1200 BC, the beginning Bronze Age collapse ), the Phrygians and others invaded and destroyed the Hittite Empire, already weakened by defeats against Assyria.

This alliance then attacked the weakened Assyria, and by 605 BC had conquered its vast empire.

Who fought against whom is not certain ; however, the internal strife weakened Assyria to such a degree that it was able to be destroyed.

In Assyria, however, years came to be named for the annual presiding limmu official appointed by the king, rather than for an event.

In 116 AD, under Trajan, it was taken over by Rome as the Roman Province of Assyria.

Romans and Parthians fought over Assyria and the rest of Mesopotamia until 226 AD, when it was taken over by the Sassanid ( Persian ) Empire.

A counterpoint to this argument would be that neither Samaria nor Syria where these refugees were claimed to have originated from were actually ever part of Assyria, but were colonies inhabited largely by Hebrews, Nabateans and Arameans respectively.

In the Neo-Assyrian period the Aramaic language became increasingly common, more so than Akkadian — this was thought to be largely due to the mass deportations undertaken by Assyrian kings, in which large Aramaic-speaking populations, conquered by the Assyrians, were relocated to Assyria and interbred with the Assyrians.

Aramaic was marginalised as an official language, but remained spoken in both Assyria and Babylonia by the general populace.

King Joash of Judah was recorded as being assassinated by his own servants, Joab assassinated Absalom, King David's son and King Sennacherib of Assyria was assassinated by his own sons.

Eventually Hezekiah revolted against Assyria, and as Isaiah had predicted the country was ravaged by Assyrian armies.

Yahweh saves Jerusalem and the kingdom from an invasion by Assyria.

Hosea declares that unless they repent of these sins, God will allow their nation to be destroyed, and the people will be taken into captivity by Assyria, the greatest nation of the time.

Impalement of Judea ns by Assyrian soldiers ( Assyria | Neo-Assyrian relief )

Assyria lasted a few more years after the loss of its fortress, but attempts by Egyptian Pharaoh Neco II to rally the Assyrians failed due to opposition from king Josiah of Judah, and it seemed to be all over by 609 BC.

In the 1840s and 1850s the Museum supported excavations in Assyria by A. H. Layard and others at sites such as Nimrud and Nineveh.

A rebellious Assyrian general Sin-shumu-lishir briefly set himself up as king in both Assyria and Babylon, but was ousted by Ashur-etil-ilani, the legitimate king of Assyria and its empire.

The Medes, Persians, Chaldean ruled Babylonians, together with the Scythians and Cimmerians attacked Assyria in 616 BC, and by 612 BC, after five years of bitter fighting, the alliance had sacked Nineveh, killing Sin-shar-ishkun in the process.

One shows Babylon on the Euphrates, surrounded by a circular landmass showing Assyria, Urartu and several cities, in turn surrounded by a " bitter river " ( Oceanus ), with seven islands arranged around it.

Another group, the Mitanni, subjugated Assyria and for a time menaced the Hittite kingdom, but were defeated by the two around the middle of the 14th.

This occurred at the same time that Israel was being destroyed by Assyria, and was probably the result of a cooperative arrangement with the Assyrians to establish Judah as an Assyrian vassal controlling the valuable olive industry.

There is a general consensus among scholars that the first formative event in the emergence of the distinctive religion described in the Bible was triggered by the destruction of Israel by Assyria in c. 722 BCE.

Assyria descended into a series of brutal internal civil wars, Ashur-etil-ilani was deposed by one of his own generals, named Sin-shumu-lishir, who also set himself up as king in Babylon.

Assyria or Athura ( Aramaic for Assyria ) was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom, extant as a nation state from the late 25th or early – 24th century BC to 608 BC centred on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia ( present day northern Iraq ), that came to rule regional empires a number of times through history.

Between 150 BC and 226 AD Assyria changed hands between the Parthians and Romans ( Roman Province of Assyria ) until coming under the rule of Sassanid Persia in 226 AD – 651 AD, where it was known as Asuristan.

In 729 BC, Babylon was fully incorporated into the Assyrian Empire by Tiglath-Pileser III, who instead of allowing Babylonian kings to remain as vassals of Assyria as his predecessors had done for two hundred years, decided to rule directly himself.

Under Assyrian rule of Cyprus, Onasagoras, was recorded as paying tribute to Esarhaddon of Assyria in 672 BC.

The Iranic Medes and Persians who had been largely subject to Assyria since their arrival in the region circa 1000 BC, took full advantage of the anarchy in Assyria, and in 616 BC freed themselves from Assyrian rule.

Assyria remained a Geo-political entity after its fall, and was ruled as an occupied province under the rule of various empires from the late 7th century BC until the mid 7th century AD when it was dissolved, and the Assyrian people have gradually become a minority in their homelands since that time.

During the final decade of his rule, Assyria was quite peaceful, but the country apparently faced a serious decline.

It was annexed by Emperor Trajan, like many other eastern frontier provinces of the Roman Empire, but held onto, unlike Armenia, Mesopotamia and Assyria, well after Trajan's rule – its desert frontier being called the Limes Arabicus.

Under Assyrian rule of Cyprus, Onasagoras, was recorded as paying tribute to Esarhaddon of Assyria in 672 BC.

Following Shamshi-Adad's death ( in the 17th year of Hammurabi of Babylon ), Ishme-Dagan I managed to rule Assyria until himself being ousted by Hammurabi.

At the end, in 717 BC, Assyria occupied the country under the rule of Sargon II.

The first was the late 7th century Deuteronomistic reform of official Judean religion under king Josiah, who banned many elements of the old polytheistic cult from the Temple, and the sudden collapse of Assyria and the rise of Babylon to take its place ; the second was exile of the royal court, the priests and other members of the ruling elite following the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem c. 586 BCE.

The Philistine cities lost their independence to Tiglath-Pileser III of Assyria by 732 BC, and revolts in following years were all crushed.

In the Chronicles of George the Monk and Symeon Logothetes, the following genealogy occurs: " To the lot of Shem fell the Orient, and his share extended lengthwise as far as India and breadthwise ( from east to south ) as far as Phinocorura, including Persia and Bactria, as well as Syria, Media ( which lies beside the Euphrates River ), Babylon, Cordyna, Assyria, Mesopotamia, Arabia the Ancient, Elymais, India, Arabia the Mighty, Coelesyria, Commagene, and all Phoenicia.

His successor Tempti-Khumma-In-Shushinak ( 664 – 653 ) attacked Assyria, but was defeated and killed by Ashurbanipal following the battle of the Ulaï in 653 BC ; and Susa itself was sacked and occupied by the Assyrians.

* Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, lost following the invasion by Assyria in 722 BC

Shabaka would grant refuge to king Iamanni of Ashdod after the latter fled to Egypt following the suppression of his revolt by Assyria in 712 BC.

According to the eponym canon, in 765 BC Assyria was hit by a plague, and the following year the king could not campaign ( it was customary for the Assyrian king to lead a military expedition every year ).

In spite of Adad-nirari's vigor, Assyria entered a several decades long period of weakness following his death.