Western Civilization: Ancient Near East

"Iron Age War machine" * Conquered the entire Near East from the 8th to the 7th centuries bce * First power to control both the Nile and the Tigris-Euphrates valleys (By conquering Egypt in the 660s bce) Erupting from their homeland in northern Mesopotamia with an inexorable war machine Outfitted their armies with iron weapons (much more durable than bronze) * (The Hittites had first begun smelting iron), but the Assyrians more effectively ushered in the Iron Age by putting the new metal to extensive use Developed engineering to conduct siege warfare, so that no enemy could hold out for long against their armies (which conquered all of Mesopotamia, southern Anatolia, Syria, Palestine, and Egypt Applied a systematic policy of terror to discourage rebellion (to hold the extensive empire together), becoming notorious in the ancient world for cruelty and brutal suppression of opposition Boasted of their cruelty in their art Strategy include the deportation of rebellious populations, who would be replaced by Assyrian colonists – the most famous example of Assyrian success with this policy was the fate of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel (who vanished from history after their deportation) Downfall: their harsh methods were effective in the short term, but generated too much hatred among their subjects to ensure long-term stability; by invading Egypt they had overextended themselves; when a new dynasty of the Babylonians raised a major revolt in Mesopotamia with help form the Medes (from the region of modern Iran), Assyrian terror was unable to arrest it. The Assyrians’ capital at Nineveh on the Tigris River was conquered in 612 bce by these Neo-Babylonians, sometimes known as the Chaldeans

By invading Egypt they had overextended themselves; when a new dynasty of the Babylonians raised a major revolet in Mesopotamia with help form the Medes (from the region of modern Iran), Assyrian terror was unable to arrest it.

Ancient Near East: The Persians: Zoroastrianism Although the Persian influnce on Western civilization is not as great as it would have been had the Persians conquered the Greeks, their presence in the Near East left an important cultural legacy, mainly with regard to religion. In addition to respecting religious diversity, the Persians disseminated the ideas of their own religion, Zoroastrianism. The Persians were initially polytheists, but one of their prophets, Zoroaster (or Zarathustra), initiated a monotheistic turn in Persian theology, perhaps around 600 bce (although some scholars believe he may have lived as early as 1000 bce). Zoroaster taught that the god Ahura Mazda, who represented the forces of good and truth and light, was alone worthy of worship. Yet Zoroastrianism also posited an ethical dualism by viewing the universe as the site of a cosmic struggle between good and evil. Opposed to Ahura Mazda was Ahriman, the principle of evil, darkness, and lies. Human beings were caught up in this struggle and had to choose sides. Good would eventually triumph, and there would be a Last Judgement following a final battle, when those siding with Ahura Mazda would be rewarded with eternal bliss in heaven while those siding with Ahriman would suffer eternal torment in hell. These Zoroastian ideas were well known in the Near East during the formative phase of both Christianity and Islam, and influenced Judaism as well. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahura_Mazda Ahura Mazda (Ahura Mazdā) is the Avestan language name for a divinity exalted by Zoroaster as the one uncreated Creator, hence God. The Zoroastrian faith is thus described by its adherents as Mazdayasna, the worship of Mazda. In the Avesta, "Ahura Mazda is the highest object of worship"[1], the first and most frequently invoked divinity in the Yasna liturgy. In Zoroastrian cosmogony and tradition, all the lesser divinities are also creations of Mazda. (eg Bundahishn III) Ahura Mazda is 'Auramazdā'[2] in Old Persian, 'Aramazd' in Parthian[3] and Armenian (cf. also Aramazd). Middle- and New Persian language usage varies, but 'Hormizd', 'Hormuzd', 'Ohrmazd' and 'Ormazd/Ōrmazd' (Persian: اورمزد/ارمزد) are common transliterations.

A series of 31 royal families, or dynasties, ruled Egypt over the course of its fist 3000 years of history, which is divided into the following periods: (the dynasties came to an end with Cleopatra in 30 bce, when the Romans incorporated Egypt into their empire.) (Since historians often disagree on the prices dates for dividing these periods, the dates given below are only approximations. As well, the regnal dates of the kings are also subject to debate.) Kings of Egypt had the title “pharaoh”, which in ancient Egyptian meant “great house”, indicating the royal palace in which the ruler lived

(3100-2700 bc) The first two dynasties governed Egypt from 3100-2700 bc, during which time they unified the Nile valley. Unlike the Tigris and Euphrates, whose flooding was both unpredictable and violent, the Nile River flooded regularly and gently. Thus, the pharoah’s priests were able to predict when flooding would take place => this made it possible to tell the peasants the best time for planting. Under centralized government, the economy was carefully planned and led to a very efficient practice of agriculture. This prosperity strengthened the political and religious aura of the pharaoh.

Period of the 3rd to 6th dynasties, when the power of the pharaohs was supreme. At this time, the pharaohs were regarded as gods themselves (as opposed to Mesopotamia, where the leaders were viewed as representatives of the gods) => ancient Egyptian government was theocracy. The entire country was considered to be pharoah’s personal possession and its economy completely under his control The greatest pyramids were constructed at this time, particularly during the Fourth Dynasty (@ Giza), and were enormous tombs for the pharaohs and their families. Although at later times the pharoah’s claim to divinity was still recognized, later pharaohs did not enjoy as much power in relation to the Egyptian nobles and priests as they did during the Old Kingdom. During the Old Kingdom, only pharaohs and their household were thought to be immortal; the belief in an afterlife led to the practice of embalming (mummification), for it was believed that the departed soul would need its body in its next life

~ (2200-2050 bce) The pharaohs failed to assert themselves, with the result that the nobles, or “nomarchs” (the admins of local districts, or nomes), effectively controlled the government. This decentralization of power led to civil wars As the nomarchs vied with one another for supremacy, there was a lack of coordination in agriculture, resulting in widespread famine

~ (2050-1700 bce) Centralized government was restored and maintained in Egypt under the Eleventh and Twelfth dynasties. This period of stability ended when foreigners, known as the Hyksos, invaded the Nile delta and overran the Egyptian army in their horse-drawn chariots. (The identity of the Hyksos is not certain)

The Hyksos dominated Egypt from ~ (1700 to 1550 bce) Although they were strong in the Nile delta, they were unable to assert their control over the upper reaches of the valley. The Hyksos were finally expelled by a nobleman named Ahmose, who founded the Eighteenth dynasty and inaugurated the era of the New Kingdom

From ~ (1550 to 1100 bc), under the 18th to 20th dynasties, the Egyptian pharaohs reasserted their power and expanded beyond the traditional frontiers, reaching southward up the Nile River into Africa and sending armies northeastward across the Sinai peninsula into the Levant and Anatolia. The Egyptians hoped to prevent future invasions of the Nile valley by dominating the eastern shoreline of the Med (Palestine and Syria) – the direction from which the Hyksos had come. There the Egyptians came into conflict with the Hittites, who claimed the same territory. Egypt and the Hittites fought a series of wars over the course of several centuries. Among their battles was one fought at Megiddo (1457 bce) – a place where so many battles were fought over the centuries that it became immortalized in the Christian Bible as the apocalyptic battlefield of “Armageddon”. Egypt’s wars with the Hittites did not result in a clear victory – after a great battle at Kadesh in 1274 bce failed to resolve the outcome, the two belligerents concluded a peace treaty.

Egyptians were polytheists, yet their gods were also anthropomorphic: some combined human and animal features: Anubis: god of the dead, who was depicde with a human body and the head of a jackal Ra: sun-god, depicted with a human body and the head of hawk Also in contrast to the Mesopotamians, the Egyptians regarded their pharaoh as a god; some Mesopotamian rulers achieved this level of veneration, but generally they were considered merely representatives of the gods. Syncretism: over time two different gods were regarded as a single god under two different aspects. For example, Amon, an important fertility god depicted as a ram, was later identified with Ra, the sun-god, and was then sometimes called Amon-Ra and regarded as the chilf of the gods and the special patron of Egypt. Perhaps the most fundamental difference between Egyptian and Mesopotamian religion was in their views of the afterlife: while the Mesopotamians had a grim view of death, the Egyptians were optimistic that the soul could attain a happy immortality.

"Amenhotep IV: turned his attention away from the wars on the borders and into the inner world of the spirit, fostering a revolutionary religious phase known as the “Armana Period” (named after the modern city, Amarna, where historical evidence of the event was found in the nineteenth century ce) -

Architecture reflects importance of religion and concern for the afterlife: Pyramids, later built magnificent subterranean tombs in cliff-faces, such as the Valley of the Kings at Thebes (where the tomb of Tutankhamen, the famous “King Tut” was discovered in 1922), or within temple complexes, such as the mortuary temple of Hatshepsut at Der-el-Bahri. Karnak and Luxor: Massive temples to honor the gods were constructed at Karnak and Luxor: these structures were adorned with sculptures (including sphinxes), paintings, and especially hieroglyphics, or “sacred writings”, which were a form of pictograph. Heiroglyphics were used not only in religious architecture, but also for official and archival purposes: were not carved in stone, but written on papyrus, which was formed from reeds growing along the Nile (and from which the word “paper” is derived) Used a 12-month solar calendar consisting of 30-month days, followed by 5 days added after the twelfth month, to total a nearly-accurate span of 365 days per year (In the 2nd century bce, the Egyptians invented the practice of leap-years in order to correct the slight inaccuracy) Heiroglyphics: Pictographs: Scholars have traditionally thought hieroglyphics were inspired by Mesopotamian cuneiform, the chronology has recently been questioned, and it is now supposed that hieroglyphics may have actually predated cuneiform – the two writing systems could have developed independently; whatever their precise relationship, both forms of writing were in use by 3000 bce

=> cities first arose only where especially favorable conditions existed for raising food, and these conditions were first attained in river valleys at a time when the culture of human beings had risen to a certain level of sophistication Area of river v

* c 1600 bce, invaded the Old Babylonian empire * Used cuneiform letters. Government: * Thought to have had the first constitutional monarchy. This consisted of a king, royal family, the pankus (who monitored the king's activities), and an often rebellious aristocracy. The Hittites also made huge advances in legislation and justice. They produced the Hittite laws. These laws rarely used death as a punishment. For example, the punishment for theft was to pay back the amount stolen. Iron: Although belonging to the Bronze Age, the Hittites were forerunners of the Iron Age, demonstrating great skills in the manufacture of iron artifacts from as early as the 14th century BC, when letters to foreign rulers reveal the demand for their iron goods. The Hittites were not, however, the first to work iron, and iron remained a precious metal throughout the history of their empire. The Hittites were also famous for their skill in building and using chariots.[citation needed] The Hittites may have passed much knowledge and lore from the Ancient Near East to the Greeks[citation needed]. Unlike most of the other peoples of the ancient Near East who spoke Semitic languages, the Hittites spoke an Indo-European language Seem to have migrated into the region from the north After establishing their empire in Anatolia, this warlike people raided the wealthy regions to the south, most notably bringing the Amorite dynasty of the Old Babylonian Empire to ruin about 1600 bce. Later the Hittites came into conflict with the Egyptians in Syria and Palestine, waging a series of wars which left both sides so weakened that they agreed to share power in the region as a border-territory and signed the first international peace treaty in history to formalize their agreement. By the 13th century bce in the eastern Med region, rival centers of civilization that had expanded to the point of coming into uneasy contact with one another had established an international system of coexistence.

