The Middle Assyrian Empire was the third stage of Assyrian history, covering the history of Assyria from the accession of Ashur-uballit I c. 1365 BC and the rise of Assyria as a territorial kingdom to the death of Ashur-dan II in 912 BC. The Middle Assyrian Empire was Assyria's first true period of ascendancy as an empire, although Assyrian kings had existed from perhaps as early as the 25th century BC, and from the 21st century BC Assyria had controlled trading colonies in Anatolia and had economic and military influence in Southern Mesopotamia, and from the late 19th century BC had been an integral part of the "Empire of Shamsi-Adad", sometimes called the Old Assyrian Empire. Though the empire experienced successive periods of expansion and decline, it remained the dominant power of Mesopotamia and often the entirety of West Asia throughout the period. In terms of Assyrian history, the Middle Assyrian period was marked by important social, political and religious developments, including the rising prominence of both the Assyrian king and the Assyrian national deity Ashur.

Assyria was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state from the 21st century BC to the 14th century BC, then to a territorial state, and eventually an empire from the 14th century BC to the 7th century BC.