WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

Assyria
    n 1: an ancient kingdom in northern Mesopotamia which is in
         present-day Iraq

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary:

Assyria
   the name derived from the city Asshur on the Tigris, the
   original capital of the country, was originally a colony from
   Babylonia, and was ruled by viceroys from that kingdom. It was a
   mountainous region lying to the north of Babylonia, extending
   along the Tigris as far as to the high mountain range of
   Armenia, the Gordiaean or Carduchian mountains. It was founded
   in B.C. 1700 under Bel-kap-kapu, and became an independent and a
   conquering power, and shook off the yoke of its Babylonian
   masters. It subdued the whole of Northern Asia. The Assyrians
   were Semites (Gen. 10:22), but in process of time non-Semite
   tribes mingled with the inhabitants. They were a military
   people, the "Romans of the East."

     Of the early history of the kingdom of Assyria little is
   positively known. In B.C. 1120 Tiglath-pileser I., the greatest
   of the Assyrian kings, "crossed the Euphrates, defeated the
   kings of the Hittites, captured the city of Carchemish, and
   advanced as far as the shores of the Mediterranean." He may be
   regarded as the founder of the first Assyrian empire. After this
   the Assyrians gradually extended their power, subjugating the
   states of Northern Syria. In the reign of Ahab, king of Israel,
   Shalmaneser II. marched an army against the Syrian states, whose
   allied army he encountered and vanquished at Karkar. This led to
   Ahab's casting off the yoke of Damascus and allying himself with
   Judah. Some years after this the Assyrian king marched an army
   against Hazael, king of Damascus. He besieged and took that
   city. He also brought under tribute Jehu, and the cities of Tyre
   and Sidon.

     About a hundred years after this (B.C. 745) the crown was
   seized by a military adventurer called Pul, who assumed the name
   of Tiglath-pileser III. He directed his armies into Syria, which
   had by this time regained its independence, and took (B.C. 740)
   Arpad, near Aleppo, after a siege of three years, and reduced
   Hamath. Azariah (Uzziah) was an ally of the king of Hamath, and
   thus was compelled by Tiglath-pileser to do him homage and pay a
   yearly tribute.

     In B.C. 738, in the reign of Menahem, king of Israel, Pul
   invaded Israel, and imposed on it a heavy tribute (2 Kings
   15:19). Ahaz, the king of Judah, when engaged in a war against
   Israel and Syria, appealed for help to this Assyrian king by
   means of a present of gold and silver (2 Kings 16:8); who
   accordingly "marched against Damascus, defeated and put Rezin to
   death, and besieged the city itself." Leaving a portion of his
   army to continue the siege, "he advanced through the province
   east of Jordan, spreading fire and sword," and became master of
   Philistia, and took Samaria and Damascus. He died B.C. 727, and
   was succeeded by Shalmanezer IV., who ruled till B.C. 722. He
   also invaded Syria (2 Kings 17:5), but was deposed in favour of
   Sargon (q.v.) the Tartan, or commander-in-chief of the army, who
   took Samaria (q.v.) after a siege of three years, and so put an
   end to the kingdom of Israel, carrying the people away into
   captivity, B.C. 722 (2 Kings 17:1-6, 24; 18:7, 9). He also
   overran the land of Judah, and took the city of Jerusalem (Isa.
   10:6, 12, 22, 24, 34). Mention is next made of Sennacherib (B.C.
   705), the son and successor of Sargon (2 Kings 18:13; 19:37;
   Isa. 7:17, 18); and then of Esar-haddon, his son and successor,
   who took Manasseh, king of Judah, captive, and kept him for some
   time a prisoner at Babylon, which he alone of all the Assyrian
   kings made the seat of his government (2 Kings 19:37; Isa.
   37:38).

     Assur-bani-pal, the son of Esarhaddon, became king, and in
   Ezra 4:10 is referred to as Asnapper. From an early period
   Assyria had entered on a conquering career, and having absorbed
   Babylon, the kingdoms of Hamath, Damascus, and Samaria, it
   conquered Phoenicia, and made Judea feudatory, and subjected
   Philistia and Idumea. At length, however, its power declined. In
   B.C. 727 the Babylonians threw off the rule of the Assyrians,
   under the leadership of the powerful Chaldean prince
   Merodach-baladan (2 Kings 20:12), who, after twelve years, was
   subdued by Sargon, who now reunited the kingdom, and ruled over
   a vast empire. But on his death the smouldering flames of
   rebellion again burst forth, and the Babylonians and Medes
   successfully asserted their independence (B.C. 625), and Assyria
   fell according to the prophecies of Isaiah (10:5-19), Nahum
   (3:19), and Zephaniah (3:13), and the many separate kingdoms of
   which it was composed ceased to recognize the "great king" (2
   Kings 18:19; Isa. 36:4). Ezekiel (31) attests (about B.C. 586)
   how completely Assyria was overthrown. It ceases to be a nation.
   (See NINEVEH; BABYLON.)


Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary (late 1800's):

Assyria, country of Assur or Ashur