Topic 2- Empires in Mesopotamia Flashcards
When did Sargon, the ruler of neighboring Akkad, invade and conquer the city-states of Sumer?
About 2300 B.C.
What’s an empire?
A group or regions or countries that are controlled by one ruler or government.
Who built the first empire known to history?
Sargon.
What do scholars link the decline of the Akkadian empire to?
Changes in rainfall. Severe drought led people from the dry north to migrate into the irrigated lands of southern Mesopotamia.
What is Hammurabi’s Code?
282 laws carves on a stone pillar for all to see containing 41 criminal and 241 civil laws.
Who was Hammurabi?
King of Babylon around 1790 B.C.
Many laws in the civil code, Hammurabi’s code, were designed to protect which population?
The powerless: women and slaves.
What was the expectation of husband and wife?
Wives: Wives were expected to remain in her husband’s home and be dependent on him.
Husbands Husbands had the legal duty to support their wives.
What did Babylonians believe was essential for a stable empire?
An orderly household, headed by a strong male authority.
Some laws allowed women to own property and pass it on to her children. (True or False)
True.
Aside from Hammurabi’s Code, what else was Hammurabi known for?
He improved irrigation systems, organized a well-trained army and ordered the repair of many temples.
Where were the Hittites from?
They were pushed out of Asia Minor into Mesopotamia.
How did the Hittites contribute to technology?
They learned how to extract iron from ore. Tools and weapons made with iron were harder and had sharper edges.
What contributed to the start of the Iron Age?
The Hittites’ empire collapsed around 1200 B.C. and the ironsmiths migrated to other places to serve new customers. Migration, trade and conquest.
Who were the Assyrians?
Hardy nomads who had settled on the upper Tigris as early as 2000 B.C. They built a city-state after their chief god, Assur, and acquired iron tech.
Assyrians were known as one of the most warlike people in history. (True or False)
True.
Who was Nebuchadnezzar?
King who revived the power of Babylon. He oversaw the rebuilding of the canals, temples, walls and palaces of Babylon. He is said to have built the famous Hanging Gardens (known as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world).
In what year did Babylon fall to the Persian armies of Cyrus the Great?
539 B.C.
Which leader set up a bureaucracy in the Persian Empire?
Darius I.
What is a bureaucracy?
A system of managing government through various bureaus or departments run by appointed officials.
Darius I divided the empire into provinces. Who headed each province?
A governor called a satrap.
Each satrapy, or province, had to pay taxes based on its resources and wealth. (True or False)
True.
What were special officials called?
“the Eyes and Ears of the King”
What was the purpose of royal roads?
To improve communication/connect.
