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Home , Akkadian Empire

Unit 3: Ancient Inquiry Questions: How do we know a society is an advanced ? What are major achievements of ancient civilizations? How do rise and fall? LT: I can identify how the four Empires of ancient were advanced Empires by reading and answering questions. The Akkadian How did the Akkadian Empire rise? ______For over a thousand years, was a land of independent city-states. ______Later, around 2300 B.C.., the Akkadians from northern Mesopotamia ______conquered the land. ______Sargon was both a strong king and a skilled general who built his empire ______through effective military strategies. After assembling a large army, he ______​ ​ ​ ​ ______taught his soldiers to fight in tight formations. Soldiers carrying shields List some of the most important achievements of the stood at the front of the formation, while those carrying spears stood in Akkadian Empire be sure to give explanations of each: the line behind. The spear-carriers would extend their weapons between Some major achievements of the Akkadian Empire the shields. Sargon used his military tactics to add territory to his empire. were… After defeating the king of the city-state of , Sargon had gained control of all of Mesopotamia, including Sumer. 1.______To maintain control of his empire, Sargon used very clever political ______strategies. He destroyed the walls of many city-states, leaving them ______2.______completely defenseless. Sargon believed that without the protection of the ______walls, people were less likely to rebel. He also demanded the loyalty of ______the governors of city-states, replacing any disloyal ones with his own ______men. Sargon lived to be a very great age and decreed that his sons would 3.______rule after his death. His name soon passed into legend because he and the ______Akkadians had created the world’s first empire—their greatest ______achievement ______

Sargon ruled his empire for 56 years. During that time, he made the city In what ways was the Akkadian Empire an advanced civilization? The Akkadian Empire was advanced of Agade (uh-GAH-duh), in northern Mesopotamia, the empire's capital. ​ ​ because … He built up the city with tributes collected from the people he conquered. ​ ​ Agade became a cultural center, with many beautiful and palaces. 1.______It was one of the richest and most powerful cities in the world. ______The Akkadians had their own cultural achievements. Over time, their ______language replaced the . In art, they became especially well known for their skillful three-dimensional . Artisans also 2.______carved relief sculptures on stones. These carved stones are called steles. ​ ​ ______The Victory Stele is a famous example. It was created to celebrate a ______military victory by Sargon's grandson, King Naram-. The stele shows ______Naram-Sin leading his victorious army up a mountain slope. Some of his enemies are crushed underfoot. Others die, flee, or beg for mercy. How did the Akkadian Empire fall? ______Sargon had hoped that his empire would last for a thousand years. But ______later kings found it difficult to rule such a large territory. The empire grew ______weak. After about 200 years, the Akkadian Empire fell to new invaders ______​ ______from the north. ______

Draw 2 visuals that symbolize the Akkadian Empire:

Hammurabi and the Babylonian Empire: For a time after the fall of the How did the Babylonian Empire rise? ​ ​ Akkadians, Sumer was once again a group of city-states. The next ruler to ______unite all of Mesopotamia was a king named (hah-muh-RAH-bee). ______Hammurabi was the king of (BAH-buh-luhn), a small city-state in central ______Mesopotamia. After conquering the rest of Mesopotamia, Hammurabi made ______Babylon the capital of his empire. The region under his rule became known as the ______Babylonian Empire, or . ______List some of the most important achievements of the Babylonian Empire. Some Hammurabi is best known for his code of laws, which he wrote from 1792 to 1750 major achievements of the Babylonian Empire ​ ​ B.C.E. Hammurabi used the code of laws to unify his empire and to preserve order. were… ​ ​ He based the laws not merely on his own authority, but on the word of the gods. 1.______Hammurabi claimed that the gods had told him to create laws that applied to ______everyone in the empire. Laws that were based on the gods' will could never be ______changed. The code of laws was written on a stele and placed in a for ______everyone to see. ______Hammurabi's code was detailed. It covered many situations, such as trade, payment for work, marriage, and divorce. The code spelled out punishments for crimes, such 2.______as stealing or causing injury. For example, if a poorly built house were to collapse ______and kill its owner, then the builder could be put to death. If the owner's son rather ______than the owner were killed in the collapse, the builder's son could be put to death. ______Laws like this one seem harsh to us now. Yet Hammurabi's code was an important ____ achievement. Although the laws and punishments did not treat all people equally, the code was the first set of laws to apply to everyone. 3.______Babylonia thrived under Hammurabi. He worked to unite the people of his ______empire. He made the Babylonian god, Marduk (MAHR-dook), supreme over ______other gods. He built roads and created a postal service. ______In what ways was the Babylonian Empire Agriculture and trade flourished. Hammurabi was careful to maintain irrigation an advanced civilization? The Babylonian systems properly so that land remained fertile and provided plenty of food. Empire was advanced because… Because the city of Babylon was on the banks of the River, it became an important center of trade. Babylonians traded with people all along 1.______the . They traded grain and woven cloth for wood, gold, , ______precious gems, and livestock (animals) ______Trade helped the empire's economy. Many types of artisans used materials ___ ​ ​ brought back from distant lands. The arts also flourished. Writers wrote 2.______historical poems, some of which survive to this day. ______Most important, Babylonian society was unusually fair for its time. The laws ______treated the various classes differently, but even slaves had some rights. Slaves ______could work elsewhere and keep their . They could own property. If they ______saved enough money, they could even buy their freedom. Women also had _____How did the Babylonian Empire fall? more rights than they did in most ancient societies. Even though their fathers ______chose their husbands, women could own property. They could also keep ______money of their own. ______The Babylonian empire ruled distant lands with language and customs unlike ______their own, such differences made it difficult to govern. After Hammurabi’s ______death Babylonia slowly lost power. ______

Draw 2 visuals that symbolize the Babylonian Empire.

