Old Assyrian period

In this episode, we focus on the Old Assyrian period, from roughly 2025 BCE to 1364 BCE, tracing how Assur grew from a modest city-state into an emerging regional power. We explore its unusual oligarchic political system, where kings ruled as representatives of the god Ashur rather than as absolute monarchs, often alongside a powerful city assembly. The episode also highlights Assyria’s far-reaching trade network with Anatolian colonies such as Kültepe, preserved in thousands of cuneiform tablets that reveal the scale and sophistication of early international commerce. Along the way, we examine the impact of Shamshi-Adad I’s conquest, the political instability of the following “Dark Age,” and what this era reveals about everyday life, including the Assyrian calendar, women’s legal rights, family life, and slavery. The story closes with Ashur-uballit I’s break from Mitanni control, setting the stage for the rise of the Middle Assyrian Empire.