The collapse

The collapse

The kings who appreciated such works of art were often highly cultured men. Ashurbanipal (668-627 Bc), for example, prided himself on being the equal of the best scribes in the art of cuneiform writing and amassed a huge and representative library of Babylonian and Assyrian literature. They made a practice of bringing back from their campaigns trees and plants unknown to Assyria, and Sennacherib (704-681 BC) introduced Indian cotton. Some kept zoos for strange animals such as the live crocodile sent by the king of Egypt as a present to Tiglath-Pileser I.

A map of the Empire at its zenith showing the main towns
and countries mentioned in the article.
The boundary has been marked by a dotted line.

Despite its power and splendour the empire rested on insecure foundations. Because the population of Assyria was small in relation to the size of the territories governed, the army had to recruit large numbers of subject peoples. Tens of thousands of foreigners. mainly prisoners of war and deportees, were also brought to Assyria to labour on the royal building projects and then settled in the country. The loyalty. of such people could not be depended on; especially when Assyria got into difficulties, and this dilution of native Assyrians with foreigners, both at home and in the armed forces abroad, a was a Major factor in the rapid collapse haddon. His son, Ashurbanipal, lost Egypt and had to brother the king of Babylon taking his city after a terrible siege. Weakened by these disasters, Assyria was unable to prevent the Babylonians and the Medes of Iran from regaining their independence and when in 614 BC these two powers made common cause against it, the fall of the empire was inevitable.