The Fertile Crescent

1
The Fertile Crescent

• Chapter 2, Section 4
• Mediterranean Civilizations
• TN SPI 6.1.8, 6.2.2

2
Objectives

• Understand how sea power of the Phoenicians
  helped spread civilization throughout the
  Mediterranean area.
• Learn about the major events in the history of
  the Israelites.

3
Key Terms

• Alphabet a set of symbols that represent the
  sounds of a language
• Monotheism the belief in one god
• Famine a time when there is so little food many
  people starve
• Exile to force someone to live in another
  country

4
Phoenician Sea Power

• The Phoenician Empire was located on the eastern
  shores of the Mediterranean Sea.
• The Phoenicians outlook was westward toward the
  Mediterranean Sea and the cities that were
  growing around it.
• They settled in a land that had limited, but very
  important resources.
• Dense cedar forests
• Snails that provided a purple dye (high )

5
(No Transcript)
6
(No Transcript)
7
Masters of Trade

• From 1100 to 800 B.C., Phoenicia was a great sea
  power.
• They sailed ships around the Mediterranean Sea
  and into the Atlantic.
• They returned with stories of horrible sea
  monsters that lived in the oceans depths.
• These stories discouraged most people from trying
  to compete for trade in the Atlantic.

8
(No Transcript)
9
Phoenician Alphabet pg. 50

• The Phoenicians developed an alphabet that used
  22 symbols to represent the sounds of their
  language.
• They relied on writing to help them conduct trade
  with people who spoke different languages.
• It was far more simple than cuneiform.
• Before the alphabet only scribes learned to
  write. Now many more people could write using he
  alphabet.

10
Rise of the Israelites

• Just south of Phoenicia, a small group of people
  settled around the Jordan River valley.
• Called Hebrews at first, they later became know
  as Israelites.
• Although they never built a huge empire, they had
  great influence on our civilization.

11
Abraham

• Historians believe Abraham, the leader of the
  Hebrews, lived around 2000 B.C.
• The Hebrews were shepherds and merchants who
  grazed their flocks around Mesopotamia.
• Abraham taught his people to practice monotheism,
  or the belief in on God.
• Abraham led the Hebrews from Mesopotamia to
  settle in Canaan.

12
Canaan
13
The Israelites

• According to scripture, a famine spread across
  Canaan which caused the Israelites to move south
  to Egypt.
• While in Egypt they were forced into labor.
• Under the leadership of Moses, the Israelites
  left Egypt. There departure was called the
  Exodus.
• For the next 40 years, they wandered through the
  desert of the Sinai Peninsula.

14
(No Transcript)
15
Ten Commandments

• Moses received the Ten Commandments. Ten laws
  that the Israelites were to follow.
• Eventually, they returned to Canaan and began to
  farm and built their own cites.
• Over time King Saul led the Israelites followed
  by King David.
• Jerusalem was established as their capital city.

16
(No Transcript)
17
A Divided Kingdom

• After the death of King David, his son Solomon
  inherited the kingdom
• After Solomons death the country split into two
  kingdoms.
• Northern Kingdom Israel
• Southern Kingdom Judah
• Eventually the Assyrians conquered the Israelites
  and gained control of Judah.

18
Exile

• The Israelites resisted Assyrian rule and were
  exiled (forced) to other parts of the empire.
• Later King Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the city of
  Jerusalem and exiled the people of Judah to
  Babylonia.