Download 4.1 First Empires

Chapter 4, Lesson 1
Mesopotamian Empires
page 113-116
Moore Middle School
Sargon of Akkad
Sargon created the world’s first empire.
The language he spoke was Akkadian.
Sargon was a servant of the king of Kish.
Historians is believe he later killed the king to take the throne.
He built a powerful army and founded a capital city, called
Akkad, on the Euphrates River.
Akkad conquered all the city-states and rulers of Sumer and
made them into one kingdom.
Later Sargon conquered northern Mesopotamia.
The empire reached as far east as modern Iran and as far west
as the Mediterranean Sea and maybe even reached to Egypt.
Sargon of Akkad
After Sargon’s death his son and
Grandson ruled the empire.
Over time the empire grew weak.
The city-states struggled to regain independence.
Enemies invaded.
Around 2250 BC the Gutians form the Zargos
Mountains invaded Akkad and Sargon’s empire
collapsed.
Rival Empires
Power in Mesopotamia shifted to two
new centers: Assyria in the north and
Babylonia in the south.
Assyria reached its peak of power under the rule of
Shamshi- Adad.
Shamshi-Adad was a great conqueror like Sargon.
Shamshi-Adad held his empire together through both trade
and force.
His sons ruled parts of his rich kingdom.
Shamshi- Adad and his sons never felt safe.
They worried about neighboring Babylonia.
Hammurabi
A young Babylonian leader named
Hammurabi was gaining power
during the last years of
Shamhi-Adad’s life.
As Hammurabi began to extend his rule, he
conquered Assyria and later all of Mesopotamia.
Hammurabi sent governors, judges, tax collectors,
and military commanders to all parts fo his empire
to help maintain a strong central government.
Hammurabi
One of Hammurabi’s
greatest achievements was
writing an organized set of
laws called the
Code of Hammurabi.
His code helped people live responsible,
lawful lives.
Please respond in complete sentences
using text book page
1. How did three great rulers build and
maintain empires in Mesopotamia?
2. What important change did Sargon make
in the way Mesopotamia was governed?
3. Although their empires did not survive
long after they died, in many ways
Shamshi-Adad and Hammurabi were
successful and capable rulers. Using the
text book find support for this statement.