The culture of ancient Assyria in brief. Culture of Assyria. Religion and culture

The people of Assyria have an interesting culture and a huge historical heritage that has been preserved for many centuries. Despite the fact that the state of Assyria fell in the sixth century AD, the nation continues to exist and develop. This phenomenon, without a doubt, deserves to be talked about and known to people. Assyrians - who are they? Answering this question is not so easy, but we will try to do it in our article.

History of the Assyrian state

The Assyrian power ended its existence in 612, and since then the people called the Assyrians have lived without their own state. If we talk about the historical homeland of the ethnos, it is located on the territory of Mesopotamia (now Iraq). One can only guess what efforts were made by the people of Assyria so as not to assimilate, not to scatter around the world, not to disappear from the map of nationalities. And they did it - the Assyrian people now live in the Caucasus, Tatarstan, Iraq, Turkey, the United States of America and maintain close contact with each other.

Assyrian is a nationality. But at the same time, a representative of the people cannot have Assyrian citizenship, because such a country simply does not exist today.

Culture of the Assyrian people

The culture that the Assyrians preserve to this day was born and functioned already when human civilization was at its origins. The Assyrian state existed for about two thousand years, cities were built, an administrative infrastructure was created, and taxation functioned. It is one of the richest cultures in the world because of its long history. Many of the achievements that we use were invented or discovered for us, modern people, by the ancient Assyrians.

Writing

The writing of the Assyrians deserves special attention. Humanity gained all knowledge about the life and culture of that time thanks to clay tablets. Initially, pictography was used (image of objects, their external form). Since drawings as a method of communication took a lot of time, writing became increasingly simplified until it became cuneiform. The ink of ancient civilizations was clay, and the writing instrument was a sharp stick carved from wood.

The tiles on which the ancient Assyrians wrote about themselves and the world around them were then dried and fired so that the inscription would not be damaged by dampness or time.

It is known that there were schools in Assyria. During the excavations, tablets were found that were identified as “disciple teaching aids.” Four years were allotted for teaching the same writing. And later we found out that there was even a university in Mesopotamia, probably the first for humanity. It studied writing, grammar and painting. Unfortunately, signs with completed homework or lectures have not been preserved. Scientists suggest that the tiles were processed by unskilled hands. And as a result, they spoiled, failing to convey unique information about teaching methods to our century.

What language do Assyrians speak?

The Assyrian language is a mixture of Eastern Aramaic dialects that etymologically belong to the Semitic-Hamitic language family. This language is spoken not only by Assyrians who live in Iran, Turkey, Iraq or Syria, but also by immigrants in Russia and the USA. The literary Assyrian language emerged in the nineteenth century. The press and fiction were published and published there. Many foreign words have taken root in the language.

Mysterious Assyrians: religion and faith

It makes sense to start the story about the Assyrian religion with a biblical legend. It is carefully preserved and honored by the Assyrians. Religion has a place of honor among them, so everyone knows the story. Its essence is that one of the wise men who came to the newborn Jesus with gifts was an Assyrian by nationality. Convinced that the Messiah had indeed been born, this sorcerer returned to his people and spread the good news that a miracle had happened and a savior was born into every home.

The religion of the Assyrians is a special variety of Christianity called Nestorianism. This is exactly what the Assyrians believe. Who are they by religion? It is most correct to call them Christians, but special ones.

The emergence of Nestorianism

A religious movement arose around the fifth century. The founder is considered to be a monk named Nestorius, and later the Patriarch of Constantinople. He held this position for four years: from 428 to 431. As for Nestorianism as a religion, many features of the teachings of Arius can be discerned in it. Recall that the faith of Arius was rejected as a heresy at the First Ecumenical Council in 325, because it rejected the concept of Jesus Christ as a divine messenger. Of course, Nestorianism has many dogmatic differences, namely, the positioning of Jesus Christ not as God (Orthodoxy) and not as a man (Aria), but as a being who had a human form with God inside. The point is that in Jesus Christ there were two principles: divine and human, and they can be easily separated from each other.

