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Sumerian, Hittite, Assyrian &
Persian Empires |
| City-State: A city and its surrounding
lands being ruled by a single, independent government, similar to a
country today. |
| Cultural Diffusion: The spreading of
ideas, products, religions, cultures and inventions from one culture to
another. |
| Dynasty: A series of rulers that come
from the same family and share a common last name. |
| Empire: A political unit in which a
number of people or kingdoms are controlled by a single ruler. |
| Fertile Crescent: The area between the
Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in Present day Iraq. |
| Hammurabi: A Babylonian king who
established one of the first written uniform code of laws called
Hammurabi's code. |
| Irrigation: A system of waterways that
allows fields to be watered. |
| Polytheism: A religion that has the
belief in many gods. |
| Silt: Rich deposits of soil left
behind after a river floods. |
| Tribute:
A tax paid by a lesser power kingdom to a higher powered kingdom in
order to keep their own rule in their own kingdom. |
| Founded: 550-330 BC |
Achievements: Strong military that
shot arrows while riding ponies, very disciplined &
tolerant. |
Leaders:
Cyrus: 550-530 BC:
- founder of Persian Empire, - great military leader, - conquered
fertile crescent and most of Anatolia, - very tolerant of conquered
peoples' beliefs, - allowed Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild, -
honored local dieties, - allowed freedom as long as conquered paid
tribute, - died in battle.
Cambyses: 530-522 BC: - Conquered
Eqypt
Darius: 512-?: - started off as Royal
body guard, - conquered west India & Anatolia,
- split empire into provinces ruled by satraps, - spies called "The
Kings Eyes & Ears" watched over people, - standardized coins
& royal road (both helped trade).
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| Royal Road: Major road in the Persian
Empire, stretched over 1600 miles, used for trade and a communication
network for the king. Led to their downfall. |
| Satrap: A governor or ruler of a
province in the Persian Empire who answered to the king. |
| Zoroaster: The religion of the Persian
Empire that believed in a judgment day when you die. |
| Abraham: Founder of the Jewish
religion. Made the 1st covenant with God, Yahweh. |
| Beliefs: Monotheistic, live moral
life, choose between good and evil. |
| Canaan: Part of Palestine and ancient
home of Hebrews. |
| Covenant: An agreement between Yahweh
and his followers. |
| Founded: 2000 BC - Angel Gabriel spoke
to Abraham numerous times. |
| Moses: Led the Jews out of Egypt and
received the 10 Commandments from Yahweh. |
| Palestine: Present day Israel and
birthplace of the Jewish homeland. |
| Rules: Love, justice and
respect. 2 Covenants: 1 between Yahweh and Abraham and 1 between
Yahweh and the people (10 Commandments) |
| Solomon: Last king of Israel. |
| 10 Commandments: Forbid lying,
stealing, cheating and murder. |
| Torah: 1st 5 books of the Hebrew bible
and the most sacred writings in the Jewish tradition. |
| Location: Between the Tigris &
Euphrates River, present day Iraq, also called
Mesopotamia or the Fertile Crescent. |
| Religion: Polytheistic - 3,000 gods -
Enlil is the highest god and the wicked Udugs are
the lowest gods. They built ziggurats and saw death as dismal and
the land of
no return. |
| Society: Social classes: Highest =
priests and kings, Second = merchants, Third = most Sumarians, farmers & artists and Lowest = slaves. |
City-States: Surrounded by fields of
crops, each had individual governments, priests
usually ran governments, military monarchs placed in charge during wars,
similar to countries of today. |
Empires: City-states were at constant
war with each other,
Sargon Empire: world's first empire, 2350 BC
(lasted 200 years), adopted Sumerian
culture
Babylonian Empire: 2000-1550 BC, Hammurabi's
code written on stone tablets for
everyone to see. |
Problems:.......................................................
Solutions:
Dry
months....................................................Irrigation
systems
Protection
around cities............................................Mud
brick walls
Limited natural
resources.........................Trade developed
between
city-states
and other distant
people. |
| Location: Northern Mesopotamia |
| Time Period: 850-612 BC |
| Achievements: Developed strong
military to defend themselves, used army to expand empire, conquered
large empires, pontoon bridges, rules with great efficiency and
conquered areas paid tribute. |
Leaders: Sennacherib: Sacked 89 cities
and 820 villages including Babylon.
King Ashurbanipal: Built the ancient world's largest
library. |
| Military: Glorified the military, used
iron weapons and chariots, wore metal & leather armor and used
shields, planned attacks/strategies. |
| Downfall: Medes, Chaldeans &
Persians joined forces, cruelty led to many enemies. |
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Contact
Lynn Gumina with
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