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Ancient Civilizations Ancient World History Mr. Reams ASSYRIANS After 800 B.C. the Semiticspeaking Assyrians from northern Mesopotamia embarked on a policy of expansion. Having learned from the Hittites, the Assyrians were the first to outfit armies entirely with iron weapons. To besiege cities, they devised new military equipment - moveable towers and battering rams. For 500 years they terrorized the region, earning a lasting reputation as one of the most warlike people in history. Assyrian Bull Assyrian Brutality The Assyrians terrorized their enemies by deliberately employing cruelty and violence. They also employed terror in ruling their subject peoples - ruthlessly suppressing rebellions and deporting rebellious populations from their homelands. Assyrian rulers even boasted of their brutal treatment of the peoples they conquered. Assyrians Despite their brutality, Assyrian rulers encouraged a well-ordered society with their capital at Nineveh. They were the first rulers to develop extensive laws regulating life within the royal household. Riches from trade and war loot paid for the splendid palaces in well-planned cities. The women of the palace, though, were confined in secluded quarters and had to be veiled when they appeared in public. Other Assyrian Contributions 1. Government. The Assyrians a) divided their empire into provinces, each administered by a governor responsible to the all-powerful king, and b) built military roads to move troops quickly to any part of the empire. The Library At Nineveh, King Assurbanipal founded one of the first libraries. He ordered his scribes to collect cuneiform tablets from all over the Fertile Crescent. Those tablets have given modern scholars a wealth of information about the ancient Middle East. The End of Assyrian Days In 612 B.C., shortly after Assurbanipal's death, neighboring people joined forces to crush the once-dreaded Assyrian armies. King Nebuchadnezzar revived the power of Babylon and created a new Babylonian Empire referred to as the Chaldean Empire. PHOENICIANS From 1200 to 800 B.C. the Semiticspeaking Phoenicians lived and prospered on the Mediterranean coast north of Palestine. Chief cities: Tyre and Sidon. They gained fame as sailors and traders. They occupied a string of cities along the Mediterranean coast, in what is today Lebanon and Syria. Phoenicians (cont.) Contributions to Civilization Manufacturing and trade. The coastal land, though narrow, was fertile and supported farming. Still, the resourceful Phoenicians became best known for manufacturing and trade. They made glass from coastal sand. From a tiny sea snail, they produced a widely admired purple dye, called "Tyrian purple" after the city of Tyre, which became their trademark. It became the favorite color of royalty. Phoenicians (cont) Phoenicians also used papyrus from Egypt to make scrolls, or rolls of paper, for books. The words Bible and bibliography come from the Phoenician city of Byblos. Phoenicians traded with people all around the Mediterranean Sea. To promote trade, they set up colonies from North Africa to Sicily and Spain. Phoenicians Missionaries of Civilization. Due to their sailing skills, the Phoenicians served as missionaries of civilization, bringing eastern Mediterranean products and culture to less advanced peoples. A few Phoenician traders braved the stormy Atlantic and sailed as far as England. There, they exchanged goods from the Mediterranean for tin. About 600 B.C., one Phoenician expedition may have sailed down the Red Sea and then followed the African coast around the southern tip. That historic voyage was forgotten for centuries. (In the late 1400's, Europeans claimed to be the first to round the southern tip of Africa.) Phoenicians The Alphabet. As merchants, the Phoenicians needed a simple alphabet to ease the burden of keeping records. They therefore replaced the cumbersome cuneiform alphabet of 550 characters with a phonetic alphabet, based on distinct sounds, consisting of 22 letters. After further alterations by the Greeks and Romans, this alphabet became the one we use today! Persians The Persians created an empire, the largest yet seen in the ancient world, extending 3,000 miles. The empire flourished for 200 years. Persia is located in present-day Iran. Persians In 539 B.C., Babylon fell to the Persian armies of Cyrus the Great. Cyrus and his successors went on to conquer the largest empire yet seen. The Persians eventually controlled a wide sweep of territory from Asia Minor to India, including what is today Turkey, Iran, Egypt, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Persians In general, the Persians were tolerant of the people they conquered. They respected the customs and religious traditions of the diverse groups in their empire. Persians The real unification of the Persian empire was accomplished under the Persian emperor Darius, who ruled from 522 B.C. to 486 B.C. A skilled organizer, Darius set up a government that became a model for later rulers. He divided the Persian empire into provinces, each headed by a governor called a satrap. Each satrapy, or province, had to pay taxes based on its resources and wealth. Special officials, "the Eyes and Ears of the King," visited each province to check on the satraps. Persians Like Hammurabi, Darius adapted laws from the people he conquered and drew up a single code of laws for the empire. To encourage unity, he had hundreds of miles of roads built or repaired. Roads made it easier to communicate with different parts of the empire. Darius himself kept moving from one royal capital to another. In each, he celebrated important festivals and was seen by the people. Persian Economy To improve trade, Darius set up a common set of weights & measures. He also encouraged the use of coins, which the Lydians of Asia Minor had first introduced. Most people continued to be part of the barter economy, exchanging one set of goods or services for another. Coins, however, brought merchants and traders into an early form of a money economy, replacing barter with the exchange of money. By setting up a single Persian coinage, Darius created economic links among his far-flung subjects. Religion Religious beliefs put forward by the Persian thinker Zoroaster (soh roh AS tuhr) also helped to unite the empire. Zoroaster lived about 600 B.C. He rejected the old Persian gods. Instead, he taught that a single wise god, Ahura Mazda, ruled the world. Zoroaster taught that: a) Ahura-Mazda was constantly fighting Ahriman, the spirit of darkness and evil. b) Those