The document summarizes the major civilizations that arose in Mesopotamia between 5000 BC and 600 BC. It describes how the Akkadians, led by Sargon, created the world's first empire by conquering the Sumerian city-states in 2300 BC. It then discusses the Old Babylonian Empire established by Hammurabi around 1800 BC, who created one of the earliest known code of laws. Later, the Assyrians rose to power in Mesopotamia between 1100 BC to 612 BC, creating a large empire through aggressive conquest. Finally, the Neo-Babylonian or Chaldean Empire was established in Mesopotamia after the fall of Assyria

1. THE FIRST RIVER VALLEYCIVILIZATION
PART II

2. MESOPOTAMIA:
“THE CRADLE OF CIVILIZATION”

3. AKKAD
Akkad was inhabited by a
people who had migrated
there from Arabia around 5000
BC. Lived a Neolithic lifestyle
and had some trade contacts
with Sumer
Around 2300 BC they were
united under the rule of a
warrior-chieftain named
Sargon, who then led them
in a successful invasion of
Sumer—he took over all the
city-states there in a little
over a year
Using Sumer as his power
base, he then conquered
rest of Mesopotamia and
the Mediterranean coast of
the Middle East—creating
world’s first empire

4. OLD BABYLONIAN EMPIRE
• UR’S DOMINANCE CAME TO AN END WHEN THE CITY-STATE OF
BABYLON SEIZED CONTROL OVER MOST OF THE REGION
– AROUND 1800 BC
– CITY-STATE CONTROLLED BY THE AMORITES
• TRIBE FROM ARABIA THAT HAD MOVED INTO MESOPOTAMIA
EARLIER
– MOST FAMOUS RULER WAS HAMMURABI
– CREATED THE “OLD BABYLONIAN EMPIRE”

5. RELIGION
• MESOPOTAMIANS WERE
POLYTHEISTIC
– BELIEVED IN
NUMEROUS GODS AND
GODDESSES, EACH
WITH A SPECIAL
FUNCTION
• GODS WERE OFTEN
CRUEL, VINDICTIVE, PETTY,
AND UNPREDICTABLE
– SO MESOPOTAMIANS
WENT TO GREAT
LENGTHS TO KEEP
THEM APPEASED
Mespotamian God: Marduk

6. ZIGGURAT
• NEVER MADE AN IMPORTANT DECISION WITHOUT FIRST CONSULTING THE GODS
– THROUGH PRIESTS WHO CONSULTED THE STARS OR ENGAGED IN AUGURY
• BUILT HUGE TEMPLE IN CENTER OF CITY FOR PATRON GOD
– CALLED A ZIGGURAT
– BELIEVED THAT GOD ACTUALLY LIVED IN IT
– ALSO SERVED AS ECONOMIC CENTER, SINCE ZIGGURAT PRIESTS CONTROLLED
ALL THE LAND IN CITY-STATE AND ADMINISTERED IT IN THE GOD’S NAME

7. THE BABYLONIAN EMPIRES

8. BABYLONIANS
1830-1500 BCE
KING HAMMURABI
• CONQUERED AKKAD AND ASSYRIA
• BUILT
– WALLS TO PROTECT THE CITY
– CANALS AND DIKES TO IMPROVE CROPS
• ECONOMY BASED ON AGRICULTURE AND
WOOL
• INDIVIDUALS COULD OWN LAND
• ARTISANS AND MERCHANTS COULD KEEP
MOST PROFITS AND EVEN FORMED GUILDS
• GRAIN USED AS THE MEDIUM OF EXCHANGE
– EMERGENCE OF CURRENCY:
• SHEKEL = 180 GRAINS OF BARLEY;
• MINA = 60 SHEKELS
• MINA WAS EVENTUALLY REPRESENTED BY
METALS - ONE OF FIRST USES OF MONEY
– STILL BASED ON GRAIN
• HAMMURABI’S LEGACY
– LAW CODE
•BABYLONIANS REUNITED MESOPOTAMIA IN
1830 BCE
• CENTRAL LOCATION DOMINATED TRADE AND
SECURED CONTROL
• YET AGAIN, MESOPOTAMIA WAS NOT UNIFIED
FOR LONG…

