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The Mediterranean & The Middle East, 2000-500 B.C.E . Part I

The Mediterranean & The Middle East, 2000-500 B.C.E . Part I. John Ermer World History AP Miami Beach Senior High School. The Iron Age. The Mediterranean Sea provides vehicle for cultural ex. New cultures and civilizations emerge in Middle East Interactions b/w civilizations increases

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The Mediterranean & The Middle East, 2000-500 B.C.E . Part I

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  1. The Mediterranean & The Middle East, 2000-500 B.C.E.Part I John Ermer World History AP Miami Beach Senior High School

  2. The Iron Age • The Mediterranean Sea provides vehicle for cultural ex. • New cultures and civilizations emerge in Middle East • Interactions b/w civilizations increases • 2000s B.C.E.: Many civilizations begin using Iron • Easier to make than bronze, one metal rather than an alloy • Harder and sharper than bronze • Must be heated to higher temperature than bronze • With the Iron Age also came large scale use of horses • Horses allow for quicker and farther travel—empire building

  3. The Cosmopolitan Middle East • The Late Bronze Age • Egypt and Mesopotamia conquered by outsiders • Outsiders either cast out or assimilated into dominant culture • New, large territorial states emerge to dominate Mid. East • Egypt, Babylon (Mesopotamia), Hittite Empire, Phoenicia, Palestine • Cosmopolitan • A time of widely shared cultures and lifestyles • High level of trade and diplomatic relations • High standard of living for elite groups • Conflict between centers of power for control of resources

  4. Western Asia • Akkadian becomes language of trade & diplomacy in W. Asia • Cuneiform writing system adopted across region • Eventually simplified into an alphabet by Pheonicians • Mesopotamia divided b/w Babylonia (S) & Assyria (N) • Babylonia • Attracts non-Semite Kassites from Zargos mountains, assimilated • Kassite kings of Babylon did not seek empire • Assyrians begin conquering neighbors for empire • Controlled important trade routes in northern Mesopotamia • The Hittite Empire • Spoke an Indo-European language • Exported copper, silver, tin • First to develop iron weapons

  5. New Kingdom Egypt • Hyksos among the many SW Asians who migrate to Egypt • Hyksos means “foreigners” • Egyptians expel the Hyksos, pharaohs expand empire • Trade exposes Egyptians to new cultures and technologies

  6. New Kingdom Egyptian Influence

  7. The Aegean World • Geography • Greece and the islands of the Aegean & Ionian seas • Mountainous, mostly rocky, arid climate • Limited arable land, in plains between mountain ranges • Grains, grapevines, olive trees • Food, lumber, metals must be imported by ancient Greeks • Sea travel is easier than overland, trade is paramount

  8. Minoan Crete, 2000-1450 B.C.E. • Crete = home of first European civilization • Bronze work, writing, monumental building, extensive trade • Minoans named for mythical “King Minos” • Unfortified cities/palace complexes • Indoor plumbing and frescoes = sophistication • 1450 B.C.E.: Minoan cities/palaces destroyed • Capital city of Cnossus (Knossos) survives under Mycenaeans

  9. Mycenaean Greece, 1600-1150 B.C.E. • 2000 B.C.E.: Indo-Europeans migrate into Greece • Homer’s poems the Illiad & Odyssey tell of Mycenae • Schliemann finds the shaft graves • Adopt Minoan style and architecture • Cities built on hilltops, thick fortifications • 4,000 clay tablets of Linear B • Government regulated and controlled production • Metal work reserved for elite class • Trade and communication by small sailboats • Mycenaeans were warlike and acquisitive • Conflict with the Hittites

  10. Moving & Shaking • 1200 B.C.E.: Mass migrations across the Mediterranean • c. 1200: Hittite kingdom collapses, Ugarit destroyed • 1190: Ramesses III of Egypt battles “Sea People” • Egypt loses control of Palestine, Syria, and Nubia • Egypt falls to possible Mycenaean invasion • c. 1175: Mycenaean civilization collapses • Mediterranean & Middle East enter a Dark Age • Economic and political collapse leads to long, deep decline • War brings limited trade, much poorer societies • Loss of artistic & technical skills, writing/education declines • Loss of writing, artistic & technical skills

  11. The Sea Peoples & the Fall of Late Bronze Age Empires

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