Download 1-3 The First Empires

- Assyria’s military power
and well-organized
government helped it
build a vast empire in
Mesopotamia by 650
BC.
- Lived in the northern
Mesopotamia near the
Tigris River
- Built a strong army to
defend their land from
invaders who wanted
their fertile land
MILITARY
- well-organized
- foot soldiers, bows and arrows, chariot riders, horseback, battering rams
- FIRST TO USE IRON WEAPONS!! Learned how to make iron stronger
from the Hittites (lived in modern day Turkey)
-Ferocious warriors = burned down cities and took people and their goods.
-Anyone who resisted was moved into a foreign land and replaced
w/others who were forced to pay taxes
GOVERNMENT =
- Empire was divided in provinces (political districts)
- Each province had an official to govern it
- The officials collected taxes and enforced the king’s laws
Canadian Provinces
ASSYRIAN LIFE/CONTRIBUTIONS
- Similar to other Mesopotamians with writing, religion
and laws
- Great builders
- World’s first library was built in Nineveh
FALL OF ASSYRIA
- Many rebellions and fights over who would be the next
king, which weakened the empire.
- Chaldeans rebelled and captured the Assyrian capital,
which led to the fall of the Assyrian Empire.
THE CHALDEANS (“BABYLON PART 2”)
- Led by King Neb, they controlled all of Mesopotamia
- Rebuilt the city of Babylon as the center of their empire
- CITY OF BABYLON =
- Babylon became one of the richest cities in the world.
- Babylon was a major trade route and became VERY rich from
trade
- King Neb, built the Hanging
Gardens of Babylon, which
could be seen from any
point in the city. He built
them for his wife who
missed the plants and
mountains of her homeland
Reconstructed Ishtar Gate in
Babylon, Iraq
Reconstructed Ishtar Gate in Berlin,
Germany at the Berlin Museum
CHALDEAN LIFE/CONTRIBUTIONS =
 Babylon was a center of science = astronomers
studied the heavenly bodies.
 Made one of the first sundials
 First to have a seven day week
FALL OF CHALDEAN EMPIRE =
- Found it hard to control the people they conquered
- Persians from the mountains to the northeast captured
Babylon and Mesopotamia became part of the Persian
Empire.