Ancient Empires - Assyria
The first mention of Assyria in The Bible is extremely ancient - Genesis 2:14 speaks of the region in relation to the The Garden of Eden. Although founded as early as 1700 B.C., the Assyrian Empire, with its capital at Nineveh, actually had its greatest influence on Bible History during the period from about 900 to 600 B.C.
It was the Assyrians who conquered and exiled the northern kingdom of Israelites, with the capital at Samaria, resulting in the "Lost Ten Tribes" of Israel. The prophets Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Micah, Nahum, Zephaniah and Zechariah all refer to Assyria (see Prophets).
Assyrian Kings Who Had Contact With Israel and Judah
- Shalmaneser III (858-824 B.C.)
- Shamshi-Adad V (823-811 B.C.)
- Adad-Nirari III (810-783 B.C.)
- Shalmaneser IV (782-773 B.C.)
- Ashur-dan III (772-755 B.C.)
- Ashur-Nirari V (754-745 B.C.)
- Tiglath-pileser III (744-727 B.C.)
- Shalmaneser V (726-722 B.C.)
- Sargon III (721-705 B.C.)
- Sennacherib (704-681 B.C.)
- Esarhaddon (680-669 B.C.)
- Ashurbanipal (668-633 B.C.)
- Ashur-eti-ilani (632-629 B.C.)
- Sin-shum-lishir (628-624 B.C.)
- Sin-shar-ishkum (623-612 B.C.)
- Ashur-uballit (611-608 B.C.)
The Assyrian empire eventually declined, and by 600 B.C. it was overcome by the Babylonians.
Fact Finder: Which Assyrian king had 185,000 of his troops destroyed by an Angel for blaspheming God when they were besieging Jerusalem?
2 Kings 19:35-36, 20-22