2. Conquests and Empires Conflict in the Fertile Crescent

3. Causes and Effects of Conflict Wars fought to protect farmland and water rights Boundaries –Natural – mountains, rivers, etc. –Political – city-states put up pillars to mark their land

4. More disagreements led to… More wars Greater need for weapons New technology, including the war chariot More deaths in battle

5. Sargon the Conqueror Conquered many lands and became emperor of his empire (2300 BCE) Built the capital city, Akkad, and people were known as Akkadians Was a strong leader who ruled by force and good organization Started the first standing army (always ready for battle)

6. Hammurabi the Lawgiver King of Babylon who conquered and reunited Mesopotamia Created a system of taxation to pay for government 282 laws covering every aspect of life Idea of equal justice for region – an “eye for an eye”

8. The Assyrians in Mesopotamia After the fall of Hammurabi’s empire, Mesopotamia was ruled by many different peoples Kassites – ruled for 400 years Assyrians – desire to control trade routes and farming lands, conquered and built roads throughout the empire Medes – defeated Assyrians

9. Israelites, Phoenicians and Lydians

10. The Israelites

11. Belief in one God Most Mesopotamians believed in many gods (polytheism) Abram practiced monotheism (belief in only 1 God) He moved his family and made a covenant (agreement) with God that Abram would promise his faith and, in return, his descendants would get Canaan He became Abraham Monotheism was a significant change in religion

12. The Ten Commandments Israel, Abraham’s son, moved from Canaan to Egypt during a famine (period of starvation) Moses, a leader of the Israelites, led his people back to Canaan when they became enslaved God gave Moses the Ten Commandments (a set of laws for responsible behavior)

14. 10 Commandments becomes an important part of Judaism, Christianity and Islam The Israelites leave and set up Israel The stories of the Israelites make up the first 5 books of the Bible, known as the Torah

15. Phoenicians

16. The Alphabet Phoenicians occupied the northern part of Mesopotamia which had few natural resources Sailed to trade Developed the alphabet based on the writing of others Made it easier to keep records, make contracts and spread knowledge

17. Cultural Diffusion Because of the colonies Phoenicia had throughout the Mediterranean region, the alphabet spread quickly. This process is called cultural diffusion.

18. The Lydians

19. Money Bartering was the system used in trade, but was a problem when merchants did not have what others wanted to trade Lydians began coining money which was easy to carry Setting prices for different goods and services allowed more trading Societies developed a money economy