The rise of the Hebrews as a political power and the evolution of their religious thought.
From Egypt, the Hebrews settled into Palestine in the thirteenth century. In Palestine some of the Hebrews worshipped Baal, a golden calf, which was against Yahweh's laws. They established Saul as a leader. Saul established monarchy over the twelve Hebrew tribes. Saul's work was continued by David of Bethlehem. David made Jerusalem the capital city. David handed over his rule to his son Solomon. Solomon built a temple in Jerusalem and made it the home of the Ark of the Covenant. When king Solomon died, the Hebrews broke into politcal halves. The northern half became Israel, and the southern half became Judah. The two halves went into warfare with each other. The northern was eventually wiped out by the Assyrians, and the southern half was sent into Babylonian Captivity. The Persians then permitted about forty thousand exiles to return to Jerusalem, where they established the law of Yahweh. This involved the ten commandments and later evolved into Hebrew law, or the Torah.
A polis-or city-state- is defined as city or town AND the surrounding countryside.
The focal point of the city is known as the acropolis, usually the highest point of the town. On the acropolis stood temples, statues, public memorials and dedications to the gods. Very near the acropolis was the agora, which was originally a place where warriors held meetings, eventually it became a marketplace.
A polis can be governed by any one of the numberous forms of governance:
- Monarchy: "ruled by one man"
- Aristocracy: "Power in the hands of the best"
- oligarchy: "the rule of a few"
- democracy: ruled by the people
- tyranny: ruled by one man who gained power through extralegal means
Bullet: How the Assyrians managed to conquer their neighbors and the factors that led to the collapse of their empire.
The start of the expansion of the Assyrian empire was conducted under the new ruler King Shalmaneser around 859 BCE. He began the first round of 200 years of war by attacking its neighbors Syria and Palestine. The warring was continued by the next kings Tiglath-Pileser III (774-727 BCE) and Sargon II (721-705 BCE) and ending with the conquest of northern Egypt (to the south west) and Babylonia to the south.
The Assyrians success was attributed to “sophisticated, farsighted, and effective military organization”. The Assyrians had invented siege machinery and techniques to make their numerous conquests easier including the first known “Corp of Engineers” which was responsible for bridge building and creative ways of transporting soldiers across rivers (floats, pontoons, etc).
This was the height of the Assyrian Empire at least according to the expansive land control. History of the empire, however; was recorded 200 years after its demise by the Greek historian and adventurer, Xenophon. (Map 1.4, mckay pg.26)
It is believed that the downfall of the Assyrian empire began in 626 BCE when Babylon won its independence from Assyria and joined forces with the people of Medes. Together they attacked the Assyria Empire’s provinces and utterly destroyed the homeland of the Assyrian rulers in 612 BCE.
Information here is from pages 25-26 of A History of World Societies
The ancient territory of what is today Greece is a peninsula that is the southernmost extension of the Balkan mountain chain. Greece also includes over 3,000 islands, over 80% of which are uninhabitable. There are several larger islands, including Crete and Rhodes; that have sustained life for thousands of years. The coastline of Greece is approximately 9300 miles long, lending itself well to a strong maritime influence in the region due to the several hundred natural harbors along the Aegean Sea on the eastern side of the land. There are no significant bodies of water inland and most rivers are nothing more than creeks that dry up during the hot summer months.
The mountains in Greece are severe and divide the land naturally into hundreds of separate regions, leading directly to human populations becoming fragmented and politically competitive. Communication was also severely hampered due to the terrain, most of the major roads were nothing more than wheel ruts carved into rock over centuries of travel. In the valleys of Greece the land was fertile and easily cultivated, creating pockets of civilization that were mostly self-sufficient.
The earliest civilization in Greece was the Minoans. The Minoans settled on the island of Crete around 2700BC and established a kingdom ruled by a King and his Nobles. Most of the Minoan tools and implements were constructed of bronze, leading to this time period being referred to commonly as the Bronze Age. There existed a strong trade economy between the Minoan people and the nearby coastlines to the south and east, such as Egypt and the Middle East, as well as with the Mycenaeans on the Greek peninsula. It is this contact with the other early Greek civilization that led to the eventual disappearance of the Minoans around 1450BC.
