HY 102 Lecture 5: The International System of the Late Bronze Age - ch 2
30 May 2018
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Department
Course
Professor
I.The International System of the Late Bronze Age
A. The age of superpowers
B. International diplomacy
1. A balance of power stabilized trade and diplomacy
2. The language of diplomatic rank
C. International trade
1. Flourishing seaborne trade
2. Trade routes as conduits for culture and cosmopolitanism
3. Treaty between Ramses II and the Hittites
a. Geopolitical stability
b. Furthered economic integration
D. Expansion and fragility
II. Aegean Civilization: Minoans and Mycenaeans
. Heinrich Schliemann and the ancient Greeks
1. Homer and Troy
2. The citadel at Mycenae
A. Sir Arthur Evans and the great palace at Knossos
B. The Minoan thalassocracy
1. High degree of material and architectural sophistication (the Palace Age)
2. Redistributive economy
3. Knossos
4. Overseas trade
5. Powerful navy
6. The bull cult and human sacrifice
7. Written language: Linear A and Linear B
8. Contacts with the Mycenaeans
C. The Mycenaeans
1. Intermingling between various Greek and non-Greek-speaking groups
2. Mycenaean citadels
. Warrior culture
a. Trade and piracy
b. Centers of government
c. Redistributive economy
3. Mycenaean imitation of Near Eastern examples
4. Warriors and mercenaries
5. Linear B tablets and economic and political rights
6. Greek gods
7. Mycenaean collapse
D. The Sea Peoples and the end of the Bronze Age
1. Waves of destruction—obscure origins
2. Disruption of northern trade networks
3. The Greek "Dark Age"
4. The survival of Egypt
5. Assyrian effects
6. New traditions and new cultural experiments
III. The Small-Scale States of the Early Iron Age
. Geopolitical changes
A. The Phoenicians
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Document Summary
I. the international system of the late bronze age: the age of superpowers. International diplomacy: a balance of power stabilized trade and diplomacy, the language of diplomatic rank. International trade: flourishing seaborne trade, trade routes as conduits for culture and cosmopolitanism, treaty between ramses ii and the hittites, geopolitical stability, furthered economic integration, expansion and fragility. Intermingling between various greek and non-greek-speaking groups: mycenaean citadels. The small-scale states of the early iron age. Geopolitical changes: the phoenicians, roots lay in the ancient near east. Independence of phoenician cities: aristocratic form of government, egyptian connections and the papyrus trade, textiles, cities. Introduced grapevines and olive trees to the levant: the pentapolis (heavily fortified citadels) Gaza, ashkelon, ashdod, ekron, and gath: virtually no written records, relationship between the philistines and the hebrews, the hebrews, origins: the old testament as historical resource. God and his chosen people: the covenant, the creation and the flood, the twelve tribes, hebrews and philistines.
