2. In ancient times, the
peoples of this area
included:
• Hittites
• Lydians
• Phoenicians
• Hebrews
3. Indo-Europeans migrate to the Near East.
(2000 B.C. people known as Aryane)
• They traveled in several directions, mostly to the south
and west.
• Today this language is usually called Indo-European
• One group of Aryans settled in the mountains of western
Asia Minor and mixed with the people living there.
• Hittites invaded this area about 1600 B.C. They raided
Babylon, Syria, and Palestine and challenged Egypt's
power. By about 1450 B.C. the Hittite empire included
Asia Minor and northern Syria.
• The Hittites learn to use iron. While other Near Eastern
peoples were still using bronze.
• The Hittites kept the secret of ironworking until the fall
of their empire, about 1200 B.C.
4. The Lydians introduce the use of coins.
The Lydians of northern Asia Minor began the use of coins in trade. Gold,
silver, or a mixture of both metals was formed into disks of equal weight.
Official Lydian government coinage was in use by about 560 B.C. during the
reign of Croesus
Peoples in all parts of the Near East soon recognized the usefulness of coins,
and they became accepted as payment throughout the Mediterranean
world.
5. Phoenician seafarers spread ideas.
Southeast of Asia Minor, along the eastern shore of the
Mediterranean Sea, was the land of Phoenicia.
The land is dry and hilly, and the Phoenicians turned to the sea,
becoming sailors, shipbuilders, and merchants.
The ports of Tyre and Sidon were busy centers of trade.
Phoenicia was famous for its tall cedar trees, used in shipbuilding.
Timber was exported to Egypt as early as the Old Kingdom.
The Phoenicians were also the first to make objects of clear glass.
Another famous product was cloth dyed a deep purple.
They established colonies as far away as northern Africa and
southern Spain.
The colony at Carthage was founded in 814 B.C. by the Phoenician
city-states of Tyre.
6. The Phoenicians used a writing system based on
an early
Phoenicians used a writing system based on an early alphabet.
The letter-symbols were far easier to learn than the thousands
of picture symbols needed to write hieroglyphics.
The Greeks adopted this system and created the alphabet on
which our own is based.
Migrating peoples occupy the eastern Mediterranean coast.
They gave their name to the land, calling it Canaan.
About 1200 B.C., migrating peoples called Philistines occupied
pan of Canaan.
Early Hebrew history is recorded in the Bible.
o The first books of the Bible called Old Testament in the
Christian Bible; they also comprise the Hebrew Scriptures.
7. Linking Past and Present
PORTRAIT FROM THE PAST
When you look at the front or "face" of a coin, you assume that it will show someone's
head or face. The tradition of showing portraits on coins is a very old one
Besides portraits, ancient coins frequently used symbols, and modern coins continue
that tradition.
Similarly, modern coins have portrayed "Liberty
The coin pictures a helmeted goddess who is probably the wise Athena. The lively
dolphins were a symbol of sea power, appropriate for the island kingdom of Sicily where
the coin was made.
8. Phoenician sailors, ca. 800 BC Chr. A relief from the Palace of Sargon II
shows Phoenician sailors transporting cedar trees across the
Mediterranean Sea.
The Hebrews traveled into Canaan with their leader, Abraham.
They were made to pay heavy taxes and were forced to work on the building
of Egyptian temples, palaces, and tombs.
Their flight, known as the Exodus, was led by Moses, a Hebrew who had
been raised at the pharaoh's court.
Moses came to be regarded as the Hebrew people's chief lawgiver.
Moses gave them the set of moral laws known as the Ten Commandments.
A Hebrew kingdom is established.
About 1020 B.C. they established a kingdom under the first Israelite King,
Saul.
David, was a poet-king who defeated the Philistines and made Jerusalem the
royal capital.
Hebrew-Phoenician trading expeditions were sent into the Red Sea and
possibly the Indian Ocean.
9. After Solomon Died, The Hebrew Kingdom Broke in Two.
1. The northern part was conquered in 722 B.C. by the Assyrians, and many Hebrews
were taken away as slaves.
2. The southern part was conquered in 586 B.C. by Nebuchadnezzar who destroyed
Solomon's Temple.
The Hebrews contribute a new religious outlook
They believed in one God, a belief called monotheism.
To the Hebrews, God (or Yahweh) was eternal, ageless, and supreme. He had
created the universe and all within it; he had total power.
Hebrew Law Emphasizes Moral Behavior
The Hebrews believed that God set forth standards of right and
wrong behavior.
Hebrew law was based mainly on the laws handed down by Moses
and was recorded in the first five books of the Bible, also called the
Torah.
10. Hebrew Law
Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the
land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
Thou shalt not kill.
Thou shalt not bear false witness against the neighbor. (Exodus 20: 12,
13. 16)
Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for you were
strangers in the land Of Egypt.
Ye shall not afflict any widow. or fatherless child. (Exodus 22:21-22)
Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stum-blingblock before the
blind, but shalt fear thy God .
thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
(Leviticus 19: 14, 18)
11. Prophets Express Hebrew Beliefs
Throughout Hebrew history, many men and several women were inspired to act
as prophets that is, messengers of God. The prophets preached obedience to
God’s Law, warned of the dangers of breaking this law, and urged the Hebrews
to remain firm in their faith. The wise sayings and teaching of such prophets as
Elijah, Isaiah, Dedorah, Micah, and many others are recorded in the laws,
history, and literature of the Hebrews.
