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Middle Eastern Civilizations 3500 BCE- 395 CE Mesopotamia and Egypt Two of the world's first great civilizations developed along the mighty river systems in Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt at roughly the same time (Mes. 3500 BCE, Egypt 3100 BCE) The Mesopotamians developed along the Tigris-Euphrates river system in Asia The Egyptians developed along the Nile River in Africa People in both civilizations learned to use the natural environment to their advantage by controlling the floodwaters of the river and working the rich soils along the banks A constant food supply freed labour for other pursuits, which led to the development of thriving cities, temples and empires Mesopotamia - Cradle of Civilization The ancient Sumerian city-state of Ur is in present day Iraq, along the Tigris-Euphrates valley Ur was once a place of magnificent courts, sophisticated society, soldiers, servants, musicians etc. Mesopotamians had a profound belief in an afterlife and a desire to take some earthly belongings to the world after death Sumer, Babylon, Assyria and Chaldea were some of the great empires of this era Ancient Mesopotamia was in Iraq; Syria and Turkey (Persian Gulf to Tigris-Euphrates) Meso means middle, potamas means river Part of the fertile crescent, this side of the world's first permanent farming villages Sumer Sumerians lived in independent city-states ruled by separate kings Each city-state had its own government, laws and military They managed their own affairs independently By 3500 BCE the population was about 4000 By 3000 BCE the population was about 24 000 The various city-states existed independently but on occasion small battles were fought for control over land or irrigation rights During conflict, the king of a city-state acted as the head of the army Sumerian armies used chariot pulled by donkeys; held two men who hurled javelins Sumer was ruled by Sargon of Akkad, known as Sargon the Great During his 35 year reign, he attacked other city-states, Egypt and Ethiopia Sumerians developed the first known form of writing known as cuneiform They made advances in science, mythology and written literature The Epic of Gilgamesh is the oldest known piece of literature in the world Babylon Nomads known as the Amorites established themselves in Babylon The Babylonians were great traders with their ships travelling to India and Africa, their caravans to Persia and Asia Minor The Babylonians were famous for one of the seven wonders of the ancient world and took great pride in the physical appeal of their city-state Assyria Trade routes between Mesopotamia and surrounding areas were established The economic success brought the Assyrians political influence and after many wars and conquests, the Assyrians dominated all of Mesopotamia They were fierce people known for committing wartime atrocities against unarmed civilians and for treating conquered armies with cruelty Assyrian kings viewed professional armies as essential to conquests and thus created large armies The army was divided into units: foot soldiers, charioteers, cavalry and archers Mercenaries (hired foreign soldiers) were added to local armies when necessary Assyrians had learned the secret of making iron and used this knowledge to male arrows and lances of superior quality Assyrian kings expanded the territory to include Damascus, Israel and Egypt King Ashurbanipal (668 - 626) was the most powerful and the cruelest All conquered people (civilian or military) were treated cruelly Territories were plundered and he used these gains to enrich his own surroundings (gold, ivory and silver) Ashurbanipal also showed much interest in science and math He constructed a garden and a zoo at his palace He had a library stocked with over 22 000 clay tablets Chaldea After the collapse of the Assyrian empire, Babylon became an important city once again The Chaldeans, a Semitic people settled here about 1000 BCE Their king, Nebuchadnezzar transformed Babylon into one of the most beautiful cities of the world Nebuchadnezzar was a warrior king, with notable stories retold in the Christian bible He conquered Judah, Jerusalem and he captured many Jews as slaves Was also known as a great builder This empire stood until 549 BC when the powerful Persians became the new rulers of a growing international world Government The early years of city-states saw free citizens elect an assembly to run the government The assembly consisted of two houses: an upper house which contained the wealthiest citizens and a lower house which contained soldiers These elected members chose the judges, who were responsible for enforcing the laws and for selecting military leaders at wartime Kings did not appear until foreign invaders became a concern and a strong leader was needed Kings were called lugals and thought of themselves as living representatives of gods (known as a government of theocracy) Lugals major responsibility was to provide defense of the city-state The other vital responsibility was to supervise the development and maintenance of the irrigation works, which were essential to the economic survival of the city-state Early Sumian kings were elected, but as theocracy grew the crown passed from father to son This was the beginning of dynasties or hereditary monarchies Assyrian religious leaders has less political power than in Sumer There was clear separation between government and religion Temples, palaces and monuments were built for the king's use , not to honour a particular god The king was however bound to certain religious customs (fasting for five days once a month etc.) Law and Justice One of Mesopotamia's most significant contributions to the advancement of civilization was in the field of law The codes developed by the Sumerians and the Babylonians were an attempt to collect, organize and record all existing laws so there would be one common code for all citizens One code gave legal protection to peasants and commoners as well as nobles but the laws were applied differently to different classes of people Nobles were treated harshly as better behaviour was expected from them; peasants usually were fined or punished phosically Hammuribi, king of Babylon created a code of 282 different laws which were organized under headings such as trade, family, labour, real-estate and personal property The code distinguished between a minor and a major crime; established that the state is responsible for enforcing the law and confirmed that social justice should be guaranteed to all citizens Promoted the idea that the punishment should fir the crime, "an eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth (if a house collapsed and killed the owner, the builder was put to death)