Trade, Iron and Terror

The Traders On The SeaThe Age Of Iron

To Rule By Terror: The Assyrians

Traders On The Sea 1300 B.C.-500 B.C. The Phoenicians

(Traders on the Sea) were based in the coastal cities of Sidon, Byblos, and Ugarit about 3000 B.C

Cities had perfect harbors for ships

Located between Egypt and Mesopotamia

Traders On The Sea 1300 B.C.-500 B.C. Phoenicians controlled

the cedar tree forests near Lebanon Range

Had a monopoly on purple dye made from shellfish

Created purple cloth which people desired because it stood for nobility

Sold and introduced iron to Egyptians

Traders On The Sea 1300 B.C.-500 B.C.

Region was inhospitable to farming so adapted to environment

Great sailors, Phoenicians traveled as far as Spain and to Africa

Hugged coastline and camped at night on shores

Created ports every thirty miles that transported Phoenician culture into other countries

Traders On The Sea 1300 B.C.-500 B.C. Introduced the

phonetic alphabet that was simpler than cuneiform

Phoenician alphabet spread fast in the Mediterranean region

Eliminated the need for scribes and was easier to learn

The Age Of Iron Constant warfare in

Mesopotamia made acquiring copper and tin precarious

Hittite metalworkers experiment with iron

Constant reheating and cold-hammering doubled strength of iron

Bronze no match for Iron weapons

The Age Of Iron By 1000 B.C.

weapons, tools, cookware were now made of iron

Armies equipped with iron conquered bronze armies

Warfare increase and lead to birth of multiethnic empires

The Assyrian War Machine Assyrians arrived

from the northern valley region near the Euphrates and Tigris

Assyrian god Assur commanded them to “rule over all”

Assyrian strength lied within its army

The Assyrian War Machine Assyrian war

machine successful because-• Used propaganda

about their brutality• Military engineers who

built bridges, siege equipment and tunnels

• Well trained and paid officers

Maintaining Assyrian Order To maintain Assyrian

empire• Built road system to

connect empire• Appointed governors

to maintain distant territories

• Had a unifying language

Maintaining Assyrian Order Trouble makers were

publicly tortured Villages that gave trouble

were massacred to be an example

And if a region revolted the people were sent to other parts of the kingdom

Maintaining Assyrian Order Assyrian King

Ashurabnipal (669-627 B.C.) collected largest library of cuneiform tablets

To preserve literature 612 B.C Assyrian

empire crumbles to a coalition of enemies