History of the World Author:Charles Morris Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER II ASSYRIA If we follow the Tigris River to the north, beyond the borders of Babylonia, we find ourselves within the limits of a new nation, which in... more » time grew amazingly and became the first great empire of the earth. This is the far- famed Assyria, about which we have now to speak. The Beginning of Assyria.—The Assyrian Empire began in a very modest way, as all empires do. Its first people seem to have come from the crowded Babylonian lowlands, and made their way into the higher and more rocky country which lay between the Tigris and the moun-- tains to the east. How long ago this was no one can tell, but no doubt it was very far back in the past. A Mighty Nation.—In those early days and for centuries later the Assyrians were under the rule of the Babylonian kings. But these kings had their own troubles and misfortunes, foreigners came in and conquered their country, and the Assyrians became a separate and independent nation. This may have been as early as 1500 B.c. For many centuries after that Assyria was the ruling country in that part of the world, and in the end it grew to be so warlike and powerful that all the nations trembled at its name. Its people were fierce and fond of war, and many of its kings were famous soldiers and conquerors. An Assyrian Conqueror.—The kings of Assyria had long names, but they appear to have had long swords as well, and to have made much use of them. The firstfamous soldier among them was Tig'lath-Pile'ser I., who began to reign about 1130 B.c. He had many wars, and gained many victories, and built palaces and castles and temples, and dug canals, and brought home cattle and plants An Assyrian Standard. from foreign countries, and carried away much wealth and many slaves, and was a very great and proud king. Later Ki...« less