Transcript Section 4

Section 4
The Babylonians,
Assyrians, and
Phoenicians
Section 4: Later Peoples of the Fertile Crescent
The Big Idea
After the Sumerians, many cultures
ruled parts of the Fertile Crescent.
Main Ideas
• The Babylonians conquered Mesopotamia and created a code
of law.
• Invasions of Mesopotamia changed the region’s culture.
• The Phoenicians built a trading society in the eastern
Mediterranean region.
The Fall of Sumeria
• The Third Dynasty of
Ur was short-lived
• Ur was facing threats
from another
invasion by the
Amorites.
• The Amorites settled
in lands of Canaan
and northern
Mesopotamia in
2037 BC.
SALT
• The Sumerians suffered from salt in the fertile
fields that came from the rivers. This is called
salinization.
• Crops began to fail and drought plagued the
region.
• Even today, 60 percent of the previously fertile
land of Iraq is uncultivable because of
centuries of built up salt and chemicals
Fall of Sumeria
• Because of crop failures, the city of Ur was racked
by revolts, starvation, and invasion in 2004 BC
• Finally the city was sacked, the palace burned,
the temples leveled, and the fields were burned.
• Corpses were piled at the lofty city gates, on the streets
where festivals had been held, heads lay scattered,
where dances had been held, bodies were stacked in
heaps..In the river, dust had gathered, no flowing water
is carried through the city, the plain that was covered
had become cracked
• Father Nanna your song has been turned into weeping,
your city weeps before you,…it cries, “Where are you?”
How long will you stand aside from your city
• The reign of the Sumerians is over and the rise of
the Semites (Babylonians, Assyrians, Chaldeans)
has begun.
The Babylonian
Empires
The Rise of the Amorites
Assyrians
Babylonians
• The Amorites took over
the city of Ashur in the
north around 1850 BC,
and it grew into a rich
trading city under
Shamshi-Adad I.
• He would title himself
“King of the Universe”
• His dynasty would last a
thousand years, and
would lead to rise of the
terrible Assyrian Empire.
• The Amorites would
also occupy another
city called Bab-ilum,
also known as Babylon.
It means the “gate of
the gods”
Babylonian Appearance
• They had dark long hair with
curls, while the men wore
beards.
• Both men and women wore
perfumes.
• They clothed themselves in
white or colored tunics
reaching to their feet, while
the men wore a mantle and
robe.
• They were turbans and
sandals, the women wore
necklaces, bracelets,
amulets.
• The priests wore conical
caps.
Hammurabi
• Hammurabi came to the
throne in 1792 BC and would
rule for 43 years.
• He was the monarch, or ruler
of kingdom or an empire, of
Babylon.
• He began to conquer local
cities around him and allied
himself with Shamshi-Adad.
• He built canals and temples,
and strengthen his army.
Hammurabi’s Empire
• Hammurabi expanded his
power through these military
victories. All of Mesopotamia
was conquered.
• “May all men bow down in
reverence to you. May they
celebrate your great glory; may
they give their obedience to
your supreme authority.”
• He established Babylon as the
preeminent city in
Mesopotamia
Hammurabi's Reign
• He oversaw building and
irrigation projects, to irrigate the
land and reduce flooding, and
improved the tax system
• With taxes he beautified his city
with temples and forts
• Ships and caravans were given
royal passports to pass his
checkpoints, which allowed a
full payment of taxes and
control over the shipment of
goods.
Hammurabi's Reign
• He built temples and granaries
for Babylonian god Marduk in
hopes that the priests would
sway the populace to
obedience.
• He built a bridge that
connected Babylon onto both
sides of the Euphrates.
• He brought increased trade in
his empire and made Babylon
the richest city in the world.
Hammurabi’s Code of Laws
• Hammurabi’s Code was a
set of 282 laws he created
that dealt with almost
every part of daily life.
• The laws were written unto
stone and passed around
the empire, so they could
preserved and
understood.
• The laws covered every
aspect of Babylonian life:
personal property, real
estate, trade, business,
family, injuries, and labor.
Hammurabi’s Code of Laws
• Specific crimes brought specific penalties.
• Robbery, aiding an escape slave, kidnapping,
designing house that collapses on someone's
head, poor performance to the king=DEATH
• Injuries must be returned in like manner (eye
for an eye), unless you injured a slave then you
paid a fine.
• Their was a greater penalty for harming a
noble than a peasant, and a greater penalty
for harming a peasant than a slave.
• Slaves were branded and wanton cruelty was
prohibited.
