BABYLON
AND ASSYRIA
Ancient
Mesopotamia Later Peoples - Babylon and Assyria :
Ancient Babylon and the Amorites :
After the fall of the Akkadian Empire, the Amorites were the next
people to dominate Mesopotamia. The Amorites were a Semitic tribe
that moved into central Mesopotamia. King Hammurabi of the city
of Babylon is the most famous of the Amorite rulers. Hammurabi founded
an empire known as the Babylonian Empire, which was named after
his capital city. Hammurabi ruled from about 1792-1750 BC. The beginning
of Hammurabi's reign was peaceful. As a defensive measure, Hammurabi
had the walls around Babylon improved, and through diplomacy, made
allies with many of the cities north of Babylon. In the last ten
years of his reign, Hammurabi conquered Lower Mesopotamia. He used
the Euphrates river to his advantage. Hammurabi held back the waters
of the Euphrates, ruining the crops of lower cities, then he released
the water and flooded his enemies. In this way Hammurabi ruled most
of Mesopotamia.
![](babylonian%20empire%20map625.jpg)
The
Babylonian Empire. Notice the location of Babylon, where the Tigris
and Euphrates rivers run close to one another. You can see that
the city-state of Ur is now under control of the Babylonians. The
Zagros Mountains are where the ancient Mesopotamians believed their
gods lived.
Hammurabi
is best known for a set of laws he gave to his empire known as the
Code of Hammurabi. The laws were carved on 8 foot stones, called
steles, and placed in the cities of his empire. In this way the
laws could not be changed and were posted for all to see, though
few people could read. Hammurabi wanted to be known as a fair and
just ruler.
You
can read some of the laws from the Code of Hammurabi, which I found
listed online; what do you think about these laws?
![](400px-266-hammurabi_stele_amnh_ny.jpg)
Here
is a replica of one of the Steles discovered with the Code of Hammurabi,
it is meant to resemble an index finger. The fingernail shows Hammurabi
standing, receiving the laws from the seated sun-god, Shamash. The
laws are written below the figures in cuneiform using the Akkadian
language.
1. |
If
someone cuts down a tree on someone else's land, he will
pay for it. |
2. |
If
someone is careless when watering his fields, and he floods
someone else's by accident, he will pay for the grain he
has ruined. |
3. |
If
a man wants to throw his son out of the house, he has to
go before a judge and say, "I don't want my son to
live in my house any more." The judge will find out
the reasons. If the reasons are not good, the man can't
throw his son out. |
4. |
If
the son has done some great evil to his father, his father
must forgive him the first time. But if he has done something
evil twice, his father can throw him out. |
5. |
If a thief steals a cow, a sheep, a donkey, a pig, or a
goat, he will pay ten times what it is worth. If he doesn't
have any money to pay with, he will be put to death. |
6. |
An
eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. If a man puts out the
eye of another man, put his own eye out. If he knocks out
another man's tooth, knock out his own tooth. If he breaks
another man's bone, break his own bone. |
7. |
If
a doctor operates on a patient and the patient dies, the
doctor's hand will be cut off. |
8. |
If
a builder builds a house, and that house collapses and kills
the owner's son, the builder's son will be put to death. |
9. |
If
a robber is caught breaking a hole into the house so that
he can get in and steal, he will be put to death in front
of that hole. |
10. |
If
a son strike his own father, his hands shall be cut off. |
After
the reign of Hammurabi, the Babylonians were attacked and weakened
by the Hittites, a group of people from Asia Minor. The capital
city of Babylon was sacked. Eventually, the Assyrians would conquer
Babylon and Mesopotamia, but the lasting achievements of Babylon
included advances in mathematics, astronomy and trade.
Ancient
Assyria and the Assyrians :
![](taylor%20prism.jpg)
This is the Taylor Prism, named after the archaeologist who discovered
it in 1830. The prism a six-sided clay object with a paragraph of
cuneiform on each side. The language is Akkadian. Sennacherb, king
of Assyria from 704-681 BC, had this made. On the prism, Sennacherib
brags about his military conquests, including the siege of the Judean
city of Lachish. The Taylor Prism is now in the British Museum.
Assyria is an area located in Upper Mesopotamia, and named after
the Assyrians.The Assyrians, a Semitic tribe, migrated to Upper
Mesopotamia around 2,000 BC. For many years the Assyrians were overshadowed
by the Sumerians and Akkadians. Ashur was the chief god of the Assyrians.
Most of their cities were located along the Tigris River. The Assyrians
built large palaces made of stone, which was available to them in
Upper Mesopotamia.The Assyrians became an aggressive people under
the rule of King Ashurnasirbal II.
Ashurnasirbal, who reigned from 884 to 859 BC invaded the lands
of his neighbors, his capital was the city of Nimrud, where he created
the world's first zoo. Assyrian kings Tiglath-Pileser III and his
son Sargon (same name, but not Sargon the Great of Akkad) continued
Assyrian conquests by conquering Babylonia and the Kingdom of Israel.
Sargon's son, Sennacherib, decided to lay siege to the city of Lachish
in the Kingdom of Judah, because Hezakiah, the King of Judah, refused
to pay Sennacherib tribute. Sennacherib was so pleased by the taking
of the city, that he had a bas-relief made with illustrations and
words showing the story of the conquest on his palace walls at the
city of Nineveh. Nineveh had become an old worn-down city with much
erosion from the river, but Sennacherib rebuilt the city, abandoning
his father's brand new city that was almost complete when Sennacherib
took the throne. Sennacherib bragged about his accomplishments with
writings on a clay hexagon called the Taylor Prism.
![](assyrian%20empire%20map637x.jpg)
The Assyrian Empire: B.C.E. means "Before Christian Era,"
or "Before Common Era" On this map we can see that the
Assyrian Empire was at its height about a thousand years after the
empire of Hammurabi. Notice Asia Minor, the land of the Hittites.
Which empire was larger, the Babylonian or Assyrian Empire?
Assyrian King Ashurbanipal (reign 668-621 BC) created the world's
first known library at Nineveh. Here the Assyrian king stored much
of the writing of ancient Mesopotamia, including the Epic of Gilgamesh.
Not
long after the reign of Ashurbanipal, Assyria was invaded by the
Medes and Babylonians, two groups of people the Assyians had conquered
in the past. The Medes and Babylonians destroyed the Assyrian capital
of Nineveh, including the Library of Ashurbanipal.
The
Assyrians were amazing engineers, building stone palaces, changing
the course of rivers, and creating wonderful gardens. After Assyria,
Babylon had one more time of greatness, but it was short-lived.
We will learn about the Neo-Babylonian Empire in the next chapter.
![](battering_nineveh-1.jpg)
The siege of Lachish: The Assyrians had a professional army; a professional
is paid for his or her services. Assyrian armies included spear-throwers,
slingers, archers, and siege engines (battering rams and towers).
Neighboring groups of people relied on farmers for their armies.
Lachish was a city located near Jerusalem, you can see the location
of Jerusalem on the Assyrian Empire Map. Jerusalem was the capital
city of the Kingdom of Judah.
Source
:
https://www.penfield.edu/webpages/
jgiotto/onlinetextbook.cfm?
subpage=1583963