The Mycenaeans were a warrior aristocracy mainly composed of several large kingdoms loosely connected across the rugged terrain. They rose to dominance on the peninsula around 1600BC and quickly established strong trade routes to Egypt and the Middle East. Around the time of their uprising the Minoans suffered a severe blow to their way of life, the nearby volcano Thera erupted in one of the largest volcanic events in recorded history. This eruption wiped out many of their towns and covered the eastern half of Crete with ash, smothering the wildlife and population alike. The Mycenaeans took advantage of this event and assumed control of Minoan territories, eventually stamping out the Minoan culture altogether over the next 150 years. However, due to the nature of their society they literally tore themselves apart from the inside in a series of vast civil wars, eventually dissolving what was left of the kingdoms and leading into Greece’s “Dark Age” in 1100BC.
Time ago there was a chill spot where you could kick it with your brohams that is now known as Iraq. Back in the day it was called Mesopotamian, a Greek word which meant meso ‘middle’ and potamos “river” (land between the rivers). The rise of Mesopotamia was the start of a 3,000 year transformation that would affect the people of Eurasia and Africa. They would trade, learn, and share things from one and another. They learned Language and writing, science and technology which includes mathematics and astronomy. They taught each other religion about primary gods, goddesses, and a proper burial. The culture they learned includes music, games, and family life. They educated each other the importance of government such as kings, power, warfare, and laws. They also learned about houses, agriculture, and finally economy. Done.
The origins of the Iranians and understand how they created and maintained the Persian Empire. The Iranians began as a small community Indo-Europeans from Central Europe that migrated to the land between the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf. The Iranians entered this land around 1000 B.C.E. as nomads. They were also horse breeders which gave them an advantage in war and battles when they overtook the previous people of Iran. Eventually the Iranians built small communities with chieftains, warrior nobles, free people, and slaves. The Iranians eventually became two large groups consisting of the Persians and the Medes. In 550 B.C.E. Cyrus the Great king of the Persians conquered the Medes, starting the rise of a great empire. Instead of conquering then forcing beliefs, he thought of Iran as a state or whole and he gave the cultures he conquered respect, toleration, and protection. This view of merging cultures was held by the Persians for many generations. After the merging of the Persians and Medes, Cyrus took control of the west including the ports and trade routes, in order to protect Iran from invaders. Eventually he worked his way to conquering all of Iran blocking off the Babylonians from any help from the south. When he took Babylonian he won their hearts with humane treatment, toleration of their religion, and support of their efforts to refurbish their capital. The early Iranians were polytheistic and their religion was tied closely to nature. Around 600 B.C.E., Zoroaster developed a new form of religion, a concept of divinity and human life. He described the cosmos as a battle between opposing forces of good and evil, represented by the gods Ahuramazda and Ahriman. He taught that individuals must decide whether to choose Ahuramazda or Ahriman. Zoroastrian thought influenced Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Cyrus’s son continued his conquests and took Egypt. The next ruler Darius and his son Xerxes invaded Greece but were unsuccessful of taking the Greeks, however they did force their way into India. Within thirty-seven years went from a small community of people to rulers of an empire including Anatolia, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Iran, and Western India. The mark to the effectiveness of their empire was the communication between the Persian network. The Royal Road was a main highway that connected the entire empire of Persia allowing the ruler to efficiently keep his ministers in line, and protect the rights of the peoples under his control.
How the Hellenisitc meeting of East and West shaped the development of economic activity, religion, philosophy, women's concerns, science and medicine.
Hellenism refers to Greek speaking Jews instead of Hebrew speaking Jews. The hellenisitc meeting stretches from the death of Alexander the great to the defeat of cleopatra. This period was called the period of transition. With the spread of greeks throughout the east, new markets were created and it increased trade. In relion the greeks believed in many gods. This was know as Polytheistic. They believed that to keep the God's happy they would have to make a sacrifice. Hellenistic Jews were allowed to worship their own God until Alexander the great came into rule. Hellenistic life was thought to be unstable and lack tradition so many of the people turned to philosophy. When it came to the concerns of women during the hellenistic period the people were pro women. More women were being educated which helped them to enter in careers of medicine and other professions. Some won fame as poets. they were even allowed to participate in a limited amount of politics. Greeks believed that disease was a serious problem. every one out of three babies died before one years old. Most people died in their 40s-50s. The dr's believed in a logial system. They believed that the body was made of 4 humors:blood,black bile,yellow bile, and phlegm. When the humors were balanced you were knwon to be healthy. When you had a fever that ment you had to much blood. The dr's would cut your arm and let the access blood run out or they put leeches on your body and let them suck the access blood out.
