Download Later Peoples of the Fertile Crescent

Later Peoples of the Fertile
Crescent
Chapter 5, Section 4
Mr. Gahsman – Social Studies 7
The Babylonians Conquer
Mesopotamia
• Rise of Babylon
– Located on the
Euphrates River, near
modern-day Baghdad,
Iraq
– Former Sumerian town
• Became its own citystate
– 1792 B.C. –
Hammurabi becomes
Babylon’s king
King Hammurabi of Babylon
• Hammurabi’s Code
– Hammurabi was a great war leader
– Brought all of Mesopotamia under his control
• Called his territory the Babylonian Empire
– Used tax money to pay for building and irrigation projects
– Increased trade
– Best known for his law code
• The Law Code
– 282 laws dealing with
every part of daily life
– Some ideas still found
in laws today
– All crimes had
penalties
• Punishment was
harsher if you harmed a
rich man versus a poor
man
– Important because it
was the first law code
to be written down for
all to see
Pillar carved with
Hammurabi’s Code
• Fall of Babylon
– Hammurabi ruled for 42 years
– Babylon faced many invasions after his death
Babylonian Art
Invasions of Mesopotamia
• Hittites
– Originated in Asia Minor
(modern-day Turkey)
– Two military advantages
• Masters of ironworking
– Stronger weapons
• Skillful use of chariots
– Captured Babylon around
1595 B.C.
– Hittite king was
assassinated
• Kingdom plunged into
chaos
Hittite 3-man chariot
Hittite Charioteer
Hittite Warrior
• Kassites
– Originally lived north of
Babylon
– Captured the city from
the Hittites
– Ruled Babylon for over
400 years
• Assyrians
– From northern Mesopotamia
– Gained control of Babylon around 1200 B.C.
– Very strong army
• Used iron weapons and chariots
• Fierce in battle
– Looted villages
– Burned crops
– Killed anyone who resisted them
– Ruled from the capital city of Nineveh
– Built road network
Assyrian warriors
attacking a city
Assyrian warrior vs.
Nubian warrior
• Chaldeans
– Lived in the Syrian Desert
– Attacked the Assyrians
• Destroyed Nineveh in 612
B.C.
• The Assyrian Empire
collapsed
– King Nebuchadnezzar
• Rebuilt Babylon
• May have built the
Hanging Gardens of
Babylon
– Admired Sumerian culture
• Studied Sumerian
language
• Adopted many Sumerian
gods
– Great astronomers
Artist representation of
a Chaldean temple
The Phoenicians
•
•
•
•
Lived on the western end of the Fertile Crescent
Not a great military power
Wealthy trading society
Geography of Phoenicia
– Modern-day Lebanon
– Main cities were Tyre, Sidon and Byblos (still exist
today)
– Had many cedar trees
– Land trade was blocked by mountains, had to use the
sea for trading
• Expansion of Trade
– Became expert sailors
– Built fleets of trading ships
– Traveled to Egypt, Greece,
Italy and Spain
– Founded colonies
• Most famous colony was
Carthage in Northern
Africa
– Traded lumber, silverwork,
ivory carvings, glass items
and slaves
– Made purple dye from
crushed shellfish
• Used to make purple
fabric that was prized by
wealthy people around the
Mediterranean Sea
– Most important
achievement was their
alphabet
Replica of a Phoenician Trading Ship