One of many small nations of the ancient Near East caught in the clash between empires, the Hebrews would hardly merit attention if it were not for the example of their tenacious survival in the face of daunting odds and the fact that their spiritual legacy of strict monotheism became a defining feature of Western civilization (mainly due to spread of Christianity, which arose as a reform movement within the Hebrew tradition)

Claimed descent from a patriarch, Abraham who lived in Mesopotamia and was instructed by Yahweh (God) to migrate to a promised land near the Med Abraham’s migration is thought to have occurred between about 2000 and 1500 bce Abraham’s grandson, Jacob – who was later called Israel – had 12 sons; these sons of Israel were identified by the Hebrews as the first leaders of the twelve tribes into which they were organized During a period of economic hardship, the Hebrews entered Egypt as laborers, and there became slaves. They were liberated by the lawgiver, Moses, and 1275 bce and settled in the land where Abraham had dwelt * Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are referred to as the three patriarchs of the people of Israel, and the period in which they lived is called the Patriarchal Age. It originally acquired its religious meaning in the Septuagint version of the Bible. (The word has mainly taken on specific ecclesiastical meanings. In particular, the highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Roman Catholic Church (above Major Archbishop and primate), and the Assyrian Church of the East are called patriarchs. The office and ecclesiastical conscription (comprising one or more provinces, though outside his own (arch)diocese he is often without enforceable jurisdiction) of such a patriarch is called a patriarchate. Historically, a Patriarch may often be the logical choice to act as Ethnarch, representing the community that is identified with his religious confession within a state or empire of a different creed (as Christians within the Ottoman Empire).)

The migration of the Hebrews to the land once occupied by Abraham’s comparatively small household was not a simple homecoming, for the region was already occupied by Canaanites who had dwelt in the region even before the time of Abraham The Hebrew migration occurred about the same time as the invasions of the Sea Peoples: of these groups, the Philistines, settled along the coast in the region that is now known as the Gaza strip (“Palestine” is derived from “Philistine”) The Hebrews fought both the Canaanites and Philistines for space in which to live; In order to fight more effectively, the twelve tribes united under a single monarch, Saul (c 1020 – 1004 bce); Saul’s successor, David (1004-965 bce) secured the borders of the kingdom of Israel, establishing its capital at Jerusalem. In thanksgiving for the victory, David’s son, Solomon (965 – 928 bce), built a magnificent temple to Yahweh in Jerusalem (on Mount Zion), but his extravagant rule aroused the animosity of his subjects. Soon after Solomon’s death, the Hebrews became divided: ten of the tribes broke away to form the northern Kingdom of Israel, while David’s dynasty in Jerusalem continued to rule in the south; their state was known as the kingdom of Judah.

Abraham first identified Yahwe as the divinity whom he would worship exclusively, pledging his loyalty through a special relationship called the Covenant Some scholars speculate that the Hebrews, who were probably living in Egypt during the reign of of Akhenaton (c 1375 – 1358 bc), may have acquired the concept of monotheism from the pharaoh’s religious reforms. However, the Hebrews as a nation did not enter into the Covenant with Yahweh until after Moses had led them out of Egypt, while they were encamped in the desert at Mount Sinai on their way to Canaan – it was at this juncture that the Hebrews accepted the Ten Commandments, of which the first enjoined the exclusive worship of Yahweh. Both at Mount Sinai and afterwards, while living among the polytheistic Canaanites, the Hebrews found it difficult to abandon the worship of other gods completely.

Much of the Bible recounts the unfaithfulness of the Hebrews and their resistance to special religious leaders, known as prophets, who exhorted the people to renounce polytheism once and for all. In the prophets’ view of history, the welfare of the Hebrews revolved around the question of their faithfulness to Yahweh: foreign invasions and other misfortunes were considered punishments for breaking the Covenant either by worshiping other gods (especially through idolatry) or by breaking the moral code of the Ten Commandments. The Hebrew kings sometimes cooperated with the prophets in the quest for monotheism, but sometimes persecuted them. When the prophet Elijah denounced Ahab, king of Israel (871-852 bc), for executing one of subjects on false charges so that he could seize his property, Ahab repented. By raising the question of the relationship between spiritual and political sources of authority, the prophets set a vital precedent for the later history of Western civilization.

The prophets were instrumental in advocating social justice as an essential feature of monotheism. In the 8the century bce, when many Hebrews were leaving the pastoral ways of their ancestors and settling in growing towns, their society underwent a major economic transformation. Cities by their nature generate wealth, but the wealth is never distributed evenly: some men tend to become extravagantly wealthy while others descend into dire poverty, often because the wealthy attempt to maximize the profits at the expense of their fellow citizens, whom they exploit. When the prophet Amos saw this happening around 750 bce, he preached against economic exploitation as a sin that would bring ruin upon othe Hebrew people if they did not mend their ways.

The divine wrath was soon recognized in the appearance of the Assyrian armies on the northern borders of Isreal The Assyrians deported people from the kingdom of Israel, but allowed Judah to continue its existence as a vassal state; (these events seemed clear evidence that Isreal had been severely punished because it continued to worship gods other than Yahweh, whereas Judah endured a lesser punishment because although it committed sins of social injustice, it had committed itself to a stricter monotheism; that the deported Israelites never returned to their homeland but vanished from history as the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel seemed to confirm this interpretation. The outcome also points out a key historical truth: monotheism was not simply an extraordinary religious statement of the Hebrews, but also an effective strategy for preserving their national identity. Thus, since the deported Israelites were willing to worship many gods, they were assimilated into the polytheistic society of Assyria and ceased to exist as an identifiable national group. In contrast, when the kingdom of Judah later suffered deportation under the Neo-Babylonians in 586 bce, the exiles were careful to maintain their religious integrity and thereby preserved their distinct national identity even in exile. From the time of the Babylonian Captivity, these Hebrews from Judah (later know as Judea) were known as “Jews”

The Jews were allowed to return home and rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem (destroyed by the Babylonians) when Cyrus the Great overthrew the Neo-Babylonian dynasty in 539 bc. During their exile, the Jews experienced a new phase of religious awareness, and now began to see themselves as chosen by God for the sake of making known the doctrine of monotheism to the entire world. Although they did not engage in missionary activity, they hoped to make the pagan (or “Gentile) world aware that Yahweh was the one true God by maintaining their distinctive way of life. Their new sense of God’s plan for the good of the entire human race would eventually inspire the Christians, who arose as a Jewish sect, to preach monotheism to all the world and energetically seek to convert the pagans.

When Cyrus the Great allowed the Jews to return home, many chose to remain in Babylon => thus began the Diaspora, a Greek word meaning “dispersion,” which refers to Jew living outside Judea who continued to maintain their Jewish identity. Later, during the Hellenistic period, Jewish communities thrived in the Egyptian city of Alexandria, and during the Roman period, in many cities of Anatolia and Europe.

* One of the earliest known civilizations in the world. * Earliest cities arose about 3200 bce in the Tigris-Euphrates valley, know as Mesopotamia (“land between rivers”) * Although other cities pre-date Sumer (Jericho, Çatalhöyük and others, either for seasonal protection, or as year-round trading posts) the cities of Sumer were the first to practice intensive, year-round agriculture (from ca. 5300 BC). * The surplus of storable foodstuffs created by this economy allowed the population to settle in one place instead of migrating after crops and herds. It also allowed for a much greater population density, and in turn required an extensive labor force and division of labor. This organization led to the necessity of record keeping and the development of writing (ca. 3500 BC). * Lasted from the first settlement of Eridu in the Ubaid period (late 6th millennium BC) through the Uruk period (4th millennium BC) and the Dynastic periods (3rd millennium BC) until the rise of Babylon in the early 2nd millennium BC. * The term "Sumerian" applies to all speakers of the Sumerian language. In the southern region of Mesopotamia., called Sumer after the culture of its inhabitants, these cities became small states that governed areas about 10 miles in diameter and fought among themselves over the control of water As the stronger Sumerian city-states conquered the weaker, larger political units were established and these fought one another on a larger scale, in an effort to unify the entire valley under their own control. Unification of the entire river-valley was desirable because it would lead to more efficient use of the river systems for ag, and conflict arose because one city-state was unwilling to surrender its sovereignty to another to achieve this goal

* A semi-nomadic people, spoke a Semitic language, began to leave the deserts west of Mesopotamia and settle in the central region of the Tigris-Euphrates valley during the fourth millennium bce. * Led by their king Sargon (c 2371-2316 bce), they conquered the various Sumerian city-states and established an empire that unified Mesopotamia and reached beyond its boundaries, into the Iranian plateau in the east and as far west as Lebanon. Sargon’s dynasty ruled Akkad and Sumer for about 200 years * Empire centered in the city of Akkad (Sumerian: Agade; Biblical Accad) and its surrounding region (Sumerian URI.KI or KIURI) in central Mesopotamia.[1] The city of Akkad was probably situated on the west bank of the Euphrates, between Sippar and Kish (in present-day Iraq, about 50 km (31 mi) southwest of the center of Baghdad). Despite an extensive search, the precise site has never been found. It reached the height of its power between the 24th and 22nd centuries BC, following the conquests of king Sargon of Akkad. Because of the policies of the Akkadian Empire toward linguistic assimilation, Akkad also gave its name to the predominant Semitic dialect: the Akkadian language, reflecting use of akkadû ("in the language of Akkad") in the Old Babylonian period to denote the Semitic version of a Sumerian text.