The Sumerians invented writing, exponents, and started astronomy. Their writings allowed them to pass their knowledge on to other parts of the world. It spread the most when Sargon (first world conqueror) conquerored Sumer. His armies marched toward the Mediterranean Sea spreading the Mesopotamian culture. They created many trade routes, had many excellent leaders, and had a large growth in technology. Also, since there wasn't many cultures in existence during this time, so it was fairly easy to recruit people into their beliefs. The Mesopotamian culture stretched from the Pursian Gulf and the surrounding areas of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers to the Mediterranean Sea.
The Spread of Hellenism and how did it effect the Greeks and others. The Hellenism period was the third great tide of Greek migration. It differed from the preceding waves because they encountered civilizations older and more advance than their own. A major development in the Hellenistic kingdoms was the resurgence of monarchy which had many repercussions. They were run by kings and queens. The Greeks was use to a polis (which was independent, autonomous state or city run by its citizens, free of any outside power or restraint.) Hellenistic kings, however, refused to grant sovereignty to their cities. They gave them all external trappings of a polis. Each had an assembly of citizens, a council to prepare legislation, and a board of magistrates to conduct the city’s political business. In other words the people can run the city as they see fit as long as they follow any decrees set by the king. To see that they do the king usually places his own officials in the cities. As the Hellenistic kingdom grew more of Greek influences spread. Macedonian and Greeks filled all important political, military, and diplomatic positions so sometimes the king offered Greeks land and money as lures to further immigration. The reason you can find Greek’s influences in so many places is because of their mentality of, if they are going to created Hellenistic kingdoms they have to have Greek cities, buildings-temples, porticos, gymnasia, etc. For the first time in history, vast reaches of the globe shared at least some aspects of the same culture.
How Christianity, originally a minor local religion, spread across the Roman world
Christianity brings peace to some and angers others, is a system of faith that borders the line of sanity and insanity. How did this religion or spiritual life style spread so rapidly across the roman world? Assuming that everyone knows the definition of Christianity, we will attempt to answer this question (if you are not aware of what Christianity believes the text book gives a very general definition). In order to answer this question, we must first understand not only did those closest to Jesus see him resurrected, but it has been recorded that over 500 people saw him resurrected. With this information we can better understand and safely assume that although Christianity was a local religion, rumor can spread faster than a wildfire when 500 people are spreading the rumor. Likewise, the text explains that rich and well respected religious leaders were part of those who were having meetings and telling others about the teaching and works of Christ. One notable reference would be Flavious Josephus, a Jewish historian who speaks very highly of Jesus in his humanity and divinity. Another example would be Luke the physician who wrote the book of Luke but was not one of Jesus’ chosen disciples. Josephus and Luke are just two of many that were well respected that testified to the life, death and resurrection of Christ. In retrospect, when we examine the bible and history we realize that Paul traveled various countries spreading the gospel of Jesus to everyone he encountered, resulting in the church Ephesus, Corinth, Philippi….ect… How much more can we assume the Rumor(Gospel) of Jesus Christ was spread if only ten of the 500 hundred who claimed to see him resurrected were able to travel and tell there testimony?
My Bullet Statement is “The Greek intellectual triumph in the arts, philosophy, and science and its effects.”
