Assyrian ruins

Assyrian culture draws on the strengths of other countries in Western Asia (mainly Babylonia) and has its own characteristics. Magnificent palaces, temples and other buildings from the Assyrian period have been found in Nimrud, Nineveh, Khorzabad and other places. The building is decorated with a large number of reliefs and has a high artistic level. The Royal Library of Nineveh built by Ashurbanipal contains a large number of clay tablet documents, including religious mythology, artistic works, astronomy, medicine, etc. It is an important material for studying Assyrian history.

Ashur is the ruins of an ancient city in northern Iraq, now known as Shelkat Fort. It is located on the west bank of the Tigris River, 150 kilometers south of Mosul. It was the first capital of the ancient Assyrian kingdom and the location of the shrine of Ashur, the main god of the ancient Assyrians.

Clans have been living here since about 2500 BC. Later, Assyria flourished. At that time, Ashur was not as good as Nineveh and Nimrud in terms of scale and shape. However, because it was the holy site of the god Ashur, it was constantly added and renovated. By 614 BC, the city was destroyed by the Babylonians. It has since fallen into disuse.

In the early 20th century, a German archaeological team came here to excavate and found that the inner city was surrounded by a round wall with a circumference of 4 kilometers. The city is east of the Tigris River, where Adad Nirari I (reigned 1307 BC - 1275 BC) built a large wharf. In the north of the city, there is a bend of the Tigris River and overhanging rocks as a barrier. Sennacherib (reigned from 705 BC to 681 BC) built a series of city walls with protruding buttresses and a protruding wall called Mushralu. The port fortress is a semicircular tower made of rough stone. This architectural style is believed to have been pioneered by Senna Sherib. There are a series of strong fortifications in the west and south of the city. During the reign of Sennacherib, there were 34 temples in this city, but less than 1/3 of them have been discovered today. Three palace ruins have been discovered. The oldest palace was the residence of Shamshiyadad I (reigned 1813 BC - 1781 BC) and later became a cemetery. Most of the residential areas are in the northwest corner of the city. In addition, pagodas, temples and other sites have also been unearthed. Although the Assyrian city was robbed and massacred when it was destroyed, there were still some residents when the Parthian Kingdom emerged in 140 BC. After that, it became increasingly desolate and disappeared into obscurity. The buildings of the Assyrian period were mainly fortresses and palaces, and most of these buildings were mainly bedrooms and courtyards, which were built on a platform in sequence.

The most important building in the Assyrian period was the Sargon Palace built between 722 and 705 BC. This palace was built in the acropolis in the northwest corner of the capital, covering an area of ??approximately 170,000 square meters. square meters. It is built on an 18-meter-high earth platform.

There are 30 courtyards and 210 rooms in the Sargon Palace. Entering from the south gate of the palace, you first come to a large courtyard. To the north of the palace are the main hall and the harem; behind are the administrative offices; to the west are several temples and mountain platforms. The distinctive feature of buildings in the Assyrian period is that their surfaces are often decorated with a layer of gorgeous colored brick walls, making them very resplendent in appearance. Throughout the period of the Assyrian Empire, because it always advocated force and had no time to consider other things, during its reign, its development in many aspects was not as good as that of its neighbors Egypt and Babylon. On the contrary, many wars were imprinted on social life.

Like all militaristic countries, the Assyrian government greatly encourages procreation in terms of morality and law, and anyone who has an abortion will be put to death. Women who deliberately cause miscarriage should be burned. The status of women was lower than in Babylon. Women who disrespect their husbands will be severely punished. Those who are wives are not allowed to go out without wearing a veil. In terms of marriage, it is similar to Babylon. However, the flavor of buying and selling marriage is stronger.