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[[File: Ashurbanipal_lion_hunting.jpg|300px|thumbnail|left|Relief of King Ashurbanipal on a Lion Hunt]]

The ancient Near East could be a brutal place and among the most efficiently brutal of all Near Eastern peoples were the Assyrians. From their stronghold in the city of Ashur, high on a cliff above the Tigris River in northern Mesopotamia, the Assyrians embarked on an odyssey of violence that eventually resulted in them conquering some of the oldest and most venerable kingdoms of the region including: Babylon, Mitanni, Israel, and Egypt. An examination of Assyrian military campaigns reveals that they were able to conquer their neighbors by using a combination of new military tactics and technologies, following a religion that promoted warfare, and employing a level of brutality that would have made Genghis Khan wince, yet was totally efficient and effective.

A number of the Assyrian texts, which were written in the Akkadian language using the cuneiform style of writing, relate the brutal yet fantastic details of some of their more notable conquests. For instance, the siege and destruction of the northern kingdom of Israel – referred to in the Assyrian texts as Samaria and referenced in the Old Testament book of 2 Kings – is given considerable attention. The same goes for the Assyrians’ battle against a combined army of Judeans and Egyptians at Eltekh in 702 BC and King Ashurbanipal’s (ruled 668-627 BC) sacking of the Egyptian city of Thebes in 664 BC. All of the texts demonstrate that the Assyrians combined their superb tactics and training with advanced weaponry, while their belief in martially orientated gods drove them to conquer the entire Near East by the middle of the seventh century BC.

[[File: Assyrian_siegeNimrud.jpg|400px|thumbnail|right|Relief of Assyrians Using a Siege Weapon from the Palace at Nimrud]]

In order to understand the success of the Assyrian military machine, one must first understand how the concept of warfare pervaded Assyrian culture, on both a secular and religious level. All Assyrian adult males were subject to conscription into the army, which became a permanent, standing army during the Neo-Assyrian period. At the front of the army as commander-in-chief was the Assyrian king who fought side by side at the front lines with his troops, possibly to the death as is believed to have happened to Sargon II (ruled 721-705 BC).<ref> Mieroop, p. 230</ref> It was Sargon II who restructured the Assyrian state internally, campaigned almost every year, and incorporated the conquered territories into provinces;<ref> Mieroop, p. 248</ref> but even before his rule all state offices were also military posts, which placed military officers alongside the nobility as the most important class in Assyrian society.<ref> Mieroop, p. 230</ref> The martial foundations of Assyrian society can be traced clearly to Assyrian religion.

The Assyrians followed a polytheistic religion much like other people in the ancient Near East. Although the Assyrians did not believe that their king was a god, they did think that he was appointed by the gods as “King of the Universe.” <ref> Luckenbill, Daniel. <i>Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia.</i> (London: Histories and Mysteries of Man, 1989), p. 242</ref> The king was expected to fulfill the duties of a high-priest by conducting proper purification rituals and making sure that the omens were right. The king would then base his decision to go to war on the interpretation of the omens. <ref> Kuhrt, Volume 2, p. 508</ref>

Although the Assyrians worshipped many deities, there were three who received most of their attention: Ashur, Shamash, and Ishtar. All three deities contained martial aspects in their personalities; but Ashur was the patron of their capital city and Shamash was a sun god, while it was Ishtar who was the primary Assyrian war deity. To the modern mind, Ishtar at first seems to be a bit of an enigma. Ishtar was actually the female consort of Shamash whose primary attributes were as the goddess of love, fertility, and war. The Assyrians believed that in order for their lands to be productive they had to conduct warfare relentlessly for Ishtar. An Assyrian omen text reveals just how important Ishtar was and what she desired to be happy.

With Ishtar at their side, the Assyrians fearlessly overcame incredible odds, but they were also aided by some technological advances.

[[File: Assyriancavalry.jpg|300px|thumbnail|left|Relief of Assyrian Cavalry Archers]]

Several extant reliefs excavated from Assyrian palaces depict detailed scenes of warfare. Among the more interesting, such as one dated to the reign of Tiglath-pileser III (ruled 744-727 BC), shows a wheeled siege weapon at the walls of a fortified city being used to “lever away at the fortification of the town.” <ref> Curtis, J.E. and J.E, Reade. <i>Art and Empire: Treasures from Assyria in the British Museum.</i> (London: British Museum Press, 1995), p. 60</ref> The weapon, and others like it, were covered by leather to protect it from attacks. Unfortunately, since these and other similar weapons were primarily made of wood, none have survived the test of time.

===Conclusion===

In a time period when “might made right” the Assyrians were the most right of all people. Spanning from their ancestral homeland on the banks of the northern Tigris River, the Assyrians left destruction in their wake on their way to becoming the undisputed masters of the ancient Near East. Although the Assyrian Empire eventually collapsed in 612 BC due to the combined efforts of their enemies, the Assyrians left an indelible mark on history due to their innovative martial culture that promoted new military tactics and technologies and was bolstered by a religion that encouraged warfare strategies what were extremely brutal yet effective.