Agriculturally productive land between the deserts of Arabia and mountains of Persia and Asia Minor, and along the coast of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea.
"Wedge-shaped" writing invented by the civilizations of Mesopotamia. They used a sharp reed to make impressions on damp clay tablets that became permanent when dried out.
Step-pyramid architecture developed in Mesopotamia. A temple at the top was thought to be the home of a deity.
Mesopotamian empire founded by Sargon. It split into Assyrian and Babylonian groups.
Architecture developed by Egyptians using precise geometry and engineering, as monuments to dead pharaohs.
A golden age of Egyptian history, of peace, prosperity, and trade. Abraham visited Egypt at this time. This period ended with an invasion by the Hyksos people.
During this period Egypt was a militaristic, expansionist state, and held the Israelites in captivity. Toward the end of this period Egypt weakened, began experimenting with monotheistic religion, and was overtaken by foreign invaders.
Megalithic structure built by ancient north Europeans as an observatory and calendar for ritual functions.
People group living near the Black Sea who migrated into Europe, Iran, and India. Their language became the root language for people groups in those areas.
Indo-European people group who used iron weapons and chariots. They are mentioned about 40 times in the Old Testament.
King of Israel who made Jerusalem the capital and gathered materials for the building of the temple.
Neighbors of the Israelites famed as sea-faring traders and colonizers, and as inventors of an alphabet that became the basis for modern European alphabets.
Aggressive Mesopotamian empire that conquered Israel and Egypt but failed to completely subdue the southern kingdom of Judah.
Mesopotamian empire that conquered the southern kingdom of Judah. At the height of their power they engaged in numerous lavish building projects that made their capital city legendary.
This was an empire started by Indo-Europeans. It grew into the largest empire the world had seen to that point, from Egypt and Greece to India. They allowed the Jews to rebuild their temple.