Chapter 3: Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent

Notes:

Section 4: pages 72-77

Later Peoples of the Fertile Crescent

The Babylonians Conquer Mesopotamia

**After the death of Sargon, many invaders battled to gain control of Mesopotamia.

The Rise of Babylon:

Babylon was once a Sumerian town on the Euphrates river, however it had a powerful government of its own.
In 1792 BC Hammurabi became king of Babylon; the city’s greatest monarch.

Hammurabi’s Code:

He was an excellent war leader who fought many battles eventually bringing all of Mesopotamia under his rule…Babylonian Empire
Very skilled at governing his empire; oversaw… *building and irrigation projects

*Improved the tax collection system

of Babylon to pay for the projects

* Increased trade

* Code of Law

Hammurabi’s code was 282 laws dealing with every aspect of daily life
Specific crimes brought specific penalties…but if you committed a crime against a rich man your penalty was more severe
This code was written down for all people to see ; therefore there were no questions about what was against the law
He ruled for 42 years, after his death many invasions brought the great empire to an end.

Invasions of Mesopotamia

**Other civilizations lived around the Fertile Crescent, often battling for land.

The Hittites and Kassites:

Hittites lived north of Mesopotamia in Asia Minor
Success stemmed from 2 military advantages: 1. Mastered ironworking

2. Used chariots in battle

These advantages allowed them to conquer Babylon in 1595 BC
Their rule didn’t last long, soon after taking Babylon the Hittite king was killed
The Kassites captured the city and ruled for 400 years

The Assyrians:

In 1200 BC the Assyrians, also from the north, gained control of Babylon for a brief time
They were overrun by invaders, it took the Assyrians about 300 yrs. to gain strength again … 900 BC they began to conquer all of the Fertile Crescent again.
Assyrian strength came from their strong army: similar to the Hittites, Assyrians used iron weapons and chariots, the army was well organized and each man knew his role
The Assyrian kings ruled this large empire through local leaders; they collected taxes, enforced laws, raised troops for the army, also roads were built connecting the empire and messengers were used to send messages to faraway places.

The Chaldeans:

In 652 many wars broke out in the Assyrian empire to gain control, thus weakening the empire.
In 612 BC the Chaldeans, from the Syrian Desert, attacked and gained control of the Assyrian empire.
The Chaldeans set up their own empire with king Nebuchadnezzar, he rebuilt Babylon into a beautiful city
Legend has it that his grand palace featured the famous Hanging Gardens
Chaldeans admired Sumerian culture, they studied the language and built temples to their gods
Babylon became the center of astronomy, they recorded economic, political and weather events, created a calendar, and solved complex geometry problems.

The Phoenicians

**Located at the western end of the Fertile Crescent, along the Mediterranean Sea was Phoenicia. They were not a great military civilization however, they created a wealthy trading society.

The Geography of Phoenicia:

Bordered by mountains and Mediterranean Sea
Only resource was cedar, these trees were valuable
They used the sea as their trade routes because the mountains and neighbors were too hostile to use land routes

The Expansion of Trade:

Expert sailors; Phoenician trade ships were fast and sailed all around the Mediterranean, to Egypt, Greece, Italy, Sicily, Spain, through the Strait of Gibraltar to the Atlantic Ocean
Vast trade network: Besides lumber they traded silverwork, ivory carvings, slaves, glass objects, purple fabric
Phoenicians most important achievement was the alphabet, todays is based on this.