The Ancient Middle East

Transcription

1 CHAPTER 2 The Ancient Middle East The first civilization of the ancient Middle East began in an area of southern Mesopotamia called Sumer. Mesopotamia was the area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. They called it that because the meaning of Mesopotamia is land between two rivers. The two rivers originate in the Armenian Plateau and run into the Persian Gulf. What was once Mesopotamia is now mostly Iraq. Mesopotamia lies in the Fertile Crescent, an area of rich soil that stretches, in a crescent shape, from the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. The people of this area always had a stable food supply because of the fertile soil. The Fertile Crescent has often been called the crossroads of the world because it commands access to three continents. It was subject to frequent invasions because of this. It was difficult to unite the Fertile Crescent under one ruler, because many different peoples migrated there. Sumer was ruled by the Sumerians for over a thousand years. Invaders eventually conquered Sumer and Sumerian civilization ceased to exist. However, they created many lasting features of Mesopotamian civilization such as cuneiform and the wheel. The Sumerians developed city-states. A city-state is an independent city or town and the surrounding countryside. Some important citystates were Ur, Erech and Kish. Later on these city-states constantly fought, and conquered one another, over land and water. As the city-states grew, there became a greater demand for scribes. Scribes wrote down important information, such as laws and business deals. Merchants and governments needed them to keep their records. Priests set up schools to train them as the demand rose. There was also a need for a complex network of dikes and canals in Mesopotamia. Well-run governments developed because of this. The government needed to supervise these tasks. 1

2 Each city-state had a temple called a ziggurat. These temples were built so that their gods could use them as ladders to earth. The Sumerians were polytheistic, that is, they worshipped many gods. Each citystate had its own god along with other gods. The Sumerians believed that only priests knew how to please the gods, and since they believed they were dependent upon gods for food and protection, the priests became rulers. Later on, military leaders became stronger because of the constant fighting among city-states and eventually took over as rulers. The Sumerians used cuneiform, wedge shaped writings, to write down laws and to record business deals. They used clay for their cuneiform inscriptions. They wrote on it when it was wet and then baked it. They used a stylus, a sharpened reed instrument, for writing. They also used wheels on war chariots and carts. They were the first ones to do so. The wheel made it possible to travel further, thus enabling them to trade with far off places. Trade made their cities very wealthy. The sexagesimal, based on the number 60, system of the Sumerians still appears in modern day measurements, such as timekeeping. The 60-second minute and the sixty-minute hour are two examples. The twelve-month calendar was another accomplishment that was achieved because of the need for keeping track of seasonal changes, so that they could plan their farming schedule. They had a gloomy outlook on the afterlife because of frequent invasions and natural disasters. They thought that these happenings were punishments by the Gods. They didn t have very high expectations for the afterlife because of this. A man named Sargon founded the first empire. He called himself Lord of the Four Quarters of the World. Sargon was a very talented military leader. He was a soldier from Akkad, a city that gained power around 2350 B.C. After his reign, civil war resumed and the Akkadian dynasty collapsed because of invasions. An Amorite named Hammurabi created another empire. The capital was established at Babylon. Hammurabi was a very successful warrior and 2

3 administrator. His most enduring legacy was a code of laws carved on a stone column. It was called the Code of Hammurabi, and it represents the first effort of an empire to record all its laws. The Hittites took over the Fertile Crescent in about 1550 B.C. They were known for being the first to use iron for weapons, which gave them a huge advantage over others who did not yet have this technology. They tried to keep their method of iron working a secret, but eventually others learned their technique. The time when everyone started using iron is called the Iron Age. The next group of people to take over the Fertile Crescent was the Assyrians. They destroyed Babylon. They used money that they got, in one way or another, from the people they conquered, to build their new capital, which was at Ninevah. King Assurbanipal built the world s first library, with writings on clay tablets, in Ninevah. The Chaldeans were the next group of people to establish an empire in the Fertile Crescent. Their king was Nebuchadnezzar. He rebuilt the city of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar s wife was homesick and did not like the Mesopotamian landscape, so he designed one of the Seven Wonders of the World, The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, to remind her of her homeland. The Persians conquered Babylon in 539 B.C. They were ruled by Cyrus. Cyrus s son-in-law, Darius, divided the Persian Empire into twenty satrapies, or provinces. Each one was ruled by it s own governor. The Persians are know for building the Great Royal Road, which ran from Asia Minor to Susa. They built elaborate roadways so that they could travel faster, thus making communication quicker. They also took on a new religion called Zoroaster. Zoroaster was the founder of this religion, hence the name. According to Zoroaster, the forces of good and evil were at war and each person had to choose which way to go. The Zend Avesta, the sacred book of Zoroastrianism, contained religious ideas of Zoroastrianism that later influenced Hebrew and Christian concepts. 3

4 Independent states also had an impact on civilization. In fact, the Phoenicians were called the carriers of civilization. They were ardent traders. They settled in many cities along the water. Carthage, in northern Africa, was one of the many cities they occupied that had a very lively trade industry. The Phoenicians also created a relatively easy to use alphabet. Their letters were easier to draw than the Aramaean or Egyptian letters. It was based on the Aramaean style of writing, which was based on Egyptian hieroglyphics. The alphabet we use was created from the Phoenician alphabet. The chart below shows how some of the letters developed. For example, the letter K developed from the cupped hand, and the letter Q developed from the monkey. The Egyptian symbol for house probably became a symbol for the B sound because the Aramaean word for house was beth, which begins with a B sound. The use of a simplified alphabet made it easier for people to read and write. This probably led to a more democratic society, because it made people more equal. If everyone could read and write, they could play a more active role in society. The Lydians were also very eager traders. Their capital, Sardis, was full of trade activity. The Lydians introduced coined money as a means of exchange, thus creating a money economy, an economic system based on money exchange rather than barter. 4

5 The Hebrews ruled another independent state. They settled in Palestine and called their kingdom the kingdom of Israel. They believed Palestine was given to them by God. One of their leaders, Moses, gave them the Ten Commandments. David ruled the kingdom of Israel for about 70 years, and his son Solomon succeeded him. Solomon had many building projects, but his most famous was the temple he built in Jerusalem. The Hebrews wrote the Old Testament to record their history. The first five books of the Old Testament are called the Torah. The Hebrews ethical worldview grew out of the Torah, which included the Ten Commandments. They were the first to develop a belief in one God. The Hebrews believed that God had revealed the laws to Moses, thereby making a covenant, or binding agreement, with them. 5