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The First Empires
Sargon
Sargon was king of the Akkadians
 After many years of fighting,
most of the Sumerian
City-States became weak.
 Sargon used this to his
advantage and conquered all of
Mesopotamia, creating the first ever
empire.
 Sargon’s empire lasted for over 200
years.

The Babylonians
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About 200 years after Sargon created the
Akkadian Empire, a Babylonian King began
conquering nearby cities, overtook the
Akkadians, and created the Babylonian
Empire.
During this time, the city of Babylon became
a great center for trade and education.
People came from as far as China to trade
here.
Hammurabi was the greatest Babylonian
Ruler.
Hammurabi
Hammurabi created the
Babylonian Empire.
 He is important because of his Code
of Laws
 He also: improved irrigation,
reorganized the tax codes, made the
Babylonian god higher than any other,
and began a gov’t housing program.

The Assyrians

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The Babylonians ruled Mesopotamia for
close to 1,000 years before they were
conquered by the Assyrians.
Assyria had:



a well organized army
1st to use iron weapons (made by the
Hittites)
When they conquered a city they would
move the people from their home to the
other side of the Empire. Then, they would
bring new settlers in and force them to pay
high taxes.
The Assyrians
The empire was divided into
provinces, with local leaders, to keep
control over the people.
 Nineveh was the capital of the
Assyrian Empire

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One of the world’s 1st libraries could
be found here.
The harsh rule of the Assyrians led to
their downfall.
The Chaldeans

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The Chaldeans were descendants of the
Babylonians so it was only fitting that they
be the ones to rebel and conquer the
Assyrians.
They rebuilt the city of Babylon as their
capital under the guidance of King
Nebuchadnezzar.
Babylon became a magificent center of
trade, architecture, and culture under the
Chaldeans.
The Chaldeans


While great at rebelling
and rebuilding, the
Chaldeans were not
known for keeping hold
of the power.
They were eventually
conquered by the
persians, allowing
Mesopotamia to
become part of the
new Persian Empire.