Thoughts on the Assyrian Empire and Assyrian Kingship

Abstract

The theory of translatio imperii had its origins in much earlier Mesopotamian traditions and its basic principles were deeply rooted in Mesopotamian thought and textual traditions. The idea of continuity from one king or dynasty to the next survives in the so-called “Akkadian Prophecies” as well as the “Dynastic Prophecy”, which describes the succession from the Assyrian Empire to the Neo-Babylonian Empire to the Persian Empire and, finally, to the Macedonian-Seleucid Empires. The idea of translatio imperii was based on the concept that there was only one “empire” at a time. This chapter investigates the practical as well as ideological implications of this reasoning. It discusses imperial ideology and its role in the Neo-Assyrian Period. The chapter explores the political theology of Assyria that changed around the mid-second millennium BCE. It distinguishes between two different stages, a first one providing certain prerequisites, and a second stage bringing about the actualization of the imperial project.

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