In the last half of the fifth century B.C.E. Pericles turned Athens into the showplace of Greece by turning the Acroplis into a monument of all time. The temple was built to commemorate the victory over the Persians, and the Ionic frieze above it Doric columns depicted the struggle between the Greeks and Persians. In many ways the Athenian Acropolis is the epitome of Greek art and it spirit. Although the buildings were dedicated to the gods and most of the sculptures portrayed gods, these works nonetheless express the Greek fascination with human and the rational. Greek deities were anthropomorphic, and Greek artist portrayed them as human beings. While honoring the gods, Greek artist were thus celebrating human beings. They captured the noblest aspects of human beings: their reason, dignity, and promise. The development of drama was tied to the religious festivals of the city. The Athenian dramatists were the first artist in Western society to examine such basic questions as the rights of the individual, the demands of society on the individual, and the nature of good and evil. Conflict is a constant element in Athenian drama. The dramatists used their art to portray, understand, and resolve life’s basic conflicts. There were three great Athenian Dramatists. Aeschylus was the first great dramatist, who first expresses the agony of the individual caught in a conflict. In his trilogy of plays, The Oresteia, Aeschylus deals with the themes of betrayal, murder, and reconciliation, urging that reason and justice be applied to reconcile fundamental conflicts. Sophocles the second great dramatist, also dealt with matters personal and political. In Antigone he expresses the precedence of divine law over human defects and touches on the need for recognition of the adherence to it’s as a prerequisite for a tranquil state. Euripides the third great dramatist also explored the theme of personal conflict within the polis and sounded the depths of the individual. With Euripides drama entered a new, and in many ways more personal, phase entered. To him the gods were far less important than human beings. The essence of Euripides’ tragedy is flawed character-men and women who bring disaster on themselves and their loved ones because their passions overwhelm reason. The signal achievement of the Greeks was the willingness of some to treat questions about the origin of the universe and of humankind in rational rather than mythological terms. Although Greek philosophy did not fully flower until the classical period, Ionian thinkers had already begun to ask what the universe was made of. These men are called the Pre-Socratics for their work preceded the philosophical revolution begun by the Athenian Socrates. Taking individual facts, they concluded, the universe was actually simple and subject to natural laws. Drawing on their observations, they speculated about the basic building blocks of the universe. The first of these Pre-Socratic thinkers, Thales, he believes that natural phenomena could be explained in natural terms. He sought a basic element of the universe from which all else sprang. He surmised that it was water. Although he was wrong, the way in which he asked the question was momentous it was the beginning of the scientific method. Anaximander was the first to use general concepts, which are essential to abstract thought. He concluded that the basic element of the universe was the “boundless”- something infinite and indestructible. Heraclitus declared the primal element to be fire, which is ever changing and eternal. Democritus created the atomic theory that the universe is made up of invisible, indestructible particles. The culmination of the PRE-Socratic thought was the theory that four simple substances make up the universe: fire, air, earth and water. The philosophers of the classical period ventured into new areas of speculation. This was partly due to the work of Hippocrates, the father of medicine. Hippocrates sought natural explanations for natural phenomena. Basing his opinion on empirical knowledge, he taught that natural means could be employed to fight disease. The Sophists all agreed that human beings were the subject of the study of philosophy. They laid great emphasis on logic and the meaning of words. In essence, they argued that nothing is absolute, that everything is relative. Socrates spent his life in investigation and definition. Socrates shared the Sophists’ belief that human beings and their environment are the essential subjects of philosophical inquiry. His approach when posing ethical question and defining concepts was to start with a general topic or problem and to narrow the matter to its essentials. Most people rightly believe think of Plato as a philosopher. Yet his writings were also literary essays of great charm. Plato tried to show that a life of ignorance was wretched. From education, he believed, came the possibility of determining an all-comprising unity of virtues that would lead to an intelligent, moral and ethical life. Plato developed the theory that all visible, tangible things are unreal and temporary, copies of “forms” or “ideas” that are constant and indestructible. Only the mind, not the senses can perceive eternal forms. Plato’s view the highest form is the idea of good. Aristotle’s thought is staggering. Everything in human experience was fit subject for his inquiry. In Politics and else, Aristotle stressed moderation, concluding that the balance of the ideal state depend on people of talent and education who could avoid extremes. Aristotle was both a philosopher and a scientist. He became increasingly interested in the observation and explanation of natural phenomena. He used logic as his method of scientific discussion, and he attempted to bridge the gap that Plato had created between abstract truth and concrete perception. Aristotle’s god was without purpose. Yet for him scientific endeavor, the highest attainable form of living, reached the divine.
Although Egyptian culture was responsible for many contributions to the development of civilization in the near east, the chief contribution could arguably be sustained agriculture. The Egyptian economy suffered countless wars catastrophes and regime changes and still remained relatively stable. Even as a province of the Roman Empire, Egypt served as the bread basket regularly producing crop yields far in excess of what its population required. When Egypt faltered or (as in the end finally) was independent Emperors in Rome paid the price.
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My bullet was:
The rise of the Hebrews as a political power and the evolution of their religious thought.
