Of all the warlike peoples of history, few have earned such a brutal reputation as the Assyrians. Hailing from part of Mesopotamia, roughly in modern-day Iraq, the Assyrians forged a series of empires that were some of the great powers of the ancient world. The greatest of these empires was the Neo-Assyrian Empire which existed from the late 10th to late 7th centuries BC. In its day, it was the largest empire the world had yet seen, stretching from Egypt to Syria, from the Levant back into Mesopotamia. Today, we explore the brutal punishments inflicted on enemies, rebels, and criminals in order to build and sustain this mighty empire, and learn why the Assyrians have their fearsome reputation.