Early Civilizations (2000 BC – 500 BC)

Phoenicians, Hebrews, Persians, and Kush

SOL Standard Essential Questions

• Why did ancient civilizations develop in River Valleys?

• Where were the earliest civilizations located?

• When did these civilizations exist?• What were the social, political, and

economic characteristics of early civilizations?

• What religious traditions developed in ancient civilizations?

• What were the essential beliefs of Judaism?

• How did Judaism influence Western Civilization?

• What forms of language and writing existed in early civilizations?

• How did Persia govern its empire?

Phoenicians• Settled in the Fertile Crescent along the Mediterranean coast (present-day Lebanon).

Phoenicia

Phoenician Colonies• Colony: a land controlled by a distant nation

• Phoenicians set up colonies around the Mediterranean (in yellow)

Phoenician Accomplishments

• Alphabet• Great

shipbuilders and seafarers

• Spread trade and civilization

Phoenician Alphabet

• 22 letter alphabet• Basis of all modern

European and West Asian alphabets

• Facilitated trade (made it easier).

Iron-making technology

• Iron was cheaper and stronger than other metals.

• Once mastered, knowledge of its production caused great changes in societies.

•Hittites

Hebrews• Abraham settled in

the Fertile Crescent between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordon River (present-day Israel)

• His descendents became known as Hebrews.

Monotheism

• Hebrews were the first monotheists

•Belief in one god

Abraham• Abraham’s

monotheism became the foundation of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Moses• Led the Hebrews out of slavery in Egypt to

the “promised land”• Delivered the Ten Commandments

Beliefs of Judaism

• One God• Torah• Ten Commandments

The Religion of the Hebrews

The Ten Commandments• State both religious

and moral conduct• Require that

believers both worship God and live justly with one another

The Torah• Holy book of Judaism: contains the records

and beliefs of the Hebrews • The first five books of the Old Testament of

the Bible

Jerusalem

• King David united the tribes of Israel and established Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Exile• Jews were driven from their homeland by the

Romans in AD 132. The state of Israel ceased to exist for 1800 years.

Diaspora• Scattering of the Jews

• Jews migrated all around the Mediterranean Sea

Western Wall• In 70 AD the Romans

destroyed the ancient Temple of Jerusalem.

• The West Wall of the Temple Mount is all that remains today.

• Jews consider this wall their most sacred shrine (holy site).

• They come from all over the world to pray at this shrine.

• The site of the original temple is now occupied by a Muslim Mosque (Dome of the Rock).

• Ownership of these and other holy sites has been a source of bickering between Muslims and Jews for

centuries.

Persian Empire• The largest empire in the world

• It stretched from The Nile to the Indus River• Persia: Present-day Iran

How did Darius and other Persian rulers

unite the Persian Empire?

Persian Rulers• Treated conquered

people with tolerance Developed an imperial bureaucracy

• Built an extensive road system

• Zoroastrianism (religion)

Tolerance• Persian rulers allowed the people they

conquered to practice their own religions and follow their own customs.

Bureaucracy• A system of managing government through

departments run by appointed officials• Darius divided his empire into provinces each run

by a governor (satrap)

Persian Road System• Great Royal Road

• United the empire (provided a means of communication, trade, and governmental

control).

Zoroastrianism

• Early monotheistic religion

• Battle between good and evil; darkness and light

Zoroaster

Ahura Mazda• God of truth and light

Kush• Located on the

upper (southern) Nile

• Present-day Sudan

•Also called Nubia

Kush and Egypt• Ideas and goods

flowed along the Nile between Kush and Egypt

Egypt Conquers Kush• Egypt dominated Kush for 1000 years

Gifts for the King from a country called Nubia

Kush Conquers Egypt • Kush conquered Egypt and established its

own dynasty on the Egyptian throne

Contributions of Kush• Meroitic script (writing)

• Steep sided pyramids and palaces

                 

                     

• Gold, copper, and iron working.

Golden Age of Meroe• After the Assyrians conquered Egypt, Kush

continued to prosper in the booming trade between Africa, Arabia and India

Ahmes Nefertari

Nubian Queen

of Egypt around 1550 B.C

Ahmes Nefertari

of Egypt around 1550 B.C

Nubian Queen