From Egypt, the Hebrews settled into Palestine in the thirteenth century. In Palestine some of the Hebrews worshipped Baal, a golden calf, which was against Yahweh's laws. They established Saul as a leader. Saul established monarchy over the twelve Hebrew tribes. Saul's work was continued by David of Bethlehem. David made Jerusalem the capital city. David handed over his rule to his son Solomon. Solomon built a temple in Jerusalem and made it the home of the Ark of the Covenant. When king Solomon died, the Hebrews broke into politcal halves. The northern half became Israel, and the southern half became Judah. The two halves went into warfare with each other. The northern was eventually wiped out by the Assyrians, and the southern half was sent into Babylonian Captivity. The Persians then permitted about forty thousand exiles to return to Jerusalem, where they established the law of Yahweh. This involved the ten commandments and later evolved into Hebrew law, or the Torah.
The Polis-
A polis-or city-state- is defined as city or town AND the surrounding countryside.
The focal point of the city is known as the acropolis, usually the highest point of the town. On the acropolis stood temples, statues, public memorials and dedications to the gods. Very near the acropolis was the agora, which was originally a place where warriors held meetings, eventually it became a marketplace.
A polis can be governed by any one of the numberous forms of governance:
- Monarchy: "ruled by one man"
- Aristocracy: "Power in the hands of the best"
- oligarchy: "the rule of a few"
- democracy: ruled by the people
- tyranny: ruled by one man who gained power through extralegal means
Bullet: How the Assyrians managed to conquer their neighbors and the factors that led to the collapse of their empire.
The start of the expansion of the Assyrian empire was conducted under the new ruler King Shalmaneser around 859 BCE. He began the first round of 200 years of war by attacking its neighbors Syria and Palestine. The warring was continued by the next kings Tiglath-Pileser III (774-727 BCE) and Sargon II (721-705 BCE) and ending with the conquest of northern Egypt (to the south west) and Babylonia to the south.
The Assyrians success was attributed to “sophisticated, farsighted, and effective military organization”. The Assyrians had invented siege machinery and techniques to make their numerous conquests easier including the first known “Corp of Engineers” which was responsible for bridge building and creative ways of transporting soldiers across rivers (floats, pontoons, etc).
This was the height of the Assyrian Empire at least according to the expansive land control. History of the empire, however; was recorded 200 years after its demise by the Greek historian and adventurer, Xenophon. (Map 1.4, mckay pg.26)
It is believed that the downfall of the Assyrian empire began in 626 BCE when Babylon won its independence from Assyria and joined forces with the people of Medes. Together they attacked the Assyria Empire’s provinces and utterly destroyed the homeland of the Assyrian rulers in 612 BCE.
Information here is from pages 25-26 of A History of World Societies
The Geography of Greece and Early Civilizations.
The ancient territory of what is today Greece is a peninsula that is the southernmost extension of the Balkan mountain chain. Greece also includes over 3,000 islands, over 80% of which are uninhabitable. There are several larger islands, including Crete and Rhodes; that have sustained life for thousands of years. The coastline of Greece is approximately 9300 miles long, lending itself well to a strong maritime influence in the region due to the several hundred natural harbors along the Aegean Sea on the eastern side of the land. There are no significant bodies of water inland and most rivers are nothing more than creeks that dry up during the hot summer months.
The mountains in Greece are severe and divide the land naturally into hundreds of separate regions, leading directly to human populations becoming fragmented and politically competitive. Communication was also severely hampered due to the terrain, most of the major roads were nothing more than wheel ruts carved into rock over centuries of travel. In the valleys of Greece the land was fertile and easily cultivated, creating pockets of civilization that were mostly self-sufficient.
The earliest civilization in Greece was the Minoans. The Minoans settled on the island of Crete around 2700BC and established a kingdom ruled by a King and his Nobles. Most of the Minoan tools and implements were constructed of bronze, leading to this time period being referred to commonly as the Bronze Age. There existed a strong trade economy between the Minoan people and the nearby coastlines to the south and east, such as Egypt and the Middle East, as well as with the Mycenaeans on the Greek peninsula. It is this contact with the other early Greek civilization that led to the eventual disappearance of the Minoans around 1450BC.
