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GVILIZATION in
ESOPOTAMIA
g k
to Our World
The Fertile Crescent starts on the eastern shore
Why do people today try new
of the Mediterranean Sea in Southwest Asia. Like
ways of doing things?
the shape of a quarter moon, it curves around the
Syrian Desert, reaching south to the Persian Gulf.
Focus on the Msin Ides
By about 4000 B.C. many farming villages dotted
As you read, think about the new
the rich land of the Fertile Crescent. In the valley
lifeways developed by societies
of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers at the eastern
living in ancient Mesopotamia.
end of the Fertile Crescent, some farming vilPreview Vocsbulsry
lages attracted thousands of new settlers. There
civilization
authority
in the region called Mesopotamia, "the land
technology
surplus
between the rivers," several villages grew into
ziggurat
merchant
cities. The earliest cities rose up in a part of
government
social class
Mesopotamia called Sumer. As people began
city-state
scribe
to live and work together in these cities, they
monarchy
innovation
formed a complex society, or civilization. A
civilization is a culture with well-developed
forms of government, religion, writing, and learning. City
life brought new problems, however. The need arose
to find creative ways to solve them.
NEW INVENTIONS
Farmers living in the region of Sumer used the Tigris and
Euphrates rivers to water their crops. Yet these rivers were
unpredictable. At times they flooded the land without
warning. They carried away crops and sometimes whole villages. For people who subsisted on agriculture, a flood was
the worst possible natural disaster. The loss of crops when
farmland was flooded meant starvation.
To control the water on which they depended, farmers in
Sumer built dikes and dug canals. Dikes held the fl~~:~~gto
rivers within their banks. Canals carried extra water
d
II
Chapter 2 • 61
the rivers after floods. Building dikes and
canals took special knowledge of making and
using tools. The use of tools and skills to
make a product or achieve a goal is called
technology. The early settlers of Sumer developed the technology to carry out successful
agriculture and to build cities.
The technology of Sumer was greatly
advanced by the invention of the wheel.
Farmers in Sumer made wheels by attaching
boards together and rounding them off.
Later they covered the rims with pieces
of copper.
Wheel technology made possible other
inventions, including the wheeled cart. With
a wheeled cart, a domesticated animal such
as an ox or a donkey could pull a heavy load.
Wheeled carts were important in moving
construction materials for houses and other
buildings in Sumer' s growing cities.
What two inventions helped early
farmers deal with flooding?
ARCHITECTURE AND
RELIGIOUS BELIEFS
The largest building in most Sumerian
cities was a huge mud-brick temple called
a ziggurat (ZIH•guh•rat). Some ziggurats
stood as tall as a seven-story building. They
towered above the houses like skyscrapers.
Builde
each one
highestl
for the ci
There
peoples
in their 1
their go<
return.F
they tho
angry at
Sumerv
and rain
~
Mediterranean
Sea
Syrian
Desert
•
N
W
*E
0
-
Border of Sumer
-
Border of Mesopotamia
D
Fertile Crescent
------ Ancient coastline
100
200 Miles
0
100
200 Kilometers
l am bert Conformal Conic Projection
HUMAN-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTIONS
--- --
-
Ancient ziggurats (left) towered above
the land in ancient Mesopotamia about
5,000 years ago. Even after many years
of erosion, the Ziggurat Assur (above)
still stands in what is now Iraq.
Builders constructed a ziggurat in layers,
one smaller than the one below. On the
level of each ziggurat stood a shrine
the city's special god.
The religious beliefs of the Sumerian
showed the importance of agriculture
in their lives. They believed that by pleasing
gods, they would get large harvests in
Floods and other natural disasters,
thought, were signs that the gods were
at them. Chief among the gods of
were Enlil, the god of winds, storm,
rain, and Ea, the god of the waters and
In time a ziggurat became more than a
for a god. The people in Sumer built
·buildings around the base of the
-~ ........... Some of these buildings had
......,...... kinds of workshops where craftor skilled workers, made clothing
metal goods. Others were temples in
priests performea religious cereThe ziggurat with all its buildings,
enCJlose~a within great walls, was the center
activity in each city.
