| 10 Commandments | Laws given to
the Ancient Israelites by their leader, Moses, after he met
with God on top of Mount Sinai. These Commandments became
the foundation for the laws of the Israelites and remained
the foundation of laws for civilizations throughout history,
even up to today. |
| Abraham | He traveled
from Ur to Canaan. In the Hebrew tradition, he is the
founder of Judaism. In the Muslim tradition, he is the
ancestor of the Arabs. He lived to be a very old man, when
he became a father to his son, Isaac. |
| Akkadians | Mesopotamian
people who conquered Sumer and ruled most of the Fertile
Crescent area for many years. The Akkadian leader Sargon was
the first emperor. |
| Amorites | People who
thrived in Mesopotamia in the period between the rise of
Sumer and the rise of Persia. The most famous of the Amorite
leaders was Hammurabi. |
| Ashurbanipal | Assyrian king
(668-626 B.C.) most famous for creating the world's first
library, consisting of thousands of clay tables with writing
on them. It is because of this library that we know so much
about Babylonian and Assyrian literature. One of the stories
in this library was the Epic of Gilgamesh. |
| Assyrians | People who
originated in the northern Tigris River valley, in the
Armenian Mountains. They later conquered much of
Mesopotamia, as well as Phoenicia and Egypt. The Assyrians
brought to their people great advances in civilization,
including several firsts:
- keys and locks
- plumbing and flush toilets
- paved roads
- central government, with territorial governors.
|
| Babylon | Ancient capital city of many empires in what is now the Middle East and Asia Minor. |
| Babylonians | Wide-ranging
group of people that included many other famous groups.
Basically, the Babylonians were people who lived in a
civilization whose capital was Babylon. This included the
Amorites, Chaldeans, and others. As Mesopotamia is used to
describe the entire region of the Tigris-Euphrates valleys,
so is Babylonia used to describe almost the entire
region. |
| Byblos | Major
Phoenician city originally called "Gubla" or "Gebal." The
name Byblos comes from the Greek for "papyrus." Not
surprisingly, Byblos was a major source of papyrus. Other
facts:
- Byblos
was a city in the land called Canaan.
- The
Phoenician alphabet is said to have developed in
Byblos.
|
| Canaan | Land along
the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea that was home to
the ancient Israelites. It was also part of the Phoenician
territories. When reading the history of Israel, you will
sometimes see Israel and Canaan used interchangeably.
Technically, the ancient Israelites were Canaanites. |
| Carthage | Ancient city
that began as a sea-trading center. Legend says that Dido,
princess of Tyre, founded Carthage. The city grew and grew,
building a large Mediterranean trade base and conquering
neighboring territories and peoples. Hanno and other sailors
charted new lands. The Carthaginian army and navy soon grew
very large. Carthaginian colonies on Sardinia and Sicily
came into conflict with Rome, and the Punic Wars began. They
were three in number, and Rome won all three. Carthaginian
General Hamilcar Barca fought Rome in the First Punic
War. The Second Punic War was the most devastating. This war
featured the Carthaginian general Hannibal (Hamilcar Barca's
son) and his famous march over the Alps to the very gates of
Rome. Hannibal won several brilliant victories but was
ultimately defeated and exiled. This was the end of the
Second Punic War. Many years later, Rome provoked an attack
by Carthage, igniting the Third Punic War. Rome was vicious
in victory, burning Carthage to the ground and sowing salt
into the ground. Eventually, the Romans rebuilt Carthage,
strictly as a Roman colony. It came to prominence once more,
mainly at the insistence of Julius Caesar. |
| Chaldeans | People who
ruled Babylonia for a time. They were another people who had
the great city of Babylon as their capital. Chaldea was a
region of Babylonia and grew to prominence beginning about
612 B.C. The most famous Chaldean ruler was Nebuchadnezzar
(605-562), who had built the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
Chaldea was often in conflict with Assyria and was
eventually conquered by Cyrus the Great of Persia in 539 B.C. |
| David | Hebrew king
from Judah who made a name for famous when young by
defeating the Philistine giant Goliath. He later became king
when Saul, the first Jewish king, was killed in battle.
