Conquests and Empires

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Conquests and Empires

• Conflict in the Fertile Crescent

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Causes and Effects of Conflict

• Wars fought to protect farmland and water rights
• Boundaries
• Natural mountains, rivers, etc.
• Political city-states put up pillars to mark
  their land

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More disagreements led to

• More wars
• Greater need for weapons
• New technology, including the war chariot
• More deaths in battle

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Sargon the Conqueror

• Conquered many lands and became emperor of his
  empire (2300 BCE)
• Built the capital city, Akkad, and people were
  known as Akkadians
• Was a strong leader who ruled by force and good
  organization
• Started the first standing army (always ready for
  battle)

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Hammurabi the Lawgiver

• King of Babylon who conquered and reunited
  Mesopotamia
• Created a system of taxation to pay for
  government
• 282 laws covering every aspect of life
• Idea of equal justice for region an eye for an
  eye

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The Assyrians in Mesopotamia

• After the fall of Hammurabis empire, Mesopotamia
  was ruled by many different peoples
• Kassites ruled for 400 years
• Assyrians desire to control trade routes and
  farming lands, conquered and built roads
  throughout the empire
• Medes defeated Assyrians

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Israelites, Phoenicians and Lydians
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The Israelites
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Belief in one God

• Most Mesopotamians believed in many gods
  (polytheism)
• Abram practiced monotheism (belief in only 1 God)
• He moved his family and made a covenant
  (agreement) with God that Abram would promise his
  faith and, in return, his descendants would get
  Canaan
• He became Abraham
• Monotheism was a significant change in religion

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The Ten Commandments

• Israel, Abrahams son, moved from Canaan to Egypt
  during a famine (period of starvation)
• Moses, a leader of the Israelites, led his people
  back to Canaan when they became enslaved
• God gave Moses the Ten Commandments (a set of
  laws for responsible behavior)

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10 Commandments becomes an important part of
Judaism, Christianity and Islam

• The Israelites leave and set up Israel
• The stories of the Israelites make up the first 5
  books of the Bible, known as the Torah

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Phoenicians
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The Alphabet

• Phoenicians occupied the northern part of
  Mesopotamia which had few natural resources
• Sailed to trade
• Developed the alphabet based on the writing of
  others
• Made it easier to keep records, make contracts
  and spread knowledge

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Cultural Diffusion

• Because of the colonies Phoenicia had throughout
  the Mediterranean region, the alphabet spread
  quickly.
• This process is called cultural diffusion.

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The Lydians
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Money

• Bartering was the system used in trade, but was a
  problem when merchants did not have what others
  wanted to trade
• Lydians began coining money which was easy to
  carry
• Setting prices for different goods and services
  allowed more trading
• Societies developed a money economy