Babylonia and AssyriaEmpires of Mesopotamia

In the

Beginning

• Sargon the 1st was the ruler of Akkad.

• He set out and conquered the Sumerian city-

states.

• By ruling more than one city-state he

creates the first empire.

• The conquered city-states now spoke

Akkadian, but the Akkadians worshipped

Sumerian gods.• Break! Why do you think Sargon would make his conquered cities speak his language,

and make his citizens worship Sumerian gods?

• However, after 200 years the Akkadian

Empire grew weak. Cities in Mesopotamia

revolted for their freedom.

• Hammurabi, an Amorite, or Old

Babylonian, reigned from 1792-1750 BCE.

Babylon and King

Hammurabi•Hammurabi was the king of Babylon. He united

the cities of Sumer and then expanded his empire.

•The Babylonian people created a monarchy

supported by a system of taxation to pay for running

the government. Break1

What is a monarchy, find an example of a monarchy today.

•Tax collectors traveled throughout the empire

collecting tax money from citizens.

Babylon Empire – 1787 B.C.

A Crossroads of Trade•Babylon became rich due to trade. Caravans, traveled back

and forth from the Sumerian cities in the south to the city of

Akkad in the north. Along the way, they always stopped in

Babylon to trade.

•Roads were built throughout the empire which made travel

easier and encouraged trade.

•Babylon had special markets, called bazaars, that people could

go to and buy cotton cloth from India. They could also buy

spices from Egypt there. (Brainstorm modern day equivalents of bazaars)

Hammurabi’s Code•Hammurabi was the king who

united most of Mesopotamia and

conquered the Sumerians.

Hammurabi developed a written

set of laws for his people to

follow in 1790 BC.

•A total of 282 laws form the

Hammurabi’s Code. Law number

196 states: If a man put out the

eye of another man, his eye shall

be put out. Some people

summarize Hammurabi’s code by

saying “an eye for an eye.”

A statue of

Hammurabi

•The code was carved into stone and placed in public places for all to see. The laws were meant to serve as a lasting way to keep order and prevent troubles in the future.

Hammurabi’s Code

Babylonia is Conquered•Hammurabi conquered many neighboring cities,

and he kept expanding his empire.

•Hammurabi would often go to war against his

allies (friends) as well.

•When the city of Elam attacked Larsa,

Hammurabi helped Larsa defend themselves.

• Once Elam was conquered, Hammurabi turned

right around and conquered Larsa! Break!

Hypothesize why Hammurabi would do that?

•Each time that Babylon would conquer another city,

Hammurabi would take the city’s chariots, weapons, tools,

and all their riches.

•Trading helped Babylon get rich, and so did conquest.

•Though Hammurabi formed a large and rich empire, the

people that ruled after him could not keep it together.

•The empire kept getting smaller and smaller until eventually

it was destroyed.

Babylonia is Conquered

Pair-Share

You be the Historian…..

Interpretation #1• According to the Bible and the book of Genesis, The city

state of Ashur was founded by a man named Ashur, son of

Shem, son of Noah, after the great flood, who then went on

to form the important Assyrian cities.

Interpretation #2The city was named Ashur after the diety of that name

sometime in the 3rd millennium. The same god’s name is the

origin for Assyria.

Do we have historical fact?

The Assyrians Rise to Power

•About 1,000 years after Hammurabi ruled, a people called

Assyrians rose to power in Mesopotamia.

•Assyria was a small kingdom of walled cities that was

located north of Babylon. Their city was located in open

land, in the upper part of the Tigris River Valley.

•The Assyrians spoke the same language and used the same

writing system as the Babylonians.

The Assyrians have a problem……

•Cause- their rolling hills and lack of natural defenses meant

that they were easily attacked, and they had to constantly

defend themselves against invaders.

The Assyrians Rise to Power

• Effect- They became skilled warriors. At around 1365

B.C., the Assyrians decided that the best defense they had

was to attack other countries first, before they could attack

them.

• By 1100B.C. they had defeated neighboring enemies.

• By 800 B.C. they were strong enough to take over cities,

trading routes, and fortresses throughout Mesopotamia.

• By 650 B.C., Assyria had conquered a large empire. King

Sargon II was a successful and ruthless Assyrian ruler.

Assyrian Empire – 650 B.C.

The Assyrian War Machine

• The Assyrian army was divided into groups

of foot soldiers armed with shields, helmets,

spears, and daggers.

• It also had units of charioteers, cavalry, and

archers.

• At first the Assyrians fought only during the

summer……why?

The Assyrian War Machine

• Assyrian power was due partly to their

weapons, which were made of iron.

• Iron weapons are harder and stronger than

weapons made of copper or tin.

• This wasn’t always the case, how did the

Assyrians improve iron so it could be made

into weapons?

The Assyrian War Machine

•The Assyrians were

geniuses at waging war.

They invented the

battering ram, which they

used to pound down city

walls.

•They used catapults to

throw rocks at enemies,

and they protected their

archers with helmets and

armor.

•Chariots were used to

slash their way through

enemy troops.

Assyrian Learning

•The capital of the

Assyrian Empire was a

city called Nineveh.

•Nineveh became a great

city of learning. It had a

famous library that held

thousands of clay tablets

with writings from Sumer

and Babylon.

•These records tell us a lot

about life in Mesopotamia.

Assyria Overthrown

•The people that the

Assyrians conquered were

constantly rebelling

against Assyrian rule.

•Most of the time, the

Assyrians crushed the

people who tried to fight

them.

•However, in 612 B.C., the

Medes and Chaldeans

joined together to smash

the Assyrian empire.

The New Babylonian Empire

•The Chaldeans created a

new empire, centered at

Babylon after they

defeated the Assyrians in

612 BC.

•The greatest king of

Babylon was

Nebuchadnezzar II.

•He rebuilt Babylon and

put massive walls around

the city to protect it. He

also built a great palace

with hanging gardens.

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUobr

O0EeRI

The Chaldeans

• Under King Nebuchadnezzar the Chaldeans

extended their empire as far west as Syria

and Palestine.

• The Chaldeans called themselves

Babylonians. Most Chaldeans were

descendants of the people who had made up

Hammurabi’s empire.

A New Center for Learning

•Under the Chaldeans,

the New Babylonian

empire became a center

of learning and science.

•Chaldean astronomers

charted stars and

measured the correct

length of the year.

•Chaldean farmers raised

bees for their honey.

Many people came to

Babylon to share ideas

and discoveries.This clay tablet shows the world that was known

to the Babylonians

The Fall of the Second Babylonian Empire

•The second

Babylonian empire

came under attack and

was defeated by the

Persians, who were

led by Cyrus the

Great, in 539 BC.

•The Persians built the

largest empire the

Fertile Crescent has

ever known.

Babylon Empire – 1787 B.C.

Assyrian Empire – 650 B.C.

Persian Empire – 490 B.C.

Military Empire Instagram

• Detailed, colored picture. (5pts)

• Informative, but fun comment. (5pts)

• Merge the past and with present day social

media.

• We should be able to tell what empire you

are instagraming.

• Feel free to look up additional information

on any empire.

Homework-Cut and Paste

Directions

1. Put your name on the paper.

2. Take the pages apart.

3. Using your notes, label each sentence with a B for Babylonians, an

A for the Assyrians, or a C for the Chaldeans.

4. Do not cut apart your sentences until they are labeled , and even

then, cut apart only one sentence at a time.

5. If you finish early, you may go back to your vocabulary or color the

cut and paste.

6. If you are lacking supplies, simply label each fact with the correct

empire.