Hebrew text of the plural ending (im) with this name may indicate that Asshurim represents a tribe or people. Specific identification is not possible, but some north Arabian tribe is probably meant. They should not be confused, however, with the Assyrians who were descendants of Shem’s son Asshur.

ASSIR

(Asʹsir) [prisoner, captive].

1. A Levite born in Egypt who was one of the sons of Korah.—Ex. 6:24; 1 Chron. 6:22.

2. 1 Chronicles 6:23, 37 appears to indicate a second Assir as a son or descendant of Ebiasaph.

The Authorized Version uses the name Assir at 1 Chronicles 3:17; however, many modern translations (AS, AT, Mo, NW, Ro, RS) view the Hebrew word here, not as a proper name, but, rather, as a common adjective descriptive of Jeconiah (or, Jehoiachin) as a captive or prisoner in Babylon. (2 Ki. 24:12-15; 25:27-30) The New World Translation fittingly reads: “And the sons of Jeconiah as prisoner [ʼas·sirʹ] were Shealtiel . . .”

ASSOCIATION

An organization of people with a common purpose and having a formal structure. Such an association of individuals may share in performing activities religious, social or industrial, subjecting themselves to some form of government or organizational control. An association may be referred to as a society. At 1 Peter 2:17; 5:9 a form of the Greek word a·del·phoʹtes (“association of brothers”) is applied to the united body of Christians throughout the earth, even though it is composed of small groups, congregations or physically isolated individuals.

The Bible refers to the organized association of Nimrod’s time as “one people.” (Gen. 11:6) Israel is repeatedly referred to by the collective term “people,” the context indicating that it is an organized association of people that is meant. (Deut. 33:29; 1 Sam. 12:22; Isa. 62:10) The Hebrew Scriptures refer to the united worshipers of God earth wide as “[people of] the earth.” (Ps. 66:4; 96:1) Humankind as a family, though not in unity, is sometimes referred to as the “earth” because of their association in a general framework or system of things that controls them.—2 Pet. 3:7; Gen. 18:25; Ps. 96:13.—See WORLD.

ASSOS

(Asʹsos).

A seaport town in Mysia on the N shore of the Gulf of Adramyttium, hence within the Roman province of Asia. On his third missionary tour, the apostle Paul was heading back to Jerusalem and had stopped at Troas. From here he sent Luke and others by boat to Assos, where he planned to join them. The boat had to travel out around Cape Lectum to get to Assos (on the other side of the promontory from Troas) and this enabled Paul to walk the shorter distance (about twenty miles [32 kilometers]) on foot and still arrive at Assos in time to board the ship, which then traveled to Mitylene on the island of Lesbos, S of Assos.—Acts 20:6, 13, 14.

Assos was built on the terraced sides of a volcanic rock formation about seven hundred feet (213 meters) high, about a half mile (805 meters) back from the sea. The site commanded a splendid view of the surrounding area. The road leading from Assos to Troas was well paved in ancient times. The site is today known as Behramköy.

ASSYRIA

The name applied to the country anciently occupying the northern end of the Mesopotamian plain or the extreme northern portion of what is today the modern country of Iraq. Basically, it lay within the triangle formed by the Tigris and Little Zab Rivers, these rivers constituting generally its western and southern boundaries, while the mountains of ancient Armenia formed the northern boundary, and the Zagros mountain range and the land of Media the eastern boundary. It should be noted, however, that these boundaries were quite fluid, Assyria spreading S of the Little Zab when Babylon weakened, but retreating when Assyrian political fortunes were low and those of Babylon were in ascendancy. Such fluctuation was true of the other boundaries and particularly that of the Tigris, as Assyria early extended its influence W of that river. The Assyrian Empire, of course, came to embrace a far larger area.

There was a continued close relationship between Assyria and Babylon throughout their history. They were neighboring states jointly occupying a region with no real natural division to serve as a frontier between their territories. The region of Assyria proper, however, was mostly a highlands area, generally of rugged terrain and with a more invigorating climate than that of Babylonia. The people appear to have been more energetic and aggressive than the Babylonians. They are represented in carved reliefs as of strong physique, dark complexioned, with heavy eyebrows and beard, and prominent nose.

The city of Asshur, the only city of Assyria proper located W of the Tigris, is considered to have been the original capital of the region. Thereafter, however, Nineveh became its most prominent capital, while both Calah and Khorsabad were used at times by Assyrian monarchs as capital cities. A trade route to the Mediterranean and to Asia Minor ran along the northern part of Assyria, and other routes branched off into Armenia and the region of Lake Urmiah. Much of Assyria’s warring was in order to gain or maintain control of such trade routes.

MILITARISM

Assyria was essentially a military power and the historical picture left of its exploits is one of great cruelty and rapaciousness. One of their warrior monarchs, Ashurnasirpal, describes his punishment of a rebellious city in this way:

“I built a pillar over against his city gate and I flayed all the chiefs who had revolted, and I covered the pillar with their skin. Some I walled up within the pillar, some I impaled upon the pillar on stakes, . . . And I cut the limbs of the officers, of the royal officers who had rebelled. . . .

“Many captives from among them I burned with fire, and many I took as living captives. From some I cut off their noses, their ears and their fingers, of many I put out the eyes. I made one pillar of the living and another of heads, and I bound their heads to tree trunks round about the city. Their young men and maidens I burned in the fire.