In connection with such views on the nature of Jesus Christ, the Nestorians interpret the image of the Mother of God differently. She is called the Mother of Christ and is not revered as the Orthodox do. As for the sacraments, the Nestorians agree with the traditional ones: baptism, priesthood, communion, repentance. Plus to all this, the sacraments in this faith are considered holy leaven and

The Assyrian Church uses the liturgies of the apostles Thaddeus and Mark, which were written during their stay in Jerusalem. Divine services are conducted in Old Syriac. Icons and statues symbolizing saints are not mandatory elements in churches. Celibacy is not provided for priests; the Assyrian Church requires marriage even after ordination.

Persecution

On the third, Nestorianism suffered the same sad fate as the faith of Arius - it was recognized as a heresy. Since then, the Nestorians have lived in communities, the heads of which are recognized as Patriarch-Catholicos. In 1968, the doctrine split into two schools, which exist separately to this day. The first school is the Assyrian Church, the center of which, surprisingly, is located in the USA, Illinois. And the second, the so-called Ancient Church of the East, settled in Baghdad (Iraq).

Twentieth century: Assyrians, who are they today?

The Assyrians began moving to Russian territory after 1918, when it became clear that they would simply be destroyed on Turkish territory. They received a rather warm reception, which was due to the participation of the people in the First World War on the side of the Russian army. Overall, the twentieth century was the bloodiest for the Assyrians, who were twice embroiled in brutal wars with the Turks. At that time, many Assyrians pinned their hopes on Russia as the savior of Eastern Christians from oppression, or even complete extermination. They were promised autonomy and broad rights, but when the war ended, the need to fulfill promises also faded into the background.

Approximately half of the Assyrians living in the Russian Empire died in the First World War. A quarter suffered repression several decades later. Then the Second World War, which came to Russian territory in 1941, again claimed the lives of many Assyrians who fought shoulder to shoulder with other nationalities against fascism. And finally, the deportation of Assyrians to Siberia in 1949 led to the fact that about a third of all settlers died the following winter due to a lack of warm clothing.

In 1956, they were allowed to return to the Caucasus, to their historical homeland. Where the Assyrians live to this day. What are they? Why do they live in Tatarstan, the Caucasus, Iraq, Turkey and America? Where did they flee from and why? History provides answers to all these questions, and now readers know it too.

Culture of Babylon and Assyria.

Babylon.

The word "Babylon" ("Babil") is translated as "Gate of God." Majestic Babylon was located on the banks of the Euphrates River. Babylon first achieved its power under King Hammurabi (1792-1750 BC). He conquered Sumer, Akkad and Assyria. In the Kingdom of Babylon, the slaveholding system was strengthened and further developed. The Babylonians adopted the spiritual culture of Sumer and adopted the traditions of Sumerian art.

Babylonia did not create an original culture, but successfully developed what was inherited from Sumer: from construction technologies to forms of literature. The Babylonians taught the Sumerian language in schools, developed Sumerian astronomy, mathematics, medicine, architecture, crafts, and adopted cuneiform writing. They continued to worship the Sumerian gods under other names. They even gave the temple of their main god, Marduk (the supreme God, patron of the city), the Sumerian name Esagila - the house where they raise their heads.

The best surviving work of Babylonian art is the relief crowning the code of laws of King Hammurabi - the famous legislative collection, which is the most important source for the study of the economic and social system of Babylon. This relief is carved into the upper part of a diorite pillar, completely covered with cuneiform text, and depicts King Hammurabi receiving laws from the sun god and justice Shamash. The image of the king in direct communication with the main god, presenting symbols of power to the earthly ruler, had a very important content for ancient Eastern despotism. The scene of such a presentation clearly expressed the idea of ​​​​the divine origin of royal power. Having appeared in a previous time, these scenes, much later, two thousand years later, in Sassanian art will still be the subjects of most rock reliefs. On the stele of Hammurabi, the god is represented seated on a throne; the king stands, accepting a rod and a magic circle - symbols of power. The figure of the king is smaller than the figure of god, the image is filled with canonical constraint and solemnity.

