Trading Peoples Fertile Crescent 3000 BC - 100 BC

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Trading PeoplesFertile Crescent3000 BC - 100 BC

• Aramaeans
• Phoenicians
• Lydians

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The Aramaeans

• The Aramean culture attained its height in the
  ninth and eighth centuries BC.
• By about 500 BC, Aramaic had become the universal
  language of commerce, culture, and government
  throughout the entire Fertile Crescent.
• Bible written in Aramaic and was the language of
  Jesus and his people.

• One of the most active peoples in early Middle
  Eastern trade, settled in central Syria about
  1200 BC
• Gained control of overland trade between Egypt
  and Mesopotamia. Aramean merchants were most
  responsible for spreading their language and
  culture.
• Capital city of Damascus

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Present-Day Syria

• The village of Ma'alula, in the Ante-Lebanon
  mountains, is one of only a handful of places in
  the world where Aramaic, the language Christ
  spoke, is still known and understood.

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The Phoenicians

• Took charge of Mediterranean shipping and trade
• To protect/supply ships, set up a network of
  temporary trading posts and colonies along the
  coasts of the Mediterranean. Phoenician merchants
  kept track of complex business deals using an
  improved alphabet.
• Alphabet became the foundation of several other
  alphabets, including Greek -did not require years
  of study to master, so no longer needed specially
  trained scribes.

• One of the Semitic groups that migrated from the
  Arabian Peninsula about 3000 BC, settled in the
  northern part of Canaan.
• Traded by sailing the seas.
• By 1200 BC built cities along their coast which
  grew to independent city-states.

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Phoenician Outposts
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Phoenician Colonies

• Carthage in present-day Tunisia Island
  of Sardinia

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Phoenician Alphabet
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The Lydians

• Located in Asia Minor, they were well situated to
  prosper in regional trade
• Capital city of Sardes

• By late 600s BC had developed a wealthy and
  independent kingdom famous for its rich gold
  deposits.
• The Lydians began to set prices and developed a
  money system as a medium of exchange.

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Coins

• Most early cultures traded precious metals. In
  2500 BC the Egyptians produced metal rings for
  use as money. By 700 BC, the Lydians became the
  first in the Western world to make coins. The
  Lydians used coins to expand their vast trading
  empire. The Greeks and Romans continued the
  coining tradition and passed it on to later
  Western civilizations. Coins were appealing since
  they were durable, easy to carry and contained
  valuable metals.

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Lydia and Sardes
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Phoenicians