9. HAMMURABI’S
CODE
• TO ENFORCE HIS RULE, HAMMURABI COLLECTED ALL THE
LAWS OF BABYLON IN A CODE THAT WOULD APPLY
EVERYWHERE
• FIRST AND MOST EXTENSIVE LAW CODE FROM THE ANCIENT
WORLD
• CODE OF 282 LAWS INSCRIBED ON A STONE PILLAR PLACED IN
THE PUBLIC HALL FOR ALL TO SEE
• THE STONE MEASURED 2.25 METRES AND CONTAINS 282 LAWS
DELIVERED BY THE GOD OF JUSTICE, SHAMASH.
• SET OF DIVINELY INSPIRED LAWS; AS WELL AS SOCIETAL LAWS
• PUNISHMENTS WERE DESIGNED TO FIT THE CRIMES AS
PEOPLE MUST BE RESPONSIBLE FOR OWN ACTIONS
• WOMEN WERE LEGALLY SUBSERVIENT TO MEN
• WOMEN AND CHILDREN WERE COMPLETELY UNDER THE
POWER OF THE MALE HEAD OF THE FAMILY
• BASED ON LEGAL PRINCIPLE OF “EYE FOR AN EYE, TOOTH
FOR A TOOTH”
– THEREFORE VERY BRUTAL IN TERMS OF PUNISHMENTS
• DEGREE OF INEQUALITY BUILT INTO THE CODE
– STATUS AFFECTED PUNISHMENT
• CONSEQUENCES FOR CRIME DEPENDED ON RANK IN SOCIETY
– POOR = HAND OFF, NOBLES = PAY A FINE

10. ON THE LEFT IS A STELA, WHICH HAS ALL 282 OF
HAMMURABI’S LAWS ENGRAVED ON IT. THIS STELA IS
LOCATED IN THE LOUVRE MUSEUM IN PARIS,
FRANCE.
THE HAMMURABI STELA WAS DISCOVERED IN 1909, IN
SUSA, ELAM, WHICH IS NOW KHUZESTAN.
KHUZESTAN IS A PROVINCE OF SOUTHERN IRAN.
SUSA
STELAS CONTAINING HAMMURABI’S LAW CODE
WERE ERECTED THROUGHOUT THE MESOPOTAMIA
RIVER VALLEY.
HAMMURABI, THE JUDGE
THE ARTICLES OF THE LAW
ARE WRITTEN IN THE STONE.
AT THE TOP THE KING IS
RECEIVING THE LAW FROM
THE HANDS OF THE GOD.

11. MESOPOTAMIAN RELIGION
• THE RELIGION WAS POLYTHEISTIC.
• EACH CITY HAD DIFFERENT GODS, THOUGH
SOME WERE COMMON.
• AMONG THESE WE CAN SEE:
AUN (SKY GOD AND FATHER OF THE GODS);
ENKI (GOD OF THE EARTH);
NANNAR (MOON GODDESS);
UTU (SUN GOD);
INANNA (LOVE GODDESS);
EA (CREATOR OF THE MEN);
ENLIL (WIND GOD).
IN THE SEVENTEENTH
CENTURY B.C. KING
HAMMURABI UNITED THE
STATE, MADE BABYLON
THE CAPITAL OF THE
EMPIRE AND IMPOSED
MARDUK AS A MAIN GOD.

12. MESOPOTAMIAN SCIENCE
• DEVISED MULTIPLICATION AND DIVISION TABLES AND
FORMULAS FOR FINDING CUBE AND CUBE ROOT
• MEASURED CIRCLES BY DIVIDING THEM INTO 360 DEGREES
• DEVELOPED SCIENCE OF ASTRONOMY
– CAREFULLY OBSERVED AND RECORDED POSITIONS OF
PLANETS AND STARS

13. MESOPOTAMIAN MEDICINE
• BELIEVED ILLNESS WAS CAUSED BY
DEMONS ENTERING THE BODY OF
AFFLICTED PERSON
– DEVISED A NUMBER OF WAYS TO
DRIVE THE DEMON OUT AND THUS
“CURE” THE PATIENT
• CHANTS AND MAGIC SPELLS
• ALSO BELIEVED THAT HORRIBLE
TASTING CONCOCTIONS WOULD DRIVE
THE DEMON OUT
– SOME HAD SOME REAL MEDICINAL
VALUE

14. MESOPOTAMIAN FRINGES – THE HITTITES
• BEGAN TO CONQUER ASIA
MINOR (2000 BCE)
• A STRONG ARMY WITH
CHARIOTS
• CONQUERED BABYLON IN 1595
BCE)
• BORROWED FROM
MESOPOTAMIAN AND
EGYPTIAN CULTURE
• HAD A LAW CODE LESS HARSH
THAN HAMMURABI’S
• LASTED UNTIL ABOUT 1200 BCE