How did religion in Sumer reflect
the importance of agriculture?
THE ROLE OF
GOVERNMENT
Constructing dikes, canals, ziggurats, and
other city buildings took large numbers of
people. When large numbers of people live
and work together, laws are needed to keep
order. In societies as large as those in Sumer,
this could be done only with a government.
A government is an organized system that
groups use to make laws and decisions.
Sumer was made up of 12 independent
city-states. A city-state included a city or
village and the farmlands around it. Each
city-state had its own leaders and its own
government. In early days each government
was run by a small group of leaders and a
chief leader chosen by that group. Together
they made laws and decided what work had
to be done.
The city-states of Sumer often waged wars
to enlarge their farmland or to protect it from
others who wanted to take it. In times of
peril, the group of leaders could not always
agree on what to do. To provide stronger
leadership, each Sumerian city-state formed
a new government. The new gove~~~~:was a monarchy, in which one perso~
II
Chapter 2 • 6J
adventures of Gilgamesh, a Sumerian ''big
man." The story praises Gilgamesh as "he
who knew everything."
Gilgamesh was a real king who
ruled over the Sumerian citystate of Uruk sometime
between 2700 and 2500 B.c.
Over time King
Gilgamesh became a
figure of legend.
People described
Gilgamesh as
one-third man
and two-thirds
god. Stories of
Gilgamesh and
his adventures
were probably
passed on as
oral tradition
for centuries
before being
recorded in
Mesopotamia
put the stories
of Gilgamesh
into their most
complete form
by 1300 B.C.
complete authority, or right, to rule in
peacetime and to lead soldiers in time
of war.
Sumerians called the rulers of their citystates ''big men/' or kings, because the rulers
were most often men. They were concerned
with every part of Sumerian life. Because
of the king's importance, the Sumerians
believed their kings were almost like gods.
One of the oldest stories in the world is a
story poem from Sumerian times. It tells the
M • Unit 1
What type of government did
Sumerian city-states form to
provide stronger leadership?
CHANGING ECONOMY
By about 3000 B.C. some Sumerian citystates had large populations, while others
remained small. The city-state of Ur grew to
have more than 30,000 people. Such population growth was possible only because of the
success of agriculture. Sumerian farms produced enough food to create a surplus, or
extra supply, to feed the people who came
to settle in Sumer.
Having a surplus meant that some people
could spend their working hours doing
things other than growing or finding food.
As a result, a complex division of labor
occurred. Some people became craftworkers
in stone, clay, wool, leather, or metals such as
copper. Others became managers.. skilled at
directing the work of others. Some became
merctiants';"Nople who bought and sold
goods for a living.
Sumerian merchants traded with merchants throughout,the Fertile Crescent as
far away as the Mediterranean Sea. The
Sumerians traded what they had in surpluswheat, barley, and coppertools such as
axheads and plowheads. In return, they got
what they wanted-wood, salt, precious
stones, and raw copper.
What effect did a surplus of food
have on life in Sumer?
DIVISIONS IN SOCIETY
Because the work of some people came
to be valued more than the work of others,
Sumerian society became divided. This
division<
withdiffE
Themt
inSumer
priests, a
families.
werere
had theJJ
Next<l
workers,
included
doctors,
whokne
able skilJ
includin
read nor
letters fc
stories a
middle!
services
vices an
division created social classes, or groups
with different levels of importance.
The most important or highest social class
in Sumer was made up of nobles-the king,
priests, and other important leaders and their
families. Nobles owned much of the land and
were regarded as the privileged class. They
had the most wealth and honor.
