Wait...what's Assyria?

Assyria (2371-609-ish B.C.)

An Assyrian banquet with a harpist on the left.

Map of Assyrian expansion

Well, all I really knew about Assyrians before this research endeavor was that they really like war (and they were cursed by a prophet (2 Kings 19:32-35)), and that much I knew from studying the Bible.  Through an in depth search in 2 Kings, I found that in chapter 15 verse 29 the Assyrian king, Tiglath-pileser, takes some Israelites captive, in 16:9 Tiglath-pileser conquers Damascus and slays its king, in  chapter 17 King Shalmaneser "comes up" against Hoshea and later besieges Samaria in three years, and the wars and conflicts continue through 19:37, after which not much is said about Assyria in the Bible.  Unfortunately, the Bible does not include any information about Assyria's music and drama.

The guys on the far right are playing some stringed instrument.

My research of other sources shows similar information: Shalmaneser I conquered people in Mesopatamia, Tiglath Pileser I “extended his domain”-conquered- into the Mediterranean, and Sargon II conquered the Israelites.  They really liked fighting.  Only a few Assyrians were scholars and able to read, the nest learned purely by folk and oral knowledge.  Orders in the Assyrian army were conveyed by word of mouth.
The Assyrians liked to mix fighting and music.  Claire C. J. Polin, in his book Music of the Ancient Near East,states that when the Assyrians took captives in war, the musicians alone were allowed to live.

Polin also quotes Sir Henry Layard who describes a panel showing 52 musicians:

            “Assyrian generals were welcomed by bands of men and women, dancing, singing, and playing on instruments.”  He goes on to describe harpists, pipers, santirists, drummers playing the tubal, a drum played with two hands, and singers.

The Assyrian army returns victorious.  A couple of people are playing instruments to welcome the army.  They are in the  upper left hand corner.

Some Assyrian hymns reflect the war-obsessed culture.    A hymn titled "Nanaya Hymn of Sargon II," praises the goddess Nanaya for leading battles. Assurbanipal’s Hymn to the Ištars of Nineveh and Arbela, Assurbanipal’s Acrostic Hymn to Marduk and Zarpanitu, and Assurbanipal’s Hymn to Aššur also contain references to the gods' influence and strength in battle.  The fact that they sang songs in praise to their gods for their abilities in battle, illustrates the significance of battle for the Assyrians.

Music is intermixed with battle. Nanaya is also described as being surrounded by musicians.  And musicians great the returning army.  Assyrians used music amplify the importance of war in their culture.
The hymns also pass on knowledge of their religion and the nature of the gods, and convey knowledge of Assyrian agriculture.

I'd say that those hymns are quite a bit different than the one's in our hymnbook.

Assyrians playing the harp, flute (or pipes I can't quite tell) and drums

Finding information about Assyria was a challenge.  Assyrians kept records on cuneiform tablets, which are difficult to translate and most of the tablets are missing parts due to decay, so not a whole lot of information survived from the time Assyria fell--sometime between 612 and 607B.C.--to the present day. 

Cuneiform tablet

So, judging by Samuel's post and this post, I'd say that a lot of cultures like to mix music and war.  What other traits are able to span across cultures?