7/8 World History Week 12 Babylonian Empire · • The last Babylonian king's unpopularity proved to be so great that when the armies of the Persian Empire appeared outside Babylon

7/8 World History

Week 12

Babylonian Empire

Monday

Do Now

What do you remember about Babylon?

Objectives Students will take concise notes based on lecture. Students will add details to

their understanding of Babylon.

Key Terms

Term Definition Sentence

Empire a large area ruled by one government, made up of many different groups of people

A kingdom is usually a smaller area made up of one group of people; an empire is larger and more diverse.

Alliance a group of people or governments that agree to be peaceful and help each other

Alliances have always been an important part of world history; in the 1940’s, an alliance between the US and England helped end World War II.

Asia Minor a large, mountainous area of land in the northwestern part of the Middle East, including most of modern-day Turkey

Asia Minor used to be made up of many different small kingdoms, including the Hittites, one of the main enemies of ancient Egypt.

Geography • The city of Babylon was located in the

Mesopotamian region of Akkad, in the middle of present-day Iraq. Although it had existed for over a thousand years before it became the center of a large empire, it had not been quite as large or important as other cities in the area.

• Its exact location was significant, though, because it was near a spot where the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers came close together.

• Like the rest of Mesopotamia, Babylon had a hot, dry climate with occasional large thunderstorms, similar to Las Vegas.

The Babylonian Empire

Founding • By the 630's BCE, it was obvious that the Assyrian

Empire, in the north of Mesopotamia, was getting weaker.

• They demanded high taxes from their subjects throughout the Middle East, leading to a lot of resentment against the Assyrian king.

• When the Assyrian king died in 627 BCE, the empire began to fall apart - different groups of people with money and power began competing for control.

• Just a year later, in 626 BCE, the people of the city of Babylon decided to take advantage of the Assyrians' weakness and declare their independence. They rallied around an important man in the city named Nabopolassar, and they made him the king of the city.

• For the next 10 years, Nabopolassar successfully defended the city of Babylon when the Assyrians tried to recapture it, but they still had to worry about the Assyrians getting more powerful again and trying to reconquer the area.

• So in the year 615 BCE, he decided to create an alliance in order to conquer Assyria itself.

A carving of Nabopolassar

A Secret Alliance • Nabopolassar made secret agreements with the

kings of the Persians (to the east, in modern-day Iran) and the Scythians (pronounced "sith-ee-ins", from modern-day Russia).

• They were still under the control of the Assyrians but wanted to become independent like Babylon.

• In exchange for helping them fight and conquer the Assyrians, the Babylonians would keep the Assyrian lands and let those kingdoms become independent.

• After three years of intense fighting, the alliance of kingdoms captured the Assyrian capital city.

• King Nabopolassar honored his agreement and allowed the Persians and Scythians to rule their own kingdoms in peace.

• When Nabopolassar died, his son Nebuchadnezzar (pronounced "ne-book-ad-nezzar") became king.

Drawing of a coin made during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar featuring his face

Nebuchadnezzar • Nebuchadnezzar built a huge number

of new canals from both the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, turning the desert into fertile farmland, and bringing prosperity to the people of the region.

• He built huge, decorated walls around the city, and built new palaces and temples inside of it.

• Around the outside of the palace, his engineers created a system of pipes and drains that allowed them to plant trees and flowers, now known as the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

• The Hanging Gardens were appreciated for hundreds of years by people from all over the ancient world for their uniqueness and beauty.

Top: a modern depiction of the Hanging Gardens Bottom: one of Babylon's original city gates - excavated, transported, and reassembled brick by brick into Germany's national museum in Berlin

• Under Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian Empire flourished. He conquered the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, what remained of the Hittite Empire in Asia Minor, and spread south into the deserts of northern Arabia.

• His system of legal codes and different levels of courts became the most advanced legal system the world had ever seen.

• The Babylonians had great respect for the past rulers of Mesopotamia, like the Sumerians and Akkadians, and continued to use cuneiform as their writing system.

Religion • The Babylonians followed a modified

version of the Sumerian religion. • They believed that after the Sumerians

disappeared there had been a war in the heavens, and the son of the god Enki, named Marduk (pronounced "mar-dook"), conquered the old gods and became the new chief of the gods.

• They were still polytheistic, but Marduk was the most important god. Aside from being the chief of the gods, he was also the god of law, order, and magic.

• The Temple of Marduk in the middle of Babylon was one of the city's largest buildings.

A statue of Cyrus the Great, the Persian king who took over Babylon

Downfall • After more than 40 years as king, Nebuchadnezzar finally died.

Unfortunately, that was the beginning of the end for the empire.

• Within six years after his death, there were three different kings, none as popular, intelligent, or respected as Nebuchadnezzar had been.

• In 556 BCE, a general in the Babylonian army became the new king. Although he was popular with the military (which allowed him to stay in power), he soon became very unpopular with the people.

• The reason for this unpopularity was that he made it illegal to worship Marduk, and forced everyone to worship the moon god instead.

• While this was going on, the Persian Empire to the east was growing stronger.

• The last Babylonian king's unpopularity proved to be so great that when the armies of the Persian Empire appeared outside Babylon in 539 BCE to try to conquer it, the people of the city welcomed them in with open arms to come kill the king, as long as they would allow them to worship Marduk again, which they did.

• Although the Babylonian Empire lasted only 87 years, it had a great effect on the history of the region.

Exit Ticket What role did religion play in the

history of Babylon?

Homework

• Read “Nebuchadnezzar in the Bible” and answer questions

Tuesday

Do Now Study for quiz!

Objectives Students will identify main ideas and key pieces of information to

study for the exam.

Reading Quiz 1. Who did the Babylonians declare their independence from? 2. List at least two achievements of the Babylonians under King Nebuchadnezzar. 3. Who was the chief Babylonian god?

• Study guide!

Exit Ticket

What is one topic that you know very well? What is one topic that you need to study

the most?

Block Day

Do Now

• Study for the unit exam!