Respect and Love to the Fair People of the Friendly Land: Ethiopia!

Following the news about home from far away is not easy and I don’t really have time recently to follow up even local news in my small community or in the state that I’m living at. However, even when you are thousands of miles away from home.. news find their way to you, thanks to the digital age technology that made it so simple. Recently, I was hammered with tons of info, videos and photos of the riots of Riyadh. So, my comment to the event might not be swiftest but it’s certainly is sincere and pure.

First of all, My condolences to the families of the victim(s) and I pray that all the injured will be stable and recover soon, inshallah (God-Willing).  There were some reasons that led to these sad events were that area of the city became a scene of a Hollywood action movie overnight. I’ve not had the opportunity to study and analyze the situation and I’m not intending to. I just wanted to say that I’m sad to how things turned out.

The thing that saddens me the most is blaming a whole race, nation and country of these riots. Unfortunately, some Saudis people were agitating hatred towards Ethiopians and blaming them for everything. I understand that a few individuals who happened to be Ethiopians were troublemakers but they definitely do not represent the good Ethiopian people. I met many people from Ethiopia and I always had good time with them and never a single bad experience.. some of them became good friends to me and we have a lot of respect to each other. 

I really find it weird that some people question the Ethiopians and their ethics. Let me remind myself, all the Saudis and the Muslims around the world of the great favor that Ethiopia did to us in one of our most challenging times; the migration of prosecuted Muslims to Abyssinia in 613-615.

“Negus treated the Muslims with honor and pledged his protection to them. Both crestfallen envoys of the Quraysh had to leave Abyssinia in great shame while the Muslims lived there in peace and security.” (Ibn Hisham, pp. 334-38)

That happened at the time when Muslims were prosecuted by their own cousins, tribes and people who did not like them for their faith. Yet, a king in the flourishing civilization of Abyssinia offered them a haven and refused to harm them after the Qurish family sent their messengers to the king Nequs (Al-Najashi). When the Messenger of Allah saw the persecution to which his companions were subjected and from which he could not protect them, he suggested to them, 'If you were to go to Abyssinia, you would find a king there who does not wrong anyone. It is a friendly land and you could stay there until Allah grants us relief.'

The Prophet – PBUH – said that their king is fair who came from a fair environment and their land is friendly and how come we expect anything but good people from that land. I think Ethiopians deserve a better treatment and we should never hold grudges on them over a few tens of troublemakers who do not represent the true nature of those great people. I’ve heard of inhumane treatment even to people who did not get involved in that riot which is absolutely unacceptable even if some of them were provoking troubles, they should’ve been stopped but in a humane way. I hope what I heard about racism towards Ethiopians and treating many of them in inhumane way is not true.

I hope that the people of Ethiopians and Saudi Arabia restore trust in each other and take this chance to diffuse the tension between the two peoples and upset the plotters who are trying so hard to use these events to create friction between us, to serve their agendas.

All the respect and love to the fair people of the friendly land! May both nations be at peace, inshallah!

 

Arabic Phrases - The Ex in the City Series

I've found a series of videos made by an American who lives in Amman, Jordan. they are funny and accurate.. it's a fun way to learn and practice Arabic. I really recommend watching them.

Monopoly - Saudi Short Film (ENG SUB)

this is a docufiction or mockmentry made by my friend Bader Al-Hamoud

please click on the CC then turn on the English subtitles

Exmaple to a Quranic Miracle

New images have been found revealing amazing truths behind verses in the Quran that depict the embryonic development. The Quran is said to be the word of God ( Allah ) and such miraculous phenomena are used to authenticate this statement. The Quran claims that the embryo is a "Alaqah" which means either a blood clot, suspended or leech like structure. We put this statement to the test.

"To see any detail in it as is described in the Qur'an, I need an instrument that wasn't developed until the 1700s" Dr. E Marshall Johnson

Jesus Vs. Muhammad!!

This a response to the EPIC FAIL of a video by Steven Crowder in his desperate attempt to gain attention. It's always best to ignore such videos, especially since the whole "Islamaphobia" thing is getting old now, but in certain instances it's good to clarify where he went wrong in terms of the misconceptions he put forward.