Along with the cult of the gods, the veneration of demons of good and evil was also widespread. The most terrible were the representatives of the “Evil Seven”; they were contrasted with the “7 wise men” - useful and kind demons. This cult formed the basis of the modern seven-day week. Every year in Babylon there was an 11-day New Year's holiday on the day of the vernal equinox (when the gods determined the fate of the city and citizens for a year) with countless prayers and processions. Myths were passed on from mouth to mouth about how Marduk created the world and his son Nabu appeared to people.

The priesthood in Babylonia was quite developed. In the temple of the Sun god Shamash there were even hermit priestesses, prototypes of Christian nuns. A culture with a powerful priesthood is characterized by a high level of scientific development. The cult of the heavenly bodies was extremely important in Babylonia. Attention to the stars and planets contributed to the rapid development of astronomy and mathematics. For the first time in human history, Babylonian astronomers calculated the laws of revolution of the Sun, Moon and the frequency of eclipses. The Babylonian names of the constellations Unicorn, Gemini, and Scorpio have survived to this day. In general, the Babylonians were significantly ahead of the Egyptians in astronomical observations. Mathematics, like the Sumerians, was based on sexagesimal calculation. This is where our 60 minutes in an hour and 360° in a circle come from. Babylonian mathematicians became the founders of algebra.

It should be noted that the interests of the inhabitants of Mesopotamia were more focused on reality. The Babylonian priests did not promise blessings and joys in the kingdom of the dead, but in case of obedience they promised them during life. There are almost no depictions of funeral scenes in Babylonian art. In general, the religion, art and ideology of Ancient Babylon were more realistic than the culture of ancient Egypt during the same period.

The most important centers of cultural and economic life in Mesopotamia were temples. They were built to demonstrate the power of their deity. Their classic form was a high stepped tower - a ziggurat, surrounded by protruding terraces and creating the impression of several towers, decreasing in volume ledge by ledge. There could be from four to seven such ledges. The ziggurats were painted with color transitions: from darker at the bottom to lighter at the top; terraces are usually landscaped. The most famous ziggurat in history can be considered the temple of the god Marduk in Babylon - the famous Tower of Babel, the construction of which is referred to as the Pandemonium of Babel in the Bible. The main building material was brick, dried in the sun. The fragile building material dictated heavy rectangular architecture with massive walls. In addition, there were such architectural elements as domes, arches, and vaulted ceilings. Art historians express the point of view that these forms subsequently formed the basis of the building art of Ancient Rome, and then medieval Europe.

Assyria.

In the 12th century BC. Babylonia, the heir of the Sumerian-Akkadian culture, is subjugated by Assyria, which has long fought for supremacy in the region and, along with Egypt, has become a “superpower” of antiquity.

The morals of Assyria, in comparison with what was usual for Sumer and Babylonia, were distinguished by severity. The socio-economic system of Assyria was based on the brutal exploitation and enslavement of a huge mass of the population. All power was concentrated in the hands of the Assyrian kings; art was required to glorify military campaigns and glorify royal valor. Children, like slaves, were considered property here. There was a large property stratification in the state; there was a constant shortage of slaves, which encouraged conquest. Assyria occupied a favorable position at the crossroads of caravan routes, and as a result a strong merchant class developed. Disregard for man, the creations of his hands, and life as such characterizes its culture, unique in its cruelty and cynicism. Assyrian warriors plundered cities, stole gold, silver, and treasures. Cities turned into ruins. Babylon was not only plundered, but also flooded, and the monuments were moved to the new capital of Assyria, Nineveh, where a library of clay cuneiform tablets was found in our time. This library is considered one of the oldest in the world, the key to the entire Assyro-Babylonian culture. It contains royal decrees, historical notes, literary monuments, including the text of the outstanding work of Mesopotamia, the Sumerian epic “The Song of Gilgamesh”. Soon after the death of the formidable Ashurbanipal, Nineveh turned into a heap of ruins, and Babylon, “the gate of God,” again raised its head and led the fight against Assyria.

