Mesopotamian Empires

Who was the Persian Empire led by?

Cyrus and Darius I

Where was the Persian Empire?

it started in the area between Mesopotamia and the Indus River Valley and would spread to take over the Chaldeans (Babylon)

What was the end result of Persia's empire?

it became the largest empire the world had seen at the time

Who were the Canaanites?

a people between where the Egyptian, Hittite, Babylonian, and Assyrian Empires overlapped

Where did the Israelites settle and how many tribes were there?

Canaan and there were 12 tribes

Who ruled the Kingdom of Israel?

Saul, David, and Solomon

What happened to the Kingdom of Israel after Solomon's death?

the kingdom divided into two kingdoms, Judah in the South with 2 tribes and Israel in the North with 10 tribes

What happened to the Kingdom of Israel after the split of the original?

it was conquered by Assyria in 722 BCE

What did Assyria do to the Kingdom of Israel after they conquered them?

because they believed in the assimilation of the people they conquered they forced marriages between themselves and the Israelites

What new people group was created when Assyria assimilated into the Israelites?

the Samaritans

What happened when Assyria was overthrown?

King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon besieged and destroyed Jerusalem, capital of Judah, in 587 BCE beginning the Babylonian captivity of Judah

What happened to Judah after the Persian Empire conquered Babylon?

Cyrus the Great encouraged Jews to return to Jerusalem and they built the second temple in 516 BCE

When did Persia conquer Babylon?

539 BCE

When did the Assyrian Empire come to power?

around 850 BCE

What type of people were the Assyrian Empire?

very warlike people

How did the Assyrian Empire build a large empire?

by using constant attacks on neighboring groups

Who was Sennacherib?

the great military leader of the Assyrian Empire

What were Sennacherib's accomplishments?

he burned Babylon to the ground and made Ninevah their new capital

How far did the Assyrian Empire spread?

through the entire fertile crescent and into Eygpt

What military advancements did the Assyrian Empire make?

archers- professionals who launched waves of arrows at opponents, ladders- used to climb over the walls of the opponents, weapons- they were iron tipped and they developed protective armor, tactics- if not sold in battle the remaining soldiers were impaled or beheaded and women were killed or sold into slavery, and tunnels- were dug under the walls or foundation of cities to make them fall

How did the Assyrian Empire fall?

they were attacked by the groups that they had conquered mainly the Babylonians because they wanted to get revenge and burned Ninevah to the ground

Who did the Babylonians become after the defeated Assyria?

the Chaldeans

What were the Chaldeans main accomplishments?

They primarily defeated the Assyrian Empire and rebuilt Babylon as their capital, which became one of the 7 wonders of the world

Who led the Chaldeans?

Nebuchadnezzar

What empire did the Babylonian Empire rise from?

the Akkadian Empire

What type of leadership did the Babylonian Empire have?

hereditary monarch system

Who was the key ruler of Babylonian Empire?

Hammurabi

What did Hammurabi accomplish?

he created a complex system of laws known as Hammurabi's code

What is overall sense of Hammurabi's Code?

eye for an eye

What mistakes did Hammurabi's Code have?

the laws varied with different people as did punishment/ it had a clear sign of social division or a hierarchy

How long did Hammurabi rule for?

from 1792 BCE- 1750 BCE

What empire did the Babylonian Empire get rebuilt as and who was their main leader?

the Chaldeans with Nebuchadnezzar as King

When did Nebuchadnezzar rule?

605 BCE- 562 BCE

What year did Sargon conquer Sumeria?

2300 BCE

Where did Sargon attack from?

north of Mesopotamia

What empire did Sargon create after conquering Sumeria?

they created a capital city called Akkadia and it became the Akkadia empire

Who was Sargon's people?

sematic nomads from the Arabian desert

What did Sargon bring to the Akkadian Empire?

the sematic language, modern day Hebrew and Arabic

What did Sargon's soldiers accomplish?

they held Sargon's kingdom together

How did soldiers of Sargon survive?

plundered the people they conquered

How did the soldiers of Sargon's actions create difficulty for the Akkadian Empire and what did this cause in this civilization?

since they had plundered them and conquered them by force it was difficult to defend those people after they conquered, because of this people were angry and the kingdom of Akkadia fell apart after the death of Sargon

What was important about the Sumerian Empire?

it was the first major civilization of Mesopotamia

How was the Sumerian Empire arranged?

it was a collection of city states with their own governments and rulles

What was the economy like in Sumeria?

they developed large-scale irrigation systems that allowed the population to grow

What type of religion did the Sumerian Empire follow?

they followed a polytheistic religion

What is a polytheistic religion?

believed in many gods and goddesses that ruled the world

Who ruled over the city-states of the Sumerian Empire?

a kingship developed over time and a hereditary patriarchal dynasty was created

What attracted conquerors to Sumeria?

their wealth

What was the social structure of the Sumerian Empire?

1. Rulers and Priests

2. Merchants, Artists, and Scribes

3. Peasant Farmers

4. Captured Slaves

What is cuneiform?

pictographic writing system

Who developed cuneiform?

the Sumerian Empire

What did cuneiform look like?

wedge-shapes

How does cuneiform depict sounds and ideas?

through pictures

Where was cuneiform written?

clay tablets

What was a Ziggurat?

temples built on tall platforms in the centers of cities

What did ziggurats look like?

they were elaborate with storage for grain and housing of animals, later they became more embellished and had a huge shrine on the top of the stepped pyramid

Where was the ziggurat located?

the center of the city and had homes clustered around it

Who were the earliest known builders of ziggurats?

the Sumerians

What did people believe the Ziggurats were for?

to talk to the gods and worship them

Who could enter the Ziggurats?

the priests

What were the social classes in Mesopotamia?

There were rural and city residents

How did the social classes of Mesopotamia feel towards each other?

the city residents saw themselves as more advanced and civilized than rural residents

What hierarchies began to develop in the Mesopotamian society?

social and gender hierarchies developed and later became more complex

How were Mesopotamian politics organized?

developed " the state" that was a more complex form of organization of power

Who led the Mesopotamian city-states?

often a family (hereditary kings) or religious leaders

What did the leaders of the Mesopotamian city-states do?

they wrote laws/codes, created more elaborate social hierarchies which led to social division, and created bureacracies and taxation

What natural features of the Mesopotamia area made it difficult to keep the area safe?

it has no natural protective barriers making it a target to invaders from the North

What did the invaders from the North do in Mesopotamia?

they united Mesopotamian city-states into larger empires and spread Mesopotamian culture

What natural features of the Mesopotamian area made the area desirable?

allowed sustained agriculture along the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers

How did the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers assist in agriculture?

the Mesopotamian areas developed to bring water from the fields

What did the development of irrigation systems mean for society?

resulted a steady supply of food leading to in larger-population

What did larger populations mean in the Mesopotamian society?

allows a division of labor, growth of cities, development and writing (cuneiform), epic poetry and literature, and the creation of math based on units of 60-basis of our units for hours and minutes

What did cities of Mesopotamia depend on from the country sides around it?

food produced in the surrounding countrysides

What was the economy in the cities of Mesopotamia?

producing tools and trade

What does Mesopotamia mean and why was it named that?

"between the rivers" because it was located between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers

What was the Fertile Cresent?

the land around the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers

What made the Mesopotamia area of land so fertile?

the regular flooding from the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers created fertile silt but was also unpredictable