1. Never be afraid to try something new
Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark, professionals built the Titanic.

2. Mesopotamia After Hammurabi

3. 3. By 3000 BC, Sumerians, the first to settle the marshland, had divided their cultivated lands into 12 independent city-states.
Despite similar language and culture, these city-states often fought each other over boundaries and water rights. Canals built up stream for irrigation, reduced the water flow downstream. As a result of constant fighting, Sumeria lay open to foreign invasion.

5. The ancient Sumerians were very smart people:
Cuneiform
Law codes
Literature
Schools
Numbering system
Kiln-dried bricks & pottery
Lunar calendar
Potter’s wheel
The wheel
The wheelbarrow
Sailboats
Bronze tools and weapons
The plow
Frying pans
Razors
Cosmetic sets
Shepherd’s pipes
harps

6. How did Sargon earn a place in our history books?
About 2350 BC, Sargon led the people of Akkad in conquering Sumeria and establishing the world’s first empire.
How did Sargon the Great earn a place in our history books?
The conquerors were the Akkadians, who lived to the north. They were not as technologically advanced as the Sumerians, but they had better weapons and an army that was trained. In those days, that made all the difference.
The head of the Akkadians was Sargon, who proved himself an able ruler for most of his lifetime. And as ruler of his own people and of the Sumerians, he was, technically, the world's first emperor. His capital was Akkad, the later site of the great city of Babylon.
The land Sargon ruled over was great indeed, extending throughout Mesopotamia, from the Mediterranean Sea in the west to the Black Sea in the north. He sent expeditions into Asia Minor and southeast Arabia, with varying degrees of success. In the process, he spread not only the military wisdom of his army but also the cultural wisdom of Sumeria, the civilization that he conquered. Thus, the Sumerians lived on in their inventions: the first written language, the first use of the wheel, the first use of irrigation, and the first library, among others.
Sargon first conquered Sumeria in He ruled for 35 more years, until his death in His successors ruler in his place but not quite as well. The large territory proved difficult to control as the years went by and the Sumerians learned some military skill of their own. Finally, in 2125, the Sumerians revolted as one, joining together to overthrow their conquerors. Leading the way was the city-state of Ur, which would become one of the world's leading centers of civilization.
In succeeding centuries, the Sumerian cities were incorporated into various kingdoms and empires. The sumerian language, replaced by a semetic tongue, became an obscure language (like Latin today) but their culture-religion, legal, literary and art forms endured. The Sumerian legacy served as the basis for Mesopotamian civilization for 3000 years.

7. Around 1900 bc, a semetic-speaking people, the Amorites captured the city-state of Babylon. About 1750 bc, their great king, Hammurabi, conquered the other city-states and formed the the Babylonian empire.

9. The Hittites, 1600 bc bc
16. What has been the lasting legacy of the Hitittes?
The Hittite empire (1450 bc-1200 bc) capital at Hattusa
reached its peak in the 1300’s and included much of Asia Minor and northern Syria.
They were Indo-European speaking people who settled in Asia Minor around 1650 bc.
Their success was based on a well-trained army. Mass attacks by light, horse-drawn chariots demolished enemy lines, while foot-soldiers made effective use of the battle ax and a short, curved sword. They eventually took land in Syria and Egypt.
They were probably the first people to develop a substantial iron industry.
Hittites (1450–1200 B.C.) ruled Asia Minor, raided Babylon, and challenged Egypt
Successful due to well-trained army with horse-drawn chariots
Hittites borrow features of Mesopotamian civilization, including:
Cuneiform
Legal principles
Literary and art forms
Religion, blended with Indo-European beliefs
Hittites developed substantial iron industry for tools and weapons, as well as ritual
Hittites fall c B.C., probably to Indo-European invaders from the north

