2 4 The Rise of New Empires Assyrian

2 -4 The Rise of New Empires

Assyrian Empire �Established empire by 700 B. C. �Empire lasted less than 100 yrs �Mesopotamia, Iran, Asia Minor, Syria, Israel, + Egypt �Better at conquest than at ruling � 1 st large armies to use iron weapons �No mercy to the people they conquered �Fell to the Chaldeans and Medes; split it

King Ashurbanipal record of his treatment of prisons “ 3, 000 of their combat troops I felled with weapons… Many I took alive; from some these I cut off their hands to the wrist, 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. ”

Cont. �Ruled by kings whose power was absolute �Local officials directly responsible to the king �Good communication system �One of the first library

Persian Empire �Indo-Europeans – nomadic, but joined to create empire �Lived in present day Iran �Ruled by Cyrus (merciful) Captured Babylonia (Chaldeans ) Allowed Jews to go back to Israel �Cyrus’ son captured Egypt

Cont. �King Darius helped create the largest empire at the time �Divided empire into 20 provinces, called satrapies �Each prov. had a governor “satrap” (protector) �Well maintained roads – good communication �After Darius, other kings greedy for luxuries weakened empire �Conquered by Alexander the Great (Greece)

Persian Empire Map

Persian Religion �Zoroastrianism – Zoroaster (prophet) �Monotheistic �Ahuramazda – god �Zend Avesta – holy book �Good vs. evil

For Friday’s quiz- complete study guide � � � Fertile Crescent Polytheistic vs. monotheistic City-states Theocracy vs. bureaucracy Cuneiform vs. Hieroglyphics Code of Hammurabi Scribes Important Phoenician contribution Indo-Europeans “nomadic” – 2 groups Judaism and Zoroastrianism (god) Assyrians vs. Persians – more merciful?