetheless queens were immensel important throughout that period.

[Nissan Advertiser]

This episode is brought to you by the Nissan Armada Pro 4X with a twin turbo V6 engine ready to propel your adventures. Up to 8,500 pounds of towing capacity to haul all your favorite toys and space for eight passengers, Nissan's most powerful car yet will chew up and spit out anything you throw at it. Learn more about the all new 2025 Nissan Armada at nissanusa.com Towing capacity varies by configuration. See Nissan Towing Guide and Owner's Manual for additional information. Always secure cargo get the Angel REEF Special at McDonald's.

[Advertiser 1]

Now let's break it down. My favorite barbecue sauce, American cheese, crispy bacon, pickles, onions and a sesame seed bun of course. And don't forget the fries and the drinks sound good.

[Podcast Host]

Ba da ba ba ba I participate.

[Samsung Assistant]

In restaurants for a limited time this season.

[Advertiser 1]

A new hot deal has arrived at Metro. $25 a line for four lines. With all the data you need and four free Samsung Galaxy a 15.5G phone, getting Metro's best deals is easy. No ID required, no activation fees. Get a new number or keep your own. It's up to you. That's four lines for $25 a line plus four free phones. Visit a store or go online today only at Metro. Buy T Mobile when you join Metro plus tax for a limited time and subject to change max one offer per account.

[Podcast Host]

Can you introduce us to one specifically? Basically talk to us about one specific queen. Who would be the one you'd really want to introduce us to?

[Samsung Assistant]

It's a very difficult question to pick one particular queen, so if I can cheat by just mentioning a few because I think they're all so fascinating. And there's a queen called Samuramat, for example, who is such an important figure within assyria. She's around 800 BC that in the later, much later classical world, she's remembered as a queen called Semiramis, who is credited with remarkable building. And Sammuramat, we know, was the wife of a king called Shamshi Adad V, and when her husband died, she became regent, so was effectively ruling the Assyrian empire while her son grew up. And when eventually her son was old enough, a king called Adali iii, he and his mother went into battle together. So she's really clearly a really remarkable woman. Slightly later, from around about 700 B.C. we have a queen called Nakia who's also known as Zakutu. And she, the wife of Sennacherib and her son Esarhaddon became king and her grandson Ashurbanipal would become king in succession. And they very probably became rulers as a result of Zakutu manipulating behind the scenes, ensuring that her son and grandson came to power.

[Podcast Host]

Right. So she did a bit of working the background, engineering their sort of roots of power.

[Samsung Assistant]

Then we have a sense of Nakia, Zakutu really being a major player in ensuring that her family retained the positions of power.

[Podcast Host]

What gods did the Assyrians worship and how important was religion to their worldview and the way they ruled their empire?

[Samsung Assistant]

So the Assyrians, of course, like all the other civilizations of the ancient Middle east, were polytheistic. They believed in multiple deities that reflected the different aspects of the cosmos. And for the Assyrians, the greatest God was the God Ashur, the same name as their original capital city. Asher was the supreme God, but they looked to other deities, other gods for their support, including a great a powerful goddess called Ishtar, the goddess of battle and sexuality. She was among the most celebrated goddesses in Assyria. There was the God of the sun and justice, the God Shamash Adad, the storm God Nabu, the God of writing and so on. So every aspect of the world had some sort of divine force associated with it.

[Podcast Host]

Now you've mentioned the Babylonians and Egypt already in our conversation, and of course the Assyrians were very much not the only empire in town at this point of history. Could you give us an insight into the Assyrians interactions with the likes of the Egyptians?

[Samsung Assistant]

The Assyrian relationship with Egypt was complicated. Initially it was rather one of looking from a distance. As the Assyrian Empire expanded, it began, however, to reach the end area that had traditionally been within the sphere of influence of Egypt, the eastern Mediterranean. So once you got Assyrian armies marching down the Mediterranean coast From around about 750 BC, you started to see the Egyptians become interested and perhaps rather alarmed by this expansion. And so by 700 BC, the Egyptians at this time dominated by the so called Kushite dynasty, so effectively a dynasty that has its origins in modern day Sudan that had come to control the Nile delta. They started to send armies into the Levant, into the East Mediterranean, and then you start to get clashes with Assyrian forces. And of course those clashes continued to such an extent that eventually the Assyrians decided they needed to stop that interference. And we start to see from around about 680 BC, Assyrians sending armies into Egypt itself until Under Ashurbanipal, they take control of the region.

[Podcast Host]

Is it safe to say that the Assyrians at this point were the most powerful empire in the world?

[Samsung Assistant]

The world is maybe stretching it because of course there's so much we don't know about other contemporary civilizations in the wider region. But certainly from the Mediterranean through to the Central Asia, I think it is fair to say that Assyria was the dominant power.

[Podcast Host]

And what about the relationship with Babylon then the Babylonians? You talk there about Ashurbanipal's brother. How did he come to be empowering Babylon?