Many Sumerians resented the Akkadian attempt to dominate them, and around 2100 bce, the Sumerian city of Ur attained control of Mesopotamia, after the Akkadian empire had been weakened by foreign invasions Ruled for ~ 100 years Dissension led to a period of chaos during which on single dynasty controlled the entire region (c 2000 – 1900 bce) By the time unity was restored, the Sumerians had lost their identity as a distinct group

Unified Mes – their empire is known as the Old Babylonian, since they established their capital at Babylon, on the Euphrates Ruled for ~ 300 years, from around 1900 to 1600 bce Hammurabi ( c 1792-1750 bce): greatest king, famous for his law code Slaves might be foreigners conquered in war or Mes citizens who could not pay off their debts. Slavery was often temporary, for freemen who fell into debt became slaves until they paid off what they owned by means of physical labor; they were also allowed to do business and own property, and they might thereby buy there freedom. Hammurabi’s Code dealt principally with legislation regarding their family (regulating divorce and inheritance), the ownership of land, and commercial transactions Their empire is known as the Old Babylonian, since they established their capital at Babylon, on the Euphrates. They ruled for about 300 years, from around 1900 to 1600 bce. Their greatest king Hammurabi ( 1792-1750 bce), who is famous for his law code. Hammurabi’s Cod was a collection of old and new legal judgements, resulting in the most comprehensive body of law from ancient Mesopotamia. The code prescribed harsh punishments for violators, according to the principle “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.” Like other Mesopotamian kings, Hammurabi claimed to be a representative of the gods, from whom he derived his authority. His code was intended to provide stability in a hierarchical society, with the king at the top of the social pyramid, the warrior aristocracy and priesthood on a level below him, freemen (such as peasants and merchants) below the nobles and priest, and slaves at the bottom. Slaves might be foreigners conquered in war or Mesopotamian citizens who could not pay off their debts. Slavery was often temporary, for freemen who fell into debt became slaves until they paid off what they owed by means of physical labor; they were also allowed to do business and own property, and they might thereby buy their freedom. Hammurabi’s Code dealt principally with legislation regarding the family (regulation divorce and inheritance), the ownership of the land, and commercial transactions. (The Old Babylonian empire disintegrated around 1600 bce after it was attacked by two different groups of invaders: Hittites from Anatolia (Asia Minor) in the north and Kassites from the east (the region that is now Iran)

Unified Mes – their empire is known as the Old Babylonian, since they established their capital at Babylon, on the Euphrates Ruled for ~ 300 years, from around 1900 to 1600 bce Hammurabi ( c 1792-1750 bce): greatest king, famous for his law code Hammurabi’s Code was a collection of old and new legal judgments, resulting in the most comprehensive body of law from ancient Mes. The code prescribed harsh punishments for violators, according the principle “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”. Like other Mes. Kings, Hammurabi claimed to be a rep. of the gods, from whom he derived his authority. His code was intended to provide stability in a hierarchical society, with the king at the top of the social pyramid, the warrior aristocracy and the priesthood on a level below him, freemen (such as peasants and merchants) below the nobles and priests, and slaves at the bottom. Slaves might be foreigners conquered in war or Mes citizens who could not pay off their debts. Slavery was often temporary, for freemen who fell into debt became slaves until they paid off what they owned by means of physical labor; they were also allowed to do business and own property, and they might thereby buy there freedom. Hammurabi’s Code dealt principally with legislation regarding their family (regulating divorce and inheritance), the ownership of land, and commercial transactions

The Old Babylonian Empire disintegrated around 1600 bce after it was attacked by two different groups of invaders: Hittites from Anatolia (Asia Minor) in the north and Kassites from the east (the region that is now Iran) Although the Hittites merely plundered the Old Babylonian empire and returned home with the spoils of war, the Kassites established themselves as rulers for 300 years. Another group, the Hurrians, established the kingdom of Mitanni in the upper Tigris-Euphrates valley around 1500 bce; it lasted until ~ 1400 bce, when the Hittites conquered the Hurrians

Cuneiform tablets indicated that numbers were calculated on a sexagesimal, or base 60, system (which is still in use today for keeping time: hence, there are 60 minutes in an hour and 60 seconds in a minute). The year was divide into 12 months, but these months were based on the cycle of the moon’s phases of approximately 30 days; Consequently, a 13th month was inserted every few years to keep the calendar in step with the seasons

Mesopotamian civilization could not have arisen if it had not first acquired the ability to construct canals for irrigation and flooding-control. Perhaps the most important of Mes. Achievements in engineering was the wheel – invented between 3500 and 3000 bce. The mathematical sophistication of the Mesopotamian peoples was coupled with their practical skill in engineering to create distinctive religious structures known as ziggurats, which were multi-terraced, pyramid-like constructions crowned with a temple at the summit

The Sumerians and their successors worshipped an anthropomorphic pantheon of gods, who were thought to behave like human beings. Since these capricious and powerful beings wielded the forces of nature, they had to be appeased, lest their wrath destroy society This danger was sensed especially in the violent floods that washed through the Tigris-Euphrates valley at irregular intervals. Consequently, the priesthood flourished, busy not only entreating the gods for mercy, but also attempting to foretell future events by practicing divination (studying the stars and the entrails of sacrificial animals for correlations in their patterns and natural events) Mes. religion was mainly concerned with life in this world, for its views of the afterlife was uncertain and gloomy: the dead were thought to wander aimlessly in a shadowy netherworld

Gilgamesh: The Sumerian epic poem, inscribed ~ 2000 bce on 12 cun. tablets – describes the ill-fated quest of the hero Gilgamesh, the king of Uruk, in search of immortality. Enuma Elish: epic mes. poem of the story of creation, along with an account of a great flood (described in Gilgamesh) influenced the religiouns of the ancient Near East, including Judaism, as suggested by parallels between the biblical and pre-biblical accounts.

Important civilization contemporary to that of the Hitties and Egyptians was located on the island of Crete in the eastern Med History of this Cretan civ. is shrouded in mystery, but it has been reconstructed to a considerable degree on the basis of archaeology, with some help from mythology. It is called “Minoan” after the Greek myth of King Minos of Crete, who was said to have constructed a labyrinth to imprison his wife’s monstrous son, the Minotaur. Although Minoan writings have been discovered, they have been of relatively little use to scholars. Linear B: is actually an early form of Greek and implies that the early Greeks invade and occupied Crete toward the end of Minoan history. Linear A: has not been deciphered – it almost certainly represents the language spoken by the Minoans, but there is no way of determining what is recorded in the surviving texts Flourishing on Crete by 2000 bce Relying on a powerful navy, whos ships were armed with rams for sinking enemy vessels, the Minoans forged a maritime empire by dominating the peoples living of the shores of the Aegean Sea For centuries, the fleet of the Minoans protected them from invaders so effectively that they did not feel a need to build defensive walls around their cities The trade that the Minoans conducetd between the Aegean peoples and the empires of the Hittites and Egyptians generated great wealth, and this wealth was used to build grand palaces, which often had plumbing and were decorated with frescoes depicting joyous and lively scenes, such as elegant women leading public rituals or young athletes leaping over charging bulls and participating in other sporting events The lives of the Minoan seem to have been mostly peaceful and prosperous – however even at their height, they sometimes suffered terrible natural disasters, including earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and tidal waves – although the Minoans quickly recovered from the earthquakes that desctroyed their palaces around 1800 bce, later disasters may have contributed to their eventual demise. An extraordinarily violent volcanic eruption around 1627 bce annihilated the Minoan colony on the island of Thera and spawned a tidal wave that slammed into Crete 70 miles away, destroying coastal settlements. Between about 1550 and 1375 bce, the Cretan palaces were destroyed, probably by people from the Balkan peninsula known as the Mycenaeans. Minoan civilization appears to have lingered on in isolated pockets until about 1200 bce.

6500 bce: earliest villages on the Greek mainland appeared 3000 bce: the people living in The Cyclades islands in the Aegean sea were producing bronze implements and marble sculptures 2300 bce: The earliest speakers of Greek (an Indo-European language, like Hittite) migrated into the region The early Greeks lived in small communities until about 1700 bc, when increasing prosperity led to ambitious building projects Mycenae: greatest of the early Greek centers, where archaeologists have uncovered impressive royal burial sites filled with treasures Scholars have named the mainland Greeks of this time “Mycenaenans” because the king of Mycenae appears to have exerted some measure of authority over the other Greek communities The Mycenaeans amassed their wealth by trading with their neighbors in the eastern Mediterranean and sometimes raiding them as well. Eventually they challenged the Minoans for supremacy in the Aegean sea, 1550 bce: invaded and occupied Crete 1400 – 1200 bce: Height of Mycenaeans’ power Following their conquest of Crete, they adopted not only the Minoan form of writing, but also their system of economic management which was based on the palace as an administrative center. The Mycenaeans were not united in the same way as their neighbors, the Egyptians and Hittites, but shared a common language and culture Politically, they were divided among small kingdoms of heroic warriors who might band together from time to time for purposes of conquest under the leadership of the king of Mycenae. The legendary war against Troy seems to have been such an expedition – the vivid depiction of the legend in the Homeric epic poem, the Iliad ( ~ 800 – 750 bce) may be based on true events occurring around 1250 bce. If so, the Trojan war was one of the last major undertakings of the Mycenaeans – within a century, they fell prey to the Sea Peoples, who devastated the empires of the eastern Med. from about 1250 to 1150 bce.

The Neo-Babylonian Empire that arose late in the 7the century bce was much like the Assyrians in extent, although the Neo-Babylonians did not conquer Egypt Less brutal than the Assyrians but continued the policy of deporting rebellious populations (605-562 bce): deportation of the Hebrew people living in the kingdom of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar II who brought them to Babylon as captives after he conquered Jerusalem – this exile is known as the Babylonian Captivity. Like the Assyrian empire, the Neo-Babylonian was short-lived – in less than a century after its founding, it was itself overthrown: 539 bce: fell to the Persian king Cyrus the Great (* Neo-Babylonian or Chaldean refers to Babylonia under the rule of the 11th ("Chaldean") dynasty, from the revolt of Nabopolassar in 626 BC until the invasion of Cyrus the Great in 539 BC, notably including the reign of Nebuchadrezzar II.)

(605-562 bce): deportation of the Hebrew people living in the kingdom of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar II who brought them to Babylon as captives after he conquered Jerusalem – this exile is known as the Babylonian Captivity. The Neo-Babylonian Empire that arose late in the 7the century bce was much like the Assyrian in extent, although the Neo-Babylonians did not conquer Egypt Less brutal than the Assyrians but continued the policy of deporting rebellious populations * The Babylonian captivity, or Babylonian exile, is the name typically given to the deportation and exile of the Jews of the ancient Kingdom of Judah to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar during the 6th Century BC. The Captivity and subsequent return to Israel are pivotal events in the history of the Jews and Judaism, and had far-reaching impacts on the development of modern Jewish culture and practice.

539-530 bce: Persian empire was founded by Cyrus the Great (but is often called the Achaemenid empire after the name of the dynasty to which he belonged) When Cyrus came to power, his small kingdom on the northern shores of the Persian Gulf (in modern day Iran) was under the domination of the Median empire 550 bce: Cyrus led the Persians in an uprising agaist the Medes and conquered them Cyrus proved to be an exceptional figure – he was not only a military genius, but also an enlightened ruler with an appreciation for the diversity of the cultures in the Fertile Crescent Since the Medes were closely related to the Persians (both were Indo-European speakers who had migrated into the Near East together, perhaps around 1000 bc), Cyrus made them partners in his empire, establishing Media as his first satrapy (province)

"Over the next twenty years, Cyrus expanded his dominion until it dwarfed every Near Eastern empire that had gone before 547 bce: Cyrus annexed Anatolia by defeating Croesus of Lydia, then turned east and established a defensible border against threats from central Asia 539 bce: Cyrus conquered the Neo-Babylonians and established control over their empire, which included Syria and Palestine -

Moderate toward the vanquished, tolerant to the subject peoples, willing to grant concessions, understanding of their psychology: Example: When Cyrus approached Babylon in battle array, he took advantage of an internal religious dispute among the Neo-Babylonians to achieve a bloodless victory: Cyrus identified himself as a friend of the traditional god Marduk, whose cult had been opposed by the unorthodox Neo-Babylonian king Narbonidus (556-539 bce) – as a result, the people of Babylon opened their gates to him, preferring to abandon their oppressive native king in favor of a foreign ruler who would grant them religious freedom Example: Cyrus reversed the Neo-Babylonian (and Assyrian) policy of destroying the identity of subject peoples through deportation; thus he permitted the Jews exiled in Babylon to return home to Jerusalem. Cyrus also adopted a policy of non-interference in local religious practice, allowed a limited form of local autonomy, and did not tax heavily

