Kurt Hovan November 9, 2012 History 2 Which Empire Accomplished the Most Babylonia was a land between the

Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers, in a region known as Mesopotamia, in present-day Iraq and Saudi Arabia. The capital of this empire was Babylon. In Babylonia they grew crops like wild barley, chickpeas, sesame, dates, apples, and an edible roots called gongai. Mesopotamia was conquered by the Babylonians from the Akkadians and lasted from about 19001225 B.C. The Assyrians conquered and controlled the region in 1225 B.C., yielding control back to the Babylonians in 612 B.C. The Babylonians new empire lasted until 539 B.C. I think that the Babylonians accomplished more than the Assyrians because of all of the things they had done and figured out, while the Assyrians only thrived on warfare and fear. Here are my reasons I think the Babylonian Empire was better than the Assyrian Empire: First, I think The Code of Hammurabi made Babylonia a very fair empire with most of the rules relating to the concept of Lex talionis. Lex talionis means if you do something to someone they are allowed to do it back to you. For example, an eye for an eye could really happen if you made someone blind. The rules were put out in public and applied to everyone, which made the Empire more peaceful and safe. Some laws even related to quality of products. The laws made it so everybody was provided with plenty of food. Trade, agriculture and the economy thrived. If Lex talionis was put more into todays laws fewer crimes would be committed knowing crimes committed could come back to haunt you. Second, I think their studies and inventions really changed our lifestyle. I think if these inventions were never made then the world would lack organization and would be less advanced than it is today. Babylonians invented sundials that showed what time of day it was. Later they figured out there were twenty-four hour days and seven-day weeks. Their study of astronomy showed that we have about thirty day lunar cycles. Soon after that discovery they invented calendars, which showed that there were twelve months and three hundred and sixty-five days in a

year. If the Babylonians hadnt discovered any of this there would be no days, weeks, months or years, as we know them today. We wouldnt be able to plan anything without organization. Hammurabi, the first ruler of Babylonia, made roads in his cities. If he hadnt done this, it would have been harder to get place to place and cars and other means of transportation would probably not exist or would have been severely delayed. Hammurabi also made postal services that delivered tablets to peoples hut. At that time he was ruling it was a new way to communicate. In time, mail evolved from tablets to paper mail, and eventually to e-mail. Education in Babylonia was a lot like it is today. Babylonians wrote writing in cuneiform like we write our English today. They also studied mathematics and their number symbols were a lot like roman numerals and their problems were a lot like modern day equations. Education improved through the ages, but started with something as simple as that. Third, their architectural and artistic skills were very beautiful. The monuments they built were a lot like the ones we build today. The way we build today continues to be beautiful, colorful, and unique. The Ishtar Gate is a great example of our architectural relationship to the Babylonians. The Ishtar Gate, that still stands today, is forty-seven feet high and one hundred feet wide. They built the structure with clay brick that is still used today as a building tool. This shows that their building methods have been passed through the ages. They also built The Hanging Garden. The Hanging Garden is a huge beautiful garden that is almost completely surrounded by water. The structure was built entirely with stone to make the vibrant plants contrast more easily. This technique has been also been used throughout the ages. The Babylonians made a huge and tall, three hundred foot tall ziggurat to be able to talk to the Gods. This temple shows the use of multiple story buildings, stairs and walls, all still used in modern times. If the Babylonians had no taste for art or architecture the world would look much different today. What would the world be like without the Babylonians inventions, academics, architectural and artistic legacy, and Hammurabis rules? We wouldnt have advanced clocks, houses, laws, paintings, and many other inventions; or at

least these things would be very different without Babylonian influence. The Babylonians success proves that starting with just simple ideas can make things in the future change for a more advanced world. The Assyrians army may have been strong, but not as strong as the Code of Hammurabi!