Ancient Middle East 1

, , Traders Invaders and Empire Builders

“ , Come to me Gilgames h and . be my bridegroom Iwill

harnes s you a chariot of , prec ious s tones and gold with

, wheels of gold and copper and you s hall have mighty demons of

.the s torm for draft mules ”

- Goddes s Inanna to Gilgames hWhat can we learn about Sumerian society

by reading this primary source document?

The Ancient Fertile Cres centArea

: The Middle Eas t “The Cradle of Civilization”

-Sumerian City States , , , , Ur Uruk Eridu Lagas h

, Babylon Kis h

- : City State Urban areas that contro lled s urrounding agricultural reg ions and loos e ly connected with other

-c ity s tates : , Developed organized projects irrigation s ys tems

, , , palaces ziggurats defens ive walls temples

Technology andAchievements

Pottery

BoardGame

Metallurgys kills Harp

Statues

The Wheel

- Sumerian Relig ionPolythe is tic, Enki God of Water , Innana Goddes s of

Fertility

- Each Sumerian city s tate had its own patron deity to . , whom the citizens paid homage Temples known as

, ziggurats were often erected in the c ities to honor each' . , , c ity s god The city of Ur for example cons tructed a

, . ziggurat for Nanna the god of the moon The Gods were .Anthropomorphic

:Cuneiform - “Wedge Shaped”Writing

Cuneiform Writing

Sumerian Scribes

Sumerian s chool boys learn to read and . write at a “Tablet Hous e” to become s cribes

Mes opotamian Trade

“ The CuneiformWorld”

- : Indo European Migrations4 -2 m m BCE

: The Middle Eas t “The Cros s roads of ThreeContinents ”

:Sargon of Akkad ’ The World s Firs t Empire

[ ]Akkadians2370-2315 B. C. E.

The Babylonian Empires

, Hammurabi the Judge

• “ King of the four quarters of the world”

• Centralized bureaucratic government

• Sys tem of taxation

• Firs t written code oflaws

Why is it important to develop a written set of

laws?

’ Hammurabi s Code1792-1750 B. C. E.

“ to promote the welfare of … the people to caus e jus tice

, to prevail in the land to , des troy the wicked and evil

s o that the s trong may not …oppres s the weak ”

Obey thes e laws or I will make you all wear this awes ome

!s weater

BabylonianAchievements

12 MonthCalendar

Mathematics

Babylonia n

Numbers

The Hittites 2000 . . About B C -the Indo

- European s peaking Hittites

appeared in northern As ia

. 1650 Minor In. . B C they

extended the ir control in As ia

, Minor s e ized northern Syria

from the, Egyptians and expanded into

northern.Mes opotamia

TheHittites Hittite culture was greatly

influenced by the. , Babylonians However

they learned to extract iron from ore and were

the firs t to make tools and weapons of iron that were

harder and had s harper edges than thos e made

. out of bronze or copper Becaus e iron was

, plentiful the Hittites were able to arm more people

. at les s expens e

What does this relief tell us about Hittite culture?

The Hittites    It is be lieved that trade with other countries was

. limited This was becaus e the kingdom s o often

found its e lf in a s tate of. , war Hence if the Hittites

needed s pec ial natural, res ources conques ts were

, the s o lution not fore ign. trade

TheHittites

Traders, Invaders, and Empire Builders?

TheSumerians

TheBabyloniansTraders Empire Builders Invaders

The As s yrians 1100 . . After B C the

As s yrians embarked on a policy of

. expans ion Having learned from the

, Hittites the As s yrians were the

firs t to outfit armies entire ly with iron. weapons To bes iege

, c itie s they devis ed new military

- equipment moveable towers and

. battering rams

500 For years they terrorized the, reg ion earning a las ting reputation

as one of the mos t warlike people . in his tory

The As s yrians• As s yrian rulers encouraged

- a well ordered s oc ie ty with the ir capital at Nineveh.. They were the firs t rulers to deve lop

extens ive laws regulating life . within the royal hous ehold

• Riches from trade and war loot paid for the s plendid - . palaces in well planned c ities

• The women of the palace were confined in s ec luded

quarters and had to be ve iled .when they appeared in public

As s yrianAchievements• Created a centralized

.bureaucratic government

• Built military roads to move troops quickly to any part of

. the empire

• King Assurbanipal founded . one of the firs t libraries He

ordered his s cribes to collec t cune iform table ts from all over

. the Fertile Cres cent Thos e table ts have given modern

s cholars a wealth of information about the anc ient

.Middle Eas t

What factors do you think will lead to the

downfall of the Assyrians?

