The Chaldeans625-539 BC

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The Fall of the Assyrians• After the fall of Assyrian power in Mesopotamia,

the last great group of Semitic peoples dominated the area.

• Suffering mightily under the Assyrians, the city of Babylon finally rose up against its hated enemy, the city of Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian empire, and burned it to the ground.

• The chief of the Babylonians was Nabopolassar; the Semites living in the northern part of Mesopotamia would never gain their independence again.

The Final Attack At Babylon

• Nabopolassar rebelled against the Assyrians in a series of attacks moving upstream along the Tigris and Euphrates River

• In 626 BC Nabopolassar won the last battle outside of Babylon

• This was the last attack the Assyrians would make against the Babylonians

Nabopolassar

• Nabopolassar rose in revolt against the Assyrian Empire (which had ruled Babylon for the previous 200 years), after the last effective Assyrian king, Ashurbanipal died some time between 631 BC and 627 BC. Following his successful revolt, he took on the title of King of Babylonia for twenty years.

Location

• Chaldea was a nation in the southern portion of Babylonia, Lower Mesopotamia, lying chiefly on the right bank of the Euphrates, but commonly used to refer to the whole of the Mesopotamian plain.

• The country so named is a vast plain formed by the deposits of the Euphrates and the Tigris, extending to about 400 miles along the course of these rivers, and about 100 miles in average breadth.

• In former days the vast plains of Babylon were nourished by a complicated system of canals and water-courses, which spread over the surface of the country like a network.

We Now Rule…

• The Chaldeans now ruled all of Mesopotamia, and the former Assyrian possessions of Aram, Phoenicia, Israel, Edom and parts of Arabia, while the

• The Medes took control of the former Assyrian colonies in Iran, Asia Minor and the Caucasus.

Babylon, the City of 1 Million People

• Babylon was the world's richest city at the time. It had its own police force and postal system. Huge brick walls encircled the city. The walls were so wide that two chariots could pass each other on the road on top. Archers guarded the city from towers built into the walls.

• In the city center, there were palaces and temples. An immense ziggurat stood 300 feet or 90 meters in the air. At sunrise, its gold roof could be seen for miles.

The Chaldeans

• The Chaldean Empire was one of several empires that had Babylon as its capital. In time the Chaldeans called themselves the Babylonians.

• They were one of the first people to come up with ideas that shaped our modern understanding of mathematics, and they beliefs formed the basis of what we now call astronomy

The Chaldeans Warrior

• Like the Assyrians, the Chaldeans were warriors who conquered many different people

• Chaldeans fought with a motive, they wanted their land, their freedom, and revenge back

• Their way of life turned more into policing and protecting the riches of their city

Nebuchadnezzar• The Chaldeans' most

famous ruler was Nebuchadnezzar, who ruled for 40 years to control the western territory of the Assyrian Empire and who had built the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World.

• He also conquered Jerusalem and forced the Hebrews to move to Babylon.

• Babylon literature, arts, economy and a Golden Age rose under his reign

Babylon

• Nebuchadrezzar, extended the empire's boundaries as far west as Syria and Palestine. The Chaldeans called themselves Babylonians because most Chaldeans were of Babylonian descent. Their capital, Babylon, was a city of nearly one million people.

To Please The People

• To please the people, Nebuchadrezzar built a beautiful street near the palace. It was paved with limestone and marble, and lined by walls of blue glazed tile.

• Every spring, thousands of people lined the streets to see a procession of a gold statue of the god Marduk.

• The Chaldeans believed this would make their crops grow. They also thought that it would keep the empire's peace.

The Fall to Persia

• Babylon was a great civilization for many years. As the time passed, Chaldeans began to lose their power, though.

• They found it hard to control the people that they had conquered.

• Then, in 539 B.C., the Persians coquered the Chaldens. Mesopotamia had just become another part of the vast Persian Empire.

Chaldeans No More

• When the Babylonian Empire was absorbed into the Persian Empire, the name "Chaldean" lost its meaning as the name of a race of men, and came to be applied only to a social class.

• The Persians found the Chaldeans masters of reading and writing, and especially versed in all forms of incantation, in sorcery, witchcraft, and the magical arts.

• They quite naturally spoke of astrologists and astronomers as Chaldeans. It therefore resulted that Chaldean came to mean astrologist.

The Chaldeans

• Fall of Assyria and the Great Chaldean Empire (Babylonian Empire) - YouTube