Trade in the eastern part of the Mediterranean

The Minoans Dominated trade in the eastern Mediterranean from 2000 BCE BCE Produced fine pottery Traded pottery, swords, figurines, and vessels of precious metals Also exported their art and culture including architecture, burial customs, and religious rituals Greatly influenced Greece Crete became a stepping stone for cultural exchange throughout the Mediterranean

Bull Leapers at Knossos

Depiction of women as Mother Nature goddesses. Priestesses took charge of some of the shrines. Human sacrifices

Trading Peoples Aramaeans

Phoenicians

– Colonies – Alphabet – Purple Dye

Carthage: Phoenicia’s Mightiest Colony

Muryx Shell and Purple Dye

Byblos—Home of the Alphabet

Lydians

Hebrews Information comes from archaeological digs, Egyptian and Assyrian royal annals, and the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament – not written down until 5 th century BCE – Point of view of priests of the Temple of Jerusalem – Disagreement by historians as to the degree of accuracy

Judaism Monotheistic “Do unto others” 10 commandments Yahweh-“I am” Afterlife not the focus of the religion

1900 BCE Israelites and Abraham

Moses and the Exodus 1200’s BCE Moses leads Israelites out of Egypt Renews covenant with God

Route of the Exodus

Temple Mount in Jerusalem Today Solomon’s Temple Wall—Wailing Wall

Israelites in Captivity

Israelites Torah—first five books of the Hebrew Bible approx. 400’s BCE

Cyrus the Great BCE 537 BCE allowed over 40,000 Jews to return to Palestine

Darius the Great BCE Built Persepolis Extended empire to Indus River—2 million square miles Established tax collecting system Divided empire into satrapies Royal road Postal system Network of spies

Persepolis

Zoroaster “ Zarathustra ” 570 BCE Good vs. Evil Ahura Mazda vs. Ahriman “Good thoughts, good words, good deeds”

Extent of Zoroastrianism