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