1. The Babylonians The Babylonians Code of Hammurabi
Mr. Kilbourn
The Babylonians
Code of Hammurabi
Babylonian Civilization
The Downfall of Babylon

2. 1st BABYLONIAN EMPIRE
In 2000 B.C., Amorites invaded Mesopotamia. They overwhelmed the Sumerians, and established the empire of Babylon, located on the Euphrates River. The Babylonians were a powerful nation under the reign of Hammurabi, and obtained many resources which made it one of the greatest, most successful civilizations of all time!

3. Geography of Babylon Located in Southern Mesopotamia
Near the Persian Gulf

4. The City of Babylon Massive walled city Network of Canals
Vivid green crops
300 –foot high Ziggurats
Ziggurats were multilevel
towers that served as temples.
Elaborate gates designed with
dragons and bulls
Main Babylonian god was Marduk

5. Babylon The Old Babylonian Period
                                                                                                            
Babylon
The Old Babylonian Period
High point was reign of King Hammurabi ( B.C.) united all of Mesopotamia through conquest
During reign government controlled economy and passed comprehensive laws called the Hammurabi Code
Wrote in Cuneiform
Religion was adapted from Sumerian and Akkadian

6. The Babylonian Empire
King named Hammurabi (ruled B.C.) became the greatest ruler of this new empire. He made the city of Babylon his capital and called his empire Babylonia.
The conquering of most of the Tigris and Euphrates dismantled city-states and brought the region under one rule.

7. Hammurabi Code Code reinforced “An eye for an eye” mentality
Laws focused on property rights, slaves, children and women’s rights, murder, theft and marriage
Punishment differed based on a person’s social class

8. Hammurabi Code Laws were introduced for two main reasons
To establish order in a land in constant conflict
To represent a king’s beliefs of justice
Several laws were written to protect the poor and powerless from abuse

9. Babylonian Women
Had some legal and economic rights, including property rights.
Women could be merchants or even scribes.

10. Babylon Accumulates Great Wealth
Its relative location on the Persian Gulf and the Cross Roads of Asia made it a natural for trade
Beginning of the Silk Road
Its merchants bought and sold cotton cloth from India and spices from Egypt
When they conquered, they took wealth “the bounty of war”

11. Babylonian Mathematics
Babylonians used advance mathematics like algebra and geometry
They used linear and quadratic equations
Adopted Sumerian mathematics because it was sound
Studied and made observations of natural phenomena
Invented Square Roots

12. Scientific Advancements
Their astronomers, scholars who studied the stars and planets, developed a lunar calendar.
The calendar provided for a 12-month year, a 7-day week and a 24-hour day.
Babylon contained a ziggurat that was over 300 feet tall which enabled astronomers to get a better look at the atmosphere.

13. Scientific Advancements Continued
Chaldean astronomers began to study the position and change of the stars and planets visible in the sky.
Astronomers soon concluded that the sun, moon, Earth, and five other planets belonged to the same solar system.
The Babylonians’ observations formed the basis of astrology and astronomy in our world.
The Babylonians adopted much of their culture from the Sumerians… #60, Agriculture Techniques, Irrigation Systems, Ziggurats

14. The ancient city of Babylon, under King Nebuchadnezzar II, must have been a wonder to the traveler's eyes. "In addition to its size," wrote Herodotus, a historian in 450 BC, "Babylon surpasses in splendor any city in the known world."

16. Herodotus claimed the outer walls were 56 miles in length, 80 feet thick and 320 feet high. Wide enough, he said, to allow a four-horse chariot to turn. The inner walls were "not so thick as the first, but hardly less strong." Inside the walls were fortresses and temples containing immense statues of solid gold. Rising above the city was the famous Tower of Babel, an unfinished temple to the god Marduk, that seemed to reach to the heavens

17. Hanging Garden of Babylon
One of the Seven Wonders of the World

18. Downfall of Babylon
After Hammurabi died, no strong ruler emerged to take his place
Babylon saw a period of no growth
Period of famines, disease and nomadic invasions plagued Babylon
Hittites and Assyrians invade and conquer bits of Babylon until little remains of the Empire

19. Downfall of Babylon
1595 B.C. Hittites invaded city of Babylon and conquer it
Hittites introduced international commerce by trading in the Mediterranean region
Modified Hammurabi Code and made it more lenient
A large tribe called Kassites seized Babylon because the region was hard to protect
Assyria then forcefully takes full control of the lands once controlled by Babylon