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The Assyrian presence in Palestine from the ninth through the seventh century B.C.E. represents a case of intercultural contact against the background of an expansionist imperial process. The "Assyrianization" of Israel and Judah, as well as that of the whole Levant, has often been posited. This term, which evokes "Romanization," would indicate enforced cultural adaptation to Assyrian values and customs within the framework of a process of assimilation. An alleged "Assyrianization" of Ancient Israel would be congruent with that interpretation of Assyrian imperialism postulating programmatic measures to impose the Assyrian way of life upon the whole empire. However, a study of the cuneiform and archaeological sources leads to an alternative interpretation of Assyrian imperial policy in the West.
In memoriam Anson F. Rainey, z'l (1930-2011)
INTRODUCTION
The Assyrian conquest of the Levant was neither a linear nor an easy enterprise. The image of an unstoppable military power that systematically defeated all foreign countries and integrated them into the empire is only partially correct, particularly if the western expansion is looked at from an historical perspective (the longue durée). The number of the campaigns in the region (67)1 and of military operations during these campaigns, as well as the fact that in some cases provinces were lost and in other cases certain areas remained inaccessible, show the complexity of the subject. To construct a world empire and to hold it is not easy even with absolute military superiority; world empires cannot be planned, but originate on the basis of certain objectives and are influenced by many internal and external, unpredictable factors.
Much more difficult than being a world empire is facing one as an independent state. The number and repetition of uprisings by relatively small political units is a noteworthy phenomenon. As a world empire which claimed to have the Levant under control, Assyria could not allow herself to remain passive in the event of rebellion. At most, there might be a temporal delay in reacting-a possibility with which the rebels might indeed have reckoned-but not to react at all was not possible without endangering Assyria's own position. In the long term Assyria's aims were attained: almost the entire region was brought under Assyrian rule, and raw materials, luxury goods, people, and animals poured in...