Constant wars determined a characteristic feature of Assyrian architecture - the flourishing of fortress architecture. Its example is the city of Dur-Sharrukin, the residence of King Sargon II. Built according to a single plan in 713-707. BC e., it was surrounded by a gigantic, powerful fortress wall, the height and thickness of which was 23 m. Above the city, on an adobe terrace, was a grandiose royal palace, which included 210 halls and 30 courtyards. The palace ensemble was distinguished by an asymmetrical layout, which is typical for the adobe architecture of Ancient Mesopotamia, and consisted of seven tiers.

At the palace portals stood figures of fantastic winged bulls with human heads carved from monolithic blocks of soft local stone. The Assyrians called them “shedu” and believed that these statues were supposed to protect the palace and the sacred person of the king from hostile forces.

Assyrian fine art is characterized by a special approach to the image of a person: the desire to create an ideal of beauty and courage. This ideal is embodied in the image of the victorious king. In all figures, relief and sculptural, physical power, strength, and health are emphasized, which are expressed in unusually developed muscles, in thick and long curly hair.

The Assyrians created a new, military genre. On the reliefs of the royal palaces, artists depicted military life with amazing skill. They created grandiose battle paintings in which the warlike Assyrian army put their opponents to flight.

On the alabaster slabs that decorated the walls of the royal palaces, relief images of scenes of hunting and military campaigns, court life and religious rituals were preserved. The reliefs usually represented a kind of chronicle of events that took place during the reign of one or another king.

In the 9th century BC, under Ashurnasirpal II, the Assyrian state reached its greatest prominence. The distinctive features of the art of this period are simplicity, clarity and solemnity. In depicting various scenes on reliefs, artists tried to avoid overloading the image. Almost all compositions of the time lack landscape; sometimes only a flat line of soil is given

Human figures, with rare exceptions, are depicted with the convention characteristic of the Ancient East: shoulders and eyes - straight, legs and head - in profile. The variety of scales when depicting persons of different social status is also preserved. The king's figure is always completely motionless.

At the end of the 8th - beginning of the 7th century. BC. further development of the relief can be noted. The compositions become significantly more complicated, sometimes overloaded with details that are not directly related to the plot. The abundance of details and the large number of figures increase simultaneously with a decrease in their size. The relief is now divided into several tiers. There are also traits of stagnation, manifested in an increase in decorativeness, a kind of heraldic abstraction that leads away from the truth of life, in a certain sophistication of execution that becomes an end in itself.

Metal-plastics reached great perfection in Assyria. Its best example is relief compositions on bronze sheets that lined the gates found in the ruins of the ancient city of Imgur-enlil on Balavat Hill (the time of Shalmaneser III, 9th century BC). The particular interest of this work for the history of art lies in the depiction of the scene of the sculptor making the king’s victory stele. This is one of the rarest evidence of the life and work of artists in the art of Western Asia.

In Assyrian glyptics of the 1st millennium BC. scenes of religious content occupy a much larger place than in palace reliefs. But stylistically, the images on cylinder seals are close to monumental reliefs and differ from Sumerian-Akkadian glyptics in their great craftsmanship, fine modeling of figures and careful rendering of details.

The products of Assyrian artisans (carved bone, stone and metal vessels) were often very exquisite, but not independent in style: they show a strong Phoenician and Egyptian influence. After all, artisans from these countries were driven en masse to Assyria. Looted works of art were also brought here in large quantities. Therefore, products from local workshops are difficult, and sometimes impossible, to distinguish from “imported” ones.

