| Assyria (ancient
Ashur, Ashshur, or Assur), ancient
country of Asia, extending from about the
northern border of present-day Iraq south
to the mouth of the Little Zab River, in
the northern part of Iraq. About the size
of the state of Kansas and roughly
triangular in shape, Assyria included the
valley of the Tigris River. The western part of the country
consisted of steppe land suitable only
for a nomadic population. The eastern
section, however, was fit for
agriculture, with wooded hills and
fertile valleys watered by good-size
streams. To the east of Assyria lay the
Zagros Mountains; to the north, terrace
upon terrace led up to the Armenian
Massif; the Mesopotamian plain stretched
to the west. To the south was the country
known first as Sumer, then as Sumer and
Akkad, and still later as Babylonia.
Mesopotamia is the name that the ancient
Greeks gave to the general region in
which all these countries, including
Assyria, flourished.
The best-known cities
of Assyria, all situated in the territory
of present-day Iraq, were Ashur, now Ash
Sharqâþ; Nineveh, now the excavated
mound Kuyunjik; Calah, now Nimrud; and
Dur Sharrukin, now Khorsabad.
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