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Ch. 2 Sec. 4

Ch. 2 Sec. 4. Empires of the Fertile Crescent. The Akkadians. 2330 B.C. the Akkadians attacked & conquered the Sumerians Sargon, ruled from 2334 B.C. to 2279 B.C. was the Akkadian king The empire lasted 150 years until the Sumerian city-states took over. The Babylonians.

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Ch. 2 Sec. 4

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  1. Ch. 2 Sec. 4 Empires of the Fertile Crescent

  2. The Akkadians • 2330 B.C. the Akkadians attacked & conquered the Sumerians • Sargon, ruled from 2334 B.C. to 2279 B.C. was the Akkadian king • The empire lasted 150 years until the Sumerian city-states took over

  3. The Babylonians • 1792 B.C., Hammurabi conquered most of the Tigris-Euphrates Valley • Best known for the Code of Hammurabi – a collection of 282 laws = some laws dealt w/ commerce & industry, others regulated wages, hours, working conditions , & property rights • Punishments were harsh

  4. Most Babylonians farmed (domesticated animals & food crops) • Also very active traders • Babylonian women had legal, economic,& property rights • Babylonians adopted many Sumerian religious beliefs

  5. The Hittites • Hittites were a warlike people from Asia Minor – invaded the Valley in the 1600s B.C. • Hittites were the first to smelt iron • Most important achievement were their laws & gov’t – only major crimes received the death penalty; Hittite law called for a person to pay a fine rather than experience retaliation

  6. The Assyrians • Assyrians were from N. Mesopotamia – between 900 B.C. & 650 B.C. they expanded their power across the Fertile Crescent & into Egypt • Fierce, effective warriors – used chariots in battle & first to use a cavalry (soldiers on horseback) • They enslaved the people they conquered & killed captured enemy soldiers

  7. The Assyrian king had absolute power; he was responsible only to the god Ashur • They made their capital at the city of Nineveh & fortified it w/ 70 ft. walls • Nineveh had a great library • 635 B.C. civil war broke out, weakening Assyria & in 612 B.C. the Chaldeans & the Medes destroyed Nineveh

  8. The Chaldeans • Nebuchadnezzar conquered most of the Fertile Crescent & rebuilt the city of Babylon from 605 B.C. to 562 B.C. • Babylon once again became a large & wealthy city – trade flourished; canals & magnificent buildings were built; the king’s palace had huge beautiful gardens called Hanging Gardens

  9. Skilled astronomers – able to predict solar & lunar eclipses • Math – calculated the length of a year w/ a very high degree of accuracy

  10. The Persians • Persians conquered Babylon in 539 B.C. • They & another group, the Medes, migrated into the area & at 1st the Medes ruled over the Persians • 550 B.C. the Persian ruler, Cyrus the Great rebelled against the Medes • He then captured Babylon, the Fertile Crescent, & Asia Minor

  11. Cyrus, Darius I, & his son Xerxes I expanded the empire between the Indus R. & parts of S.E. Europe = the mightiest empire in history up to that time • Gov’t = they collected taxes & administered law fairly; allowed conquered peoples to keep their own religions & laws

  12. Persians built roads to connect the cities w/in their empire (Royal Road = 1,250 miles • Religion = started out polytheistic, but 600 B.C. a prophet named Zoroaster taught that on Earth people receive training for a future life • Zoroastrianism taught there was a universal struggle between good & evil & the idea of final judgment - influenced Judaism & Christianity

  13. 331 B.C. the Persian Army suffered a final defeat at the hands of the Greek forces of Alexander the Great

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