The Place of Beginnings

1.Fertile Crescent 2.Earliest Civilization Cities Specialized Labor Government Arts & Sciences Religious Beliefs Written Language 3.Earth destroyed by Flood 4.New City in Land of Shinar 5.Tower of Babel & Scattering

The Restoration of Civilization

1.Dozen independent city-states 2.Polytheistic 3.Cuneiform writing on clay tablets 4.Farming & agriculture 5.Ziggurats 6.Contributions: Cuneiform writing Building techniques Wheel Division of circle into 360 degrees Division of hours & minutes

1.Conquered Sumerian Civilization 2.“Old Babylonian” Empire 3.Capital at Babylon 4.Hammurabi (6 th king) united Mesopotamia & wrote Code of Law 5.Epic of Gilgamesh 6. Contributions: Trade in gold, silver, tin, textiles Algebra, geometry, astronomy

Place of God’s Preservation for His People

1.Narrow strip of land along Nile River 2.“Gift of the Nile” Annual flooding provide fertile soil. Transportation & communication 3.Three periods of history: Old Kingdom (Age of the Pharaohs) Middle Kingdom (Age of the People) New Kingdom (Age of the Empire) 4.Polytheistic 5.Contributions Advances in medicine First solar calendar Hieroglyphics & papyrus Architectural achievements

The Promised Land and its Inhabitants

1.Descendents of Ham 2.Ruled by kings (not priests or gods) 3.Controlled supplies of iron ore and produced iron 4.Used iron weapons & horse-drawn chariots to extend empire. 5.Weakened by fighting with Egypt. 6.Absorbed by more advanced cultures.

1.Greatest merchants of the day 2.Traded throughout Mediterranean Region 3.Planted colonies through Mediterranean. 4.Natural resources: Mollusks (purple dye) Cedar & fir trees 5.Developed alphabet (replaced cuneiform & hieroglyphics)

1.Descendents of Shem 2.Commercial empire on land 3.Centrally located along trade routes 4.Aramean language became common language of the area. 5.Conquered by Assyrians.

1.Descendents of Abraham 2.Bondage in Egypt 3.Theocracy 4.Promised Land 5.Judges 6.David & Solomon 7.Division & Judgment

God’s Instruments of Punishment and Preservation

1.Largest empire up to 550 BC 2.Borrowed gods, language, arts, science from previous Mesopotamian cultures. 3.Known for military might and cruelty. 4.God used them to punish Israel. 5.God sent Jonah to preach to Nineveh & they repented for a time. 6.Destroyed by Chaldeans.

1.Capital city of Babylon was oldest & grandest city of ancient world. 2.Reached its height during reign of Nebuchanezzar in 6 th c. BC 3.Known for knowledge of astronomy. 4.God used them to punish other nations Allied with other nations to defeat Assyrians. Took Judah into exile in Babylon. 5.Fell in one night to Medes & Persians.

1.Cyrus the Great one of greatest conquerors in history. 2.Persian culture borrowed from previous civilizations. 3.God used Cyrus to free His people from captivity in Babylon. 4.Ruled the world until Alexander.

1.Began under Philip II of Macedonia. 2.Expanded by his son, Alexander. 3.Conquered Persian Empire. 4.Marched to India before his men refused to continue. 5.Divided at Alexander’s death among four generals. 6.Eventually conquered by Rome.