Third millennium BCE
Ancient
Ashur develops
The Tigris city has a long settlement history before the better-known imperial periods.
Read the story Source: UNESCO World Heritage CentreTHROUGH THE AGES
History has many chapters.
A selected chronology of places, writing, migration and cultural life. Follow each moment into its evidence.
These are selected moments across different histories. They do not imply an unchanged identity, language or institution across every interval. Period dates are approximate where indicated. Explore ancient Assyria on the interactive map →
Early second millennium BCE
Ancient
Merchant networks in Anatolia
Old Assyrian tablets document trade, investment and correspondence.
Read the story Source: The Metropolitan Museum of ArtFourteenth to eleventh centuries BCE
Ancient
Middle Assyrian expansion
Assyria develops as a major territorial power. Period boundaries are approximate.
Read the story Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Department of Ancient Near Eastern ArtThirteenth century BCE
Ancient
Provincial administration on the Habur
Cuneiform archives and sealings from Dūr-Katlimmu reveal records of people, goods and official work.
Read the story Source: Freie Universitaet Berlin, Institute for Near Eastern Archaeology883-859 BCE
Ancient
Ashurnasirpal II and Kalhu
A programme of royal building and palace sculpture transforms Nimrud.
Read the story Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Department of Ancient Near Eastern Art858-824 BCE
Ancient
Shalmaneser III
Western campaigns and shifting relations with Levantine states.
Read the story Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History745-727 BCE
Ancient
Tiglath-pileser III
Conquests and provincial administration reshape Assyrian rule.
Read the story Source: Karen Radner, Assyrian Empire Builders, University College London / ORACC726-722 BCE
Ancient
Shalmaneser V
A short reign and contested questions around Samaria.
Read the story Source: Karen Radner, Assyrian Empire Builders, University College London / ORACC721-705 BCE
Ancient
Sargon II and Dur-Sharrukin
Sargon II creates a new royal capital at modern Khorsabad.
Read the story Source: Karen Radner, Assyrian Empire Builders, University College London / ORACC701 BCE
Ancient
Sennacherib and Judah
Royal reliefs and the biblical record describe aspects of the Assyrian campaign.
Read the story Source: The British Museum671 BCE
Ancient
Esarhaddon in Egypt
Historical accounts describe the Assyrian capture of Memphis.
Read the story Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Department of Ancient Near Eastern ArtSeventh century BCE
Ancient
Scholarship at Nineveh
Royal tablet collections form part of a wider Mesopotamian scholarly landscape.
Read the story Source: The British Museum612 BCE
Ancient
Fall of Nineveh
The capture of Nineveh is a turning point in the collapse of imperial rule.
Read the story Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Department of Ancient Near Eastern Art609 BCE
Ancient
Last stand at Harran
Remaining Assyrian forces are defeated during the struggle for imperial control.
Read the story Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Heilbrunn Timeline of Art HistoryParthian period
Ancient
Later life at Ashur
Archaeological phases at the old Assyrian capital document later activity.
Read the story Source: UNESCO World Heritage CentreFourth century CE
Literary heritage
Ephrem and Syriac literature
The poet and theologian works in Nisibis and Edessa; he dies in 373.
Read the story Source: Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage, Beth MarduthoLate sixteenth century
Literary heritage
Attested Sureth literary texts
The written record includes religious poetry in local Neo-Aramaic varieties.
Read the story Source: Alessandro Mengozzi, Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage, Beth MarduthoFirst World War and aftermath
Modern
Sayfo
Mass violence, survival and displacement become central subjects of historical research and memory.
Read the story Source: Berghahn Books; editors David Gaunt, Naures Atto and Soner O. BarthomaAugust 1933
Modern
Simele
Massacre and displacement leave a profound mark on modern Assyrian memory.
Read the story Source: Assyrian Studies Association1964
Modern
One migration story
Sophia Kanna arrives in Sydney, an experience preserved in an Australian oral-history archive.
Read the story Source: NSW Migration Heritage Centre1969
Modern
Assyrian Australian Association
The association dates its founding to this year.
Read the story Source: Assyrian Australian AssociationToday
Living culture
A culture carried forward
Language learning, music, family stories and community practice remain subjects for documentation.
Read the story Source: University of Cambridge22 selected moments