The Mycenaeans were a warrior aristocracy mainly composed of several large kingdoms loosely connected across the rugged terrain. They rose to dominance on the peninsula around 1600BC and quickly established strong trade routes to Egypt and the Middle East. Around the time of their uprising the Minoans suffered a severe blow to their way of life, the nearby volcano Thera erupted in one of the largest volcanic events in recorded history. This eruption wiped out many of their towns and covered the eastern half of Crete with ash, smothering the wildlife and population alike. The Mycenaeans took advantage of this event and assumed control of Minoan territories, eventually stamping out the Minoan culture altogether over the next 150 years. However, due to the nature of their society they literally tore themselves apart from the inside in a series of vast civil wars, eventually dissolving what was left of the kingdoms and leading into Greece’s “Dark Age” in 1100BC.
The rise of Mesopotamian
Time ago there was a chill spot where you could kick it with your brohams that is now known as Iraq. Back in the day it was called Mesopotamian, a Greek word which meant meso ‘middle’ and potamos “river” (land between the rivers). The rise of Mesopotamia was the start of a 3,000 year transformation that would affect the people of Eurasia and Africa. They would trade, learn, and share things from one and another. They learned Language and writing, science and technology which includes mathematics and astronomy. They taught each other religion about primary gods, goddesses, and a proper burial. The culture they learned includes music, games, and family life. They educated each other the importance of government such as kings, power, warfare, and laws. They also learned about houses, agriculture, and finally economy. Done.
The origins of the Iranians and understand how they created and maintained the Persian Empire.
The Iranians began as a small community Indo-Europeans from Central Europe that migrated to the land between the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf. The Iranians entered this land around 1000 B.C.E. as nomads. They were also horse breeders which gave them an advantage in war and battles when they overtook the previous people of Iran. Eventually the Iranians built small communities with chieftains, warrior nobles, free people, and slaves. The Iranians eventually became two large groups consisting of the Persians and the Medes.
In 550 B.C.E. Cyrus the Great king of the Persians conquered the Medes, starting the rise of a great empire. Instead of conquering then forcing beliefs, he thought of Iran as a state or whole and he gave the cultures he conquered respect, toleration, and protection. This view of merging cultures was held by the Persians for many generations. After the merging of the Persians and Medes, Cyrus took control of the west including the ports and trade routes, in order to protect Iran from invaders. Eventually he worked his way to conquering all of Iran blocking off the Babylonians from any help from the south. When he took Babylonian he won their hearts with humane treatment, toleration of their religion, and support of their efforts to refurbish their capital.
The early Iranians were polytheistic and their religion was tied closely to nature. Around 600 B.C.E., Zoroaster developed a new form of religion, a concept of divinity and human life. He described the cosmos as a battle between opposing forces of good and evil, represented by the gods Ahuramazda and Ahriman. He taught that individuals must decide whether to choose Ahuramazda or Ahriman. Zoroastrian thought influenced Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
Cyrus’s son continued his conquests and took Egypt. The next ruler Darius and his son Xerxes invaded Greece but were unsuccessful of taking the Greeks, however they did force their way into India. Within thirty-seven years went from a small community of people to rulers of an empire including Anatolia, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Iran, and Western India. The mark to the effectiveness of their empire was the communication between the Persian network. The Royal Road was a main highway that connected the entire empire of Persia allowing the ruler to efficiently keep his ministers in line, and protect the rights of the peoples under his control.
How the Hellenisitc meeting of East and West shaped the development of economic activity, religion, philosophy, women's concerns, science and medicine.
Hellenism refers to Greek speaking Jews instead of Hebrew speaking Jews. The hellenisitc meeting stretches from the death of Alexander the great to the defeat of cleopatra. This period was called the period of transition. With the spread of greeks throughout the east, new markets were created and it increased trade. In relion the greeks believed in many gods. This was know as Polytheistic. They believed that to keep the God's happy they would have to make a sacrifice. Hellenistic Jews were allowed to worship their own God until Alexander the great came into rule.
Hellenistic life was thought to be unstable and lack tradition so many of the people turned to philosophy.
When it came to the concerns of women during the hellenistic period the people were pro women. More women were being educated which helped them to enter in careers of medicine and other professions. Some won fame as poets. they were even allowed to participate in a limited amount of politics.
