Neo-Assyrian Empire

State · 900–601 BCE · at its largest around 675 BCE

Mesopotamian empire ruled from cities such as Nimrud and Nineveh that dominated the Near East and briefly Egypt, until Babylonians and Medes destroyed it in 612–609 BCE.

On its lands while it lasted

Eridu (c. 5,400–600 BCE): Regarded by the Sumerians as the first city; its temple to the god Enki was rebuilt many times from the Ubaid period onward.
Uruk (c. 5,000 BCE – c. 700 CE): Sumerian city on the Euphrates that by about 3100 BCE was probably the largest city in the world, centre of the first urban civilization.
Thebes (3,200–801 BCE): Capital of Middle Kingdom of Egypt (2000 BCE–1782 BCE), New Kingdom of Egypt (1500 BCE–801 BCE).
Tyre (2,750–501 BCE): Capital of Phoenicia (1150 BCE–501 BCE).
Assur (2,500–609 BCE): Capital of Assyria (1800 BCE–901 BCE), Neo-Assyrian Empire (900 BCE–609 BCE).
Babylon (2,201 BCE – 1 CE): Capital of Babylonia (1800 BCE–601 BCE), Neo-Babylonian Empire (600 BCE–539 BCE), Achaemenid Empire (550 BCE–330 BCE).
Nimrud (c. 1,800–612 BCE): Capital of Assyria (1800 BCE–901 BCE).
Nineveh (c. 1,800–612 BCE): Capital of Assyria (1800 BCE–901 BCE).
Sidon (c. 1,150–501 BCE): Capital of Phoenicia (1150 BCE–501 BCE).
Mesha Stele (c. 840 BCE): Basalt stone inscribed by King Mesha of Moab recording his revolt against Israel; found at Dhiban in 1868, it is one of the earliest extra-biblical references to Israel and now stands in the Louvre.
Aramaic alphabet (c. 800 BCE): Aramaic, written in a branch of the Phoenician alphabet, became the common language of the Assyrian and Persian empires; its script is the ancestor of the Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic and Mongolian scripts.
Yerevan (782 BCE): Capital of Republic of Armenia (1992–today).
Konya (700 BCE): Capital of Sultanate of Rum (1098–1307), Beylik of Karaman (1305–1467).
Library of Ashurbanipal (c. 668 BCE): A royal collection of over 30,000 clay tablets and fragments gathered by Ashurbanipal at Nineveh, including the Epic of Gilgamesh; it is a key source for Mesopotamian literature.
Fall of Nineveh (612 BCE): A coalition of Babylonians and Medes sacked Nineveh, the Assyrian capital, bringing about the collapse of the Neo-Assyrian Empire.