The Assyrians: How did the Assyrian Empire rise? ______The line of kings begun by Hammurabi did not continue to rule Babylonia for long. ______Over the next several hundred years, a number of groups ruled parts of what had been ______the Babylonian Empire. The next great empire in Mesopotamia was created by a ______warlike people called the Assyrians. ______Assyria lay to the north of Babylon. The Assyrians had lived in Mesopotamia for a long time. They had briefly established their own empire before Hammurabi List some of the most important conquered them. They rose to power again toward 900 B.C.E., when a series of rulers achievements of the Assyrian Empire: of began preparing for war. With a newly trained army, the Assyrians began to Some major achievements of the Assyrain expand their territory. Empire were… 1.______The Assyrians were feared for their military might and their cruelty. Their greatest ______achievements were their new weapons and their war strategies. They perfected the use ______of horses and iron weapons in battle. They also became greatly skilled at siege warfare. ______​ ​ In a siege, army soldiers camp outside a city and repeatedly attack it until the city falls. ______The Assyrians developed new ways of attacking cities. They were the first to use 2.______battering rams. These long, heavy beams on wheels were used for breaking down ______walls. The Assyrians also built moveable towers that were rolled up to a city's walls. ______Soldiers used the towers to climb over the walls. ______The Assyrians were often ruthless. They might force entire populations to leave areas they had recently conquered. The Assyrians spread tales of their cruelty far and 3.______wide.Creating fear among their enemies was part of the Assyrian military strategy. ______The Assyrian Empire was ruled by powerful kings. Religion, however, remained very ______important in the social and political order. Even kings were obliged to obey the gods. ______

The Assyrians believed that their kings were special beings. To honor them, the List the ways in which the Assyrian Assyrians built beautiful palaces. The great palace in the capital city of Empire was an advanced civilization: The (NIH-nuh-vuh) had many rooms. Some palaces were built on tall mounds, to raise Assyrian Empire was advanced because… them higher than the surrounding buildings. Huge sculptures of winged bulls or lions, with human faces, stood at the entrances. 1.______Like other societies in Mesopotamia, the Assyrians dug canals to irrigate their land and ______keep it fertile for farming. They also built some of the first aqueducts. Aqueducts were ______pipes or channels used to carry water. A system of canals and aqueducts brought 2.______drinking water to Nineveh from 30 miles away. ______Assyrian artisans were known for their two-dimensional sculptures called ______bas-reliefs.Many of their most famous bas-reliefs were on palace walls. They were ______​ amazingly realistic. Often they showed the king hunting, fighting in battle, or enjoying How did the Assyrian Empire fall? family life.The Assyrians used ivory to decorate thrones, beds, chairs, and doors. ______The Assyrian Empire lasted about 300 years. At its height, it stretched from Egypt to ______the Persian Gulf. But its weakness lay in being too vast a territory to control. The army ______was stretched thin, and the Assyrians could not fight off neighbors who rose up against ______them. In 612 B.C.E., Nineveh was plundered by a combined army of Babylonians, ______Scythians, and a group called the . The Assyrians' power was broken forever. ______

Draw 2 visuals that symbolize the Assyrian Empire.

Neo-Babylonian Empire: How did the Neo-Babylonian Empire rise? ______After the fall of Nineveh, the Babylonians once again took control of ______Mesopotamia. They established a new empire, the Neo-Babylonian ______Empire. Neo means “new.” The new empire's most famous king was ______​ ​ Nebuchadrezzar II (neh-byuh-kuh-DREH-zehr). A ruthless military leader, ______he reigned from 605 to 562 B.C.E. ______Nebuchadrezzar expanded his empire whenever he could. He drove the Egyptians out of . He also conquered part of (present-day List some of the most important achievements of the Neo-Babylonian Empire: Some major achievements ), the home of the Israelites, or Jews. When the Israelites rebelled, he of the Neo-Babylonian Empire were… took most of them captive and brought them to Babylonia. Many of them were never able to return to their homeland. As a military leader, 1.______Nebuchadrezzar knew that it was important to keep the capital city of ______Babylon safe. He had an inner wall and an outer wall built around the city. ______These walls were so thick that two could pass each other on top of ______them. Towers, for archers to stand on, were placed on the walls. Finally, a 2.______moat was dug around the outer wall and filled with water. During ______peacetime, people used bridges to cross the moat and enter the city. In ______times of war, the bridges were dismantled. ______

Nebuchadrezzar worked hard to restore the splendor that Babylon had 3.______enjoyed under Hammurabi. From 605 to 562 B.C.E., he rebuilt the city's ______ziggurat. This huge structure was several stories high. The Babylonians ______called it the “House of the Platform of Heaven and Earth.” ______Nebuchadrezzar decorated his palace with lush gardens. The gardens were In what ways was the Neo-Babylonian Empire an planted on rooftops and tall terraces so the greenery would cascade down advanced civilization? The Neo-Babylonian Empire the walls. A watering system kept the plantings fresh and green. These was advanced because… Hanging Gardens of Babylon became famous. This human-made display 1.______was viewed as one of the great wonders of the ancient world. ______The Babylonians were also skilled in mathematics and . They ______created the first sundial, a device that uses the sun to time. They made discoveries that led to our present-day system of a 60-minute hour and a 2.______7-day week. ______The Neo-Babylonian Empire lasted only 75 years. Then, in 539 B.C.E., a ______new conqueror named Cyrus (SIE-ruhs) swept into Babylon from the east. How did the Neo-Babylonian Empire fall? He was the leader of the Persian Empire. ______The Persians came from the land we now call . For about 200 years, ______they ruled the most powerful empire in the world. Then the Persians were ______conquered by a man named . ______

Draw 2 visuals that symbolize the Neo-Babylonian Empire.