The Pers ians , The Pers ians created an empire the larges t yet , 3,000 . s een in the anc ient world extending miles 200 . The empire flouris hed for years Pers ia is

- .located in pres ent day Iran

The Pers ians Pers ian emperorDarius, 522 . . 486 . ., B C to B C Unified the

Empire

• Darius s e t up a Federal government that became a

.model for later rulers

• Each province had to pay taxes bas ed on its res ources and

. wealth

• , " Spec ial offic ials the Eyes and ," Ears of the King vis ited each

.province

• , Like Hammurabi Darius drew up a s ingle code of laws for the

. empire

The Pers ians , To encourage unity he had hundreds of miles of roads

. built or repaired The Royal Road made it eas ier to . communicate with different parts of the empire

:Trade improved

• . Common s et of weights &meas ures

• , Us e of co ins which the Lydians of . As ia Minor had firs t introduced

• Replaced barter with the exchange of. money Single Pers ian coinage -created economic links among his far

. flung s ubjects

Zoroas trianism

the Pers ians were to lerant of the people they. conquered They res pected the cus toms and

re lig ious traditions of the divers e groups in the ir. empire

Relig ious be lie fs put forward by the Pers ian thinker Zoroaster

:Zoroas ter taught that • The world was a battleground for

.the forces of good and evil• All people mus t choos e a s ide• , Goodnes s will eventually prevail

and the world will achieve eternal. peace

The Phoenic ians“The Carriers of Civilization”

Due to the ir , s ailing s kills the

Phoenic ians s erved as

mis s ionaries of, c ivilization

bring ing eas tern Mediterranean

products and culture to les s

advanced. peoples

Phoenic iansAccomplis hments• , To promote trade they

s e t up co lonies from North Africa to Sic ily and

. Spain

• , From a tiny s ea s nail they produced a wide ly

, admired purple dye " " called Tyrian purple

, after the c ity of Tyre which became the ir

.trademark

Phoenic ians became bes t known for manufacturing .and trade

• Phoenic ians als o us ed papyrus from Egypt to , , . make s cro lls or ro lls o f paper for books

• .They made glas s from coas tal s and

Phoenic ian Alphabet , As merchants the

Phoenic ians needed a s imple alphabet to eas e

the burden of keeping. records They therefore

replaced the cumbers ome cuneiform 550 alphabet of characters with a

, phonetic alphabet bas ed on dis tinct

, s ounds cons is ting of22 . le tters

After further alterations by the , Greeks and Romans this alphabet became the one we

!us e today

Do you think they earned the title “Carriers of

Civilization?”

The Hebrews , , , According to the Torah the Hebrews led by Abraham

, were nomads who migrated from Ur herding the ir flocks of s heep and goats into a reg ion known as

( ). Canaan later called Pales tine

The Hebrews 1300 . ., By B C Mos es led Hebrews out of s lavery in

. , Egypt After he died they c laimed land they be lieved .God had promis ed them

Led by King David (1000-970 B.C) , Strong s hrewd king who united the feuding Hebrew tribes into a s ingle

. nation Set up the kingdom with Jerus alem as

. capital (970-930 . )King Solomon B C

Turned Jerus alem into an impres s ive. capital

Built a s plendid temple dedicated to, God as well as an enormous palace

. for hims e lf Won prais e for his wis dom and

. unders tanding

Judaism Judaism is monotheistic, . teaching a be lie f in one God

, At the time mos t other people wors hipped many gods . , &goddes s es A few re lig ious leaders like Zoroas ter in

, Pers ia and the Egyptian ruler Akhenaton be lieved in a .powerful die ty

Major Belie fs

Compiled the ir teachings in holy .s criptures called the Torah

God would reward thos e who obeyed his will and punis h thos e

.who did not

Abraham made a “covenant” with God and made them the Chos en

.people

Judaism At the heart of Judaism are the

, Ten Commandments laws that Jews be lieved God gave them

. through Mos es The laws s et out both re lig ious dutie s

toward God and rules for moral conduct toward other

people

Phoenic ians

Traders, Invaders, and Empire Builders?

As s yrians Pers ians TradersEmpire

BuildersInvaders

HebrewsEmpire Builders

LAW CODES AND JUSTICE

The two great law-givers of Mesopotamia: Hammurabi & Moses

The Babylonian ruler Hammurabi was the first one to organize a law

code with punishments. His law code was developed and written

down sometime around 1770 BCE.

