Extractions: Selected by Choice magazine as an Outstanding Academic Book. "In this excellent subject encyclopedia, scholars of the ancient Near East bring together major aspects of its history, language, and culture. . . . People, places, institutions, major geographical areas, chronological periods, and a rich variety of subjects, such as architecture, the economy, religion, and poetry are all covered. . . . Highly recommended for all libraries and interested individuals." Choice The earliest farms, cities, governments, legal codes, and alphabets developed in the ancient Near East. Four major religionsJudaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islambegan in the region. Ideas, inventions, and institutions spread to all parts of the globe from the urban centers of the ancient Egyptians, Syrians, Hittites, Assyrians, Babylonians, and other peoples of the biblical world. For good reason is the ancient Near East known as the cradle of civilization. The only single-volume dictionary to embrace the whole of the ancient Near East, this major reference work covers Anatolia, Mesopotamia, the Levant, and the Arabian peninsula from the earliest times, through the Old Testament period, until the fall of Babylon to the Persians in 539 B.C. From "Achaemenids" to "Ziwiye," "administration" to "ziggurat," in 500 concise, cross-referenced, and comprehensively indexed entries, the
The Middle East And Inner Asia: A WWW Research Institute of anatolia through the complex history of the middle (and Near) east, We have organized the history of the middle east and Inner Asia in eight very http://www.stockton.edu/~gilmorew/consorti/1anear.htm
Extractions: The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey The Global History Research Institute for The Middle East and Inner Asia exists as a World Wide Website on a server at Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. This Virtual Institute is one of several which comprise Stockton's Global History Consortium. The Consortium will eventually encompass all geographical regions. The Middle East and Inner Asia Institute's purpose is to investigate, gather, preserve, and make available the historical record of societies flourishing in this broad area. Its scope ranges from the earliest communities of Anatolia through the complex history of the Middle (and Near) East, the broader Islamic heartland, and Inner (or West) Asia down through historical developments in the late twentieth century. For a selection of useful printed works and videos to supplement Web materials, see: We have organized the history of the Middle East and Inner Asia in eight very broad chronological divisions. Within each division, we begin the process of providing historical materials at two levels of detail: INTRODUCTORY and ADVANCED. To distinguish between the two, we use two type sizes:
History & Info - Various Ancient Calendars When did ancient months start? New years? Babylonia, Egypt, Near east, Cromagnonman (Lascaux anatolia was rich in metals, especially silver and iron. http://webexhibits.org/calendars/calendar-ancient.html
Extractions: Egyptian calendar ... the early Roman calendar In the eighth century B.C.E., civilizations all over the world either discarded or modified their old 360 day calendars. The 360 day calendars had been in use for the greater part of a millennium. In many places, month lengths immediately after that change were not fixed, but were based instead upon observation of the sky. Priest-astronomers were assigned the duty of declaring when a new month began it was usually said to have started at the first sighting of a new moon. Month length at that time was simply the number of days that passed from one new lunar crescent to the next. During those years in Rome, for example, a Pontifex (priest) observed the sky and announced a new moon and therefore the new month to the king. For centuries afterward Romans referred to the first day of each new month as Kalends or Kalends from their word calare (to announce solemnly, to call out). The word
Nishra.com : Assyrians : Civilization Assyrian presence in anatolia effected the region significantly because theintroduction of Cultural Atlas of Mesopotamia and the ancient Near east. http://www.nishra.com/assyrians/civilization/
Extractions: @import "/css/default.css"; Home Computing and Linux Assyrian History Gallery ... Biography Assyrian History This essay was written for the Mesopotamian Archaeology 123B course taught by Professor David Stronach at the University of California, Berkeley. Preceding the emergence of the Old Assyrian Empire, the Assyrians lived in economic prosperity and relative peace. Trade among the Near Eastern states was developing well before 5000 BC. Anatolia, for instance, provided silver, tin, and obsidian while present-day Afghanistan provided lapis lazuli, and trade networks came into existence for the commerce of these materials. It was The "location of Assyria [that] encouraged participation in these exchanges, and Assyrians developed far-flung interests." I By 2000 BC, The Old Assyrian Empire emerged as a commercial empire looking to expand its influence throughout the Near East. Assyria's geographic location encouraged its tribal and religious center of Assur to control trade throughout the region. Archaeologists have uncovered evidence that a comprehensive trade network had developed between the Assyrians and the Hatti, Hurrians, and Hittites at this time.