We know quite little about the daily life of the Assyrians, especially the rank and file. The houses of the Assyrians were one-story, with two courtyards (the second served as a “family cemetery”). The walls of the houses were made of mud bricks or adobe.

Rituals and ceremonies of a magical nature were of utmost importance in the religion of the Assyrians. The gods were presented as strong, envious and menacing creatures in their anger, and the role of man in relation to them was reduced to the role of a slave feeding them with his victims. Every god was the patron god of a certain community or territory, there were “friends” and “foreign” gods, however, “foreign” gods were still recognized as deities. The patron god of the state was declared the most powerful god, the king of the gods, the world of the gods was represented in the image of the hierarchy of the royal court, and religion primarily sanctified the existing despotic monarchy. Official rituals, mythology and the entire teaching of the Assyrian religion were almost completely borrowed from Babylon, with the only difference being that the local god Ashur was placed above all the gods, including the Babylonian God Marduk. There were, however, myths and beliefs common among the masses that were not known to the Babylonians and that went back to Hurrian mythology. This is attested to by images on cylinder stone seals worn by free Assyrians. Assyrian myths and cults associated with agriculture have survived in the form of remnants to this day in the everyday life of the mountaineers living in the territory of the former Assyria.

Inventions: sun and water clocks, lunar calendar, first zoos.

These people were known by different names: the Greeks and Romans called them Syrians, the Armenians called them Aisors, and the Persians called them Nazran (not to be confused with a city in Russia!). This is not surprising: over their millennia-long history they have met and outlived many. However, from 609 BC. One of the oldest peoples in the world does not have its own state. Therefore, Assyrians living in Russia can safely call it their homeland and only home.

Baptism and blue beads

Say “Assyria” and a history buff will have many truly legendary associations. Mesopotamia, Babylon, Sumer, Alexander the Great - it's all about her. A history of two and a half millennia is the wealth of the Assyrians. Another thing is their language. Ethnographers believe that today they are hardly the only people who speak one of the dialects of the Aramaic language - the same one in which Jesus Christ preached. In addition, it was the Assyrians who were among the first to accept Christianity.

Over many centuries, empires were born and died on the territory of Mesopotamia. Scientists believe that during these bloody changes of eras, the Assyrians were not wiped off the face of the earth because they formed a community not only on the basis of blood ties. The Assyrian people proper were formed from the Assyrians, Hurrians, Subareans and Arameans. The basis was the most ancient culture - Assyrian, a common language, and in our era - already religion. Already in the 1st century AD. they accepted Christianity. His role in the life of the people was higher than the role of the state.

Most Assyrians are members of the Assyrian Church of the East. Like all other Christians, they revere Jesus Christ and his mother the Virgin Mary. There is no word for "Mother of God" in the Syriac language, so she is called Lady Mary (Mart Mariam). For them, icons are not a mandatory element of the temple, and there is no crucifix on the traditional equal-armed cross of the Assyrian Church. Services are conducted in the Old Syriac language, the Western dialect of which Jesus Christ spoke. The vast majority of Russian Assyrians are Orthodox, but there are also Catholics among them.

At the same time, despite all their religiosity, many Assyrians like to guess and find out their fate. For example, using a special reading of your name: each letter of the alphabet corresponds to its own number, and you need to carry out several mathematical manipulations with these numbers. The final number will answer questions about the fate of a person. In addition, it is believed that blue beads can protect against the evil eye.

The Assyrians have their own etiquette, formed due to the peculiarities of their way of life. For example, due to the fact that the people have experienced many wars and civil strife, courage has always been considered one of the main qualities of a noble person. However, not dashing, reckless, but rational and beneficial to society.

