By the end of this, Assyria had transformed into a warrior culture, and in 911 BC a 'Neo-Assyrian' empire was born that used its early mastery of iron weapons to dominate its rivals. Founded in 1813 BC, the Assyrian empire had a rocky start, quickly falling under the dominion of rivals like Babylon, collapsing into civil war, seeing a resurgence in the mid-14th century BC where it finally conquered its rival, only to fall into a dark age afterward. When the Sumerian and Akkadian civilizations collapsed, their remnants coalesced into Babylon in the south and Assyria in the north. The Sumerians may be the first civilization, but the Assyrians were among the first conquering empires.
