Download Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia
Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
Sumerian Civilization – 3000 BCE
Ziggurat
Capital City is UR
Characteristics
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Religion is polytheistic
and had a grim view of
the afterlife
Men were head of
household, women had
few legal rights
Sumerian Advances
Wagon Wheel
Arches in building
3. Cuneiform – Wedge
shaped symbols
4. Sundial – 60 seconds in a
1 minute
5. Number system based on
60
6. 12 month calendar
7. Metal plow
8. Epic of Gilgamesh
9. 1st Umbrella
Akkadians
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Located North of Sumer
2340 BCE conquered
Sumerians
Sargon I – ruled for 55
years. He united and
expanded Mesopotamian
culture and helped
spread Sumerian
achievements
Babylonians – 1750 B.C.
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King Hammurabi –
conquered Sumerians and
Akkadian
People sometimes described
as Amorites
Created 1st Babylonian
Empire
Hammurabi’s Code
-uniform code of laws
-written down – 282 specific
laws
“eye for an eye” type laws
Hebrews – 1500 to 722 B.C.
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Journeyed into Palestine around 1200 B.C. from
the Arabian Desert
The Old Testament records their history
Maintained their independence for 500 years
Religion of the Hebrews is Monotheistic – belief
in one God – Judaism
God is omnipotent, omnipresent, and
omniscient
Solomon’s Temple
Phoenicians – 1200 to 800 B.C.
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The best sea traders of the ancient world
Founded cities in North Africa and Spain
Known for their Alphabet (22 letters) – English
alphabet is a direct descendent
Traded cedar logs, textiles dyed in purple, glass
objects, and jewelry
Phoenician ABCs
Phoenician Ships
Hittites 1450 B.C. to 1200 B.C.
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Fierce Fighters from the country of Turkey
Used iron weapons
Invented the chariot – 3 men per chariot
Wore their hair long with thick pigtails hung
down their backs
Legal system – less harsh than Hammurabi
Hittites
Assyrians – 800 to 612 B.C.
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One of the most lethal fighting forces
Fighting force was organized into foot soldiers,
charioteers and fast moving cavalry
Burned cities and tortured and killed thousands
Had network of roads that connected empire
World’s largest cuneiform library
Their cruelty would earn them many enemies
King Sennacherib bragged that he destroyed 89 cities
and 820 villages
Assyrian Brutality
Chaldeans – 616 to 539 B.C.
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Known as the 2nd Babylonian Empire
Treated the Jewish Population horrible –
enslaved the city’s population and exiled them to
Babylonia
Predicted eclipses and the length of year
King Nebuchadnezzar built the Hanging
Gardens of Babylon – one of the 7 Wonders of
the Ancient World
King Nebuchadnezzar
Hanging Gardens of Babylon
Babylonian Ziggurat
Persians – 559 to 330 B.C.
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Empire was founded the Cyrus the Great –
treated conquered cities with kindness
Allowed Jews to return to their homeland
Darius I extended the empire and divided it into
20 provinces with a rule known as Satrap
Royal Road – 1,500 miles long – every 14 miles
there were stations of food, rest, and horses –
took only 7 days to travel the distance
“Eyes and Ears of the King” – royal spies
Zoroastrianism
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Zoroaster was a prophet with monotheisitic
spiritual message
Ahuramazda was the only god (good god).
Ahriman was the evil spirit
Had notions of heaven and hell
Each soul faced a final evaluation of its actions
Persian Rulers
Persepolis