***PLEASE NOTE MARY DID NOT GET MARRIED IN ISLAM - THIS IS THE CHRISTIAN VIEW, BUT REGARDLESS IT WOULD HAVE STILL BEEN SEEN AS A NORMAL MARRIAGE***

This video deals with the obvious criticisms of Islam and brings light to their reality.

1) The Marriage of Aisha with Muhammad (pbuh)
2) The issue of polygamy and multiple wives in Islam
3) The punishment of adultery in Islam
4) The concept of Jihad and fighting
5) The final words and death of Muhammad (pbuh) the best man to walk this Earth.

We will defend our beloved noble Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) until our last breaths. We are used to this already.

"They want to extinguish the light of Allah with their mouths, but Allah will perfect His light, although the disbelievers dislike it." Quran 61:8

Alnakba - English Documentary - 2 parts

to read more about Al-Nakba please click here.

Al-Nakba

Series on the Palestinian 'catastrophe' of 1948 that led to dispossession and conflict that still endures.

Series on the Palestinian 'catastrophe' of 1948 that led to dispossession and conflict that still endures. Special series Last Modified: 29 May 2013 06:36

“The Nakba did not begin in 1948. Its origins lie over two centuries ago….” So begins this four-part series on the ‘nakba’, meaning the ‘catastrophe’, about the history of the Palestinian exodus that led to the first Arab-Israeli war in 1948 and the establishment of the state of Israel. This sweeping history starts back in 1799 with Napoleon’s attempted advance into Palestine to check British expansion and his appeal to the Jews of the world to reclaim their land in league with France. The narrative moves through the 19th century and into the 20th century with the British Mandate in Palestine and comes right up to date in the 21st century and the ongoing ‘nakba’ on the ground. Arab, Israeli and Western intellectuals, historians and eye-witnesses provide the central narrative which is accompanied by archive material and documents, many only recently released for the first time. Editor's note: Since first running on Al Jazeera Arabic in 2008, this series has won Arab and international awards and has been well received at festivals throughout the world.  Episode 1  For Palestinians, 1948 marks the 'Nakba' or the 'catastrophe', when hundreds of thousands were forced out of their homes. But for Israelis, the same year marks the creation of their own state. The tragedy in Palestine is not just a local one; it is a tragedy for the world, because it is an injustice that is a menace to the world's peace. Arnold Toynbee, British historian. This series attempts to present an understanding of the events of the past that are still shaping the present. This story starts in 1799, outside the walls of Acre in Ottoman-controlled Palestine, when an army under Napoleon Bonaparte besieged the city. It was all part of a campaign to defeat the Ottomans and establish a French presence in the region. In search of allies, Napoleon issued a letter offering Palestine as a homeland to the Jews under French protection. He called on the Jews to ‘rise up’ against what he called their oppressors. Napoleon’s appeal was widely publicised. But he was ultimately defeated. In Acre today, the only memory of him is a statue atop a hill overlooking the city. Yet Napoleon’s project for a Jewish homeland in the region under a colonial protectorate did not die, 40  years later, the plan was revived but by the British.  Episode 2  On 19 April 1936, the Palestinians launched a national strike to protest against mass Jewish immigration and what they saw as Britain’s alliance with the Zionist movement. The British responded with force. During the six months of the strike, over 190 Palestinians were killed and more than 800 wounded. I cannot imagine Zionism without violence, whether before or after the establishment of the state of Israel. Dr Anis Sayegh, the Palestinian Encyclopedia editor. , Wary of popular revolt, Arab leaders advised the Palestinians to end the strike. Palestinian leaders bowed to pressure from the Arab heads of state and agreed to meet the British Royal Commission of Inquiry headed by Lord Peel. In its report of July 1937, the Peel Commission recommended the partition of Palestine. Its report drew the frontiers of a Jewish state in one-third of Palestine, and an Arab state in the remaining two-thirds, to be merged with Transjordan. A corridor of land from Jerusalem to Jaffa would remain under British mandate. The Commission also recommended transferring where necessary Palestinians from the lands allocated to the new Jewish state. The Commission’s proposals were widely published and provoked heated debate. As