The Middle East - OpenDemocracy The middle east, The middle east anatolia and Iran mean mountainous plateauand cold winter. Greece means view of a few islands from the continental http://opendemocracy.net/forums/thread.jspa?forumID=112&threadID=44672&tstart=0
The Middle East - Discussion Forum The middle east, open democracy website. anatolia and Iran mean mountainousplateau and cold winter. Greece means view of a few islands from the http://opendemocracy.net/forums/thread.jspa?forumID=112&threadID=44672&tstart=1
Extractions: Sanli Urfa The region has extremely hot and dry summers, with temperatures often reaching the mid-40s°C. The winters can be very wet, and the nights sometimes plummet to -12°C. This area has the lowest humidity level in the country, and the best time to visit for a comfortable climate spring and autumn. The traditional and religious conservatism, combined with the ancient historical monuments, has also given it the name City of the Prophets and has made Urfa a unique place to visit. Away from the city, the ancient village and genuine living museum Harran with its famous bee-hive type houses, has been continuously inhabited for more than 6000 years.
Long Beach City College--Library Subject Guide--Egypt You will find relevant information on Egypt and the ancient Near east under manydisciplines including For information on the modern middle east see http://lib.lbcc.edu/handouts/egypt.html
Extractions: Dragon of Marduk - Babylon - Ishtar Gate A good place to start a paper is to read a little general literature about the field (encyclopedia, internet article) and look up basic terms that are unfamiliar to you. The Encyclopedia Britannica (in print or online ) is an excellent source of information on topics about the Ancient Near East.
Mesopotamia The Rise of Civilization in the middle east Mesopotamia Resource for musicMusic of the ancient Near east Exploring ancient World Cultures (EAWC) http://pw2.netcom.com/~wandaron/mesop.html
Extractions: Forward to Egypt Magical History Tour Back to Paleolithic and Neolithic Times Exercise: The Birth of Civilization Recommended Sites: Other Sites: Architecture in Ancient Near East Journal of Field Archaeology - MidEast Cultural Timeline 3200 BC - Present History of Art - Royal Cemetery of Ur ... Mesopotamia Civilization in the Tigrus-Euphrates Valleys - Professor's Outline Mesopotamia The Sumerians The Emergence of Civilization in the Ancient Near East Sumerian Text Archive ... Sargon II, 763-705 BCE, King of Assyria
Syria Gate - About Syria - History Of Syria The Hittites from anatolia and the Egyptians fought heavily for this land but In this period Persia conquered Babylonia and took over the middle east. http://www.syriagate.com/Syria/about/general/history.htm
Extractions: History of Syria Often called the Cradle of Civilization and the Gateway to History, Syria has a lot to offer history and the development of civilized man. On the other hand Syria's natural boundaries did nothing for the security of the land its strategic location also made it vulnerable and many conquerors and attackers were able to conquer Syria. It has been a great crossroad for trade between the Mediterranean and the East; it exported the Alphabet to the West, and has been linked to Religion from the beginning, from the Semitic Deities to the monotheistic faiths. Settling, Agriculture and the Beginning of civilization 9000BC: This is where civilization began. The development of agriculture in Syria meant settled communities. Tribes and peoples began to prefer agriculture to hunting and with the appearance of bronze and copper tools, agriculture developed quickly. Along with the development in agriculture came a development in trade, as urbanized communities began to engage in various economic activities. Ebla, Mari and the Bronze Age:
Archaeology In Anatolia--Forestation Article on Forestation in anatolia about the history of forestation and wood M. Zohary (1973) Geobotanical Foundations of the middle east, 2 Vols. http://www.arts.cornell.edu/dendro/..\dendro\AnatoliaArchyEncy\forestat.html
Extractions: This article, along with the corresponding article on Scientific Chronology, was prepared in 1994 for inclusion in the Archaeology in Anatolia Encyclopedia, a compendium that, for financial reasons, was never published. While we remain hopeful that someday the article may get into press, we have included it in our web bibliography because some people, somewhere, might find it useful in the here and now. Shipbuilding, housing, and industry, especially metallurgy, as well as ordinary heating through the rigors of an Anatolian winter, must have represented an increasing drain on otherwise stable forest resources, but the Hellenistic city or town foundations of Alexander the Great seem to have put a final strain on the ecology of the plateau. In the centuries immediately after Alexander, increased siltation blocked the harbors of Didyma, Ephesos, and Miletos, for example, some of which had been in operation for a millennium. Somethingprobably deforestationhad happened in the interior of the plateau which resulted in a rush of forest soils to the river deltas. By the time of Strabo (late 1st century B.C.) the countryside around Afyon is axylon or unwooded.
