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Western Civilizations, 3rd Brief Edition: A W. W. Norton StudySpace
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In This Chapter
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Chapter 2
Peoples, Gods, And Empires: 1700-500 B.C.E.
Chapter Study Outline
Introduction
Transformations in the ancient Near East
New imperial powers
The "international system"
Iron and bronze
The Indo-European Migrations
Language
Sir William Jones discovers connection between Sanskrit, Latin, and Greek (1786)
Shared features with Latin and Greek as well as Gothic and Old Persian
Was there a Proto-Indo-European language spoken by a single population?
Indo-European linguistic forms appear after 2000 B.C.E.
The rise of Anatolia
Natural resources
The Assyrian presence
Urban life (e.g., Cappadocia)
Trade networks between Anatolia and Mesopotamia
Carried Mesopotamian civilization into Anatolia and northern Syria
Hittites and Kassites
Indo-European speaking people
Hittite rulers establish themselves in cities of central Anatolia
Politically independent until 1700 B.C.E.
Intensely militaristic culture
Under Hattusilis I, Hittites extend power throughout Anatolian plateau
Controlling overland trade routes
Military conquest
Mursilis I (c. 1620-1590 B.C.E.)
Sought to control Upper Euphrates
Drove east to Babylon (1595 B.C.E.)
The Kassites
Unknown origins
Brought peace and prosperity
The Kingdom of Mitanni
An Indo-European minority
A warrior aristocracy
United Upper Euphrates and northern Syria into a single kingdom
Innovations
Horse-drawn chariots
Masters of horse training and cavalry tactics
Collapsed in the face of Hittite aggression
Egypt in the Second Millennium B.C.E.
Transformations
Foreigners
Middle Kingdom Egypt as anxious, uncertain place
The Hyksos (1700 B.C.E.) invasion
Legitimized rule in accordance with Egyptian precedents
Retained their foreign material culture
The Nubian kingdom
Hyksos driven out, thus establishing the Eighteenth Dynasty
The New Kingdom (1550-1075 B.C.E.)
A radical departure in Egyptian history and culture
Pharaonic rule in Eighteenth Dynasty
New type of nobilityan aristocracy of military commanders
Wealth acquired through war
Thutmosis I (c. 1504-1492 B.C.E.)
Strategy of defense through offense
Learned tactics from the Hyksos
Queen Hatshepsut and Thutmosis III
Hatshepsut served as regent for Thutmosis III
Declared herself to be pharaoh in her own right
Displayed herself in pictures with a masculine figure and false beard
Ruled together with Thutmosis for twenty years
Military successes
The "Valley of the Kings" (near Thebes)
Thutmosis ruled alone after Hatshepsut's death in1458 B.C.E.
Removed her name from inscriptions
Seventeen military campaigns
Amenhotep II (c. 1428-1397 B.C.E.)
Undermining the strength of the Mitanni
Unintended consequences: the Hittites and Assyrians
Amenhotep III (c. 1387-1350 B.C.E.)
Effective administration
Exploiting advantages already won
Religious change and challenge
New wealth
Personal glorification of pharaoh
Military aristocracy
The temples
The temple of Amon (Thebes)
Amon identified with the sun god Ra
An Egyptian national god
The priests of Amon
The reign of Akhenaten (1352- 1336 B.C.E.)
Amenhotep IV inclined toward sun-god worship
Replaced Ra with the Aten, the physical sun disc
From "Amon is pleased" to "He who is profitable to the Aten"
Built capital between Memphis and Thebes (modern day el-Amarna)
The Amarna period
Monotheistic worship
The life-giving power of light
The affirmation of life
Queen Nefertiti
Akhenaten as revolutionary intellectual or reactionary?
Resistance to Akhenaten
King Tut (Tutakhaten/Tutankhamon)
The International System of the Late Bronze Age
The age of superpowers
International diplomacy
A balance of power stabilized trade and diplomacy
The language of diplomatic rank
International trade
Flourishing seaborne trade
Trade routes as conduits for culture and cosmopolitanism
Treaty between Ramses II and the Hittites
Geopolitical stability
Furthered economic integration
Expansion and fragility
Aegean Civilization: Minoans and Mycenaeans
Heinrich Schliemann and the ancient Greeks
Homer and Troy
The citadel at Mycenae
Sir Arthur Evans and the great palace at Knossos
The Minoan thalassocracy
High degree of material and architectural sophistication (the Palace Age)
Redistributive economy
Knossos
Overseas trade
Powerful navy
The bull cult and human sacrifice
Written language: Linear A and Linear B
Contacts with the Mycenaeans
The Mycenaeans
Intermingling between various Greek and non-Greek-speaking groups
Mycenaean citadels
Warrior culture
Trade and piracy
Centers of government
Redistributive economy
Mycenaean imitation of Near Eastern examples
Warriors and mercenaries
Linear B tablets and economic and political rights
Greek gods
Mycenaean collapse
The Sea Peoples and the end of the Bronze Age
Waves of destructionobscure origins
Disruption of northern trade networks
The Greek "Dark Age"
The survival of Egypt
Assyrian effects
New traditions and new cultural experiments
The Small-Scale States of the Early Iron Age
Geopolitical changes
The Phoenicians
Roots lay in the ancient Near East
Independence of Phoenician cities
Aristocratic form of government
Egyptian connections and the papyrus trade
Textiles
Cities
Planted Mediterranean trading colonies
Established Carthage in modern Tunisia
May have ventured as far as the Atlantic
Cultural influence
Greek trading partners
Near Eastern influences
The alphabet
The Philistines
Great national enemy of the Hebrews
Retention of a separate identity
Introduced grapevines and olive trees to the Levant
The Pentapolis (heavily fortified citadels)
Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron, and Gath
Virtually no written records
Relationship between the Philistines and the Hebrews
The Hebrews
Origins: The Old Testament as historical resource
God and his chosen people
The covenant
The creation and the flood
The twelve tribes
Hebrews and Philistines
Samuel and King Saul
David and triumph over the Philistines
King David
Consolidation of the Hebrew kingdom
David strengthens his new kingdom (c. 1000 B.C.E.)
