Chapter
2
Gods and Empires in the Ancient Near East, 1700–500 B.C.E.
Outline
  1. Introduction
    1. Transformations in the ancient Near East
    2. New imperial powers
    3. The "international system"
    4. Iron Age
  2. The Indo-European Migrations
    1. Language
      1. Indo-European linguistic forms appear after 2000 B.C.E.
    2. Hittites and Kassites
      1. Indo-European speaking people
      2. Hittite rulers establish themselves in cities of central Anatolia
      3. Economic and military power
      4. Under Hattusilis I, Hittites extend power throughout Anatolian plateau
        1. Military conquest
      5. Mursilis I (c. 1620–1590 B.C.E.)
        1. Sought to control Upper Euphrates
        2. Drove east to Babylon (1595 B.C.E.)
      6. The Kassites
        1. Unknown origins
        2. Brought peace and prosperity
    3. The Kingdom of Mitanni
      1. An Indo-European minority
      2. United Upper Euphrates and northern Syria into a single kingdom
      3. Innovations
        1. Horse-drawn chariots
        2. Masters of horse training and cavalry tactics
      4. Collapsed in the face of Hittite aggression
  3. Egypt in the Second Millennium B.C.E.
    1. Transformations
      1. Foreigners
      2. Middle Kingdom Egypt as anxious, uncertain place
      3. The Hyksos (1700 B.C.E.) invasion
        1. Projected their authority over Lower Egypt
        2. Established Egypt as the most significant power in the Near East
        3. The Nubian kingdom
        4. Nationalist "wars of liberation"
      4. Hyksos driven out, thus establishing the Eighteenth Dynasty
    2. The New Kingdom (1550–1075 B.C.E.)
      1. A radical departure in Egyptian history and culture
      2. Pharaonic rule in Eighteenth Dynasty
        1. New type of nobility—an aristocracy of military commanders
        2. Wealth acquired through war
        3. Thutmose I (c. 1504–1492 B.C.E.)
          1. Strategy of defense through offense
          2. Learned tactics from the Hyksos
      3. Queen Hatshepsut and Thutmose III
        1. Hatshepsut served as regent for Thutmose III
        2. Declared herself to be pharaoh in her own right
        3. Displayed herself in pictures with a masculine figure and false beard
        4. Ruled together with Thutmose for twenty years
        5. Military successes
        6. Thutmose ruled alone after Hatshepsut's death in1458 B.C.E.
          1. Removed her name from inscriptions
          2. Seventeen military campaigns
          3. Undermined the strength of the the Mitanni
          4. Unintended consequences: the Hittites and Assyrians
    3. Religious change and challenge
      1. New wealth
        1. Personal glorification of pharaoh
        2. Military aristocracy
        3. The temples
      2. The temple of Amon (Thebes)
        1. Amon identified with the sun god Ra
        2. An Egyptian national god
        3. The priests of Amon
      3. The reign of Akhenaten (1352–1336 B.C.E.)
        1. Amenhotep IV inclined toward sun-god worship
        2. From "Amon is pleased" to "He who is profitable to the Aten"
        3. Built capital between Memphis and Thebes (modern day el-Amarna)
        4. The Amarna period
          1. Monotheistic worship
          2. The life-giving power of light
        5. Akhenaten as revolutionary intellectual or reactionary?
        6. Resistance to Akhenaten
      4. King Tut (Tutakhaten/Tutankhamon)
  4. The International System of the Late Bronze Age
    1. The age of superpowers
    2. International diplomacy
      1. A balance of power stabilized trade and diplomacy
      2. The language of diplomatic rank
    3. International trade
      1. Flourishing seaborne trade
      2. Trade routes as conduits for culture and cosmopolitanism
      3. Treaty between Ramses II and the Hittites
        1. Geopolitical stability
        2. Furthered economic integration
    4. Expansion and fragility
  5. Aegean Civilization: Minoans and Mycenaeans
    1. Heinrich Schliemann and the ancient Greeks
      1. Homer and Troy
      2. The citadel at Mycenae
    2. Sir Arthur Evans and the great palace at Knossos
    3. The Minoan thalassocracy
      1. Overseas trade
      2. Powerful navy
      3. Written language: Linear B
    4. The Mycenaeans
      1. Mycenaean citadels
        1. Warrior culture
        2. Trade and piracy
        3. Centers of government
      2. Mycenaean imitation of Near Eastern examples
      3. Warriors and mercenaries
      4. Mycenaean collapse
    5. The Sea Peoples and the end of the Bronze Age
      1. Waves of destruction—obscure origins
      2. Disruption of northern trade networks
      3. The Greek "Dark Age"
      4. The survival of Egypt
      5. Assyrian effects
      6. New traditions and new cultural experiments
  6. The Small-Scale States of the Early Iron Age
    1. Geopolitical changes
    2. The Phoenicians
      1. Roots lay in the ancient Near East
      2. Independence of Phoenician cities
      3. Egyptian connections and the papyrus trade
      4. Textiles
      5. Cities
        1. Planted Mediterranean trading colonies
