Episode 87 – Assyria 4 Rebirth of an Old City

Finally, the city of Assur wakes up and shakes off the dust of its centuries long obscurity, rising from minor Mitanni vassal to major world player in a single generation, thanks to the personal skill of king Assur-Uballit I. This is an episode of glorious conquest, and also one where we get to take a look at the bitter personal costs of those conquests. All this conquest is augmented expertly by some fascinating, though not always successful, diplomacy. Also, a door gets stolen, which apparently upset the Assyrians for generations to come.

For those interested in a bit of Assyria review, Assyrian history up until this point can be broken into three sections, the merchant empire, followed by Shamsi-Adad the conqueror, followed by centuries of relative obscurity.