Transcript 3.1 The Indo

Indo-Europeans migrate into Europe,
India, and Southwest Asia and interact
with peoples living there.
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Characteristics of Indo-Europeans
◦ Nomadic, pastoral people; tamed horses, rode chariots
◦ May have come from the steppes—dry grasslands north of
the Caucasus mountains
An Unexpected Migration
◦ 1700-1200 B.C.E. Indo-Europeans migrated, moved in all
directions (visual)
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The Hittites Arrival
◦ A group of Indo-European
speakers
◦ Take control of Anatolia (Asia
Minor) around 2000 B.C.E.
◦ City-States join to form empire;
dominate Southwest Asia for 450
years
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Hittites Adopt and Adapt
◦ Borrowed ideas from
Mesopotamian culture; adopted
Babylonian language
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Chariots and Iron Technology
◦ Hittites skilled in war, spread iron
technology by trade and conquest
◦ Empire falls around 1190 B.C.E.
after attacks from northern tribes.
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The Aryan People
◦ Indo-European people, enter Indus
River Valley before 2000 B.C.E.
◦ Sacred writings, the Vedas, reveal
much of their culture
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A Cast System Develops
◦ Aryans physically distinct from
people of India. (a lighter
complexion)
◦ Four castes, or groups based on
occupation, develop
 Brahmins (Priests)
 Warriors
 Traders and landowners
 Peasants
◦ People are born into their cast for
life
◦ Hundreds of subgroups arise later
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Hinduism—unlike religions such as Buddhism, Christianity, or Islam—
cannot be traced back to one founder with a single set of ideas.
Many beliefs were brought by the Aryans, which settled in India, and the
2 cultures combined.
Both the Vedas and the Upanishads are counted among Hinduism’s
sacred books.
Though there are variations in the types of Hinduism people practice
most worship the three-in-one god known as “Brahman,” which is
composed of: Brahma (the creator), Vishnu (the Preserver), and Shiva (the
Destroyer).
The goal of Hindus in to achieve both; moksha (MOHK• shah), a state of
perfect understanding of all things; and Nirvana- Nirvana is the release
of the soul from the seemingly endless cycle of rebirths.
Hindus today are free to choose the deity they worship or to choose
none at all. Most, however, follow a family tradition that may go back
centuries.
They are also free to choose among three different paths for achieving
moksha. They are the path of right thinking, the path of right action, or
the path of religious devotion.
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Other Hindu beliefs include:
◦ The Caste System
◦ Reincarnation- (rebirth), an individual soul or spirit is born again and
again until moksha is achieved.
◦ karma—good or bad deeds—follows from one reincarnation to
another. Karma influences specific life circumstances, such as the caste
one is born
◦ into, one’s state of health, wealth or poverty, and so on.
Together, the beliefs of Hinduism and its caste structure dominated every
aspect of a person’s life.
These beliefs determined what one could eat and how one ate it,
personal cleanliness, the people one could associate with, how one
dressed, and so on.
Many variations have developed from Hinduism over the years, and many
non-Hindu cults and religious movements gained their inspiration from
Hinduism.
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Buddhism developed out of the same period of
religious questioning that shaped modern Hinduism
Founder of Buddhism - Siddhartha Gautama
The goal of the religion is to achieve Nirvana through
Enlightenment- true wisdom.
In order to achieve enlightenment one must also
understand the 4 noble truths as well as follow the
eightfold path.
4 Noble Truths
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Suffering exists
There is a cause for suffering
There is an end to suffering
In order to end suffering, you must follow the Eightfold Path.
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The Phoenicians lived in a region at the eastern end of the
Mediterranean Sea that was later called Palestine.
The area of Palestine called Canaan was the ancient home of
the Hebrews, later called the Jews.
Most of what we know about the early history of the Hebrews
is contained in the first five books of the Hebrew Bible. Jews
call these books the Torah and consider them the most
sacred writings in their tradition.
In the Torah, God chose Abraham to be the “father,” or first,
of the Hebrew people.
The Bible tells how Abraham and his family roamed for many
years from Mesopotamia to Canaan to Egypt and back to
Canaan.
Unlike the other groups around them, who were polytheists,
the Hebrews were monotheists- they only believed in one god.
They believed in the 10 Commandments given to Moses,
which guided aspects of everyday life.