Mesopotamia(4000-1000 BCE)

• Government– City-states– Monarchy-

priest-kings– Record

keeping– Law-Code of

Hammurabi

Religion

• Polytheistic• Gods not always helpful• reflected struggle with

unpredictable environment– War-like gods who

possessed total control over human lives

• Sacrifices, rituals, temples (ziggurats)

• Power of priests and priestesses

Sumerian City-States(4000-2300 BCE)

– Located on Mesopotamian plain-close to Tigris & Euphrates Rivers

– Not unified under one leader-multiple city-states

– Constant conflict over resources

– Common language, culture, religion

– Agriculture & trade (as far away as India)

Epic of Gilgamesh • Epic poem-2000 BCE

• Reveals beliefs about afterlife

• tells of great flood

• similar to Noah in Jewish & Christian Old Testament

• Corresponds to rise of oceans as Ice Age retreated

Sumerian Contributions

• Cuneiform-earliest written language

• Wheel• Plow• Sailboat• Mathematical system• Astronomy

Akkadian Empire (2330-2100 BCE)

– Semitic people who migrated from the Arabian Peninsula

– Conquered Sumerians

– Central city of Akkad-later became Babylon

– World’s first empire

– Sargon the Great- conquered Sumerian cities & territory westward to ensure metal supplies

Babylonia Empire(1800-1500 BCE)

• Babylon located on Euphrates River

• Hammurabi was sixth king

• Important trade center• Code of Hammurabi

Code of Hammurabi– 282 Laws-formed

Babylonian legal system

– One of earliest written laws

– King’s responsibility to maintain order & justice

– Basis of international commercial law: regulated contracts, interest, mortgages, etc.

– Harsh penalties- reflects social hierarchy

– Carved into a stela, (stone pillar)- kept in a special temple

Assyrian Empire(1100-612 BCE)

– Assur, city on Tigris River originally under Babylonian rule

– Over two centuries, fought to expand their control

– Lower Mesopotamia, Persia, Syria, Sinai Peninsula & along SE coast of Med. Sea into Egypt

– controlled trade between Anatolia & Mesopotamia

– highly centralized government headed by royal appointed governors

– ruled with terror– Advanced weapons (seige

engine)– Built a fine library (literature,

math, science)– Encouraged private

enterprise rather than state monopoly

– Overthrown by Chaldeans

Chaldean EmpireNeo-Babylonian(612-539 BCE)

• Another name for Babylonia• Took control of Babylon

through bloody battles• Known for cruelty• King Nebuchadnezzar

conquered Canaan & enslaved the Israelites

• “Babylonian Captivity”Hanging Gardens • terraces rising to palace roof

irrigated by pumps• Astronomy-created manuals

for later civilizations• Timekeeping-divided the day

into 12 double hours• 7 day week division of the hour

into sixty minutes

Persian Empire(550-333 BCE)

• Originated on plateau east of Zagros Mtns

• Indo Aryran origins• Cyrus the Great• Tolerant rule-respected

different religions, languages customs

• Divided into provinces-satrapies- constructed roads