Chapter 2 - Near East Empires and the Reemergence of Civilization in Greece 1000-500 B.C.E. - The Making of The West - HIST 1111

Which Greek city-state is renowned for having established the first democracy ("rule by the people") based on voting rights and full political participation for all male citizens? a.Athens b.Thebes c.Corinth d.Sparta

Athens

Israelite Kingdom

Around 1,000 BCE We only have biblical sources describing this Kingdom. Many of the stories revolve around King David (E.g. David and Goliath).

Atë

Moral blindness caused by Hubris or another flaw.

Which of these was reflected in Neo-Assyrian public religion? a. The prominence of war in Assyrian culture b. The civic values of Assyrian merchants c. The importance of women in Assyrian life d. The importance of learning in Assyrian culture

Public religion reflected the prominence of war in Assyrian culture: the cult of Ishtar, the goddess of love and war, glorified warfare. The Neo-Assyrian rulers' desire to demonstrate their respect for the gods motivated them to build huge temples. These shrines' staffs of priests and slaves grew so large that the revenues from temple lands became insufficient; the kings had to supply extra funds from the spoils of conquest.

Historicity

The issue of the relationship of a text and the event to which it refers and whether the text accurately reflects the "happenedness" of the event.

Babylonain Captivity

The period where the Judahites were in bondage in the capital of Babylon. These are not the the same Babylonians of Hammurabi's time.

Greek Dark Age

1000-800 B.C.E., Time of poverty and depopulation, Phoenicians brought them out, and introduced them to the alphabet. It is called the dark age because life was so difficult that the Greek's gave up writing. It is also economically "dark."

Bias

A particular preference or point of view that is personal, rather than scientific.

cult

A set of publicly funded religious activities overseen by citizens serving as priests and priestesses. People prayed, sang hymns of praise, offered sacrifices, and presented gifts at the deity's sanctuary. In these holy places a person could honor and thank the deities for blessings and beg them for relief when misfortune struck the community or the individual. People could also offer sacrifices at home with the household gathered around; sometimes the family's slaves were allowed to participate. Priests and priestesses chosen from the citizen body performed the sacrifices of public cults; they did not use their positions to influence political or social matters. They were not guardians of correct religious thinking, because Greek polytheism had no scripture or a uniform set of beliefs and practices. It required its worshippers only to support the community's local rituals and to avoid religious pollution.

"Myth"

A traditional story about gods, ancestors, or heroes, told to explain the natural world or the customs and beliefs of a society. The term does not necessarily mean that the tale is fiction (or entirely fiction).

Genesis: The Hebrew Creation Myth

Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. If you follow the rules; good things will happen. If you break the rules; bad things will happen.

helot

All Spartan citizens were expected to put service to their city-state before personal concerns because their state's survival was continually threatened by its own economic foundation: the great mass of Greek slaves, called helots, who did almost all the work for Spartan citizens. A helot was a slave owned by the Spartan city-state. Helots were Greeks captured in neighboring parts of Greece that the Spartans defeated in war. Most helots lived in Messenia, to the west, which Sparta had conquered by around 700 B.C.E. The helots outnumbered Sparta's free citizens. Harshly treated by their Spartan masters, helots constantly looked for chances to revolt.

Solon

Athenian political reformer whose changes promoted early democracy. By 600 B.C.E., economic conditions had become so terrible that poor farmers had to borrow constantly from richer neighbors and deeply mortgage their land. As the crisis grew worse, impoverished citizens were sold into slavery to pay off debts. Desperate, Athenians appointed another emergency official in 594 B.C.E., a war hero named Solon. To head off violence, Solon gave both rich and poor something of what they wanted, a compromise called the "shaking off of obligations." He canceled private debts, which helped the poor but displeased the rich; he decided not to redistribute land, which pleased the wealthy but disappointed the poor. He banned selling citizens into slavery to settle debts and liberated citizens who had become slaves in this way. His elimination of debt slavery was a significant recognition of citizen rights. Solon balanced political power between rich and poor by reordering Athens's traditional ranking of citizens into four groups based on annual income. This change eliminated inherited aristocracy at Athens. The groupings did not affect a man's treatment at law, only his eligibility for government office. The higher a man's ranking, the higher the post to which he could be elected, but higher also was the contribution he was expected to make to the community with his service and his money. Men at the poorest level, called laborers, were not eligible for any office. Solon did, however, confirm the laborers' right to vote in the legislative assembly. His classification scheme was consistent with democratic principles because it allowed for upward social mobility; a man who increased his income could move up the scale of eligibility for office.

