Question

Why did the Assyrians borrow from other cultures in the creation and development of their empire?

Answer 1

The Assyrians were war-like civilization, but they were disadvantaged technologically, scientifically, and politically compared to the neighboring civilizations, like the likes of the Babylonians, Egyptians, Phoenicians. So in order to progress and become stronger, and thus to manage to enlarge their empire and become a power house in the region, their leaders started to borrow and learn from the neighboring civilizations, and little by little they reformed the Assyrian society and way of functioning. This contributed to the Assyrian civilization to become very strong, and they managed with their military campaigns to gain much more territory and wealth which made them what they wanted, a power house in the world they knew.