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Sumer arose in Southern Iraq, in between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, also known as the "fertile crescent."
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While Sumerian kings lived in large palaces, ordinary people lived in small, mud-brick houses. Most people in Sumer farmed and used irrigation, and some were artisans. Others worked as merchants or traders.
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People in Sumer used cuneiform to keep track of business deals and other events. Only few people, mostly boys from wealthy families learned to write and became scribes.
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The king of the Akkadians was named Sargon. In about 2340 B.C. Sargon conquered all of Mesopotamia. He set up the first empire that lasted more than 200 years before falling to invaders.
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The Babylonian king, Hammurabi began conquering cites to the North and South and created the Babylonian Empire. He is best known for his law code, or collection of laws. The code covered almost every area of life, and forced everyone in Babylon to follow the same laws.
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Assyria had fertile valleys that attracted outside invaders, to defend their land the Assyrians built a strong army. Around 900 B.C. they began taking over the rest of Mesopotamia. They had soldiers who were experts at using bows and arrows, and soldiers who fought on horseback. The Hittites developed a way of making iron stronger. The Assyrians learned this technique from the Hittites and had stronger weapons than everyone else.
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Assyrians control the whole Mesopotamian area.
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In 612 B.C. Nineveh was captured which led to the Assyrian empire crumbling.
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The Chaldean's wanted to build an Empire. Led by King Nebuchadnezzar they controlled all of Mesopotamia from 605 B.C. to 562 B.C.
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Most of the Chaldeans were descendants of the Babylonian people who made up Hammurabi's Empire about 1200 years earlier. They rebuilt the city of Babylon as the glorious center of their empire.Large palaces and temples stood in the city’s center. A huge ziggurat reached more than 300 ft into the sky. Visible from any point in Babylon, was an immense staircase of greenery: the Hanging Gardens at the king's palace. Nebuchadnezzar built the gardens to please his wife who came from the mountains.
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The Persians conquer the Chaldean empire.
