1. Early Civilizations

2. Babylonians • Around 1700 BC under Hammurabi, they conquered much of the Fertile Crescent. • He established law, based on an “eye for an eye, or tooth for tooth.” They were carved in stone and placed everywhere.

3. Hittites • About 1500 BC they came into the region from Asia Minor (modern day Turkey). • After conquering the region, they adopted cuneiform and other ideas from the Babylonians. • Hittites are best know for being masters of iron, which they tried to keep a secret, but failed. Their weapons were far superior to the bronze weapons others used.

4. Phoenicians • While Hittites ruled the Fertile Crescent, the Phoenicians moved into what is modern day Lebanon, setting up small city-states all along the coast of the Mediterranean. • Never building an empire, they became masters of sea trade, establishing trading colonies form North Africa to Spain. • They are the “Carriers of Civilization” because they spread the culture across such a wide area. • They simplified the alphabet and passed it to Hebrews, Persians, and Arabs. Later the Greeks and Romans pass it on.

5. Persians • By 500 BC the Persians conquered the vast empire which ran from Asia Minor (Turkey) to the Indus Valley in India. • Darius I developed an efficient system of government to rule such a diverse group of people. • Government – His land was divided up into 20 provinces with each one roughly corresponding to the homeland of a particular people. A satrap, or governor was responsible for collecting taxes and keeping order. He had special people check on the satraps for honesty. • Economics – Darius improved and expanded roads to connect 4 capital cities of the Persian Empire. Peace and good roads encouraged trade. He also established a uniform system of coinage-that is he assessed a certain value for each coin. That was borrowed from the metal coins of the Lydians on the Anatolian plateau. Now people could use coins instead of bulky items for trade.