Ancient Middle East Flashcards
Where is Anatolia?
As seen in the picture, it is the northernmost part of the Middle East
Where is the African Middle East located?
Its the only part of the Middle East that’s in Africa, home to the present-day country of Egypt
Where is the Arabian Peninsula?
Located in between Egypt and Mesopotamia, it is surrounded by three bodies of water, making it a “peninsula”
Where is the Mesopotamia area located?
Home to the present-day countries of Iraq and Iran, the Mesopotamian area is the easternmost part of the Middle East
Where is China located?
China is one of the easternmost countries of the Asian continent. It is also called East Asia. The only other country that’s east of China is Japan.
Where is the Middle East located?
The Middle East is the westernmost part of the Asian continent
What are the Sumerians greatest accomplishments?
- Oldest civilization ever in the history of the world
- Developed the first-ever written language called Cuneiform
- Developed a system of numbers with base 10, 60, and 360 that is still used today when calculating circles or hours
- Constructed massive towers called Ziggurats, which were small pyramids used for religious reasons
- Rather than a large landmass, the Sumerians were in control of large cities, called city-states
What was unique about the way Sumerians treated their women?
They expected their women to be veiled (cover their faces)
Why did Sumer collapse?
They were conquered by a group of people called the Akkadians
What are the Akkadians known for?
Akkadians are known for the first-ever military figure recorded in World History called Sargon the Great. He maintained the largest professional army in history at the time, with 5,400 soldiers
It was during the Akkadian Civilization that the story, “The Epic of Gilgamesh” was written
What was the Epic of Gilgamesh?
The Epic of Gilgamesh is a story about a massive flood that kills almost everyone on the entire planet. It’s important because it is the oldest story ever written.
It was written in 2100 BCE, or 2,100 years before** the birth of Jesus Christ and 600 years **before the bible was written.
What caused the decline of the Akkadians?
The Akkadians were conquered by a group of people called the Babylonians
What are the accomplishments of the Babylonian Civilization?
- King Hammurabi, the most famous of their kings, wrote the first-ever code of laws called “The Code of Hammurabi.”
The Babylonians would eventually be conquered by the Persians.
What was the Code of Hammurabi?
The Code of Hammurabi is the first set of laws ever established by humans. It was written 1,800 years before the birth of Jesus Christ, and 300 years before the bible was written.
It had strict laws like, “If you poke someone’s eye out, then they get to poke your eye out”.
What part of the Middle East do Sumerians, Akkadians, and Babylonians belong?
Mesopotamia
What is Old Kingdom Egypt known for?
- The Cult of the Pharaoh was born during the Old Kingdom. This was when people started to believe the Pharaoh was a God
- The Pyramids at Giza were constructed during the Old Kingdom
What caused the decline of the Old Kingdom?
Crop failures, the cost of the Pyramids, and Civil War brought an end to the Old Kingdom
What is Middle Kingdom Egypt known for?
- Large drainage project created more farmland, increasing food production
- Egyptian traders made new contacts in Europe
What caused the decline of the Middle Kingdom?
Corruption and rebellions were common during the Middle Kingdom.
Eventually, an outside nomadic group called the Hyksos invaded Egypt and conquered them. The Hyksos had really new weapons Egyptians had never seen before made of Bronze.
What is the New Kingdom known for?
- Powerful pharaohs created a large empire that expanded to the Mesopotamia area
- The first female pharaoh called Hatshepsut encouraged trade. By encouraging trade, Hatshepsut made the New Kingdom the one that had the most trade of all Egyptian Kingdoms
Who was the next major conqueror of Egypt, after the decline of the New Kingdom?
- The Persians would be the next major power to control Egypt. This would be an end to the Egyptian Kingdoms.
While the Persians unified the entire Middle East, the Chinese were still having their Period of Warring States, where they developed ideas like Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism.
What is the name commonly used to refer to the Achaemenid Empire?
Persia.
Whenever anyone mentions the Achaemenid Empire, they are talking about the Persians
Who established/created the Persian Empire?
Cyrus The Great
What are the major defining characteristics of the Persian Empire?
- Persians were very tolerant of other peoples beliefs, languages, and culture
- They were very focused on dictatorship. They believed that only one person should make the laws
- They focused on building infrastructure. This means they focused on buildings roads and bridges to improve travel time. The roads they built were called “Royal Roads”.
What was the effect of having “Royal Roads” in Persia?
It greatly reduced travel time, which helped to increase trade and commercial activity. By making it faster to trade, people made more money.
What religion was commonly used in the Persian Empire?
Zoroastrianism
According to the prophet, Zoroaster, every individual had a personal choice to make between good and evil. There would be a “last judgment” where, after you died, you would be judged based on your choices. If you chose to follow the good God, you would be “saved”.
Zoroastrianism was a monotheistic religion.
What was the most powerful of the Greek City states in the time of Alexander the Great?
