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Began about
850 BC
Was the largest
empire to that
time.
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Powerful and well organized
Constant warfare
Empire from Egypt to Mesopotamia

The Assyrians treated
conquered people with
brutality. They burned
cities, often killing or
enslaving all the inhabitants.
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Epic of Gilgamesh – among the first known
literature. A series of poems started about 2000
BC in Sumer
Preserved by the Assyrians
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The Assyrians also sent
conquered people into
exile. Exiled people were
sent to far away places in
the empire.
When they conquered the
Hebrews, they sent them
to exile in Babylon, the
same city in which
Hammurabi wrote his
famous code of laws.
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The Assyrians’ brutality
backfired. Conquered people
from Mesopotamia and modern
day Iran revolted and destroyed
the Assyrian empire.
The vacuum left by the
Assyrians allowed the Persians
to step in and conquer the
region.
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The Persians come
from modern day Iran
Cyrus, the first Persian
emperor began
conquering
neighboring kingdoms
in 550 BC

The Persian Empire was huge- at it’s height, it
stretched from Greece to Egypt to the Indus
River
Greece
Turkey
Mediterrane
an Sea
Egypt
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Unlike the Assyrians,
the Persians showed
conquered people
tolerance.
Freedom to:
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Practice religion
Not be brutally killed
or enslaved
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From the writing on this
cylinder, we know that after
conquest of Babylon, Cyrus
ordered troops to treat new
subjects with kindness, to
protect them and avoid any
mistreatments. He restored
ruined temples, and freed
the Jewish people from
captivity.
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Governing such a huge
territory was a challenge
The Persians divided the
empire into 20 satrapies,
which are like states

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Each had a satrap, or
governor
The Emperor also
appointed military
leaders and tax collectors
for each satrapy.
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Bureaucracy
•
Roads sped travel and communication
–
Made administering the empire easier
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Started by Persian prophet
named Zoroaster
He taught that the earth is a
battleground for the spirits of
good and the spirits of evil.
Believed that there was only
one god, and that god would
judge people.
Traces of Zoroastrianism – like
the idea of Satan and angelsfound in Judaism, Christianity,
and Islam.
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Introduced standard coins

Borrowed from Lydians in Asia Minor
Lydian
Persian