1. The Ancient Middle East and Egypt
Akkad, Babylon and Assyria

2. How many civilizations controlled the Mesopotamian region?
Timeline - Mesopotamia
Timeline - Mesopotamia
Sumer
Akkad
Babylon
Assyria
Chaldean Babylon
Persia
3000 BC
2340 – 2100 BC BC
900 BC – 600 BC
600 – 539 BC
559 – 330 BC
How many civilizations controlled the Mesopotamian region?

3. The Fertile Crescent
The Fertile Crescent

4. “The land between two rivers.”
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia – the “Land between two rivers.” The land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. (Modern day Iraq).
“The land between two rivers.”

5. Archaeologist Sir Leonard Woolley.
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia
The Cradle of Civilization
Archaeologist Sir Leonard Woolley.
Mesopotamia – Called the “Fertile Crescent,” this was the first agricultural civilization in the world.

6. Empires in Mesopotamia fought for control over the land and water.
Civilizations in Mesopotamia
Civilizations in Mesopotamia
Empires in Mesopotamia fought for control over the land and water.
Civilizations in the region - Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrians, and Persians. (Sumerian army pictured above).
Sumerian Army above
No natural barriers means that they are in a constant state of warfare.

7. Mesopotamian Cultures Mesopotamian Cultures
Civilizations in this region of Mesopotamia have all of the following in common:
Semitic language.
Barter economy.
Religion - polytheistic.
Map of the Region

8. Sumerian Religions Sumerian Religions
In Sumerian religions, the gods created man to serve him and work the fields.

9. Sumerian Religions Sumerian Religions Their religion was very gloomy.
The gods were unpredictable, like their weather.
Upon death, they would go to a terrible underworld or “land of no return.”
Image of Lilitu or the first wife of Adam. Courtesy of Wikipedia Commons.

10. Floods of the Tigris and Euphrates were unpredictable.
Geographic Factors
Geographic Factors
Vicious weather patterns- floods, heavy rain, scorching winds, famine and drought.
Floods of the Tigris and Euphrates were unpredictable.
Sites from Ancient Ur

11. Above: Archaeologists Sir Charles Leonard Woolley
Sumer - the 1st Civilization
Sumer - the 1st Civilization
Dates back to 3,000 BC. Oldest of the civilizations.
Cities formed city-states that acted like an independent nation.
Above: Archaeologists Sir Charles Leonard Woolley

12. Sumerian farmers irrigate and work the fields.
Technology and a Farming Revolution
Technology and a Farming Revolution
Early civilizations will create irrigation and drainage ditches.
Serious efforts to control the flow of the rivers.
Enables them to grow crops regularly.
These photos are from the British Museum’s web page.
Sumerian farmers irrigate and work the fields.

13. King Sennacherib of Babylon above
Mesopotamian Cultures
Mesopotamian Cultures
Government - Theocratic – kings rule as divine leaders.
Tigris/Euphrates rivers managed with irrigation systems.
No natural barriers – prone to invaders.
King Sennacherib of Babylon above

14. Sumerian Ziggurats Sumerian Ziggurats
Ziggurat – temple set atop a stepped tower.
Temple was the center of the city and its economic and political life.
This was the most important building in the city.
The Ziggurat or Temple of Ur in Ancient Sumer.
This temple was the central focus of life in the city of Ur.

15. Check for Understanding Check for Understanding
What does Mesopotamia mean?
Name the two rivers that encircle Mesopotamia.
How did most men earn a living in Sumer?
Where did the people of Sumer worship?
What is polytheism?

16. Slaves – work on buildings, grind grain, weave cloth.
Sumerian Social Structure
Sumerian Social Structure
Nobles and Slaves make up less than 10% of the total pop.
Royals and Priests – Officials and Families.
King
Nobles
90% - Temple officials, Farmers, merchants, craftsmen and fishermen.
Commoners
Slaves – work on buildings, grind grain, weave cloth.
Slaves

17. Sumerian Kings Sumerian Kings Kings were divine. Led armies.
Oversaw the building of public works and structures.
Organized irrigation projects.
Picture: Standard of Ur Chariots. Courtesy of Wikipedia Commons
Lived in the palace with their wives and children. This social group represented less than 10% of the entire population.

