Neo-Assyrian Empire · 900-612 BC

Assyria: the first superpower

From a heartland on the Tigris, Assyria built the largest empire the world had yet seen, from Egypt to Iran. Students study how it was run, why it was feared, and why it collapsed within a few years around 612 BC.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
50 minutes
Ages
12–15
On the map
3 steps, 870 BC to 612 BC
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

From a heartland on the Tigris, Assyria built the largest empire the world had yet seen, from Egypt to Iran. Students study how it was run, why it was feared, and why it collapsed within a few years around 612 BC.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Locate the Assyrian heartland and its capitals Ashur, Nimrud and Nineveh on the Tigris.
  • Explain two tools Assyria used to rule: a standing army and mass deportation.
  • Give two reasons historians offer for the sudden fall of Assyria in 612 BC.
2

Explore the map

15 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

870 BC

The heartland

Open the map in 870 BC on the upper Tigris. The map shows Assyria only as its core land around Ashur and Nimrud. Turn on the Cities layer to find Nineveh. Why would a kingdom here need to control the mountain passes to the north and east?

Open this view on the map
b

700 BC

From the Nile to the Zagros

Jump to 700 BC. The map shows only Assyria's heartland, but its kings now ruled the Levant and Babylonia, and in 671 BC they would take Egypt too. Zoom out and trace that true extent with your finger. How much larger is it than the heartland?

Open this view on the map
c

612 BC

Nineveh falls

Go to 612 BC and turn on Historical Events (Political Events). Find "Fall of the Assyrian Empire". Medes from the Iranian highlands and Babylonians from the south attacked together. Trace where each army came from.

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

15 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. Assyria's army had a permanent core of professional soldiers, iron weapons and siege engines. Why was this expensive, and how did the empire pay for it?
  2. The Assyrians deported whole peoples, such as the Israelites in 722 BC, and resettled them far away. Why did this work for the empire, and what did it do to the people?
  3. Assyrian kings decorated their palaces with scenes of sieges and punishments. Were they bragging, warning or both?
  4. The empire fell in just a few years, 614-609 BC. Big empires rarely vanish this fast. What might make a superpower this fragile?
  5. The Bible, Greek writers and modern films all show Assyria as cruel. Its own records show roads, libraries and canals. How do you judge a civilization fairly?
4

Game round

10 min

Play one round as Ramesses II, then compare: Egypt and Assyria were both empires, but Assyria ruled through fear and deportation on a scale Egypt never tried. Which ruler's methods would last longer? Vote and explain.

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.