title: Neo-Assyrian Empire

text: The inner elite of the Neo-Assyrian Empire included two main groups, the "magnates" and the "scholars". The "magnates" are a grouping by modern historians for the seven highest-ranking officials in the administration; the (treasurer), (palace herald), (chief cupbearer), (chief officer/eunuch), (chief judge), (grand vizier) and (commander-in-chief). There is some evidence that some these offices were, at least at times, occupied by members of the royal family. Occupants of four of the offices, the , , and , are also recorded to have served as governors of important provinces and thus as controllers of local tax revenues and administration. All of the magnates were deeply involved with the Assyrian military, each controlling significant numbers of forces, and they often owned large and tax-free estates. Such estates were scattered across the empire, likely to defuse the power of local provincial authorities and to tie the personal interest of the inner elite to the well-being of the entire empire. The "scholars", called , included a number of different people specialized in various disciplines, including scribal arts, medicine, exorcism, divination and astrology. Their role was chiefly to protect, advise and guide the kings through interpreting omens, which maintained the ritual purity of the king and protected him from evil. How exactly they were trained is not known but they must have been extremely well versed in Mesopotamian scholarship, science and wisdom.


title: Neo-Assyrian Empire

text: To solve the challenges of governing an empire of unprecedented size, the Neo-Assyrian Empire, probably first under Shalmaneser III, developed a sophisticated state communication system. Use of this system was restricted to messages sent by high officials; their messages were stamped with their seals, which demonstrated their authority. Messages without such seals could not be sent through the communication system.


title: Neo-Assyrian Empire

text: Per estimates by Karen Radner, a message sent from the western border province Quwê to the Assyrian heartland, a distance of 700 kilometers (430 miles) over a stretch of lands featuring many rivers without any bridges, could take less than five days to arrive. Such communication speed was unprecedented before the rise of the Neo-Assyrian Empire and was not surpassed in the Middle East until the telegraph was introduced by the Ottoman Empire in 1865, nearly two and a half thousand years after the Neo-Assyrian Empire's fall. The quick communications between the imperial court and officials in the provinces was an important contributing factor to the cohesion of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, and an important innovation which paved the way for its geopolitical dominance.


title: Neo-Assyrian Empire

text: The Assyrian government exclusively used mules for long-distance state messengers due to their strength, hardiness and low maintenance. Assyria was the first civilization to use mules for this purpose. It was common for messengers to ride with two mules, which meant that it was possible to alternate between them to keep them fresh and to ensure that the messengers were not stranded if one mule became lame. Messages were sent either through a trusted envoy or through a series of relay riders. The relay system, called , was invented by the Assyrians and allowed for significantly faster speeds in times of need, with each rider only covering a segment of the travel route, ending at a relay station at which the next rider, with a fresh pair of mules, was passed the letter. To facilitate transport and long-distance travel, the Neo-Assyrian Empire constructed and maintained a vast road system which connected all parts of the empire. Called the ("king's road"), the roads might originally have grown from routes used by the military during campaigns and were continually expanded. The largest phase of road expansion transpired between the reigns of Shalmaneser III and Tiglath-Pileser III.


title: Neo-Assyrian Empire

text: At the height of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, the Assyrian army was the strongest army yet assembled in world history. The number of soldiers in the Neo-Assyrian army was likely several hundred thousand. The Assyrians pioneered innovative uses and strategies, particularly concerning cavalry and siege warfare, that would be used in later warfare for millennia. Due to detailed royal records and detailed depictions of soldiers and battle scenes on reliefs, the equipment and organization of the Neo-Assyrian army is relatively well understood. Communication within the army and between units was fast and efficient; using the empire's efficient methods of state communication, messages could be sent across vast distances very quickly. Messages could be passed within an army through the use of fire signals.


title: Neo-Assyrian Empire

text: While on campaign, the army was symbolically led by two gods; with standards of Nergal and Adad being hoisted to the left and right of the commander. The commander was typically the king, but other officials could also be assigned to lead the Assyrian army into war. Such officials included family members (for instance Adad-nirari III's mother Shammuramat and Sargon II's brother Sin-ahu-usur) or influential generals and courtiers (for instance s such as Dayyan-Assur and Shamshi-ilu). The army was chiefly raised through provincial governors levying troops. Provincial governors could also sometimes lead campaigns on their own and negotiate with foreign rulers. Under the Sargonid dynasty, some reforms appear to have been made to the leadership of armies; the office of was divided into two and it seems that specific regiments of the army, including their respective land-holdings, were transferred from the king's direct command to the command of the crown prince and the queen. The Neo-Assyrian army was an evolution of the preceding Middle Assyrian army, and inherited the warrior ethic, experience with chariots and levy system of its predecessor. The two most important new developments in the Neo-Assyrian period was the large-scale introduction of cavalry and the adoption of iron for armor and weapons.


title: Neo-Assyrian Empire

text: While the Middle Assyrian army had been composed entirely of levies, a central standing army was established in the Neo-Assyrian Empire, dubbed the ("king's unit"). Closely accompanying the king were also the , or royal bodyguards, some drawn from the infantry. The army was subdivided into , composed of perhaps 1,000 soldiers, most of whom would have been infantry soldiers (, or ). The infantry were divided into three types: light, medium and heavy. The light infantry might have in addition to serving in battles also carried out policing tasks and served in garrisons and was likely mainly composed of Aramean tribesmen, often barefoot and without helmets, wielding bows or spears. Also included in that group were probably expert archers hired from Elam. The medium infantry were also primarily archers or spearmen but were armed with characteristic pointed helments and a shield, though no body armor before the time of Ashurbanipal. The heavy infantry included spearmen, archers and slingers and wore boots, pointed helmets, round shields and scale armor. In battle, they fought in close formation. Foreign levy troops drafted into the army are often distinguishable in reliefs by distinct headgear.


title: Neo-Assyrian Empire

text: The Neo-Assyrian cavalry () used small horses bred in the northern parts of the Assyrian heartland. The cavalry was commanded by a general with the title . The cavalry was at some point divided into two distinct groups; the archers () and lancers (), both of whom in addition to their own weapons were also equipped with swords. The army also incorporated foreign cavalry from Urartu, despite Assyria and Urartu often being at war. The role of cavalry changed through the Neo-Assyrian period; early on, cavalrymen worked in pairs, one shooting arrows and the other protecting the bowman with his shield. Later on, shock cavalry was introduced. Under Ashurbanipal, horses were equipped with leather armor and a bronze plaque on the head, and riders wore scale armor. Though chariots continued to be used ceremonially, and were often used by kings while on campaign, they were largely replaced by cavalry as a prominent element of the army during the Neo-Assyrian period.


title: Neo-Assyrian Empire

text: While on campaign, the army made heavy use of both interpreters/translators () and guides (), both probably being drawn from foreigners resettled in Assyra. The innovative techniques and siege engines in siege warfare used by Neo-Assyrian armies included tunneling, diverting rivers, blockading to ensure starvation, siege towers, ladders, ramps and battering rams. Another innovation were the camps established by the army while on campaign, which were carefully designed with collapsible furniture and tents so that they could be swifty built and dismantled.


title: Neo-Assyrian Empire

text: At the undisputed top of Neo-Assyrian society was the king. Belonging to the higher portions of Neo-Assyrian society but below the king were (in descending order of prestige and power) the crown prince, the rest of the royal family, the royal court, administrators and army officers. From the time Ashurnasirpal II designated Nimrud as the new capital of the empire onwards, eunuchs held a very high position in Neo-Assyrian society. The highest offices both in the civil administration and the army were typically occupied by eunuchs with deliberately obscure and lowly origins, since this ensured that they would be loyal to the king. The members of the royal court were often handpicked from among the urban elites by eunuchs.


title: Neo-Assyrian Empire

text: Below the higher classes were the Assyrian "citizens", semi-free laborers (usually mostly made up of deportees) and then slaves. There were never a significantly large number of slaves and the group was made up of both prisoners of war and of Assyrians who had been unable to pay their debts and were thus reduced to debt bondage. In many cases, Assyrian family groups, or "clans", formed large population groups within the empire referred to as tribes. It was possible through steady service to the Assyrian state bureaucracy for a family to move up the social ladder; in some cases stellar work conducted by a single individual enhanced the status of their family for generations to come. It is clear that foreigners could reach very high positions in the Neo-Assyrian Empire since individuals with Aramean names are attested in high positions by the end by the late 8th century BC. Though most of the preserved sources only give insight into the higher classes of Neo-Assyrian society, the vast majority of the population of the empire would have been farmers who worked land owned by their families.


title: Neo-Assyrian Empire

text: Families and tribes lived together in villages and other settlements near or adjacent to their agricultural lands. It is not clear how local settlements were organized internally beyond each being headed by a local mayor who acted as a local judge (more in the sense of a counselor to involved parties than someone who passed judgement) and represented the settlement within the state bureaucracy. It is possible that the mayors were responsible of forwarding local concerns to the state; no revolts by the common people (only by local governors and high officials) are known to have happened in the Neo-Assyrian period. Though all means of production were owned by the state, there was also a vibrant private economic sector within the empire, with property rights of individuals ensured by the government. All monumental construction projects were undertaken by the state through levying materials and people from local governors, though sometimes also with the help of private contractors.


title: Neo-Assyrian Empire

text: The wealth generated through private investments was dwarfed by the wealth of the state, which was by far the largest employer in the empire and had an obvious monopoly on agriculture, manufacturing and exploitation of minerals. The imperial economy advantaged mainly the elite, since it was structured in a way that ensured that surplus wealth flowed to the government and was then used for the maintenance of the state throughout the empire.


