Continuing through my reading of The History of the Ancient World by Susan Wise Bauer, I just finished Chapters 22-24.
Chapter 22 introduces us to King Hammurabi, ruler of Babylon. Hammurabi was able to extend Babylon's rule and empire to the entire Mesopotamia area. His Code is the oldest surviving complete set of laws to survive from the ancient times.
Chapter 23 brushed upon the helter-skelter left behind by Amenemhet III, the last powerful ruler of Egypt. Having ruled for forty-five years his heir was older and died shortly after taking the throne, he however was childless, leaving his wife to become ruler, Queen Sobeknefru. The instability left behind from no blood-heir entity of the royal family sent the 13th, 14th and 15th dynasties into a world of shadowy figures. These dynasties over-lapped ruling different parts of Egypt until the 15th dynasty when Hyksos was able to over-throw the remaining pieces of the 13th and 14th dynasties.
Chapter 24 brings us to the Greek island of Crete and the tale of King Minos and his greed. Minos was said to ruled Crete and many of the Aegean islands in the surrounding area. His greed is said to have upset Poseidon, who retaliated by cursing Minos wife, Pasiphaeto, with a lust for bulls, she produce an offspring with a bull. This human body with a bull head was condemned to a Labyrinth under the palace never to be escaped, it is said he was fed with the flesh of sacrifices. Minos was a powerful ruler (or likely string of) and stopped piracy in the seas surrounding Crete. This gave the people a sense of stability and allowed them to flourish and build up the cities. The area was devastated by earthquakes and volcanic eruption, believed at the time to have been Minos' inability to keep Poseidon appeased. The city of Akrotiri (city on modern day Cyprus), was preserved with ash until its discovery in the 1960's. The ash from the eruptions likely caused crop problems causing the downfall of surviving cities due to the loss of trade abilities.
Follow the jump for more information on Hammurabi's code.