2011+Hellenistic+(stef,+kayla,+akiv,+matt+s)

= The Hellenistic Empire = The Hellenistic age...an empire so "great"! ====When people speak of the Hellenistic Age, they are talking about the people under the rule of Alexander The Great between 326 BC and 146 BC, their accomplishments and their lifestyles. These people consisted of fantastic soldiers, architects, artists, and trades men. As you read on you will learn about some of the hellenistic people's greatest advancements as a civilization.====

__G is for... Government! (Stef)__
 * The Hellenistic people had a monarchy government with one king: Alexander The Great.
 * After King Philip II, monarch of Mesopotamia, died, Alexander took control of the throne. He wanted to invade Persia in order to expand his empire. Him and his troops crossed the Dardanelles in 334 BC Alexander being as great as he was, took control of much of the territory and established cities and towns.
 * Next, the Hellenistic army headed further east looking to invade India. In 326 BC, they for the first time faced soldiers on elephants. This made them turn around and head home.
 * Alexander died without passing down his thrown to a heir, so the empire was left to the three generals who split the empire into the kingdoms: The Ptolemic Kingdom, which was the land in Egypt, The Seleucid Kingdom, the land in Persia, and lastly The Antigonid Kingdom, land of Macedonia and Greece.
 * The three kingdoms later fought for power and borders for the next 300 years!

Map of the three separate empires after Alexander The Great's death.

Hellenistic Empire invades Persia

__R is for.....Religion! (Kayla)__
 * The religion of the Hellenistic Empire was also mainly influenced by the Greek religion. This meant that they worshiped the similar Gods and Goddesses. They were polytheists. The Greek language was commonly used to discuss religion.
 * Because of the spread of Greek, Middle Eastern, and Persian religions their religion was syncretistic. Syncretism was a process where more then two beliefs are merged to form a brand new belief system. An example of this was Zeus was combined with Amon.
 * Like in the Greek religion, oracles were frequently used to predict the future. Alexander the Great was thought of as being the son of a God and when he went to the Oracle of Amon he was greeted by the priest as The Son of Amon. This greeting showed that he had a lot of power and stature. Comparing himself to a God also helped him gain favor in Egypt, where the Pharaoh's were always thought of as related to Gods.
 * The Hellenistic Empire started worshiping shrines and statues to fit more into theEgyptian culture.

2nd Century Statue of Isis

Bust of the God, Serapis

__E is for....Economy! (Matt)__
 * Alexandria was a great trading and economic area used by the Hellenistic culture.
 * Alexandria was a major port of trade, that in particular supplied wheat to the Roman Empire.
 * Alexandria’s location near the Nile River provided an ideal location to control sea trade in the eastern Mediterranean Sea and control the export of Egyptian agricultural products that would be shipped down the Nile.
 * Alexandria controlled the manufacturing of papyrus, which was a very important plant that was used to write on during that time period.
 * The Hellenistic kings were very rich, and funded scientific programs, and the army.

A Piece of Papyrus

__A is for......Art! (Kayla)__
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">The culture of the Hellenistic Empire was mainly influenced by the Greek culture.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">During this time period women were no longer restricted to their housework and were learning how to read and write. Some women were accomplished painters, poets, and philosophers. We know this through paintings, statues, and legal codes from that age.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Learning and art flourished in the Hellenistic age partly because they were so very encouraged by Alexander the Great. There were a lot of jobs like architects and sculptors.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Hellenistic sculptures took a new and more realistic approach where they carved every bone and muscle the way it was in real life. Artists tended to prefer ordinary people to gods and goddesses as subjects.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">The art would later be thought highly of and influence European culture.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">A statue of a Discus Thrower.

A statue of Aphrodite of Milos

__T is for....Technology! (Matt)__
 * Alexandria constructed the Lighthouse of Alexandria to make Alexandria’s harbor safe for shipping.
 * In Alexandria there were two great institutions of learning the Museum of Alexandria, and the Library of Alexandria.
 * Archimedes invents a military weapon that is some form of a catapult, and he invents a crane like invention that has a claw, and is able to lift larger objects.
 * Many forms of science became successful including astronomy, mathematics, medicine, and engineering, mostly because of the rich kings who’s money funded research and experimentation.
 * Many advancements in engineering arose out of a need for better artillery.
 * There were many improvements in the technology from this empire because of all the rich kings who payed to help improve the technology of this empire.

Lighthouse of Alexandria

__S is for.....Society! (Akiv)__
 * When speaking of science and philosophy, the Greek language became a universal language.
 * Alexander enforced policies or laws to spread Greek culture.
 * Order was kept by a strict government and the priveleged led good lives.
 * Peasants were able to live because of the arable land they lived on.
 * Greeks were very intelligent on subjects like medicine, astronomy, and philosophy.
 * Also invented some of the inventions that we are still using to this day.
 * The people that Alexander took over picked up Greek culture with a strong faith.

Greek Gods fighting