The Fertile Crescent Empire

Chapter 2; Section 2

Vocabulary
Empire: many territories and peoples controlled by one government Babylon: The capital of Babylonia; a city of great wealth and luxury Caravan: A group of travelers journeing together Bazaar: A market of selling different kinds of goods Zoroastrianism: a religion that developed in ancient Persia

The Babylonia Empire

An empire was created when a ruler conquered all of Mesopotamia Being a ruler of an empire gave you great wealth from trade and agriculture

 Hammurabi created the empire of Babylonia in 1787 by conquering cities in Sumer

 Babylonia was the capital of the Babylonian Empire. They built roads throughout the empire These were good because it made travel easier, which encouraged trade

 Caravans or groups of travelers stopped in Babylon on their way between Sumer and Assyria In the citys bazaars, shoppers could buy cotton cloth from India and spices from Egypt Trade made Babylon rich Unfortunately, Babylon was destroyed by invaders in the early 1500s

The Empire of Assyrians

Assyria was in open land and made it easy for others to invade Assyrians became skilled warriors because they were constantly defending themselves They figured the best method of defense was to attack first and they had much success doing this.

Assyrias Contributions
The Assyrians were clever when it came to waging war. They invented the battering ram and slings. As the empire grew, Assyrias capital of Nineveh became a city of great learning. We know a great deal about Mesopotamia because the Assyrians kept records that were written on clay tablets.

Assyria Overthrown
The Assyrians had few friends Conquered people attempted a number of revolts against the Assyrians Two groups, the Medes and the Chaldeans joined together and defeated the Assyrians in B.C.

Babylonia Rises Again

Under the , Babylonia rose again The New Babylonia Empire controlled the entire

Nebuchadnezzer, King of Babylon

He Rebuilt the city of Babylon, which the Assyrians destroyed He put up massive walls for protection He built a gigantic palace, which was built on several terraces and rose to 350 feet. He also had beautiful landscaping and his gardens were part of the Seven Wonders of the World He built this remarkable temple for his wife because she hated the dry plains of Mesopotamia

Advances in Learning
Under the rule of the Chaldeans, Babylon became the center of learning and science The Chaldean astronomers charted the paths of the stars and measured the length of the year. The measurements were similar to what modern scientists have found today. Chaldean farmers raised honey bees Like others, the Chaldeans were open to attack by powerful neighbors and in 539 B.C. the New Babylonian Empire fell to the Persians. Cyrus the Great led the Persians, but the city of Babylon was spared

The Persian Empire

The Persian Empire is know as Iran today. It built the largest empire that the Fertile Crescent had ever known. By 490 B.C. their empire stretched from Greece to India.

A Rich and Tolerant Culture

The Persian culture included Zoroastrians They originally worshipped one god To rule their empire, the Persians developed a bureaucracy, or a complex structure of government.

 They also built a road network which enabled trade with neighboring civilizations They tolerated people with different cultures. They freed Jews who where held captive in Babylon and supported the Babylonian science and mathematics

Lasting Influence
Through conquest and trade , the Persians spread their religion and bureaucracy to neighboring peoples