1. Empires of Mesopotamia

2. SUMER

3. AKKADIANS

4. BABYLON

5. BABYLON (after Hammurabi)

6. ASSYRIANS

7. PERSIA
NEO BABYLON

8. Relief of Hammurabi and the god Shamash
Hammurabi ( BC)
Most famous Babylon King
Famous for:
United all of Mesopotamia under the Babylonian Empire
Wrote the 1st code of law (Hammurabi’s Code)
Image retrieved from
Relief of Hammurabi and the god Shamash

9. Assyrians
The Assyrian military was one of the strongest in the ancient world.
The Assyrians would often attempt to get an area to surrender before attack.
If people refused and were defeated they were treated harshly.
King Ashurnasirpal once stated
“3,000 of their combat troops I felled with weapons Many I took alive; from some of these I cut off their hands to the writs, from others I cut off their noses, ears and fingers; I put out the eyes of many of the soldiers I burned their young men and women to death.”

10. Nebuchadnezzar
After the Assyrians fell, King Nebuchadnezzar made Babylon the most powerful state in the region.
Nebuchadnezzar is most famous for:
--building the Hanging Gardens of Babylon (1 of the 7 ancient wonders of the world)
--destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem
--the Babylonian Captivity of the Jews (he kidnapped/enslaved the people and tried to make them give up their god).
***Babylon was demolished and replaced by the Persian Empire in 539 B.C.***

11. Cyrus the Great (559-530 bc) Persian King who defeated Babylon
Cyrus the Great is Famous for:
*Freeing the Jews
*Treating the people he captured respectfully (they could keep their religions and customs)
*Freeing the slaves of Babylon