Next came the class of merchants, craftworkers, and managers. This middle class
included carpenters, potters, bricklayers,
doctors, and scribes. A scribe was a person
who knew how to write. Writing was a valuable skill in Sumer, where most peopleincluding kings and nobles-could neither
read nor write. Scribes kept records, wrote
letters for other people, and copied down
stories and songs. Scribes and others in the
middle social class of Sumer exchanged their
services or the goods they made for the services and goods they needed.
Laborers, or unskilled workers, and slaves
made up the lowest class in Sumerian society.
Most slaves were prisoners of war. Others
were enslaved as punishment for crimes or
to pay off debts. Slaves in Sumerian society
were not enslaved for life. For example, those
who owed a debt could gain their freedom
when the debt was paid.
In each Sumerian social class, a division
existed between m~n and women. Men
owned most of the property and held most
leadership roles. Laws in Sumer allowed
women to own property. However, most
women did not. Women sometimes held
positions of leadership, especially as priests.
Ancient records also refer to women scribes
and doctors. Most Sumerian women, however, did not hold positions of leadership in
the community.
What were Sumer's social classes?
These gypsum statues (left) show how one early artist pictured the Sumerians.
Below is a model of a Sumerian house. What social class do you think the
owners of this house belonged to?
Chapter 2 • 65
Head
Bird
~<
Grain
LEARNING FROM TABLES Sumerian writing began with scribes (left) using picture symbols.
• In what columns do the symbols most often look like what they stand for?
INNOVATIONS
The needs of a large
complex society led to
further innovations, or
new ways of doing
things. The need in Sumer to mark boundaries for farming led to a unit of land measurement the Sumerians called the iqu. Today
we call it the acre.
The need to measure the wheat and barley
harvests established the quart as a basic unit
of measurement. The need to carry trade
goods up the river led people to build cargo
boats with sails. The need to keep a record
of ownership and trade led to one of the
Sumerians' greatest innovations-writing.
Scribes in Sumer marked picture symbols
in pieces of wet clay. They attached these
pieces to baskets as tags to identify the
contents and the owner. Over time the
Sumerians developed their symbols into a
complete writing system. This system was
based on cuneiform, (kyoo•NEE•uh•fawrm),
or wedge-shaped, symbols.
To make the cuneiform marks in soft clay
tablets, Sumerian scribes used a pointed
reed, or stylus. The clay tablets were then
baked to harden them. Cuneiform tablets
that have been found give a record of
66 • Unit 1
Sumer' s growing economic activity, way of
life, and history. With the invention of writing, people began to record their own stories.
1
~
'I
g
What innovations did the
Sumerians develop?
soN 1 REVIEW
Check Understanding
1. Recall the Facts
What new type of
government was formed in the Fertile Crescent?
2. Focus on the Main Idea How did the
need for organization affect the development
of city-states in Sumer?
Think Critically
3. Cause and Effect
What effect did a crop
surplus have on early civilization?
4. Past to Present Which of the problems
faced by people in Sumer are similar to
problems in the United States today?
Show What You Know
News-Writing Activity
Prepare a news story describing
an important event that might
have happened in Sumer when
an innovation was introduced.
FJEiiTiLE
CRESCENT
to Our World
Why are laws important today?
Focus on the Ma.in Idea.
As you read, look for ways in
which early civilizations protected
themselves and kept order within
their societies.
As city-states all over the Fertile Crescent kept
growing in area and population, conflict among
them increased. City-states competed with one
another to control fertile land and valuable
water rights. As people began to conquer, or take
over, the land of others, cries of war became a
familiar sound.
Preview Voca.bula.ry
conquer
empire
emperor
taxation
Code of Hammurabi
equal justice
This Sumerian helmet was
hammered from a single sheet of
gold. About 4,500 years old, ·the
helmet was uncovered in the royal
cemetery of the ancient city of Ur.
CAUSES AND EFFECTS
OF CONFLICT
Most wars among early agricultural societies
such as those in the Fertile Crescent were fought
to protect farmland and water rights. A Sumerian saying
warned of how unsure ownership was: "You can go and
carry off the enemy's land; the enemy comes and carries off
your land."
