Ashur (city)

Installation of the archaic temple of Ishtar with temple equipment (incense burners, step altar) and statues of worshipers. Ashur, approx. 2400 BC e. Pergamon Museum in Berlin

The deterioration of the climate on the Arabian Peninsula in the second half of the 3rd millennium BC caused the resettlement of Semitic tribes from there to the middle reaches of the Euphrates and further north and east. The northern group of these Semitic migrants were Assyrians , closely related by origin and language with the tribes who settled in that part of Mesopotamia , where the Euphrates approaches the Tigris , and received the name Akkadians ^[1] .

Cities that later formed the core of the Assyrian state ( Nineveh , Ashur, Arbela , etc.), until the XV century BC. e., apparently, did not constitute a single political or even ethnic whole ^[2] . At first, Ashur was the center of a relatively small, nome , mainly commercial state, in which merchants played a leading role. Assyrian state until the 16th century BC e. It was called “Alum Ashur,” that is, the city or community of Ashur. Using the proximity of their city to the most important trade routes, the merchants and usurers of Ashur penetrated into Asia Minor and founded their trading colonies there ^[3] .

The ruler of Ashur was called ishshiakkum ( Akkadization of the Sumerian word " ency "). His power was almost hereditary, but not complete. He was responsible almost exclusively for religious affairs and related construction. Ishshiakkum was also the high priest ( shangu ) and military leader. Usually, he also held the position of ukullu , that is, apparently, the supreme land surveyor and head of the council of elders . This council, called the "house of the city", enjoyed considerable influence in Ashshur, in its jurisdiction was the decision of the most important state affairs. Council members called themselves "limm." Each of them, in turn, performed management functions during the year (under the control of the entire council) and, apparently, headed the treasury. By the name of the next limm, it received its name year ^[4] .

Gradually, the composition of the council was increasingly replaced by people close to the ruler. With the strengthening of the ruler’s power, the importance of community self-government bodies fell. Although the procedure for advancing limm was preserved later, when ishshiaqkum turned into a real monarch .

In the XXIII century BC. e. the whole of northern Mesopotamia , including the city of Ashur, fell under the power of the powerful Akkadian kingdom. At the beginning of the XXII century BC. e. The Akkadian kingdom fell under the blows of the mountain people of the Kutis, and Ashur for some time gained independence.

The ruins of Ashur are located south of the city of Shergat , 260 km northwest of Baghdad ^[5] .

Ashur, a UNESCO World Heritage Site , was threatened in 2003, when construction of a large-scale dam was to begin nearby: a reservoir could be flooded with an ancient archaeological site ^[6] . The project was stopped after the invasion of Iraq by US forces and their allies with the aim of overthrowing the regime of Saddam Hussein in the spring of 2003. The fighting also threatened the safety of the monument.

The territory around the ancient city was occupied by the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist organization in 2015. The militants began the destruction of ancient structures in Iraq and Syria . A number of ancient monuments were destroyed, including Khatra, Khorsabad and Nimrud. There were fears that Ashur could also be destroyed. According to some sources, the Ashur stronghold was blown up in May 2015 using improvised explosive devices ^[7] .

• History of Ancient Mesopotamia