Chapter 2, Section 3

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Chapter 2, Section 3

• New Centers of Civilization

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I. The Role of Nomadic People

• An ancient civilization in central Asia
  flourished 4000 years ago
• The people built with mud-brick, used bronze
  tools, built irrigation works, and probably had
  writing
• Pastoral Nomads- groups that hunted and gathered,
  did small farming, and domesticated animals
• They moved along routes to pasture their animals

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• Indo-Europeans-People who spoke languages derived
  from the same parent language
• Indo-Europeans were one of the most important
  groups of pastoral nomads
• One Indo-European group in modern day Turkey
  formed the Hittite kingdom

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The Hittites

• Their empire lasted from 1600-1200 B.C.E.
• Their empire was in western Asia and its capitol
  was Hattusha
• They were the first Indo-Europeans to use Iron

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II. The Phoenicians

• Phoenicians lived on the Mediterranean Coast in
  the area of Palestine
• Phoenicians were wealthy traders because they
  lived on the sea and were excellent ship builders
• Phonecians set up colonies as far away as Great
  Britain and Carthage
• They are most well known for the alphabet with 22
  letters, our modern alphabet is based on the
  Phoenican alphabet

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III. The Children of Israel

• Israelites- Semitic people who lived in Palestine
  (also known as Hebrews because of their Hebrew
  language)
• Established a kingdom called Israel
• Their capitol was Jerusalem
• King Solomon- ruled from 970-930 B.C.E.
• He is most well known for building the Temple in
  Jerusalem
• The Temple was seen as the center of Judaism

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• After Solomon, the kingdom divided into two parts
  the northern and the southern kingdoms
• The southern kingdom was called Judah
• The northern kingdom was conquered in 722 B.C.E.
  by the Assyrians and the people there were
  scattered
• These people became known as the ten lost
  tribes of Israel because they lost their Hebrew
  identity

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• In 586 B.C.E. the kingdom of Judah was conquered
  by the Assyrians
• Most of Jerusalem was destroyed (including the
  Temple of Solomon)
• Later, the people were permitted to return and
  rebuild the temple
• When the temple was rebuilt, the people became
  known as the Jews

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The Jewish Religion

• The Jews believe in one God, Yahweh, which makes
  them monotheistic
• Their Covenant is an agreement between God and
  the Jewish people.
• It is fulfilled by obeying the laws of the Hebrew
  Bible and the Ten Commandments
• Religious teachers called prophets were sent by
  God
• Isaiah is one of the most famous Jewish prophets

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• The religion of the Hebrews was very unique
• Most religions of that time and place were
  polytheistic
• Because the religion was written down, every
  person (not just priests) had access to the
  religious knowledge
• The Jews refused to accept the Gods or Goddesses
  of their neighbors