Chapter 2'4 Empires of the Fertile Crescent

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Chapter 2.4 - Empires of the Fertile Crescent
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The Story Continues You dolt, numskull, school
pest, you illiterate, you Sumerian ignoramus,
your hand is terrible it cannot even hold
the stylus properly it is unfit for dictation.
So wrote one Sumerian scribe about another,
criticizing his writing skills. More serious
infighting so weakened the Sumerians that they
were left vulnerable to attack.
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Empires of the Fertile Crescent

• I. The Akkadians

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I. The Akkadians

• About 2330 B.C. the Akkadians conquered the
  Sumerians

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I. The Akkadians

• The Akkadians spoke a Semitic language related to
  Arabic and Hebrew

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The Little Tower of Babel, by Pieter Brueghel
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The Tower of Babel by Pieter Brueghel the Elder,
c.1563
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I. The Akkadians

• 2334 to 2279 BC - King Sargon established an
  empire reaching to the Mediterranean Sea

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I. The Akkadians

• The Akkadian Empire lasted about 150 years before
  Sumerian city-states returned to power

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II. The Babylonians

• About 1792 BC, Babylonians led by Hammurabi
  conquered the Tigris-Euphrates Valley

Shamash, the supreme sun god and judge, offers to
Hammurabi the rod and ring that symbolize
authority.
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A. The Code of Hammurabi

• The Code of Hammurabi contained laws for all
  aspects of life - commerce, working conditions,
  property rights, etc.

In 1750 BC, at the height of his power, Hammurabi
codified 282 laws on an eight-foot-high stele
made of black basalt. Although the Code of
Hammurabi is not the first legal code, it is the
best preserved ancient law the world has today.
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A. The Code of Hammurabi

• Punishment was harsh under the code and was based
  on the idea of an eye for an eye

195 If a son strike his father, his hands shall
be cut off. 196 If a noble-man put out the
eye of another noble-man, his eye shall be put
out. 197 If he break another noble-man's
bone, his bone shall be broken. 198 If he put
out the eye of a commoner, or break the bone of
a commoner, he shall pay one silver mina.
199 If he put out the eye of a man's slave, or
break the bone of a man's slave, he shall pay
one-half of its value. 200 If a man knock out
the teeth of his equal, his teeth shall be
knocked out. 201 If he knock out the teeth of a
commoner, he shall pay one-third of a silver
mina.
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B. Babylonian Culture

• The Babylonians farmed and kept domestic animals

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B. Babylonian Culture

• They wove cotton and wool cloth and were active
  traders

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B. Babylonian Culture

• Babylonian women had some rights and could be
  merchants, traders, or scribes

Lilith?Babylonian terra-cotta relief, c. 2000
BCE
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C. Religion

• Babylonians adopted many of the Sumerian
  religious beliefs

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C. Religion

• They sacrificed to their gods seeking good
  harvests and believed priests could predict the
  future

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III. Other Conquerors

• A. The Hittites

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A. The Hittites

• The war-like Hittites invaded the
  Tigris-Euphrates Valley during the 1600s B.C.

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A. The Hittites

• They were among the first people to successfully
  use iron

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A. The Hittites

• Their government was efficient and their laws
  were less harsh than Babylonian law

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A. The Hittites

• Hittite kings were also the chief priests

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A. The Hittites

• The Hittites conquered and looted Babylon but
  were too far from their homeland to maintain
  control

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Chapter 2.4 - Empires of the Fertile Crescent
III. Other Conquerors
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B. The Assyrians

• From ca. 900 BC to 650 BC the Assyrians built an
  empire across the Fertile Crescent and into Egypt

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B. The Assyrians

• Assyrians were fierce warriors and were the first
  to use cavalry

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B. The Assyrians

• They often enslaved the people they conquered

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B. The Assyrians

• About 700 BC the Assyrians captured and destroyed
  Babylon

John Martin, Fall of Babylon from Illustrations
from the Bible, 1835.
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B. The Assyrians

• The Assyrian capital, Nineveh, was surrounded by
  a huge double wall for protection

The walls of Nineveh (partly reconstructed)
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B. The Assyrians

• A great library in Nineveh held clay tablets with
  writings from throughout the empire

Portion of old Babylonian story of the flood from
Assurbanipals library at Nineveh. This flood
story tells how the hero, Ut-napishtim, built a
great ship and thus survived a terrible flood, in
which all his countrymen perished.
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B. The Assyrians

• The writings included the Sumerian Epic of
  Gilgamesh, one of the earliest works of literature

Enkidu (God) tells Utnapishtim (Noah) to build a
shipto escape the Flood - from the Epic of
Gilgamesh.
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B. The Assyrians

• About 635 BC - civil war broke out and the
  Assyrian empire collapsed

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C. The Chaldeans

• 612 BC - the Chaldean leader Nebuchadnezzar
  destroyed Nineveh and conquered the Fertile
  Crescent

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C. The Chaldeans

• Babylon was rebuilt with magnificent buildings
  and canals

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C. The Chaldeans

• The kings palace had the Hanging Gardens of
  Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient
  World

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Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
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C. The Chaldeans

• Chaldeans were skilled astronomers, were advanced
  in math, and had accurate calendars

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C. The Chaldeans

• When Nebuchadnezzar died, the Chaldean empire
  collapsed

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III. The Persians

• By 850 BC the Persians were living in present-day
  Iran, ruled by the Medes

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III. The Persians

• About 550 BC, Cyrus the Great of Persia rebelled
  against the Medes, conquering Babylon and the
  Fertile Crescent

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III. The Persians

• Later rulers expanded the Persian Empire

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A. Government

• Persian kings were fair in taxing and enforcing
  the law and used secret agents to keep informed

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A. Government

• They allowed conquered people to keep their
  religion and culture

Legend states that the wise men - Balthasar,
Melchior, Caspar - were from Persia
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A. Government

• The Persians built over 1,250 miles of roads,
  allowing the exchange of customs, goods, and
  ideas

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B. Religion

• Until about 600 B.C. the Persians worshipped many
  gods

Ruins of the royal city of Persepolis, capital of
ancient Persia.
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B. Religion

• A prophet named Zoroaster introduced a
• religion based on the struggle between good
• and evil

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B. Religion

• People choosing good would gain eternal
  blessings, but those choosing evil would be
  punished

Zarathustra
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B. Religion

• Zoroaster believed good would triumph and Earth
  would disappear

Zarathustra also warned the people that there
would be a Last Judgment. At the end of times,
angels were to lead all men and women across a
narrow bridge, where they would be judged by
Spenta Manyu (which is described as a beautiful
maiden) the friends of The Lie would fall into a
large chasm of fire called Worst Existence, but
the followers of Zarathustra were to reach
Paradise, which goes under the name of House of
Best Purpose
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C. End of the Empire

• The Persian Empire ended when Alexander the Great
  conquered Persia in 331 B.C.