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is an ancient book written in Hebrew in about 160 CE which gives a chronology of the history of the Jewish people and the world around them since Contact the first man Adam until the Great Revolt against the Roman rule. Seder Olam means Order (or Chronology) of the World. Some 450 years later, another book called Seder Olam Zutta (the Small "Seder Olam") was issued in Babylone to What is new complete the former work until their time. Since then, and to distinguish the two Index of names works, the former one is often referred as Seder Olam Rabbah (the Great "Seder Olam"). There has not been any such work since. Although the chronology from the Creation to the Exodus is fairly detailed and free from debate, the periods that follow, from the time of Joshua and the Judges until Generations 1- later events is based on assumptions from the original author. Unfortunately these assumptions do not match other historical chronologies that have been established 14 by the Egyptian, Babylonian and Persian records. The present site presents an (3760 - 2080 attempt to reconcile these differences and point to possible mistakes in the original BCE) assumptions made in the Seder Olam. And, of course, the goal is also to continue Generations 15- the original work until the present days. 21 I have divided the chronology in 50 different "generations" of mankind from the (2080 - 1240 arrival of Adam. Why 50? It will be fully explained in the last (50th) generation, BCE) which will be the Messianic times according to Jewish scriptures, but, in essence it is related to the Jubilee of the world. Since the Creation, God has established the Generations 22- Shabbat, which is the 7th day. Then the Israelites were ordered to respect it as a rest 28 day, and to also respect the 7th year as a rest year (for the land). After 7 cycles of 7 (1240 - 400 years, totalling 49 years, they were ordered to respect the Jubilee year, the 50th BCE) year. This cycle is mirrored into the chronology of the world which will continue for 49 generations, until the last generation, the 50th one. The world, as it is known Generations 29- to Jews, is supposed to last 6000 years: this gives 50 generations of 120 years each. 35 So each generation of this revised chronology covers 120 years of Jewish history. (400 BCE The period of 120 years is also given by God, at a certain point of time in the 440 CE) Biblical narrative, as the maximum number of years that humans can live. Creation Generations 36- I hope you will enjoy going through these pages and, as this is a work in progress, do come back and check the updates in the "What is New" section. If you have 49 (440 - 2120 CE) comment or message to send me, please do so by using the Contact form. Generation 50 Albert Benhamou (Messianic) To search this site with a keyword, enter it in the window below and press the Search button: Quick links to major events in Biblical and Jewish History: - the six "days" of the Creation Home
Seder Olam
- the Flood, 2104 BCE - the Tower of Babel, 1764 BCE - the Exodus, 1306 BCE - end of the kingdom of Israel, 718 BCE - end of the kingdom of Judah and destruction of the First Temple, 587 BCE - Queen Esther and the festival of Purim, 475 BCE - revolt of the Maccabees and the festival of Chanukkah, 167 BCE - crucifixion of Jesus, 33 CE - destruction of the Second Temple, 70 CE - the Great Revolt of Bar-Kochba, 132-135 CE - the rise of Islam and the Hijrah, 622 CE - more to come....
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Home Contact Gregorian What is new Index of names Creation Generations 1-14 Generations 15-21 Generations 22-28 Generations 29-35 Generations 36-49 Generation 50 March-June 2013 28 March 2013 17 Nisan 5773 Hebrew Addition Content creation Opening of the web site and section 'Creation'
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Home Contact A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-VW-X-Y-Z What is new Index of Names
INDEX OF NAMES
A
Abaye, one of the leading figure of the Babylonian amoraim, and son of Rabba Adam, the first man, death, transmission of his tradition Abel, son of Adam and Eve, murdered by his brother Cain Abimelech, illegitimate son of Judge Gideon, oppressed the Israelites Abraham, Abram of Ur, first time God speaks to him, in Egypt, with Pharaoh, Covenant with God, name change to Abraham, Oak of Abraham in Hebron Absalom, rebellious son of David Abydos, capital of Ancient Egypt Aelia Capitolina, Roman city built over the destroyed Jerusalem Agrippa, king of Judea Agrippa II, king of Judea son of Agrippa, he sided with the Romans during the War of the Jews and witnessed the destruction of Jerusalem Ahasuerus (Xerxes), Persian king, took Esther as a wife Akiva, rabbi, executed after the Great Revolt Alexander the Great Alexander Severus, Roman emperor Alexandria, city founded by the Greeks in Egypt, massacre of the Jews Alphabet, introduction in Canaan, introduction in Persia, Amalekites, tribe who lived in the desert south from Canaan, war against King Saul, Haman of Persia Amarna Period, monotheist heresy of Akhenaten Ammonites, people of the Eastern side of the Jordan River, descendants of Lot Amoraim, the redactors of the Gemara, which completed the Talmud Antipater, father of Herod, procurator of Judea Antoninus Pius, Roman emperor Antony, Roman general, married to Cleopatra, rebelled against Octavian Aramaeans, people of Northern Syria, Aram son of Shem, the Arameans rule over Israel Aretas, king of the Nabataeans
Ark of the Covenant, from Shiloh to Beth-El, captured by the Philistines, in Kiriath-Jearim, brought to Jerusalem Asenath, wife of Joseph Ashkenaz, grandson of Noah, ancestor of the Scythians Ashur-Dan III, king of Assyria Assur, son of Shem Arpachshad, son of Shem Athaliah, self-made queen of the kingdom of Judah Athanasius, the Bishop of Alexandria who finalised the content of the New Testament Atrahasis, Babylonian epic with the tales of the Creation and the Flood Augustus, Roman emperor renamed from Octavian
Babylon, rebellion after Hammurabi, Bar-Kochba, Jewish leader of the last rebellion against Rome called the Great Revolt Barbarian invasions in the Roman empire Bathsheba, Israelite wife covetted by King David, mother of Solomon Battles: Kadesh 1274 BCE, Meggido 609 BCE, Carchemish 605 BCE, Pelusium 525 BCE, Issus 333 BCE, Raphia/Gaza 217 BCE, Emmaus 166 BCE, Neapolis/Samaria 111 BCE, Alexandria 48 BCE, Actium 31 BCE, Jotapata 67 CE, siege of Jerusalem 70 CE by Titus, Masada 74 CE, Lydda 117 CE, Betar 135 CE, Milvian Bridge 312 CE, Belisarus, Byzantine general who commanded the campaign against the Vandals in North Africa Belshazzar, king of Babylon Benjamin, war against the tribe, founders of Rome Ben-Hadad, king of Aram Beruriah, wife of Rabbi Meir; she was a convert from Rome and her Roman name was Valeria Betar, city of the last stand of Bar-Kochba and his followers against Rome Beth-Shearim, city of Galilee where the Sanhedrin settled for several years Big Bang, theory about the start of the Universe Boaz, husband of Ruth the Moabite, ancestor of King David Book of the Dead, Egyptian, Book of Sirach Book of the Jubilees Book of the Maccabees Book of Zerubbabel, or Sefer Zerubbabel, apocalytic text written about 615 CE Brazen Sea, see Molten Sea Bronze Age Byzantium, the new capital of the Roman empire as decided by Emperor Constantine
Caleb son of Jephuneh, explorer sent by Moses to Canaan, one of the leaders of the conquest Caligula, Roman emperor Canaan, son of Cham, the Canaanites, conquest by Joshua, allotment to the 12 tribes, Caracalla, Roman emperor Carthage, foundation and fall, conquest by the Vandals, conquest by the Muslims Cham, son of Noah, his sons, descendants Census of the Israelites: by Moses in the desert, by Joshua before Canaan, by King David, by Agrippa Cestius, ill-fated campaign in Judea Circumcision, sign of the Covenant between God and the Hebrews Clemens or Flavius Clemens, member of the Flavia dynasty Constantine, Roman emperor Creation, the six days of the Creation, corruption Cyrus cylinder, giving freedom for the Jews captive of Babylon
Daniel, taken to Babylon, the fiery furnace, interprets the writing of the wall, prophecy of Jeremiah, the lions' den, death Decapolis, region of the ten cities of Judea built for the non-Jews Demetrios, Jewish writer of the 3rd century BCE in Alexandria who was first to build a chronology of Jewish history Denys the Small, a Christian scholar who calculated the date of Jesus' birth Dhu Nuwas, Yusef Dhu Nuwas, a Jewish king of Yemen Diaspora, before CE, Jewish upraising in Cyrene, until the fall of Rome Diocletian, Roman emperor Dionysus Exiguus, see Denys the Small Djoser, pharaoh of the early dynasty of Egypt Domitian, emperor of the Flavia dynasty
Earth, about its spinning Eber, ancestor of the Hebrews, 14th generation of mankind, death Egypt, foundation, Early Dynasty, 13th Dynasty, 18th Dynasty begins, Tax system, Amarna Period, 21st Dynasty "Taanite", Meshwesh, 26th Dynasty Eleazar son of Aaron, death Eli the (High) Priest Enmerkar, city-state of Mesopotamia Enuma Elish, ancient Babylonian tale of the Creation Enosh, son of Seth, death Eridu, city-state of Mesopotamia Eridu Genesis, Babylonian tale of the Creation Esau, son of Isaac, descendants Esarhaddon, king of Assyria Euclid, Greek mathematician of Alexandria Eudoxus of Cnidus, Greek mathematician, disciple of Plato
Exodus, calculation of the date Ezekiel plaques Ezra the Scribe, leader of the Return to Sion, compiler of the Tanakh (Bible)
Faustina the Younger, daughter of Antoninus Pius and wife of Marcus Aurelius Felix, procurator of Judea Fiscus Judaicus, tax imposed on the Jews after the Jewish-Roman war Flood, post-Flood genetic mutations, Babylonian records of the Flood
Gamaliel, so-called Rabban Gamaliel, grandson of Hillel the Elder, head of the Sanhedrin in the 1st century CE Gamaliel VI, last head of the Sanhedrin, executed in 425 CE Gedaliah, governor of Judea Gelimer, last king of the Vandals Generations: from Adam to the Flood, from the Flood to Babel, Genetics, the Q Haplogroup in Europe Genseric, king of the Vandals who conquered North Africa Gibeon, Jewish leader of North Africa who, with the Berbers, fought successfully against the Vandals Gilgamesh, epic, comparison to the Bible Girgashites, one of the Canaanite people who left at the time of Joshua conquest, Procopius testimonial Gog and Magog, this refers to the conflict that will occur before the venue of the Messiah, blessings of Noah, origin of the name, Great Revolt, name given to the rebellion led by Bar-Kochba that restored an independant Jewish state for 2.5 years Greek philosophers: Hesiod, Thales, Pythagoras, Herodotus, Aristotle, Hecataeus of Abdera,
Hadad, king of Edom Hadrian, Roman emperor Hammurabi, king of Babylon, Hammurabi code, death Hanoch, son of Yered, mysterious death Hasmonean Dynasty: Simon Maccabee (founder), John Hyrcanus, brothers Aristobulus and Antigonus, Alexander Jannai, Antigonus son of Aristobulus, Mariamne wife of Herod Haran, brother of Abraham, tragid death in Ur Hatshepsut, queen of Egypt Hazael, king of Aram Hazorites, Canaanite people from the city-state of Hazor Hebrews: their origin, slavery in Egypt, the Exodus, generations in Egypt, giving of the Torah, the 12 Tribes Helena, queen of Adiabene
Helena, Saint, mother of Emperor Constantine Herod, "King of the Jews" High Priests: Simon the Just, Onias, Simon II, Alcimus (Hellenistic), "Teacher of Righteousness" (founder of the Essenes sect), Simon Maccabee, Hyrcanus II, Jonathan, Ananus son of Ananus Hiram, king of Phoenicia Homo Sapiens Hyksos, people of the seas who invaded Egypt
Ineni, great vizir of Egypt Isaac, son of Abraham, blesses Jacob, death, Ismael, son of Abraham, death
Jacob, son of Isaac, goes to Charan, union with Leah and Rachel, births of his sons, return to Canaan, goes down to Egypt, death, burial in Canaan James the Just, brother of Jesus Jericho, Canaanite city, the first one to fall during Joshua conquest Jerome, Christian father who translated the Bible from Greek to Latin Jesus Jezebel, wife of Ahab, death in Jezreel Johanan ben Zakkai, rabbi, founder of Yavne talmudic school (yeshiva) John the Baptist, predicator before Jesus Joseph, son of Jacob and Rachel, in Egypt, death, burial in Sichem Josephus, Jewish army commander, Judeo-Roman historian Joshua son of Hananyah, rabbi, friend to Hadrian Joshua son of Nun, sent by Moses as explorer, leader of the conquest of Canaan, death Jubilee, cycle of generations, Judah son of Jacob, his sons from Tamar Judges period: Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar, Gideon and the 300 fighters, Deborah, Tola, Yair, Samson, Yiftah and the 300 years, Ibzan, Elon, Avdon Julian, Roman emperor so-called The Apostate Julius Caesar, Roman general and emperor Justin, early Christian writer who endeavoured to prove to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah
Ka'b al-Ahbar, a Jewish scholar from Yemen who had converted to Islam, and was advisor to Omar ibn al-Khattab Kahina, Judeo-Berber leader who led the war against the Muslims for 12 years until 702 Kairouan, city founded by the Muslims in 670, with the first mosque in North Africa Keturah, second wife of Abraham Khaibar, one of the major Jewish settlement in Arabia conquered by
Muhammad Kingdom period: Saul, David, Solomon, Scission and chronology of the two kingdoms Kings of Israel (main ones): Jeroboam, Ahab, Jeroham, Jehu, Jehoash, Jeroboam II, Shallum, Menachem, Pekah, Hoshea, end of the kingdom of Israel Kings of Judah (main ones): Rehoboam, Asa, Jehoshaphat, Jeroham, Joash, Joash inscription, Amaziah, Uzziah, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh, Josiah, Jehoiakim, Zedekiah last king
Laban, father-in-law of Jacob Lamech, descendant of Cain Lemech, son of Metushalach Lost Tribes of Israel, deportation to Assyria, Pashtun of Afghanistan, with the Scythians, Lot, daughters Lucius Quietus, Roman general of Berber origin
Maatkare, ill-fated princess of Egypt Maccabees: Mattathias and the revolt, Judah Maccabee, Jonathan Maccabee, Tomb of the Maccabees, Simon Maccabee founder of the Hasmonean Dynasty Machaerus, Herodian fortress Machpelah Cave, burial place of the Patriarchs in Hebron Maghreb, origin of the term Marduk-Apla-Idina, king of Babylon Masada, Herodian fortress Meir, Rabbi of the late 1st and early 2nd century, a convert from Rome Melchizedek, wiseman presumed to be Shem son of Noah Merneptah, pharaoh who led a campaign against Canaan at the time of the Judges, his stele bears the firsr record of 'Israel' Mesha king of Moab, Mesha Stele Mesopotamia, post-Flood settlers Metushalach, settles in Canaan, death Midianites, nomadic people of Abrahamite descent, living in the Sinai and Negev deserts Moabites, people descendant of Lot, living on the Eastern side of the Jordan River, encounter with the Hebrews, rule over Israel Molten Sea, a basin located in the Temple courtyard which was used to purity the priests before their service Mordechai and Esther, main Jewish characters related to the Purim festival Moses, birth, death Muhammad, founder of Islam
Naama, daughter of Lamech Nabataeans, nomadic people of Abrahamite descent, ancestry Nabonides, last king of Babylon Nash Papyrus Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, spoils Jerusalem, destroys the Temple, madness Nefertari, queen of Egypt Nefertiti, queen of Egypt Nehemiah, governor of Judea Nephilim, "fallen" angels who corrupted mankind Nero, Roman emperor Nerva, close advisor to Nero, became emperor after the Flavia dynasty Nimrod, descendant of Cham, reign Nicaea, the modern-day Iznik in Turkey where Emperor Constantine conveyed a council of Christian leaders to formalise several principles for the foundation of the Christian religion in the Roman empire Nineveh, repentance during Sennacherib, destruction Noah, his three sons, the Ark, descendants, death Number 3 as totalness, 3 meals of Shabbat, 3 high festivals, 3 judges, 3 levels of corruption of mankind, 3 sons of Noah Number 7 as will of God and the cycle building towards the Jubilee, the Shabbat, the 7th generation of Lamech, the 14th generation of the Flood, the 21st generation of the Exodus, the 28th generation of the return to Sion Number 22 as number of letters of alphabet, generation of Jacob, reunion of Joseph and Jacob, relation to Passover Number 26 as numerical value of God's name, Abram age, 26th Generation, the last dynasty of local rulers in Egypt, Nebuchadnezzar's end of reign after 26 years Number 40 as maturity/completion, 40 days of flood, Isaac married at 40, 40 years oppression by Philistines, 40 days of Nineveh
Octavian, see Augustus Omar ibn al-Khattab, one of his fathers-in-law of Muhammad, who led the conquest of Palestine and of the Sassanid empire Onqelos, proselyte, author of the Targum Othniel, conqueror of Hebron, became Judge Oxyrhynchus Papyrii, several papyrii found in Egypt and which contain, for some of them, references to Biblical stories
Paul the Apostle, claiming to be a Benjaminite, arrestation Persian kings: Cyrus, Cambyses II, Darius, Xerxes, Artaxerxes Pharaohs of Egypt: Sobekhotep IV, Khendjer, Ahmose I, Amenhotep I, Thutmose III, Amenhotep II, Thutmose IV, Amenhotep III, Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten), Tutankhamen, Ay, Horemheb, Ramses II, Psusennes I, Osorkon the Elder, Shoshenq, Necoh, Psamtik, Apries (Hophra) Philistines, oppress Israel, David and Goliath Phoenicians, allies to Solomon, maritime power, origin of their name
Pi, mathematical number used in the geometry of the circle Pompey, Roman general Pontius Pilate, Roman prefect of Judea Procopius of Caesarea, his testimonial about the North Africa peoples Prophets: Samuel, death of Samuel, Elijah, Elisha, Amos, Isaiah, Jonah, Jeremiah, vision of Ezekiel, death of Ezekiel, Haggai, Zechariah, Nahum Ptolemaic Dynasty: Ptolemy III the Benefactor, Ptolemy IV Philopator, Ptolemy V Epiphanes, Ptolemy Philometor, Ptolemy IX Lathyros, Ptolemy X, Ptolemy XIII against Julius Caesar, Cleopatra Pumbedita: a town of Babylonia where many Jewish scholars lived and contributed to the writing of the Talmud Babli (the Babylonian Talmud)
Qurayzah, the last Jewish tribe of Medina that Muhammad ordered to murder
Rabba, one of the leading figure of the Babylonian amoraim Rachel, wife of Jacob, mother of Joseph and Benjamin Rebekah, wife of Isaac, mother of Jacob and Esau Return to Sion: Exodus, under Cyrus, revolt of the Maccabees Rezin, king of Aram Rome, founded by Benjaminites, Numa king of Rome, Covenant with the Maccabees Rosetta Stone Ruth the Moabite, ancestor of King David
Sabbation River Salome Alexandra, wife of Alexander Jannai, sister of Simeon ben Shetach (Nassi of Sanhedrin) Sanhedrin heads: Yose ben Yoezer and Yose ben Johanan, Joshua ben Perachiah and Nittai the Arbelite, Simeon ben Shetach and Joshua ben Tabbai, Shemaiah and Avtalyon, Hillel and Shammai, Simeon ben Hillel, Rabban Gamaliel, death of Gamaliel, Shimon ben Gamaliel, Johanan ben Zakkai, Rabban Gamaliel II, Shimon ben Gamaliel II, Judah ha-Nassi, Hillel II, Gamaliel VI the last nassi Sarah, wife of Abraham, death Sargon, king of Akkad Sargon II, king of Assyria Sassanid, the dynasty who reigned over the former Persian empire until the arrival of Islam Scroll of the Fasting Seder Olam (Rabbah): calculation of the Judges, calculation of the First Temple, calculation of the 70 years of Babylon, comparison with present chronology Sepphoris, city of Galilee where the Sanhedrin settled Seleucid Dynasty: Seleucus Nicator, Antiochus III the Great, Antiochus IV
Epiphanes, Demetrius Soter, Wars of succession, Antiochus VII, Demetrius III Sennacherib of Assyria, campaign in Judea, siege of Lachish, siege of Jerusalem, repentance, assassination, Septimus Severus, Roman emperor Septuagint, translation of the Bible into Greek Seth, son of Adam, death Shalmanezer III, king of Assyria, Black Obelisk Shalmanezer V, king of Assyria, conqueror of the kingdom of Israel Shapur II, king of the Sassanid empire who had a Jewish mother Shefaram, city of Galilee where the Sanhedrin settled after Yavneh Shem, son of Noah, his sons, descendants, as Melchizedek, death Shiloah plaque, tunnel of Jerusalem dug by Hezekiah Shoshenq, Meshwesh pharaoh of Egypt, alliance with Jeroboam, sack of Jerusalem Sibylline Oracles Sicarii, Jewish sect practising political assassinations during the Roman rule Sichemites, people of the city-state of Sichem Simbar-Sihu, king of Babylon Simeon bar Yohai, rabbi disciple of Akiva, author of the Zohar Simon bar Giora, head of the Sicarii, execution in Rome Sodom and Gomorrah, wicked cities destroyed by God Sol Invictus, Roman pagan festival falling at the soltice of winter which served as official date for Christmas Sparta, Leonidas and the 300, Sumer, foundation, king list
Tahpenes, queen of Egypt Targum, of Onqelos, Tel-Dan Stele Temple of Jerusalem: First Temple construction, destruction, Second Temple construction, completion, restored service and Channukkah, destruction by Titus Theodosius, Roman emperor who split the Roman empire in two Tiaa, daughter of Pharaoh, adopted Moses Tiberius Alexander, an Alexandrian of Jewish origin but his family had assimilated and embraced Roman culture and citizenship; he was procurator of Judea at the beginning of the reign of Agrippa II, then governor of Alexandria during the Jewish War, before joining Titus in the final siege against Jerusalem Tiglath-Pileser III, king of Assyria Tigranes II, king of Armenia Titus, 1st campaign in Judea, siege of Jerusalem Tobit, Jewish exile of Assyria Tower of Babel Trajan, Roman emperor Treasures of the Temple, taken by Titus, taken from Rome by Genseric, returned to Jerusalem by Justinian, lost when the Persians took the city
Ur, city-state of Mesopotamia Ur-Nammu, city-state of Mesopotamia, code Uruk, city-state of Mesopotamia
Vandals, barbarian people who invaded Northern Africa and sacked Rome Vespasian, Roman general conqueror of Judea, then emperor founder of the Flavia dynasty, father of Titus Vulgate, Latin translation of the Hebrew Bible
Yafeth, son of Noah, his sons, descendants Yavneh, religious school established by Johanan ben Zakkai Yitro, priest of the Midianites, father-in-law of Moses Yusef Dhu Nuwas, sse Dhu Nuwas
Zakkur Stele Zealots, Jewish sect in favour of the revolt against Rome Zohar, mystical book authored by Simeon bar Yohai
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Generations How to reconcile both points of view? Simply put, these "six days" are not "human days", or more 1-14 correctly "Adam days". How could they be, when the first man made as "His image" was only made at Generations the end of the 6th "day"? In other words, these 6 days are "godly" days, because the only reference point by which time was measured before the arrival of Adam was God. And a "godly" day could well 15-21 correspond to billions or millions of what we now know as "days" or "years". Those who study Physics Generations already know this: time is not a constant fixed notion, because it depends of the reference point. This was demonstrated some 100 years ago by Einstein in his Theory of the Relativity. He proved that Energy and 22-28 Matter are the same thing, and that Time and Space are also another same thing. Time cannot be dissociated from the space (or reference) from which it is measured. So before Adam, there was no Generations "Adam days", only "God days". His "days" are not ours. 29-35 Generations If Science is proving to us that the whole Universe started some 13.8 billion years ago, then so be it: it only means, from God believers, that the first (God) day of the Creation occuredat that time. No 36-49 argument at all. Generation What is more interesting is that Science does not contradict the Bible... Why? Science proves to us that 50 the whole universe started with a Big Bang, meaning one spark when Time and Energy started, then Space and Matter could become formed some time later. Science calls this the Big Bang, but cannot explain why there was such single event, and believers call it the Creation, and believe that God caused it to happen. At some point, some scientists tried to check if the universe was compressing and expanding, in a sort of cyclic motion that would take billions of years to eveolve. But this has been proven to be incorrect: there was only one Big Bang, and the universe is always expanding ever since. No way back to the "start". The Bible starts with these simple three words:
time and confirms the concept that some clock (God time reference) started to tick; Time was part of the Creation, so didnt even exist before that starting point -
believers freak out; it tells us that what has happened is not the result of some random occurrence but the direct consequence of a Creation; Bara means that there was creation -
Creation: in other word, He was the creator The order of these three words may be viewed as a hint to the proof of God. Because it tells us about a
http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g00-creation.html (1 of 5) [6/11/2013 11:32:45 AM]
simple 3-step intellectual thought that everyone can have: 1- question yourself about the concept of Time, if it was always there or if it started at a point and whether there was anything before; surely Science now makes it easy for us because it proved that Time started at one point (the Big Bang) and that there was nothing "before" (as everything has expanded ever since, and that there is no way back) 2- then, if there was a one-time beginning (no cycle) as Science proves it, then this is what we can call a creation (ex nihilo)... a step that seems obvious enough; although Science cannot do such speculation, everyone else can ! What else to assume?? There was nothing before, no time, no space, no energy, no thing, and then _bang_, a big spark from nothing (ex nihilo) from which everything else started moving (time, space, energy, matter, and what will follow) 3- then, if there is a creation, there is a Creator ! Modern science is in fact very useful because, although it doesn't explain the Big Bang, it does explain what and how everything happened next. The Bible says nothing different: the Creation only happened at one time, and no more. Everything that followed was God's actions to direct, divert or channel the created world into some specific results He desired. It is in the text of the Bible itself: the word Bara ( )for creation is only used in the first verse of the Bible. This is what the great Jewish thinker Nahmanides (about 1194-1270) expressed in his classic Commentary: God only created on the first moment of the first day (His day). Everything else ever since has been evolution, modulation, formation, etc. Science says the same: there was only one Big Bang. In the past 14 billion years, no such event ever occured again. Although non-believers base their thoughts upon evolution to contradict the Bible, they get it entirely wrong: evolution is all over the Bible, except for the very first verse of the first chapter of the first book. Darwin himself, their pronounced hero, was a believer and never suggested that his theory contradicted the Bible. He surely knew the Bible (unlike most of the people who try to argue against it) and could only acknowledge that there was no contradiction with the evolutionary concepts. Like with the Big Bang, we can see there is evolution, we can even measure it, but we cannot fully explain it: why does it happen. This is because, like for the Creation, God is "behind" some changes or modifications of the Creation that trigger evolution. The same goes with Life: we can surely see it is there, that plants grows, that human cells develop and multiply and stop the process at some point (what we call ageing), but can we really explain why it is like this? Surely not. We measure but cannot explain why. And the list is rather long... In Physics, we cannot explain why the gravity, why the atoms hold it together, why certain other forces exist, etc. In every case, we can measure everything and predict behaviours based on these measurements, but we cannot explain why it exists. The Bible tells us, "day by day", that God created, and then "shaped" His creation in order that it would follow His plan. Nothing was random. Some people actually calculated the probability of some simple fact of life to have occured by random fashion and could only agree that the time it would need to take far exceeds the time assumed for the Universe (14 billion years) or the Earth (4.5 billion years): in other words, even the theory of random is mathematically impossible. In other words, all what we see and measure cannot have happened by random occurrence. There was a plan that started from the Big Bang, went on with the cooling period of energy and the formation of basic matter, then onto more cooling and more matter formation to heavier elements to form the universe and the galaxies, then more cooling into these galaxies to form the stars and their systems of planets (and the Earth in the Solar system), then our planet saw the formation of inert objects and structures, then the elements to sustain Life, then Life itself, then living creatures, then mankind. To start with, everyone knows the old saying that the world has not been created in one day but in 7 days. Well God actually really created everything in one day, the first day, and didnt need 7 days? Because there was evolution from the moment when nothing existed (the ex nihilo) to the world we know became viable after these days of Creation. This Creation was executed according to a plan, starting with According to Nahmanides, a Jewish scholar of the Middle-Ages, God only "created" on the first day. Because this was the only day when the verb of creation is used in the text: . From then on, and for all subsequent days, and for the entire world we know today, it was and has always been evolution. So what did God do the other days, if not an act of creation? He God modelled and shaped the creation, i.e. the created elements (energy and time) into what he needed to achieve The creation only happened on the first day. So lets look at what the Bible says, day by day:
Day of Creation What happened Creation of Heavens and Earth Day One Light Second Day Third Day Fourth Day Firmament, Waters Land, Vegetation Luminaries of the sky Living creatures in sea and sky Fifth Day Great sea-monsters and reptiles Living creatures on earth Sixth Day Original "Adam" (with both genders)
Genesis verses
said made
let us make
The Biblical text of the Creation is actually corroborated by what Science has proven. It was done in the following order, or evolution: 1- The initial Big Bang, some 13.8 billion years ago: the Biblical text calls it the "Day One" and not the "First Day", because that particular day was not as the other days; the day one was "creation", and the other days were formations and evolutions; no creation ever happened after that day One; Light was not immediately created at the moment of the Big Bang, but was forced to "appear" by divine order, and extracted itself to separate from the "void and unformed"; Science recently proved that light only appeared some 380,000 years after the Big Bang.[1] And, better, it proved that, before that time, the Universe was a hot dense "soup" where basic particles such as protons and electrons would interact but not join together: in other words, this was the "Tohu and Bohu" stated in the Bible, the "unformed and void" state of the Universe. Then came the divine order: Let it be Light (Genesis 1:3). The elements started to join together and light was first emitted, and thus could escape the "soup": this is what the Biblical text refers as God dividing the light from the darkness (Genesis 1:4). 2- Formation of the firmament, meaning the stars, solar systems and their planets, and, maybe surprisingly, water as well [2] 3- On the Earth, water made space to the continents which rose above sea levels; then vegetation would start to grow 4- Then the movement of the planets in the Solar System was stabilized, and maybe the Moon was "captured" by the Earth gravity at that time, so that, altogether (Sun, Moon, Planets, Stars) would serve as luminaries for mankind to mark the passing of time and seasons 5- Then Life would finally appear, but in the sea and in the air first; this is not contradictory with Science saying that all life on Earth started from marine organisms before evolving in the air and on earth; note that this verse also mentions a "creation" (word ): this is when God created the "sea-monsters" and the "creatures that creep"; these giant animals were "created" by God Himself to populate the sea and the earth. What were they? Maybe the legendary leviathans in the sea and the known dinosaurs on earth? 6- Finally, more creatures appear on earth, "made" out of the existing created materials; this is evolution, not creation; the Bible tells us that evolution did occur but that it was under the direction of God, because he made it happen; of course non-believers think that all evolutions happen naturally, but would it be the case? Nobody explains why mutation occurred, why creatures appeared and disappeared (multiple forms of dinosaurs, of humanoids, etc.) before we reached the point we are now. Could random evolution have created the dinosaurs? It is mathematically impossible because random theory would have required billions of years to occur, while the earth is barely 4.5 billion years old: it is not enough time to allow random occurrence for such complex living creatures. Of course one could argue that very low probability doesn't mean an event can't happen tomorrow. But it is not just one event we are facing here:
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we have tons of events, because each living specie would have required multiple random evolutions to reach a stage to differentiate one from the other. The dinosaur are very different from the sea monsters, which are very different from the flying animals. Mutating from one to another is not impossible but would require billions of years. Probability can be lucky once, twice, or more, but luck can't happen nearly infinitely to create such a diversity of species from fish to insects to complex giant creatures. Science tells us that the earth was formed about 4.5 billion years ago and that life likely started about 4 billions years ago, and that "complex life" is only about 570 million years old... This is too short a timescale for a mathematically impossible sequence of random events to have occured. Any mathematician of probabilities, if he would contemplate for a moment the meaning of this timescale, would nod the head thinking it is impossible for life to have appeared randomly, and have also evolved as fast and randomly. In summary, we should not talk about the (six) days of Creation but only about the day (one) of Creation. Everything else (except for the large animals that populated the sea and earth in the early times of the earth being formed) since that "day one" has been evolution. What about mankind and the 5000 years that the Bible is attributing to it? Science shows that humanoids appeared on Earth some hundreds of thousand years ago, until the Homo Sapiens came some 150,000 years ago. But civilization, as we know it, started when humans started to have the form of intelligence that enabled them to extract themselves from the rest of human creatures on Earth. When did this happen? Well everyone may have some opinion about it as there is no real consensus. But the Bible states that it started with a person called Adam, formed by God according to His image, and that God was able to talk to him. Speech is surely a good reference point for the start of civilized world. So the 5000 or so years of the Bible are not counted from the appearance of intelligent humanoids called the prehistorical men, but from the time God formed one particular person (out of the existing created "material", such as some humanoid extracted from the Homo Sapiens, if Science says so).
Notes: [1] Devlin, Hannah, "Let there be light: how the Universe looked after Big Bang", article published in The Times, Friday 22 March 2013; also in the BBC Science & Environment web site [2] We will come back to the question of the water in the chapter about the Flood
Copyright Albert Benhamou 2013 - All rights reserved.
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Generations 1-14
This is the period that spans from Adam to the Flood. The 14 periods of 120 years each cover up to the Hebrew year 1680, so about 2080 BCE. Click below to the generation you wish to navigate to, or you can navigate generation by generation from the first one in this list.
Index of names Remember that, to leave a comment, you can use the button Contact from the Menu on the left side. Creation Generations 114 (3760 - 2080 BCE) Generations 1521 (2080 - 1240 BCE) Generations 2228 (1240 - 400 BCE) First generation - Hebrew years 1-120 - From 3760 BCE - Adam Second generation - Hebrew years 120-240 - From 3640 BCE - Cain Third generation - Hebrew years 240-360 - From 3520 BCE - Sumer Fourth generation - Hebrew years 360-480 - From 3400 BCE - Sumer Fifth generation - Hebrew years 480-600 - From 3280 BCE - Sumer Sixth generation - Hebrew years 600-720 - From 3160 BCE - City States Seventh generation - Hebrew years 720-840 - From 3040 BCE - Lamech, Bronze Age Eight generation - Hebrew years 840-960 - From 2920 BCE - Ancient Egypt
Generations 29- Ninth generation - Hebrew years 960-1080 - From 2800 BCE - 1st Dynasty of Egypt 35 Tenth generation - Hebrew years 1080-1200 - From 2680 BCE (400 BCE 440 CE) Eleventh generation - Hebrew years 1200-1320 - From 2560 BCE Generations 3649 (440 - 2120 CE) Generation 50 (Messianic) Twelveth generation - Hebrew years 1320-1440 - From 2440 BCE Thirteenth generation - Hebrew years 1440-1560 - From 2320 BCE - Noah Fourteenth generation - Hebrew years 1560-1680 - From 2200 BCE - the Flood
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Home Contact Click below to the generation you wish to navigate to, or you can navigate generation by generation from the first one in this list. What is new Remember that, to leave a comment, you can use the button Contact from the Menu Index of names on the left side. Generation 15 - Hebrew years 1680-1800 - From 2080 BCE - The sons of Noah Creation Generations 114 (3760 - 2080 BCE) Generation 16 - Hebrew years 1800-1920 - From 1960 BCE - Peoples of the earth, Akkad, Ur-Nammu Generation 17 - Hebrew years 1920-2040 - From 1840 BCE - Hammurabi, Tower of Babel, Abraham, Covenant This is the period that spans from the Flood until the Exodus. The 7 periods of 120 years each cover up to the Hebrew year 2520, so about 1240 BCE.
Generations 15- Generation 18 - Hebrew years 2040-2160 - From 1720 BCE - Sodom, Sarah, Isaac, Esau 21 (2080 - 1240 Generation 19 - Hebrew years 2160-2280 - From 1600 BCE - Jacob, Leah, BCE) Rachel, Joseph Generations 22Generation 20 - Hebrew years 2280-2400 - From 1480 BCE - Slavery in Egypt, 28 Thutmose IV (1240 - 400 BCE) Generation 21 - Hebrew years 2400-2520 - From 1360 BCE - Akhenaten, Moses, Exodus, Joshua Generations 2935 (400 BCE 440 CE) Generations 3649 (440 - 2120 CE) Generation 50 (Messianic)
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Home Contact What is new This is the period that spans from the period of the Judges until the Exile in Babylon. The 7 periods of 120 years each cover up to the Hebrew year 3360, so about 400 BCE. Click below to the generation you wish to navigate to, or you can navigate generation by generation from the first one in this list.
Index of names Remember that, to leave a comment, you can use the button Contact from the Menu on the left side. Creation Generations 114 (3760 - 2080 BCE) Generation 22 - Hebrew years 2520-2640 - From 1240 BCE - Judges (Othniel, Ehud, Gideon, Deborah) Generation 23 - Hebrew years 2640-2760 - From 1120 BCE - Judges (Jair, Samson, Yiftah), Kingdom (Saul, David, Solomon) Generation 24 - Hebrew years 2760-2880 - From 1000 BCE - Kings (Jeroboam, Asa, Omri, Ahab, Jehu, Prophet Elijah)
Generations 1521 Generation 25 - Hebrew years 2880-3000 - From 880 BCE - King (Joash, Azariah, (2080 - 1240 Menahem) BCE) Generations 22- Generation 26 - Hebrew years 3000-3120 - From 760 BCE - Fall of Israel (TiglathPileser, Sennacherib), Hezekiah 28 (1240 - 400 Generation 27 - Hebrew years 3120-3240 - From 640 BCE - Fall of Judah BCE) (Nebuchadnezzar, Josiah, Zedekiah, Jeremiah, Daniel), Captivity of Babylon, Cyrus of Persia Generations 2935 Generation 28 - Hebrew years 3240-3360 - From 520 BCE - Return to Sion (400 BCE 440 CE) Generations 3649 (440 - 2120 CE) Generation 50 (Messianic)
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Home Contact What is new This is the period that spans over the period of the Greek and the Roman empires that lead to the Diaspora of the Jewish nation. The 7 periods of 120 years each cover up to the Hebrew year 4320, so about 440 CE. Click below to the generation you wish to navigate to, or you can navigate generation by generation from the first one in this list.
Index of names Remember that, to leave a comment, you can use the button Contact from the Menu on the left side. Creation Generations 114 (3760 - 2080 BCE) Generation 29 - Hebrew years 3360-3480 - From 400 BCE - Alexander the Great Generation 30 - Hebrew years 3480-3600 - From 280 BCE - Ptolemaic and Seleucid empires, revolt of the Maccabees Generation 31 - Hebrew years 3600-3720 - From 160 BCE - Hasmonean dynasty
Generations 15- Generation 32 - Hebrew years 3720-3840 - From 40 BCE - Herod, Agrippa, Jesus, War of the Jews 21 (2080 - 1240 Generation 33 - Hebrew years 3840-3960 - From 80 CE - Bar-Kochba BCE) Generations 22- Generation 34 - Hebrew years 4080-4200 - From 200 CE - Diaspora and the fall of Rome 28 (1240 - 400 Generation 35 - Hebrew years 4200-4320 - From 320 CE - Christianity BCE) Generations 2935 (400 BCE 440 CE) Generations 3649 (440 - 2120 CE) Generation 50 (Messianic)
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Home Contact Click below to the generation you wish to navigate to, or you can navigate generation by generation from the first one in this list. What is new Remember that, to leave a comment, you can use the button Contact from the Menu Index of names on the left side. Creation Generations 114 (3760 - 2080 BCE) Generations 1521 (2080 - 1240 BCE) Generations 2228 (1240 - 400 BCE) Generations 2935 (400 BCE 440 CE) Generations 3649 (440 - 2120 CE) Generation 50 (Messianic) Note that this section and its related pages are currently UNDER CONSTRUCTION, so several links won't work at the present time. Generation 36 - Hebrew years 4200-4320 - From 440 CE - Byzantine Generation 37 - Hebrew years 4320-4440 - From 560 CE - Islam and Jihad Generation 38 - Hebrew years 4440-4560 - From 680 CE - The Moors Generation 39 - Hebrew years 4560-4680 - From 800 CE - Charlemagne Generation 40 - Hebrew years 4680-4800 - From 920 CE - Middle-Age Generation 41 - Hebrew years 4800-4920 - From 1040 CE - Crusades Generation 42 - Hebrew years 4920-5040 - From 1160 CE - Maimonides Generation 43 - Hebrew years 5040-5160 - From 1280 CE - Mysticism Generation 44 - Hebrew years 5160-5280 - From 1400 CE - New World Generation 45 - Hebrew years 5280-5400 - From 1520 CE - Renaissance Generation 46 - Hebrew years 5400-5520 - From 1640 CE - Old Regime Generation 47 - Hebrew years 5520-5640 - From 1760 CE - Emancipation Generation 48 - Hebrew years 5640-5760 - From 1880 CE - Sion Generation 49 - Hebrew years 5760-5880 - From 2000 CE - Messianic This is the period that spans from the Diaspora of the Jewish nation to its return to Sion. The 14 periods of 120 years each cover up to Messianic times.
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In Hebrew year 1651 (2109 BCE), Lemech died at the age of 777. Then his father Metushalach died in 1656, reaching the longest human life duration of 969. Because he walked in the path of God, God postponed His decree to eradicate His creation. But more importantly, Metushalach lived long enough to be of good influence over Sem, Noahs first son: Metushalach died when Sem was already 100 years old. The generations from Adam until the Flood have been as follows:
36-49 Generation 50
Noah's Ark
The scene was now set for God s punishment: the Flood. God ordered Noah to build an ark, some years before, maybe soon after Lemechs death in 1651. The ark was to be made of gopher wood and coated with kopher (Genesis 6:14). Both words are similar in their Hebrew roots: gopher is written
and kopher is , the difference being the first letter.[1] We can assume that both
materials were of course complementing each other in the same role of keeping the ark afloat and dry in the inside. But the word
is the root for Sulphur, and the word is the root for "expiation".
There is another parallel between the detailed orders from God to Noah to build the ark, with what materials to build it and with which dimensions: it is with the detailed orders from God to the Hebrew people in the desert on how to build the Tabernacle, after the Exodus. This gives a strong suggestion that God saved His creation at the time of Noah, in the same way that God will later save the Hebrew people at the time of Moses. And that this divine salvation came as an expiation for previous sins.
