A Brief History of the Ancient Near East

Goals for today:  understand general political history of Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon  understand the importance of these political situations to Israel  understand how Israel is able to thrive only when there is a lull on the world scene  understand how empires took tribute from Israel and other vassal countries

A Brief History of the Nations in the Ancient Near East  A. Languages  B. Nations –Egypt –Sumer –Akkadians  Assyria  Babylon –Syria –Philistia –Hatti (Hittites)

A. Languages  Main languages are the Semitic languages –Hebrew: Israel –Akkadian: Assyria and Babylon –etc.  Other languages –Sumerian: Sumer –Egyptian: Egypt –Hittite: Hatti

Egypt: 3 major period  1. Old Kingdom: B.C.E. –roughly Early Bronze Age  2. Middle Kingdom: B.C.E. –Middle Bronze is 2200 to 1550  3. New Kingdom: B.C.E. –Late Bronze is  periods between: – rival powers in Egypt – : Hyksos invaders dominate Egypt

Egypt’s Dynasties  Since the Greek historian, Manetho (3rd century B.C.E.)  There are some problems with these divisions, but it has been done for centuries

Dynasties and Kingdoms  Old Kingdom: 3-6 Dynasties –time of pyramids –2800 to 2200 BCE  Middle Kingdom: Dynasties –ruled from Thebes –2000 to 1750  Hyksos period: Dynasties –1750 to 1550 BCE  New Kingdom: Dynasties –1550 to 1200 BCE –20th Dynasty and beyond goes to Greek conquest

Hyksos (15th) Dynasty

18th Dynasty  First Dynasty of New Kingdom  Strongest point in Egyptian History  in 1550, Ahmose I reunited Egypt –Egypt controls Canaan  Thutmoses III ( ) leads Egypt to its strongest point  Amenhotep IV: el-Amarna letters written at capital of el-Amarna

Thutmose III

19th Dynasty  came to power ~1300 w/ Sethi I and Rameses II  reasserted control over Asia Minor  moved capital to border of Sinai in delta  most scholars identify this with period of Exodus  ? Sethi I is Pharaoh who enslaves Israelite  ? Rameses II is Pharaoh of Exodus

Rameses II

20th Dynasty and beyond  from 1200 down to Greek conquest  Egypt declined at end of Late Bronze Age and start of Iron I Age  never become as dominant  several Iron Age II pharaohs who are strong, but never controls known world

Sumer  first great civilization in the world  arose around 3500 (start of Early Bronze)  Sumer located in marshes of lower Mesopotamia between Tigris and Euphrates  invented writing (Gilgamesh)  advanced mathematics based on number 6  much of their art / culture was adopted by the Semitic peoples

Akkadians  later the two main countries would be Assyria (in North) and Babylon (in South)  ~2400, Sargon I is first Semitic ruler to defeat the Sumerians  the Akkadians adopted Sumerian culture and religion, but kept Semitic language  controlled Mesopotamia until Cyrus the Great (Persian ruler ~520)

Assyria: 9th century  Ashurnasipal II ( )  Shalmeneser III ( ) –pictured Jehu ( ) giving tribute –Qarqar in 853 B.C.E.  from 800 to 750 lost control of world due to internal struggles

Battle of Qarqar in 853 B.C.E.

Assyria: 8th century  Tiglath-Peleser III ( ) –restores power –expands westward –from now until fall of Ninevah (612), Assyria is a constant threat to Israel and Judah  Sargon II ( ) –Israel falls  Sennacherib ( ): Judah almost falls  Assurbanipal ( ): last great king

Tiglath- Pileser III

Tiglath-Pileser III (745–727)

Sennacherib’s 701 campaign

Rise of Assyria

Babylon  After 625, they were able to win over from Assyria  exacted tribute from Canaan just like Assyria had done  defeated Judah in 596 and 586  Babylon falls to Cyrus the Great (Persian ruler) in 520

The Rise of the Babylonian Empire

The Rise and Fall of the Babylonian Empire

Syria  used Semitic language  language known from Ugarit and Ebla  kingdom of Aram  culture similar to Canaan but not exactly the same (although many scholars make too many parallels)

Philistines  they occupy the coastal area in Canaan  come onto the scene about the time the Israelites arrive on the scene  they are one of the Sea Peoples, but not all Sea Peoples are Philistines  wiped out in early 6th century by Babylon

Hittites  they occupied the area of modern Turkey  as a world power, they fell at the end of the Late Bronze Age and start of Iron Age  this is about the time period when Israel comes onto the scene  not a huge presence for Israel, but a presence in terms of culture (esp. cov’t)

Conclusions:  remember: Israel’s economic resources  Israel thrived when there was a lull in the world political situation  Israel needed contacts with other nations  these relationships help us understand the political scene in Israel and Judah, and also the religious texts that evolve out of these settings.