Timeline Assyria
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Ninevah: http://www.nineveh.com/
9600BC-8500BCÂ Â Â Some dozen villages
piled one on top of the other occupied the site of Jerf el-Ahmar at
a bend of the Euphrates River. In 1999 the area was flooded under
the waters of the Tishrin Dam.
   (AM, 11/00, p.56)
9500BC-6100BCÂ Â Â The Neolithic site of Abu Hureyra,
40 miles downstream from Jerf el-Ahmar, was flooded under the waters
of the Taqba Dam in the 1970s.
   (AM, 11/00, p.58)
2750BCÂ Â Â Gilgamesh, a Sumerian King, ruled the city
of Uruk (Babylonia) about this time, which had grown to a population
of over 50,000. Gilgamesh was the subject of many epics, including
the Sumerian "Gilgamesh and Enkidu in the Nether World" and the
Babylonian "Epic of Gilgamesh." In 1844 Westerners discovered an
epic poem based on Gilgamesh on stone fragments in Mosul, Iraq. In
1853 clay tablets inscribed with the tale were found in Nineveh, the
former capital of Assyria. 5 Sumerian versions were later
acknowledged. George Smith completed his translation of the Epic in
1874. In 2004 Stephen Mitchell published “Gilgamesh: A New English
Translation.” Derek Hines authored “Gilgamesh.”
   (eawc, p.1)(SFC, 12/14/04, p.E4)(ON, 11/07,
p.4,6)(Arch, 5/05, p.16)
2500BCÂ Â Â The Jiroft culture (later Assyria, Persia,
southeastern Iran) flourished about this time.
   (Arch, 5/04, p.51)
2200BCÂ Â Â A statue of the Sumerian king Entemena of
Lagash was made about this time. The head was later lost and in 2003
the remaining body was looted after the fall of Baghdad. In 2006 it
was returned to Iraq’s National Museum.
   (SFC, 7/26/06, p.A3)
1800BCÂ Â Â King Shamshi-Adad I of Assyria passed the
area of Palmyra on his way to the Mediterranean at the beginning of
the 18th century BC. By this time Palmyra was the easternmost point
of the kingdom of Qatna.
   (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmyra)
1300BCÂ Â Â Assyria was a middle-eastern empire of this
time.
   (MT, 3/96, p.3)
1300BC-1200BCÂ Â Â A sprawling Assyrian administrative
center was discovered by Dutch archeologists in 1997 in Rakka, 340
miles north of Damascus. The site included a 15-foot high 2-story
building with 2 bathrooms, 2 toilets and a tiled floor.
   (SFC,12/9/97, p.B3)
1200BCÂ Â Â The Hittite Empire fell when invading
Assyrians sacked and burned their capital, Hattussa (Hattusha).
   (ON, 12/11,
p.2)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hattusa)
1000BCÂ Â Â The world’s oldest known lens was ground
about this time by an Assyrian maker.
   (Econ, 12/1/12, TQ p.8)
1000BC-900BCÂ Â Â The search for the 10 lost tribes of
Israel, who were dispersed in the tenth century BCE when the
Assyrians conquered part of the Holy Land, is depicted on a CD
titled The Myth of the 10 Lost Tribes, by Creative Multimedia
Corp.  Â
   (New Media, 2/95, p.84)
900BC-840BCÂ Â Â The Assyrians expanded their empire to
the west. By 840 they conquered Syria and Turkey, territory that had
formerly belonged to the Hittites.
   (eawc, p.6)
883BC-859BCÂ Â Â Ashurnasirpal II. He established the
new capital city of Kalhu (Nimrud).
   (AM, 7/00, p.50)
858BC-824BCÂ Â Â Shalmaneser II, Assyrian ruler.
   (AM, 7/00, p.50)
812BC-783BCÂ Â Â Hada-Nirari III, Assyrian king
enumerated the Philistines among the Palestinian states conquered by
him.
