The testimony of the Bible about the best army of the Ancient World
Hunting for lions.
Assyrian relief from Nineveh. 645-635 BC. (British museum)

In the biblical texts found a lot of interesting information describing those events that shocked the authors' imagination. And which religious Jews decided to carefully preserve for posterity in inviolability. These invaluable historical messages relate to the most diverse spheres of human activity: medicine, geography, history, administration, medicine, crafts, magic. sociology ...

Probably, here I should mention that for me the Bible is primarily a collection of Hebrew myths and legends, often taken from other, more ancient and enlightened peoples.

For example, from the Sumerians and Akkadians, who lived in Dvorichie, fertile areas, formed in the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Most likely, it was from there that the Jews learned their cosmogony, the myths about the Flood, the Last Judgment ... Well, I will leave this fundamental area to specialists, because I am just an amateur, a simple inquisitive person and a lover of History.

So, among the Jewish authors of the Bible there were in fact not only the theologians who left a lot of texts to their descendants, contradictory, tedious for perception. In order not to hurt the feelings of believers, I’ll make a reservation that there may well be mistakes of translators, scribes, writers, etc.

So, back to our sheep: Among the authors of the Bible were very competent, sensible people. Able to accurately, capaciously and figuratively describe the great phenomena in several lines.

Here is an example of such a biblical text describing the Assyrian army:

“They do not know fatigue and drowsiness, it is impossible to notice at one of them a loose belt or an untied belt on sandals. They jump to the tops of the mountains, as the highlanders flee and, like brave warriors, fly up to the wall, and each goes his own way, and does not stray from his path, and they do not crush each other, and even falling on spears, remain unharmed. "

In this passage, an unknown author tells about Assyrian soldiers. He probably observed them with his own eyes, because the Assyrians conquered the Jews and even partially assimilated them, including using them in their own army as warriors. About Assyrian warriors are told here exhaustively and in detail. Thanks to the description, they appear to me as selected, healthy and resilient young men "They do not know fatigue and drowsiness."

In the Assyrian army excellent discipline and logistics. The supply of soldiers with everything they need, and ammunition, including organized very well ... "can not be seen at any of them loose belt or untied belt at sandals."

The soldiers of Assyria are hardy and courageous, they are well prepared physically and morally. Hello to the Russian marines, who massively threw their body armor during marches through the passes of the Caucasus Mountains in the first Chechen war. “Come on, commander ... Anyway, this bronik will not really protect against the dynamic impact of a bullet 7.62 ... And I'll die under it now ... Sorry, commander, you better shoot me now. I will not raise ... "

Assyrian warriors were then martial coordination "perfectly well." They were trained to act in a group, but they also have individual skills and abilities ... ”They jump over the tops of the mountains, as the highlanders run and, like brave warriors, take off onto the wall, and everyone goes their own way, and does not go astray his, and they do not crush each other. "
Hello to the ancient German berserkers and Irish Feniums, whose individual skill and courage were transcendent. But who have not learned to act in a timely manner in a single system and maneuver on the battlefield. And because they became easy prey for the well-trained Roman legionnaires, whose individual skills were very, very average, and they were not taught him.

Assyria became the first Empire of the Ancient World in the present, classical understanding of this phenomenon and its modern scientific definition. Of course, when creating the Empire, the rulers (politicians and scholars) of Assyria relied primarily on their magnificent, victorious army.

This is the first example of the organization of a real army in the history of mankind. The example of Rome, eternal, great and mighty, was the second.