Week 9: Education and Trade in the Ancient World 1300 BC
Ancient History Resources for Homeschool and Personal Study. This weeks topics: Trade between the Assyrians, and the Hittites, Ramesses II, Yazilikaya, School in Ancient times and the Phoenicians
Ancient History is studied through the collection of archeological evidence, written records and oral stories or myths. Just because evidence shows a particular belief or custom was common at a particular time does not mean that everyone in that civilization shared that belief. When you study the topics for this week, you can either go deep on one topic for the week and skip the others or you can do a new topic each day. This outline is just a suggested pace, you can go slower or faster as needed. This outline is intended to provide you with a place to start. You will still need to do your own research.
 |
| Ashur-nasir-pal after a successful hunt |
Homeschool Topics for Week 9
Trade between the Assyrians and the Hittites
Yazilikaya
School in Ancient Times
The Phoenicians
Discussion Questions
Trade Between the Assyrians and the Hittites
Old Assyrian merchants exported textiles and tin to Anatolia. Anatolia mined silver, gold and copper. The merchants communicated with each other by sending clay tablets. The clay tablets were about the size of your hand and were wrapped in a layer of clay which formed an "envelope." On one tablet sent by Buzazu, we read "Let them [the transporters] bring the tin via the narrow track [smuggling route] if it is clear. If not, let them make small packets of my tin and introduce them gradually into Kanesh, concealed in their underwear." This is just an ordinary trade message but the place they hid the metal - not so ordinary. Source Assyria maintained a "Kings Road" for trade and communication. Animals were kept at stops along the road for use by official messengers only. See video below about smuggling on or around the Kings Road. If you wanted to make a transaction, your ID or in other words, your guarantee that you would pay was a cylinder seal. Check out cylinder seals here.
If you were an Assyrian merchant, what would you sell?
Clothing
Wool was the primary textile of the region. It was woven on a loom and then dyed. The red and blue dyes were made from plants. The wool fibers were woven into rugs, clothing and other useful items. Look at the picture above. You will see a very detailed garment with tassels. Linen was only available in Egypt and was better for a hot climate. Check out this Red Karaman Sheep of Turkey. What items in your house are made of wool?
The Sherden Sea Pirates
The Sherden pirates were attacking Egyptian ships in the Mediterranean. Ramesses put a stop to it by allowing them to attack one ship and then surrounding and capturing the entire lot. Sea-faring thieves is not a new occupation. Solving piracy is a matter of national defense. How was Ramesses' strategy successful? You might enjoy viewing the bronze archers theorized to be associated with the Sherdan if they lived in Sardis (see link in this paragraph).
Yazilikaya
Yazilikaya is a temple or sanctuary built on a rock outcropping that allowed the Hittites to keep track of the lunar months based on the path the moon took across the sky at different times of the year. Along the walls of the shrine are carved images of the Hittite pantheon in a cosmic order. Modern day scholars assume that religious celebrations were held in this area, but there was likely a daily presence of elite people who monitored the heavens here. Source
School in Ancient Times
Kids who went to school in Hittite times used wax boards for practicing their letters. These boards had a frame and the inside area was spread with a wax mixture that could be inscribed and "erased." You can see a stylus in the belt of the people carved into ancient stone monuments. The stylus was used to write the cuneiform text.
The Babylonians developed a counting system based on the number 60. After reaching the number 60, they added lower numbers to groups of 60 to get higher numbers. The Babylonians did not have the number zero so they had trouble with numbers that had zero in a certain place value. The Bablyonians partially solve the problem with a dot that stood for "no number in this place value." Why does a clock turn to the next hour at 60 minutes? How is an arc's angle measured?
The Phoenicians
The Phoenicians were mariners who facilitated the exchange of goods, ideas and knowledge. They are credited with the oldest alphabet. Two of their most famous cities were Tyre and Sidon. The Bronze Age collapse did not affect the Phoenicians and they experienced what is sometimes called the Phoenician Renaissance. See an EdSitement Lesson Plan here. If you could stow away on a Phoenician trading vessel, where would you go? What is it like to row a boat? Phoenician vessels were called biremes? What is a bireme? Learn more about Tyre here.
Books (all links go to Goodreads)
Videos
Why don't Country Flags Use the Color Purple (contains a small nude diety)