Cyrus successors extended the borders of the Persian empire: Cambyses (530-522 bce) conquered Egypt and Libya Darius (521-486 bce) added the Indus valley in the east and Thrace in the west – by conquering Thrace, the Persians crossed into Europe and came upon the borders of Greece. They intended to annex the Balkan peninsula, but the attempt led by: Xerces (486-465): his attempt at the Balkans ended in a stinging defeat that halted the westward expansion of the Persian empire. The empire lasted for two more centuries before it was conquered by a Hellenic army led by the Macedonian king, Alexander the Great (336-323 bce) The struggle between the Persians and Greeks was a defining moment in the rise of Western civilization

The Persians’ presence in the Near East left an important cultural legacy, mainly with regard to religion In addition to respecting religious diversity, the Persians disseminated the ideas of their own religion, Zoroastrianism. The Persians were initially polytheists, but one of their prophets Zoroaster (or Zarathustra), initiated a monotheistic turn in Persian theology, perhaps around 600 bce (although some scholars believe he may have lived as early as 1000 bce) Zoraster taught that the god Ahura Mazda, who represented the forces of good and truth and light, was alone worthy of worship Zoroastrianism also posited an ethical dualism by viewing the universe as the site of a cosmic struggle between good and evel Opposed to Ahura Mazda was Ahriman, the principle of evil, darkness and lies Human beings were caught up in this struggle and had to choose sides – Good would eventually triumph, and there would be a Last Judgment following a final battle, when those siding with Ahura Mazda would be rewarded with eternal bliss in heaven while those siding whit Ahriman would suffer eternal torment in hell These Zoroastrian ideas were well known in the Near East during the formative phase of both Cristianity and Islam, and influenced Judaism as well

Among the many peoples who enjoyed autonomy from ~ 1150 bce to 750 bce Were divided among a number of independent and often warring city-states (principally Tyre, Sidon and Byblos) centered of the coast of what is now mostly Lebanon Ventured out upon the Med in the wake of the Sea Peoples’ raids and dominated maritime commerce for several centuries, broadcasting their cultural achievements by this means Their influence was felt mainly in their dissemination of the alphabet, commerce, and colonization

The Phoenicians were Canaanites, who spoke a Semitic language They did not invent the alphabet (the 1st alphabet appeared by 1400 bce in nearby Ugarit, a city-state in Syria), the adapted it into a more usable form The Ugaritic alphabet employed cuneiform script, but it differed from earlier writing systems because each symbol represented a single sound rather than an entire syllable or an entire word. It was a major advance because the whole writing system consisted of only 30 symbols that could represent any spoken word and therefore could be easily learned The Phonecians streamlined this alphabet by replacing the cumbersome cuneiform symbols with simpler letters that could be written more quickly (and by reducing the number of symbols to a mere 22). The Phonecians’ alphabet became the basis of later western alphabets, including the Greek, Roman and Hebrew

Made a strong impression on the Greeks through their trading contacts The word “Phonecian” in fact, is derived from the Greek word phoinike, which meant “purple” and referred to the dye that the Canaanites living along the coast manufactured from a species of shellfish and traded abroad. The Greek word for “book” (biblion) was borrowed from the name of the Phoenician city Byblos, the pre-eminent center for the production of writing materials in the ancient world.

Settled the island of Cyprus and then ventured out into the western Med, where they established an extensive array of colonies, beginning in the ninth century bce, along the shores of North Africa, Malta, Sicily, Sardinia, the Balearic islands and Iberia (modern Spain). Their trading ventures also took them beyond the Med, for the regularly visited Britain in order to acquire tin, which was need to make bronze According to Egyptian sources, Phoenicians circumnavigated Africa in their explorations Carthage: (founded ~ 750 bce by Tyre) the most important of the Phoenician colonies: when the Phoenician homeland was overrun by the Assyrians, many colonies became independent while others accepted the authority of Carthage, which became the center of a powerful empire that threatened Rome during the 3rd century bce.

They should be thought of as independent bands displaced by the various political and economic troubles of their homeland; Some had previously been mercenary soldiers in the armies of once-powerful rulers, whom they eventually turned against in a grab for power and booty. The chariot forces had been supplemented by infantrymen, mostly foreign mercenaries. At some point around 1200, the argument goes, these hired foot soldiers realized that they could use their long swords and javelins to defeat the chariot forces in a direct battle by swarming in a mass against their vehicle-mounted overlords As a rough generalization, it seems accurate to say that the period from roughly 1200 to 1000 bce saw numerous catastrophes for Med.civilizations (The Near Eastern diplomatic settlement achieved by the Egyptians an Hittites lasted only a short while; the balance of power between these tow great empires was upset by a series of incursions from peoples living in the less civilized land beyond their borders) The precise origin and identity of these raiders is uncertain: simply called “Sea Peoples” by the Egyptians May have been motivated by famine (perhaps precipitated by changes in climate) to raid the agricultural abundance that civilization had amassed. Whatever the motives of the invaders, they overthrew the empires of the eastern Med between about 1250 and 1150 bc (The Phonecians ventured out into the Med in the wake of the Sea Peoples’ raids) (The Hebrew migration occurred about the same time as the invasions of the Sea Peoples; one of these groups, the Philistines, settlede along the coast in the region that is now known as the Gaza strip) (The maritime empire of the Mycenaens was destroyed during the raids of the Sea Peoples, and the mainland centers were overrun by the Dorians, a people who spoke a dialect of Greek that differed from the one spoken by the Mycenaeans)

A hill in modern Israel near the Kibbutz of Megiddo, known for historical, geographical, and theological reasons. Egypt and the Hittites fought a series of wars over the course of several centuries. Among their battles was one fought at Megiddo (1457 bce) – a place where so many battles were fought over the centuries that it became immortalized in the Christian Bible as the apocalyptic battlefield of “Armageddon”. Megiddo was a site of great importance in the ancient world, as it guarded the western branch of a narrow pass and an ancient trade route which connected the lands of Egypt and Assyria. Because of its strategic location at the crossroads of several major routes, Megiddo and its environs have witnessed several major battles throughout history. The site was inhabited from 7000 BC to 500 BC.

The act of attributing human forms or qualities to entities which are not human Since these capricious and powerful beings wielded the forces of nature, they had to be appeased, lest their wrath destroy society (This danger was sensed especially in the violent floods that washed through the Tigris-Euphrates valley at irregular intervals) The attribution of uniquely human characteristics to non-human creatures and beings, natural and supernatural phenomena, material states and objects or abstract concepts. Subjects for anthropomorphism commonly include animals depicted as creatures with human motivation able to reason and converse, forces of nature such as winds or the sun, components in games, unseen or unknown sources of chance, etc. Almost anything can be subject to anthropomorphism. The term derives from a combination of Greek ἄνθρωπος (anthrōpos), human and μορφή (morphē), shape or form.

Collection of prayers and spells concerned with the afterlife * common name for the ancient Egyptian funerary text known as 'The Book of Coming '[or 'Going']' Forth By Day'. Description of the ancient Egyptian conception of the afterlife and a collection of hymns, spells, and instructions to allow the deceased to pass through obstacles in the afterlife. * The book of the dead was most commonly written on a papyrus scroll and placed in the coffin or burial chamber of the deceased.

By the time human beings began to live in cities, they had discovered how to work metals Tools were generally no longer made from stone but from an alloy of copper and tin, known as bronze It should be noted that “Bronze Age” is, chronologically speaking, a relative term that differs from one culture to another, since different cultures transitioned from the use of stone to bronze implements at different times In the Fertile Crescent, the Bronze Age began with the appearance of cities, ~ 3000 bce The Bronze Age forms part of the three-age system for prehistoric societies. In this system, it follows the Neolithic in some areas of the world. On the other hand, in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa, the Neolithic is directly followed by the Iron Age.[citation needed] In some parts of the world, a Copper Age follows the Neolithic and precedes the Bronze Age.

* one of the earliest known forms of written expression. * Created by the Sumerians about 3000 BC (with predecessors reaching into the late 4th millennium or about the period of Uruk IV), cuneiform writing began as a system of pictographs. Over time, the pictorial representations became simplified and more abstract. Cuneiforms were written on clay tablets, on which symbols were drawn with a blunt reed for a stylus. The impressions left by the stylus were wedge shaped, thus giving rise to the name cuneiform ("wedge shaped"). The Sumerian script was adapted for the writing of the Akkadian, Elamite, Hittite (and Luwian), Hurrian (and Urartian) languages, and it inspired the Ugaritic and Old Persian national alphabets. Writing was at 1st primarily used to keep track of goods As early as 8k bce, tokens appear to have been used for this purpose By ~ 3000 bce, the Sumerians replaced these tokens with marks impressed on clay tablets, utilizing a stylus that created wedge-shaped strokes – such script is called “cuneiform” (from the Latin cuneus, or “wedge”) The marks were initially pictographs – symbols representing physical objects These marks were later joined by ideograms, or symbols representing ideas The symbols became even more abstract when the marks began to be used phonetically, signifying not an object or idea but the sound of spoken words Mesopotamian cuneiform was a combination of pictographs and ideograms that signified entire words, and phonetic symbols represented entire syllables rather than individual sounds Since the phonetic symbols represented entire syllables rather than individual sounds, Meso. Cuneiform did not employ an alphabet (whose components are letters), but a syllabary (whose components are syllables) Because the Mesopotamian cuneiform system required the memorization of over 600 symbols, it was difficult to learn and its use was largely restricted to a class of professional scribes The cuneiform used by Sumerians was later adopted by the Akkadians and eventually adapted for use with m any other Near Eastern languages as well Although cuneiform was used initially for economic and administrative documents, it later also served the needs of the religion and literature

The Egyptians used a 12-month solar calendar consisting of 30-month days, followed by 5 days added after the twelfth, to total a nearly-accurate span of 365 days per year (In the 2nd century BCE, the Egyptianns invented the practice of leap-years in order to correct the slight inaccuracy)

Canaan (Phoenician:, Kana'n) is an ancient term for a region encompassing present-day Israel, the Palestinian Territories, Lebanon, plus adjoining coastal lands and parts of Jordan, Egypt and Syria. The migration of the Hebrews to the land once occupied by Abraham’s comparatively small household was not a simple homecoming, for the region was already occupied by Canaanites who had dwelt in the region even before the time of Abraham As well, the Hebrew migration occurred about the same time as the invasions of the Sea Peoples The Hebrews fought both the Canaanites and Philistines for space in which to live

The most important of the Phoenician colonies was Carthage, founded about 750 bec by Tyre When the Phoenician homeland was overrun by the Assyrians, many colonies became independent while others accepted the authority of Carthage, which became the center of a powerful empire that threatened Rome during the 3rd century bce

In the Fertile Crescent, the Bronze Age began with the appearance of cities, ~ 3000 bce

“civilization” is related to the Latin word civitas, which means “city” or “community” Since the inhabitants of a city do not produce themselves, and thus exist only where agriculture is successful enough to produce a surplus, which the urban population purchases Thus, cities first arose only where especially favorable conditions existed for raising food, and these conditions were first attained in river valleys at a time when the culture of human beings had risen to a certain level of sophistication

Hellenistic ruler of Egypt, ! Her reign marks the end of the Hellenistic Era and the beginning of the Roman Era in the eastern Mediterranean. She was the last Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt (her son by Julius Caesar, Caesarion, ruled in name only before Augustus had him executed). Originally sharing power with her father Ptolemy XII and later with her brothers/husbands Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy XIV; eventually gaining sole rule of Egypt. As Pharaoh, she consummated a liaison with Gaius Julius Caesar that solidified her grip on the throne, and, after Caesar's assassination, aligned with Mark Antony, with whom she produced twins. In all, Cleopatra had four children, one by Caesar (Caesarion) and three by Mark Antony (Cleopatra Selene II, Alexander Helios, and Ptolemy Philadelphus). Her unions with her brothers produced no children. It is possible that they were never consummated; in any case, they were not close. Suicide: After Antony and Cleopatra were defeated at Actium by their rival and Caesar's legal heir, Gaius Julius Caesar Octavian (who later became the first Roman Emperor, Augustus), Cleopatra committed suicide, the traditional date being 12 August 30 BC, allegedly by means of an asp bite. In most depictions, Cleopatra is put forward as a great beauty and her successive conquests of the world's most powerful men is taken to be proof of her aesthetic and sexual appeal. Whether or not she would have been considered beautiful by current standards is unknown, but clearly she was appealing by the standards of her time. In his Pensées, philosopher Blaise Pascal contends that Cleopatra's classically beautiful profile changed world history: "Cleopatra's nose, had it been shorter, the whole face of the world would have been changed."

