According to biblical history accounts, the captivities began in approximately 732 BC. In 722 BC, around ten years after the initial deportations, the ruling city of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, Samaria, was finally taken by Sargon II, the Assyrian king at the time. 2 Kings 17:5 – Now the king of Assyria went throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria and besieged it for three years. In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria and carried Israel away to Assyria.

The rest of 2 Kings 17 reads like a great judgement against Samaria – the Northern Kingdom of Israel, including the 10 out of the 12 tribes.

Verse 13-15 And YHWH warned Israel and Judah, through all of His prophets, and every seer, saying, “Turn back from your evil ways, and guard My commands and My laws, according to all the Torah which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by My servants the prophets.” But they did not listen and hardened their necks, like the necks of their fathers, who did not put their trust in YHWH their Elohim, and rejected His laws and His covenant that He had made with their fathers, and His witnesses which He had witnessed against them, and went after worthlessness, and became worthless, and after the gentiles who were all around them, of whom YHWH had commanded them not to do like them.

Verse 41 – So these nations feared YHWH, yet served their carved images; also their children and their children’s children have continued doing as their fathers did, even to this day.

Who were the Assyrians?

The Assyrians are generally described as being descended from Asshur, a son of Shem, who is the son of Noah. This lineage is found in Genesis 10:22. Assyrian and Asshur in Hebrew are the same name ASSUR H804 – ‘aššûr, meaning successful, going forward. And considering that Assyria was the most powerful empire primarily located in northern Mesopotamia, roughly corresponding to modern-day Iraq, including Iran, Syria and Turkey, they were indeed a success in their own right.

The ancient Assyrians had numerous superstitions and beliefs surrounding omens, taboos, and divine intervention. They also held beliefs in the evil eye and used amulets for protection.  The belief in the evil eye, a malevolent gaze that could cause harm, was prevalent among the Assyrians, but still exist to this day. To ward off the evil eye, they often wore amulets, particularly blue or turquoise beads with eye-like features, like in seen in the picture below as an example.

Assyria is also mentioned a lot throughout Scripture, including where Assyria is portrayed as a “rod of YHWH’s anger” in Isaiah 10:5,12 – O Assyrian, H804 the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation… Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when YHWH hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, H804 and the glory of his high looks.