10. examples of Hittite iron swords…
That's one of my favorite ancient civilizations. From the 19th to the 12th century BC, the "Forgotten Empire" -named like this, because even Hérodote, at 5th BC, never mentionned it- expanded on anatolian plateau (Turkey) and became one of the most powerful with Egypt. The Hittites settled on the ancient "Hatti country", a place where there was already another bright civilization, with an outright matriarcal trend. The Hatti country was a peaceful land - even if run by warrior princesses (probably the ones who inspired the Amazons legend...) ; and its main cult was a solar goddess. [I made a research about anatolian civilization, the most ancient of humanity history, and maybe I'll write something about it on this blog one day.] The last of these queens was named Souggaziya, and she was defeated by Indo-European warriors who fighted with horses and iron arms -new weapons at this time. So, the northern warriors settled on Hatti country, but they kept its traditions and customs, and developped in a peaceful way. I find there's a wild consonance in the word "Hittite". But in fact, even if they were compelled to war by their turbulent neighbours (among them, the terrible Assyrians!), their ideal remained peace, which really surprised me when I discovered this civilization. Most of all, it was Harmony that mattered, because it was the way to stay in "pure life" wanted by gods, especially the most important, Arinna solar goddess, the chief of hittites pantheon. This obsession for harmony determined all the society organisation, as we"ll see in a next message.
Even if war was not an absolute purpose for them (On bas reliefs, representing mostly round faces, full of benevolence, we seldom find massacre scenes like the ones Assyrians liked so much), the Hittites were a military people. 2 reasons: their bellicose neighbours; and their own political system. Because Hittite kingdom was a kind of federation, joining several principalities. At the beginning, when a king died, his successor was elected by aristocracy, and there were a lot of fights for power. Finally, the royalty became hereditary, and the kingdom happened to be as powerful as Egypt with king Suppiluliuma ( ) [funny name isn't it? All Hittites got hilarious names, such as Tuthaliya, Mursil, Telepinu...].
The first real king was Labarna (~-1600), and then his name became a royal title, like "César" in Roma. King and queen were, like in all Antiquity civilisations, representatives of gods on Earth and main officiants (it seems they needed to be together for being right representatives, which explains the major function of Hittite queens). So they guaranted this world harmony with some rites of course, but good rules too, especially in justice area, and at last right behaviour in their private life. That's why the hittite laws seem full of humaneness, compared with other civilizations. We notice that slaves were protected as much as free men, for example; same thing for women. This moral obligation also led them to create the art of History. That's their big originality: Hittites kings and queens were the very first historians, because they needed to justify their acts in front of gods and mankind... Thanks to these annals (the 2 Hittites'writings, both cuneiform and hieroglyphic, were deciphered in XXè c.) we can know those sovereigns. The most well-known is Hattusil III (king -1283) a contemporary of Pharaoh Ramses II. His wife, queen Puduhepa, is even more famous, for she was really full of authority. Many anecdotes on her seem funny -even if her subjects surely didn't laugh at all!-, like when suspecting two dignitaries of corruption, she personnaly pulled them down to hell goddess statue feet, and then ordered: "Now speak!" . It was surely a terrible experience, because the men did speak.
Another anecdote shows us a hittite ambassador sent in Egypt. Right in the middle of negotiations with Ramses, and even if he has already got Hattusil's ruling, he doesn't want to act as much as he didn't receive the queen's decision, too; prefering to let the great Ramses waiting!

12. A Phoenician sailing vessel
17. What separated the Phoenicians from other groups of their day? They became the greatest sea traders of their day
Established towns along the north African coast, on the islands of the western Mediterranean and in Spain, exporting lumber, glass, copper and bronze utensils and purple dye (from the mollusk) Nor were these boats tiny.  The galley fighting ships, with their rows of galley oars, could have a crew of over a hundred people.  That is a pretty good size.  But even those were small compared to the Phoenician cargo ships with their vast, rounded hulls.  These ocean-going ships were built for huge loads and long hauls.  They made the extended trips from Mediterranean ports out to Cadiz, Lixis and other destinations on the Atlantic Ocean coasts of Spain and Morocco, and had to make each trip count.
People have remarked that those cargo ships which sailed the seas for many hundreds of years B.C. were comparable in size to the ones Columbus sailed to America in 1492 A.D.  Thor Heyerdahl, the modern-day explorer, noted that the Phoenicians could have sailed to Central America themselves.  I don't know if they did or not, but well-informed people see it as being within the capabilities of Phoenician ships and navigators.  That is quite a compliment to these early people of the sea and what they were able to accomplish.

13. The Phoenician Alphabet, circa 1400 bc
18. What has been the most important contribution of the Phoenicians to civilization?
First inventions are sometimes a little rough and need to get the bugs worked out, and so it was with this new alphabet which the Phoenicians made popular. Cuneiform had 550 characters
 Theirs consisted of 22 consonants but no vowels.  The reader was assumed to speak the language, so they would know what sound to put between the consonants.  Of course, looking back at their inscriptions a few thousand years later, it is not so obvious.  That is one reason why you will see different spellings for the same word or name.  The ancient and modern-day translators just did the best they could.
“Missionaries of Civilization” to the Mediterranean world- both the Greeks and Latins adopted this alphabet and is the one we use today.
The Phoenician Alphabet, circa 1400 bc

14. Removed the gods from nature Assertion of human dignity
The Hebrews
Monotheism
10 Commandments
Removed the gods from nature
Assertion of human dignity

15. The 12 Hebrew kingdoms have had the greatest influence on western moral ideas, notably, monotheism, the Ten Commandments.

