Download Empires in Mesopotamia

Empires in Mesopotamia
Sumerian Empire
 Mostly farmers; they invented the wheel and the plow
 They lived in city-states- cities(urban) surrounded by countryside(rural)
 They built walled cities w/ moats for protection
 Each city-state depended on military strength
 They were one of the first to have bronze tools
Akkadians
Akkadian Empire
 Began in Akkad (In same spot as modern day Baghdad, Iraq)
 Sargon - created the world's 1st empire by conquering the city-states of
Sumer
Babylonian Empire
 Capital city- Babylon
 Hammurabi was the monarch – the single ruler who united the empire – he
collected taxes and developed buildings and irrigation.
 Hammurabi's Code of laws - 282 laws written down for all to see (included
laws about murder, theft, trade, injury, etc).
Hittites
 Built a kingdom in Asia Minor (near modern day Turkey)
 They mastered ironworking
 They used chariots – wheeled horse-drawn carts used in battle
Assyrian Empire
 This was the largest empire that expanded from the Persian Gulf to Asia
Minor and Egypt
 They used advanced iron weapons, cruel tactics, horse-drawn chariots, and
siege warfare (battering rams) to spread terror
 They created heavy taxes, built roads to connect the empire, and sent
messengers on horseback
Chaldean Empire
 These were people from the Syrian Desert; they attacked and destroyed the
Assyrian empire
 Their king was Nebuchadnezzar; he rebuilt Babylon and constructed
a magnificent palace with trees and flowers called the Hanging Gardens of
Babylon
 The Chaldeans respected Sumerian culture so they copied Sumerian
language and gods
Mesopotamia became center for Astronomy- admired Sumerian culture