Let's Go Travel Guides | The Middle East | Regional Highlights The middle east Essentials Beyond Tourism The middle east; Community In ancient times, what is now the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan was where John the http://www.letsgo.com/destinations/africa_mideast/middle_east/discover/highlight
NU HIST 2055, Lecture 11: Early Developments In Metallurgy From an early date people were doing this in the middle east and no doubt Documents from anatolia show us that iron was known and iron was produced on http://www.nipissingu.ca/department/history/MUHLBERGER/2055/L11ANC.HTM
Extractions: Steve Muhlberger Much of the interest of ancient history is tracing origins, whether in politics, religion, or technology. This lecture and the next treat the development of tools crucial to civilization. The subject of this lecture is the development of metal tools. A great many things we take for granted cannot be done efficiently, or at all, without appropriate metal tools. Advances in technology have very often depended on advances in metallurgy. The use of copper, bronze, and iron are, as far as we can tell with present knowledge, one of the great contributions of the ancient Middle East to human technology. Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age. Everyone has heard these terms used to describe the past. Their origin is in archaeology. Long ago, archaeologists focused on the types of tools available to ancient cultures as a key to classifying them. The ages of Stone, Bronze and Iron provide us with a very rough relative classification of cultures across the Old World. But remember that this classification only measures one thing. It does not measure time in any absolute sense. The Bronze Age is not the same period of time in every region of the world. The Bronze Age was much later in Scotland, say, than in Iraq or Iran, because the techniques of bronzeworking were invented in Asia and spread to Europe and across Europe rather slowly. Large parts of New Guinea were still in the Stone Age this century while the rest of the globe was well into the Iron Age, Steel Age or Plastic Age.
MSN Encarta - Middle East Great books about your topic, middle east, selected by Encarta editors By 600 most of anatolia, Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Fertile Crescent, http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761579298_4/Middle_East.html
Extractions: Search for books and more related to Middle East Encarta Search Search Encarta about Middle East Editors' Picks Great books about your topic, Middle East ... Click here Advertisement document.write(' Page 4 of 7 Encyclopedia Article Multimedia 14 items Dynamic Map Map of Middle East Article Outline Introduction Land and Resources People Economy ... History A The earliest civilizations in an area between the Tigris and Euphrates known as Mesopotamia (Greek for âbetween the riversâ; the area is now Iraq) were the Sumerians to the south and the Akkadians to the north. From about 2330 bc the Akkadians expanded southward, extending their control from Syria to the head of the Persian Gulf and east into Persia (now Iran). Two other dynasties, the Amorites and the Elamites, succeeded the Akkadians, and the area split into a number of smaller states including Assyria and Babylon Hammurabi , the king of Babylonia during the first half of the 18th century bc , developed one of the earliest systematic collections of laws ( see Code of Hammurabi ). The
MSN Encarta - Search View - Assyria In the 3rd millennium bc, Assyria, like most of the middle east, came under the An IndoEuropean people called Mushki, who settled in eastern anatolia, http://encarta.msn.com/text_761564347__1/Assyria.html
Extractions: The search seeks the exact word or phrase that you type, so if you donât find your choice, try searching for a key word in your topic or recheck the spelling of a word or name. Assyria I. Introduction Assyria (ancient Ashur, Ashshur, II. Early Settlements From early Paleolithic times people had lived in the land that came to be known as Assyria, a fact confirmed by two adult Neandertal skulls discovered in a cave on the northeastern fringes of the region. Settled agricultural life did not begin there, however, until about 6500 bc . The ethnic composition of the earliest farming communities of Assyria is unknown; the inhabitants may have been a people known in later days as Subarians, who spoke an agglutinative language rather than an inflected one. Later, probably in the 3rd millennium bc , Semitic nomads conquered the region and made their inflected tongue, which was closely related to Babylonian, the prevailing language of the land. The Assyrian script was a slightly modified version of the Babylonian cuneiform. As early as the 7th millennium bc , the farmers of Assyria cultivated wheat and barley and owned cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs. They built their houses, some of which contained as many as four rooms, of compact clay, used round ovens for baking their ground flour, and stored their grain in large, bitumen-covered clay jars. These farming people wove textiles from thread spun with the help of spindle whorls; made knives of obsidian and chert, a flintlike stone; and used celts, ax-shaped implements made of stone, as adzes and hoes. Their pottery was outstanding; much of it was made of skillfully fired clay and painted in attractive patterns. Obsidian and other hard stones were worked into vases, beads, amulets, and stamp seals. Female figurines, for ritual and religious purposes, were modeled of clay. The dead, often buried in a flexed position, with the knees drawn up to the chin, were interred among the houses, rather than in regular cemeteries.
