The Neo-Assyrian Empire is considered to have been the first empire ever established. Originating in northern Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) in the late 10th century BC, the empire reached the height of its power and influence in the 8th century BC, when the territories under its control stretched from the Persian Gulf in the Near East all the way to the Mediterranean Sea to the west. The fall of the empire came in 612 BC, when the capital city of Nineveh (modern Mosul) was destroyed by the combined forces of the Babylonians and their allies.