Egypt New Kingdom, Hebrew Kingdom, Monotheism, Mycenaeans, Phoenicians, Philistines, Assyrians, Persians, Transnational trade networks

1. Peoples, Gods and Empires
1700 – 500 B.C.E.
Chapter 2

2. Key Issues
• What was the impact of migrations and new
settlements on existing kingdoms?
• How did the transnational networks of trade in
the late Bronze Age function?
• What new empires and kingdoms emerged in
the Iron Age?
• What is the historical importance of
monotheism?

3. Language Groups and
Migrations
• Semitic linguistic forms
• Appear after 3000 B.C.E.
• Assyrians, Phoenicians, Canaanites, Hebrews
• Indo-European linguistic forms:
• appear in Near East around 2000 B.C.E.
• Combine with indigenous linguistic groups in the
Aegean Basin & produce early form of Greek

4. Migrations in the Early Bronze
Age
Timeline
Minoan
Thalassocra
cy
Centered at
Crete
Minoans
Hittite
Warriors
move from
Anatolia
Mittanians
introduce
War Chariots
Assyrian
Caravan
Networks
Established
Mycenaean
Greece
2500-1600
B.C.E.
2000-1700
B.C.E.
2000-1800
B.C. E
1900 B.C. E 2000-1500
B.C.E.
Trade
Linear A
Warrior
Aristocracy
Chariots and
Iron
Weaponry
Perfected by
Hittites.
Adopted by
Egyptians
and
Assyrians
Used for war
Established
across
Anatolia and
Mesopotami
a
IWarrior
Kings
Linear B
Age of
Heroes

5. Eastern Mediterranean

6. Minoan Thalassocracy
Encyclopædia Britannica Image Quest, "Minoans Traders: Wall Painting From
Acrotiri In Thera (Santorini) Showing Minoan Ships. Bronze Age (3200-1050
BC). http://quest.eb.com/images/300_2289319
Empire of the sea centered at Crete
around 2500 B.C.E.
•Minoans controlled trade around the
central Mediterranean for about 1,000 years
•Mysterious language (Linear A) not
deciphered
•Before 1600 B.C.E. Minoan civilization
dominated Greek mainland

7. Mycenaean Greece
• Indo-European groups entered Greek mainland
between 2000 and 1500 B.C.E.
• Citadels along the Greek landscape
• Warrior Kings
• Reward: plunder and control of strategic trading sites
• Trade and piracy as important economic systems
• By 1400 B.C.E. Mycenaeans had subjugated Crete
• Hittite ruler addressed Mycenaean King as “my
brother”
• Mycenaean Greece: powerful king, warrior
aristocracy, palace bureaucracy, complex economy
and large territorial kingdoms
• Linear B deciphered in early 1950’s

8. Mycenaean Greece and the Age of
Heroes
Encyclopedia Britannica Image Quest, "Ruins Of Mycenae, UNESCO World
Heritage Site, Greece, Europe",http://quest.eb.com/images/151_2541896

10. Assyrians and Hittites
Encyclopedia Britannica Image Quest, "Hittite
Sculpture, Museum Of Old Anatolian Civilizations,
Ankara, Anatolia, Turkey, Asia Minor, Eurasia",
http://quest.eb.com/images/151_2532672
Encyclopedia Britannica Image Quest, "Statue Of The Winged Bull
With The Head Of A Man ('Lamassu'),
http://quest.eb.com/images/153_2361805

11. Assyrian Caravans and Hittite
Warriors
• 1900 B.C.E. Assyrian caravan networks
established across Anatolia and Mesopotamia
• Cultural Diffusion
• 2000-1700 Hittite warriors, conquerors and
colonists spread out from Anatolia imposing their
culture and language on other groups
• Warrior aristocracy
• Imposed laws and language
• Chariots and iron weaponry
• Sought to control trade routes for copper and
arsenic
• 1595 B.C.E. capture of Babylon

12. Chariots
• 2000-1800 B.C.E. War chariots introduced by
Mittanians
• Used horses rather than oxen
• Archers & Drivers
• Perfected by Hittites during 18th century B.C.E.
• Lighter construction
• 4 spokes rather than 8
• Armaments: shield and arrow
• Hittite innovations adopted by Egyptians and
Assyrians
• Used for war and parades of power
• “Chariot” = Latin “carrus”
• A chariot of war or in a triumphal procession
• English translation= “car”