BIBLIOGRAPHY ON ANCIENT ANATOLIA AND ASIA MINOR Dawn of Civilization Early Highland Peoples of anatolia ancient Turkey Catalhoyuk, a Neolithic Town in anatolia The Neolithic of the Near east http://www.ancientanatolia.com/bibliography.htm
Extractions: Ancient Sources Modern Sources Ancient Sources Author Book Title Published Ammianus Marcellinus History of Ammianus Marcellinus 4th C. AD. Appianos Appianos Romaika (Appian's Roman History ) 2nd C. AD. Arrian Alexandroi Anabasis (The Campaigns of Alexander) 2nd C. AD. Athenaisos Deipnosophiston ( The Deipnpsophists of Athenseus of Naucratis ) 2-3rd C. AD. Aurelius Marcus Meditations 2nd C. AD. Cassius Dio Historia Romana ( Dio's Roman History ) 3rd C. AD. Cato the Elder The Origines 2nd C. BCE. Cicero The Verrine Orations 1st C. BCE. Diodoros Bibliotheke Historikhe 1st C. BCE. Homeros Iliad Cyrus Paideia 5th C. BCE. Livius Ab Urbe Condita (From the founding of the City) 1st C. BCE. Ovidius Metamorphoses 1st C. BCE. Pausanias Hellados Periegesos ( Descripiton of Greece ) 2nd C. AD. Plinius (Pliny the Elder) Naturalis Historia ( Pliniy's Natural History ) 1st C. AD. Plutarch Bioi Paralelloi ( Plutarch's Parallel Lives ) 1st C. AD. Polybios Historion Prote ( The Histories of Polybius ) 2nd C. BCE.
Assyria From the Caspian to Cyprus, from anatolia to Egypt, Assyrian imperial expansionwould When Arabs and Islam swept through the middle east in 630 AD, http://www.crystalinks.com/assyrian.html
Extractions: Assyrians originated in the upper Tigris river valley in the Armenian mountains. In 1932, Sir Max Mallowan, the eminent British archaeologist, dug a deep sounding which reached virgin soil ninety feet below the top of the mound of Nineveh; this gave a pottery sequence back to prehistoric times and showed that the site was already inhabited by 5000 B.C.. Very soon after that, the two other great Assyrian cities were settled, Ashur and Arbel, although an exact date has yet to be determined. Arbel is the oldest extant city, and remains largely unexcavated, its archaeological treasures waiting to be discovered. The same holds for Ashur. It is clear that by 2500 B.C., these three cities were well established and were thriving metropoli. This period of history saw the development of the fundamentals of our civilization: animal domestication, agriculture, pottery, controllable fire (kilns), smelting, to name but a few. As regards Assyrians, because of it rich corn fields, Arbel was one of the very earliest permanent agricultural settlements. Between 4500 and 2400 B.C., complex societies appear in the form of cities, with craft specialization and writing. These features were associated with the Sumerians, but they quickly spread to other parts of Mesopotamia, including Assyria. In Assyria, settlements had become large and guarded by fortifications walls, which implies the risk of attack from outside, and hence the need for defense and warfare.
