Warm Up Which society was superior, Babylon or Assyria? WHY?

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Warm UpWhich society was superior, Babylon or
Assyria? WHY?
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The Assyrian Empire

• The extent of the empire finally became too much
  for the king to manage.
• They found it difficult to rule such a large
  area.
• Having conquered a large number of people, they
  had made many enemies.
• Eventually a few of these enemies joined forces
  to defeat the Assyrians.

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Who pulled these forces together?
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The Neo-Babylonian Empireruled by
Nebuchadnezzar II
605 B.C.E
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King Nebuchadnezzar II

• Persuaded the Medes and Chaldeans to unite and
  conquer all of Mesopotamia, Syria, Phoenicia
• Realized the importance of keeping capital city
  (Babylon) safe. He built a huge inner and outer
  wall around the city.
• He also had a moat dug around the outer gate and
  temporary bridges built to cross it.

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The Splendor of Nebuchadnezzar

• The Ishtar Gate- one of the entrances
• into Babylon

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon- architectural
beauty of his palace
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Aspects of SocietyStable Food

• They continued the same methods of the Sumerians
  Akkadians, and Assyrians to create stable food.

• Learned to control the rivers with reservoirs and
  dams
• Irrigate using canals dug from the river to the
  field

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Aspects of SocietySocial System

• Emperor- believed to be appointed by
• the gods
• Upper Class- Priests, Governors, Land owners
• Middle Class- Merchants, Craftsmen, Farmers,
  Fisherman
• Slaves- could buy land and freedom

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Aspects of SocietyPolitical System

• Monarchy- Nebuchadnezzar ruled over entire
• empire
• Under the rule of the Nebuchadnezzar were the
  governors of the cities
• Scribes would serve Nebuchadnezzar, writing down
  his laws and making copies for the rest of the
  cities

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Culture

• Religion- Nebuchadnezzar had the ziggurat rebuilt
  and made to a new height of 7 stories.
• Began raising honey bees to have a steady supply
  of honey
• Traded from India to Egypt. Caravans would
  travel back and forth bringing the best of other
  countries to Babylon

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Technology

• Created the first sundial- humans began keeping
  time

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Written Language
Calendar- they kept close watch of the movement
of the stars. They made discoveries that led us
to know that 60 minutes were in an hour and 7
days were in a week.
Mathematics- a base 60 system Their math focused
on the world around them. They solved
word problems that dealt with real life.
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Neo-Babylonian Empire

• Lasted only 75 years.

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