Iron Age Empires Iron, Weapons, and Chariots

How would you react if the population of Bronx Science increased 50% and other students from different schools came into our classrooms? How would you accommodate the additional students?

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Southern Mesopotamia

- Babylonians

- Neo- Babylonians

Northern Mesopotamia

- Assyrians

- Neo-Assyrians

Mesopotamia United

- Persian

Rise and Fall of Empires

Hammurabi

�Successful general�Defeated Sumerians and

Akkadians around 1760 B.C.E

�Created one of the first empires by uniting Mesopotamia under one ruler

Engaged in great public works: built opulent temples and strong canals, improved the irrigation process, and heightened city walls

Strongly encouraged astronomy, mathematics, and �literature among the elite social classes

Made diplomacy an integral part of his administration

United all of Mesopotamia under the rule of Babylon - the largest city in the world, and named his realm Babylonia by 1775 BC

Height of Babylonian Empire

The Code of Hammurabi

- codified by Hammurabi

- first code of laws in ancient civilizations

- used to bring order to the empire

- contained the concepts of “an eye for an eye” or “lex talionis”

- established rules for common issues to organize society

Hammurabi’s Code

�282 total laws- � Written around 1786 B.C.E- � Carved in forty-nine columns of stone tablets called stele- � Created standards for behavior- � Created punishments

- �They were posted in the cities’ temples- �Written in cuneiform

Do Now:

To what extent do you believe that Hammurabi’s code was justified? Why is that the case?

inhabited region of Anatolia (also known as Asia Minor, modern-day Turkey) prior to 1700 BCE,

developed a culture apparently from the indigenous Hatti (and possibly the Hurrian) people

expanded their territories into an empire which rivaled, and threatened, the established nation of Egypt.

The Hittites

1600 BC the Hittites reach and destroy Babylon at the hand of their king Mursilis I before retreating again to their Anatolian heartland

14th century BC they march again to establish an empire which reaches into northern Syria, east of the Euphrates, and extends down the Mediterranean coast to confront the Egyptians

Fall of Babylon

Make some predictions, why were the Hittites so successful in defeating the Babylonians?

Question:

2000 B.C. the Hittites developed Iron weapons in northern Asia Minor, a region rich in iron

they had learned to extract iron from ore - they were the first to make tools and weapons of iron

the tools and weapons they made with iron were harder and had sharper edges than those made out of bronze or copper

iron was plentiful and they were able to arm more people at less expense

Hittites use of iron

A Hittite king writes to a valued customer about his order for iron. The letter is probably addressed to a king of Assyria:

'In the matter of the good iron about which you wrote, good iron is not at present available in my storehouse in Kizzuwatna. I have already told you that this is a bad time for producing iron. They will be producing good iron, but they won't have finished yet. I shall send it to you when they have finished. At present I am sending you an iron dagger-blade.'

Quoted H.W.F. Saggs Civilization before Greece and Rome, Batsford 1989, page 205

Use of Iron

The first reference to charioteers in the civilized world comes from Syria around 1800 BCE

Hittites established their first kingdom with the help of chariots c. 1700 BCE, and thereafter used them regularly

Very decisive in battle against the opposition

Chariots

How did the use of the chariot help the Hittites win decisive battles?

Question

•Semitic-speaking people

•Used iron weapons to establish an empire

•Ruled by kings with absolute power

•Well-organized

•Officials developed an efficient communication system

•Created one of the world’s finest libraries at capital Nineveh: Ashurbanipal

Assyrians (700-612 BC)

Successfully conquered a massive territory spanning from Egypt to the Persian Gulf Effective military

- Assyrians had the first large armies equipped with iron weapons

- Used guerilla warfare, various siege tactics, and terror

- Conquered territories paid a tribute to the Assyrian king

Neo- Assyrians

Harsh Military Tactics

If people refused and were defeated they were treated harshly.King Ashurnasirpal once stated

“3,000 of their combat troops I felled with weapons . . . Many I took alive; from some of these I cut off their hands to the writs, from

others I cut off their noses, ears and fingers; I put out the eyes of many of the soldiers. . . . I burned their young men and women to

death.”

Assyria’s collapse was relatively sudden

had overextended itself in the conquest of Egypt, unable to bear the heavy toll in resources and manpower

In 612 BC, Nineveh fell to a joint coalition of Chaledeans and Medes under Nebuchadnezzar, who established the Neo-Babylonian Empire (612-539 BC).

Fall of the Neo-Assyrians

Neo-Babylonian art and architecture reached its zenith under King Nebuchadnezzar II, who ruled from 604 - 562 BC He was a great patron of art and urban development

and rebuilt the city of Babylon to reflect its ancient glory.

He built the Hanging Gardens - a spectacular tiered garden that became one of the 7 wonders of the world

Neo-Babylonians 626 -539 BCE

Women enjoyed equal rights schools and temples were plentiful and literacy,

mathematics and craftsmanship flourished tolerance of religion and other faiths

Nebuchadnezzar’s rule

Neo-Babylonian leadership weakened over time mainly due to changing alliances with Assyrians and Jews wanting to return to their homeland in Israel

Cyrus II (reign: 559-530 BCE), also known as Cyrus the Great, was the founder of the Persian empire

October 539 BCE he took Babylon,

founded and extends the Persian Empire

freed 40,000 Jews from captivity

wrote mankind's first human rights charter

ruled over those he had conquered with respect and benevolence

Rise of the Persian Empire

The Cyrus cylinder was discovered in 1878 at the site of Babylon inscribed in Akkadian cuneiform

"I am Cyrus, king of the world, the great king, the powerful king, king of Babylon, king of Sumer and Akkad, king of the four quarters of the world"

established peace and abolished forced labour

supported Jews returning to their homeland

describes the Great King not as a conqueror, but as a liberator

Cylinder of Cyrus the Great

How did Cyrus’ human rights charter engender a sense of loyalty among those he conquered?

How does this compare to the policies of the Assyrians and Babylonians?

Questions: