Assyria
3 of the 7 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Assyria. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
an ancient Semitic kingdom of Asia, the native name of which was Ashur or Asshur, and thus also called by the Hebrews. It was intersected by the middle course of the Tigris with its two affluents, the Upper Zab and the Lower Zab, and had the Armenian Mountains on the N. and Babylonia on the S. The Assyrian conquests during the 8th and 7th centuries B. C. enlarged its boundaries, and at one time it included Babylonia, parts of Elam, Palestine, Egypt, parts of Arabia and Asia Minor. The chief cities of Assyria in the days of its prosperity were Ashur, the most ancient, then Nineveh, the site of which is marked by mounds opposite Mosul (Nebi Yunus and Koyunjik), Calah or Kalakh (the modern Nimrud), Dur-Sargina (Khorsabad), and Arbela (Arbil). Lower down the Tigris exhibits a line of ruins from Telkrit to Bagdad. The country, probably some time before the 16th century B. C., became independent. At the end of the 14th century its king, Shalmaneser, is said to have founded the city of Calah; his son Tiglath-ninip conquered the whole of the valley of the Euphrates. The following five reigns were chiefly occupied by wars with the Babylonians. About 1120, a date fixed by Sennacherib, 705-681 b. C., Tiglath-pileser I., one of the greatest Omri, and Jehu of Israel, from whom of the sovereigns of the first Assyrian he exacted tribute, as also from the kings monarchy, ascended the throne, and carried his conquests to the Mediterranean on the one side and to the Caspian and the Persian Gulf on the other. At his death ensued a period of decline, which lasted over 150 years. Under Assurnasir-pal, who reigned from 884 to 859 B. C., Assyria once more advanced to the THE ASSOUAN DAM position of the leading leading power in the world, his kingdom being greater in extent than that of Tiglath-pileser. History. In 859 Assur-nasir-pal was succeeded by his son Shalmaneser II. (859- 824), who was the first Assyrian king to have relations with Israel, and whose annals are found inscribed on the famous Black Obelisk in the British Museum, and on the bulls and slabs from his palace at Calah. His career of conquest was equally successful. He reduced Babylon to a state of vassalage, and came into hostile contact with Benhadad and Hazael of Damascus, and with Ahab, son of of Tyre and Sidon. The old dynasty came to an end in the person of Assurnirari II., who was driven from the throne by a usurper, Tiglath-pileser III., in 745, after a struggle of some years. He was the first Assyrian king mentioned by the Hebrews, identical with Pul. No sooner was this able ruler firmly seated on the throne than he made an expedition into Babylonia, followed by another to the east in 744. A year later he defeated the confederate princes of Armenia, Syria, etc., and, advancing against Syria, overthrew the ancient kingdoms of Damascus and Hamath, and in 733 he placed his vassal Hosea on the throne of Samaria. Having reduced the west to submission the Assyrian King now attacked Chaldea, and, after a severe war, commencing in 731 B. C., he defeated and slew Ukin-ziru, the Kinziros of the Canon of Ptolemy, and was proclaimed King of Sumir and Akkad, in 729 b. c. Tiglathpileser carried the Assyrian arms from Lake Van on the N. to the Persian Gulf on the S., and from the confines of Susiana on the E. to the Nile on the W. He was, however, driven from hi throne by Shalmaneser IV. (727), who blockaded Tyre for five years, invaded Israel, and besieged Samaria, but died before the city was reduced. Conquests ests under Sargon. - His successor, Sargon (722-705), a usurper, claimed descent from the ancient Assyrian kings. After taking Samaria and leading over 27,000 people captive, ره تے Elam (Susiana) and Dabylon. He defeated the King of Hamath, who, with other princes, had revolted, took him prisoner, and flayed him alive; advanced through Philistia, and captured Ashdod; then, pushing southward, totally defeated the forces of Egypt and Gaza, at Raphia (719). The revolted Armenians had also more than once to be put down. In 710 Merodach-baladan was driven out of Babylonia by Sargon, after holding it for 12 years as an independent king, and being supported by the Kings of Egypt and Palestine; his allies were also crushed, Judah was overrun, and Ashdod leveled to the ground. Sargon afterward crossed over and took Cyprus, where he left an inscription telling of his expedition. He spent the latter years of his reign in building, in the midst of which he was murdered during a revolt of the soldiers in the new palace, in 705 b. c. Sennacher-ib at once had to take up arms against Merodach-baladan, who had again obtained possession of Babylon. In 701 fresh outbreaks in Syria led him in that direction. He captured Sidon and Askelon, defeated Hezekiah and his Egyptian and Ethiopian allies, and forced him to pay tribute, after which he returned to Assyria to overawe the Babylonians, Elamites, and the northern hill tribes. On Dec. 20, 681, he was murdered by his two sons, Adrammelech and Sharezer, but they were defeated by their he overthrew the combined forces of brother Esar-haddon, who then mounted
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
an ancient empire of Asia. The region known historically as Assyria lies on the Tigris River, above Chaldea or Babylonia. Nineveh is the historical capital. The original Assyrians are believed to have been related to the present Finns and Turks, but they were overpowered and assimilated by the Semites. The later historical Assyrians were large, hook-nosed, black haired people of Jewish aspect and relationship. In the arts and sciences they were pupils of the Babylonians. Nineveh was an imitation of Babylon. About 1300 B. C. Assyria became a rival of Babylonia. In 745 B. C. the Assyrian Empire took form, and rapidly became the leading power of the world. Babylon was overthrown. Egypt was made a tributary province and the Ten Tribes of Israel were carried into captivity. New roads were built and old roads were diverted to center at Nineveh. Soldiers and military posts protected traffic in every direction. The caravan trade of the world was centered at the Assyrian capital. In 606 B. C. the Medes, a new power, arose. The Assyrian Empire and proud Nineveh disappeared. The leading Assyrian monarchs were Tiglath-Pileser, Sargon, and Sennacherib. See Nineveh ; Babylon ; Cuneiform Writing; Scriptures 2026 Editor's Note: Nineveh's buried palaces gave the world some of its greatest antiquities — the winged bull 'lamassu' and the clay-tablet library of Ashurbanipal , now treasures of the British Museum, including the oldest known version of the Flood story. In 2015 the militants of ISIS bulldozed and dynamited the ancient Assyrian sites, an act of cultural destruction that shocked the world. (Ed: BR 2026-07-16)
1000 Classical Characters (1900)
The country properly so called, in the narrowest sense, was a district of Asia , extending along the east side of the Tigris, which divided it on the west and northwest from Mesopotamia and Babylonia, and bounded on the north and east by the Niphates and Zagrus mountains, which separated it from Armenia and Media, and on the southeast by Susiana. 2026 Editor's Note: While this text defines Assyria by its geographic borders, the civilization is recognized as the first true military superpower in history, pioneering advancements in statecraft, bureaucracy, and the large-scale preservation of knowledge. At its zenith during the Neo-Assyrian period, the empire spanned from modern-day Iran to Egypt, though it eventually fell in the 7th century BC to a coalition including the Babylonians and Medes. The Assyrian people survive to this day, having been among the first to adopt Christianity in the 1st century AD and continuing to practice their culture in their ancient heartland and the diaspora. (Ed: BR 2026-06-07)