1. Connections: A World History
Second Edition
Chapter 2
Early Societies of
West Asia and North
Africa, to 500 B.C.E.
Connections: A World History, Second Edition
Edward H. Judge • John W. Langdon

2. The Ziggurat of Ur.

3. Early West Asian and North African Societies

4. Early Societies of West Asia and North
Africa, to 500 B.C.E.
• Early West Asian Societies
• Early Northeast African Societies
• West Asia and North Africa: The Phenician Connec
• The Israelites and Their God

5. Early West Asian Societies

6. Early West Asian Societies
A. Early Mesopotamia: The City-States of
Sumer
1. Emergence of towns and cities in
Mesopotamia
2. Conflict and connections between
Sumerian city-states

7. FOUNDATION MAP 2.1 Complex Societies Emerge
in West Asia and Northeast Africa by 3000 B.C.E.

8. Early West Asian Societies
A. Early Mesopotamia: The City-States of
Sumer
3. Sumerian religion and worldview
4. Gilgamesh
5. Religion, culture, and politics
6. Technology, innovation, and writing

9. King Sargon and a high official.

10. Early West Asian Societies
B. The Akkadian Conquest and the
Spread of Sumerian Culture
1. Cultural adaptation and dissemination

11. Cuneiform writing.

12. MAP 2.2 Akkadian Empire Unites Mesopotamia in
24th Century B.C.E.

13. Early West Asian Societies
C. Babylonian Society and Hammurabi’s
Code
1. Social regulation
2. Law and gender
3. Governmental reforms

14. Early West Asian Societies
D. Indo-European Migrations
1. Domestication of horses
2. Migration routes

15. Early West Asian Societies
E. The Hittite Connection
1. The Hittites
2. Hittite technology and innovations
3. Hittite government and policies

16. MAP 2.3 Indo-European Migrations Connect
Eurasian Societies, 3000–1000 B.C.E.

17. MAP 2.4 Hittite Connections and Conflicts, 1600–
1200 B.C.E.

18. Early West Asian Societies
F. Later Mesopotamia: Assyrian and
Chaldeans
1. The Assyrians
2. Chaldean and Mede conquest

19. MAP 2.5 The Assyrian and Chaldean (New
Babylonian) Empires, 9th Through 6th Centuries
B.C.E.

20. Assyrian army in battle.

21. Early Northeast African Societies

22. MAP 2.6 African Environment and the Spread of
Farming and Herding, Second Millennium B.C.E.
Through First Millennium C.E.

23. Early Northeast African Societies
A. Egyptian Culture and Society
1. The Nile
2. African connections
3. Religion and worldview
4. Writing and other innovations
5. Egyptian society

24. Decorated wooden
“mummy” case
used for the
remains of an
ancient Egyptian
woman.

25. Early Northeast African Societies
B. The Kingdoms of Egypt
1. Periods in Egyptian history
2. Early kingdoms and Hykos rule

26. MAP 2.7 Egyptian Kingdoms and Imperial
Expansion, 2700–1075 B.C.E.

27. The Sphinx and the Great Pyramid.

28. Early Northeast African Societies
B. The Kingdoms of Egypt
3. The Egyptian empire

29. Statues of Ramses II at Abu Simbel.

30. Early Northeast African Societies
C. Nubian Culture and the Kingdoms of
Kush
1. Egypt and Nubia

31. MAP 2.8 Egypt, Kush, and Meroë, Second and First
Millennia B.C.E.

32. Nubians bearing gifts.

33. Early Northeast African Societies
D. The Kingdom and Culture of Meroë
1. Meroë in regional context

34. West Asia and North Africa: The
Phoenician Connection

35. West Asia and North Africa:
The Phoenician Connection
A. The Phoenician Commercial Empire
1. The Phoenicians and the Mediterranean
world
2. The Phoenician alphabet
3. Carthage

36. MAP 2.9 Phoenician and Carthaginian Colonies,
12th Through 2nd Centuries B.C.E.

37. The Israelites and Their God

38. The Israelites and Their God
A. The Children of Israel
1. The Bible
2. The Israelites in Palestine

39. The Israelites and Their God
B. The Kingdoms of Israel
1. The formation of the kingdom
2. Split into Judah and Israel
3. Dispersion and exile

40. MAP 2.10 Israelites and Their Neighbors, 12th
Through 8th Centuries B.C.E.

41. The Israelites and Their God
C. The God of Israel
1. The God of the Jews
2. Jewish monotheism

42. Key Dates and Developments
West Asia/North Africa