The land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers was flat.
No natural boundaries such as mountains separated one
city-state from another. With no natural boundaries, citystates put up pillars to mark their borders. When one citystate moved or destroyed another city-state's pillars, it
"violated both the decree of the gods, and the word given
by man to man." Such acts often led to war.
As more disagreements about land and water
arose, more wars were fought. With more wars, the
need for weapons resulted in new technology.
Craftworkers used what they had learned in
making metal tools and improving the wheel to create
such innovations as war chariots. A war chariot was a
light, two-wheeled cart pulled by horses. From a fastmoving war chariot, a soldier could speed by and ~~A';t'h
spears or shoot arrows at an enemy who was on foot~
II
Chapter 2 • 67
stone artwork
shows, war was
often a part of
day-to-day living
for the ancient
Mesopotamians.
Sumerian ruler,
possibly Sargon
new technology for war, of course, more
people died in battle.
What was the major cause of wars
among the people of the Fertile
Crescent?
SARGONTHE
CONQUEROR
The first known conqueror in the Fertile
Crescent was a warrior named Sargon. He
lived there in the city-state of Kish. As a
young man he served as an official in the
government of its king. Sargon later killed
the king and took control of Kish. Gathering
an army, Sargon then marched through
Mesopotamia, establishing a vast empire.
An empire is a conquered land of many
68 • Unit 1
people and places governed by one ruler.
Sargon became the region's first emperor, or
ruler of an empire.
In the middle of his empire, Sargon built a
capital city called Akkad. His empire and its
people came to be known as Akkadian. As
a sign of his conquest over the huge area,
Sargon ordered every boundary pillar and
city wall tom down.
For the next 55 years, Sargon of Akkad
ruled over his empire. He maintained his
rule both by force and by good organization.
Sargon was the first king in the Fertile
Crescent to set up a standing army. Before
this time people became soldiers only in time
of war. Sargon also appointed loyal nobles as
governors to maintain control of conquered
cities. Sargon organized his empire so well
that it lasted long after his death. By about
2300 B.C. the Akkadian Empire stretched the
entire length of the Fertile Crescent and
included all the Sumerian city-states.
The Akkadian Empire, however, eventually weakened. When the Akkadian Empire
ended, the city-states of the Fertile Crescent
once again ruled themselves-until the next
conqueror built another empire.
Why did Sat;gon tear down
boundary pillars and city walls?
woul '
Per]
contri1
that hE
to foil
of282
every<
wered
gories
trade, a
In th
the cod
didwr
mightr
ofcrim
commii
ments
not be£
often to
into the
On this ste
JIAMMURABI
TilE LAWGIVER
Between 1792 and 1750 B.C. Ha:mrllurabi,
king of the city-state of Babylon, conquered
and reunited most of Mesopotamia and the
upper valley of the Tigris and Euphrates
rivers. Like Sargon, Hammurabi was more
than a military leader. He improved each citystate under his rule by promoting trade and
by building and keeping up dikes and canals.
To pay the expenses of his government,
Hammurabi set up a system of taxation. That
is, to support the government, people were
required to pay taxes in crops or other goods
they produced. Tax collectors went from
house to house gathering money. If the tax
collector could not get payment from a
person, he had to pay it himself. In this way
Hammurabi made certain that enough money
would be collected for all his improvements.
Perhaps Hammurabi' s most important
contribution was a code, or collection, of laws
that he wrote for all the people of his empire
to follow. The Code of Hammurabi consisted
of 282laws that dealt with almost
every asp.e ct of life. The laws
were divided into categories such as family,
trade, and work.
In the years before
the code, people who
did wrong might or
might not be convicted
of crimes they had
committed. Punishments might or might
not be fair. People
often took the law
into their own hands,
On this stela, or stone
marker, Hammurabi stands
before the Babylonian sun
god. Hammurabi's laws are
carved at the base of the stela.
punishing as they saw fit. So Hammurabi
wrote laws about marriage and divorce,
adoption, slaves, murder, stealing, military
service, land and business practices, loans,
prices, and wages.