18. Statue of a priest of Sumer.
Sumerian Priests
Sumerian Priests
Priests kept calendars, time, and reported on harvesting and planting.
Scribes - a person who could read, write, and memorize large tracts of information without fault or flaw. Scribes recorded all aspects of human life.
Statue of a priest of Sumer.

19. Shelves of a tablet library in Babylon.
Sumerian Writings
Sumerian Writings
Shelves of a tablet library in Babylon.

20. Sumerian Achievements Sumerian Achievements
1st system of writing – cuneiform.
Invented the wagon wheel.
Invented the potter’s wheel.
1st to make copper tools.
The plow and complex forms of irrigation are also considered firsts. They were also the first to create a city-state.

21. Sumerian Achievements Sumerian Achievements
Sundial to keep time.
Astronomy –chart constellations.
Math – number system based on 60. (60 minute hour).

22. Geometry – measure fields and plan buildings.
Sumerian Achievements
Sumerian Achievements
Geometry – measure fields and plan buildings.
Designed the arch and the dome.
Ishtar Gate

23. Check for Understanding Check for Understanding
What was the writing style of the Sumerians called?
What is the oldest Epic poem in the history of the world?
Who invented the wheel?
What was a scribe?
The Sumerians were the first to accomplish many things. Name two.

24. Copper Statue mask of Sargon.
The Akkadians and Sargon
The Akkadians and Sargon
Sargon – Powerful monarch (king) who led the Akkadians.
1st to establish an empire. That lasted 240 years.
Empire – a large territory or group of cities under a single leader or government.
Copper Statue mask of Sargon.

25. The Babylonians The Babylonians
Babylon was the center of culture and trade. It defined the region. No king ruled Mesopotamia without control of Babylon.
Cultural Diffusion - when a cultural trait, material object, idea, or behavior pattern spreads from one society to another.

26. King Hammurabi King Hammurabi
Ruled a strong Babylonian Empire.He led the Babylonian army to victory, built temples, encouraged trade, and Babylon’s economy.
He established the 1st written code of laws called the “Code of Hammurabi.”

27. King Hammurabi receiving the code.
The Code of Hammurabi
The Code of Hammurabi
His most important contribution – the 1st code of laws.
Hammurabi’s laws were carved on stones, and placed in the center of all Babylonian cities.
The laws were the same for all cities he ruled.
The code of Hammurabi is engraved on the black basalt of this stele, which is 2.25 m (7 ft 5 in) high and was made in the first half of the 18th century BC. The top portion shown here depicts Hammurabi with Shamash, the sun god. Shamash is presenting to Hammurabi a staff and ring, which symbolize the power to administer the law.
King Hammurabi receiving the code.

28. The Code of Hammurabi The Code of Hammurabi
Clip 831 -The code of Hammurabi is engraved on the black basalt of this stele, which is 2.25 m (7 ft 5 in) high and was made in the first half of the 18th century BC. The top portion shown here depicts Hammurabi with Shamash, the sun god. Shamash is presenting to Hammurabi a staff and ring, which symbolize the power to administer the law.

29. This woman was one of the Chief judges under Nebuchadnezzar II.
The Code of Hammurabi
The Code of Hammurabi
Retaliation was key.
An “Eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.”
If a Judge ruled poorly, he paid a fine and lost his position.
If judges ruled poorly – they lost their jobs or paid a fine.
If officials (police), failed to catch burglars or murderers, they answered to the victim’s family. The Code even contained laws on marriage and the family.
Patriarchal society- society dominated by men. Lineage and rights pass through the male. The Code favored the legal rights of men.
Men could divorce for a variety of reasons.
Women were to care for children and the household.
Children were to be obedient to their parents. Men could divorce their wife if she could not have children, or failed in her duties….or tried to start a business! She could be drowned if she neglected her house and humiliated her husband. As for children, one of the laws stated that if a son struck his father, he was to have his hand cut off.
This woman was one of the Chief judges under Nebuchadnezzar II.

