Invaders, Traders, Empire Builders Chapter 2, Section 2

The Fertile Crescent

The Fertile Crescent Advantages Disadvantages Very fertile soil Rivers for trade, transportation, water Wealthy city-states “Crossroads” of the world Flooding leads to social unrest Few geographic barriers Crossroads of the world All this=

Transition Period 2300 BC-Sargon, ruler of Akkad invades and conquers the city-states of Sumer Created the Akkadian Empire, the world’s first empire Appointed officials to rule over smaller pieces of land In time, new conquerors pushed out the Akkadians.

Babylon Around 1790 BC, Babylon rises to power under Hammurabi-conquered most of Mesopotamia Created Code of Hammurabi, first attempt to codify all the laws of a civilization Codify-To arrange and set down in writing

Code of Hammurabi Civil Law Criminal Law Dealt with business contracts, property inheritance, taxes, marriage, and divorce Designed to protect less powerful people, like slaves and women Still, men, fathers, husbands, etc. had more power and rights Dealt with offenses against others, eg robbery, assault, murder By laying out punishments for these crimes, Hammurabi limited personal vengeance “An eye for an eye and a life for a life”

More Conquerors-The Hittites Hittites invaded Mesopotamia from Asia Minor in 1400 BC Brought knowledge of iron working Iron weapons=Sharper, harder than bronze or copper weapons Secrets of iron working leaked to other cultures (cultural diffusion) Ended Hittite dominance by 1200 BC, began the Iron Age

More Conquerors-The Assyrians 1100 BC conquer Mesopotamia Warrior culture, ruthless conquerors Used riches from war and trade to build elaborate palaces King Assurbanipal founded the first library at his capital city, Nineveh

New Babylon Neighboring peoples joined forces to defeat the Assyrians Babylon reestablished its empire under King Nebuchadnezzar Built a moat, huge walls, canals, temples, palaces, etc. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon

The Persians Babylon was conquered in 539 by Persia, led by Cyrus the Great Persian Empire became the largest in the history of the world to that point 44% of the world’s population Tolerance and respect for conquered peoples

Darius Darius I created a bureaucracy through departments of government Divided empire into satrapys, ruled by satraps. Each satrapy paid taxes based on resources and wealth Built extensive roads to connect the empire

Persian Developments “The King’s Eyes and Ears”-Secret inspectors travelled throughout the empire and reported on things Use of a common coin Barter economy-Exchange of goods and services Money economy-Goods and services paid for with an accepted token of value (money)

Zoroaster Persian thinker, founder of Zoroastrianism One god-Ahuru Mazda-battled Ahriman, the prince of lies and evil On a final judgment day, all individuals would be judged for their actions

Phoenicians Lived on the Mediterranean coast of the Middle East Produced glass from sand, purple dye from sea snails Established trading colonies in North Africa, Sicily, Spain, traded as far away as Great Britian Created an alphabet-each symbol represents a basic sound Greeks and Romans adopted this alphabet, still used today