Little Zab in the context of "Lishanid Noshan language"

Aššur, also known as Ashur and Qal'at Sherqat, was the capital of the Old Assyrian city-state (2025–1364 BC), the Middle Assyrian Empire (1363–912 BC), and for a time, of the Neo-Assyrian Empire (911–609 BC). The remains of the city lie on the western bank of the Tigris River, north of the confluence with its tributary, the Little Zab, in what is now Iraq, more precisely in the al-Shirqat District of the Saladin Governorate.

Occupation of the city itself continued for approximately 3,000 years, from the Early Dynastic Period to the mid-3rd century AD, when the city was sacked by the Sasanian Empire. The site is a World Heritage Site and was added to that organisation's list of sites in danger in 2003 as a result of a proposed dam, which would flood some of the site. It has been further threatened by the conflict that erupted following the US-led 2003 invasion of Iraq. Assur lies 65 kilometres (40 mi) south of the site of Nimrud and 100 km (60 mi) south of Nineveh.

The Clemenceau–Lloyd George Agreement of 1 December 1918 was a verbal agreement that modified the 1916 Sykes–Picot Agreement in respect to Palestine and the Mosul vilayet. The latter component is also known as the Mosul cession. The agreement was between British and French Prime Ministers David Lloyd George and Georges Clemenceau and took place at the French Embassy in London.

During World War I, the United Kingdom and France signed the secret Sykes–Picot Agreement in 1916, which effectively partitioned the Ottoman Empire into areas of British and French control and spheres of influence. Part of the Mosul vilayet, namely the city of Mosul and the area south to the Little Zab, was allocated to France by the agreement, and this accord was formally ratified in May 1916.