The 7th century BC began the first day of 700 BC and ended the last day of 601 BC.
The 8th century BC started the first day of 800 BC and ended the last day of 701 BC. The 8th century BC was a period of great change for several historically significant civilizations. In Egypt, the 23rd and 24th dynasties lead to rule from Kingdom of Kush in the 25th Dynasty. The Neo-Assyrian Empire reaches the peak of its power, conquering the Kingdom of Israel as well as nearby countries.
Babylonia was an ancient Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia. It emerged as an Akkadian populated but Amorite-ruled state c. 1894 BC. During the reign of Hammurabi and afterwards, Babylonia was retrospectively called "the country of Akkad", a deliberate archaism in reference to the previous glory of the Akkadian Empire. It was often involved in rivalry with the older ethno-linguistically related state of Assyria in the north of Mesopotamia and Elam to the east in Ancient Iran. Babylonia briefly became the major power in the region after Hammurabi created a short-lived empire, succeeding the earlier Akkadian Empire, Third Dynasty of Ur, and Old Assyrian Empire. The Babylonian Empire rapidly fell apart after the death of Hammurabi and reverted to a small kingdom centered around the city of Babylon.
Shalmaneser IV was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 783 BC to his death in 773 BC. Shalmaneser was the son and successor of his predecessor, Adad-nirari III, and ruled during a period of Assyrian decline from which few sources survive. As such his reign, other than broad political developments, is poorly known. Shalmaneser's time was marked both by an increase in the power held by Assyrian officials relative to that of the king and Assyria's enemies growing increasingly powerful. Most of Shalmaneser's military efforts were spent warring against the Kingdom of Urartu in the north, which during this time was reaching the peak of its power.
Ashur-uballit I(Aššur-uballiṭ I), who reigned between c. 1363 and c. 1328 BC, was the first king of the Middle Assyrian Empire. After his father Eriba-Adad I had broken Mitanni influence over Assyria, Ashur-uballit I's defeat of the Mitanni king Shuttarna III marks Assyria's ascendancy over the Hurri-Mitanni Empire, and the beginning of its emergence as a powerful empire. Later on, due to disorder in Babylonia following the death of the Kassite king Burnaburiash II, Ashur-uballit established Kurigalzu II on the Babylonian throne, in the first of what would become a series of Assyrian interventions in Babylonian affairs.
Ashur-nadin-ahhe II was king of Assyria from c. 1400 to 1391 BC. Preceded by Ashur-rim-nisheshu, he was succeeded by his brother, Eriba-Adad I.
Ashur-nirari V was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 755 BC to his death in 745 BC. Ashur-nirari was a son of Adad-nirari III and succeeded his brother Ashur-dan III as king. He ruled during a period of Assyrian decline from which few sources survive. As such his reign, other than broad political developments, is poorly known.
Ashur-dan III was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 773 BC to his death in 755 BC. Ashur-dan was a son of Adad-nirari III and succeeded his brother Shalmaneser IV as king. He ruled during a period of Assyrian decline from which few sources survive. As such his reign, other than broad political developments, is poorly known. At this time, the Assyrian officials were becoming increasingly powerful relative to the king and at the same time, Assyria's enemies were growing more dangerous. Ashur-dan's reign was a particularly difficult one as he was faced with two outbreaks of plague and five of his eighteen years as king were devoted to putting down revolts.
Adad-nīrārī II reigned from 911 BCE to 891 BCE. He was the first King of Assyria in the Neo-Assyrian empire. He instigated the first renewed period of major expansion following that of the Middle Assyrian Empire which had begun in 1365 BCE under Ashur-uballit I and ended after the death of Ashur-bel-kala in 1053 BCE.
Ashur-Dan II (Aššur-dān), son of Tiglath Pileser II, was the earliest king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. He was best known for recapturing previously held Assyrian territory and restoring Assyria to its natural borders, from Tur Abdin to the foothills beyond Arbel (Iraq). The reclaimed territory through his conquest was fortified with horses, ploughs, and grain stores. His military and economic expansions benefited four subsequent generations of kings that replicated his model.
