Editing Ancient history (section)

===West Asia===
{{Main|Ancient Near East}}

The ancient Near East is considered the [[Cradle of civilization|cradle of civilisation]].{{sfn|Hart-Davis|2012|pp=54–55}} It was the first to practice intensive year-round agriculture;<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bar-Yosef |first=Ofer |date=October 2011 |title=Climatic Fluctuations and Early Farming in West and East Asia |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/659784 |journal=Current Anthropology |language=en |volume=52 |issue=S4 |pages=S175–S193 |doi=10.1086/659784 |issn=0011-3204}}</ref> created one of the first [[history of writing|coherent writing system]]s,{{sfn|Parker|2017|pp=60–61}} invented the [[potter's wheel]] and then the vehicular [[wheel]],{{sfn|Wiesner-Hanks|2015|pp=55–56}} created the first [[Centralized government|centralised governments]],{{sfn|Parker|2017|pp=54–55}} [[law code]]s{{sfn|Wiesner-Hanks|2015|p=74}} and empires,{{sfn|Parker|2017|pp=55–56}} as well as displaying [[social stratification]],{{sfn|Hart-Davis|2012|pp=54–55}} slavery,{{sfn|Wiesner-Hanks|2015|p=74}} and organized warfare.{{sfn|Wiesner-Hanks|2015|p=73}} It began the study of the stars and the sciences of astronomy and mathematics.{{sfn|Roberts|Westad|2013|p=65}}

====Mesopotamia====
{{Further|Mesopotamia|History of Iraq}}
[[File:Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia c. 1450 BC.png|thumb|The core territory of 15th century BC [[Assyria]], with its two major cities [[Assur]] and [[Nineveh]], was upstream of [[Babylonia]] and downstream of the states of [[Mitanni]] and [[Hittite Empire|Hatti]].|upright=1.3]]

Mesopotamia is the site of some of the earliest known [[Civilization|civilisations]] in the world.{{sfn|Parker|2017|p=54}} Agricultural communities emerged in the area with the [[Halaf culture]] around 8000 BC and continued to expand through the [[Ubaid period]] around 6000 BC.{{sfn|Hart-Davis|2012|p=54}} Cities began in the [[Uruk period]] (4000–3100 BC) and expanded during the [[Jemdet Nasr period|Jemdet Nasr]] (3100–2900 BC) and [[Early Dynastic Period (Mesopotamia)|Early Dynastic]] (2900–2350 BC) periods.{{sfn|Emberling|2015|pp=256–257}} The surplus of storable foodstuffs created by this economy allowed the population to settle in one place instead of migrating after crops and herds. It also allowed for a much greater population density, and in turn required an extensive labour force and division of labour.{{sfn|Hart-Davis|2012|p=38}} This organisation led to the necessity of record keeping and the development of writing.{{sfn|Wiesner-Hanks|2015|p=79-80}}

[[Babylonia]] was an [[Amorite]] state in lower Mesopotamia (modern southern [[Iraq]]),{{sfn|Roberts|Westad|2013|p=63}} with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged when [[Hammurabi]] created an empire out of the territories of the former kingdoms of [[Sumer]] and [[Akkadian Empire|Akkad]].{{sfn|Roberts|Westad|2013|p=63}}

The [[Neo-Babylonian Empire]], or [[Chaldea]], was Babylonia from the 7th and 6th centuries BC.{{sfn|Bentley|Ziegler|2006|p=38}} Under the reign of [[Nebuchadnezzar II]], it conquered [[Jerusalem]]. This empire also created the [[Hanging Gardens of Babylon]] and the still-surviving [[Ishtar Gate]] as architectural embellishments of its capital at Babylon.{{sfn|Roberts|Westad|2013|p=110}}

[[Akkad (city)|Akkad]] was a city and its surrounding region near Babylon. Akkad also became the capital of the Akkadian Empire.{{sfn|Bentley|Ziegler|2006|p=36}} Despite an extensive search, the precise site has never been found. Akkad reached the height of its power between about 2330 and 2150 BC, following the conquests of King [[Sargon of Akkad]].{{sfn|Bentley|Ziegler|2006|p=36}} Through the spread of Sargon's empire, the language of Akkad, known as [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] from the city, spread and replaced the Sumerian language in Mesopotamia and eventually by 1450 BC was the main language of diplomacy in the Near East.{{sfn|Bertram|2003|p=143}}

[[Assyria]] was originally a region on the Upper [[Tigris]], where a small state was created in the 19th century BC.{{sfn|Bentley|Ziegler|2006|p=38}} The capital was at [[Assur]], which gave the state its name.{{sfn|Bertram|2003|p=10}} Later, as a nation and empire that came to control all of the Fertile Crescent, Egypt and much of [[Anatolia]], the term "Assyria proper" referred to roughly the northern half of Mesopotamia (the southern half being Babylonia), with [[Nineveh]] as its capital. The Assyrian kings controlled a large kingdom at three different times in history. These are called the ''Old'' (20th to 18th centuries BC), ''Middle'' (14th to 11th centuries BC), and ''[[Neo-Assyrian Empire|Neo-Assyrian]]'' (9th to 7th centuries BC) kingdoms, or periods.{{sfn|Hart-Davis|2012|p=80}}

