Four Empires- Politics in Mesopotamia

Four Empires of Mesopotamia

City-states

• Independent political areas formed with civilization

• Kings ruled claiming divine right (descended from gods)

• Established laws- must be followed or face punishment

• Traded with other city- states

• Began to fight over resources and land

• Led to empire building

Open Ended

Why would the city-states fight over resources and land?

Empire mania

The first Empire to rule all of Mesopotamia was the Akkadian Empire under Sargon the Great. He did this through conquest.

He was king of Kish. Conquered most of Mesopotamia by its height. Lasted about 20 years.

After the fall of the Akkadian Empire, two new empires rose to power. They were the Babylonians in the south and the Assyrians to the north.

Open Ended

Put the timeline in order: You only need to write the dates in the correct order.

616 BCE Neo-Babylonian Empire

1360 BCE Assyrian Empire

550 BCE Persian Empire

2300 BCE Akkadian Empire

1792 BCE Babylonian Empire

Timeline of empires

2300 to 2100 BCE Akkadian Empire

1792 BCE Babylonian Empire

1360 BCE Assyrian Empire

616 BCE Neo-Babylonian Empire

550 BCE Persian Empire takes over Mesopotamia

Multiple Choice

The first empire in Mesopotamia was the

• Sumerians

• Assyrians

• Akkadians

• Babylonians

Multiple Select

The two empires after the Akkadians were ___

• Babylonians

• Sumerians

• Assyrians

• Romans

Babylonians

Hammurabi of Babylon would eventually bring both northern and southern Mesopotamia under his control.

Hammurabi had a code (laws) he used to control his empire.

His was the 1st written code. Laws before were not written down. Writing the laws was important because now everyone knew what was expected of them. The code was had harsh punishments in order to create fear and obedience. Needed to control groups of people with different cultures and beliefs.

Multiple Choice

__________ united Mesopotamia under the Babylonian Empire.

• Sargon

• Hammurabi

• Akkad

• Tigris

New rulers in Mesopotamia

After the Babylonians fell, the Assyrians took control of Mesopotamia until the rise of a neo (new) Babylonian Empire.

Assyrian Empire had a military focus. Their land stretched from the Persian Gulf to parts of the Nile. Too large for the military to keep under control.

Neo-Babylonian or Chaldean Empire was ruled by King Nebuchadnezzar. It was known for huge building projects like the Hanging Gardens of Babylon

However, the Persians would eventually come from outside of Mesoptamia and conquer the land ending the rule of Babylonians and Assyrians.

Open Ended

What were some reasons that the empires rose then fell?

Multiple Select

The __________ would conquer the land of Mesopotamia and end the rule of both Babylon and Assyria.

• Persians

• Sumerians

• Akkadians

• Greeks