The document provides an overview of the history and peoples of the Fertile Crescent region, beginning with the Sumerians who settled in Mesopotamia around 3300 BC and established irrigation systems and city-states. Various groups like the Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Phoenicians, and Persians rose to power in the region over time, developing systems of government, religion, trade, and innovations like writing and currency. The Hebrews originated in Canaan and their scriptures tell the story of their origins with Abraham and Moses leading them out of slavery in Egypt to establish a kingdom in Israel.

1. The Fertile Crescent/Mesopotamia

2. Location, Location, Location! *Don’t write!!!!!!!!!!! * FC Today: Iraq, Syria, Jordan Lebanon, Israel,Turkey & Iran *FC is horseshoe/crescent shaped area of good farmland along Tigris & Euphrates rivers that stretches from W Mediterranean to Persian Gulf

4. Location! Don’t write! Tigris & Euphrates flow from E. Turkey to Persian Gulf. Area known as Mesopotamia (land btw rivers)

5. Floods at least once a year, leaving thick silt (mud). Very fertile Flooding unpredictable Desert region No barriers for protection

6. Sumerians!

7. Don’t write: Settle 3300 BC Good soil, few resources, no protection & flooding Solution? Dug irrigation ditches Built city walls w/ mud bricks *trade tools for raw materials

8. By 3000 BC built city-states -independent cities w/ own govts & rulers, & separate gods Share culture Ex: Kish, Lagash, Ur, Uruk

9. *All CS’s had ziggurat (temple) in middle *Govt controlled by zig priests Farmers need blessings of gods for crops & priests were go betweens During war, led by commanders (eventually became full time leader) Creates a Dynasty - single family rule

10. Don’t write!!! Built in receding tiers upon a rectangular, oval, or square platform, the ziggurat was a pyramidal structure with a flat top. Sun-baked bricks made up the core of the ziggurat with facings of fired bricks on the outside. The facings were often glazed in different colors!

11. C/S’s grew wealthy from surplus food & start trading Cities spread & so does cultural diffusion - (new idea/product spreads from one culture to another)

12. Religion * Polytheistic - many gods Gods all powerful & immortal w/ humans as slaves, fatalistic, pessimistic (build ziggarats, offer sacrifice of animals,wine) Enlil- god of storms/air, controls cosmos & man

14. Social class structure! Kings, priests, landowners Wealthy merchants Field workers Slaves (sold as kids or pows) ****Women had rights! Could own property, be merchants, etc!!!***

15. Cuneiform Arches, columns, ramps, pyramid shape design Dev number system base 60 (time, 360) Invented wheel, plow, sail and use bronze Inventions & ideas develop from needs!!

16. At war from 3000-2000 bc. Never recover, but don’t die out. Succeeding rulers use Sumerian culture

17. Akkadians

18. Akkadians & Sargon 2350 BC: SARGON of AKKAD (city-state in N) conquers city-states of Sumer Controls Meso & creates first EMPIRE (brings together people, nations, independent states under 1 ruler) ( From Med coast to Iran ) Fell apart due to invasions, fighting after 200 years

19. AKKAD

20. 2000 BC nomad Ammorites invade & est Babylon 1792-1750 BC- Hammurabi of Babylon creates uniform code of laws, carved in stone, posted all over To bring about the rule of righteousness in the land, to destroy the wicked and the evil doers, so that the strong should not harm the weak

21. 282 specific laws listed under headings: trade, business, marriage, family Severe punishments apply to all (but different for rich & poor, men & women)

22. Hittites 2000 BC Hittites appear from Anatolia (high, rocky platuea w/ minerals, timber in Turkey) Indo-European speakers. Separate city states create empire (Hattusas capital) Invade T/E around 1600 BC

24. Tactics: 1st to work iron into weapons (had charcoal & iron ore) 2 wheeled chariots, wood frame, leather covered, 2-4 horses Stalemate w/ Egyptians

26. Phonecians Don’t’ write! 1100 BC- Lebanon today ! Merchants, traders & seafarers who built CS’s that competed w/ each other (Byblos, Tyre, Sidon) all over Med ( sail as far as GB & around Africa) Trade goods (wine, weapons, metals), superb craftsmen (red/purple dye, wood, ivory)

28. Create alphabet: phonetic w/ one pic for one sound Introduced to trade partners

29. LYDIANS Mostly in Anatolia (Tur) 1st to coin money of gold & silver btw 700 BC to 550 BC. Traders ( coins stamped w/ king’s symbol of lion head & sunburst ) Destroyed by Persians

30. 300 miles N Mesopotamia Aggressive, cruel, constant warfare to expand * Defeat Syria, Palestine, Egypt Babylonia, Sumer btw 1000 & 650 BC Assyrians

