The Assyrian Empire Trivia Quiz

Answer: Tiglath-Pileser III

During the reign of Tiglath-Pileser III Damascus was taken and Israel was captured and made a vassal state. He also crowned himself King of Babylon in 734 BC and established himself among the great line of kings of the Babylonian empire.

Answer: Nimrud

Nimrud was founded by Shalmaneser I during his reign in the 13th century B.C. and became capital under Ashurnasirpal II. This monumental city was laid out with lush gardens and parks and was surrounded by a great wall enclosing 200 hectares. It remained capital until 710 B.C. when it was replaced by Dur-Sharrukin (the city of Sargon).

Answer: Samaria

Despite the support of Egypt, Israel eventually fell to the Assyrians, but only after a 3 year siege of their capital city at Samaria. Shalmaneser V died during the siege and the credit for its final capture was taken by his successor Sargon II.

Answer: Sargon II

During the reign of Sargon II constant war prevailed, as the Assyrians completed the reduction of Samaria, destroyed their enemies in Urartu and Phrygia and successfully defended their empire against the Cimmerians.

Answer: Cimmerians

The Cimmerians were a people from the area of modern Ukraine (Crimea is named for them) who were forced south by the Scythians in the 8th century B.C. In the area now occupied by modern Turkey, the Cimmerians found a new, fertile ground for themselves, but first they were forced to make room for themselves by warring against the kingdoms already existing there.

They successfully defeated the Armenians but were turned back by the Assyrians in 705. Later they laid waste to Phrygia and Lydia but were defeated by the Assyrians once again in the 7th century B.C.

Answer: Nineveh

Nineveh was made the capital of Assyria by Sennacherib, who decided on a more defensible position than that selected by his father who had built his new capital at Khorsabad. Hence, Assyria went through three different capitals within 50 years!

Answer: Jerusalem was looted and destroyed

Babylon had rebelled against Assyria very early in Sennacherib's reign and he elected to destroy the city as a lesson to other potentially rebellious subjects. When the Elamites, who dwelled along the foothills of the Zagros mountains in Persia, came to the aid of the Babylonians, Sennacherib's army defeated them too, but at a high cost to the Assyrian army. In the west, the Egyptians convinced the kingdom of Judah, under the reign of King Hezekiah, to attack the Assyrian position in the Levant. The Assyrians defeated Hezekiah and made him a vassal, but left the city of Jerusalem intact.

Answer: Esarhaddon

While Esarhaddon only reigned for 12 years, from 681 B.C. to 669 B.C., his rule was rather eventful. It included the conquest of Egypt and capture of the capital at Memphis, and the rebuilding of Babylon. The Assyrian empire was at its greatest extent during his reign, which had begun with the quelling of a rebellion started during the latter years of Sennacherib's rule.

Answer: Ashurbanipal

It was during the reign of Ashurbanipal that the various vassal states revolted en masse, beginning in Egypt and ending with rebellion of Media. The final collapse of the empire occurred only 15 years after his death when Nineveh was captured and destroyed.

Answer: Babylon and Media

Thus ended the great reign of the later Assyrian empire! I hope you enjoyed this quiz and learned a thing or two...