the Palestinian revolt continued, Britain’s response hardened. Between 1936 and 1937, the British killed over 1,000 Palestinians; 37 British military police and 69 Jews also died. Episode 3 Few Palestinians, if any, could have imagined they were to become victims of what would later be called ‘ethnic cleansing’. When the British were preparing to leave Palestine, we didn’t have weapons. My father gave me money and I bought a gun with only three bullets for 100 Palestinian liras. Sami Kamal Abdul Razek, palestinian refugee, After 30 years of British rule, the question of Palestine was referred to the United Nations, which had become the forum for conflict. On 29 November 1947, the UN General Assembly met to devise a plan for the partition of Palestine. UN Resolution 181 divided Palestine into an Arab and a Jewish state, with Jerusalem as an internationalised city. The Jewish state was granted 56 percent of the land; the city of Jaffa was included as an enclave of the Arab state; and the land known today as the Gaza Strip was split from its surrounding agricultural regions. But making the proposed Arab state all but proved impractical in the eyes of many Palestinians. When the draft resolution was presented for voting, Arab newspapers ran a ‘name and shame’ list of the countries that voted for the UN partition plan, and Arab protesters took to the streets. Following the partition resolution, Britain announced it would end its mandate in Palestine on 14 May 1948. Episode 4 In early 1948, Jewish paramilitary forces began to seize more land in Palestine. By the end of July, more than 400,000 Palestinians had been forced to flee their homes, and their plight as refugees had just begun. I swear to God, we tasted it; we tasted starvation like no one else did Hosni Mohammad Smada, Palestinian refugee, In May of that year, Swedish diplomat Count Folke Bernadotte had been appointed as the UN Mediator in Palestine. His mission was to seek a peaceful settlement. The Count surveyed devastated Palestinian villages and visited refugee camps in both Palestine and Jordan. The scale of the humanitarian disaster became apparent, as he witnessed cramp living conditions, long queues for basic food and scarce medical aid. Count Bernadotte was no stranger to human disaster; with the Red Cross he had rescued over 30,000 prisoners of war from Nazi concentration camps. Now he advocated the Palestinian’s right to return to their homes. In a report dated 16 September 1948, he wrote: “It would be an offence against the principles of elementary justice if these innocent victims were denied the right to return to their homes, while Jewish immigrants flow into Palestine, and, indeed, at least offer the threat of permanent replacement of the Arab refugees who have been rooted in the land for centuries.” The Count’s first proposal argued for fixed boundaries through negotiation, an economic union between both states, and the return of Palestinian refugees - the proposal was turned down. On 17 September, the day following his UN report, Count Bernadotte’s motorcade was ambushed in Jerusalem. He was shot at point blank range by members of the Jewish Stern gang. Al-Nakba debate    The historic struggle for Palestine is characterised as the claims and counter-claims of Arabs and Jews, but one factor that is often overlooked behind the Palestinian 'Nakba' or 'catastrophe' of 1948, is the part played by an old imperial power, Britain. So, whose interests were best served by the British in Palestine? How did it honour its mandated duty of care? and what were the calculations and miscalculations it made in redrawing the map of Palestine, and reshaping its history? The 65 years of the Israeli statehood, continue to cause conflict and controversy. The history is written by the victors, who are the rewriters of history as new information, new documents, and new historians, come to light. It is time to examine how history itself is the battleground for the hearts and minds of new generations today. To discuss the historic events that led to the Nakba, the birth of Israel, and the making of history, we are joined by Rosemary Hollis, former head of the Middle east programme at the Royal Insitute of International Affairs; James Renton,senior lecturer in History at Edge Hill University and author of The Zionist Masquerade: The birth of the Anglo-Zionist alliance 1914-1918 ; and Avi Shalam, professor of International Relations at Oxford University and author of the Collusion across the Jordan: King Abdullah, The Zionist Movement, and the Partition Of Palestine . Source: Al-Nakba

This is mizmar!

This is mizmar, type of Music in the west of Saudi Arabia.