title: Neo-Assyrian Empire

text: From the time of the Assyrian at the beginning of the Neo-Assyrian period onwards, the Assyrians made extensive use of an increasingly complex system of deportations and resettlements. Large-scale resettlement projects were carried out in recently defeated enemy lands and cities in an effort to destroy local identities, which would reduce the risk that local peoples rose up against Assyria, and to make the most of the empire's resources, through settling people in a specific underdeveloped region to cultivate its resources better. Though it could likely be emotionally devastating for the resettled populations, and economically devastating for the regions they were drawn from, the policy did not include killing any of the resettled people and was only meant to safeguard the empire and make its upkeep more efficient. The total number of relocated individuals has been estimated at 1.5–4.5 million people.


title: Neo-Assyrian Empire

text: The Neo-Assyrian state valued deportees highly for their labor and abilities. One of the most important reasons for resettlement was to develop the empire's agricultural infrastructure through introducing Assyrian-developed agricultural techniques to all of the provinces. The economic effects of the policy were enormous, with many regions of the empire experiencing significant improvements in terms of both irrigation and prosperity. Because of the inherent value of the resettled people to the Assyrian state, the resettlements were carefully planned out and organized. The travel of the deportees was typically arranged to be as comfortable and safe as possible. Resettled people were allowed to bring their possessions with them, settle and live together with their families, and were free to live their lives in their new home. They were also no longer counted as foreigners, but as Assyrians, which over time contributed to a sense of loyalty to the Assyrian state. This recognition as Assyrians was not in name only, as documentary evidence attests to the new settlers not being treated any differently by the Assyrian state than the old populations who had lived in the same locations for generations. The Assyrians appear to have viewed resettlement as an attractive opportunity rather than a punishment given that the people to be resettled were carefully selected through a complex selection process, were transported in relative comfort, and continued to live with their families. It is possible that their original homes had in many cases been devastated or destroyed in war with Assyria.


title: Neo-Assyrian Empire

text: A consequence of the resettlements, and according to Karen Radner "the most lasting legacy of the Assyrian Empire", was a dilution of the cultural diversity of the Near East, forever changing the region's ethnolinguistic composition and facilitating the rise of Aramaic as the local lingua franca. Aramaic remained the lingua franca of the region until suppression of Christians under the Ilkhanate and Timurid Empire in the 14th century AD.


title: Neo-Assyrian Empire

text: The ancient Assyrians primarily spoke and wrote the Assyrian language, a Semitic language (i.e. related to modern Hebrew and Arabic) closely related to Babylonian, spoken in southern Mesopotamia. Both Assyrian and Babylonian are generally regarded by modern scholars to be distinct dialects of the Akkadian language. This is a modern convention as contemporary ancient authors considered Assyrian and Babylonian to be two separate languages; only Babylonian was referred to as , with Assyrian being referred to as or . Though both were written with cuneiform script, the signs look quite different and can be distinguished relatively easily. The Neo-Assyrian Empire was the last ever state to sponsor writing traditional Akkadian cuneiform in all levels of its administration. As a result, ancient Mesopotamian textual tradition and writing practices flourished to an unprecedented degree in the Neo-Assyrian period. Texts written in cuneiform were made not just in the traditionally Akkadian-speaking Assyrian heartland and Babylonia, but by officials and scribes all over the empire. At the height of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, cuneiform documents were written in lands today part of countries like Israel, Lebanon, Turkey, Syria, Jordan and Iran, which had not produced any cuneiform writings for centuries, and in cases never before.


title: Neo-Assyrian Empire

text: Three distinct versions, or dialects, of Akkadian were used in the Neo-Assyrian Empire: Standard Babylonian, Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian. Standard Babylonian was a highly codified version of ancient Babylonian, used around 1500 BC, and was used as a language of high culture, for nearly all scholarly documents, literature and poetry. The culture of the Neo-Assyrian elite was strongly influenced by Babylonia in the south; in a vein similar to how Greek civilization was respected in, and influenced, ancient Rome, the Assyrians had much respect for Babylon and its ancient culture. Though the political relationship between Babylonia and the Assyrian central government was variable and volatile, cultural appreciation of the south was constant throughout the Neo-Assyrian period. Many of the documents written in Standard Babylonian were written by scribes who originally came from southern Mesopotamia but were employed in the north. The Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian forms of Akkadian were vernacular languages, i.e. the primary spoken languages of the people of northern and southern Mesopotamia, respectively.


title: Neo-Assyrian Empire

text: Neo-Assyrian was used in some surviving tablets containing poetry and also more prominently in surviving letters of royal correspondence. Because of the multilingual nature of the empire, many loan words are attested as entering the Assyrian language during the Neo-Assyrian period. The number of surviving documents written in cuneiform grow considerably fewer in the late reign of Ashurbanipal, which suggests that the language was declining since it is probably attributable to an increased use of Aramaic, often written on perishable materials like leather scrolls or papyrus. The Neo-Assyrian Akkadian language did not disappear completely until around the end of the 6th century BC however, well into the subsequent post-imperial period.


title: Neo-Assyrian Empire

text: The imperialism of the Neo-Assyrian Empire was in some ways different from that of later empires. The perhaps biggest difference was that the Neo-Assyrian kings at no point imposed their religion or language on the foreign peoples they conquered outside the Assyrian heartland; the Assyrian national deity Ashur had no significant temples outside of northern Mesopotamia and the Neo-Assyrian language, though it served as an official language in the sense that it was spoken by provincial governors, was not forced upon conquered peoples. This lack of suppression against foreign languages, and the growing movement of Aramaic-speaking people into the empire during the Middle Assyrian and early Neo-Assyrian periods facilitated the spread of the Aramaic language. As the most widely spoken and mutually understandable of the Semitic languages (the language group containing many of the languages spoken through the empire), Aramaic grew in importance throughout the Neo-Assyrian period and increasingly replaced the Neo-Assyrian language even within the Assyrian heartland itself. From the 9th century BC onwards, Aramaic became the lingua franca of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, with Neo-Assyrian and other forms of Akkadian becoming relegated to a language of the political elite.


title: Neo-Assyrian Empire

text: Despite its growth, surviving examples of Aramaic from Neo-Assyrian times are significantly fewer in number than Akkadian writings, mostly because Aramaic scribes for the most part used perishable materials for their writings. The somewhat lacking record of Aramaic in inscriptions does not reflect that the language held a lower status, since royal inscriptions were almost always written in a highly codified and established manner. Some Aramaic-language inscriptions in stone are known and there are even a handful of examples of bilingual inscriptions, with the same text written in both Akkadian and Aramaic.


title: Neo-Assyrian Empire

text: Despite the Neo-Assyrian Empire's promotion of Akkadian, Aramaic also grew to become a widespread vernacular language and it also began to be used in official state-related capacities as early as the reign of Shalmaneser III, given that some examples of Aramaic writings are known from a palace he built in Nimrud. The relationship between Akkadian and Aramaic was somewhat complex, however. Though Sargon II explicitly rejected Aramaic as being unfit for royal correspondence, Aramaic was clearly an officially recognized language under his predecessor Shalmaneser V, who owned a set of lion weights inscribed with text in both Akkadian and Aramaic. That the question of using Aramaic in royal correspondence was even raised in Sargon II's time in the first place was a significant development. In reliefs from palaces built by kings from Tiglath-Pileser III to Ashurbanipal, scribes writing in Akkadian and Aramaic are often depicted side by side, confirming Aramaic having risen to the position of an official language used by the imperial administration.


title: Neo-Assyrian Empire

text: The Neo-Assyrian Empire was highly multilingual. Through its expansionism, the empire came to rule a vast stretch of land incorporating regions throughout the Near East, where various languages were spoken. These languages included various Semitic languages (including Phoenician, Hebrew, Arabic, Ugaritic, Moabite and Edomite) as well as many non-Semitic languages, such as Indo-European languages (including Luwian and Median), Hurrian languages (including Urartian and Shuprian), Afroasiatic languages (Egyptian), and language isolates (including Mannean and Elamite). Though it was no longer spoken, some scholarly texts from the Neo-Assyrian period were also written in the ancient Sumerian language. Though they must have been necessary, Neo-Assyrian texts rarely mentioned translators and interpretors (). Translators are only mentioned in cases when Assyrians communicated with speakers of non-Semitic languages.


title: Neo-Assyrian Empire

text: The beginnings of Assyrian scholarship is conventionally placed near the beginning of the Middle Assyrian Empire in the 14th century BC, when Assyrians began to take a lively interest in Babylonian scholarship, which they themselves adapted and developed into their own scholarship tradition. The rising status of scholarship might be connected to the kings beginning to regard amassing knowledge as a way to strengthen their power. There was a marked change in royal attitude towards scholarship in the Neo-Assyrian period; while the kings had previously seen preserving knowledge as a responsibility of the temples and of private individuals, it was increasingly also seen as a responsibility of the king himself. The history of Neo-Assyrian scholarship appears to have begun already under Tukulti-Ninurta II in the 9th century BC, since he is the first Assyrian king under which the office of chief scholar is attested. In Tukulti-Ninurta's time the office was occupied by Gabbu-ilani-eresh, an ancestor of a later influential family of advisors and scribes.


title: Neo-Assyrian Empire

text: Libraries were built to maintain scribal culture and scholarship and to preserve the knowledge of the past. Such libraries were not limited to the temples and royal palaces; there were also private libraries built and kept by individual scholars. Texts found in Neo-Assyrian libraries fall into a wide array of genres, including divinatory texts, divination reports, treatments for the sick (either medical or magical), ritual texts, incantations, prayers and hymns, school texts and literary texts. The largest and most important royal library in Mesopotamian history was the Library of Ashurbanipal, an ambitious project for which Ashurbanipal gathered tablets from both Assyrian and Babylonian libraries. The texts in this library were gathered both through amassing existing tablets from throughout the empire and through commissioning (i.e. paying) scribes to copy existing works in their own libraries and send them to the king. In total, the Library of Ashurbanipal included more than 30,000 documents. Perhaps a contributing reason for the creation of great royal libraries under the Neo-Assyrian kings was that they no longer regarded divination performed by their diviners as enough, but instead wished to have access to the relevant reference documents themselves and thus collected cuneiform tablets the relevant texts (though the majority of the contents of the libraries were not divinatory texts).


