Editing Assyria (section)

=== Kingship ===
{{See also|List of Assyrian kings}}
[[File:Erishum I of Assyria.png|thumb|upright=1.35|A line-drawing of a royal seal of the Old Assyrian king [[Erishum I]], {{Reign}}{{circa}} 1974–1934 BC. The seated ruler is thought to represent the god [[Ashur (god)|Ashur]], with Erishum being the bald figure being led toward him.{{sfn|Eppihimer|2013|p=43}}]]
In the Assur city-state of the Old Assyrian period, the government was in many respects an [[oligarchy]], where the king was a permanent, albeit not the only prominent, actor.{{Sfn|Düring|2020|p=38}} The Old Assyrian kings were not [[Autocracy|autocrats]], with sole power, but rather acted as stewards on behalf of the god Ashur and presided over the meetings of the city assembly,{{Sfn|Radner|2015|p=3}}{{Sfn|Düring|2020|p=37}} the main Assyrian administrative body during this time.{{sfn|Veenhof|2017|p=70}} The composition of the city assembly is not known, but it is generally believed to have been made up of members of the most powerful families of the city,{{Sfn|Düring|2020|p=38}} many of whom were merchants.{{sfn|Veenhof|2017|p=61}}

The king acted as the main executive officer and chairman of this group of influential individuals and also contributed with legal knowledge and expertise.{{sfn|Veenhof|2017|p=70}} The Old Assyrian kings were styled as ''iššiak Aššur'' ("governor [on behalf] of [[Ashur (god)|Ashur]]"), with Ashur being considered the city's formal king.{{Sfn|Jakob|2017b|p=143}} That the populace of Assur in the Old Assyrian period often referred to the king as ''rubā’um'' ("great one") clearly indicates that the kings, despite their limited executive power, were seen as royal figures and as being ''[[primus inter pares]]'' (first among equals) among the powerful individuals of the city.{{sfn|Veenhof|2017|p=71}}

Assur first experienced a more autocratic form of kingship under the Amorite conqueror Shamshi-Adad I,{{Sfn|Düring|2020|p=38}} the earliest ruler of Assur to use the style ''šarrum'' (king){{Sfn|Chavalas|1994|p=117}} and the title '[[king of the Universe]]'.{{Sfn|Bertman|2003|p=103}} Shamshi-Adad I appears to have based his more absolute form of kingship on the rulers of the Old Babylonian Empire.{{sfn|Eppihimer|2013|p=49}} Under Shamshi-Adad I, Assyrians also swore their oaths by the king, not just by the god. This practice did not survive beyond his death.{{sfn|Veenhof|2017|p=74}} The influence of the city assembly had disappeared by the beginning of the Middle Assyrian period. Though the traditional ''iššiak Aššur'' continued to be used at times, the Middle Assyrian kings were autocrats, in terms of power having little in common with the rulers of the Old Assyrian period.{{Sfn|Jakob|2017b|p=143}}

As the Assyrian Empire grew, the kings began to employ an increasingly sophisticated array of royal titles. Ashur-uballit I was the first to assume the style ''šar māt Aššur'' ("king of the land of Ashur") and his grandson [[Arik-den-ili]] ({{reign}}{{circa}} 1317–1306&nbsp;BC) introduced the style ''šarru dannu'' ("strong king"). Adad-nirari I's inscriptions required 32 lines to be devoted just to his titles. This development peaked under Tukulti-Ninurta I, who assumed, among other titles, the styles "king of Assyria and [[Karduniaš|Karduniash]]", "[[king of Sumer and Akkad]]", "king of the [[Mediterranean Sea|Upper]] and the [[Persian Gulf|Lower]] Seas" and "[[King of All Peoples|king of all peoples]]". Royal titles and epithets were often highly reflective of current political developments and the achievements of individual kings; during periods of decline, the royal titles used typically grew more simple again, only to grow grander once more as Assyrian power experienced resurgences.{{Sfn|Jakob|2017b|p=144}}

[[File:Alabaster_Stela_of_the_Asirian_King_Ashurnasirpal_II_(884-859_BC)_-_British_Museum.jpg|thumb|A [[stele]] of the Neo-Assyrian king [[Ashurnasirpal II]], {{reign}}883–859&nbsp;BC]]
The kings of the Middle and Neo-Assyrian periods continued to present themselves, and be viewed by their subjects, as the intermediaries between Ashur and mankind.{{Sfn|Jakob|2017b|p=145}} This position and role was used to justify imperial expansion: the Assyrians saw their empire as being the part of the world overseen and administered by Ashur through his human agents. In their ideology, the outer realm outside of Assyria was characterized by chaos and the people there were uncivilized, with unfamiliar cultural practices and strange languages. The mere existence of the "outer realm" was regarded as a threat to the cosmic order within Assyria and as such, it was the king's duty to expand the realm of Ashur and incorporate these strange lands, converting chaos to civilization.{{Sfn|Parker|2011|pp=363–365}}

Texts describing the coronation of Middle and Neo-Assyrian kings at times include Ashur commanding the king to "broaden the land of Ashur" or "extend the land at his feet". As such, expansion was cast as a moral and necessary duty.{{Sfn|Parker|2011|pp=363–365}} Because the rule and actions of the Assyrian king were seen as divinely sanctioned,{{Sfn|Parker|2011|p=365}} resistance to Assyrian sovereignty in times of war was regarded to be resistance against divine will, which deserved punishment.{{Sfn|Bedford|2009|p=22}} Peoples and polities who revolted against Assyria were seen as criminals against the divine world order.{{Sfn|Bedford|2009|p=29}} Since Ashur was the king of the gods, all other gods were subjected to him and thus the people who followed those gods should be subjected to the representative of Ashur, the Assyrian king.{{Sfn|Bain|2017}}

The kings also had religious and judicial duties. Kings were responsible for performing various rituals in support of the cult of Ashur and the Assyrian priesthood.{{Sfn|Parker|2011|p=367}} They were expected, together with the Assyrian people, to provide offerings to not only Ashur but also all the other gods. From the time of Ashur-resh-ishi I onward, the religious and cultic duties of the king were pushed somewhat into the background, though they were still prominently mentioned in accounts of building and restoring temples. Assyrian titles and epithets in inscriptions from then on generally emphasized the kings as powerful warriors.{{Sfn|Jakob|2017b|p=145}} Developing from their role in the Old Assyrian period, the Middle and Neo-Assyrian kings were the supreme judicial authority in the empire, though they generally appear to have been less concerned with their role as judges than their predecessors in the Old Assyrian period were.{{Sfn|Jakob|2017b|p=146}} The kings were expected to ensure the welfare and prosperity of the Assyria and its people, indicated by multiple inscriptions referring to the kings as "shepherds" (''re’û'').{{Sfn|Jakob|2017b|p=145}}