Military conquest was a major part of the ethos of the Assyrian state. The royal scribes emphasized the contrast between the just Assyrian king and the wicked enemy. The enemy was a part of chaotic power and hence the object of Assyrian punishment. The Neo-Assyrian kings went to war in the name of their gods, giving their military activities the necessary ideological legitimation. War was ideologically motivated and presumed all possible violence. One of the methods of propagating the power of the Assyrian king was through public atrocities. The acts of cruelty warn enemies against defying the Assyrian empire. These acts of cruelty towards all armies were practiced with such a detailed plan, that the question naturally arises: was it merely cruelty, which always accompanied all forms of military activity, or was it something more, a way of conducting policy?