Sincerity is no less valued. A person must tell the truth, even if it causes him harm. The word in general has a huge value in the minds of the Assyrians. On the one hand, I gave my word - keep it. On the other hand, don’t chat in vain, don’t be frivolous, don’t gossip.

If you have courage, generosity, generosity, and respect your elders, you can be considered a noble person. And Assyrians take authority in society very seriously. The whole family makes sure that relatives behave appropriately, because everyone’s honor is the honor of the family.

The Assyrians also have their own rules of hospitality, both for the host and the guest. The owner is obliged to receive the visitor as if he were a messenger from heaven, must be generous and friendly. “With the arrival of a guest, happiness and joy come to the house,” says an old saying. But the guest must also behave accordingly: eat and drink little, do not linger and not interfere in the affairs of the hosts, and do not appear in someone else’s house too often. There is also a saying about this: “Go visit every other day and you will win love.”

What is an unhappy woman

The Assyrian family has always been patriarchal, with clearly defined roles. The head of the family is a man, the woman’s task is to raise children and manage household chores. For a very long time it was believed that only an unhappy woman could work outside the home - one who does not have a husband or who is unable to provide for the family. However, in these cases, one of her relatives took her under guardianship. She could only work in a women's team and leave the house accompanied by an elderly lady or a male relative. In ancient times, an adult woman covered her face. Some ethnographers believe that Muslims borrowed this custom from the Assyrians.

An Assyrian wedding has many features that are traditionally considered “oriental” in our society. For example, the Assyrians of the plains could kidnap a bride from her home. The mountaineers wooed the girl by offering her a ring, which she had to either give away or put on her finger. It was customary for everyone to pay a ransom for the bride, who was considered the property of her father. He, in turn, was obliged to give her a dowry. The marriage was sanctified by the church, and a wedding was obligatory. True, they didn’t forget to consult an astrologer about the wedding date. They feasted in the groom's house, and the newlyweds did not leave their room for three days and three nights. A month after the wedding, they went to live in their wife’s house for a while, then returned to their husband’s house and stayed there.

Once married, the girl became the property of the new family. She had to be meek and please her husband’s parents in everything. Disobedience threatened with divorce, and returning to his father's house was a huge shame.

The Assyrians sought to marry within their people. It was considered wrong to become related to “outsiders.” Even in the 20th century, Assyrians could travel to many neighboring cities to find a suitable match for their children.

Come to the ball

Most Assyrian holidays have a religious basis or go back thousands of years. For example, New Year is celebrated on April 1st. This holiday is called Ha b-Nissan. In Mesopotamia, at the end of March - beginning of April, the great, life-giving rivers Tigris and Euphrates overflowed. From that time on, a new economic cycle began, life conquered death. The New Year was celebrated for 12 days and nights, but the main night was April 1st. Interestingly, the Assyrians sprouted wheat for this day. Later this custom became part of Nowruz. Perhaps it was from the Assyrians that another tradition came.

It is believed that the prototype of the New Year's tree was the sacred tree of the Assyrians: it was depicted as a trunk with branches decorated with burning lights, on the ends of which apples were planted.

One of the favorite holidays of the Assyrians are the days of the saints Mar-Zaya (in January and June) and Mar-Nshal (in August), the day of Mat Maryam - the Dormition of the Virgin Mary. It is believed that it was thanks to the Assyrians and their celebrations that we got the expression “on the ball.” "Shara" is one of the variants of the word "holiday". On holidays, it was customary to treat any guest who looked into the house. It was impossible to refuse even a poor person or a stranger.

Rescue from genocide

Today, Assyrians live in many countries of the world - from Iran and Syria to the USA, Armenia and Russia. The largest number of Assyrians arrived in the Russian Empire in 1914-1915, after the defeat of the anti-Ottoman uprising and the genocide that resulted from it. Then, without exaggeration, representatives of this people found salvation under the rule of the Russian Tsar, because hundreds of thousands of their fellow tribesmen were destroyed - those who did not manage to escape Turkish persecution.

