Rise and Fall of

Civilization
Babylon

Similarities of Babylon and

Sumer

Farmers
Artisans
Traders
Traded goods with distant parts of the
Fertile Crescent and with Egypt and
India.

Babylonian Women
Had some legal and economic rights,
including property rights.
Women could be merchants or even
scribes.

Geography of Babylon
Located in Southern Mesopotamia
Near the Persian Gulf

The City of Babylon

Massive walled city

Network of Canals
Vivid green crops
300 foot high Ziggurats
Ziggurats were multilevel towers that
served as temples.
Elaborate gates designed with
dragons and bulls

Scientific Advancements
Their astronomers, scholars who studied
the stars and planets, developed a lunar
calendar.
The calendar provided for a 12-month
year, a 7-day week and a 24-hour day.
Created a system of arithmetic based on
the number 60.
Gave us the 60 minute hour and the
360 degree circle.

The Babylonian Empire

Invaders from what is now Syria
conquered the city-states of lower
Mesopotamia.
King named Hammurabi (ruled 17921750 B.C.) became the greatest ruler
of this new empire. He made the city
of Babylon his capital and called his
empire Babylonia.
The conquering of most of the Tigris
and Euphrates dismantled city-states
and brought the region under one rule.

 Explain: For both trade and

agriculture, the Babylonian Empire
was well located.