The Neo-Assyrian Empire. A Handbook

In the 8th and 7th centuries BCE, the Assyrians built the first true empire in world history. They introduced governamental structures in the Near East and developed imperial ideology, culture and religion. It became a model of power even beyond its final collapse in 612 BCE. Phases, episodes, dynamics and protagonists of the construction of Assyrian power are analyzed with particular attention for the world context of the time, the functioning of the administrative system, economic factors, social organization, ideological and cultural constructs and impact.