Chapter 6 Lesson 4 New Empires How are these empires similar and how are they different? How were these empires able to rise to such power, and why did they all collapse?

A New Assyrian Empire The Assyrians were led by great kings: Adad- Nirari and Tiglath-Pileser III. The Assyrians fought frequent wars, and were harsh to the people they conquered. 30,000 Syrians had to march across the desert as a punishment. These brutal punishments made many enemies for the Assyrians who were eventually overthrown.

A New Babylonian Empire A New Babylonian Empire Like the Assyrians, the Babylonians were great conquerors. Nebuchadnezzar was a powerful king of the New Babylonian Empire. Many of the conquered victims were forced into exile. They also had to pay huge amounts of their money in taxes.

Babylonian Achievements Nebuchadnezzar II used much of his wealth to fund great building projects (The Hanging Gardens of Babylon) and advances in science (astronomy). Astronomers based calendars on cycles of the moon.

Babylonian Achievements 2 Another achievement included the division of an hour into 60 minutes. In mathematics, the Babylonians invented place value. Eventually, the Babylonians would fall apart in the same way that other civilizations did. They did little to help their people. When the Persians invaded, the people of Babylon welcomed the invaders.