13. Encyclopedia Britannica Image Quest, "HITTITE
CHARIOT. - Neo-Hittite Stone Relief Of A War
Chariot Riding Over A Defeated Enemy, 8th Century
B.C.", http://quest.eb.com/images/140_1635696

14. Chariots, Cars & Parades
Encyclopedia Britannica Image Quest,
"Eisenhower In Washington / June
1945",
http://quest.eb.com/images/109_1345
30
Wikipedia, “Standard of UR War Pane
26th century B.C.E.
Accessed, August 9, 2012, {{PD Art}}
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:
Standard_of_Ur_-_War.jpg

15. NEW KINGDOM (1550-1075 B.C.E.)
Egypt

16. Egypt: New Kingdom
• 1550-1075 B.C.E.
• Eighteenth Dynasty
• New Nobility—aristocracy of military commanders
• Wealth acquired through war
• Plunder
• Crown lands (territory given to successful commanders by
the Pharaoh –and the slaves to work the land
• Gold: standard of commerce and wealth
• Nubian gold fields
• Thutmose I control/influence Palestine and Syria
• Strategy: defense through offense
• Employed horse-drawn chariots

17. Ahhotep I
Warrior Queen of Egypt
Jewels and Weapons of Queen Ahhotep I, Délié, Hippolyte and Émile Béchard Planche
31 Monuments Historiques (1872). From
Travelers in the Middle East Archive (TIMEA).http://hdl.handle.net/1911/10254
Encyclopedia Britannica Image Quest, "Egypt, Ceremonial Necklace Belonged
To Ahhotep I (circa 1560-1530 B.C.), New Kingdom, Seventeenth Dynasty",
http://quest.eb.com/images/126_497299

18. • Customary: Pharaoh married sister and proclaim
her Queen
• Heirs: Pharaoh’s liaisons with concubines or
sister (unlikely that Pharaoh and sister had same
mother).
Pharaohs and Intermarriage

19. Hatshepsut’s Reign
• Thutmose II married Hatshepsut
• After Thutmose II died, Hatshepsut ruled as
Pharaoh not as the Queen Regent.
• Thutmose III was co-regent without real power until
Hatshepsut died

20. Hatshepsut (R. 1492-1479
B.C.E.)
Encyclopedia Britannica Image Quest, "Seated Figure Of Hatshepsut",
accessed 9 Aug 2012,http://quest.eb.com/images/115_898597
Queen Hatshepsut As King. Fine Art.
Encyclopedia Britannica Image Quest. Web. 9 Aug 2012
.http://quest.eb.com/images/107_3359916

21. Defaced head of Hatshepsut (left)
Undefaced statue of Hatshepsut (right)

22. • 17 military campaigns
• Increase Egyptian dominance in Near East
• Diminish power of Mittani Kingdom
• Mittani ceased to buffer Egypt from growing Assyrian
strength.
• Spoils of war devoted to building grand temples, tombs and
monuments to the Pharaoh.
• Capitol: Thebes Amon: patron god of Thebes
• Amon increased in power with Pharaoh’s success and Amon
became combined with Ra (the sun god).
• Priests of Amon-Ra became a force with which successive
Pharaohs must negotiate.
Thutmose III (R. 1479-1425
B.C.E.)

23. Thutmose III & Priests of Amon- Ra
Encyclopedia Britannica Image Quest, "Thutmose III, Sixth Pharaoh Of The Eighteenth Dynasty.
During The First Twenty-two Years Of Thutmose's Reign He Was Co-regent With His Stepmother,
Hatshepsut, Who Was Named The Pharaoh. Thutmose III Ruled Egypt For Almost Fifty-four Years.",
accessed 9 Aug 2012,http://quest.eb.com/images/300_2283824

24. Amon-Ra
Encyclopædia Britannica Image Quest, "EGYPT: RELIEF OF AMEN-RA. - Egyptian Chief Deity Amen-Ra (Amun-Ra) On Stone Relief From Elephantine, 18th-19th Dynasty.", accessed 9 Aug
2012,http://quest.eb.com/images/140_1657417

25. • Changed his name from Amenhotep IV to Akhenaten I
• Changed patron deity from Amon to Aten
• Built new capitol halfway between Memphis and Thebes
• Aten (god of light) worship was more monotheistic than Amon
worship
• Why did Akhenaten change gods?
• Intellectual revolutionary
• Reactionary who attempted to reassert traditional worship of the
sun
• Cagey politician attempting to undermine the power of Amon’s
priests.
• Akhenaten not particularly interested in military affairs
Akhenaten (1352-1336 B.C.E.)

