Assyria (1): History

If given a list of ancient world empires, you probably know enough information about some of them to impress your friends. You most likely have some knowledge of Babylon or Rome. Maybe even Persia or Greece. But what about the world power that existed before the ones just mentioned, which, at its height around 650 B.C., was the largest empire the world had ever seen? What do you know about Assyria?