Part 1, Chapter 3
The Mediterranean and Middle East, 2000-500 BCE
Iron Age – Historians’ term for the period during which iron was the primary metal for tools and
weapons. The advent of iron technology began at different times in different parts of the world.
1. THE COSMOPOLITAN MIDDLE EAST, 1700-1100 BCE
a. MPT/Egypt defeated by outsiders ~1600 BCE
b. Western Asia
i. Babylonia & Assyria
1. MPT divided in 2 – 1500 BCE
a. South – Babylonia
i. Kassite rule during this time. 250 year rule
1. Outsiders, from Zagros Mtns.
2. Assimilated BAB language, customs
3. Didn’t seek conquest outside
b. North – Assyria
i. Economically motivated
ii. Small communities traded much w/Anatolian cities west of
Fertile Crescent
iii. 1400 – Middle Assyrian kingdom
ii. The Hittites of Anatolia
1. Most powerful MPT community 1700-1200 BCE
a. Horse drawn war chariots
b. Capital – Hattusha (near modern Ankara)
c. Nearby metals = economic power
d. Fought w/Egyptians for Syria-Palestine
2. Good w/iron, kept technology secret.
a. Plunging metal into water made it stronger
iii. The Spread of Mesopotamian Culture
1. 2000-1000 BCE = spread of MPT culture in ME
a. Akkadian – language of diplomacy/economics
b. Cuneiform – adopted by Elamites/Hittites
i. Ugarits modified cuneiform into 30 characters w/ consonant
sounds – much easier
c. New Kingdom Egypt
i. Breakdown in Egyptian society (Mid Kingdom) allowed foreigners in
ii. The Hyksos or “Princes of Foreign Lands”
1. From the Levant?
2. Horse-drawn chariots
3. Composite bows – more velocity/range
4. Intermarried, integrated w/Egyptians
a. However, still regarded as foreigners
iii. New Kingdom Expansion – 1532 – 1070 BCE
1. Kamose, Ahmose (Thebian) kick out the Hyksos, reunite Egypt
2. V. Aggressive - Expanded to Syria-Palestine, Nubia
a. More raw materials: Gold, copper, timber
b. More people to tax
c. Nubians forced to adopt Egyptian language
d. Palestine flooded w/garrisons, local rulers coopted
3. Larger territory = more travel = more goods brought into EGY
a. Potter’s wheel, loom
iv. Unconventional Rulers
1. Hatshepsut 1473-1568 BCE
a. Husband died, she took power
b. Depicted as a man (w/beard)
c. Depictions defaced after death
d. Led expedition to Punt (Eritrea) for myrrh
e. Built large mortuary temple @ Deir el-Bahri
2. Ahmenotep IV (Akhenaten) 1353-1335
a. Name change = suggest Aten as supreme being
i. “Beneficial to the Aten” (Disk of the sun)
ii. Closed temples to other gods
1. No more Amon
iii. Assert superiority of king over priests?
1. Renew belief in king’s divinity?
2. Moved capital to Amarna
3. Aten = worshiped by royal family
4. People = worship king
b. Changes resisted by old ruling class/priests
i. Reopened other temples, reversed changes after AKHEN’s
death
3. Tutankhamun 1333-1223
a. Significant b/c tomb not ruined by robbers
b. Name reflects resurgence of Amon
4. Ramessides
a. Ramesses II 1290-1224
i. Lived long
ii. Massive building projects
1. Ex: colossal statues @ Abu Simbel
iii. More than 100 children
iv. Expansionist
d. Commerce and Communication
i. International Trade
1. Ramesses II fought Hittites (@ Kadesh, 1258 BCE) over Syria
a. Ended w/a treaty &Ramesses married Hittite princess
b. Trade routes to E. Asia, Fertile Crescent, Mediterranean at stake
c. Metal was the biggest commodity
i. Silver – Anatolia
ii. Gold – Nubia
iii. Tin – Afghanistan/GB?
