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The Fertile Crescent - Index

Epic of Gilgamesh Code of Hammurabi Assyrian Siege of Jerusalem Birth of Judaism  

DATE

HISTORY

9000 BC

7000 BC

6000 BC

5000 BC

Domestication (agriculture – wheat, barley, dogs, and sheep) ( Zagros Mountains foothills)

Oldest known permanent settlement shows evidence of property (mud houses) (located at Jarmo)

Crop irrigation and trade (Hassuna culture)

Specialization (division of labor) and religious buildings (shrines/temples) (Ubaidians)

 

The Sumerians (3500 BC – 1900 BC)


3500 BC

3000 BC

 

2900 BC

2750 BC

2350 BC

2250 BC

2000 BC

1900 BC


Sumerians build permanent settlements (settle on the banks of the Euphrates)
Build ziggurats (temples) to worship gods – polytheistic (many gods)

Government becomes more complex showing evidence of order (democratic assemblies eventually breaks down into monarchy)

Use of pictographs (picture writing, like Egyptian hieroglyphics)

Development of cuneiform (“wedge shaped” writing)

Gilgamesh (hero of Sumerian legends – Epic of Gilgamesh) becomes lugal (king; "the big man") of Uruk

Sargon the Great of Akkad conquers Sumer (he is known as the first great empire builder of history)

Early law code developed (Ur-Nammu, founder of 3 rd dynasty of city-state of Ur)

City-state (cities ruled by a king) of Ur is destroyed (by the Elamites)

Sumerian civilization is conquered (by the Amorites from the Syrian desert)

 

The Babylonians (1800 BC – 539 BC)


1894 BC

1792 BC


1780 BC

1700 BC

1600 BC


689 BC

612 BC

600 BC

586 BC

539 BC


King Sumuabum establishes a dynasty and makes Babylon his capital

Hammurabi becomes ruler of Babylonian Empire (form of government where one ruler controls several kingdoms)

The Code of Hammurabi (law code – “eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth”)

Hammurabi conquers most of Mesopotamia

End of Hammurabi’s dynasty / Hittites and Kassites overthrow Babylon (Hittites from Turkey invade and conquer the city of Babylon)

Babylon is conquered by the Assyrian king Sennacherib

End of Assyrian control and the beginning of the Neo-Babylonian Empire

Nebuchadnezzar II builds the “ Tower of Babel” and “ Hanging Gardens”

Conquest of Jerusalem, the Israelites were led to Babylon (King Nebuchadnezzar II) (Babylonian captivity)

Cyrus the Great of Persia conquers Babylon

 

The Assyrians (1350 BC – 612 BC)


1350 BC

1100 BC

900 BC

800-700 BC


723 BC

612 BC


The Assyrians break free from Babylonian rule

Introduction of iron for tools and weapons (introduced by the Hittites, but used extensively by the Assyrians)

The Assyrians conquer the city of Babylon

Assyrian Empire grows from the Nile River to the Caucasus Mountains (led by Tiglath-Pileser I+II and Assurbanipal)

Assyrians conquer Israel

Babylonians conquer the Assyrian capital of Nineveh, beginning the Neo-Babylonian Empire

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