David eventually became king of a united kingdom, when the
Jewish tribes united. He was king from 1004 B.C. to 965 B.C.
He made Jerusalem his capital, and it was the center of both
government and religion. David was a very popular king,
until he took a foreign wife. He was later succeeded by his
son Solomon. David was very good at music, and many of the
Psalms that are found in the Christian Bible are said to
have been written by him. |
| Euphrates River | River that
was a boundary of Mesopotamia, or the "land between the
rivers" (Tigris and Euphrates) The Euphrates was the western
of the two rivers and flowed from a source deep in the
Armenian mountains all the way to the Persian Gulf, almost
1,800 miles. Both rivers served as means of defense and
trade for every civilization in this area. |
| Gilgamesh | Famous
ancient story about a great warrior (named Gilgamesh) who
lives a very long time and does a great many great things.
This story also includes a Great Flood story and some other
stories found in traditions of other ancient civilizations.
Gilgamesh was from Uruk, a Sumerian city. |
| Hammurabi | Amorite king
famous for his Code, a collection of laws that were
effective throughout the kingdom. He was also very much a
warrior king and added greatly to his people's territory
during his reign. |
| Hanging Gardens of Babylon | One of the 7
Ancient Wonders of the World, the Hanging Gardens were a
huge collection of plants that 'hung' from a balcony in a
large palace in Babylon, the capital of many Mesopotamian
empires. The Gardens were built at the direction of the
Chaldean king Nebuchadnezzar, who was said to have order
them built to remind his wife of her homeland. The great
mystery of the Hanging Gardens was how enough water to
support the plants was transported so high in the
air. |
| Hattusa | Capital city
of the Hittite Empire. The Hittites were a warlike people
who began in Asia Minor and eventually conquered much of the
surrounding region (by about 1750 B.C.). They were very
successful at warfare, mainly because they were the first
people to use iron weapons. The walls of Hattusa were said
to be up to 26 feet thick in places. |
| Hebrews | Ancient
people also known as Canaanites and Israelites. They were
known as Hebrews because the language they used was
Hebrew. |
| Hittites | Warlike
people who began in Asia Minor and eventually conquered much
of the surrounding region (by about 1750 B.C.). They were
very successful at warfare, mainly because they were the
first people to use iron weapons. The Hittite capital was
Hattusa, a massive city that had tremendous walls. They were
also the first people to sign a treaty with another
civilization. In 1284 B.C., the Hittite king Hattusili III
signed a treaty with King Ramses II of Egypt. Each
civilization agreed not to attack the other and to defend
the other if attacked by a third civilization. |
| Israel | Method of
preserving pharaohs and other important Middle Eastians for the
afterlife. The ancient Middle Eastians strongly believed in an
afterlife, somewhere they would go after their life here on
Earth. The body was preserved as a mummy to keep it ready
for the journey into the afterlife. Many mummies were placed
in pyramids; others were placed in tombs that were
elsewhere. |
| Jerusalem | Ancient city
that began as a major city of Judah and became the capital
of a united Israel, then became the capital of the Southern
Kingdom (Judah). It was called the City of David and was
regarded as a holy city. |
| Joshua | Hebrew leader
who took over for Moses and led his people to the Promised
Land, or Canaan. He is known as a warrior and as the person
who caused the Walls of Jericho to fall from the sounds of
trumpets. |
| Judah | Southern
Jewish kingdom established in 931. Also overall name for
Hebrew lands before this division. As the Southern Kingdom,
Judah had Jerusalem as its capital. |
| Kish | Sumerian city
that was one of the earliest ever. It was one of the great
early cities. It was conquered several times by invaders but
retained a style all its own. Among the remains found at
Kish is the oldest example of writing, dating to about 3500
B.C. |
| Lagash | Major
Sumerian city-state that survived the fall of Akkad with its
walls intact. Also the source of a great many important
archaeological finds. |
| Moses | Canaanite
leader who led the Israelites out of Egyptian bondage to the
Promised Land. Along the way, he gave them the 10
Commandments, after his meeting with God atop Mount
Sinai. |
| Nebuchadnezzar | Chaldean king
who conquered the ancient Israelites and brought them to
Babylonia as slaves. He also had built the Hanging Gardens
of Babylon, one of the 7 Ancient Wonders of the
World. |
| Nineveh | Capital of
the ancient Assyrian Empire, which lasted from about 1350
B.C. to 612 B.C., when rival armies destroyed Nineveh. The
city was on the eastern banks of the Tigris River and was a
great source of wealth and trade. The city walls were said
to have been 40 to 50 feet high in places. |
| Phoenicians | Ancient
people who ruled the Mediterranean area for a time. They
occupied land as well, specifically the eastern
Mediterranean coast, including Canaan. The Phoenicians built
ships and sailed across the Mediterranean, establishing
colonies throughout the area. The most famous of these
colonies were Byblos, Tyre, Sidon, and Carthage. The
Phoenicians are credited with developing the first alphabet.
