By: Silvia Camara, Sarah Walsh, Yaelis Avila

SECTION 2: THE FERTILE CRESCENT EMPIRES

Indo-European invaders introduced new technologies to

the Fertile Crescent while adapting earlier technologies developed by the civilizations

they encountered there.

MAIN IDEA

• Indo-Europeans: a group of semi-nomadic people who migrated from southern Russia to the Indian subcontinent around 1700 BC

• Steppes: arid grasslands• Nebuchadnezzar II: Chaldean king of

Babylon from 605-562 BC; he rebuilt Babylon into a beautiful city noted for its famed Hanging Gardens.

KEY TERMS

1. What military advantages helped the Hittites establish an empire in Asia Minor?

2. What events led to the rise and fall of the Assyrian and Chaldean Empires?

3. What were the main achievements of the Phoenicians?

READING FOCUS

• As the Babylonian Empire declined, other civilizations prospered in and

around the Fertile Crescent.• Nomadic tribes from the mountains

and deserts moved into the region as well, drawn by its wealth.

• As tribes battled each other for land, control passed from one empire to

another.• The tribes that invaded

Mesopotamia included the Indo-Europeans, several tribes who spoke related languages. They came from steppes, or arid grasslands north of

the Black Sea that later spread west and south because of lack of

resources, drought, or conflicts.

THE HITTITES

• The Hittites are a warlike Indo-European tribe that developed in

Southwest Asia.• 2000 BC – they settled in Asia Minor

(present-day Turkey) and conquered the surrounding people to form an

empire.• Their military success came from their

horse-drawn chariots. It held three men: one man drove, another fought,

and the last one held a shield for defense.

• The Hittites easily defeated foes with this advantage and expanded their

empire.• 1595 BC- The Hittties sacked Babylon.

THE HITTITE MILITARY

• They blended their cultures with the cultures around them

like the Akkadians and Babylonians.

• They were the first people in their region to master

ironworking techniques, used first for making ornaments then weapons and tools.

• Hittite rule reached a peak in the 1300 but remained a

strong force until about 1200 BC.

• They fell to powerful raiders known to historians only as the

Sea Peoples.

HITTITE CULTURE

• Originally from Northern Mesopotamia near the city of Assur along the upper Tigris

River• They grew barley and raised

cattle and adopted much of the Sumerian culture

• In 1300 BC they gained power then lost it to another empire then in 900 BC they regained

strength• Frequent war made them a

fierce warrior society with foot soldiers, chariots, and a cavalry

• They were masters of siege warfare and often relied on

terror to defeat enemies.

THE ASSYRIANS

• The Assyrians created an efficient system to govern

a vast empire.• Kings ruled through local

leaders, each of which governed a small part of

the empire.• The local leader collected

taxes, enforced laws, and raised troops for the

army.• A system of roads linked

different parts of the empire. Messengers

raced with orders, troops moved with ease, and merchants carried on

trade.

ASSYRIAN RULE

• To maintain peace across the empire, the Assyrians brutally punished anyone who opposed them.

• They also produced great cultural achievements.

• The greatest was the Library in Assyria’s capital, Nineveh containing 20,000 cuneiforms tablets collected from across the empire.

• As the empire grew larger it was harder to control. The Chaldeans and the Medes joined forces and in 612 BC captured and torched the capital and ended the empire.

ASSYRIAN RULE

• After the Assyrian empire fell the Chaldeans took much of

southern and western Assyria.• The Chaldeans made the old

city of Babylon the new capital of their new Babylonian empire

• They admired and studied the Sumerian language and built temples to Sumerian gods.

• They developed a calendar based on the phases of the

moon and made advances in astronomy.

• The Chaldean Empire ended in 539 BC with the Persian

conquest of Babylon.

THE CHALDEANS

• Nebuchadnezzar II was the most famous of the Chaldean kings known as a warrior and a builder

• He fought the Egyptians and the Jews.

• Captured Jerusalem and took many residents to Babylon as slaves and rebuilt Babylon

• Built the famous Hanging Gardens of Babylon with thousands of trees and flowers that grew on terraces and roofs as if hanging in the air

NEBUCHADNEZZAR II

• Smaller city-states emerged in Western Asia such as Sidon and Tyre in an area called Phoenicia

• It lay along the Mediterranean Sea in present-day Lebanon

• Because farming was difficult the Phoenicians turned to trade and the sea for their livelihood

• They became expert sailors and dominated trading in ports as far as the British Isles and Sierra Leone in Africa

• They founded colonies on their trade routes such as Carthage on the coast of North Africa

THE PHOENICIANS

• To record their activities, Phoenician traders developed the world’s first alphabet

• Because it used letters that could form countless words, it was more flexible than those that used pictures

• They introduced their alphabet to the people of the ports they visited including the Greeks who expanded and modified it

• The Greek and Phoenician alphabets are the ancestors of our modern alphabet

THE PHOENICIAN ALPHABET

1. What military advantages helped the Hittites establish an empire in Asia Minor?

A: The Hittites’ success came largely through their use of the horse-drawn war chariot. The Hittite chariot was

heavy and slow, but very powerful. Whereas most chariots of the time held only two soldiers, Hittite

chariots held three. As one man drove, a second fought, and a third held shields for defense. This extra defender

enabled the Hittites to move their chariots in close to enemy forces while staying protected, easily crushing

most foes.

READING FOCUS

2. What events led to the rise and fall of the Assyrian and Chaldean Empires?

A: Both the Assyrian and Chaldean Empires ended because of conquest by other people who invaded their capitals. The Chaldeans invaded Nineveh, the Assyrian capital and

ended their empire in 612 BC. The Chaldean Empire ended with the conquest of Babylon

by the Persians in 539 BC

READING FOCUS

3. What were the main achievements of the Phoenicians?

A: The Phoenicians invented glassblowing and became expert sailors and traders whose exports included ivory carvings, silverwork, and slaves. Their greatest

achievement—and their most influential legacy—was their alphabet.

READING FOCUS