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Chapter 4.2 Mesopotamia
The First Empires
As the strength of Sumer faded, powerful kingdoms arose in
Northern Mesopotamia and built empires.
An empire is a group of lands controlled by one ruler.
Who was Sargon?
The kingdom of Akkad developed in
Northern Mesopotamia and was ruled
by Sargon.
Sargon conquered the remaining
Sumerian cities. In doing so, he built
the world’s first empire.
Eventually, his empire would extend
to include all people of Mesopotamia.
Who was Hammurabi?
West of Mesopotamia, was a city
called Babylon.
Their king, Hammurabi, began
conquering the lands north and
south, creating the Babylonian
Empire.
Hammurabi’s Code
Hammurabi was best known for
creating a set of laws for his empire.
These laws dealt with crime and
established “an eye for an eye” system
of punishment.
The laws also protected the less
powerful, for example it protected
wives from their abusive husbands.
The Assyrian Empire
Assyria was an empire which arose about 1,000 years after
the empire of Hammurabi and extended into four present
day countries: Turkey, Syria, Iran, and Iraq.
The Assyrian Empire
The Assyrians built a large and powerful military to defend their territory.
The army was made of infantry (foot soldiers), cavalry (horse soldiers) and
charioteers.
Weapons consisted of slingshots, bows and arrows, swords, and spears. The
Assyrians robbed people, set crops on fire, and took tributes or forced
payments from conquered people. One of the keys to the success of the
Assyrian army was iron weapons.
The Hittites, who were located to the North of the Assyrian
Empire, mastered the production of iron and shared this
technology with the Assyrians.
Kings and Government
Assyrian Kings divided their empire into
provinces, or political districts.
Roads were built to connect each province
and the king chose officials to collect taxes
and carry out laws in each province.
Life in Assyria
Lifestyles were built based on what they learned from
Mesopotamian people.
They had law codes with harsh punishments and their
writings were based on Babylonian writing.
They worshipped many of the same gods.
Assyrians wrote and collected stories and built one of the
worlds first libraries.
Farming and trade were both very important. They brought
in wood and metal from war away to supply their empire
with building materials.
The Chaldean Empire
In about 650 B.C., fighting
broke out to determine
who would be the next
Assyrian ruler.
While Assyria was in
turmoil, the Chaldean’s
took power with the help
of the Medes.
The New Empire
About 1000 B.C., the Chaldeans moved to Southern Mesopotamia and were immediately
conquered by the Assyrians. The Chaldeans hated their new rulers and never fully
submitted to the Assyrian Empire.
Around 627 B.C. another group who wanted to break free from Assyrian rule, the Medes,
joined the Chaldeans. In 612 B.C., together they burned the Assyrian capital. The Assyrian
empire quickly crumbled.
Most of the Chaldeans were descendants of the Babylonians.
The city of Babylon was chosen to serve as their capital, and because of this, the Chaldean
Empire is sometimes called the New Babylonian Empire.
New Babylonian Empire/Chaldeans
King Nebuchadnezzar of the Chaldeans
rebuilt Babylon making it the largest and
richest city in the world.
Babylon featured:
• Grand Palaces and temples,
• A 300-foot ziggurat with a gleaming gold
roof.
• Gardens built like huge steps made up the
Hanging Gardens, considered one of the
seven wonders of the ancient world.
• Many new canals, making the land more
fertile.
• To pay for all these building
projects, and to maintain his army,
Nebuchadnezzar had to collect
very high taxes.
• Merchants came to the city in
caravans to buy Babylonian
goods: pottery, cloth, baskets, and
jewelry. Trade made Babylon
wealthy.
• Advancements under the
Chaldeans included the invention
of the sundial to tell time, and
being the first civilization to follow
the seven-day week.
Fall of the Empire
After Nebuchadnezzar died, a series of weak
kings ruled the empire.
Poor harvests and slow trade further weakened
the empire.
In 539 B.C. The Persians took advantage and
captured Babylon and made Mesopotamia part
of their empire while allowing the Chaldeans to
maintain their culture.