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There is also another parallel between the main characters of both stories, the Flood and the Exodus: Noah was saved from the Flood with the ark, and Moses will be saved from the Nile waters with the cradle. The English translation of both words doesn't highlight anything particular but, in fact, both words ark and cradle use the same Hebrew word: Teva
. And this word is not used anywhere else in the entire Bible except for these two occurrences: this shows that
the divine salvation, seen as an expiation in both case, have been unique in our History. The arks dimensions were as follows: And this is how you will do it: 300 cubits for the length of the ark, 50 cubits for its width, and 30 cubits for its height. --- Genesis 6:15 The cubit was one of the first measures of length used during the Antiquity and several rods were found in Egypt and Turkey as a sample of its length. The cubit was based on a human feature that would be common everywhere: it was roughly the length of a human arm, so about half of a meter. It was also divided in units, of the size of one palm (hand width), and subunits being the size of a fingers width. These were convenient human-based measurements for constructions in these old times, even if not accurate.
The ark was completed when Metushalach died in Hebrew year 1656 (2104 BCE). Noah was then 600 years old and Shem was 100 years old. Then, at that time, continuous rain started to fall upon the earth: Noah was six hundred years old and the Flood was water upon the earth. --- Genesis 7:6 This verse is Genesis 7:6 so it is the 6th verse of the 7th chapter of Genesis. And the 5th word of this verse is the word Flood (
). The divine punishment came upon the earth by the word Flood in position 7:6:5 in the Biblical text.
Maybe there is a message behind this particular sequence: the Creation was done in 7 days and included the Shabbat, the 7th day, which was supposed to be the spiritual day for mankind; but mankind erred and behaved as a mere human being as God created him in the 6th day; but then mankind sinned in greater ways to the point that it turned the Creation back to the animal behaviour, as God created them in the 5th day. The sequence 7 > 6 > 5 symbolized the descent of mankind from a purpose-made spiritual life into the abyss of animal behaviour. This is when God had to intervene and stop the decadence of His Creation. The fact that this sequence is symbolised in three steps also means that the decadence was complete.[2] In the 600th year of Noahs life, in the 2nd month, in the 17th day of the month, on that day, all the springs of the great abyss busted and the windows of the skies opened up. --- Genesis 7:11 The waters that fell upon the earth were waters that were brought in by God, and were not rain waters that resulted from climatic conditions on earth. Already in the tale of the Creation, it is mentioned that the waters created then were separated in two parts: one part consisted of waters that "were above the firmament." (Genesis 1:7) The firmament is the atmosphere that protects the earth. The waters "above it" are waters that came from space. Science is looking for proofs of the presence of water on the planets of the Solar Systems, but there is plenty of water in the Solar System itself ! For example, water and dust is what compose the comets that orbit in our system. The Tunguska Event that occurred in Siberia in 1908 can give us an idea of what a relatively small ball of ice,[3] which was only a mere fragment from a comet, can do to Earth when it collides with it. The blast was as powerful as 1000 times the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima ! And the Solar System is full of comets and meteorites. In the 1980s, the number of them thought to be in the hundreds. Twenty years later, it was thought to be in the thousands. The truth is that we do not know for sure how many comets are in the Solar System. There are today over 7000 asteroids which have been discovered and it is estimated that there are at least 400,000 of them with a radius over 1 km. One expert from NASA even stated that our Solar System may contain "billions of moving bodies beside the planets and satellites" and he went on describing comets as "dirty ice balls".[4] Another report states that the Oort Cloud is "estimated to contain trillions of comets."[5] The Oort Cloud orbits the Solar System at about 1 light-year it and is predominantly composed of ice (comets).
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The icy Oort Cloud with the Solar System at the centre In addition, if we go further out in the Universe, astronomers have found in 2011 a mass of water located at 12 billion light years from the Solar System, and which is nearly as old as the Universe itself: this mass contains "140 trillion times more water that all of Earths oceans combined."[6] The simple conclusion is that there is plenty of water inside and outside our Solar System, however we wish to interpret these Biblical words that waters "were above the firmament", which, for sure, means at least that they were outside the view of our naked eye. The continuous rain started on the 17th day of the 2nd month and stopped at the end of the 3rd month. And the rain was upon the earth for forty days and forty nights. --- Genesis 7:12 Interestingly, the text shows a reverse order from the one used in the days of the Creation when each "day" was completed by the expression "there was evening, there was morning." With the Flood, the expression is "forty days and forty nights", as
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it is signified a de-Creation process. And it was so: with the Flood, God also removed some qualities that His Creation had been previously given, such as an extent of free will to all parts of the Creation, earth, water, animals, plants, etc. And yet there is hope. Because the punishment lasted for 40 days. The number 40 is significant in Jewish tradition as it corresponds to the coming of the age of reason. Indeed, it took 40 years for the Hebrews to wander in the desert as a punishment after the Exodus, until they could then be allowed to enter the Promised Land.[7] It may not be surprising that the Hebrew letter which has 40 for value is the letter because this is the letter that is exactly positioned at the middle of the Hebrew alphabet,[8] therefore the letter which is pivotal and provides equilibrium between two antagonisms, equally balanced. In other words, 40 days of Flood meant that God considered that, after this time had elapsed, mankind had paid the price of punishment, and that a new chapter of His Creation would be started. But the return to normal life was not an easy process, because the waters didnt die out quietly. Instead they had to be forced to, as it is illustrated by the details of the text that proved that God had to impose His will against the waters that He unleashed upon the earth:
). And the springs of the great abyss and the windows of the skies took a toll ( )and the rain was imprisoned ( )from the heavens. And the waters came back above the earth, were going and coming back. And the waters ceased ( )at the very end
God caused a spirit to pass over the earth and the waters appeased ( of one hundred and fifty days. --- Genesis 8:1-3 We can only see how the ending of the Flood was not an easy task (even if some of the text is obscure at the reading), as the waters once unleashed would not stop until God finally put a stop to their on-going rampage when they refused to recede. Only then the waters started to retrieve and reduce their strength continuously. And the ark came to a rest, after 150 days of ordeal, on top of Mount Ararat.[9] And the ark came to rest on the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat. The waters were going and diminishing until the tenth month. In the tenth [month], on the first [day] of the month, the tops of the mountains became visible. --- Genesis 8:4-5
Mount Ararat, seen from Armenia (photo: Martin Gray, National Geographic) Forty days later, Noah sent a dove for the first time, but the bird returned as it couldnt find dry land. Noah waited 7 more days and tried again. The dove came back to the ark again but, this time, with a branch of olive tree. Then, after waiting another week, and trying again, the dove didnt come back. In the Talmud, the dove has become the symbol of Israel: Because the Congregation of Israel is likened to a dove, as it is said, as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her pinions with yellow gold [Psalms LXVIII, 14], just as a dove is protected by its wings, so with the Israelites, their precepts protect them. --- Talmud, Shabbat 130a Noah then opened the ark on the 601th year of his life, on the first day of the first month of that year, meaning the Rosh Hashanah day of Hebrew year 1657. But they only came out of the ark on the 27th day of the 2nd month, waiting for
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the land to be totally dry. But, in fact, God had to intervene and ordered them out: God spoke to Noah saying: "Come out from the ark." --- Genesis 8:15-16 The story of the Flood has been found in many ancient civilizations, from the Mesopotamian earliest ones but also from other cultures such as the Pre-Colombians. It was one of the very first story that was recorded in human texts, which is probably a proof of its happening because of the obvious psychological impact it left on the ancient human race. In Mesopotamia, the same story has been found in many cuneiform texts (written on clay tablets) of which the famous Epic of Gilgamesh which was a story told and recorded over most of the Antiquity. The tablets found with this story have been dated of about the 18th century BCE but they tell of a story that was supposed to have happened earlier than their recording, before 2500 BCE, which is sufficiently contemporary with the Biblical account of the Flood. Beside the Flood, the epic contains other similarities with the Biblical account of Creation, and narrates what happened to a human hero called Gilgamesh. Here are some extracts from the earliest tablets found with this text:[10] Epic of Gilgamesh Anu [the main god] granted him [Gilgamesh] the totality of knowledge of all He brought information [of the time] before the Flood [He] who explored the world regions, seeking li [He] who restored the sanctuaries [or cities] that the Flood had destroyed [] for teeming mankind Bible The tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden God told Noah ahead of time that He will bring the Flood and when it will occur The human race populated the entire world Some of the survivors of the Flood went back to the old cities and restored them The human race is tasked to grow and populate
Stars of the sky appeared and some kind of meteorite(?) God brought waters from "above the of Anu fell next to me firmament" [comets?] to flood the earth
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After the Flood, evil was still present in mankind. Not all three sons of Noah were equal in character. When Noah got drunk from a vine he planted, and was naked, Canaan, Chams son, humiliated his grand-father. But Shem took the initiative to cover their fathers nakedness without looking on, and engaged Yafeth to help him. When Noah recovered from his state, he got angry: And he said: "Cursed be Canaan, a slave of slaves shall he be to his brothers."
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And he said: "Blessed be God, the God of Shem, and let Canaan be a slave to him. Let God embellish Yafeth, let him dwell in the tents of Shem, and let Canaan be a slave to him." --- Genesis 9:25-27 The three sons of Noah then parted from each other in three different directions, probably as a mean to avoid any future conflict and the application of the curse from Noah. According to traditions, Cham went down to Africa, Yafeth went over to Europe, and Shem remained in Asia. The world started to re-populate from the three sons of Noah, and his sixteen grandsons. Genesis 10 gives an account of the generations since the Flood.[12]
Notes: [1] While nobody knows for certain what gopher wood may have been, it is generally admitted that kopher was a sort of pitch or resin to keep the ark water-proof. [2] In Jewish tradition, the number 3 is synonymous of totalness or completion; examples are numerous: three judges are necessary to cast a judgment in court, three prayers complete the day, three festivals complete the Jewish year, 3 patriarchs, and so on. [3] It was small because it was estimated to be of about 100 meter radius. [4] Short, Nicholas M., Asteroids and Comets, 2002, for the article online, click here. [5] Yep, Jeffrey, Number of Comets, The Physics Factbook, 2009, for the article online, click here. [6] NBCNews.com, Largest, oldest mass of water in the universe discovered, 2011, for the article online, click here. [7] Similarly, it took 40 days for Moses to remain on Mount Sinai and to receive the divine word, the Torah. It is at the age of 40 that a man is allowed to start the study the Kabbalah. It also not before the age of 40 that Rabbi Akiva started to study of the Torah. And, in Jewish tradition, it takes 40 days for a foetus to be considered "human" (meaning that the spiritual faculties are formed) and therefore a time from which it would be considered as a murder to abort a pregnancy. [8] The Hebrew alphabet contains 22 letters, but 5 of them are doubled with final forms; the letter is located at the centre of the extended alphabet of 27 letters, with 13 letters before and 13 letters after; we can also note that 13 is the age of Bar-Mitzvah for the Jewish boys, which is the passage from childhood to adulthood, a maturity in other words. [9] Mount Ararat is located in Turkey and culminates at 5165m (about 17,000 ft); some expedition has found wooden
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frames quite high up on this mountain, and speculated it came from Noahs Ark; for the article online, click here. [10] To read the Epic of Gilgamesh online, click here. [11] The Sumerian King List is the record of rulers and dynasties from Sumer, the oldest human civilization; it is available online in Wikipedia. [12] Some have also speculated over the various people of the ancient world and their possible lineage to one of the three sons of Noah;see this Table of Nations online in Wikipedia. Next generation Top of Page
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Generations Abram was the oldest of these three sons. Nachor was named after Terachs father, Nachor (the elder). At the time, the 1-14 latter was about 100 years old and just had a few more years to live because, possibly, he was getting ill, a condition unknown to mankind before but that would the result of Gods will to reduce human lifetime. Terach named his second Generations son, Nachor (the younger), after his father in order to influence fate and prolong his name, if not his life. Then Terach 15-21 begot Haran who will be the first of the three sons to marry and have a child, Lot. Generations 22-28 Generations 29-35 Generations 36-49 Generation 50 ~~~~~~~~~~
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The court of Ur-Nammu, ca. 2100 BCE In fact, these ancient codes of Mesopotamia emulated the Noachide Laws and extended them to punish a transgressor for the same act that he did. As Hammurabi/Nimrod wanted to show himself as the greatest ruler of all times, even above the gods (and God), and make a name for him, he did created his own code of laws. And he did so by impressing his contemporaries by asserting that his laws were dictated by God:
Prologue from Hammurabi's Code[2] In the prologue to his code, Hammurabi declares himself appointed by Enlil,[3] to make a justice that will prevail over the land. Further, in the code, the concept of an eye for an eye and of a tooth for a tooth is also stated (code articles 196 and 200 respectively), a concept which also guided the Noachide Laws. This type of law was known in Canaan too, as a recent discovery in the ancient city of Hazor, Northern Israel, has demonstrated.[4] ~~~~~~~~~~
and , which is the same difference of letter for Chametz and Matzah, the two different
breads mentioned during the Jewish festival of Passover: the former (Chametz) represents the corrupted Nature and the second (Matzah) the pure Nature. The clear message is that, although he started with good intent, Terach stopped on his way to redemption, and remained in the sin. These two millennia are also represented by the 20 human generations from Adam to Abram. The first 10 generations from Adam to Noah were: Ada > Set > Enosh > Kenan > Mahalalel > Jared > Hanoch > Hanosh > Metushalach > Lemech > Noah. The next 10 generations from Noah to Abram were: Shem > Arpachshad > Shelah > Eber > Reu'> Peleg > Sherug > Nachor > Terach > Abram. ~~~~~~~~~~
course of several years. Some large regions, such as Elam and Assur, managed to obtain relative independence with their own king, but remained vassals and allies of Babylon. ~~~~~~~~~~
About Year 2031 1729 BCE God makes an alliance with Abraham
In a series of visions that probably started in Hebrew year 2028 (when Abram was 78 years old, because this age represents three times the numerical value of God's name), God appeared to Abram and addressed to him eight paroles. In one of them, God announced Himself as follows: And He said unto him: 'I am the Lord that brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give you this land to inherit it.' --- Genesis 15:7 One could ask, why did God mention that He brought Abram out of Ur? The previous mention of this departure from Ur was rather as follows: And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his son's son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan. --- Genesis 11:31 So God's statement to Abram was to say that He had been the designer behind Terah's departure. This explains why Terah had plans to go specifically to Canaan. God must have addressed Himself to the father of Abram to leave Ur and go to Canaan. But Terah stopped on his way, in Charan, and later God revealed Himself to Abram. But this sentence is chiefly a direct reference to the future, when God will bring the descendants of Abraham out of Egypt, for example in the following: 'I am the Lord your God who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, to be your God.' --- Leviticus 25:28 In this vision, or this series of visions, God told Abram that his offspring will be form a big nation but that they will go through some ordeal: And it came to pass, that, when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, behold, a dread, even a great darkness, fell upon him. And He said to Abram: "Know for certainty that your offspring will be stranger in a land that will not belong to them; and they will be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years. And also the nation that will make them work, I will judge it. And then they will go out, with great wealth. And you, you will join your fathers in peace and will be buried in a good old age. And the fourth generation will return here, because the iniquity of the Amorite will not be full until then." --- Genesis 15:12-16
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The vision above is symbolized by the darkness that Abrams descendants will have to endure before becoming the great nation that God promised. We can assume that God was holding some form of punishment for Abram because he left the land where God took him in order to seek refuge in Egypt during a famine: it was a lack of trust that God would look after him. His stay in Egypt did not actually last long, and therefore the famine must not have been so enduring. All the more a reason for God to hold it against Abram: his offspring will suffer darkness before awaking into a nation. This will happen after the last night they will spend in Egypt, a Passover night from the 14th to the 15th of the month of Nissan. And, in the morning, they will walk out from Egypt in daylight. There was night, there was day The awakening of the Hebrew nation, during the Exodus, will echo the days of the Creation. But this day for the nation that Abram will beget will not come before a period of 400 years, as God had announced. The number 400 will always be a mark of darkness or bad omen for the Hebrew people across their History, as we shall see later in this work. The other fact is that it will be the fourth generation of Hebrews who dwelled in Egypt that will come out of Egypt at the time of the Exodus, as we shall see. To comfort Abram after such somehow negative vision, God made an alliance with him and repeated His promise: In that day, God made an alliance with Abram by saying: "To your offspring I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates River." --- Genesis 15:18 This vision sets the alliance that God made with Abram and is traditionally called the Brit Bein Habetarim (the Covenant of the Pieces). In the original Seder Olam, it is mentioned that there are two schools of thought: some believe that this vision happened in year 2023 or others in year 2018. But in fact, the text doesn't mention it precisely, for example by mean of stating how old was Abram at the time. And the vision may in fact have been a series of visions that spread over a period of time, because the text mentions euight times that "God said to Abram": if it had been one single event, or day, would the text repeat so many times that "God said"? This vision is however mentioned after the war of the kings, thus we can assume the vision(s) started no earlier than the year 2030, a consideration that voids both schools of thought ! However, it doesn't really matter when it took place, and this is why the text doesn't offer further detail of timing. Because what is important is what the vision said: the reference is the verse Genesis 15:7 which says the Lord that brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees and that draws a clear parallel with the future Exodus with the Lord that brought the Hebrews out of the land of Egypt. The two events are therefore to be understood as directly connected. This connection is not just with this particular mention but through many other details, such as the fact that God stroke Egypt with plagues, the hurry with which Abram was told to leave Egypt, pushed out by Pharaoh and followed by his soldiers until the border of the country, the fact that he was given a lot of wealth when he was sent off, and so on. So it is important to remember that the year that is key to the Biblical chronology is not the imprecise year(s) of the Brit Bein Habetarim but the exact year when Abram left Egypt.
The Covenant with Abraham (Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, "Die Bibel in Bilderm", 1860) ~~~~~~~~~~
maidservant of Sarai that she had pushed onto her husband to give him an offspring. It occurred 10 years after Abram came to dwell in the land of Canaan, after his return from Egypt (Genesis 16:3). He had brought Agar the Egyptian maid from there. Ishmael was born when Abram was 86 years old (Genesis 16:16), so it was the Hebrew year 2034 (1726 BCE). As he was a son of Abram, he benefited from the blessing that God gave to his offspring and, to this day, his descendants indeed dwell in the region that God promised to Abram, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates River. But after the birth of Ishmael, the servant Agar lost respect for Sarai, because the latter was still barren. So Abram's wife had to make her leave. In the wilderness, water came to an end and Agar thought her child would die. An angel appeared to Agar and convinced her to come back to Abram and Sarai and told her about her son: "He will be a wild person, his arm against all, and everyones arm against his, and he shall dwell in the face of all his brothers." --- Genesis 16:12 ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1] Terach was the high priest of Ur and a maker of idol statues for the religious service. [2] To see the translation by Prof. Martha Roth, 1995, online, click here. [3] The reader could notice that the word is actually Ellil, not the translated Enlil, and that Ellil sounds much closer to the Biblical name Elohim, the God of the Bible who created heavens and earth. [4] Israel National News, Tablet Discovered by Hebrew U[niversity] Matches Code of Hammurabi, 26 July 2010; to read the article, click here [5] There is a similarity between the Hebrew names of Arpachshad and Ur-Kasdim that doesn't transpire in English translations; Arpachshad is written
while Ur-Kasdim (meaning Ur of the Chaldeans) is written ; the following letters are in the same sequence: if we remove the plural of Kasdim
(Chaldeans) and some later deviation of the name Ur which was not in the original name; the name Chaldea is directly taken from the name Arpachshad [6] Abram will explain in Genesis 20:12: And moreover she [Sarai] is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and so she became my wife. It is interesting to note, on this topic, that the argument advanced by Abram is backed by Genetics... Abram' gender gene was of the kind X1Y, X1 from his mother and Y from his father. Sarai was of gender gene X2X, X2 from her mother and X from Abram's common father; but since Abram was a boy, he inherited gene Y from his father, while Sarai inherited gene X from the same father; so there would be no possible genetic issues for Abram and Sarai's children, with an association of X1Y and X2X [7] The ancient city of Charran is located in today's Harran, on the Turkish side near the border with Syria, at coordinates 37oN 39oE. It is a very large fertile plain, the first one that travellers would come across when coming from the dryer Mesopotamian region. [8] For a synopsis of the Second Intermediate Period, see the page on Wikipedia. [9] About Khendjer, see Wikipedia. [10] About Sobekhotep IV, see Wikipedia. [11] In Hebrew, the word Goyim means generically Nations, but it may refer here to the Gutians who were one of the people of Southern Mesopotamia under the control of Babylon, in the region where Sumer used to be before the Flood [12] About the battle of Siddim, see Wikipedia. Next generation Top of Page
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Hebrew years 2400 to 2520 (1360-1240 BCE) ~~~ Part I ~~~ Part II ~~~ Part III ~~~ Year 2441 1319 BCE Horemheb, Pharaoh of the Exodus
The next ruler to reign after Ay was Horemheb, the military chief during Tutankhamens reign. Horemheb pursued the policy of oppression against the Hebrews, and made them build the cities mentioned in the Bible, Pithom and Ramses (Exodus 1:11).
What was Ramses? The name means Ra bore him. It was a new city built east of the Nile Delta, in the site of an older Generations city called Avaris that was occupied by the Hyksos and that Ahmose I had destroyed. Later this new city of Ramses will be extended and named Pi-Ramses during the reign of Ramses II and will become the capital of Egypt during his 19th 1-14 Dynasty. Horemheb ordered the construction of this city Ramses, a name that must have be of importance to him as Generations his designated heir will take the name of Ramses (he will be Pharaoh Ramses I, founder of the 19th Dynasty). 15-21 What was Pithom? The name spells Pi-Thom, Pi meaning House of in Egyptian, like Pi-Ramses, the above-mentioned city. And Thom could have been the Hebrew word for the Egyptian god Ptah. So Pi-Thom means the House of Ptah. This Generations place would then be associated with the city of Memphis, because this is where the cult of Ptah developed and where the 22-28 Great Temple of Ptah had been raised. This city had of course already been built long time before the Hebrew slaves worked on it but, during Horemheb, it was certainly restored to some past glory after the years of abandon during the Amarna Generations heresy. The restoration to this city is what the Biblical text referred to as building Pi-Thom, meaning the House of Ptah 29-35 (or indirectly City of Ptah), meaning Memphis. Another theory is that Pithom meant Pi-Atom, House of [God] Atum. In such case, the city of Pithom would have been located at the East of the Nile Delta, and would have become in later years a Generations city renamed Heroonopolis at the time of the Greeks. There was the Royal Canal in this location that connected the Nile 36-49 with the Red Sea.
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Generation 50
Horemheb ~~~~~~~~~~
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Moses and Aaron before Pharaoh (Gustave Dor, 1868) How can we know this year was 2454? In Exodus 12:40, the text mentions the following, based on common translation into English: Now the time that the children of Israel dwelt in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years. And this translation has caused mistakes in the attempts to dress a Biblical chronology, because it was impossible to reconcile these 430 years with the time of their dwelling in Egypt. It also created difficulties to reconcile Bible and History when one would attempt to identify the Pharaoh of the Exodus. But the problem is only a problem of translation... Let us look at the actual text in Hebrew:
, -- ,
Thus it should have been translated as follows: And the dwelling of the Bene-Israel, who had dwelled in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. Spot the difference... The Hebrew text doesn't actually say the Bene-Israel "dwelled 430 years in Egypt", it says the Bene-Israel, who dwelled in Egypt, have dwelled for 430 years. In other words, the counting of the dwelling is not for their sole number of years in Egypt only but for the total number of years they had been dwelling (anywhere) thus far. If we take a simple analogy of a parent who lived a life of 70 years and had lived in Holland for a number of years unlike his other parents, we would say: "and the life of this parent, the one who had lived in Holland, was of 70 years". Similarly here in the Biblical text: the 430 years apply to the word
So where should we start counting these 430 years? Here is another difficulty. Those who had believed that the 430 years applied to the sole dwelling in Egypt were obviously led to the wrong path. But those who followed the original text of the Seder Olam in Hebrew knew that the 430 years applied to the total but came across the difficulty to know where to start the count because it was assumed, reasonably, that the count started with the Brit Bein Habetarim (the Covenant of the Pieces). The problem, as explained in the related chapter (see Generation 17), is that the timing of this Covenant had not been precisely mentioned and may have, in fact, been a series of visions that Abraham had. Thus the importance was not the date of the Covenant but what it referred to which was the exodus of Abraham from Egypt, to draw a parallel with the Exodus of his descendants, 430 years later day for day, on the 15th of the month of Nisan. Abraham, the Patriarch of the Hebrews, had left Egypt in a hurry, pushed out by Pharaoh and accompanied by his soldiers until the border of Egypt, with gifts of wealth, after plagues that God inflicted upon Egypt, and had arrived to dwell in the land (of Canaan) that God has promised to him. This first exodus out of Egypt occurred in Hebrew year 2024 (1736 BCE). Abram went down only to sojourn because of a famine. The same circumstance occurred with his descendance:
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Jacob and his family came down to Egypt because of a famine and initially thought only to sojourn for a while. But they were given wealth and honours, thanks to the role of Joseph, had assimilated and stayed in Egypt, and even adopted the Egyptian gods and cult. All this sojourn in Egypt turned to become a sin and the Hebrews were at the edge of becoming Egyptians altogether and forgetful of where they came from, and of the Covenant with God. Abraham too, when he went down to Egypt, committed a sin by leaving the land that God had promised to him because he had showed that, somehow, he had lacked in the trust that God would be able to allow him to overcome this famine. When an event of famine occurred to Isaac, he too contemplated to go down to Egypt because of it, but then God stopped him and asked him to remain in Canaan, and thus allowed him not to sin by lack of trust as his father Abraham did and as his son Jacob did. And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar.[1] And the Lord appeared unto him, and said: 'Go not down unto Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell you of. Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you, and will bless you; for unto you, and unto your seed, I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore unto Abraham your father; and I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and will give unto your seed all these lands; and by your seed shall all the nations of the earth bless themselves. --- Genesis 26:1-4 Three patriarchs, three famines, and three times the promise or covenant: these are connected circumstances. These famines were ordeals to prove the patriarchs, and their descendants: Abraham went to Egypt but didn't sojourn long, Isaac listened to God and didn't leave Canaan, Jacob went down to Egypt to sojourn for a while but the Hebrews stayed there and assimilated. Their Redemption was at risk, so God had to intervene to extract them out of Egypt. In summary, the Hebrew year 2024 + 430 years of dwelling (without identified "home", in his sense) = Hebrew year 2454 : this was the year of the Exodus. The word used for dwelling, here it is
in Hebrew, means seat. And it means exactly what this is about: the
Hebrews, since Abraham, didn't have their own home yet, or homeland, although the land of Canaan had been promised to them through three patriarchs. So they only were dwelling, here and there, and in Egypt too as the Biblical text says, but this was just a seat, not a home. The home was yet to come. There is an additional proof of the above, in the next verse, which should really be translated as follows: And it came to pass, at the very end of four hundred and thirty years, and it came to pass, in fact on that very day, that all the Legions of the Lord came out of Egypt. --- Exodus 12:41 Why does the text take extra length to mention the very day of this event? Because the two events did happen on the same day, the 15th of the month of Nisan, 430 years apart, day for day. With Abraham, the event was recorded in chapter Genesis 12, and with the Hebrews the event was recorded in chapter Exodus 12. At the middle of the night after the last plague of the first-born, Pharaoh called for Moses:
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And he [Pharaoh] called for Moses and Aaron by night and said: 'Rise up, get you forth from among my people, both you and the children of Israel; and go, serve the Lord, as you have said. --- Exodus 12: 31 And in the case of Abraham, the same occurred when God struck Egypt with plague and when Pharaoh called Abraham and expelled him: And Pharaoh called Abram, and said: 'What is this that you have done unto me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? Why said you: She is my sister? So that I took her to be my wife; now therefore behold your wife, take her, and go your way.' --- Genesis 12:18-19
The Hebrews leaving Egypt, by David Roberts, 1828 (Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, UK) It is interesting to note that one of His discussions with Abraham, God mentioned to him: And He said unto Abram: 'Know for your knowledge that your seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall be enslaved, and they shall afflict them --- four hundred years. And also that nation, who shall enslave them, will I judge; and afterward shall they come out with great substance." --- Genesis 15:13-14 So there is an apparent difficulty because the above text mentions 400 years that do not match the 430 years previously mentioned. The reason is that these are two different references. In the 430 years period, it was to state the number of years of dwelling from the exodus of Abraham from Egypt until the Exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt. Whereas, in the above text, it is to state the number of years of affliction in a land that does not belong to the Hebrews. In both cases, dwelling could be considered as affliction, because of the feeling of not having a home or land, although having been promised one by God Himself, and feeling like a stranger in lands that belong to other peoples. So, normally 430 years of dwelling and 400 years of affliction should have been the same period. The difference of 30 years is not fully explicable except that it may represent the period during which Moses (who was a Levite) had succeeded to influence the house of Pharaoh towards monotheism. This would have started when Moses was 20 years old, in year 1366 BCE, and would have lasted until year 1336 BCE, after the reign of Akhenaten and the change of religion he had imposed over his nation. The difference of 30 years corresponds to this monotheist influence that Moses had caused and during which, although the Hebrews were still in Egypt, they could not possibly have been subjected to affliction nor, obviously to enslavement. Even, this period of Egyptian monotheism should have set them free: nothing prevented them at this time
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to leave Egypt by their own mean and return to their promised land in Canaan. They were not afflicted and they were free to move. But they didn't because life was then probably too good for them to leave, and they preferred to assimilate with the Egyptian people. So God sent them a punishment, in the form of the return to oppression, until time for redemption came with the Exodus. The text mentions that Moses was 80 years old when he led his people out of Egypt, and Aaron was 83 (Exodus 7:6). This detail shows that Moses was born in year 2374 (1386 BCE), during the reign of Amenhotep III, as it was considered in a previous chapter (see Generation 20). The Exodus took place 216 years after Jacob and his family came down to Egypt. A duration that was exactly half the 430 years that the text mentioned. This detail has a relation with the Brit Bein Habetarim (Covenant of the Parts) when Abraham took some animals under the instruction of God and split them into two halves to offer them as a sacrifice (Genesis 15:10). Following this, God announced to Abraham the affliction that his descendants will suffer in a foreign land (Egypt) during four generations.
What were these four [family] generations of Hebrews in Egypt? - The first generation is the one that came down to Egypt; they came to sojourn for a while but remained in Egypt, because they were given a rich land (Goshen, in the Nile delta), important positions in the administration (managed by their brother Joseph); the Biblical text emphasizes on their assimilation: And the children of Israel [Jacob] were fruitful, increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceedingly mighty, and the land [of Egypt] was filled with them. (Exodus 1:7) - The second generation completed their assimilation and even worshipped idols (except the tribe of Levi who remained in the path of God, and will be later rewarded for this) - The third generation was enslaved from the time of Thutmoses IV, who decreed the death of the newborn sons - The fourth generation is the one of the Exodus; they missed the opportunity to leave Egypt by themselves during the heresy of Akhenaten, and rather returned to the hope of better life among the Egyptians; God sent them oppression again until He took them out from Egypt Himself after the 10 Plagues, and offered them redemption We can look at these 4 family generations through the example of Moses' ancestry: 1st that came from Canaan to
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Egypt, with Levi son of Jacob, 2nd that settled and assimilated, with Kohath his son, 3rd that was oppressed, with Amram his son, and 4th that missed the opportunity to leave and was led out from Egypt, with Moses. ~~~~~~~~~~
It is today assumed that Horemheb died in the 14th year of his reign, although earlier historians thought he reigned for 27 years. But it is also known that he died without having his own heir. So, if he would have survived his wife for so many years (14 years), there is little doubt that he would have married again to try have a heir. But that was not the case so it makes more sense to admit the current opinion that he died some months, or one year, after his wife Mutnedjmet, and without heir as they died before him. Is it possible that Horemheb, who was a military commander at the time of Akhenaten and of Tutankhamen, had died in the pursuit of the Hebrews to the sea after the Exodus? This would meet the closeness of his death and of his wife's. The Biblical text does mention that Pharaoh and his chariots pursued the Hebrews to bring them back into slavery and then came the episode of the Crossing of the Sea which saw all Pharaoh's army being drawn in the waters (Exodus 14:28). The text doesn't mention the fate of Pharaoh himself. But, as of today, and although Horemheb had benefited from a magnificent tomb built by his successor,[5] nobody has ever found his mummy yet ![6]
The Tomb of Horemheb, magnificent but... empty of his remains Before his death, Horemheb had appointed his vizier, Paramesse, as successor. This Paramesse will reign after Horemhebs death as Pharaoh Ramses I, and will start the 19th Dynasty of Egypt, thus turning the page on the glorious 18th Dynasty which started with the Pharaoh who raised Joseph to power and ended with Horemheb who died without heir
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and did not survive the events about the Exodus. ~~~~~~~~~~
Year 2454 1306 BCE The Giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai
The Hebrews left Egypt on the 15th of the month of Nisan (which was called Aviv in these times), and crossed the sea 7 days later. It took them a total of 49 days until they reached Mount Sinai where God gave them the Torah on the 50th day from the Exodus. The festival of the Exodus is called Pesach (Passover in English) and the festival of the Giving of the Torah is called Shavuoth (meaning the weeks, but it also refers to the number seven which is the number of weeks from one festival to the other). Moses was ordered to build an ark to host the two tablets where God had inscribed His Ten Commandments: it became the Ark of Covenant, with two facing cherubim on top.
The Ark of Covenant Some of the commandments that God gave to the Israelites at Mount Sinai concerned the Jubilee year, which is to fall every 50th year, after seven periods of 7 years, each of these period being concluded by a Sabbatical year:
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And you shall number seven Sabbaths of years unto you, seven times seven years; and there shall be unto you the days of seven Sabbaths of years, even forty and nine years. Then shall you make proclamation with the blast of the horn on the tenth day of the seventh month; in the Day of Atonement shall you make proclamation with the horn throughout all your land. And you shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land unto all the inhabitants thereof; it shall be a jubilee unto you; and you shall return every man unto his possession, and you shall return every man unto his family. A jubilee shall that fiftieth year be unto you; you shall not sow, neither reap that which grows of itself in it, nor gather the grapes in it of the undressed vines. For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy unto you; you shall eat the increase thereof out of the field. In this year of jubilee you shall return every man unto his possession. --- Leviticus 25:8-13 If we parallel each day or year towards a Sabbath into the generations described in the text, we can notice that every 7th generation thus far has been a special one in the history of the Jews and of Humanity, and should continue to be so: 7th generation: death of Cain, and start of the Bronze Age 14th generation: the Flood 21st generation: the monotheism in Egypt (Amarna period), the Exodus and the conquest of Canaan 28th generation: the redemption of the Israelites after their captivity in Babylon, and construction of 2nd Temple 35th generation: end of the Jewish political nation at the hand of the Romans, and completion of the Talmud 42nd generation: diaspora and building of the Jewish religious nation (Zohar, Maimonides, Nahmanides) 49th generation: final return to Sion and pre-Messianic times
The total number was 603,550 men, from 20 years old. The tribe of Levi was not part of this census, because the census was to count the number of all that were able to go forth to war in Israel (Numbers 1:45), while the Tribe of Levi was destined to priesthood (Numbers 1:47-49). With over 600,000 men of the age of war, we can assume that they had as many wives, so the total number of Israelites was in excess of 2 million people when counting the young children and older family members as well. It is well assumed that the Israelites were divided into 12 Tribes but in fact there were 13 tribes when we take into account the Tribe of Levi. And 13 was the number of children that Jacob had, composed of 12 sons and one daughter, Dinah. Jacob did want to have 13 sons, to create 13 tribes and thus reflecting upon the unicity of God, because 13 is the numerical value of the Hebrew word meaning One. But Jacob had one daughter. He later took the opportunity to single out the tribe of Joseph into two tribes, one tribe for each of his two sons Ephraim and Manasseh. Thus he obtained 13 tribes, as desired. The number 13 proclaims the unicity of God, and the Covenant with the Israelites which is reflected in the age of circumcision, also 13. ~~~~~~~~~~
The return of the Explorers (Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, "Die Bibel in Bilderm", 1860) But, except for Caleb and Joshua, the explorers came back with false reports which undermined the faith of the Israelites:
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And they returned from spying out the land at the end of forty days. And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto the entire congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. And they told him, and said: "We came unto the land where you sent us, and surely it flows with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it. However the people that dwell in the land are fierce and the cities are fortified, and very great; and moreover we saw the children of Anak there. Amalek dwells in the land of the South; and the Hittite, and the Jebusite, and the Amorite, dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanite dwells by the sea, and along by the side of the Jordan." And Caleb stilled the people toward Moses, and said: "We should go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it." But the men that went up with him said: "we are not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we." And they spread an evil report of the land which they had spied out unto the children of Israel, saying: "The land, through which we have passed to spy it out, is a land that eats up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature. And there we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who come of the Nephilim; and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight." And the entire congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night. And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron; and the whole congregation said unto them: "Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would we have died in this wilderness!" --- Numbers 13:25 - 14:2 The explorers were surely shocked by some of the abominations they witnessed among the Canaanites, who sacrificed their children to their gods. They also feared of the tribes of Amalek who were relentlessly attacking the Israelites as soon as they would approach their territory, and probably imagined that the conquest of Canaan would prove to be a disaster if all the people were as belligerent as the Amalekites. They were also impressed by the size of the people who dwelled in the mountains, near Hebron, as being giant like the so-called Nephilim described in Genesis. This detail about the name Nephilim shows furthermore that the contents of the Torah, given by God to Moses and who gave it to the Elders and them to their communities, were taught and known to the Israelites by that time. But these fears, although understandable, were also the proof of a lack of sufficient faith in God to deliver this land to the people He promised it to. If He had been able to extract them out of a powerful nation such as Egypt, couldnt He help them overcome any obstacle that would be met in the land of Canaan? Only Joshua and Caleb raised their voice against the rumours that the other explorers spread to the camp. So God punished this generation, the one that came out of Egypt (the 4th generation since Jacob) to die in the desert, after a wander of 40 years, because for every day a year (Numbers 14:34). Only Joshua and Caleb will survive this punishment, as well as all the children of age below 20 years old and some of the Levites who were not counted in the census (Numbers 14:29): they formed the generation who will be allowed to enter the Promised Land. Caleb was 40 years old at the time,[7] but how old was Joshua? The Biblical text does not give it explicitely, but gives us the necessary hints to work it out. When the Exodus took place, Moses came across to know Hoshua and took him at his service. Beside he also renamed him Joshua and described him as a young man (Exodus 33:11). There are not many occurrences of the mention of a young man in the Biblical text before him. In fact the only other Hebrew person called as such was Joseph when he was such described by the chamberlain who was with him in prison (Genesis 41:12). The other correlation between Joseph and Hoshua is that the latter was an Efraimite, so his
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direct ancestor was Joseph. Moses knew the text of the Torah by then and knew that Joseph was 28 years old when he had known the chamberlain who called him a young man. And this was the reason for Moses to also call Hoshua a young man, thus reminding that he was 28 years old like his ancestor Joseph when they met first (in the year of the Exodus). Also, Moses had renamed Hoshua (
)as Joshua (), adding the letter yod ( )as a prefix to Hoshua
(Numbers 13:16). Why did he do this? Because the Yod is the symbol of God,[8] and also, maybe more importantly here, because Hoshua's ancestor, Joseph, has a name starting with this letter Yod. Last, we will learn later in the Biblical text that Joshua died at the age of 110 years old (Joshua 24:29), precisely like Joseph (Genesis 50:26). So there is a precise parallel made in the text between the characters of Joseph and Joshua. So, when Moses called the latter a young man, it was a direct reference of the fact that, like his ancestor Joseph had been 28 years old in the jail when the chamberlain knew him, two years before Joseph was called in front of Pharaoh, the same goes for Joshua who was 28 years old when Moses knew him (at the time of the Exodus), two years before he was called in front of him to participate to the mission of the explorers. So, at the time of this mission, Joshua was 30 years old and Caleb was 40 years old. Weakened in spirits by God's punishment after them, the Israelites avoided confrontation against the Amalekites and the Canaanites, and remained 19 years in the camp of Kadesh-Barneah. ~~~~~~~~~~
this country was flourishing. The fact is that Ramses II had no encounter with the Israelites because, at the time of his splendour, they already passed to the other side of the Jordan River and Dead Sea (Judges 11:18), and thus were not exposed to his passing of Canaan during his military campaigns in the Levant and in Asia. This was the time when Ramses II came to power, in year 1279 BCE. He then started a series of campaign in Canaan and Syria against the Hittites, from the early years of his reign. His biggest victory took place at the battle of Kadesh, in Southern Syria in 1274 BCE.
