Hittites, Phoenicians, and Assyrians 

Hittites:

• Controlled Anatolia in 2000 B.C.E

• City-states join to form empire in 1650 B.C.E

• Borrowed ideas from Mesopotamian culture, wrote in cuneiform

Lived north of Mesopotamia, modern day turkey.

Hittite Technology

• Skillful in war- had superior iron weapons and chariot

Around 1190 B.C.E. the empire falls due to attacks from northern tribes/sea people.

Phoenicians

• Powerful traders in wealthy city-states along the Mediterranean

• Skilled shipbuilders, seafarers; sailed past the Straits of Gibraltar

SEA ROUTES:

• Had colonies in western and central Mediterranean

  • Carthage was the greatest

• Famous for red-purple dye

  TRADE ROUTES:

  

Legacy was a system of writing to record trade deals. It was later developed into western alphabet.

Assyrians

Known for their combat skills. They were especially brutal and cruel.

• Used military might to acquire empire across southwest Asia

• Glorified armies wore metal armor, copper helmets, leather protection

• Used iron weapons, engineering skill, and brute force to conquer cities

• Killed, enslaved, or banished captive people to distant lands

The Assyrian Empire had no mercy for the lands that they conquered.

• Defeated Syria, Palestine, & Babylonia: 850-650 BCE

• Collected taxes and tributes (slaves) from conquered lands

  

Assyrian Culture:

• Rulers (including Ashurbanipal) built great cities

  • Capital at Nineveh

• Carved sculptures of military campaigns and lion hunts

• Library of 20,000 cuneiform tablets

  • including Epic of Gilgamesh

Decline and Fall of the Assyrians:

• Army of Chaldeans (people of Babylon ) revolted and destroyed Nineveh

• Chaldean King Nebuchadnezzar makes Babylon the capital city of the Chaldean Empire

  • Famous for the Hanging Gardens of Babylon