1. Invaders, Traders, and Empire Builders

2.  Sargon – 2300 B.C.  Ruler of Akkad – invaded and conquered Sumer and surrounding lands  Continued to expand and created the first Empire  When he died other nations invaded and took over

3.  Hammurabi – 1790 B.C.  King of Babylon  Gained control of Mesopotamia  Hammurabi Code – set of laws  Why?  Wanted to ensure that everyone knew the law – no exceptions

5.  Hammurabi had artisans ? Carve 300 laws into a stone pillar and display it for everyone to see  First attempt by a ruler to codify law  Codify – arrange and set down in writing

6.  Private rights and matters – such as:  Business, property, inheritance, marriage and divorce  Code was designed to protect the powerless – slaves and women  Allowed women to own property and pass it to her children  A man was both the legal authority over his and the provider for her  Fathers had almost unlimited authority over children  Kept a house running orderly.  Was this necessary?

7.  Criminal law – offenses against other  Robbery, assault, murder  Set out specific punishments – limited vengeance and created social order  Could be cruel – an eye for an eye  If someone built a house and it collapsed on someone, the person who built it could be put to death

8. 1. Improved Irrigation 2. Organized a well trained army 3. Ordered repairs for temples 4. Encouraged religious unity by promoting Marduk – the patron god of Babylon, which replaced older Sumerian gods

9.  Hittites – came from Asia Minor around 1400 B.C.  Advancements –  Three man chariot  Ability to extract Iron from ore  Could create better tools and weapons  They were harder and sharper  Tried to keep this a secret – but when their Empire collapsed in 1700 B.C. – iron smiths when elsewhere for work and spread knowledge

11.  Also learned of Iron forging  Established an Empire by 1350 B.C.  They started expanding across Mesopotamia  Earned the reputation as most feared warriors  Kept order and rule in their cities  Nineveh – had one of the first libraries of cuneiform tablets

12.  Nebuchadnezzar – 612 B.C. Babylonian King  Took control of Assyrian Empire and brought it under Babylonian control  Empire stretched from Persian Gulf to Mediterranean Sea  Rebuilt canals, temples, walls and palaces  Surrounded Babylon with a wall (85 ft. thick) and moat  Hanging Gardens – one of the Seven Wonders Of the World  Built for his wife – gardens in dessert – difficult, expensive

14.  Conquered Babylon in 539 B.C.  Cyrus the Great – Persian King, and his successors built the largest Empire ever seen up until that point  Persians had a policy of tolerance for conquered people  Respectful of others customs

15.  Darius I – created a single law code for Empire which unified it  Built and repaired roads in the Empire  Set up model government  Divided Empire into Provinces called a Satrapy  Satrapy was ruled by a governor called a Satrap  Each Satrapy had to pay taxes according to the wealth that was in the province  Darius I – moved from city to city to see people and lead festivals

16.  Darius set up a common weight and measurement scale  Encouraged the use of coins  Barter Economy – trading of goods  Money Economy – coins used to purchase items  Coinage – money with an agreed upon value

17.  Zoroaster – Persian “thinker”  Rejected old Persian gods and taught there was only one God – Ahura Mazda who was in constant battle with Ahriman – the prince of evil and lies  Eventually Ahura Mazda wins and there would be a final judgment day  Does this sound familiar?  Heaven, Hell, Jug dement?

18.  Famous for sailing and trading  Occupied area of Eastern Mediterranean coast  Became known for manufacturing and trade  Made glass from sand, and a purple dye from snails  Set up colonies around the Mediterranean Sea to promote trade  Colony – territory settled and ruled by a people from another land  Made it as far as Britain and brought back tin

19.  Established an Alphabet – writing system in which each symbol represents a single basic sound, i.e. consonants and vowels  22 symbols – all consonants  Later Greeks added vowels  Became the alphabet we know today