Hittites, Kassites, & Mitanni
Hittites Anatolian people – 1600 B.C. Asia Minor Present day Turkey
Key Military advantages 1 st people to master iron working (strong tools and weapons Chariot – wheeled, horse-drawn cart used in battle -allowed them to move more quickly - fired arrows at the enemy
smelting Heating iron ore, hammer out the impurities, cool quickly Passed on to other military empires… Assyrians
Conquests 1595 B.C. – conquered Babylon 1282 B.C. – reached height
Decline After conquest of Babylon, rule did not last long Hittite king killed by an assassin
Kassites 1531 B.C. – 1155 B.C. Allies to Hittites
Geography 1800 B.C. – settled in western Iran Captured the city of Babylon Capital - Dur-Kurigalzu Ruled southern Mesopotamia (Hittites – Northern) Middle Babylonian period Ruled 400 years
Kassites Not as literate as those in Mesopotamia Mesopotamia entered a Dark Age Used language that was not written (Unlike others) polytheistic
Decline Foreign attacks “sea people”
Contributions Kudurru – boundary stones Used for marking boundaries and making proclamations
Mitanni Founded in B.C. Indo-Iranians Conquered by Assyrians