30. The Code of Hammurabi The Code of Hammurabi
Strict justice system and consumer protection laws.
Severe penalties for breaking the law.
If judges ruled poorly – they lost their jobs or paid a fine.
If officials (police), failed to catch burglars or murderers, they answered to the victim’s family. The Code even contained laws on marriage and the family.
Patriarchal society- society dominated by men. Lineage and rights pass through the male. The Code favored the legal rights of men.
Men could divorce for a variety of reasons.
Women were to care for children and the household.
Children were to be obedient to their parents. Men could divorce their wife if she could not have children, or failed in her duties….or tried to start a business! She could be drowned if she neglected her house and humiliated her husband. As for children, one of the laws stated that if a son struck his father, he was to have his hand cut off.
Hammurabis’ Court

31. The Lion Kings of Assyria The Lion Kings of Assyria
Ashurbanipal kills a wounded lion with his sword. This relief panel and the others of the “lion Hunt” series display the best features of Assyrian airt : naturalistic detail potent subjects, and dramatic themes. From Lion Hunt relief, ca. 645 B.C., originally in the place of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh
King Ashurbanipal left, and the Lion hunting relief to the right.
War-like kings of Assyria took over the region around 700 BC. Their empire lasted about 300 years.

32. King Sennacherib laying siege to the city of Lacdhish in Palestine.
The Lion Kings of Assyria
The Lion Kings of Assyria
The army and its kings were infamous.
King Sennacherib was recorded to have sacked 89 cities, and 820 villages.
He burned Babylon and killed most of the city’s people.
Sennacherib II, King of the Asssyrians, lays siege to Lacdhish, a fortress city of ancient Judah in Palestine. Sennacherib, son of Sargon II, ruled Assyria from 705 to 681 B.C. He defeated the Egyptians in 701 B.C. and also exacted a heavy tribute from Jerusalem, then the capital of the Hebrew kingdom of Judah. Sennacherib II laid siege to and destroyed the city of Babylon in Mesopotamia about 689 B.C. Sennacherib II chose Nineveh as the site of his capital, and he erected a palace at Koyunjik. He was murdered in a palace coup.
King Sennacherib laying siege to the city of Lacdhish in Palestine.

33. King Ashurbanipal lays siege to a city.
The Lion Kings of Assyria
The Lion Kings of Assyria
“3,000 of their troops, I felled with weapons…I cut off their hands to the wrist, I cut off their noses, ears and fingers; I put out their eyes, and burned their young men and women to death.”
- King Ashurbanipal
King Ashurbanipal lays siege to a city.

34. The Lion Kings of Assyria The Lion Kings of Assyria
The Assyrian kings built extravagant palaces.
Established the first library at Nineveh.
Started the 1st postal network with horse men to relay messages.
Ninevah was a walled city – 3 miles long. King Ashurbanipal – great king built a huge library at Nineveh – it contained 25,000 clay tablets. The library was unearthed in the 1800’s. It had dictionaries that contained the same words in different languages which helped them better to understand Mesopotamian languages. King Ashurbanipal proved to be one of the last great Assyrian kings.
The picture above is Assyrian lamassuhttp://truthchasers.com/assyria.htm
These winged bulls were placed at the entrance of Assyrian palaces to "guard" the entrance from evil. This one was excavated from the palace at Khorsabad.
Assyrian King Ashurbanipal above, built the great library at Nineveh. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia Commons.

35. Chaldean Babylon - Nebuchadnezzar II
King Nebuchadnezzar II, re-built Babylon and made it the center of his empire.
He is best remembered for the building of the Hanging Gardens – 1 of the 7 Wonders of the World, and the Babylonian Captivity.
The combined army of the Medes (in the North) and the Chaldeans (in the south), destroyed the city of Ninevah in 612 BC. The combined forces burned and leveled the city. Fire glazed the tablets but little else survived.
Wise men= psychics
Magicians = casters of spells, witches 
Astrologers = Foretelling future by star charts, fortune tellers
Sorcerers = Claim to communicate with the dead. Spiritualists
Chadeans = Philosophers of psychic divination, numerology etc.

