Resettlement policy of the Neo-Assyrian Empire

In the three centuries starting with the reign of Ashur-dan II^[1] (934–912 BCE), the Neo-Assyrian Empire practiced a policy of resettlement (also called "deportation" or "mass deportation") of population groups in its territories. The majority of the resettlements were done with careful planning by the government in order to strengthen the empire. For example, a population might have been moved around to spread agricultural techniques or develop new lands. It could have also been done as punishment for political enemies, as an alternative to execution. In other cases, the selected elites of a conquered territory were moved to the Assyrian empire to enrich and increase the knowledge in the empire's centre.

Bustenay Oded estimated in 1979 that about 4.4 million people (± 900,000) were relocated over a 250-year period. One instance, the relocation of the Israelites in the late eighth century BCE was described in Biblical passages and came to be known as the Assyrian captivity.