More Ancient Civilizations

Hittites, Hebrews, Phoenecians Oh, My!

Hittites

• Indo-european

• Introduced Chariots and Iron

• Fought New Kingdom Egyptians and made peace treaty

• Spread Mesopotamian civilization westward

Hebrews

• Semetic Nomadic herders from mesopotamia

• Monotheistic religion– Became basis for western religion

• Settled in area known as Canaan

• Built small kingdom between great empires under kings David and Solomon

Kingdom of Israel and Phoenicia

Phoenicians

• Seafaring kingdom along Mediterranian coast

• Depended primarily on trade for a living• Developed a phonetic alphabet• Established colonies throughout

Mediterranian– Biggest one was Carthage

• Spread civilzation throughout Mediterranian

Lydians

• Small kingdom in Asia minor

• Developed currancy

• Were conquered by Persians

Persians

• Indo-European nomads from modern day Iran• Cyrus the Great united with Medes and

conquered Babylon and founded empire• Successors expanded empire from

Mediterranian to India to Egypt• Was divided into Satrapys• Allowed conquered people to keep culture and

religion• Established Royal roads and mail service

• Fought Greeks which led to the rise of Athens

• Religion was based on the teachings of Zoraster – Ahura-mazda (good)and Ahriman(evil) were

god brothers who fought.– Concept of Armageddon

Persian empire at its peak in 6th century BC