The Hittites, Assyrians, Chaldeans, and Phoenicians

The Tribes of Mesopotamia

Remember:The Sumerians (c. 3000 BCE):•Polytheist•Invented writing (cuneiform)•Invented the wheel, plow, better bronze tools•Society based on caste (levels – from peasant to King)Akkadians (2300 BCE)•Sargon I: first permanent army; first empireBabylon (1800 BCE)•Hammurabi’s code (first written laws)

The Hittites

• Indo-Europeans (Greek, Hindi, Russian) - came from north of the Black Sea when the land is made of steppes (arid grasslands).

• May have come because of drought, war, or lack of resources.

• Came to the Middle East about 2000 BCE.

The Chariots of Success

• The Hittites were able to conquer others because of their advanced chariots.

• These chariots could hold three men:• A driver• A fighter• A shielded

• In 1595 BCE, the Hittites were able to invade and sack Babylon• Babylon fell to the Kassites

soon after the Hittites sacked the city.

• They also used cuneiform, which they got from the Sumerians.

• Developed laws similar to those of Hammurabi.

• Brought ironwork to the Middle East

• Fell in 1200 BCE to the “Sea Peoples”

The Assyrians (c. 1200 BCE)• From northern Mesopotamia where they were

farmers.• Were conquered many times because of their

fertile farm land• C. 900 BCE, they regained power and spread into

Asia Minor and Egypt.• Because the had been conquered so many times,

the Assyrians became brutal warriors who butchered the fallen and enslaved those left.

• Created first complex tax system, communication routes, and libraries of cuneiform tablets.

• Were conquered by the Chaldeans in 612 BCE. They burnt the Assyrian capital of Nineveh.

The Chaldeans 612 BCE (The New Babylon)

• Capital – the old city of Babylon.• Nebuchadezzar II – King who fought the

Egyptians and Jews– Captured Jerusalem

• They built many ziggurats, temples, and palaces.• The most famous was the Hanging Gardens of

Babylon with thousands of flowers and plants.• Borrowed the Sumerian gods.• Developed a calendar based on the phases of the

moon – the most advanced of the time.• Conquered by the Persians in 539 BCE.

Hanging Gardens

The Phoenicians• Were able to come to power because of their

wide trading area.• They brought in art, weapons, and culture and

blended with their own from the Mediterranean area (Greece, Egypt, Italy) and as far away as Africa (Sierra Leone).

• Their most famous city was Carthage which continues to be an important port city in northern Africa.

• Known to create glassblowing (the art of heating and shaping glass).

The Phoenician Alphabet• Perhaps the most

important contribution of the Phoenicians was their alphabet.

• This was the world’s first alphabet where letters represented sounds, instead of symbols for whole words.– Contained only consonants – Greeks added vowels later