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 |