1. Invaders, Traders, Empire Builders
Chapter 2, Section 2

2. The Fertile Crescent

3. 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=

4. 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.

5. 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

6. 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”

7. More Conquerors-The Hittites
Hittites invaded Mesopotamia from Asia Minor in 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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)

13. 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

14. 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