Download APWH: GRAPES CHART # 1

COSMOPOLITAN
MIDDLE EAST
Geography
Religion
Achievements
A number of large states that dominated the middle east.
Another untraditional ruler ascended the throne as Amenhotep IV, but he soon
began to refer to himself as Akhenaten, meaning “beneficial to the Aten” (the disc
of the sun). Changing his name was one way to spread his belief in Aten as the
supreme deity. He closed the temples of other gods challenging the age-old
supremacy of the chief god Amon and the power and the influence of his priests.
Some scholars have credited Akhenaten with the invention of monotheism- the
belief in one exclusive God.
The Hyksos had many achievements, especially advantageous military
technologies such as the horse drawn war chariot and the composite bow which
has a greater firing range than a simple bow does. Some other achievements in
the cosmopolitan middle east are new musical instruments and technologies,
such as an improved potter’s wheel and weaver’s loom.
Political System
By 1500 BCE Mesopotamia was divided into two distinct political zones:
Babylonia in the south and Assyria in the north. During the second
millennium BCE Mesopotamian political and cultural concepts spread
across western Asia. Akkadian became the language of diplomacy and
correspondence between governments.
Economics
The Hittites also first developed a technique for making tools and
weapons of iron. They kept knowledge of this of this process secret
because it provided military and economic advantages. As officials in the
countryside became increasingly independent and new groups migrated
in the Nile Delta, central authority broke down and Egypt entered a period
of political fragmentation and economic decline.
Social Systems
Diplomatic relations and commercial contacts between states fostered the
flow of goods and ideas, and elite groups shared similar values and
enjoyed a relatively high standard of living. The peasants in the
countryside, who constituted the majority of the population, saw some
improvement in their standard living but reaped fewer benefits from the
increasing contacts and trade.