The first documented combat divers in human history? A 3,000-year-old relief appears to depict an ᴀssyrian soldier from Mesopotamia using an inflated goatskin bag, possibly as a flotation device or breathing apparatus. This artifact is housed in the British Museum of Antiquities.
![r/ArtefactPorn - Wall relief depicting ᴀssyrian army crossing the river using inflated animal skin (865 BC–860 BC). Taken from North West palace Nimrud, Iraq. [1490x703]](https://i0.wp.com/preview.redd.it/wall-relief-depicting-assyrian-army-crossing-the-river-v0-ca9zbf61gww81.png?fit=1200,800&quality=105&strip=all&contrast=5&brightness=10&zoom=1.1&ssl=1?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=c3afe26575fd7ab85ab85f93aac2323daba7d313)
The ᴀssyrian military ingenuity, however, didn’t stop at mixed cavalry forces and incredible siege crafts. One particular bas-relief aptly showcases how the ᴀssyrian army (probably the ones ᴀssaulting from the riverfront) was provided with specially designed goatskin-bags that could be inflated and then used to ferry across the water, with the horses tethered and guided behind them. In a similar manner, their enormous war machines were basically modular in design. So these engines and towers could be dismantled and tied to specially devised marine-crafts made of skin and easily hauled across rivers, to be later ᴀssembled outside the city walls. And we stretch the scope a bit, there are also references to scuba diving in ancient ᴀssyria, as is represented in a 3000-year-old fresco that shows men swimming under water, using some kind of breathing device.
