CLAA04H3 Lecture 6: Iron Age Empires, Assyria and Babylonia Lecture & Podcast Notes, Oct.23
Document Summary
Claa04 lecture 6 - iron age empires, assyria and babylonia (900-500 bc). Culturally they are directly descended from the canaanites already leaving in the. Phoenicians became seafaring merchants who travelled most of the. Phoenicia consisted of a number of independent city states, not an empire. Main cities were byblos, tyre, and sidon. The development of these cities was determined by two factors: The lack of much agricultural land because of the close proximity of the mountains to the east. The presence of valuable commodities for trade in the form of cedar trees and the purple dye used for fabrics extracted from the murex shell. Phoenicians appear to have been among the first to take advantage of the keel in ship building. Were the main traders until the greeks took the seas in the 9th and 8th centuries. Most important contribution to other cultures was the alphabet. Language was spread around the mediterranean through their trade.