Chapter 1, Section 3

The First Empires

The Assyrians• 1,000 years after

Hammurabi a new empire arose in Mesopotamia.

• It was the Assyrians who lived north near the Tigris River.

• Assyria had fertile land & built an army to defend it.

The Assyrians• The Assyrians were strong because:– They were well organized– At its core were groups of foot soldiers armed with spears

& daggers– Other soldiers were experts at using bows & arrows– The army also had chariot riders & soldiers who fought on

horseback

The Assyrians• The Assyrians were the first large army to use iron

weapons.

• A group of people just north of Assyria, the Hittites, developed a way of making iron stronger.

• They heated iron ore, hammered it, & rapidly cooled it.

• The Assyrians learned this technique from the Hittites.

The Assyrians• The Assyrians were ferocious warriors.

• To attack cities, they tunneled under walls or climbed ladders over them.

• They used tree trunks as battering rams to knock down city gates.

• Once a city was captured they burned its buildings, carried away its people and goods.

The Assyrians• Assyrian kings had to be strong to rule their large empire.

• The capital was at Nineveh on the Tigris River.

• Assyrian kings divided the empire into provinces.

• They chose officials to govern each province.

• These officials collected taxes & enforced the laws.

The Assyrians• Assyrian kings built

roads to connect all parts of the empire.

• Government soldiers were posted at stations to protect traders from bandits.

Life in Assyria• They lived like other

Mesopotamians.

• Their writing was based on Babylonian writing and they worshipped many of the same gods.

• Lawbreakers did face more harsh punishment in Assyria.

Life in Assyria• One of the world’s first

libraries was in Nineveh.

• It held 25,000 tablets of stories & songs to the gods.

• Our historians have learned much about ancient civilizations from this library.

Life in Assyria• Assyria’s cruel treatment of people led to many

rebellions.

• About 650 B.C. the Assyrians began fighting each other over who would be their next king.

• A group of people called the Chaldeans seized the opportunity to rebel & captured Nineveh in 612 B.C. ending the Assyrian Empire.

The Chaldeans• The Chaldeans were led

by Nebuchadnezzar & wanted an empire.

• They controlled Mesopotamia from 605 B.C. to 562 B.C.

The City of Babylon

• Most of the Chaldeans were descendants of the Babylonians who made up Hammurabi’s empire about 1,200 years before.

• They rebuilt Babylon to be the center of their empire.

The City of Babylon• Babylon:– quickly became the world’s largest & richest city– Surrounded by a wall wide enough to hold two chariots– Towers were built into the wall– Large palaces & temples– A huge ziggarat reached more then 300 feet

The City of Babylon• Another marvel was a staircase of greenery called

the Hanging Gardens at the king’s palace.

• Nebuchadnezzar built the gardens to please his wife who missed the mountains & plants of her homeland in the northwest.

The City of Babylon• Artisans sold their wares to passing caravans.

• Babylon was located on a major trade route between the Persian Gulf & the Mediterranean Sea.

• The Chaldeans made one of the first sundials & were the first to have a seven-day week.

The Fall of Babylon• As time passed, the Chaldean began to lose their

power.

• It was hard to control the peoples they had conquered.

• In 539 B.C. Persians from the mountains captured Babylon & it became part of the new Persian Empire.