Ramses II at the battle of Kadesh (wall relief, Abu Simbel Temple) Ramses II campaigned again in the region in the years 1271-1270 BCE and then then stopped to venture in this part of the world for the rest of his long reign. His following campaigns were solely focused on the southern part of his kingdom, in Nubia. In fact, he never stepped foot again in the land of Canaan after 1270 BCE which was about the time when the Israelites started their conquest under the leadership of Joshua. He may have had echoes of this unexpected arrival of the Israelites in Canaan and may not have wanted to confront them, after what he had learned in the past to Pharaoh Horemheb, which must have been still present in the Egyptian memory. It is also at this time that he pursued a policy of systemtic destruction of all traces from the Amarna heresy, of Akhenaten, Moses and the Hebrews. Instead he cultivated the memory of Horemheb as a national hero although, as previously mentioned, the tomb of this Pharaoh remained empty. This absence from Canaan from a Pharaoh as powerful as Ramses II and who ruled over Egypt for a very long period, until 1213 BCE, is a mystery that has neven been fully assessed by Historians. How could it possible that such Pharaoh would have never again found excuses to campaign in this neighbouring region for the rest of his 60 years of reign? For me, there is no clear reason for this other than he avoided to engage in that region from the moment he had learned that the Israelites were conquering it, and doing wonders again with the help of their God. ~~~~~~~~~~
- Tribe of Asher: 53,400 which increased from 41,500 - Tribe of Naphtali: 45,400 which decreased from 53,400 The total number of men from 20 years old had slightly decreased to 601,730 (Numbers 46:51) compared to the previous census with 603,550. As before, the tribe of Levi was not part of this census. God also named the princes from each tribe to whom Moses was to give the possession of the territory that will be assigned to them in the land of Canaan: And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying: "These are the names of the men that shall take possession of the land for you: Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun. And you shall take one prince of every tribe, to take possession of the land. And these are the names of the men. Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh. And of the tribe of the children of Simeon, Shemuel the son of Ammihud. Of the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad the son of Chislon. And of the tribe of the children of Dan a prince, Bukki the son of Jogli. Of the children of Joseph: of the tribe of the children of Manasseh a prince, Hanniel the son of Ephod. And of the tribe of the children of Ephraim a prince, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan. And of the tribe of the children of Zebulun a prince, Eli-zaphan the son of Parnach. And of the tribe of the children of Issachar a prince, Paltiel the son of Azzan. And of the tribe of the children of Asher a prince, Ahihud the son of Shelomi. And of the tribe of the children of Naphtali a prince, Pedahel the son of Ammihud. These are they whom the Lord commanded to divide the inheritance unto the children of Israel in the land of Canaan." --- Numbers 34:16-29 Moses took these 40 years of wandering to instruct the Israelites of the terms and conditions of their covenant with God. He also addressed the issue of choosing a king over the people as God probably told him that this is what would eventually happen to be: "When you are to come unto the land which the Lord your God gave you, and shall possess it, and shall dwell therein; and shall say: 'I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are round about me'; you shall in any wise set him king over you, whom the Lord your God shall choose; one from among your brethren shall you set king over you; you must not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother.[9] Only he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, so that he should multiply horses; forasmuch as the Lord has said unto you: 'You shall henceforth return no more that way.' Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away; neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold. And it shall be, when he will sit upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book, out of that which is before the priests the Levites. And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life; that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them; that his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left; to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children, in the midst of Israel." --- Deuteronomy 17:14-20 It is important to note that God forbad the Israelites to ever go back to Egypt. It had been considered as a sin that two
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Tomb of Aaron in Jebel Harun, Jordan (source: blog Scripture for Today) ~~~~~~~~~~
The Israelites then went further north, following the east side from the Dead Sea, until the Jordan River at the level of the city of Jericho. God then instructed Moses about how to divide the possession of the land of Canaan between the tribes, and the head of each tribe to be the repository (Numbers 34:16-29). It was then time for Moses to die. Before, he gave ultimate instructions to his people: And Moses wrote this law, and delivered it unto the priests the sons of Levi, that bore the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, and unto all the elders of Israel. And Moses commanded them, saying: "At the end of every seven years, in the set time of the year of release, in the feast of Tabernacles [which is Sukkoth], when all Israel is come to appear before the Lord your God in the place which He shall choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. Assemble the people, the men and the women and the little ones, and your stranger that is within your gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the Lord your God, and observe to do all the words of this law; and that their children, who have not known, may hear, and learn to fear the Lord your God, as long as you live in the land when you go over the Jordan to possess it." --- Deuteronomy 31:9-13 Then Moses gave his blessing to each Tribe of Israel (Deuteronomy 33) before mounting from the plains of Moab onto Mount Nebo to die there, at the age of 120. God Himself buried him. The Falashas, Jews from Ethiopia, hold the following story about the death of Moses, illustrating God's reluctance to tell a man when he would precisely die (as of Talmud, Pesachim, 54b): And Moses went out of his house and left his wife and his children; and he went with his heart sunken and his face withered and he did not know which way to walk. And he met three handsome young men who were digging a grave. And he said to them: 'Peace to you and may God's peace be with you'. And then again Moses said to them: 'For whom are you digging this grave ?' And these young men said to him: 'We are digging it for a man beloved of God '. And Moses said to them: 'If you are digging for a man beloved of God, then I shall help you and dig with you '. And when they had finished the grave Moses said to them: ' Bring the corpse which we are to bury'. And these young men (they were angels who resembled men) said: 'We are afraid that this place will be too short for him whom we are to bury, and he is like you in size, height, and appearance; now enter into the grave and measure it for us'. And Moses entered into the grave and found there the Angel of Death. And the Angel of Death said to Moses: ' Peace to you, Son of Amram '. And Moses said to the Angel of Death : ' May your greeting return upon you ! ' And Moses died and the angels buried him. --- Ullendorff, Edward, The 'Death of Moses' in the Literature of the Falashas, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 24, No. 3 (1961), pp. 419-443 The place of Moses' burial is today identified with Jabal Naba in Jordan (Naba means Prophet in Arabic). Today this site in Jordan is under custody of a Franciscan group who even placed a plaque declaring it "Christian Holy Site"... How ridiculous !
The Franciscan plaque at the top of Mount Nebo !!! ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1] Isaac went south to the land of the Philistines as he was on his way to Egypt [2] See article in Wikipedia about the succession of Horemheb, which mentions an extract from Geoffrey Martin, The Hidden Tombs of Memphis, Thames & Hudson (1991), pp.97-98 [3] See article in Wikipedia about Mutnedjmet [4] Hawass, Zahi, Dig Days: The search for Queen Mutnodjmet, article in Al-Ahram, issue 960, 13-19 August 2009, currently available online [5] Horemheb's tomb in Saqqara was rediscovered in 1975 by Geoffrey Martin and his excavation team; see article and description online [6] For speculation about the possible mummy of Horemheb, see this article online
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[7] In Joshua 14:7, Caleb mentions his age of 40 at the time of this mission of the explorers [8] There are many occurrences where the letter Yod, of numerical value 10, is referred to God, in His direct involvement or presence: the 10 words He used during the Creation, the 10 plagues over Egypt, the 10 commandments He gave at Mount Sinai, and so on. [9] This commandment explains why King Herod, who was not an Hebrew, was unpopular as King of the Jews
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Generation 26
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Hebrew years 3000 to 3120 (760-640 BCE) ~~~ Part I ~~~ Part II ~~~
What is new Chronology of the two kingdoms during the 26th Generation Index of names Creation Generations 1-14 Generations 15-21 Generations 22-28 Generations 29-35 Generations 36-49 Generation 50 Year 3002 3003 3005 3005 3006 3006 3006 3007 3016 3022 3022 3005 3025 3025 3032 3033 3035 3038 3038 3038 3039 3041 3042 3048 3049 3052 3064 3064 3079 3097 3113 3119 3119 CE Differ. Kingdom of JUDAH Kingdom of ISRAEL -758 10 Menahem son of Gadi dies -757 49 Pekahiah son of Menahem reigns -755 2 Pekahiah murdered by Pekah -755 51 Pekah son of Remaliah reigns Vision of Isaiah the -754 Prophet Azariah/Uzziah dies, a -754 52 leper -754 1 Jotham son of Azariah/Uzziah reigns -753 Foundation of Rome -744 Tiglath-Pileser III campaign in Y1 of reign; Deportation of Naphtali Jotham son of Uzziah -738 16 dies Ahaz son of Jotham -738 17 reigns -755 Pekah and Resin of Aram war vs. Judah Tiglath-Pileser III campaign 735BC; Deportation of the northern -735 tribes -735 20 Pekah son of Remaliah is killed by Hoshea -728 Shalmanezer V reigns in Babylon -727 11 Hoshea son of Elah reigns, vassal Assyria -725 2 Hezekiah son of Ahaz reigns -722 16 Ahaz son of Jotham dies -722 -4 Hoshea rebels; taken captive to Assyria -722 0 Shalmanezer V campaign 722BC; Deportation of Israel to Assyria -721 4 Shalmenezer besieges Samaria -719 6 Shalmanezer destroys the capital Samaria -718 9 Hoshea son of Elah - official end of reign Sennacherib invades -712 13 Judah -711 -15 Hezekiah son of Ahaz was fatally ill -708 -12 Manasseh son of Hezekiah born Hezekiah son of Ahaz -696 29 dies -696 29 Manasseh son of Hezekiah reigns -681 Sennacherib is assassinated by his sons in Nineveh -663 -22 Amon son of Manasseh born Josiah son of Amon -647 -8 born -641 55 Manasseh son of Hezekiah dies -641 Amon son of Manasseh reigns 0 No calendar adjustment ; Passover alignment to solar-lunar ~~~~~~~~~~ Sources II Kings 15:17 II Kings 15:23 II Kings 15:23 II Kings 15:27 Isaiah 6:1 II Kings 15:2 II Kings 15:32 Y2 Pekah Historical Historical II Kings 15:33 reigned 16Y Y17 Pekah II Kings 16:1 Historical II Kings 15:27,30 reigned 20Y Historical II Kings 17:1 Y12 Ahaz II Kings 18:1 Y3 Hoshea II Kings 16:2 reigned 16Y II Kings 17:1 Historical II Kings 18:1 Y4 Hezekiah II Kings 17:5-6 Y6 Hezekiah II Kings 17:1 reigned 9Y II Kings 18:13 Y14 Hezekiah II Kings 20:6 II Kings 21:1 added 15Y Text reigned 10Y Y50 Azariah reigned 2Y Y52 Azariah Y of Uzziah The 26th Generation is an important milestone in Jewish History. The number 26 is the numerical value of God's 4-letter name. This 26th Generation bears witness of the divine hand upon His chosen people, after years and generations of deviations from His commandments.
II Kings 18:14 reigned 29Y II Kings 20:21 aged 12Y old Historical II Kings 22:1 II Kings 21:1 II Kings 21:1 reigned 55Y aged 22Y
Isaiah continued to prophetise in the kingdom of Judah during the reigns of Jotham son of Uzziah, then Ahaz, until Hezekiah (Isaiah 1:1). He promised the divine protection to Ahaz when he was new king over Judah and when both Pekah king of Israel and Rezin king of Aram waged a war against him (Isaiah 7:3-8). Instead God promised to Ahaz that the kingdoms of Aram and Israel will fall under the hand of Assyria, and their people deported (Isaiah 8:4): O Asshur, the rod of My anger, in whose hand as a staff is My indignation! I do send him against an ungodly nation, and against the people of My wrath do I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. --- Isaiah 10:5 But Redemption will eventually come, as Isaiah had the vision of forthcoming events, the destruction of the Temple, the spoil of Jerusalem but also their rebirth with the help of a king called Cyrus who will be Gods instrument: That says of Cyrus: 'He is My shepherd, and shall perform all My pleasure'; even saying of Jerusalem: 'She shall be built'; and to the temple: 'My foundation shall be laid.' --- Isaiah 44:28 The Redemption will not be limited to the children of Israel, but also to all aliens who would embrace the word of God: Also the aliens, that join themselves to the Lord, to minister unto Him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants, every one that keeps the sabbath from profaning it, and holds fast by My covenant: Even them will I bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer; their burnt-offerings and their sacrifices shall be acceptable upon My altar; for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples. Says the Lord God who gathers the dispersed of Israel: Yet I will gather others to him, beside those of him that are gathered. --- Isaiah 56:6-8
Tiglath-Pileser III - from the Central Palace of Nimrud (British Museum) In one relief found in Nimrud, the name of one of the conquered city is Astartu, which was a city located in Moab territory. It is mentioned in the Bible, when the Hebrews approached Canaan, as the capital of Og king of Bashan (Deuteronomy 1:4). After the conquest by Joshua, this territory was part of Gilead and was given to the sons of Gershom from the tribe of Manasseh.
Prisoners from Astartu being deported by the Assyrians - from the Central Palace of Nimrud (British Museum) The succession of fateful events that would bring down the kingdom of Israel started with the aggression they did against the kingdom of Judah: Then Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to war; and they besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome him. At that time Rezin king of Aram recovered Elath to Aram, and drove the Jews from Elath; and the Edomites came to Elath, and dwelt there, unto this day. --- II Kings 16:5-6 Ahaz started to reign in Judah after his father Jotham, son of Uzziah, died. But he worshipped idols and, worse, adopted the abominable pagan customs of human sacrifice because he made his son to pass through the fire (II Kings 16:3). God punished him by raising a war against Judah in which Pekah allied with Rezin king of Aram. But despite their success in parts of the kingdom, they could not take the holy city of Jerusalem from Ahaz. But, the later called Tiglath-Pileser for military support by pledging allegiance. Piglath-Pileser did not need further reason to order another campaign in Aram/Syria:
So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying: 'I am your servant and your son; come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Aram, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, who rise up against me.' And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king's house, and sent it for a present to the king of Assyria. And the king of Assyria hearkened unto him; and the king of Assyria went up against Damascus, and took it, and carried the people of it captive to Kir, and slew Rezin. --- II Kings 16:7-9
After conquering Aram, Tiglath-Pileser turned his attention against the kingdom of Israel. It happened in the 20th year since Pekah had seized power: In the days of Pekah king of Israel came Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria, and took Ijon, and Abel-beth-maacah, and Janoah, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali; and he carried them captive to Assyria. And Hoshea the son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah, and smote him, and slew him, and reigned in his stead, in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah. --- II Kings 15:29-30 This was the first of a series of disasters that struck the kingdom of Israel: the deportation of some of the tribes, those on the eastern side of the Jordan River and those in the northern part of the land, such as the tribe of Naphtali.[2] This catastrophe had cost Pekah his throne and his life. He had reigned for 20 years before being assassinated by Hosea son of Elah. Hoshea inherited a country devastated by war and with a population depleted and reduced in size. He tried to rebuild a kingdom and crowned himself king a few years later, only when the news of the death of Pigath-Pileser reached the region, in the 12th year of the reign of Ahaz. Hoshea probably thought that, this powerful king of Assyria being dead, his empire would collapse under internal political dispute. But this didnt happen: his son Shalmanezer V rose to power over Assyria and forced his regions, including the kingdom of Israel, to submit to his rule and to pay tribute. ~~~~~~~~~~
Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years. In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away unto Assyria, and placed them in Halah, and in Habor, on the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. --- II Kings 17:5-6 Shalmanezer V died soon after having conquered Samaria. Maybe he was even murdered by his successor, Sargon II, who campaigned in the Levant as well.[3] This new ruler applied the same policy of ethnic cleansing by displacing populations from one place of the empire to another.
Sargon II (British Museum) After he took away the Israelites out of the kingdom of Israel, he moved in other populations and ordered to rebuild the city of Samaria: for this reason, these people would become known as the Samaritans (II Kings 17:24-29).
The deportation of the 10 tribes of Israel (Source Wikipedia) There are historians who believe that Sargon II and Sennacherib were the same person, whereas Sargon II was a name that Sennacherib adopted later in his reign. History has not decided yet whether this king was the actual son of his predecessor or an usurper who killed Shalmanezer on his return from the campaign against Israel. According to the Bible, there were 10 years difference between the campaigns of Shalmanezer and of Sennacherib, because the first one took place in the 4th year of the reign of Hezekiah king of Judah and the second one took place in the 14th year (II Kings 18:9 and 18:13).
Numa Pompilius (source: blog The Pines of Rome) ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1] See Sargon of Akkad, the founder of this dynasty, in the 16th Generation [2] The Babylonian records give a date of this conquest around 740 or 733 BCE, while the Hebrew calendar placed around year 3004, equivalent to 756 BCE, which is close enough considering the margin of error for old sources [3] His conquest of the Philistine city of Ashdod, c. 711 BCE, is mentioned in Isaiah [4a] Plutarch, The Parallel lives, Numa Pompilius, chapter XXII [4b] In an interview, Italian archaelogist Dr. Clementina Panella mentioned that Numa did so because he thought "it was impious to represent things Divine by what is perishable" ; to see article online, click here [4c] The Greek philosopher Pythagoras lived a couple of centuries after Numa, so Numa could not have possibly been "a Pythagorean"; but this anachronic mention was probably to mean that Numa followed philosophical principles and lived the way Pythagoras did ~~~~~~~~~~
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Generation 27
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Hebrew years 3120 to 3240 (640-520 BCE) ~~~ Part I ~~~ Part II ~~~ Part III ~~~ Part IV Year 3163 597 BCE Nebuchadnezzar spoils Jerusalem
Jehoiakim reigned 11 years and probably died in a battle he waged against the Babylonians, following his last rebellion from their yoke. He indeed rebelled after 3 years of paying tribute, hoping that a new alliance with Egypt would defeat the rulers from Babylon. Jehoiakim was succeeded by his 18 years old son Jehoiachin.[1] But the latter did not reign more Creation than 3 months because the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and the Israelite royal family surrendered. The invaders Generations spoiled the city from all its treasures and took to captivity all the key people of the kingdom: 1-14 At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up to Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came unto the city, while his servants were besieging it. And Jehoiachin the king of Generations Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers; and the 15-21 king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign [Nebuchadnezzars]. And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's house, and cut in Generations pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the Lord, as the Lord had said. 22-28 And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths; none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land. And he carried away Generations Jehoiachin to Babylon; and the king's mother, and the king's wives, and his officers, and the chief men of the land, 29-35 carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. And all the men of might, even seven thousand, and the craftsmen and the smiths a thousand, all of them strong and apt for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon. Generations And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah his father's brother king in his stead, and changed his name to Zedekiah. 36-49 --- II Kings 24:10-17 Generation 50 It is generally admitted by Jewish scholars that the First Temple was destroyed after 410 years from its construction. The period of 410 years actually refers to the number of years of divine service in the Temple, and not until its actual destruction. This service stopped from the moment the High Priest was taken to captivity in Babylon at the same time than the other dignitaries of the kingdom of Judah. It was Jehozadak, son of Seraiah, who was the last High Priest (I Chronicles 5:41). A temple without divine service and high priest was just stones and no longer the Temple, as the House of God.. The Second Temple was destroyed after 420 years of divine service. We will see that this period was not continuous, unlike for the First Temple. These two numbers 410 and 420 are reflected in the numerical value of the Hebrew word which is used to name the pure olive oil that was used by the priests for the Temple service. This word can be divided in two sections and which have the numerical value of 420 and 410 respectively (=400, =20, =10). ~~~~~~~~~~
Jeremiah the Prophet and King Zedekiah (Foster, Charles, The Bible pictures and what they teach us, 1897) ~~~~~~~~~~
One of the visions of Ezekiel (Fontaine, Nicolas, L'Histoire du Vieux et du Nouveau Testament, 1688) God also wanted Ezekiel to repent for the sins of Israel and Judah, one day for one year of iniquity:
Moreover lie you upon your left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it; according to the number of the days that you shall lie upon it, you shall bear their iniquity. For I have appointed the years of their iniquity to be unto you a number of days, even three hundred and ninety days; so shall you bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. And again, when you have accomplished these, you shall lie on your right side, and shall bear the iniquity of the house of Judah; forty days, each day for a year, have I appointed it unto you. --- Ezekiel 4:4-6 How did these years get counted? First, for Israel, it corresponds to the number of years from the time all the Israelites started to sin. It began to count from the death of Elazar the High Priest, son of Aaron, in Hebrew year 2558. The count ends with the destruction of the kingdom of Israel in Hebrew year 3041, when its capital Samaria fell after 3 years of struggle. The difference of years is 483 years, from which God removed all the years when all the Israelites came back to His path during the period of Samuel (after the death Eli the High Priest in Hebrew year 2688), and until the end of the reigns of David and Solomon in Hebrew year 2781 (80 years for the combined two reigns): this makes a total of 93 years to suibstract from the 483 years count, and it results in the 390 years calculation. The period of 390 years corresponds to a collective punishment of all the Israelites, not just for the kingdom of Israel. As of the 40 years of punishment mentioned for Judah, they counted (backwards) for: - the reign of Zedekiah thus far: 4 years - the reign of Jehoiachin until he was taken to captivity: 3 months - the reign of Jehoiakim: 11 years - the reign of Jehoahaz until taken by Necoh to Egypt: 3 months - the reign of Amon until he was murdered: 2 years - part of the reign of Manassah, the greatest of the sinful kings of Judah, who reigned for 55 years but started to reign when he was only 12 years old: probably 22 years and 6 months of sins So God applied a symbolic collective punishment to Ezekiel in place of the Israelites, by ruling the same model as He did to them in the desert after the episode of the 12 explorers. Except that, at that time, we made them pay one year for each day, and now He made Ezekiel pay one day for each year of sin. Ezekiel started the punishment on the 5th day of the 4th month of the 5th year of Jehoiachins captivity (Ezekiel 8:1), which lasted a total of 430 days (=390+40). In Babylon, they used a lunar calendar at the time, so each month was based on lunar observation with a new moon every 29.5 days in average (some months were counted with 29 days and others with 30 days). So the 430 days made 14 lunar months and a half, thus one year and two and a half months.[2] God spoke to Ezekiel at the start of the following month, on the same 5th day of the month: And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord God fell there upon me. Then I beheld, and lo a likeness as the appearance of fire: from the appearance of his loins and downward, fire; and from his loins and upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the colour of electrum. And the form of a hand was put forth, and I was taken by a lock of my head; and a spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the gate of the inner court that looks toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy. And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the vision that I saw in the plain. --- Ezekiel 8:1-4 ~~~~~~~~~~
The Siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar (Calmet, Dictionary of the Holy Bible,1730) ~~~~~~~~~~
Execution of Zedekiah's sons (Gustave Dor, 1868) Three weeks after the breach, the city of Jerusalem fell: Now in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem. And he burnt the house of the Lord, and the king's house; and all the houses of Jerusalem, even every great man's house, burnt he with fire. And all the army of the Chaldeans, that were with the captain of the guard, broke down the walls of Jerusalem round about. And the residue of the people that were left in the city, and those that fell away, that fell to the king of Babylon, and the residue of the multitude, did Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carry away captive. But the captain of the guard left of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and husbandmen. And the pillars of brass that were in the house of the Lord, and the bases and the brazen sea that were in the house of the Lord, did the Chaldeans break in pieces, and carried the brass of them to Babylon. And the pots, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the pans, and all the vessels of brass wherewith they ministered, took they away. And the fire-pans, and the basins, that which was of gold, in gold, and that which was of silver, in silver, the captain of the guard took away. The two pillars, the one sea, and the bases, which Solomon had made for the house of the Lord; the brass of all these vessels was without weight. The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits, and a capital of brass was upon it; and the height of the capital was three cubits; with network and pomegranates upon the capital round about, all of brass; and like unto these had the second pillar with network. And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the door; and out of the city he took an officer that was set over the men of war; and five men of them that saw the king's face, who were found in the city; and the scribe of the captain of the host, who mustered the people of the land; and threescore men of the people of the land, that were found in the city. And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah. And the king of Babylon smote them, and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was carried away captive out of his land. And as for the people that were left in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, even over them he made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, governor. --- II Kings 25:8-22 ~~~~~~~~~~
and forsake us so long time? Turn You us unto You, O Lord, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old. You cannot have utterly rejected us, and be exceeding wroth against us! --- Lamentations 5:14-22, final verses
Seal of Gedaliah (found in Lachish in 1935, see article) The armed people of Judah, who were outside Jerusalem when the city was taken, gathered again to meet Gedaliah in Mitzpah. The new governor succeeded to reassure them over the future. Israelites started to come back from different places onto Judah. But Gedaliah fell to a gang of mercenaries led by Ishmael son of Netanya who murdered him (II Kings 25:25-26). The gang took away as captives his daughters and other people who were with him in Mitzpah, including the Prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 41:10). But they were caught up by a group of armed Israelites who rescued some of the captives, and Ishmael fled to the land of the Ammonites. To avoid punishment from Babylon, the rescuers fled to Egypt, taking Jeremiah with them. This decision was a lack of faith in God because they had previously asked the Prophet for divine advice and he had passed onto them Gods promise to His protection if they remained in Judah. ~~~~~~~~~~
The divine anger was soon coming. Jeremiah prophetised to the people of Judah that God will deliver the land of Egypt to the king of Assyria, if they would remain there. The Pharaoh of Egypt at the time, Apries from the 26th Dynasty, called Hophra in the Bible (Jeremiah 40:30), favoured those who rebelled against Babylon. He had even tried to come to the rescue of Jerusalem against the Babylonian army but was crushed by them, before they started to besiege the city. Some tradition mentions that Jeremiah met with some Greek philosopher while in Egypt. The one who comes to mind is Thales, who was a wealthy maritime trader based in Miletus (Asia Minor) so could have travelled the seas for his business. He taught new concepts about the origin of life that influenced the philosophers after him, such as that all the world originated from Water. For Aristotle notably, Thales was the father of the Philosophy. [3]
The last kings of Judah ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1] Also called Coniah in Jeremiah 37:1 [2] A lunar year had 12 months at the time, until later when Babylonians added an intercalary month
Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon (Foster, Bible Pictures) [3] Thales has been mentioned in the following page of this site => click here ~~~~~~~~~~
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Home Contact What is new Index of names Creation Generations 1-14 Generations 15-21 Generations 22-28 So Esther was taken unto king Ahasuerus into his house royal in the tenth month, which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign. And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained grace and favour in his sight more than all the virgins; so that he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti. Then the king made a great feast unto all his princes and his servants, even Esther's feast; and he made a release to the provinces, and gave gifts, according to the bounty of the king. And when the virgins were gathered together the second time and Mordechai sat in the king's gate. Esther had not yet made known her kindred nor her people; as Mordechai had charged her; for Esther did the commandment of Mordechai, like as when she was brought up with him. --- Esther 2:16 Previous <<
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Hebrew years 3240 to 3360 (520-400 BCE) ~~~ Part I ~~~ Part II ~~~ Year 3281 479 BCE Ahasuerus and Esther
Esther was prepared for her concubine role in the royal palace and, after the return from the Greek war, was introduced to Xerxes/Ahasuerus in early 479 BCE:
Mordechai later discovered that two conspirers from the kings palace wanted to assassinate him. Such conspiracy was not surprising because of the unconvincing result of the campaign against Greece. Mordechai informed Esther who Generations informed the king, and the conspirers were hanged. The circumstance was recorded in the annals of the empire but 29-35 passed unnoticed at the time. Generations 36-49 Generation 50
Esther in the harem - by Edwin Long, 1878 (National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne) ~~~~~~~~~~
the people of Amalek. Agag had been spared by King Saul against the divine orders: And Saul smote the Amalekites, from Havilah as you go to Shur, which is in front of Egypt. And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, even the young of the second birth, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them; but every thing that was of no account and feeble, that they destroyed utterly. --- I Samuel 15:7-9 Through the voice of Samuel the Prophet, God had commanded to Saul to kill all the Amalekites but Saul did not obey. In doing so, by a reverse of fortune, the survivors ended up years later at the service of the Persian Empire while cultivating hatred towards the Israelites. Haman conspired to make genocide of the Israelites, using the tactics to raise awareness to the king that this people would not show respect to him nor prostrate: And Haman said unto king Ahasuerus: 'There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom; and their laws are diverse from those of every people; neither keep they the king's laws; therefore it profits not the king to suffer them. If it please the king, let it be written that they be destroyed; and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those that have the charge of the king's business, to bring it into the king's treasuries. --- Esther 3:8 Haman was given free hand by the king. So he sent a decree throughout the empire to order the execution of all Israelites in a single day, set for the 13th day of the month of Adar, which is the 12th month of the year, before a new year would start in Nisan. And to make the matter even more attractive to the executioners, he decreed that they could seize all the properties of the ones they would slain. He surely thought that greed would guarantee the job to be done with expediency. Consternation fell upon the Israelites and Mordechai called upon Esther for help. After fasting for three days, she came to the king to invite him and Haman to a banquet she intended to prepare for the next day in order to present to him her petition. The entire procedure intrigued the king: On that night could not the king sleep; and he commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles, and they were read before the king. And it was found written, that Mordechai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's chamberlains, of those that kept the door, who had sought to lay hands on the king Ahasuerus. And the king said: 'What honour and dignity hath been done to Mordechai for this?' Then said the king's servants that ministered unto him: 'There is nothing done for him.' And the king said: 'Who is in the court?' -- Now Haman was come into the outer court of the king's house, to speak unto the king to hang Mordechai on the gallows that he had prepared for him. -- And the king's servants said unto him: 'Behold, Haman stands in the court.' And the king said: 'Let him come in.' So Haman came in. And the king said unto him: 'What shall be done unto the man whom the king delights to honour?' -- Now Haman said in his heart: 'Whom would the king delight to honour besides me?' -- And Haman said unto the king: 'For the man whom the king delights to honour, let royal apparel be brought which the king uses to wear, and the horse that the king rides upon, and on whose head a crown royal is set; and let the apparel and the horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king's most noble princes, that they may array the man therewith whom the king delights to honour, and cause him to ride on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaim before him: Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honour.' Then the king said to Haman: 'Make haste, and take the apparel and the horse, as you have said, and do even so to Mordechai the Jew, that sits at the king's gate; let nothing fail of all that you have spoken.' --- Esther 6:1-10 After executing this ultimate royal honour for Mordechai, not even knowing why it was due, Haman was in doubt that his plan to kill all the Israelites would succeed. But he was soon called to join the banquet arranged by Esther and could not have time to change the course of events. At the end of the banquet, she accused Haman to have ordered to kill all her people, which would de facto include her, as she was Israelite herself. Her belonging to Jewish faith had not been known to neither Ahasuerus nor Haman. He was hanged on the gallows he had prepared for Mordechai. Then the king ordered to reverse the evil decree of Haman against the Israelites so that they could defend themselves and kill those who attempted evil against them and take their properties as a spoil. Killing their enemies they did, but taking their properties they did not. The Biblical text takes great length in emphasizing this detail (Esther 9:10, 9:15 and 9:17).
Haman, Ahasuerus and Esther - by Rembrandt, 1660 The Biblical text also mentions the death of the 10 sons of Haman. Many modern commentators have made a parallel between Haman and Hitler. The circumstances of the festival of Purim indeed share several details in common. For example, the execution of the 10 sons of Haman was similar to the one that took place after the Second World War against the Nazis: after the trial of Nuremberg, 10 ministers and high dignitaries of this regime that hated the Jews were condemned to death. Also the death was performed by hanging, in both cases. But, more importantly, both events occurred after a period of Jewish assimilation and ultimately resulted into fervour to return to the faith in Sion. After the Second World War, a mass exodus of Jews started to take place, as never witnessed before, and the State of Israel was ultimately created with Jerusalem as its historical and eternal capital. The judges and the prophets had often repeated the divine voice: God will punish His people when they would deviate from His convenant, but He will not allow their complete annihilation. The past 2500 years of Jewish history seem to have proven this divine promise, because of the unlikely survival of the Jews despite the persecutions, the forced conversions, the evil decrees, and the rest that nations had in turn orchestrated against them. The same divine protection applies to the Arabs too because both Israelites and Arabs are the legacy of Abraham. It is a tragedy that the two people are today in conflict one against the other which, surely, is against God and Allahs will. Mutual acceptance and cooperation would transform a war zone into a true beacon for humanity, because this is where civilization and faith had started, and would restore world peace. After these fateful events, Mordechai has decreed that the Israelite people should commemorate their saving every year on the 14th and 15th of the month of Adar, as this is when it took place in the Persian Empire: this became the Jewish festival of Purim. Strangely or not, the Book of Esther is the only book of the Bible where there is no mention of God, although Gods divine designs can be perceived throughout. This is to remind that the Israelites, by their own merit and actions, brought upon themselves salvation from their utter enemy. In this context, Purim is considered the most important festival as the Jews restored their faith by themselves, without being openly guided by any prophet to tell them Gods word. Mordechai became a close advisor to the king: And the king Ahasuerus laid a tribute upon the land, and upon the isles of the sea. And all the acts of his power and of his might, and the full account of the greatness of Mordechai, how the king advanced him, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia? For Mordechai the Jew was next unto king Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and accepted of the multitude of his brethren; seeking the good of his people and speaking peace to all his seed. --- Esther 10:1-3 ~~~~~~~~~~
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Tomb of Esther and Mordechai in Hamadan, Iran (photography: Nick Taylor, Wikipedia) ~~~~~~~~~~
house of your God, which you shall have occasion to bestow, bestow it out of the king's treasure-house. And I, even I Artaxerxes the king, do make a decree to all the treasurers that are beyond the River, that whatsoever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven, shall require of you, it be done with all diligence, unto a hundred talents of silver, and to a hundred measures of wheat, and to a hundred baths of wine, and to a hundred baths of oil, and salt without prescribing how much. Whatsoever is commanded by the God of heaven let it be done exactly for the house of the God of heaven; for why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons? Also we announce to you, that touching any of the priests and Levites, the singers, porters, Nethinim, or servants of this house of God, it shall not be lawful to impose tribute, impost, or toll, upon them. And you, Ezra, after the wisdom of your God that is in your hand, appoint magistrates and judges, who may judge all the people that are beyond the River, all such as know the laws of your God; and teach you him that knows them not. And whosoever will not do the law of your God, and the law of the king, let judgment be executed upon him with all diligence, whether it be unto death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment. --- Ezra 7:12-26 As a first step of doing the law of God, Ezra endeavoured to remove from the Israelite congregation all foreign spouses. Inter-marriage had been the norm among the Israelites who had remained in the land of Judah, but it was also the case for some of the people who returned from exile, even among the Levites. It was agreed that separation would need to be done, however painful it might be: And Ezra the priest stood up, and said unto them: 'You have broken faith, and have married foreign women, to increase the guilt of Israel. Now therefore make confession unto the Lord, the God of your fathers, and do His pleasure; and separate yourselves from the peoples of the land, and from the foreign women.' Then the entire congregation answered and said with a loud voice: 'as you have said, so it is for us to do. --- Ezra 10:10-12 It is from the time of Ezra that the Jews stopped being proselyte and generally refrained from marrying outside their community, thus keeping one of Gods main commandments. ~~~~~~~~~~
Ezras Tomb, Iraq (Bell Gertrude Archive, Newcastle University Library) A few months later, when Nehemiah was serving the king with wine, he asked his authorization to go to Jerusalem and rebuild the walls and the gates of the city. Artaxerxes granted his approval and even made him Governor of the land of Judah to have authority about this mission (Nehemiah 5:14). Once in Jerusalem, Nehemiah engaged each important family to repair the gates of the city. Then they started to build the wall. This caused the anger of the neighboring tribes who conspired against the Israelites and threatened to attack the city of Jerusalem. Nehemiah organised the method of defence while keeping the work going on despite the threat: And it came to pass from that time forth, that half of my servants wrought in the work, and half of them held the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the coats of mail; and the rulers were behind all the house of Judah. They that builded the wall and they that bore burdens laded themselves, every one with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other held his weapon; and the builders, every one had his sword girded by his side, and so builded. And he that sounded the horn was by me. And I said unto the nobles, and to the rulers and to the rest of the people: 'The work is great and large, and
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we are separated upon the wall, one far from another; in what place soever you hear the sound of the horn, resort you thither unto us; our God will fight for us. --- Nehemiah 4:10-14 The works were completed swiftly: So the wall was finished in the twenty and fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty and two days. --- Nehemiah 6:15 ~~~~~~~~~~
The years that followed Nehemiahs death were plagued by dissensions between the Israelites and their neighbours, especially the Samaritans who opposed the return of the Jewish faith in the region. The Samaritans would intrigue and petition the local or regional rulers to stop the Israelites from practising their faith and even to destroy the Temple of Jerusalem. ~~~~~~~~~~ Next generation Top of Page
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About Year 3514 246 BCE Joshua ben Elazar ben Sirach
Ptolemy II, the son of the army commander who accompanied Alexander in his campaigns, reigned over Egypt between 285 BCE and 246 BCE His son Ptolemy III reigned from his death and was called the Benefactor. He showed some originality in his reign by willing to write his laws or decrees in bilingual way, Egyptian hieroglyphs and Greek Creation alphabet. This was a very important step that would help future historians to decipher old languages. His son Ptolemy IV Generations will follow this method and was the king under whom the Rosetta Stone was created, in three languages. This stone will be the key tool to decipher the hieroglyphs in the 19th century. 1-14 It is probably in this effort of Ptolemy III to rally some scholars able to write in different languages that a Jewish scribe Generations from Jerusalem, Sirach ben Joshua, was invited to Egypt at this time: 15-21 When I arrived in Egypt in the 38th year of the reign of Ptolemy the Benefactor and stayed for some time, I found Generations opportunity for no little instruction. Therefore, it seemed highly necessary that I myself should devote some diligence and 22-28 labor to the translation of this book. During that time I have applied my skill day and night to complete and publish the book for those living abroad who wished to gain learning and are disposed to live according to the law. Generations --- Apocrypha, Sirach, Prologue, 8-10 29-35 Sirach arrived in Egypt at the end of the reign of Ptolemy II, who reigned for 38 or 39 years, when his son was Generations probably already reigning as a regent until his fathers death. He wrote a book to serve as a guide to the Jewish community of Alexandria who, at the time, was in need of books written in a language they could understand, Greek, as they had lost 36-49 the knowledge of Hebrew. Generation The book of Sirach is a praise for Wisdom which comes to those who fear God, and guidance for his brethen about how 50 to conduct their life: Before all other things wisdom was created. []
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If you desire wisdom, keep the commandments, and God will bestow her upon you; For fear of God is wisdom and culture; loyal humility is his delight. Do not play the hypocrite before men; keep watch over your lips. Do not exalt yourself lest you fall and bring upon you dishonor. --- Apocrypha, Sirach, Chapter 1, 4 and 26-30 Sirach also advised to learn the history of the generations as a mean to learn from their examples: Study the generations long past and understand: Has anyone hoped in God and been disappointed? Has anyone persevered in His fear and been forsaken? Has anyone called upon Him and been rebuffed? Compassionate and merciful is God; He forgives sins. He saves in time of trouble. --- Apocrypha, Sirach, Chapter 2, 10-11 Sirach gave extended advice to man, wife, children, all to live a life with purpose: With three things I am delighted, for they are beautiful to God and to men: harmony among brethren, friendship among neighbors, and the mutual love of husband and wife. Three kinds of men I hate, their manner of life I loathe indeed: a proud pauper, a rich dissembler, and an old man lecherous in his dotage. --- Apocrypha, Sirach, Chapter 25, 1-2 ~~~~~~~~~~
Upon request from the king, Eleazar the high priest sent six elders from each tribe, totalling 72 elders, to Alexandria to work on the translation of the Bible into Greek (Talmud, Megilah, 9a). The purpose was two folds: first, the main goal was to enrich the library of Alexandria, but, second the Jews who lived in Egypt had lost the use of the Hebrew language and therefore asked to have the Bible translated for their prayers: When the work was completed, Demetrius collected together the Jewish population in the place where the translation had been made, and read it over to all, in the presence of the translators, who met with a great reception also from the people, because of the great benefits which they had conferred upon them. They bestowed warm praise upon Demetrius, too, and urged him to have the whole law transcribed and present a copy to their leaders. After the books had been read, the priests and the elders of the translators and the Jewish community and the leaders of the people stood up and said, that since so excellent and sacred and accurate a translation had been made, it was only right that it should remain as it was and no alteration should be made in it. And when the whole company expressed their approval, they bade them pronounce a curse in accordance with their custom upon any one who should make any alteration either by adding anything or changing in any way whatever any of the words which had been written or making any omission. This was a very wise precaution to ensure that the book might be preserved for all the future time unchanged. --- Letter of Aristeas, 308-311 The translation of the Bible was an extraordinary event as it unveiled for the first to a very large public the contents that were before only known to the keepers of the tradition. It had been approved by early scholars as, according to a Mishna: There is no difference between books [of the Scripture] and tefillin and mezuzahs save that the books may be written in any language whereas tefillin and mezuzahs may be written only in Assyrian. Rabbi Simeon ben Gamaliel says that books [of the scripture] also were permitted [by the Sages] to be written only in Greek. --- Talmud, Megilah, 8b The Septuagint also became a major calalyst to the adoption of Christianity by the Gentiles, especially the Greeks, who had access to the text of the Scriptures and could embrace the new faith more easily. Compared to the 39 official books of the Tanakh in Hebrew, compiled at the time of Ezra the Scribe, around 450 BCE, the Septuagint also contains additional works that were written in Greek before its compilation and were already known to the Jewish diaspora of Greek language. These 14 books were: - 9 books included that will be in the New Testament: the Book of Sirach or Ecclesiasticus (which was provided by Sirach for this community before the writing of the Septuagint), Wisdom of Solomon, Maccabees I & II (the books related to the Maccabee revolt were obviously not part of the original Septuagint, as these events took place later, but were added to later versions of it), Tobit or Tobias, Daniel additions (Bel and the dragon), Judith, Esther additions, Baruch - 5 books not accepted by either Jewish or Christian sacred texts: Esdras (which seemed to be a Greek version of the book of Ezra/Nehemiah), Maccabee III, Prayer of Manasseh, Song of the Three Holy Children, history of Susanna (these two last books are Daniel additions)
The Books of the Maccabees opens with the battle of Raphia (also called battle of Gaza) in 217 BCE when Philopator defeated the Syrian army of Antiochus III the Great who attempted to take control of the Levant. After his victory, Philopator went to Jerusalem at the invitation of the Jews and offered a sacrifice to God to thank Him for the victory. But then he alos wished to enter the Holy of Holies, where only the High Priest was allowed in, and only once a year. The entire population of Jerusalem stood up to oppose such move by prayers and lamentations. The High Priest Simon II prayed for God to intervene: Here the all-seeing God, who is before all things, Holy in the holies, heard our righteous supplication; and chastised him who was greatly exalted with insolence and boldness: shaking him this way and that way, as a reed is shaken by the wind; so that he lay upon the floor without the power of exertion, and paralysed in his limbs, and not even able to speak, being overtaken with a just judgment. Whereupon his friends and body-guards, when they saw that speedy and
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sharp punishment which had overtaken him, being afraid lest he should even die; struck with overwhelming fear they quickly drew him out of the place. --- Maccabees I, 2:21-23 After his recovery, Philopater left Jerusalem with threats to the Jewish nation. Back in Egypt he began a life of debauchery ans was eventually assassinated a few years later in 204 BCE. ~~~~~~~~~~
The Nash Papyrus is a manuscript held by the University of Cambridge, England, which was acquired in 1898 in Egypt. The papyrus contains the earliest known scripture of the Ten Commandments and of the Shema prayer.