At its height, the Assyrian Empire stretched from: a. the Tigris River to the eastern Mediterranean. b. central Asia to western Africa. c. central Asia to western Africa. d. Babylon to central Egypt. e. Babylon to central Egypt. f. modern Russia to modern Ethiopia.

Babylon to central Egypt. Centuries of almost constant warfare resulted in a mighty empire.

Neo-Babylonians

Conquered the Assyrians. Second wave of Babylonian rule. They were led by Nebuchadnezzar II, who diffused culture, causing a golden age.

In what Greek city did the most famous early tyranny arise? a. Corinth b. Thebes c. Athens d. Sparta

Corinth The family of Cypselus rebelled against Corinth's harsh oligarchic leadership and established a tyranny.

Upon conquering foreign regions, neo-Assyrian kings: a. established colonies in the newly acquired territories to ease overpopulation back home. b. treated the conquered peoples with a remarkable degree of benevolence. c. exterminated the indigenous populations to make it easier for them to rule. d. deported many of the conquered peoples to Assyria to work as slaves on building projects.

Deported many of the conquered peoples to Assyria to work as slaves on building projects. Neo-Assyrian kings treated conquered peoples brutally. Those allowed to stay in their homelands had to make annual payments to the Assyrians. The kings also deported many defeated people to Assyria for work on huge building projects. One unexpected consequence of this policy was pressure on the kings' native language; so many Aramaeans, for example, were deported from Canaan to Assyria that Aramaic had largely replaced Assyrian as the land's everyday language by the eighth century B.C.E.

Israelites

Descendants of Abraham who left Mesopotamia and settled in Canaan. The only primary source describing their history from before their babylonian captivity is the Hebrew bible (Old Testament).

Hubris

Excessive pride or arrogance that results in the downfall of the protagonist of a tragedy.

Cyrus

Founded the Persian Empire in 557 B.C.E. in what is today Iran through his skills as a general and a diplomat who saw respect for others' religious practices as advantageous imperial policy. He conquered Babylon in 539 B.C.E. He won support by proclaiming himself the restorer of traditional religion.

Homer

Greece's first and most famous author, who composed The Iliad and The Odyssey.

Why was the Persian king Cyrus the Great important in the history of the Hebrews? a. He allowed thousands of the Hebrews to return to their former kingdom and rebuild the temple at Jerusalem. b. He allowed thousands of the Hebrews to return to their former kingdom and rebuild the temple at Jerusalem. c. He conquered both the northern and southern Hebrew kingdoms, eliminating those states. d. He adopted elements of the Hebrew faith into Zoroastrianism. e.He liberated the Hebrews from their enslavement in Egypt.

He allowed thousands of the Hebrews to return to their former kingdom and rebuild the temple at Jerusalem. After the Assyrians conquered the northern kingdom of Israel, the Babylonians crushed the southern kingdom of Judah. The survivors were forcibly relocated to Babylonia, a period commonly known as the Babylonian Captivity. When the Persian king Cyrus overthrew the Babylonians in 539 B.C.E., he permitted the Israelites to return to their part of Canaan. Cyrus allowed them to rebuild their main temple in Jerusalem and to practice their religion.

hoplite

Historians have customarily believed that a hoplite revolution was the reason for expanded political rights. A hoplite was an infantryman who wore metal body armor and attacked with a thrusting spear. Hoplites formed the basis of the citizen militias that defended Greek city- states. Staying in line and working together were the secrets to successful hoplite tactics. In the eighth century B.C.E., a growing number of men became prosperous enough to buy metal weapons and train as hoplites, especially because the use of iron had made such weapons more readily available. According to the hoplite revolution theory, these new hoplites — feeling that they should enjoy political rights in exchange for buying their own equipment and training hard — forced the social elite to share political power by threatening to refuse to fight, which would have crippled military defense. This interpretation correctly assumes that the hoplites had the power to demand and receive a voice in politics but ignores that hoplites were not poor. Furthermore, archaeology shows that not many men were wealthy enough to afford hoplite armor until the middle of the seventh century B.C.E., well after the earliest city- states had emerged. How then did poor men, too, win political rights? The most likely explanation is that the poor earned respect by fighting to defend the community, just as hoplites did. Fighting as lightly armed troops, poor men could disrupt an enemy's line by slinging rocks and shooting arrows. It is also possible that tyrants — sole rulers who seized power for their families in some city- states — boosted the status of poor men. Tyrants may have granted greater political rights to poor men as a means of gathering popular support.

