Assyrian Foreign Policy in the Levant before Sennacherib

Assyria. Once the greatest and largest Empire in the History of Earth. Thousands of years ago, Assyria dominated the political landscape in Mesopotamia and the Ancient Near East. This piece focuses on the Assyrian foreign policy towards the Levant before the Sennacherib era, in particular the modes of control, like deportation, and the different ways the Empire treated the people and lands around them, according to a political hierarchy, the "Land" and "Yoke" of Ashur. As history is full of self-aggrandizing kings, this piece looks at different sources from the Hebrew bible and archaeological evidence to establish Assyrian foreign policy with regards to Israel and Judah. It will elucidate upon the relationship between Israel and Aram-Damascus in particular, and the ensuing consequences in foreign relations.