1. By: Mercedes Winegar

2.  Experts believed that Abraham lived during the rule of Hammurabi.  They prayed to one god for water, then the next for harvests, and to another for success in love and war.  Abraham and his family traveled along the Euphrates River to the city of Haran.  Abraham’s son Isaac had a son, Jacob who was later named Isreal.  For holidays Jewish family read the story of the Exodus.

3.  The Lydians lived in an area long ago northwest of Phoenicia.  They have natural resources, like fertile soil and abundant minerals, including gold.  The kingdom of Lydia was a wealthy place.  The problem with barter is when two people could make a trade or servise.  There coins they made was a mixture of gold and silver called electrum.

4.  The Phoenician’s trading partners exchanged knowledge and culture.  They explored the open Atlantic Ocean.  Phoenicians sailors also explored the Atlantic to the South,visiting a large part of the written coast of Africa.  The most important innovations was their alphabet.

5.  The Empire Builder, Cyrus was responsible for building the Persian Empire and was called Cyrus the Great.  Cyrus created the Persian Empire by force, and he was somewhat a fair ruler.  Darius ruled the Persian Empire until his death, and he faced a task of ruling a huge empire.  To communicate messengers rode on horses and carried the messages from place to place.

6.  In Ur, Abraham believed in only one god.  Moses, leader of the Israelites, led a revolt against the Egyptians.  Cyrus never lost any battle, only the one he died in.  Darius proved to people that he was organizer of the empire.

7.  The Qur’an (bible) contains the most sacred writings of islam.  Monotheism has a belief in one God.  Polytheism has a belief in many gods.  Zoroastrianism is based on a belief of one god.  A prophet is a person who is believed to speak or write with a message from God or a god.

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