Section 4: Later Peoples of the
Fertile Crescent
The Big Idea
Many cultures
ruled parts of the Fertile Crescent.
Main Ideas
• Babylonians conquer Mesopotamia
• Created a code of law.
• Invasions changed the region’s culture.
• Phoenicians built a trading society in the
eastern Mediterranean region.
Main Idea 1:
Babylonians Conquered
Mesopotamia.
• King Hammurabi
• Hammurabi’s code of 282 laws
Hammurabi
•Babylon’s
king and the
city’s greatest
monarch:
ruler of a
kingdom or
empire
•Conquered
Mesopotamia
Brilliant war
leader who
brought all of
Mesopotamia
into his
Babylonian
Empire
• Oversaw
building and
irrigation
projects and
improved the
tax system
• Developed a
set of laws
that was
written down
for all to see
HAMMURABI:
King of the
Babylonia empire
for 42 years.
Creator of the Code
of Hammurabi, one
of the world’s oldest
law codes.
Hammurabi’s Code
• Hammurabi wrote down 282 laws which
dealt with daily life and contained some
ideas still found in laws today.
• Specific crimes brought specific penalties.
• Social class was taken into account. It was a
greater crime to injure a rich man than a
poor one.
• It was unique not only because of how
thorough it was, but also because it was
written for all to see
CODE OF LAW:
A written set of
laws that apply
to everyone
under a
government
Main Idea 2:
Invasions of Mesopotamia
changed the region’s culture.
• Armies battled for control of fertile
land.
• Different peoples ruled Mesopotamia.
– Hittites
– Kassites
– Assyrians
– Chaldeans
• Each group affected the culture of the
region.
The Hittites & Kassites
The Hittites built a strong kingdom in Asia
Minor. They were the first to master
ironworking, so they made the strongest
weapons of the time. The Hittites used a
chariot.
Chariot: a wheeled, horse-drawn cart,
which allowed warriors to move quickly
around the battlefield.
They were taken over by the Kassites after
their king was assassinated.
The Kassites ruled for almost 400 years.
The Assyrians
• Assyrians: ruled a huge empire from N.
Mesopotamia. (Capital=Nineveh). Strong
army with chariots and iron weapons. Fierce,
brutal warriors who killed any who resisted.
• They spread terror before battles by looting
villages and burning crops.
• Assyrian kings ruled their empire through
local leaders who each governed a small
area.
• The local leaders demanded heavy taxes.
ASSYRIA:
An ancient
country along
the Tigris in
present-day
Iraq.
NINEVEH:
An ancient
city on the
Tigris and the
capital of
Assyria
AQUEDUCT:
A high, arched
structure built
to carry water
over long
distances.
The Chaldeans
• Chaldeans: attacked the Assyrians when
they were weak and destroyed Nineveh.
The capital city, Babylon, was a center
for astronomy. They created a calendar
and solved geometry problems.
• Nebuchadnezzar: Chaldean king rebuilt
Babylon into a beautiful city that had the
famous Hanging Gardens.
• Chaldeans admired the Sumerian culture,
studied their language, and built temples
to Sumerian gods.
BABYLON:
The ancient
capital of
Babylonia in
the 1700s
B.C.
BABYLONIA:
An ancient
Mesopotamian
empire that
extended along
the Fertile
Crescent.
Main Idea 3:
Phoenicians: built a wealthy trading society
in the eastern Mediterranean region.
Phoenicians
were known
for:
• Cedar wood
• Silver work
• Ivory
carvings
• Glass objects
• Purple dye
• Inventing the
alphabet
Alphabet
• A set of letters that
can be combined to
form words
• Recorded their
activities
• Made writing much
easier for everyone
• Is the basis for the
English language
Expansion of
Trade
• Sailed ships
around the
Mediterranean
Sea
• Founded
several new
colonies along
the trade
routes
• Became
wealthy
Phoenicia
At the Strait of Gibraltar, 8 miles of
water separate Africa from Europe.
Here the Mediterranean joins the
Atlantic.
Phoenicia was an
ancient civilization
bordering the
Mediterranean Sea.
The Phoenicians
were known for
trading. In earlier
times, they were
known as the
Philistines or “Sea
Peoples.
The name
Phoenicia comes
from the Greek
word phoinix,
meaning purple.
Phoenicians made purple dye from the
body of the murex snail. They soaked
linen and wool in this dye to make
expensive fabrics.
Phoenicians built
trading ship from cedar
wood grown on their
hillsides.
These ships
carried goods
throughout the
Mediterranean
Sea.
Phoenician
sailors used the
Mediterranean
winds and
currents to
speed their
voyages.
“Farther than this you
cannot go.”
Strait of Gibraltar
Treasures discovered
on a sunken
Phoenician trader:
amber, ivory, and
bronze .
Phoenician merchants
carried on a lively trade.
Phoenician
merchants
traded cedar,
purple dye,
cloth, oil and
wine...
for
Egyptian
grain, ivory,
and other
goods.
The Phoenicians were famous
for their beautiful glass vases.
Clay pots from Greece were
found on Phoenician trading
ships.
Phoenicia fell
to both
Assyria and
Babylon.
The great city of
Tyre fell to the
Assyrians and
Babylonians.
The colony of Tyre fell to
King Nebuchadnezzer of
Babylon in the last quarter
of the sixth century B.C. 200
years later, Tyre would fall to
Alexander the Great.
The Phoenicians had begun
to set up colonies, so the fall
of Tyre did not mean the end
of the Phoenician people. A
colony is a territory or
community controlled by a
distant government.
After the fall of Tyre, Carthage became the center
of Phoenician life in the west. Carthage is located
in what is today Tunisia. From its central location
between eastern and western Mediterranean,
Carthage would rule trade for many years.
Why It Matters
Phoenician traders linked together many
ancient civilizations through trade. They
also introduced and spread a system of
writing based on an alphabet we still use
today.