Neo-Assyrian Empire

The Neo-Assyrian Empire dominated the ancient Near East from 911 to 609 BC, founded by King Adad-nirari II and ruled in succession from the capitals of Assur, Nimrud, Dur-Sharrukin and finally Nineveh. Notable kings included Ashurnasirpal II, Tiglath-Pileser III, Sargon II, Sennacherib, Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal. At its peak around 671 BC the empire covered approximately 1.4 million square kilometers, ruling all of Mesopotamia, the Levant and Egypt along with parts of Anatolia, Arabia, and what are now Iran and Armenia, and is described as the first world empire in history for its scale and its ideology of universal rule. The empire pioneered military innovations, sophisticated state communications and administrative systems that influenced the empires that followed it. It was destroyed by a Babylonian uprising combined with an invasion by the Medes between 626 and 609 BC, with the fall of its capital Nineveh in 612 BC marking its collapse; the Neo-Babylonian Empire and the Median Empire succeeded it in the region.