And another angel followed, saying, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen…” Revelation, 14:08 This verse from the Bible likely sounds familiar to many; it refers to the conquest of the Mesopotamian city by Cyrus the Great and the Persians in 539 BCE, the year they ended a period of Babylonian splendor led by Nebuchadnezzar […]
Assyrians
Posted inAntiquity
Sardanapalus, the Depraved Assyrian King Who Inspired Writers, Musicians, and Painters—Did He Really Exist?
There are historical figures who, for various reasons, transcend their status to become paradigms of something; in the case of the Assyrian king Sardanapalus, an archetype of corruption, debauchery, and decadence, something that art and literature have repeatedly depicted in famous works. However, many doubts surround his figure: Did he really exist? Did he truly […]
Posted inArchaeology
Ancient tombs reveal the heavy tax burden in the Assyrian Empire, where the poor became increasingly poorer
Over more than seven centuries, from approximately 1350 BC to 600 BC, the Assyrian Empire established political dominance and cultural influence that extended across numerous settlements in the ancient Near East. Resource extraction policies, such as taxation and levies, have been extensively analyzed through textual and artistic sources. Now, a recent study conducted by researcher […]
Posted inAntiquity
Lebanon’s Amazing Site with Egyptian, Assyrian, Babylonian, Islamic and Colonial Stelae, Inscriptions and Dedications
The river Nahr al-Kalb (called Lykos in ancient times) originates near the town of Jeita and flows for only 31 kilometers before emptying into the Mediterranean about 30 kilometers north of Beirut, the capital of Lebanon. It is not a particularly long river, and in summer, it is often nearly dry. However, the valley it […]
Posted inAntiquity
The Assyrians, the people who built an empire in Mesopotamia 4,000 years ago, still exist
Assyria is the ancient region of northern Mesopotamia around the city of Assur, founded around 2600 BC on the banks of the Tigris (today its ruins are in northern Iraq). It was part of the Akkadian Empire of Sargon of Akkad until 2154 BC, which united all the Mesopotamian cities. And from the second millennium […]
