The Assyrian Army At War
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In this episode we look at the Assyrians, 930BC to 630BC, their empire stretched from Egypt to Babylon, it was the first great iron age empire with resources to fund a standing army equipped with iron weapons. They excelled at siege warfare, something very difficult to successfully achieve in the ancient world. We delve into all these aspects plus look at the putting down of internal descent, propaganda, chariots and the use of specialised infantry.
Jasper, Lindsay and Michael are joined by Mark Schwartz.
Dur: 43min Welcome to the Ancient Warfare magazine podcast produced by the History Network. If you have any comments or ideas, email [email protected] and for other discussions check out the Ancient Warfare forum which you can find a link to at www.ancient-warfair.com. You can also find all the History Network podcasts by going to www.thehistorynetwork.org. Hi everyone we're back with an ancient warfare magazine podcast. This time we're dealing with Ancient Warfare magazine issue 5-4 about the Assyrians. With me today are Michael Taylor and Lindsay Powell as always. And our special guest is Mark Schwartz who hello introduction to this issue. Michael I believe you wrote a intro for the podcast today, is that right? The name Assyria and Assyrian Empire comes from the city-state of Asher or Asher in northern Mesopotamia along the Tigris River. When we talk about the Assyrian Empire we are usually referring to the Neo-Assyrian Empire which flourished from 930 BC to around 630 BC by which point it was in its death throes. The previous periods of Assyrian history are referred to as the old and middle Assyrian periods. At various points during the old and middle periods Assyria did control a modest empire in northern Mesopotamia but at other times it was also subjugated by other outside groups. The Neo-Assyrian Empire however at its peak stretch from Egypt to Babylon to Syria to Medea and other parts of Anatolia, a huge swath of the Near East. It was the first great Iron Age Empire and the new technology of producing cheap viciously sharp iron weapons is oftentimes seen as a key to its success. The Assyrians maintained large infantry forces described in an article by Nixakanda. Oftentimes depicted as fighting in pairs with an archer supported by a shield bearer. Infantry lines were supported initially by chariots although the Assyrians eventually transitioned from chariots to cavalry. We have actually a steely in which two men ride together one holding the reins of both horses while the other shoots a bow. Presumably the chariot team had abandoned their chariot due to rough terrain but still acted as a crew even as they were on set up for horses with one man driving and one man shooting. Yet the Assyrians are most famous for their skill and brutality in siege warfare thanks to a number of data hling reliefs depicting the siege of the Judean city of Lacash now in the British Museum. An illustrative reconstruction by Johnny Schumate features prominently on the cover of this issue. The Assyrian Empire peaked in the early seventh century when Egypt was subjugated by Syrian armies however the death of a king around 630 led to a disastrous succession crisis and various nations took advantage of internal stability to break away including the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar and his son Nebuchadnezzar as well as the medians under Kiaxaras. Nonetheless the newest Syrian empire was a major military power for over 300 years. One of the reasons why they were so effective was actually there were many reasons and they adapted over time so you know by the time of Tiglath-Pilaser the third they had a completely standing army so they were no longer just going to war in the summer after the you know the crops had been harvested when they basically the peasantry were freed up and could actually fight in the army you know they were really the first ones in the Middle East to develop you know a standing army that would be able to fight at all times of the year that's that's one of the reasons that made them they were especially effective in the eighth century BC also they incorporated new peoples into the army so if they had specific ethnic groups that were skilled at a certain type of fighting they would basically incorporate them they were like almost like the gherkas of the ancient world so they would use you know arameans people from northern kingdom of Israel, Scythians you know and they basically were able to adapt new technologies from these people like shooting on horseback you know moving from the chariot to cavalry that were mobile and could fire the bow and arrow from horseback in terms of the torture and the you know the the punishment that they inflicted on people. Some people think it was exaggerated in the reliefs you know and those because those reliefs were in the palaces and that's where foreign dignitaries came in and it was meant to you know basically shock and impress those those people from other realms but it probably was not completely exaggeration because near Lakeish they actually did find I think there was several
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