According to the 2010 census, there are slightly more than 11 thousand Assyrians in our country. The largest communities are located in Moscow, Krasnodar Territory and Rostov Region. Of course, in the new land they had to adapt to new realities and assimilate to some extent. For example, Assyrian surnames became Russified: the Ben-Yokhanans became Ivanovs. However, in Russia, the Assyrians were able to preserve not only their lives, but also their traditions and even their language.

Maria Andreeva

Housing

Throughout the existence of the Assyrian state, there was a continuous stratification of property among its population. The life of the slave-owning nobility was already significantly different from the life of its predecessors - the times of Hammurabi, Shamshiadad and earlier times. Not only the kings, but also their courtiers became rich.

“Those days are long gone,” wrote the prominent Soviet Assyriologist I.M. Dyakonov,- when the Assyrian and Babylonian priests and nobles of the times of Sargon I or Hammurabi lived in modest adobe houses, sat on the floor, on mats, ate only barley brew with sesame oil, only occasionally with lamb or fish, and baked on the hot walls of a clay hearth (Tindra Tanura ) lavash (girdaya), washed down with beer from rough clay goblets, and dressed in a simple woolen cloth wrapped around the body. Gone are the days when a wooden bed, door and stool were bequeathed to children and grandchildren as a family treasure; when 2-3 male or female slaves - foreigners captured on a campaign - or the children of a ruined neighbor taken away for debt - served both in the field and at home, and the owner himself did not hesitate to put his hand on the handle of the plow or on the gardener’s shovel.”

The house of a noble Assyrian had several rooms; in the main rooms the walls were decorated with mats, colored fabrics, and carpets. The rooms contained furniture decorated with metal plates and inlays of ivory and precious stones.

Many houses had windows right under the roof. Thus, during excavations in Tel Asmara (ancient Ashnunak) in 1932-1933. in some houses, small square windows (55 sq. cm) with wooden or clay frames were found in the upper part of the walls. It must be assumed that the same windows were installed in neighboring Assyrian settlements, but they were not preserved, because the upper parts of the houses were destroyed. In addition, light entered through a hole in the roof designed to allow smoke to escape.

The coolest rooms in the house face the courtyard and are located in the basement, where the sun's rays do not penetrate. The floor in them is covered with polished terracotta slabs. The walls are plastered with crushed lime. In summer, they are watered several times a day, and the water, evaporating, refreshes the air.

Bronze weight in the form of a lion (Assyria)

Clay weight in the shape of a duck (Assyria)

For the townspeople, the situation was much simpler: several chairs and stools of various shapes, with straight or crossed legs. They usually slept on mats, with the exception of the master and mistress of the house, who had wooden beds on four legs in the shape of lion paws, with a mattress and two blankets.

In one of the corners of the yard there was a bread oven; on the pillars of the portico were hung wineskins and jugs of water for drinking and washing. On the open-air fireplace there was a large cauldron of boiling water.

Wealthy Assyrians willingly ate meat on holidays, washing it down with wine. On their table one could see game, locusts (locusts), and various fruits (grapes, pomegranates, apples, peaches, Babylonian dates, medlar). At meals they sat on beds of ivory or expensive wood.

The poor were content with a small amount of bread, onions, and garlic. They ate cucumbers seasoned with salt and butter, and fish, which they caught in abundance.

The basis of the slave's diet was coarse barley bread, onions, garlic and dried fish.

During the feast, men and women sat in separate rooms; at normal times everyone gathered at one table.

Various amulets were placed in the house, designed to protect households from the “evil eye” and “evil spirits.” To get rid of them, an image of the spirit in the form of a figurine was placed in a visible place. The text of the conspiracy was often carved on it. To ward off the most terrible demon - the owner of the southwest wind, whose fiery breath dries crops and burns people and animals with fever, figurines with his image were also hung above the doors and on the terraces.

