The Mediterranean and Middle East, 2000-500 B.C.E.

Bronze Age Civilizations Second millennium B.C.E. bronze tools “cosmopolitan” Middle East Increase in long-distance trade

Mesopotamia 1500 BCE Assyria (north) Babylonia (south) Traded with Anatolia Hittites (Indo-Europeans) came to power in Anatolia Babylonia (south) Kassites intermarried Mesopotamian culture dominated western Asia: Akkadian became language between governments and cuneiform became the system of writing languages

A Balance of Power: 1200 B. C. E.

Hittite Chariots & Warriors

Egypt Reunification – 1532 BCE 7th century BCE – declined Thebes Became aggressive and territorial 7th century BCE – declined 1640 BCE – Hyksos – foreign rule

Major Pharaohs of Egypt Menes Hatshepsut Amenhotep (later called Akhenaton) Tut Ramses II Cleopatra 7

The Aegean World 2000-1100 BCE Influenced by Mesopotamia & Egypt by trade Minoan civilization – Crete Mycenaean civilization - Greece

Minoan Crete King Minos naval empire Probably Indo-European Linear A

Mycenaean Greece AKA - Achaeans Probably Indo-European Invaded from the north around 2000 BCE What we know is translated from four thousand baked clay tablets written in Linear B Evidence of wealth Complex building Long distance trade

Homer’s Iliad & Odyssey Supposedly King Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, brings Greek cities together to defeat Troy in Anatolia, which controlled Mediterranean trade Composed about 750 BCE - According to Iliad, Paris, a Trojan prince kidnapped Helen, wife of the King of Sparta. The Spartan King and his brother Agamemnon, of Mycenae, involved all of Greece in the effort to rescue Helen. After ten years of war they destroy Troy and drove the Trojans into exile. Heinrich Schliemann 1800s – most historians believed Homers’ epics completely mythical He excavated a site in northwestern Asia Minor and graves in Mycenae

Mask of Agamemnon?

Fall of Bronze Age Civilizations Around 1200 BCE Hittite Anatolia destroyed by unknown invaders Egypt lost Palestine Mycenaean civilization fell All led to a “Dark Age” of the area that lasted 100 years

Iron Age By early first millennium B.C.E. in eastern hemisphere Use of iron instead of bronze for tools and weapons

The Neo-Assyrians: 900-612 BCE

Neo-Assyrians resurgence of old Assyrian Mesopotamia trade routes - control of silver and IRON new kind of empire King controlled all superior military technology half a million troops continued Hammurabi’s classes of society equal legal protection

Fall of Assyria Grew too large; spread resources too thin Brutal treatment of conquered peoples Conquered by Neo-Babylonians and Medes (Iranians)

Israel: 2000 – 500 BCE Names: Canaan, Palestine, Hebrews, Israelites, & Jews Crossroads – Anatolia, Egypt, Arabia, & Mesopotamia What we know comes from Egypt & Assyria and from Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) Hebrew language – a Semitic language

Abraham Born in Ur Rejected idol worship Migrated to Israel

Abraham’s Covenant Binding Agreement (2000 BC -1500 BC) One True God (Yahweh) Live by God’s word = Chosen people

Yahweh’s “Covenant” With His People The first 5 books of the Hebrew Bible. The most sacred text in the Jewish religious tradition. The Torah

Abraham’s Geneaology HAGAR ABRAHAM SARAH Ishmael Isaac 12 Arabian Tribes Jacob Esau 12 Tribes of Israel

In Egypt Drought forces Israelites to Egypt Egyptians “enslave” them

The Exodus Israelites led out of captivity by Moses 40 years in desert 10 Commandments destroyed Jericho Confirmed by archeological evidence Divided into 12 Tribes, each in different area

Route of the Exodus

Israel’s Monarchy & Defeat capital Jerusalem Solomon – high point of Israel After Solomon’s death Israel splits into 2 Israel – north Judah – south Israel destroyed by Assyrians 721 BCE Judah captured by Neo-Babylonian empire in 587 BCE; Temple in Jerusalem destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar (Rebuilt, but destroyed again by Romans) The Diaspora, or scattering – continues even to this day, though Israel is now a country again

The Temple Mount, Jerusalem Today Solomon’s Temple Wall: The “Wailing” Wall

Phoenicians – 1200-500 BCE Ancient population of Syria & Palestine “red men” in Greek Writing - pre-alphabetic system Byblos – important city-state; origin of term Bible Phoenician Triangle – trade between North Africa, Spain, and islands off coast of Italy

Phoenician Sea Routes

A Phoenician Bireme Ship

The “Royal Purple” Dye

Phoenician City of Byblos: “Home of the Alphabet”

Phoenician Alphabet

Carthage: Phoenicia’s Mightiest Colony

Carthage What we know comes from Greeks Controlled trade on the middle Mediterranean evidence of trade with sub-Saharan Africa Harbor could hold 200+ warships Population – 400,000 Polytheistic - male child sacrifice in times of crisis

Carthage Cont Navy dominated western Mediterranean Protection of trade Phoenician city-states looked to Carthage for protection Fought a series of wars with Greece & Rome from 5th-3rd centuries BCE Used mercenary soldiers: Numidians, Iberians, Gauls, & Italians