The Iliad

Homer's The Iliad recounted the tale of the Trojan War of the late Bronze Age.

What happened to the Hebrew kingdom in the centuries that followed the death of Solomon? a. It went into a long period of slow decline. b. It was divided and eventually conquered by invaders. c. It was divided and eventually conquered by invaders. d. It reached its pinnacle of wealth and power. e. It entered a period of aggressive expansion.

It was divided and eventually conquered by invaders. Political division made the Hebrews easy targets for the Assyrians and the Babylonians.

Why did the geography of ancient Greece encourage political fragmentation? a. Its coastal outline prevented communication. b. Its mountains impeded communication between regions. c. Its mountains impeded communication between regions. d. Its many swamps made travel and transportation of goods difficult. e. Its plains were too vast to be crossed.

Its mountains impeded communication between regions. Mountains slowed communication between areas, which encouraged separate settlements that eventually developed into poleis, or city-states.

Persian Empire

Mesopotamian empire that conquered the existing Median, Lydian, and Babylonian empires, as well as Egypt and many others. Also known as the Achaemenid Empire.

Which the following survived the Mycenaeans' fall and was employed by the Greeks in the Dark Age? a. Linear B b. Redistributive economy c. Monotheism d. Seaborne trade

Seaborne trade The Mycenaeans engaged in more trade than did Greeks in the Dark Age, but the Dark Age Greeks did continue to trade overseas.

Phoenicians

Semitic-speaking Canaanites living on the coast of modern Lebanon and Syria in the first millennium B.C.E. Famous for developing the first alphabet, which was adopted by the Greeks. From major cities such as Tyre and Sidon, these merchants and sailors explored the Mediterranean, and engaged in widespread commerce.

polis

The Archaic Age (c. 750-500 B.C.E) saw the creation of the Greek city-state — the polis — an independent community of citizens inhabiting a city and the countryside around it. Greek city-states were communities in which citizenship was the basis of politics and society. With only one exception, Greek city-states did not have kings but instead were self-governing. Greece's geography, dominated by mountains and islands, promoted the creation of hundreds of independent city- states around the Aegean Sea. From there, Greeks dispersed around the Mediterranean to settle hundreds more trading communities that often grew into new city-states. Individuals' drive for profit from trade, especially in raw materials, and for farmland in foreign territories started this process of founding new settlements. Though it took varying forms, the Greek polis differed from the Mesopotamian city-state, primarily in being a community of citizens making laws and administering justice among themselves instead of being the subjects of a king. Another difference was that poor citizens of Greek city- states enjoyed a rough legal and political equal-ity with the rich. Not different, however, were the subordination of women and the subjugation of slaves.

arete

The Greek value of competitive individual excellence. With the Mycenaean rulers long gone, leadership became an open competition in Dark Age Greece. Individuals who proved themselves excellent in action, words, charisma, and religious knowledge joined the social elite, enjoying higher prestige and authority in society. Excellence — arete (ah-re-TAY) in Greek — was earned in competition. Men competed with others for arete as warriors and persuasive public speakers. Women won their highest arete by managing a household of children, slaves, and storerooms. Members of the elite accumulated wealth by controlling agricultural land, and people of lower status worked for them as tenants or slaves.

Neo-Assyrians

The Neo-Assyrian Empire was an Iron Age Mesopotamian empire, in existence between 900 and 600 BC. The Assyrians perfected early techniques of imperial rule, many of which became standard in later empires.

Which statement describes the Persian Empire? a. The Persian Empire outdid the Assyrian Empire in the suppression of conquered peoples. b. The Persian Empire was one of political unity and cultural diversity. c. The Persian Empire was built using diplomacy, not force. d. The Persian Empire achieved unity by imposing the Persian culture on all conquered subjects.

The Persian Empire was one of political unity and cultural diversity. Skillful use of diplomacy, combined with a tolerance for local customs and religions, helped the Persians maintain control over their vast and diverse empire.

