Empires in the Near East and the Reemergence of Civilization in Greece

1000–500 B.C.E.

Although dire economic conditions and foreign invasions caused havoc across the Near East and the Mediterranean from 1200 to 1000 B.C.E., by the eighth century B.C.E., local economies and societies were well on their way to recovery. The documents in this chapter allow us to chart the course of renewal in both regions, beginning with the Persian Empire. Between the sixth and fifth centuries, Persian rulers enhanced the traditional Near Eastern model of monarchical government, with its emphasis on a king’s divine right to rule, by conquering new territories and enriching their treasury. The second document reveals that a new religion—Judaism—took shape against this backdrop. With its exclusive worship of a single God, Judaism forever changed the religious landscape of Western civilization. The third and fourth documents illuminate important facets of Greek society at the time, which soon became a target of Persia’s imperial ambitions. As these documents demonstrate, Greeks shaped a sense of their own distinctive identity through innovative social, political, and cultural forms, ranging from city-states based on the concept of citizenship to epic poetry celebrating the individual’s quest for excellence. At the same time, however, the last document reveals that Greeks shared a fundamental similarity with their Near Eastern neighbors: the acceptance of slavery as an essential element in public and private life.