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Early Civilizations. Babylonians. Around 1700 BC under Hammurabi, they conquered much of the Fertile Crescent. He established law, based on an “eye for an eye, or tooth for tooth.” They were carved in stone and placed everywhere. . Hittites.
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Babylonians • Around 1700 BC under Hammurabi, they conquered much of the Fertile Crescent. • He established law, based on an “eye for an eye, or tooth for tooth.” They were carved in stone and placed everywhere.
Hittites • About 1500 BC they came into the region from Asia Minor (modern day Turkey). • After conquering the region, they adopted cuneiform and other ideas from the Babylonians. • Hittites are best know for being masters of iron, which they tried to keep a secret, but failed. Their weapons were far superior to the bronze weapons others used.
Phoenicians • While Hittites ruled the Fertile Crescent, the Phoenicians moved into what is modern day Lebanon, setting up small city-states all along the coast of the Mediterranean. • Never building an empire, they became masters of sea trade, establishing trading colonies form North Africa to Spain. • They are the “Carriers of Civilization” because they spread the culture across such a wide area. • They simplified the alphabet and passed it to Hebrews, Persians, and Arabs. Later the Greeks and Romans pass it on.
Persians • By 500 BC the Persians conquered the vast empire which ran from Asia Minor (Turkey) to the Indus Valley in India. • Darius I developed an efficient system of government to rule such a diverse group of people. • Government – His land was divided up into 20 provinces with each one roughly corresponding to the homeland of a particular people. A satrap, or governor was responsible for collecting taxes and keeping order. He had special people check on the satraps for honesty. • Economics – Darius improved and expanded roads to connect 4 capital cities of the Persian Empire. Peace and good roads encouraged trade. He also established a uniform system of coinage-that is he assessed a certain value for each coin. That was borrowed from the metal coins of the Lydians on the Anatolian plateau. Now people could use coins instead of bulky items for trade.