title: Neo-Assyrian Empire

text: The Neo-Assyrian Empire accomplished several complex technical projects, which indicates sophisticated technical knowledge. Various professionals who performed engineering tasks are attested in Neo-Assyrian sources, such as individuals holding positions like ("chief builder"), ("architect"), ("house builder") and ("inspector of canals").


title: Neo-Assyrian Empire

text: Among the most impressive engineering and construction projects of the Neo-Assyrian period were the repeated constructions and renovations of new capital cities (Nimrud, Dur-Sharrukin and Nineveh). Due to royal inscriptions commemorating the building works at these sites, the process of how they were built is relatively well-known. The level of sophistication in Assyrian engineering is evident from solutions to technical problems like lighting throughout large buildings and canalizations of toilets, roofs and courts. All portions of monumental buildings, such as their foundations, walls and terraces, needed to be exactly planned before construction began due to the manpower and materials that had to be gathered. A frequent challenge was to construct the roofs of large rooms since the Assyrians had to support them using only wooden beams. As a result, large representative rooms were often much longer than they were wide. There was a general tendency of kings wanting to outperform their predecessors: Sennacherib's palace at Nineveh was significantly larger than that of Sargon II, which in turn was significantly larger than that of Shalmaneser III. All of the Neo-Assyrian capitals were outfitted with great parks, a new innovation of the Neo-Assyrian period. Parks were complex engineering works since they not only exhibited exotic plants from far-away lands but also involved modifying the landscape through adding artificial hills and ponds, as well as pavilions and other small buildings.


title: Neo-Assyrian Empire

text: To supply new and renovated cities with water, the Assyrians constructed advanced hydraulic works to divert and transport water from far-away mountain regions in the east and north. In Babylonia, water was typically simply drawn from the Tigris river, but it was difficult to do so in Assyria due to the river's level vis-à-vis the surrounding lands and changes in the water level. Because periods of drought often threatened Assyrian dry farming, several Neo-Assyrian kings also undertook great irrigation projects, often digging new canals. The most ambitious hydraulic engineering project of the Neo-Assyrian period was undertaken by Sennacherib during his renovation of Nineveh. As part of his building project, four large canal systems, together covering more than 150 kilometers (93.2 miles), were connected to the city from four different directions. These systems included not only canals but also tunnels, weirs, aqueducts and natural watercourses. Vital, though smaller, hydraulic works also included sewage and drainage systems for buildings which made it possible to dispose of wastewater and efficiently drain the yards, roofs and toilets of not only palaces and temples, but also private homes.


title: Neo-Assyrian Empire

text: Another engineering challenge was the transportation of goods and material, sometimes involving very heavy loads, from far-away locations. Wood was for instance relatively scarce in the Assyrian heartland and as such had to be gathered from distant lands and transported back home for its vital use as a building material. Per surviving documentation, wood was typically gathered from distant forests, transported to rivers and then brought back to Assyria on rafts or ships. The most challenging type of transportation was the transport of large blocks of stone, necessary for various building projects. Several Assyrian kings in particular note in their royal inscriptions the difficulties involved in the transportation of the single massive blocks of stone needed to create the great (protective stone colossi with the head of a human, wings and the body of a bull) for their palaces. Because the stones had to be transported from sources several kilometers away from the capitals and were typically transported on boats, it was a difficult process and several boats sank on the way. It was first under Sennacherib that a new quarry was opened on the left bank of the Tigris river, which led to the stones being able to be transported fully over land, a more secure but still very labor-intensive project. When transported over land, the great stones were moved by four teams of workers, overseen by supervisors, using wooden planks or rollers.


title: Neo-Assyrian Empire

text: The Neo-Assyrian Empire left a cultural legacy of great consequence. The population of northern Mesopotamia continued to keep the memory of their ancient civilization alive and positively connected with the Assyrian Empire in local histories written as late as the Sasanian period. Figures like Sargon II, Sennacherib, Esarhaddon, Ashurbanipal and Shamash-shum-ukin long figured in local folklore and literary tradition. In large part, tales from the Sasanian period and later times were invented narratives, based on ancient Assyrian history but applied to local and current landscapes. Medieval tales written in Aramaic (or Syriac) by and large characterize Sennacherib as an archetypical pagan king assassinated as part of a family feud, whose children convert to Christianity. The legend of the Saints Behnam and Sarah, set in the 4th century but written long thereafter, casts Sennacherib, under the name Sinharib, as their royal father. After Behnam converts to Christianity, Sinharib orders his execution, but is later struck by a dangerous disease that is cured through being baptized by Saint Matthew in Assur. Thankful, Sinharib then converts to Christianity and founds an important monastery near Mosul, called Deir Mar Mattai.Some Aramaic-language stories spread far beyond northern Mesopotamia. The follows a legendary royal advisor, named Ahikar, of Sennacherib and Esarhaddon and is first attested on a papyrus from Elephantine in Egypt from 500 BC. This story proved popular and was translated into a number of languages. Other tales from Egypt include stories of the Egyptian hero Inarus, a fictionalized version of the rebel Inaros I, fighting against Esarhaddon's invasion of Egypt as well as a tale recounting the civil war between Ashurbanipal and Shamash-shum-ukin. Some Egyptian tales feature a queen of the Amazons named Serpot, possibly based on Shammuramat. Several legends of Assyria are known from Greco-Roman texts, including a fictional narrative of the founding of the Assyrian Empire and Nineveh by the legendary figure Ninus, as well as tales of Ninus's powerful wife Semiramis, another fictionalized version of Shammuramat. Also written were legendary accounts of the empire's fall, erreoneously linked to the reign of the effeminate Sardanapalus, a fictionalized version of Ashurbanipal.


title: Neo-Assyrian Empire

text: Though the Neo-Assyrian Empire never imposed forced religious conversions, its mere existence as a large imperialist state reshaped the religious views of the people around it, prominently in the Hebrew kingdoms of Israel and Judah. The Bible mentions Assyria about 150 times; multiple significant events which involved the Hebrews are mentioned, most prominently Sennacherib's war against Hezekiah, and several Neo-Assyrian kings are mentioned, including Tiglath-Pileser III, Shalmaneser V, Sargon II, Sennacherib, Esarhaddon and possibly Ashurbanipal. Though some positive associations of Assyria are included, the Bible generally paints the Neo-Assyrian Empire as an imperialist aggressor. Although apparently originally based on historical sources, the Biblical narratives of Assyria were altered somewhat and can thus for the most part not be regarded as reliable historical accounts. The most prominent alteration is that Sennacherib is described as being defeated by an angel outside Jerusalem, rather than simply returning home. Jewish theology was influenced by the Neo-Assyrian Empire: the Biblical Book of Deuteronomy bears a strong resemblance to the loyalty oaths in Assyrian vassal treaties, though with the absolute loyalty to the Assyrian king replaced with absolute loyalty to the Abrahamic god. Additionally, some stories in the Bible appear to be at least partly drawn from events in Assyrian history; the Biblical story of Jonah and the whale might draw on earlier stories concerning Shammuramat and the story of Joseph was likely at least partly inspired by Esarhaddon's rise to power.


title: Neo-Assyrian Empire

text: Perhaps the greatest influence of the Neo-Assyrian Empire on later Abrahamic religious tradition was that the emergence of a new religious and "national" identity among the Hebrews might have been a direct response to the political and intellectual challenges posed by Assyrian imperialism. The most important innovation in Hebrew theology during the period roughly corresponding to the time of the Neo-Assyrian Empire was the elevation of Yahweh as the only god and the beginning of the monotheism that would later characterize Judaism, Christianity and Islam. It has been suggested that this development only followed experiences either with the near-monotheism of the Assyrians in regards to the god Ashur, or the monocratic and universal nature of the imperial rule of the Assyrian kings.


title: Neo-Assyrian Empire

text: When the Medes and Babylonians conquered the Assyrian heartland, they put the great monuments, palaces, temples and cities of Assyria to the torch; the Assyrian people were dispersed and the great cities were for a long time left largely abandoned. Though Assyria experienced a resurgence in the later post-imperial period, chiefly under the Seleucids and Parthians, the region was later devastated once more during the rise of the Sasanian Empire in the 3rd century AD. The only ancient Assyrian city to be continually inhabited as an urban center from the time of the Neo-Assyrian Empire to the present is Arbela, today known as Erbil.


title: Neo-Assyrian Empire

text: Though the local population of northern Mesopotamia never forgot the Neo-Assyrian Empire and the locations of its great capital cities, knowledge of Assyria in the west survived through the centuries chiefly through the gruesome accounts of the Bible and the works describing the ancient empire by classical authors. Unlike other ancient civilizations, Assyria and other Mesopotamian civilizations left no magnificent ruins above ground; all that remained to see were huge grass-covered mounds in the plains which travellers at times believed to simply be natural features of the landscape.


