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Although archaeological excavations
reveal
that
the land of the Assyrians had been
inhabited
as
early as 5000 B.C., it was not until
the reign
of
King Sargon of Akkad in 2371 B.C. that
the
Assyrians first rose to glory. Under
Sargon,
the
kingdom rapidly expanded north to the
city
of
Ashur and as far west as the
Mediterranean,
controlled by a central government
based in
Akkad. By 1813 B.C., King Shamshi-Adad
I
united the cities of Ashur, Nineveh,
and Arbel
into one cohesive administrative unit.
These
three cities, as well as Arrapkha and
Kalhu
(later
known as Nimrud), form the historical
core of
the
Assyrian Kingdom which would remain a
credible
force throughout the Mediterranean
world for
the
next millennium. While various parts
of
Assyrian
territory were annexed for brief
periods of
time
by neighboring civilizations, this
core
remained
firmly intact. The Assyrians
experienced
another
Golden Age, lasting from the 9th until
the 7th
Century B.C. (this period is referred
to as
“Neo-
Assyrian”). During this period, the
kingdom
grew
to its largest extent, encompassing
the lands
from parts of modern Iran to the
Mediterranean,
from Anatolia to Egypt. However, it
proved
difficult even for the powerful
Assyrian
monarchs
to maintain control over this vast
territory for
very long. By the end of the 7th
Century, the
Assyrian Kingdom began to collapse
under
the
weight of assaults from the
Babylonians to
the
south and the newly founded Medes
Kingdom to
the east. In 612 B.C., Nimrud burned
for the
second time in three years, followed
by the
sacking of Ashur and Nineveh,
effectively
ending
Assyrian control of the ancient Near
East.
Throughout the past, great
civilizations have
decorated their constructions with
sumptuous
paintings and tiles. Many remarkable
examples
survive today from the wall paintings
and
mosaics of Pompeii to the glazed tiles
of the
Ishtar Gate in Babylon.
The tradition of glazed terracotta
brick as
adornments began in southern Iran in
the
13th
century B.C. This Assyrian glazed
brick tile
would
have adorned the walls of a temple or
palace
structure. The tiered tile is
decorated with
the
representation of a mythological
creature
based
on the form of a female human.
However,
this
woman is winged and has the arms of a
lion.
A
slight relief of a brown glaze
delineates the
outlines of her body as well as the
simulated
feathers of the wings. A headband
crowns
her
head and her curly lucks fall over the
back.
Seen
in profile, her one ovular eye is
fully open and
alert. This fantastical remnant of a
lost age
reveals the extreme sophistication and
elegance
of the Assyrian civilization.
- (AM.0145)
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