Transcript Empires of Mesopotamia

Empires of
Mesopotamia
Time period covered: 2300 BCE – 539 BCE
I. City-States to Empires
A. City-states were prone to attack by
nomads
1. needed stronger military leaders;
lugal-gal replaced priests
B. Lugal-gal became kings, kings ruled
over the city–states
C. More powerful city-states take over
other city-states thus leading to the
creation of empires
II. Akkadian Empire (2300- 2100 BCE):
A. The first king to unite city-states of
Sumer into an empire was Sargon of
Akkad c. 2300 BCE
B. Sargon’s unstable empire
1. Conquered city-states continued
to fight for independence
2. Akkad was frequently invaded
by rival warriors
III. After the fall of Akkad (Sargon’s Empire)
the power in Mesopotamia shifted between
two regions:
A. First, to Assyria in the north; under the rule of
Shamshi- Adad
B. Second, to Babylon in the south; under the rule of
Hammurabi
C. Third, to the New Assyrian empire in the north
again; under the rule of Tiglath-Pilesar III
D. Fourth, power shifted south to the NeoBabylonians; under the rule of Nebuchadnezzar
IV. New Assyrian Empire- A Path of Conquest
A. Assyrian army:
1. Looted and plundered
surrounding areas
2. Murdered, tortured and
enslaved their enemies
B. Assyria grew rich in gold, jewels and land
C. New Assyrian empire covered lands from
Persian Gulf to Egypt and to present-day Turkey
D. Eventually rebellion became difficult to control
1. Power shifted to Babylonia in the south (again)
V. Neo-Babylonian Empire –
A.K.A. Chaldean Empire
A. Under Nebuchadnezzar, who ruled from
605 – 562 BCE, Babylonians were known to be
great traders and conquerors
1 . Due to Nebuchadnezzar’s conquests he
was able to gain control of the trade gateway
to the Mediterranean Sea
a. Drove Egyptians out of Syria
b. Captured major cities such as Jerusalem
2. Nebuchadnezzar relocated the Jews
a. People in Judah refused to pay taxes
b. Forced 3000 Jews to march to Mesopotamia
c. Burned the city of Jerusalem, destroyed King Solomon’s
Temple and sent the Jews to be slaves in Babylon =
Babylonian Captivity
V. New Babylonian Empire – A.K.A.
Chaldean Empire Continued…
B. Babylonian Achievements – wealth from
conquests
1. Most famous building project = Hanging
Gardens of Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders
of the Ancient World
2. Astronomy- the science of
observing and recording
the movement of the
stars and planets
VI. Fall of the Neo-Babylonian Empire
A. Many enemies of the empire
B. In 539 BCE, a Persian ruler,
Cyrus the Great conquered
the Neo-Babylonian Empire.
The people welcomed him
1. Ended Babylonian
Captivity winning the
gratitude of the Judeans (Jews)
2. Cyrus built a vast Persian Empire that
continued for the next 200 years