title: Neo-Assyrian Empire

text: In the early 19th century, European explorers and archaeologists first began to investigate the ancient mounds. One of the important early figures in Assyrian archaeology was the British business agent Claudius Rich (1787–1821), who visited the site of Nineveh in 1820, traded antiquities with the locals and made precise measurements of the mounds. Rich's collection, which eventually ended up in the British Museum, and writings inspired Julius von Mohl (1800–1876), secretary of the French Société Asiatique, to persuade the French authorities to create the position of a French consul in Mosul, and to start excavations at Nineveh. The first consul to be appointed was Paul-Émile Botta (1802–1870) in 1841. Botta conducted, using funds secured by Mohl, extensive excavations at Nineveh, particularly on the huge Kuyunjik mound. Because the ancient ruins of Nineveh were hidden so deep under layers of later settlement and agricultural activities, Botta's excavation never reached them. Upon hearing reports by locals that they had uncovered Assyrian ruins, Botta turned his attention to the site of Khorsabad, 20 kilometers to the northeast, where he through excavations quickly discovered the ruins of an ancient palace. Botta had uncovered the ancient city of Dur-Sharrukin, Sargon II's capital, though he did not know it yet. In his early writings he simply referred to the site as a "monument". The cuneiform writing system would not be deciphered until ten years later. The great works of art found under Botta's supervision included great reliefs and stone s. The discovery was swiftly communicated in scholarly circles by Mohl in Paris. In 1847, the first ever exhibition on Assyrian sculptures was held in the Louvre. After returning to Europe in the late 1840s, Botta compiled an elaborate report on the findings, complete with numerous drawings of the reliefs made by the artist Eugène Flandin (1809–1889). The report, published in 1849, showcased the majesty of Assyrian art and architecture and garnered exceptional interest. Some 19th-century historians, perhaps partly due to the gruesome depiction of Assyria in the Bible, viewed the Assyrians as lacking artistic talent, perceiving Assyrian statues as monstrous and lacking abstraction compared to Ancient Greek statues.Another early explorer to oversee extensive excavations was Austen Henry Layard (1817–1894). Layard was amazed by the ancient Assyrian sites, writing of "mighty ruins in the midst of deserts, defying, by their very desolation and lack of definite form, the description of the traveller". The main inspiration for Layard was, just like it was for Mohl, the work of Claudius Rich. Layard began his activities in November 1845 at Nimrud (though he believed this to be the site of Nineveh), working as a private individual without any permission to excavate from the Ottoman authorities; he initially tried to fool the local pasha through claiming that he was on a hunting trip. The expedition was funded entirely by the British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Stratford Canning (1786–1880). At Nimrud, Layard discovered ruins of numerous palaces, including the ancient Northwest Palace of Ashurnasirpal II, with numerous walls covered in reliefs. Layard's illustrated two-volume book presenting his discoveries, , was published in 1849 and was hugely successful. included not only information on the discoveries themselves, but also an account of the excavations as well as Layard's own experiences travelling in the Middle East and interacting with the locals. The book was translated into numerous languages and made Layard into a celebrity; the British politician and writer Francis Egerton called it "the greatest achievement of our time". Entrusted with greater funds, Layard conducted a second expedition in which he turned his attention to the Kuyunjik mound. There he made significant discoveries, including finding the palace built by Sennacherib.


title: Neo-Assyrian Empire

text: In 1852, the French continued excavations at Khorsabad, with the new consul at Mosul, Victor Place (1818–1875), instructed to procure "the largest possible" amount of Assyrian artefacts. Rivalry between the Louvre and the British Museum played a significant role in the intensity of early exploration and excavation of Assyrian sites. Though Layard left Mesopotamia in 1851, the British Museum appointed his close assistant, the Assyrian Hormuzd Rassam (1826–1910), to continue to maintain excavation projects in the region. Both Rassam and Place conducted excavations at the site of Assur, though they did not know this was the site of the ancient capital and were unable to deal with the complexity of the site, thus making no major discoveries there. Despite agreements as to who should excavate where, Rassam and Place developed an intense rivalry. One night during excavations at Nineveh, Rassam sent out a team of excavators to under the cover of darkness dig in the French portion of the site. These excavators eventually found the ancient palace of Ashurbanipal, where Rassam made several spectacular discoveries. Place's efforts ended in disaster as rafts built to transport some of his most spectacular finds, including reliefs and statues, sank in the marshes south of Baghdad and the archaeological finds were lost. After the outbreak of the Crimean War in 1853, archaeology in Assyria remained dead for a long time, though excavations began again in the early 20th century and have continued since.


title: Neo-Assyrian Empire

text: Though some point to the Akkadian Empire ( 2334–2154 BC) or the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt ( 1550–1290 BC), many researchers consider the Neo-Assyrian Empire to be the first world empire in history. Although the Neo-Assyrian Empire covered between 1.4 and 1.7 million square kilometers (0.54–0.66 million square miles; just a little over one percent of the land area of the planet), the terms "world empire" or "universal empire" should not be taken as denoting actual world domination. The Neo-Assyrian Empire was at its height the largest empire yet to be formed in history, and had ideologically achieved world domination in the sense of ruling most of the entire known world as known to the Assyrians themselves. To the Assyrians, the world was made up of Mesopotamia, the mountains to the northeast, the deserts to the southwest and a global all-encircling ocean surrounding all of it, which they encounted in the west as the Mediterranean (the "Upper Sea") and in the east as the Persian Gulf (the "Lower Sea"). The conquest of a vast empire covering the lands between the two seas was seen by the Assyrians themselves, and many of their contemporaries, as rendering their empire "universal" given that the lands that remained outside their dominions, such as the Arabian desert and the highlands of the Zagros Mountains, could simply be discarded as "empty" lands, inhabited by uncivilized peoples that perhaps belonged on the fringes of the world rather than within civilization.


title: Neo-Assyrian Empire

text: A "world empire" can also be interpreted as an imperial state without any competitors. Though there were other reasonably large kingdoms in the ancient Near East during the Neo-Assyrian period, notably Urartu in the north, Egypt in the west and Elam in the east, none were existential threats to Assyria and could do little else than defend themselves in times of war; whereas Assyrian troops routinely plundered and campaigned in the heartlands of these kingdoms, the Assyrian heartland was not invaded until the fall of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Nevertheless, the existence of other organized kingdoms undermined the notion of the Assyrians as universal rulers. It is partly because of this that large military campaigns were conducted with the express goal of conquering these kingdoms and fulfilling the ideological mission of ruling the world. At the height of the Neo-Assyrian Empire under Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal, only Urartu remained since Egypt had been conquered and Elam left destroyed and desolate.


title: Neo-Assyrian Empire

text: Ideologically, the Neo-Assyrian Empire formed an important part in the imperial ideologies of succeeding empires in the Middle East. The idea of continuity between successive empires (a phenomenon in later times dubbed ) was a long established tradition in Mesopotamia, going back to the which connected succeeding and sometimes rival dynasties and kingdoms together as predecessors and successors. In the past, the idea of succession between empires had resulted in claims such as that of the Dynasty of Isin being the successor of the Third Dynasty of Ur, or Babylonia being the successor of the Akkadian Empire. The idea of supposes that there is only one "true" empire at any given time, and that imperial power and right to rule is inherited from one empire to the next, with Assyria typically seen as the first empire.


title: Neo-Assyrian Empire

text: Ancient Greek historians such as Herodotus and Ctesias supported a sequence of three world empires and a successive transfer of world domination from the Assyrians to the Medes to the Achaemenids. Inscriptions be several of the Achaemenid kings, most notably Cyrus the Great, alludes to their empire being the successor of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Shortly after Alexander the Great conquered Persia, his Macedonian Empire began to be regarded as the fourth empire. Texts from the Neo-Babylonian period regard the Neo-Babylonian Empire as the successor of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Babylonian texts from the time Mesopotamia came under the rule of the Seleucid Empire centuries later supported a longer sequence, with imperial power being transferred from the Assyrians to the Babylonians, then to the Achaemenids and finally to the Macedonians, with the Seleucid Empire being viewed as the same empire as Alexander's empire. Later traditions were somewhat confused in the set of empires, with some conflating Assyria with Babylonia as a single empire, though still counting the Macedonians/Seleucids as the fourth due to counting both Babylonia and the Medes (despite them being contemporaries). The Biblical Book of Daniel describes a dream of the Neo-Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II which features a statue with a golden head, silver chest, bronze belly, iron legs and iron/clay feet. This statue is interpreted as an expression of , placing Nebuchadnezzar's empire (the Neo-Babylonian Empire; gold) as the first empire, the Median Empire (silver) as the second, the Achaemenid Empire (bronze) as the third and the Macedonian Empire of Alexander the Great (iron) as the fourth.


title: Neo-Assyrian Empire

text: The ancient idea of succession of empires did not end with the fall of the Seleucid Empire; traditions were instead adjusted to include later empires in the sequence. Shortly after the Roman Empire conquered the last remnants of the Seleucid Empire in 63 BC, literary traditions began to regard the Roman Empire as the fifth world empire. The Roman Empire spawned its own sequences of successor claimants; in the east it was followed by the Byzantine Empire, from which both the Russian and Ottoman empires claimed succession. In the west, the Frankish and eventually Holy Roman empires considered themselves to be the heirs of Rome. Later scholars have sometimes posited a sequence of world empires more focused on the Middle East. In the British scholar George Rawlinson's 1862–67 work , the five Oriental empires are regarded to have been Chaldaea (erroneous since no such empire existed), Assyria, Babylonia, Media and Persia. Rawlinson expanded the sequence in his 1876 to also include the Parthian and Sasanian empires. Though expansive sequences of hold little weight in modern research, scholars today still recognize a basic sequence of imperial succession from the Neo-Assyrian Empire to the Neo-Babylonian Empire to the Achaemenid Empire.


title: Neo-Assyrian Empire

text: The political structures established by the Neo-Assyrian Empire became the model for the later empires that succeeded it. A number of key components of the Neo-Babylonian Empire were based on the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Though the exact administrative structure of the Neo-Babylonian Empire is not known due to the scant surviving sources, and it is thus unclear to what degree the old provincial divisions and administration of the Neo-Assyrian Empire continued to be in use, the organization of the central palace bureaucracy under the Neo-Babylonian kings was based on that of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, not any established earlier Babylonian models. Additionally, Neo-Babylonian construction projects, such as Nebuchadnezzar II's massive expansion of Babylon, followed Assyrian traditions; as the Neo-Assyrian kings had done in their new capitals, Nebuchadnezzar placed his palace on a raised terrace across the city wall and followed a rectangular plan for the inner city. The sophisticated Assyrian road system, first created during the Middle Assyrian period, also continued to be in use and served as a model for sophisticated road systems of the Neo-Babylonian and Achaemenid empires.


