Mediterranean Civilizations

Unit 2 Section 4

During the time that Hammurabi was losing parts of his empire, the civilizations developing on the Mediterranean Sea were prospering from fishing and sea trade. One of the major trades was in snails, which could be used to make a purple dye in cloth, which was highly valued.

Phoenician Sea Power

Phoenicia was one of the more prosperous civilizations on the Mediterranean Sea. One of its most major cities was Tyre, and besides access to snails, the Phoenicians had a great supply of cedar forest that they would cut down and sell as well. Cedar was another high commodity in this time period because it could contain the cloth made by the Phoenicians and it was a deterrent for vermin and moths.

Masters of Trade

As trade grew the Phoenicians went out to sea to increase their profits. Between 1100 and 800 BCE Phoenicia was a great sea power and sailed from their home land, all across the Mediterranean and into the Atlantic. The sailors on these ships would tell legends and tales of sea monsters and horrible ocean disasters, which kept people from other regions away from trade in the Atlantic.

Marketplaces

Trade brought very valuable goods from lands around the Mediterranean Sea into Phoenician cities like Tyre and Sidon. Bazaars were rich with foods from faraway places. These foods included figs, olives, honey, and spices. Merchants would sell strange animals like giraffes and warthogs from Africa, and bears from Europe. These sites would fascinate visitors.

The Phoenician Alphabet

The Phoenicians relied on writing to conduct their trade. They developed a system that had 22 symbols that represented language sounds, unlike the system of cuneiform that had many more symbols that were not connected to sound. This was known as the Phoenician alphabet, a set of symbols that represents the sounds of the language. This alphabet forms the basis of the alphabets that are in existence today, including the English alphabet.

The simplicity of the Phoenician alphabet made it much easier to understand than cuneiform and because it was connected more to spoken language, it was also easier to learn. Many more people were now able to write and this helped trade to be more productive. Additionally it helped to streamline communications between different civilizations.

The Rise of the Israelites

South of Phoenicia lived a small group of people in the hills of the Jordan River Valley. They were first called Hebrews and later became known as Israelites. This group never built a massive empire, but they have had a long lasting impact on human society and culture. Much of their story was passed down in the Torah, the most sacred text of the Israelites. The Torah is also known to many as The Old Testament in the Christian bible. By comparing biblical/religious writing to archaeological evidence, historians can piece together events from the past.

Abraham

The Israelites traced their beginnings to Mesopotamia, and lived as shepherds for hundreds of years, herding flocks and trading outside of Sumerian cities. According to the Torah, a leader named Abraham taught his people to practice monotheism, a belief in one god. Mono- is the Greek pre-fix for "one". The Torah also says that God told Abraham to leave Mesopotamia and have his people settle elsewhere.

Canaan to Egypt

The Torah would go on to say that Abraham led his people from Mesopotamia to settle in the sacred land of Canaan, but then a famine spread across the land. A famine is a time when there is so little food that many people die from starvation. This famine caused many people to flee south to Egypt. While the Israelites lived in peace for a few hundred years, eventually an Egyptian king would force them into slavery because he was suspicious of their religion and power.

Lost in the Desert

According to the sacred text, a leader named Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt in an event referred to as The Exodus.

They then wandered the desert of the Sinai Peninsula for the next 40 years. While in the desert it is said that God gave them the 10 Commandments, which was a code of laws for them to live by. The Israelites would eventually return to Canaan and built their own cities.

Canaan and Division

The Israelites were united under their first king, Saul, who proved to be a leader who protected the people from their enemies. The next king, David established the capital in the city of Jerusalem.

After David died, his son Solomon inherited the throne, and upon Solomon's death, the country split into two kingdoms. The Northern kingdom was called Israel and the Southern kingdom was called Judah. This division made the people more open to attack and the Assyrians gained control over Israel and Judah around 730 BCE.

Exile

By 722 BCE the Israelites were resisting Assyrian rule, so the Assyrians exiled thousands of people to various areas of the empire. Exile means to force people to live in another place or country. The Assyrians controlled Judah until 612 BCE until it fell to the Babylonians.

Later the king of Judah rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar and he responded by destroying Jerusalem and exiling the people of Judah to Babylonia.

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