After the reign of Solomon, what feature served as the religious heart of the Hebrew kingdom? a. The Sinai Peninsula b. The Jordan River c. The Temple of Jerusalem d. The fortress of Masada

The Temple of Jerusalem The most symbolic of Solomon's building projects was the Temple of Jerusalem, which became the home of the Ark of the Covenant, the chest that contained the holiest of Hebrew religious articles. The temple in Jerusalem was intended to be the religious heart of the kingdom, a symbol of Hebrew unity and Yahweh's approval of the state built by Saul, David, and Solomon.

moral dualism

The belief that the world is the arena for an ongoing battle for control between the divine forces of good and evil. Persian kings ruled as the agents of Ahura Mazda, the supreme god of Persia. Persian religion, Zoroastrianism, made Ahura Mazda the center of its devotion and took its doctrines from the teachings of the legendary prophet Zarathustra. Zarathustra taught that Ahura Mazda demanded purity from his worshippers and helped people who lived truthfully and justly. The most important doctrine of Zoroastrianism was moral dualism, which saw the world as a battlefield between the divine forces of good and evil. Ahura Mazda, the embodiment of good and light, struggled against the evil darkness represented by the Satan-like figure Ahriman. Human beings had to choose between the way of the truth and the way of the lie, between purity and impurity. Only those judged righteous after death made it across "the bridge of separation" to heaven and avoided falling from its narrow span into hell. Persian religion's emphasis on ethical behavior and on a supreme god had a lasting influence on others, especially the Israelites. The moral dualism of Persian religion, Zoroastrianism, influenced later religions.

Which of these explains why the Greeks learned to write again after the fall of the Mycenaean civilization? a. The continuation of seaborne trade b. The discovery of Minoan texts c. The retention of a wealthy social elite d. The discovery of Mycenaean texts

The continuation of seaborne trade Trade led to cultural exchange. When the Greeks learned to write again, it was with an adapted version of the Phoenician alphabet.

Diaspora

The dispersal of the Jewish population from their homeland. Gradually, Jews created their monotheism by accepting that Yahweh was the only god and that they had to obey his laws. Jews retained their identity by following this religion regardless of their personal fate or their geographical location. Therefore, Jews who did not return to their homeland could maintain their Jewish identity by following Jewish law while living among foreigners. In this way, the Diaspora ("dispersion of population") came to characterize the history of the Jewish people.

Torah

The first five books of the Hebrew Bible, also referred to as the Pentateuch. It contains early Jewish law. It is believed to be written by Moses. The Hebrew Bible sets forth the religious and moral code the Israelites had to follow. The Torah recorded laws for righteous living. Most famous are the Ten Commandments, which required Israelites to worship Yahweh exclusively; make no idols; keep from misusing Yahweh's name; honor their parents; refrain from work on the seventh day of the week (the Sabbath); and abstain from murder, adultery, theft, lying, and covetousness. Many of the Israelites' laws shared the traditional form and content of earlier Mesopotamian laws, such as those of Hammurabi. Like his code, Israelite law protected the lower classes and people without power, including strangers, widows, and orphans.

Which of these was a consequence of seaborne trade during the Dark Age? a. The revival of Mycenaean civilization b. The impoverishment of rural Greeks c. The introduction of iron metallurgy into Greece d. The emergence of representative governments

The introduction of iron metallurgy into Greece. Trade brought the rediscovery of writing, a resumption of the production of decorative ceramics, and the introduction of iron metallurgy into Greece.

Sappho

The most famous woman lyric poet of ancient Greece, a native of Lesbos. Some lyric poems generated controversy because the ideas expressed in them valued individual expression and opinion over conventional views. Solon wrote poems justifying his reforms. Other poets criticized traditional values, such as strength in war. Sappho, a lyric poet from Lesbos born about 630 B.C.E. and famous for her poems on love, wrote, "Some would say the most beautiful thing on our dark earth is an army of cavalry, others of infantry, others of ships, but I say it's whatever a person loves." In this poem Sappho was expressing her longing for a woman she loved, who was now far away.

rationalism

The philosophic idea that people must justify their claims by logic and reason, not myth. Ionian philosophers insisted that natural phenomena were neither random nor arbitrary. They applied the word cosmos — meaning "an orderly arrangement that is beautiful" — to the universe. The cosmos included not only the motions of heavenly bodies but also the weather, the growth of plants and animals, and human health. Because the universe was ordered, it was knowable; because it was knowable, thought and research could explain it. Philosophers therefore looked for the first or universal cause of all things, a quest that scientists still pursue. These first philosophers believed they needed to give reasons for their conclusions and to persuade others by arguments based on evidence. That is, they believed in logic. This new way of thought, called rationalism, became the foundation for the study of science and philosophy. This rule-based view of the causes of events and physical phenomena contrasted sharply with the traditional mythological view. Many people had difficulty accepting such a startling change in their understanding of the world, and the older tradition of explaining events as the work of deities lived on alongside the new approach. The early Greek philosophers deeply influenced later times by being the first to clearly separate scientific thinking from myth and religion. Their idea that people must give reasons to justify their beliefs, rather than simply make assertions that others must accept without evidence, was their most important achievement. This insistence on rationalism, coupled with the belief that the world could be understood as something other than the plaything of the gods, gave people hope that they could improve their lives through their own efforts.