Tukulti-Ninurta I was a king of Assyria during the Middle Assyrian Empire. He is known as the first king to use the title "King of Kings".
Puzur-Ashur II was king during the Old Assyrian period c. 1880 to 1873 BC. Puzur-Ashur II had been both the son and successor of Sargon I. Due to Sargon I's long reign, Puzur-Ashur II came to the throne at such a late age that one of his sons, named Ili-bani, was a witness in a contract eleven years before Puzur-Ashur II became ruler. Puzur-Ashur II was succeeded by his son Naram-Sin. The following is a list of the nine annually-elected "limmu" ("eponym") officials from the year of accession of Puzur-Ashur II, the "waklum" ("overseer"), in the limmu of Ashur-iddin to Puzur-Ashur II's death in the limmu of Inaya BC dates are based on a date of 1833 BC for the recorded solar eclipse in the limmu of Puzur-Ištar:
The Old Assyrian period was the second stage of Assyrian history, covering the history of the city of Assur from its rise as an independent city-state under Puzur-Ashur I c. 2025 BC to the foundation of a larger Assyrian territorial state after the accession of Ashur-uballit I c. 1363 BC, which marks the beginning of the succeeding Middle Assyrian period. The Old Assyrian period is marked by the earliest known evidence of the development of a distinct Assyrian culture, separate from that of southern Mesopotamia and was a geopolitically turbulent time when Assur several times fell under the control or suzerainty of foreign kingdoms and empires. The period is also marked with the emergence of a distinct Assyrian dialect of the Akkadian language, a native Assyrian calendar and Assur for a time becoming a prominent site for international trade.
The Middle Assyrian Empire was the third stage of Assyrian history, covering the history of Assyria from the accession of Ashur-uballit I c. 1363 BC and the rise of Assyria as a territorial kingdom to the death of Ashur-dan II in 912 BC. The Middle Assyrian Empire was Assyria's first period of ascendancy as an empire. Though the empire experienced successive periods of expansion and decline, it remained the dominant power of northern Mesopotamia throughout the period. In terms of Assyrian history, the Middle Assyrian period was marked by important social, political and religious developments, including the rising prominence of both the Assyrian king and the Assyrian national deity Ashur.
Shamshi-ilu (Šamši-ilu) was an influential court dignitary and commander in chief (turtanu) of the Assyrian army who rose in high prominence.
Tudiya or Tudia was according to the Assyrian King List (AKL) the first Assyrian monarch, ruling in Assyria's early period, though he is not attested in any known contemporary artefacts. He is listed among the “seventeen kings who lived in tents.” His existence is unconfirmed archaeologically and uncorroborated by any other source. According to the list, Tudiya was succeeded by Adamu.
Adasi was according to the Assyrian King List a usurper-king in Assyria during, or shortly after, the reign of the king Ashur-dugul and through his son Bel-bani the progenitor of the later Adaside dynasty. Because the name of Adasi and the other seven usurpers said to have vied for power against Ashur-dugul and each other do not appear in other sources and are suspiciously similar to the names of the eponyms under Ashur-dugul's reign, modern scholars question whether Adasi and the others were kings or usurpers at all, and not simply generals and officials misattributed as kings by the scribes of the list.
Ninurta-nādin-šumi, inscribed mdMAŠ-na-din-MU or dNIN.IB-SUM-MU, “Ninurta (is) giver of progeny,” c. 1127–1122 BC, was the 3rd king of the 2nd dynasty of Isin and 4th dynasty of Babylon. He reigned for seven years, contemporaneously with Aššur-reš-iši, c. 1133 to 1115 BC, the Assyrian king with whom he clashed.
The Early Assyrian period was the earliest stage of Assyrian history, preceding the Old Assyrian period and covering the history of the city of Assur, and its people and culture, prior to the foundation of Assyria as an independent city-state under Puzur-Ashur I c. 2025 BC. Very little material and textual evidence survives from this period. The earliest archaeological evidence at Assur dates to the Early Dynastic Period, c. 2600 BC, but the city may have been founded even earlier since the area had been inhabited for thousands of years prior and other nearby cities, such as Nineveh, are significantly older.
