Chapter 4, Section 2
Assyria – 850 B.C. acquires a large empire
- through military organization/weapons
Assyrians came from northern Mesopotamia.
- developed warlike behavior due to
attacks.
- Sennacherib – destroyed 89 cities/ 820
villages and killed many.

Soldiers – equipped with advanced
ironworking technology.
- used metal/leather armor
- iron swords/spears
Planning:
- used engineering to cross
rivers/obstacles (pontoons/ bridges)
- dug beneath city walls to weaken them


Tactics –
- soldiers stood shoulder to shoulder/
moved as one unit.
- used archers to barrage cities with
arrows, while battering rams used on gates.
- killed or enslaved victims
- moved slaves far from their homes
850 – 650 B.C. – Assyria expands to Syria,
Babylonia, and Palestine.
 Government
- local governors reported to Assyrian
kings.
Conquered peoples pay taxes. Those who
refuse were killed/ cities burned.

Nineveh – Assyria’s capital, established by
most fierce king
- near Tigris River
- held largest libraries in world
Ashurbanipal – King who collected 20k clay
tablets.
- collection was organized into many
rooms by subject matter
- cataloged

Ashurbanipal was the last powerful king.
 Medes/Chaldeans destroyed the city of
Nineveh.
- many people were happy
- much of library survives
Chaldeans made Babylon their capital (600
B.C.)

Chaldean king
 Restored Babylon.
- built hanging gardens
- built thick walls around the city
Inscribed the bricks with “I am
Nebuchadnezzar, King of the Babylonians”
- Chaldean observation of the solar system
formed modern basis for astronomy.
- - N’s empire eventually falls to the Persians