15. MESOPOTAMIAN FRINGES – THE HITTITES
• 1650 BCE: HITTITES IN
ANATOLIA
• TERRITORIAL EXPANSION
• MONARCH: CHIEF PRIEST
OF ALL GODS (“LAND OF
A THOUSAND GODS”)
CULTURAL ACHIEVEMENTS:
• TRANSMISSION OF
ANCIENT
MESOPOTAMIAN IDEAS
TO GREEKS
• AWARENESS OF HISTORY

16. ASSYRIANS
1100 -612 BCE

17. ASSYRIANS
• ASSYRIANS WERE
ORIGINALLY A TRIBE FROM
ARABIA WHO SETTLED IN
NORTHERN MESOPOTAMIA
AROUND 1100 BC
– EXTREMELY AGGRESSIVE
– CONQUERED ALL OF
MIDDLE EAST AND EGYPT
BY 900 BC

18. ASSYRIANS
• STARTED TO GAIN
STRENGTH ABOUT 900
BCE
• POWERFUL ARMY
• TREATED CONQUERED
PEOPLE CRUELLY
• LARGE EMPIRE WITH
GOOD ROADS
• COLLAPSED ABOUT 612
BCE

19. ASSYRIANS - NASTY GUYS
• ASSYRIANS TERRORIZED SUBJECTS INTO
OBEDIENCE
– ROUTINELY EMPLOYED BRUTAL
TERROR: MASS EXECUTIONS, MASS
MUTILATIONS, TORTURE, AND MASSIVE
DESTRUCTION OF FARMLAND AND
CITIES
• POLICY WORKED FOR A LONG TIME
BUT IT PLANTED DEEP AND INTENSE
RESENTMENTS IN THE HEARTS OF
THEIR SUBJECTS
– REMAINED OUTWARDLY
OBEDIENT WHILE WAITING FOR
ASSYRIANS TO WEAKEN IN
ORDER TO GET REVENGE

20. CHALDEANS (NEO-BABYLONIANS)
• DEFEATED THE ASSYRIANS IN
ABOUT 612 BCE
• DESCENDED FROM
HAMMURABI’S BABYLONIANS
• AT ITS HEIGHT DURING THE RULE
OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR (605-562
BCE)
– SPENT A LOT OF MONEY ON
BABYLON
– BUILT HANGING GARDENS
• EMPIRE COLLAPSED IN 539 BCE
AFTER BEING DEFEATED BY THE
PERSIANS

21. CHALDEANS (NEO-
BABYLONIANS)
• CHALDEANS WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR
REBUILDING BABYLON AND ESTABLISHED A
NEW EMPIRE
• OVER 1,000 YEARS AFTER HAMMURABI, A
NEW KING NAMED NEBUCHADNEZZAR
RESTORED THE CITY
• THE MOST FASCINATING PART OF THE
RESTORED CITY WAS THE HANGING
GARDENS, CREDITED AS ONE OF THE SEVEN
WONDERS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD
• THE CHALDEANS WERE ALSO KNOWN FOR
THEIR STUDY OF ASTRONOMY AND
ASTROLOGY—AT NIGHT PRIESTS OBSERVED
AND KEPT DETAILED RECORDS OF HOW
STARS AND PLANETS SEEMED TO CHANGE
POSITIONS IN THE NIGHT SKY
• THEY ALSO CONCLUDED THE SUN, MOON,
EARTH AND FIVE OTHER PLANETS WERE ALL
PART OF THE SAME SOLAR SYSTEM
• THE CHALDEAN EMPIRE FELL SOON AFTER
NEBUCHADNEZZAR’S DEATH

22. CHALDEAN EMPIRE
• CHALDEANS THEN CREATED EMPIRE, HEADQUARTERED IN BABYLON
– CALLED THE “NEW BABYLONIAN EMPIRE”
– REACHED ITS PEAK DURING THE REIGN OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR
• TURNED BABYLON INTO MOST MAGNIFICENT CITY IN THE ANCIENT WORLD
– HANGING GARDENS
– ISHTAR GATE

23. SOCIETY
• MESOPOTAMIAN SOCIETY WAS DIVIDED BETWEEN FREE MEN AND
SLAVES.
• THE SOCIETY WAS ORGANIZED IN A PYRAMID WITH THE KING AT THE
VERY TOP AND SLAVES AT THE VERY BOTTOM.

