Chronological
Hammurabi
(4)
(~1792–1750 BCE, Babylonian king, famous law code)
Ashurbanipal
(6)
(~668–627 BCE, last great Assyrian king)
Neo-Babylonians
(9)
(626–539 BCE)
Colony
a country or area under the full or partial political control of another country, typically a distant one, and occupied by settlers from that country.
Navigation
Built ships and developed trade routes to use the North Star as a navigation guide.
Assyrians
(6)
(powerful empire, peaked ~900–609 BCE)
Persians
(12)
(Achaemenid Empire, ~550–330 BCE)
Babylonians
(5)
(Old Babylonian Empire, ~1894–1595 BCE)
Stele
Tribute
a stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide, erected in the ancient world as a monument. The surface of the stele often has text, ornamentation, or both. These may be inscribed, carved in relief, or painted.
A tax to the empire.
Seals
Carved in stone, clay and were used to identify an items owner
Darius I
(11)
(~522–486 BCE, expanded Persian Empire, built Persepolis)
Sargon of Akkad
(2)
(~2334–2279 BCE, founded the Akkadian Empire)
Irrigation
Water flowing between canals to water crops
City-State
Independent state that includes city in its surrounding territory.
Polytheism
Ziggurat
The belief in more than one god.
a rectangular stepped tower, sometimes surmounted by a temple. Ziggurats are first attested in the late 3rd millennium BC and probably inspired the biblical story of the Tower of Babel. Temples of worship that were pyramid shape.
Cyrus the Great
(10)
(~559–530 BCE, founder of Achaemenid Persian Empire, conquered Babylon in 539 BCE)
Nebuchadnezzar
(8)
(~605–562 BCE, greatest Neo-Babylonian king)
Cuneiform
Triangle shaped symbols/letters pressed on to wet clay. The worlds first form of writing.
Cavalry
Standing army
Military on horseback
The Akkadian Empire, founded by Sargon of Akkad, is credited with forming the world's first standing professional army around 2300 BCE. This permanent, paid force replaced the earlier Sumerian practice of raising armies by conscripting all free male citizens. The Akkadian army developed specialized units, a structured command, and techniques like the phalanx, laying the foundation for later Mesopotamian military powers like the Assyrians and Babylonians.
Currency
Barter
The currency of ancient Mesopotamia evolved from the barter of goods like barley to a standardized silver shekelas a unit of weight and value, which served as the primary form of money. Unlike modern currency, these shekels were not coins until much later, but were instead silver pieces, or ingots, that were officially weighed and sometimes sealed to certify their value.
Trading goods without money.
Sumer
(1)
(earliest known civilization, ~4500–1900 BCE)
Akkadians
(3)
(Empire lasted ~2334–2154 BCE)
Hammurabi's Code
Code written in cuneiform in the middle of the city so everyone can see the walls. 300 laws that gave specific consequences for crime.
Fertile Crescent/Mesopotamia
Land between rivers (tigris and Euphrates)
Cultural Diffusion
Spreading of their culture traits to other areas via trade, migration and conquest.