[Samsung Assistant]

So if the relationships between Assyria and Egypt were complicated, the relationships with Babylonia were even more complicated. So this is a vast area which is today southern Iraq, which is effectively a large delta region, a flat land of rivers, streams, lagoons and marshes. And it was a very complicated region to control as a whole. Babylon, the ancient center of the region, was no longer the great it had once been. And there were numerous cities across Babylonia which were effectively running themselves. And between these cities there were huge areas of tribal lands. And between the cities and the tribes and of course the small village populations there were effectively pro and anti Assyrian groups. And that meant for the Assyrians, who really wanted to just have a relationship with Babylonia, this great ancient cultural centre, but nonetheless, because it was so politically fragmented, it meant that it was a challenge to maintain peaceful relations.

[Podcast Host]

We've mentioned Ashurbanipal. Can we now talk about Ashurbanipal's library? Because this I've read contained more than 30,000 clay tablets and fragments. Where does it rank in the pantheon of cultural treasures from the ancient world?

[Samsung Assistant]

I think one could argue very easily that it is one of the most significant collections of material that existed from the ancient world. One thinks of the library of Alexandria much later. One thinks automatically about that extraordinary ability to bring knowledge together in one place. Well, the Assyrians were attempting to do that much, much earlier. So under Ashurbanip, So from around about 669 BC to around 630 BC, when Ashurbanipur was ruling, he continued a tradition of earlier kings of pooling knowledge into a central palace. And he did it much more than any previous king. It was as if he wanted to bring together all the known knowledge that was important, at least to him, together in one place. And as a result, he ordered that scholarly, religious, literary, medical texts were gathered together from Babylonia, the great center of learning to the south. And they were brought to Assyria, where of course, there were their own local Scholars and specialists were compiling their own knowledge. And these were all transcribed onto clay tablets using the cuneiform writing system of Mesopotamia, and then given library tags, effectively what we call today colophons, which detail the name of Ashurbanipal and his gods. And they were filed in the library.

[Podcast Host]

What happened to the library after the age of the Assyrians? Is it possible to see any of the contents of the library today?

[Samsung Assistant]

So the library came to an end, of course, with the Assyrian empire. So Assyria fell to invading forces and Nineveh, the last great capital city, ransacked in 612 BC. The palaces were set alight and of course the library within that palace was vandalized, smashed and abandoned. But the fires that destroyed the palace, of course, brought walls down onto those smashed tablets and they lay buried for several thousand years. And then in the 19th century, from around 18, archaeologists began to uncover these smashed fragments, many of them discovered over the succeeding decades of the 19th century. And the fragments were brought to London to the British Museum. And over the last 150 years, scholars have been piecing that great jigsaw puzzle back together again.

[Podcast Host]

Before archaeologists found the remains of the Library in the 19th century, how much did they know about the Assyrians before then? I mean, was most of this completely new to them when they came across this?

[Samsung Assistant]

Assyria was never a lost civilization, although the empire collapsed at the end of the 7th century BCE of course, the Assyrians effectively didn't disappear. They still continued to live in small villages rather than in towns. Over the centuries, they became part of other great empires that succeeded the assy. Eventually, the villages and towns that had been in the Assyrian Empire in today's northern Iraq became Christian. And the Assyrian community continues that tradition down to today. But nonetheless, there were echoes of the great imperial past in stories that were told across the Middle east in the local languages, preserved in texts such as the Hebrew Bible, but also captured by Greek and Roman authors who fascinated by stories of these great empires. So for the 19th century archaeologists, they were fully aware that Assyria existed. What they didn't know, of course, is what Assyrian art and architecture look like. And that's what they started to uncover.

[Podcast Host]

So what do you think drove Ashurbanipal's thirst for knowledge and fascination in culture in this way?

[Samsung Assistant]

Ashurbanipal, I think, was part of a tradition which emerged looking at knowledge as the source of power, because many of the tablets that went into the royal library were about connecting humans with the gods. And the gods were believed to write their will in signs across the world and across the stars, across the heavens. And the specialists were the people who were able to read these messages left by the gods. So many of these tablets detail the implications of what the shape of constellations or the movement of waters or the flight of birds meant. These were messages sent by the gods. And therefore it was a way of understanding the future. And so this was a huge library which was designed for imperial rules. You would understand what the gods wanted you to do.

[Podcast Host]

And so were the contents of the library really at the cutting edge of knowledge at that time? I mean, were the Assyrians pretty much ahead of everything else when it came to sort of the fields of science and religion?

[Samsung Assistant]

I think we can think of these tablets as containing scientific texts. They may of course, not be the way in which we today think about understanding the universe. But for the Assyrians and the wider world of Assyria and Babylonia, this was indeed the fundamental way of understanding the cosmos and how they could then make decisions based on that.

[Podcast Host]

And the library, as you said earlier, is in Nineveh. Can you tell us a little bit about Nineveh? I mean, was that the capital of the Assyrian empire for a long time?

