Assyria

    Assyria was a major Mesopotamian kingdom and empire of the ancient Near East. It existed as a state from perhaps as early as the 25th century BC, until its lapse between 612 BC and 609 BC, spanning the Early to Middle Bronze Age through to the late Iron Age.From the end of the seventh century BC to the mid-seventh century AD. For the most part ruled by foreign powers, a period which also saw Assyria become a major center of Syriac Christianity