At its height, the ancient Assyrian Empire stretched from the north in the upper Tigris river valley, south to the northern tip of the Persian Gulf including Babylon, along the Mediterranean Sea from Tarsus to Jerusalem and all the way down into Egypt to the city of Thebes. This vast empire took several thousand years to build. Early settlements can be traced back to the northern city of Nineveh around 5000 B.C.

The success of this nearly 2000 year empire had a lot to do with the way the rulers divided up the empire into states with local governors; a radical idea during that time. The advances they made in the area of science and architecture were extremely important as well.

Unfortunately, the great Assyrian Empire (as history has shown time and time again) collapsed under a massive attack and the city of Nineveh burned to the ground...