What ever happen to the Assyrians?

[Revolutionary]

Originally posted by Hermes
I think some german excavation recently found the grave of Gilgamesh, so he might be ok for leader. But the Enkidu warrior is clearly an effort to make it interesting and unique, which the unique units should be, of course. But I guess it is ok, I don't have any better ideas.

WOW!!! really now I actually want to read the Epic of Gilgamesh

you don't happen to know were a can download that do you?

 

[NankingDan]

I've always wanted to see an Assyrian civ as the ultimate early-age war-mongers. My suggestion:
+Militaristic and Expantionist
+Leader: ? (possibly Sargon, but he may have been too early)
+Favorite government: Despotism
+Shunned Government: Democracy
+Agression Level: 5 (very high)
+Unit: Slinger: 3-1-1, 35 shields, replaces archer, has Enslave
(I figured a super-offensive archer should be at least 30
shields. Considering that he has enslave, requires no
resources, and comes so early in the game, I think he
should be expensive to produce. The Assyrian slingers
had wicked lead/iron pellets shaped like footballs that
they slung at enemies with great precision. Often, these
pellets would have the words "ouch" or "pain" engraved
on them, proving that the cruel and dark Assyrians had a
equally twisted sense of humor)

 

[Djarum Kretek]

Originally posted by The Last Conformist
BTW, since alot of people think the Hebrews ought to be in on account of originating Judaicism and Christianity, surely the also Nepalese on account of Siddharta Gautama coming from there?

What?? Siddharta Gautama was from Nepal?I'm not a Buddhist, but I think he was from India... a region in India... somewhere... but not Nepal.

Anyway, back to Assyria... YEAH let's get them in. The war lovers of early times... I would love to experience destroying them... I love this game...

 

[The Last Conformist]

Originally posted by Djarum Kretek
What?? Siddharta Gautama was from Nepal?I'm not a Buddhist, but I think he was from India... a region in India... somewhere... but not Nepal.

He was born in what now is Nepal, altho much of his life was spent in what is now the Indian Union.

When speaking of pre-1949 times, 'India' is usually understood to mean the entire subcontinent - essentially the territory of the modern Indian Union, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka - by which definition Nepal of course is a region of India.

 

[Hermes]

Originally posted by Revolutionary


WOW!!! really now I actually want to read the Epic of Gilgamesh

you don't happen to know were a can download that do you?

Well it seems it's here: http://www.ancienttexts.org/library/mesopotamian/gilgamesh/

Originally posted by NankingDan

+Leader: ? (possibly Sargon, but he may have been too early)

Well that depends on what Sargon you mean. The best-known Sargon is Sargon of Akkade, but he is akkadian, and is something else, earlier than the Assyrians. Sargon II was a neo-assyrian king so he could be a subject. But as he died in the battlefield and was never found - which is really bad as you become a ghost for ever to haunt the assyrian armies - and his new-built city was abandoned of the same reason he is no good omen. Instead I think it should be Assurbanipal - quite famous for his fantastic relief's - quite like cartoons. There is a great one depicting a battlescene with the armies of Elam. It is very dynamic and not at all static as it were erlier and generally were in all ancient art (that ancient anyway). It was a chaotic scene where lots was going on. There were small stories you could follow - even with the depicted warriors saying something wrote small over their heads. I rember one where an Elamite general or something is kneeling to an assyrian footsoldier - and he says: "Kill me and you will be famous". This whole scene end with a depiction of Assurbanipal sitting with his wife and drinking wine in a garden, while the head of the elamite king hangs dripping from a tree... ahh how wonderfull....

 

[The Last Conformist]

As you may've guessed, there was also an Assyrian Sargon the First. He reigned sometime in the early 2nd millennium BC, and is little more than a name in a regnal list to us.

'Sargon', btw, is the Sumerian form of the name. The Akkadian* is Sharru-kin, and means "(the) king (is) legitimate".

* Assyrian is a dialect of Akkadian.

 

[Hermes]

Originally posted by The Last Conformist
As you may've guessed, there was also an Assyrian Sargon the First. He reigned sometime in the early 2nd millennium BC, and is little more than a name in a regnal list to us.

'Sargon', btw, is the Sumerian form of the name. The Akkadian* is Sharru-kin, and means "(the) king (is) legitimate".

* Assyrian is a dialect of Akkadian.

Oh right, I forgot about him.

Btw that explains why Sargon II's soon to be abandoned city was named Dur-Sharrukin. I'm not sure what Dur means, maybe city?

 

[The Last Conformist]

Dur means "fortress" or something like that. Perhaps simply "walled city" in context, but you usually see Dur-Sharrukin translated as "Fortress of Sargon".

 

[Louis XXIV]

It is almost always translated as Fort Sargon. I never knew what happened to the city, so that's nice to know.

 

[Hermes]

Well, it was abandoned as I said, after Sargon diedin the battlefield. But not from day to day of course, mainly it lost it's importance. The reason to move the capital in the first place was problably because Sargon wanted to get away from Assur's traditional powerfull merchant-houses. So when he died, apart from the fact that he was now an all-evil ghost, there were also several political reasons to leave the place and return to the traditional capital of Assur.