Ptolemaic kingdom, which caused a war. The result of the conflict was that Macedonia took some islands while Antiochus of the Seleucus dynasty took over the Levant, including Judea. To seal a lasting peace over this annexation, Antiochus gave in 192 BCE one of his daughters, Cleopatra, as a wife to Ptolemy V then aged 17. The bitterness of the loss of territory was however never forgotten and Egypt would later side with Rome in their dispute with the Seleucid kingdom. The Rosetta stone dates from the beginning of the reign of Ptolemy V Epiphanes and contains details about his rise to godhood status over Egypt. Ptolemy V died in 181 BCE and was succeeded by his son Ptolemy VI who reigned from the age of 6 years old until 145 BCE. ~~~~~~~~~~
Year 3590 170 BCE Yose ben Yoezer and first Zugot
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Yose ben Yoezer and Jose ben Johanan became the first recorded pair of religious leaders, known as the Zugot (pairs), who shared the functions at the head of Sanhedrin (the religious tribunal, beth din), one as of a president (nassi) and the other as his second (av beth din). Jose ben Yoezer is assumed to have been a disciple of Antigonos of Socho. He was an adversary to the ones who wanted to adopt Greek culture and assimilate. His tenure lasted 30 years until his death in 140 BCE. ~~~~~~~~~~
Antiochus Epiphanes'repression in Jerusalem (Wilhem Goeree, Amsterdam, 1690) A Greek philosopher and astronomer, Posidonius of Apameia in Syria, who lived around 100 BCE, followed Polybius in the effort to write the World History. But instead of following the facts, he gave way to his own opinion, and hatred of the Jewish race, in non-historical legends:
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Indeed, Antiochus, the so-called Epiphanes, after having defeated the Jews, went inside their divine sanctuary, a place where nobody except for the high priest could enter. He found there the statue of a long bearded man, riding a donkey, holding a book in his hands: he thought that this statue was of Moses, the founder of Jerusalem and the organiser of the Jewish people, the one who imposed laws that are contrary to humanity and justice. Antiochus felt harmed by such hatred against the other people and made it a point of honour to abolish the Jewish institutions. This is why he sacrified, in front of the statue of the founder and on the uncovered altar of their god, a huge sow and spread the blood of the beast; then, after having ordered the meat to be prepared, with the fat that was collected, he ordered to stain the sacred books which were filled with these writings that are contrary to hospitality, and to extinguish the so-called eternal lamp which burned continuously in the temple and, finally, he forced the high priest and the other Jews to eat from the sacrifice. --- Diodorus Siculus, XXXIV, fragment 1, citing Posidonius; in Reinach, Theodore, Textes dauteurs grecs et romains relatifs au judaisme, Paris 1895, pp. 57-58; translated from the French All other historians reported that Antiochus penetrated the temple not because he defeated the Jews in any war but because he needed money and wanted to get his hands of the treasures of the temple. His hatred of the Jewish nation and his anger after being forced out of Egypt made the rest. Some of the details were however true, including the Greeks forcing Jews to eat pork meat, as the following account, about the supplice of Hannah and her seven sons, was told. After killing his six elder sons in extreme torture, Antiochus tried to convince the youngest son to eat pork meat to spare his life: Now Antiochus thinking' himself despised, and suspecting it to be a reproachful speech, whilst the youngest was yet alive, did not only exhort him by words, but also assured him with oaths, that he would make him both a rich and an enviable man, if he would turn from the laws of his fathers; and that also he would take him for his friend, and trust him with affairs. But when the young man would in no case hearken unto him, the king called his mother, and exhorted her that she would counsel the young man to save his life. And when he had exhorted her with many words, she promised him that she would persuade her son. But she bowing herself towards him, laughing the cruel tyrant to scorn, spoke in her country language on this manner: "O my son, have pity upon me who bore you nine months in my womb, and gave you suck three years, and nourished you, and brought you up unto this age, and endured the troubles of education. I beseech you, my son, look upon the heaven and the earth, and all which is therein, and consider that God made them of things which were not, and so was the race of men made likewise. Fear not this executioner; but being worthy of your brethren, take your death, that I may receive you again in mercy with your brethren." --- Maccabees, Book III, 7:24-29 ; this story is also narranted in Book IV, chapters 8-18 Finally the youngest son was killed with more cruelty than his brothers, and their mother died as well. ~~~~~~~~~~
and sacrifice, and drink-offerings in the sanctuary, and that they should profane the sabbaths and festival days, and pollute the sanctuary and holy people, set up altars, and temples, and chapels of idols, and sacrifice swine's flesh and unclean beasts, that they should also leave their children uncircumcised, and make their souls abominable with all manner of uncleanness and profanation, to the end they might forget the law, and change all the ordinances. And whosoever would not do according to commandment of the king, he said, he should die. --- Maccabees, Book II, 1:41-50 ~~~~~~~~~~
Mattathias calls for revolt (Gustave Dor, 1868) In the city of Jerusalem, the word of this revolt spread out and many people fled into the wilderness of the hills in order to live as free men and follow the religion. The king sent an army against them to fight during a shabbath day, so that the Israelites would not fight and they all died. The circumstance had also been recorded by a Greek historian called Agatharchides from Cnide, or Knidos, in Asia Minor. He was contemporous to the event because he lived at the time of Ptolemy VI Philometor (186-145 BCE) and of his successor. In a way to derision, he blamed the Jewish religious practice, which he called superstitions, for their disaster:
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There are a people called Jews, and dwell in a city the strongest of all other cities, which the inhabitants call Jerusalem, and are accustomed to rest on every seventh day on which times they make no use of their arms, nor meddle with husbandry, nor take care of any affairs of life, but spread out their hands in their holy places, and pray till the evening. Now it came to pass, that when Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, came into this city with his army, that these men, in observing this mad custom of theirs, instead of guarding the city, suffered their country to submit itself to a bitter lord; and their law was openly proved to have commanded a foolish practice. This accident taught all other men but the Jews to disregard such dreams as these were, and not to follow the like idle suggestions delivered as a law, when, in such uncertainty of human reasonings, they are at a loss what they should do. --- Josephus, Against Apion, 1,22 When the news of this disaster reached Mattathias, he decreed that, should the Jews be attacked on a Sabbath, it will not be a sin to protect their life and they can fight back. This measure has been applied in the Jewish religion since this time. ~~~~~~~~~~
of his army. The governor left behind, Lysias, decided nevertheless to go against Israel, so he drove the other half of the Greek army to war.[3] They pitched at Emmaus, which is located in the plain, at the start of the Judean hills. They were joined there by the Philistines who were eager not to let Israel rise again. Before this ultimate battle, Judah decided to restore faith and confidence among the Israelites, but Jerusalem was deserted, except for the garrison and Hellenized Jews entrenched behind the built fortications, and its Temple was abandoned. The Israelites pitched at the south of Emmaus and Judah told them: Arm yourselves, and be valiant men, and see that you be in readiness against the morning, that you may fight with these nations which are assembled together against us, to destroy us and our sanctuary. For it is better for us to die in battle, than to behold the calamities of our nation and our sanctuary. Nevertheless, as the will of God is in heaven, so let Him do. --- Maccabees, Book II, 3:58-60
The Battle of Emmaus (Gustave Dor, 1868) The battle was won by the Israelites who destroyed most of the Greek army, the rest fleeing to neighboring countries to find shelter. The Greek camp was put on fire. ~~~~~~~~~~
Year 3596 164 BCE Judah Maccabee restores the Temple service
The following year, Lyssius gathered a greater army of 60,000 infantry and 5,000 cavalry. The Israelite army was of 10,000 men but not professional in warfare. Judah decided to go up to Jerusalem to purify the Temple from alien hands: And they saw the sanctuary desolate, and the altar profaned, and the gates burnt down, and shrubs growing in the courts as in a forest, or in one of the mountains, yea, and the priests' chambers pulled down. And they rent their clothes, and made great lamentation, and cast ashes upon their heads, and fell down flat to the ground upon their faces, and blew an alarm with the trumpets, and cried towards heaven. --- Maccabees, Book II, 4:38-40 They then attacked the Greek fortress to rid the desolated city from the foreign rule. They then found some Levites to clean the sanctuary. They pulled down the original altars that had been profaned and placed them in a secret location in the mountains around. They made new holy vessels, and brought back the candlestick and the altar of incense and the table, which had been saved from the Greek hands: Now on the five and twentieth day of the ninth month, (which is called the month Kislev), in the hundred forty and eighth year, they rose up betimes in the morning. And offered sacrifice according to the law, upon the new altar of burntofferings, which they had made. At what time, and what day the heathen had profaned it, even in that was it dedicated with songs, and citherns, and harps, and cymbals. Then all the people fell upon their faces, worshipping and praising the God of heaven, who had given them good success. And so they kept the dedication of the altar eight days, and offered burnt-offerings with gladness, and sacrificed the sacrifice of deliverance and praise. --- Maccabees, Book II, 4:52-56 A miracle took place at this time, because there was no more pure oil for the service of the Temple and yet a holy fire started spontaneously upon the altar and continued all the days of the Temple until its destruction by the Romans (Maccabees, Book V, 9). Judah Maccabee then ordained that this date should be celebrated every year from now on and by all subsequent generations. It became the Jewish festival of Chanukkah.
(Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, Die Bibel in Bildern, 1860) But the troubles were not over yet because the other neighbouring nations rised up against Israel to destroy it. So Judah went to war against them: Idumeans, Ammonites, Gileadites, and more. ~~~~~~~~~~
Drachma of Demetrius Soter, Antioch, 161 BCE (photo credit CGB France) Judah Maccabee realized that Rome had become a global power that could not be ignored. They had already conquered the Western Mediterranean region since the destruction of Carthage in 202 BCE and was now turning its eyes towards the Eastern Mediterranean currently ruled by the Greeks, being the Macedonian, the Asian-Syrian (Seleucid) and the Egyptians (Ptolemaic) kingdoms. Rome had forced Antiochus Epiphanes to renounce to his conquest of Egypt and was aiming to end the dominance of Macedonia over the Greek realm. Judah probably perceived that it would be wise to seek for an alliance with Rome in order to get support against the renewed Seleucid threats: And Judas chose Eupolemus the son of John, the son of Accos, and Jason, the son of Eleazar, and sent them to Rome, to make a league of amity and confederacy with them; and to intreatthem, that they would take the yoke from them; for they saw that the kingdom of the Grecians did oppress Israel with servitude. They went therefore to Rome, (which was a very great journey), and came into the senate, where they spoke, and said, "Judah Maccabeus and his brethren, and the people of the Jews, have sent us unto you, to make a confederacy and peace with you, and that we might be registered your confederates and friends." So that matter pleased the Romans well. --- Maccabees, Book II, 8:17-21 Rome made a covenant with the Jewish state and sent a letter of threat to Demetrius, who had been previously held captive in Rome, to stop his ambition towards their new ally in the region: And if they [the Jews] complain any more against you [Demetrius], we will do them justice and fight with you by sea and
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Generation 32
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Hebrew years 3720 to 3840 (40 BCE - 80 CE) ~~~ Part I ~~~ Part II ~~~ Part III ~~~ Part IV ~~~ Part V ~~~
Generations Meanwhile, unrest began in Judea when Antigonus, son of Aristobulus, made an alliance with the Parthians to overthrow 1-14 Hyrcanus and Herod son of Antipater, the allies of Rome. The conspiration ended up with Hyrcanus being emprisoned Generations and exiled to Babylon and Herod fleeing to Rome to ask for support from Octavian. While Antigonus reigned in Judea, Herod was made King of the Jews by the Roman Senate. Herod returned to the region to reconquer Jerusalem while 15-21 Antony engaged in a campaign against the Parthians with an army mostly composed of allies, because Octavian would not Generations send him any Roman troop. So this campaign was a failure and Antony retreated to Egypt. He left a part of the Roman army to help Herod regain Judea. Antigonus retreated to Jerusalem and prepared for a long siege. Finally Herod helped by 22-28 the Roman soldiers succeeded to take over the city, and had difficulty to prevent the killing of civilians by the Romans Generations and their intent to plunder the Temple. But Herod succeeded to put a stop to it. 29-35 As of Antigonus, he was taken prisoner and brought to Egypt where Antony slew him in 37 BCE, thus putting an end to the Hasmonean dynasty that had lasted about 126 years, from the death of Antiochus Epiphanes and the rise of Judah Generations Maccabee. 36-49 The road was paved for Herod to become the sole ruler over the Jewish nation. He also had married Marianne, the last Hasmonean princess. Generation 50 He [Herod] employed himself in advancing the dignities, in kindnesses and promotions, of those who were well inclined to him andobeyed his will. He also exerted himself in destroying those persons, together with their families, and in plundering their cattle and their goods, who had opposed him, furnishing aid against him. And he oppressed persons, taking away their property, and despoiling all those who had shaken off obedience to the Jews; and slew those who resisted him, and plundered their goods. Also he made an agreement with all who were obedient to him, that they should pay him money. He also stationed guards at the gates of the Holy House, who might search those who went out, and take whatever gold or silver they should find on any one, and bring it to him. He also ordered the coffins of the dead to be searched; and whatever money any person might endeavour to carry out by stratagem, the same to be taken. And he heaped together so much money as none of the kings of the second house had amassed. --- Maccabees, Book V, 54:2-8 Through deceipt, Herod also got rid in 35 BCE of the popular 16 years old brother of his wife Marianne, Aristobulus, by fear that he may one day rise to power against him. But one obstacle remained: Hyrcanus was still alive in Babylon, captive of the Parthians. Although Antigonus had cut his ear so that he could not be High Priest again, he represented a threat to Herods legitimacy to power. In Herods court however, Alexandra, the mother of Aristobulus and Marianne, thus also the mother-in-law of Herod, hated the king for what he had done to her son. She conspired with Cleopatra and others to get rid of Herod, but to no avail. ~~~~~~~~~~
had invited them, except the king of the Arabians who ordered the ambassadors whom Herod had sent to him to be put to death, for he supposed that Herod had done this because his men had been destroyed in the earthquake, and therefore, being weakened, he had turned himself to making peace. Wherefore he resolved to go to war with Herod; and having collected a large and wellprovided army, he marched against him. --- Maccabees, Book V, 56:18-22 Outraged by the proceedings of killing ambassadors, Herod raised an angry Jewish army who utterly defeated the Arabian army. Meanwhile, in the Roman Empire, the war began between Octavian and Antony in 31 BCE. After the naval battle of Actium in that year, Antony fled to Egypt with Cleopatra. In 30 BCE, Octavian invaded Egypt and Antony committed suicide. Cleopatra managed to also take her life when she realised she would not be allowed on the throne again. And Octavian put Ptolemy XV Cesarion, the son she had with Julius Caesar, to death, but he spared the children she had with Antony.
The death of Cleopatra, Jean-Andr Rixens, 1874 (Muse des Augustins, Toulouse) ~~~~~~~~~~
question, replied he: because they have no skillful midwives. He departed, tarried a while, returned, and called out, Is Hillel here; is Hillel here? He robed and went out to him, saying, My son, what do you require? I have a question to ask, said he. Ask, my son, he prompted. Thereupon he asked: Why are the eyes of the Palmyreans bleared?[3] My son, you have asked a great question, replied he: because they live in sandy places. He departed, tarried a while, returned, and called out, Is Hillel here; is Hillel here? He robed and went out to him, saying, My son, what do you require? I have a question to ask, said he. Ask, my son, he prompted. He asked, Why are the feet of the Africans wide? My son, you have asked a great question, said he; because they live in watery marshes. I have many questions to ask, said he, but fear that you may become angry. Thereupon he robed, sat before him and said, Ask all the questions you have to ask, Are you the Hillel who is called the Nasi of Israel? Yes, he replied. If that is you, he retorted, may there not be many like you in Israel. Why, my son? queried he. Because I have lost four hundred zuz through you, complained he. Be careful of your moods, he answered. Hillel is worth it that you should lose four hundred zuz and yet another four hundred zuz through him, yet Hillel shall not lose his temper. --- Talmud, Shabbat, 30b-31a The preference for Hillel is also mentioned in the following anecdote about his humble character: R. Abba stated in the name of Samuel: For three years there was a dispute between Beth Shammai and Beth Hillel, the former asserting, The halachah is in agreement with our views and the latter contending, The halachah is in agreement with our views. Then a bath kol issued announcing, [The utterances of] both are the words of the living God, but the halachah is in agreement with the rulings of Beth Hillel. Since, however, both are the words of the living God what was it that entitled Beth Hillel to have the halachah fixed in agreement with their rulings? Because they were kindly and modest, they studied their own rulings and those of Beth Shammai, and were even so [humble] as to mention the words of Beth Shammai before theirs. --- Talmud, Eiruvin, 13b ~~~~~~~~~~
Mariamne and Herod, John William Waterhouse, 1887 (private collection) After Mariamnes death, her mother Alexandra was certain that her turn would be next. She conspired against Herod and he came to know it. He then had her executed as well: Now Herod had begotten of her [Mariamne] two sons, namely, Alexander and Aristobulus, who, when their mother was slain, were living at Rome for he had sent them thither, to learn the literature and language of the Romans. Afterwards, Herod repented that he had killed his wife and he was affected with grief to that degree on account of her death, that by it he contracted a disease, of which he had nearly died. --- Maccabees, Book V, 58:20-21
Herod and his dynasty The two sons of Herod and Mariamne returned to Jerusalem as soon as they learned about their mothers execution. ~~~~~~~~~~
accused his son in front of the Roman leader of intent to kill him, which Alexander vehemently denied. Augustus rebuked Herod's suspicions and convinced him to make peace with his son. So when he returned to Jerusalem, Herod declared to the Elders that all his three sons would have now equal authority. Antipater became angry at seeing his inheritance being at stake but he hid his feelings. After a couple of years, in 9 BCE, he designed a plan with his uncle, Herods brother Pheroras, of false accusation that the two sons wanted to murder the king. They were thrown into jail. But Alexanders father-in-law, King Archelaus, came to Jerusalem to investigate the matter and unveiled the plot. He nonetheless succeeded to avoid punishment against Pheroras, in exchange of a full testimonial. In the end, all Herods family was reconciled, at least in appearance because Antipater still had in mind to get rid of his half brothers. In 7 BCE an evil man called Gaius Julius Eurycles, a Spartan who had Roman citizenship, came to Judea and became friend with Herod. Seizing the opportunity of this friendship, Antipater paid him to insinuate to Herod that his son Alexander was again plotting to murder him. This time the plot could not easily be denounced and both Alexander and his brother Aristobulus were executed in the town of Sebaste (today the town of Sebastia which was the old capital Samaria) and buried in the fort of Alexandrium, which was built by their ancestor Alexander Jannai (Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, book 16, 11:7).
Ruins of the Fort Alexandrium, in Jebel al-Melekh Alexanders wife, Glaphyra, was sent back to her father to Armenia but Herod kept his two grandsons, Alexanders sons, who remained with him until his death. He also tried to pre-arrange their marriage so that they would keep a part of their dead fathers inheritance. But Antipater, fearing that these fatherless sons would eventually rise against him, and hate him for what he had done to their fathers, endeavoured to change the plans that the ageing Herod had wished (Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, book 17, 1:2). When Pheroras died, Herod suspected that he had been poisoned by his wife, who was then disgraced from the kings court. But investigations led him to discover that the conspiration of poisoning was aiming at his own person, and was directed by his own son Antipater who, at the time, was travelling to Rome. Antipater chose the timing of this travel in order to coincide with Herods death so that no suscipion would rise against him. Upon his return from Rome, Antipater was tried against the accusation of parricide. Herod, disappointed by the actions of his heir and the indirect role of two of his other sons, Archelaus and Philip, chose his youngest son, Antipas, as the new heir. Antipas was the son of a Samaritan wife of Herod. He will later marry Herodias, the daughter of Aristobulus who was first married to Philip, one of the disgraced sons of Herod. At the time, Herod was in his 70s, according to Josephus (Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, book 17, 146). In the last years of his life, Herod was also subject to the hatred and misunderstanding from his people, in particular of the religious sects who found that the changes he made to the Second Temple were not in accordance with the Jewish Law. Herod put on trial two of their religious leaders, Judas and Matthias, who led a sedition: But the people, on account of Herod's barbarous temper, and for fear he should be so cruel and to inflict punishment on them, said what was done [by the two accused men] was done without their approbation, and that it seemed to them that the actors might well be punished for what they had done. But as for Herod, he dealt more mildly with others [of the assembly] but he deprived Matthias of the high priesthood, as in part an occasion of this action, and made Joazar, who was Matthias's wife's brother, high priest in his stead. Now it happened, that during the time of the high priesthood of this Matthias, there was another person made high priest for a single day, that very day which the Jews observed as a fast. The occasion was this: This Matthias the high priest, on the night before that day when the fast was to be celebrated, seemed, in a dream, to have conversation with his wife; and because he could not officiate himself on that account,[4] Joseph, the son of Ellemus, his kinsman, assisted him in that sacred office.[5] But Herod deprived this Matthias of the high priesthood, and burnt the other Matthias, who had raised the sedition, with his companions, alive. And that very night there was an eclipse of the moon.[6] --- Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, book 17, 164 ~~~~~~~~~~
The mention of the lunar eclipse by Josephus is important as there were just a few of such occurences in the end of the reign of Herod. The mention of the High Priest and the day of fast are equally important details as they leave the option that this lunar eclipse was probably the one which occurred on the 15th September, 4 BCE, in the month of Tishri, and not in the month of Adar or Nisan as it is generally thought. The fast would have been the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur. On that month of Tishri, the Hebrew year just changed from 3756 to 3757.[7] Some time before this New Hebrew year, Herods health had declined very rapidly. He moved to the region of the Dead Sea, in his palace of Jericho, hoping to heal his ailment which caused him great pains. He was also angry about the idea that, when he will die, the nation will actually be joyful and will not mourn him. So he gave an extraordinary order: Now any one may easily discover the temper of this man's mind, which not only took pleasure in doing what he had done formerly against his relations, out of the love of life, but by those commands of his which savored of no humanity; since he took care, when he was departing out of this life, that the whole nation should be put into mourning, and indeed made desolate of their dearest kindred, when he gave order that one out of every family should be slain, although they had done nothing that was unjust, or that was against him, nor were they accused of any other crimes; while it is usual for those who have any regard to virtue to lay aside their hatred at such a time, even with respect to those they justly esteemed their enemies. --- Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, book 17, 180 The Gospels of Luke and Matthew both place the birth of Jesus during the reign of Herod. As it is later attested that Jesus died in his 30s, this would mean that he was born in the last year(s) of Herod. We can consider that his parents fled to Egypt at the time of the above decree to slain one member of each family, a circumstance which reminds the Christian story called the Massacre of the Innocents. There is no evidence however that this decree from Herod was ever put into execution. Yet, the birth of a new child in this time could have meant his death. Bethlehem was probably on the way from Nazareth towards Egypt where the parents of Jesus were fleeing. So, overall, it is likely that Jesus was born in 4 BCE, but before the change of Hebrew year to 3757.
Herodium But people, instead of mourning Herod, rather were sorry not to have been able to mourn the priests Judas and Matthias out of fear of reprisal from the ageing king. But when the feast of Passover was approaching, the multitude of pilgrims who came to Jerusalem and the general resentment against Herods family caused trouble: At Herod's death, without waiting for the imperial decision, a certain Simon usurped the title of king.[8] He was dealt with by the governor of Syria, Quintilius Varus, while the Jews were disciplined and divided up into three kingdoms ruled by Herod's sons [Archelaus, Herod Antipas and Philip]. In Tiberius' reign all was quiet. --- Tacitus, Histories, 5:9 While Archelaus sailed to Rome to get approval from Augustus of his new status of king, Varus, the governor of Roman Syria who looked after the affairs in Judea, dealt harshly against the Jewish population. And when he left Judea, he placed the procurator Sabinus with one legion entrenched in the fortress of Jerusalem. The latter caused even more tensions: For after Varus was gone away, Sabinus, Caesar's procurator, staid behind, and greatly distressed the Jews, relying on the forces that were left there that they would by their multitude protect him; for he made use of them, and armed them as his guards, thereby so oppressing the Jews, and giving them so great disturbance, that at length they rebelled; for he used force in seizing the citadels, and zealously pressed on the search after the king's money, in order to seize upon it by force, on account of his love of gain and his extraordinary covetousness. --- Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, book 17, 250 Sabinus actions aggravated further the resentment against Herods family and their Roman protectors. His theft of the Temples money sparked a rebellion throughout the land. Some of the factions were criminals themselves, who would rob their own brethen according to Josephus. Varus had to intervene and brought the two other legions he had in Syria, and Arabian auxiliaries as well, back in Judea. He succeeded to overcome the rebellious sedition which, in Jerusalem, was mostly led by the Pharisees who wanted to defend their religious rights and the sanctity of the Temple from political combinations from the royal family. ~~~~~~~~~~
Following these representations, and those of Archelaus siblings who also disputed the will of their fathers kingdom to give everything to him, Augustus decided to split the inheritance into three parts. Archelaus received the main share (Judea) but was ordered by Augustus to behave moderatly towards his people.
Herods kingdom divided between his sons In this division, Galilee was given to Antipas, the youngest son of Herod. Due to Archelaus bad reputation among the people, many families of Judea migrated to the north into Galilee. This was the case of Jesus family who moved from Bethlehem, the place where Jesus was born, to Nazareth: But because he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there; and having been divinely instructed in a dream, he departed into the regions of Galilee. --- Gospel of Matthew, 2:22 As of Varus, he was eventually removed from his Syrian post and called back to Rome. A few years later, in 9 AD, he led three Roman legions against the German tribes but will be defeated in the forest of Teutoburg, which would become one of the worst military disasters that Rome ever suffered. ~~~~~~~~~~
desire was that none of the adverse party might be left,) and sometimes on their enemies; a famine also coming upon us, reduced us to the last degree of despair, as did also the taking and demolishing of cities; nay, the sedition at last increased so high, that the very temple of God was burnt down by their enemies' fire. --- Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, book 18, 1 This assessment has to be taken with caution because Josephus wrote this works when he had become a Roman citizen living in Rome. He had to blame the forthcoming events on these factions or sects, rather than on the Romans despite their exactions and robberies perpetrated against the Jewish people and their religious worship. At that time, the Jewish people were divided into four factions: - the Pharisees who represented the vast majority of the people and followed the Jewish faith and commandments (and ran the Sanhedrin); they accepted the foreign rule as long as their religious freedom was maintained - the Saduccees who were in minority and came from the aristocraty; they generally assimilated to foreign cultures, first Greek then Roman (while they would argue to keep the position of High Priest as honorific for one of their members) - the Essenees who counted about 4000 followers (Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, book 18, 18) and lived a unmarried life in remote locations such as Qumran in the desert - this new group called the Zealots who were issued from the Pharisees but refused to accept foreign rule and fought to restore the independence of Judea from the Roman yoke ~~~~~~~~~~
But now Pilate, the procurator of Judea, removed the army from Cesarea to Jerusalem, to take their winter quarters there, in order to abolish the Jewish laws. So he introduced Caesar's effigies, which were upon the ensigns, and brought them into the city; whereas our law forbids us the very making of images; on which account the former procurators were wont to make their entry into the city with such ensigns as had not those ornaments. Pilate was the first who brought those images to Jerusalem, and set them up there; which was done without the knowledge of the people, because it was done in the night time; but as soon as they knew it, they came in multitudes to Cesarea, and interceded with Pilate many days that he would remove the images; and when he would not grant their requests, because it would tend to the injury of Caesar, while yet they persevered in their request, on the sixth day he ordered his soldiers to have their weapons privately, while he came and sat upon his judgment-seat, which seat was so prepared in the open place of the city, that it concealed the army that lay ready to oppress them; and when the Jews petitioned him again, he gave a signal to the soldiers to encompass them routed, and threatened that their punishment should be no less than immediate death, unless they would leave off disturbing him, and go their ways home. But they threw themselves upon the ground, and laid their necks bare, and said they would take their death very willingly, rather than the wisdom of their laws should be transgressed; upon which Pilate was deeply affected with their firm resolution to keep their laws inviolable, and presently commanded the images to be carried back from Jerusalem to Cesarea. --- Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, book 18, 55 This was one of many examples of Pilates actions who exarcerbated the Jewish population, especially in the holy city of Jerusalem. About the historicity of Pilate, a stone has been found in Israel in 1961 which bears the name of Tiberieum (probably a place named after Tiberius) and Pilatus Prefect of Judea. The last mention proves the authencity of the stone because Pilate was prefect and not only procurator as it is generally assumed. A prefect had power over civil matters and could pronounce death sentences, which he did against Jesus.
Pilate Stone (Israel Museum, Jerusalem) In Rome, Tiberius became wary of the influence of the Jews over the Romans: As there had been a large influx of Jews into Rome and they were converting many of the native inhabitants to their principles he expelled the great majority of them. --- Cassius Dio, Roman History, volume 57, CE 19 ~~~~~~~~~~
"I am Gabriel" stone - Israel Museum, Jerusalem (photo credit: Eretz magazine, No. 138, June 2013) ~~~~~~~~~~
A theatrical scene of Salome with the head of John the Baptist Now some of the Jews thought that the destruction of Herod [Antipas]'s army came from God, and that very justly, as a punishment of what he did against John, that was called the Baptist: for Herod slew him, who was a good man, and commanded the Jews to exercise virtue, both as to righteousness towards one another, and piety towards God, and so to come to baptism; for that the washing [with water] would be acceptable to him, if they made use of it, not in order to the putting away [or the remission] of some sins [only], but for the purification of the body; supposing still that the soul was thoroughly purified beforehand by righteousness. Now when [many] others came in crowds about him, for they were very greatly moved [or pleased] by hearing his words, Herod, who feared lest the great influence John had over the people might put it into his power and inclination to raise a rebellion, (for they seemed ready to do any thing he should advise,) thought it best, by putting him to death, to prevent any mischief he might cause, and not bring himself into difficulties, by sparing a man who might make him repent of it when it would be too late. Accordingly he was sent a prisoner, out of Herod's suspicious temper, to Macherus, the castle I before mentioned, and was there put to death. --- Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, book 18, 116 ~~~~~~~~~~
The Last Supper (Gustave Dor, 1868) In 1980, a cave had been found in Talpiot, a close suburb in the South-East of modern-day Jerusalem, that contained several ossuaries from a same family, one of them bearing the name "Jeshua bar Yossef", in other words "Jesus son of Joseph"... The datation of these items proved to be from the Second Temple period. Of course, there would have been many people called Jeshua son of Joseph in the Judea of these times, because these were very common names, but the fact that the other ossuaries bore other names related to the historicity of Jesus, such as Miriam for Maria/Mary, has helped build a case that this cave was indeed used to place the ossuaries of Jesus and his family. Furthermore, one of the ossuaries bears the name of "Yehuda bar Jeshua", in other words Judah son of Jesus. Jesus would have been married and had one son ! This would not be surprising for a practising Jew of these times and his age (in his thirties) but this detail would probably sound impossible to Christians.
Entrance to the Talpiot tomb, as found in 1980 A few centuries later, the Christian theologians accused the Jews of having crucified Jesus. It was more convenient to do so, and not accuse the Romans instead who, by that time, had adopted Christianity as a state religion. This was the case of Orosius who re-wrote History about 400 CE: In the seventeenth year of this emperor [Tiberius],[9] the Lord Jesus Christ of His own free will submitted to His passion. Nevertheless, it was through their own impiety that the Jews arrested Him and nailed Him to the cross. --- Orosius, A History against the Pagans, book 7, part 4
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After the departure of Pilate from Judea, Vitellius, the Roman governor of Syrian province, came from Antioch to Jerusalem and restored quiet with tact and without antogonism. He even appointed the former High Priest to his role, an act which pleased the Pharisees. ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1] The earthquake during the time of King Uzziah is mentioned in Zechariah 14 and Amos 1 [2] This question was meant to annoy Hillel who was Babylonian of origin [3] The Palmyreans used to sell lighting materials by wandering at night in the city, which is an oasis city at the middle of the Syrian desert [4] Due to religious law of impurity for the high priest during the period preceding the holy day [5] Thus this Joseph was made High Priest on that single day of Kippur [6] To check the lunar eclipses of this era, see Wikipedia [7] After an astronomical event that took place in 1604, Kepler made some calculation and estimatation that Jesus was born in the 6th year before the Common Era (CE) [8] This Simon, who led a rebellion, is mentioned in Josephus, book 17, 273 [9a] To read the article on Haaretz newspaper, click here [9b] The angle Gabriel is mentioned in the Bible at Daniel's vision in Daniel 8:16 and 9:21 [10] This would be the year of 30 CE, but this is wrong, as explained above, if we assume the correctness of the assumption that Jesus was crucified on a Friday, 14 Nisan Go to >> Part II Next generation Top of Page
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The Second Temple, viewed from the East, with Antonia towers on the right (model of the city of Jerusalem in 70 CE) Titus decided to force the walls from the "New City", located at the north-west side of the city, where the natural defenses where not so difficult and the walls lower. The legionaires of the 12th were eager to get a revenge of their previous defeat and fought harder against the exits that the Jews made from time to time in their attempts to break down the works of the Roman engineers against the walls or to destroy the war machines that threw stones and darts at the city: So this fight about the machines was very hot, while the one side tried hard to set them on fire, and the other side to prevent it; on both sides there was a confused cry made, and many of those in the forefront of the battle were slain. However, the Jews were now too hard for the Romans, by the furious assaults they made like madmen; and the fire caught hold of the works, and both all those works, and the engines themselves, had been in danger of being burnt, had not many of these select soldiers that came from Alexandria opposed themselves to prevent it, and had they not behaved themselves with greater courage than they themselves supposed they could have done; for they outdid those in this fight that had greater reputation than themselves before. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 5,6,5 Then Titus ordered to build moveable towers that were higher than the walls. They were to be used for archers to reduce the defense of the outer walls and also to protect the works underneath to weaken and break the wall. Ultimately the Romans made a breach in the north-west part of the outer (third) wall and the Jews retreated to the next middle (second) wall. The outer wall was then entirely taken by the Romans after 15 days of siege, in the 7th of Iyar (May-June) of 70, and almost entirely demolished. Titus moved his camp inside the city between the outer wall and the middle wall, and displaced his line of defense (earthwall) there as well. This move encouraged his soldiers to fight more bravely under his personal and closer watch. The middle wall was breached 5 days after the outer wall by taking the Antonia Tower which was in fact a 4 towers fortress built by Herod and named at the time after his protector, Mark Antony.
Jerusalem and its three walls (source: Ancient Bible Study) Now the fight moved towards the city, with its dense population and narrow alleys: And then [the Jews] attacked those Romans that were come within the wall. Some of them they met in the narrow streets, and some they fought against from their houses, while they made a sudden sally out at the upper gates, and assaulted
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such Romans as were beyond the wall, till those that guarded the wall were so aftrighted, that they leaped down from their towers, and retired to their several camps: upon which a great noise was made by the Romans that were within, because they were encompassed round on every side by their enemies; as also by them that were without, because they were in fear for those that were left in the city. Thus did the Jews grow more numerous perpetually, and had great advantages over the Romans, by their full knowledge of those narrow lanes; and they wounded a great many of them, and fell upon them, and drove them out of the city. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 5,8,1 The first attack in the breach was thus repulsed by the Jews but the Romans succeeded to take control after 3 days of fighting. Then Titus ordered the destruction of the middle wall and now faced the first and inner wall, giving access to the upper and lower cities and the flanks of the Temple preccinct. Five days later, on the 12th of Iyar, Titus started the works to prepare the assault of the inner wall. Josephus also mentioned that he endeavoured to leave time for the Jews to think of their situation and give up the siege to save their city. Even Josephus tried to exhort the fighters to give up the war: So Josephus went round about the wall, and tried to find a place that was out of the reach of their darts, and yet within their hearing, and besought them, in many words, to spare themselves, to spare their country and their temple, and not to be more obdurate in these cases than foreigners themselves. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 5,9,3 The point was that the strongest walls of the city had already been destroyed and thus the attack on the last wall would mean the destruction of the Temple. Besides, even without leading any final assault, the cut of supplies and famine in the city would eventually kill its inhabitants. At the contrary, without surrender, a final assault would mean that the city would be delivered to the hands of the soldiers for several days, as the rules of war dictated. The situation of the Jews was thus desperate unless a divine miracle would come. But there was no expectation to this, as the Temple had long been profanated by unworthy men, battles, murders, and other calamities. Josephus continued his exhortation, and mentioned a detail about the water that was now in want for Jerusalem: And as for Titus, those springs [outside the city walls] that were formerly almost dried up when they were under your power since he is come, run more plentifully than they did before; accordingly, you know that Siloam, as well as all the other springs that were without [sic. within] the city, did so far fail, that water was sold by distinct measures [by rationing]; whereas they now have such a great quantity of water for your enemies, as is sufficient not only for drink both for themselves and their cattle, but for watering their gardens also. The same wonderful sign you had also experience of formerly, when the forementioned king of Babylon made war against us, and when he took the city, and burnt the temple; while yet I believe the Jews of that age were not so impious as you are. Wherefore I cannot but suppose that God is fled out of his sanctuary, and stands on the side of those against whom you fight. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 5,9,4 These efforts did not stop the fighters from the war but convinced some civilians to manage to escape the city. Titus encouraged this movement and let those who escaped to go free and leave the area. Yet, when the armed groups saw this happening, they killed whoever attempted to escape. According to Josephus, they killed many of the richer people who were eager to leave, although the famine was on the increase and that it was not possible for all the population to feed: Many there were indeed who sold what they had for one measure; it was of wheat, if they were of the richer sort; but of barley, if they were poorer. When these had so done, they shut themselves up in the inmost rooms of their houses, and ate the corn they had gotten; some did it without grinding it, by reason of the extremity of the want they were in, and others baked bread of it, according as necessity and fear dictated to them: a table was no where laid for a distinct meal, but they snatched the bread out of the fire, half-baked, and ate it very hastily. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 5,10,2 Some people managed to get out of the inner walls to try find food in the valleys that surrounded the other side of the city. But the Romans ambushed them and crucified any one they captured, in hope that the dreadful sight would convine the fighters to surrender out of fear of what would await for them: They were first whipped, and then tormented with all sorts of tortures, before they died, and were then crucified before the wall of the city. This miserable procedure made Titus greatly to pity them, while they caught every day five hundred Jews; nay, some days they caught more: yet it did not appear to be safe for him to let those that were taken by force go their way, and to set a guard over so many he saw would be to make such as great deal them useless to him. The main reason why he did not forbid that cruelty was this, that he hoped the Jews might perhaps yield at that sight, out of fear lest they might themselves afterwards be liable to the same cruel treatment. So the soldiers, out of the wrath and hatred they bore the Jews, nailed those they caught, one after one way, and another after another, to the crosses, by way of jest, when their multitude was so great, that room was wanting for the crosses, and crosses wanting for the bodies. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 5,11,1 And when the valleys were filled with crucified corpses, with no more room to apply the same torment to the newcomers, Titus ordered to cut off the hands of the latter ones and send them back inside the city so that they would not be able to participate in the fighting and could serve as examples for those who remained. On the 29th of Iyar, the Romans completed the ground works to prepare for the final assault. This consisted of raising four banks, one for each legion, as ramps for the war machines and the assault in four different places of the inner wall. At this time, the defenders threw all sorts of materials over the wall, with bitumen, and set them on fire so that it would destroy the works done by the Romans. The tactics worked and the Romans retrieved what could be saved of their war machines and rams: However, seeing the banks of the Romans were demolished, these Romans were very much east down upon the loss of what had cost them so long pains, and this in one hour's time. And many indeed despaired of taking the city with their usual engines of war only. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 5,11,6 Titus could have just surrounded the city and wait for the famine to do its work, as Caesar did to the Gauls besieged in Alesia. But the Roman commander didnt want to win a war without action. So the ground works resumed, this time in building an earthwall that would encompass the city and prevent anyone to escape from it. Then the famine continued to take its toll and the robbers ruled over the ghastly city: A deep silence also, and a kind of deadly night, had seized upon the city; while yet the robbers were still more terrible than these miseries were themselves; for they brake open those houses which were no other than graves of dead bodies,
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and plundered them of what they had; and carrying off the coverings of their bodies, went out laughing, and tried the points of their swords in their dead bodies; and, in order to prove what metal they were made of they thrust some of those through that still lay alive upon the ground; but for those that entreated them to lend them their right hand and their sword to despatch them, they were too proud to grant their requests, and left them to be consumed by the famine. Now every one of these died with their eyes fixed upon the temple, and left the seditious alive behind them. Now the seditious at first gave orders that the dead should be buried out of the public treasury, as not enduring the stench of their dead bodies. But afterwards, when they could not do that, they had them cast down from the walls into the valleys beneath. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 5,12,3 Titus was fully aware that the city was helf by the seditious factions and that the civilians were the ones paying the human cost of the siege, so he ordered the banks and the ramps to be built again, hoping to end the war at the soonest. One of the citizens was Josephus parents themselves who were put in a prison by Simon, the leader of the Sicarii (Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 5,13,1). One of the Jewish defenders caught on the 1st of Tammuz month, when the general attack started, declared to Titus that, through the gate he was in charge of, they carried no less than 115,000 dead bodies out of the city since the 14th of the previous month (Iyar) (Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 5,13,7). On that night, one of the towers of the Antonia fortress collapsed from the hammering of the walls. This was an important milestone, and unexpected result too, because the Antonia towers stood higher than the floor of the Temple Mount which was adjacent. Climbing on top of these towers meant that the Romans would then be able to slip into the Temple courts below.
The collapse of one of the Antonia towers (source Visual Timeline of the Roman-Jewish War) On the 3rd day of Tammuz, the first Romans started to climb up the ruins of the collapsed tower but met with the resistance of the defenders. On the 5th day, a night expedition of a few Romans managed to take control of the tower. Now all the Romans followed shortly after signal was done that the passage was taken, and the Jews fled towards the Temple to protect the passage to its courts. And they fought dearly during all the night hand to hand against the Romans for the control of the narrow passage: At length the Jews' violent zeal was too hard for the Romans' skill, and the battle already inclined entirely that way; for the fight had lasted from the ninth hour of the night till the seventh hour of the day, While the Jews came on in crowds, and had the danger the temple was in for their motive; the Romans having no more here than a part of their army; for those legions, on which the soldiers on that side depended, were not come up to them. So it was at present thought sufficient by the Romans to take possession of the tower of Antonia. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 6,1,7 ~~~~~~~~~~
enemies, instead of leaving the preccinct of the Temple (Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 6,2,4). After 7 days of work, on the 24th of Tammuz, the foundations of the tower of Antonia were overthrown and a broad passage was made for the Roman army. Soon the Romans penetrated to the edge of the Court of the Gentiles, in the preccinct. A fire started in the Antonia area and spread towards the Temple closeby. At this point, it seems that some of the fighters attempted an exit and rushed to the Roman camp on the Mount of the Olives, opposite the Temple Mount. But the attempt was stopped against the Roman forticications that encompassed the city. On the 27th of Tammuz, the Jews set the cloisters of the Court of Gentiles on fire to stop the Roman advance. The Romans had not anticipated such move and the passage was crowded, so many of them died in the fire or were cut off from their rear and killed by the Jews inside. The next day, the Romans burned the rest of the northern cloister over its entire length up to the Kidron valley on the Eastern side. At about this time, the news spread in the city and in the Roman camp that one woman killed her child out of despair and hunger, and ate him. Josephus recorded Titus thoughts at this horror that justified in his eyes the destruction of the city: And at the same time that he said this, he reflected on the desperate condition these men must be in; nor could he expect that such men could be recovered to sobriety of mind, after they had endured those very sufferings, for the avoiding whereof it only was probable they might have repented. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 6,3,5 This horror of the war, and the thought that the holy city was destined to be destroyed, may have fuelled the legend that some historians later recorded, as having happened before the final assault, maybe in a goal to exonerate the Romans, or Titus, from the destruction that was about to take place: A sudden lightning flash from the clouds lit up the Temple. The doors of the holy place abruptly opened, a superhuman voice was heard to declare that the gods were leaving it, and in the same instant came the rushing tumult of their departure. Few people placed a sinister interpretation upon this. The majority were convinced that the ancient scriptures of their priests alluded to the present as the very time when the Orient would triumph and from Judea would go forth men destined to rule the world.[1] This mysterious prophecy really referred to Vespasian and Titus, but the common people, true to the selfish ambitions of mankind, thought that this mighty destiny was reserved for them, and not even their calamities opened their eyes to the truth. --- Tacitus, Histories, 5:13 On the 8th of the month of Av, two legions were ready for the final assault, and Titus ordered the rams to be brought in. But these machines proved useless against the size of the stones that were used to build the Temple. So the assault was attempted by climbing the walls of its court with ladders. But the Jews fought back and prevented the attack. Titus, worried by a greater loss of his men if he continued to try preserve the Temple, gave orders to burn the doors to access the inner court, the last refuge of some of the fighters. The fire then spread to the cloisters that surrounded the inner court.