Exodus

The story of Moses leading the Israelite people out of their enslavement in Egypt.

demes

The villages and city neighborhoods that formed the constituent political units of Athenian democracy in the late Archaic Age (750-500 B.C.E.). By about 500 B.C.E., Cleisthenes had engineered direct participation in Athens's democracy by as many adult male citizens as possible. First he created constituent units for the city-state's new political organization by grouping country villages and urban neighborhoods into units called demes. The demes chose council members annually by lottery in proportion to the size of their populations. To allow for greater participation, Solon's Council of Four Hundred was expanded to five hundred members. Finally, Cleisthenes required candidates for public office to be spread widely throughout the demes. The creation of demes suggests that Greek democratic notions stemmed from traditions of small-community life, in which each man was entitled to his say in running local affairs and had to persuade — not force — others to agree. It took another fifty years of political struggle, however, before Athenian democracy reached its full development with the democratization of its judicial system.

Ancient Greek religion was based on a pantheon of gods, each representing different strengths or forces, and the Greeks believed that a. they had to try to please the gods through prayers, ritual offerings, and the avoidance of offensive behavior. b. the gods would reward them whenever they excelled or attained aretê. c. the gods demanded that humans conduct their lives according to a strict moral code that forbade transgressions like theft, murder, dishonesty, greed, and cruelty. d. the gods had chosen Greece as a favored land, and that the Greeks were destined to conquer other peoples and achieve worldly glory.

They had to try to please the gods through prayers, ritual offerings, and the avoidance of offensive behavior. Most Greeks believed that humans must honor the gods to thank them for blessings received and to receive more blessings in return, and that the gods sent both good and bad into the world. Gods could punish offenders by sending disasters such as floods, famines, earthquakes, epidemic diseases, and defeats in battle. The relationship between gods and humans generated sorrow as well as joy, but with hope for favored treatment in this life and in the underworld after death for those who lived justly. Mythology hinted at the gods' expectations of proper human behavior. For example, gods demanded hospitality for strangers, proper burial for family members, and participation in divine worship. Actions such as performing a sacrifice improperly, violating the sanctity of a temple area, or breaking an oath or sworn agreement counted as disrespect for the gods. Humans had to police most crimes themselves.

What contribution did the Neo-Babylonians make to Near Eastern culture? a. They invented the epic poem. b. They invented a phonetic alphabet. c. They preserved much of Mesopotamian literature. d. They preserved much of Mesopotamian literature. e. They introduced the idea of monotheism.

They preserved much of Mesopotamian literature. For example, they were responsible for the preservation of the Epic of Gilgamesh.

Why were the political forms of the Greek city-states and the Greek concept of citizenship so unprecedented and unique? a. They were based on the concept of citizenship for all free inhabitants and allowed for some degree of shared governing, except in tyrannies. b. They affirmed the right of all Greek inhabitants to an equal share in the state's governance. c. They allowed all the inhabitants of a city-state, irrespective of race or gender, to vote equally. d. They represented a radical departure from long-held communal values, as the rights of the individual henceforth took precedence.

They were based on the concept of citizenship for all free inhabitants and allowed for some degree of shared governing, except in tyrannies.

Which statement describes Greek colonies? a. They depended on slave labor supplied by locals. b. They were sometimes founded by farmers looking for new land to cultivate. c. Their political systems differed in dramatic ways from those of the Greek poleis. d. They were operated for the economic benefit of "mother cities."

They were sometimes founded by farmers looking for new land to cultivate. As the population expanded following the Dark Age, a shortage of farmland in Greece drove some poor farmers abroad to find fields they could work.

Extant

still in existence

Following the collapse of the Hittite kingdom in Anatolia (1000 B.C.E.), which new regional power arose to fill the power vacuum? a. The kingdom of Israel b. The Babylonian Empire c. The Neo-Assyrian Empire d. The Persian Empire

the Neo-Assyrian Empire