Based on older codes of Sumerian and
Akkadian laws, the Code of Hammurabi followed the law of "an eye for an eye." The
code said that whoever caused an injury
should be punished by being given that same
injury. If a person broke someone' s arm in a
fight, that person was punished by having
his or her arm broken.
In describing the purpose of his code,
Hammurabi explained that he wrote it
' 'To cause justice to prevail ...
To destroy the wicked . . .
To enlighten the land and to further
the welfare of the people. ' '
Besides writing a code of laws, Hammurabi
introduced equal justice, or fair treatment
under the law. His equal justice, however,
was limited to equality within each social
class. Under the Code of Hammurabi, nobles
and priests were often favored
over people in the middle class.
Middle-class people were
favored over laborers and
slaves. And men were
favored over women.
People believed that
the Code of Hammurabi
was a gift from the gods.
According to them the
sun god, Shamash, had
given Hammurabi the
authority to write down
the laws. Backed by the
authority of the gods
and of the government,
this code became a
model for lawmaking
in later civilizations in
western Asia.
I
Chapter 2 • 69
EVENTS IN MESOPOTAMIA
About 2350 B.c.
Sargon
establishes
the Akkadian
Empire
About 2300 B.c.
The Akkadian
Empire stretches
the length
ofthe Fertile
Crescent
About 1792 B.C.
Hammurabi
becomes
king of Babylon
By about 1750 B.c.
Hammurabi conquers
and reunites most of
Mesopotamia
About 689 B.C.
Sennacherib
captures Babylon
721 B.C.
Sennacherib
captures the
kingdom of Israel
Code of
Hammurabi
LEARNING FROM TIME LINES Many rulers fought for control of ancient Mesopotamia
between 2500 B.C. and 500 B.C.
• Which of these rulers reigned longest ago?
Hammurabi's code lasted over the years,
but his empire did not. By 1600 B.c. the
Babylonians, too, had been conquered.
neighbors so they could gain this rich land.
They went on taking land until their empire
stretched across the Fertile Crescent.
After (j
from tl
site. H
ameac
lntiJ
brougf
Medes
What is an ''eye for an eye" law?
This stela
into battlt
SENNACHERIB
THE DESTROYER
After the collapse of Hammurabi's empire,
Mesopotamia was ruled by several different
peoples. First, the Hittites from the area now .
known as Turkey built an empire on the
strength of their iron weapons. The Hittite
weapons were the most advanced war technology of the time. Then another empire
arose. This was Assyria.
Assyria was a region of rolling hills
between the Tigris River and the Zagros
Mountains in northern Mesopotamia. Most
Assyrians lived in cities, of which the most
. important were Assur, Kalhu, and Nineveh.
Surrounding each city were many small
farming villages.
In need of more fertile land to farm, the
Assyrians looked to the plains of the Fertile
Crescent. The land there was perfect for
growing crops. Advancing in war chariots,
the Assyrians began conquering their
70 • Unit 1
-
Babylonian Empire,
about 1750 B.c.
LOCAnON Several empires rose and fell in
Southwest Asia during ancient times.
• What empire was Assur a part of in
1750 B.C.? in 650 B.C.?
In 721 B.C. the Assyrian king Sennacherib
(suh•NA•kuh·ruhb) stormed Israel, a kingdom in the western Fertile Crescent, near the
Mediterranean Sea. Along the way his army
attacked and destroyed 46 cities and forced
more than 200,000 captives into slavery. In
689 B.C. he attacked and destroyed Babylon in
Mesopotamia at the far-eastern end of the
Fertile Crescent.
Sennacherib bragged, "The city and ·
houses, from its foundation to its top, I
destroyed, I devastated, I burned with fire."
After destroying Babylon, he had canals dug
from the Euphrates River and flooded the
site. He wanted to tum the city, he said, into
a meadow.