1. Syria was central to all
ii. Horses and Camels
1. Horses – 1st domesticated in C. Asia
a. In MPT by 2000 BCE
b. In Egypt by 1600 BCE
c. Horses led to greater mobility, trade, contributed to creation of large
states.
d. Chariots = devastating, driver/archer combination
2. Camels – 1st domesticated in W. Asia
a. Led to desert nomads due to ability to travel w/out much water
i. Trade routes over deserts opened up
2. THE AEGEAN WORLD, 2000-11OO BCE
a. Minoan Crete – King Minos. 2000-1450 BCE
i. 2000 – Minoans @ Crete (Capital @ Knossos)
ii. Minotaur, maze, Daedalus
iii. Large trading connections (pottery everywhere)
iv. Linear A writing
v. Centralized government
vi. Quality plumbing
vii. Lack of defensive walls on Crete
viii. Taken over by Mycenaeans ~1450 BCE
b. Mycenaean Greece 1600-1150 BCE
i. Indo-European language
ii. 1600 – MYC society advanced
iii. A Sudden Rise
1. Schliemann discovers burial shafts @ Mycenae
a. Gold, Agamemnon’s burial mask, etc.
iv. Mycenaean Palaces
1. Hilltop structures, defensive walls w/large boulders
2. Main hall – hearth in center
3. Burial shafts
a. Later beehive shafts
4. Peasants worked/lived on lower slopes below Mycenae
5. Linear B writing. 1000’s of baked clay tablets
a. Syllabic symbols. Early form of Greek. Branched off Minoans.
b. Inventory kept
c. Town records
d. Legal system? No evidence.
e. Gov’t controlled economy.
f. Agamemnon’s palace = assumed. No physical evidence.
v. International Commerce and Contacts
1. Good seafarers
2. Mycenaean traders supplanted Minoan traders ~15th BCE
a. Amphorae found in ME, MPT, MED
3. Imported amber from N. Europe, Syrian Ivory, Grain, all heavy metals
(gold/copper/tin to make bronze)
4. Had relations w/Hittites of Anatolia – off/on. Mostly about trade.
5. 1200 BCE – Troy destroyed
c. The Fall of Late Bronze Age Civilizations
i. Migration and Destruction
1. 1200 BCE –unknown invaders destroy
a. Hittite capital Hattusha
i. Hittites out
b. Ugarit
c. Egypt had to beat back attacks @ Nile Delta
i. Soon lost all territory in Syria-Palestine to Philistines, lost
Nubia as well.
2. The Mycenaean Fall and Consequences
a. Destroyed by 12th BCE
b. Destroyed by lack of outside trade partners/routes?
i. I.E. Egypt, Hittites, etc.
c. Still, gods remained, language influenced Greek later on
3. THE ASSYRIAN EMPIRE, 911-612 BCE
a. Neo-Assyrian Empire, really
i. Western Iran to Syria-Palestine
ii. Used force & terror & exploited wealth of inhabitants
iii. Preserved cultural/scientific developments of MPT
b. Controlled international commerce – many trade routes seized
i. This done by armies of farmers
c. Largest empire in ancient ME at this point
d. God and King
i. King = central. Crown/Scepter. Totalitarian.
1. He owned all land
2. All were his servants
3. King chosen by God as earthly representative
4. Divine city = Ashur
5. Chose sons to rule
6. Military leader, commanded field ops
ii. Religion and Propaganda
1. All actions carried out for Ashur (chief god)
a. Military victory = Ashur victory
2. King oversaw state religion
3. Propaganda promoted military campaigns
a. Celebrated victories
b. Admonished dissenters
e. Conquest and Control
i. Military Might and Terror Tactics
1. Early on – farmers w/promises of land, slaves fought
2. King Tiglathpileser 744-727 BCE = Professional army
3. At height: 500,000+ in army
a. Bowmen, slingers, spearmen, cavalry, four man chariots
4. Iron = massive advantage
5. Chariots/cavalry = speed
6. Good siege technology
a. Mobile towers for archers, battering rams
7. Terror tactics
a. Brutal punishments for bad locals
b. Mass deportation – relocating entire communities, sometimes
enslaving them afterwards
ii. Administration and Exploitation
1. Central control in Ashur
2. Provincial governors collected taxes, gathered troops, public works
3. Outside wealth = inside (royal) profit
a. DurSharrukin, “The Fortress of Sargon”