   (R.M.-P.H.C.p.63)
810BC-805BCÂ Â Â Sammuramat ruled Assyria as Queen.
   (eawc, p.6)
803BCÂ Â Â Hadad-Nirari, Assyrian king, conquers the
Palestinian states including the Philistines.
   (R.M.-P.H.C.p.63)
800BCÂ Â Â Nimrud, capital of Assyria, 500 miles east
of Byblos, sample of ivory carving from a piece of furniture
depicting a woman in a window wearing an Egyptian wig.
   (NG, Aug., 1974, S.W. Matthews, p.171)
745BC-727BCÂ Â Â Tiglath-Pileser III ruled as the
Assyrian king.
   (R.M.-P.H.C.p.63)
734BCÂ Â Â Rezon of Syria, and Pekah of Samaria were in
league, whereas Ahaz of Jerusalem had become a vassal of the king of
Assyria. The Philistines had attached themselves to the Syrian
league, so that Tiglath-Pileser came up with the special purpose of
sacking Gaza. Hanunu, the king of Gaza, fled to Sebako, king of
Egypt; but he afterwards returned and, having made submission, was
received with favor.
   (R.M.-P.H.C.p.63)
732BCÂ Â Â Tiglath-pileser III, an Assyrian, took
Damascus and killed Rezin. He then captured many cities of northern
Israel and took the people to Assyria. The Egyptian troops had at
one time joined forces with Damascus, Israel and some other states
to resist Shalmaneser III at Qarqar.
   (www.crystalinks.com/dynasty21.html)
722BCÂ Â Â Hoshea, the king of Israel, sent messengers
to Osorkon in Egypt. He was requesting help against Assyria’s
Shalmaneser V. No help was sent. Samaria was captured and the
Israelites were taken away to Assyria. The Assyrians conquered
Israel and left nothing behind. The Hebrew kingdom of Judah managed
to survive. Descendants of the Israelites not exiled by the
Assyrians were later known as the Samaritans.
   (eawc, p.7)(WSJ, 10/13/00,
p.W15)(www.crystalinks.com/dynasty21.html)
722BCÂ Â Â Samaritans practiced a religion closely
linked to Judaism and venerate a version of the Old Testament, but
they are not Jews. In the fourth and fifth centuries, the Samaritan
population is thought to have topped 1.5 million, but religious
persecution and economic hardship had nearly erased it by the early
20th century. By 2013 there were only 750 Samaritans — split between
communities in the Israeli city of Holon, near Tel Aviv, and near
the West Bank city of Nablus on Mount Gerizim.
   (AP, 4/10/13)
721-705BCÂ Â Â Sargon II ruled as king of Assyria.
   (AM, 7/01, p.33)
720BCÂ Â Â About this time some Jewish tribes went
missing after being sent into exile by the Assyrians under
Tiglath-Pilesar III. In 2002 Hillel Halkin authored “Across the
Sabbath River: In Search of a Lost Tribe of Israel,” an account of
the search for the lost tribes that included the Gadites, Reubenites
and tribe of Manasseh (Menashe) and its possible relationship to the
Kuki-Chin-Mizo people of Burma.
   (WSJ, 8/8/02, p.D10)(SSFC, 8/11/02, p.M2)
713BCÂ Â Â Azuri, king of the Philistine city of
Ashdod, refused to pay tribute and endeavored to stir up the
neighboring princes to revolt. Sargon [of Assyria] came down and
expelled Azuri, and established in his stead Azuri's brother,
Ahimiti.Â
   (R.M.-P.H.C.p.64)
710BCÂ Â Â Hanunu of Gaza was in the revolt against the
king of Assyria which led to the battle of Raphia, the first
struggle between Egypt and Assyria. Hanunu, the king of Gaza, fled
to Sebako (Shebaka), king of Egypt; but returned and, having made
submission, was received with favor.
   (R.M.-P.H.C.p.71)
705BC-681BCÂ Â Â Sennacherib, Assyrian king, also had
trouble with the Philistines. Mitinti's son, Rukipti, had been
succeeded by his son Sarludari, but it seems as though this ruler
had been deposed, and a person called Zidka reigned in his stead.