title: Neo-Assyrian Empire

text: The Neo-Assyrian Empire is perhaps most prominently remembered for the ferocity and brutality of the Neo-Assyrian army. Though various atrocities were enacted against enemy states and peoples by certain Middle Assyrian kings as well, it is chiefly from the Neo-Assyrian period that Assyrian royal inscriptions describe in detail the atrocities carried out by the Assyrian kings. This is probably attributable to the Neo-Assyrian kings using fear to keep their conquered territories in-line; under the less brutal rulers of the Middle Assyrian Empire, Assyrian power declined several times.


title: Neo-Assyrian Empire

text: Though Neo-Assyrian inscriptions and artwork are more explicit in descriptions and depictions of various atrocities than those of many other civilizations, often describing them with "terrifying realism", the idea of a particular "Assyrian brutality" chiefly comes from Assyria's portrayal in the Bible. In biblical texts, the Assyrians are described as if they are a physical manifestation of God's divine retribution, destroying the Kingdom of Israel due to its heretical behavior. In the description of the destruction of the Kingdom of Judah, God is described as "raising the King of Assyria and all his army". The Biblical descriptions of Assyrian brutality were reinforced by the 19th-century discoveries of ancient art and inscriptions, as well as by unflattering comparisons drawn between Assyria and the Ottoman Empire by the historians and archaeologists who found them. Still today, despite the diversity of ancient Assyrian culture, the scenes that dominate museum exhibitions on Assyria are military and brutal scenes. This projected image stands in sharp contrast to exhibitions on other Mesopotamian civilizations, such as those of Sumer and Babylon, generally made out to be more inclined towards culture, wisdom and science.


title: Neo-Assyrian Empire

text: Though there is no modern scholarly denial that the Assyrians of the Neo-Assyrian period were brutal, the extent to which Neo-Assyrian inscriptions and artwork reflect actual atrocities is debated among modern scholars. Some believe that the Assyrians were more brutal than what was written down because the inscriptions and art do not include all the gruesome details whereas others believe that they were significantly less brutal and that the Assyrian kings used exaggerated descriptions of brutal acts as intimidating tools for propaganda and psychological warfare. Regardless of opinion, modern scholars generally do not believe in "Assyrian brutality" as a distinct phenomenon; sources from other civilizations demonstrate that the Neo-Assyrian Empire was no more brutal than other states and peoples of the ancient Near East, nor particularly brutal in the context of human history as a whole. War was carried out in roughly the same fashion by all powers in the ancient Near East; standards from Ebla dating to the third millennium BC depict soldiers carrying severed heads, the Bible mentions many atrocities committed by Hebrews and other non-Assyrians, and the Achaemenid Empire is known to have used impalement as one of many methods of torture and execution. The sole factor for the higher frequency and more vivid descriptions from the Neo-Assyrian Empire is that the Assyrians were more successful than their contemporaries and thus had more opportunities. According to the Assyriologist Ariel Bagg, the Assyrians, taking brutality by later civilizations into account (examples including the Inquisition, the European colonization of the Americas and the Holocaust), "would probably not even be among the top-ten in a ranking of human brutality".


title: Neo-Assyrian Empire

text: Viewing the Neo-Assyrian Empire as a particularly brutal civilization also fails to take into account the context of brutal acts and that not all atrocities were committed by every king. Brutal punishments after conquests and surrenders were not done after every victorious campaign and were never random, instead applied to intimidate and dissuade foreigners and vassal from fighting against Assyrian dominion. The vast majority of brutal acts were directed against the soldiers and nobility of Assyria's enemies, with civilians only rarely being brutalized. Out of the Neo-Assyrian kings, the vast majority of known described brutal acts are attested only in the reigns of Ashurnasirpal II and Ashurbanipal. Of the four types of brutal acts against civilians mentioned in royal inscriptions (execution and dismemberment, burning of male and female children, impalement, and live flaying), one (burning children) is known only from Ashurnasirpal II's time and two (impalement and live flaying) are known only from Ashurbanipal. The only other kings who wrote that they had done anything to civilians were Tiglath-Pileser III and Esarhaddon, who mention execution and dismemberment. If Assyrians had enacted cruelties against civilians more often, they would not have failed to mention this in their inscriptions. There is not a single mention of rape in any inscription, which indicates that although Assyrian soldiers likely did rape civilians after sieges (as soldiers of every other ancient civilization), this was regarded as a shameful act, prohibited by the kings.


title: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

text: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power is an American animated streaming television series developed by ND Stevenson and produced by DreamWorks Animation Television. Like the 1985 Filmation series "", of which it is a reboot, "She-Ra and the Princesses of Power" tells the tale of Adora, an adolescent who can transform into the heroine She-Ra and leads a group of other magical princesses in a rebellion against the evil Lord Hordak and his Horde. Its telling of how Adora discovers her identity deviates from its original "" predecessor and source material, in which the Sorceress of Grayskull sent Adam/He-Man to find his twin sister, Adora, resulting in the discovery of her She-Ra identity. The series ran on Netflix from to , having released 52 episodes over 5 seasons.


title: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

text: "She-Ra and the Princesses of Power" received critical acclaim, with particular praise for its diverse cast and the complex relationship between She-Ra and her best friend-turned-archenemy Catra. In 2019, the show was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Kids & Family Programming, as well as a Daytime Emmy Award at the 46th Daytime Emmy Awards. In 2021, the series was tied with "First Day" when it won the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Kids and Family Programming.


title: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

text: In Linear TV, the show previously aired on CBBC in the United Kingdom, before its upcoming move to Pop in 2023.


title: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

text: "She-Ra and the Princesses of Power" is set on the planet Etheria and follows the stories of Adora and Catra, orphans who were raised to be soldiers in the Horde. They are part of an evil army led by Hordak, a tyrannical despot who dreams of conquering the planet. One day, after getting lost in the woods, Adora finds a magic sword that transforms her into the legendary Princess of Power, She-Ra. After learning that the Horde is actually evil and has been inflicting suffering on Etheria and its inhabitants, Adora decides to join the Rebellion in the fight against the Horde. She helps rebuild the Princess Alliance, a league of kingdoms ruled by other magical princesses. Adora's newfound allegiance to the Rebellion pits her against Catra, her former best friend, whose feelings of betrayal and abandonment twist her personal ambitions and lead her to become Adora's mortal enemy. Much of the show centers around their conflict.


title: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

text: In the first season, Adora helps reassemble the Princess Alliance, which successfully defends the rebel stronghold of Bright Moon against the Horde's assault. Meanwhile, Catra rises in the ranks to become Hordak's second-in-command.


title: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

text: In the second and third seasons, Hordak attempts to build an interdimensional portal which will allow him to contact his creator, the warlord Horde Prime. Catra activates the portal even though it threatens to tear the planet apart, and rebellion leader Queen Angella sacrifices herself to stop it.


title: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

text: In the fourth season, friction arises between Adora and her friend Glimmer (Angella's daughter and the new queen of Bright Moon) when Adora learns that her sword is the key to an ancient superweapon inside Etheria. In order to prevent the weapon from activating, Adora destroys her sword, losing access to her She-Ra powers, but not before Etheria is pulled through a portal, becoming vulnerable to attack by Horde Prime's armada.


title: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

text: The fifth and final season follows Adora's journey to liberate Etheria from Horde Prime's reign. Adora rescues a redeemed Catra and Glimmer from Horde Prime, discovering her innate She-Ra powers in the process, but in the meantime Horde Prime has subdued much of Etheria with his mind-control capabilities. The princesses and Catra work together to disable Horde Prime's hivemind and stop him from accessing Etheria's ancient superweapon. In the end, it is Adora and Catra's love for each other that enables She-Ra to destroy both the weapon and Horde Prime, and save the universe from his tyrannical reign.


title: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

text: Development and production of the series began concurrently in April 2016. It was announced on December 12, 2017. Showrunner ND Stevenson initially pitched it to Netflix on the assumption of creating only one season, but in November 2018, he explained that "we now have four arcs of 13 episodes done". "She-Ra" is created using traditional animation, with the exception of some computer animation for "complicated machinery". The animation is provided by South Korean studio NE4U.


title: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

text: The first season of the serialized "She-Ra" reboot focuses on establishing the characters and their relationships in order to set up future seasons, initially by way of introducing "princesses of the week" to the core cast of Adora and her close friends, Glimmer and Bow. While the core premise and characters of the original series were carried over, as well as many of its affectations (such as Adora's transformation catchphrase "For the honor of Grayskull!"), the reboot sets itself apart from the 1980s series by its almost entirely female cast. The characters were made to be deliberately diverse, both in regard to appearance as well as character traits. For instance, some characters range from good to "evil but understandable", "utterly amoral" or "full-blown hippie". He-Man, who in the original version was She-Ra's brother who "awakens her destiny", does not appear in the reboot, in order to set up She-Ra as a hero in her own right.


title: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

text: According to Stevenson, the show's thematic core is the relationships among its characters, which range from "wide-eyed love" to "heart-rending jealousy, crushes and infatuations". Reviewers particularly highlighted the convincing portrayal of the anti-hero Catra and her complicated "frenemy" relationship with Adora, which "The Verge" described as "the best animated antihero story since "" Zuko". In addition, the series addresses such themes as abusive relationships and overcoming trauma, prejudice, isolationism (as exemplified, initially, by the princesses), colonization, imperialism, and genocide (a result of Hordak's planetary-scale warfare). There is a strong focus on the struggle to break free of sociopolitical indoctrination, explored mainly through the stories of Adora, Hordak, and Light Hope. The series also emphasizes the necessity of taking action no matter one's own power or circumstances; it portrays magic as fallible and dependent on its wielder's skill and determination—Adora's powers in particular are directly tied to her love for her friends. Despite this, Adora's main internal conflict stems from being told she must suppress her personal desires in order to be the hero Etheria needs. Finally, Horde Prime's regime in Season 5 contains elements reminiscent of fundamentalist Christianity, which Stevenson has noted are not meant to be criticisms of religion itself but rather the kind of leadership seen in extremist, cult-like organizations.