! Cyrus led the Persians in an uprising against the Medes and conquered them in 550 bce The Persian empire was founded by Cyrus the Great (559-530 bce), but is often called the Achaemenid empire after the name of the dynasty to which he belonged When Cyrus came to power, his small kingdom on the northern shores of the Persia Gulf (in modern day Iran) was under domination of the Median empire. Cyrus proved to be an exceptional figure - he was not only a military genius, but also an enlightened ruler with an appreciation for the diversity of the cultures in the Fertile Crescent Since the Medes were closely related to the Persians (both were Indo-European speakers who had migrated into the Near East together, perhaps around 1000 bce), Cyrus made them partners in his empire, establishing Media as his first satrapy (province) ! The Jews were allowed to return home and rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem (destroyed by the Babylonians) when Cyrus the Great overthrew the Neo-Babylonian dynasty in 539 bce !The Persians had been neighbors of the Greeks since 546 bce, when Cyrus the Great conquered King Croesus of Lydia in Anatolia and made the Ionian Greeks living there his subjects. (In 499 bce, the Ionians rebelled against Persian rule and sought military aid from the Greek mainland)

(Cyrus’s successor) Added the Indus valley in the east and Thrace in the west By conquering Thrace, the Persians crossed into Europe and came upon the borders of Greece. They intended to annex the Balkan Peninsula, but the attempt led by Darius’ successor, Xerxes ended in a stinging defeat that halted the westward expansion of the Persian empire (The empire lasted for two more centuries before it was conquered by a Hellenic army led by ATG.) Having ascended to power amidst controversy and bloodshed that claimed two sons of Cyrus the Great,[4] Darius I's reign was marked by revolt; twice Babylonia revolted, three times Susiana, and Ionian revolt precipitated several ill-fated Persian expeditions against Greece, including a defeat at Marathon. Darius subjugated the nations of the Pontic and Armenian mountains, and extended Persian dominion to the Caucasus; for the same reasons he fought against the Saka and other Iranian steppe tribes, as well as the Turanians from beyond the Oxus. In the process of these campaigns he made military reforms such as introducing conscription, pay for soldiers, military training and he also made changes in the army and navy.

The purpose of deportation was to assimilate unruly subjects into Assyrian society and thereby make them lose any sense of national identity and desire for independence The most famous example of Assyrian success with this policy was the fate of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, who vanished from history after their deportation

In addition to cities and metal-working, two key features of civilization in the Fertile Crescent were irrigation and writing It was the discovery of irrigation that gave people living in the river valleys an advantage over people who practiced farming in the highlands Without irrigation, a period of drought could lead to famine

Although the Minoans quickly recovered from the earthquakes that destroyed their palaces around 1800 bce, later disasters may have contributed to their eventual demise An extraordinarily violent volcanic eruption around 1627 bce annihilated the Minoan colony on the island of Thera and spawned a tidal wave that slammed into Crete 70 miles away, destroying coastal settlements

The last major state to resist the Romans was Egypt, which fell in 30 bc

Were used not only in religious architecture, but also for official and archival purposes: were not carved in stone, but written on papyrus, which was formed from reeds growing along the Nile (and from which the word “paper” is derived) • was a formal writing system used by the ancient Egyptians that contained a combination of logographic and alphabetic elements. Egyptians used cursive hieroglyphs for religious literature on papyrus and wood. Less formal variations of the script, called hieratic and demotic, are technically not hieroglyphs. Hieroglyphs consist of three kinds of glyphs: * phonetic glyphs, including single-consonant characters that functioned like an alphabet; * logographs, representing morphemes; * determinatives, which narrowed down the meaning of a logographic or phonetic words. As writing developed and became more widespread among the Egyptian people, simplified glyph forms developed, resulting in the hieratic (priestly) and demotic (popular) scripts. These variants were also more suited than hieroglyphs for use on papyrus. Hieroglyphic writing was not, however, eclipsed, but existed alongside the other forms, especially in monumental and other formal writing. The Rosetta Stone contains parallel texts in hieroglyphic and demotic writing. Hieroglyphs continued to be used under Persian rule (intermittent in the 6th and 5th centuries BC), and after Alexander's conquest of Egypt, during the ensuing Macedonian and Roman periods. It appears that the misleading quality of comments from Greek and Roman writers about hieroglyphs came about, at least in part, as a response to the changed political situation. Some believe that hieroglyphs may have functioned as a way to distinguish 'true Egyptians' from the foreign conquerors. Another reason may be the refusal to tackle a foreign culture on its own terms which characterized Greco-Roman approaches to Egyptian culture generally. Having learned that hieroglyphs were sacred writing, Greco-Roman authors imagined the complex but rational system as an allegorical, even magical, system transmitting secret, mystical knowledge. By the 4th century, few Egyptians were capable of reading hieroglyphs, and the myth of allegorical hieroglyphs was ascendant. Monumental use of hieroglyphs ceased after the closing of all non-Christian temples in AD 391 by the Roman Emperor Theodosius I; the last known inscription is from Philae, known as the The Graffito of Esmet-Akhom, from AD 396.[4

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The Ancient Egyptians believed that a human soul was made up of five parts: the Ren, the Ba, the Ka, the Sheut, and the Ib. In addition to these components of the soul there was the human body (called the ha, occasionally a plural haw, meaning approximately sum of bodily parts). Ib (heart) The most important part of the Egyptian soul was thought to be the Ib, or heart. To Ancient Egyptians, it was the heart and not the brain that was the seat of emotion and thought, including the will and intentions. In Egyptian religion, the heart was the key to the afterlife. It was conceived as proceeding at death to the future world, where it gave evidence for, or against, its possessor. It was thought that the heart was examined by Anubis and the deities during the Weighing of the Heart ceremony. If the heart weighed more than the feather of Maat, it was immediately consumed by the demon Ammit. This is evidenced by the many expressions in the Egyptian language which incorporate the word ib, Awt-ib: happiness (literally, wideness of heart), Xak-ib: estranged (literally, truncated of heart). This word was transcribed by Wallis Budge as 'Ab'. Sheut (shadow) A person's shadow, Sheut (šwt in Egyptian), was always present. It was believed that a person could not exist without a shadow, nor a shadow without a person, therefore, Egyptians surmised that a shadow contained something of the person it represents. For this reason statues of people and deities were sometimes referred to as their shadows. The shadow was represented graphically as a small human figure painted completely black as well, as a figure of death, or servant of Anubis. Ren (name) As a part of the soul, a person's name (ren in Egyptian) was given to them at birth and the Egyptians believed that it would live for as long as that name was spoken, which explains why efforts were made to protect it and the practice of placing it in numerous writings. For example, part of the Book of Breathings, a derivative of the Book of the Dead, was a means to ensure the survival of the name. A cartouche (magical rope) often was used to surround the name and protect it. Conversely, the names of deceased enemies of the state, such as Akhenaten, were hacked out of monuments in a form of damnatio memoriae. Sometimes, however, they were removed in order to make room for the economical insertion of the name of a successor, without having to build another monument. The greater the number of places a name was used, the greater the possibility it would survive to be read and spoken. Ba (individual personality) The 'Ba' (b3) is in some regards the closest to the contemporary Western religious notion of a soul, but it also was everything that makes an individual unique, similar to the notion of 'personality'. (In this sense, inanimate objects could also have a 'Ba', a unique character, and indeed Old Kingdom pyramids often were called the 'Ba' of their owner). Like a soul, the 'Ba' is a part of a person that the Egyptians believed would live after the body died, and it is sometimes depicted as a human-headed bird flying out of the tomb to join with the 'Ka' in the afterlife. The word 'bau' (plural of the word ba) is based on this concept. It meant something similar to 'impressiveness', 'power', and 'reputation', particularly of a deity. When a deity intervened in human affairs, it was said that the 'Bau' of the deity were at work [Borghouts 1982]. In this regard, the ruler was regarded as a 'Ba' of a deity, or one deity was believed to be the 'Ba' of another. Ka (life force) The Ka (k3) was the Egyptian concept of life force, that which distinguishes the difference between a living and a dead person, with death occurring when the ka left the body. The Egyptians believed that Khnum created the bodies of children on a potter's wheel and inserted them into women's bodies. Depending on the region, Egyptians believed that Heket or Meskhenet was the creator of each person's Ka, breathing it into them at the instant of their birth as the part of their soul that made them be alive. This resembles the concept of spirit in other religions. The Egyptians also believed that the ka was sustained through food and drink. For this reason food and drink offerings were presented to the dead, although it was the kau (k3w) within the offerings (also known as kau) that was consumed, not the physical aspect. The ka was often represented in Egyptian iconography as a second image of the individual, leading earlier works to attempt to translate ka as double. Ancient Egyptians believed that death occurs when a person's ka' leaves the body. Ceremonies conducted by priests after death, including the "opening of the mouth (wp r)", aimed not only to restore a person's physical abilities in death, but also to release a Ba's attachment to the body. This allowed the Ba to be united with the Ka in the afterlife, creating an entity known as an "Akh" (3ḫ, meaning "effective one"). According to Friedrich Junge, Giacomo Borioni proposes in his work "Der Ka aus religionswissenschaftlicher Sicht" that the Ka was the self of a human being. Egyptians conceived of an afterlife as quite similar to normal physical existence — but with a difference. The model for this new existence was the journey of the sun. At night the sun descended into the Duat (the underworld). Eventually the sun meets the body of the mummified Osiris. Osiris and the sun, re-energized by each other, rise to new life for another day. For the deceased, their body and their tomb were their personal Osiris and a personal Duat. For this reason they are often addressed as "Osiris". For this process to work, some sort of bodily preservation was required, to allow the Ba to return during the night, and to rise to new life in the morning. However, the complete Akhu were also thought to appear as stars.[1] Until the Late Period, non-royal Egyptians did not expect to unite with the sun deity, it being reserved for the royals.[2] The Book of the Dead, the collection of spells which aided a person in the afterlife existence, had the Egyptian name of the Book of going forth by day. They helped people avoid the perils of the afterlife and also aided their existence, containing spells to assure "not dying a second time in the underworld", and to "grant memory always" to a person. The tomb of Paheri, an Eighteenth dynasty nomarch of Nekhen, has an eloquent description of this existence, and is translated by James P. Allen as: Your life happening again, without your ba being kept away from your divine corpse, with your ba being together with the akh ... You shall emerge each day and return each evening. A lamp will be lit for you in the night until the sunlight shines forth on your breast. You shall be told: "Welcome, welcome, into this your house of the living!"

