The Neo-Assyrian kings are among the best-known of the Assyrian Empire and include Tiglath Pileser III, Shalmaneser III, Sargon II, Sennacherib, Esarhaddon, and Ashurbanipal. The term Neo-Assyrian is a modern-day designation; the Assyrians themselves never applied that term to the latter stage of their empire which once encompassed Mesopotamia, Anatolia, Egypt, the Levant, and parts of Arabia and Persia.
The Neo-Assyrian Empire (912-612 BCE) begins, according to most scholars, with the reign of Adad Nirari II (912-891 BCE) while others maintain it starts with the reign of Tiglath Pileser III (745-727 BCE) and begins to decline after the reign of Ashurbanipal (668-627 BCE), ending in 612 BCE when a coalition of Babylonians, Medes, and Persians sacked the great Assyrian cities including Ashur, Kalhu, and Nineveh.
The following gallery presents some of the most famous Neo-Assyrian kings as well as protective spirits and the royal pastime of lion hunting.
