Inscribed triumphal columns of Assyrian kings in Anatolia as a symbol of sovereignty

Year 2017, , 1112 - 1119, 01.10.2017

Nurgül Yıldırım

https://doi.org/10.24289/ijsser.303664

Abstract

The main
reason for the campaigns, battles and massacres organized by Assyrian kings for
conquering Anatolia or at least taking the region under control has been
thought to be the raw materials resources in Anatolia and the convenience of
sea and land connections through which these raw material resources could be
transferred. As of the beginning of 2000 BC, the policy followed by Assyria,
which had been started with the commercial relations with Anatolia and in the
period of Assyrian Commercial Colonies when mining reserves of Anatolia largely
carried to Assyria, continued in a straight line without impeding the trade performed
upon the consent of Anatolian kings. Being home to establishments that were
politically, economically and socio-culturally different, and losing its
civilization level with the increase of mass movements, Anatolia was ruled by
small or large kingdoms which tried to exhibit Hittite characteristics in 1000
BC. In this period, Assyria that gradually gained power and tried to expand
with the policy of western expansionism turned its face towards Anatolia once
again to dominate on the path from being a kingdom to becoming an empire and to
make this permanent. Accordingly, Assyrian kings left permanent marks on the
lands they conquered during the campaigns to Anatolia. It was aimed in this
study to shed light on the triumphal columns left by Assyrian kings in Anatolia
after the successful campaigns by means of both philological sources and
archeological finds. 

Keywords

Neo-Assyria, Neo-Hittite Kingdoms, Rock Relief of Neo-Assyria

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