The Rise and Consolidation of Assyrian Control on the Northwestern Territories

Flanking the western and northwestern boundaries of the territorial nucleus of Assyria, the Khabur Triangle in northeastern Syria and the Upper Tigris River Valley in southeastern Turkey represented areas of great value for the Assyrians, and were targeted in the expansion that took place in the Late Bronze Age. The strategic position of the Khabur Triangle and the territories beyond the Tur Abdin mountains, which controlled the routes leading to the west and into the Anatolian mountains, and the fertility of these regions were what triggered Assyrian interest and motivated their conquest. These territories were part of the area known as Hanigalbat in Assyrian sources, and constituted the heartland of the Mittani kingdom. The weakening of the Mittani state as a consequence of Hittite expansionism, allowed the Assyrian kings to take control over the eastern territories, to reduce Mittani to a dependent regional kingdom, and subsequently, to annex the Jazirah territories, from the Khabur triangle to the Balikh valley, incorporating them in the Assyrian system (Harrak 1987; Novak 2013). To understand the nature and meaning of the Assyrian impact, as well as the ways in which territorial and hegemonic control was exercised over the subjugated lands, we need to analyse changes in settlement systems and material culture. In previous articles (D’Agostino 2009; 2011; 2014; in press), I have taken this approach on the basis of recent archaeological evidence from the Upper Tigris and Khabur valleys. In this paper, I would like to build on the results of those analyses, and I will on occasion discuss relevant sites and data. The aim is to highlight what archaeological evidence may tell us about the rise of Assyrian power in the territories beyond the steppes.