Editing History of Iraq (section)

=== Iron Age ===
{{Main|Fall of Babylon}}
[[File:Map of Assyria.png|thumb|The [[Assyria|Assyrian Empire]] at its greatest extent]]
[[File:Ashurbanipal_in_a_chariot,_wall_relief,_7th_century_BC,_from_Nineveh,_the_British_Museum.jpg|thumb|[[Aramaic|7th-century BC relief depicting]] [[Ashurbanipal]] ({{reign}}669–631 BC) and three royal attendants in a [[chariot]]. Ashurbanipal  was the king of the [[Neo-Assyrian Empire]] which was the [[List of largest empires|largest empire]] in history up to that point.{{Sfn|Aberbach|2003|p=4}}{{Sfn|Düring|2020|p=133}}]]
The [[Neo-Assyrian Empire]] (911–609 BC) was the dominant political force in the Ancient Near East during the Iron Age, eclipsing [[Babylonia]], [[Ancient Egypt|Egypt]], [[Urartu]], and [[Elam]].<ref name="kchanson.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.kchanson.com/ANCDOCS/meso/obelisk.html|title=Black Obelisk, K. C. Hanson's Collection of Mesopotamian Documents|publisher=K.C. Hansen|access-date=23 November 2014|archive-date=9 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709213033/http://www.kchanson.com/ANCDOCS/meso/obelisk.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Because of its geopolitical dominance and ideology based on [[world domination]], the Neo-Assyrian Empire is regarded by many researchers as the first [[world empire]].{{Sfn|Düring|2020|p=133}}<ref>{{Cite book|last=Liverani|first=Mario|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nhsmDwAAQBAJ|title="Thoughts on the Assyrian Empire and Assyrian Kingship".|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|year=2017|isbn=978-1-118-32524-7|location=Hoboken|page=536}}</ref> At its height, the empire ruled over all of [[Mesopotamia]], the [[Levant]], and Egypt, as well as portions of [[Anatolia]], the [[Arabian Peninsula]], and modern-day Iran and Armenia. Under rulers such as [[Adad-Nirari II]], [[Ashurnasirpal I|Ashurnasirpal]], [[Shalmaneser III]], [[Semiramis]], [[Tiglath-pileser III]], [[Sargon II]], [[Sennacherib]], [[Esarhaddon]], and [[Ashurbanipal]], Iraq became the center of an empire stretching from [[Persia]], [[Parthia]], and [[Elam]] in the east to [[Cyprus]] and [[Antioch]] in the west, and from [[The Caucasus]] in the north to [[Egypt]], [[Nubia]], and [[Arabia]] in the south.<ref>{{cite web|title=Neo-Assyrian Empire|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Neo-Assyrian_Empire/|access-date=7 February 2022|website=World History Encyclopedia|language=en}}</ref>

It was during this period that an Akkadian-influenced form of [[Eastern Aramaic]] was adopted by the Assyrians as their [[lingua franca]], and Mesopotamian Aramaic began to supplant Akkadian as the spoken language of the general populace of both Assyria and Babylonia. The descendant dialects of this tongue survive among the [[Mandaeans]] of southern Iraq and [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]] of northern Iraq. The [[Arab people|Arabs]] and the [[Chaldea]]ns are first mentioned in written history (circa 850 BC) in the annals of [[Shalmaneser III]]. The Neo-Assyrian Empire left a legacy of great cultural significance. The political structures established by the Neo-Assyrian Empire became the model for the later empires that succeeded it, and the ideology of [[Universal monarchy|universal rule]] promulgated by the Neo-Assyrian kings inspired similar ideas of rights to [[world domination]] in later empires. The Neo-Assyrian Empire became an important part of later folklore and literary traditions in northern Mesopotamia. [[Judaism]], and thus in turn also [[Christianity]] and [[Islam]], was profoundly affected by the period of Neo-Assyrian rule; numerous Biblical stories appear to draw on earlier Assyrian mythology and history, and the Assyrian impact on early Jewish theology was immense. Although the Neo-Assyrian Empire is prominently remembered today for the supposed excessive brutality of the [[Military history of the Neo-Assyrian Empire|Neo-Assyrian army]], the Assyrians were not excessively brutal compared to other civilizations.{{Sfn|Aberbach|2003|p=4}}<ref>{{Cite book|last=Frahm|first=Eckart|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nhsmDwAAQBAJ|title=A Companion to Assyria|publisher=John Wiley & Sons Hoboken|year=2017|isbn=978-1-118-32524-7|location=Hoboken|page=196}}</ref>

