Mesopotamia(4000-1000 BCE)
• Government– City-states– Monarchy-
priest-kings– Record
keeping– Law-Code of
Hammurabi
Religion
• Polytheistic• Gods not always helpful• reflected struggle with
unpredictable environment– War-like gods who
possessed total control over human lives
• Sacrifices, rituals, temples (ziggurats)
• Power of priests and priestesses
Sumerian City-States(4000-2300 BCE)
– Located on Mesopotamian plain-close to Tigris & Euphrates Rivers
– Not unified under one leader-multiple city-states
– Constant conflict over resources
– Common language, culture, religion
– Agriculture & trade (as far away as India)
Epic of Gilgamesh • Epic poem-2000 BCE
• Reveals beliefs about afterlife
• tells of great flood
• similar to Noah in Jewish & Christian Old Testament
• Corresponds to rise of oceans as Ice Age retreated
Sumerian Contributions
• Cuneiform-earliest written language
• Wheel• Plow• Sailboat• Mathematical system• Astronomy
Akkadian Empire (2330-2100 BCE)
– Semitic people who migrated from the Arabian Peninsula
– Conquered Sumerians
– Central city of Akkad-later became Babylon
– World’s first empire
– Sargon the Great- conquered Sumerian cities & territory westward to ensure metal supplies
Babylonia Empire(1800-1500 BCE)
• Babylon located on Euphrates River
• Hammurabi was sixth king
• Important trade center• Code of Hammurabi
Code of Hammurabi– 282 Laws-formed
Babylonian legal system
– One of earliest written laws
– King’s responsibility to maintain order & justice
– Basis of international commercial law: regulated contracts, interest, mortgages, etc.
– Harsh penalties- reflects social hierarchy
– Carved into a stela, (stone pillar)- kept in a special temple
Assyrian Empire(1100-612 BCE)
– Assur, city on Tigris River originally under Babylonian rule
– Over two centuries, fought to expand their control
– Lower Mesopotamia, Persia, Syria, Sinai Peninsula & along SE coast of Med. Sea into Egypt
– controlled trade between Anatolia & Mesopotamia
– highly centralized government headed by royal appointed governors
– ruled with terror– Advanced weapons (seige
engine)– Built a fine library (literature,
math, science)– Encouraged private
enterprise rather than state monopoly
– Overthrown by Chaldeans
Chaldean EmpireNeo-Babylonian(612-539 BCE)
• Another name for Babylonia• Took control of Babylon
through bloody battles• Known for cruelty• King Nebuchadnezzar
conquered Canaan & enslaved the Israelites
• “Babylonian Captivity”Hanging Gardens • terraces rising to palace roof
irrigated by pumps• Astronomy-created manuals
for later civilizations• Timekeeping-divided the day
into 12 double hours• 7 day week division of the hour
into sixty minutes
Persian Empire(550-333 BCE)
• Originated on plateau east of Zagros Mtns
• Indo Aryran origins• Cyrus the Great• Tolerant rule-respected
different religions, languages customs
• Divided into provinces-satrapies- constructed roads