supporting Ahura-Mazda by living virtuously will reach heaven; those following Ahriman will be punished in hell. c) Goodness will eventually prevail, and the world will achieve eternal peace. Zoroaster's teachings form the basis of the Persian Bible, the Avesta or Zend-Avesta. Two later religions that emerged in the Middle East, Christianity and Islam, stressed similar ideas about heaven, hell, and a final judgement day. Hebrews ► ► The Hebrews were among the many peoples who occupied the Fertile Crescent. Living at the crossroad of civilization, they came into contact with many people and ideas. Over time, the Hebrews developed their own ideas, which reflected a blend of many traditions. The early Hebrews came to believe that God was taking a hand in their history. As a result, they recorded events and laws in the Torah their most sacred text. Like many Mesopotamian peoples, the Hebrews told of a great flood that devastated the land. They believed that God had sent the flood to punish the wicked. A nomadic people According to the Torah, the Hebrews had lived near Ur in Mesopotamia. About 2000 B.C., they migrated, herding their flocks of sheep and goats into a region known as Canaan (later called Palestine). ► The Book of Genesis tells that around 1800 B.C. a famine in Canaan forced many Hebrews to migrate to Egypt. There, they were eventually enslaved. In time, Moses, the adopted son of the pharaoh's daughter, led the Hebrews in their escape, or exodus, from Egypt. For 40 years, the Hebrews wandered in the Sinai Peninsula. After Moses died, they entered Canaan and defeated the people there, claiming for themselves the land they believed God had promised them. ► The kingdom of Israel. ► ► By 1000 B.C., the Hebrews had set up the kingdom of Israel. Among the most skillful rulers of Israel were David and Solomon. According to Hebrew tradition, David was a humble shepherd who defeated a huge Philistine warrior, Goliath. Later, David became a strong, shrewd king who united the feuding Hebrew tribes into a single nation. David's son, Solomon, turned Jerusalem into an impressive capital. He built a splendid temple dedicated to God, as well as an enormous palace for himself. King Solomon won praise for his wisdom and understanding. He also tried to increase Israel's influence by negotiating with powerful empires in Egypt and Mesopotamia. Division and Conquest ► ► ► The kingdom of Israel paid heavy price for Solomon's ambitions. His building projects required such heavy taxes and so much forced labor that revolts erupted soon after his death about 930 B.C. The kingdom then split into Israel in the north and Judah in the south. Weakened by this division, the Hebrews could not fight off invading armies. In 722 B.C., Israel fell to the Assyrians. In 586 B.C., the Babylonian armies captured Judah. King Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the great temple in Jerusalem and forced many Hebrews into exile in Babylon. During their captivity, the Hebrews became known as the Jews. Years later, when the Persia ruler Cyrus conquered Babylon, he released the Jews from captivity. Many Jews returned to Palestine, where they rebuilt King Solomon's temple in Jerusalem. Yet, like other small groups in the region, they continued to live under a series of foreign rulers, including Persians, Greeks, and Romans Religious Beliefs ► In time, Hebrew beliefs evolved into the religion we know today as Judaism. Judaism differed in fundamental ways from the beliefs of nearby peoples Belief in one true God. ► ► Judaism was monotheistic, teaching a belief in one God. At the time, most other people worshipped many gods & goddesses. A few religious leaders, like Zoroaster in Persia and the Egyptian ruler Akhenaton, believed in a powerful diety. However, their ideas did not have the world-wide impact that Hebrew beliefs did. The ancient Hebrews prayed to God to save them from their enemies. Many other ancient people had also turned to particular gods or goddesses as their special protectors. But they thought of such gods as tied to certain places or people. The Hebrews believed in an all-knowing, allpowerful, male God who was present everywhere. A chosen people ► Jews believed that God had made a covenant, or binding agreement, with Abraham. As a result, Jews considered themselves to be God's "chosen people." Moses later renewed this covenant. He told the Hebrews that God would lead them to Canaan, the "promised land," in exchange for their faithful obedience. The Ten Commandments ► At the heart of Judaism are the Ten Commandments, laws that Jews believed God gave them through Moses. The laws set out both religious duties toward God and rules for moral conduct toward other people. Other Laws ► ► ► The Torah set out many other laws. Some dealt with everday matters such as cleanliness and food preparation. Others were criminal laws. Like Hammurabi's Code, many Hebrew laws required an eye for an eye. At the same time, preachers called on leaders to enforce laws with justice and mercy. Some laws were meant to protect women. The Ten Commandments, for example, made respect for mothers a basic law. Still, as in many other religions, most laws treated women as subordinate to men. The male head of a family owned his wife, or wives, and his children. A father could sell his daughters into marriage, and only a husband had the right to seek a divorce. Early in Hebrew history, a few women leaders, such as the judge Deborah, won honor and respect. Later on, however, women were not allowed to participate in many religious ceremonies. Justice and morality in Jewish history, prophets, or spiritual leaders, emerged to interpret God's will. The prophets warned that failure to obey God's law would lead their people to disaster. ► Prophets preached a strong code of ethics, or moral standards of behavior. They urged both personal morality and social justice, calling on the rich and powerful to protect the poor and weak. All people, they said, were equal before God. Unlike many ancient societies where the ruler was seen as a god, Jews saw their leaders as fully human and bound to obey God's law. ► Often Scattering of a Civilization ► Almost 2,000 years ago, many Jews were forced to leave their homeland in Palestine. This diaspora, or scattering of people, sent Jews to different parts of the world. Wherever they settled, Jews maintained their identity as a people by living in close-knit communities and obeying their religious laws and traditions. These traditions set Jews apart from other people. Yet they also helped them survive centuries of persecution.