More Ancient Civilizations
Hittites, Hebrews, Phoenecians
Oh, My!
Hittites
• Indo-european
• Introduced Chariots and Iron
• Fought New Kingdom Egyptians and
made peace treaty
• Spread Mesopotamian civilization
westward
Hebrews
• Semetic Nomadic herders from
mesopotamia
• Monotheistic religion
– Became basis for western religion
• Settled in area known as Canaan
• Built small kingdom between great
empires under kings David and Solomon
Kingdom of Israel
and Phoenicia
Phoenicians
• Seafaring kingdom along Mediterranian
coast
• Depended primarily on trade for a living
• Developed a phonetic alphabet
• Established colonies throughout
Mediterranian
– Biggest one was Carthage
• Spread civilzation throughout
Mediterranian
Lydians
• Small kingdom in Asia minor
• Developed currancy
• Were conquered by Persians
Persians
• Indo-European nomads from modern day Iran
• Cyrus the Great united with Medes and
conquered Babylon and founded empire
• Successors expanded empire from
Mediterranian to India to Egypt
• Was divided into Satrapys
• Allowed conquered people to keep culture and
religion
• Established Royal roads and mail service
• Fought Greeks which led to the rise of
Athens
• Religion was based on the teachings of
Zoraster
– Ahura-mazda (good)and Ahriman(evil) were
god brothers who fought.
– Concept of Armageddon
Persian empire at its peak in 6th
century BC