Transcript Warriors and Deities in the Near East

Warriors and Deities in the
Near East
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Time and Geography
See Notes for Video
POLITICAL
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 tightlyknit infantry formations
Assyrian archer
Assyrian Empire
900-612 BCE
• 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
Assyrian Art
INTELLECTUAL
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Phoenicians
• 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
Part of the
Phoenician
alphabet
ECONOMIC
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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
500 BCE – 500 CE
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
Costumes of an ancient Persian
noblemen and soldiers.
POLITICAL
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
Cyrus the Great
Persian Empire
Darius I
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
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
RELIGIOUS
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
SOCIAL
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
Star of David and a Minorah
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
Jewish woman
RELIGIOUS
A Changing Theology
• 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
Yahweh
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
Samuel anoints David
• 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?