13. The Assyrians - Empire of Iron

In the lowlands of Northern Iraq, a series of enormous cities lie crumbling in ruins... In this episode, find out about one of the most remarkable ancient civilizations: the society known today as the neo-Assyrian Empire. Discover how the Assyrians built their empire out of the ashes of the Bronze Age, and built an empire of iron that lasted for centuries. Explore the extraordinary flourishing of art and technology that they fostered. And finally, discover what happened to cause their final, devastating collapse. ** Fall of Civilizations the book is now available to pre-order: linktr.ee/fallofcivilizations ** If you enjoy Fall of Civilizations, consider supporting the show today: https://www.patreon.com/fallofcivilizations_podcast Books on the Assyrians: UK: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fallofcivilizations US: https://bookshop.org/shop/fallofcivilizations Affiliate links, purchases support the show. CREDITS: Sound engineering by Alexey Sibikin Readings: Hebrew - Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe Ancient Greek - Pavlos Kapralos Historical consultant - Dr. Ellie Bennett, University of Helsinki Voice actors: Mustafa Raee Peter Walters Lachlan Lucas Carson Wishart Nick Denton Rhy Brignell Annie Kelly Lou Millington Jake Barrett-Mills - Colourisations of Assyrian carvings by Jeramy Smith: https://www.progenitorstudios.com/ - 3D reconstructions of Assyrian cities by Kais Jacob Ishak. - Photography of antiquities by Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP(Glasg), CC-BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons and World History Encyclopedia. - Drone photography of Mosul and Ashur by Mohaymn Al Wasmi: https://www.instagram.com/mohaymn9/?hl=en Chapters 00:00 - Intro 9:59 - The Fertile Crescent 16:29 - Ashur 27:41 - The Bronze Age Collapse 33:01 - Tiglath-Pileser I 39:40 - Dating and Year Names 42:18 - The Assyrian Army 44:36 - Ashurnasirpal's Conquests 51:24 - Reforming the Army 1:02:13 - Babylon 1:05:55 - Life in the Empire 1:08:10 - Nineveh 1:14:38 - Assyrian Belief 1:16:35 - Cylinder Seals 1:19:40 - Drama of the Sargonid Kings 1:21:41 - The Scourging of Elam 1:22:57 - Campaign against Judah 1:40:10 - Babylon rebels 1:45:00 - The End of Sennacherib 1:55:15 - Esarhaddon 2:04:20 - The Prophecy 2:09:10 - Ashurbanipal's Golden Age 2:30:35 - The Collapse Begins 2:36:00 - The Medes 2:37:02 - Enemies Unite 2:49:34 - The Fall of Assyria 2:55:15 - Austen Henry Layard Visits Nineveh 2:58:53 - Final Poem