How societies evolved into fear-dominated goliaths – then collapsed
We think of ancient civilisations as operating very differently from the way our economy works today. Yet the Assyrians, around 3,000 years ago, began the basis of modern capitalism, in a region spanning most of modern-day Iraq, eastern Syria and southeastern Turkey.
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"Cuneiform writing, the oldest in the world, records evidence of credit, loans and debits as “virtual money” and the rise of elite merchants holding monopolies on trade. They traded Afghanistan tin from the city of Kanesh (in modern Turkey) throughout their empire, working as multinational corporations do today.
The Assyrian business community also had the first businesswomen and female investors. Generous tax breaks were given to merchants who promoted good business. The famous Code of Hammurabi reads like the fine print of a business deal, stating rules for granting credit and imposing taxes and tariffs on trade."
The ancient leather armor, datable to 786-543 BCE, was originally made of about 5,444 smaller scales and 140 larger scales, which, together with leather laces and lining, had a total weight of 4-5 kg.
Taking its name from the Assyrian word for “peace,” Shiluh is Turkey’s largest commercial Assyrian-style winery. It is based in Midyat, about 100 km from Mardin in southeastern Turkey, and carries on the winemaking tradition of Christian Assyrians in a modernized way.
A magnetic survey at Khorsabad, once the ancient Assyrian capital, has revealed the remains of a huge villa (with 127 rooms), royal gardens, the city’s water gate and five large buildings.
Her name was pressed into clay 4,300 years ago. Her works were only fully translated into English in 2023. Enheduanna, high priestess, poet, and daughter of the world's first empire builder, is the earliest named author in human history. Most people have never heard of her.
After an attack on a synagogue in a Detroit suburb, the Assyrian-owned Shenandoah Country Club opened its doors to shelter families and staff, earning praise for the Assyrian community’s solidarity with Detroit’s Jewish community.
For the ancient Assyrians, emotions were felt differently in the body. A new analysis of Akkadian texts suggests happiness was linked not to the heart but to the liver, offering fresh insight into how Assyrians understood emotions and the human body.
Professor Dr. Artur Margulov, an Assyrian from Ukraine, has conducted unique archival research on Assyrians in Ukraine, tracing their journey from World War I refugees to victims of Soviet repression and the lasting impact on their community today.
A court in Brussels has sentenced Assyrian Paulus Sati, a Chaldean Archdeacon legally known as Atheel Sati, in connection with a major organized crime case in Belgium.
John Long