26. • Changed his name to Tutankhamon (King Tut).
• Reflected restoration of Amon. and the Amon
priesthood to power.
• Destroyed father’s city and perhaps desecrated
Hatshepsut’s temple and images.
Tutankhaten (R. 1332-1323
B.C.E.)

27. • Warfare and letters
• Letters between powerful rules “Brother”
• Letters between smaller and powerful states
“Father”
• Lavish gifts
• Marriage alliances
• Diplomats often were merchants sent to handle
trade negotiations
• http://www.indianoceanhistory.org/
International Diplomacy in the late
Bronze Age

29. • 30 symbols represented consonants (vowels
inferred)
• Phonetic not pictographic
• More conducive to use for people of multiple
language backgrounds
Ugaritic Alphabet

30. Trade and War
• Causes of war in the late Bronze Age?
• Relationship between trade and war?
• How did the introduction of war chariots impact
trade in the late Bronze Age?
• How did trade influence peace?
• Who participated in trade negotiations and
territorial alliances?
• Did a “free market” exist in the Late Bronze Age?

31. Who were the Sea Peoples?
• Many theories
• Appeared in Nile Delta around 1207 B.C.E.
• Documentary evidence
• Egypt: Ramses III
• 90% depopulation of mainland Greece
• Hittite Empire destroyed
• Technology
• Iron
• Less strong than Bronze
• Iron more plentiful and cheaper material

32. The Sea Peoples
Wikipedia Commons, “Battle of the Delta” from the mortuary temple of Ramesses III at Medinet Habu, Egypt,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Seev%C3%B6lker.jpg, accessed August 9, 2012 {{PD}}

34. PHOENICIANS, HEBREWS, PHILISTINES,
NEO-ASSYRIANS
States of the Early Iron Age (1200-
500 B.C.E.)

35. The States of the Early Iron Age
• The Phoenicians
• Known in Bible as Canaanites
• City-states Tyre and Sidon
• Aristocratic form of government
• Egyptian connections and the papyrus trade
• Planted Mediterranean trading colonies
• Established Carthage in modern Tunisia
• Known for purple dye
• Alphabet

38. Phoenician colonization

39. Hebrews, Philistines, Assyrians

40. Mythopoeic vs. Monotheistic
World View
• Mythopoeic World View
• Life has individuality in man, beast, plant,
heavens
• Life as story rather than fact
• Drought caused by a god who has own reasons for
conduct not necessarily related to man’s actions
• universal principles of morality or ethics did not
explain fortune or misfortune
• Life confronting life
• Priests and Kings as mediators
• Egyptian Pharaohs = gods

41. Sumerian Deities

42. Egyptian Deities

43. The Development of Hebrew
Monotheism
• From monolatry to
monotheism
• A world conditioned by
polytheism
• Monolatry—exclusive
worship of one god above
other gods
• Egyptians: Aten
• Hebrews: Yahweh before
Babylonian captivity
• Assyrians: Assur(?)The goddess Asherah (right)

44. The Development of Hebrew
Monotheism
• From monolatry to monotheism
• Ethical considerations and commandments
issued by Yahweh
• The Assyrian threat created demands for an
exclusive monotheism
• The prophets
• Religious and political figures
• Only by worshiping Yahweh could the Hebrews
combat Assyrian religious imperialism

45. Hebrews in Ancient Near East
• Historical documentary evidence (outside the Bible)
• 1200 B.C.E. arrival in Canaan
• By 1000 B.C.E. division between South (Judah) and North
(Israel)
• Northern Kingdom conquered by Assyrian Empire in 722
B.C.E.
• Southern Kingdom Conquered by Chaldean Empire in 586
B.C.E.
• Southern Kingdom captives returned to Jerusalem under
Prophet Ezra by King Cyrus of Persia in 539 B.C.E.

