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Start of sedentary lifestyle again (Earley-Spadoni 2021, “The Pottery Neolithic in the Ancient Near East”) -
Increase in number and size of settlements; dependence on domesticated animals and plants; large rectangular buildings with more rooms. (Earley-Spadoni 2021, “The Pottery Neolithic in the Ancient Near East”)
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Permanent village life became prevalent over an extensive area, as attested by sites as distant as Hacilar in Anatolia and Jericho in Palestine (Earley-Spadoni 2021, "Historical Introduction").
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Tell Sabi Abbyad (Balikh) or “Burnt Village” where 300 clay sealings w/ 70 different patterns were found; Choga Mami, early evidence of irrigated agriculture, which requires more centralization (Earley-Spadoni 2021, “The Pottery Neolithic in the Ancient Near East”). -
Urban centers made their appearance, many with monumental buildings, extensive temple complexes, and large-scale sculpture (Earley-Spadoni 2021, "Historical Introduction"). -
Starting in the Naqada II period of Ancient Egypt, there are increasingly larger burials with more and more grave goods as it suggests both the major ideological significance of burial and the increase in social stratification through time (Earley-Spadoni 2021, The Neolithic in Egypt). -
The Egyptian Pharaonic civilization began and is one of the oldest in the world (American research center in Egypt, “7 Facts on 7 Millenia of History”)
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The cylinder seal had replaced the stamp seal, and writing was in use in Mesopotamia (Earley-Spadoni 2021, "Historical Introduction"). -
One of the most important historical sources of this period is utilized as the Palermo Stone is a historic document used by royals (Earley-Spadoni 2021, From Prehistory to History: The Late Predynastic). -
The distinctness of individual groups living in specific areas becomes even more apparent in the material remains and texts of numerous regional kingdoms: the Hittites in Anatolia; the Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Kassites, and Mitannians in Mesopotamia and Syria; and the Elamites in southwestern Iran (Earley-Spadoni 2021, "Historical Introduction").
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The fast potter's wheel was an innovation (Earley-Spadoni 2021, The Pottery Neolithic in the Ancient Near East).
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People of early Mesopotamia introduced new ways to talk about politics, the economy, and society through a system of writing known as cuneiform (Charpin, 808). -
The Pyramid age during the Old Kingdom of Ancient Egypt. The pyramids were colossal statements of divine kingship (Murnane, 696). -
The earliest known scribe statue, the text is preserved and are administrative documents found at the Red Sea port of Wadi el-Jarf (Earley-Spadoni 2021, “Sources in Ancient Egypt”).
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In Anatolia a more urban type of settlement, with residential areas and public buildings were developed and would quickly grow to become known as cities (MacQueen 1085).
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Period of Independent city-states (MacQueen 1098)
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A new international equilibrium emerged, characterized by the hegemony of four great powers: Egypt, the Hittite Empire in Anatolia, Mitanni in upper Mesopotamia, and Kassite Babylonia (Earley-Spadoni 2021, “Peoples of the Late Bronze Age”).
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Assyria emerged on the international scene under Assur-uballit I. Family archives indicate that within Assyria a process of concentration of land and formation of large estates took place (Earley-Spadoni 2021, “Peoples of the Late Bronze Age”). -
The rise of Assyria was one of the leading reasons that prompted the Hittites to cease their hostilities with the Egyptians so the Hittite king Muwattalli II and Pharaoh Ramesses II concluded an alliance. The signing of the first peace treaty in history. (Earley-Spadoni 2021, “Peoples of the Late Bronze Age”).
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Many of these regional kingdoms in the ancient Near East witnessed widespread social, economic, and political turmoil (Earley-Spadoni 2021, “Peoples of the Late Bronze Age”).
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The "Sea Peoples" invaded Egypt. The pharaoh Ramses III army and navy managed to defeat them, but the victory had weakened Egypt so much that it soon slid into decline (Cline, Prologue to 1177 BC p. 9)
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Elamite raid on Babylon put an end to the Kassite dynasty. Numerous monuments were carried off to Susa. Excavations were able to discover the Code of Hammurabi as one of the monuments (Earley-Spadoni 2021, “Peoples of the Late Bronze Age”). -
The “Dark Age” that was the movement of people and the emergence of new political unites, Neo-Hittite, states in central and southeast Anatolia, and northern Syria (MacQueen 1098).
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The Assyrians formed a large empire which encompassed nearly the entire region. The mighty Assyrian empire at one time stretched from Egypt to the Persian Gulf and northward into Iran and Turkey (Earley-Spadoni 2021, "Historical Introduction").
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The 6th century saw the rise of Persian power under Cyrus the Great. His conquests laid the foundation for a vast empire that at its height stretched from the Aegean to the Indus (Earley-Spadoni 2021, "Historical Introduction"). -
In Hellenistic and Roman times, Syria and Palestine became the political names of well-defined provinces belonging to the Seleucid, Ptolemaic, and Roman empires (Lemche 1195).
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Anatolia under Persian rule (MacQueen 1099).
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Greco-Persian Wars: Battles of Marathon (490 B.C.), Salamis (480 B.C.) and Plataea (479 B.C.) saved Greece (Earley-Spadoni 2021, "Historical Introduction"). -
The Pharaonic period ended with the arrival of Alexander the Great in Egypt (American research center in Egypt, “7 Facts on 7 Millenia of History”).
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Alexander the Great overthrew the Persian empire and would become one of the greatest military generals (Earley-Spadoni 2021, "Historical Introduction").