Unit 1: Early Civilizations, Continued
II. Chapter 3: People and Ideas on the-Move, 2000 BC-250 BC
A. Indo-Europeans
1. Nomadic peoples who came from the steppes north of the Caucasus
2. Herders
3. Tamed horses and rode into battle on two-wheeled chariots
4. Spoke a form of languages we called Indo-European
B. Indo-European Language Family-many languages around the world were taken from this
original language and were spread around the world because of migration
1. Hittite Empire (2000 BC-1190 BC)
a. 2000 BC-Hittites (spoke Indo-European) occupied Anatolia or Asia Minor in modernday Turkey
b. Empire dominated SW Asia for 450 years
c. Culture
a. Languages-spoke their own Indo-European but adopted another language from the
Babylonians
b. Literature, art, politics and law from Mesopotamia
c. Excelled in technology of war-chariots and iron weapons (iron-stronger than bronze)
d. Many invasions from the north ended the empire
2. Aryans in India
a. Vedas-sacred literature allows historians a picture of Aryan life
1. Four collections of prayers, magical spells, and instructions for performing
rituals
2. Rig Vega-most important
3. For years the Vedas were passed down orally from one elder to another
b. Caste System
1. Originally Aryans were organized into 4 groups based on occupation which
determined their role in society and became known as varnas
a. Brahmins-priests
b. Warriors
c. Traders and landowners
d. Peasants or traders
a. Because of contact with non-Aryan people, Aryans made their caste system stricter
and more complex
b. Eventually a person’s caste was determined by birth and affected whom they could
marry, their occupation, etc.
c. Since cleanliness and purity became important, anyone without a “clean” job was
considered impure and became known as “untouchables”
c. Mahabharata-great Indian epic that shows the struggles that took place in India
when the Aryan kings tried to control Indian lands
C. Seafaring Traders
1. Minoans in the Mediterranean (2000-1200 BC)
a. Lived on Crete in the Aegean Sea and dominated trade in the Mediterranean until
1400 BC
b. Known for their painted pottery, peaceful, athletic
c. Trading society-transported goods, art and culture
d. Knossos-Minoan capital city
e. Archaeologists named the civilization Minoa after King Minos-legendary ruler who
owned a Minotaur
f. Artwork depicted women and their roles in religious ceremonies
g. End of Minoan civilization-no one knows exactly why it ended-earthquake? Volcanic
eruption? Invasion?
2. Phoenicians
a. 1100 BC-became the most powerful traders in the Mediterranean, civilization
located around modern day Lebanon
b. Lots of wealthy city-states, but not one country
c. Important trading centers-Byblos, Tyre, Sidon, Carthage
1. Traded their own goods and those they got from other lands
2. Great craftsmen
3. Known for production of a red-purple dye
d. Great shipbuilders and seafarers-first to go beyond the Strait of Gibraltar
e. Greatest legacy-The Alphabet
1. Developed to record transactions
2. Used symbols to represent sounds-phonetic alphabet
3. Introduced this writing system around the Mediterranean to their trading
partners-ex.-Greeks adopted their alphabet but changed some letters
3. Ancient Trade Routes
a. land and sea routes were established
b. goods, ideas, religious beliefs, art and ways of living were spread as a result of
cultural diffusion
4. Jews-eastern Mediterranean people were starting to contribute to world civilization at
this time as well