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Visual History of the World
(CONTENTS)
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First Empires
ca. 7000 B.C. - 200 A.D.
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The Middle East was the
cradle of mankind's first advanced civilizations. In Egypt and the
Fertile Crescent, which extends in an arc from the north of the
Arabian Peninsula east through Palestine to Mesopotamia, the first
state structures emerged in parallel with the further development of
animal husbandry, agriculture, trade, and writing. The first great
empires, such as those of the Egyptian pharaohs, the Babylonians,
the Assyrians, and the Persians, evolved at the beginning of the
third millennium B.C., out of small communities usually clustered
around a city. Similar development also occurred on the Indian
subcontinent and in China, where quite distinct early advanced
civilizations took shape as well.
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The golden mask of Tutankhamun, a jewel of ancient
Egyptian artwork,
showing the pharaoh in a ceremonial robe decorated with the heraldic
animals, the vulture and cobra, ca. 1340 B.C.
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Syria and Palestine
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3000-332 B.C.
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1
Syrian with lioness
and ram, ivory statue,
ninth century B.C.
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1
Syria and Palestine were of great strategic importance as
military, commercial, and cultural crossroads between the early
high civilizations of Egypt, Asia Minor, Mesopotamia, and the
Aegean Sea. The constant wrestling for control over the area by
the bordering powers prevented the formation of a unified state.
Only after the upheavals caused by the sea peoples created a
power vacuum was it possible for the kingdoms of David and
Solomon to emerge, for a short time, as regional powers. At the
same time, the Phoenicians built up a trade empire that reached
from the coasts of West Anatolia to the edge of the Atlantic.
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The Canaanites and the Amorites
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The Canaanites and the Amorites
developed a high civilization that fused together stylistic elements
from the whole of the Ancient Orient and demonstrated the bridging role
of Syria and Palestine.
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The early inhabitants of Palestine are
called Canaanites, those of Syria Amorites or East Canaanites.
Linguistically both groups belong to the Semites. They never experienced
political unity but lived in city-states ruled over by princes or
priest-kings.
The remains of the Canaanite city of 2
Jericho date back to around 9000 B.C. and are considered the earliest
evidence of urban life. Over the centuries, the rulers of Egypt, the
Hittite Empire, Assyria, and Babylon competed against each other for
control of Palestine and Syria.
The trading centers situated on the Mediterranean coast held a special
position among the city-states.
At first, 3 Byblos was the busiest
of them. The city had enjoyed trading relations with Egypt since the
third millennium B.C. and was the most important port for exports of
Lebanese cedar, as well as 4 luxury
goods that were manufactured there for the Egyptian market. In the
middle of the 13th century B.C., Ugarit, situated farther north,
replaced Byblos as the preeminent port city.
The Mycenaean 6 merchants had their
own quarter in the city, which bears witness to trade relations with the
Aegean cultures.
By allying alternately with the Hittites and the Egyptians, the
5 kings of Ugarit were able to maintain
their independence until around 1200 B.C., when Ugarit was overrun by
the sea peoples and completely destroyed.
Subsequent archaeological excavations of the previous site of the city
of Ugarit, present-day Ras Shamra, have uncovered a number of libraries
containing ancient manuscripts written in at least four different
languages.
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2 Foundations of a round
tower in Jericho, 7000 a.c.
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3 Ruins of the Temple of
Obelisks in Byblos
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4 Example of
Egyptian gold jewelry from Byblos, 19th century B.C.
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5
The king of Ugarit hunting, detail on a golden plate,
14th—13th century B.C.
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6 Two men agreeing on a
contract,
limestone relief from the city of Ugarit,
14th century B.C.
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Baal, bronze statue, 14th—13th ñ
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Baal
Baal, or the female form Baalat, was the name of the chief
deity of Canaanite and Amorite cities. They also worshiped other
gods, such as the fertility goddess of war, Astarte. In
Palestine, the monotheistic cult of Yahweh vied for followers
with the older Baal cults and ultimately triumphed over them.
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Baal, bronze statue, 14th—13th ñ
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The Phoenician City-States
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The Phoenicians are considered the
most accomplished seafarers of antiquity. Throughout the Mediterranean
and beyond they conducted trade, founded colonies, and spread their
culture, which was in the tradition of the Canaanites and Amorites.
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Following the devastation caused by the
sea peoples, the focus of trade shifted south from Syria towards the
territory of present-day Lebanon. The Greeks called this region
"Phoenicia" ("purple land") after a precious dye produced there. As in
Canaanite and Amorite times, Phoenicia was divided into city-states
ruled by
7 kings and great trading families.
With the decline of Mycenaean and Minoan competition, the
12 Phoenicians controlled Mediterranean trade as far as the
coasts of the Iberian Peninsula and North Africa.
They founded numerous 8
colonies, including Carthage ("new city") around 814 B.C., which was
later to become the most important sea power in the Western
Mediterranean.
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7 A king
with lotus stems, ivory tablet, eighth-seventh century B.C.
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12
Phoenician merchant ship at sea,
clay relief
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8 Ruins of
a Phoenician colony in Sa Caleta on Ibiza,
founded ca. 650 B.C.
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The net of Phoenician 11 trade relations reached beyond
the Mediterranean to the British Isles and the Canary Islands, and it is
even possible that Phoenicians circumnavigated Africa about 600 â.ñ.
11
Phoenician merchants trade, wood engraving, 19th century
They kept their
knowledge of the ocean beyond the "Pillars of Hercules"—the Strait of
Gibraltar—absolutely secret and spread 10 horror stories about the area
to frighten off their competitors.
10 Phoenician silver coin decorated
with the image of a merchant ship
harried by a sea monster
9 Sidon and Tyre were the two most important Phoenician city-states, and
their rulers were closely tied to the kings of Israel and Judah. In the
tenth century B.C., Hiram I of Tyre supported King Solomon in the
construction of a fleet for a trading expedition to the Red Sea. Tyre
reached its apogee under Ittobaal I, who subjugated rival Sidon in the
ninth century B.C. By this time, the Phoenicians were coming under
increasing military pressure from the land powers, Assyria and
Babylon, who demanded tribute from the cities. Only Tyre, situated on an
impregnable island, was able to withstand the enemy forces. Phoenicia
lost Sidon but remained independent despite a 13-year siege by
Nebuchadressar II of Babylon that ended in 573 B.C. The Persians, on
the other hand, accepted the autonomy of the Phoenicians, who made up
the majority of the Persian fleet in battles against the Greeks.
It was Alexander the Great who first succeeded in conquering Tyre in 332 B.C., after a seven-month siege during which he built a
causeway from
the mainland to the island city. The Phoenicians were later ruled by the
Diadochoi and the Romans but still managed to keep their cultural and
religious identity alive.
9 View over Sidon with Lebanon in the distance,
chalk lithograph. 19th
century
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