Hammurabi’s Code page 73
The First Fall of Babylon
• After Hammurabi's death, Babylonian
power declined.
• The barbarians came from the Zagros
Mountains and invaded all parts of the
empire.
• The southern cities revolted and the empire
fragmented
• For several centuries after, Babylon lived in
an ethnic and political chaos that put a
stop to the development of science and
art.
The Rise of Other
Nations
The Hittites
• By 2300 BC, IndoEuropean tribes settle in
a loose confederation
in Asia Minor (modern
day Turkey).
• They became the
Hittites.
• A chief, called Anittas,
conquered the other
tribes and built a
nation.
• “I have conquered
every land where the
sun rises.”
The Hittite Army
• The Hittites were masters
of iron-working and the
first to utilize a new type
of chariots.
• which was stronger and
easier to make than
bronze.
• This allowed soldiers to
move quickly and fire
their arrows from
composite bows.
The Hittites
• King Mursilis came to the throne and
combined his rule compassionate
administration and conquest.
• He marched on Babylon in 1595 BC, and
captured the city. He sold its people as slaves
and took its king back in chains.
• Mursilis did not want to occupy Babylon, but
only to prove himself as a conqueror.
The Hittites
• The Kassites came and
occupied Babylon and ruled
for 400 years
• The old Sumerian city-states
had disappeared and the
land of the south became
marshes and desert
• The Hittite King returned to
his capital, and was
assassinated by his brotherin-law. This led to the fall of
the Hittite Empire
The Collapse of
the Bronze Age
Humanity Uprooted
• The climate of Europe was colder and
rainier during the period 1200-1000 BC.
• Uncivilized tribes had to hunt for new
homes or perish, while carrying iron
weapons.
• One such fierce tribe was called the Sea
Peoples. They sacked all of Greece, Crete,
Asia Minor, Egypt, Syria, and Judea.
The World from 1200-900 BC
• This time period was one of nations being
uprooted, tribes on the march, civilizations
collapsing.
• This was a return to ignorance, lawlessness,
the simple economy, and smaller
populations.
• In the collapse of the great powers, the
Phoenicians and nomadic Arameans
developed wide commercial contacts.
The Phoenicians
and Arameans
1200-850 BC
The Phoenicians
• At the western end of the Fertile Crescent,
along the Mediterranean Sea, was a land
known as Phoenicia.
• The inhabitants were a Semitic people
whose origins also remain a mystery.
• But the dispersal of the Sea Peoples
opened a doorway for Phoenician
exploration of the Mediterranean.
The Geography of Phoenicia
• The land is located in
modern-day Lebanon.
• Mountains and hostile
neighbors blocked the
land trade routes.
• Phoenicians look to the
sea for trade.
The Cities of Phoenicia
• Byblos claimed to be the
oldest city and the religious
center of Phoenicia.
Because papyrus was one
its primary trades, the
Greeks took the name of
the city as their word for
book-biblos.
• Tyre began has a fortress
island off the coast. It
became a cosmopolitan
city of the Mediterranean.
The Expansion of Trade
• Motivated by trade, the Phoenicians became
expert sailors.
• Tyre, Byblos, and Sidon became the centers of
trade and each had a large harbor.
• Fleets sailed across the Mediterranean, to
Egypt, Greece, Italy, Sicily, and Spain.
Cedar Trees
• Phoenicia’s prize resource was cedar.
• Cedar trees are valued for their timber.
World of Trade
• They had galleys 70 feet long
and only one sail. Slaves
rowed the oars, while soldiers
stood on guard, ready for
trade or war.
• They kept close to shore, but
eventually used the North Star
to guide them into the
Atlantic Ocean.
• Herodotus claims that they
reached the most southern tip
of Africa and returned to Egypt
within 3 years.
Phoenician Colonies
• To maintain trade Phoenicians established
colonies.
• Mostly in Sicily, Libya, Sardinia, Spain, and
North Africa.
• Phoenicia’s most famous colony was
Carthage.
Phoenician Wealth
• The cities of Phoenicia became wealthy.
• They traded silverwork, ivory, and slaves.
• They sold glass objects, after perfecting the art
of glass blowing.
• They even made purple dye from shellfish, and
traded cloth with this color.
• Soon Phoenician purple fabric became a
symbol of wealth and royalty.
Tyrian Purple
• Muricidae sea snails were left out
in the sun for 3 days to bake, then
salt was added to the mash of
shellfish glands which was then
boiled down in tins.
• Finally, whole fleeces were
dipped into the mixture when the
correct hue had been reached.
