iron age

Vocabulary flashcards covering major people, events, places, and religious concepts from the Iron Age lecture notes.

Lydians

Ancient people of Asia Minor credited with inventing coinage.

Croesus

Lydian king (561–546 BC) famed for great wealth; gave rise to the saying 'rich as Croesus.'

Coinage

System of coined money; attributed to the Lydians in the notes.

Nebuchadnezzar II

Chaldean king of Babylon (605–562 BC); one of Babylon’s greatest rulers who rebuilt Babylon and led campaigns against Egypt and other powers.

Babylon

Ancient Mesopotamian city; capital of the Babylonian Empire; urban center rebuilt and expanded by Nebuchadnezzar II.

Nabopolassar

Father of Nebuchadnezzar II; founded the Neo-Babylonian Empire and led the coalition against Assyria.

Battle of Carchemish

605 BC decisive clash between the Assyrian remnants and the Babylonian–Egyptian coalition; Babylonian victory that shifted regional power.

Ashur-uballit II

Last king of Assyria; led the remaining forces before fleeing to Harran after Nineveh’s fall.

Harran

City where Assyrian remnants retreated; captured by Babylonians in 610 BC.

Nineveh

Assyrian capital; sacked in 612 BC, marking the collapse of the Assyrian Empire.

Megiddo

609 BC battle where Josiah of Judah was killed; delayed Necho II’s Egyptian advance.

Josiah

King of Judah; died at Megiddo during the attempt to block Egyptian passage.

Nebuchadnezzar Chronicle

Babylonian record of the Carchemish campaign; now housed in the British Museum.

Hanging Gardens

Nebuchadnezzar II’s reputed grand gardens; symbol of Babylonian grandeur (notoriously uncertain).

Gate of Ishtar

Impressive Babylonian gateway rebuilt under Nebuchadnezzar II; part of the city’s fortifications and monuments.

Ziggurat / Tower of Babel

Step-pyramid temple; Nebuchadnezzar’s rebuilding associated with the Tower of Babel in later tradition.

Babylonian captivity

Nebuchadnezzar II 586 BC deportation of Judeans to Babylon; a central element of Jewish identity and diaspora.

Cyrus II / Cyrus the Great

Founder of the Persian Empire; defeated Croesus and conquered Babylon (539 BC); permitted Judah’s return from exile.

Croesus’s oracle

Lydian king Croesus consulted an oracle; prophecy stated that Croesus would destroy a great empire, which turned out to be his own.

Nabonidus

Last native king of Babylon (c. 556–539 BC); favored Sin over Marduk, contributing to Babylon’s religious-political tensions.

Sin

Moon god worshipped in Babylon; favored by Nabonidus.

Marduk

Patron god of Babylon; central to Babylonian state religion and Nabonidus’s religious alignments.

Diaspora

Movement or scattering of Jews from their homeland; begins with the Babylonian exile.

Cyrus’s integration policy

Persian approach of not displacing local aristocracies and tolerating local cultures and religions.

Cambyses II

Son of Cyrus; continued conquests, including the conquest of Egypt; expanded the Persian Empire.

Darius I

Great Persian king (521–486 BC); stabilized the empire, introduced coinage, built the Royal Road, and organized governance.

Satrapies

Administrative provinces of the Persian Empire; ruled by satraps who collected taxes, recruited soldiers, and administered justice.

Eyes and Ears of the King

Military inspectors who surveilled satraps and reported to the king.

Royal Road

Ancient Persian highway about 1600 miles long; couriers with fresh horses every 14 miles enabled rapid communication.

Darics

Gold Persian coins introduced under Darius I.

Zoroastrianism

Persian religion with a dualistic cosmos (Ahuramazda vs. Ahriman); also called Mazdaism.

Ahuramazda

Chief god of Zoroastrianism; god of light and order.

Ahriman

Secondary god of Zoroastrianism; god of darkness and chaos; opposite of Ahuramazda.

Zoroaster

Founder or prophet of Zoroastrianism (approx. c. 500 BC).

Arta

Zoroastrian concept of truth, justice, and order; rulers must rule according to Arta.

Anahita

Mother goddess in Zoroastrian and related Near Eastern traditions.

Mithra

Solar deity in Zoroastrian belief; aids Ahuramazda and associated with oath and covenant.

Mazdaism

Alternative term for Zoroastrianism.