The Beginning of Assyrian Civilization The story of the Assyrians begins in the ancient Near East, in the northern region of Mesopotamia, along the upper Tigris River. The city of Ashur (modern Qal'at Sherqat in Iraq) emerged as the heart of what would become Assyrian culture around 2500 BCE, during the Early Dynastic period of Mesopotamia. The early Assyrians were a Semitic-speaking people who adopted the Akkadian language, closely related to Babylonian. They were initially