• 10,000 shellfish would produce 1
gram of dyestuff
• The sea snail was all but driven to
extinction along the coasts of
Phoenicia.
• 1 pound of purple dye cost
150,000 denarii (Roman) or
around three pounds of gold
Phoenician Achievement
• For recordkeeping, the Phoenicians
developed an alphabet system.
• The development of the alphabet made
writing much easier had a major impact on
the ancient world and are own English
language.
• It had 22 consonants, but no vowels.
Phoenician’s Fall
• The cities maintained their independence
until the Assyrian Empire.
• They still maintained their supremacy in the
seas by offering services to their new ruler
and paying taxes.
• They would finally be eclipsed by the
Athenians in 400s BC and disappear as
naval traders.
The Arameans
• The Arameans were Semitic tribe that settled
along the Syrian plains and Jordan river
valleys.
• The Aramean town of Damascus became the
principle caravan center of the Near East.
• Their historical importance was the adaption
of the Phoenician alphabet to their own
language.
• Aramaic became the primary language
spoken from 900 BC-100 AD. It replaced
Akkadian.
The Assyrian Empire:
An Empire of Fear
Assyria: Origins
• Assyria is located in Northern Mesopotamia
• Nineveh was the capital of Assyria.
• It had suffer collapse during the end of the
Bronze Age, but continued to exist
because the most important trade routes
went through its lands.
Assyrian Appearance
• A mixture of Semites
from the south
(Babylonians) and
non-Semitic tribe
from the
west.(Hittites)
• They were a race of
warriors, standing
straight, with long
beards and hair, and
very stern.
The Birth of an Empire
• The new empire was forged under the
leadership of Ashurnasipal II and
Sahmaneser III (883-824 BC).
The Assyrian Hitler
• Ashurnasipal II declared himself “King of
the Universe”
• He established the tradition of cruelty
and made the Assyrian name hated
throughout all the Near East.
• “I put a pillar at the city gate and I skinned
the chiefs who revolted against me, and
covered the pillar with their skins..inside the
city, I skinned many more and covered the
walls with their skins.
• He varied this by making heaps of cutoff noses and ears, gouging out eyes,
and tying heads to vines like obscene
and decaying fruit.
• He enjoyed watching the torture
The Empire Strikes Back
• Tiglath-Pileser III
assumed the throne
and built one the
largest empire to date.
• He established a
centralized state based
on provinces ruled by
overseers
• He ruled the entire
Fertile Crescent.
• He replaced the policy
of torture with
deportation, nations
and tribes would be
deported to different
parts of the empires
Assyrian Army
• The Assyrians used iron weapons and
chariots.
• Their army was well organized. Dividing
their army into a corps of infantry,
chariotry, and engineers.
Assyrian Army
• Before battle, they
destroyed nearby
villages and
burned crops.
• Anyone who
resisted was killed.
• They developed
siege warfare
after Sargon the
Great.
Assyrian Government
• Assyrian kings ruled their
empire through local
leaders who each
governed a small area.
• The Empire was divided
into provinces, each
having a governor,
judge, and a tax
collector.
• Each was independent
of the other and
reported directly to the
king.
Assyrian Government
• Local leaders demanded heavy taxes from
different parts of the empire.
• The governors of each province, enforced
laws and raised troops for the army.
• Areas that resisted taxes and laws were
harshly punished.
• They developed early roads to connect
different parts of the empire.
The Last Dynasty
• Sargon II claimed to be
king of Assyria, and
captured Israel. He
deported the inhabitants;
they became the lost “ten
tribes of Israel.”
• His son Sennacherib began
to put down revolts in
distant provinces, stopped
an invasion by Egypt and
unsuccessfully tried to
capture Jerusalem.
The Sack of Babylon
• Babylon revolted against Assyria. Irritated, he
besieged it, took it, and burned it to the
ground.
• I destroyed, I devasted, I burned with fire...
• He turned Babylon into a lake, which was an
insult to its God-Marduk.
• He ordered the statue of Marduk taken back
to Nineveh.
• Nearly all the inhabitants were put to death so
that a mountain of corpses blocked the
streets.
Esarhaddon
• Esarhaddon, invaded Egypt to
punish it for supporting Syrian
revolts, and made it a
province.
• He established Assyria as
master of the world.
• He repaired the damages of
Babylon and gave back its
god Marduk.
• He died on his way back to
stop a revolt in Egypt.
Ashurbanipal
• Ashurbanipal, ruled Assyria at its height of
glory and power.
• He was a scholar-warrior
• He built the greatest library in the ancient
world.
