Assyria

3 definitions found

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  Assyria
       n : an ancient kingdom in northern Mesopotamia which is in
           present-day Iraq

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:



  Assyria
     the name derived from the city Asshur on the Tigris, the
     original capital of the country, was originally a colony from
     Babylonia, and was ruled by viceroys from that kingdom. It was a
     mountainous region lying to the north of Babylonia, extending
     along the Tigris as far as to the high mountain range of
     Armenia, the Gordiaean or Carduchian mountains. It was founded
     in B.C. 1700 under Bel-kap-kapu, and became an independent and a
     conquering power, and shook off the yoke of its Babylonian
     masters. It subdued the whole of Northern Asia. The Assyrians
     were Semites (Gen. 10:22), but in process of time non-Semite
     tribes mingled with the inhabitants. They were a military
     people, the "Romans of the East."
     
       Of the early history of the kingdom of Assyria little is
     positively known. In B.C. 1120 Tiglath-pileser I., the greatest
     of the Assyrian kings, "crossed the Euphrates, defeated the
     kings of the Hittites, captured the city of Carchemish, and
     advanced as far as the shores of the Mediterranean." He may be
     regarded as the founder of the first Assyrian empire. After this
     the Assyrians gradually extended their power, subjugating the
     states of Northern Syria. In the reign of Ahab, king of Israel,
     Shalmaneser II. marched an army against the Syrian states, whose
     allied army he encountered and vanquished at Karkar. This led to
     Ahab's casting off the yoke of Damascus and allying himself with
     Judah. Some years after this the Assyrian king marched an army
     against Hazael, king of Damascus. He besieged and took that
     city. He also brought under tribute Jehu, and the cities of Tyre
     and Sidon.
     
       About a hundred years after this (B.C. 745) the crown was
     seized by a military adventurer called Pul, who assumed the name
     of Tiglath-pileser III. He directed his armies into Syria, which
     had by this time regained its independence, and took (B.C. 740)
     Arpad, near Aleppo, after a siege of three years, and reduced
     Hamath. Azariah (Uzziah) was an ally of the king of Hamath, and
     thus was compelled by Tiglath-pileser to do him homage and pay a
     yearly tribute.
     
       In B.C. 738, in the reign of Menahem, king of Israel, Pul
     invaded Israel, and imposed on it a heavy tribute (2 Kings
     15:19). Ahaz, the king of Judah, when engaged in a war against
     Israel and Syria, appealed for help to this Assyrian king by
     means of a present of gold and silver (2 Kings 16:8); who
     accordingly "marched against Damascus, defeated and put Rezin to
     death, and besieged the city itself." Leaving a portion of his
     army to continue the siege, "he advanced through the province
     east of Jordan, spreading fire and sword," and became master of
     Philistia, and took Samaria and Damascus. He died B.C. 727, and
     was succeeded by Shalmanezer IV., who ruled till B.C. 722. He
     also invaded Syria (2 Kings 17:5), but was deposed in favour of
     Sargon (q.v.) the Tartan, or commander-in-chief of the army, who
     took Samaria (q.v.) after a siege of three years, and so put an
     end to the kingdom of Israel, carrying the people away into
     captivity, B.C. 722 (2 Kings 17:1-6, 24; 18:7, 9). He also
     overran the land of Judah, and took the city of Jerusalem (Isa.
     10:6, 12, 22, 24, 34). Mention is next made of Sennacherib (B.C.
     705), the son and successor of Sargon (2 Kings 18:13; 19:37;
     Isa. 7:17, 18); and then of Esar-haddon, his son and successor,
     who took Manasseh, king of Judah, captive, and kept him for some
     time a prisoner at Babylon, which he alone of all the Assyrian
     kings made the seat of his government (2 Kings 19:37; Isa.
     37:38).
     
       Assur-bani-pal, the son of Esarhaddon, became king, and in
     Ezra 4:10 is referred to as Asnapper. From an early period
     Assyria had entered on a conquering career, and having absorbed
     Babylon, the kingdoms of Hamath, Damascus, and Samaria, it
     conquered Phoenicia, and made Judea feudatory, and subjected
     Philistia and Idumea. At length, however, its power declined. In
     B.C. 727 the Babylonians threw off the rule of the Assyrians,
     under the leadership of the powerful Chaldean prince
     Merodach-baladan (2 Kings 20:12), who, after twelve years, was
     subdued by Sargon, who now reunited the kingdom, and ruled over
     a vast empire. But on his death the smouldering flames of
     rebellion again burst forth, and the Babylonians and Medes
     successfully asserted their independence (B.C. 625), and Assyria
     fell according to the prophecies of Isaiah (10:5-19), Nahum
     (3:19), and Zephaniah (3:13), and the many separate kingdoms of
     which it was composed ceased to recognize the "great king" (2
     Kings 18:19; Isa. 36:4). Ezekiel (31) attests (about B.C. 586)
     how completely Assyria was overthrown. It ceases to be a nation.
     (See {NINEVEH}; {BABYLON}.)
     

From Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary (late 1800's) [hitchcock]:

  Assyria, country of Assur or Ashur