page_title: State communications in the Neo-Assyrian Empire
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: State communications in the Neo-Assyrian Empire / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Basalt statue of King Shalmaneser II, 858-824 BCE (Neo-Assyrian Period). Found in Assur (Qala't Sharqat). Today it is displayed in the Istanbul Archaeological Museums, in the Museum of the Ancient Orient section. This text is from a display at this statue, a translation of script on the actual statue: The king gives a brief account of his genealogical titles and characteristics as follows: "Shalmaneser, the great king, the mighty king, king of all the four regions, the powerful and the mighty rival of the princes of the whole universe, the great ones, the kings, son of Assur-Naşirapli, king of universe, king of Assyria, grandson of Tukulti-Ninurta, king of universe, king of Assyria." The inscription continues with describing his campaigns and deeds of the lands of Urartu, Syria, Namri, Que and Tabal, and ends with this: "At that time I rebuilt the walls of my city Ashur from their foundations to their summits. I made an image of my royal self and set it up by the metal-workers gate."
context_page_description: The state communications in the Neo-Assyrian Empire allowed the Assyrian king and his officials to send and receive messages across the empire quickly and reliably. Messages were sent using a relay system which was revolutionary for the early first millennium BCE. Messages were carried by military riders who travelled on mules. At intervals the riders stopped at purpose-built stations, and the messages were passed to other riders with fresh mounts. The stations were positioned at regular intervals along the imperial highway system. Because messages could be transmitted without delay or waiting for riders to rest the system provided unprecedented communication speed, which was not surpassed in the Middle East until the introduction of the telegraph.
  The efficiency of the system contributed to the Neo-Assyrian Empire's dominance in the Middle East and to maintaining cohesion throughout the empire. These Assyrian innovations were adopted by later empires, including the Achaemenid Empire which inherited and expanded the Assyrian communication network.
context_section_description: The Neo-Assyrian Empire was an Iron Age empire centered in Mesopotamia. The reign of Adad-nirari II (r. 911–891 BCE) was considered the start of the empire. He and his successors – up to the late seventh century BCE – expanded the empire to dominate most of the modern Middle East, from Egypt in the west to the Persian Gulf in the east. As the empire grew, it introduced various administrative and infrastructural innovations, which became templates for later empires, including the Roman and Persian empires.
  The state communication system was developed to solve the challenges of governing a large empire. It probably originated during the reign of Shalmaneser III (r. 858–824 BCE), when Assyria was already the largest power in the Middle East. In order to rule and maintain cohesion within the empire, the king, his court officials and his governors in the provinces needed a fast and reliable system to communicate.
caption: The imperial communication system was likely introduced during the reign of Shalmaneser III (r. 858–824 BCE), depicted in this statue.
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