Phoenicians, Israelites (Judaism), Assyrians, Hittites,

Origins of Judaism Abraham was to be the father of the Hebrew people. Abraham lived in Ur, Mesopotamia, but moved to Canaan. His descendants eventually reached Egypt. The Hebrews prayed to only one God. Monotheism – belief in a single God. Hebrews became slaves in Egypt. Hebrews flee Egypt, which is known as The Exodus. Jews remember this event by celebrating Passover. Moses led the Hebrews out of Egyptian slavery. Egypt experiences 10 plagues. Moses reaches Mt. Sinai with the Hebrews and receives the 10 Commandments from God. Hebrews wandered the desert for 40 years. Hebrews arrived in Canaan and became the 12 Tribes of Israel.

Changes in power Eventually only one large tribe remained, this was the Tribe of Judah. As a result, Hebrews became known as Jews, and their religion, Judaism. United under Kings: Saul, David, Solomon in the land called Israel. Israel eventually split into 2 kingdoms, Israel (north) & Judah (south). 738 BCE both kingdoms paid tributes to Assyria to avoid being attacked. Eventually, it was not enough, and the Assyrians claimed Israel. The Assyrians lost power to the Babylonians, who eventually lost power to the Persians, who lost power to the Greeks, who lost power to the Romans!

The Assyrians Around 850 B.C.E. Assyria acquired a large empire. Society glorified military strength! State of the art iron weaponry! Advanced planning and technical skills in warfare! Showed no mercy! Killed or enslaved everyone! Cruel! Long ranged governing through using local governors having to report to a central authority. Acquired additions to the empire between B.C.E.

Assyrian Cruelty

Assyrian Culture Fearsome warriors were also great builders. Established Assyrian capital city of Nineveh. Well fortified city that contained one of the world’s largest libraries. Contained the Epic of Gilgamesh from Sumer. Closely resembled a modern library. The Fall The empire grew too big and outstretched, and their extreme cruelty gained them many enemies. In 612 B.C.E. Nineveh was crushed and burnt to the ground. Many clay library tablets survived the fire because they were baked in an oven. Babylon rose again, for a period of time.

The Hittites 2000 B.C.E.! Indo-European speakers who occupied Asia Minor, or Modern Day Turkey. Dominated as an empire for 450 years. Occupied Babylon and struggled against Egypt Signed peace treaty with Egypt to fight future invaders together. Adopted the language of the Babylonians, known as Akkadian. Feats of Strength – The Chariot and Iron weapons Empire suddenly fell around 1190 B.C.E. Invasions from all around and burned their capital city down.

Hittite Chariot & Iron Weaponry

The Phoenicians About 1100 BCE, they were the strongest traders along the Mediterranean Coast. Phoenicia is mostly modern day Lebanon. Never united into a country and instead formed many wealthy city-states. Feats of Strength: Shipbuilding and seafaring. First people to venture beyond the Strait of Gibraltar. May have sailed all the way around Africa, back through the Red Sea and the Strait of Gibraltar again. Legacy: A writing systems that used symbols to represent sounds. This system was phonetic, as in one sign for one sound. Greeks adopted this alphabet and changed some letters.

Phoenician Alphabet