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Athura ( ''Aθurā'') was a geographical area within the Persian Achaemenid Empire held by the last nobility of Aššur (Akkadian), known as Athura (Neo-Aramaic) or Atouria (Greek), during the period of 539 BC to 330 BC as a military protectorate state of Persia under the rule of Cyrus the Great. Although sometimes regarded as a satrapy,〔 〕 Achaemenid royal inscriptions list it as a ''dahyu'', a concept generally interpreted as meaning either a group of people or both a country and its people, without any administrative implication.〔Cameron, George (1973): "The Persian satrapies and related matters", ''Journal of Near Eastern Studies'' 32, pp. 47–56; Cook, J.M.: "The rise of the Achaemenids and establishment of their empire", pp. 261–262, in Ilya Gershevitch, (The Cambridge History of Iran ); Briant, Pierre (2002): ''From Cyrus to Alexander: A History of the Persian Empire'', pp. 177, 390-391, 909.〕 It mostly incorporated the original Assyrian kingdom, corresponding with modern northern Iraq in the upper Tigris, the middle and upper Euphrates, modern-day north eastern Syria (Eber-Nari) and part of south-east Anatolia (modern Turkey).〔Dandamatev, Muhammad: "(Assyria. ii- Achaemenid Aθurā )", Encyclopaedia Iranica〕 The Neo-Assyrian Empire collapsed after a period of violent civil wars, followed by an invasion by a coalition of some of its former subject peoples, the Iranian peoples (Medes and Persians), Babylonians, Scythians, and Cimmerians in the late 7th century BC, culminating in the Battle of Nineveh, and Assyria had fallen completely by 605 BC. Between 605 and 559 BC, Assyria was divided between the Median Empire to the east and the Neo-Babylonian Empire to the west. Both parts were subsumed into the Achaemenid Empire in 539 BC, and it has been argued that they constituted the satrapies of Media and Athura, respectively.〔 In Herodotus' account the Ninth Tributary District comprised "Babylonia and the rest of Assyria", and excluded Eber-Nari.〔Briant, Pierre, ''op. cit.'' p. 391.〕 Despite a few rebellions, Assyria functioned as an important part of the Achaemenid Empire. The Assyrian people were given the right to govern themselves throughout Achaemenid rule, and the Assyrian (Aramaic) language was used diplomatically by the Persians.〔Rosenthal, "Aramaic", in ''Encyclopaedia Iranica''.〕 Known for their combat skills, Assyrian soldiers (along with the Lydians) constituted the main heavy infantry of the Achaemenid empire's military.〔Shadows in the Desert: Ancient Persia at War By Kaveh Farrokh. Page 176.〕 Due to the major destruction of Assyria during the fall of its empire, some early scholars described the area as an "uninhabited wasteland." Other Assyriologists, however, such as John Curtis and Simo Parpola, have strongly disputed this claim, citing how Assyria would eventually become one of the wealthiest regions among the Achaemenid Empire. This wealth was due to the land's great prosperity for agriculture that the Persians used effectively for almost 200 years. In contrast to the policy of the Assyrian Empire, the Achaemenid Persians did not intervene in the internal affairs of their ruling satrapies as long as they continued the flow of tribute and taxes back to Persia.〔"The Culture And Social Institutions Of Ancient Iran" by Muhammad A. Dandamaev, Vladimir G. Lukonin. Page 104〕 ==Fall of the Assyrian Empire== Between the mid 14th centuries and late 11th century BC, and again between the late 10th and late 7th centuries BC, the respective Middle Assyrian Empire and Neo-Assyrian Empire dominated the Middle East militarily, culturally, economically and politically,〔Healy, Mark. The Ancient Assyrians. New York: Osprey, 1991. (various pages) ISBN 1-85532-163-7〕 and the Persians and their neighbours the Medes, Parthians, Elamites and Manneans were vassals of Assyria and paid tribute. In the late 7th century BC, however, the Assyrian empire descended into a period of civil war in 626 BC, which drastically weakened it, and eventually led to a number of its former subject peoples; the Babylonians, Chaldeans, Medes, Persians, Scythians and Cimmerians, forming an alliance and attacking the civil war ridden Assyrians in 616 BC. The Battle of Nineveh in 612 BC eventually left Assyria destroyed for years to come. The Assyrians continued to fight on, with the aid of another of their former vassals, Egypt who feared the rise of these new powers. Harran, the new Assyrian capital, was eventually taken in 608 BC.〔"Wisdom of Egypt and the Old Testament" By W. O. E. Oesterley. Page 31.〕 Despite this, the Assyrians continued to fight on until final defeat at Carchemish in 605 BC. A costly but victorious battle at Megiddo against the forces of Judah allowed the Egyptians to advance to the rescue, only to be defeated by the Babylonian-Median-Scythian alliance. Assyria was conquered by the alliance.〔 Babylonian rule was unpopular, but did not last long. In 539, Cyrus the Great defeated the Babylonian King Nabonidus (ironically himself an Assyrian from Harran), took Babylon and made it, along with Assyria, into provinces of the Persian Empire.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Achaemenid Assyria」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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