Such at least was the case with the ruling classes.
It was a population of free peasants, of soldiers, and of traders.

Its culture was derived from Babylonia; even its gods, with the exception of Assur, were of Babylonian origin.

We look in vain among the Assyrians for the peace-loving tendencies of the Babylonians; they were, on the contrary, the Romans of the East.

They were great in war, and in the time of the Second Assyrian empire great also in law and administration.
But they were not a literary people; education among them was confined to the scribes and officials, rather than generally spread as in Babylonia.

War and commerce were their two trades.
The Kassite conquerors of Babylonia soon submitted to the influences of Babylonian civilisation.