Download Invaders, Traders, & Empire Builders

INVADERS, TRADERS,
& EMPIRE BUILDERS
Invasion & Conquest
• Invasion & conquest were part of daily life in the history of
the ancient middle east, as ambitious warriors and
nomads would descend upon the rich cities of the Fertile
Crescent.
• The first empire was built around 2300 BC by Sargon, the
ruler of Akkad, when he conquered and ruled the citystates of Sumer.
• About 1790 BC, Hammurabi, King of Babylon, brought
much of Mesopotamia under his control uniting the
Babylonian Empire.
Hammurabi’s Code
• Hammurabi wanted everyone
in his empire to know the
legal principles his
government would follow.
• He had nearly 300 laws
carved on a stone pillar for all
to see.
• This is the first example of a
ruler codify, or setting in
writing, all of the laws that
would govern a state.
Hammurabi Criminal Law
• This branch of law deals with
offenses against others such as
robbery, assault, or murder
• Earlier traditions often permitted
victims of crimes or their families
to take the law into their own
hands.
• By setting out specific
punishments for specific
offenses, Hammurabi’s Code
limited personal vengeance&
encouraged social order.
Hammurabi Civil Law
• This branch of law deals with
private rights and matters, such as
business contracts, property
inheritance, taxes, marriage, and
divorce.
• Much of Hammurabi’s Civil Code
was designed to protect the
powerless, such as slaves or
women.
• Generally, men had legal authority
over his wife and the legal duty to
support her. The code also gave a
father nearly unlimited authority
over his children.
Judging the Code
• By today’s standards, some of the punishments were
harsh
• Ex. If a house collapsed because of poor construction and the
homeowner was killed, the builder of the house could be put to
death.
• The Code would punish people of different classes with
differing severity, showing great favoritism to higher
classes.
• Ex. If a noble man puts out the eye of another noble man, his eye
shall be put out.
• If he puts out the eye of a commoner, he shall pay one silver mina.
The Hittites: Iron
• The Hittites pushed out of Asia
Minor into Mesopotamia around
1400 BC.
• The Hittites had learned to
extract iron from ore and make
stronger, sharper iron weapons
& tools
• Iron weapons were less
expensive and far superior to
other civilization’s bronze &
copper weapons.
• After the collapse of the Hittite
Empire around 1200 BC, this
iron technology spread
throughout Mesopotamia.
The Assyrians: Warrior People
• After learning to make iron weapons, the
Assyrians would become some of the
most feared warriors in history.
• By 1100 BC they began expanding
across Mesopotamia
• Fierce Warfare was central to the
Assyrian culture
• Ex. Upon capturing Babylon, the Assyrian
ruler proclaimed “The city and its houses,
from top to bottom, I destroyed and burned
with fire
• Despite their fierce reputation, Assyrian
rulers encouraged a well-ordered
society.
Assyria Falls; Babylon Revived
• In 612 BC neighboring people joined forces to crush the
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once-dreaded Assyrian armies.
An aggressive and ruthless king, Nebuchadnezzar
revived the power of Babylon.
His new Babylonian empire stretched from the Persian
Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea.
Nebuchadnezzar rebuilt the canals, temples, walls, and
palaces of Babylon.
Under his rule, Babylonians pushed learning into new
areas, making observations of the stars that contributed to
the growing knowledge of astronomy.
Persian Empire
• In 539 BC Babylon fell to the Persian Armies
of Cyrus the Great.
• The Persians went on to conquer the largest
empire yet seen, which included modern day
Turkey, Iran, Egypt, Afghanistan, and
Pakistan
• Generally, Persian kings were tolerant of the
customs and religious traditions of the people
they conquered. This created a very diverse
empire
Persian Empire: Darius
• From 522 BC to 486 BC King Darius used his
organizational skills to bring greater unity to his empire.
• Like Hammurabi, Darius developed a single law code.
• To encourage unity, Darius had hundreds of miles of road
built.
• Darius encouraged the use of coins.
• Most people continued to be part of the barter economy,
exchanging one set of goods and services for another
• Coins, however, brought merchants traders into an early money
economy. In this system, goods and services are paid for through
the exchange of a coin or bill of agreed value.
Zoroastrianism
• Persians also united around a religion that rejected the
old Persian gods and taught that a single wise god, Ahura
Mazda ruled the world. (Monotheism)
• Ahura Mazda was said to be in a constant battle against
Ahriman the prince of lies and evil.
• It was believed that Ahura Mazda would someday rise up,
defeat Ahriman and condemn all evil doers to eternal
suffering. Those who had done good would enter eternal
paradise.
• Two later religions, Christianity & Islam, emerged out of
the middle east with similar views on a final judgment &
afterlife
Phoenicians: Sea Traders
• Phoenicians were best known for:
• manufacturing glass & purple die,
• Making papyrus to make rolls of paper for books
• & TRADING. They were expert sailors and traveled throughout the
Mediterranean region trading and setting up colonies.
• Creating our alphabet
Phonetic Alphabet
• Past writing like cuneiform or hieroglyphics had each symbol
represent a word or concept
• The Phoenician alphabet developed because they needed a
quick, flexible form of writing to record all the business deals
made while trading.
• This alphabet contains letters that represent spoken sounds
• The Greeks later adapted this to give us most of the letters we
use today.