After the fall of Sumer, Sargon II was one of many kings who ruled
Mesopotamia
King after king ruled and it brought great wealth to the army that could conquer it. But after winning it, each ruler became a target for another conqueror.
Most important and biggest Mesopotamian civilizations were:
Empire of Babylonia
Empire: an area of many territories that are controlled by one government.
Beautiful city of Babylon was center of Babylonian empire
Reached height around 1750 B.C.
Assyria
Got their name from northern city of Assur, began expanding lands in 1300s B.C, By the
600s B.C., they controlled a huge empire.
It stretched from Persian Gulf across Fertile Crescent and through Egypt.
King Hammurabi created Babylonia empire by uniting cities of Sumer.
Then, he conquered lands all the way to Asia Minor, which is the present day country of Turkey.
A Crossroads of Trade: Babylon’s location made it a crossroad’s of trade .

Caravans (groups of travelers), coming and going from cities of Sumer to the south and Akkad to the north, stopped in Babylon)
In the city’s bazaars (markets) one could buy cotton cloth from India and spices from Equip.
Trade many Babylon very rich—so did conquest.
Babylonians developed useful system of math for solving everyday problems. They learned to calculate areas of geometric shapes. These calculations were important for making building plans. Their number system was based on numbers from 1 to 60, which we still use today to divide minutes and hours into.
Wealth Through Conquest
About 1760 B.C., Hammurabi conquered the city of Mari. Seized new chariots, weapons, and tools, which were the best in the world
But, all the wealth Babylon gathered could not save it from conquest. By about 1600 B.C., empire first conquered by Hammurabi had shrunk and was finally destroyed.
Assyria was north of Babylon and was a small kingdom of a few walled cities.
Capital of Assyria: Nineveh (sleepy village on
Tigris River).
Assyria lay in open land, which other peoples could easily invade
Bec they were constantly defending themselves, they became skilled warriors.
Decided the best method of defense was to attack.
By 650 B.C. Assyria had conquered a large empire that stretched across Fertile
Crescent, from Nile to Persian
Gulf.
Assyria’s Contributions
More than just warriors
Nineveh became a city of great learning

Had a fabulous library that held thousands of clay tablets with writings from Sumer and
Babylon
Because they kept these records, we now know a great deal about life in early Mesopotamia
Assyrians were geniuses at waging war.
Invented the battering ram (Powerful weapon on wheels that pounded city walls to rubble)
Slingers hurled stones at enemy
Expert archers were protected with helmets and armor
Most feared part of army: armed charioteers who slashed their way through the enemy
Assyria Overthrown
Didn’t have many friends.
Medes and Chaldeans joined together to smash the Assyrian empire in 612 B.C.
Under Chaldeans, Babylon rose again.
Became center of an even more splendid kingdom known as New Babylonia empire.
Its greatest king: Nebuchadnezzar II
He rebuilt city of Babylon, which Assyrians had destroyed.
He put up massive walls around city for protection.
He build gigantic place, decorated with colored tiles. Carved on tiles were plants, animals, birds, designs and a boastful sentence by the king, “I am Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, “it said.
His royal palace was built on several terraces that rose to 350 feet
Dazzling landscape of trees and gardens
According to legend, he built gardens for his wife, who came from the high plateau and hated the dry plains of Mesopotamia.
Under Chaldeans, New Babylonia empire became a center of learning and science.

Chaldeans astronomers charted the parts of the starts and measured the length of a year that was only a few minutes different from the length modern scientist have calculated.
Chaldean farmers raised the fillies which collected honey (wild bees)
Chaldeans were also open to attack by powerful neighbors, as were other Mesopotamian empires. In
539 B.C. the New Babylonian empire fell. But the city of Babylon was spared.