Download 2154 bc the empire collapsed

Project Time!
The Akkadians made elaborate carvings called Steles → Used to keep
track of important events!
⦿ The Akkadians used steles to
record important events with
three dimensional sculptures
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Led by Sargon the Great
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Strong military general
Used military skills to
conquer & unify the citystates of Sumer
Superior military technology
• Chariot warfare
⦿ Led constant conquest
What kind of leader was he?
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King Sargon the Great
✕ King Sargon the Great ruled for approx. 50 years until his death
→ His empire started to fall apart
+ Sargon’s sons and grandsons tried to hold it together...
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but they sort of sucked at ruling (and getting
along)
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They focussed more on individual power than
the empire
✕ 2154 bc the empire collapsed
+ Barbarians from the Zagros Mountains took advantage of
instability
✕ Terrible rulers who set the animals free and seemed to
just want anarchy and destruction
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Mesopotamia was characterized by:
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anarchy, war, famine and drought for hundreds of years
the Amorite Dynasties began and started the long road
to recover- what is a dynasty?
✕Established
the city of Babylon
approx. 1894 bc
Euphrates River in
present day Iraq
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Babylon was located on
the banks of the Euphrates
river
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most important center of trade
in Mesopotamia
Traded grain and woven
cloth for wood gold, silver,
precious gems and
livestock.
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Became very wealthy
⦿ Known as a magical city of
wealth and excess
Tower of Babel
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Hammurabi united
Mesopotamia (1754bc)
the world’s first
system of written laws
◦ Rule of justice → Unlike
Sargon’s rule of the sword
and tribunes
✕Developed
Code of Hammurabi
His own authority + the
word of the gods
◦Apparently the gods
“handed” the laws to
Hammurabi
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First set of laws to
apply to everyone
◦ Kings and rich men all
the way down to slaves
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After the Hammurabi died, Mesopotamia again fell to conflict,
anarchy and chaos
+
✕
Babylonian Empire was still present, but their neighbors were gaining power
The Assyrians took over dominance of Mesopotamia
+
Some seriously BA dudes!
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Strong-Arm Rule →
Military might and cruelty
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Assyrian Weapons
Sheer power and
intimidation established their
dominance
war strategies.
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siege techniques
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Battering Rams
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Moveable towers
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They used iron
Armed cavalry
Reinforced bows & iron tip arrows
Iron swords
Iron plated steel shields
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The Assyrians
believed that their
kings were
special beings
and to honor
them they built
“The great
Palace” in the
capital city of
Nineveh.
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Aqueducts in Assyria
Like other societies in
Mesopotamia the
Assyrians had a
system of canals to
irrigate their land, but
they also built the
first Aqueducts.
Aqueducts were
pipes or channels
used to carry water
throughout the city of
Nineveh and up to 30
miles away.