ABSTRACT
The Assyrians occupied an area round the upper reaches of the Tigris, at the centre of the fertile crescent. Their land was agriculturally rich, and also an economic crossroads for the trade routes of the whole region. But it had one serious drawback: it had no natural frontiers and was subject to enormous pressures from the organized and technically advanced Babylonians and Hittites, and also from wilder immigrant peoples who were pressing down on the fertile crescent from the north. The Assyrians were conquered several times, and subjected for a long period to the overlordship of Babylon, from which they learnt much. But each time they managed to reassert their independence. This they did by means of a determined emphasis on military prowess and political discipline combined with an exceptionally astute and realistic statecraft. The Assyrians learnt in a hard school, and they were a hard people. Because of their exposed position their army was the indispensable bastion of the state. Alongside well-trained infantry they were the first settled people in the area to make effective use of horses in war, and also the first to adopt iron weapons and armour on a large scale. The iron was made from local ore, but originally by smiths from further north whose superior product the innovative Assyrians were quick to appreciate.
