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THE COSMOPOLITAN MIDDLE EAST 1700-1100 B.C.E.
THE COSMOPOLITAN MIDDLE EAST
1700-1100 B.C.E.
Cosomopolitan because this was an era of widely shared cultures, lifestyles, goods and ideas.
Mesopotamia had been split into two distinct political zones…
Cosmopolitan Middle East 1700-1100 B.C.E. (Western Asia)
In the south were the Kassites who ruled Babylonia. They did not pursue territorial conquest.
Assyrians
Assyrians were in the Northern Tigris Area.
Hittites The most
ambitious state in the Mesopotamian area.
Hittites Used the
Horse Drawn Chariot
First to invent iron weaponry.
Kept the process hidden.
Hittites Had
access to important copper, silver, and iron deposits
During the second millennium b.c.e. Mesopotamian political and cultural concepts spread across much of western Asia.
The Hittites adopted cuneiform to write their own languages.
New Kingdom Egypt
New Kingdom period was preceded by the decline of the Middle Kingdom and by the subsequent period of rule by the non-Egyptian Hyksos
• A native Egyptian dynasty overthrew the Hyksos to begin the New Kingdom period.
• This period was characterized by aggressive expansion into Syria-Palestine and into Nubia
• The Egyptians occupied territories that became buffers to protect Egypt from attack.
Hatshepsut Served as regent for her young stepson
and eventually took the title of queen. When she died her image was defaced
and name blotted out in records by officials.
Queen Hatsheput’s opened direct trade with Punt and Akhenaten’s construction of a new capital at Amarna.
Queen Hatshepsut & Akhenaten
Akhenaten Closed temples of other gods, challenging
the old supremacy of Amon and diminished power of the priests.
Monotheism. Reasserted authority over the priests and
renew the belief in the king’s divinity. Forced Egyptians to worship Aten and
also transplanted thousands by building a new capital.
Akhenaten made the Aten the supreme deity of New Kingdom Egypt
THE ATEN Role: The sun itself Appearance: Sun
disc whose rays end with hands, each of which is holding an ankh to symbolize that the sun gives life.
Center of worship: Akhetaten
General Haremhab Seizes power of
New Kingdom Egypt in 1323 B.C.E.
Establishes new dynasty the Ramessides
Renewed policy of conquest and expansion neglected by Akhenaton
The greatest king Ramesses II 1290-1224 B.C.E, dominated his rule,
Commerce and Communication The Syria-Palestine area was an
important crossroads for the trade in metals.
For this reason, the Egyptians and the Hittites fought battles and negotiated territorial agreements concerning control over Syria-Palestine.
Ramesses’ married a Hittite princess to help seal the deals.
Access to metals was vital to all bronze-age states, but metals, including copper and tin for bronze, often had to be obtained from faraway places.
The demand for metals spurred the development of trade in copper from Anatolia and Cyprus, tin from Afghanistan and Cornwall, silver from Anatolia, and gold from Nubia.
New modes of transportation introduced during this period included horses, chariots, and camels.
