THE ASSYRIAN (700-612 BCE) AND PERSIAN

(559-360 BCE) EMPIRES

Assyrian warship

Assyrian King Ashurbanipal Hunting Lions

ASSYRIA (700-612 BCE)

• Semitic-speaking people• Used iron weapons to establish an

empire

Modern reproduction of Assyrian sword

and shield

GOVERNMENT• Ruled by kings with absolute

power• Well-organized• Officials developed an efficient

communication system• Sargon II was the most important

leader

Assyrian winged bull from Sargon’s palace

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• Created one of the world’s finest libraries at Nineveh: Ashurbanipal

• Established Aramaic as official language

• Effective military• Assyrians had the first large armies

equipped with iron weapons• Used guerilla warfare, various siege tactics,

and terror

Infantry

Assyrian battering ram

FALL OF THE ASSYRIAN EMPIRE• The Chaldeans and Medes (people

who lived in the east) joined together to conquer the Assyrians• The fall of Nineveh preceded the fall

of the Assyrian Empire• They divided the empire

Tablet detailing the destruction of Nineveh

BETWEEN THE EMPIRES• Nebuchadnezzar

• Chaldean King• Made Babylonia the strongest city in

western Asia• Famous hanging gardens• Babylon fell to the Persians in 539 BC

• This marked the end of the Mesopotamian empires

• Persians adopted Assyrian military, political and artistic inventions

Nebuchadnezzar faces off against King Zedekiah, the last king of Judah

PERSIA (559 BCE- 360 BCE)• Persians

• Indo-Europeans who lived in modern Iran• Mostly nomadic

• Eventually united by one family (Achaemenids)

• Contemporaries of Greeks• Persian Empire was massive and grew larger

than the prior Mesopotamian empires• Established durable political and cultural traditions• Fertile farmland and thriving trade

CYRUS THE GREAT – 559 BC• Created a powerful state through warfare• Indus River to Anatolia• Demonstrated wisdom, compassion, and

mercy• Had a genuine respect for other cultures and

practiced tolerance of local customs• Respected temples• Jews returned to Jerusalem

DARIUS – 521 BCE• Bodyguard for Cambyses (son of Cyrus)

and one of the Ten Thousand Immortals

• Conqueror• Added part of India to Persian Empire• Conquered Thrace (in Europe)• Invaded Greek mainland

• Halted at the Battle of Marathon

• Created world’s largest empire at that time

• Government• Strengthened

• Divided empire into 20 ethnic provinces • Satraps: Governor

• Homelands

• Created efficient communication system

• Like the Assyrians, Darius had a secret spy force – “King’s Eyes and Ears”

• The King had the power of life and death

• Military• Empire’s power depended upon the military• Included standing army of professional soldiers

• cavalry and infantry

• Effective road system

XERXES• Son of Darius

• Stopped rebellion in Egypt and attacked Greece• Greece

• Battle of Thermopylae

• Battle of Salamis

• Was defeated and returned to Persia

ZOROASTRIANISM• Persian religion Named after its prophet --

Zoroaster• Tenets

• Proto-Monotheistic: Ahura Mazda• Humans play a role in the struggle between good and evil

• Humans are given the freedom to choose between right and wrong

• Modern Parsis

FALL OF THE PERSIAN EMPIRE

• Kings became isolated and focused on obtaining luxuries, following Darius

• Struggles over the throne weakened the monarchy

• Family problems

• Eventually defeated by Alexander the Great

Persian archer