Although civilization in Mesopotamia seems to have somewhat predated civilization in the Nile valley, the Egyptians unified the Nile valley before Sargon of Akkad imposed unity on Mesopotamia Egyptian unity was also more stable and enduring, thanks in large measure to the geography of the region. The long, narrow valley of the Nile was bounded by vast deserts which armies could not cross Thus, the Egyptians did not suffer numerous invasions from many directions, as the Mesopotamians did There were essentially only two strategic directions that the Egyptians needed to defend: * To the north, they had to guard the delta where the Nile joins the Med * To the south, the upper reaches of the river

Pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt. Especially noted for attempting to compel the Egyptian population in the not-quite monotheistic worship of himself (not-quite because he himself worshipped the Aten), although there are doubts as to how successful he was at this. Born to Amenhotep III and his Chief Queen Tiye and was their younger son. Akhenaten was not originally designated as the successor to the throne until the untimely death of his older brother, Thutmose.

Tutankhamun was only eight or nine years old when he became pharaoh, and reigned for approximately ten years. In historical terms, Tutankhamun's significance stems from his rejection of the radical religious innovations introduced by his predecessor Akenhaten and that his tomb, uniquely, in the Valley of the Kings was discovered almost completely intact -- the most complete ancient Egyptian tomb ever found. As Tutankhamun began his reign at such an early age, his vizier and eventual successor Ay was probably making most of the important political decisions during Tutankhamun's reign. Egyptian Pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty (ruled 1333 BC – 1324 BC in the conventional chronology), during the period of Egyptian history known as the New Kingdom. His original name, Tutankhaten, means "Living Image of Aten", while Tutankhamun means "Living Image of Amun". Often the name Tutankhamun was written Amen-tut-ankh, meaning "living image of amun", due to scribal custom which most often placed the divine name at the beginning of the phrase in order to honor the divine being. [2] He is possibly also the Nibhurrereya of the Amarna letters. He was likely the eighteenth dynasty king 'Rathotis', who according to Manetho, an ancient historian, had reigned for nine years - a figure which conforms exactly with Flavius Josephus' version of Manetho's Epitome.

An example of the building projects of Nebuchadnezzar II can be appreciated in the restoration of the Ishtar Gate (on display in Berlin). This massive rounded archeway was decorated with a façade of colorful glazed bricks depicting dragons and bulls in alternating sequence, and it impressively suggest the grandeur of Nebuchadnezzar II’s Babylon * The eighth gate to the inner city of Babylon. It was constructed in about 575 BC by order of King Nebuchadnezzar II on the north side of the city. Dedicated to the Babylonian goddess Ishtar, the Gate was constructed of blue glazed tiles with alternating rows of bas-relief sirrush (dragons) and aurochs. The roof and doors of the gate were of cedar, according to the dedication plaque. Through the gate ran the Processional Way which was lined with walls covered in lions on glazed bricks (about 120 of them). Statues of the deities were paraded through the gate and down the Processional Way each year during the New Year's celebration. Originally the gate, as part of the Walls of Babylon, was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the world until, in the 6th century AD, it was replaced with the Lighthouse of Alexandria. A reconstruction of the Ishtar Gate and Processional Way was built at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin out of material excavated by Robert Koldewey and finished in the 1930s. It includes the inscription plaque. It stands 47 feet high and 100 feet wide (14 meters by 30 meters). The excavation ran from 1902-1914 and during that time 45 feet of the foundation of the gate was uncovered.

Epic Mesopotamian poem of the story of creation, along with an account of a great flood (described in Gilgamesh) influenced the religions of the ancient Near East, including Judaism, as suggested by parallels between the biblical and pre-biblical accounts.

The Sumerian epic poem, inscribed ~ 2000 bce on 12 cun. tablets – describes the ill-fated quest of the hero Gilgamesh, the king of Uruk, in search of immortality.

Today, the primary meaning of gentile is "non-Jew" The word Gentile is an anglicised version of the Latin word gentilis, meaning of or belonging to a clan or tribe. In the King James and various other versions of the Bible it is used to refer to non-Israelite tribes or nations, as an English translation of the Hebrew words goy / גוי and nochri / נכרי. It is also used to translate the New Testament Greek word ἔθνη (éthnē).

Introduced new tools of warfare into Egypt, most notably the composite bow and the horse-drawn chariot. Asiatic people who invaded the eastern Nile Delta, initiating the Second Intermediate Period of Ancient Egypt. They rose to power in the 17th century BC, (according to the traditional chronology) and ruled Lower and Middle Egypt for 108 years, forming the Fifteenth and possibly the Sixteenth Dynasties of Egypt, (c. 1648–1540 BC).[1] This 108-year period follows the Turin Canon, which gives the six kings of the Hyksos 15th Dynasty a total reign length of 108 years.[2] Traditionally, only the six Fifteenth Dynasty rulers are called Hyksos. The Hyksos had Canaanite names, as seen in those which contain the names of Semitic deities such as Anath or Ba'al.

* The Hurrians played a substantial part in the History of the Hittites. A people of the Ancient Near East, who lived in northern Mesopotamia and areas to the immediate east and west, beginning approximately 2500 BC. They probably originated in the Caucasus and entered from the north, but this is not certain. Their known homeland was centred in Subartu, the Khabur River valley, and later they established themselves as rulers of small kingdoms throughout northern Mesopotamia and Syria. The largest and most influential Hurrian nation was the kingdom of Mitanni.

King Nebuchadnezzar II built a magnificent temple as a gift for his Median wife – a ziggurat whose terraces were adorned with an assortment of trees and plants, irrigated by the Euphrates through a feat of engineering It has not survived, but an example of the building projects of Nebuchadnezzar II can be appreciated in the restoration of the Ishtar Gate (on display in Berlin) According to the tradition, the gardens did not hang, but grew on the roofs and terraces of the royal palace in Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar II, the Chaldean king, is supposed to have had the gardens built in about 600 BCE as a consolation to his Median wife, who missed the natural surroundings of her homeland. The Tower of Babel stands in the background. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon (also known as the Hanging Gardens of Semiramis) (near present-day Al Hillah in Iraq, formerly Babylon) are considered one of the original Seven Wonders of the World. They were built by Nebuchadnezzar II around 600 BCE. He is reported to have constructed the gardens to please his wife, Amytis of Media, who longed for the trees and fragrant plants of her homeland.[1] The gardens were destroyed by several earthquakes after the 2nd century BCE. The lush Hanging Gardens are extensively documented by Greek historians such as Strabo and Diodorus Siculus. Through the ages, the location may have been confused with gardens that existed at Nineveh, since tablets from there clearly show gardens. Writings on these tablets describe the possible use of something similar to an Archimedes' screw as a process of raising the water to the required height.

Archaeological investigation has identified evidence of irrigation in Mesopotamia and Egypt as far back as the 6th millennium BCE, where barley was grown in areas where the natural rainfall was insufficient to support such a crop. In the Zana Valley of the Andes Mountains in Peru, archaeologists found remains of three irrigation canals radiocarbon dated from the 4th millennium BCE, the 3rd millennium BCE and the 9th century CE. These canals are the earliest record of irrigation in the New World. Traces of a canal possibly dating from the 5th millennium BCE were found under the 4th millennium canal. Sophisticated irrigation and storage systems were developed by the Indus Valley Civilization in Pakistan and North India, including the reservoirs at Girnar in 3000 BCE and an early canal irrigation system from circa 2600 BCE. Large scale agriculture was practiced and an extensive network of canals was used for the purpose of irrigation.

In archaeology, the Iron Age was the stage in the development of any people in which tools and weapons whose main ingredient was iron were prominent. The adoption of this material coincided with other changes in some past societies often including differing agricultural practices, religious beliefs and artistic styles, although this was not always the case. In history, the Iron Age is the last principal period in the three-age system for classifying pre-historic societies, preceded by the Bronze Age. Its date and context vary depending on the country or geographical region. No firm ending date is set for the Iron Age in any particular society; there is simply a point where archaeology becomes less important than surviving history and traditions. Iron alloys remain popular as the steels in most metallic objects. Classically, the Iron Age is taken to begin in the 12th century BC in the ancient Near East, ancient Persia, ancient India (with the post-Rigvedic Vedic civilization), and ancient Greece (with the Greek Dark Ages). In other regions of Europe, it started much later. The Iron Age began in the 8th century BC in Central Europe and the 6th century BC in Northern Europe. Iron use, in smelting and forging for tools, appears in West Africa by 1200 BC, making it one of the first places for the birth of the Iron Age.[1][2][3] (See Hittites, Assyrians) The Iron Age in the Ancient Near East is believed to have begun with the discovery of iron smelting and smithing techniques in Anatolia or the Caucasus in the late 2nd millennium BC (circa 1300 BC).[8] The use of iron weapons instead of bronze weapons spread rapidly throughout the Near East by the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. Anatolians had begun forging weapons out of iron, which was a superior metal to bronze[citation needed] by 1500 BC at the latest. The use of iron weapons by the Hittites was believed to have been a major factor in the rapid rise of the Hittite Empire.[citation needed] Because the area in which iron technology first developed was near the Aegean, the technology expanded into both Asia and Europe simultaneously,[9] aided by Hittite expansion. The Sea Peoples and the related Philistines are often associated with the introduction of iron technology into Asia, as are the Dorians with respect to Greece

The Old Babylonian Empire disintegrated around 1600 bce after it was attacked by two different groups of invaders: Hittites from Anatolia (Asia Minor) in the north and Kassites from the east (the region that is now Iran) Although the Hittites merely plundered the Old Babylonian empire and returned home with the spoils of war, the Kassites established themselves as rulers for 300 years. * ancient Near Eastern tribe who gained control of Babylonia after the fall of the Old Babylonian Empire after ca. 1531 BC to ca. 1155 BC (short chronology). Their language is classified as an isolate.

(Assyrian dowfall: their harsh methods were effective in the short term, but generated too much hatred among their subjects to ensure long-term stability; by invading Egypt they had overextended themselves; when a new dynasty of the Babylonians (Chaldeans) raised a major revolt in Mesopotamia with help form the Medes (from the region of modern Iran), Assyrian terror was unable to arrest it. The Medes (Kurds) who lived in the northwestern portions of present-day Iran. This area was known in Greek as Media or Medea (??d?a, Old Persian Mada;[2][3] adjective Median, antiquated also Medean). Under Assyrian rule, the Medes were known as Madayu.[4] They entered this region with the first wave of Iranian tribes, in the late second millennium BC (the Bronze Age collapse).[5] By the 6th century BC, after having together with the Chaldeans defeated the Neo-Assyrian Empire, the Medes were able to establish their own empire,[2] that stretched from southern shore of the Black Sea and Aran province (the modern-day Republic of Azerbaijan) to north and Central Asia, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, and which included many tributary states, including the Persians, who eventually supplanted and absorbed the Median empire in the Achaemenid Persian Empire.[2] The Medes are credited with the foundation of the first Iranian empire, the largest of its day until Cyrus the Great established a unified Iranian empire of the Medes and Persians, often referred to as the Achaemenid Persian Empire, by defeating his grandfather and overlord, Astyages the king of Media.

