Download Near East during the 12th

Syria and Palestine
Near East 1200-745 BC
Summary and Interconnections
Babylon 1800-1600 BC
◦ Controlled Assyria
Kassite Babylon 1600-1200 BC
◦ Controlled Assyria until 1365 when Assyria gained some independence until 1200
Phoenicians: vassals of Egypt and Hittites 2000-1200 BC
1200-911 BC
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Elamites conquered Babylon 1200 BC and Chaldeans/Assyrians kept it weakened
Assyria weakened by invasions (Aramaean and Elamites)
Hittites small city-states from 1180-750 BC (independent until absorbed into Assyria)
Arameans 1200-720 BC ( independent and gradually absorbed into Assyria)
Phoenicians 1100- 800’s BC (independent); Assyrian vassals 800’s-612 BC
Hebrews 1200-586 (settlement, monarchy, Assyrian conquers in 722 BC and Babylon 586 BC)
Syria:
Ugarit
The earliest Canaanite Kingdom 1450-1200 BC
Vassals of Mitanni, Egypt and Hittites
Wealthy trading economy with Mycenaean Greece, Cyprus, and
Egypt
Cuneiform alphabet one of the first
Religion:
◦ El: king of the gods; symbolized by a bull
◦ Asherah: consort of El
◦ Baal: El’s son; agricultural/fertility and storm god; most prominent god; bull
Syria:
Arameans
1200-720 BC
Semitic-speaking who settled into the Old Syrian Kingdom after
Hittites fell
Became absorbed into Assyria
Aramaic:
◦ Semitic language; related to Phoenician and Hebrew.
◦ Used the Phoenician alphabet and replaced Akkadian as the language of
trade/administration during the Persian Empire
◦ Dominate language in Palestine in the first century AD.
Syria and Palestine:
Amorites and Canaanites
Amorites:
◦ Semitic people who originated in the northern
Syrian Desert
◦ Dominated Babylon 1800-1600
Canannites:
◦ The area of Lebanon and Israel today
◦ Biblical writers use is as a general term to refer to
the people in the entire region
◦ Phoenician in Syria referred to themselves as
Canaanite
◦ Linguistically refers to the family of Canaanite
languages: Canaanite, Phoenician, Hebrew and
Moabite
Palestine:
Phoenicians
Located on the coast of the Levant/Palestine above Israel and south of Syria. They referred to
themselves as Canaanites and by location.
Controlled by Egypt and others until 1200 BC
◦ Main cities: Byblos, Sidon, Acre, Jaffa
◦ Cedar wood used in trade for papyrus Byblos-Greek for papyrus)
◦ Lots of colonies prospered: Marseilles, France; Venice and Genoa, Italy; Cadiz, Spain; Carthage, North Africa
1200-800s Independent
◦ Tyre and Sidon:
◦ David and Solomon had treaties with Tyre supplying them with raw building materials
800’s-612 Assyrian Vassals
◦ Carthage
◦ Trade colony on northern coat of Africa; used as a stopping point for ships bound for Iberian colonies
◦ Later made famous in the Punic Wars of Rome
◦ Levant area forced to pay tribute
Phoenician Culture
Borrowed from Egypt, Cyprus, Greece, Anatolia and Mesopotamia. Contributed profoundly
to the western Mediterranean.
Alphabet:
◦ 22 letter consonant based alphabet based on Ugarit
◦ Greek later added vowel sounds
Religion:
◦ Baal and Ashtoreth cult
◦ Animal sacrifice and human sacrifice
Technology and Art:
◦ Extracted a purple dye (phoinikes) from a snail (reserved for royalties=royal purple/blue)
◦ Warships influenced later Greek ships
Palestine:
The Philistines
1190-700 BC
Sea Peoples, Peleset, that Ramesses III settled into the Levant area
We derive the name Palestine from Philistine
Major cities:
◦ Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gaza, Akron, and Gath
Aegean in origin
◦ Pottery, clothing, weaponry, ships
Conflict with the Hebrews who occupied the hills of the Palestinian region
◦ Sampson/Delilah, David/Goliath
◦ David confined them in the early 900’s
◦ Later conquered by Assyria in the 700’s and Neo-Babylon in the later 600’s
Hebrews:
Archaeological Origins
◦ Burn layers around 1550 in some Canaan sites (early exodus)
◦ Jericho, Ai, and Gibeon were not occupied in the 1400’s-1200’s
◦ Earlier or much later conquest
◦ 1350-1213 BC Berlin Pedestal from Egypt (Nation at this point)
◦ 1200 BC Mernephtah Stela “Israel is laid to waste his seed is no
more” from Egypt
◦ No Exodus artifacts from 1400-1200’s BC
Hebrews:
Historical Origins
Historical Origin
◦ “Amorite” memory written reflect the Patriarch traditions
◦ Habiru: term used to mean a nomad; later used in Egypt to refer to a group
of people; used to designate the Hebrews early in historical records
◦ Exodus: Moses is Egyptian origin; Levite names are Egyptian origin
◦ Written Hebrew language developed in 10th century (called Canaanite until
300’s)
United Monarchy
Biblical: one cohesive group of people united under David
Secular: always been two distinct groups
Pressure from Philistines urged the Israelites to move from judges to monarchy
Saul (1027-1005 BC): First King/Prince; unable to fully unite and eliminate the Philistine threat
David (1005-970 BC): first ruler of a united Israel (king of Judah first and later united north and south)
◦ Defeated the Philistines, Edom, Moab, Amon, Jerusalem capital
Solomon (970-931 BC):
◦ 12 administrative districts
◦ Fortifies trade cities
◦ Temple and Palace
◦ Trade relations with Phoenician Tyre, Neo-Hittites, Egypt, Cilicia, And Arabia
◦ Discontent caused by high taxes and foreign wives
Divided Kingdoms:
Israel and Judah
NORTHERN (10 TRIBES/ISRAEL):
◦ Jeroboam (931-910)
SOUTHERN (2 TRIBES/JUDAH):
◦ Rehoboam (932-915)
◦ Bethel and Dan two major centers of worship
◦ Larger, Wealthier but unstable
◦ Prophetic renunciation of kings, attractive to invaders
◦ Omri (885-874)
◦ Samaria the capital
◦ Rebuilt after Aramaean (Damascus, Syria) attacked and made
alliances with Phoenicians in Tyre
◦ Assyrians referred to Israel as the house of Omri
◦ Jehoshaphat (873-849)
◦ Ahab (873-852)
◦ Strengthened Israel and increased prosperity
◦ Phoenician style buildings
◦ Introduced foreign religion via Jezebel (Phoenician)
◦ 800’s Assyrian domination
◦ 700’s Israel and Judah stable but large social
inequality
◦ Amos and Hosea’s period
◦ Jehoram (849-842) ??
◦ Married Athaliah Omri’s daughter
◦ Ahaziah (842-842)
◦ Athaliah (842-835)
◦ Mother of Ahaziah and only ruler of non-Davidic descent