From Bronze to Iron
The Importance of Iron
• From Bronze Age to Iron Age
• Copper + Tin = Bronze
• Iron Ore + Charcoal + Limestone = Iron
• Early use of iron
• Why use iron weapons?
• Harder to make; rust
• BUT, easier to mass produce
• Less dependence on trade routes
Hittite Expansion
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Hittites = Indo-European
Ca. 1600 BCE = destroyed the Babylonian Empire
Heavily used iron weapons
1286 BCE = Battle of Kadesh
• Ramses II vs. Hattusilis III
• First truce in the Western world
Invasion of the Sea People!
• “Sea people” = from islands in the Mediterranean/Aegean
Invasion of the Sea People!
• “Sea people” = from islands in the Mediterranean/Aegean
• 1207 BCE = colonized parts of the Nile Delta
• Cut off Egyptian access to Mediterranean
Invasion of the Sea People!
• “Sea people” = came from islands in the Mediterranean/Aegean
• 1207 BCE = colonized parts of the Nile Delta
• Cut off Egyptian access to Mediterranean
• Bronze-plated armor
• Eventually halted by Ramses III of Egypt
• Results of invasion:
• Devastation
• Cultural assimilation
• Expanded use of iron
The Phoenicians
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Lived along North African coastline
“purple people”
Aggressive traders/colonists
Foundation of our alphabet
• Initially no vowels (added later by Greeks)
• Carthage
The Philistines
• Subset of the Sea People
• Enemy of the Hebrews
• Controlled Palestine
The Assyrian Empire
• Hittites were terrible administrators
• Power vacuum in the Middle East
• Assyrian ascendency
• 883-859 BCE = King Ashurnasirpal II ruled
• Capital city = Kalhu
• Enormous walls
• 746-727 BCE = Tiglath-pileser III ruled
• Squashed internal disputes
• Forced assimilation
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Modernized military
New religion
Administrative efficiency
Forced population transfer
Terror
The Assyrian Empire
• 721 BCE = Israel conquered by Assyrians
• 668-627 BCE = Ashurbanipal ruled
• HUGE building projects
• 609 BCE = Assyrian Empire collapsed
• Everyone hated them . . .
Neo-Babylonia (Chaldeons)
• 626-604 BCE = King Nabopolassar helped topple Assyrians
• 604-562 BCE = King Nebuchadnezzar ruled
• Captured Jerusalem; destroyed Temple of Solomon
• Used best strategies of all earlier Empires
• Capital city = Babylon
• 539 BCE = sacked by
the Persians
The Persians
• 559-530 BCE = Cyrus II ruled
• Achaemenid Dynasty
• Expanded into Greek territories (Ionia) and Anatolia
• Conquered Babylon
• 529-522 BCE = Cambyses II ruled
• Conquered Egypt
• 522-486 BCE = Darius I ruled
• Empire stretched from Egypt to Ukraine
The Persians
• 559-530 BCE = Cyrus II ruled
• Achaemenid Dynasty
• Expanded into Greek territories (Ionia) and Anatolia
• Conquered Babylon
• 529-522 BCE = Cambyses II ruled
• Conquered Egypt
• 522-486 BCE = Darius I ruled
• Empire stretched from Egypt to the Ukraine
• Multicultural palace to reflect Empire’s diversity
• Administrative style:
• Tolerant
• Light tax burden
• Appointed governors
Zoroastrianism
• Monotheistic
• Zoroaster = Persian prophet (lived
sometime b/t 1000 and 600 BCE)
• Wrote the “Book of Knowledge”
• Advocated worship of Ahura Mazda
(“the Wise Lord”)
• Source of evil = Ahriman
(“Fiendish Spirit”)
• Allows for other, lesser gods
• Angels & demons, effectively
• Emphasis on free will & day of judgment
• Tolerant
• Influenced other religions