title: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

text: In June 2020, Stevenson said that Catra was a woman of color, saying he discussed her "being a brown Latina" when designing her, although this was not "explicitly, textually present in the show," Stevenson also expressed enthusiasm for fans interpreting Catra as representing Persian ethnicity.


title: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

text: Stevenson cited "Steven Universe" as a series that paved the way for "She-Ra", saying his early conversations about queer relationships and characters in "She-Ra" were only possible because of "Steven Universe". In another interview, he implied influence of "Steven Universe" on the show. He noted that the crew wanted to introduce Catra's pink lion Clawdeen, from the , into his series, but decided to not do so because its design was "pretty much identical" to "Steven Universe"s Lion. As a result, he chose Melog as a "therapy animal" for Catra instead. Stevenson also noted the importance of featuring LGBTQ+ representation in kids animation, saying earlier shows made She-Ra's "range of queer representation" possible.


title: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

text: The show was also influenced by sci-fi in the 1970s and 1980s, paying homage to the original "She-Ra: Princess of Power" show, and "Dungeons & Dragons". Stevenson called the show basically a D&D campaign, with Adora, Glimmer, and Bow falling into "specific classes in D&D." Additionally, Stevenson and the show's crew were strongly influenced by anime, especially those with magical girls.


title: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

text: The creators indicated prior to release that the series would provide LGBT representation. "Tor.com" commented that the series "reads as utterly queer in just about every aspect", with many characters coded as fluid in terms of gender or sexuality, and none as clearly heterosexual. Stevenson said that when a network executive asked what the rainbow in the climax of the first season's finale meant, he replied: "The gay agenda". In March 2021, Stevenson told "Vanity Fair" that early in the show's run there "had to be plausible deniability" around most queer relationships, but this changed once he got "positive, vocal support from fans of the show" who picked up on queer subtext and wanted more. This enabled Stevenson to sell executives on the idea that the "queer relationship between the two leads [was] to be the climax of the entire show."


title: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

text: The relationship between Adora and Catra has undercurrents of romantic tension from the beginning of the series, and concludes with a mutual confession of love and an on-screen kiss in the final episode. The scene has been regarded as a revolutionary moment in the history of children's media and LGBT representation. Other reviews praised


title: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

text: the "queer romance" manifested by the Adora-Catra relationship and said that this slow-burn romance was a groundbreaking moment for TV.


title: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

text: The series features same-sex attraction and romance among secondary and side characters as well. The romantic relationship between two female side characters, Spinnerella and Netossa, appears beginning in the first season, and receives more attention in a plot arc in the fifth season when Netossa must rescue her wife from the villain's mind control. The second season introduces a gay couple, Bow's fathers Lance and George. Additionally, it is strongly implied that Scorpia, Catra's right-hand through most of the series, has feelings for Catra and goes on pseudo-dates "disguised as side missions." In August 2020, Stevenson stated on Twitter that the characters Light Hope and Mara were in love in the series's backstory.


title: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

text: In addition to queer romantic relationships, the series also features diverse gender identities. The fourth season introduced Double Trouble, a non-binary character who uses the singular they pronoun and is voiced by the non-binary actor and writer Jacob Tobia. Character designer Ray Geiger said that the character Jewelstar, featured in the fifth season and voiced by the transgender actor Alex Blue Davis, is a transgender man. Geiger also said that they intended for Adora's ally Perfuma to be read as a trans woman, though this is not acknowledged in the show.


title: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

text: In June 2021, Stevenson told Insider that while the show's staff had a "good number of trans and nonbinary crew," criticism from some of Double Trouble as a villain and a "nonbinary character whose gender nonconformity was conflated with...alienness," blindsided him, admitting he "might have done some things differently," had he known of this perspective. He also said this conversation was important because "it points to the limits of our imagination." Tobia also told the publication that non-binary representation on screen needs to reflect the diversity of the non-binary community and make a statement to viewers in the process.


title: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

text: The series' showrunner and creator is ND Stevenson, a cartoonist who became known for their Eisner Award-winning comics "Nimona" and "Lumberjanes". The principal voice cast includes Aimee Carrero as She-Ra, AJ Michalka as Catra, Karen Fukuhara as Glimmer, and Marcus Scribner as Bow. Mary Elizabeth McGlynn is the voice director. The series has an all-female writers' room, and only one man in the regular voice cast. Around 45 people worked on "She-Ra" in the DreamWorks offices in Glendale.


title: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

text: Visually, the rebooted "She-Ra" series takes inspiration from anime and the works of Hayao Miyazaki and Moebius. Whereas the original series' heroines were all of exactly the same size and shape to facilitate animation and toy production, and were all white (with the late exception of Netossa), the new series' characters are intentionally diverse in shape and ethnicity.


title: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

text: After first images of She-Ra's design were released in July 2018, controversy ensued on social media. Some Internet users contended that she was not as "beautiful and sexy", voluptuous or glamorous as in the original series, or that she looked like a boy. Other users responded that the new series tried to avoid sexualizing a children's show, and conveyed body positivity.


title: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

text: J. Michael Straczynski, the co-creator of the original series, commented that his She-Ra was written as "a warrior, first and foremost", and that "anyone who is looking back at [her] as the 'ideal woman' is doing so through the lens of prepubescent ... interest and kind of, understandably, imprinted on her like baby ducks. I get it. But that wasn't the creative intent." Fan artists, mostly young women inspired by the new design's detractors to improve the new character's profile and her reputation, responded to She-Ra's redesign and the controversy over it with a wave of artworks celebrating the heroine's new look.


title: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

text: The series' title song is "Warriors" by Aaliyah Rose. The "Washington Post" highlighted it as one of the "theme song/opening credits so good it must not be skipped, right up there with "Daredevil", "The Crown" and "Narcos"".


title: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

text: The soundtrack was composed by Sunna Wehrmeijer. She aimed at creating a "contemporary '80s synth-sound combined with orchestral adventure", based on the creators' desire to feature "big and epic" but also "sparkly" music. A soundtrack album was released to the public May 8, 2020 and included a cover of the theme song by AJ Michalka.


title: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

text: A first teaser trailer released in September 2018 showcased Adora's transformation into She-Ra. Longer trailers were released in October and November 2018. On January 24, 2019, the network announced the series' renewal for a second season, which debuted on April 26 of that year. A third season was released on August 2, 2019. The fourth season was released on November 5, 2019. The fifth and final season was released on May 15, 2020.


title: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

text: As a novelty for a television series, the series' website is available in a virtual reality format, and is set up to present the user with a virtual crystal palace.


title: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

text: While Metacritic has not assigned the series a weighted average score, it has given all six reviews by mainstream critics a score of an 80 or above out of 100.


title: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

text: The first season received critical acclaim, with the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reporting a 100% approval rating based on 24 reviews, with an average rating of 7.66/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "By the grace of Greyskull, [the first season of] "She-Ra and the Princesses of Power" packs a powerful visual punch that hits even harder thanks to layered writing and multidimensional characters – the perfect show for seasoned fans and little ones alike." Some stated that the series had a lot in common with shows such as "", "Steven Universe" and "Sailor Moon", including characters who "read fluidly on the gender and sexuality spectrum." "Vox" called the series one of the "most LGBTQ-inclusive and diverse shows on television."


title: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

text: "Entertainment Weekly"s Darren Franich described the series as "a funny-wonderful pop fantasy animated like disco fireworks, fun for kids of all genders and any parents looking for something happy to cry about". Franich appreciated the self-aware humor and "hiply transgressive newness". Franich also noted some repetition, occasionally flat animation and the final showdown's predictable outcome. He found some of the tension in contemporary American politics reflected in the series' portrayal of the rebuilding of a "coalition of powerful liberal-minded thinkers left in disarray after a brutal defeat years ago by a monstrously all-consuming bad dude". "Collider" called the series "visually exciting, emotionally charged, and unexpectedly hilarious", and "one of the best new shows of the year". David Griffin at IGN praised the series for successfully rebooting the franchise but concluded that "Adora could have used more time with the Horde to help develop her character".


title: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

text: "Hypable" praised the series' diversity and the multifaceted relationships among some of its core characters, but found much of the first season's plot "simplistic", and the rotating cast of princesses given short shrift. "The Washington Post" highlighted the "top-notch" voice cast and particularly the work of Lorraine Toussaint as the sorceress Shadow Weaver. "The Verge" commented that the series' biggest problem was that it was "retreading territory that "Steven Universe" and the two "Avatar" did better", with several characters and plot points heavily reminiscent of elements from these earlier animated series, and also criticized the early episodes' shallow plot. Tor.com's Maya Gittleman stated that the show not only "queers fantasy archetypes" but has a "deliberately inclusive, [and] diverse cast," works to highlight "different means of expressing power," and have room for "an expansive exploration of femininity." Gittleman further argued that the show operates further "outside the gender binary" than any show she knows of, that "Catradora has actually been canon for years" with the show focusing on a world where "the love of two queer girls gets to save the universe." In the end of her review, she says she would like to see more diverse "queer stories" in the years to come.


title: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

text: The second season has an 85% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 13 reviews, with an average rating of 7.84/10. The site's critical consensus reads, ""She-Ra and the Princesses of Power" continues to go from strength to strength with ebullient flair in a second season that will enrapture younger fans while reminding adult viewers about the virtues of friendship and kindness."