Khambalah: Victim of Reputation

Unfortunately, this video has no subtitles.. however, it's simple and easy to follow.. it's about two Saudis who happen to be in a bar in London but both of them don't want the other to know that he is a Saudi so they both start pretending that they are British and then it gets complicated when they events intensives.. I'll leave it up to the viewers to figure out what the video point is.

Calligraphy and Islamic Culture

 Calligraphy and Islamic Culture By Lynette Haberman

Pre-9th Century Hijazi Script

            “Bism Allah al Rahman al Rahim,” the literal translation being: “In the name of God, the merciful, the compassionate.”[1] This statement commonly appears at the beginning of important written documents within Muslim societies, and is an example of the importance of the written word within the Islamic culture, as it represents the dedication of the projects achievement to Allah.  I found this to be a fitting introduction as this subject is about the art of Islamic calligraphy.[2]

Mosque

The art of writing, to many scholars, is viewed as synonymous with the development and expansion of religion. Islamic calligraphy also known as Arabic calligraphy is a testament to that common belief.  Scripts, of eloquently flowing letters scrolled from right to left (as Arabic is a Semitic language) in angular intricate designs form verses of the holy Qur’an, songs, and poetry, pottery, and even woven into blankets, all equal in visual and audial beauty.  

As the Muslim empire grew the practice of writing remained intact, the ancient calligraphers’ devotion to delicacy and detail ensured its emergence as an art form.  The sacred symbolism of the art of beautiful handwriting thus provides evidence of the religious and aesthetic importance of Islamic calligraphy within Muslim culture.  

A. Schimmel writes in her book entitled Islamic calligraphy: Iconography of Religions that “calligraphy is an art that expresses the true Islamic spirit, even the Qur’an talks of the importance of writing.”[3]  It was believed that the ancient calligraphers were the primary reason for the preservation of the Qur’an, and because they were maintaining the purity of the text they were preforming a sacred and holy duty.  It was an expression of their devotion to Allah. And the amount of effort and time put into the copying of the text in such an esthetically pleasing way became an integral part of Islamic culture.

Late 9th Century Kufic Script

During the first centuries of the development and expansion of Islam, scribes copied the Qur’an, using a modified version of the Arabic alphabet arranging the letters in an artistic way to form the Hijazi script, later around the ninth century the calligraphers began to make thicker strokes forming the first Kufic style script.[4]    

Late 9th century Kufic Script

There are many different styles of Islamic calligraphy usually categorized by location of origin or the person who created them, and then in turn classified by the sub-categories. There are many sub-categories; however, the most popular are the kufic scripts, known as geometric in appearance, originating in Kufa, Iraq; and the naskh scripts known as cursive in appearance. naskh translates to the word “copy” it was used by calligraphers to replace the kufic script when copying the Qur’an and is generally believed to be easier to write. Simplistic naskh scripts are usually used in modern times for computers.[5]

 

Poetry

 

Islamic calligraphy is written using a pen made of reed known as a “qalam” it has an angled point which enables the thick upward and downward strokes and the diamond shaped “dots” that are used along the alphabet. Many of the artists use this method when creating their poetry, or songs, or proverbs that are commonly viewed as Islamic art.   However, the calligraphy scripts were also ideal for being transcribed onto ceramics like pottery, and even stone work.  These scripts were also used to decorate Mosques all around their empire.  Calligraphy was implemented into almost every aspect of society throughout the early Islamic world.[6]  

Because of the connection between religion and handwriting, calligraphy emerged within Islamic society as an art form that is continually practiced.   Many modern day Muslim artists look to the holy books pages for inspiration, and as time passes the art of calligraphy continues to change and represents something truly sacred within Islamic culture.

---

[1]   Mangho A. and A. L. Loeb. “Tessellations in Islamic Calligraphy.” Leonardo , Vol. 28, No. 1 (1995), pp. 41

[2]   Mangho A.

[3] Schimmel.A. “Islamic Calligraphy:  Iconography of Regions.”(Leiden: Brill, 1982

[4] Schimmel. A

[5] Mangho A.

[6] Schimmel A.

