Transcript Ancient Civilizations

Ancient Civilizations
Ancient World History
Mr. Reams
ASSYRIANS
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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.)
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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The kingdom of Israel.
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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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.