Transcript Chapter 4 Warriors and Deities in the Near East

Chapter 4
Warriors and Deities in the
Near East
Assyrian Empire
900-612 BCE
• By 800 BCE: Assyrians conquered Tigris-Euphrates
region
• Great talent in military affairs
– Army was large, seemingly invincible, experts in
siege warfare
– Horse and chariot and tightly-knit infantry
formations
• Most hated conquerors in ancient history, perhaps
• Empire reached from upper Tigris to central Egypt
• Conquered peoples united and overthrew Assyrians
• Had sophisticated appreciation for all art forms
Map 4.1
Phoenicians
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Lived along coastal strip (present-day Lebanon)
Great colonists, traders in luxury wares
Spread art of iron making
Established colonies throughout western
Mediterranean
• Most notable contribution was phonetic
alphabet, 1000 BCE
– System of 22 marks
– Definite advance – simplicity, accessibility
– Greeks later added signs for vowels
Persians
500 BCE – 500 CE
Persia (present-day Iran)
• central point for travel and exchange from
Mediterranean and China/India and between
Arabic-Muslim and Indic-Hindu worlds
Persians - most powerful people of western Asia
• Indo-European language
• Nomads, highly skilled cavalry
• Trade and war resulted in agricultural,
sedentary, civilized life
Aryans, Persian cousins, settled in India
Persian Empire
Cyrus the Great
• United Persians in mid-sixth century BCE
• Extended domain: India to Mediterranean, Arabia to
lower Nile
• Main cities were in Iran, not Mesopotamia
• Government: umbrella sheltering many different peoples
• Subjects allowed to keep customs, laws
• Local authorities stayed in power
• Religion was totally free
Darius I
• Empire reached largest size
• Uniform coinage, calendar
• Advanced law code
Hebrews
• Most knowledge comes from Old Testament
• Story of Abraham leading people from wilderness into
the land of Canaan a historical fact
• Evidence: 1500s BCE, primitive Semitic tribes settled in
Canaan which was under Egyptian rule
• Exodus from Egypt
– Exact reasons not clear
– Under Moses, Hebrews resolved to return to Canaan
– Wandered across Sinai Peninsula, met Canaanites, Philistines
• 1000 BCE, King Saul, set up kingdom in Canaan with
lieutenant and successor, David
• David conquered Jerusalem – Hebrew’s capital city
Map 4.2
Hebrews
• King Solomon, son of David
• Hebrews: trading intermediaries between
Mesopotamians and Egypt
• Temple of Jerusalem built – ancient world wonder
• Successor split kingdom into Judea and Samaria
• Judeans (Jews) and Samaritans viewed themselves as
separate peoples
• Diaspora
– People scattered after Assyrian conquest
– Ten Lost Tribes of Israel
– Judeans conquered by Babylonians
– Babylonian Captivity 586-539 BCE
– After their return, Judea remained under Persian rule
until Alexander the Great conquered the area
Jewish Religious Belief
and its Evolution
• Yahweh became the only deity of the Jews
• Zarathustra’s dualism doctrine had considerable
influence
• Covenant (the Promise) – sacred contract to keep the
faith, triumph over enemies
• Ten Commandments – rigid set of rules, moral
regulations
• One of earliest attempts to link ethics, worship
– Yahweh as enforcer of correct ethical actions
– This belief was not unusual
– What was different was idea that good would be
rewarded
Economic Change and
Social Customs
• Jews were mostly minor players in
regional affairs, politics
• Made transition from nomadic herders to
town life
• Social tension between rich and poor
appeared
• Jews divided all humanity into “we” and
“them”, segregated themselves
Economic Change and
Social Customs
Women
• Nomadic custom: subordination of women,
possessions
• Marriage, divorce reflected patriarchy
• Wife married into husband’s family, moved into
his house
• Divorce easy for husband, unusual for wife
Children the whole reason for marriage
• Boys shared inheritance, girls did not
• Education carried out within family
A Changing Theology
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Concept of Yahweh changed over time
Long spiritual crisis during Babylonian Captivity
New interpretation of the Covenant (the Talmud)
Yahweh not the universal god of all
He was just and merciful, omnipotent and
omniscient
• Granted Man free will, thus allowing principle of
evil to appear
A Changing Theology
• Last Judgment concept
• Yahweh became a personal deity
– Could be prayed to directly
– Actions were not impulsive or unpredictable
– Relationship between God and Man is meant to be one of
mutual love
• Yahweh’s promise to Moses: to preserve the Jews as a
people
• learned men (rabbis) saw this as a counter-conquest
• Hope for a messiah, a redeemer to take the Jews out of
humiliations and make them a people to be feared and
respected
• Promise of earthly grandeur no a promise of
immortal salvation
• Disbelief in Jesus because he spoke of a kingdom
“not of this earth”
• Zealots unwilling to bend before any nonbeliever,
• Tension: Jewish nation and Roman overlords: war
and 2nd Diaspora
• National badge of distinction: belief in their identitythe Chosen
• Relationship between the deity and his creations:
- mutually dependent, ethical, and just
- merciful on the Lord’s side; submissive but not
slavish on Man’s side
• The mold for the evolution of Christianity
Discussion Questions
1. The Assyrians have sometimes been called the
“first terrorists.” Why? What actions did they
take that might be considered “terrorism” today?
What comparisons and contrasts can you make
with modern terrorism?
2. Judaism established not only monotheism, but
also the new idea of a covenant between Man
and God. Why was this such a different idea?
How did it change over time? Did it strengthen
or weaken the spread of Judaism?