They developed ships that sail out to sea and so could sail
across the Mediterranean to Sicily and Sardinia. They are
thought to have been the first people to develop blown
glass. Their business practices are legendary and are the
foundation of Greek and Roman trade. |
| Sargon | Akkadian
leader who was the first emperor (2340-2305 B.C.). Under his
leadership, Akkad conquered Sumer and established a strong,
stable empire in Mesopotamia. At one point, Sargon
controlled territory from the Mediterranean Sea in the west
to the Black Sea in the northeast. |
| Saul | First king of
Israel (1020-1004 B.C.). At this time, Israel wasn't that
big. Saul was in constant battle with the neighboring
Philistines. His successor was King David. |
| Sidon | Port city
that served as the shipyards for Persian invasions of Egypt
and Greece. One of the most famous of Phoenician cities,
Sidon was famous for its manufacturing of glass and purple
dye.
Interesting
fact: The people of Sidon locked their city gates in 351
B.C. and set fire to the city rather than submit to the
Persian leader Artaxerxes. This left the city very weak and
much easier for Alexander the Great to conquer, just a few
decades later. |
| Solomon | Hebrew king
(965-930 B.C.) who succeeded his father, David, and built
the first great Temple in Jerusalem. He made alliances with
neighboring Egypt and Phoenicia. He was also famous for
being wise and musical. The Bible's Song of Solomon is named
for him, if not written by him; and the biblical book of
Proverbs contains many of his sayings. |
| Sumeria | Ancient
civilization thought to be one of the first ever. It is
thought that the use of the wheel started there. The
Sumerian people were certainly the first to gather in
city-states and develop a system of writing, as well as many
other "firsts." Based on the lowlands around the Tigris and
Euphrates rivers, the Sumerians were vulnerable to attack.
They were eventually conquered by the Akkadians. Major
city-states included Ur, Uruk, Kish, and Lagash. |
| Tigris River | River that
was a boundary of Mesopotamia, or the "land between the
rivers" (Tigris and Euphrates) The Tigris was the eastern of
the two rivers and flowed from a source deep in the Armenian
mountains all the way to the Persian Gulf, about 1,200
miles. Both rivers were the lifeblood of Mesopotamian
civilizations, giving them water and a vehicle for their
trade and defense. |
| Ur | Major
city-state of ancient Sumeria. Ur is said to be the home
city of Abraham, father of the Hebrews. |
| Uruk | The first
major city in Sumeria, founded about 3500 B.C. The first
king of Uruk was Gilgamesh. This man is alternately said to
be the inspiration for the great story the Epic of Gilgamesh
or the actual man. Whatever the case, Gilgamesh built the
city's walls. In its day, Uruk was larger than other
city-states put together. Some experts have estimated Uruk's
population at close to 50,000 people. |
| Ziggurat | Temples built
in ancient Sumeria. These temples resembled "step pyramids"
found in Egypt. Stairways rose up to the top of the
mud-brick platforms, and worship of gods took place up
there. |