Greeks believed that disease was a serious problem. every one out of three babies died before one years old. Most people died in their 40s-50s. The dr's believed in a logial system. They believed that the body was made of 4 humors:blood,black bile,yellow bile, and phlegm. When the humors were balanced you were knwon to be healthy. When you had a fever that ment you had to much blood. The dr's would cut your arm and let the access blood run out or they put leeches on your body and let them suck the access blood out.
The Sumerians invented writing, exponents, and started astronomy. Their writings allowed them to pass their knowledge on to other parts of the world. It spread the most when Sargon (first world conqueror) conquerored Sumer. His armies marched toward the Mediterranean Sea spreading the Mesopotamian culture. They created many trade routes, had many excellent leaders, and had a large growth in technology. Also, since there wasn't many cultures in existence during this time, so it was fairly easy to recruit people into their beliefs. The Mesopotamian culture stretched from the Pursian Gulf and the surrounding areas of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers to the Mediterranean Sea.
The Spread of Hellenism and how did it effect the Greeks and others.
The Hellenism period was the third great tide of Greek migration. It differed from the preceding waves because they encountered civilizations older and more advance than their own. A major development in the Hellenistic kingdoms was the resurgence of monarchy which had many repercussions. They were run by kings and queens. The Greeks was use to a polis (which was independent, autonomous state or city run by its citizens, free of any outside power or restraint.) Hellenistic kings, however, refused to grant sovereignty to their cities. They gave them all external trappings of a polis. Each had an assembly of citizens, a council to prepare legislation, and a board of magistrates to conduct the city’s political business. In other words the people can run the city as they see fit as long as they follow any decrees set by the king. To see that they do the king usually places his own officials in the cities. As the Hellenistic kingdom grew more of Greek influences spread. Macedonian and Greeks filled all important political, military, and diplomatic positions so sometimes the king offered Greeks land and money as lures to further immigration. The reason you can find Greek’s influences in so many places is because of their mentality of, if they are going to created Hellenistic kingdoms they have to have Greek cities, buildings-temples, porticos, gymnasia, etc. For the first time in history, vast reaches of the globe shared at least some aspects of the same culture.
How Christianity, originally a minor local religion, spread across the Roman world
Christianity brings peace to some and angers others, is a system of faith that borders the line of sanity and insanity. How did this religion or spiritual life style spread so rapidly across the roman world? Assuming that everyone knows the definition of Christianity, we will attempt to answer this question (if you are not aware of what Christianity believes the text book gives a very general definition). In order to answer this question, we must first understand not only did those closest to Jesus see him resurrected, but it has been recorded that over 500 people saw him resurrected. With this information we can better understand and safely assume that although Christianity was a local religion, rumor can spread faster than a wildfire when 500 people are spreading the rumor.
Likewise, the text explains that rich and well respected religious leaders were part of those who were having meetings and telling others about the teaching and works of Christ. One notable reference would be Flavious Josephus, a Jewish historian who speaks very highly of Jesus in his humanity and divinity. Another example would be Luke the physician who wrote the book of Luke but was not one of Jesus’ chosen disciples. Josephus and Luke are just two of many that were well respected that testified to the life, death and resurrection of Christ.
In retrospect, when we examine the bible and history we realize that Paul traveled various countries spreading the gospel of Jesus to everyone he encountered, resulting in the church Ephesus, Corinth, Philippi….ect… How much more can we assume the Rumor(Gospel) of Jesus Christ was spread if only ten of the 500 hundred who claimed to see him resurrected were able to travel and tell there testimony?
My Bullet Statement is “The Greek intellectual triumph in the arts, philosophy, and science and its effects.”
In the last half of the fifth century B.C.E. Pericles turned Athens into the showplace of Greece by turning the Acroplis into a monument of all time. The temple was built to commemorate the victory over the Persians, and the Ionic frieze above it Doric columns depicted the struggle between the Greeks and Persians.
In many ways the Athenian Acropolis is the epitome of Greek art and it spirit. Although the buildings were dedicated to the gods and most of the sculptures portrayed gods, these works nonetheless express the Greek fascination with human and the rational. Greek deities were anthropomorphic, and Greek artist portrayed them as human beings. While honoring the gods, Greek artist were thus celebrating human beings. They captured the noblest aspects of human beings: their reason, dignity, and promise.
