Hittites
� Old Kingdom (1700-1500 BCE) � New Kingdom, aka Hittite Empire (1400-1200 BCE) � Anatolia � Horse drawn chariots = military power � 1st developed a technique tools & weapons of iron � Akkadian became language of diplomacy � Elamites & Hittites adapted the cuneiform system � Fell to unidentified attackers 1200 BCE
The Hittite’s Three Man Chariot. Two archers and a driver in each chariot made this a fearsome offensive weapon.
Assyrian Empire
� Created an empire larger than any previous one � Dedicated to the enrichment of the imperial center at
the expense of the subjugated periphery
� Believed that god chose the king � Normally the king chose a son to succeed him � Military leader, supervised the state religion � Overseeing the upkeep of the temples � Ashur, chief god
Military advantage
� Iron weapons an advantage � Cavalry provided speed and mobility � Engineers developed machinery & tactics for
besieging fortified towns ¡ Tunnels under walls ¡ Mobile towers for arches ¡ Applied battering rams to weak points
� Used terror tactics to discourage resistance & rebellion
� Mass deportations – moved entire towns
Israelites
� Loose collection of nomadic groups engaged in herding and caravan traffic who became sedentary, agricultural people
� Transformed from having a desert god to the concept of a single deity
� Creating ethical and intellectual traditions that underlie the beliefs and values of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
� Few natural resources
Timeline
� 1250 BCE - 1200 BCE Destruction of manyCanaanite towns hints at a probable invasion of the Israelites into Canaan
� 1200 BCE - 1100 BCE Hebrew tribes settle Canaan � c. 1020 BCE - c. 1000 BCE Saul reigns first king of Israel � 1000 BCE David captures Jerusalem � 1000 BCE Rise of the kingdom of Israel � 965 BCE - 928 BCE Solomon is king of Israel � 950 BCE Solomon builds the first Temple of Jerusalem � 841 BCE Israel pays tribute to Assyria � c. 740 BCE Conquest of Israel � 721 BCE Israel is conquered by Assyria.
Origins, Exodus & Settlement
� Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) compiled 5th c BCE ¡ Tells the story of Abraham and his descendants ¡ Abraham was born in Ur, rejected idol worship, traveled
to Israel � Hebrew language of the Bible reflects the speech of
the Israelites until about 500 BCE when it was supplanted by Aramaic
� Children of Israel – 12 tribes
MONARCHY
� Saul, 1st king of Israel around 1020 BCE � David, r ca. 1000-960 BCE
¡ Made Jerusalem the capital ¡ Brought Ark to Jerusalem making city religious & political
� Solomon, David’s son, r ca. 960-920 BCE ¡ Trade with king of Phoenician Tyre to Red Sea for gold, ivory,
jewels, sandalwood and exotic animals ¡ Built First Temple, 10th c BCE to be religious center for Yahweh ¡ Priests became powerful & wealthy class
� Split monarchy into two kingdoms ¡ Israel in north with Samaria as capital ¡ Judah, in south territory around Jerusalem
� The First Temple period ended around 587 BCE, as the Babylonian ruler Nebuchadnezzar II laid waste to Solomon's Temple and took a significant number of Jews captive in response to a revolt. ¡ Departed to Babylon the Royal family, the aristocracy,
and skilled workers ¡ Diaspora - scattering
� In 538 BCE, after fifty years of Babylonian captivity, Persian King Cyrus the Great invited the Jews to return to Judah to rebuild the Temple.
� Construction of the Second Temple was completed in 516 BCE, during the reign of Darius the Great, seventy years after the destruction of the First Temple
Jewish Identity
� Monotheism – belief in one divine being � Jews lived by a rigid set of rules
¡ Dietary restrictions – no pork & shellfish; meat & dairy products not be consumed together
¡ Ritual baths – used to achieve spiritual purity ¡ Sabbath – 7th day of the week – Saturday – no work, rest
only ¡ Ban on marrying non Jews
� This isolated them from other people and created a powerful sense of community
The Phoenician alphabet.
Developed Canaanite models into an “alphabetic” system of writing with about two dozen symbols
Little writing survives as perishable papyrus was used
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