Drawing on 30 years of scholarship, this is a unique, richly
illustrated history of the Ancient Assyrian Army and Empire.
For the greater part of the period from the end of the 10th century to
the 7th century BC, the Ancient Near East was dominated by the dynamic
military power of Assyria. This book examines the empire that is now
acknowledged as the first 'world' empire, and thus progenitor of all
others. Fully illustrated in colour throughout, with photographs of
artefacts, drawings and maps, it focuses on the Assyrian Army, the
instrument that secured such immense conquests, now regarded by
historians as being the most effective of pre-classical times. It was
not only responsible for the creation of history's first independent
cavalry arm, but also for the development of siege weapons later used by
both Greece and Rome.
There is a great deal of visual evidence showing how this army evolved
over three centuries. During the rediscovery and excavation of the
Assyrian civilisation in the mid-19th century, many wall reliefs and
artefacts were recovered, and the enormous amount of research carried
out by Assyriologists since that time has revealed the immense impact of
the Assyrian Empire on history. Such has been the scale of
archaeological discovery in more recent years that it is now possible to
give the actual names of chariot/cavalry unit commanders.
Drawing on this rich scholarship, and utilising the fantastic
collections of museums around the world, Mark Healy presents a unique
new history of this fascinating army and empire.