“Twenty men I captured alive and I immured them in the wall of his palace . . .

“The rest of their warriors I consumed with thirst in the desert of the Euphrates. . . .”

Reliefs often show their captives being led by cords attached to hooks that pierced the nose or the lips, or having their eyes put out at the point of a spear. Thus, sadistic torture was a frequent feature of Assyrian warfare, about which they shamelessly boasted and which they carefully recorded. The knowledge of their cruelty doubtless served them to an advantage militarily, striking terror into the hearts of those in their line of attack and often causing resistance to crumble. Assyria was aptly described by the prophet Nahum as a ‘lair of lions’ and their capital, Nineveh, as “the city of bloodshed.”—Nah. 2:11, 12; 3:1.

ASSYRIAN RELIGION

Assyria’s religion was largely inherited from Babylon and, although their own national god Asshur was viewed as supreme by the Assyrians, Babylon continued to be viewed by them as the chief religious center. The Assyrian king served as the high priest of Asshur. One seal, found by A. H. Layard in the ruins of an Assyrian palace and now preserved in the British Museum, represents the god Asshur with three heads. The belief in triads of gods was prominent in Assyrian worship as well as that of a pentad, or five gods. The chief triad was formed of Aner, representing heaven, Bel, representing the region inhabited by man, animals and birds; and Ea, representing the terrestrial and subterranean waters. A second triad was composed of Sin, the moon; Shamash, the sun; and Ramman, god of the storm, although his place was often filled by Ishtar, the queen of the stars, symbolized by the crescent moon. (Compare 2 Kings 23:5, 11.) Then followed the five gods representing five planets. Commenting on the gods forming the trinitarian groups, Unger’s Bible Dictionary (p. 102) states: “These gods are invoked at times severally in phrases which seem to raise each in turn to a position of supremacy over the others.” Their pantheon, however, included innumerable other minor deities, many serving as patrons of towns. Nisroch is mentioned as being worshiped by Sennacherib at the time of his assassination.—Isa. 37:37, 38.

The religion practiced in connection with these gods was animistic, that is, the Assyrians believed every object and natural phenomenon to be animated by a spirit. It was somewhat distinguished from other nature worship prevalent in surrounding nations in that war was the truest expression of the national religion. Thus, Tiglath-pileser I said of his fighting, “My Lord, Asshur, urged me on”; while in his annals, Ashurbanipal says: “By the command of Ashur, Sin, Shamash, Ramman, Bel, Nabu, Ishtar of Nineveh, Ninib, Nergal, and Nusku, I entered the land of Mannai and marched through it victoriously.” Sargon regularly invoked Ishtar’s help before going to war. The armies marched behind the standards of the gods, apparently wooden or metal symbols on poles. Great importance was attached to omens, ascertained by examination of livers of sacrificed animals, by the flight of birds, or the position of the planets. The book Ancient Cities, by W. B. Wright (p. 25), states: “Fighting was the business of the nation, and the priests were incessant fomenters of war. They were supported largely from the spoils of conquest, of which a fixed percentage was invariably assigned them before others shared, for this race of plunderers was exceedingly religious.”

CULTURE, LITERATURE AND LAWS

The Assyrians, however, were not mere barbarians. They built impressive palaces, lining the walls with sculptured slabs portraying with quite powerful realism scenes of war and peace. Human-headed, winged bulls, carved from a single block of limestone weighing as much as forty tons (36.3 metric tons), adorned the entranceways. Their cylinder seals show intricate engraving. (See ARCHAEOLOGY.) Their metal-casting indicated considerable knowledge of metallurgy. Their kings built aqueducts and developed systems of irrigation, produced royal botanical and zoological parks containing plants, trees and animals from many lands. Their palace buildings often gave evidence of a well-planned drainage system and quite good sanitation.

Of particular interest have been the great libraries built up by certain Assyrian monarchs, containing tens of thousands of cuneiform inscribed clay tablets, prisms, and cylinders setting out major historical events, religious data, and legal and commercial matters. Certain laws dating from one period of Assyrian history, however, illustrate again the harshness so frequently characterizing the nation. Mutilation is provided as punishment for certain crimes. Thus, a slave girl was not allowed to go veiled in public, and for violating such ordinance her ears were to be cut off. The lack of legal protection available for a married woman is evidenced by one law stating: “Leaving aside the penalties relating to a married woman which are inscribed on the tablet, a man may flog his wife, pull out her hair, split and injure her ears. There is no legal guilt (involved) in it.”

BIBLICAL AND SECULAR HISTORY

The first reference to Assyria in the Bible record is at Genesis 2:14, where the Hiddekel River (the Tigris), originally one of the four heads of the river “out of Eden,” is described by Moses in his day as “going to the east of Assyria.”—Gen. 2:10, 14.

The land derived its name from Shem’s son Asshur. (Gen. 10:22) It thus appears to have been first populated by Shemites shortly after the Flood. However, it was early subjected to infiltration, as Ham’s grandson Nimrod entered into Assyria and built “Nineveh and Rehoboth-Ir and Calah and Resen between Nineveh and Calah: this is the great city.” (Gen. 10:11, 12; compare Micah 5:6.) Whether this was subsequent to the erection of the Tower of Babel and the resulting confusion of tongues is not stated (Gen. 11:1-9), although different “tongues” are already mentioned in this tenth chapter of Genesis. (Gen. 10:5, 20, 31) Nevertheless, it is established that Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, was developed from