Assyrian head pendant. Bronze, cast. Assyria was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom, extant as a nation state from the 25th or 24th century BC until 605 BC. Assyria was centered on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia. The Assyrians came to rule powerful empires a number of times through history. As part of the greater Mesopotamian civilization, Assyria was at its height a highly advanced nation for its time in terms of architecture, engineering, agriculture, economics, civil service, mathematics, medicine, literature, military technology, law, astronomy and libraries/record keeping. One of the earliest types of bodily adornment is the pendant.