In time the mighty Assyrian Empire was
brought down by other people. In 612 B.C. the
Medes attacked Nineveh and killed its king.
A writer who may have lived near Nineveh
described the fall of the city. The description
shows how viol~nt the age of conquest was in
the Fertile Crescent.
This stela shows Assyrian warriors riding a chariot
into battle.
Check Understanding
' 'Woe to the bloody city! ...
The noise of a whip and the noise
of rattling wheels,
And of the prancing horses, and
of leaping chariots.
The horseman lifts up the bright sword
and glittering spear,
And there is a multitude slain.... ' '
Why did the Assyrians attack their
neighbors?
g
soN 2 REVIEW
What collection of "an
eye for an eye" laws developed in Babylon?
2. Focus on the Main Idea How did the
people of the Fertile Crescent maintain order
and protect themselves from outside threats?
1. Recall the Facts
Think Critically
Some people today
would consider Hammurabi's punishments to
be cruel. Why would others support these
punishments for crimes today?
4. Past to Present What types of laws in
your community do you consider the most
important? Why?
5. Cause and Effect What was the effect of
empire building on the ancient peoples of the
Fertile Crescent?
3. Think More About It
Show What You Know
List-Making Activity
Hammurabi wrote a code of laws
that seemed fair for his time. In a
group, write a short code of rules
for the students in your school with
consequences tbat seem fair for your time.
Chapter 2 • 71
HOENICIANS
andLY DIANS
Dk
to Our World
What changes have individuals
and groups brought about in
your community?
Focus on the Main Idea
As you read, look for ways in
which Israelites, Phoenicians, and
Lydians contributed to change in
the civilization of the Fertile
Crescent.
Preview Vocabulary
monotheism
covenant
Ten Commandments
Judaism
Torah
colony
cultural diffusion
barter
money economy
72 • Unit 1
The groups of people who lived in the western end of the Fertile Crescent did not create
large empires. Yet they contributed to world
tory in important ways. Between about 2000
500 B.C., the Israelites, the Phoenicians, and the
Lydians made important contributions in religion, language, and economics.
ABRAHAM
Many people all over the world trace their
identity as a people to a man named Abram.
Abram was born in the Sumerian city of Ur
and lived most of his life in the city of Har(ln in
northern Mesopotamia. The Mesopotamians,
like most early people, worshipped many gods.
They prayed to one god for water, another god
for rain, and still another god for good harvests.
There were gods also for clouds, mists, and
almost every part of nature important to an
agricultural society.
Unlike their neighbors, Abram and his family worshipped
one God. Belief in one supreme being is called monotheism.
God, Abram believed, was all-powerful. According to
Abram, God spoke to him one day,,_saying, "Leave your
country, your people, and your father's house and go to the
land I will show you."
Abram obeyed God without question. He soon left
Mesopotamia and traveled west with his wife Sarah and
other family members. By about 2000 B.C. ~hey came to
a region of hills, valleys, and coastal plains along the
Mediterranean Sea. This region was known
as Canaan.
Abram and his family journeyed through
Canaan until they reached a place called
Shechem (SHEE•kuhm). It was there, according
to the Bible, that Abram heard God say, "I will
give this land to your children." Abram made
a covenant, or agreement, with God. The
covenant promised that in return for Abram's
being faithful, God would give Abram's
descendants the land of Canaan as a home
country. As a sign of his promise, Abram
changed his name to Abraham. The name
means "father of many nations." Abraham
became known as the father of the Jewish
people through his son Isaac and the father
of the Arab people through his son Ishmael.
In what important way were
Abraham's religious,beliefs
different from the beliefs of
the people of Mesopotamia?
THE TEN
COMMANDMENTS
Abraham's son Isaac had a son who was
named Jacob. Later, Jacob also became known
as Israel, and his descendants were called
Israelites. When famine came to Canaan,
many Israelites left for Egypt. The Israelites
who left Canaan found food and work
during their early years in Egypt. Later,
however, they were enslaved by Egyptian
rulers.