36. The Ishtar Gate The Ishtar Gate
Another building marvel was the Ishtar Gates built by King Nebuchadnezzar II.
Dedicated to the goddess Ishtar, this inner gate was the processional entrance into Babylon.
The Ishtar Gate at Babylon Reconstruction Glazed Brick Total Height–47 Feet, Width-32 Feet Neo-Babylonian 7th–6th Centuries BC Dedicator: Nebuchadnezzar II Language: Akkadian Date of Excavation: Staatliche Museen , Berlin Dept. of the Near East
"Is this not Babylon that I have built…" –Daniel 4:30
The Ishtar Gate, one of the eight gates of the inner city of Babylon, was built during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II ( BC). Only the foundations of the gate were found, going down some 45 feet, with molded, unglazed figures. The gateway has been reconstructed in the Pergamon Museum, Berlin, from the glazed bricks found, so its original height is different in size. Reconstructed height is 47 feet. It was one of the eight gates of the inner city of Babylon. It was built in about 575 BC, the eighth fortified gate in the city. It is one of the most impressive monuments rediscovered in the ancient Near East. The Ishtar gate was decorated with glazed brick reliefs, in tiers, of dragons and young bulls. The gate itself was a double one, and on its south side was a vast antechamber. Through the gatehouse ran a stone-and brick-paved avenue, the so-called Processional Way, which has been traced over a length of more than half a mile.
King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon dedicated the great Ishtar Gate to the goddess Ishtar. It was the main entrance into Babylon. King Nebuchadnezzar II performed elaborate building projects in Babylon around BC. His goal was to beautify his capital. He restored the temple of Marduk, the chief god, and also built himself a magnificent palace with the famous Hanging Gardens, which was reported by the Greek historian Herodotus to have been one of the wonders of the world.
The Bible records that it was Nebuchadnezzar who destroyed Jerusalem, brought the kingdom of Judah to an end, and carried off the Jews into exile. The Ishtar Gate was the starting point for processions. The Babylonians would assemble in front of it and march through the triumphal arch and proceed along the Sacred Way to the 7-story Ziggurat, which was crowned near the temple of Marduk.
The gateway was completely covered with beautifully colored glazed bricks. Its reliefs of dragons and bulls symbolized the gods Marduk and Adad. Enameled tiles of glorious blue surrounded the brightly colored yellow and brown beasts. In front of the gateway outside the city was a road with walls decorated with reliefs of lions and glazed yellow tiles. The Ishtar gate was reconstructed in Berlin out of material excavated by Robert Koldeway.
The Dedicatory Inscription on the Ishtar Gate reads:
Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, the faithful prince appointed by the will of Marduk, the highest of princely princes, beloved of Nabu, of prudent counsel, who has learned to embrace wisdom, who fathomed their divine being and reveres their majesty, the untiring governor, who always takes to heart the care of the cult of Esagila and Ezida and is constantly concerned with the well-being of Babylon and Borsippa, the wise, the humble, the caretaker of Esagila and Ezida, the firstborn son of Nabopolassar, the King of Babylon.
Both gate entrances of Imgur-Ellil and Nemetti-Ellil following the filling of the street from Babylon had become increasingly lower. Therefore, I pulled down these gates and laid their foundations at the water table with asphalt and bricks and had them made of bricks with blue stone on which wonderful bulls and dragons were depicted. I covered their roofs by laying majestic cedars length-wise over them. I hung doors of cedar adorned with bronze at all the gate openings. I placed wild bulls and ferocious dragons in the gateways and thus adorned them with luxurious splendor so that people might gaze on them in wonder
I let the temple of Esiskursiskur (the highest festival house of Markduk, the Lord of the Gods a place of joy and celebration for the major and minor gods) be built firm like a mountain in the precinct of Babylon of asphalt and fired bricks.
The Ishtar Gate

37. Jews taken captive back to Babylon.
The Babylonian Captivity
The Babylonian Captivity
In 597 BC, Israel fell to Nebuchadnezzar.
The Jews were enslaved and taken to Babylon. This was called the Babylonian Captivity.
Fearful of losing their history and heritage, they wrote their beliefs down.
They remained enslaved until 539.
Babylonian captivity  in the history of Israel, the period from the fall of Jerusalem (586 B.C.) to the reconstruction in Palestine of a new Jewish state (after 538 B.C.). After the capture of the city by the Babylonians some thousands, probably selected for their prosperity and importance, were deported to Mesopotamia. The number of those who remained is disputed by scholars. Such deportations were commonplace in Assyrian and Babylonian policy. The exiles maintained close links with their kinsmen at home, as is clear from Ezekiel, the prophet of the early years of the Exile. In 538 B.C., Cyrus the Great, the new master of the empire, initiated a new attitude toward the nations and decreed the restoration of worship at Jerusalem. The century following this decree was critical in the history of the Jews, for it is the time of their reintegration into a national and religious unit. For parts of the period, Ezra and Nehemiah are the best sources. The prophesied 70 years of captivity were fulfilled when the new Temple was completed in 516 B.C.
Jews taken captive back to Babylon.