* refers simultaneously to a 21st to 20th century BC (short chronology) Sumerian ruling dynasty based in the city of Ur and a short-lived territorial-political state that some historians regard as a nascent empire. ! ruled for about 100 years. ! Commonly abbreviated as Ur III by historians of the period. The dynasty is also known as the Sumerian Renaissance or the Ur III Empire. ! The Third Dynasty of Ur came to preeminent power in Mesopotamia after several centuries of Akkadian and Gutian kings ! controlled the cities of Isin, Larsa and Eshnunna and extended as far north as the Jezira. * The Third Dynasty of Ur arose soon after the fall of the Akkad Dynasty. The period between the last king of the Akkad Dynasty, Shar-kali-sharri, and the first king of Ur III, Ur-Nammu, is not well documented, but most Assyriologists posit that there was a power struggle among the most powerful city-states. Even the precise events surrounding the rise of Ur III are unclear. There are several theories. Many Sumerians resented the Akkadian attempt to dominate them, and around 2100 bce the Sumerian city of Ur attained control of Mesopotamia, after the Akkadian empire had been weakened by foreign invasions Dissension led to a period of chaos during which no single dynasty controlled the entire region (c 2000-1900 bce). ! By the time unity was restored, the Sumerians had lost their identity as a distinct group

Among the battles between the Egyptians and the Hittites was one fought at Megiddo (1457 bce) – a place where so many battles were fought over the centuries that it became immortalized in the Christian Bible as the apocalyptic battlefield of “Armageddon”. (Egypt’s wars with the Hittites did not result in a clear victory – after a great battle at Kadesh in 1274 bce failed to resolve the outcome, the two belligerents concluded a peace treaty) * Hill in modern Israel near the Kibbutz of Megiddo, known for historical, geographical, and theological reasons. In ancient times Megiddo was an important city state. It is also known alternatively as Tel Megiddo (Hebrew) and Tell al-Mutesellim (Arabic). Megiddo is a tel (hill or mound) made of 26 layers of the ruins of ancient cities in a strategic location at the head of a pass through the Carmel Ridge, which overlooks the Valley of Jezreel from the west. The city is mentioned in the New Testament as the site for Armageddon.

In Western Christianity, the Old Testament refers to the books that form the first of the two-part Christian Biblical canon. These works correspond to the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh), with some variations and additions. In the Eastern Orthodox Church the comparable texts are known as the Septuagint, from the original Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures. The term "Old Testament" itself is credited to Tertullian, who used the Latin vetus testamentum in the second century. Most scholars agree that the Hebrew Bible was composed and compiled between the 12th and the 2nd century BC, before Jesus' birth. Jesus and his disciples based their teachings on them, referring to them as "the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms ... the scriptures". (Luke 24:44–45) The accounts of Jesus and his disciples are recorded in the New Testament.

~ (2200-2050 bce) ! The pharaohs failed to assert themselves, with the result that the nobles, or “nomarchs” (the admins of local districts, or nomes), effectively controlled the government. ! This decentralization of power led to civil wars ! As the nomarchs vied with one another for supremacy, there was a lack of coordination in agriculture, resulting in widespread famine Semi-feudal rulers of Ancient Egyptian provinces. Serving as provincial governors, they each held authority over one of the 42 nomes (Egyptian: sepat) into which the country was divided. Both nome and nomarch are terms derived from the Greek nomos, meaning a province or district. The nomarchs exercised considerable power in the period from the breakdown of the Old Kingdom, the First Intermediate Period to the rise of the New Kingdom at the end of the Second Intermediate Period, when stronger centralized control was once again established. The position of the nomarch was at times hereditary, while at others nomarchs were appointed by the pharaoh. The balance of power between nomarchs and the central government varied from one pharaoh's rule to the next. Generally, when the national government was stronger, nomarchs were appointed governors. But when the central government was weaker – at times of foreign invasion or civil war, for example – rulers of individual nomes would assert themselves and establish hereditary lines of succession. Conflicts between these different hereditary nomarchies were common during, for example, the First Intermediate Period – a time that saw a breakdown in central authority lasting from the sixth to the eleventh dynasty, until one of the local rulers, Mentuhotep of Thebes, was able to assert his control over the entire country as pharaoh.

! * period in the development of human technology beginning about 10,000 B.C. in the Middle East that is traditionally the last part of the Stone Age. ! Many human beings abandoned nomadism in favor of a settled way of life, as necessary for the practice of farming, and organized themselves in small villages. ! Agriculture aided greatly in the struggle against the ever present threat of starvation, but it required a vast commitment of labor. ! Unlike the Palaeolithic, where more than one human species existed, only one human species (Homo sapiens sapiens) reached the neolithic. Around 8000 bce, after the most recent retreat of the glaciers that covered large portions of Europe and North America, there occurred a cultural revolution that inaugurate the Neolithic Age (or New Stone Age), during which stone tools were refined, animals were domesticated, and agriculture was developed. Until very recent times, when advances in science and technology led too labor-saving breakthroughs in agricultural techniques, the vast majority of human beings had to be engaged in agriculture, and the surpluses produced were relatively meager, so that only a small percentage of the population could live in cities. Follows the terminal Holocene Epipalaeolithic periods, beginning with the rise of farming, which produced the "Neolithic Revolution" and ending when metal tools became widespread in the Copper Age (chalcolithic) or Bronze Age or developing directly into the Iron Age, depending on geographical region. Early Neolithic farming was limited to a narrow range of crops, both wild and domesticated, which included einkorn wheat, millet and spelt and the keeping of dogs, sheep and goats. By about 7000 BC it included domesticated cattle and pigs, the establishment of permanently or seasonally inhabited settlements, and the use of pottery.[3] Not all of these cultural elements characteristic of the Neolithic appeared everywhere in the same order: the earliest farming societies in the Near East did not use pottery, and, in Britain, it remains unclear to what extent plants were domesticated in the earliest Neolithic, or even whether permanently settled communities existed. In other parts of the world, such as Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia, independent domestication events led to their own regionally-distinctive Neolithic cultures that arose completely independent of those in Europe and Southwest Asia. Early Japanese societies used pottery before developing agriculture.

Ruler of Babylon in the Chaldean Dynasty, who reigned c. 605 BC-562 BC. Mentioned in the Book of Daniel ! Constructed the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. ! Conquered Judah and Jerusalem. He was traditionally called "Nebuchadrezzar the Great", but his destruction of temples in Jerusalem and the conquest of Judah caused his vilification in the Bible, (Daniel 1:1; Prophesied Jeremiah 25:11). In contemporary Iraq and some other parts of the Middle East, he is glorified as a historic leader.

Event during the Stone Ages are mostly hypothetical and imprecise, but events from the Bronze Age in the Fertile Crescent and later – beginning about five thousand years ago, when human beings in the region began to write – offer a much greater degree of certainty and detail. Nevertheless, the written record at this time is neither complete nor unambiguous, so it is important to supplement it with archaeology and mythology.

! Symbol representing a concept, object, activity, place or event by illustration. ! Form of writing in which ideas are transmitted through drawing. * The basis of cuneiform and, to some extent, hieroglyphic writing, which uses drawings also as phonetic letters or determinative rhymes.

! Syllabary: Since the phonetic symbols represented entire syllables rather than individual sounds, Mesopotamian Cuneiform did not employ an alphabet (whose components are letters), but a syllabary (whose components are syllables) ! (A symbol used to represent a speech sound in a one-to-one correspondence.) ! The symbols became even more abstract when the marks began to be used phonetically, signifying not an object or idea but the sound of spoken words ! Mesopotamian cuneiform was a combination of pictographs and ideograms that signified entire words, and phonetic symbols represented entire syllables rather than individual sounds

* The Phoenicians ventured out upon the Mediterranean in the wake of the Sea Peoples’ raids and dominated maritime commerce for several centuries, broadcasting their cultural achievements by this means. After the demise of the great empires, small kingdoms flourished. The state of political fragmentation lasted until the Assyrian conquest of the Near East during the 8th and 7th century’s bce. Among the many peoples who enjoyed autonomy from about 1150 to 750 bce, on influential group was the Phoenicians, who were divide among a number of independent and often warring city-states (principally Tyre, Sidon, and Byblos) centered on the coast of what is now mostly Lebanon. Their influence was felt mainly in their dissemination of the alphabet, commerce, and colonization. * Ancient civilization centered in the north of ancient Canaan, with its heartland along the coastal regions of modern day Lebanon, Syria and Israel. Phoenician civilization was an enterprising maritime trading culture that spread across the Mediterranean between the period of 1550 BC to 300 BC. Though ancient boundaries of such city-centered cultures fluctuated, the city of Tyre seems to have been the southernmost. Sarepta (modern day Sarafand) between Sidon and Tyre, is the most thoroughly excavated city of the Phoenician homeland. Often traded by means of a galley, a man-powered sailing vessel and are credited with the invention of the bireme.

* People who inhabited the southern coast of Canaan, their territory being named Philistia in later contexts. Their origin has been debated among scholars, but modern archaeology has suggested early cultural links with the Mycenean world in mainland Greece. Though the Philistines adopted local Canaanite culture and language before leaving any written texts, an Indo-European origin has been suggested for a handful of known Philistine words (See Philistine language). The Hebrew migration occurred about the same time as the invasions of the Sea Peoples: of these groups, the Philistines, settled along the coast in the region that is now known as the Gaza strip (“Palestine” is derived from “Philistine”) The Hebrews fought both the Canaanites and Philistines for space in which to live; In order to fight more effectively, the twelve tribes united under a single monarch, Saul (c 1020 – 1004 bce); Saul’s successor, David (1004-965 bce) secured the borders of the kingdom of Israel, establishing its capital at Jerusalem. In thanksgiving for the victory, David’s son, Solomon (965 – 928 bce), built a magnificent temple to Yahweh in Jerusalem (on Mount Zion), but his extravagant rule aroused the animosity of his subjects. Soon after Solomon’s death, the Hebrews became divided: ten of the tribes broke away to form the northern Kingdom of Israel, while David’s dynasty in Jerusalem continued to rule in the south; their state was known as the kingdom of Judah.

The kings of Egypt had the title “pharaoh,” which in ancient Egyptian meant “great house,” indicating the royal palace in which the ruler lived. * Title given in modern parlance to the ancient Egyptian kings of all periods. In antiquity it began to be used for the king, who was the religious and political leader of ancient Egypt, during the New Kingdom. Meaning "Great House", it originally referred to the king's palace, but the meaning loosened over the course of Egyptian history until it became interchangeable with the traditional Egyptian word for king, nswt. Although the rulers of Egypt were generally male, pharaoh was also used on the rare occasions when a female ruled. The pharaohs were believed to be the incarnations of the god Horus in life, the mythological ruler of all Egypt, and of Osiris in death.