The siege and destruction of Jerusalem (David Roberts, 1850) Titus gathered a council to decide what was to be done with the Temple. Although opinions were expressed that the Temple ought to be burned, Titus argue to the contrary: But Titus said, that "although the Jews should get upon that holy house, and fight us thence, yet ought we not to revenge ourselves on things that are inanimate, instead of the men themselves;" and that he was not in any case for burning down so vast a work as that was, because this would be a mischief to the Romans themselves, as it would be an ornament to their government while it continued. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 6,4,3 So he ordered to extinguish the fire and not let it spread further, according to Josephus. But later Historians contradicted his version and made it obvious that Titus was rather in favour of destroying the Temple, as did Sulpitius Severus in about 400 CE: Titus is said, after calling a council, to have first deliberated whether he should destroy the temple, a structure of such extraordinary work. For it seemed good to some that a sacred edifice, distinguished above all human achievements, ought not to be destroyed, inasmuch as, if preserved, it would furnish an evidence of Roman moderation, but, if destroyed, would serve for a perpetual proof of Roman cruelty. But on the opposite side, others and Titus himself thought that the temple ought specially to be overthrown, in order that the religion of the Jews and of the Christians might more thoroughly be subverted;[20] for that these religions, although contrary to each other, had nevertheless proceeded
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from the same authors; that the Christians had sprung up from among the Jews; and that, if the root were extirpated, the offshoot would speedily perish. Thus, according to the divine will, the minds of all being inflamed, the temple was destroyed, three hundred and thirty-one years ago. --- Sulpitius Severus, The Sacred History, book II, chapter 30 But, on the 9th of Av, the Jews gathered their last forces again and fought in the court at the first hours of the night, repulsed the guards who stood there, penetrated the inner court of the Temple and shut themselves up in it. Titus planned to attack them on the early hours of the morning. But during the night, one of the Romans took a torch and threw it inside the inner cloisters through a window, and the fire started. In the tumult that ensued, the orders of Titus to quench this fire were not heard. Instead the soldiers, in their enthousiasm to finally conquer the last stand, had already penetrated in the inner court and slew every Jewish fighter they could find in there. Yet the fire had not reached the holy house yet, but was burning its cloisters around. So Titus rushed to the place to endeavour to get the soldiers to quench the fire. But the view of the silver, gold and treasures that adorned the holy house was too much for the soldiers desire to plunder such a place after such a long and exhausting siege. While the holy house was on fire, every thing was plundered that came to hand, and ten thousand of those that were caught were slain; nor was there a commiseration of any age, or any reverence of gravity, but children, and old men, and profane persons, and priests were all slain in the same manner; so that this war went round all sorts of men, and brought them to destruction, and as well those that made supplication for their lives, as those that defended themselves by fighting. The flame was also carried a long way, and made an echo, together with the groans of those that were slain; and because this hill was high, and the works at the temple were very great, one would have thought the whole city had been on fire. Nor can one imagine any thing either greater or more terrible than this noise; for there was at once a shout of the Roman legions, who were marching all together, and a sad clamor of the seditious, who were now surrounded with fire and sword. The people also that were left above were beaten back upon the enemy, and under a great consternation, and made sad moans at the calamity they were under; the multitude also that was in the city joined in this outcry with those that were upon the hill. And besides, many of those that were worn away by the famine, and their mouths almost closed, when they saw the fire of the holy house, they exerted their utmost strength, and brake out into groans and outcries again. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 6,5,1 Josephus gave an account of the numbers of years that the Temple stood: Now the number of years that passed from its first foundation, which was laid by king Solomon, till this its destruction, which happened in the second year of the reign of Vespasian, are collected to be one thousand one hundred and thirty, besides seven months and fifteen days; and from the second building of it, which was done by Haggai, in the second year of Cyrus the king, till its destruction under Vespasian, there were six hundred and thirty-nine years and forty-five days. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 6,4,8 Solomon started to build the First Temple in Hebrew year 2745, 1015 BCE. So until the year 70 CE, there have been 1085 years, instead of 1130 years assessed by Josephus, an error of 45 years, or barely 4% error. As for the duration of the Second Temple, Josephus got it wrong too but not by a big difference either: he assessed 639 years from the second year of Cyrus. But, since the conquest of Babylon took place in 540 BCE and since the first foundations of the Temple were laid in year 539 BCE, there were 609 years until the fall of Jerusalem in 70. Thus Josephus made a small error of about 4% in his second assessment too. We have previously seen that Jewish tradition says that the Second Temple was destroyed after 420 years. How to conciliate this tradition with the 609 years? It is because, as before for the First Temple, tradition only counts the years when a proper divine service was operated according to tradition. As we know, the service was not always divine during these 609 years when the Second Temple stood because this service was interrupted at the beginning, due to the complaint from the Samaritans to the king of Persia, then the service was often broken during the Seleucid kingdom when high priests were elected according to their allegiance to the invador rather than tradition. The service was then greatly affected in the years of the Herodian dynasty when the high priests were chosen according to power and wealth from the Saduccee families. And last, the service was interrupted during the war against Rome from about the time when Vespasian left for Rome. The priests of the Temple had been hiding in some secret chambers about the Temple but they were running out of water and necessities. So they decided to come out after a few days, hoping for clemency from the conquerors once the rage seemed to have passed: On the fifth day afterward, the priests that were pined with the famine came down, and when they were brought to Titus by the guards, they begged for their lives; but he replied, that the time of pardon was over as to them, and that this very holy house, on whose account only they could justly hope to be preserved, was destroyed; and that it was agreeable to their office that priests should perish with the house itself to which they belonged. So he ordered them to be put to death. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 6,6,1 It is unknown when and how the head of the Sanhedrin, the nassi Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel, died but he was already very old at this time, and he died of natural causes during this siege or during the massacre that followed when the Romans penetrated the city. He had already passed the religious leadership to Johanan ben Zakkai at the time of the siege by Vespasian. When Jerusalem fell, the role of nassi was given to Johanan ben Zakkai who had established a religious school and tribunal in Yavneh. As of the leaders of the sedition, they were not granted any safe passage nor surrender. So they continued the fight or hide inside the lower city, and also went under the ground where they knew were caves. But the Romans found out the escape routes and set fires in the caverns. On the 20th of Av, Titus started to attack the upper city where Simon and the Sicarii had found refuge. At that time, the Idumeans who had allied with the Sicarii decided to surrender. A battle thus broke between the two groups but this could not prevent the flow of them, and a number of the civilians, to escape to the Romans, who let them free to pass in exchange for a ransom for sparing their life.
Destruction of the Second Temple, Francesco Hayez, 1867 (Galleria dell'Academia, Venezia) The above painting is not fully accurate concerning the candelabrum because, according to Josephus, two priests who had escaped the previous slaughter proposed to surrender to Titus in exchange of the precious items that had been deposited in the Temple and that had been spared from destruction: But now at this time it was that one of the priests, the son of Thebuthus, whose name was Joshua, upon his having security given him, by the oath of Caesar [Titus], that he should be preserved, upon condition that he should deliver to him certain of the precious things that had been reposited in the temple came out of it, and delivered him from the wall of the holy house two candlesticks, like to those that lay in the holy house, with tables, and cisterns, and vials, all made of solid gold, and very heavy. He also delivered to him the veils and the garments, with the precious stones, and a great number of other precious vessels that belonged to their sacred worship. The treasurer of the temple also, whose name was Phineas, was seized on, and showed Titus the coats and girdles of the priests, with a great quantity of purple and scarlet, which were there reposited for the uses of the veil, as also a great deal of cinnamon and cassia, with a large quantity of other sweet spices, which used to be mixed together, and offered as incense to God every day. A great many other treasures were also delivered to him, with sacred ornaments of the temple not a few; which things thus delivered to Titus obtained of him for this man the same pardon that he had allowed to such as deserted of their own accord. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 6,8,3 These treasures from the Temple were taken by Titus and brought back to Rome.
From Titus' Arch in Rome On the 7th of the next month, Elul (about August), the ramps were ready for the assault against the upper city. When the walls started to shook by the battering of the rams, the fighters started to escape through underground tunnels and caves unto the Siloam valley. But they soon found themselves facing the fortifiations that Titus had raised around the city. Meanwhile the Romans penetrated the upper city only to find dead corpses and desolation: But when they [the Romans] went in numbers into the lanes of the [upper] city with their swords drawn, they slew those whom they overtook without and set fire to the houses whither the Jews were fled, and burnt every soul in them, and laid waste a great many of the rest; and when they were come to the houses to plunder them, they found in them entire families of dead men, and the upper rooms full of dead corpses, that is, of such as died by the famine; they then stood in a horror at
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this sight, and went out without touching any thing. But although they had this commiseration for such as were destroyed in that manner, yet had they not the same for those that were still alive, but they ran every one through whom they met with, and obstructed the very lanes with their dead bodies, and made the whole city run down with blood, to such a degree indeed that the fire of many of the houses was quenched with these men's blood. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 6,8,5 On the 8th of Elul, Titus came to the upper city to see the awesome size of the towers that protected the walls, and decided to leave them as a testimonial of how difficult this city had been to conquer. Some of these structures still exist today, located near the Jaffa Gate in the old city of Jerusalem, and are now part of the Citadel. Next came the issue of the prisoners. Titus sorted the ones who would be useful as slaves or other works in the Roman Empire, and slew all who were suspected of having been fighters, and the elderly and infirm ones as well: So this Fronto [in charge of sorting the prisoners] slew all those that had been seditious and robbers, who were impeached one by another; but of the young men he chose out the tallest and most beautiful, and reserved them for the triumph [in Rome]; and as for the rest of the multitude that were above seventeen years old, he put them into bonds, and sent them to the Egyptian mines. Titus also sent a great number into the provinces, as a present to them, that they might be destroyed upon their theatres, by the sword and by the wild beasts; but those that were under seventeen years of age were sold for slaves. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 6,9,2 The sending of slaves to the mines of Egypt may be the realization of Moses prophecy to the Hebrews before they entered Canaan. He said that, if they would not follow Gods commandments: And the Lord shall scatter you among all peoples, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; and there you shall serve other gods, which you have not known, you nor your fathers, even wood and stone.[3] And among these nations shall you have no repose, and there shall be no rest for the sole of your foot; but the Lord shall give you there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and languishing of soul. And your life shall hang in doubt before you; and you shall fear night and day, and shall have no assurance of your life. In the morning you shall say: 'who will give an evening!' and at evening you shall say: 'who will give a morning!' for the fear of your heart which you shall fear, and for the sight of your eyes which you shall see.[4] And the Lord shall bring you back into Egypt in ships, by the way whereof I said unto you: 'You shall see it no more again'; and there you shall sell yourselves unto your enemies for bondmen and for bondwoman, and no man shall buy you. --- Deuteronomy 28:64-68 Josephus reckoned that the siege of Jerusalem had costed the life of 1,100,000 Jews, most of them having been trapped in the holy city from the time of Passover of that year, and that 97,000 were taken captives by Titus or sent to slavery in the Roman Empire. He made this assessment from the number of lambs that had been used in Jerusalem for the festival, and deducted the number of people being in the city at the time to about 2,700,000 people (Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 6,9,3). Most of the dead people died of famine during the siege. Simon, the leader of the Sicarii, who came out from underground caves after Titus left the city, was taken to Rome for the triumph and then executed. As of John, the leader of the Zealots, he was condemned to life emprisonment. Before leaving the city, Titus gave his last orders: Now as soon as the army had no more people to slay or to plunder, because there remained none to be the objects of their fury, (for they would not have spared any, had there remained any other work to be done,) Caesar [Titus] gave orders that they should now demolish the entire city and temple, but should leave as many of the towers standing as were of the greatest eminency; that is, Phasael, Hippicus and Mariamne; and so much of the wall as enclosed the city on the west side. This wall was spared, in order to afford a camp for such as were to lie in garrison, as were the towers also spared, in order to demonstrate to posterity what kind of city it was, and how well fortified, which the Roman valor had subdued; but for all the rest of the wall, it was so thoroughly laid even with the ground by those that dug it up to the foundation, that there was left nothing to make those that came thither believe it had ever been inhabited. This was the end which Jerusalem came to by the madness of those that were for innovations; a city otherwise of great magnificence, and of mighty fame among all mankind. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 7,1,1 The three towers built by Herod, Phasael, Hippicus and Marianne, were left standing for some generations but today only the foundation of the Hippicus remains and forms the foundation of the Citadel in the Old City of Jerusalem. As of the wall of the Temple on the west side, it is now the famous Western Wall in Jerusalem. Titus left the 10th Legion in Jerusalem as a guard, but sent the 10th Legion, who had been defeated at the time of Cestius, far to the limits of the Empire in Armenia. He took the 2 other legions with him back to Caesarea. He then moved to Caesarea Philippi (near Banyas, northern Israel). In both cities, he organised arene spectacles gladiator fights with Jewish prisoners who, at times, were also thrown to wild beats. In total, Josephus reckoned that 2500 Jews died in these Roman games. Titus then moved to Berytus, an old Phoenician city, called Laodice in the time of the Greek, that became the most Roman city in the East at the time of the Herodian dynasty: it is now Beirut. ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1] Without knowing about it, the author was mentioning the Jewish belief that these times were Messianic times [2] The early Christians, known as the first "Church of Jerusalem", had in fact already left the city after the execution of Jacques the Just, Jesus brother, and were established in Pella, a city of the Decapolis [3] This must refer to worship after Antiquity, when all the gods were more or less the same with different names; the reference to wood may be Christianity and shall serve may refer to forced conversions during those times [4] This is a depiction of the hardship that the Jews would go through in the next 2000 years of diaspora, either under Christian or Muslim nations, until emancipation and return the Sion would enable them a new choice Go to >> Part V Next generation
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Generation 33
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Hebrew years 3840 to 3960 (80-200 CE) ~~~ Part I ~~~ Part II ~~~
Generations 15-21 Hezekiah had been the righteous king of Judah who built the defenses of Jerusalem in preparation of the forthcoming siege by the Assyrian king Sennacherib. Maybe, in his last moments, and although Jerusalem and the Temple had already Generations been destroyed in his lifetime, ben Zakkai had the vision of the future annointed Messiah who will come to rebuild Jerusslem, as Hezekiah did. 22-28 Generations 29-35 ~~~~~~~~~~
Generations 36-49 After the death of Johanan ben Zakkai who led the survival of the religious authority out of the besieged Jerusalem into Yavneh, Gamaliel, the son of a previous nassi, Shimon ben Gamaliel, was chsoen at the next president of the Sanhedrin.
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It was a time when the religious schools had to reunited and had to end their quarrels, as it had previously been the case between the Houses of Hillel and Shammai. Gamaliel II's authority towards religious and educational matters was also recognized by the Romans. In one anecdote, Gamaliel confounded a Christian who ruled a tribunal for non-Jews, similarly to what Gamaliel and the Sanhedrin was doing for the Jews: Imma Shalom, R. Eliezer's wife, was R. Gamaliel's sister. Now, a certain philosopher[1a] lived in his vicinity, and he bore a reputation that he did not accept bribes [because he was the head of a tribunal for non-Jews]. They wished to expose him, so she brought him a golden lamp, went before him, [and] said to him, I desire that a share be given me in my [deceased] father's estate. Divide, ordered he. Said he [R. Gamaliel] to him, It is decreed for us, Where there is a son, a daughter does not inherit. [He replied], Since the day that you were exiled from your land the Law of Moses has been removed and another book given,[1b] wherein it is written, A son and a daughter inherit equally.[1c] The next day, he [R. Gamaliel] brought him a Lybian ass. Said he to them, Look at the end of the book, wherein it is written, I came not to destroy the Law of Moses nor to add to the Law of Moses,[1d] and it is written therein, A daughter does not inherit where there is a son. Said she to him, Let thy light shine forth like a lamp. Said R. Gamaliel to him, An ass came and knocked the lamp over! --- Talmud, Shabbat, 116a-b This anecdote was to stress the discrepancy among Early Christians between those, like Jesus and the Apostles, who were Jews and endeavoured to maintain their faith, and those newcomers to the faith, being the so-named "philosophers", who lived in these contradictions, or even invented laws that were never established by the Early Church. to form their own "gospels"that the Church would not allowed later in the Christian Canon. Rabban Gamaliel II had obviouly studied the gospels and was quite ready to argue on religious points. He held the role of nassi until 120 CE. ~~~~~~~~~~
Christians and Jews was not as pronounced as it became later. The following is an account from Roman consul and historian Cassius Dio who wrote an history of Rome in 80 volumes: And the same year [95] Domitian slew among many others Flavius Clemens the consul, though he was a cousin and had to wife Flavia Domitilla, who was also a relative of the emperor's. The complaint brought against them both was that of atheism,[2] under which many others who drifted into Jewish ways were condemned. Some of these were killed, and the rest were at least deprived of their property. --- Cassius Dio, Roman History, volume 67, section 14 ~~~~~~~~~~
Nerva also released such as were on trial for maiestas[3] and restored the exiles. All the slaves and freedmen that had conspired against their masters he put to death, and allowed that class of persons to lodge no complaint whatever against their masters. Others were not permitted to accuse anybody for maiestas or for "Jewish living." --- Cassius Dio, Roman History, volume 68, section 1 ~~~~~~~~~~
The special coin issued by Nerva But Nerva was already quite old when he came to power and died after two years of reign. He was succeeded in 98 by the one he designated as his successor, and who was not any of his relatives. It was the Roman governor of the German provinces, Trajan. ~~~~~~~~~~
Rabbi Joshua. The Targum of the Prophets was composed by Jonathan ben Uzziel under the guidance of Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi, and the land of Israel [thereupon] quaked over an area of four hundred parasangs by four hundred parasangs, and a Bath Kol came forth and exclaimed: Who is this that has revealed My secrets to mankind? Jonathan ben Uzziel thereupon arose and said, It is I who have revealed Your secrets to mankind. It is fully known to You that I have not done this for my own honour or for the honour of my father's house, but for Your honour l have done it, that dissension may not increase in Israel. He further sought to reveal [by] a Targum [the inner meaning] of the Hagiographa, but a Bath Kol went forth and said: Enough! What was the reason? Because the date of the Messiah is foretold in it. --- Talmud, Megilah, 3a According to Tradition, the Book of Daniel is the book containing hidden references to Messianic times. The fear, according to the Talmud, was that the Targum of Jonathan would give explicit explanation about details that were otherwise obscure and that were intended to stay as that. One exemple of how far the Targum went into detailing the difficulties found in the original text was given below: The meaning of the Pentateuch is expressed clearly, but the meaning of the [books of the] Prophets is in some things expressed clearly and in others enigmatically. [For instance,] it is written: In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon (Zechariah 12:11), and Rabbi Joseph [commenting on this] said: Were it not for the Targum [Jonathan] of this verse, we should not know what it means [because there is no other mention of Hadadrimmon in the Bible]. [It runs as follows]: On that day shall there be great mourning in Jerusalem like the mourning of Ahab son of Omri who was killed by Hadadrimmon son of Rimmon in Ramoth Gilead, and like the mourning of Josiah son of Ammon who was killed by Pharaoh the Lame in the plain of Megiddo. --- Talmud, Megilah, 3a The Talmud also bears a mention of a much earlier Targum of Job around the time of Rabban Gamaliel, who died 20 years before the destruction of the Second Temple. This translation was probably not considered correct: Said R. Jose: It once happened that my father Halafta visited R. Gamaliel Berabbi [= R. Gamaliel II] at Tiberias and found him sitting at the table of Johanan b. Nizuf with the Targum of the Book of Job in his hand which he was reading. Said he to him, I remember that R. Gamaliel, your grandfather [Rabban Gamaliel], was standing on a high eminence on the Temple Mount, when the Book of Job in a Targumic version was brought before him, whereupon he said to the builder, "Bury it under the bricks." --- Talmud, Shabbat, 115a ~~~~~~~~~~
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Papyrus telling about the Jewish revolt in Hermopolis, 116 CE University of Bremen (photo: Albert Benhamou, from Beth Hatfusoth, Tel Aviv) But the revolt was severely repressed by Quintus Marcius Turbo, the commander of the fleet that brought Trajan to the East: Meanwhile the Jews in the region of Cyrene had put one Andreas [4a] at their head and were destroying both the Romans and the Greeks. They would cook their flesh, make belts for themselves of their entrails, anoint themselves with their blood, and wear their skins for clothing. Many they sawed in two, from the head downwards. Others they would give to wild beasts and force still others to fight as gladiators. In all, consequently, two hundred and twenty thousand perished. In Egypt, also, they performed many similar deeds, and in Cyprus under the leadership of Artemio. There, likewise, two hundred and forty thousand perished. For this reason no Jew may set foot in that land, but even if one of them is driven upon the island by force of the wind, he is put to death. Various persons took part in subduing these Jews, one being Lusius, who was sent by Trajan. --- Cassius Dio, Roman History, volume 68, section 32 The Christian theologian Orosius also mentioned the Jewish uprising in the year that followed a major earthquake: At the same time an earthquake laid low four cities in Asia, Elaea, Myrina, Pitane, and Cyme, and in Greece, the two cities of the Opuntii and the Oriti. This same earthquake demolished three cities of Galatia. Lightning struck and burned the Pantheon at Rome, while at Antioch an earthquake laid almost the entire city in ruins.[4b] Then violent rebellions among the Jews broke out simultaneously in various parts of the world. The Jews acted as if turned into mad savages. Throughout Libya they waged pitiless war against the inhabitants and caused great desolation by killing the tillers of the soil. So merciless were they that if the emperor Hadrian had not afterward colonized the country with people from without, the land would have remained absolutely destitute and entirely without inhabitants. They disturbed all Egypt, Cyrene, and the Thebaid by sedition and bloodshed. In Alexandria, however, the Jews were defeated and crushed in a pitched battle. When they also rebelled in Mesopotamia, the emperor ordered war to be declared against them; many thousands of them were exterminated in a vast carnage. It is true that they did destroy Salamis, a city of Cyprus, after they had killed all the inhabitants.
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--- Orosius, A History against the Pagans, book 7, part 12 The repression nearly annihilated the Jewish communities of Egypt and Cyrene, which was over one million in these times. The Great Synagogue of Alexandria was burned down. It is said that the building was so vast that, during the prayers, a flag was waved to the audience when they were supposed to say "Amen". Turbo remained in Egypt as prefect for several years. He will later be chosen to rule over all Northern Africa Roman provinces by Trajans successor. ~~~~~~~~~~
Lucius Quietus Berber cavalry on Trajans column, South-South-West side He was named by Trajan governor of the Judea province. In 117, he crushed the Jewish revolt that tried to emulate the one in Cyrene after the leader of that uprising (Andreas or Lukuas) fled to Judea and stirred trouble there. Lucius Quietus besieged the city of Lydda where the Jewish rebels had gathered. The nassi Rabban Gamaliel II died there during the siege. The Romans then took the city and killed all leading figures including prominent rabbis of the religious school. The rest of them moved north to the city of Usha in Galilee, away from the troubled Roman province of Judea. The Sanhedrin and the religious schools will remain there up until the end of the Great Revolt of Bar-Kochba.
Map of Aelia Capitolina (source: Geva, Hillel, Searching for Roman Jerusalem, Biblical Archaeology Society, Nov/Dec 1997)
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Cave of Simeon bar Yohai near Peki'in, Galilee, Israel (photo: Zohar.com) ~~~~~~~~~~
A favourite saying of Rabbi Meir was: Study with all your heart and with all your soul to know My ways and to watch at the doors of My law. Keep My law in your heart and let My fear be before your eyes. Keep your mouth from all sin and purify and sanctify yourself from all trespass and iniquity, and I will be with you in every place. --- Talmud, Berachot, 17a The great Rabbi Akiba was also suppliced: Our Rabbis taught: Once the wicked Government issued a decree forbidding the Jews to study and practise the Torah. Pappus ben Judah came and found Rabbi Akiba publicly bringing gatherings together and occupying himself with the Torah. He said to him: Akiba, are you not afraid of the Government? He replied: I will explain to you with a parable. A fox was once walking alongside of a river, and he saw fishes going in swarms from one place to another. He said to them: From what are you fleeing? They replied: From the nets cast for us by men. He said to them: Would you like to come up on to the dry land so that you and I can live together in the way that my ancestors lived with your ancestors? They replied: Are you the one that they call the cleverest of animals? You are not clever but foolish. If we are afraid in the element in which we live, how much more in the element in which we would die! So it is with us. If such is our condition when we sit and study the Torah, of which it is written, For that is your life and the length of your days (Deuteronomy 30:20), if we go and neglect it how much worse off we shall be! It is related that soon afterwards Rabbi Akiba was arrested and thrown into prison, and Pappus ben Judah was also arrested and imprisoned next to him. He said to him: Pappus, who brought you here? He replied: Happy are you, Rabbi Akiba, that you have been seized for busying yourself with the Torah! Alas for Pappus who has been seized for busying himself with idle things! When Rabbi Akiba was taken out for execution, it was the hour for the recital of the Shema, and while they combed his flesh with iron combs, he was accepting upon himself the kingship of heaven. His disciples said to him: Our teacher, even to this point? He said to them: All my days I have been troubled by this verse, with all your soul, [which I interpret,] even if He takes your soul. I said: When shall I have the opportunity of fulfilling this? Now that I have the opportunity shall I not fulfil it? He prolonged the word Ehad (One) until he expired while saying it. A bath kol [a voice from heavens] went forth and proclaimed: Happy are you Akiba that your soul has departed with the word ehad! The ministering angels said before the Holy One, blessed be He: Such Torah, and such a reward? [He should have been] from them that die by Your hand, O Lord. He replied to them: Their portion is in life. A bath kol went forth and proclaimed, Happy are you, Rabbi Akiba, that you are destined for the life of the world to come. --- Talmud, Berachot, 61b Some time after the end of the rebellion, the construction of Aelia Capitolina was completed. The main street, the Cardo, was a straight line flanked by shops on both sides. The entrance of the city was from the gate at the north where stood a column. He also renamed the province Judea as Syria-Palestina, in an attempt to erase the remembrance of the Jewish state and capital. It is his choice of name that gave root to the region being called Palestine in modern days.
an assembly of their own [a synagogue], according to the laws of their forefathers, and this from the beginning, as also a place of their own [a rabbinic tribunal], wherein they determined their suits and controversies with one another. Upon their petition therefore to me, that these might be lawful for them, I gave order that these their privileges be preserved, and they be permitted to do accordingly." --- Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, book 14,234 The synagogue of Sardis had vast proportions, which gives some idea of how large the Jewish community was there.
The synagogue of Sardis, model based on present ruins (Beth Hatfusoth, Diaspora Museum, Tel Aviv) ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1a] A "philosopher" (or the term min in Hebrew) was a generic term employed by the practising Jews to name all those who were attracted by alien customs, such as the Saducees, and were assimilated to these foreign cultures; it started with the Greek "philosophy" and the term was coined to embrace any deviation foreign (min) to Jewish values, such as the Jews who were then attracted by the new Christian faith [1b] The books such as the various Gospels written by those who followed Paul the Apostle who had previously declared that the Law of Moses was over, since the venue of Jesus the Messiah (Jesus Christ), and nobody needed to be bound to its commandments (circumcision, dietary laws, respect of the Shabbat, etc.); Paul had done so in order to rally the Pagans to the new religious cult, after failing to convince the Jews [1c] Although the official Gospels do not contain any indication about the rule of inheritance as mentioned here, it is possible that, in these times, when many more gospels existed (over fifty are currently known of, but only four gospels had later been retained in the Christian canon), some texts may have touched into this topic [1d] This part can indeed be found in the canonical gospels, such as Gospel of Matthew 5:17-20: Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets [the Torah]; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." [2] In other words, they did not respect the emperors religious divine status
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[3] Maiestas were accusations for non-respect for the majesty of the Roman people, in other words it was considered as a treason; Domitian used such accusations against those who did not respect his divine status [4a] Other Historians named him as Lukus or Lukuas [4b] A major earthquake occurred on 13 December 115, with the epicentre near Antioch; it had an estimated magnitude of 7.5 in the scale of Richter and caused a tsunami that wrecked several harbours such as the Roman one of Caesaria in Judea
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Generation 37
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Hebrew years 4320 to 4440 (560- 680 CE) Year 4330 570 CE Birth of Muhammad
Muhammad, who became the prophet of a new religion, Islam, was born in 570 CE in Mecca. His parents died when he was young so he never had a scholastic education. He is said to be of the Quraysh tribe and to descend from from Ishmael, son of Abraham. Modern genetics have explored the Y-DNA pool of the Quraysh tribe, which features today the Creation following haplogroups: about 50% of J (80% of the Jewish people are also J, and J is also preponderant in the Arabian peninsula in the same proportion as the Quraysh tribe), 25% of E (it is an haplogroup commonly found in the Generations Middle-East and in Mediterranean, from the ex Canaanite peoples or Phoenicians who exported it over the sea) and 25% of R (which is majoritarily of European peoples).[1] Yet, there is no haplogroup Q, which is of Asian/Mesopotamian 1-14 origin, which would have been the Y-DNA haplogroup of a person like Abraham (who was from Ur in Chaldea) and of his Generations son Ishmael. 15-21 There was also a Jewish tribe in Arabia called the Qurayza who had settled in Medina. It may be possible that, in earliest Generations times, the Arab Quraysh and the Jewish Qurayza formed one single entity, with the Quraysh splitting from their Jewish ancestry and adopting paganism at some point of time of their History. This would explain the similarity between 22-28 the two names of tribes, one Arab and the other Jewish. Generations Contemporary witness accounts record Muhammad's striking physical complexion: 29-35 Generations 36-49 [He] was neither tall nor lanky nor short and stocky, but of medium height. His hair was neither crispy curled nor straight but moderately wavy. He was not overweight and his face was not plump. He had a round face. His complexion was
Generation 50
white tinged with redness. He had big black eyes with long lashes. His brows were heavy and his shoulders broad. He had soft skin, with fine hair covering the line from mid chest to navel. The palms of his hands and the soles of his feet were firmly padded. He walked with a firm gait, as if striding downhill. --- Bayrak, Tosun, The Name & the Named: The Divine Attributes of God, 2000, citing Ali, the cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad It is striking to read about the whiteness of his skin and redness, which is barely a typical Arab feature. This may induce people to believe that his ancestry was of mixed arab descent. Or more appropriately we could say that there is some mystery about the origin of Muhammad, if the descriptions such as the above one have been correct. ~~~~~~~~~~
The document went further as expressing that the Jews should not be forced to conversion to Christianity, nor be attacked physically, nor be deprived of their property, and so on. This shows that, in case of dire need, the Jews could turn to the Pope and ask for protection, which was granted on the basis of this document established by Pope Gregory. He was also a prolific scholar, studying and writing several works, and also composed what became known as the Gregorian Chants. He is often represented with a dove, because of the following story written some 500 years after his death by Pierre le Diacre (Peter the Deacon): When the pope was dictating his homilies on Ezechiel a veil was drawn between his secretary and himself. As, however, the pope remained silent for long periods at a time, the servant made a hole in the curtain and, looking through, beheld a dove seated upon Gregory's head with its beak between his lips. When the dove withdrew its beak the holy pontiff spoke and the secretary took down his words; but when he became silent the servant again applied his eye to the hole and saw the dove had replaced its beak between his lips. --- text cited in the Catholic Encyclopedia
Pope Gregory, represented with the dove - from the "Lives of the Hermits Paul and Guthlac" (Corpus Christi College, Cambridge University) ~~~~~~~~~~
At the age of 40, Muhammad had an encounter with the angel Gabriel who revealed to him future prophecies. In these times, Arabian was predominently pagan, except for pockets of Jewish populations who lived together in specific places. From then on, Muhammad claimed to be the messenger of God. He criticised the way of life of his own Quryash tribe, who was powerful and wealthy, and gathered many followers around him. ~~~~~~~~~~
The Byzantine and Sassanid empires in 600 CE The war against the Byzantines started in 602. By 614 CE they took Judea and were about to take Jerusalem, with the help
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of the local Jews who were eager to free their old city from which they had been banned since the revolt of Bar-Kochba. Here is an account of the fall of the city: The beginning of the struggle of the Persians with the Christians of Jerusalem was on the 15th April, in the second indiction, in the fourth year of the Emperor Heraclius [started to reign in 610]. They spent twenty days in the struggle. And they shot from their balistas with such violence, that on the twenty-first day they broke down the city wall. Thereupon the evil foemen entered the city in great fury, like infuriated wild beasts and irritated serpents. The men however who defended the city wall fled, and hid themselves in caverns, fosses, and cisterns in order to save themselves ; and the people in crowds fled into churches and altars; and there they destroyed them. For the enemy entered in mighty wrath, gnashing their teeth in violent fury; like evil beasts they roared, bellowed like lions, hissed like ferocious serpents, and slew all whom they found. Like mad dogs they tore with their teeth the flesh of the faithful, and respected none at all, neither male nor female, neither young nor old, neither child nor baby, neither priest nor monk, neither virgin nor widow. --- Strategos, Antiochus, The Capture of Jerusalem by the Persians in 614, translated into English by F.C. Conybeare, 1910 After they took the city, the Persians handed back to the Jews their city of Jerusalem, after an absence of 500 years caused by the Romans and the Byzantines. ~~~~~~~~~~
The Byzantine empire laid in the west, and the Arabian peninsula was still largely independant but was about to be ruled by the followers of Muhammad.
And I [Daniel] heard the voice of a man between the banks of Ulai, who called, and said: 'Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.' So he came near where I stood; and when he came, I was terrified, and fell upon my face; but he said unto me: 'Understand, O son of man; for the vision belongeth to the time of the end.' --- Daniel, 8:16-17 Yet, when Muhammad sought to get recognition of himself as prophet of God, they rejected him, for the same reasons their ancestors had rejected Jesus because of lack of messianic signs that would back such claim. This attitude was recorded in the Coran, for example in the following text: Ask the Children of Israel how many a sign of evidence we have given them. And whoever exchanges the favor of Allah [for disbelief] after it has come to him - then indeed, Allah is severe in penalty. --- Coran 2:211 From then, Muhammad changed opinion about the Jews and became critical of them. In Medina, as the result of some local disputes, he managed to expel two of the Jewish tribes, who had established there for about 600 years. Those expelled joined the oasis of Khaibar, where another large Jewish community was established since a long time. As for the third and last Jewish tribe of Medina, called the Qurayzah tribe, Muhammad reserved them a harsher treatment after he accused them of treating with his enemy, the people of Mecca: all the men were beheaded and all the children and women sold to slavery or given as gifts to Muhammad's followers. This took place in year 628. Following this mass execution, the pagan tribes of Mecca were terrorised and preferred to arrange a truce with Muhammad in his army, to avoid the same fate. This enabled Muhammad to continue focus on the Jewish tribes: he targeted the Jewish establishment of Khaibar, the largest one in the Arabian peninsula. After one month of siege, his army took controlled of the place. They imposed to the Jews to pay a tribute and this served as a model for future generations to tolerate the Jews, and non-Muslims in general, with a status of dhimmis in exchange for the payment of a tax. This was defacto setting a religious discrimination not allowing equality in the faith.[4] ~~~~~~~~~~
that Heraclius took the True Cross to Constantinople. It will remain there until the time of the Crusades when it will be dispersed in many pieces across the Christian world. Many churches claim since to have a relic of it.
Heraclius' troops against the Persians - by Piero della Francesca, 1460 (fresco in the Church of San Francesco, Arezzo, Italy) For the Jews of Jerusalem, the return of Byzantine rule was bad news. They were once more expelled from the city and new restrictions were imposed upon them in the region. It seems that, seeing that the Byzantine were getting the upper hand against the Sassanid in the war, the Jewish authorities of Jerusalem decided to hide in a secret burial place the treasures of the Temple which were sent back to Jerusalem by Justinian. These treasures may still be there today, buried under the old city of Jerusalem, as nobody has found any trace of them since these times. The Jews had to go back to Galilee and the city of Tiberias after being expelled from Judea and Jerusalem. The persecutions against them at the hand of Heraclius were extended to the entire Byzantine empire. ~~~~~~~~~~
The Pagans of Mecca made a mistake thinking that Muhammad would keep the truce with them. The 10 years truce they agreed on was only a subterfuge, to allow Muhammad to submit the Jews alone while they couldn't get any support from outside alliance. Once Muhammad took control of all the Jewish establishments, he turned his attention on the Pagans. He returned to Mecca after 8 years. When he had left Mecca in 622 he had 40 faithful followers, but when he returned there in 630 he had more than 10,000 armed followers. Many of them were surely simply satisfied with his manner to lead them, not just spiritually but also by benefiting from the spoils of the Jewish properties and the taxation imposed upon them. The large city of Mecca did not offer any resistance and preferred to surrender rather than facing the fate of the Jewish tribes. Muhammad there decreed that the prayers were now to be done towards Mecca and no longer towards Jerusalem. There were two main goals to this choice. First, Mecca was the place of a very ancient sanctuary called the Kaaba, [5] which already a site of veneration by the Pagans: this is towards it that Muslims have been required to pray, and the Pagans of Mecca could only approve of it. Second, it was a way to express his displeasure towards the Jews who alone had resisted his will and Islam. The word Islam means surrender or submission. And it seems that the adoption of Islam had not succeeded as expected among the Jews: But Allah has cursed them [the Jews] for their disbelief, so they believe not, except for a few. --- Koran 4:46
Mecca (old engraving of the 19th century) For the Christians, Muhammed also had a message, of acceptance of Jesus as a messenger of God but of reject of the idea of Trinity: O People of the Scripture, do not commit excess in your religion or say about Allah except the truth. The Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, was but a messenger of Allah and His word which He directed to Mary and a soul [created at a command] from Him. So believe in Allah and His messengers. And do not say, "Three"; desist - it is better for you. Indeed, Allah is but one God. Exalted is He above having a son. --- Koran 4:171 Like the Jews, Muslims rather believe in a One God.
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Levant. They took several cities from the Byzantines, often with the help of the Jews who saw them as liberators against the oppression exerted upon them by the Christian rulers. Jerusalem alone stood in the midst of the Muslim conquest. The Christian religious authority of the city preferred to surrender it, with suitable peace guarantees, rather than seeing it destroyed. So Omar entered Jerusalem in 638 without a battle. The Jews petitioned Omar to allow them to re-enter the city and settle there, but the Patriarch opposed it. Omar however compromised and allowed 70 Jewish families to live in the city: this became the Jewish Quarter of the city of Jerusalem. This is when, for the first time since the Romans expelled Jews from Jerusalem, and not taking into account the few years of the Sassanid rule, that Jews could settle permanently in the city. The first ones to come in was a Talmudic school from Tiberias. The Jews were also allowed to pray at the only remaining wall from the Second Temple, which became known as the Wailing Wall. Omar was sympathetic toward the Jews who greatly helped him in the conquest of Palestine and in Babylonia. One example is from the city of Homs in Syria, as narrated by the 9th century Arab historian al-Baladhuri: The Jews rose and said, "We swear by the Torah, no governor of Heraclius shall enter the city of Homs unless we are first vanquished and exhausted!" Saying this, they closed the gates of the city and guarded them. --- al-Baladhuri, The origins of the Islamic state, translation Philip Khuri Hitti, 1916, vol.1, p.211 And about the city of Caesaria, which was very well defended and presented a serious obstacle to the progress of the Muslims: A Jew named Yusuf came to the Moslems at night and pointed out to them a road through a tunnel the water in which would reach a man's waist; in consideration for which information, safety was guaranteed him and his relatives. Mu'awiyah sanctioned the conditions [made to Yusuf] and the Moslems entered the city by night, calling "Allah is great !" --- al-Baladhuri, The origins of the Islamic state, translation Philip Khuri Hitti, 1916, vol.1, p.217 On the Islam side, Omar executed the last will of Muhammad by expelling every non-Muslim from the Arabian peninsula. So the Jews of Khaibar, and other places, were allowed to move to Palestine instead, and also to Yemen where a large Jewish community was already there since many centuries. The reason for expelling the Jews from Arabia was, according to, was not only religious but because the Muslims became very rich (from their spoils of Jews and conquered lands) and felt no longer the need for the Jews to help on the cultivation of the land: But when Omar was made caliph, and as the money became abundant in the lands of the Moslems, and the Moslems became numerous enough to cultivate the land, Omar expelled the Jews to Syria and divided the property among the Moslems. --- al-Baladhuri, The origins of the Islamic state, translation Philip Khuri Hitti, 1916, vol.1, p.46 The Jews were good at certain professions, and knew how to make the land fertile. After the expulsion of the Jews, the land became more desertic land after some years. But the Jews had also helped with education in Arabia, prior to the arrival of Islam:
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Al-Wakidi says : Writing in Arabic was rare among the Aus and the Khazraj [tribes]. Some of the Jews taught how to write Arabic, and the young folks in al-Madinah had learned it previous to Islam. Then Islam came; and among the Aus and the Khazraj a number could write. --- al-Baladhuri, The origins of the Islamic state, translation Philip Khuri Hitti, 1916, vol.2, p.273 ~~~~~~~~~~
The region in 647 CE The Muslims came from Egypt in 647 with an army of about 40,000 fighters. They took Lybia then Carthage, and the rest of the Byzantine dominion in North Africa after barely 15 months of campaign. The Muslims then returned to Egypt in 648. ~~~~~~~~~~
as a base for extending their conquest further west. Kairouan also served as a center to educate new converts to Islam: there in 670 was founded a mosque, the oldest one in North Africa.
