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Civilization Technology tree Strategy

The Assyrians are the inhabitants of the ancient kingdom of Assyria, which once controlled Mesopotamia and parts of Northeast Syria, and are a playable civilization in Age of Empires. They are strictly an offensive civilization and are excellent in small maps and games that start out with low resources.

They excel at rushes (especially with their fast firing archers) at the early game but are less effective in longer games since some powerful Iron Age technologies are unavailable to them.

The bow was their main offensive weapon (Assyrian qastu) and their archers were highly skilled, to the point that the Assyrian soldiers could shoot a multitude of arrows in 500-1500 foot; the firepower that the archers brought during an attack was formidable, and 1 of 5 Assyrian soldiers were archers. To reflect this, their archers fire faster. Assyrians also benefited from being situated astride some important trade routes, which is reflected in their faster Villagers.

Features

  • Egyptian architectural style
  • +25% Archer Fire Rate
  • +10% Villager Speed

Changelog

Age of Empires

Rise of Rome

  • +25% Archer Fire Rate.

Definitive Edition

  • Villagers move 10% faster.
  • Heavy Transport, Engineering, and Chain Mail Armor are available.
  • With update 46777, Alchemy is available.

AI player names

Names shown in italics are only used in the original game, names shown in bold are used in both the original game and its expansions.

  • Tiglathpileser (š’†Ŗš’‹¾š’€€š’‚š’ˆ—š’Š) - Name of 3 kings of Assyria, most famously Tiglath-Pileser I, king of Assyria 1114-1076 BC
  • Ashurbanipal - King of Assyria 668-627 BC
  • Shalmaneser - Name of 5 kings of Assyria; Shalmaneser I: King of Assyria 1265-1235 BC
  • Sargon II (š’ˆ—š’„€š’ˆ¾) - King of Assyria 722-705 BC
  • Adad-Nirari II - King of Assyria 911-891 BC
  • Esharhaddon - King of Assyria 681-669 BC
  • Shalmaneser II - King of Assyria 1030-1010 BC
  • Tiglath-Pileser - Corrected from Tiglathpileser
  • Sargon (š’ˆ—š’ŗ) - King of Assyria c. 1920-1881 BC
  • Adad-Nirari - King of Assyria 1307-1275 BC (Adad-nirari I); 811-783 BC (III)
  • Essarhaddon - Corrected from Esharhaddon
  • Sennacherib (š’Œš’‰½š’ˆØš’Œš’‹¢) - King of Assyria 705-681 BC
  • Shamash (š’€­š’Œ“) - Assyrian Sun God and God of Justice
  • Ashurnasirpal - King of Assyria 1050-1031 BC (Ashurnasirpal I); 884-859 BC (II)

History

Assyria was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom centered on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia (present day northern Iraq), that came to rule regional empires a number of times throughout history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur. Assyria was also sometimes known as Subartu, and after its fall as Athura, Syria and Assuristan. The term Assyria can also refer to the geographic region or heartland where these empires were centered. Their descendants still live in the region today, and they form the Christian minority in Iraq.[1] After the fall of the Akkadian Empire in 2080 BC, it eventually coalesced into two separate nations; Assyria in the north, and later Babyloniain the south.

Originally, the early Assyrian kings would certainly have been regional leaders only, and subjects of Sargon of Akkad, who united all of the Akkadian speaking peoples of Mesopotamia under the Akkadian Empire, which lasted from 2334 BC to 2154 BC. The Akkadian nation of Assyria (and later on also Babylonia) evolved from the dissolution of the Akkadian Empire. In the Old Assyrian period of the Early Bronze Age, Assyria had been a kingdom of northern Mesopotamia, competing for dominance with its fellow Mesopotamian rival, Babylonia which was often under Kassite rule. During this period it established colonies in Asia Minor. It had experienced fluctuating fortunes in the Middle Assyrian period.

Beginning with the campaigns of Adad-nirari II from 911 BC, it again became a great power, conquering many of their neighbors. Eventually they weakened after so many wars and their empire would fall in the 7th century B.C.

Trivia

  • Despite being a Mesopotamian people, they have the Egyptian architecture like the Sumerians.
  • Their extra speed on villagers is the same bonus as the Yamato.

References

  1. ā†‘ Saggs, The Might That Was Assyria, pp. 290, "The destruction of the Assyrian empire did not wipe out its population. They were predominantly peasant farmers, and since Assyria contains some of the best wheat land in the Near East, descendants of the Assyrian peasants would, as opportunity permitted, build new villages over the old cities and carry on with agricultural life, remembering traditions of the former cities. After seven or eight centuries and various vicissitudes, these people became Christians."
Civilizations in Age of Empires categorised by architecture set
East Asian architectureChoson AOE DE ROR icon Choson Ā· Lac Viet AOE DE ROR icon Lac Viet Ā· Shang AOE DE ROR icon Shang Ā· Yamato AOE DE ROR icon Yamato
Egyptian architectureAssyrian AOE DE ROR icon Assyrians Ā· Egyptian AOE DE ROR icon Egyptians Ā· Hittite AOE DE ROR icon Hittites
Greek architectureGreek AOE DE ROR icon Greeks Ā· Minoan AOE DE ROR icon Minoans Ā· Phoenician AOE DE ROR icon Phoenicians
Mesopotamian architectureBabylonian AOE DE ROR icon Babylonians Ā· Persian AOE DE ROR icon Persians Ā· Sumerian AOE DE ROR icon Sumerians
Roman architectureCarthaginian AOE DE ROR icon Carthaginians Ā· Macedonian AOE DE ROR icon Macedonians Ā· Palmyran AOE DE ROR icon Palmyrans Ā· Roman AOE DE ROR icon Romans
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