This document provides an overview of several early civilizations that emerged in Mesopotamia between 3000 BC and 100 BC, including the Sumerians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Persians, Phoenicians, Lydians, and Hebrews/Jews. It describes their origins, locations, cultures, religions, innovations, and important leaders. Key developments discussed include the Sumerians inventing cuneiform writing and innovations like the plow, wheel, and ziggurat temples. The document also outlines the Babylonian code of Hammurabi, Assyrian and Persian empires, Phoenician trade routes, and foundations of Judaism under Moses and the Torah

1. Mesopotamia
Textbook Pages 58-64, 72-75, 78-95

2. Sumerians
Sumer, Kish, Eridu, Uruk, Ur (Near the Persian Gulf)
3000BC
Pictographs Cuneiform, stylus
Arches (keystone), ziggurats  temples baked brick in layers
Invented plow, sailboat, circle in 360 degrees, wheel
Used levees and canals
City-State  each had god(s)
Monarch king, high priests, nobles, merchants, scholars, peasants,
farmers, slaves
Upper-class boys attended school
Polytheism – gods – forces of nature
no reward or punishment after death
Gods: An – god of heaven
Enlil – god of air + storm
Enki – god of water and wisdom
Flood Story – gods are unhappy with human life, send a flood

3. Cuneiform: “Wedge-Shaped”
Writing

4. Gilgamesh Epic Tablet:
Flood Story

5. Ziggurat at Ur
 Temple
 “Mountain
of
the Gods”

6. Babylonians
Akkad, Babylon
1792 BCE
Active Traders, Rights for Women
Adopted culture of Sumerians when
they conquered them
Astronomy/Astrology  Horoscope
Hammurabi Law Code  “eye for an eye”
Hammurabi – efficient leader, cared about
people, wanted Justice
Polytheistic  had Sumerian gods
would sacrifice to gods for favors
Shadowy afterlife like Sumerians
Priests could tell future wealthy

7. Hammurabi’s [r. 1792-1750 B. C. E.]
Code

8. Hammurabi, the Judge

9. Hittites
Asia Minor, IndoEuropean Language
1600BCE-1200BCE
Warlike people invade from Asia Minor
Looted city of Babylon
Retreat to West Fertile Crescent
1st to smelt iron
Only major crimes received death penalty
You could pay fines for penalties
Had significant religious freedom

10. A Balance of Power: 1200 B. C. E.

11. Assyrians
Ashur, Upper Tigris River, Ninevah
2000BCE, 900-650BCE, 700BCE Loot/destroy Babylon, 635BCE Civil War
Semetic Speaking from North Mesopotamia
Adopt Sumerian culture
Fierce effective warriors, 1st to use cavalry, had a standing army
Expand power into Egypt/Fertile Crescent
height of power  Meso, Syria, Palestine, Nile Valley
Latitude//Longitude, Used circle, Medical Science, Mail service
Used terror to control enemies, enslaved people they conquered, killed
enemy soldiers, deport populations cultural diffusion
Governed large Empire
Respect/feared other people’s gods
Gods controlled everything
King of Assyria  responsible only to God Ashur
Nineveh is Capital – double walled for protection
Ashurbanipal’s Library at Nineveh  Epic of Gilgamesh

12. Jewish Captives: 8c BCE

13. Chaldeans
Nineveh, Babylon
612BCE capture Nineveh
Conquer most of Fertile Crescent
Trade, canals, buildings
Hanging Gardens of Babylon
Skilled astronomers predict solar/lunar eclipse
Calculate length of the year
Gate of Ishtar - Goddess
Nebuchadnezzar – Great Leader, builds Hanging Gardens
of Babylon for his homesick wife

14. Persians
Indo-European language, Empire Indus R. to Europe
539-331BCE Finally defeated by Greeks and Alexander the Great
Empire stretched from Indus River to Europe
Road System was used to connect Empire together
Imperial Bureaucracy- gov’t organized into different levels
and tasks with a king at the top.
Cyrus, Darius, Xerxes  expanded Empire
Collected taxes  laws fairly executed
Conquered people  let them keep their religion and
laws
Secret Agents  Keep king informed, governors and military
leaders were kept in check
Zoroastrianism  good vs. evil, either rewarded or
punished in the afterlife. Had influence of Judaism and
Christianity

15. Persian “Royal Road”

16. Zarathustra [Zoroaster], 6c
BCE:
Good Thoughts, Good Deed, Good Words
“Tree of Life”

17. Extent of Zoroastrianism

18. Phoenicians
West Fertile Crescent, “Phoenicia”, Tyre and Sidon =
Seaports, Carthage in Africa - Traders
1000BC
Ships highly skilled sailors, greatest traders
Lumber, skilled metal workers, invented glass blowing
and purple dye
Phoenician Alphabet  spread throughout
Mediterranean. Model for later Western alphabets
City-Stateeach with a different King
Copied culture and government of others (Egyptian and
Babylonians)
Afterlife sacrifice to please the gods, even children
(extreme cases)

19. Phoenician Sea Routes

20. A Phoenician Bireme Ship

21. The “Royal Purple” Dye

22. Carthage: Phoenicia’s
Mightiest Colony

23. Lydians
Asia Minor, West Asian Minor = Lydia
600BC no empire
1st to use coined money  created a money economy
Barter = trading goods or services for other commodities

24. Hebrews/Jews
Canaan, Enslaved in Egypt
After 100BCE Hyksos kicked out Jews are made slaves in Egypt for
400 yrs
Founder  Abraham
Moses  Leads Exodus from Egypt, 10 Commandments
Yahweh (God)  monotheistic
Torah (1st 5 books of Old Testament)  Law Code
Diaspora  the spreading out (forced or voluntary
migration) of Jews from their homeland.

25. Moses and the 10 Commandments
A new “covenant”
with Yahweh