372 History
Middle Eastern Empires
From around 2000 BCE, rival peoples in the Middle East fought to either
conquer or defend land. Some, like the. BABYLONIANS
and. ASSYRIANS, built great cities in
Mesopotamia. Others, like the. HITTITES
and. HEBREWS, settled and founded
new kingdoms outside Mesopotamia.
HITTITES
The Hittites were people who settled
in Anatolia (now Turkey), in around
1700 BCE. They could smelt iron, so
they were able to make stronger
weapons than their enemies. Around
1400 BCE, Hittite city-states joined
forces to create a powerful kingdom.HOW DID THE HITTITES FIGHT THEIR WARS?
Fast, two-wheeled war chariots – pulled by horses
– were first used by Hittite warriors around 1800 BCE.
Armed with bows and arrows, the charioteers would
charge at ranks of enemy soldiers to scatter them.
The Hittites also attacked enemy cities with the help
of siege engines such as tall towers. The Hittites had
two great enemies: the Ancient Egyptians and a war-
like people from the state of Mitanni, in Mesopotamia.1 CLAY MAP
Made by Babylonian scholars
in around 600 BCE, this was one
of the first maps of the world.HOW DID THE BABYLONIANS MEASURE TIME?
Babylonians built mud-brick monuments and used them
as sundials. They observed stars and planets, predicted
their movements, and compiled calendars. They based
their calculations on units of 60 – which we still use
today to measure minutes and seconds – and recorded
all their findings in cuneiform writing.BABYLONIANS
Babylon became powerful around 1792 BCE,
under King Hammurabi. From 1595 BCE, its
people came under the rule of invaders. In
625 BCE, a general called Nabopolassar drove
out the foreigners and became king. Under his
son, King Nebuchadnezzar (r. 605–562 BCE),
a great new empire emerged.WHY WAS THE MIDDLE EAST SUCH A RICH PRIZE?
Kings and peoples wanted to live in the Middle East
because of its fertile farmland. The best land lay beside the
Euphrates and Tigris rivers of Mesopotamia, but
there were also fields, forests, and orchards in mountain
valleys to the north and south. People also competed
to control the long-distance trading routes that passed
through the Middle East, linking Europe with Asia.4 HITTITE GOD
This war-like god was carved on a gateway
in the Hittite capital city of Bogazkoy (now
in Turkey) in around 1300 BCE.WHY DID HITTITE
POWER COLLAPSE?
The Hittites and their enemies
fought to win the eastern
Mediterranean region, with its
forests, farms, and rich trading ports.
In around 1200 BCE, the Hittites were
also attacked by invaders from
Mediterranean islands, known as Sea Peoples,
and by nomad tribes from the east. These wars,
plus famine, destroyed Hittite power.Battle-axe raised
to strike enemiesDragon,
symbol of
god MardukBull, symbol
of god Addad1 ISHTAR GATE
This gateway, named after the Babylonians’ goddess of love and war,
was the main entrance to the city of Babylon from around 600 BCE. It
led to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, built by King Nebuchadnezzar.KING HAMMURABI
r. 1792–1750 BCE
King Hammurabi (pictured
standing before the Sun god
Shamash) conquered all of
Mesopotamia to create a new
kingdom, which was named
after its chief city – Babylon.
He introduced a strict code of
law, and many crimes were
punished by death. After he
died, the empire weakened.