[[Mitanni]] was a Hurrian empire in northern Mesopotamia founded around 1500 BC. The Mitanians conquered and controlled Assyria until the 14th century BC while contending with Egypt for control of parts of modern Syria. Its capital was [[Washukanni]], whose precise location has not been determined by archaeologists.{{sfn|Hart-Davis|2012|p=78}}

====Iranian peoples====
{{Further|Iranic peoples|Achaemenid Empire|History of Iran}}

The [[Medes]] and [[Persians]] were peoples who had appeared in the Iranian plateau around 1500 BC.{{sfn|Bentley|Ziegler|2006|p=55}} Both peoples spoke [[Indo-European languages]] and were mostly pastoralists with a tradition of horse archery.{{sfn|Bentley|Ziegler|2006|pp=160–161}} The Medes established their own [[Median Empire]] by the 6th century&nbsp;BC, having defeated the Neo-Assyrian Empire with the [[Chaldea]]ns in 614 BC.{{sfn|Roberts|Westad|2013|p=110}}

[[File:Achaemenid Empire at its greatest extent according to Oxford Atlas of World History 2002.jpg|thumb|The Persian [[Achaemenid Empire]] at its greatest extent, {{nowrap|{{Circa|500 BC}}}}|upright=1.5]]

The [[Achaemenid Empire]] was founded by [[Cyrus the Great]], who first became king of the Persians, then conquered the Medes, [[Lydia]], and Babylon by 539 BC. The empire built on earlier Mesopotamian systems of government to govern their large empire. By building roads, they improved both the ability to send governmental instructions throughout their lands as well as improving the ability of their military forces to be deployed rapidly. Increased trade and upgraded farming techniques increased wealth, but also exacerbated inequalities between social classes. The empire's location at the centre of trading networks spread its intellectual and philosophical ideas throughout a wide area, and its religion, while not itself spreading far, had an impact on later religions such as [[Christianity]], [[Islam]], and [[Judaism]].{{sfn|Bentley|Ziegler|2006|pp=160–161}} Cyrus' son [[Cambyses II]] conquered Egypt, while a later emperor, [[Darius the Great]], expanded the empire to the [[Indus River]], creating the largest empire in the world to that date.{{sfn|Bentley|Ziegler|2006|p=162}} But Darius and his son [[Xerxes I]] failed to expand into [[Greece]], with expeditions in 490 and 480 BC eventually failing.{{sfn|Bentley|Ziegler|2006|p=165}} The Achaemenid dynasty and empire fell to [[Alexander the Great]] by 330 BC, and after Alexander's death, much of the area previously ruled by the Cyrus and his successors was ruled by the [[Seleucid dynasty]].{{sfn|Bentley|Ziegler|2006|p=166}}

[[File:Assimilation of Baltic and Aryan Peoples by Uralic Speakers in the Middle and Upper Volga Basin (Shaded Relief BG).png|thumb|Assimilation of Baltic and Aryan Peoples by Uralic Speakers in the Middle and Upper Volga Basin (Shaded Relief BG)]]

[[Parthia]] was an Iranian civilisation situated in the northeastern part of modern Iran. Their power was based on a combination of military power based on heavy cavalry with a decentralised governing structure based on a [[federation|federated system]].{{sfn|Bentley|Ziegler|2006|p=167}} The [[Parthian Empire]] was led by the [[Arsacid dynasty]],<ref>{{cite web |last1=Encyclopaedia Britannica |title=Arsacid dynasty |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Arsacid-dynasty |website=Britannica |publisher=Encyclopaedia Britannica |access-date=18 February 2025}}</ref> which by around 155 BC under [[Mithradates I]] had mostly conquered the [[Seleucid Empire]]. Parthia had many wars with the Romans, but it was rebellions within the empire that ended it in the 3rd century AD.{{sfn|Bentley|Ziegler|2006|p=167}}

The [[Sasanian Empire]] began when the Parthian Empire ended in AD 224. Their rulers claimed the Achaemenids as ancestors and set up their capital at [[Ctesiphon]] in Mesopotamia. Their period of greatest military expansion occurred under [[Shapur I]], who by the time of his death in AD 272 had defeated Roman imperial armies and set up buffer states between the Sasanians and Roman Empires. After Shapur, the Sasanians were under more pressure from the Kushans to their east as well as the Roman then Byzantine Empire to its west. However, the Sasanians rebuilt and founded numerous cities and their merchants travelled widely and introduced crops such as sugar, rice, and cotton into the Iranian plateau. But in AD 651, the last Sassanid emperor was killed by the expanding Islamic Arabs.{{sfn|Bentley|Ziegler|2006|p=168}}

