Mediterranean Civilizations Mediterranean Sea: the sea that is surrounded by Europe to the north, Africa to the south, Asia to the east, Straits of Gibraltar to west (opening to the Atlantic)

Phoenician Sea Power Phoenicia: Mediterranean sea- faring civilization Created an empire throughout Mediterranean Tyre was their major city

Phoenician Sea Power Made profit from trading sea snails that made purple/blue dye Thrived from about 1100 – 800 BCE Kept other people from sailing Mediterranean by telling tales of sea monsters

Phoenician Sea Power Brought items from throughout the Mediterranean to their cities. Exotic items sold in bazaars Alphabet: set of symbols meant to represent sounds Phoenicians used alphabet of 22 letters to conduct trade; earliest alphabet

Rise of the Israelites Polytheism: Belief in many gods Monotheism: Belief in one god Israelites were monotheistic Early Israelites were shepherds & merchants

Rise of the Israelites South of Phoenicia a group called the Hebrews settled in the Jordan Valley Later called Israelites Israelites=Jews=Hebrews Much of their history is told through the Hebrew Bible, the Torah

Rise of the Israelites Abraham was an early leader Abraham took Israelites from Mesopotamia to the land of Canaan He convinced them to believe in ONE god. Famine: a time where there is not enough to eat, and people starve Famine forced Israelites to leave Canaan and move to Egypt

Rise of the Israelites Israelites stayed in Egypt for a few hundred years Pharaoh: “King” of Egypt Pharaoh forced them into slave labor Prophet: a religious leader or teacher

Rise of the Israelites Israelite leader/prophet, Moses led them out of Egypt in the EXODUS (Israelite “retreat” from Egypt) They wandered the Sinai Peninsula for 40 years Torah says that God gave Moses the Ten Commandments, a set of laws Egypt Sinai Peninsula Canaan

Rise of the Israelites After Exodus, they returned to Canaan Began farming and built cities King David established capital in Jerusalem Jerusalem will become a holy city for Jews (Israelites), Christians, and Muslims

Rise of the Israelites The Israelites’ faith becomes known as Judaism (Jewish faith) They believed in one true god who was present everywhere, knew everything, and had complete power Believed that all people (even kings) were equal in before God

Rise of the Israelites Kingdom later split into two parts Northern area was called Israel Southern was called Judah Assyrians invaded and took over Judah

Rise of the Israelites Exile: to force people to live in another place or country Israelites resisted Assyrian control; thousands were exiled to other places in empire 612 BCE, Chaldean Babylonians conquered Assyria and Judah

Rise of the Israelites 587 BCE, king of Judah rebelled against the Babylonians Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar punished the Israelites by destroying Jerusalem and exile many to Babylonia The Romans took over region later; they drove Israelites out between 100 – 300 AD

Rise of the Israelites The Roman exile forced the Jews to resettle throughout the world In the 1940s AD modern Israelites came back to the Eastern Mediterranean and created the modern country of Israel Judaism had a strong influence on two modern monotheistic religions: Christianity and Islam