Assyrian History and Surviving Sites
Assyrian kings governed from cities in northern Mesopotamia and extended their rule across much of the Near East. Royal building projects included new capitals, palaces and long-distance water systems. Inscriptions and reliefs named rulers and recorded their campaigns and construction work.
The surviving-site collection includes archaeological cities and monuments in Iraq and the eastern Mediterranean. Articles distinguish Assyrian phases from the earlier and later histories of places that remained occupied for centuries.
Explore Assyrian sites
Explore Assyrian archaeological sites and rock monuments, from royal city plans to the carved records of water engineering and imperial campaigns.
History and society
Assur’s merchants traded tin and cloth before later Assyrian kings drew grain, soldiers and workers from agricultural estates and conquered provinces.
Daily life
Assyrian daily life ranged from merchant households linking Assur with Anatolian markets to village estates and royal capitals. Letters, legal texts and excavated rooms show how work, family resources, food, worship and travel differed across three periods.