The mosque of Kairouan, named after Uqba the Muslim general who founded it in 670 But in 683, this Muslim army was defeated by a joined force of Byzantines and Berbers who recaptured the region. A second Muslim army was sent in 688 and after two years of war, the coalition of Byzantines and Berbers was defeated in 690. ~~~~~~~~~~
Notes:
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[1] To see the genetics mixture of the Quraysh tribe, click here [2] To read about the Jewish tribes of Arabia, see Wikipedia [3] The word Ashura comes from the word asor which means the number 10: the Muslim day of fasting was so called Ashura because it was set on the 10th of the month of Muharram, like the Jews have Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) on the 10th of the month of Tishri [4] The word dhimmi comes from the dhimma which means "guarantee"; this "tax" is not much different than the modernday Mafia asking for a "payment" for "protection" to allow individuals or merchants to carry out with their business; this imposition of dhimma was only ended in the 19th century upon pressure from European powers who asked for equality treatment of non-Muslims in Muslim dominions [5] It is the cube-shaped house that shelters the Black Stone, said to date from the time of Adam; Muslims believe that the first Kabaa house was erected by Abraham and his son Ishmael Next generation Top of Page
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Generation 35
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This Generation falls into the cycle of 7 generations which started with the 7th Generation of Lamech, followed by the 14th Generation of the Flood, then the 21st Generation of the Exodus which represented the first "return to Sion" (the Promised Land), followed by the 28th Generation of Sion which witnessed the second return to the Promised Land, after Creation the Babylonian captivity. Now this 35th Generation represents both the punishment of God against the last great empire, Rome, and the return to the faith for the Jews: after the destruction of their physical nation by Rome, their nation has Generations become spiritual only, their faith, while Rome had to abandon their pagan religion and adopt a monotheist religion, Christianity. 1-14 ~~~~~~~~~~ Generations 15-21
Generations Rabba bar Nahmani was the head of the school of Pumbedita and one of the leading Amoraim of the third generation. It was 22-28 a time when, after the completion of the Mishna in Judea, the Jewish community of Babylonia set themselves to the task Generations of compiling the commentaries that completed the original work: this became the Talmud of Babylon, or Babli, which took several generations of disciples (called Amoraim) to complete. The main centers of Jewish life at the time were in 29-35 the cities of Sura, Pumbedita (near modern-day Fallujah, Iraq) and Nehardea (near modern-day Ramadi, Iraq). Generations Babylonia, at the time, was under the Sassanid Empire, which replaced the Parthian Empire, while Rome lost these 36-49 Eastern provinces and retreated to the borders of Syria-Palestina. The Sassanids offered religious freedom and one of their early leader, Shapur, had befriended one of the Talmudist of Babylonion, the amora Samuel (who died in 257 CE), and a Generation later leader, Shapur II, renewed similar friendly ties with Rabba. It is said that Shapur II who reigned all his life, from 50 the moment he was born in 309 until his death in 379, had a Jewish mother. Rabba and his son Abaye are numerously quoted in the Talmud. Both are said to be descended from the priest House of Eli and thus was under the divine decree to live shorter lives than other Levites. Rabba died at the age of 60, in year 320. Rabba is mentioned in one portion of the Talmud about the size of the Earth: Rabba said: The world is six thousand parasangs and the thickness of the heaven [rakia] is one thousand parasangs;[1] the first one [of these statements] is a tradition, while the other is [based on] reason. --- Talmud, Pesachim, 94a The parasang was a unit of distance used in Persia. It had the value of about 5.5 km. Other units widely used in the Talmud are the mil, which was a quarter of a parasang thus about 1375 m, and the cubit which was one 2000th of a mil, thus 0.69 m. But these values differ at times between regions. For example in Egypt the cubit was about half a meter. Yet, if we use the Persian measurement model, which was probably the one used by the Talmudists of Babylon, the world would have a circumference of 6000 parasangs which is equivalent to about 6000 x 5.5 km = 33,000 km. How does this number fit Science? The circumference of the Earth is known to be of about 40,000 km, at the Equator latitude. But Pumbedita, which was located near today city of Fallujah in Iraq, is at the latitude of 33.35o, so the circumference of the eartn at this latitude is reduced by the factor of Cosinus (33.35o) = 0.8353. Thus the circumference of the Earth at the latitude of Pumbedita is 40,000 km x 0.8353 = 33,400 km. This value is very close to the tradition that Rabba knew, without having been able to confirm it by measurement ! In comparison, Jerusalem is located at a latitude of 31.8o, giving a circumference of 34,000 km, which I close enough too. Another contemporary Rabbi of this time was Rabbi Aha ben Jacob who generally dealt with mysterious concepts and was an exorciser. He commented on the opinion of the Sages, meaning the secular Jewish thinkers and the non-Jewish ones, about the Earth which was known at their time to be of round shape. The question evolved about whether the Earth was spinning and the rest was immobile, or the contrary: Our Rabbis taught: The Sages of Israel [the Jewish philosophers] maintain: The Galgal [the Earth, as round shape] is stationary while the mazzaloth [the stars] revolve; while the Sages of the nations of the world [especially the Greek philosophers] maintain: The Galgal revolves and the mazzaloth are stationary [the Greeks thought that the stars were attached to a ceiling called firmament, which was stationary hence its name as derived from firm]. Rabbi observed: This disproves their view: we never find the Wain [Ursa Major] in the south or Scorpio in the north. To this Rabbi Aha ben Jacob demurred: Perhaps it is like the pivot of a millstone, or like the door socket? --- Talmud, Pesachim, 94b Rabbi Aha was right: the Earth spins around an axis, which can indeed be described as a millstone turning around a central pivot. ~~~~~~~~~~
that God, His son Jesus and the Holy Spirit formed one single entity called God (this divine entity was called the Trinity), whereas other movements considered that Jesus was a human messenger of God and not the deity. Concerning the separation from the Jewish religion, the Council decided to set arbitrary new dates for the Christian religious festivals, breaking away from the traditional Jewish calendar. And to facilitate the adoption of the official religion throughout the Roman empire, these arbitrary dates were often picked acoording to popular pagan festivals so that the populations of the enpire won't fell they lost in the change of official religion. For example, the date of Chrismas was set to match the pagan festival of Sol Invictus (meaning Unconquered Sun). This festival used to mark the "victory" of the Sun over the period of darkness, and set at the time of the Soltice of Winter about the 21st December.
Slab dedicated to Sol Invictus with the Moon goddess behind, 2nd century BCE (located at the Baths of Diocletian in Rome, photo: Marie-Lan Nguyen for Wikipedia) The main contention with the Hebrew calendar was the set of the date of Easter, because Jesus was known to have been judged and crucified at the beginning of the Passover Jewish festival. So, until then, the Christians had to rely on the Rabbinic statement about the start of the month of Nisan, to calculate the date for Passover on the 15th of that month. In order to remove this dependancy to the Jewish religion, the Council of Nicaea decided that the Rabbinic court could no longer be relied upon about these calendar matters, and that they should instead abserve the spring equinox by themselves to determine the correct date of the crucifixion of Jesus. And in the first place, it seemed very unworthy for us to keep this most sacred feast following the custom of the Jews, a people who have soiled their hands in a most terrible outrage, and have thus polluted their souls, and are now deservedly blind. Since we have cast aside their way of calculating the date of the festival, we can ensure that future generations can celebrate this observance at the more accurate time which we have kept from the first day of the passion until the present time. --- Emperor Constantine, following the Council of Nicaea (to check the source, click here) This deviation resulted into a Christian tradition to set the date for Easter on a Sunday, and it now rarely falls on a same day than the Jewish Passover. Also, an official text as above, declaring the Jews to be responsible for the death of Jesus, as understated by a people who have soiled their hands in a most terrible outrage, and who are now deservedly blind, created the context of the official hatred of the Jews by the Christian world. And, as Constantine, the Roman emperor, had adopted Christianity as the official religion, the empire could not be held responsible for any participation in the death of Jesus. It would not have been politicall correct ! It thus became a necessityto blame the Jews as a scapegoat. The Council of Nicaea really marks the turning point: the Roman empire could become officially Christian and the Jews had to be the ones to carry the blame. Punishments were sure to follow next... ~~~~~~~~~~
Christian state religion and wanted to restore the Roman pagan cult. He oppressed the Christians, who called him Julian the Apostate. Paradoxaly, he was rather lenient towards the Jews who he considered had been the victims of Roman policies thus far, so they rather called him Julian the Hellene (because he was keen about Greek philosophy, but also because Hellene was associated with the name Pagan in these times). In a letter to their community, lead by Hillel II, he announced that he will order to rebuild Jerusalem and its Temple, before setting off for his campaign in Persia: In times past, by far the most burdensome thing in the yoke of your slavery has been the fact that you were subjected to unauthorized ordinances and had to contribute an untold amount of money to the accounts of the treasury. Of this I used to see many instances with my own eyes, and I have learned of more, by finding the records which are preserved against you. Moreover, when a tax was about to be levied on you again I prevented it, and compelled the impiety of such obloquy to cease here; and I threw into the fire the records against you that were stored in my desks; so that it is no longer possible for anyone to aim at you such a reproach of impiety. [] And since I wish that you should prosper yet more, I have admonished my brother Iulus,[2] your most venerable patriarch, that the levy [apostole] which is said to exist among you should be prohibited,[3] and that no one is any longer to have the power to oppress the masses of your people by such exactions; so that everywhere, during my reign, you may have security of mind, and in the enjoyment of peace may offer more fervid prayers for my reign to the Most High God, the Creator, who has deigned to crown me with his own immaculate right hand. [] This you ought to do, in order that, when I have successfully concluded the war with Persia, I may rebuild by my own efforts the sacred city of Jerusalem,[4] which for so many years you have longed to see inhabited, and may bring settlers there, and, together with you, may glorify the Most High God therein. --- Julian, The works of the Emperor Julian, edit. And trans. By Wilmer Cave Wright, 1923, volume 3, p. 179, Lettter 51 to the community of the Jews, written from Antioch in late 362 CE or early 363 CE The works of the reconstruction of the Temple started but were soon abandoned due to an earthquake that was considered as a divine omen, reminding the old prophecy that the Third Temple will not be built until the time of the Messiah. This earthquake occurred in May 363 and is known as the Galilee Earthquake. As of Emperor Julian, he was mortally wounded in battle in June 363 during his campaign in Persia. His body was taken to Tarsus and was later reburied in Constantinople where his tomb still stand today near Emperor Constantine and the rest of their family. Julian was the last non-Christian Roman emperor. ~~~~~~~~~~
Chrysostom speaks to the Judeo-Christians in Antioch (photo: Albert Benhamou, from Beth Hatfusoth)
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The Roman Empire at the death of Theodosius, 395 CE (source: Wikipedia) ~~~~~~~~~~
The Barbarians
The last blows of the Roman empire against the Jewish institution corresponded to the time when the empire was being attacked by many waves of Barbarians coming from Central Europe. They originated, for some of them, from the old tribes of Scythians and other people who moved from the Caucasus region into the European continent. Others came from Asia, such as the Huns. Invasion after invasion, the Roman empire was losing ground, especially the Western Empire, being first exposed to the blows from hords coming from Northern and Central Europe. The bell tolled with the Sack of Rome by Alaric the Visigoth in 410. This sent a shockwave throughout the entire empire, although the capital of the Western Empire had been moved to Ravenna at the time, which was more defensible than Rome. But Rome had remained the seat of the papaucy. So the shock was more felt by the Christian world because it seems that the City of God had fallen. One of the Chritian Fathers, Augustine, who lived in Hippo which is in modernday Algeria and converted to Christianity in 386, conforted his brethren by stating that God only had a heavenly city, which was in the heart and love of his followers, and that such heavenly city will ultimately prevail over the earthly ones. The war against Alaric had the consequence to pull Roman armies out of Britain, as they were recalled to stop the invasion of mainland Italy. But to no avail. So the Roman rule over Britain ended about the time of the sack of Rome, in 410. The Visigoths then moved to Iberia and settled their kingdom there.
Then the Huns, an Asian people who had settled in Central Europe, went westward, burning and killing on their way. They salvaged the central European regions for many years, leaving no place completely safe except for the large cities. They were ultimately stopped by a Roman army in Gaul in 451 and retreated back to their base in modern-day Hungary.
(source: Wikipedia) ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1] Rashi assumed that this measurement must have referred to the diameter of the Earth; but this does not make sense in the context of this commentary which compared this measurement to walking distances, thus it must have referred to a circumference rather than a diameter [2] It was the Patriarch Hillel II, who was then about 70 years old and who will die two years later [3] These taxes were paid by the Diaspora Jews in support for the patriarchate in Judea [4] The destroyed city was inhabited since the repression of Bar Kochba revolt in 135, during the reign of Hadrian [5] To check the date of Passover from year 2000 CE, click here
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Generation 01
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What is new After the creation of the universe and of the world, and of all living creatures on earth, the man Adam was made (). But, as it also happened with other elements of the Index of Creation, free-will prevailed and led to results that were not always according to the names divine plan. Equally, from the very first generation, man erred. Adam and his companion, Eve,[1] were expelled from the Garden of Eden and lost the divine protection. From then on, they were on their own. Creation Generations Abel and Cain 1-14 They had two first sons: Cain and Abel. Cain worked the earth while Abel was a Generations shepherd. 15-21 And at the end of some days, Cain brought from the fruits of the earth an offering to God. And Abel brought, he as well, from the firstlings of his flock, and from Generations their best choice. And God turned to Abel and his offering. And, as of Cain and 22-28 his offering, He didnt. This annoyed Cain very much and his countenance fell. God said to Cain: "Why are you annoyed, and why did your countenance fall? Generations Surely if you improve yourself, you will be forgiven. But if you dont improve 29-35 yourself, sin rests at your door; its desire is towards you. And you will govern it." Cain said to his brother Abel. And it happened when they were in the field, Cain Generations rose against his brother Abel and killed him. 36-49 --- Genesis 4:3-8 Generation Cain gave an offering to God but not from the best of his production and surely not with 50 his heart, as compared to Abel who gave from the best choice, and the expression he as well means that he himself accompanied his offering as if he was prepared to offer himself to God. Abel accompanied his offering with all his heart because Abel loved God, but Cain didnt. The path of sin starts when man deviates from the love of God, and thus from the faith onto Him. Cain was fully aware of Gods presence, and didn't need a proof of His existence, because his countenance fell after Gods rebuke. Cain could have corrected his path though, and would have been able to govern over the spirit of sin. By his free will, man has the power to do so, as he has been created at the image of God and, through his soul, he knows to distinguish between good and evil. This is what makes man different from the animal. Yet not everyone can behave in an elevated manner, above the animal instincts. Then the first conflict occurred when Cain proved unable to speak out his own issues with Abel. This is why the text said Cain said to this brother Abel. Said what? The text
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says nothing else, because Cain had nothing to say. Instead he got overwhelmed by his feelings of jealousy and killed his brother.
The murder of Abel (Gustave Dor, 1868) Then after the murder came the denial. God said to Cain: "Where is your brother Abel?" And he said: "I dont know. Am I the keeper of my brother?" --- Genesis 4:9 Cain is then cursed to become a wanderer on earth. He established himself further east from Eden, in a land called Nod (). This Hebrew word both means drifter and exclusion, as a "separation" from society: this was to be the fate deserved by Cain. Presumably he established himself in what was to become Mesopotamia, where he came across the first two large rivers that created a natural "separation" from the land he came from.
The early males were born with the twin females that they will later take as companions. Thus the procreation could start to operate and the population to grow. After the murder of Abel, Eve did not want to procreate any more. So this first gate was largely left for Cain to populate. And his immediate descendants were hunters like him. The conflict between Cain and Abel has been deeply anchored in early civilizations. It echoes the change of the life style of the early society, starting from being nomadic hunters as Cain was and as the animal kingdom lived, until they settled down to become sedentary farmers who would rather breed cattle and grow plants to regularly provide for their nutrition needs rather than rely on the success of a hunt. This change was surely not easy to make, became men would naturally behave like animals, but it became a necessity. One of these stories has been found in Sumerian clay tablets which was appropriately titled the "Debate between sheep and grain": The people of those days did not know about eating bread. They did not know about wearing clothes; they went about with naked limbs in the Land. Like sheep they ate grass with their mouths and drank water from the ditches. --- Barton, George A., "Miscellaneous Babylonian inscriptions", Yale University Press, 1918, No.8 A new Creation myth, pp.54 So, after being mostly composed of hunters, the early humanity gradually became composed of farmers. ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1] Eve was extracted from the original Adam who had both genders when he was made; this was done after God placed the original Adam in the Garden of Eden; with the extraction of Eve, Adam was stripped of feminine gender. Next generation Top of Page
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Generation 08
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From the discovery of Tuval-Cain, the technique of metal works was used to create What is new weapons. The know-how quickly spread across the known world. Life became more dangerous for human beings as conflicts eventually begun to be more frequent Index of names between the city-states in their dispute over power and control. Creation This was a turn for humanity, near the end of the first millennium from Creation and, symbolically, it was the time when Adam died, in Hebrew year 930 (2830 BCE).
Generations 114 The few people who walked in the path of God were Seth and those who lived with him. Generations 1521 Metushalach had already escaped away from the land of Ancient Egypt and had settled in Canaan near Adam and Seth. They nurtured him in righteousness. In year Generations 22- 874, he begot a son called Lemech. 28 Generations 2935 Generations 3649 Generation 50 Next generation Top of Page
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Generation 09
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What is new Index of names Creation Generations 1-14 Hanoch eventually got himself into trouble with the rulers of the First Dynasty in Egypt which were established in Abydos or Thinis, near the Nile river.[1] This time was when the ancient Egyptian religion was first established and were Egyptian cosmology was invented, even asserting that it was the location of the Garden of Eden. Hanoch was unwilling to bind to their new gods and to believe in their way of rewriting the Creation to better fit their purpose of god-rulers. But he could no longer live among the Egyptian people with his rebellous attitude. His ultimate fate was however unique: All the days of Hanoch were five and sixty years and three hundred years. Hanoch walked in the path of God and he was no more, because God took him. --- Genesis 5:23-24
Generations 15-21 The text doesnt state that Hanoch actually died: it is God who took him away in Hebrew year 987 (2773 BCE). This means that his soul was removed from his body while most probably his body was kept intact Generations and not be physically destroyed during all the years that Hanoch would have lived. It was as if Hanoch did not 22-28 actually (physically) die. This occurrence must have had some strong influence on the Egyptian people which, unlike other ancient civilizations, became obsessed with death, and created the cult of the dead with an Generations afterlife. Some historians even go as far as claiming that the entire Ancient Egypt civilization was based upon 29-35 a "death cult".[2] Generations It was not by chance by this particular practice of embalming and of preparing the dead for the afterlife 36-49 became much more sophisticated in Egypt compared to all other ancient civilizations. The Egyptian Book of the Dead is a compilation of these funeral rites and traditions that date back from the Old Kingdom, which Generation started with the Third Dynasty, about 2700 BCE. Not surprisingly this dynasty was founded by Pharaoh 50 Djoser who built the first pyramid of Egypt (he reigned from about 2690 BCE).
Djoser pyramid in Saqqara, Egypt This is because they could witness the body of a dead man, Hanoch, staying intact and not being destroyed by death. So they thought that what was valid for Hanoch should be valid for other men, and their next ambition was to maintain the body of the dead as intact as in his moment of death to reach eternity. Because, since the extraordinary fate of Hanoch, the Egyptians believe that death was just a transition, not an end: Lift yourself up, N[ut], you shall not die. --- Pyramid Texts [part of the Book of the Dead], Utterance 373, verse 657e [3]
Eternity needed to at least have the appearance of eternity, so they developped and improved over time the techniques of embalming.
Cult of the Dead in Egypt There may also be a second reason for the Egyptians to look at Hanoch as an example of the life beyond death: he died at the age of 365 years, as the Bible stated, which echoes the 365 days of the year (solar system, followed by the Eyptians). In other words, death was just the end of one cycle of life, an idea from which they built the belief of the afterlife. ~~~~~~~~~~
Corruption of mankind
In Canaan, Seth lived until Hebrew year 1042 (2718 BCE) and was of great influence over Metushalach to keep him in the path of God. Because of the short life of his father Hanoch, God granted to Metushalach to live the longest human life, for a total of 969 years. Just after Metushalach will die, God will carry out the punishment over mankind, with the Flood. The reasons for Gods anger are given in Genesis 6 where the reader will find an account of the perversion of morals in mankind: The Nephilim were on earth in those days, and also afterwards when the sons of the gods would consort with the daughters of man, who would bear to them. They were the mighty who were forever men of fame. --- Genesis 6:4 At the turn of the first millennium, mankind fell to its lowest level, as expressed by the word nephilim
]which means the fallen ones. This term refers to the decadence of mankind and is identical to Cains countenance which also fell [ ]after his murder of Abel (Genesis 4:6). The parallel of the two
[ texts is particularly striking because of the similarity of the numbers of these two verses, as if one echoes the other: Genesis 4:6 for Cain who fell and Genesis 6:4 for the Nephilim. And, as the text mentions that these mighty people were forever men of fame, it is generally assumed that they survived the eradication that God was aiming to do: the Flood. Even the animals would be destroyed, as they had been corrupted by mankind through practices of abomination. And God said: "I will wipe out the mankind I have created from the surface of the earth, from man to beast, to the creeping creature, to the bird in the sky, so that I would get consolation from what I have done." But Noah found grace in Gods eyes. --- Genesis 6:7-8 But, because of the character of Metushalach and Noah, God postponed the time of punishment, and also decided to spare His Creation. However, He decided to reduce the lifetime of man on earth: And God said: "My spirit shall not contend evermore concerning Man since he is but flesh. His days shall be a hundred and twenty years." --- Genesis 6:3
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Birth of Noah
Noah was born to Lemech in Hebrew year 1056 (2704 BCE). He was a righteous man and so was his wife Naamah, who had left the land of her Sumerian parents in order to escape the fate of many of the women of these times, being the prey of men and of Nephilim. The name Noah (
of comfort: his father named him so because he hoped that this new son would bring them comfort from all the hardship of working the earth, as God had ordered since Adams original sin. But, when Adam died in Hebrew year 930 (2830 BCE), 800 years after having begot Seth, those who followed his path may have believed that the world would probably come to an end soon after his death. They were fast approaching the first millennium since the Creation. God was not showing His presence anywhere on earth and mankind had badly turned away from His path: the few righteous people surely expected some divine punishment, much worse than the one that Adam had brought to himself with the original sin. Thus the spirits were low after Adams death. But, at the time of Noah's birth in the new millennium when the earth had not been destroyed, people probably thought that the fears were unfounded and this may explain the name of Noah, derived from comfort. And there was another reason for hope with Noah because, while Adam died when Lemech was 56-year old, Noach was born to Lemech 56 years after the start of the new millennium. Lemech may have felt that the birth of Noah, which occurred at a coincidental time, may be a sign that God will eventually accept the redemption from Adams curse, in another word it will be the sign of a comfort from the hardship they endured since Adams sin. This 9th generation provided the bridge between the era of the first millennium, which symbolically ended with the death of Adam, and a new era of hope which symbolically started with the birth of Noah, a character that found grace in Gods eyes. The hope that characterized this generation is also symbolized with the two events that marked its beginning and its end: it started with the departure of Hanoch, who walked in the path of God, and it ended with the arrival of Noah, who found grace in Gods eyes. ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1] Although the city of Thinis has been mentioned in various antique texts, its ruins have never been found; it is assumed to have been located near Abydos` [2] Tirard, H.M., The Book of the Dead, with an introduction by Edouard Naville, London, 1910, chapter 1, page 13: "No nation of the ancient world has cared for their dead to the same degree as the Egyptians; their care for the dead, indeed, far exceeded their care for the living." [3] See online version of The Pyramid Texts, translated by Samuel A.B. Mercer, 1952 Next generation Top of Page
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Generation 23
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Hebrew years 2640 to 2760 (1120-1000 BCE) ~~~ Part I ~~~ Part II ~~~ Part III ~~~
What is new Year 2642 1118 BCE Abimelech and the Sichemites Index of names Creation Generations 1-14 Judge Gideon died 40 years after having liberated his part of the land from the Midianites. He had many legitimate sons and one illegitimate son from a concubine of Sichem, which is in the hill countries of Israel: this son was called Abimelech. The faith, just after Gideons death, quickly weakened, mainly because Gideon himself made an ephod from the gold he obtained from the battle he fought: And it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel again went astray after the Baalim, and made Baal-berith their god. --- Judges 8:33
Generations God raised Abimelech to punish Gideons inheritors. Abimelech gathered a gang of men from his home city and went to kill 15-21 all his half-brothers, the legitimate sons of Gideon. But the youngest one, Jotham, escaped the slaughter. However Abimelech managed to impose his rule over this part of the land for the next 3 years, with the help of the Sichemites. Generations Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Sichem (Judges 9:23). 22-28 ~~~~~~~~~~ Generations 29-35 Year 2645 1115 BCE Death of Abimelech
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Generations Three years into his rule, Abimelech made a siege against one rebellious city. A woman threw a stone from the top of one tower which struck Abimelech onto the head and broke his skull. 36-49 Generation 50 Then he called hastily unto the young man his armour-bearer, and said unto him: Draw your sword and kill me that men say not of me: A woman slew him. And his young man thrust him through, and he died. And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed every man unto his place. Thus God requited the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did unto his father, in slaying his seventy brethren. --- Judges 9:54-56
Year 2645 1115 BCE Judges Tola of Issachar and Yair of Gilead
After the death of Abimelech, God raised Tola son of Puah son of Dodo from Issachar tribe, and Yair from Gilead, a district located east from the Jordan River, in Manasseh territory,[1] to be judges for Israel during 23 and 22 years respectively (Judges 10:1-5). They maintained the hill countries of Israel, on both sides of the Jordan River, quiet during their time. ~~~~~~~~~~
started to move away from their faith under his tenure. ~~~~~~~~~~
Year 2668 1092 BCE The Tribes of Israel widely adopt idolatry
At the end of the 23 years period from Judge Tola, the Israelites sinned again, and badly this time as they adopted pagan rites from most of their neighbours. This was major fallout from Gods path, and the consequence of years of mixing up with the Canaanite neighbours, and inter-marriage: And the children of Israel again did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Baalim, and the Ashtaroth, [2] and the gods of Aram, and the gods of Sidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines; and they forsook the Lord, and served Him not. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and He gave them over into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the children of Ammon. --- Judges 10:6-7
The Israelites adopt pagan rites The divine wrath fell upon the Israelites from the Philistines and the Ammonites.
On the eastern part of the Jordan River, after the death of Judge Yair, came the Ammonites and they later reached over to the hill country on the western part: And they [the Ammonites] oppressed and crushed the children of Israel that year; eighteen years, all the children of Israel that were beyond the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead. And the children of Ammon passed over the Jordan to fight also against Judah, and against Benjamin, and against the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was sore distressed. And the children of Israel cried unto the Lord, saying: "We have sinned against You, in that we have forsaken our God, and have served the Baalim." --- Judges 10:7-10
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--- Judges 14:3-4 As Samson sought after this Philistine woman, God wanted to raise his feeling and anger at them, in order to breed him as a judge to free Israel from their yoke. But the task would not prove to be easy because Samson was a man who enjoyed too much the pleasure of the flesh. His Philistine wife deceived him and he took revenge by killing a number of her people. Then his wife was given to his Philistine friend. Samson took his revenge by burning the crops of the Philistines: Then the Philistines said: "Who has done this?" And they said: "Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite [a Philistine man from the city of Timnah], because he has taken his wife and given her to his companion." And the Philistines came up, and burnt her and her father with fire. --- Judges 15:6 In revenge of their killing of his wife, Samson killed a great number of Philistines with the jawbone of an ass.
Samson kills a number of Philistines with a jaw-bone (Gustave Dor, 1868) Despite Samson being a Judge for Israel, the yoke of the Philistines was over the Israelites for a total of 40 years, because, concerning Samson, the text states that he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years (Judges 15:20). These 20 years correspond to Samsons lifetime and then the Philistines continued their oppression over Israel for another 20 years.
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Samson brought an end to himself when he coupled with a Philistine prostitute from Gaza called Delilah. She was used by the Philistines as a spy to find the secret of Samsons supernatural strength and she managed to get it: And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying: "Come up this once, for he has told me all his heart." Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought the money in their hand. And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and had the seven locks of his head shaved off; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him. And she said: "The Philistines are upon you, Samson." And he awoke out of his sleep, and said: "I will go out as at other times, and shake myself." But he knew not that the Lord was departed from him. And the Philistines laid hold on him, and put out his eyes; and they brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison-house. However the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven. --- Judges 16:18-22 Delilah was evil because, after having sold him for money, she took pleasure in teasing him and oppressing his feelings. Yet he would not do anything to her, so much was he besotted with her. He was taken, blind and prisoner, to Gaza. But when he met his end, his hair had grown enough for God to remember His Judge and to allow him a last strike to the temple of his enemies, dedicated to their main god Dagon:[4] And Samson said [to the Lord]: "Let me die with the Philistines." And he bent with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead that he slew at his death were more than they that he slew in his life. --- Judges 16:30
Blind and in chains, Samson destroys the Temple of Dagon (Gustave Dor, 1868) ~~~~~~~~~~
Yiftah and his band in the Jordan valley (source: St-Takla.org) He first tried to reason the king of Ammon to make peace, arguing that the Israelites had dwelled 300 years in that side of the Jordan River so ought to own the land by now since there had been no claim about it during that entire period (Judges 3:30). How comes this period of 300 years? Yiftah knew that the first Israelites arrived to the region of Gilead many years before the Exodus. The period of 300 years before his time falls some years after the birth of Moses, around Hebrew year 2386 (1374 BCE), when the oppression on the Hebrews was starting to ease towards the end of Pharaoh Amenhotep III. Young Moses was already a boy, adopted cousin of Pharaoh's heir the future monotheist Akhenaten. This drove some of the Hebrews to flee Egypt and, being unwelcome in Canaan, as it would happen again at the time of the Exodus, they had followed the same route taken later by Moses and had settled in the eastern side of the Jordan River, in the inhabited land between Amon in the East, Aram in the north and Moab in the south. The Hebrews knew that the land of Canaan had been promised by God to their ancestors and they had waited in this location until the day would come. During all that time, they were not driven out by the Ammonites, as Yiftah claimed on that day. This mention of 300 years is one of the reason why the author of the original Seder Olam had calculated that the period fo the Judges had lasted about 350 years, because he assumed that the 300 years mentioned by Yiftah must have been counted -logically- from the time the Israelites entered Canaan, or at least the eastern side of the Jordan River. But, as explained before, we cannot consider the period of Judges to be extending to such a long time of 350 years otherwise the assumption would conflict with the period of the Kings and with historical evidence. So the only logical interpretation of this mention of 300 years by Yiftah is that some Israelites moved out of Egypt before the Exodus and settled in the eastern side of the Jordan River until the bulk of the Hebrews joined them much later.[5] But the Ammonites did not comply with Yiftahs offer of peace. War ensued and they lost.
Yiftah in Gilead Before going to war, Yiftah made a fateful vow to God that cost him dearly:
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And Yiftah vowed a vow unto the Lord, and said: "If You will indeed deliver the children of Ammon into my hand, then it shall be, that whatsoever come forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, it shall be the Lord's, and I will offer it up for a burnt-offering." So Yiftah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them; and the Lord delivered them into his hand. And he smote them from Aroer until you come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and unto Abel-Cheramim, with a very great slaughter. So the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel. And Yiftah came to Mizpah unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances; and she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter. And it came to pass, when he saw her that he rent his clothes, and said: "Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you are become my troubler; for I have opened my mouth unto the Lord, and I cannot go back." And she said unto him: "My father, you have opened your mouth unto the Lord; do unto me according to that which has proceeded out of your mouth; forasmuch as the Lord has taken vengeance for you of your enemies, even of the children of Ammon." And she said unto her father: "Let this thing be done for me: let me alone two months, that I may depart and go down upon the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my companions." And he said: "Go." And he sent her away for two months; and she departed, she and her companions, and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains. And it came to pass at the end of two months that she returned unto her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed; and she had not known man. And it was a custom in Israel, that the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the daughter of Yiftah the Gileadite four days in a year. --- Judges 11:30-40
Yiftah's daughter (source: Bible Revival) Yiftah had to comply with his vow and maybe he had hoped that an angel would be sent to stop him at the last moment as it happened with their ancestor Abraham. But, in the latter case, it was God who requested Abraham to act so it was God who stopped it. In this case, it was Yiftah who made a foolish vow to sacrifice the first being, animal or person, who will come to his house after the battle. Then why would some person be randomly sacrificed? The Bible forbids human sacrifice, and Yiftah followed one of these abominable pagan customs when he made his fateful vow. God abhors people who swear or make vows in His name, so He wanted to punish Yiftah for this, which would cost a human sacrifice.
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His daughter had to pay the price of such vow, and nobody else. This Biblical story was echoed in Greek history too, when both Agamemnon, king of the Greeks, and Priam, king of the Trojans, sacrificed their daughters, Polyxena and Iphigenia respectively, in order to secure good omen in the war. Unlike other judges who brought peace over Israel for lengthy periods of time, Yiftah was judge only for 6 years (Judges 12:7). This probably reflected Gods displeasure at what he had done. Yiftah could not have been a role model for his generation after having sacrificed a human being, his own daughter, as Canaanite peoples he fought against would do themselves. The last years of the life of Yiftah were also tarnished by the war that the Tribe of Ephraim waged against them. These Israelites probably wanted to pass to the eastern side of the Jordan River, as fugitives from the oppression they had from the Philistines in their territory around Hebrew year 2688 (1072 BCE). These fugitives from Ephraim probably hoped to dislodge the Israelites from Gilead and take away their inheritance. Despite Yiftah's own sin for which he had paid the dearest price, God would not allow this to happen and His spirit was with His Judge who prevailed against Ephraim. This war caused the death of 42,000 men from Ephraim. Yiftah died 6 years after having liberated his land, so it was in Hebrew year 2692 (1068 BCE). ~~~~~~~~~~
Priest Eli and young Samuel - by John Singleton Copley, 1780 (Wadsworth Atheneum, USA) Eli had two sons: Hophni and Phinehas. They were corrupt but Eli did not redress them. Through Samuel, who then acted as a Prophet for the first time when he was just 13 years old (the age of Bar-Mitzvah), God told Eli what will become of his descendance:
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"Behold, the days come, that I will cut off your arm, and the arm of your father's house, that there shall not be an old man in your house. And you shall behold a rival in My habitation, in all the good which shall be done to Israel; and there shall not be an old man in your house for ever. Yet will I not cut off every man of yours from My altar, to make your eyes to fail, and your heart to languish; and all the increase of your house shall die young men. And this shall be the sign unto you, that which shall come upon your two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas: in one day they shall die both of them. And I will raise up for Me a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in My heart and in My mind; and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before Mine anointed forever. And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left in your house shall come and bow down to him for a piece of silver and a loaf of bread, and shall say: Put me, I pray you, into one of the priests' offices, that I may eat a morsel of bread." --- I Samuel 2:31-36 In one sense, we can assume that the morality among the Israelites was so low, and the examples given by the heirs to the priesthood was so bad, that the move to idolatry had become inevitable. When men of importance, in religion or politics, give a bad public example, the morale and the society collapse. ~~~~~~~~~~
Year 2688 1072 BCE The Ark of Covenant is captured Death of Eli the High Priest
During the war against the Philistines who pitched their army in Aphek (west from present day Tel-Aviv), the Israelites of the hill country assembled for battle and asked for the Ark of Covenant to be brought down from Shiloh in the valley to support their stake against the enemy. It was the first time that the Ark was taken to the battlefield since the fall of Jericho. The sons of Eli took the Ark, without their fathers knowledge, to the Israelite camp. But the battle was lost and both of Eli's sons died. Worse, the Ark was taken away to Ashdod, in the Temple of the Philistines. When he learned about this double catastrophe on the same day, Eli collapsed and died: he was 98 years old (I Samuel 4:15). He was born in Shiloh after the Israelites allowed the Benjamites to take away girls during a holy festival. Elis birth and death were marked by events of sad memory in Jewish History.
The death of Eli the Priest (illustration from a Bible, source Genebrooks Blog) The curse that God announced upon Eli was that the priests will no longer enjoy a long life, as he and his fathers had benefited before. The person who brought the news that the Ark had been taken away was mentioned in the text: And there ran a man of Benjamin out of the army, and came to Shiloh the same day with his clothes rent, and with earth upon his head. --- I Samuel 4:12 This person was no ordinary because he didnt just bring the news of the defeat, or the loss of the Ark, but he actually mourned the situation (as he rent his clothes and put earth on his head, as pious people did in a day of atonement). He was the first Israelite to mourn the loss of the Ark. He will be rewarded by God as being selected to rule over his people, later on, as King Saul, from Benjamin tribe. ~~~~~~~~~~
Year 2688 1072 BCE Birth of Ichabod, son of Phinehas, son of Eli
When Eli died, he had judged Israel for 40 years (I Samuel 4:18). The wife of his dead son Phinehas was reaching term of a pregnancy and the shock of the news brought the birth of her child prematuraly, and she also died at his birth: And his daughter-in-law, Phinehas' wife, was with child, near to be delivered; and when she heard the tidings that the Ark of God was taken, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and brought forth; for her pains came suddenly upon her. And about the time of her death the women that stood by her said unto her: "Fear not; for you have brought forth a son." But she answered not, neither did she regard it. And she named the child Ichabod, saying: "The glory is departed from Israel"; because the Ark of God was taken, and because of her father-in-law and her husband. And she said: "The glory is departed from Israel; for the Ark of God is taken." --- I Samuel 4:19-22 ~~~~~~~~~~
Eben-Ezer to the Philistine city of Ashdod, and placed in the temple of Dagon, the fish-god of Philistia. But every morning the statue of Dagon was found face on the floor, so the Philistines started to fear from the Ark and sent it to the city of Gath. There God smote the people of Gath with hemorrhoids. So Gath sent the Ark to Ekron, another of the five Philistine cities.[6] But there again, God smote the people of that city and the Philistines finally decided to return the Ark to the Israelites, after seven months (I Samuel 6:1). They loaded it with guilt-offering and took it to the border of the territory withJudah, near the city of Beth-Shemesh, during the harvesting of the wheat. But the people of Beth-Shemesh were also punished for having gazed upon the Ark: God smote 50,070 of them (I Samuel 6:19). They asked the Ark to be removed from their territory: And the men of Kiriath-Jearim came, and fetched up the Ark of the Lord, and brought it into the house of Abinadab in the hill, and sanctified Eleazar his son to keep the Ark of the Lord. --- I Samuel 7:1 Kiriath-Jearim is a city in the Judean hills towards Jerusalem.[7] The Ark remained there until King David will bring it to Jerusalem, 20 years later, when he will become king over all Israel (I Samuel 7:2) in Hebrew year 2708. Meanwhile, Samuel had become the only spiritual leader, and Prophet. Thanks to his righteousness, God had reduced the oppression from the Philistines to the Israelite borders: So the Philistines were subdued, and they came no more within the border of Israel; and the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. --- I Samuel 7:13 The Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel, but it didn't mean that their oppression ended in his days. They continued to wage war against Israel, and will eventually gain success again after the death of Samuel, and until the reign of King David over all Israel. ~~~~~~~~~~
Year 2688-2692 1072-1068 BCE Judge Ibzan of Beth-Lehem, Judge Elon of Zebulon, Judge Avdon son of Hillel of Ephraim
To contain the Philistines in the valleys from Hebrew year 2688, and to replace Judge Yiftah who died in 2092, God raised three other judges who kept the remaining Israelite territories at peace.
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Ibzan of Beth-Lehem belonged to the tribe of Judah. The Biblical text mentions that he had 30 daughters that he sent out, presumably to marry out of his tribe, and brought 30 girls to marry his own 30 sons. This was not commendable, as the text suggested that these marriages were made out of the community of the Israelites. Ibzan only judged for a short period of 7 years. Some tradition assumes that Ibzan was Boaz who married Ruth the Moabite, maybe because of the detail that both were from Beth-Lehem. But this assumption would not match the chronology of the events because Boaz was the great-grand-father of the future King David, 3 generations away from the current time. Elon from the tribe of Zebulun, judged for 10 years. He pushed back the Philistines from the northern part of the land. Abdon, son of Hillel the Pirathonite, a grand-father from the tribe of Ephraim, removed the threat against the rest of the hill countries and judged for 8 years. After their time, the Philistines were still dominating in the central and southern part of the land, but not the hill countries. ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1] According to Numbers 32:40 [2] The Baalim are the idols and the Astaroth are the goddesses, of which Astarte was a major one, also known as Ishtar in Mesopotamia [3] Ir-Shemesh was part of Dan's inheritance according to Joshua 19:40-41 [4] According to Jewish tradition, Dagon was a fish-god, which is not surprising for people like the Philistines who lived by the sea [5] The Seder Olam does mention the return of some Hebrews to Canaan "under the leadership of Gon" (?), but assumes that it happened at the end of the 400 years period that Abraham was told by God during the Covenant; the other assumption made is that "many perished" in their attempt; so the conclusion we can make is that returns from Egypt did happen, although not in mass until the Exodus, and that, if many perished, some must have succeeded to settle down [6] The five cities of Philistia were Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath and Ekron (I Samuel 6:17) [7] Some say that Kiriat-Jearim is today the Arab Israeli city of Abu Gosh, because the old arab name of this city of Qaryat al'Inab, the "Village of the Grapes"
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Home Contact What is new A few years later, when Abram was 99 years old, God appeared to him again, this time to make a Covenant: Index of names Creation Generations 1-14 "As for me, here is My covenant with you; you shall be the father of a multitude of nations; and your name will no longer be called Abram but your name shall be Abraham because I have given you to be the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you many many descendants, and make nations of you, and kings will come out from you. And I will ratify My covenant between Me and you, and between your offspring after you, for their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God for you, and for your offspring after you. And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land where you sojourn, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting portion, and I shall be God for them." --- Genesis 17:1-8 Previous <<
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Hebrew years 2040 to 2160 (1720-1600 BCE) Year 2047 1713 BCE God makes a covenant with Abraham
Generations Compared to the previous promise that God made to Abram, to give to his descendants all the land from Egypt to 15-21 the Euphrates, the promise has now been "reduced" to all the land of Canaan. It may be seen contradictory but it is not: most of the promised land, from Egypt to the Euphrates, will be given to Ishmael, while the land of Canaan will be given to the Generations son that Abram will have after Ishmael. Thus Abram's inheritance has been shared between the two sons. 22-28 God changed the name of Abram into Abraham to give it a significance. Do names have such role? A teaching of the Generations Talmud says so: 29-35 Generations 36-49 How do we know that the name [of a person] determines ones destiny? R. Eleazar said: Scripture says: "Come, behold the works of the Lord, who has made desolations in the earth (Psalms 46:9)." Read not shammoth [desolations], but shemoth [names]. --- Talmud, Berachot, 7b
Generation 50 The word used in this Psalm is indeed [ names] and not [ desolations].
