Chapter 2.1 & 2.2 Flashcards
Describe Sargon’s Empire:
When? How long did it last?
What did it have?
Why do we remember Sargon’s Empire?
What did this do to Sumerian culture?
Around 2330 BC. Lasted 100 years.
Created first permanent army
Established world’s first empire
Spread Sumerian culture far beyond Tigris and Euphrates valleys
After the Hittites, what group came to the region?
The Assyrians became the supreme power in the region
What did the Phoenicians invent?
What did they trade?
Invented glassblowing
Exports: ivory, silver, slaves
Where did the Chaldeans make their capital?
Who was the rule of the Chaldeans?
What did he build?
Babylon, capital of their new empire
Nebuchadnezzar II - Warrior and builder
Build the Hanging Gardens of Babylon
After the Assyrians, which group came next?
The Chaldeans
What had the Hittites done?
What did they possess?
The Hittites had build strong empire in Asia Minor (now Turkey)
They had horse-drawn war chariot and new techniques
Describe 4 aspects of Assyrian rule
Efficient system
Local leaders
System of roads
Brutal with opposition
Describe Phoenician society.
How did people live?
Phoenicia was a Trading Society
Farming difficult
Trade and sea for livelihood
Expert sailors
Founded colonies on routes
Trade brought great wealth
The arid grasslands north of Black Sea were called ____________
Steppes
Describe the Assyrians:
Where from?
What was their culture?
When was their empire?
What geographic did they occupy?
Assyrians from Northern Mesopotamia
Adopted Sumerian culture
New empire in 900 BC
Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, Egypt
Describe Chaldean culture
Admired ancient Sumerian culture
Developed calendar; advances in astronomy
What were the 2 empires that adapted Sumerian culture?
Sargon’s Empire
Babylonian Empire
Describe the cities of Sumer:
When developed?
What kind of structures?
How were cities organized?
What shaped life in Sumer?
What kind of religion? Who had the highest status?
What were the rulers?
Sumer:
Large cities developed by 4000 BC
Structures made of mud bricks, like ZIggurat (pyramid shaped typle)
Each city and its land formed a city-state, with its own government
Religion and Government shaped life in city-states
Polytheism: worship of many gods. Priests had highest status
War chiefs ruled as kings. Dynasty - rules from 1 family
Describe these features of Sumerian culture:
Writing?
Arts>
Math & sciences?
Trade & society?
Writing: Cuneiform. Had business accounts & records. Had scribes. Had law, grammar & literature.
Arts: arches, ramps & columns. Scuplture. Cylinder seals.
Math & Sciences: system based on 60. Had geometry. First ot use the wheel. Invented the plow. Basic surgery.
Trade & Society: Traded for wood & metals. Social hierarch. Distincy male/female roles.
How did the Assyrians hold onto power?
What were the Assyrians like?
Assyrians were WAR MACHINE.
Warrior society
Had war chariots, foot soldiers
Masters of seige warfare
Used terror
Describe the Hittite Culture
What objects did they have?
When was their rule?
Hittites blended their culture with cultures around them.
First to make objects out of IRON
Rule reached peak in 1300s BC
What was the Phoenicians’ greatest achievement?
Who invented this?
Alphabet
Invented by traders to record activities
Adopted by many, including the Greeks
Ancestor of the English language alphabet
What does the term ANCIENT NEAR EAST refer to? Where and when?
What is this region also called?
Cultures that developed in Southwest Asia before about 500 BC
Also called Cradle of Civilization
What geographic area was the heart of the Fertile Crescent?
Vallue of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers
Who came into the region after the Babylonians?
What kind of tribe was they?
The Hittites
Hittites were warlike INDO-EUROPEAN tribe
Why was Fertile Crescent well suited for agriculture?
What were the farming challenges?
What did people do?
Farming in Mesopotamia posed challenges: If water levels too high, crops washed away. If water levels too low, crops died.
People developed methods to control water: canals & dikes. Organization: assigning jobs, allocating resources
Who was king of Babylonian Empire? When?
What did the king do?
What is Babylonian known for? Hint: we saw this in London museum!
Hammurabi became king in 1792 BC
United all of Mesopotamia
HAMMURABI’s CODE: 282 laws covering everything.
Written laws for all to see.
Why did the Babylonian Empire decline?
Who came?
Nomadic tribes moved into the region, drawn by wealth.
Included Indo-Europeans
What group of people created TRADING CENTERS?
Where?
In an area of western Asia called Phoenicia, city-states emerged as
trading centers, and Phoenicians built a wealthy trading society
