Name: __________________________
Date: _____________ Period: ______
Chapter 4.2: Assyria Dominates the Fertile Crescent
1.
Who was Ashurbanipal? (Time Period, Location, Key Achievements)
7 th Century BCE Assyrian King, could read in several languages…collected clay tablets from all over the
Fertile Crescent…considered one of the great Assyrian Kings
2.
Give four examples of Assyrian Military Power/ Techniques.
Ladders
Weapons: Iron swords and iron-pointed spears, huge shields
Tactics: pontoon bridges, use of fear against enemies
Tunnels: digging under walls/fortifications
3.
Who was Nebuchadnezzar? (Time Period, Location, Key Achievements)
6 th Century BCE Chaldean King who established capital at Babylon…created center of new empire…created famous Hanging Gardens

Chapter 4.2: Assyria Dominates the Fertile Crescent
I.
A Mighty Military Machine

Beginning around 850BCE- Assyria acquired an empire…sophisticated military organization and state of the art weaponry…was the greatest power in Southwest Asia
A.
The Rise of a Warrior People

Assyrians came from the northern part of Mesopotamia…constantly invaded area…lacked natural barriers, developed strong army to repel invaders

Through constant warfare, Assyrian kings built an empire that stretched from the east and north of the Tigris River all the way to central Egypt

Sennacherib: great Assyrian king…bragged that he sacked 89 cities and 820 villages…burned
Babylon and ordered most of its inhabitants killed
B.
Military Organization and Conquest

Society glorified military strength

Advanced iron-working technology

Leather and metal armor…copper/ iron helmets, leather skirts with metal scales…iron swords and iron-pointed spears…huge shields

Advanced planning and technical skill…layed siege to enemy cities o Cities protected by moats or water…Assyrians built pontoons

Assyrian Military Power o Ladders/ Weapons/ Tactics/ Tunnels

Dug beneath city’s walls to weaken them…foot soldiers first, then cavalry, generals riding in chariots

Waves of arrows…battering rams on gate

Assyrians showed no mercy- killed or enslaved victims…soldiers received a bounty for severed heads

One Assyrian king bragged of burning 3,000 captives to death…another flayed enemy leaders and put their skin on pillars

Assyrians then forced groups of captives to leave their homelands…exiles in empire’s distant provinces
II.
An Expanding Empire

Between 850-650 BCE: kings of Assyria defeated Syria, Palestine, and Babylonia o Assyrian rule extended in to Egypt and Anatolia
A.
Assyrian Rule

Peaked around 650BCE- included almost all of the old centers of civilization and power in
Southwest Asia


Assyrian officials governed lands closest to Assyria as provinces…made them dependent territories…Assyrian Kings chose the leaders for the provinces

Assyrian armies protected the dependent territories from invasion from other enemies

Military campaigns added new territory to the empire o Brought in taxes and tribute to the Assyrian treasury o If conquered people refused to pay, Assyrians destroyed their cities and sent the people into exile
B.
Assyrian Culture

Also earned a reputation as great builders

King Sennacherib- burned Babylon and also established Assyria’s capital at Nineveh along the
Tigris River o Great walled city…3 miles long and mile wide…focus on brutal military campaigns and the lion hunt

Nineveh also had the ancient world’s largest libraries

King Ashurbanipal: prided himself that he could read in several languages o Collected more than 25,000 clay tablets from throughout the Fertile Crescent
III.
The Empire Crumbles

Ashurbanipal was one of the last mighty Assyrian kings

Assyrian power was spread too thin

Also made many enemies…shortly after Ashurbanipal’s death, Nineveh fell
A.
Decline and Fall

Assyria’s enemies then demolished Nineveh

612BCE: combined army of Medes, Chaldeans, and others rammed open Nineveh’s gates, burned and leveled the city…however, the fire glazed the tablets in the library, preserving them
B.
Rebirth of Babylon Under the Chaldeans

After defeating the Assyrians, the Chaldeans made Babylon their capital

Around 600BCE: Babylon became the center of a new empire

Chaldean King- Nebuchadnezzar restored Babylon o Created famous Hanging Gardens
 Seven Wonders of Ancient World
 According to legend, one of Nebuchadnezzar’s wives missed her mountain homeland, so he had plants planted on terraces…watered by hidden pumps

Highest building in Babylon was a 7-tiered ziggurat, 300 feet high o Priests observed the night sky from on top and Chaldean observations formed the basis for both astronomy and astrology

Chaldean empire fell shortly after Nebuchadnezzar’s death