In the late 7th century BC, the Assyrian Empire tore itself apart with a series of brutal civil wars, weakening itself to such a degree that a coalition of its former subjects, including the [[Babylonians]], [[Chaldea]]ns, [[Medes]], [[Persian people|Persians]], [[Parthian Empire|Parthians]], [[Scythians]], and [[Cimmerians]], were able to attack Assyria, finally bringing its empire down by 605 BC.<ref>Georges Roux – Ancient Iraq</ref>

[[File:Neo-Babylonian Empire under Nebuchadnezzar II.png|thumb|The [[Neo-Babylonian Empire]] under [[Nabonidus]] (r. 626–539 BC)]] The short-lived [[Neo-Babylonian Empire]] (626–539 BC) succeeded that of Assyria. It failed to attain the size, power, or longevity of its predecessor; however, it came to dominate [[The Levant]], [[Canaan]], [[Arabia]], [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Israel]], and [[Kingdom of Judah|Judah]], and even defeated [[Egypt]]. Initially, Babylon was ruled by the [[Chaldea]]ns, who had migrated to the region in the late 10th or early 9th century BC. Its greatest king, [[Nebuchadnezzar II]], rivaled [[Hammurabi]] as the greatest king of Babylon. However, by 556 BC, the Chaldeans had been deposed by the Assyrian-born [[Nabonidus]] and his son and regent [[Belshazzar]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Beaulieu |first=Paul-Alain |title=Berossus on Late Babylonian History |url=https://www.academia.edu/1581190/Berossus_on_Late_Babylonian_History |journal=Y. Gong and Y. Chen, eds., Special Issue of Oriental Studies. A Collection of Papers on Ancient Civilizations of Western Asia, Asia Minor and North Africa (Beijing, 2007) 116-149}}</ref>

[[File:Street in Babylon.jpg|thumb|A partial view of the ruins of [[Babylon]]]] The transfer of empire to [[Babylon]] marked the first time the city, and southern Mesopotamia in general, had risen to dominate the [[Ancient Near East]] since the collapse of [[Hammurabi]]'s [[Old Babylonian Empire]]. The period of Neo-Babylonian rule saw unprecedented economic and population growth and a renaissance of culture and artwork. [[Nebuchadnezzar II]] succeeded [[Nabopolassar]] in 605 BC. The empire Nebuchadnezzar inherited was among the most powerful in the world. He quickly reinforced his father's alliance with the Medes by marrying Cyaxares's daughter or granddaughter, [[Amytis of Babylon|Amytis]]. Some sources suggest that the famous [[Hanging Gardens of Babylon]], one of the [[Seven Wonders of the Ancient World]], were built by Nebuchadnezzar for his wife (though the existence of these gardens is debated). Nebuchadnezzar's 43-year reign brought a golden age for Babylon, which became the most powerful kingdom in the Middle East.<ref>{{cite web|last=Joshua J|first=Mark|date=2018|title=Nebuchadnezzar II|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Nebuchadnezzar_II/|website=World History Encyclopedia}}</ref>

The Neo-Babylonian period ended with the reign of [[Nabonidus]] in 539 BC. To the east, the Persians had been growing in strength, and eventually [[Cyrus the Great]] established his dominion over Babylon. The Chaldeans disappeared around this time, though both Assyria and Babylonia endured and thrived under Achaemenid rule (see [[Achaemenid Assyria]]). The Persian rulers retained Assyrian Imperial Aramaic as the language of empire, together with the Assyrian imperial infrastructure and an Assyrian style of art and architecture.{{Citation needed|date=August 2017}}