Understanding Islam, the Faith

Understanding Islam, the Faith by Andrew Ensslin

                  Perhaps the most basic aspect of Islamic culture, language, and history is the religion of Islam itself.  Islam as a faith influences not only these but every other aspect of life for those who practice it.  I have found that I knew surprisingly little about Islam, especially as someone who takes joy in knowing the details of the many great beliefs and actions that have played such a tremendous part in world history.  But beyond knowing how Islam as influenced the course of history, what I have found most extraordinary is understanding the basic tenants of Islam and just how closely it intertwines with Christianity and Judaism.  I had generally believed that Islam was a very distinct religion that often found itself at direct opposition to many other religions, but I am intrigued to learn that not only is that not the case, but Islam derives its very basic tenants on a foundation established by the earlier religions and the leaders of those faiths.  According to the website What Is Islam About, “Muslims believe that the first Prophet was Adam followed by a long chain of Prophets to guide humanity.  The Qur’an, according to Muslim belief, is the word of God revealed to Prophet Muhammad. It mentions many other Prophets like Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, Moses, Jacob, Joseph and Jesus. All the Prophets brought the same message, i.e., belief in one God, upright human conduct and belief in the accountability of human acts at the end of time.” 

                  This simple and fundamental concept has completely changed what I thought I knew about Islam.  To be honest, most of what I know about the Islamic faith comes what is portrayed on the American news and Hollywood films.  Obviously it’s not the best representation of a faith that is predominantly of another culture entirely than what Americans are used to.  However it is the representation that unfortunately leads many Americans into complete ignorance about what Islam really is, and why it is the fastest growing religion in the world.  Learning that the primary teachers and figures in the other major religions such as Moses and Jesus are incorporated into Islam as well is a concept that caught me by surprise.  The connection is that Islam is believed by those who practice it to be the final revelation of God through the prophet Muhammad.  God is believed to have spoken prior to Muhammad through the prophets Adam, Noah, Abraham, and many more.  With so many of the same figures involved in Islam, I personally find it interesting that there is perceived to be such a strong ideological divide between those who practice Islam and those who practice Christianity, at least Christianity in the United States. 

                  What seems to gain much of the attention in the United States however is the perceived radical element of Islam that doesn’t follow the basic mainstream belief of not allowing harm to fellow people.  The violence committed by Islamic fringe groups in the Middle-East and other places around the world form much of the views by western culture that Islam is a religion of intolerance instead of a religion of peace.  The inner-religious conflicts between the Islamic sects of the Shi’a and Sunni perpetuate the perception of a turbulent faith.  The trouble for most Americans and I admit for me is being able to see through the negative perceptions of Islam put out by the western media and understand what the faith is about according to the overwhelming majority of those who practice it.  That is why this class and the presentations I have seen have been particularly interesting to me; I account for new information and I find that old views of Islam or no views at all, are being replaced by more factually accurate information.  I really enjoy this class because it is a subject about which I have known so little but as a result I learn a lot of information every session. 

Bibliography

What Is Islam About? “What is Islam?” http://www.whatisislamabout.com/islam/what-is-islam/                          

(accessed October 26, 2013)

 

Arabic Poetry

             

Arabic Poetry by Adam Crenshaw

 

 

Something that has fascinated me in Arabic culture is poetry.  Poetry in Arabic society is a very important thing.  I want to talk about what poetry was used for in both pre-Islamic and Islamic Arabic culture. 

            In pre-Islamic Arabic culture, poetry was an important way of communicating each tribe’s history.  Within the tribe there would always be a poet or Sha’ir.  The Sha’ir was an important man, not only because they would share their poetry but they would also chronicle the tribe’s history.  The Sha’ir was a kind of scribe who would record a tribe’s history through poetry.  At this time Arabic culture was a Bedouin culture and travelled from a source of water to another source of water, because of this they were very much an oral society.  Meaning that they did not write all their stories down they memorized them then recited them.  So it was necessary for the chronicler, or Sha’ir, to remember their stories in a fashion that would be easy to remember, like poetry.  They did manage to write some of their poetry down but not a lot survived.  Something that has survived time is the Mu’allaqat.  Mu’allaqat means “the hung poems” and the Mufaddaliyat which means “Al-Mufadda’s examination or anthology”.  It is a collection of eight poems that were hung on the wall of the Kaaba.  These poems are still kept in high regard because they are a great source of history; again, they are the recited histories of the people of that region.