Consider: Why were formalized law codes not developed during

hunter/gatherer days?

Moses: Probably the best known law-giver in the Western World. His law code is contained in the first f ive books of the Hebrew scriptures – commonly called the Pentateuch. Moses’ law code was developed about 3 to 5 hundred years after Hammurabi’s and borrowed extensively from Hammurabi’s code.

MESOPOTAMIAN RELIGIONMESOPOTAMIAN RELIGION• The Mesopotamians created many of the The Mesopotamians created many of the

rel igious categories we are famil iar with rel igious categories we are famil iar with today including fantastic beasts and today including fantastic beasts and

divine messengers.divine messengers.

Mesopotamian gods with a Mesopotamian angel

What were the Mesopotamian Gods What were the Mesopotamian Gods based on?based on?

• Most Mesopotamian gods were based on nature such as earth, water, storms, l ightening, etc.

• By the t ime of the Babylonian Empire the most important and powerful gods were associated with the stars and the planets and observed humans and the earth from above.

• The most important role of the gods was to keep chaos from overtaking the earth. Chaos, usually associated with water and the sea, was kept at bay by the power of the gods. If humans disobeyed, the gods would al low the waters to once again inundate the land.

Flood StoriesStories about

deluges were not uncommon in

Mesopotamia and the surrounding areas. The two

most famous flood stories are from the Hebrew scriptures and from the Epic

of Gilgamesh.

The story most famil iar to many people is the bibl ical account of Noah and his ark. Genesis tel ls how “God saw that the wickedness of man was great” and decided to destroy al l of creation. Only Noah, “who found grace in the eyes of the Lord,” his family, and the animals aboard the ark survived to repopulate the planet.

• Older than Genesis is the Babylonian epic of Gilgamesh, a king who embarked on a journey to find the secret of immortal ity. Along the way, he met Utnapishtim, survivor of a great flood sent by the gods. Warned by Enki, the water god, Utnapishtim built a boat and saved his family and friends, along with artisans, animals, and precious metals.

Hebrew Chaldean

Deity named God warns virtuous man/Noah of the f lood.

Deity named Kronos appears to virtuous man/Xisuthrus in a vis ion and warns him of a flood.

Noah is the tenth patriarch.

Xisuthrus is the tenth king.

Noah is ordered to build an ark.

Xisuthrus is ordered to build a vessel.

Noah is ordered to load the ark with selected humans and pairs of animals.

Xisuthrus is to load the vessel with selected humans and animals.

As the flood recedes, three times birds are sent out to scout for land.

As the flood recedes, three times birds are sent out to scout for land.

The ark lands on a mountain, Mt. Ararat

The vessel lands on a mountain.

Noah builds an altar and offers sacrif ices.

Xisuthrus builds an altar and offers sacrif ices.

The Ancient Hebrews•Originally a loosely organized group of nomads l iv ing in between the Egyptian and Mesopotamian civ i l izations and was influenced by both of these great civ i l izations.•Init ial ly they were polytheistic and Yahweh was simply the chief god among many.•Emphasis was on the temple and its sacrif icial system.•Babylonian captivity forced the Hebrews to totally rethink and reorganize their rel igion.•After coming into direct contact with Babylonian rel igion, the Hebrews made Yahweh not just the highest god, but the only one.•Because they were far away from their temple, the focus of the rel igion changed to the written word rather than the temple system.

The Hebrews made two important innovations to Mesopotamian culture:

3. The Hebrews created one of the first truly monotheistic rel igions that became the model

for both Christianity and Islam.

5. The Hebrews also created the concept of l inear history. In the Hebrew concept of history, the

divine works out its plan through historical events. Therefore, history is not a continuous

cycle of seasons and years, but contains important events that are leading to the end of

history.

WAS THERE AN HISTORICAL EVENT BEHIND THESE FLOOD STORIES?

During the Ice Age the Black Sea was an isolated freshwater lake surrounded by farmland.

• About 12,000 years ago, toward the end of the Ice Age, Earth began growing warmer. Vast sheets of ice that sprawled over the Northern Hemisphere began to melt. Oceans and seas grew deeper as a result.

• About 7,000 years ago the Mediterranean Sea swel led. Seawater pushed northward, sl icing through what is now Turkey.

• Funneled through the narrow Bosporus, the water hit the Black Sea with 200 times the force of Niagara Falls. Each day the Black Sea rose about six inches (15 centimeters), and coastal farms were flooded.

• Seared into the memories of terrif ied survivors, the tale of the flood was passed down through the generations and eventually became the Noah story.