Transcript WHCH_22 - Teacherpage

Invaders, Traders, and Empire Builders
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Sargon – 2300 B.C.
Ruler of Akkad – invaded and conquered
Sumer and surrounding lands
Continued to expand and created the first
Empire
When he died other nations invaded and took
over
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Hammurabi – 1790 B.C.
King of Babylon
Gained control of Mesopotamia
Hammurabi Code – set of laws
Why?
Wanted to ensure that everyone knew the
law – no exceptions
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Hammurabi had artisans ? Carve 300 laws
into a stone pillar and display it for everyone
to see
First attempt by a ruler to codify law
Codify – arrange and set down in writing
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Private rights and matters – such as:
 Business, property, inheritance, marriage and
divorce
Code was designed to protect the powerless –
slaves and women
 Allowed women to own property and pass it to
her children
 A man was both the legal authority over his and
the provider for her
 Fathers had almost unlimited authority over
children
 Kept a house running orderly.
 Was this necessary?
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Criminal law – offenses against other
 Robbery, assault, murder
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Set out specific punishments – limited
vengeance and created social order
Could be cruel – an eye for an eye
If someone built a house and it collapsed on
someone, the person who built it could be put
to death
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Improved Irrigation
Organized a well trained army
Ordered repairs for temples
Encouraged religious unity by promoting
Marduk – the patron god of Babylon, which
replaced older Sumerian gods
Hittites – came from Asia Minor around 1400
B.C.
 Advancements –
 Three man chariot
 Ability to extract Iron from ore
 Could create better tools and weapons
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 They were harder and sharper
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Tried to keep this a secret – but when their
Empire collapsed in 1700 B.C. – iron smiths when
elsewhere for work and spread knowledge
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Also learned of Iron forging
Established an Empire by 1350 B.C.
They started expanding across Mesopotamia
Earned the reputation as most feared
warriors
Kept order and rule in their cities
Nineveh – had one of the first libraries of
cuneiform tablets
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Nebuchadnezzar – 612 B.C. Babylonian King
Took control of Assyrian Empire and brought it
under Babylonian control
Empire stretched from Persian Gulf to
Mediterranean Sea
Rebuilt canals, temples, walls and palaces
Surrounded Babylon with a wall (85 ft. thick) and
moat
Hanging Gardens – one of the Seven Wonders Of
the World
Built for his wife – gardens in dessert – difficult,
expensive
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Conquered Babylon in 539 B.C.
Cyrus the Great – Persian King, and his
successors built the largest Empire ever seen
up until that point
Persians had a policy of tolerance for
conquered people
Respectful of others customs
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Darius I – created a single law code for
Empire which unified it
Built and repaired roads in the Empire
Set up model government
 Divided Empire into Provinces called a Satrapy
 Satrapy was ruled by a governor called a Satrap
 Each Satrapy had to pay taxes according to the
wealth that was in the province
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Darius I – moved from city to city to see
people and lead festivals
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Darius set up a common weight and
measurement scale
Encouraged the use of coins
Barter Economy – trading of goods
Money Economy – coins used to purchase
items
Coinage – money with an agreed upon value
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Zoroaster – Persian “thinker”
Rejected old Persian gods and taught there
was only one God – Ahura Mazda who was in
constant battle with Ahriman – the prince of
evil and lies
Eventually Ahura Mazda wins and there
would be a final judgment day
Does this sound familiar?
Heaven, Hell, Jug dement?
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Famous for sailing and trading
Occupied area of Eastern Mediterranean coast
Became known for manufacturing and trade
Made glass from sand, and a purple dye from
snails
Set up colonies around the Mediterranean Sea
to promote trade
Colony – territory settled and ruled by a people
from another land
Made it as far as Britain and brought back tin
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Established an Alphabet – writing system in
which each symbol represents a single basic
sound, i.e. consonants and vowels
22 symbols – all consonants
Later Greeks added vowels
Became the alphabet we know today