1. The Phoenicians and the Persians
De Blois, pp , 41-44

2. The Invasions of the Sea Peoples
What disturbed the four-century balance of power in the ancient Near East?
Invasions of Aramaic and Chaldean tribes from the steppes and deserts between Palestine and Mesopotamia
Invasions of the “Sea Peoples” from the Balkan mountains
When?
Around 1200 BC
What was the impact of the invasion of the Sea Peoples?
It caused a break in the history of the eastern Mediterranean
The old kingdoms never regained their dominance
Civilization regressed for a couple hundred years
Who were the best known of the Sea Peoples and where did they settle?
The Philistines; southwestern Palestine
Why else is the 12th century BC a great turning point in history?
The Iron Age began

3. The Invasions of the Sea Peoples

4. Egypt (3rd Intermediate Period)
What became of Egypt after 1200 BC?
Egypt lost its conquered territories in Syria, Palestine, and Nubia.
They were mostly ruled by foreign powers, especially Libya.
By the 7th century BC (600s) Egypt became part of the Assyrian, and then Persian, empires.

5. The Phoenicians The Phoenicians avoided conquest.
After about 900 BC they created the first great commercial empire in the world.
They created colonies throughout the Mediterranean.
They played a key role in spreading Mesopotamian culture
and in beginning the creation of a Mediterranean cultural network.
By 600 BC they had circumnavigated Africa.
By 450 BC they had reached Britain.

6. Phoenicia Where was Phoenicia?
East coast of the Mediterranean (modern Lebanon)
Why were the Phoenicians important to Western civilization?
They passed on the culture of the ancient Near East to Europe.
The Greeks first came into contact with the near East through them.
They spread colonies across the Mediterranean – North Africa, Sicily, and Spain
What was the best-known Phoenician colony? Where and when was it established?
Carthage was founded c. 800BC in North Africa (modern Tunisia)

7. The most important Phoenician contribution to civilization
They invented the alphabet.
It differed from previous writing in that it had a sign for each consonant instead of for each syllable.
It had 22 signs instead of the over 600 signs in cuneiform script.
It made writing accessible to more people
It was written on papyrus or leather and therefore little has survived.

8. Phoenicia and Her Colonies
SICILY

9. The Persians The Medes came from the Zargos Mountains.
The Persians came from the Iranian plain.
First rulers:
Cyrus (r )
Cambyses (r )
Darius (r )
Xerxes (r )
They built the largest empire the world had yet seen.

10. Cyrus From whom did the Persian empire evolve? When?
The Medes
When?
C. 560 BC
What did he accomplish?
Conquered Asia Minor including Lydia (inventors of money)
Conquered Babylonia – welcomed by Babylonians
Respected Babylonian traditions
Restored worship of Marduk
Allowed Jews to return to Judah
Extended the empire east to the Indus, where he was killed in battle
Who founded the Persian empire?
- Cyrus

11. Cambyses and Darius Who succeeded him and what did he accomplish?
His son, Cambyses, added Egypt
Who was the third ruler of Persia, when, and what did he accomplish?
Darius I ( )
He reorganized the empire from a collection of semi-independent satrapies into twenty smaller satrapies
Satrapies paid fixed taxes and were ruled by governors, or ‘satraps’.
Like in other empires, during periods of weak central authority the satraps accumulated power and became semi-independent. What did Persian kings do to minimize this threat?
They employed secret informers.
The commanders of each satrapy’s army contingent answered to the king, not the satrap.

12. Xerxes
Who was the fourth ruler of Persia, when, and how did both he and his father fail?
Xerxes
They both invaded Greece and lost.
Who brought an end to the Persian empire, when?
Alexander the Great c. 330

13. Media and Persia 6th Century B.C.

14. Modern Iran

15. Reasons for Persian Success
They had a huge army – up to 300,000 men – with an elite core of 10,000 “Immortals.”
They practiced brilliant cavalry tactics and were the first to understand the significance of cavalry.
They were tolerant of the cultures of local peoples and often left their own peoples in charge.
They were highly skilled at administration.
Satraps
Common system of weights, measures, and coinage
Persian imperial post
Great road networks such as the “Royal Road”