Egypt and the Middle Eastern Empires

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Egypt and the Middle Eastern Empires
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The Assyrians

• Developed in Mesopotamia
• Used Iron weapons and military strength to
  conquer territory and enslave others
• Some Mesopotamians paid TRIBUTE to avoid fighting
  which made the Assyrians kings wealthy
• Built a library at Nineveh collecting ancient
  writings in various languages and documenting
  important historical events

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The Chaldeans

• Under king Nebuchadnezzar empire grew
• Destroyed Jerusalem and took slaves
• Made Babylon most beautiful city in the ancient
  Middle East including the Hanging Gardens
• Astronomers studied the sky and developed
  constellations
• Figured out the length of a year and week

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The Persians

• Massive empire used roads to unify Persia
• Used coins (Lydia) ending barter system
• Allowed conquered people to keep their language
  and religion but had to pay taxes
• Zoroaster preached about religion and how to live
• His teachings have influenced other religions

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Egypt
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The Nile River

• Egypt is the gift of the Nile
• River creates fertile land along its banks
• Nile floods each spring, irrigating farms
• River was also used for transportation and trade
  between Egyptians

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The Old Kingdom

• 3100 BC to 2186 BC Egypt was united
• Egyptian cities became centers of business
• Egyptians began building pyramids for their
  pharaohs (godlike rulers) to rule in the
  afterlife
• Pharaohs eventually lost power and the city
  leaders began to fight each other leading to
  civil war

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The Middle Kingdom

• 2040 BC Egypt was reunited
• Expanded trade and irrigation projects
• Began to mummify everyone after death
• Developed medicine and arithmetic
• Overrun by invaders (Hyksos) with superior
  weapons
• Eventually the Egyptians drove them out

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The New Kingdom

• 1600 BC the New Kingdom emerged
• First female pharaoh (Hatshepsut) spread Egyptian
  influence into Africa and expanded trade
• Polytheistic (many gods) religion

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Legacy of the Egyptians

• Papyrus- used a reed to make paper
• Scrolls contained medical information
• Architectural achievements (pyramids, temples,
  palaces, obelisks)
• Arithmetic developed to collect taxes as well as
  for measurements and weights
• Extensive achievements in artwork