title: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

text: The third season has a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 9 reviews, with an average rating of 8/10.


title: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

text: The fourth season has a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 11 reviews, with an average rating of 8.58/10.


title: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

text: The fifth and final season has a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 13 reviews, with an average rating of 9/10. Raina Deerwater of GLAAD stated that the center of the show is a "relationship between two women" (Adora and Catra), with the dynamic between them driving the entire series, comparing the show to "Killing Eve" while noting shows like "The Legend of Korra", "Adventure Time", and "Steven Universe". "The Mary Sue" stated that the show's final season hammers home the message of love, compassion, and strength, even with an emphasis on forgiveness and allowing those who wish to be redeemed the space to change, like "Steven Universe". Paper Magazine argued that the show was carrying the torch from "Steven Universe" and said that the show tackles various topics like identity, responsibility, "importance of chosen family," and being queer itself. Forbes praised the series on its character development, plotlines, redemption arc for Catra, the screen time for Entrapta, hilarious moments, the interactions between Netossa and Spinnerella, and wrapping up existing character arcs. The A.V. Club said that the sendoff of the series is satisfying, with Catra portrayed as a victim of trauma, with the message that nothing can overpower "the collective power of friendship, love, and solid storytelling." PinkNews called the


title: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

text: final season "packed with big queer energy" while Digital Spy said that the kiss between Adora and Catra would change TV forever. Three reviewers for "Autostraddle" called the final season a "literally perfect season of television." Tracy Brown of the "Los Angeles Times" said that the show lets all kids, especially those who are queer, realize that "being honest about their feelings can make them a hero is as exciting as it is important." Emmet Asher-Perrin on "Tor.com", in their review, argued that Catra has an inferiority complex like Loki in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films and the current incarnation of The Master in the "Doctor Who" series. A.H. Starlyng of the LA Times said that the show's final season is the best in the show, including a redemption arc for Catra, with Adora trying to help Catra become a better person.


title: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

text: When talking with "Entertainment Weekly" in May 2020, Stevenson said that he hoped that She-Ra would continue to pave the way, saying he hoped it will be easier to have "romances and relationships that are constant throughout the show" without it taking suspense out of the show itself.


title: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

text: In a "New York Times" profile on July 21, 2020, climate activist Jamie Margolin said she watched all five seasons of the show over a three-day period, telling the interview, "I was like, I hate the real world. I want to live on Etheria".


title: Damon Dash

text: Damon Anthony Dash (born May 3, 1971) is an American entrepreneur and record executive. Dash is best known as co-founder of Roc-A-Fella along with Jay-Z and Kareem Burke.


title: Damon Dash

text: Born in New York City, Dash swept the floors of a local barbershop and sold newspapers in order to buy sneakers and shirts as a teenager. Dash "learned to hustle", in his own words, from the example of his mother, who died of an asthma attack when he was 15. The same year, Dash was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. "Before I was diagnosed... I went about a month or two just going to the bathroom non-stop and losing weight," Dash recalled. "Magic Johnson had just been diagnosed with AIDS, so that’s what I thought I had. I was scared to even go to the doctor. I thought I was going to die."


title: Damon Dash

text: Dash served as Jay-Z's manager and business partner at Roc-A-Fella Records, and in 1999, he organized a tour for Jay-Z which made $19 million. Their relationship soured as a result of two subsequent events. The first was when Roc-A-Fella Records was purchased by Def Jam Recordings (which had previously only owned half of the company) in 2004, after which Jay-Z agreed to take a job as Def Jam's president. Then, in late 2005, Jay-Z bought Dash out of his stake in Rocawear.


title: Damon Dash

text: In April 2014, it was announced that Dash is involved with Blind Debit, a fingerprint payment application being developed by Dez White.


title: Damon Dash

text: Dash founded DD172, a media collective which encompasses: "America Nu", a magazine; VNGRD79, a web design firm; BluRoc Records, a record label division. It also includes an art gallery.


title: Damon Dash

text: Dash met R&B singer Aaliyah in New York City in the summer of 2000 through his accountant, and dated her until her death on August 25, 2001, in a plane crash in The Bahamas. Though they were not formally engaged, in interviews given after Aaliyah's death, Dash stated that the couple had planned to marry.


title: Damon Dash

text: In 2005, Dash married fashion designer Rachel Roy, whom he had dated prior to his relationship with Aaliyah. They met when she was working as an intern at Rocawear. Together they have two daughters, Ava Dash (born December 7, 1999) and Tallulah Dash (born May 14, 2008). Following their divorce in 2009, they had a bitter custody battle.


title: Damon Dash

text: Dash has a son, Dame "Boogie" Dash (born November 28, 1991), with former girlfriend Linda Williams. Boogie stars in the reality television show "Growing Up Hip Hop". He also has another son, Lucky, born in 2004 with Cindy Morales.


title: Damon Dash

text: In 2012, rapper Curren$y sued Dash for $1.5 million for releasing his music without permission. Dash's attorney released a statement that Dash released the music on fair grounds.


title: Damon Dash

text: In 2014, Dash was ordered to pay Linda Williams, the mother of his son Boogie, $50,000 for causing her to be prosecuted on harassment charges in 2009.


title: Damon Dash

text: In April 2015, Dash's ex-wife, Rachel Roy, accused him of domestic abuse and filed for a restraining order. Roy was awarded sole custody of their daughters. The court granted Roy and her daughters with a three-year restraining order against Dash. Days later, Dash filed a $2.5 million claim against Roy in asserted damage for allegedly mishandling their joint fashion business, Royale Etenia.


title: Damon Dash

text: In 2018, Dash settled a suit he filed against director Lee Daniels requesting $5 million to recoup a $2 million investment with interest. Lee had received financial support from Dash early in his career, and reportedly failed to repay him despite his subsequent success.


title: Damon Dash

text: In November 2019, Dash was arrested for failing to pay more than $400,000 in child support. Dash was in New York City for an unrelated Federal Court appearance when he was arrested for two warrants. The first warrant was issued in April 2015 in the Supreme Court in New York County case of Cindy Morales; he owed $62,553 since 2012. The second warrant was issued in March 2019 in the Bronx Family Court case of Rachel Roy. He was ordered to pay her $341,991 and $25,000 for attorney fees in 2015. Dash reportedly paid more than $1 million to be released.


title: The Chase (British game show)

text: The Chase is a British television quiz show broadcast on ITV1 and hosted by Bradley Walsh. Contestants play against a professional quizzer, known as the "chaser", who attempts to prevent them from winning a cash prize.


title: The Chase (British game show)

text: The six chasers are Mark Labbett, Shaun Wallace, Anne Hegerty, Paul Sinha, Jenny Ryan, and Darragh Ennis. Labbett and Wallace have both been chasers since series 1, while Hegerty joined in series 2, Sinha in series 4, Ryan in series 9 and Ennis in series 13. With rare exceptions for special episodes, only one chaser participates in any given episode.


title: The Chase (British game show)

text: A team of four contestants individually attempt to amass as much money as possible, which is later added to a prize fund if the contestant survives their chase. The chaser must attempt to catch each contestant during their chase, eliminating that person from the game and preventing the money from being added to the collective prize fund. In the individual chase, the player must choose between a higher offer (closer to the chaser), their earned money, and a lower offer (further away from the chaser). Later, in the final round, contestants who survived their chases play collectively as a team against the chaser for an equal share of the prize fund.


title: The Chase (British game show)

text: With a regular audience of three to five million, "The Chase" is one of the most successful and longest running game shows on UK television and one of ITV's most successful daytime shows ever. The show has been nominated six times at the National Television Awards, winning in 2016, 2017 and 2019. They also won for the spin-off series, Beat The Chasers in 2021. It was also nominated for the inaugural Best Daytime award at the 2021 British Academy Television Awards, but won it in 2022. Additionally, "The Chase" has become a successful international franchise: regional versions have been made in Australia, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Greece, Israel, Norway, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey and the United States. Labbett and Hegerty feature as chasers on the Australian version (with Wallace appearing as a "Guest Chaser" in 2018). Labbett featured as the sole chaser on the 2013–2015 American version, and joined the 2021 American version for its second season.


title: The Chase (British game show)

text: Each contestant individually attempts to accumulate money for the team's prize fund through two rounds. In the first round, known as the "Cash Builder", the contestant answers as many questions as they can within one minute, with each correct answer worth £1,000 and no penalty for incorrect answers or passes. After completing the Cash Builder, the contestant enters the "Head-to-Head" round, attempting to move the money down to the bottom of a seven-step board and into the team's prize fund ("home") without being caught by the chaser. The board had eight steps in the first series.


title: The Chase (British game show)

text: The contestant is given three options by the Chaser at the start of the Head-to-Head round; play for the money earned in the Cash Builder and start three steps down the board (requiring five correct answers to reach home), accept a higher offer and start two steps down, or accept a lower offer and start four steps down. The lower offer can be zero, or even a negative amount if the team has already banked some money. Once the starting position is selected, the host asks a series of multiple-choice questions to the contestant and the Chaser, both of whom individually select one of the three answer options on keypads. After either person locks in a guess, the other must do so within five seconds or be locked out for that turn. A correct answer moves the person who gave it one step down the board, while a miss or lock-out leaves them where they are.


title: The Chase (British game show)

text: If the contestant reaches home without being caught, they advance to the Final Chase and their money is added to the team's prize fund (or deducted, if they took a negative amount). If the chaser catches up, the contestant is eliminated and the money is forfeited. If all four contestants are caught by the chaser, they nominate one contestant to play the Final Chase alone.