32. Military Tactics Iron helmets/leather skirts w/ scales, iron swords & iron tipped spears, shields span rivers w/ pontoons, floating bridges Dig under walls to weaken them (sappers)

35. March shoulder to shoulder, shoot arrows, climb ladders. Impale/ behead those not killed in battle, *women, kids murdered sold into slavery

36. Ruling Power Officials govern land closest to Assyria as provinces, made dependent & chose their rulers (governors report to central authority) Pay taxes & tribute, destroyed if don’t

37. Don’t Write! Ninevah : Walled city 3 miles wide, 1 mi long Carvings of military campaigns King Ashurbanipal created library w/ 20,000 tablets from FC (organized by room, subject matter)

38. destroyed by Chaldeans

39. 612 BC-538 BC Chaldeans (aka Neo-Babylonians) invade Assyria destroy Nineveh Made Babylon capital (1000 yrs after Hammurabi) & restore city Nebuchadnezzar built Hanging Gardens of Babylon study astronomy (chart star positions) from ziggurat Destroyed by Persians

41. Built garden to please his wife Amytis of Media , who longed for the trees and fragrant plants of her homeland. [1] Gardens destroyed by earthquakes. 100 feet ( long by 100 ft wide & built in tiers so that it resembled a theatre. Vaults constructed under the terraces carried weight of the planted garden; Highest part garden, (75 feet) was on the same level as the city walls. Roofs of vaults supported the garden made of stone beams 16 ft long,. Laid over these were a layer of reeds set in thick tar, then two courses of baked brick bonded by cement, & finally a covering of lead to prevent the moisture in the soil penetrating the roof.. The earth was levelled off & t planted w/ every kind of tree. Galleries were sunlit, & contained conduits for the water which was raised by pumps from the river, though no one outside could see it being done

42. Persians * Today: Iran (Caspian Sea to Persian Gulf) *fertile farmland w/ many minerals (gold, silver, copper, lead lapis lazuli)

43. 550 BC Cyrus the Great conquers from Indus to Anatolia Kind, tolerant, honors local customs traditions, religions, Allowed Jews to return to Israel

44. Don’t Write! 530 BC Son Cyrus’ Cambyses conquers Egypt & is cruel,dies. Brother Smerdis (fake, tries to take over) Darius knows he is a fake Darius , (522 BC) noble in king’s body guard, seized throne w/ help of elite soldiers & puts down revolts Conquest!! Conquers & controls 2500 miles (Afghanistan into India)

45. Darius

46. * Persia div into 20 provinces, using homelands, keep their religion, languages & laws Use satrap - gov to rule locally, plus a mili leader & tax collector & use spies

47. Royal Road 1677 miles (messenger relays) METAL coins

48. Zoroastrianism Religion started by Zoroaster (600 BC. Prophet) Earth is battleground btw spirit of good (light) & evil (darkness) Each person part of struggle Ahura Mazda judges everyone at end of time on how well you fought

50. Hebrews, Israel and Judaism

51. Palestine east end of Med Sea Hebrews lived in Canaan (btw Jordan R & Med Sea) Crossroads- seaports on Red & Med Seas

52. Torah tells story of Hebrews (1 st 5 books of Heb/Christian bible * 1800 BC Abraham chosen by God to lead/be the “father” of Hebrews, wanders for for years.

53. *Don’t write!! *believe in 1 god Yaweh, (Monotheism) *had power over all people *God looked after Hebrews & get homeland ( Canaan ) if they obeyed ( covenant: mutual promise)

54. Don’t write! Grandson Jacob (aka Israel) had 12 sons, each was leader of 12 tribes of Israel. 1600 BC Joseph led them to Egypt, enslaved 1230 BC? Moses led them out of Egypt, (the Exodus) wandered for 40 years. Given 10 commandments (social & religious behavior, new covenant) Return to promised land

55. Don’t Write!! God’s mercy Live justly with one another Moral life in god’s laws Worship 1 god no one above law 62 old

58. Hebrews return to Canaan 1020-922 Israel unites under 3 kings 1025 BC: Saul drives out Philistines (1 st king of Israelites)

59. King David- unite tribes, est Jerusalem King Solomon- built trade empire on Med & big Temple in Jerusalem for the Ark of the Covenant (holds 10 commandments)

61. Solomon's projects raised taxes, strain all Jews in N revolt after Solomon dies & divides in half: Judah in S & Israel in N

62. Judah & Israel Fall (DON”T WRITE) 783 BC: tribute to Assyria 722 BC: Israel falls 586 BC: Neb destroys Judah & Jerusalem. Jews exiled to Babylon ( Babylonian Captivity )

63. 539 BC: Cyrus the Great (Persia) conquers Babylon & allows Jews to return Jerusalem rebuilt 445 BC, but later taken by Greeks, then Romans