Lesson 4: The Rise of Asian Empires

Lesson 4
The Rise of Asian Empires

EMPIRES INSIDE MESOPOTAMIA
1.Akkadian
2.Babylonian
3.Assyrian
4.Chaldean(Neo-Babylonian
or Babylonian II)
AKKADIANS
•The first ever empire in history
•North or Sumer, middle of Mesopotamia
•Agade the center of Empire
•Separation of the state and church (religion)
•Borrowed the Sumerian culture
•Taxation.
AKKADIANS
RISE:
they conquered Sumerians and Build the city
of Agade as the center of empire. (also because
of the military strengths of Sargon I)
FALL:
attacked by Gutian and other ethnic tribes or
empires
AKKADIANS
LEADERS:
•Sargon I, the first king of Akkadian and the first
ever emperor in history.
•Sargon ruled for 56 years, he build the city of
Agade
•Made the former leaders of Sumerian city
states as Governors
AKKADIANS
LEADERS:
•First armies of Sargon were composed
mainly by farmers, potters, and
craftsmen
•“Even the birds could find no place to
build their nests.”
AKKADIANS
LEADERS:
•Naram-Sin – grandson of Sargon I
“the King of the Four Corners of the
Universe”
•Sharkalisharri – Son of Naramsin
AKKADIANS
CONTRIBUTIONS:
•Separation of the state and church
(religion)
BABYLONIANS
•Established by Amorites (called
themselves as Babylonians)
•Babylon – center of government
•Babylonian (Babil – “gate of god”)
•Ruled by famous king, Hammurabi
BABYLONIANS
•Polytheist – many gods
• Anu – god of sky
• Apsu – god of ocean
• Enlil – god of the air
• Marduk – chief god/god of sun
BABYLONIANS
RISE:
established by Amorites and they
conquer Akkadian
FALL
invaded by the Hittites after the death of
Hammurabi
BABYLONIANS
LEADERS:
•Hammurabi
• Organized the law for his people
• “Code of Hammurabi” – collection laws that
regards to ownership, economics, family
affairs, peace and order, and equality
BABYLONIANS
CODE OF HAMMURABI
• Retributive justice (justice by means of heavy
punishment)
• “Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth.”
• 8 feet tablet
BABYLONIANS
CONTRIBUTIONS
• Code of Hammurabi
• Law/Justice
• Polytheist
ASSYRIANS
• Located in the northernmost part of Mesopotamia
• Invented iron weapon tools (but they are not the first
one)
• Men are forced to join the army in the name of their
empire
• One of the largest and most enduring empire of the
ancient world
ASSYRIANS
• Engage mainly in agriculture and cattle raising
• Strategic military warfare
• Sargon II, conquered the remaining parts of Hittites
• Shanshi-Adad I, extended the empire from Zagros
Mountain (Iraq) to Mediterranean Sea.
• Didn’t last long because of the great leader of
Babylonians, King Hammurabi
ASSYRIANS
• Chaldeans (Semitic Group), Scythian and Cimmerian
(from the steppes in the north), and Medes (Indo-
European) – other conquerors who conquered
Assyrians
• During the time of King Ishme-Dagan I, Assyrian were
defeated by Babylonians
• Adasi, a native Akkadian king, freed the Assyrians
from the clutches of the Babylonian Empire.
ASSYRIANS
• Neo-Assyrian – rose to power and regained its former
territories after freed from the Babylonians. (911 BCE)
• Ashurbanipal – seized many states in Syria and
southern Anatolia. He also conquered the Arameans
of the Central Tigris Valley and Chaldeans of the
Lower Euphrates Valley.
• Extended from the border of Egypt to Zagros
Mountains and from Taurus Mountains to Persian Gulf
ASSYRIANS
• While expanding the empire, Ashurbanipal ordered
the construction of libraries, temples and palaces
• After the death of Ashurbanipal, they experienced
internal strife which weakened its ability to protect its
territories from invaders
ASSYRIANS
RISE:
1. Strategic military warfare
2. freed from Babylonians and regained their previous
kingdom
FALL:
1. Conquered by Babylonians
2. internal strife, plan to conquer Egypt, personal agenda of
the nobles, poor administration, internal revolts
CHALDEANS
• Also known as the Neo-Babylonian or Babylonian II
• Combined forces of Chaldeans and Medes
• During the fall of Assyrians because of internal
problems, South Mesopotamian kingdoms slowly
expanding their empires.
• Nabopolassar of Chaldea, declared himself King of
Babylon after overthrowing the Assyrians by the
help of Medes (ancient Iranians who lived in
Medea)
CHALDEANS
• Culture of Old Babylonian Empire was reborn
• They are polytheistic, and they named their gods after
