1 / 19

T he Levant in Ancient Times

T he Levant in Ancient Times. FOH 13. Can you locate…?. The Fertile Crescent Mediterranean Sea, Persian Gulf 3 major rivers Mesopotamia Sumer, Babylonia, Akkad, Assyria Egypt: Upper, Lower, delta, desert. B etween the major powers of Egypt and Mesopotamia?.

jadon
Download Presentation

T he Levant in Ancient Times

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. The Levant in Ancient Times FOH 13

  2. Can you locate…? • The Fertile Crescent • Mediterranean Sea, Persian Gulf • 3 major rivers • Mesopotamia • Sumer, Babylonia, Akkad, Assyria • Egypt: Upper, Lower, delta, desert

  3. Between the major powers of Egypt and Mesopotamia?

  4. Peoples of the Levant • Who lived here? • Were they settled or nomadic? • How did they make a living? • What resources did they have? • What language(s) did they speak? • What god(s) did they worship? • How did they deal with the presence and projects of larger powers?

  5. Phoenicians • Canaanites • Arameans • Philistines • Hebrews • Israelites • Judeans/Jews c. 830 BCE

  6. The International Age The “Five Powers” c. 1350 BCE • Egypt • Including Syria/Palestine/Canaan • Hatti (Hittites) • Mittani (Hurrians) • Alashiya • Mesopotamia • Northern part: Assyrians • Babylonia: Hittites, Kassites, Assyrians

  7. From alliance of “five great powers” to many smaller kingdoms? c. 1350 BCE c. 830 BCE

  8. The arrival of “the Sea Peoples” • c. 1200 BCE • Origin unknown, but armed with iron and warships, they attack and diminish the power of: - Mittani (the Hurrians) - Hatti (the Hittites) - Alashiya - Egypt (loses Syria/Palestine) • 1st Assyrian Empire is conquered by Arameans • the Levant is up for grabs…

  9. New powers take shape in the Levant (c. 1200 – 800 BCE) • Some of the “Sea Peoples” (peleset) settle on the southern coast  Philistines, Palestine • They form city-states: Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod • Further north, Phoenician city-states form: Byblos, Tyre, Sidon • Nomadic Hebrews, led by Moses, settle in the land of Canaan, and eventually form kingdoms • Settled people of Canaan form kingdoms: Edom, Moab, Ammon – as newcomers displace them

  10. Semitic family of languages

  11. The Phoenicians (c. 1200 – 500 BCE) • Location? Major settlements? Natural environment? Geopolitics?

  12. The Phoenicians (c. 1200 – 500 BCE) Geopolitics: • Rough terrain, hilly, rocky  hard to unite, created independent city-states • Narrow strip of plains along coast, hemmed in by mountains and forests  did some farming, but mostly relied on trade • Caught between two major civilizations  expanded to the west, around the Mediterranean, by creating colonies and extensive maritime (sea-based) trade routes

  13. Phoenicians’ colonies: • - Islands in middle of Mediterranean • - coast of southern Iberian peninsula (Spain) • - Coast of North Africa • Carthage and other settlements allowed them to control passage of ships between Eastern and Western Mediterranean • Access to natural resources and trading opportunities in these areas

  14. Phoenicians as traders • Trade featured: • two unique natural resources: timber and dye from snails • cheaper imitations of other people’s pottery, glass, jewelry, etc. • resources obtained through their colonies

  15. Phoenicians’ innovations as traders • Keeping track of stuff • Traveling by sea

  16. Phoenicians’ innovations as traders • Keeping track of stuff • Developed an alphabet with 22 symbols (letters) – all consonants • This made it easier for traders to keep their own records, not have to hire scribes • Traveling by sea

  17. Phoenicians’ innovations as traders • Phonetic alphabet • Traveling by sea: • New models of ships that were sturdy, stable, durable • Discovered tacking (sailing into wind) • Developed biremes and triremes as warships • Explored Mediterranean and beyond (Britain, Africa)

  18. End of the Phoenicians? • Assyrians (2nd empire) • Neo-babylonians • Persians • Greeks • Carthage, 146 BCE, by Romans Heartland of ancient Phoenicia today?

More Related