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AP World Lesson, 4:2-3
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Assyrian & Persia in the Middle East
Chapter 4:2-3
Notes
AssyriaMain Idea: Developed a military machine,
conquered an empire, established imperial administration
Why it matters? Some leaders still use military force to extend their rule, stamp out opposition, and gain wealth and power
Theme: Military Strategy
Assyria: Military Machine
State of the art military technology
Why did they become militaristic?Answer: Lacking of natural
barriers
Result Developed an army
King Sennacherib= burned Babylon, conquered many cities
Organization & Conquest
Well equipped
Iron-working technology
Advance planning and technical skills
Ex: Assyrians dug beneath the city’s wall to weaken them before they attacked
Assyrian RuleConquered an empire
Assyrian rulers choose who would lead other conquered areas (wouldn’t let the people govern themselves)
Assyrians received taxes and tributes of conquered areas
If they refused to pay, they destroyed their cities and sent the people into exile
Assyrian Culture
Nineveh= capital of Assyrian empire, built by King Sennacherib, along the Tigris River
One of the largest libraries in the ancient world was in Nineveh
King Ashurbanipal= collect clay tablets from Fertile Crescent, prided himself in being able to read in several languages
Archaeologists found tablets and a dictionary tablet that help scholars understand Mesopotamian writing
Empire Crumbles
Assyrians had earned many enemies
Combined army of Medes, Chaldeans and others demolished Nineveh
Fire of demolition actually caused the clay tablets to be glazed and preserved
Many other people rejoiced of Nineveh's destruction
Babylon under the Chaldeans After the Assyrians were
defeated, the Chaldeans (people who ruled after Assyrians) made Babylon their capital
King Nebuchadnezzar= Chaldean king, impressive palace, famous hanging gardens (ancient wonder of the world)
Built large ziggurat that could be seen for miles. Priests observed the stars from
the top Chaldeans’ observations formed
the basis for both astronomy and astrology
Final FallAfter Nebuchadnezzar’s death, empire fell
Persians came, adopted many Assyrian military, political, and artistic inventions
PersiansMain Idea: The Persian Empire ruled with
tolerance and wise government
Why it matters now? Tolerance and wise government are characteristics of the most successful methods of rule
Theme: How you rule (with terror or with tolerance), how to united an large empire
Setting the Stage/Background
While Mede, Chaldeans and others were conquering Nineveh, the Persians were expanding their territory
Eventually 2 forces emerged: Persia and Medes (ancient Iranian people)
Cyrus, would lead Persia to dominate the Medes and more
Persian HomelandMigrated from Central Europe and south Russia and
settled in the Fertile Crescent (modern-day Iran)
Lots of minerals: copper, lead, gold, silver, blue lapis lazuli
Trade allowed them to have contact with neighbors to the west and east
Cyrus the Great= Persian king, military
genius empire spanned 2,000
miles conquered entire Fertile
Crescent set a strict discipline
against looting and burning of cities
believed in honoring local customs and religions
conquered people enjoyed freedom, allowed Jews to return to Jerusalem
died in battle
Persian Rule & Reign
Cambyses= Cyrus’ son Conquered Egypt Neglected to follow father’s example
(ex: ordered Egyptian gods to be burned)
When he died, rebellions broke out
Darius= a noble of the ruling dynasty Member of the king’s bodyguards Ten Thousand Immortal (elite army
group) helped him gain power Empire was 2,500 mile His only failure: not being able to
conquer Greece (this would be the same failure as his son, Xerses)
Providences & Satraps
Darius’ biggest success- his organization/administration over such a large empireDivided into 20 providencesEach providence had the
freedom of religion
Satrap= governor who rules a providenceThese were the “eyes and ears”
of Darius
2 Tools that United Empire1. Royal Road
Went from Persia to Anatolia (modern day Turkey)
1,677 miles
2. Standard MoneyAll providences used the
same money, didn’t need to exchange to local currency
This promoted tradeTrade allowed them to hold
the empire together
Persian ReligionZoroaster= religious reformer
God of truth and light= Ahura Mazda
God of evil and darkness= Ahrimin
Avesta= holy writings of Zoroastrian
Idea of heaven, hell and final judgment
Parsi sect= largest group of Zoroastrians today
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