Egypt and the Middle Eastern Empires

The Assyrians Developed in Mesopotamia Used Iron weapons and military strength to conquer territory and enslave others Some Mesopotamians paid TRIBUTE to avoid fighting which made the Assyrians kings wealthy Built a library at Nineveh collecting ancient writings in various languages and documenting important historical events

The Chaldeans Under king Nebuchadnezzar empire grew Destroyed Jerusalem and took slaves Made Babylon most beautiful city in the ancient Middle East including the Hanging Gardens Astronomers studied the sky and developed constellations Figured out the length of a year and week

The Persians Massive empire used roads to unify Persia Used coins (Lydia) ending barter system Allowed conquered people to keep their language and religion but had to pay taxes Zoroaster preached about religion and how to live His teachings have influenced other religions

Egypt

The Nile River Egypt is “the gift of the Nile” River creates fertile land along its banks Nile floods each spring, irrigating farms River was also used for transportation and trade between Egyptians

The Old Kingdom 3100 BC to 2186 BC Egypt was united Egyptian cities became centers of business Egyptians began building pyramids for their pharaohs (godlike rulers) to rule in the afterlife Pharaohs eventually lost power and the city leaders began to fight each other leading to civil war

The Middle Kingdom 2040 BC Egypt was reunited Expanded trade and irrigation projects Began to mummify everyone after death Developed medicine and arithmetic Overrun by invaders (Hyksos) with superior weapons Eventually the Egyptians drove them out

The New Kingdom 1600 BC the New Kingdom emerged First female pharaoh (Hatshepsut) spread Egyptian influence into Africa and expanded trade Polytheistic (many gods) religion

Legacy of the Egyptians Papyrus- used a reed to make paper Scrolls contained medical information Architectural achievements (pyramids, temples, palaces, obelisks) Arithmetic developed to collect taxes as well as for measurements and weights Extensive achievements in artwork