1. independent city-states Sumer the city-state belonged to a god

2. polytheistic worshipped many gods Sumer

3. cuneiform: first written language Sumer ziggurat: example of Sumerian architecture Sargon: established first empire

4. cuneiform building techniques the wheel 360 degrees in a circle division of hours and minutes Sumerian influence

5. Hammurabi united Mesopotamia compiled a law code most famous Amorite king

6. Hammurabi’s Law Code retaliation = basis social, moral, domestic, and commercial standard

7. Hammurabi’s Law Code “To cause justice to prevail in the land, to destroy the wicked and evil, that the strong might not oppress the weak.”

8. Hammurabi’s and Moses’ Law Codes Hammurabi’s = man’s conduct Moses’ = man’s heart

9. Epic of Gilgamesh legendary figure seeking immortality records a universal flood

10. Epic of Gilgamesh “Tear down (this) house, build a ship! Give up possessions, seek thou life. Despise property and keep the soul alive! Aboard the ship take thou the seed of all living things.”

11. Amorite accomplishments extensive trade algebra, geometry, and astronomy

12. Upper Egypt hugs the Nile River cut off from the outside world

13. Lower Egypt spread across the Nile Delta easy contact with other nations

14. Nile River only available water important highway

15. Menes united Egypt capital = White Walls (Memphis)

16. Ancient Egypt Old Kingdom Middle Kingdom New Kingdom

17. Old Kingdom “Age of the Pharaohs” or “Age of the Pyramids”

18. Pyramids vs. Ziggurats pyramids = smooth sides ziggurats = terraces and stairs pyramids = distant worship ziggurats = personal experience in worship

19. Khufu or Cheops built the Great Pyramid at Giza

20. First Intermediate Period First Intermediate Period unrest and cultural inactivity pharaohs had shorter reigns

21. Middle Kingdom Importance: great artistic output Joseph and his family move to Egypt

22. Second Intermediate Period Second Intermediate Period Hyksos “Shepherd Kings” knowledge of warfare

23. New Kingdom “Age of the Empire” capital moved to Thebes

24. Hatshepsut early New Kingdom ruler first female ruler of Egypt

25. Thutmose III “Napoleon of Egypt” probably the pharaoh from whom Moses fled

26. Amenhotep II athletic and militaristic probably the pharaoh who refused to let Israel go

27. Rameses II “the Great” embarked on great building projects

28. pharaoh merchants common people foreign slaves priests and nobles

29. Social class status depended on favor of the pharaoh favored women

30. Egyptian Legacy medical advances solar calendar hieroglyphics and papyrus geometry and astronomy

31. Egyptian Religion polytheistic = many gods pharaohs = most powerful judged in the afterlife importance of embalming

32. Hittites from Asia Minor ruled by a military commander iron production

33. Phoenicians city-states on the coast a commercial empire developed an alphabet

34. Tyre massive sea walls impressive navy

35. Tyre’s destruction Nebuchadnezzar Alexander the Great

36. Arameans the capital = Damascus called “the crossroads of civilizations” “go-between” language

37. Hebrews/Israelites Divisions of Hebrew history: Patriarchal Egyptian Wilderness Conquest Judges

38. Divisions of Hebrew history: United Kingdom Divided Kingdom Exile Persian Hellenistic Hebrews/Israelites

39. Divisions of Hebrew history: Maccabean Roman Hebrews/Israelites

40. destroyed by Assyria in 722 B.C. Israel (northern 10 tribes) Israel (northern 10 tribes)

41. Judah (southern 2 tribes) Judah (southern 2 tribes) destroyed by Chaldea in 586 B.C.

42. Assyrian Empire assimilated and adapted previous cultures known for military might

43. Assyrian Captains Tiglathpileser = Damascus in 732 B.C. Sargon II = Samaria in 722 B.C. Sennacherib = Jerusalem

44. Jonah sent to Nineveh whole city repented later returned to wickedness God judged with Chaldean invasion God’s Mercy to Nineveh

45. Chaldean Empire capital = Babylon

46. Nebuchadnezzar ~greatest ruler~ 586 B.C. destroyed Jerusalem

47. diaspora scattering, especially of the Jews

48. Babylon two sets of outer walls protected by the Euphrates River contained the hanging gardens study of astronomy

49. Persians Indo-European people from present-day Iran Cyrus = greatest ruler

50. universal coinage Lydian Contribution

51. Persian Government satrapies = small divisions or provinces some local self-rule network of roads

52. Persian Culture borrowed and adapted from conquered nations Sumerian cuneiform Lydian currency Phoenician and Greek navies Egyptian calendar

53. Zoroastrianism Ahura Mazda = god Avesta = sacred writings Persian Religion

54. Zoroastrianism vs. others monotheistic like Israelites afterlife and judgment of works like Egyptians