Then God ordered Abraham to perform the circumcision of all males after 8 days from birth, as an agreement of the covenant with Him: "Thus My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. And an uncircumcised male who will not have the flesh of his foreskin circumcised, you shall cut off this soul from its people: he has invalidated My covenant." --- Genesis 17:13-14 Finally God ordered Abraham to call his wife Sarah from now on, instead of Sarai, and told him that she will conceive a son that they will call Isaac. Concerning Abrahams two sons, God made the following statement: "Here, I have blessed him [Ishmael], and will make many descendants from him, and I will multiply him a great lot; twelve princes will be born from him and I will give them to be a great nation. But I will maintain My covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year." --- Genesis 17:20-21 And Abraham circumcised himself and his son Ishmael, and all the male servants and slaves of his house on the same day that God had spoken to him. Ishmael was then 13 years old and this explains why the Muslim people, who are the spiritual descendants of Ishmael, circumcise their sons at that age until today. Although, strictly speaking, they received God's blessing with no obligation for the act of circumcision which was only imposed on the descendance of Isaac, as an acceptance of His covenant. But, Ishmael having been circumcised like the rest of the male household of Abraham, he took this tradition in his descendance. ~~~~~~~~~~
Excavations at Tall el-Hammam (source: article in Biblical Archaeology Review March-April 2013) Lot and his daughters escaped to the city of Zoar, which is located east from the valley, in Moab territory (now Jordan), where the two daughters bore sons from their father, in one rare occurence of incestuous story in the Bible: The older one bore a son whom she named Moab ( )who is the ancestor of the Moabites until this day. And the younger one she too bore a son whom she named Ben-Ammi (- )who is the ancestor of the Ammonites until this day. --- Genesis 19-37-38 The laws of incest were not formally known at the time of the procreation of the daughters of Lot with their father, but they were nonetheless admitted as part of the Noachide laws, as sexual transgressions. The daughters wanted to procreate and had no expectation to find any husband after fleeing their city. So they had made their father drunken in order to couple with him without his knowledge. Strangely, the chapter Genesis 19 started with the tale of the sexual sins of the Sodomites, which caused their destruction, and ended with the sexual sin of Lots daughters, from whom the final Redemption will come.[3] The same chapter of the two stories may be a way to show that when God decides to punish mankind for their sins, He also offers the root for their redemption at the same time. The name Moab means from the father and the name Ben-Ammi means son of my people. The kingdom of Moab was located at the East from the Dead Sea, while the kingdom of Ammon was located north from it, also at the East of the Jordan River. ~~~~~~~~~~
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The burial of Sarah in the Cave of Machpelah (Gustave Dor, 1866) According to Tradition, the place was the burial location of Adam and Eve. The names Machpelah and [Kirith] Arba explains it because Machpelah means double (couple, pair) and Arba means four:
The Cave of Machpelah. Rab and Samuel differ as to its meaning. One holds that the cave consisted of two chambers one within the other; and the other holds that it consisted of a lower and upper chamber. According to him who holds that the chambers were one above the other the term 'machpelah' is well justified but according to him who holds that it consisted of two chambers one within the other, what could be the meaning of machpelah? That it had multiples of couples. Mamreh the city of Arba. R. Isaac explained: The city of the 'four' couples: Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Leah. --- Talmud, Eiruvin 53a ~~~~~~~~~~
But Abraham considered Isaac as his only spiritual heir, as God had told him. Isaac was born in Canaan and will never leave the land of Canaan. Abraham gave all what he had to Isaac. And to the sons of the concubine who were Abrahams, Abraham gave them presents and sent them away from his son Isaac, while he was still alive, eastward to the previous land. --- Genesis 25:5-6 Abraham did not want to leave Isaac with any conflict from his half-brothers from Keturah, and sent them east from Canaan. But most of them finally settled in the Arabian Peninsula, or towards Charan, and some of them must have gone as far as the Mesopotamia where they mixed there with the locals and did not form a distinctive people. As of Midian, he kept in the monotheist faith, as his father Abraham, and settled close enough from Isaac, in the Sinai peninsula: he is the ancestor of Moses' father-in-law. ~~~~~~~~~~
Year 2123 1637 BCE Death of Abraham; Esau sells his birth-right
Both boys grew up in different ways, Esau as a hunter who was living in the field, and Jacob as a simple person living and studying in the tents. One evening, Esau came back from the field and asked his brother to serve him the red stuff () that was in his stew: this is why Esau was also named Edom (). Jacob said: "Sell as this day your birth right to me." Esau said: "Here, I am going to die, and what use is for me a birth right?" Jacob said: "Swear to me as this day," and he swore to him. And he sold his birth right to Jacob. Jacob gave to Esau bread and a stew of lentils, and he ate and drank, got up and left. And Esau spurned the birth right. --- Genesis 25:31-34 Jewish tradition indicated that Jacob was cooking a stew of lentils because his grandfather Abraham had just died and this was in fact the mourners meal. Esau did not feel concerned with Abrahams death and went to the field, to carry out his usual hunting as if everything was normal at a time when many people, including Ishmael, had gathered at the familys camp to mourn the death of Abraham whom they knew was guided by God. And Abraham expired, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people. --- Genesis 25:8 Abraham had lived another 38 years after Sarahs death and died at the age of 175, in year 2123. He was buried in the Cave of Machpelah, near his wife Sarah. Both boys Esau and Jacob were 15 years old at this time.
Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron, mosque built by the Turks above the Cave of Machpelah (engraving by David Roberts, 1838) ~~~~~~~~~~
Shem, the wise Melki-Tedek who lived in Salem, died in 2158, after a lifetime of 600 years. He was the last living witness of the Flood. He had passed all his knowledge of God to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob over the last years of his life. Jacob was 50 years old at the death of Shem. ~~~~~~~~~~
Epic of Atrahasis (British Museum, room 56, #ME 78941) These ancient tales of the Flood are very comparable to the story of the Bible, with more similarities found compared to the tales of the Creation. The latter being a much older story, with witnesses who were no longer alive, it has become distorted in the memory of Humanity. But, as for the Flood, it is a different situation. Although some people believe that the similarities with the Bible are coincidental, which could be accepted if the stories were just about a destruction of the world, but the stories contain details that cannot have been created from pure imagination. For example, beside the fact that the destruction was done by a "flood" in all these stories, here are some unsual details that are also common to the Bible: - the boat (or ark) carrying Noah and his company stopped on a mountain - when Noah wanted to check the levels of the waters, he waited seven days, and then he sent a dove which came back to him: these details are also found in the Epic of Gilgamesh - then Noah sent a raven, and then knew that the levels were right On Mount Nimu the boat lodged firm, Mount Nimu held the boat, allowing no sway. One day and a second Mount Nimu held the boat, allowing no sway. A third day, a fourth, Mount Nimu held the boat, allowing no sway. A fifth day, a sixth, Mount Nimu held the boat, allowing no sway. When a seventh day arrived I sent forth a dove and released it. The dove went off, but came back to me;
no perch was visible so it circled back to me. I sent forth a swallow and released it. The swallow went off, but came back to me; no perch was visible so it circled back to me. I sent forth a raven and released it. The raven went off, and saw the waters slither back. It eats, it scratches, it bobs, but does not circle back to me. --- Epic of Gilgamesh, tablet XI, source Livius.org These details that are shared between these recorded tales and the Bible cannot possibly be the result of mere coincidences, unless someone would want to defy the laws of Probability ! The fact is that these tales recorded the same event and this fact is not seriously disputed. The question is to know if this event was a local catastrophy or a more global event that affected the entire planet. The Bible and these tales are supporting the latter, whereas some people may believe otherwise despite what these ancient records are telling us in unison. ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1] The word sodomy is derived from the name of the city of Sodom; this sexual act was officially prohibited in the Roman Empire, based on the account of the Bible, by Emperor Justinian in year 559 CE (source: Novelle 141) [2] Collins, Steven, Where is Sodom? The case for Tall el-Hammam, Biblical Archaeology Review, March-April 2013, pp. 32-41 [3] The Messiah will be a descendant from King David, who was a descendant from Ruth the Moabite, whose ancestor was Moab, the son issued from the incestuous act that Lot's daughter had performed. [4] See article on Abimilki in Wikipedia. [5] The number 21 is equal to three times 7, which represents the 7th day of Shabbat, a direct order from God upon His Creation. The fact that Isaac came in the 3rd divine attempt means that these attempts reached a completion cycle, because the number 3 in Hebrew represents the completion, similarly to the 3 patriarchs, the 3 daily prayers, the 3 holy festivals, and so on [6] The British Museum has a collection of over 30,000 of such tablets that were found in Nineveh [7] The Enuma Elish consists of 7 tablets telling about the Creation; these tablets have been dated of the 7th century BCE but the text is assumed to have been composed much earlier, maybe around the time of Hammurabi Next generation Top of Page
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Hebrew years 3720 to 3840 (40 BCE - 80 CE) ~~~ Part I ~~~ Part II ~~~ Part III ~~~ Part IV ~~~ Part V ~~~
In 66, a new procurator called Florus, who was born in Asia Minor, came to Judea to replace Albinus, the successor of Felix. And again Agrippa II changed the High Priest and chose Mattathias ben Theophilus, another Sadduccee. Josephus has written a famous book about this Judeo-Roman war that led to the destruction of the Temple and the end of Generations the independence of the Jewish nation: 1-14 Now Gessius Florus, who was sent as successor to Albinus by Nero, filled Judea with abundance of miseries. [] This Florus was so wicked, and so violent in the use of his authority, that the Jews took Albinus to have been [comparatively] Generations their benefactor; so excessive were the mischiefs that he brought upon them. For Albinus concealed his wickedness, and 15-21 was careful that it might not be discovered to all men; but Gessius Florus, as though he bad been sent on purpose to show his crimes to every body, made a pompous ostentation of them to our nation, as never omitting any sort of violence, nor Generations any unjust sort of punishment; for he was not to be moved by pity, and never was satisfied with any degree of gain that came 22-28 in his way; nor had he any more regard to great than to small acquisitions, but became a partner with the robbers themselves. [] And what need I say any more upon this head? Since it was this Florus who necessitated us to take up Generations arms against the Romans, while we thought it better to be destroyed at once, than by little and little. Now this war began in 29-35 the second year of the government of Florus, and the twelfth year of the reign of Nero. --- Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, book 20,252 Generations 36-49 Generation 50 Josephus finished the account of his Jewish Antiquities at the beginning of this war, as he had already written the Wars of the Jews prior to the Antiquities. Faithful to his usual avoidance of blaming any Roman policy (although he frequently blamed Roman rulers of the region), he asserted that the war started because of the tensions with the Hellenistic community of Caesaria, in the month of Artemisins, which is Hebrew Nisan, the month when a lot of Jews would celebrate the Passover festival [1]: Now at this time it happened that the Grecians at Cesarea had been too hard for the Jews, and had obtained of Nero the government of the city, and had brought the judicial determination: at the same time began the war, in the twelfth year of the reign of Nero, and the seventeenth of the reign of Agrippa, in the month of Artemisins [Jyar]. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 2, 14,4 The Jews complained to Florus but he was determined to use a harsh hand on them. He requested payment of a large sum from the Temple treasures, which outraged the Jews. As a response, he marched to Jerusalem and ordered his soldiers to plunder part of the city, the wealthier Upper Market place, in reprisal. He went as far as executing Jews who had Roman status, an act never done before by any Roman official. This took place while Agrippa II was in Alexandria to congratulate the new governor, his friend Tiberius Alexander, the former Roman procurator of Judea whose family was of Jewish origin. Agrippa's sister Bernice was in Jerusalem at the time, and tried to intercede in order to restore peace, but Florus would not change his mind. The matter was then brought to the attention of Cestius, the governor of the Syrian province: However, Florus contrived another way to oblige the Jews to begin the war, and sent to Cestius, and accused the Jews falsely of revolting [from the Roman government], and imputed the beginning of the former fight to them, and pretended they had been the authors of that disturbance, wherein they were only the sufferers. Yet were not the governors of Jerusalem silent upon this occasion, but did themselves write to Cestius, as did Bernice also, about the illegal practices of which Florus had been guilty against the city; who, upon reading both accounts, consulted with his captains [what he should do]. Now some of them thought it best for Cestius to go up with his army, either to punish the revolt, if it was real, or to settle the Roman affairs on a surer foundation, if the Jews continued quiet under them; but he thought it best himself to send one of his intimate friends beforehand, to see the state of affairs, and to give him a faithful account of the intentions of the Jews. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 2, 16,1 Cestius sent an emissary who met with Agrippa who was returning from Alexandria. They toured Jerusalem and saw that people were not seditious as Florus had depicted the situation. But the Jews were eager to either send representatives to Nero to complain about Florus, or to start a war. Agrippa made an address to them against the idea of war against Rome: Moreover, ten thousand ether nations there are who had greater reason than we to claim their entire liberty, and yet do submit. You are the only people who think it a disgrace to be servants to those to whom all the world has submitted. What sort of an army do you rely on? What are the arms you depend on? Where is your fleet that may seize upon the Roman seas? And where are those treasures which may be sufficient for your undertakings? Do you suppose, I pray you, that you are to make war with the Egyptians, and with the Arabians? Will you not carefully reflect upon the Roman Empire? Will you not estimate your own weakness? Has not your army been often beaten even by your neighboring nations, while the power of the Romans is invincible in all parts of the habitable earth? [] Are you richer than the Gauls, stronger than the Germans, wiser than the Greeks, more numerous than all men upon the habitable earth? What confidence is it that elevates you to oppose the Romans? --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 2, 16,4 Initially the people seemed to follow Agrippas advice but soon after showed signs of rebellion. Agrippa left the city to its fate and returned to his abode. The spirit of war was warming up:
http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g32-jewish-war.html (1 of 11) [6/11/2013 11:38:41 AM]
And at this time it was that some of those that principally excited the people to go to war made an assault upon a certain fortress called Masada. They took it by treachery, and slew the Romans that were there, and put others of their own party to keep it. At the same time Eleazar, the son of Ananias the high priest, a very bold youth, who was at that time governor of the temple, persuaded those that officiated in the Divine service to receive no gift or sacrifice for any foreigner. And this was the true beginning of our war with the Romans; for they rejected the sacrifice of Caesar on this account; and when many of the high priests and principal men besought them not to omit the sacrifice, which it was customary for them to offer for their princes, they would not be prevailed upon. These relied much upon their multitude, for the most flourishing part of the innovators assisted them; but they had the chief regard to Eleazar, the governor of the temple. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 2, 17,2 The resistance came from people that Josephus called the innovators, most probably the youth. The Elders and the priests also tried to avoid the war but failed. So then they applied to Florus to come and end the sedition before it would spread too far. But it was too late. The seditious burned the palace of Agrippa and other official buildings on the 14th of the month of Av (22 July 66). The next day they besieged the Antonia fortress and other towers of the citadel. But then they behaved ignonimously as, after securing a truce with the garrison, promising them safe passage if they would lay down their arms, they killed them all once the soldiers walked out of their refuges. This loss to the Romans was but light, there being no more than a few slain out of an immense army; but still it appeared to be a prelude to the Jews' own destruction, while men made public lamentation when they saw that such occasions were afforded for a war as were incurable; that the city was all over polluted with such abominations, from which it was but reasonable to expect some vengeance, even though they should escape revenge from the Romans; so that the city was filled with sadness, and every one of the moderate men in it were under great disturbance, as likely themselves to undergo punishment for the wickedness of the seditious; for indeed it so happened that this murder was perpetrated on the sabbath day, on which day the Jews have a respite from their works on account of Divine worship. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 2, 17,10 In parallel of the killing of the Roman garrison on a Sabbath day, the Jews of Caesarea were all killed by the Greek inhabitants. The ones who survived were sent to the galleys by Florus. This killing caused a harsh response from the Jews of Judea who, in their turn, attacked several Hellenised neighbouring cities and destroyed them, slaughtering local populations on the way. Some of the cities from Galilee however opposed a resistance to these attacks and defended their Greek neighbours: But when they [the Judeans] made excursions to Scythopolis, they found Jew that acted as enemies; for as they stood in battle-array with those of Scythopolis, and preferred their own safety before their relation to us, they fought against their own countrymen; nay, their alacrity was so very great, that those of Scythopolis suspected them. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 2, 18,3 Scythopolis was the hellenized Decapolis city of Beth-Shean where the body of King Saul had been displayed by the Philistines.
Scythopolis (Beth-Shean, Northern Israel) The situation was fast turning into an open war between the Jews and the Gentiles in the country. Many cities attacking the civilians of one camp or the other. Some other people preferred to leave the cities they dwelled in by fear of killing from the other community. The unrest reached the city of Alexandria in Egypt, which had often witnessed hatred between the various communities, Greeks, Egyptians and Jews, the latter representing no less of one third of the population and enjoying
special favour from the city leaders, from Alexander to Julius Caesar. But, this time, the Greek residents were joined by the Roman authorities in their hatred against the Jews of the city. Worse, the Roman army was under the command of Tiberius Alexander, who was of Jewish origin and a friend of Agrippa II: They [the Roman soldiers] were also permitted not only to kill them, but to plunder them of what they had, and to set fire to their houses. These soldiers rushed violently into that part of the city that was called Delta, where the Jewish people lived together, and did as they were bidden, though not without bloodshed on their own side also; for the Jews got together, and set those that were the best armed among them in the forefront, and made a resistance for a great while; but when once they gave back, they were destroyed unmercifully; and this their destruction was complete, some being caught in the open field, and others forced into their houses, which houses were first plundered of what was in them, and then set on fire by the Romans; wherein no mercy was shown to the infants, and no regard had to the aged; but they went on in the slaughter of persons of every age, till all the place was overflowed with blood, and fifty thousand of them lay dead upon heaps; nor had the remainder been preserved, had they not be-taken themselves to supplication. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 2, 18,8 Cestius, the governor of the Syrian province, had to intervene and moved to Judea after the summer, occupying first the cities in the plain. He then sent the 12th Legion to free up the Galilee, which was less sedituous than Judea. This was done with relative ease. ~~~~~~~~~~
Beth-Horon in 1880 To escape the trap, Cestius sacrificed a part of his army to keep the stand, while he marched at night with the rest, quietly, until they reached the fortress of Antipatris (Tel Afeq, near modern Tel-Aviv). In total, the Romans lost over 5000 soldiers in this campaign of Jerusalem, a number which was the size of an entire legion. Many Sadducees took the opportunity of the temporary rest to flee from Jerusalem, in fear of the future reprisal from Rome. Cestius sent some of them to Nero to explain the situation, and to blame the unrest on the actions of the procurator Florus. On their side, the Jews took the opportunity to organise their army and their defense and divided the control of the country between several commanders each in charge of a respective region. This is when Josephus was given the charge over Galilee. He organised his administration by appointing seventy elders in each major city to look over the civilian affairs of their respective city. He also raised an army of 60,000 foot men, but they were ill equipped and had no experience of soldier. ~~~~~~~~~~
The Mona Lisa of Sepphoris (Tzippori, Israel) Josephus gives a good account of the military machine that was the Roman army in these times. Here is one extract, when the call for battle is made in a Roman camp: Now when they are to go out of their camp, the trumpet gives a sound, at which time nobody lies still, but at the first intimation they take down their tents, and all is made ready for their going out; then do the trumpets sound again, to order them to get ready for the march; then do they lay their baggage suddenly upon their mules, and other beasts of burden, and stand, as at the place of starting, ready to march; when also they set fire to their camp, and this they do because it will be easy for them to erect another camp, and that it may not ever be of use to their enemies. Then do the trumpets give a sound the third time, that they are to go out, in order to excite those that on any account are a little tardy, that so no one may be out of his rank when the army marches. Then does the crier stand at the general's right hand, and asks them thrice, in their own tongue, whether they be now ready to go out to war or not? To which they reply as often, with a loud and cheerful voice, saying, "We are ready." And this they do almost before the question is asked them: they do this as filled with a kind of martial fury, and at the same time that they so cry out, they lift up their right hands also. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 3,5,4 In comparison, the Jewish revolt was poorly organised, poorly controlled, and only excited by fervour with no military preparation nor any expertise in proper war. The Roman army was composed of three legions (about 15,000) of very experienced warriors, a cavalry, and many auxiliaries from foreign recruit, as well as a vast number of defectors from the Jewish nation. In total, Vespasians army was strong of 60,000 fighters. ~~~~~~~~~~
After this incident, and out of revenge for their general, the Romans fought with greater vigour. The fight continued into the month of Sivan (May-June). At that time, the besieged people were in want of water supply, and it was the hot season. On the 47th day of siege, the Roman army was preparing itself for the final assault led by Titus himself. The city was long depleted of its people, who died from earlier assaults. For the Romans, it was a time of revenge after having enduring such a long resistance: And for the Romans, they so well remembered what they had suffered during the siege, that they spared none, nor pitied any, but drove the people down the precipice from the citadel, and slew them as they drove them down; at which time the difficulties of the place hindered those that were still able to fight from defending themselves; for as they were distressed in the narrow streets, and could not keep their feet sure along the precipice, they were overpowered with the crowd of those that came fighting them down from the citadel. This provoked a great many, even of those chosen men that were about Josephus, to kill themselves with their own hands; for when they saw that they could kill none of the Romans, they resolved to prevent being killed by the Romans, and got together in great numbers in the utmost parts of the city, and killed themselves. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 3,7,34 After killing all the remaining males and sending women and children captive, Vespasian ordered the destruction of the city: So Vespasian gave order that the city should be entirely demolished, and all the fortifications burnt down. And thus was Jotapata taken, in the thirteenth year of the reign of Nero, on the first day of the month Panemus [Tammuz]. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 3,7,36 As of Josephus, his account of what happened to him may be subject to controversy considering that most fighters preferred to kill themselves rather than be subjected to the anger of the Romans after such a long siege. He would have expected the worst punishment from the soldiery. He however explained that he and others managed to hide themselves in a hole when the city was taken, and were discovered after three days. He was offered protection from the vengeance of the soldiers to be taken to Vespasian who, apparently, was determined to preserve a man of his courage (Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 3,8,2). But his companions were desirious to die to to have Josephus die with them. They drew cast and killed themselves one after the other but, owing to chance or providence, Josephus ended up to be the last one with another man who he convinced to remain alive with him. Josephus finally gave himself up to Vespasian with the goal to tell future generations what would happen in this war. For this, we can agree that he had succeeded as he gave to the Posterity an invaluable account of the events that led to the destruction of the Jewish nation. Josephus later adopted a Roman name, Flavius Josephus, in honor to Vespasian, Flavia being the name of his family. Vespasian will later create the Flavius dynasty which will give three emperors between the years 69 and 96. In fact, Josephus stated that he announced to Vespasian that he will become emperor: When he had said this, Vespasian at present did not believe him, but supposed that Josephus said this as a cunning trick, in order to his own preservation; but in a little time he was convinced, and believed what he said to be true, God himself erecting his expectations, so as to think of obtaining the empire, and by other signs fore-showing his advancement. He also found Josephus to have spoken truth on other occasions; for one of those friends that were present at that secret conference said to Josephus, "I cannot but wonder how you could not foretell to the people of Jotapata that they should be taken, nor could foretell this captivity which has happened to yourself, unless what you now say be a vain thing, in order to avoid the rage that is risen against yourself." To which Josephus replied, "I did foretell to the people of Jotapata that they would be taken on the forty-seventh day, and that I should be caught alive by the Romans." Now when Vespasian had inquired of the captives privately about these predictions, he found them to be true, and then he begun to believe those that concerned him. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 3,8,9 This explanation seems to have been known by Roman historians who may have repeated Josephus words: But in addition a Jew named Josephus, who had previously been disliked by him [Vespasian] and imprisoned, gave a laugh and said: "You may imprison me now, but a year later when you become emperor you will release me." --- Cassius Dio, Roman History, volume 66, section 1 The excavations at the site of Jotapata in the years 1992-2000 revealed signs of battle, a large mass grave with many human bones, as well as a nefesh stone, which was probably carved as a memorial by one of the fighters for the city about to fall. The troubling detail is that his author carved a crab on the stone, which represents the month of Tammuz. And the city indeed fell the first of that month (corresponding to the 30 June 67), and not earlier. Maybe this is a testimonial of Josephus prediction to his war companions of the time when the city will only. A memorial has been placed at the site to commemorate the heroic resistance of the city, with the engravings found on the nefesh stone, a Roman machine of war depicting the siege and the crab.
Memorial for the fighters of Jotapata After the fall of Jotapata, Vespasian went to the city of Caesaria, leaving his army to rest after the long siege. The heat was at its peak. Vespasian was a patient commander and favoured the idea that the rest of the nation may change its mind to fight after the fall of their stronghold of Galilee. But Jerusalem became enraged when they finally learned the news that their northern commander, Josephus, had given himslef up to the enemies and was well treated. Meanwhile Vespasian pursued his conquest of Galilee around the lake of Tiberias until the month of Tishri (about September). More and more Jewish fugitives flocked into Jerusalem. ~~~~~~~~~~
army refreshed after the continual labors they had undergone. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 4,6,2 The show of temperance from the Roman general also proved beneficial to the Romans because the Jews could see that escaping the city would not put their life in danger. At the contrary, the Romans were now eager to see this desertion happening as much as possible, to facilitate their attack when time would come. But the Zealots did not make these escapes from the city so easy: And indeed many there were of the Jews that deserted every day, and fled away from the zealots, although their flight was very difficult, since they had guarded every passage out of the city, and slew every one that was caught at them, as taking it for granted they were going over to the Romans; yet did he who gave them money get clear off, while he only that gave them none was voted a traitor. So the upshot was this, that the rich purchased their flight by money, while none but the poor were slain. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 4,6,3 ~~~~~~~~~~
The Roman Empire during the Year of the Four Emperors ~~~~~~~~~~
The Oak of Abraham in Hebron (engraving, 1886) Later on, Simon was admitted in the city of jerusalem, in the month of Nisan, as a saviour against the terror imposed by the Zealots. He took the city but the Zealots still occupied the Temple, despite the attacks from Simons men. Josephus gave an account of their defense system: However, a considerable number of Simon's party fell, and many were carried off wounded; for the zealots threw their darts easily from a superior place, and seldom failed of hitting their enemies; but having the advantage of situation, and having withal erected four very large towers aforehand, that their darts might come from higher places, one at the northeast corner of the court, one above the Xystus, the third at another corner over against the lower city, and the last was erected above the top of the Pastophoria, where one of the priests stood of course, and gave a signal beforehand, with a trumpet at the beginning of every seventh day, in the evening twilight, as also at the evening when that day was finished, as giving notice to the people when they were to leave off work, and when they were to go to work again. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 4,9,12 This account is interesting because it mentions that the priest in charge of sounding the horn at the beginning and the end of every Shabbat stood on the eastern corner of the Temple Mount, what Josephus called the Pastophoria, as normally being the eastern side of temples and later of churches too. A stone that had fallen from the Temple after the destruction by the Romans in 70, and found in the south-west corner during excavations, bears a sentence about this role of the priest there.
Carved inscription on a stone fallen from the Temple This stone, like other stones found during the excavations, may have been carried from the south-eastern side dorner of the Temple, which was destroyed by the Romans, to the south-western side at a later time when Byzantines or Muslims would build their palace on the southern side of the Temple mouth. They would have cleared the rubble of the Roman destruction and pushed it to the other corner, where the Western Wall still stood. ~~~~~~~~~~
to after Antioch, were backing him as emperor, he decided to send an army to Rome to defend his claim. The time was right to cast the dice because Vitellius was already losing popularity when the news spread to Rome that Vespasian had been acclaimed as emperor by the army of the East. Being aware of his own lack of popularity, Vitellius was prepared to abandon his claim. But, when Vespasians army entered Rome, the soldiers dragged him to the infamous Gemonian stairs where they executed him. They also killed his brother and his son to prevent any further claim from their family. The Senate then proclaimed Vespasian as enperor in December 69, while he was still in Alexandria. He arrived to Rome in the middle of 70, and started the Flavian dynasty of emperors.
Vespasian Fortuna Augusta golden coin ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1] Although the usual translations of Josephus text mention the month of Iyar, the one stated by Josephus is Artemisins which is not a Greek month per se, but refers to the Greek month of Elaphebolion when the Greeks honoured their god Artemis; this month corresponds to March/April timeframe in our modern calendars, thus the Hebrew month of Nisan [2a] The name Meir is written in Hebrew, and the name Rome is written ;there is no difference in the numerical values of these names because the letters of Meir have changed in the letters of Rome, both having a total of 11 (10+1 in one case, and 5+6 in the other); so it seems that Rabbi Meir chose his Hebrew name as derived from the name Rome [2b] For example in Berachot 10a when she changed Rabbi Meirs opinion [2c] Galileans had the reputation, in the eyes of the Judeans, to be rather ignorant of the Scriptures; this reputation stemmed from the fact that they had been too easy to adopt the Greek culture, unlike the Judeans who opposed it [2d] This is a learning that is in the Talmud [Avoth, Mishna I,5]; the Mishna was not written down at the time of Rabbi Meir and Beruriah, but the lessons were obviously known to the Sages (the Oral Law) before they came to be compiled down in writing (the Talmud) [3] This fortress was then held by the Sicarii who used it as their main refuge [4] Genesis 13:18: And Abram moved his tent and came and dwelt by the terebinths of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the Lord [5] Genesis 18:1: And the Lord appeared unto him [Abraham] by the terebinths of Mamre as he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day Go to >> Part IV Next generation Top of Page
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Home Contact What is new Year 2699 1061 BCE King Saul Index of names Creation Samuel the Prophet had two sons, Joel and Abijah, and he named them both as judges in Beer-Sheba, in the south of the land of Canaan. And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted justice. --- I Samuel 8:3 Previous <<
Generation 23
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Hebrew years 2640 to 2760 (1120-1000 BCE) ~~~ Part I ~~~ Part II ~~~ Part III ~~~
Generations The Israelites had huge respect for Samuel as a leader but were worried of his sons. History could just repeat itself after the disaster caused by the two corrupt sons of the High Priest Eli. So they asked the Prophet to elect a king among the people 1-14 to command over the entire land. After having tried and failed for many generations with 12 judges to bring back the Generations Israelites into His commandments, God accepted their wish and advised Himself the Prophet Samuel upon the choice of the person to be king: 15-21 Generations 22-28 Generations 29-35 Generations
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Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah, the son of a Benjamite, a mighty man of valour. And he had a son, whose name was Saul, young and goodly, and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people. --- I Samuel 9:1-2
36-49 Generation 50
Samuel anoints Saul (Gustave Dor, 1868) But Saul only reigned two years over the Israelites (I Samuel 13:1) as he proved to be a disappointment to God and Samuel. So, during all his reign, he never had rest from the arch-enemy, the Philistines (I Samuel 14:52). God instructed Saul to go and destroy all the Amalekites and all their belongings. But Sauls greed made him spare the best he could find among these enemies and keep them as spoils. Because of that, the descendants of Amalek will continue to cause huge damage to the Israelites in their History. One example will be Haman in Persia, and even probably Hitler in Germany ! This disobedience caused God to regret having chosen Saul as a king. Samuel passed onto Saul the divine displeasure: And Saul said unto Samuel: "Yea, I have hearkened to the voice of the Lord, and have gone the way which the Lord sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the devoted things, to sacrifice unto the Lord your God in Gilgal." And Samuel said: "Has the Lord as great delight in burnt-offerings and sacrifices, as in hearkening to the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as idolatry and teraphim. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has also rejected you from being king." --- I Samuel 15:20-24
King Saul executes Agag king of Amalek (Gustave Dor, 1868) From this time, Samuel had no more involvement with Saul. God instructed the Prophet to go and anoint David instead. He was the youngest and 8th son of Jesse, from Beth-Lehem in Judah. Now he [David] was ruddy, and withal of beautiful eyes, and goodly to look upon. --- I Samuel 16:12 From this secret anointment, God placed an evil spirit in Sauls mind to terrify him. His servants brought David to play the harp for the king, and appease his mind. ~~~~~~~~~~
David kills Goliath (Gustave Dor, 1868) The Philistine army was shocked and fled away back to their cities. After such exploit, David was accepted in the royal house and befriended Jonathan, one of Sauls sons. Also, Michal, Sauls daughter, loved David and became his wife. But jealousy rose in Sauls mind against the rising star: And there was war again; and David went out, and fought with the Philistines, and slew them with a great slaughter; and they fled before him. And an evil spirit from the Lord was upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand; and David was playing with his hand. And Saul sought to smite David even to the wall with the spear; but he slipped away out of Saul's presence, and he smote the spear into the wall; and David fled, and escaped that night. --- I Samuel 19:8-10 ~~~~~~~~~~
Samuel the Prophet died rather young, although the Biblical text seems to mention that he was already old before having anointed Saul: And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel. --- I Samuel 8:1 But the text actually doesnt imply what has been used by translators, because it doesnt actually use the normal form to designate the person was old of age, for example for Joshua. In the case of Samuel, the Hebrew sentence
should have been translated as when Samuel got old. What is the difference? Samuel got old because
he aged too early, by the cause of his inability to redress his sons, as his predecessor Eli had morally suffered. In both cases, both their sons were corrupt, and this caused sorrow and ageing to their fathers. Eli did die old, because he started to judge after his father, and he was then already 58 years old. But for Samuel, the cause of the ageing is directly mentioned in the rest of the same sentence: he made his sons judges, and they became corrupt. Further the text emphasized the matter again when the Elders came to meet Sanuel in Ramah, the city where he lived, and they also connected his ageing with the corruption of his two sons: And they said unto him: "Behold, you got old, and your sons did not walk in your ways; now make us a king to judge us like all the nations." --- I Samuel 8:5 So, if Samuel did not actually die old, how long did he live? His mother Hannah came to Shiloh and made a vow in the year that Eli became the priest. She gave birth in that same Hebrew year, nine months after the vow (this would be the following year in CE calendar). As Samuel died some short time before Saul, he died at about 53 years of age. The text however mentions that he judged Israel all the days of his life. As he was born to be dedicated to God by his mothers vow, all the days of his life means that he was chosen by God as a judge from birth, as it was the case for the judge Samson. Samuel was buried in his city of Ramah (I Samuel 28:3). According to tradition, this city was located on a height facing Jerusalem, where a building has been raised as the tomb of Prophet Samuel, Nebi Samwil in Arabic.
Tomb of Samuel the Prophet (source: a tourist web site) It is worth noting the case of father-son issues: Eli was the priest but his two sons deviated from God. And before Eli, Aaron himself lost his two sons when they desobeyed Gods commandment. Samuel was also disappointed in the way that his two sons turned into corruption, despite being nominated as judges by their father. As of David, we will see that his son Absalom rebelled against him. And for King Solomon, the dispute between his two sons would cause the Israelites to divide between two kingdoms. ~~~~~~~~~~
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Year 2701 1059 BCE Slaughter of Ahimelech and all the priests
Saul sought to kill David. The latter went into hiding to avoid Sauls men sent after him. Before running away, David met with Ahimelech the Priest of Nob who gave him the sword of Goliath that had been kept in the sanctuary. But, among the men present was a foreigner, Doeg the Edomite, who was at the service of Saul. He soon brought to the king the intelligence of this meeting, but lied to Saul about the reason for Davids visit, who had only come to find food: Then answered Doeg the Edomite, who was set over the servants of Saul, and said: "I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub. And he inquired of the Lord for him, and gave him victuals, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.'" Then the king sent to call Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father's house, the priests that were in Nob; and they came all of them to the king. And Saul said: "Hear now, you son of Ahitub." And he answered: "Here I am, my lord." And Saul said unto him: "Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, in that you have given him bread, and a sword, and have inquired of God for him, that he should rise against me, to lie in wait, as at this day?'" Then Ahimelech answered the king, and said: "And who among all your servants is so trusted as David, who is the king's son-in-law, and gives heed unto your bidding, and is honourable in your house? Have I today begun to inquire of God for him? be it far from me; let not the king impute anything unto his servant, nor to all the house of my father; for your servant knows nothing of all this, less or more." And the king said: "You shall surely die, Ahimelech, you, and all your father's house." And the king said unto the guard that stood about him: "Turn, and slay the priests of the Lord; because their hand also is with David, and because they knew that he fled, and did not disclose it to me." But the servants of the king would not put forth their hand to fall upon the priests of the Lord. And the king said to Doeg: "Turn you, and fall upon the priests." And Doeg the Edomite turned, and he fell upon the priests, and he slew on that day fourscore and five persons that did wear a linen ephod. And Nob, the city of the priests, smote he with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and sucklings, and oxen and asses and sheep, with the edge of the sword.[2] And one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped, and fled after David. And Abiathar told David that Saul had slain the Lords priests. And David said unto Abiathar: "I knew on that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul; I have brought about the death of all the persons of your father's house. Abide you with me, fear not; for he that seeks my life seeks your life; for with me you shall be in safeguard." --- I Samuel 22:9-23 Who was Ahimelech? When Eli and his son Phinehas died 13 years earlier, in Hebrew year 2688, the heir for the priesthood was just born on that day. He was called Ichabod by his mother who died when giving birth to him. Since the Ark had been taken by the Philistines, and later was hosted in the city of Kiriath-Jearim, the priests service was passed onto the family branch of Ithamar son of Aaron, who was residing in the city of Nob where they arranged a sanctuary.
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Ahimelech was the head of that family of Levites. Ichabod, the heir of the branch of Eleazar son of Aaron, was only 12 years old when Ahimelech and his sons were murdered by orders of King Saul. ~~~~~~~~~~
Death of King Saul - by Elie Macuse, 1848 (Tel Aviv Museum of Art) One of Sauls sons, Ish-Bosheth, was alive and 40 years old at that time. Abner, the chief of Sauls army, who was a relative of the royal family, proclaimed Ish-Bosheth king of Israel. But, in Judah, the people proclaimed David as their king (II Samuel 2:8-9). A civil war ensued but the house of David grew stronger over time.
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Judah: 6,800 Simeon: 7,100 Levi: 4,600 ; their leader was Jehoiada Benjamin: 3,000 ; he tribe had been down to 1,000 armed men after the civil war Ephraim: 20,800 Half of Manasseh: 18,000 Issachar: 200 leaders (so probably about 7,500 men) Zebulun: 50,000 Naphtali: 1,000 leaders and 37,000 men Dan: 28,600 Asher: 40,000 East side of the Jordan River (Reuben, Gad, other half Manasseh): 120,000
These numbers represented a total of about 350,000 men of war. But making a census of the Israelites would be considered as bad omen since these days because it is said: And Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to number Israel. --- I Chronicles 21:1 It is necessary to explain though that there is no "bad god" called Satan in the Jewish religion: Satan is rather referring to bad feeling, or bad behaviour, etc. Davids first act was to establish a new capital for the kingdom, instead of reigning over the Judean capital in Hebron. For this purpose he chose a city which didn't belong to any tribe yet, so that no dispute would arise about an act of preference of one tribe over the others. He considered the city of the Jebusites, situated on a hill in what will become the city of Jerusalem, at the border between the territories of Judah and Benjamin, to be the best choice as it would also heal the feud about kingship between the houses of Judah and Benjamin. He took the city of the Jebusites by finding a water tunnel leading to it from the Gihon Spring. He renamed the city as City of David (II Samuel 5:8-9). The second act was to bring the Ark of Covenant in the new city (II Samuel 6:12). Sometime later he expressed to the Prophet Nathan the wish to build a proper building for the Ark, a house of cedar, but God made it clear He didnt need such thing: And it came to pass the same night, that the word of the Lord came unto Nathan, saying: "Go and tell My servant David: Thus says the Lord: 'Shall you build Me a house for Me to dwell in? for I have not dwelt in a house since the day that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle. In all places wherein I have walked among all the children of Israel, spoke I a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed My people Israel, saying: Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?'