[Samsung Assistant]

So Nineveh is the last great capital of Assyria. The first of the great cities was the city of Ashur. And then in the 9th century BC so around about 870 BC, the capital shifts to a new foundation, a place that the Assyrians called Kalhu, but we know today as Nimrud. And Nimrud would remain the capital city for about a century and a half. And then around 700 BC, when sennacherib comes to the throne, he shifts the capital to this very, very ancient city of Nineveh, and he transforms Nineveh into this great metropolis. He builds a palace, which he describes as without rival, one with hundreds of rooms, and that sat at the heart of a vast city surrounded by some 12 km of walls, very well defended, and that became the great heart of the empire.

[Podcast Host]

And how many people do we think lived there? Do we have any sort of precise details on that?

[Samsung Assistant]

It's difficult to know precisely because actually very little of the widest city has been excavated. The main focus for excavations has the palaces and temples on the great citadel mounds that were created by Sennacherib and his successors. But as a word, downtown Nineveh may well have had tens of thousands of people living there. There was certainly space enough for that.

[Podcast Host]

Okay, now here's a question from Andreseto83, and this is kind of addressing the Legacy of the Assyrian Empire. And that is, what influence did the Assyrians have on later civilizations? I mean, did later civilizations look back at them and sort of basically think there was things they could learn from them and copy things that the Assyrians had implemented?

[Samsung Assistant]

Perhaps the greatest legacy of the Assyrians was that administrative control across a wide geographical area. And so their successors, initially the Babylonians, took control over much of what had been the Assyrian empire. But they in turn were then succeeded by the Persians and then of Alexander the Great's conquest brought in a Hellenistic world, and they in turn succeeded by the Parthians and Sasanians. Each of those, in terms, in fact, were rooted in this strong administrative control of regions. So Rhodes became better under successive empires, administrative systems became more refined. But fundamentally, their empires were only possible because Assyria had created the blueprint for that.

[Podcast Host]

You mentioned a British Museum earlier. Where would be the best place to look at the treasures of the Assyrian Empire today?

[Samsung Assistant]

Well, because 19th century excavations in northern Iraq were led by European archaeologists. You can find Assyrian reliefs, Assyrian monuments and other objects in, of course, London, in places like the British Museum, but also in the other great capital cities of the 19th century empires. So Paris, the Louvre Museum in Berlin, the Pergamon Museum, have great collections of Assyrian monuments. But of course, the best place to see it is in Iraq, either in the Iraq Museum in Baghdad, or of course in northern Iraq itself in places like modern day Mosul, which is effectively the successor of ancient Nineveh.

[Podcast Host]

And has any of this architecture and treasures of the empire been in any danger recently, like the rise of Isis, did that put any of these treasures under threat?

[Samsung Assistant]

There have been huge threats to Assyrian monuments, but also, of course, to the Assyrian people. And that's been the result over decades of conflict in the Middle east through the 20th century. And more recently, of course, the Gulf wars led to looting of museums in Baghdad and Mosul, damaging both Assyrian objects, but also some of the surviving monuments. But certainly and incredibly, sadly, from around 2014, when Daesh ISIS were dominating northern Mesopotamia, they did enormous damage to some of these great centers of Assyrian civilization, like Nimrud and Nineveh, which were very, very badly damaged.

[Podcast Host]

Is there a sense among the people of the air, do the people who live in, say, modern Iraq, do they feel a connection to the Assyrians? Do any of them still feel Assyrian today?

[Samsung Assistant]

So there are many people who feel Assyrian. There are communities of Assyrians all over the world and not least in northern Iraq. And they're an ethnic group with a distinct identity and of course, very proud of connections with this ancient civilization. So that is a long lived tradition, but nonetheless so local people effectively adopting local heritage. But more widely across Iraq, the Assyrians indeed have become symbols of identity, but also symbols against oppressors, against occupiers, and against Daesh, for example. And so you see the great winged lions, the human headed winged bulls, and the human headed winged l the Assyrians known as Lamassu. These great guardian figures at the gateways to cities and palaces have become symbols of across Iraq. And you can see them now from not only in the ancient region of Assyria, places like Mosul, but you find them in Baghdad and in Basra as real centers of images of pride in an ancient civilization that all Iraqis can connect with.

[Paul Collins]

With that was Paul Collins, curator at the British Museum. Paul's latest book, the Assyrians Lost Civilizations, is published by Reaction. This podcast was produced by Daniel Kramer.

[Podcast Host]

Arden.

[eBay Advertiser]

Still getting around to that fix on your car? You got this on ebay, you'll find millions of parts guaranteed to fix. Doesn't matter if it's a major engine repair or your first time swapping your windshield wipers, eBay has that part you need ready to click perfectly into place for changes big and small, loud or quiet. Find all the parts you need at prices you'll love. Guaranteed to fit every time. But you already know that Ebay Things people Love Eligible Items Only Exclusion Supply.

[Restaurant Staff]

This episode is brought to you by Shopify. Upgrade your business with Shopify, home of the number one checkout on the planet. Minute Shop pay boosts conversions up to 50%, meaning fewer carts going abandoned and more sales going chaching. So if you're into growing your business, get a commerce platform that's ready to sell wherever your customers are. Visit shopify.com to upgrade your selling today.