The development of drama was tied to the religious festivals of the city. The Athenian dramatists were the first artist in Western society to examine such basic questions as the rights of the individual, the demands of society on the individual, and the nature of good and evil. Conflict is a constant element in Athenian drama. The dramatists used their art to portray, understand, and resolve life’s basic conflicts. There were three great Athenian Dramatists.
Aeschylus was the first great dramatist, who first expresses the agony of the individual caught in a conflict. In his trilogy of plays, The Oresteia, Aeschylus deals with the themes of betrayal, murder, and reconciliation, urging that reason and justice be applied to reconcile fundamental conflicts.
Sophocles the second great dramatist, also dealt with matters personal and political. In Antigone he expresses the precedence of divine law over human defects and touches on the need for recognition of the adherence to it’s as a prerequisite for a tranquil state.
Euripides the third great dramatist also explored the theme of personal conflict within the polis and sounded the depths of the individual. With Euripides drama entered a new, and in many ways more personal, phase entered. To him the gods were far less important than human beings. The essence of Euripides’ tragedy is flawed character-men and women who bring disaster on themselves and their loved ones because their passions overwhelm reason.
The signal achievement of the Greeks was the willingness of some to treat questions about the origin of the universe and of humankind in rational rather than mythological terms. Although Greek philosophy did not fully flower until the classical period, Ionian thinkers had already begun to ask what the universe was made of. These men are called the Pre-Socratics for their work preceded the philosophical revolution begun by the Athenian Socrates. Taking individual facts, they concluded, the universe was actually simple and subject to natural laws. Drawing on their observations, they speculated about the basic building blocks of the universe. The first of these Pre-Socratic thinkers, Thales, he believes that natural phenomena could be explained in natural terms. He sought a basic element of the universe from which all else sprang. He surmised that it was water. Although he was wrong, the way in which he asked the question was momentous it was the beginning of the scientific method. Anaximander was the first to use general concepts, which are essential to abstract thought. He concluded that the basic element of the universe was the “boundless”- something infinite and indestructible. Heraclitus declared the primal element to be fire, which is ever changing and eternal. Democritus created the atomic theory that the universe is made up of invisible, indestructible particles. The culmination of the PRE-Socratic thought was the theory that four simple substances make up the universe: fire, air, earth and water.
The philosophers of the classical period ventured into new areas of speculation. This was partly due to the work of Hippocrates, the father of medicine. Hippocrates sought natural explanations for natural phenomena. Basing his opinion on empirical knowledge, he taught that natural means could be employed to fight disease. The Sophists all agreed that human beings were the subject of the study of philosophy. They laid great emphasis on logic and the meaning of words. In essence, they argued that nothing is absolute, that everything is relative. Socrates spent his life in investigation and definition. Socrates shared the Sophists’ belief that human beings and their environment are the essential subjects of philosophical inquiry. His approach when posing ethical question and defining concepts was to start with a general topic or problem and to narrow the matter to its essentials. Most people rightly believe think of Plato as a philosopher. Yet his writings were also literary essays of great charm. Plato tried to show that a life of ignorance was wretched. From education, he believed, came the possibility of determining an all-comprising unity of virtues that would lead to an intelligent, moral and ethical life. Plato developed the theory that all visible, tangible things are unreal and temporary, copies of “forms” or “ideas” that are constant and indestructible. Only the mind, not the senses can perceive eternal forms. Plato’s view the highest form is the idea of good. Aristotle’s thought is staggering. Everything in human experience was fit subject for his inquiry. In Politics and else, Aristotle stressed moderation, concluding that the balance of the ideal state depend on people of talent and education who could avoid extremes. Aristotle was both a philosopher and a scientist. He became increasingly interested in the observation and explanation of natural phenomena. He used logic as his method of scientific discussion, and he attempted to bridge the gap that Plato had created between abstract truth and concrete perception. Aristotle’s god was without purpose. Yet for him scientific endeavor, the highest attainable form of living, reached the divine.
Although Egyptian culture was responsible for many contributions to the development of civilization in the near east, the chief contribution could arguably be sustained agriculture. The Egyptian economy suffered countless wars catastrophes and regime changes and still remained relatively stable. Even as a province of the Roman Empire, Egypt served as the bread basket regularly producing crop yields far in excess of what its population required. When Egypt faltered or (as in the end finally) was independent Emperors in Rome paid the price.
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