Reduces Philistine influence
Defeats the Moabites and Ammonites
Builds Jerusalem as the political and religious capital
The Ark of the Covenant and Jerusalem
Reorganized priesthood of Yahweh
The reign of King Solomon (973-937 B.C.E.)
The temple complex at Jerusalem
Instituted oppressive taxation
Maintained a large standing army
Forced labor
The northern (Israel) and southern (Judah) kingdoms
The Assyrian Empire
A Semitic-speaking people
The fight for existence
The middle Assyrian period (1362-859 B.C.E.)
Assuruballit I (1362-1327 B.C.E.)
Extended power over northern Mesopotamia
Tukulti-Ninurta I (1243-1207 B.C.E.)
Conqueror of the first order
Sacked Babylon
Assurnasirpal II (883-859 B.C.E.)
Revived Assyrian strength
Founded the neo-Assyrian empire
The neo-Assyrian empire (859-627 B.C.E.)
Assyrian throne seized by Tiglath- Pileser III (744 B.C.E.)
Conquered various western kingdoms
The dynasty of Sargon II (722-705 B.C.E.)
The Sargonids
Government and administration
An armed state
King as hereditary monarch and earthly representative of the god Assur
Divination and oracles
Extensive bureaucracy
Rigidly patriarchal
The Assyrian military-religious ethos
Holy war and the exaction of tribute through terror
The Assyrian army belonged to Assur
The worship of Assur among conquered people
Assyrian warfare
Butchering and torturing enemies
Strategy and tactics
Heavily armed and armored shock troops
Archery and chariots
Catapults and siege engines
The end of Assyria and its legacy
Sennacherib (704-681 B.C.E.)
Rebuilt Nineveh
Assurbanipal (669-627 B.C.E.)
Strong military presence
Internal reforms
The library at Nineveh
General hatred of the Assyrians
Nineveh captured and burned (612 B.C.E.)
The Chaldean empire (612-539 B.C.E.)
The Persians
The origins of the Persian empire
Emerged from obscurity when Cyrus became ruler of all Persians
Threw off the lordship of the Medes
Lydian gold and silver
Croesus launches a war against the Persians (546 B.C.E.)
The annexation of Lydia to the Persian empire
Cyrus invades Mesopotamia (539 B.C.E.)
The consolidation of the Persian empire
Cambysesa worthy successor to Cyrus
Darius I (521-486 B.C.E.)
Consolidated military gains
Improved state administration (satraps)
Allowed various people to retain local institutions
The erection of Persepolis
The Royal Road (Susa to Sardis)
Postal systems and spy networks
Punishing Athens
Marathon (490 B.C.E.)
Zoroastrianism
Zoroaster sought to purify traditional customs
Eradicating polytheism, animal sacrifice, and magic
There is one godAhura-Mazda ("the wise lord")
Light, truth, and righteousness
The counter deityAhriman
A personal religion
Important to the conduct of Persian government
Toleration
The resurrection of the dead on judgment day
The Development of Hebrew Monotheism
From monolatry to monotheism
A world conditioned by polytheism
Monolatryexclusive worship of one god without denying existence of others
The Levites and the Yahweh cult
Transcendent theology
Ethical considerations and commandments
Regional distinctions in the Yahweh cult
The Assyrian threat
Demands for an exclusive monotheism
The prophets
Religious and political figures
Only by worshiping Yahweh could the Hebrews combat Assyrian religious imperialism
Amos and Hosea
Isaiah and Jeremiah
Ezekiel and the second Isaiah
Doctrines
Absolute monotheism
Yahweh is the god of righteousness
Yahweh demands ethical behavior
Amos and the prophetic revolution
Judaism takes shape
Josiah, king of Judea (621-609 B.C.E.)
A committed monotheist
Used Jeremiah and other prophets at his court
Purified cult practices
Book of Deuteronomy discovered
After Josiah
Chaldeans under Nebuchadnezzar conquer Jerusalem
The Babylonian Captivity
Ezekielsalvation only through religious purity
Jewish religious teachings as ethical obligations toward God
Conclusion
The age of empires
The international system
New religions