heavenly bodies. (Marduk – Jupiter, Ishtar – Venus)
• Followed the seven-days-per-week calendar
• Carchemish – last Assyrian city
• Battle of Carchemish, war between Babylonians and
combined forces of Egyptians and Assyrians
CHALDEANS
• Won during the Battle of Carchemish through its
leader, Nebuchadnezzar II (ruled for 43 years)
• Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the
legacies of Nebuchadnezzar II. This is a gift to his
wife Queen Semiramis and this structure is
recognized as one of the seven wonders of the
ancient world.
CHALDEANS
• Babylonian Captivity, force capture of the Jews
from Israel. It covers three periods: 597, 586 and
582. It ended when Cyrus the Great conquered
the Babylonian Empire shortly after the death of
Nebuchadnezzar II.
CHALDEANS
• After the Jews were freed from Babylonians,
they were allowed to settle in other parts of the
region
• This mass settlement is commonly known or
dubbed by the historians as the Diaspora
(settling of scattered colonies of Jews outside
Palestine)
CHALDEANS
•Nabonidus, last leader of Babylonians
who neglected state affairs. He relegated
political decisions such as policies on
borders and law making and
implementation to his advisers.
CHALDEANS
CONTRIBUTIONS
• Concept of zero
• Foundation of Algebra
• Hanging Garden of Babylon
CHALDEANS
RISE
• Defeated the Assyrians
FALL
• Lack of good leader
EMPIRES OUTSIDE
MESOPOTAMIA
•Arameans
•Lydians
•Phoenicians
•Hebrews
•Hittites
•Medeans
•Persian/Achaemenid
ARAMEANS
•Settled in Palestine-Syria region
•Famous because of the language
Aramaic which they spread and became
famous than the Arabic language during
the spread of Islam
LYDIAN
•Located in Northern Turkey
•Started the use of coin for trading
•Gold and silver or a combination of the two
are the major materials in making coins
•The value of the coin and a symbol of the
power of the government were
PHOENICIANS
•Located in ancient Lebanon
•They have a dry and mountainous place
•They focused in seafaring
•Lebanon – trading center
PHOENICIANS
CONTRIBUTIONS
•Construction of ships (ships)
•Trading of marine products
•Navigation
•Alphabet (22 letters)
HEBREWS
•Located in Palestine region
•They use Semitic Language
HEBREWS
CONTRIBUTIONS:
• Monotheism
• Torah/Pentateuch – the first five books of
the Old Testament
• Law based on moral justice
HITTITES
• Settled in Asia Minor (Turkey)
• Northeast of the Black Sea – original settlement
• Based on the scholars, they came from the
Aryan Race
• They were able to conquer Babylon because of
their chariots and iron weapons
HITTITES
• Mursili I, first ruler of Hittites. After his death the
empire went into a period of internal strife because
of the struggle for power and control among its
nobles
• King Telipinu, warrior and noble man who acquired
the throne through military might, issued a set of
rules that governed royal succession. He restored
the peace.
HITTITES
• Have a constant war with Egypt
• Decided to sign a treaty to stop the war
• Treaty of Kadesh – a treaty that stop the war
signed by King Hattusili III and Pharaoh
Ramses of Egypt. It was written in Egyptian
Hieroglyph and Akkadian Cuneiform.
HITTITES
CONTRIBUTIONS:
• Iron smelting
• Chariots
• Enhancement of punishment system
(instead of harsh punishment they change it
to monetary retribution or fines)
HITTITES
RISE
Because of iron weapons that made them
advanced than the others
FALL
Threatened by neighboring empires and
conquered by Sargon II of Assyria the remaining
parts of the empire.
MEDEANS
• Settled in Northern Iran
• Medes spoke a language resembling the Old
Iranian language and they practice the “cult
of fire”, which involved sacrificial offerings
lead by their priest called, Magus
• Reigned for 150 years
MEDEANS
RISE
Established their empire after the fall of
Assyrians
FALL
Seized by foreign rulers
PERSIANS
• Also known as the Achaemenid Empire
• Established by Achaemenes
• Located in the plateau of Persia (Iran today)
• Agriculture and pastoral – main subsistence
PERSIANS
• Achaemenes
• Chief of the Anshan tribe (SW Iran)
• Ancestor of Cyrus the Great
• Due to lack of historical proof he considered as
a legendary figure by some scholars
• Established the Achaemenid Empire (later
Persian Empire)

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