assyrian & persia in the middle eastbutlerclassnotes.weebly.com/uploads/8/0/9/9/80993252/... ·...
TRANSCRIPT
AssyriaMain Idea: Developed a military machine, conquered an
empire, established imperial administration
Why it matters? Some leaders still use military force to extend their rule, stamp out opposition, and gain wealth and power
Theme: Military Strategy
Assyria: Military Machine
State of the art military technology
Why did they become militaristic?Answer: Lacking of natural
barriers
Result Developed an army
King Sennacherib= burned Babylon, conquered many cities
Organization & Conquest
Well equipped
Iron-working technology
Advance planning and technical skills
Ex: Assyrians dug beneath the city’s wall to weaken them before they attacked
Assyrian RuleConquered an empire
Assyrian rulers choose who would lead other conquered areas (wouldn’t let the people govern themselves)
Assyrians received taxes and tributes of conquered areas
If they refused to pay, they destroyed their cities and sent the people into exile
Assyrian Culture
Nineveh= capital of Assyrian empire, built by King Sennacherib, along the Tigris River
One of the largest libraries in the ancient world was in Nineveh
King Ashurbanipal= collect clay tablets from Fertile Crescent, prided himself in being able to read in several languages
Archaeologists found tablets and a dictionary tablet that help scholars understand Mesopotamian writing
Empire CrumblesAssyrians had earned many
enemies
Combined army of Medes, Chaldeans and others demolished Nineveh
Fire of demolition actually caused the clay tablets to be glazed and preserved
Many other people rejoiced of Nineveh's destruction
Babylon under the Chaldeans After the Assyrians were defeated,
the Chaldeans (people who ruled after Assyrians) made Babylon their capital
King Nebuchadnezzar= Chaldean king, impressive palace, famous hanging gardens (ancient wonder of the world)
Built large ziggurat that could be seen for miles. Priests observed the stars from the
top Chaldeans’ observations formed the
basis for both astronomy and astrology
Final FallAfter Nebuchadnezzar’s death, empire fell
Persians came, adopted many Assyrian military, political, and artistic inventions
PersiansMain Idea: The Persian Empire ruled with tolerance and
wise government
Why it matters now? Tolerance and wise government are characteristics of the most successful methods of rule
Theme: How you rule (with terror or with tolerance), how to united an large empire
Setting the Stage/BackgroundWhile Mede, Chaldeans and others were conquering
Nineveh, the Persians were expanding their territory
Eventually 2 forces emerged: Persia and Medes (ancient Iranian people)
Cyrus, would lead Persia to dominate the Medes and more
Persian HomelandMigrated from Central Europe and south Russia and settled in
the Fertile Crescent (modern-day Iran)
Lots of minerals: copper, lead, gold, silver, blue lapis lazuli
Trade allowed them to have contact with neighbors to the west and east
Cyrus the Great= Persian king, military genius
empire spanned 2,000 miles conquered entire Fertile
Crescent set a strict discipline against
looting and burning of cities believed in honoring local
customs and religions conquered people enjoyed
freedom, allowed Jews to return to Jerusalem
died in battle
Persian Rule & ReignCambyses= Cyrus’ son
Conquered Egypt Neglected to follow father’s example (ex:
ordered Egyptian gods to be burned) When he died, rebellions broke out
Darius= a noble of the ruling dynasty Member of the king’s bodyguards Ten Thousand Immortal (elite army group)
helped him gain power Empire was 2,500 mile His only failure: not being able to conquer
Greece (this would be the same failure as his son, Xerses)
Providences & Satraps
Darius’ biggest success- his organization/administration over such a large empireDivided into 20 providencesEach providence had the freedom of
religion
Satrap= governor who rules a providenceThese were the “eyes and ears” of
Darius
2 Tools that United Empire1. Royal Road
Went from Persia to Anatolia (modern day Turkey)
1,677 miles
2. Standard MoneyAll providences used the same
money, didn’t need to exchange to local currency
This promoted tradeTrade allowed them to hold the
empire together