====Hittites====
[[File:Map of the Armenian Empire of Tigranes (English).svg|thumb|Largest expansion of [[Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity)|Kingdom of Armenia]] under [[Tigranes the Great]]]]

The [[Hittites]] first came to Anatolia about 1900 BC and during the period 1600-1500 they expanded into Mesopotamia where they adopted the cuneiform script to their Indo-European language. By 1200 their empire stretched to [[Phoenicia]] and eastern [[Anatolia]]. They improved two earlier technologies from Mesopotamia and spread these new techniques widely – improved iron working and light [[chariot]]s with [[spoked wheel]]s in warfare. The Hittites introduced the casting of iron with molds and then hammering it which enabled weapons and tools to be made stronger and also cheaper. Although chariots had been used previously, the use of spoked wheels allowed the chariots to be much lighter and more maneuverable.{{sfn|Bentley|Ziegler|2006|pp=53–54}} In 1274 BC the Hittites clashed with the Egyptians at the [[Battle of Kadesh]], where both sides claimed victory. In 1207 the Hittite capital of [[Hattusa]] was sacked, ending the [[Hittite Empire]].{{sfn|Parker|2017|p=57}}

====Israel====
{{Main|History of Ancient Israel and Judah}}
[[File:Kingdoms of Israel and Judah map 830.svg|upright=0.9|thumb|The Iron Age Kingdom of Israel (blue) and Kingdom of Judah (yellow)]]

[[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Israel]] and [[Kingdom of Judah|Judah]] were related Iron Age kingdoms of the ancient Levant and had existed during the Iron Ages and the Neo-Babylonian, Persian and Hellenistic periods. The name Israel first appears in the [[Merneptah stele|stele]] of the Egyptian pharaoh [[Merneptah]] around 1209&nbsp;BC.{{sfn|Stager|1998|p=91}} This "Israel" was a cultural and probably political entity of the central highlands, well enough established to be perceived by the Egyptians as a possible challenge to their [[hegemony]], but an ethnic group rather than an organised state.{{sfn|Dever|2003|p=206}}

Israel had emerged by the middle of the 9th century BC, when the Assyrian King [[Shalmaneser III]] named "[[Ahab]] the Israelite" among his enemies at the [[battle of Qarqar]] (853). Judah emerged somewhat later than Israel, probably during the 9th century BC, but the subject is one of considerable controversy.{{sfn|Grabbe|2008|pp=225–226}} Israel came into conflict with the Assyrians, who conquered Israel in 722 BC. The [[Neo-Babylonian Empire]] did the same to Judah in 586. After both conquests, the conquering forces deported many of the inhabitants to other regions of their respective empires.{{sfn|Bentley|Ziegler|2006|p=47}}

Following the fall of Babylon to the Persian Empire, Cyrus the Great allowed the rebuilding of the temple at [[Jerusalem]],{{sfn|Roberts|Westad|2013|p=156}} and some of the exiles from Judah [[Return to Zion|returned to Judea]],{{sfn|Bentley|Ziegler|2006|p=48}} where they remained under Persian rule until the [[Maccabean revolt]] led to independence during Hellenistic period until [[Roman Republic|Roman conquest]].{{sfn|Roberts|Westad|2013|pp=248–249}}

====Phoenicia====
[[Phoenicia]] was an ancient civilisation centred in the north of ancient [[Canaan]], with its heartland along the coastal regions of modern-day [[Lebanon]], Syria and Israel. Phoenician civilisation was an enterprising [[thalassocracy|maritime trading culture]] that spread across the [[Mediterranean]] between the period of 1550 to 300 BC.{{sfn|Bentley|Ziegler|2006|pp=48–49}} One Phoenician colony, [[Carthage]], ruled an empire in the Western Mediterranean until being defeated by Rome in the [[Punic Wars]].{{sfn|Parker|2017|p=58}} The Phoenicians invented the [[Phoenician alphabet]], the forerunner of the modern [[alphabet]] still in use today.{{sfn|Parker|2017|p=49–51}}

====Arabia====
{{Main|Pre-Islamic Arabia|Ancient history of Yemen}}

The history of Pre-Islamic Arabia before the rise of [[Islam]] in the AD 630s is not known in great detail.{{sfn|Roberts|Westad|2013|p=338}} Archaeological exploration in the [[Arabian Peninsula]] has been sparse; indigenous written sources are limited to the many inscriptions and coins from southern Arabia. Existing material consists primarily of written sources from other traditions (such as Egyptians, Greeks, Persians, Romans, etc.) and [[oral tradition]]s later recorded by Islamic scholars.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}} A number of small kingdoms existed in Arabia from around AD 100 to perhaps about AD 400.{{sfn|Roberts|Westad|2013|p=338}}