Assyrian relief sculpture 7th cent. B.C.

The Assyrians lived in the region of Assyria in northern Mesopotamia. The capital of their empire was first located at Asshur and later at Nineveh.

The Assyrians made the northern kingdom of Israel one of their vassals in the ninth century BC. In 722 BC they conquered Israel’s capital city of Samaria and deported many of the people of Israel. The Assyrians also threatened to conquer the southern kingdom of Judah, but the Assyrian army experienced and plague and departed without capturing Jerusalem.