After 1180 BC, the Hittite empire disintegrated into several independent " Neo-Hittite " states, subsequent to losing much territory to the Middle Assyrian Empire and being finally overrun by the Phrygians, another Indo-European people who are believed to have migrated from The Balkans.

The term Assyria can also refer to the geographic region or heartland where Assyria, its empires and the Assyrian people were centred.

Thus far the only people who have been attested with a high level of genetic, historical, linguistic and cultural research to be the descendants of the ancient Mesopotamians are the Assyrian Christians of Iraq and its surrounding areas in north west Iran, north east Syria and south eastern Turkey.

Assyria continued to exist as a geopolitical entity until the Arab-Islamic conquest in the mid 7th century AD, and Assyrian identity, personal names and both spoken and written evolutions of Mesopotamian Aramaic ( which still contain many Akkadian loan words ) have survived among the Assyrian people from ancient times to this day.

( see Assyrian people ).

In the wake of the archaeological and philological rediscovery of ancient Assyria, Assyrian nationalism became increasingly popular among the surviving remnants of the Assyrian people, and has come to strongly identify with ancient Assyria.

* Assyrian people

Assyrian people | Assyrian warriors armed with slings from the palace of Sennacherib, 7th century BCE

It comes to conclusion with a taunt song and funeral dirge of the impending destruction of Nineveh and the " sleep " or death of the Assyrian people and demise of the once great Assyrian conqueror-rulers.

Both the biblical and Assyrian sources speak of a massive deportation of people from Israel and their replacement with settlers from other parts of the empire – such population exchanges were an established part of Assyrian imperial policy, a means of breaking the old power structure-and the former Israel never again became an independent political entity.

The Kingdom of Israel was conquered by the Assyrian ruler Sargon II in the late 8th century BCE with many people from the capital Samaria being taken captive to Media and the Khabur River valley.

Some historians believe Assyrian texts called this Midas king of the " Mushki " because he had subjected the eastern Anatolian people of that name and incorporated them into his army.

Most of the people in the city who could not escape to the last Assyrian strongholds in the north and west were either massacred or deported out of the city.

Assyrian people | Assyrian warriors armed with slings from the palace of Sennacherib, 7th century BCE

A fair number of Akkadian loan words survive in the Mesopotamian Neo Aramaic dialects spoken in and around modern Iraq by the indigenous Assyrian ( aka Chaldo-Assyrian ) Christians of the region, and the giving of Akkadian personal names, along with a number of Akkadian last names and tribal names, is still common amongst Assyrian people.

The documents record common activities such as trade between the Assyrian colony and the city state of Assur and between Assyrian merchants and local people.

In 647 BCE, the Assyrian king Assurbanipal leveled the city during a war in which the people of Susa participated on the other side.

The most long standing and popularised theory has been the attempts to link Assyrian ancestry to the ancient Germans.

A collection of immense importance, the holdings of Assyrian, Babylonian and Sumerian antiquities are among the most comprehensive in the world with entire suites of rooms panelled in alabaster bas-reliefs from highly important sites between the rivers Euphrates and Tigris and include the biblical cities of Nimrud, Nineveh and Khorsabad.

The most recent study on the ante-Aesopic fables or the fables in ancient Near Eastern languages by Akimoto discovers the rich fable traditions in ancient Mesopotamia and Anatolia ; for example, the Ninurta-uballitsu Assyrian fable collection which is the oldest known fable collection with the compiler's autograph and the completion date 883 BCE, the Hurrian-Hittite bilingual fable collections are embedded in a long myth and the storyteller tells after each fable his / her own moral.

The most notable architectural remains from early Mesopotamia are the temple complexes at Uruk from the 4th millennium BC, temples and palaces from the Early Dynastic period sites in the Diyala River valley such as Khafajah and Tell Asmar, the Third Dynasty of Ur remains at Nippur ( Sanctuary of Enlil ) and Ur ( Sanctuary of Nanna ), Middle Bronze Age remains at Syrian-Turkish sites of Ebla, Mari, Alalakh, Aleppo and Kultepe, Late Bronze Age palaces at Bogazkoy ( Hattusha ), Ugarit, Ashur and Nuzi, Iron Age palaces and temples at Assyrian ( Kalhu / Nimrud, Khorsabad, Nineveh ), Babylonian ( Babylon ), Urartian ( Tushpa / Van Kalesi, Cavustepe, Ayanis, Armavir, Erebuni, Bastam ) and Neo-Hittite sites ( Karkamis, Tell Halaf, Karatepe ).

The Sumerian, Assyrian, Egyptian, Indian, Minoan, Greek, Roman, Persian and Arab Empires all made widespread use of opium, which was the most potent form of pain relief then available, allowing ancient surgeons to perform prolonged surgical procedures.