Saudi Aramco World : Light Up The Night In some of the earliest levels of excavated antiquity in the middle east, The excavated sites of the entire ancient world have provided thousands of http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/196403/light.up.the.night.htm
Extractions: Volume 15, Number 3 Civilization took a giant step forward when men in the ancient Middle East found a better way to Light Up The Night Written by The Editors In all man's legends and folklore, as well as in his religions, a connection was made between darkness and danger, between light and well-being. Crouching in his cave, surrounded by the cries of nocturnal beasts, primitive man waited for the reassuring light of day. His first light came from the sun and moon, but eventually fire was tamed and used for its warmth, then for its light. In caves, a flaming branch lighted the night's darkness, permitting the artist to work, women to sew, the craftsman to hew and carve, and cultural progress to begin its upward climb. No one knows the precise moment when man first chanced upon portable and producible light, but a parallel line of development may be traced between human achievement and the production of light. Nowhere is this better to be seen than in the Middle East, the cradle and ancient nursery of man. By comparing the portable devices used to produce light through the ages, it's possible to see successive stages in human progress. In some of the earliest levels of excavated antiquity in the Middle East, small crude bowls, blackened on one side, are evidence that man had moved from his hearth fire and flaming torch and was able to light the rest of his home more efficiently and safely. The introduction of the fiber wick, probably a piece of twisted bark at first, permitted a revolution in lighting, for now oil could be burned, the fuel could be stored and replenished easily, and the danger of fire was reduced. The crude bowl lamp was used for many centuries, becoming refined in its shape only when the potter's wheel brought symmetry. The wick evolved into a cord of twisted flax or cotton, floating in the bowl, with one end drooping over the edge to support the yellow flame.
Peter A. Piccione: Courses History 470.001 Research Seminar in the ancient Near east. Discussions willinclude European contacts with the middle east, Africa, and Asia; http://www.cofc.edu/~piccione/courses.html
Extractions: Professor Peter Piccione History 270.T90: Egypt Study-tour: The Three Faces of Egypt. 14-day tour of Egypt, 3 credits. The course explores Egypt through the three great epochs of its pre-modern history: the Pharaonic era (3050-30 BC), the Christian period (1st-7th century AD), and the early Islamic era (7th-15th century AD). The class will visit historical sites from these periods in Egypt and Nubia to experience Egyptian history and examine Egyptian and Islamic art. The overall intent is to understand how this enduring civilization evolved and changed over time and yet still retained its distinctive and long-lived native traditions. Issues related to the modern social and political history of Egypt will also be discussed where appropriate. This study-tour is a joint undertaking with Northern Arizona State University. It is led by two professional Egyptologists, including Prof. Peter Piccione of the College of Charleston History Department. Participants will visit sites throughout the Nile Valley, including the antiquities of Cairo (Egyptian Museum, churches, mosques, and synagogue)
Present8 In the middle east region, the Euphrates and Tigris river basin conflict involving Throughout history, this ancient civilization disappeared and many http://gurukul.ucc.american.edu/maksoud/water98/present8.htm
Extractions: Introduction: The Middle East is one of the most arid and water scarce regions in the world where the history of water related conflicts extends back 5000 years. Control, use, share, and management of water produces great tensions and underlies various type of conflicts between sovereign states and peoples of the region. Despite the size of the Middle East, there are only three rivers that can be classified as large by world standards: the Nile, the Euphrates, and the Tigris rivers. These rivers provide relatively extensive water resources for the region. Except in Turkey and a few mountainous areas, rainfall is generally inadequate and is unable to support regular water needs and agriculture without irrigation. The flow of major Middle Eastern rivers such as Nile and the Euphrates comes to a large extent from rain and snow that falls outside the region. The geopolitical importance of the region, as well as ethnic and religious controversy, aggravates the usual problems of sharing natural resources such as oil and water in many different settings. One of the new agenda items of security studies, environmental security, particularly natural resources conflicts gives serious attention to water disputes. According to these various studies, there are major reasons that make water likely to be a source of military or political action, such as, the degree of water scarcity, the extent to which the supply is shared by two or more groups, the relative power of those groups, and the ease of access to alternative fresh water resources. (1) In the Middle East region, besides these general reasons, we can categorize several other factors that create particular obstacles:
