Some 2700 years ago, a young king began his reign in
Assyria. At the time, it was the world's greatest empire and the
Assyrians had reached that peak through sheer brutality ... although that
appeared to be not unusual for those days.
The Assyrians lived in that part of what is now northern Iraq as among the earliest peoples of the region. As loose-knit tribes, they were not yet a political force although that was to change. It took a forceful ruler to coalesce them into a power capable of challenging their traditional rivals and antagonists, the Babylonians. That ruler was Sargon II who ruled from 721 - 705 B.C. He built a walled city with massive defensive walls (100 feet high and 100 feet wide), and a 20 ton winged bull with a human head stood as guardian at one of the gates.
It
was the Assyrian deity -- worshiped and revered -- and the city it
guarded was Dur-Sharrukin. Intended by its builder to be the
greatest city the world had ever known, the effort did not last -- for
Sargon II was shortly to die in battle, and his son Sennacherib who
succeeded
him abandoned the project.
Susceptible to the building genes inherited from his father, the son soon undertook an even
vaster enterprise. His city, Nineveh, described in the Old Testament as a
place of indulgence and avarice, was (according to Greek and Roman
sources) of unparalleled size and riches. The Assyrians had prospered,
and in 701 B.C. when they campaigned against the Biblical Kingdom of Judah,
it became an event to be related in the Bible.
They are described as being brutal: a rebellion against them would
usually lead to severe reprisals -- the execution of military leaders might be
understandable but they would burn down the rebellious city and transfer out the
whole population -- an action reminiscent of Joseph Stalin's Soviet
Union. Does the history of the world have a way of repeating itself?
Assyrian engineering feats remain a marvel for they brought water down from the river to the city through
deep covered channels, so it remained cool, for the inhabitants.
Nineveh was packed with people archeologists have ascertained, and in the
kind of heat Iraq experiences water was vital.
Sennacherib's son Ashurbanipal ruled for 38 years, extending the empire in all directions and keeping the Babylonians at
bay. Reliefs of him show the practice of manly arts like fighting a
lion so the public could remain in awe. The propaganda arts it turns
out -- are not new or confined to Hitler or Stalin and other modern
leaders.
Even
Biden's team is busy whitewashing his shockingly wooden debate
performance ascribing it to jet lag, or the onset of flu, etc. And the
other candidate, Donald Trump, appears to follow in Goebel's footsteps
in repeating his slogans often enough .... that they begin to be the
'truth'.
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