            After Islam began to spread through the known world, poetry took on some different forms.  Poetry was given a major role in the political and religious realm of Islam.  The poet would recite and write poetry for the Caliph and his court.  Most of the poetry of this time really focused on worldly pleasures but in these still ran the theme of chronicling their history, and now in that mix was their new focus on their religion.  Now the Sufi Tradition of Islam took a more mystical view of poetry.  They really tied the use of poetry to their worship and their religion.  In their poetry they would speak of transcendence and other things that were considered heresy.  

            Something that these poets would pride themselves in was the complexity of their poems.  They would use all kinds of metaphors, puns and other things to further complicate their poetry.  There were several genres of poetry that these poets would write under.  Romantic Poetry was exactly what it sounds like, they were romantic poems.  They spoke of love stories and what courtly love was.  There was also Satirical Poetry.  Satirical poetry actually focused on things such as, anthropology, sociology, and psychology.  Not in the sense of writing a report in poetry but taking these studies and making them “interesting”.  What I mean by interesting is that the poets who wrote in this genre would often, through comedy, describe events that happened and were happening. 

            Poetry in Arabic Society was very important in several ways.   It was a history of their people, and it was a form of expression, a way for people to express their own religious and political views.  That is why Arabic poetry fascinates me. 

Sources:

1.    Poetry and History. The Value of Poetry in Reconstructing Arab History.  By Ramzi Baalbaki, Saleh Said Agha, Tarif Khaladi.  AUB.

The Game is For All of Us

The Game is For All of Us by James Pearson

 

Webster’s Dictionary defines culture as the beliefs, customs, and arts of a particular society, group, place, or time. A major part of culture is the participation in athletic activities. Every society and culture has had its own unique sports and athletic competitions. The Arab world is no different. For thousands of years the Arabian Peninsula has enjoyed traditional sports such as horse and camel racing, falconry, and hunting with hounds (“Sports and Recreation”). Now with modern Arabia thriving, its people now enjoy a vast array of modern and traditional sports that take place in modern facilities. More traditional sports like horseracing still remain very popular in Saudi Arabia but the most popular modern sport is soccer. “ Saudis of all ages have taken the game to heart, from children scrimmaging on playgrounds to international matches battled out in spectacular modern stadiums”(“Sports and Recreation”). The national team of Saudi Arabia has appeared in four World Cups and has won the AFC Asian Cup 3 times.  Its home stadium is the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh, which holds about 67,000 spectators.  Soccer in Saudi Arabia is alive and well and will continue to thrive in the coming years.

            Across the globe people will prep this summer for one of the biggest sporting events. The World Cup will take place this summer in Brazil and the world will watch, as the beautiful game will take place on its biggest stage. Every continent has had the honor of hosting the World Cup. In 2022 the World Cup will come to Qatar, the first Arab country to host the tournament, which beat out other nations such as South Korea, Japan, Australia, and the Untied States. Some controversy has arisen over the decision to hold the World Cup in Qatar. The first of which is the climate. The World Cup has always taken place during the summer, which is the offseason for most major leagues across the world.  The problem is that the average summer temperature in Qatar is around 120 degrees Fahrenheit, which causes immediate concern for the safety of the players and spectators. The bid chairmen Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Khalifa al-Than responded by saying the answer will heavily rely on the technology of temperature controlled stadiums. There have been talks of moving the tournament to the winter months but that has been met with harsh opposition from the international soccer community. With the natural climate in opposition to the proposed World Cup in Qatar, allegations of bribery have arisen toward two members of the executive committee in charge of selecting the location for the 2022 World Cup. Whether these allegations are true, as a fan of the game, I look forward to seeing the Arab world shine on the world’s biggest stage when its time comes.