Other similar figurines were buried under the threshold to block “evil spirits” from entering the house. Most of them have the heads of various animals, completely unseen in the world.

A large army of gods is also called upon to fight “evil spirits.” Each god to whom this is entrusted is located at the “combat post” where an attack is expected. Nergal - on the wall and under the threshold; Ea and Marduk are in the corridor and passages, on the right and left sides of the door and near the bed. In the morning and evening, the owners place dishes and full bowls of drinks in the corner for the gods.

Cloth

The costume of wealthy Assyrians consisted of a dress with a slit on the side. Over a tunic shirt, a noble Assyrian sometimes wore colored wool fabric embroidered and decorated with fringes or expensive purple. They wore a necklace around their necks, earrings in their ears, massive bracelets and wrists made of bronze, silver or gold on their hands. Dresses were worn long, reaching to the heels, and a wide belt covered them at the waist.

Craftsmen, farmers, and warriors dressed more modestly and simply. They wore a shorter tunic that reached to the knees and did not restrict movement.

Unfortunately, there are no materials characterizing the costume of Assyrian women either in the library of Ashurbanipal or among Greek writers and historians. The women depicted on the walls of the palaces are not Assyrians, but captives from among the conquered peoples. An exception is a small bas-relief from the palace at Nineveh. It depicts King Ashurbanipal feasting in the garden with one of his wives. The king himself reclines on a luxurious bed, and the queen sits at his feet in a chair. Her figure is encircled by a spacious, smooth and heavy robe, without a belt, falling to her feet. Below the knees it is decorated with two stripes. The hair is tied on the forehead with a bandage.

When leaving home, a free Assyrian woman always put on an elegant veil. It was supposed to be thrown on the face in front of strangers. Slaves (as well as prostitutes) were strictly forbidden to wear it.

The ceremonial clothing of the Assyrian king consisted of a dark blue outer dress with short sleeves embroidered with red rosettes; at the waist it was tied with a wide belt with three regularly folded pleats; the belt was trimmed along the lower edge with fringe, each tassel of which ended with four strings of glass beads. Something like a long epancha (sleeveless or very short sleeved outerwear) was worn over the tunic. It reached only to the waist and was so embroidered with patterns that the material itself was almost invisible.

On his head the king wore a tall tiara in the shape of a truncated cone, which fit tightly to the contours of his forehead and temples; it is made of white wool with blue stripes. A wide ribbon, studded with rosettes of gold thread, supported the tiara on the forehead, and both ends, tied in a knot at the back, fell to the back of the head.

In his hand the king held a long scepter, the height of a man. Behind him, slaves carried an umbrella and a large feather fan.

Jewelry made of precious metals matched the clothing. Men maintained the custom of wearing earrings in their ears. They consisted of a simple gold ring with three balls and a pendant. Bracelets of exquisite shape were usually worn two on each hand. The first was worn above the elbow. It consisted of a golden spiral ring, each end of which ended in a lion's head. The bracelet worn on the wrist was also made of gold. Some bracelets were decorated with an elegant rosette of precious stones. All these decorations were made with great skill. The lion heads are expressive, the designs are placed tastefully, and the way of combining different patterns is very original.

Magical emblems of the gods were often attached to the Assyrian costume, woven from golden threads: the crescent of Sin, a disk with four rays representing Shamash the sun, a lightning bolt with three points representing the thunderer Adad. All these are, rather, amulets rather than decorations.

The Assyrians had their own specific tradition. They all had long curled hair and a pointed, neatly curled and carefully combed beard. Only eunuchs were depicted as beardless.

Warriors wore special clothes. Some of them, belonging to the mobile light detachments, were dressed in armor made of small metal plates that covered the chest; a tunic descended from under the armor. Others wore a conical helmet, to which was attached a veil that went down the back of the head and framed the chin.

Chapter V. Life and customs of the ancient Assyrians

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