16. Having learned about iron from the Hittites, they were the first to outfit entire army with iron weapons.
Negatives:
Ruthless war campaigns: military equipment also included moveable towers and battering rams. Psychological warfare, including torture & terror
Collected tribute ; Forced deportation
Positives:
Infrastructure improvements improved prosperity; Copied and edited literary works of the Babylonians; Maintained a great Library
Eventually conquered by the Chaldeans and Medes.
Ninth-century B.C. Assyrians resume empire building using siege weapons, chariots, and soldiers with armor and iron swords
Assyrians storm Babylonia, Syria, Palestine, and Egypt c.1200–1100 B.C.
Assyrian king ruled absolutely with help from nobles, administers territories by:
Improving roads
Establishing messenger services
Engaging in large-scale irrigation projects
Using terror and deporting troublesome subjects
Relocating people for economic purposes
Yet war-based Assyrians also copied and spread culture and literature
Weakened by war and revolt, Assyria’s capital (Nineveh) was sacked in 612 B.C.

17. Shalamaneser I – boasted of blinding 14,000 captives

18. One of the ancient monuments discovered in the ruins of ancient Assyria has this inscription by King Asshurizirpal (reign began in 883 BC.) of a conquered city:  "Their men, young and old, I took as prisoners. Of some I cut off the feet and hands; of others I cut off the noses, ears, and lips; of the young men's ears I made a heap; of the old men's heads I built a minaret." 
Assyrians were one of the most warlike people in history, lovers of the violence of the war and hunt. Amongst the people of the ancient Middle East, they were famous for their cruelty. At the peak of its power, Assyria stretched from Egypt to Persian Gulf. Their aggressiveness was partially attributed to their location: Assyria was in northern Mesopotamia, north of Babylon. As no natural bounders like shores or mountains were found there, they were vulnerable to attacks from any direction. This required the presence of a strong and mobile army. Assyrians were also good traders, and the main trade routes of Mesopotamia passed through Assyria. Their control was a source of richness.

19. Imperial Palace of Nineveh, capital of Assyria
Assyrians spoke Akkadian, and shared culture with the rest of Mesopotamia except for one difference. The Assyrians prayed to Ashur, for which the capital got its name. The Assyrians were mostly peasants, and unlike southern Mesopotamia, Assyria received adequate rainfall so that they didn’t need irrigation systems like Sumer. The civilization first came to prominence under the ruler Shamshi Adad I, who seized most of northern Mesopotamia. But, the realm was short lived, falling under the powerful ruler Hammurabi.
Assyrian power eclipsed and was ruled by first the Babylonians, then the Mitanni. This changed when the Assyrian king Ashuruballit took control over the Mitanni by taking advantage of their civil war. Thus, the Middle Assyrian period began. Ashuruballit’s expansive successors, Shalmaneser I, Tikulti-Ninurta I, and Tiglath-Pileser I, set out in three directions to conquer Mesopotamia. The Assyrians were beyond cruel to the losers of the war. One king boasted “I caused great slaughter, I destroyed, I demolished, and I burned. I took warriors prisoner and impaled them on stakes before their cities.” To lessen the chance of revolt, many Assyrian rulers deported citizens of the conquered lands. By one account, as many as four million people were forcibly deported.
Imperial Palace of Nineveh, capital of Assyria

20. Assyrian Imperial Palace at Nippur

21. The Chaldeans semetic-speaking came out of Arabian desert and seized Babylon in 612 bc. In an alliance with the Medes, they captured Nineveh and overthrew the Assyrians.
They controlled much of Mesopotamia as the Second Babylonian empire but were overthrown by the Persians in 539 bc.