Macedon
What does Hellenism, Hellenized, or Hellenistic refer to?
The influence of Greek culture on an area.
Before Alexander the Great, very few areas outside of Greece were Hellenistic.
After Alexander the Great, areas like the African Middle East and Mesopotamia will be heavily Hellenized.
What are the characteristics of Hellenistic culture?
- A greater emphasis on culture through art, writing, and philosophy
* Examples are of the three philosophers: Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle - Greater emphasis on science paved the way for new discoveries
* Examples are the helio-centric model of the universe proposed by Aristarchus AND the diffusion of the technology of the Archimedes screw
What’s important to know about the Archimedes screw?
It was a technology developed by the Egyptians during the time of the New Kingdom, BUT during the Hellenistic period, that technology spread to other parts of the Hellenized world, resulting in the widespread use of the technology.
It’s called Archimedes because he is the one who helped to spread it. He didn’t invent it.
What happened to the Kingdom of Alexander the Great after he died?
What is the name of this time period?
His generals split up his land and took pieces of the land for themselves
This time period is called Hellenistic Greece
What do you need to know about Socrates?
Socrates believed that you should QUESTION EVERYTHING.
Because he questioned everything, including the Greek Gods, he was sent to court and the jury found him guilty and sentenced him to die.
Rather than run away, Socrates died
What do you need to know about Plato?
Plato was the student of Socrates.
Because they killed Plato’s teacher, Socrates, Plato was very suspicious of letting “the people” decide anything.
He believed that the government shouldn’t be run “by the people” but should be run by a Philosopher King. A philosopher king would be a king who was really smart and could decide the important things for the city-state.
What do you need to know about Aristotle?
Aristotle believed that in order to have a peaceful society (where innocent people like Socrates weren’t killed) people needed to practice “The Golden Mean”.
The Golden Mean is when you avoid the path of excess or the path of deficiency.
What is the best way to remember the Golden Mean?
If you’re sitting in a restaurant, eating, and a gang of thugs trying to rob an old lady, Aristotle says there are three things you can do.
Do nothing and continue eating. This would be COWARDICE, which is one extreme.
The other extreme would be to go out there and try to fight the entire gang by yourself, which would be FOOLHARDY, which is the other extreme.
Artistole would advise you call 911, which he would consider to be COURAGE, the Golden Mean
How many phases of Roman History are there?
There are two major phases:
The Roman Republic, which came first. Then, the Roman Empire, which came last
What are the important things to know about the Roman Republic?
- Leaders were chosen by the rich
- They had a stronger military, compared to the Roman Empire(which would come later)
- For most of the Roman Republic, the Romans were at war with Carthage. This was called “The Punic Wars”
Where did the Roman Republic get its military strength?
The Roman Republic got its military strength from citizen soldiers.
Citizen-Soldiers were ordinary Roman citizens who volunteered to fight for the Roman Republic.
If the soldiers survived the battle, the Roman Republic, in exchange, would often pay soldiers back in land.
Whats important to know about the 1st Punic War?
- 1st Punic War was fought over the island of Sicily.
- It was technically started by Carthage (although there is some dispute)
- Romans won, establishing themselves as a naval power
What’s important about the 2nd Punic War
Started by the Romans
Hannibal ( a general in Carthage’s army) crosses the Alps Mountains with his army of War Elephants (first time ever done)
Despite Hannibal’s accomplishments, the Romans are still victorious.
Whats important about the 3rd Punic War?
Started by the Romans
Carthage is annihilated (destroyed) by the Roman Empire
The Romans put salt over Carthage’s fields, destroying them
What’s important to know about the Roman Empire?
Leaders were chosen based on military power/familiy ties (similar to China’s dynasties)
Compared to the Roman Republic, The Roman Empire had a weaker military
Why was the Roman Empire not as strong as the Roman Republic?
They were not as strong because they depended on mercenaries(who were barbarians) to fight in their army.
They did not have citizen-soldiers because not as many people wanted to fight in the army
Eventually, the mercenaries(barbarians) would conquer the Roman Empire, ending it.
What do you need to know about Judaism?
- Founded by Abraham
- The holy book is the Torah
- Monotheistic religion (only believe in one God
Although they did not believe that Jesus Christ was the son of God, the Torah, is actually the Old Testament of the Bible.
They were persecuted by the Romans during the Roman Republic
What do you need to know about Christianity?
- Founded by Jesus Christ
- Holy book is The Bible
- Monotheistic religion (only believe in one God)
They were persecuted by the Roman Empire, and the Roman Empire itself would crucify Jesus Christ, who founded the Christian religion
What is an aqueduct?
is a structure constructed by the Romans that carries water to cities
What are the Roman baths?
Places where Roman citizens would go to take a bath. It was a public place where people would go to take baths.
What happened to Julius Caesar?
He got assassinated by the people of the Roman Senate.