38. The Persian Empire The Persian Empire
The Persians arose from a mountain tribe in S. Iran.
Within a single generation, they were established as the #1 power in the world.
They were known for their spectacular military success, their wealth and invincibility.

39. The Persian Empire The Persian Empire
The Khorasan Highway – or the King’s Highway allowed the Persians to create the 1st multi-cultural empire in the world. The Persians were tolerant rulers, but each citizen was a subject of the king.

40. Persia - Cyrus the Great Persia - Cyrus the Great
Cyrus the Great was an Indo European and Persian. (Iran)
He liberated the Jews and allowed them to return home.
He created a powerful Persian empire in 559 BC, that lasted until Alexander’s conquest in 330 BC.
Cyrus (Kourosh in Persian; Kouros in Greek) is regarded as one of the most outstanding figures in history. His success in creating and maintaining the Achaemenian Empire was the result of an intelligent blending of diplomatic and military skills and his rule was tempered with wisdom and tact. The Persians called him 'father'; the Greeks, whom he conquered, saw him as 'a worthy ruler and lawgiver' and the Jews regarded him as 'the Lord's anointed'.
His ideals were high, as he laid down that no man was fit to rule unless, he was more capable than all of his subjects. As an administrator Cyrus' insight was great, and he showed himself both intelligent and reasonable, and thereby made his rule easier than that of his previous conquerors.
His humanity was equaled by his freedom from pride, which induced him to meet people on the same level, instead of affecting the remoteness and aloofness, which characterized the great monarchs who preceded and followed him.
History has further labeled him as a genius, diplomat, manager, and leader of men, the first great propagandist and able strategist. Cyrus was indeed worthy of the title "Great".
***
Cyrus the Great, came to power after deposing the Median king Astyages in 550 BC. After a series of victories over the Lydian king, Croesus, in 546 BC, and after his successful campaign against the Babylonians in 539 BC, Cyrus established a large empire stretching from the Mediterranean in the west to eastern Iran, and from the Black Sea in the north to Arabia.
Whereas security was his main concern in the east, the immense wealth of the Greek maritime cities of the Ionian coast complemented their value as strategic bases in the west.
He was killed in 530 BC during a campaign in the north-eastern part of his empire.
Xenophon in the Cyropaedia wrote:
"He is able to extend the fear of himself over so great a part of the world that he astonished all, and no one attempted anything against him. He was able to inspire all with so great a desire of pleasing him that they wished to be governed by his opinions".
The following Chapters provide an insight into the background, life, and achievements of Cyrus the Great:
Cambyses – the son of Cyrus, was his successor. He expanded his empire into Western India and Europe into Thrace and parts of Greece.
Cyrus the Great

41. Persian Kings - Darius Persian Kings - Darius
Persian Kings had absolute power.
Divided empire into 20 satraps or provinces ruled by a governor.
Collected taxes, provided justice and security. Recruited soldiers for the king’s army.
Painting of Baghdad.

42. Persian Kings - Darius Persian Kings - Darius Darius’ Army –
10,000 men in the Cavalry.
Elite Infantry of 10,000 men called the “Immortals.” (Their numbers were never allowed to drop below 10,000).
Persian Kings had many wives and children. Example – King Artaxerxes II – 115 sons all plotted and conspired against one another. Constant struggles for the empire ended up weakening the empire. Alexander the Great will conquer this empire in 330 BC.

43. Persian Religion Persian Religion
The religion that developed in Persia was Zoroastrianism.
Zoroastrianism – monotheistic religion.
Believed in Ahura Mazda, the “Wise lord," and divine judgment.
People were free to choose.

44. Alexander the Great Alexander the Great
In 330 BC, Alexander the Great will defeat the Persian King, Darius.
Key Battles – Issus Granicus, and Gaugamela.
Alexander will go on to conquer the known world.
People were free to choose.
Alexander the Great