24. SOCIETY
IN THIS PHOTO, THE KING NARAM-SIM
OF AKAD.
THE KING WAS THE REPRESENTATIVE
OF THE GODS.
THE KING WAS THE MILITARY
COMMANDER AND PARTICIPATED IN
RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES.
WITHIN THE PYRAMID BELOW THE KING, WE
FIND THE PRIESTS, GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS,
SOLDIERS AND TRADERS.
FURTHER DOWN THE PYRAMID, WE FIND
FARMERS. THEIR LAND WAS OWNED BY THE
NOBILITY OR THE CHURCH AND THE FARMERS
HAD TO DELIVER PART OF THE HARVEST TO
THE TEMPLE AND THE PALACE.
FINALLY WE FIND THE SLAVES AT THE
BOTTOM. THEY WERE MOSTLY PRISONERS OF
WAR.

26. BABYLON
• AFTER THE FALL OF NINEVEH
IN 612 BC AND THE END OF
THE ASSYRIAN CIVILIZATION,
FOCUS OF MESOPOTAMIAN
CIVILIZATION SHIFTED TO OLD
BABYLON
• A NEW DYNASTY OF KINGS,
INCLUDING
NEBUCHADNEZZAR, REVIVED
OLD BABYLONIAN CULTURE TO
CREATE A NEO-BABYLONIAN
CIVILIZATION
• OLD SUMERIAN CITIES WERE
REBUILT

27. BABYLONIAN ARCHITECTURE
• THE CAPITAL OLD BABYLON WAS
ENLARGED AND HEAVILY
FORTIFIED
• IT WAS ALSO ADORNED WITH
MAGNIFICENT NEW BUILDINGS
• THE TRADITIONAL STYLE OF
MESOPOTAMIAN BUILDING
REACHED ITS PEAK DURING THE
PERIOD
• TRADITIONAL BUILDING WAS
ENHANCED BY A NEW FORM OF
FAÇADE ORNAMENT CONSISTING
OF FIGURES DESIGNED IN
COLORED GLAZED BRICK WORK

28. BABYLONIAN ARCHITECTURE – CITY OF BABYLON
• THE CITY OF BABYLON IS
SHAPED IN THE FORM OF A
QUADRANGLE SITTING
ACROSS AND PIERCED BY
THE EUPHRATES
• THE CITY WAS SURROUNDED
BY A FORTIFICATION OF
DOUBLE WALLS
• THESE HAD DEFENSIVE
TOWERS THAT PROJECT
WELL ABOVE THE WALLS

29. BABYLONIAN ARCHITECTURE – CITY OF BABYLON
• THE WALLS ALSO HAD A
LARGE MOAT IN FRONT,
WHICH WAS ALSO USED FOR
NAVIGATION
• THE LENGTH OF THE WALL
AND MOAT IS ABOUT FIVE
AND A QUARTER MILES
• THE CITY HAD A PALACE,
NEBUCHADNEZZAR’S
PALACE, LOCATED ON ITS
NORTHERN SIDE ON THE
OUTER WALL

30. HANGING GARDENS OF BABYLON
• ONE OF THE SEVEN WONDERS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD.
• THEY WERE BUILT BY THE KING NEBUCHADNEZZAR II AROUND 600 B.C.
• THE GARDENS WERE CONSTRUCTED TO PLEASE HIS PERSIAN QUEEN
AMYTIS WHO LONGED FOR THE TREES AND FRAGANT PLANTS OF HER
HOMELAND.

31. HANGING GARDENS OF BABYLON
IT CREATED A SERIES OF STONE TERRACES IN WHICH TREES AND
VARIOUS PLANTS WERE PLANTED TO RECREATE THE GREEN HILLS OF THE
PERSIAN LANDSCAPE THE QUEEN WOULD NOT MISS THE LAND WHERE
SHE GREW UP

32. ISHTAR GATE
 IT IS ONE OF EIGHT
LARGE DOORS OF THE
CITY WALLS OF
BABYLON.
 THIS GATE WAS
DEDICATED TO THE
GODDESS ISHTAR.
 IT WAS BUILT IN 575 B.C.
BY KING
NEBUCHADNEZZAR II.

