Chapter 3: Kingdoms and Empires in the Middle East Section 1 See page 78.

The peoples of Mesopotamia and Egypt influenced others around them in the Fertile Crecent with trade. Among these trading partners were the Aramaeans and the Phoenicians.

The Aramaeans settled central Syria around 1200 BC with a capital at Damascus. Due to their extensive trading by ship, many people learned to speak Aramaic (closely related to Hebrew and Arabic). In fact, Jesus spoke Aramaic and some parts of the Bible were written in Aramaic.

The Phoenicians lived between Egypt and Syria in what is now Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan. They were a Semitic group that migrated from the Arabian Peninsula about 3000 BC. Some traded through caravans & ship. Their southern neighbors were the Philistines.

The Phoenicians introduced new trade concepts to their neighbors such as Bills of Sale and Contracts. But their most important advantage was the use of a 22 character alphabet to keep track of inventory and transactions.

They established city-states. The largest was Tyre, leading a confederation (a loose association of cities). They also established coastal trading colonies. One example is Carthage, which eventually became the most wealthy city in the Mediterranean.

Yellow Arrow = Phoenicians Red Arrow = Carthage Green Arrow = Lydians

The Lydians lived in what is now Turkey, between the Mediterranean, Aegean, and Black Seas. They developed a system of trade that used metal coins that represented an arbitrary value (money). X 2 =

These civilizations were polytheistic, believing in many gods.

This whole process of influencing others by trade or contact is called Cultural Diffusion.