In about 1280 B.C. Moses, a leader of
the Israelites, led his people back
toward Canaan. The journey, which
was filled with hardships, took many
years. The Bible says that on a mountain in the Sinai desert, God gave
Moses the Ten Commandments, a set
of laws for responsible behavior. The
First Commandment means that
there is only one God and that God
alone should be worshipped. The
The Ten Commandments
are just one part of the
Torah, writings holy to
the Jewish religion.
The Torah cover at left
was made during the
eighteenth century.
Chapter 2 • 7J
other commandments set down rules for
living and for keeping families strong.
The Ten Commandments helped Moses
lead the Israelites during their long journey.
These laws became an important part of
Judaism-the religion of the Jewish
people-and later of Christianity and of
Islam. Judaism teaches belief in a God who
cannot be pictured and whose qualities
must be imitated. For example, God is fair,
and people must deal fairly with their
neighbors.
After their return to Canaan, the Israelites
set up their own country, which they called
the Land of Israel. The first king of Israel was
Saul. Saul was followed as king by David,
who built a capital city at Jerusalem. David's
son, Solomon, became one of Israel's most
famous kings, known for his ability to
make good decisions. "Solomon's wisdom
D
D
D
Israel at the
beginnin~ of
Solomon s rule
Kingdom
of Israel
Kingdom
of Judah
Ol==;::=2~
5 ;--_.:.'~50. Miles
0
25
50 Kilometers
Transverse Cylindrical Projection
Sea
THE
While
of the
According to the Bible,
Moses was born in Egypt to
Jewish parents who were
enslaved there. At that time
liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-.t the Egyptian leader, the
pharaoh, had ordered that
all the sons of Jews be killed . Moses'
mother placed her baby son in a basket at
the edge of the Nile River. The pharaoh's
daughter found the basket and decided to
raise Moses as her own son. Moses' mother
became his nurse and told him of his true
identity. Moses never forgot that he was a
Jew. Later, as the Bible recour1\s, he obeyed
God's call to lead the enslaved Jewish
people out of Egypt to Canaan, the
Promised Land.
excelled the wisdom of all the children of
the east country," says the Bible. The stories
of the Israelites are in the first five books
of the Bible, or the Five Books of Moses.
Jewish people refer to these five books as
the Torah.
After Solomon's rule the
Land of Israel
.>
was divided into two parts-the kingdom
of Israel and the kingdom of Judah. The
kingdom of Israel lasted until 721 B.c., when
it was conquered by the Assyrians. Judah
lasted until 587 B.C., when it was captured
by the Babylonians. Much later the region
of Judah became known as Judaea under
the cor:ttrol of a people called the Romans.
Around 130 B.C. the Jews were forced to leave
Judaea. The Romans changed the region's
name to Palestine to remove all connection
of the land with the Jews.
What set of rules became an
important part of three major
religions?
stops for sailors on long sea voyages and as
trade links with other civilizations in Africa
and Europe.
The Phoenicians modeled their civilization
after those of the many different peoples
with whom they came into contact. They
borrowed ideas from the Egyptians, the
Babylonians, and other trading partners.
Basing their work on the writing systems of
the Egyptians and others, the Phoenicians
developed the earliest alphabet.
The Phoenician alphabet made writing
easier. Earlier written language used wedge
While Israel occupied the southern section
of the narrow strip of the Fertile Crescent
along the Mediterranean Sea, Phoenicia
occupied the northern section. Phoenicia
consisted of a loose union of city-states, each
governed by a king. Phoenicia_had little land
to farm and few important natural resources.
The nearby Lebanon Mountains did have
cedar trees, however. So the people of
Phoenicia traded cedar trees to get the food
and materials they needed.
For hundreds of years the Phoenicians
sailed the waters of the Mediterranean Sea
in search of metals, ivory, and other goods
they could not find at home. In the process,
they developed the most advanced sailing
technology among the ancient peoples.
