History of the Ancient Near East

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Perspective
The history of the Ancient Near East is not of one civilization, but of many. Among these are the lesser known civilizations of Armenia, the Hittites, the Lydians, and Phrygians. Then there was Phoenicia, a nation of traders who brought the beginnings of our alphabet to Greece. And there was Sumer, which gave us writing. Brutish Assyria gave the Near East a legacy of brutality. But Babylonia’s King Hammurabi gave us a comprehensive body of law that anticipated many of the precepts of Western law.
While Hammurabi’s Code provided the beginnings of the Western legal tradition, Islam answered to the call of the Prophet Muhammed, and it grew to become an empire that stretched from Spain to Samarkand. Nowhere is the glory of Islam more evident than in its mosques (though the iconic Hagia Sophia in Istanbul was actually a creation of the Roman emperor Justinian). What’s more, Islam’s scientific genius enabled great advances in medicine and optics. And, its literary and philosophical ethos kept alive the giants of Western philosophy while Europe slumbered through its Dark Ages. Fro this, the empire of Islam gave rise to the ponderous Ottoman Empire that would bring Suleiman the Great to the gates of Vienna, and endure until the end of World War I.
Judea gave us Jerusalem, the locus of each of the region’s main religions of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity (whose adherents once shared the city in relative peace and harmony). As a province of the Roman Empire, Judea became troublesome and it rebelled against Rome, leading to the destruction of Jerusalem’s magnificent Temple. Jesus of Nazareth would prove no less nettlesome to Rome.
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Index
Near East: Index | Society | Culture | Economy | Armenia | Akkad |
Assyria: Society • Cities • Class • Culture • Religion • Power • Bureaucracy • Governance • Law • Military • Economy • Agriculture • Industry • Trade | Babylonia: Society • Culture • Architecture • Art • Language • Literature • Music • Science and Technology • Religion • Deities • Funerary Customs • Magic • Magic and the Evil Eye • Myth • Creation Myth • Personal Religion • Temples • Temple Wealth • Power • Invasion • Code of Hammurabi: Justice • Laws • Commerce • Marriage and Family • Economy • Agriculture • Business Documents • Construction • Finance • Labor • Mining • Trade • Transport | Hittite Empire: Society • Culture • Power | Islam: Culture • Philosophy • Science and Technology • Pre-Islamic Religion • Power: Rise • Governance • Abbasid Caliphate • Decline • Umayyad Caliphate | Judea: Society • Origins • People of Abraham • Women • Sexuality • Marriage • Family • Hellenistic Judea: Culture • Literature • Religion • Judaism: People of the Book • Genesis • Prophets • Jeremiah • Isaiah • Mosaic Code • Jerusalem • Temple of Jerusalem • Texts • Hebrew Bible • Power • Babylonian Captivity • Reform • Economy | Lydia: Culture • Power | Mesopotamia: Society: Adornment • Family • Food • Morals • Women • Culture: Architecture: Temples | Education • Astronomy • Mathematics • Medicine • Economy • Nations | Palestine: Society | Phoenicia: Society • Communities • Culture • Religion • Economy • Industry • Trade | Phrygia: Religion | Scythia | Sumer: Society • Cities: Features • First Cities • Dress • People • Class • Culture: Architecture • Learning • Literature • Science and Technology • Spread • Writing • Legacy • Religion: Beliefs • Deities • Temples • Power • Governance • Economy: Agriculture • Trade • Wealth | Syria
History of the Ancient Near East

Ancient Near East: Index

Society

Culture

Economy
Armenia

Armenia
Akkad

Akkad
Assyria

Assyria: Index

Society

Society: Cities

Society: Class

Culture

Religion

Power

Power: Bureaucracy

Power: Governance

Power: Law

Power: Military

Economy

Economy: Agriculture

Economy: Industry

Economy: Trade
Babylonia

Babylonia: Index

Society

Culture

Culture: Architecture

Culture: Art

Culture: Language

Culture: Literature

Culture: Music

Culture: Science and Technology

Religion

Religion: Deities

Religion: Funerary Customs

Magic

Magic and the Evil Eye

Religion: Myth

Myth: Creation

Religion: Personal Religion

Religion: Temples

Temples: Wealth

Power

Power: Invasion

Law: Code of Hammurabi

Code of Hammurabi: Justice

Code of Hammurabi: Laws

Code of Hammurabi: Commerce

Code of Hammurabi: Marriage and Family

Economy

Economy: Agriculture

Economy: Business Documents

Economy: Construction

Economy: Finance

Economy: Labor

Economy: Mining

Economy: Trade

Economy: Transport
Hittite Empire

Hittite Empire: Index

Society

Culture

Power
Islam

Islam: Index

Culture

Philosophy

Science and Technology

Religion: Pre-Islamic Religion

Power

Power: Rise of Islam

Power: Governance

Power: Abbasid Caliphate

Abbasid Caliphate: Decline

Umayyad Caliphate
Judea

Judea: Index

Society

Society: Origins

Society: People of Abraham

Society: Women

Society: Sexuality

Society: Marriage

Society: Family

Society: Hellenistic Judea

Culture

Culture: Literature

Religion

Religion: Judaism

Religion: People of the Book

People of the Book: Genesis

Religion: Prophets

Prophets: Jeremiah

Prophets: Isaiah

Judaism: Mosaic Code

Judaism: Jerusalem

Judaism: Temple of Jerusalem

Judaism: Texts

Texts: Hebrew Bible

Power

Power: Babylonian Captivity

Power: Reform

Economy
Lydia

Lydia: Index

Culture

Power
Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia: Index

Society: Adornment

Society: Family

Society: Food

Society: Morals

Society: Women

Culture: Architecture

Architecture: Temples

Culture: Education

Science and Technology: Astronomy

Science and Technology: Mathematics

Science and Technology: Medicine

Economy

Nations
Palestine

Palestine: Index

Society
Phoenicia

Phoenicia: Index

Society

Society: Communities

Culture

Religion

Economy

Economy: Industry

Economy: Trade
Phrygia

Phrygia: Index

Religion
Scythia

Scythia
Sumer

Sumer: Index

Society

Society: Cities

Cities: Features

Cities: First Cities

Society: Dress

Society: People

Society: Class

Culture

Culture: Architecture

Culture: Learning

Culture: Literature

Culture: Science and Technology

Culture: Spread

Culture: Writing

Culture: Legacy

Religion

Religion: Beliefs

Religion: Deities

Religion: Temples

Power

Power: Governance

Economy

Economy: Agriculture

Economy: Trade

Economy: Wealth
Syria

Syria
