1. The Mediterranean and
Middle East
2000 – 500 B.C.E.

2. The Cosmopolitan
Middle East
1700 – 1000 B.C.E.

3. Western Asia
• In the south, Kassites ruled Babylonia during this
period.
– Did not pursue territorial conquest.
• In the north, Assyrians had origins in Tigris
River.
– Involved in tin and silver trade.
• Hittities had capital in Anatolia
– Used horse-drawn chariots
– Access to copper, silver, and iron deposits
• In Second Millennium B.C.E., Mesopotamian
political and cultural concepts spread across
western Asia.

4. New Kingdom Egypt
• Preceded by the decline of:
– the Middle Kingdom
– Period of rule by non-Egyptian Hyksos.
• New Kingdom started through
overthrowing of the Hyksos.
– Began aggressive expansion into Syria-
Palestine and into Nubia.