46. The Hebrews and Monotheism
• The Hebrews and their scriptures
• Origins: the Old Testament as historical resource
• God and his chosen people
• The covenant: Yahweh & Abraham
• The creation and the flood
• The twelve tribes and the Land of Israel
• Outside the Old Testament: no records of a
people called “ the Hebrews” by other ancient
civilizations before 1200 B.C.E.
• Theories but wide disagreement
• http://public.wsu.edu/~brians/wcsyllabus/answers/jew
s.html

47. The Jewish Bible
(Christians-Old Testament)
• Jewish tradition and historians
• Bible is a library
• 24 books over 1,000 years
• 1100 B.C.E. – 250 B.C.E.
• Organization
• Law
• Prophets
• Writings
• 2 versions
• Masoretic (Hebrew 2nd century A.D.) considered superior version
• Septuagint (Greek 2nd century B.C.E.)

48. Hebrew Monotheism
• The belief that a single god is the creator and ruler
of all things
• Yahweh is transcendent: exists outside of time,
nature, place and Kingship
• Ethical monotheism: obligations owed by all human
beings toward their creator, independent of place or
political identity
• Yahweh created man in His image
• Yahweh is exclusively a god of righteousness
• Evil comes from man not Yahweh
• Micah 6:8 Yahweh requires man to live justly, love
mercy and walk humbly before Yahweh

49. The States of the Early Iron Age
• The Philistines
• Great national enemy to Hebrews in the Bible
• The Pentapolis (heavily fortified citadels)
• Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron, and Gath
• Virtually no written records

50. Assyrian Kingdom

51. Neo-Assyrian Empire
• Established under Ahsurnasurpahl (r. 883-859)
• Sargon II (r. 722-705) destroyed Northern Israel
• Sennacherib (r. 704-681) rebuilt Nineveh
• Assurbanipal (r. 669-627)
• Library
• Military-religious ethos
• King: hereditary monarch and earthly representative of the god, Assur
• Centralized government
• Standing force of 100,000 soldiers
• Offered peace and assimilation or destruction
• Assur demanded worship through military conquest
• Humiliation of gods of defeated peoples

52. Assyrian Siege of Israeli city of
Lachish (c. 701B.C.E.)

53. THE PERSIAN EMPIRE (550-330 B.C.E.)
Rise of the Persians

54. Cyrus the Great

55. The Persian Empire under Darius I, 521–486 B.C.E.

56. The Rise of the Persians
• The origins of the Persian empire
• Emerged from obscurity when Cyrus II became
ruler of all Persians
• Coveted Lydian gold and silver
• Cyrus defeated Lydia and annexed it to the
Persian empire
• Cyrus invaded Mesopotamia (539 B.C.E.)

57. Croesus and Cyrus according to
Herodotus
Croesus was the richest man alive at the
time and is credited with minting the 1st
gold coins. He was warned by the Oracle
at Delphi that he would destroy a great
empire if he made war against the Persians.
He was also advised to seek an alliance
with the strongest Greek city. Croesus
formed an alliance with Sparta the
Egyptians and Babylonia. After an indecisive
battle, Croesus disbanded for the winter
but Cyrus did not. His army was destroyed
at Sardis. Cyrus placed him on a pyre and lit it on
fire to see if the gods would intervene. As he was
burning, Apollo sent a great rain and doused the
fire.

58. The Rise of the Persians
• The consolidation of the Persian empire
• Darius I (521–486 B.C.E.)
• Consolidated military gains
• Improved state administration (satraps)
• Allowed various people to retain local institutions
• The Royal Road (Susa to Sardis)
• Postal systems and spy networks
• Marathon (490 B.C.E.)—Greeks vs. Persians

59. Persepolis

60. Persian Religion
• Zoroastrianism (10th -6th Century B.C.E.) dates
are hotly debated based on language dates.
• Zoroaster sought to purify traditional customs
• There is one god—Ahura-Mazda (“the wise lord”)
• The counter deity—Ahriman
• A personal religion based on concept of “free will”
• Toleration
• The resurrection of the dead on judgment day
• Hotly contested issue: which belief about judgment day
came first? Hebrew or Persian

61. Behistun Inscription
I AM DARIUS, THE GREAT KING, THE KING OF KINGS,
THE KING OF PERSIA,
THE KING OF ALL COUNTRIES, THE SON OF A KING,
THE GRANDSON OF A KING, SAYS DARIUS THE KING,
FROM LONG AGO MY FAMILY HAS BEEN KINGS.

62. Ozymandias
Percy Shelley's "Ozymandias"
I met a traveler from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert... near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away