22. Nebuchadrezzar II (also Nebuchadnezzar; reigned 605 BC–562 BC) is perhaps the best known ruler of Babylon in the Chaldean Dynasty. He is famous for his conquests of Judah and Jerusalem, his monumental building within his capital of Babylon, his role in the Book of Daniel, and his construction of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, which as legend has it, he made for his wife because she was homesick for the mountain springs where she grew up. He is traditionally called "Nebuchadnezzar the Great", but his destruction of temples in Jerusalem and the conquest of Judah caused his vilification in Judaic tradition and in the Bible, causing him to be interpreted very differently by western Christians and Jews than in contemporary Iraq, where he is glorified as a historic leader. Nebuchadnezzar was the oldest son and successor of Nabopolassar, who delivered Babylon from its dependence on Assyria and laid Nineveh in ruins. According to Berossus, he married the daughter of Cyaxares, and thus the Median and Babylonian dynasties were united. Necho II, the king of Egypt, had gained a victory over the Assyrians at Carchemish. This secured Egypt the possession of Phoenician provinces of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, including parts of Syria. The remaining Assyrian provinces were divided between Babylonia and Media. Nabopolassar was intent on reconquering from Necho the western provinces of Syria, however, and to this end dispatched his son with a powerful army westward. In the ensuing Battle of Carchemish in 605 BC, the Egyptian army was defeated and driven back, and Syria and Phoenicia were brought under the sway of Babylon. Nabopolassar died on August 15, 605 BC and Nebuchadnezzar quickly returned to Babylon to ascend to the throne. After the defeat of the Cimmerians and Scythians, all of Nebuchadrezzar's expeditions were directed westwards, although a powerful neighbour lay to the North; the cause of this was that a wise political marriage with Amuhia, the daughter of the Median king, had insured a lasting peace between the two empires. Nebuchadrezzar engaged in several military campaigns designed to increase Babylonian influence in Syria and Judah. An attempted invasion of Egypt in 601 BC was met with setbacks, however, leading to numerous rebellions among the states of the Levant, including Judah. Nebuchadrezzar soon dealt with these rebellions, capturing Jerusalem in 597 BC and bringing King Jehoiachin to Babylon. When Pharaoh Apries attempted another invasion of the Levant in 589 BC, Judah and other states of the region once again rebelled. Another siege of Jerusalem began in 588 BC, ending in 587 BC with the destruction of both the city and the Temple and the deportation of many prominent citizens to Babylon. These events are described in the Bible. After the destruction of Jerusalem, Nebuchadrezzar engaged in a 13 year long siege of Tyre ( BC), which ended in a compromise, with the Tyrians accepting Babylonian authority.
Nubuchadnezzar, BC

23. Built about 575 BC by Nebuchadnezzar II, the Ishtar Gate was one of the eight gates of the inner city of Babylon, capital of the Babylonian Empire (now in Iraq). It is one of the most impressive monuments rediscovered in the ancient Near East. The Ishtar Gate high more than 38 feet (12 meters) was made of brick glazed with a copper turquoise glaze alternating with unglazed brick (about 120 of them) covered with gold leaf. Covered with dragons, lions and bulls, Nebuchadnezzar dedicated the huge, ceremonial gate to the goddess Ishtar.
The Ishtar Gate

26. Persian leader Cyrus the Great and son conquer between Nile and Indus (550–525 B.C.)
Persian king deemed absolute monarch bearing divine approval
Persian administration, based on Assyrian model, gave stability and allowed statesmanship
Empire divided into 20 provinces (satrapies)
Each satrapy administered by a governor (satrap) responsible to emperor
Special agents function as “the eyes and ears of the emperor”
Persian kings allow significant self-rule and respect local traditions in exchange for taxes and service

27. Empire bound together by:
Aramaic language used by officials and merchants
Network of roads
Postal system
Common system of weights and measures
Empire-wide coinage
Fusion of various Near Eastern cultural traditions
Zoroastrian religion based on belief in Ahura Mazda (the Wise Lord) and Ahriman (spirit of Darkness)

28. Divided into 20 provinces (satrapies)
Cyrus the Great and his sons after him effectively administered their large empire by:
Divided into 20 provinces (satrapies)
Special agents who answered only to the king
Use of an official language (Aramaic)
Network of roads and postal system
Common system of weights and measures
Empire wide coinage
Fusion of Near Eastern cultural traditions
Promoted one religion: Zoroastrianism (Ahura Mazda & Ahriman)
22. Explain four ways that Persian kings effectively administered their large empire.

29. Amorites (Babylonians - Hammurabi) Hittites Phoenicians, Hebrews,
Historical Summary:
Sumerians
Akkadians- Sargon
Amorites (Babylonians - Hammurabi)
Hittites
Phoenicians, Hebrews,
Assyrians
Chaldeans/Medes = Neo-Babylonia
Persians/ Cyrus The Great
Alexander/Macedonians/Greeks

30. Any questions?