Ancient Empires

Sumer

• one of the first civilizations to arise in Mesopotamia

• a collection of city-states including Eridu, Uruk, and Ur

• This civilization created cuneiform, the first known writing system, which was made by putting wedge-shaped marks on clay tablets.

Akkadian Empire

• the first empire in the world

• consisted of Sumerians and Akkadian-speaking Semites

• founded by Sargon the Great, who conquered all of Mesopotamia in the 24th and 23rd centuries BC

Assyria

• a region located along the Upper Tigris River in what is now northern Iraq

• Its major cities included Aššur and Nineveh.

• ruled at various times by the Akkadian, Neo-Sumerian and Babylonian empires

• In 911 BC, the Neo-Assyrian Empire was founded by Ashur-Dan II; it lasted until 612 BC.

• Some of the empire’s greatest rulers were Tiglath-Pileser III, Sargon II, Sennacherib, and Ashurbanipal

• At its height, ruled over all of Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Levant (the eastern shore of the Mediterranean)

Babylonia

• a region of lower Mesopotamia centered on the city Babylon

• different incarnations included the Amorite, Kassite, and Chaldean dynasties

• most notable Amorite ruler was Hammurabi, famed for his legal code

• at its most powerful under the Chaldeans

• Chaldean ruler Nebuchadnezzar II built the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and destroyed Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem

Hittites

• created a large empire in the late Bronze Age centered on their capital, Hattusa, in Anatolia (the western portion of what is now Turkey)

• engaged in the first widespread use of iron and chariots in war

• under King Muwatalli II, were defeated by the Egyptians under Ramesses II at the Battle of Kadesh, which involved as many as 5000 chariots

• came to an end less than a century later as part of the Bronze Age collapse

Minoan civilization

• Bronze-Age; centered on the Greek island Crete and included nearby islands

• British archaeologist Arthur Evans unearthed much of what we know, including their palace at Knossos and their writing system, which he called Linear A

Mycenaeans

• succeeded the Minoans as the preeminent Greek civilization

• Much of their territory was on the Greek mainland, including the city of Mycenae itself

• writing system is called Linear B

• disappeared in the late Bronze Age collapse

• Homer’s Iliad is set during this period, and Agamemnon is said to have been the King of Mycenae

Lydia

• an Iron-Age kingdom that encompassed most of western Asia Minor (present-day Turkey) and had its capital at Sardis

• credited with inventing coins, and their last king, Croesus, was famous for being fabulously wealthy

• When Croesus asked the Oracle at Delphi about his war plans, Croesus was told that if he attacked the Persians, he would destroy a great empire. This came true as Cyrus the Great defeated Croesus and sacked Sardis

Achaemenid Empire

• founded by Cyrus the Great, who defeated and incorporated the Babylonian Empire, Lydian Empire and Median Empire

• Based in what is now Iran, the empire had its ceremonial capital at Persepolis

• Under kings Darius and Xerxes, unsuccessfully invaded Greece

• The First Persian Empire came to an end when Darius III was defeated by Alexander the Great

Parthian Empire

• the second major empire to come out of Persia

• founded by Arsaces I, who rebelled against the Seleucid Empire

• often fought with Rome, and at the 53 BC Battle of Carrhae, the Roman general Crassus was killed.

• supplanted by the Sassanian Empire in AD 224