Stretching from modern Iraq to the Mediterranean Sea, the Assyrian empire was the largest in the world during the eighth and seventh centuries B.C.E. The Assyrian monarchs Tiglath-pileser, Shalmaneser and Sennacherib are well known from the Biblical accounts (2 Kings 15–18); now artifacts from this vast empire may be seen in the exhibit Assyria to Iberia at the Dawn of the Classical Age at The Met in New York. Displaying more than 250 objects—from jewelry, ivories and intricate metalwork to monumental sculptures and wall reliefs—the exhibit explores the incredible influence and reach of the Assyrian empire.
3. Assyrian Empire
The Assyrian Empire is typically divided into four eras: the Early Assyrian Period, the Old Assyrian Empire, the Middle Assyrian Period, and the New Assyrian Period. Although the first capital city of Aššur was first established around 2600 BCE, during the Early Period, Assyrians were under the rule of the Akkadian Empire.While it was a kingdom during this time, the Assyrian Empire did not emerge until after the fall of the Akkadian Empire. During the height of the Assyrian Empire, it ruled over what the ancient Mesopotamian religion called the “Four Corners
4. Babylonian Empire (First Babylonian Dynasty)
Year Established and Ended: c.1894 BCE – c.1595 BCE
Duration: 300 years
Founding Country: central-southern Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq)
Capital City: Babylon
The First Babylonian Dynasty lasted from about 1894 BCE – 1595 BCE. This first era in the Babylonian Empire emerged when an Amorite (a Northwest Semitic-speaking people from the northern Levant — the historical region of Syria) king established a small kingdom that included Babylon, which was a minor town at the time.
Eventually, Babylon grew in size and power and reached its peak under the reign of Hammurabi (c. 1728—1686 BCE).After Hammurabi’s death, the Babylonian Empire began to rapidly decline and eventually reverted back into a small kingdom. Sometime around the end of the First Babylonian Dynasty, the capital city of Babylon was sacked by the Hittites under king Mursili