title: The Chase (British game show)

text: The contestants who have won their head-to-head chases blindly select one of two question sets for themselves (Set A and Set B), with the other set put aside for the Chaser, and then have two minutes to answer as many questions as possible on the buzzer. Any response given by a contestant who has not buzzed in is automatically ruled wrong; if only one contestant is participating in this round, the buzzer is not used. Every correct answer moves the team one step ahead of the Chaser, and they are given a head start of one step per contestant participating in this round. The contestants may not discuss or confer on any questions during this portion of the round and may pass as often as desired. There is no time limit on individual questions; the host will only ask a new question after someone has either answered or passed on the current one.


title: The Chase (British game show)

text: The Chaser is then given two minutes to answer questions from the unused set in an attempt to catch the team, moving one step ahead per correct response. If the Chaser passes or misses a question, the clock stops and the team is given a chance to discuss it and respond; a correct answer pushes the Chaser back one step, or (from series 3 onwards) moves the team ahead one step if the Chaser is at the starting line. If the Chaser catches the team before the time expires, the prize fund is forfeited and the contestants receive nothing. During celebrity editions, a consolation £1,000 is donated to each celebrity's chosen charity.


title: The Chase (British game show)

text: If the Chaser is unable to catch up to the team, the participating contestants split the prize fund equally. If all four contestants are caught in their head-to-head chases and the one they nominate wins the Final Chase, each contestant wins £1,000.


title: The Chase (British game show)

text: Three episodes are filmed in a day, each one taking around an hour and a half to film. According to Walsh, "It runs like clockwork." The Final Chase can be stopped and re-started if Walsh stumbles on a question. He told the "Radio Times", "If there is a slight misread, I am stopped immediately – bang – by the lawyers. We have the compliance lawyers in the studio all the time. What you have to do is go back to the start of the question, literally on videotape where my mouth opens – or where it's closed from the previous question – and the question is re-asked. It is stopped to the split second."


title: The Chase (British game show)

text: Between March 2020 and late June 2020, production of the series was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic; the series was already on a previously scheduled production hiatus at the time of the suspension. In an interview with "The Sun"s "TV Mag", Walsh said that the show was "at least 100 episodes behind schedule" due to lockdown; during the production hiatus, repeats were shown in the programme's regular timeslot.


title: The Chase (British game show)

text: A spin-off series titled "The Chase: Celebrity Special" featuring celebrity teams as contestants began airing on ITV in 2011. As many contestants are comedians or actors, there is a much-higher comedic element. The game is played the same way as the regular version. However, if all four celebrities have been caught by the chaser, the prize fund during the Final Chase is £8,000 (originally £4,000). If the team is caught during the Final Chase, a consolation prize of £1,000 is awarded to the charities for each celebrity who advanced to this stage.


title: The Chase (British game show)

text: For celebrity specials airing at Christmas, the chasers frequently appear in costumes adhering to a common theme, such as Panto villains, subjects of famous paintings, or characters typically associated with Christmas.


title: The Chase (British game show)

text: In February 2017, ITV commissioned "The Family Chase", a spin-off featuring a team of four family members. The six-episode spin-off debuted on 2 September 2017. The second series of 16 episodes was commissioned and commenced airing on 24 March 2019. This version follows the same rules as the parent programme, but any winnings in the Final Chase are awarded to the entire family rather than individual members.


title: The Chase (British game show)

text: In November 2019, ITV commissioned another spin-off called "Beat the Chasers". It began airing in prime-time on 27 April 2020 and features contestants attempting to beat up to five chasers to win big cash prizes. The chasers that featured in the show were Sinha, Labbett, Ryan, Hegerty and Wallace. A single contestant plays the Cash Builder round, answering a series of multiple-choice questions worth £1,000 each. The round ends once they either miss a question or get five right; a miss on the first question immediately eliminates the contestant with no winnings. They must then decide how many chasers from two to five to face in a timed head-to-head round, with the chasers specifying a time limit for themselves (always less than 60 seconds) and offering larger cash prizes as an incentive to face more of them. The offer to face two chasers is always equal to the amount earned in the Cash Builder.


title: The Chase (British game show)

text: The contestant's clock is set to 60 seconds, while the chasers' clock is set to their agreed-on time. Only one clock runs at any given moment, starting with the contestant; the side in control must answer a question correctly to stop their clock and turn control over to the opposing side. The chasers must buzz-in to respond and may not confer on any questions. The contestant wins the money on offer if the chasers' clock runs out first, or nothing if their own clock runs out.


title: The Chase (British game show)

text: A second series of "Beat the Chasers" commenced airing on 3 January 2021, and continued consecutively for seven nights, excluding 9 January, until 10 January 2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the second series featured no studio audience.


title: The Chase (British game show)

text: A third series was commissioned by ITV. The network had originally intended to have all six chasers participate in this series; however, these plans had to be postponed as Paul Sinha was absent due to illness. The series began with a celebrity special on 27 March 2021 and once again featured no studio audience.


title: The Chase (British game show)

text: A fourth series was commissioned by ITV, and premiered on 11 September 2021 with all six chasers participating for the first time. This series introduced a "Super Offer," available only to contestants who answered all five of their Cash Builder questions correctly. This offer was presented in conjunction with the other four and gave the contestant a chance to play against all six chasers at once, with no time advantage and a larger cash prize than that offered for facing five chasers.


title: The Chase (British game show)

text: A fifth series went into production in March 2022 and premiered on 16 May 2022. Hegerty was absent from this series due to a positive COVID-19 test, and was replaced by guest chaser Issa "The Supernerd" Schultz from "The Chase Australia".


title: The Chase (British game show)

text: The original working title for the spin-off show was "Take On the Chasers". The theme tune was composed by Paul Farrer using part of the original 2009 chaser walk-on music.


title: The Chase (British game show)

text: In this special isolation version of the show, broadcast on "The Chase's" YouTube channel and shown straight after the main show, all five Chasers are presenters and viewers at home can play along, for they are the contestants. Each series has five episodes; the first series was shown in mid-May 2020, and was hosted by Jenny Ryan. Between late-May and early-June, the second series was shown across consecutive days and presented by Shaun Wallace. On 1 March 2021, it was announced that a new series would be available on the ITV Hub for six episodes, every Monday at 6:00 p.m.


title: The Chase (British game show)

text: In November 2020, ITV announced another spin-off in which The Beast, The Dark Destroyer and The Governess go on a road trip around the world. On their travels, they play against child geniuses, great apes, dolphins and robots. The series takes them to the UK, USA and Japan. Episode 1 of the show aired on 21 January 2021, episode 2 aired on 28 January 2021 and episode 3 aired on 4 February 2021. The series was narrated by Rob Brydon.


title: The Chase (British game show)

text: "The Chase" is highly popular with critics and viewers. Despite early criticism, opinion has improved over time. Some critics, as well as the chasers, put the show's success down to Walsh as host and his many memorable moments, some of which come from questions or answers which often leave him in hysterics. Labbett also said that the sense of fun and the variety of chasers is a major factor. Sinha said, "The format has been brilliantly thought out. No matter the relative strengths of the players, it is resolutely a team game, with a dramatic climax."


title: The Chase (British game show)

text: "The Chase" has also been criticised on several occasions, such as the Final Chase, when it is alleged that Walsh asks the chasers' questions more quickly than those of the contestants. In an interview with the "Radio Times", Walsh repudiated those claims: "We have lawyers on the floor to watch all of this. I read [the questions] at the same speed for both." He went on to say, "Don't forget, if I've got Mark Labbett answering questions for two minutes and I've got a team answering for two minutes, the team aren't going to be quicker. Simple as that, because they have to press the button [before answering], which is why they get a head start based on how many people are in the final. If you've got three people in the final chase that's a three-step head start–that's about a twelve-second advantage."


title: The Chase (British game show)

text: There have also been a number of games where the chaser has won with an answer right on the final buzzer, which some viewers have perceived to be out of time; spokespeople have asserted that an independent adjudicator – a representative from Beyond Dispute Ltd – always checks each show and makes the final call on whether answers were in or out of time.


title: The Chase (British game show)

text: On 6 April 2016, on an episode where Labbett was the chaser, a glitch occurred whereby the clock froze at 10 seconds and then increased to 11 seconds, giving Labbett an extra second. Although the contestants were far ahead and there was no chance of their being caught (and would win a £27,000 pot), a spokesperson for the show told "OK!" Online the following day that an error occurred during the editing process, but gameplay was otherwise not affected by it.


title: The Chase (British game show)

text: On 4 March 2019, Walsh asked a question about which band had the fewest members – with the possible answers being the Proclaimers, the Pretenders, or the Prodigy. Many viewers criticised ITV for deciding to air the episode hours after the news had publicly broken about the death of the Prodigy's frontman Keith Flint.


title: The Chase (British game show)

text: During its first two series, the show averaged 1–2 million viewers, then over 2 million during series three. By December 2012, "The Chase" had become ITV's most popular "teatime" programme since "The Paul O'Grady Show" in 2005, with over 3 million viewers an episode. In January 2021, "The Chase" managed a peak audience of over 5 million, an all-time high. Almost every episode is now seen between 4 and 5 million viewers; and each episode regularly features on ITV's Top 15 weekly broadcasts.


title: The Chase (British game show)

text: In its timeslot, "The Chase" airs at the same time as BBC One's "Pointless", a game show launched in August 2009, two months after "The Chase"s debut. The two programmes usually receive similar ratings (for example in September 2012, "The Chase" had 2.44 million viewers versus 2.27 million for "Pointless"). However, between October 2012 and January 2013, "The Chase" beat "Pointless" in the ratings each week. For two weeks in February 2013, "Pointless" received a higher share than "The Chase" (3.53 million viewers to 3.41 million, and again 3.58 million viewers to 3.30 million).


title: The Chase (British game show)

text: Legend: Currently airing   Reinstated and currently airing No longer airing   Upcoming   New and currently airing


title: The Chase (British game show)

text: A board game based on the show was released in 2012 by Ideal. In 2013, a card game based on the show was released by Ginger Fox.