            The reason why I chose to write about sports and soccer more specifically is because I have played soccer ever since I was young and has been a very important part of my life ever since. To me, and like many others, soccer is way more than a game. Soccer can transcend the boundaries that would ultimately separate individuals and bring them together if only for a short while. In my experiences playing soccer I have been fortunate to play with people from all over the world and the languages may be different but the game does not change. That is why soccer is called the beautiful game; the ball doesn’t see race or religion. For a brief time, there are just players playing a game and that’s it.  “Across every continent, now more than ever, football is a common language and a culture shared: joy, passion, knowing what it is to be in a team; an escape, an inspiration, an affirmation of identity”(Watt 7).  Now in modern times, there is more focus on what makes us different from each other. But there are more things than we realize that bring us together.

Assyrian Culture

Assyrian Culture 

by Sage Hatch

Assyria (2400-600 B.C.E) was located in northern Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) along the Tigris River. Due to Assyria’s location, they were under constant threat of invasion from surrounding Semitic tribes, as a result of their location in Northern Mesopotamia, which was a prime trade route between the Middle East and the Western worlds. Due to the constant threat of enemy incursions, the Assyrians developed a powerful military, perfecting a method of smelting, and utilizing iron, in their military; they armored their chariots and themselves, used iron tipped spears and arrows, which was devastating in a time when most civilizations were still working with much softer bronze armor and weaponry. Not only were their weaponry advanced, so were their tactics, being among one of the first civilizations to adopt the concept of an integrated army, using a mixture of chariot warfare, a strong infantry, skilled bowmen, and a powerful cavalry which utilized both horses, and camels, the Assyrians also developed the first siege equipment and were far more advanced than neighboring empires at defeating highly fortified cities at a terrifyingly fast pace. Some scholars argue that the Assyrians were mostly built up in the minds of future generations due to their portrayal in The Old Testament, as well as extensive battle scenes depicted on their ruins.

While the militaristic aspect of the Assyrian culture is a main focus for scholarly research, Ancient Assyria had many interesting practice; their economy functioned mainly off of livestock and herding; however, they also practiced a neo-tributary empire, receiving a large portion of their income from surrounding provinces. While not being avid tradesmen, they

Utilized their placement along the important trade route, and taxed passersby according to their shipment, who was sending it, and where it was going.

The Assyrian culture unfortunately is not responsible for creating many thing(at least outside of the battlefield); however, they did adopt many aspects of their life, such as, their religion and writing style from their Semitic predecessors; the Sumerians and transmitted it to the modern world. Most notable among the adoption of culture by the Assyrians was the Library of Ashurbanipal, named after Ashurbanipal, the last great king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, is a collection of thousands of clay tablets and fragments containing texts of all kinds from the 7th century B.C.E; Among its holdings was the famous Epic of Gilgamesh and many other writing left from the ancient world.

Unfortunately circa 620 B.C.E the empire came into decline, due to their treatment of their subjects, high taxes, and possibly weak leadership, mainly in the form of conflicts between the ruling king Ashurbanipal, and his brother, leaving the empire open to outside aggression, finally being conquered by a coalition of Neo-Babylonians and Medes. The capital Nineveh fell in 612 B.C.E. and would not rise again.

The Assyrians left behind a confusing strange legacy, of brutality, ingenuity, and innovative tactics; and for a time were the strongest military force of the known world, and while they themselves may have not contributed much in the way of art, poetry or science; they were responsible for transmitting for future generations the knowledge and records from their predecessors; in the form of the Library of Ashurbanipal, and a large portion of their battle field tactics remained viable in the ancient world.

            In my opinion the topic of the Assyrian culture is an under discussed portion of World History in the United States, due to its location in the Middle East, the U.S. seems ashamed to discuss the contributions made to the modern world, at least, if those contributions are coming out of anywhere East of Greece or south of Romania. Contributions made as far back as 2,400 B.C.E like establishing the use of Iron in so many different facets of life, and the importance of transmitting written word for future generations, while the Assyrian culture may not be a part of the Islamic portion Middle Eastern History, they share in their desire to preserve knowledge of their predecessors, in their interest in trade, and tax collection, and defend what they understood to be rightfully theirs.