33. ISHTAR GATE
• FROM THE PALACE ORIGINATED A
PROCESSION STREET THAT CUTS
THROUGH THE CITY RAISED
ABOVE THE GROUND TO THE
TOWER OF BABEL
• THE PROCESSION STREET ENTERS
THE CITY THROUGH THE FAMOUS
ISHTAR GATE
• THE ISHTAR GATE IS BUILT
ACROSS THE DOUBLE WALLS OF
THE CITY FORTIFICATION
• THE GATE HAD A PAIR OF
PROJECTING TOWERS ON EACH
WALL

34. ISHTAR GATE
• ALL THE FACADES OF GATES
AND ADJOINING STREETS
WERE FACED WITH BLUE
GLAZED BRICKS AND
ORNAMENTED WITH FIGURES
OF HERALDIC ANIMALS-LIONS,
BULLS, AND DRAGONS
• THESE WERE MODELED IN
RELIEF AND GLAZED IN OTHER
COLORS
• NONE OF THE BUILDINGS OF
OLD BABYLON HAS SURVIVED
TO THE PRESENT AGE

35. ISHTAR GATE
 IT IS MADE OF BRICK,
MOST OF THEM BLUE AND
INCLUDES IMAGES OF
DRAGONS, BULLS, LIONS
AND MYTHOLOGICAL
BEINGS.
 THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL
REMAINS WERE
DISCOVERED BY GERMAN
ARCHAEOLOGISTS
BETWEEN 1902 AND 1914.

36. ISHTAR GATE
 MOST OF THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL REMAINS WERE TAKEN TO GERMANY,
WHERE THEY WERE RECONSTRUCTED IN THE PERGAMO MUSEUM.
 DURING THE TIME OF SADDAM HUSSEIN'S RULE, THE GOVERNMENT
REBUILT A REPLICA OF THE GATE AT THE ORIGINAL SITE.

38. ARCHITECTURE IN THE CITY OF BABYLON
• NEBUCHADNEZZAR’S PALACE
COVERED A LAND AREA OF 900 FEET
BY 600 FEET
• IT HAD ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICES,
BARRACKS, THE KING’S HAREM,
PRIVATE APARTMENT ALL ARRANGED
AROUND FIVE COURTYARDS
• THE PALACE IS ALSO PRAISED FOR ITS
LEGENDARY HANGING GARDEN
• THIS IS RECORDED AS ONE OF THE
SEVEN WONDERS OF THE ANCIENT
WORLD, BUT EXACT KNOWLEDGE OF
THE NATURE OF THIS GARDEN IS NOT
KNOWN

39. ARCHITECTURE IN THE CITY OF BABYLON
• TEMPLES AND TOWERS WERE ALSO
PROMINENT ARCHITECTURAL
ELEMENTS OF BABYLON
• THE LEGENDARY TOWER OF BABEL
LOCATED AT THE END OF
PROCESSION STREET IS
MENTIONED IN THE CHRISTIAN
BIBLE
• THERE IS ALSO NO INFORMATION
ABOUT THE DESIGN AND
CONSTRUCTION OF THE TOWER
• MOST OF WHAT IS AVAILABLE ON
THE TOWER IS HYPOTHETICAL

40. LEGACIES OF MESOPOTAMIA
• CODIFIED LAWS
• ZIGGURATS – PLACES OF WORSHIP
• CUNEIFORM WRITING
• IRRIGATION
• METAL WORKING, TOOLS
• TRADE NETWORKS
• TRANSPORTATION – THE WHEEL
• MATHEMATICS AND CALENDAR
• PROSPEROUS LIVING BASED ON
LARGE SCALE AGRICULTURE

41. PERSIANS
• CHALDEAN EMPIRE WEAKENED
AFTER NEBUCHADNEZZAR’S
DEATH AND WAS OVER-RUN BY
THE PERSIANS
– INDO-EUROPEAN PEOPLE,
ORIGINALLY FROM
SOUTHERN RUSSIA
– LED BY CYRUS THE GREAT
– CREATED LARGEST EMPIRE
IN THE WORLD UP UNTIL
THAT TIME

42. PERSIAN EMPIRE

43. SUMMARY
• MIDDLE EASTERN CIVILIZATIONS DEMONSTRATED ENORMOUS CREATIVITY AND
INTELLIGENCE
– BUILT MAGNIFICENT CITIES, ORGANIZED GOVERNMENTS, PERFORMED
SOPHISTICATED MATHEMATICS, BUILT MASSIVE PUBLIC MONUMENTS, ENGAGED
IN INTERNATIONAL TRADE, ESTABLISHED SCHOOLS, ADVANCED THE LEVEL OF
TECHNOLOGY, AND INVENTED WRITING
• BUT THESE CIVILIZATIONS ALSO INTRODUCED NEGATIVE ASPECTS
– INEQUALITY, SLAVERY, AND THE ROUTINE USE OF WAR TO OBTAIN POLITICAL
GOALS
• INTRODUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT OF CIVILIZATION WAS A MIXED BLESSING
– BROUGHT AMAZING BENEFITS BUT ALSO INTRODUCED PROBLEMS THAT
REMAIN UNRESOLVED TODAY