The First Civilizations - Baby's First Year

Copyright © by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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READING ESSENTIALS AND STUDY GUIDE 1-3 (continued)
The kings built roads to link the parts of their empire.
Along the roadways were stations posted with government
soldiers. These soldiers protected traders from bandits.
Messengers on government business also stopped at
the stations to rest and change horses.
Life in Assyria Assyrians were similar to other Mesopotamians.
Their writing was based on Babylonian writing. They
worshiped many of the same gods. Their laws were similar,
but lawbreakers were more severely punished.
The Assyrians erected large temples and palaces filled
with wall carvings. They wrote and collected literature. In
fact, Nineveh had one of the world’s first libraries.
Assyria’s cruel treatment of people led to rebellions.
Around 650 B.C., the Assyrians began fighting each other
over who would be king. A group called the Chaldeans
rebelled. In 612 B.C., they captured Nineveh. Soon after,
the Assyrian Empire crumbled.
7. Why were the Assyrian army’s weapons so superior?
The Chaldeans (page 29)
The Chaldean Empire built important landmarks in Babylon and developed
the first calendar with a seven-day week.
The Chaldeans wanted to build an empire. From 605
B.C. to 562 B.C., led by King Nebuchadnezzar, they controlled
all of Mesopotamia.
The City of Babylon About 1,200 years earlier, the Babylonian
people had belonged to Hammurabi’s empire. Most of
their descendants were known as Chaldeans. These people
rebuilt Babylon.
Babylon quickly became the world’s largest and richest
city. A wall surrounded the city. Soldiers kept watch from
towers in the wall.
In the center of the city stood large palaces and temples,
including a huge ziggurat and an immense staircase
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