The Akkadians and the Babylonians

Objectives

• Describe how the Akkadian and Babylonian civilizations became powerful in Mesopotamia.

• Analyze why Hammurabi was an outstanding king.

Words to Know

System- A way of doing something; a plan for doing something.

Translate- To change the words of one language into those of another.

Code- A group of laws.

Merchant- One who buys and sells; one who trades.

Reign- To rule; the period of time a king or king rules.

Sargon I

Years after the Sumerians built their city-states in Mesopotamia, Sargon I united them. He ruled a kingdom north of the Sumerians called Akkad. Because his Akkadian army used bronze weapons, they were stronger than other armies.

The Akkadian Empire

In time, Sargon’s kingdom spread from the shores of the Mediterranean Sea eastward. It covered all of the Tigris and Euphrates River Valleys to the Persian Gulf. For the first time in history, one person ruled all this land. He ruled for about 35 years, from around 2340 B.C. to 2305 B.C.

Sargon borrowed many ideas from the Sumerians. The most important was their system, or way, of writing. The Akkadians had their own language, but they used the Sumerian cuneiform to make written records.

Scribes translated many Sumerian writings. In this way, the Akkadians discovered many of Sumer’s ideas about religion and government.

Sargon I was a strong leader. He repaired dikes and made the irrigations systems longer. His army protected important trade routes. However, soon after he died in 2305 B.C., Akkad collapsed and lost its power.

The BabyloniansAround 1800 B.C., a new city-state called Babylon arose. People feared its powerful army. Hammurabi, the king of Babylon, fought both the Akkadians and the Summerians and won. His kingdom stretched from the Persian Gulf northward through Mesopotamia.

Hammurabi

Hammurabi built a giant ziggurat to honor the god Marduk. He also built a wall around Babylon to protect it. The was was 11 miles long and nearly 80 feet wide. He improved roads and helped develop trade. Merchants from as far away as India and China came to Babylon to do business.

Hammurabi’s ReignHammurabi reigned for almost 40 years. He was proud of all he had done during that time. Near the end of his reign, he ordered a scribe to carve his record on a large block of stone. In this way everyone knew his laws. The scribe carved nearly 300 laws on the stone! Archaeologists found it buried in the sands of Iran in 1902.

We call Hammurabi’s reign the Golden Age of Babylon. After his death in 1750 B.C., the Babylonians lost their power. Then Mesopotamia was again divided into small city-states.