* Thick paper-like material produced from the pith of the papyrus plant, Cyperus papyrus, a wetland sedge that was once abundant in the Nile Delta of Egypt. Papyrus usually grow 2–3 meters (5–9 ft) tall. Papyrus is first known to have been used in ancient Egypt (at least as far back as the First dynasty), but it was also used throughout the Mediterranean region. Ancient Egypt used this plant for boats, mattresses, mats and paper.

! Name which has been widely used since Roman times to refer to the region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. Other terms that refer to all or part of this area include Israel, "greater Israel" (Hebrew Eretz Yisrael), Canaan and the Holy Land. ! In the broad geographical sense, Palestine refers to an area that includes contemporary Israel and the Palestinian territories, parts of Jordan, and parts of Lebanon and Syria. In the narrow sense, it refers to the area within the boundaries of the former British Mandate of Palestine (1920-1948) west of the Jordan River. Today, Palestine may also refer to the State of Palestine proposed by the Palestinian National Authority.

Cities could not have arisen without certain preceding innovations During the earliest phase of technological progress, known as the Paleolithic Age (or Old Stone Age), human beings lived as nomads in small communities, hunting and gathering fruits for their sustenance, and using fire and crude implements fashioned principally from stone and wood to assist in the struggle for survival. ! The most advanced tool of the time was the bow and arrow, which may have been in use by 25,000 bce. ! The Paleolithic era ended with the Mesolithic, in Western Europe, and in areas not affected by the Ice Age with the Epipaleolithic (such as Africa). ! Covers the greatest portion of humanity's time (roughly 99% of human history) on Earth ! extending from 2.5 or 2.6 million years ago, with the introduction of stone tools by hominids such as Homo habilis, to the introduction of agriculture and the end of the Pleistocene around 10,000 BC. ! Humans were grouped together in small scale societies such as bands and gained their subsistence from gathering plants and hunting or scavenging wild animals. ! Characterized by the use of knapped stone tools, although at the time humans also used wood and bone tools. ! During the end of the Paleolithic, specifically the Middle and or Upper Paleolithic, humans began to produce the earliest works of art and engage in religious and spiritual behavior such as burial and ritual. ! The climate during the Paleolithic consisted of a set of glacial and interglacial periods in which the climate periodically fluctuated between warm and cool temperatures. Other organic commodities were adapted for use as tools, including leather and vegetable fibers; however, given their nature, these have not been preserved to any great degree. Surviving artifacts of the Paleolithic era are known as Paleoliths. Humankind gradually evolved from early members of the genus Homo such as Homo habilis — who used simple stone tools — into fully behaviorally and anatomically modern humans (Homo sapiens sapiens) during the Paleolithic era.

! Central religious text of Islam. ! Muslims believe the Qur’an to be the book of divine guidance and direction for mankind, and consider the original Arabic text to be the final revelation of God. ! Islam holds that the Qur’an was revealed to Muhammad by the angel Jibril (Gabriel) over a period of 23 years. ! Muslims regard the Qur’an as the culmination of a series of divine messages that started with those revealed to Adam, regarded in Islam as the first prophet, and continued with the Suhuf-i-Ibrahim (Scrolls of Abraham), the Tawrat (Torah), the Zabur (Psalms), and the Injeel (Gospel). The aforementioned books are not explicitly included in the Qur’an, but are recognized therein. The Qur’an also refers to many events from Jewish and Christian scriptures, some of which are retold in comparatively distinctive ways from the Bible and the Torah, while obliquely referring to other events described explicitly in those texts. The Qur'an itself expresses that it is the book of guidance. Therefore it rarely offers detailed accounts of historical events; the text instead typically placing emphasis on the moral significance of an event rather than its narrative sequence. It does not describe natural facts in a scientific manner but teaches that natural and supernatural events are signs of God

! A syllabary is a set of written symbols that represent (or approximate) syllables, which make up words. A symbol in a syllabary typically represents an optional consonant sound followed by a vowel sound. ! Mesopotamian cuneiform was a combination of pictographs and ideograms that signified entire words, and phonetic symbols represented entire syllables rather than individual sounds

A zoomorphic mythological figure, which is depicted as a recumbent lion with a human head. Has its origins in sculpted figures of Old Kingdom Egypt, to which the ancient Greeks applied their own name for a female monster, the "strangler", an archaic figure of Greek mythology. Similar creatures appear throughout South and South-East Asia, and the sphinx enjoyed a major revival in European decorative art from the Renaissance onwards.

! Sargon of Akkad, also known as Sargon the Great - meaning "the true king" or ("the king is legitimate"), was an Akkadian king famous for his conquest of the Sumerian city-states in the 24th and 23rd centuries BC. ! Sargon is regarded as one of the first individuals in recorded history to create a multiethnic, centrally ruled empire, and his dynasty controlled Mesopotamia for around a century and a half. (Led by their king Sargon (c 2371-2316 bce), they conquered the various Sumerian city-states and established an empire that unified Mesopotamia and reached beyond its boundaries, into the Iranian plateau in the east and as far west as Lebanon.) The founder of the Dynasty of Akkad, Sargon reigned for 56 years, c. 2270 BC – 2215 BC (short chronology) - Sargon’s dynasty ruled Akkad and Sumer for about 200 years Became a prominent member of the royal court of Kish, ultimately overthrowing its king before embarking on the conquest of Mesopotamia. Sargon's vast empire is known to have extended from Elam to the Mediterranean sea, including Mesopotamia, parts of modern-day Iran and Syria, and possibly parts of Anatolia and the Arabian peninsula. He ruled from a new capital, Akkad (Agade), which the Sumerian king list claims he built (or possibly renovated), on the left bank of the Euphrates.

! Refers to the ancient Tribes of Israel that disappeared from the Biblical account after the Kingdom of Israel was totally destroyed, enslaved and exiled by ancient Assyria. ! According to the Hebrew Bible, Jacob (progenitor of Israel) had one daughter and twelve sons by four different women. ! The twelve sons fathered the Twelve Tribes of Israel. These tribes were displayed on the vestments of the Kohen Gadol (high priest). Many groups of Jews have doctrines concerning the continued hidden existence or future public return of these tribes. This is a subject that is partially based upon authenticated and documented historical fact, partially upon written religious tradition and partially upon speculation. There is a vast amount of literature on the Lost Tribes and no specific source can be relied upon for a complete answer.

List of religious and moral imperatives that, according to Judeo-Christian tradition, were authored by God and given to Moses on the mountain referred to as "Mount Sinai" (Exodus 19:23) or "Horeb" (Deuteronomy 5:2) in the form of two stone tablets. Feature prominently in Judaism and Christianity. ( Some scholars speculate that the Hebrews, who were probably living in Egypt during the reign of of Akhenaton (c 1375 – 1358 bc), may have acquired the concept of monotheism from the pharaoh’s religious reforms. However, the Hebrews as a nation did not enter into the Covenant with Yahweh until after Moses had led them out of Egypt, while they were encamped in the desert at Mount Sinai on their way to Canaan – it was at this juncture that the Hebrews accepted the Ten Commandments, of which the first enjoined the exclusive worship of Yahweh. Both at Mount Sinai and afterwards, while living among the polytheistic Canaanites, the Hebrews found it difficult to abandon the worship of other gods completely. )

King of Persia * Xerxes was son of Darius the Great and Atossa, the daughter of Cyrus the Great. * After his accession in October 485 BC, he suppressed the revolts in Egypt and Babylon that had broken out the year before and appointed his brother Achaemenes as governor or satrap over Egypt (Old Persian: khshathrapavan). * In 484 BC, he took away from Babylon the golden statue of Bel (Marduk, Merodach), the hands of which the rightful king of Babylon had to take a hold of on the first day of each year, and killed the priest who tried to get in his way. * Therefore Xerxes does not bear the title of King in the Babylonian documents dated from his reign, but King of Persia and Media or simply King of countries (i.e. of the world). This proceeding led to two rebellions, probably in 484 BC and 479 BC * Darius left to his son the task of punishing the Athenians, Naxians, and Eretrians for their interference in the Ionian Revolt and their victory over the Persians at Marathon. ******************************* Invasion of the Greek Mainland ******************************* * A channel was dug through the isthmus of the peninsula of Mount Athos, provisions were stored in the stations on the road through Thrace, two bridges were thrown across the Hellespont. * Xerxes' second attempt to bridge the Hellespont was successful. Xerxes concluded an alliance with Carthage, and thus deprived Greece of the support of the powerful monarchs of Syracuse and Agrigentum. * Many smaller Greek states, moreover, took the side of the Persians, especially Thessaly, Thebes and Argos. * Xerxes set out in the spring of 480 BC from Sardis with a fleet and army which Herodotus claimed was more than two million strong with at least 10,000 elite warriors named Persian Immortals. * At the Battle of Thermopylae, a small force of warriors, 300 spartans, and 1000 other Greeks, led by King Leonidas of Sparta, resisted the much larger Persian forces, but were ultimately defeated. According to Herodotus, the Persians broke the Spartan phalanx after a Greek man called Ephialtes betrayed his country by telling the Persians of another pass around the mountains. * After Thermopylae, Athens was captured and the Athenians and Spartans were driven back to their last line of defence at the Isthmus of Corinth and in the Saronic Gulf. At Artemisium, large storms had destroyed ships from the Greek side and so the battle stopped prematurely as the Greeks received news of the defeat at Thermopylae and retreated * Xerxes was induced by the message of Themistocles (against the advice of Artemisia of Halicarnassus) to attack the Greek fleet under unfavourable conditions, rather than sending a part of his ships to the Peloponnesus and awaiting the dissolution of the Greek armies. * The Battle of Salamis (September 29, 480 BC) was won by the Athenians. Although the loss was a setback, it was not a disaster and Xerxes set up a winter camp in Thessaly. * Due to unrest in Babylon, Xerxes was forced to send his army home to prevent a revolt, leaving behind an army in Greece under Mardonius, who was defeated the following year at Plataea.[6] The defeat of the Persians at Mycale roused the Greek cities of Asia. * While seven other kings followed Xerxes on the throne of the Persian Empire, Xerxes was the last Persian emperor to carry war into Greece, whose rise as the dominant world power is described in the verse immediately following.—Daniel 11:3

* English transliteration of a 19th century proposed punctuation of $, which is the distinctive personal name of the God of Israel as it occurs in the consonantal Hebrew Text. While by convention $ can be found listed in Hebrew Lexicons, as being God's name, no one knows for sure if Yahweh accurately represents the original pronunciation of $. Traditionally, observant Jews do not voice the name $ aloud. It is believed to be too sacred to be uttered and is often referred to as the 'Ineffable Name', the 'Unutterable Name' or the 'Distinctive Name'. They often use circumlocutions when referring to the name of the Deity, e.g., HaShem ("The Name") or Shem HaMeforash (“the ineffable Name”) when reading the Tanakh aloud because the Name of God must not be spoken. Reverence is shown because it is holy God's Name and it is believed that this pre-empts ever misusing the name