Assyria, Like an Eagle

Assyria was a nation that rose in Mesopotamia (the region between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers in modern-day Iraq), with its capital at Nineveh (near modern Mosul, Iraq). By the late 8th century BC, Assyria gradually grew powerful, conquering eastern Asia Minor, Syria, Phoenicia, Palestine, Babylonia, and Egypt. The Assyrians were active in the ancient history of Mesopotamia for approximately two millennia. Later, Assyria lost its dominant position and is no longer an independent nation today. From Assyrian texts and artifacts, we know that the eagle was a guardian deity of the Assyrians.

Assyria experienced a revival in the 15th century BC, establishing a centralized monarchy and expanding outwards. They advanced north into Armenia and towards the Black Sea coast, west into Syria and Phoenicia, and south into Babylonia. In the 11th century BC, they suffered attacks from foreign tribes and declined again. However, they rose once more in the 10th century BC. During the Neo-Assyrian period, from the mid-8th century to the 70s of the 7th century BC, their territory stretched from Urartu in the north, encompassed Elam in the southeast, reached the Mediterranean coast in the west, and extended to the northern border of Egypt in the southwest. Nineveh was established as its capital, forming a powerful military state in ancient West Asia. After the mid-7th century BC, due to internal strife within the ruling class and resistance from conquered peoples, its power gradually waned. In 612 BC, it was defeated by the combined forces of Neo-Babylonia and Media. The empire was named after its chief deity, capital, and holy city, Ashur. Its territory boasted developed agriculture, abundant metal resources, and a strategically important location on major ancient West Asian trade routes, which was crucial for its later development into a vast slave-owning empire spanning Asia and Africa.

The Assyrians were active in Mesopotamian history for approximately one thousand years, broadly divided into Early Assyrian, Middle Assyrian, and Assyrian Empire periods. The Assyrian Empire was its most powerful era, dominating Asia for over a century from the mid-8th century BC to 612 BC.

The 9th to 8th centuries BC marked a prime opportunity for Assyrian expansion. Globally, it faced no strong enemies: the mighty Egyptian Empire had faded, the Hittites of Asia Minor had been crushed by the “Sea Peoples,” southern Babylonia was fragmented, and Media and Persia in the east had not yet risen. Domestically, the introduction of iron from the Hittites not only brought revolutionary changes to Assyrian economic production but, more importantly, provided the martial Assyrians with sharper weapons, enhancing their military power. Later, the Assyrians began to mine and smelt iron themselves, and the iron products manufactured by their metallurgists were of high quality, ensuring the technological advantage of the Assyrian army. From around the 9th-8th centuries BC, the Assyrian army was gradually equipped with iron weapons and armor, a significant transformation in their military technology. The widespread use of iron was particularly crucial militarily; with iron weaponry, chariots, and cavalry, the Assyrian army was invincible.

Decades before the Northern Kingdom’s fall, God proclaimed the punishment Israel would face through the prophet Hosea: “Set the trumpet to your lips! An eagle is over the house of the LORD, because they have transgressed my covenant and rebelled against my law” (Hosea 8:1).

The people of the Northern Kingdom refused to accept God’s “healing” and “salvation,” and thus had to bear the consequences of breaking the covenant: a nation “like an eagle” would attack them. Among the peoples of Mesopotamia, the Assyrians were the most warlike and inherently cruel. When God withdrew His protecting hand from Israel and allowed Assyria to attack, Assyria became God’s instrument for disciplining Israel. “Assyria, the rod of my anger; the club in their hands is my fury” (Isaiah 10:5). This was also as Moses had declared seven centuries earlier: “The LORD will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, like an eagle swooping down” (Deuteronomy 28:49). In 722 BC, Assyria captured Samaria, the Northern Kingdom of Israel fell, and the ten tribes were taken captive to Assyria.

God is faithful; He keeps His word!