Chapter 3 Lesson 3 (WH) Assyria and Persia

After 700 BC, new empires arose in Western Asia that covered vast stretches of the ancient world. The Assyrians were better at conquest than at ruling, and their empire lasted less than 100 years. The Persian Empire brought many years of peace to Southwest Asia, increasing trade and the general well-being of its people. The Assyrian Empire. Guiding Question. What characterized the empire of the Assyrians? The first of the new empires was formed in Assyria, located on the upper Tigris River. The Assyrians were a Semitic-speaking people, who exploited the use of iron weapons to establish an empire by 700 BC. The Assyrian Empire included Mesopotamia, parts of the plateau of Iran, sections of Asia Minor, Syria, Israel, and Egypt down to Thebes. In less than 100 years, however, internal strife and resentment of Assyrian rule began to tear the Assyrian Empire apart. In 612 BC, the empire fell to a coalition of Chaldeans and Medes, people who lived in the East. Seven years later, the rest of the empire was finally divided between the two powers. At its height, the Assyrian Empire was ruled by kings whose power was seen as absolute. Under their leadership, the Assyrian Empire became well-organized. Local officials were directly responsible to the king. The Assyrians also developed an efficient system of communication to administer their empire more effectively. A network of staging posts was established throughout the empire that used relays of horses, mules, or donkeys in the mountains to carry messages. The system was so effective that a governor anywhere in the empire could send a question and receive an answer from the king within a week. The Assyrians were good at conquering others. Through many years of practice, they developed effective military leaders and fighters. They were able to enlist and deploy troops numbering in the hundreds of thousands, although most campaigns were not on such a large scale. The Assyrian army was well-organized and disciplined. A force of infantrymen was its core, joined by cavalrymen and horse-drawn war chariots that were used as platforms for shooting arrows. Moreover, the Assyrians had the first large armies equipped with iron weapons. Another factor in the army's success was its ability to use different military tactics. The Assyrians could wage guerrilla warfare in the mountains and set battles on open ground, as well as lay siege to cities. They were especially known for their siege warfare. They used battering rams and siege towers to hammer at the city's walls. Then they would tunnel under them, making them collapse. The Assyrians used terror as an instrument of warfare. They regularly laid waste to the land in which they were fighting. They smashed dams, looted and destroyed towns, set crops on fire, and cut down trees, particularly fruit trees. The Assyrians were also known for committing atrocities on their captives. The culture of the Assyrian empire was a mixture. The Assyrians took over much of Mesopotamian civilization. They saw themselves as guardians of Sumerian and Babylonian culture. One of the last Assyrian kings, Ashurbanipal, established one of the world's first libraries at Nineveh. This library has provided abundant information concerning ancient southwest Asian civilizations. Analyzing primary sources. Assyrian combat. Three thousand of their combat troops I felled with weapons. Many I took alive. From some of these I cut off their hands to the wrist. From others I cut off their noses, ears, and fingers. I put out the eyes of many of the soldiers. I burned their young men and women to death. Ashurbanipal quoted in The Might That Was Assyria. The Persian Empire. Guiding question. What factors contributed to the success and ultimate fall of the Persian empire? After the collapse of the Assyrian empire, the Chaldean king, Nebuchadnezzar II, made Babylonia the leading state in western Asia. He rebuilt Babylon as the center of his empire and gave it a reputation as one of the great cities of the ancient world. The city was most famous for its hanging gardens, known as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. However, the splendor of Chaldean Babylonia proved to be short-lived. Babylon fell to the Persians in 539 BC. The rise of the Persian empire. The Persians were Indo-Europeans who lived in what is today southwestern Iran. Primarily nomadic, the Persians were eventually unified by one family. One member of this family, Cyrus, created a powerful Persian state that stretched from Asia Minor to India. Cyrus ruled from 559 BC to 530 BC. In 539 BC, he captured Babylon. His treatment of Babylonia showed remarkable restraint and wisdom. He also allowed the Jews who had been held there as captives to return to Israel. The people of his time called Cyrus the Great. He demonstrated wisdom and compassion in the conquest and organization of his empire. He won approval by installing not only Persians but also native peoples as government officials in their own states. Unlike the Assyrian rulers, Cyrus had a reputation for mercy. Medes, Babylonians, and Jews all accepted him as their ruler. Cyrus had a genuine respect for other civilizations. For example, he used Assyrian, Babylonian, and Egyptian designs for building his palaces. Cyrus's successors sought to extend the territory of the Persian empire. His son, Cambyses, successfully invaded Egypt. Then, Darius, who ruled from 521 BC to 486 BC, added a new Persian province in western India that extended to the Indus River. He then conquered Thrace in Europe, creating the world's largest empire to that time. Contact with Greece led Darius to invade the Greek mainland. Darius strengthened the Persian government. He divided the empire into twenty provinces, called satrapies. A governor or satrap, literally a protector of the kingdom, ruled each province. Each satrap collected taxes, provided justice, and recruited soldiers. An efficient communication system sustained the Persian empire. Officials easily traveled through the empire on well-maintained roads. The Royal Road stretched from Lydia in Asia Minor to Susa, the empire's chief capital. Like the Assyrians, the Persians set up way stations that provided food and shelter, as well as fresh horses, for the king's messengers. In this vast administrative system, the Persian king, the Great King, held an exalted position. All subjects were the king's servants, and he held the power of life and death over them. Much of the empire's power depended on the military. By the time of Darius, Persian kings had created a standing army of professional soldiers from all parts of the empire. At its core were a cavalry force of 10,000, and an elite infantry force of 10,000. They were known as the Immortals, because whenever a member was killed, he was immediately replaced. The Fall of the Persian Empire After Darius, the Persian kings became isolated at their courts, surrounded by luxuries. As the kings increased taxes, loyalty to the empire declined. Struggles over the throne weakened the monarchy, ruled by a king or queen. Persian kings were polygamous, having many wives, and had many children. Artaxerxes II, for example, who ruled in the 4th century BC, had 115 sons. Of course, the sons had little real power. However, that made them even more willing to engage in plots to gain the throne. Of the nine rulers after Darius, six were murdered as a result of court intrigue. Struggles for the throne weakened the empire, and led to its conquest by the Greek ruler Alexander the Great during the 330s BC. Persian Religion Zoroastrianism, the Persian's religion, was their most original cultural contribution. According to tradition, Zoroaster, revered as a prophet of the true religion, was born in 628 BC. His teachings were recorded in the Zend-Avesta, the sacred book of Zoroastrianism. Like the Jews, Zoroastrians were monotheistic. To Zoroaster, Ahura Mazda, the wise lord, was a supreme god who created all things. Ahura Mazda was supreme, but he was not unopposed. At the beginning of the world, the good spirit of Ahura Mazda was opposed by the evil spirit, later identified with Ahriman. Humans also played a role in the struggle between good and evil. Ahura Mazda, the creator, gave all humans the freedom to choose between right and wrong. The good person chooses the right way of Ahura Mazda. Zoroaster taught that there would be an end to the struggle between good and evil. Ahura Mazda would eventually triumph, and at the last judgment at the end of the world, the final separation of good and evil would occur. Individuals, too, would be judged. If a person had performed good deeds, he or she would achieve paradise. If the person had performed evil deeds, the soul would be thrown into an abyss, where it would experience torment and misery.