Sennacherib found conspiracy in Zidka, and brought the gods of his
father's house, himself, and his family into exile to Assyria,
restoring Sarludari to his former throne.
   (R.M.-P.H.C.p.64)
705BC-681BCÂ Â Â At the same time the Ekronites had
revolted against the Assyrian. Their king, Padi, had remained a
loyal vassal to his overlord, but his turbulent subjects had put him
in fetters and sent him to Hezekiah, king of Judah, who cast him
into prison. The Ekronites summoned assistance from North Arabia and
Egypt, and met Sennacherib at El-Tekeh. Here they were defeated, and
Sennacherib marched against Ekron, slaying and impaling the chief
officers. Padi was rescued from Jerusalem... Sennacherib then cut of
some of the territory of Judah and divided it among his vassals...
   (R.M.-P.H.C.p.64)
705BC-681BCÂ Â Â Sennacherib ruled the Assyrians and
built a new capital in Ninevah where he began to form a library of
Sumerian and Babylonian tablets. He managed to subdue the entire
region of western Asia.
   (eawc, p.7)
701BCÂ Â Â The Assyrian King Sennacherib laid siege to
Jerusalem.
   (AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.16)
700BC-600BCÂ Â Â The search for the 10 lost tribes of
Israel, who were dispersed in the tenth century BCE when the
Assyrians conquered part of the Holy Land, is depicted on a CD
titled The Myth of the 10 Lost Tribes, by Creative Multimedia
Corp.  Â
   (New Media, 2/95, p.84)
689BCÂ Â Â Sennacherib destroyed Babylon, but his son
rebuilt it.
   (eawc, p.7)
681BC-668BCÂ Â Â Esarhaddon, son of Sennacherib became
monarch of Assyria after his father was assassinated.
   (R.M.-P.H.C.p.65)
671BCÂ Â Â Esarhaddon [of Assyria] recorded a victory
over lower Egypt at the cliff face of the Nahr al Kalb (Dog River),
between Beirut and Byblos.
   (NG, Aug., 1974, S.W. Matthews, p.157)
668BC-627BCÂ Â Â Ashurbanipal succeeded Sennacherib as
ruler over Assyria. He continued to develop the library and by the
time he finished, there were more than 22,000 clay tablets
collected.
   (R.M.-P.H.C.p.65)(eawc, p.7)
662BCÂ Â Â The Assyrian Empire collapsed about this
time and Egypt enjoyed about a century of independence.
   (eawc, p.7)
648BCÂ Â Â Ashurbanipal destroyed the newly rebuilt
city of Babylon.
   (eawc, p.7)
614BCÂ Â Â The Babylonians (particularly, the
Chaldeans) with the help of the Medes, who occupied what is today
Iran, began a campaign to destroy the Assyrians.
   (eawc, p.8)
612BCÂ Â Â Ninevah (Mesopotamia) fell to the
Babylonians. The Chaldeans, a Semitic people, then ruled the entire
region thereby issuing in the New Babylonian period that lasted to
539BCE.
   (NG, Aug., 1974, p.174)
609BCÂ Â Â The biblical king Josiah of Judah was slain
on Har (Mt.) Megiddo (root of Armageddon) about this time when he
was betrayed by Pharaoh Necho, whom he had approached to stop from
going to war on the side of the Assyrians against the Babylonians.
   (NG, Aug., 1974, p.180)(WSJ, 4/17/97,
p.A20)(www.crystalinks.com/dynasty26.html)
500-600Â Â Â The monastic complex of David Gareja was
founded in the 6th century by David (St. David Garejeli), one of the
thirteen Assyrian monks who arrived in Georgia at the same time. His
disciples Dodo and Luciane expanded the original lavra and founded
two other monasteries known as Dodo's Rka (literally, "the horn of
Dodo") and Natlismtsemeli ("the Baptist"). Part of the complex is
also located in the Agstafa rayon of Azerbaijan and thus became
subject to a border dispute between Georgian and Azerbaijani
authorities.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Gareja_monastery_complex)
590Â Â Â Â Â Â St. Elijah's Monastery, aka
Dair Mar Elia, was completed in Mosul. It was named after Assyrian
Christian monk St. Elijah, who began the construction in 582. In
2014 the Christian monastery was destroyed by the Islamic State.
