By Robert, Jake, Julius, and Adrian

King Hammurabi Created the first large uniform collection of

laws (an eye for an aye, a tooth for a tooth). King Hammurabi pushed Babylon’s

boundaries north to Mari and south to Ur during his reign

King Nebuchadnezzar Built the Hanging gardens of Babylon Captured Jerusalem and caused the

Babylonian exile

Laws Used the uniform code of Hammurabi which touched on every crime

imaginable The code had equal punishment for each crime (an eye for en eye, a

tooth for tooth) however, the code’s punishment changed based upon the class of the criminal and the affected by the crime committed

The code had 282 laws in total The code of Hammurabi was written on a large black pillar with a

picture at the top of Shamash the sun god handing king Hammurabi the law code

Government Government was lead by strong kings It was a strong central government that was fair to all citizens and

easily controlled The economy was completely controlled by the government, thus

there were no private businesses Priests were placed in charge by Hammurabi to help control the

economy

Brick maker bricklayer brick-stamper basket-maker potter smith

goldsmith/silversmith Jeweler Baker Gardener wine-maker Cook Wheelwright furniture-maker boatman Boat builder carpenter horse-trainer

•Architect•engineer •exorcist •charioteer •cavalryman •Musician•servant •Priest•bitumen-carter •rope-maker •farmer •scribe •tax collector •overseer •herder •weaver •merchant.

Writing and Language Wrote on cuneiform on clay tablets which was associated

with the Acadian language They were Semitic speaking Used Cuneiform for writing but, it was not well known, so

they began to use the Aramaic language for writing. With this was introduced the first alphabetical script. Aramaic was a Lingua Franca.

Wrote on clay tabletsArt

Architecture used mud-brick construction had walls articulated by pilasters and recesses, sometimes faced with

burnt and glazed brick had narrow rooms, mostly covered with flat timber and mud roofs used extensive use of bitumen in drain and pavement construction

and as mortar. Dyed clay bricks.

City Planning The palace was located near one of the main entrance/gate (Ishtar

Gate) to the city and it was next to the processional way. The processional way was very wide and it was paved with large

stone slabs on bitumen. It was also a walled road. The houses were not freestanding, and were built together. It had eight gates

The Gods of Babylon Marduk - the city god Shamash - the sun god Nabu - the god of writing Ishara - the goddess of love Gula - the goddess of healing Ea – the god of water and wisdom Ishtar – the fertility goddess Sin – the moon god

Beliefs•The Babylonians believed that the king/monarch was a god, or that he had a divine origin

•They believed that the gods revealed the future in the entrails of sacrificed animals

•The Babylonians didn’t believe in an afterlife that held any promise or threat

The Babylonians created the hanging gardens of Babylon under King Nebuchadnezzar

The Babylonians created the first large collection of laws under King Hammurabi

Developed sundried clay bricks which they dyed different colors, and the clay could be found in different colors

Under King Hammurabi, a very effective workforce was created due to his code.

Map of the Babylonian empire under the reign of king Hammurabi (from about 1792 BC – 1750 BC)

The Neo Babylonian EmpireBabylonia under Hammurabi

1.Why was this civilizations significant in ancient Mesopotamia?

The Babylonians reunited Mesopotamia, and if they hadn’t done this, many empires wouldn’t have been founded

The Babylonians rebelled and burned Nineveh (the capital city of the Assyrians) to the ground, ending the Assyrian empire

2.Why is this civilization important in the modern world? This civilization is important to the modern world because of what it was. Babylon showed

that great numbers of people could work together. If they hadn’t done that many of the very populated cities wouldn’t be here because people wouldn’t know how to keep hundreds of thousands of people under control.

3.Should this civilization be included in the curriculum about ancient Mesopotamia? Why?

Yes. It should. At its height, Babylon was one of the largest, most important cities of the ancient world. It was located in central Mesopotamia, near the point where the Tigris and Euphrates flow closest to one another. This same region has been home to many capital cities over the centuries: Kish, Agade, Seleucia, and Baghdad among them.