i. Completed in 10 years by POWs, Assyrian citizens
4. Still, obedience to Assyrian rulers existed.
f. Assyrian Society and Culture
i. Elite and Common People - Everyone of every trade bound to king
1. “Human beings” – all had legal protections of Native Assyrians
2. Specialized trade = made possible by large agricultural surpluses
3. Silver = currency, weighed.
4. Library of Ashurbanipal – 7th BCE. Literary, scientific, official documents
5. Most history of MPT given by Assyrian sites
4. ISRAEL, 2000-500 BCE
a. Land and People
i. Crossroads for people, trade
b. Origins, Exodus, and Settlement
i. The Hebrew Bible
1. Priestly, temple-controlling class wrote it – 5th BCE
ii. Early Pastoralists
1. Abraham – born in Ur ~1800 BCE
a. Rejected idolatry of Ur
b. Took his family/property to Israel
i. Land promised to him/descendants by Yahweh
2. Big time herders – friction between them/farmers
a. Examples in the Torah
i. Sodom/Gomorrah, Cain/Able
iii. Egypt and the Exodus
1. Little evidence of Israelis in Egypt
2. Story: Joseph sold to merchants going to Egypt, became part of pharaoh’s
court, offered a place in Egypt for Israelis when drought hit Israel, Egyptians
forced Israelis into servitude
3. Moses leads them out (10 plagues, parting the Red Sea)
a. 40 years in the desert, covenant w/Yahweh (“Chosen people”), 10
commandments
4. Joshua takes over after Moses, takes people to Canaan
a. Attacked Canaanite cities 1250-1200 BCE
iv. Settlement in Canaan
1. Likely that Israelites took advantage of breakdown in Canaan to topple it
2. 12 tribes – descendants of Joshua/Jacob
a. Each tribe in a different area, different chiefs
b. Shrine @ Shiloh – Ark of the Covenant (containing 10 Comm.)
c. Rise of the Monarchy
i. Philistines in Israel – 1200 BCE
1. Samson/David – stories mirroring Philistine/Israeli conflict
2. Samuel made Saul 1st king of Israel – 102 BCE
3. Then goes to David (1000-960 BCE)
ii. David and Solomon
1. David: musician, warrior, politician
a. Unifies tribes
b. Brings ark to Jerusalem – now religious center
c. Census – taxes, #s for army (soldiers = paid by king)
d. Expands ISR’s borders
2. Solomon 960-920 BCE
a. Traded widely – Queen of Sheba (modern Yemen), Somalia
b. Chariot army
c. Builds First Temple in Jerusalem
i. Temple priests became powerful, wealthy
ii. Temple hierarchy polarized social classes for 1st time
iii. Israelite Society
1. Extended families, patrilineal, male heirs = important
2. Women couldn’t inherit property, divorce a husband, cheating wives could be
killed
a. Women could work outside home – nurses, cooks, perfumers,
prostitutes, etc.
b. Deborah the Judge – led troops vs. Canaanites
d. Fragmentation and Dispersal
i. Solomon dies ~920 BCE, kingdom splits in two.
1. Resentment over royal taxes/labor
2. Israel – North, capital: Samaria
3. Judah – South, around Jerusalem
ii. Monotheism develops further – Yahweh = one and only
1. Still, some worshiped Baal & Asherah
iii. Division and Disaster
1. 721 BCE – Unified Israelite kingdoms defeated by Neo-Assyrians
a. Israel destroyed, Judah OK (paid tribute)
b. Population relocated, new settlers from Syria, Babylon moved in
c. Neo-Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar destroys First Temple 587 BCE
i. Royal family, court, elites relocated to Babylon
1. 100 years later, Cyrus offered to send them back, they
wanted to stay in Babylon (prosperous)
iv. Diaspora and Identity
1. Diaspora – Dispersed Jewish community worldwide.
2. 6th/5th BCE – Jews go back to Israel, compose modern Torah, rebuilt First
Temple
3. Venerate the Sabbath, no pork, no shellfish
4. Powerful sense of community after Babylonian Captivity
5. PHOENICIA AND THE MEDITERRANEAN, 1200-500 BCE
a. AKA Canaanites. Semitic speaking. Cities: Tyre/Sidon.