   (AP, 1/20/16)(SFC, 1/21/16, p.A4)
1853Â Â Â Â Â Â Hormuzd Rassam
(1826-1910), Mosul-born Assyrian, and Sir Austen Henry Layard
(1817-1894), British archeologist, uncovered ancient Assyrian
tablets at Nineveh (Iraq). Layard published his paper on
Assyrian-Egyptian Cross-Dating. By using seal-impressions of rulers
occurring on the same piece of clay, Layard was able to assign a
date to the Assyrian dynasty because the Egyptian ruler’s reign was
firmly dated.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hormuzd_Rassam)(RFH-MDHP, 1969,
p.59)(ON, 11/07, p.4)
1860 Â Â Â Â Â Â Henry Creswicke Rawlinson
(1810-1895), English diplomat and Assyriologist, authored “Cuneiform
Inscriptions of Western Asia,” the 1st book on deciphering Assyrian
script.
   (ON, 11/07, p.4)(http://tinyurl.com/34fg4f)
1872Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 3, George Smith,
Assyriologist at the British Museum, presented a lecture before the
Biblical Archeology Society in London, on Assyrian tablets that
described an ancient flood as part of an epic whose hero was named
Gilgamesh.
   (ON, 11/07, p.4)
1873Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 2, George Smith,
British Assyriologist, arrived at the ruins of Nineveh outside Mosul
(Iraq). Over the next few weeks he found tablets referring to more
pieces of the Gilgamesh story, a record of kings in the Babylonian
dynasties, as well as lists of cuneiform symbols.
   (ON, 11/07, p.5)
1874Â Â Â Â Â Â George Smith (1850-1876),
British Assyriologist, returned to England from Mesopotamia and
completed the translation of the Epic of Gilgamesh.
   (ON, 11/07, p.6)
1876Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 19, George Smith
(b.1840), British Assyriologist, died of dysentery in Syria. He was
on his way home from a 3rd trip to Mesopotamia. Smith had completed
the translation of the complete Epic of Gilgamesh in 1874.
   (ON, 11/07,
p.6)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Smith_(assyriologist))
1918Â Â Â Â Â Â The Yazidis of Sinjar
(Iraq) saved hundreds of Armenians and Assyrian Christians as they
were being slaughtered by Ottoman Turks and their Kurdish
proxies. The Ottomans retaliated by sending a small army to
Sinjar and capturing the revered Yazidi leader , Hamo Sharro, who
was sentenced to five years of har labor.
   (Econ, 8/23/14, p.38)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 4, The Chicago
Assyrian Dictionary project, begun 1921, was reported complete. It
comprised 21 volumes of Akkadian, a Semitic language (with several
dialects, including Assyrian) that endured for 2,500 years.
   (AP, 6/4/11)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 23, In northeast Syria
jihadists from the Islamic State group kidnapped at least 90
Assyrian Christians, after overrunning two villages in Hassakeh
province. The abducted number rose to 220 over the next few days as
militants rounded up more hostages from a chain of villages along
the strategic Khabur River. In 2016 the int’l. Assyrian Christian
community raised millions in ransom and freed 226 kidnapped members.
   (AFP, 2/24/15)(Reuters, 2/25/15)(AP,
2/26/15)(SFC, 12/7/16, p.A2)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 5, In Iraq the Islamic
State "bulldozed" the ruins of Nimrud near Mosul. Nimrud was founded
in the 13th century BC and was considered the jewel of the Assyrian
era.
   (AFP, 3/6/15)
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