Ashur (also known as Assur) was an Assyrian city located on a plateau above the Tigris River in Mesopotamia (today known as Qalat Sherqat, northern Iraq). The city was an important center of trade, as it lay squarely on a caravan trade route that ran through Mesopotamia to Anatolia and down through the Levant.
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Definition
Timeline
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2334 BCE - 2279 BCEReign of Sargon of Akkad, Akkadian outpost build at site of future city of Ashur.
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1900 BCEAshur, capial of Assyria, is founded.
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1813 BCE - 1791 BCEReign of Shamashi Adad I, Ashur flourishes.
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1792 BCE - 1750 BCEReign of Hammurabi of Babylon, Ashur becomes vassal state.
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c. 1740 BCE - c. 1350 BCEAshur is vassal state of the Kingdom of Mitanni.
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1353 BCE - 1318 BCEKing Ashur-Ubalit I frees Assyria from Mitanni rule.
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1307 BCE - 1275 BCEAdad Nirari I conquers Hittites, Ashur is capital of Assyrian Empire.
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1244 BCE - 1208 BCEReign of Tukulti-Ninurta I, Ashur renovated. Kar-Tukulti-Ninurta built across from city.
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1115 BCE - 1076 BCEReign of Tiglath Pileser I who issues law code from Ashur.
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912 BCE - 891 BCEAshur prospers under the reign of Adad Nirari II.
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884 BCE - 859 BCEReign of Ashurnasirpal II, capital moved from Ashur to Kalhu (Nimrud).
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c. 879 BCE - c. 627 BCEAshur remains an important spiritual center for Assyria, though no longer the capital.
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612 BCEThe great Assyrian cities of Ashur, Kalhu, and Nineveh are sacked and burned by the Medes, Babylonians, and Persian forces.
