Conquests and Empires

Conflict in the Fertile Crescent

Causes and Effects of Conflict

• Wars fought to protect farmland and water rights

• Boundaries– Natural – mountains, rivers,

etc.– Political – city-states put up

pillars to mark their land

More disagreements led to…

• More wars• Greater need for

weapons• New technology,

including the war chariot

• More deaths in battle

Sargon the Conqueror• Conquered many lands and

became emperor of his empire (2300 BCE)

• Built the capital city, Akkad, and people were known as Akkadians

• Was a strong leader who ruled by force and good organization

• Started the first standing army (always ready for battle)

Hammurabi the Lawgiver

• King of Babylon who conquered and reunited Mesopotamia

• Created a system of taxation to pay for government

• 282 laws covering every aspect of life

• Idea of equal justice for region – an “eye for an eye”

The Assyrians in Mesopotamia

• After the fall of Hammurabi’s empire, Mesopotamia was ruled by many different peoples

• Kassites – ruled for 400 years• Assyrians – desire to control

trade routes and farming lands, conquered and built roads throughout the empire

• Medes – defeated Assyrians

Israelites, Phoenicians and

Lydians

The Israelites

Belief in one God

• Most Mesopotamians believed in many gods (polytheism)

• Abram practiced monotheism (belief in only 1 God)

• He moved his family and made a covenant (agreement) with God that Abram would promise his faith and, in return, his descendants would get Canaan

• He became Abraham• Monotheism was a significant change in

religion

The Ten Commandments

• Israel, Abraham’s son, moved from Canaan to Egypt during a famine (period of starvation)

• Moses, a leader of the Israelites, led his people back to Canaan when they became enslaved

• God gave Moses the Ten Commandments (a set of laws for responsible behavior)

10 Commandments becomes an important part of Judaism,

Christianity and Islam

• The Israelites leave and set up Israel

• The stories of the Israelites make up the first 5 books of the Bible, known as the Torah

Phoenicians

The Alphabet

• Phoenicians occupied the northern part of Mesopotamia which had few natural resources

• Sailed to trade • Developed the alphabet

based on the writing of others

• Made it easier to keep records, make contracts and spread knowledge

Cultural Diffusion

• Because of the colonies Phoenicia had throughout the Mediterranean region, the alphabet spread quickly.

• This process is called cultural diffusion.

The Lydians

Money

• Bartering was the system used in trade, but was a problem when merchants did not have what others wanted to trade

• Lydians began coining money which was easy to carry

• Setting prices for different goods and services allowed more trading

• Societies developed a money economy