        2. Established Carthage in modern Tunisia
    3. Cultural influence
      1. Greek trading partners
      2. Near Eastern influences
      3. The alphabet
    4. The Philistines
      1. Great national enemy of the Hebrews
      2. Retention of a separate identity
      3. Introduced grapevines and olive trees to the Levant
      4. The Philistines and the Hebrews
    5. The Hebrews
      1. Origins: the Old Testament as historical resource
        1. God and his chosen people
        2. The covenant
        3. The creation and the flood
        4. The twelve tribes
      2. Hebrews and Philistines
        1. Samuel and King Saul
        2. David and triumph over the Philistines
        3. King David
      3. Consolidation of the Hebrew kingdom
        1. David strengthens his new kingdom (c. 1000 B.C.E.)
        2. Reduces Philistine influence
        3. Builds Jerusalem as the political and religious capital
        4. The Ark of the Covenant and Jerusalem
        5. Reorganized priesthood of Yahweh
      4. The reign of King Solomon (973–937 B.C.E.)
        1. The temple complex at Jerusalem
        2. Instituted oppressive taxation
        3. Maintained a large standing army
        4. Forced labor
  7. The Assyrian Empire
    1. A Semitic-speaking people
    2. The fight for existence
    3. The middle Assyrian period (1362–859 B.C.E.)
      1. Assuruballit I (1362-1327 B.C.E.)
        1. Extended power over northern Mesopotamia
      2. Tukulti-Ninurta I (1243–1207 B.C.E.)
        1. Conqueror of the first order
        2. Sacked Babylon
      3. Assurnasirpal II (883–859 B.C.E.)
        1. Revived Assyrian strength
        2. Founded the neo-Assyrian empire
    4. The neo-Assyrian empire (859–627 B.C.E.)
      1. Assyrian throne seized by Tiglath-Pileser III (744 B.C.E.)
        1. Conquered various western kingdoms
      2. The dynasty of Sargon II (722–705 B.C.E.)
        1. The Sargonids
      3. The Assyrian military-religious ethos
        1. Holy war and the exaction of tribute through terror
        2. The Assyrian army belonged to Assur
        3. The worship of Assur among conquered people
        4. Assyrian warfare
          1. Butchering and torturing enemies
          2. Large standing army of 100,000
    5. The end of Assyria and its legacy
      1. Sennacherib (704–681 B.C.E.)
        1. Rebuilt Nineveh
      2. Assurbanipal (669–627 B.C.E.)
        1. Strong military presence
        2. Internal reforms
        3. The library at Nineveh
      3. General hatred of the Assyrians
      4. Nineveh captured and burned (612 B.C.E.)
      5. The Chaldean Empire (612–539 B.C.E.)
  8. The Persians
    1. The origins of the Persian empire
      1. Emerged from obscurity when Cyrus became ruler of all Persians
      2. Threw off the lordship of the Medes
      3. Lydian gold and silver
      4. Cyrus invades Mesopotamia (539 B.C.E.)
    2. The consolidation of the Persian empire
      1. Darius I (521–486 B.C.E.)
        1. Consolidated military gains
        2. Improved state administration (satraps)
        3. Allowed various people to retain local institutions
        4. The erection of Persepolis
        5. The Royal Road (Susa to Sardis)
        6. Postal systems and spy networks
        7. Punishing Athens
        8. Marathon (490 B.C.E.)
    3. Zoroastrianism
      1. Zoroaster sought to purify traditional customs
        1. Eradicating polytheism, animal sacrifice, and magic
        2. There is one god—Ahura-Mazda ("the wise lord")
          1. Light, truth, and righteousness
          2. The counter deity—Ahriman
        3. A personal religion
        4. Important to the conduct of Persian government
        5. Toleration
  9. The Development of Hebrew Monotheism
    1. From monolatry to monotheism
      1. A world conditioned by polytheism
      2. Monolatry—exclusive worship of one god without denying existence of others
      3. The Levites and the Yahweh cult
      4. Transcendent theology
      5. Ethical considerations and commandments
      6. Regional distinctions in the Yahweh cult
      7. The Assyrian threat
      8. Demands for an exclusive monotheism
      9. The prophets
        1. Religious and political figures
        2. Only by worshiping Yahweh could the Hebrews combat Assyrian religious imperialism
        3. Doctrines
          1. Absolute monotheism
          2. Yahweh is the god of righteousness
          3. Yahweh demands ethical behavior
        4. Amos and the prophetic revolution
    2. Judaism takes shape
      1. Josiah, King of Judea (621–609 B.C.E.)
        1. A committed monotheist
        2. Used Jeremiah and other prophets at his court
      2. After Josiah
        1. Chaldeans under Nebuchadnezzar conquer Jerusalem
        2. The Babylonian Captivity
        3. Ezekiel—salvation only through religious purity
        4. Jewish religious teachings as ethical obligations toward God
  10. Conclusion
    1. The age of empires
    2. The international system
    3. New religions
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