b. The Phoenician City-States
i. Political and Economic Development
1. 1100 BCE – Canaanites running out of land (modern Lebanon between
mntns/sea)
2. City states – Byblos, Berytus, Sidon, Tyre
3. Seaborne commerce – excellent seafarers/traders
a. Tyrian Purple dye
b. Exported cedar, pine, metals, incense, papyrus, spices, fish, ivory, glass
i. PHO commodities very valued
4. Modified Canaan alphabet into 2 dozen symbols, no vowels (they were
inferred)
ii. The Ascendancy of Tyre
1. Before 1000 BCE – Byblos = most important
a. Cedar distribution center, papyrus from EGY
2. After 1000 BCE – Tyre
a. Hiram (king 969 BCE) – good relationship w/Solomon
i. Phoenician craftsmen/cedar helped build First Temple
ii. Tyre gained Eastern/Southern trade routes for this
b. On offshore island
i. 2 harbors, large palace, marketplace, temples
1. Gods: Melqart, Astarte
2. 30k people
ii. Downside: imported food/fresh water at times
3. City-States = survivalists
a. Could submit to bigger powers (Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians)
c. Expansion into the Mediterranean
i. The Western Settlements
1. 900-700 BCE – economic colonial expansion
a. Cyprus – copper
b. North Africa (Libya to Morocco)
c. Southern Spain
d. Sardinia
e. Sicily
f. Malta
i. Many cities on offshore islands, like Tyre
2. Forced out of Syria by Assyrians, population growth, lack of arable land
3. New lands = new trading partners, new places for pop. to settle, new
materials to trade
4. 701 BCE – Tyre falls to Assyrians
d. Carthage’s Commercial Empire
i. The City of Carthage
1. Founded 814 BCE (defeated by Rome 164 BCE)
2. 2x harbor, housed 220 warships, high walls, lighthouse
a. Harbor could be closed by big metal chain if attacked
3. Govt city center, many urban apts, wealthy in outer lands, all surrounded by a
high 22 mile wall. Promontory (near harbor) connected to mainland via
massive walls.
4. 400k population ~500 BCE, one of the largest world cities
5. Intermarriage OK w/outsiders
6. Every year 2 judges elected from elite to be head of state
a. Power really in Senate
i. Members = leading merchant families, lifetime members
ii. Occasionally had a popular assembly
7. Merchant aristocracy wasn’t a closed group
a. Become successful and you’re in
ii. Naval Power and Commerce
1. Could move between other Phoenician ports
2. Protected trade (raw materials too)
3. Pointed ram on hull below water line
a. 170 rowers
4. Wanted to keep commercial monopoly, Carthaginian navy sank many ships
5. Hanno – naval captain ~5th BCE, went to the Atlantic/Western African Coast
to trade
a. Others went to Atlantic coasts of Spain, France
e. War and Religion
i. A Different King of Empire
1. Most Phoenician communities = independent
a. Carthage used force to protect trade, not subjugate
b. Only Sardinia, Southern Spain under Carthaginian control
2. Citizens not forced into army
a. Better off as traders, or in navy
b. Few enemies in NAFR
c. Military commanders were not political leaders or vice-versa
i. Generals chosen by Senate
ii. Carthaginian religion
1. Baal, Tanit, child sacrifice in times of crisis (tophets! Widespread later)
6. FAILURE AND TRANSFORMATION, 750-550 BCE
a. Assyrian Pressure
i. Conquered Judah, forced out Tyrians to MED, subjugated PHO, conquered EGY (mid
6th BCE), conquered southern MPT (Babylon)
ii. 650 BCE – Assyria = top dogs, unchallenged
1. Many expensive campaigns
2. Arms race w/ Urartu
3. Long borders
a. All weakened Assyrian power
b. The Neo-Babylonian Kingdom, 626-562 BCE
i. Chaldean dynasty resisted Assyria from Babylon
ii. Medes resisted Assyria from Iranian Plateau
1. Both carried out attacks/destroyed Assyria by 612 BCE
2. Eastern Anatolia, Assyrian homeland went to Medes
3. Neo-Babylonians got everything else
a. Nabopolassar
b. Nebuchadnezzar
c. Babylon becomes a true gem of the ancient world
i. Math, astronomy, astrology progress