Between 1000 and 700 B.C., the Phoenicians
began to establish colonies all over the
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Mediterranean region. A colony is a settlement separated from, but under the control
of, a home country. Phoenician colonies
throughout the Mediterranean served as rest
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Phoenician Purple
The Phoenicians are remembered not only
for their alphabet but also for a color. In
the coastal waters of Phoenicia lived a
certain kind of mollusk, a sea animal with a
hardshell. The early Phoenicians used this
mollusk to make a purple dye called Tyrian
purple. Kings often wore clothes dyed this
beautiful color. Soon Tyrian purple came to
be thought of as a royal color. Some leaders
even ruled that only they could wear it. The
Phoenicians' sea trade grew as more and
more rulers demanded Tyrian purple. Over
time the dye became very closely connected
with the land where it was made. In fact,
the name Phoenician comes from a Greek
word for red-purple.
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LEARNING FROM TABLES The Phoenician alphabet
was an important step in the development of man
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present-day alphabets.
• Which Phoenician letters look most like letters in our
alphabet today?
Chapter 2 • 75
•
shapes, as in cuneiform, or pictures to stand
for syllables in words. The Phoenician
alphabet was made up of written symbols
that stood for single sounds.
The Phoenicians used their alphabet
in their businesses to record trade agreements and to draw up bills. Phoenician
colonies made it possible for knowledge of the alphabet to spread
quickly among the Phoenicians'
contacts. The spreading of new
ideas to other places is called
cultural diffusion.
1
~ How
did the Phoenician
\ I people spread the use of
their alphabet?
COINED MONEY
The Lydians also lived
at the far-western end of
the Fertile Crescent,
along the eastern
Mediterranean. Like the
Phoenicians, the Lydians made a
major contribution to the people of
the Fertile Crescent. Theirs, too, was
related to trade. In 600 B.c. the
Lydians became the first people to
use coined money put out by their
government.
Lydian coins, made around
600 B.C.
As people around the Mediterranean and
all over the Fertile Crescent began to trade
with one another, they needed a
kind of money. Its value had to be
accepted, and it had to be light
enough to be carried on
ships without sinking
them. The first coins
were the size of red
beans. They were made
of a mixture of gold
and silver. Each was
stamped with the
personal mark of the
king of Lydia.
Before the innova.
tion of coined money,
traders relied on barter, the
exchange of one good or service
another. The trouble with barter
that two people could make a deal
only if each had a good or a service that the other wanted.
The use of money allowed
traders to set prices for various
goods and services. Societies
could then develop a
money economy, an economic system based on the
use of money rather than
on barter.
Lydia remained an independent kingdom until
545 B.C. Though it never
regained its nr1.onc•n
it has long been remembered for its early coins.
How did coined
money change
trade?
Statue of the Phoen
god Baal
76 • Unit 1
Syrian
Desert
0
Israel, about 1000 B.C.
Phoenicia, about 1200 B.C.
0
Lydia, about 600 B.C.
The ideas of the Israelites, Phoenicians, and Lydians influenced
the peoples around them.
• Why do you think ideas traveled freely among people of the eastem
Mediterranean?
SON3REVIEW
Check Understanding
1. Recall the Fads
What did the Israelites,
the Phoenicians, and the Lydians each give to
the civilization of the Fertile Crescent?
2. Focus on the Main idea How were the
contributions of the Israelites, the Phoenicians,
and the Lydians helpful to the people of the
Fertile Crescent?
Think Critically
J. Think More About It
What were some
of the advantages and the disadvantages of
the use of a written alphabet and the use of
coined money?
4. Past to Present How do the contributions
made by the Israelites, the Phoenicians, and
the Lydians affect our lives today?
Show What You Know
Speech Activity
With a partner,
prepare a speech to persuade a
person who has never heard of it
to adopt either the Phoenician
alphabet or Lydian coined money. If
time allows, practice your speech aloud.
Chapter 2 • 77