jjares reviewed Ancient Anatolia: A Captivating Guide to Ancient Civilizations of Asia Minor, Including the Hittite Empire, Arameans, Luwians, Neo-Assyrian Empire, Cimmerians, Scythians, Persians, Romans, and More on + 3522 more book reviews
Anatolia, also known as Asia Minor, the Anatolian peninsula or the Anatolian plateau, takes up most of modern-day Turkey. This story generally starts with the Hittites (an ancient group of Indo-Europeans) of the Late Bronze Age moving into the Anatolian area. They formed an empire in about 1600 BCE. Much of their wealth was tied up in the trade routes, so they had to protect them at all costs.
The Hittites were masters of chariot warfare. They were pagan, with a pantheon of storm-gods where they offered their fealty. Because their succeeding kings had more-or-less skills than the one before, the Hittites were expanding and contracting over the centuries. Finally, the Hittites were conquered by the Assyrians, who assimilated them by 705 BCE.
The next major group is the Aramean Confederation, a Semitic people (from Syria), organized in small, independent, nomadic kingdoms spread out over much of the Middle East and south-central Turkey. The Arameans (as well as the Hittites) are mentioned in the Bible. This book also mentions that Saul, David, and Solomon fought against Arameans. The Assyrians often fought against the Arameans, finally conquering Aramean lands and deporting Arameans to Babylonia and Assyria.
Luwians used their own hieroglyphic script. The people using this script and speaking a Luwian language lived and roamed (nomads) across Anatolia during the Bronze and Early Iron Age in Asia Minor and northern Syria. The Hittites saw the Luwians as enemies and waged war against them. They captured the Luwians and used them as slaves and pressed labor. Although the Luwians were assimilated, the Hittites had a policy of incorporating gods (from their captured groups) into their own religious system. Thus, the Luwians' gods had an impact on the Hittites' belief system.
The Neo-Assyrian Empire was the largest empire in the world for 300 years of the Iron Age. Aramaic was the official language because of the Assyrian's habit of moving newly conquered peoples to the nucleus of the empire. The Assyrians were famous for their powerful (and dangerous) armies. They are important because they conquered much of the Middle East and Egypt. The Assyrians were brought down in 612 BCE by the Babylonians.
This book now turns to the Cimmerians, a nomadic Indo-European people, that are generally thought to be of the Scythian culture. There's little known about this group of people. Records indicate they arrived at about 1000 BCE. They are mentioned again later in Assyrian records at the end of the 7th century BCE. It is believed they settled in Cappadocia.
It is believed that the Scythians are of Iranian stock because their language is a branch of the Iranian language. From the harsh environment of the Steppes, Scythians were wonderful horsemen and were the bane of infantry enemies. Women fought beside men in the Scythian armies. Their lifestyle was one of the pastoral nomad.
The ancient Persians were nomads of Iranian heritage. The Achaemenid Empire was founded by Cyrus the Great. At its apex, this empire spanned three continents. The Persian Empire lasted about 200 years until Darius III was defeated by Alexander the Great.
When Alexander died, his kingdom wallowed in indecision for 40 years. Alexander's empire was cut into four parts and the Seleucid Empire was founded in 312 BCE. The Armenian king Tigranes the Great invaded the Seleucid Empire in 83 BC, but they were ultimately overthrown by the Roman general Pompey in 63BCE.
This book shows how there was a constant flow of people (usually in conflict with each other) in Anatolia. The land was routinely overrun with differing religions, languages and ethnic groups. I think it will be fascinating when DNA testing can be routinely done in archeology sites, to provide more insight into the origins of some of these little-known ethnic groups.
This is a semi-joke: I sometimes wonder if the authors are in a race to see who can write the longest title for their book. One day soon, the title will be as long as the book.
The Hittites were masters of chariot warfare. They were pagan, with a pantheon of storm-gods where they offered their fealty. Because their succeeding kings had more-or-less skills than the one before, the Hittites were expanding and contracting over the centuries. Finally, the Hittites were conquered by the Assyrians, who assimilated them by 705 BCE.
The next major group is the Aramean Confederation, a Semitic people (from Syria), organized in small, independent, nomadic kingdoms spread out over much of the Middle East and south-central Turkey. The Arameans (as well as the Hittites) are mentioned in the Bible. This book also mentions that Saul, David, and Solomon fought against Arameans. The Assyrians often fought against the Arameans, finally conquering Aramean lands and deporting Arameans to Babylonia and Assyria.
Luwians used their own hieroglyphic script. The people using this script and speaking a Luwian language lived and roamed (nomads) across Anatolia during the Bronze and Early Iron Age in Asia Minor and northern Syria. The Hittites saw the Luwians as enemies and waged war against them. They captured the Luwians and used them as slaves and pressed labor. Although the Luwians were assimilated, the Hittites had a policy of incorporating gods (from their captured groups) into their own religious system. Thus, the Luwians' gods had an impact on the Hittites' belief system.
The Neo-Assyrian Empire was the largest empire in the world for 300 years of the Iron Age. Aramaic was the official language because of the Assyrian's habit of moving newly conquered peoples to the nucleus of the empire. The Assyrians were famous for their powerful (and dangerous) armies. They are important because they conquered much of the Middle East and Egypt. The Assyrians were brought down in 612 BCE by the Babylonians.
This book now turns to the Cimmerians, a nomadic Indo-European people, that are generally thought to be of the Scythian culture. There's little known about this group of people. Records indicate they arrived at about 1000 BCE. They are mentioned again later in Assyrian records at the end of the 7th century BCE. It is believed they settled in Cappadocia.
It is believed that the Scythians are of Iranian stock because their language is a branch of the Iranian language. From the harsh environment of the Steppes, Scythians were wonderful horsemen and were the bane of infantry enemies. Women fought beside men in the Scythian armies. Their lifestyle was one of the pastoral nomad.
The ancient Persians were nomads of Iranian heritage. The Achaemenid Empire was founded by Cyrus the Great. At its apex, this empire spanned three continents. The Persian Empire lasted about 200 years until Darius III was defeated by Alexander the Great.
When Alexander died, his kingdom wallowed in indecision for 40 years. Alexander's empire was cut into four parts and the Seleucid Empire was founded in 312 BCE. The Armenian king Tigranes the Great invaded the Seleucid Empire in 83 BC, but they were ultimately overthrown by the Roman general Pompey in 63BCE.
This book shows how there was a constant flow of people (usually in conflict with each other) in Anatolia. The land was routinely overrun with differing religions, languages and ethnic groups. I think it will be fascinating when DNA testing can be routinely done in archeology sites, to provide more insight into the origins of some of these little-known ethnic groups.
This is a semi-joke: I sometimes wonder if the authors are in a race to see who can write the longest title for their book. One day soon, the title will be as long as the book.
