Page 83 - Western Civilization A Brief History, Volume I To 1715 9th - Jackson J. Spielvogel

separation of good and evil would occur. Individuals, too, would be judged. Each soul faced a final evalua- tion of its actions. The soul of a person who had per- formed good deeds would achieve paradise, but if the person’s deeds had been evil, the soul would be
thrown into an abyss of torment. Some historians believe that Zoroastrianism, with its emphasis on good and evil, heaven and hell, and a last judgment, had an impact on Christianity, a religion that eventu- ally surpassed it in significance.
Chapter Summary
By 1500 B.C.E., much of the creative impulse of the Mesopota- mian and Egyptian civilizations was beginning to decline. And by 1200 B.C.E., the decline of the Hittites and Egyptians had created a power vacuum that allowed a patchwork of petty kingdoms and city-states to emerge, especially in the area of Syria and Canaan. One was that of the Phoenicians, who cre- ated a trading empire in the Mediterranean as well as an alphabet that was later adapted by the Greeks and the Romans.
Of these small states, however, per- haps the most important was that of the Israelites, who created a kingdom under Saul, David, and Solomon. By the tenth century B.C.E., the inhabitants of Israel had divided into a northern kingdom of Israel and a southern king- dom of Judah, but the rise of larger states in the region led eventually to
their demise. Israel fell to the Assyrians at the end of the eighth century B.C.E. and Judah to the Chaldeans in the sixth century. Nevertheless, although the Israelites created no empire and were dominated by the Assyrians, Chaldeans, and eventually the Persians, they left a spiritual legacy that influ- enced much of the later development of Western civilization. The evolution of Hebrew monotheism created in Judaism one of the world’s great religions; it influenced the develop- ment of both Christianity and Islam. When we speak of the
Judeo-Christian heritage of Western civilization, we refer not only to the concept of monotheism but also to ideas of law, morality, and social justice that have become important parts of Western culture.
All of these small states were eventually
overshadowed by the rise of the great
empires of the Assyrians, Chaldeans, and
Persians. The Assyrian Empire, built upon
the effective use of military force, was the
first to unite almost all of the ancient Near
East. Nevertheless, after reaching the
height of its power by 700 B.C.E., it gradu-
ally succumbed to internal dissension and
was overrun by the armies of the Medes
and the Chaldeans near the end of the sev-
enth century B.C.E. The latter created a Neo-Babylonian Empire, which in turn was short-lived and soon conquered by the Per- sians. Although the Persian Empire owed much to the adminis- trative organization developed by the Assyrians, the Persian Empire had its own peculiar strengths. Persian rule was toler- ant as well as efficient. Conquered peoples were allowed to keep their own religions, customs, and methods of doing busi- ness. The two centuries of relative peace that the Persian Empire brought to the Near East facilitated trade and the gen- eral well-being of its peoples. Many Near Eastern peoples, including the Israelites, expressed gratitude for being subjects of the Great Kings of Persia.
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Chapter Summary • 45