• I, Ashurbanipal, king of the universe, on whom
the gods have bestowed vast intelligence, who
has acquired penetrating acumen for the most
recondite details of scholarly erudition, I have
placed thee tablets for the future on the library
of Nineveh
Ashurbanipal
• He destroyed Elam
• “I devasted the districts of Elam. I spread salt
and thorn bushes there. Sons of the kings, sisters
of the kings, members of noble families, all the
inhabitants, and animals, I carried off as spoils
to Assyria.”
• The severed head of Elamite King would
hang as Ashurbanipal dined with his wife.
• The Elamite General Danamu, was flayed
alive, and was stabbed by his own brothers
before being quartered.
Ashurbanipal
• His brother, Shamash-shum-ukin, revolted
with the city Babylon.
• He took the city after a three year siege
(the people were reduced to cannibalism)
and showed no mercy on the inhabitants.
• “The rest of those living, I destroyed in the
place where my grandfather Sennacherib
was killed and had their bodies fed to the
wild animals.”
The End of an Empire
• Revolts once more
sprouted across the
Empire, by the time
of Ashurbanipal's
death in 627 BC.
• Babylon declared its
independence and
invaded Assyria
from the south and
the Median Empire
from the north
The End of an Empire
• In 612 BC, Nineveh
fell, and the
empire
disappeared.
• The city of Nineveh
was so
eradicated, that
200 years later the
nearby villagers
did not know what
the ruins were.
The Chaldean
Empire:
Babylonian
Renaissance
The Chaldeans
• Babylon remained under foreign rule for
most of its existence: Kassites and Assyrians.
• The Chaldeans were another Semitic
people who settled around Babylon.
• They became the ruling class, while the
peasants and middle class were the
original Babylonians.
Fall of Assyria/Rise of Babylon
• The Chaldeans
revolted and attacked
the Assyrian Empire
when it was weak.
• Nabopolassar
established an
independent nation,
and passed the
kingdom to his son
Nebuchadnezzar (605562 BC).
Nebuchadnezzar's
Inauguration
• As my precious life do I love they sublime
appearance! Outside of my city Babylon, I
have not selected among all the
settlements any dwelling…At thy
command, O merciful Marduk, may the
house that I built endure forever, may I be
satiated with its splendor, attain old age
therein, with abundant offspring, and
receive therein tribute of the kings of all
regions, from all mankind.”
Restoring Babylon
• Nebuchadnezzar rebuilt
Babylon into a beautiful
city.
• He built the Sacred Way,
an avenue that led from
the Ishtar Gate.
• He built the Hanging
Gardens.
• It was so tall, that the
gardens seemed to
hang in the air.
Hanging Gardens of Babylon
His conquests
• He defeated an Egyptian army at
Carchemish, after they conspired a revolt
against him.
• He captured Jerusalem, and deported its
people to Babylon.
• He ruled the entire Fertile Crescent.
Babylonian Renaissance
• The Chaldeans
admired Sumerian
culture. They
studied its
language and
religion.
• Babylon became
the center for
astronomy.
• They created a
new calendar and
solved complex
problems of
geometry.
Babylon’s Fall
• Nebuchadnezzar loses his sanity and dies
in 562 BC.
• Within 30 years after his death, his empire
crumbles. Until it is finally conquered by the
Persians under Cyrus the Great.
Achievements of Fertile
Crescent Empires: 3 facts each
Hittite
Assyrian
Chaldean
Phoenician
Achievements of Fertile Crescent Empires
Hittite
Assyrian
Chaldean
Phoenician
1. built a strong
1. wealthy trading
1. strong army, 1. in 612 BC
kingdom in Asia
destroyed
society
iron weapons,
Minor
Nineveh and the 2. main resources
chariots, good
2. mastered
Assyrian Empire
were cedar trees, a
organization
ironworking to 2. Assyrians ruled 2. Nebuchadnezza
valuable trade item
create weapons
r created the
3. developed on of
from Nineveh
used chariots
Hanging
the world’s first
3. built roads to
3. soon after
Gardens of
alphabets
distant parts of
taking Babylon
Babylon
the empire
the Hittite king
3. Babylon
was assassinated
became a
center for
astronomy
Questions (pages 72-77)
Cambridge answer in a complete sentence
1. When did Hammurabi become Babylon’s
king?
2. How did Hammurabi conquer
Mesopotamia?
3. Why did the Hittite Kingdom come to an
end?
4. What military advantages did the Assyrians
have?
5. How did the Assyrians rule their empire?
6. What advances did the Chaldeans make?
7. Why was the Phoenician alphabet an
important development?