Ebla's most powerful king of this period was listed as Ebrium, or Ibrium, who concluded the so-called " Treaty with Ashur ", which offered the Assyrian king Tudiya the use of a trading post officially controlled by Ebla.

The masoretic text ( the Hebrew on which most modern Protestant Bible translations of the Old Testament are based ) has pitdah as the gem the stone is made from ; some scholars think it is related to an Assyrian word meaning " flashed ".

In 620 BC Nabopolassar seized control over much of Babylonia with the support of most of the inhabitants, with only the city of Nippur showing any loyalty to the Assyrian king.

The quarter of the city that most interests historians is the Kârum Kaneš, " merchant-colony city of Kaneš " in Assyrian.

The most notable architectural remains from early Mesopotamia are the temple complexes at Uruk from the 4th millennium BC, temples and palaces from the Early Dynastic period sites in the Diyala River valley such as Khafajah and Tell Asmar, the Third Dynasty of Ur remains at Nippur ( Sanctuary of Enlil ) and Ur ( Sanctuary of Nanna ), Middle Bronze Age remains at Syrian-Turkish sites of Ebla, Mari, Alalakh, Aleppo and Kultepe, Late Bronze Age palaces at Bogazkoy ( Hattusha ), Ugarit, Ashur and Nuzi, Iron Age palaces and temples at Assyrian ( Kalhu / Nimrud, Khorsabad, Nineveh ), Babylonian ( Babylon ), Urartian ( Tushpa / Van Kalesi, Cavustepe, Ayanis, Armavir, Erebuni, Bastam ) and Neo-Hittite sites ( Karkamis, Tell Halaf, Karatepe ).

The plans of all the Assyrian buildings are rectangular, and we know that long ago, as now, the Eastern architects used this outline almost invariably, and upon it reared some of the most lovely and varied forms ever devised.

It is the most complete Assyrian obelisk yet discovered, and is historically significant because it displays the earliest ancient depiction of an Israelite.

Canford Manor, Dorset, was extended in a Tudor Gothic style ( 1848 – 52 ), including a large entrance tower, the most unusual interior is the Nineveh porch, built to house Assyrian sculptures from the eponymous palace, this has an interior decorated with Assyrian motifs.

However, because the relief depicts the Assyrian overland transport of a carved stone statue, the background buildings most likely refer to a foreign village, such as those at the foothills of the Lebanese mountains.

Now they are relatively few in numbers and are divided into three Churches, of which the Chaldaean Church, which is in communion with Rome, is the most numerous, while the others have recently split between the Assyrian Church of the East and the Ancient Church of the East.

By the 3rd century BC, light cavalry units were used in most eastern armies, but still only " relatively few states in the East or West attempted to imitate the Assyrian and Chorasmian experiments with mailed cavalry ".

The most renowned Oudists are Ahmed Mukhtar, Naseer Shamma, Rahim Alhaj, Sahar Taha and the ethnic Assyrian Munir Bashir.

Assyrian / Syriac festivals tend to be closely associated with their Christian faith, of which Easter is the most prominent of the celebrations.

Unlike most other churches that trace their origins to antiquity, the modern Assyrian Church of the East is not in communion with any other churches, either Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, or Catholic.

Ebla's most powerful king of this period was listed as Ebrium, or Ibrium, who concluded the so-called " Treaty with Ashur ", which offered the Assyrian king Tudiya the use of a trading post officially controlled by Ebla.

This time the Assyrian forces of 20, 000 men were numerically so superior that most of Judah's men left the field of battle and advised their leader to do likewise and to await a more favorable opportunity.

This language was most probably spoken by Jesus, and, in various modern forms is still spoken by the Assyrian Christians in Iran today ( see Assyrian Neo-Aramaic and Senaya language ).

Chrismation is the name given in Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Catholic churches, as well as in the Assyrian Church of the East, Anglican, and in Lutheran initiation rites, to the Sacrament or Sacred Mystery more commonly known in the West as confirmation, although Italian normally uses cresima ( chrismation ), rather than confermazione ( confirmation ).

The Oud (; ʿūd, plural: أعواد, a ‘ wād ; Assyrian: ܥܘܕ ūd, ; Hebrew: עו ּ ד ; barbat ; ;, Azeri: ud ; or kaban ) is a pear-shaped stringed instrument commonly used in Greek, Byzantine, North African ( Chaabi, Classical, and Andalusian ) and Middle Eastern music.

Rarely in Assyrian cuneiform, but commonly in the later cuneiform Ugaritic alphabet, a vertical stroke was used to separate words.

Belus most commonly appears as the father of Ninus, who otherwise mostly appears as the first known Assyrian king.