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Year 2741 1019 BCE King David chooses his son Solomon as his successor
Towards the end of his reign, David had ordered Joab to number the Israelites in the age of war. Joab showed reluctance to do so, and came back with the figures of 800,000 men for Israel and 500,000 for Judah (II Samuel 24:9). He had missed to count some people in the census and this displeased David. In a later period, God will forbid to carry out censuses of the "children of Israel": Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered. --- Hosea 2:1 After the death of Absalom, Adonijah, the next heir in Davids lineage, started to act as if he would be king. He was supported by Joab, and also by Abiathar, the Priest from Ithamar branch who had escaped the slaughter of his father Ahimelech and the destruction of the sanctuary of Nob on Sauls orders. But Zadok the Priest from Eleazar branch and Nathan the Prophet both sided with Solomon, the son David had with Bathsheba.. And King David said: 'Call me Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada.' And they came before the king. And the king said unto them: 'Take with you the servants of your lord, and cause Solomon my son to ride upon mine own mule, and bring him down to Gihon. And let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there king over Israel; and blow you with the horn, and say: Long live king Solomon. Then you shall come up after him, and he shall come and sit upon my throne; for he shall be king in my stead; and I have appointed him to be prince over Israel and over Judah.' --- I Kings 1:32-35 ~~~~~~~~~~
but the man that touches them must be armed with iron and the staff of a spear; and they shall be utterly burned with fire in their place. --- II Samuel 23:1-7 When he got old, David had a last conversation with God: David said before the Holy One, blessed be He, Sovereign of the Universe! Lord, make me to know my end. It is a decree before Me, replied He, that the end of a mortal is not made known. And the measure of my days, what it is-it is a decree before Me that a person's span [of life] is not made known. Let me know how frail I am. [Psalms 39:5] Said He to him. You will die on the Sabbath. Let me die on the first day of the week! The reign of your son Solomon shall already have become due, and one reign may not overlap another even by a hairbreadth. Then let me die on the eve of the Sabbath! Said He, For a day in your courts is better than a thousand:[32] better is to Me the one day that you sit and engage in learning than the thousand burnt-offerings which your son Solomon is destined to sacrifice before Me on the altar. --- Talmud, Shabbat, 30a This tells us about the power of studying the Scriptures. It is also said: Said Rabbi Joseph: A commandment protects and rescues while one is engaged upon it; but when one is no longer engaged upon it, it protects but does not rescue. As for [study of] Torah, whether while one is engaged upon it or not, it protects and rescues. --- Talmud, Sotah, 21a Before he died, David gave his last recommendations to his Son Solomon, to walk in Gods path. And David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David. --- I Kings, 2:10 ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1] He was six cubits and a span high, so about 3 meter high (I Samuel 17:4); this height may seem exaggerated but, although unusual, Herodotus also mentioned warriors of 5 cubits in height in his times (The History, vol.4, section 83) [2] Doeg the Edomite applied to the city of Nob the punishment that God had asked Saul to do to the Amalekites, killing all people and even animals from their city Go to >> Part III
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Home Contact What is new In year 622, Yered had a son he called Hanoch, born in the new Nile settlement. Index of names Creation Generations 114 Hanoch was five and sixty years old when he begot Metushalach. Hanoch walked in Gods path after the birth of Metushalach for three hundred years, and he begot sons and daughters. --- Genesis 5:21-22 Previous <<
Generation 06
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Hebrew years 600 to 720 (3160-3040 BCE) Early Dynasty of Egypt in Abydos
Metushalach was born in year 687, when Hanoch decided to move away from the culture that prevailed then in Egypt and to walk in Gods path. What happened? Generations 15From its Early Dynasty, Ancient Egypt had started a new practice of human 21 sacrifice that would later become a norm in other civilizations under their influence, such as the Canaanites. It is possible that Hanoch was asked to sacrifice his son Generations 22Metushalach and that he refused. This caused him to move away from the 28 abominable society, a decision that put him in trouble with the rulers of Egypt. Generations 29The archaeological evidence of human sacrifice in the Early Dynasty of Egypt was 35 found in the ruins of Abydos, the first capital and one of the oldest cities there. But the practice seems to have completely disappeared from Ancient Egypt from about Generations 362800 BCE.[1] 49 Generation 50
Hanoch
Hanoch was the first man since the Creation to truly walk in the path of God. He represented the 7th human generation since Adam (1-Adam > 2-Seth > 3-Enosh > 4Kenan > 5-Mahalalel > 6-Jared > 7-Hanoch). This number 7 is symptomatic of God's presence because the 7th day is the Shabbat, a day dedicated by God. So Hanoch had been inspired by God and represented the first divine attempt to awaken the human race to the path of God. Notes: [1] see Wikipedia
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Home Contact What is new Index of names Previous <<
Generation 32
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Hebrew years 3720 to 3840 (40 BCE - 80 CE) ~~~ Part I ~~~ Part II ~~~ Part III ~~~ Part IV ~~~ Part V ~~~
Flaccus Avilius had been appointed by Tiberius to rule over the Egyptian province at the beginning of his reign. In his time, the city of Alexandria in Egypt counted about one million Jews. Tensions were frequent between them and the Greeks. Creation This situation was a matter of concern for all Roman prefects. But Flaccus maintained order during the first five years of his rule. His attitude however changed after the death of his protector, Tiberius, in 37, when Flaccus learned that the Generations next emperor, Gaius Caligula, was seeking revenge against Tiberius clan and close friends. Flaccus was among them 1-14 and expected public trial followed by death. He consequently lost the spirit of managing public affairs in Egypt. Generations During the first few months of his reign, Caligula was considered as a moderate ruler, but he was sexually pervert and 15-21 was suspected of having intercourse with his sisters. There was surely some truth in it, as he became cruel and extravagant at the death of his preferred sister, Drusilla in 38 CE. It was at this time that Flaccus was convinced by Egyptian advisers Generations that his personal affairs would get better if he would show severity against the Jewish population of Alexandria. 22-28 His designs were reported by Philo, an Hellenistic Jew of Alexandria who had endeavoured to reconcile Greek philosophy Generations with Jewish tradition. First, pretexting a lack of respect from the Jews to the new emperor, Flaccus ordered the synagogues to be destroyed. He soon directed his decrees against the people themselves: 29-35
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Since, therefore, the attempt which was being made to violate the law appeared to him to be prospering, while he was destroying the synagogues, and not leaving even their name, he proceeded onwards to another exploit, namely, the utter destruction of our constitution, that when all those things to which alone our life was anchored were cut away, namely, our national customs and our lawful political rights and social privileges, we might be exposed to the very extremity of calamity, without having any stay left to which we could cling for safety, for a few days afterwards he issued a notice in which he called us all foreigners and aliens, without giving us an opportunity of being heard in our own defence, but condemning us without a trial; and what command can be more full of tyranny than this? He himself being everything--accuser, enemy, witness, judge, and executioner, added then to the two former appellations a third also, allowing any one who was inclined to proceed to exterminate the Jews as prisoners of war. So when the people had received this license, what did they do? There are five districts in the city, named after the first five letters of the written alphabet, of these two are called the quarters of the Jews, because the chief portion of the Jews lives in them. There are also a few scattered Jews, but only a very few, living in some of the other districts. What then did they do? They drove the Jews entirely out of four quarters, and crammed them all into a very small portion of one;[1a] and by reason of their numbers they were dispersed over the sea-shore, and desert places, and among the tombs, being deprived of all their property; while the populace, overrunning their desolate houses, turned to plunder, and divided the booty among themselves as if they had obtained it in war. And as no one hindered them, they broke open even the workshops of the Jews, which were all shut up because of their mourning for Drusilla,[1b] and carried off all that they found there, and bore it openly through the middle of the market-place as if they had only been making use of their own property. And the cessation of business to which they were compelled to submit was even a worse evil than the plunder to which they were exposed, as the consequence was that those who had lent money lost what they had lent, and as no one was permitted, neither farmer, nor captain of a ship, nor merchant, nor artisan, to employ himself in his usual manner, so that poverty was brought on them from two sides at once, both from rapine, as when license was thus given to plunder them they were stripped of everything in one day, and also from the circumstance of their no longer being able to earn money by their customary occupations. --- Philo, Flaccus, VIII, 53-57 Then, on the birthday of Caligula, at the end of August, a general massacre was carried out in the portion of the city were the Jews had been crammed in: Some persons even, going still great and greater lengths in the iniquity and license of their barbarity, disdained all blunter weapons, and took up the most efficacious arms of all, fire and iron, and slew many with the sword, and destroyed not a few with flames. And the most merciless of all their persecutors in some instances burnt whole families, husbands with their wives, and infant children with their parents, in the middle of the city, sparing neither age nor youth, nor the innocent helplessness of infants. And when they had a scarcity of fuel, they collected faggots of green wood, and slew them by the smoke rather than by fire, contriving a still more miserable and protracted death for those unhappy people, so that their bodies lay about promiscuously in every direction half burnt, a grievous and most miserable sight. And if some of those who were employed in the collection of sticks were too slow, they took their own furniture, of which they had
plundered them, to burn their persons, robbing them of their most costly articles, and burning with them things of the greatest use and value, which they used as fuel instead of ordinary timber. Many men too, who were alive, they bound by one foot, fastening them round the ankle, and thus they dragged them along and bruised them, leaping on them, designing to inflict the most barbarous of deaths upon them, and then when they were dead they raged no less against them with interminable hostility, and inflicted still heavier insults on their persons, dragging them, I had almost said, though all the alleys and lanes of the city, until the corpse, being lacerated in all its skin, and flesh, and muscles from the inequality and roughness of the ground, all the previously united portions of his composition being torn asunder and separated from one another, was actually torn to pieces. And those who did these things, mimicked the sufferers, like people employed in the representation of theatrical farces; but the relations and friends of those who were the real victims, merely because they sympathized with the misery of their relations, were led away to prison, were scourged, were tortured, and after all the ill treatment which their living bodies could endure, found the cross the end of all, and the punishment from which they could not escape. --- Philo, Flaccus, IX, 67-72 With such demonstrations of support to Caligulas orders, Flaccus thought to escape from trial and death. But he was mistaken. He was eventually taken prisoner to Rome and executed there. ~~~~~~~~~~
Claudius replaced Marullus by Agrippa, a Jewish prince from the Herodian family, who had been educated in Rome and who, owing to his earlier friendship with Caligula, had already been named king of some parts of Herod kingdom. In 41, Claudius made him King of Judea as well. In Rome, Claudius also adapted the rules regarding the Jewish population: In the matter of the Jews, who had again increased so greatly that by reason of their multitude it would have been hard without raising a tumult to bar them from the city, he decided not to drive them out, but ordered them to follow that mode of life prescribed by their ancestral custom and not to assemble in numbers.The clubs instituted by Gaius [Caligula] he disbanded.Also, seeing that there was no use in forbidding the populace to do certain things unless their daily life should be reorganized, he abolished the taverns where they were wont to gather and drink and commanded that no dressed meat nor warm water should be sold.[2] Some who disobeyed this ordinance were punished. --- Cassius Dio, Roman History, volume 60 The Jews in Rome were not the only ones to have increased in great number. In Judea, Agrippa carried out a census in an indirect fashion because, since the days of King David, censuses were considered as bad omen: Our Rabbis taught: King Agrippa once wished to cast his eyes on the hosts of Israel. Said he to the High Priest, Cast your eyes upon the Passover sacrifices. He [thereupon] took a kidney from each, and six-hundred-thousand pairs of kidneys were found there, twice as many as those who departed from Egypt, excluding those who were unclean and those who were on a distant journey; and there was not a single Paschal lamb for which more than ten people had not registered; and they called it, The Passover of the dense throngs. --- Talmud, Pesachim, 64b Agrippa was well received by the Jewish people because of his kind character and attention to the faith: Agrippa's temper was mild, and equally liberal to all men. He was humane to foreigners, and made them sensible of his liberality. He was in like manner rather of a gentle and compassionate temper. Accordingly, he loved to live continually at Jerusalem, and was exactly careful in the observance of the laws of his country. He therefore kept himself entirely pure; nor did any day pass over his head without its appointed sacrifice. --- Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, book 19,328 In his times, the Judean province was quiet and Jerusalem attracted scores of pilgrims or visitors. In 1913, in Jerusalem, a slab of limestone with the following Greek text was found. It is known as the Theodotus Inscription, which mentions an ancient synagogue, probably built at the time of the Maccabees, that was also used as a hostel for foreign visitors and pilgrims: Theodotus, son of Vettanos, a priest and an archisynagogos, son of an archisynagogos grandson of an archisynagogos, built
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the synagogue for the reading of Torah and for teaching the commandments; furthermore, the hostel, and the rooms, and the water installation for lodging needy strangers. Its foundation stone was laid by his ancestors, the elders, and Simonides --- Theodosus Inscription, translation K.C. Hanson & Douglas E. Oakman (source: web site)
This inscription proves that, already in the 1st century, and probably much earlier since the restrictions imposed by the Greeks against the Temple service, the Jews were used to meet in synagogues for prayers. This fact is also confirmed in the New Testament: For Moses of old time has in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day. --- New Testament, Acts, 15:21 ~~~~~~~~~~
none of the rites observed by them in the worship of their god, but allow them to observe their customs as in the time of the Deified Augustus, which customs I also, after hearing both sides, have sanctioned. And on the other hand, I explicitly order the Jews not to agitate for more privileges than they formerly possessed, and not in the future to send out a separate embassy as though they lived in a separate city (a thing unprecedented),[3] and not to force their way into gymnasiarchic or cosmetic games, while enjoying their own privileges and sharing a great abundance of advantages in a city not their own, and not to bring in or admit Jews who come down the river from Egypt or from Syria, a proceeding which will compel me to conceive serious suspicions. Otherwise I will by all means take vengeance on them as fomenters of which is a general plague infecting the whole world. --- Letter of the Emperor Claudius to the Alexandrians, published in 1912, to access text online, click here This letter is interesting because it gives a pattern about what antisemitism is all about (although the term did not exist until the 19th century), and the dangers of assimiltion of the Jews into their hosts' culture. What did Claudius ask from the Jews? To live according to their traditions and refrain from forcing their way into their hosts' culture and traditions such as gymnasiarchic or cosmetic games. The latter is about assimilation into the Greek culture, which was rejected -violentlyby the Alexandrians. With the Emancipation of the 19th century in Europe, the same themes will surge again against the Jews who will be accuse of taking away the culture of their hosts, whether in Germany, France, Poland or elsewhere. ~~~~~~~~~~
of horsemen out against them; who, falling upon them unexpectedly, slew many of them, and took many of them alive. They also took Theudas alive, and cut off his head, and carried it to Jerusalem. --- Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, book 20,97 Fadus was soon after replaced by Tiberius Julius Alexander, a former Jew from Alexandria whose family was assimilated and had embraced Roman culture and had even obtained Roman citizenship. He would frequently show extra zeal to act against his former brethren in a proof for his allegiance to Rome. Both him and Agrippa will witness the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple, but on the side of the Romans against their fellow Jews.... ~~~~~~~~~~
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--- Zechariah 8:16-17 Shimon remained nassi until the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE. He was killed during that Judeo-Roman war but he was already in old age at the time. His tomb in Kfar Kanna in Galilee is a site of pilgrimage to this day.[6] ~~~~~~~~~~
Helena and her sons ashes were buried at a small distance north of Jerusalem in a place known today as the Tombs of the Kings. Her sarcophagus had been found in the 20th century.
Entrance to the Tombs of the Kings in Jerusalem, David Roberts, 1838 ~~~~~~~~~~
Nero (Antiquarium of the Palatino) Nero was also a good ruler but his rreputation was later tainted by rumours that he set fire on Rome, in year 64, although Roman historian Tacitus stated Neros efforts to relief the unfortunated Romans, and that the fire destroyed his own palace: Nero at this time was at Antium, and did not return to Rome until the fire approached his house, which he had built to connect the palace with the gardens of Maecenas. It could not, however, be stopped from devouring the palace, the house, and everything around it. However, to relieve the people, driven out homeless as they were, he threw open to them the Campus Martius and the public buildings of Agrippa, and even his own gardens, and raised temporary structures to receive
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the destitute multitude. Supplies of food were brought up from Ostia and the neighbouring towns, and the price of corn was reduced to three sesterces a peck. These acts, though popular, produced no effect, since a rumour had gone forth everywhere that, at the very time when the city was in flames, the emperor appeared on a private stage and sang of the destruction of Troy, comparing present misfortunes with the calamities of antiquity. --- Tacitus, The Annals, XV, 39 The fire was most probably caused by accident. But, in order to divert the anger of the Roman people from rumours involving him, Nero accused the Christians to have set the fire. And persecutions ensued: As a consequence, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians [or Chrestians] by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but, even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their centre and become popular. --- Tacitus, The Annals, XV, 44 Josephus had warned his readers that some historians had told lies about Nero: Nor do I wonder at such as have told lies of Nero, since they have not in their writings preserved the truth of history as to those facts that were earlier than his time, even when the actors could have no way incurred their hatred, since those writers lived a long time after them. --- Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, book 20,154 ~~~~~~~~~~
for they had the boldness to murder men there, without thinking of the impiety of which they were guilty. And this seems to me to have been the reason why God, out of his hatred of these men's wickedness, rejected our city; and as for the temple, he no longer esteemed it sufficiently pure for him to inhabit therein, but brought the Romans upon us, and threw a fire upon the city to purge it; and brought upon us, our wives, and children, slavery, as desirous to make us wiser by our calamities. --- Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, book 20,160 But Felix usage of murderers eventually bounced back against him because these people ultimately organised themselves as assassins of Romans as well. They were called the Sicarii, owing their name from the dagger which looked like a Roman sicae (sickle) that they hid to carry out their deeds. Josephus had little opinion of them, stating they were driven by motives of robbery. This may however be a simplicist view of the historian who tried to blame all the disasters that fell upon the Jewish nation upon themselves, and not much the Romans: And again the robbers stirred up the people to make war with the Romans, and said they ought not to obey them at all; and when any persons would not comply with them, they set fire to their villages, and plundered them. --- Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, book 20,167 ~~~~~~~~~~
The contention with these "early Christians", and all Jews in fact, was that Paul was admitting Gentiles to the faith by telling them they did not need to follow the Jewish Law, nor be circumcised. His mission was thus considered unlawful in the eyes of the Jewish Law, and this put him at odds with Jesus brother, James the Just. As his attempts caused public unrest in Jerusalem, Paul was arrested in 58 CE there by the Romans when he tried to defend himself in front of a hostile crowd of Jews who viewed him as an apostate in the eyes of the Jewish Law: I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city [Jerusalem]. I studied under Gamaliel and was thoroughly trained in the law of our ancestors.[7] I was just as zealous for God as any of you are today. --- New Testament, Acts 22:3 Paul was sent to Caesaria where he appeared before Felix, in the presence of Drusilla, before being emprisoned: But after some days, Felix arrived with Drusilla his wife, who was a Jewess, and he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ Jesus. --- New Testament, Acts, 24:24
Paul before Felix and Drusilla (William Hogarth, 1751) When Felix was called back to Rome two years later, in year 60, Paul was brought for retrial by the new procurator of Judea, Porcius Festus. Paul asked that, being a Roman citizen, he would appeal to the Emperor himself. So he was sent to Rome for trial. History lost track of what happened to Paul but it is believed that he was condemned to death and executed, maybe in the general reprisal following the great fire.
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consent. Whereupon Albinus complied with what they said, and wrote in anger to Ananus, and threatened that he would bring him to punishment for what he had done; on which king Agrippa took the high priesthood from him, when he had ruled but three months, and made Joshua, the son of Damneus, high priest. --- Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, book 20,197 The church of Jerusalem felt they were in danger if they would remain in the Holy City so they moved to Pella, a city in the Decapolis,[8] which is now in Jordan. Ananus will only remain in his post for three months, due to the opposition of the Pharisees. The bad choices of Agrippa II for the role of high priest, favouring his aristocratic acquaintances from the Sadducees, made him unpopular among the Jews and in Jerusalem in particular.
~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1a] This was in essence the first ghetto in Jewish History, although Jews would always seperate themselves from the Gentiles in their exiles, and the first ghetto may be considered to be the land of Goshen when Jacob and his family settled in Egypt [1b] At her death, her brother Caligula ordered that divine honours should be paid to her in all the Roman Empire [2] As they were signs of luxury [3] The Jews of Alexandria had sent a deputation to Caligula to seek protection against the Alexandrians; among them was Philo, who accused the Alexandrian Isidorus and his companion Lampo of agitating hatred against the Jews during the tenure of Flaccus; Claudius will ultimately sentence both Alexandrians to death; an anti-jewish pamphlet, called The Acts of the Pagan Martyrs (otherwise known as The Acts of the Alexandrian Martyrs), had been written in these times and told about these details [4] This great famine is also mentioned in the New Testament, Acts 11:28 [5] Cuspius Fadus was procurator during two years, from 44 to 45-46 CE [6] The tomb has been vandalized by Arab residents in April 2006 during the Passover Jewish festival [7] Gamaliel was the grandson of Hillel and nassi until the year 50 CE [8] The Decapolis was a set of ten cities assigned or created at the time of the Greeks where Gentiles could live inside the Judean realm; nine of these cities were located on the Eastern side of the Jordan River while one of them, Scythopolis, the ancient Beth-Shean, was located on the western side of the river; Damascus and Amman (then called Philadelphia) were cities of the Decapolis; at the time of Herod's death, and during the partition of his kingdom between his heirs, the Romans encompassed all these ten cities into one single autonomous region they also called the Decapolis (see map of Herod's kingdom in previous section)
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Generation 28
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Hebrew years 3240 to 3360 (520-400 BCE) ~~~ Part I ~~~ Part II ~~~ The 28th Generation
This Generation falls into the cycle of 7 generations which started with the 7th Generation of Lamech, followed by the 14th Generation of the Flood, then the 21st Generation of the Exodus which represented the first "return to Sion" (the Promised Land), and now this 28th Generation is the one that really triggered the real return to Sion of the Israelites who finally abandoned their life of exiles in the Persian Empire.
Generations ~~~~~~~~~~ 1-14 Generations Year 3244 516 BCE The Second Temple is completed 15-21 The construction of the Second Temple was completed 4 years after Darius decree, in the 6th year of his reign, in the Generations last month of the year (Adar): 22-28 And this house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king. And the children of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication Generations of this house of God with joy. And they offered at the dedication of this house of God a hundred bullocks, two hundred 29-35 rams, four hundred lambs; and for a sin-offering for all Israel, twelve he-goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. And they set the priests in their divisions, and the Levites in their courses, for the service of God, which is at Generations Jerusalem; as it is written in the book of Moses. 36-49 --- Ezra 6:15-18 Generation 50 A few weeks later, in the month of Nisan, the Israelites followed the festival of Passover. There had not been such celebration in the Temple since the end of the reign of King Josiah, some 92 years before.
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Necropolis of the Achaemenid dynasty (source: Wikipedia Pictures of the Year 2011) ~~~~~~~~~~
seven princes of Persia and Media, who saw the king's face, and sat the first in the kingdom: 'What shall we do unto the queen Vashti according to law, forasmuch as she has not done the bidding of the king Ahasuerus by the chamberlains?' --- Esther 1:13-15 Among the list of princes of Persia, Marsena was probably Arsamenes who, according to Herodotus, was son of Darius. [2] Alternatively these names may refer to the names of provinces that formed the Persian Empire, such as Shethar for Scythia, Tarshish in Asia Minor, Pakshish which was Bactria, Meres may be Media, Marsena for Margiana, Memucan may refer to Akka.[3] Memucan was the last of the list to be mentioned and yet he was the only one to speak up: And Memucan answered before the king and the princes: 'Vashti the queen has not done wrong to the king only, but also to all the princes, and to all the peoples, that are in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus. For this deed of the queen will come abroad unto all women, to make their husbands contemptible in their eyes, when it will be said: The king Ahasuerus commanded Vashti the queen to be brought in before him, but she came not. --- Esther 1:16-17 According to the Talmud, this Memucan was eager to get promoted, and he will for his good advice: A Tanna taught: Memucan is the same as Haman, And why was he called Memucan? Because he was destined [mukan] for punishment. R. Kahana said: From here we see that an ordinary man always pushes himself in front. --- Talmud, Megilah, 12b Vashti was disgraced, but not executed due to her aristocratic dignity. After some time, Ahasuerus wanted to restore her, probably thinking that he needed a heir before engaging in the difficult campaign against Greece. But his dignitaries wanted to prevent this from happening and rather sought after young virgins to occupy the kings mind (Esther 2:1-4). Hadassah, an Israelite orphan girl, was noticed by the chamberlain of the king in charge of the harem. She was the niece of Mordechai, a Benjamite who had Kish as an ancestor, as King Saul did. She was brought to the castle of Susa in order to be raised as a concubine, and called herself Esther, which was derived from Ishtar the goddess of Babylon, to conceal her real origin. The name of Mordechai himself could have been created for the same reason, because Mordechai reminds of Marduk, the god of Babylon. ~~~~~~~~~~
In those days, when the king [Ahasuerus] sat [on his throne]. [How can this be] seeing that it says just afterwards, in the third year of his reign? Raba said: What is meant by when he sat? After he began to feel secure. He reasoned thus: Belshazar calculated and made a mistake; l have calculated and made no mistake What is the meaning of this? It is written: After seventy years are accomplished for Babylon I will remember you, and it is written, That He would accomplish for the desolations of Jerusalem seventy years. He reckoned forty-five years of Nebuchadnezzar and twenty-three of Evilmerodach and two of his own, making seventy in all. He then brought out the vessels of the Temple and used them [during his great feast]. And how do we know that Nebuchadnezzar reigned forty-five years? As a Master has said: They went into exile in the seventh year and they went into exile in the eighth year; they went into exile in the eighteenth year and they went into exile in the nineteenth year [That is to say], in the seventh year after the subjection of Jehoiakim they underwent the exile of Jeconiah, this being the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar. In the eighteenth year from the subjection of Jehoiakim they underwent the exile of Zedekiah, this being the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, as a Master has said, In the first year [of his reign] he [Nebuchadnezzar] overthrew Nineveh; in the second year he conquered Jehoiakim and it is written, And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month in the seven and twentieth day of the month, that Evilmerodach King of Babylon, in the year of his reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah and brought him forth out of prison. Eight and thirty-seven make forty-five of Nebuchadnezzar. The twenty-three of Evilmerodach we know from tradition. These with two of his own [years of reign] make seventy. He [Belshazar] said to himself: Now of a surety they will not be redeemed. So he brought out the vessels of the Temple and used them. Hence it was that Daniel said to him, but you have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven, and they have brought the vessels of His house before you. It is further written: In that night Belshazar the Chaldean king was slain, and it is written, And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old. He [Ahasuerus] said: He [Belshazar] calculated and made a mistake. I will calculate and make no mistake. Is it written, seventy years for the kingdom of Babylon? It is written seventy years for Babylon. What is meant by Babylon? The exile of Babylon How many years [is this reckoning] less [than the other]? Eight. So in place of them he inserted one of Belshazar, five of Darius and Cyrus, and two of his own, which made seventy When he saw that seventy had been completed and they were not redeemed, he brought out the vessels of the Temple and used them Then the Satan came and danced among them and slew Vashti. But he reckoned correctly? He also made a mistake, since he ought to have reckoned from the destruction of Jerusalem. Granted all this, how many years are short? Eleven. How long did he reign? Fourteen. Consequently in the fourteenth year of his reign he ought to have rebuilt the Temple. Why then is it written, Then ceased the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem? Raba replied: The years were not full ones. --- Talmug, Megilah, 11b Furthermore, the same Raba believed that Daniel had got the numbers wrong as well: Raba said: Daniel also made a mistake in this calculation, as it is written: In the first year of his reign, I Daniel meditated in the books [etc.]. From his use of the words I meditated [which can also be read as I revised] we can infer that he [at first] made a mistake. --- Talmud, Megilah, 12a The task of setting a correct chronology has been arduous in these times, and still is today ! In this particular case, the 70 years applied to the divine punishment of the Babylonian kingdom: it was destroyed by the Persians 70 years after Jeremiahs prophecy. But the Babylonian captivity was said to end after these 70 years would be accomplished. The collapse of Babylon had indeed opened the door to the end of the captivity with Cyrus decree. But the end of the captivity did not
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imply the end of the exile.. because most of the Jews remained in Babylon as free men, and even moved to the Persian cities, rather than returning to Sion as expected and wished by God. Rabas attempt to place the end of the 70 years period at the time of Ahasuerus was wrong. He surely wanted to match this period with the group of Israelites who were the first to return to Sion. But this first return did not mark the end of the exile. The captivity had indeed ended with Cyrus decree, correctly soon after the 70 years prophecy, but the Jews remained exiled in the new empire, and preferred to enjoy their new status of free citizens of the Persian empire. The clear risk was the end of the Jewish nation by assimilation, as it had happened with their ancestors in Egypt where they took high positions and adopted local customs. To get the Jews to move on, and rebuild Sion, God had to design a succession of events that would cause their return to their ancient faith and the binding to the Covenant made with their ancestors. ~~~~~~~~~~
Persian warriors from Darius palace in Susa (Louvre) ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1] To read more about Otones and his daughter, the wife of Xerxes, click here [2] Herodotus, op. cit., chapter Polymnia, section LXVIII
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[3] The names of Persian provinces are mentioned in Beshitun inscription of Darius, column 2, section [2.2] ; to check them, click here ~~~~~~~~~~
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Alexander was the son of Philip, king of Macedonia, who was tutored until the age of 16 by the philosopher Aristotle. He succeeded to his father in 336 BCE and soon Generations 1- engaged in the conquest of the known world, starting with Asia Minor in 334 BCE. 14 ~~~~~~~~~~ Generations 1521 Year 3428 332 BCE Simon the Just Generations 22When he reached the Levant, he besieged Tyre in 332 BCE and then marched to 28 Gaza which he destroyed. He advanced to Jerusalem and the Talmud gives the following account: Generations 2935 When the Samaritans had obtained permission from Alexander to destroy Generations 3649 Generation 50 the Temple in Jerusalem, the high priest Simon the Just, arrayed in his pontifical garments and followed by a number of distinguished Jews, went out to meet the conqueror, and joined him at Antipatris, on the northern frontier. At sight of Simon, Alexander fell prostrate at his feet, and explained to his astonished companions that the image of the Jewish high priest was always with him in battle, fighting for him and leading him to victory. Simon took the opportunity to justify the attitude of his countrymen, declaring that, far from being rebels, they offered prayers in the Temple for the welfare of the king and his dominions. So impressed was Alexander that he delivered up all the Samaritans in his train into the hands of the Jews, who tied them to the tails of horses and dragged them to the mountain of Gerizim; then the Jews plowed the mountain [demolished the Samaritan temple].[1] --- Talmud, Yoma, 69a Alexander has another encounter with the Jewish nation, this time with the socalled "Elders of the South". He asked them some philosophical questions to learn from their answers. This discussion is related in Talmud, Tamid, 31b-32a. This Talmudic book also relates the legend of the voyage of Alexander in the land of darkness and until the gate of the Garden of Eden. There is another legend regarding his "ascent into the air":
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Rabbi Jonah said: Alexander of Macedon, when he wished to ascend into the air, used to rise higher and higher until he saw the world look like a ball and the sea like a dish. On account of this they depict him with an orb in his hand. Why not let them depict him with a dish in his hand? Because he has no dominion over the sea. The Holy One, blessed be He, however, has dominion on sea and has dominion on land . . . Accordingly they (the princes) brought a dish (as an offering) to symbolize the sea and a basin to symbolize the land. --- Talmud of Jerusalem, Abodah Zarah, ed. Krotoschin (1866), III, 1, 42c cited in The Book of the Gests of Alexander of Macedon, by Israel J. Kazis, 1962, p.18 It is interesting to note in the above text that the Sages who wrote the Talmud were aware that the Earth was round like a ball. The diameter of the Earth was estimated by the Greek astronomer Eratosthenes around 200 BCE. This antique knowledge was however contradicted by the Church when Christianity ruled the Greco-Roman dominion. Alexander then went on conquering Babylon in 331 BCE then the Persian Empire. His last campaign was aimed further East until the Indus River when his generals opposed the decision to go further and rather forced Alexander to return to Babylon.
Alexander at the battle of Issus against Darius III, 331 BCE (Naples Museum) ~~~~~~~~~~
name. Very clearly the author Megasthenes, the contemporary of Seleucus Nicanor, writes as follows in the third of his books, On Indian Affairs: All that was said about nature by the ancients is said also by those who philosophise beyond Greece: some things by the Brahmins among the Indians, and others by those called Jews in Syria.. --- Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata, book XV, chapter 1 This is in fact a direct testimonial from a Greek philosopher in Alexander's time that Greek philosophy had borrowed from other civilizations who preceded them in intellectual speculations, among them the Jews.
came out of the land of Chittim, had smitten Darius king of the Persians and Medes, that he reigned in his stead, the first over Greece, and made many wars and won many strong holds, and slew the kings of the earth, and went through to the ends of the earth, and took spoils of many nations, insomuch that the earth was quiet before him ; whereupon he was exalted, and his heart was lifted up. And he gathered a mighty strong host, and ruled over countries, and nations, and kings, and they became tributaries unto him. And after these things he fell sick, and perceived that he should die. Wherefore he called his servants such as were honourable, and had been brought up with him from his youth, and parted his kingdom among them, while he was yet alive. So Alexander reigned twelve 7 years, and then died. And his servants bear rule every one in his place. And after his death, they all put crowns upon themselves; so did their sons after them many years; and they multiplied evils in the earth. --- Maccabees, Book II, 1:1-9 The empire was thus divided between the army commanders during the so-called Partition of Babylon: Ptolemy took Egypt and the Levant, Seleucus took Mesopotamia and Syria, Pergamon took Asia Minor and Macedonia. Alexanders coffin was sent to Macedonia but was diverted to Egypt by Ptolemy Soter. It has been lost in Alexandria after 200 CE. ~~~~~~~~~~
of misanthropic and inhospitable way of life is probably the first antisemitic comment in History and is derived from the fact that the Jews did not generally mix with other people nor admitted foreigners among them. ~~~~~~~~~~
Seleucus Nicator (Naples Museum) At that time, the high priest Onias was about 66 years old according to Josephus (Josephus, Against Apion, 1, 22; Onias is called Ezekiah in this text).
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~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1] According to Josephus who wrote about 400 years after these events, the High Priest in this encounter with Alexander was Jaddus, or Jaddua, the grand-father of Simon the Just; the historian also considered that the destruction of the Samaritan temple occurred much later, at the time of one of the Hasmonean king, John Hyrcanus; but maybe there were two destructions, at different periods; as of the name of the place of the meeting, Antipatris, it was named as such some 300 years after this meeting in the camp of Alexander; it is a name by which this location of the camp became known at the time of these historical records
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Generation 34
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Hebrew years 3960 to 4080 (200-320 CE) ~~~ Part I ~~~ Part II ~~~
New Millennium
This 34rd generation witnessed the end of the 4th millennium since the Creation. The first two millennia were about the ancestry of all mankind and how the world had populated, and also saw the emergence of the Jewish people represented Creation by the Patriarchal era. The next two millennia saw the Jewish people emerge as a nation among the nations, with ups and downs, and concluded with its destruction as a national entity and exile as a people. The next two millennia will see Generations the long march through ages of darkness and persecutions, but towards its survival and ultimate redemption, and will 1-14 conclude with the Messianic era. Generations This is how our Sages reflected on the different communities of Israelites throughout the world in their time: 15-21 Rabbi asked R. Ishmael son of R. Jose, The wealthy in Palestine, whereby do they merit [wealth]? Because they give tithes, he replied, as it is written, Asser te'asser[1] [which means], give tithes [asser] so that you may become Generations wealthy [tith'asser]. Those in Babylon, wherewith do they merit [it]? Because they honour the Torah, replied he. And 22-28 those in other countries, whereby do they merit it? Because they honour the Sabbath, answered he. --- Talmud, Shabbat, 119a Generations 29-35 This new ordeal that the Israelites will have to go through will be a long exile out of the land of the divine promise: Generations 36-49 Generation 50 Our Rabbis taught: When our Masters entered the vineyard at Yabneh,[2] they said, The Torah is destined to be forgotten in Israel, as it is said, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. And it is said, And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east; they shall run to and from to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it [Amos 8:11-12]. --- Talmud, Shabbat, 138b But, at the same time, the Jewish people had a written code of laws, with the Mishnah, which enabled them to strenghten their knowledge about the divine commandments and find solace in the particular relationship they had with God. By maintaining His commandments, they could find a goal to their own existence and could survive the ordeals that their exile will cause to them in the generations to come. ~~~~~~~~~~
Jewish diaspora around 1000 BCE, along the Phoenician maritime routes Of cource, many of these early Israelite settlers ended up totally disconnected from Jewish life over the centuries and were absorbed in the melting pot of subsequent population migrations and mixed with them. Yet, Genetics offers us a glimpse of what actually happened in these days, because we can find small pockets of populations with a genetic pattern that could only be explained by this early Israelite diaspora. For example, while most of European male genes are of the R haplogroup, we can find locations where the haplogroup is Q. And this haplogroup is of Asian origin, meaning for this time, it came from Mesopotamia. Phoenicians cannot recount for this haplogroup because they were Canaanite people thus of haplogroup E. The Q haplogroup, in the context of these early people migrations, can only be explained by the presence of these early Israelite settlers, mostly in places around the Mediterraneaan Sea of course, but also in the Basque population, in the Celt population (especially in the Cornwall region which was rich of tin resource, which was extremely useful to make metal), and even in the Dane and Nordic population (which gave root to the Vikings). Of course, as we are talking about some settlers, the haplogroup group Q does not represent the vast majority of a genetic mix of any given region, but it does represent a certain proportion of the concerned population. And, in Northern Africa, theHaplogroup Q is no longer present because the Q carriers, which were Jews, had emigrated from that region since the creation of the State of Israel and established themselves there (or in France, for most of the Algerian Jews). In the map below, we can notice presence of Q in the north-east of England but this is easily explained by invasions of the Vikings in that region in the Middle Ages.
Distribution of Haplogroup Q in Europe (source Eupedia) Out of these early Israelite settlers, none of them retained their Jewish culture except for those established in the Mediterranean Sea who were close enough to their home land to keep their customs. In particular, the Israelites established themselves in Northern Africa around 1000 BCE and founded, with their Phoenician maritime transports, the city of Carthage around 800 BCE. Before them, another Canaanite maritime nation came to the region: the Girgashites. We know this from two different sources. The first one is a tradition stated in the Midrash: R. Samuel ben R. Nahman said: What did Joshua do [before the conquest of Canaan]? He published an edict in every place he came to conquer wherein was written, Whosoever desires to go, let him go; and whosoever desires to make peace, let him make peace; and whosoever desires to make war, let him make war. What did the Girgashite do? He turned and went away from before them [the Israelites]. And God gave him another land, as beautiful as his own, namely, Africa. --- Deuteronomy Rabbah, V,14 The second one is a testimony from Procopius of Caesarea, a Byzantine historian of the 6th century CE. He wrote the following account: Now when these [Canaanite] nations saw that the invading general [Joshua] was an irresistible prodigy, they emigrated from their ancestral homes and made their way to Egypt, which adjoined their country. And finding there no place sufficient for them to dwell in, since there has been a great population in Egypt from ancient times, they proceeded to Libya. And they established numerous cities and took possession of the whole of Libya as far as the Pillars of Heracles, and there they have lived even up to my time, using the Phoenician tongue. They also built a fortress in Numidia, where now is the city called Tigisis. In that place are two columns made of white stone near by the great spring, having Phoenician letters cut in them which say in the Phoenician tongue: "We are they who fled from before the face of Joshua, the robber, the son of Nun." --- Procopius of Caesarea, De Bello Vandalico (The Vandalic War), IV, x,22; to read the text online, click here But Procopius was wrong about one detail: the Girgashites didn't go as far as the Pillars of Hercules. They settled around 1250 BCE in what is Lybia today. The Phoenicians[1a] established themselves in what became the city of Carthage[1b]. And when the Israelites who came with them around 1000 BCE saw the Canaanites people already established there on the east from the Phoenician port, they avoided any contact by going west in what is now the Maghreb. The customs were quite different between the Israelites established at the west compared to the Canaanites established at the east. For example, the Israelites emulated the way they were organised in their home land: tribes with a spiritual leader called a judge (shofet in Hebrew). The same was actually adopted in the city of Carthage since its foundation: the city was ruled by shoftim, meaning magistrates in their language. But, in the east, the Canaanites established in Lybia were ruled by a king or champion, which was called agellid in their language. The word agellid is the root for the name Goliath, the famous Philistine warrior that was killed by David. The same word has been borrowed by the Greeks to form the word aegis, which means protection or protector. So Israelites were established in Carthage and at the west of the city in the region now called the Maghreb. Where does this name come from? The Greek Herodotus who lived around 500 BCE named the people who lived there the Maxues, stating that they called themselves like that. Later on the Greek language adapted the name into Maurosioi, which meant the People of the West, from the Phoenician word Mahourim which had the same meaning. Then the Romans adapted this name into Mauri, which gave Mauro in Spanish and Moorish in English. The term Mahourim was used by the Phoenicians to call the people living at the west of Carthage, the Israelites. The word is identical to the Hebrew Maharavim, which mean the People of the West. So in fact the word Maghreb comes from the Hebrew Maarav When the Arabs invaded this region 1500 years later, they called it , which means the Djazirat-el-Maghreb, which means the Island of the Sunset (West). The Assyrian deportations Less than 100 years after the foundation of Carthage, all the Levant region (except the city of Jerusalem), was invaded and destroyed by the Assyrians. Some Israelites escaped with the Phoenicians on their ships, and found refuge in the largest colony of the Phoenician realm, Carthage. But most of the populations were deported to the outskirts of the Assyrian empire, and some Israelites were taken to Nineveh to work for the Assyrian power (the Book of Tobit is an example).
The Babylonian conquest The Assyrian empire was conquered by Nebuchadnezzar some 150 years later around 600 BCE. The Israelites originated from the Ten Tribes fled the theatre of destructions to farther places. Those established in the East went further east into what became Parthia and Media, and even as far as what became Afghanistan (which was majoritarily populated by people of Jewish origin, for example an ethnics called the Pashtuns). Those established in the north of the Assyrian empire fled farther north and into what became Armenia and Scythia. Then Nebuchadnezzar conquered the kingdom of Judah and destroyed Jerusalem. He took back to captivity in Babylon the most prominent Jews of this time. Some of the Judeans fled into Egypt to avoid being taken captives to Babylon. In parallel, the Israelites established in Carthage continued to flourish and busied themselves with the building of a maritime empire with their hosts the Phoenicians (now called the Carthaginians). Those kept their Jewish traditions whereas the Ten Tribes were mostly assimilated because they had adopted pagan gods already at the time of the Kingdom of Israel.
Jewish diaspora around 600 BCE, after the Babylonian conquest The Persian conquest Babylon fell to the Persian king Cyrus the Great who authorized the captive Jews to return to their homeland. But this return to Sion only became important after the event of Esther and Haman, some 100 years after the exile to Babylon. Most of the Jews however preferred to remain in the Persian empire and developped large communities in the Babylonian realm. The Persians also destroyed Egypt and ended the native dynasties. In the meantime, the Carthagenian maritime empire continued to flourish at the shored of the western side of the Mediterranean, thus avoiding conflict with the Greeks and Persians who fought one against the other in these times.
Jewish diaspora around 450 BCE, after the Return to Sion The Greek world Following the conquest by Alexander the Great, the Greek world spread from Egypt and Greece until Persia. All Jewish populations of the previous Persian empire passed under the new rulers. And, as the Greeks started to build new cities to established themselves in these centers of power, many Jews flocked into these new opportunities and lived in Alexandria, Egypt, and Antioch, Syria, and also in the Greek homeland as well as in the Greek harbours of Asia Minor. As of the Jews who went further east towards Afghanistan, they continued to keep some of their customs but will become converted to Islam some 1000 years later. These were truly "Lost Tribes". The Jews who remained in Scythia continued, like their brethren of North Africa, to keep their Jewish culture and traditions, and managed to remain away from wars and changes of empire that took place in Mesopotamia, Levant and Egypt.
Jewish diaspora around 250 BCE, inside and outside the Greek world But, soon after, a new military power, Rome, started to contest these empires, Carthaginian in the west and Greek in the east. The fall of Carthage After about 600 years of existence, Carthage became the target of the Roman appetite for expansion. The wars between Rome and Carthage toon several turns. At some point, the Carthaginian general Hannibal (his name means Ani-Baal, or I am the Lord) was close to destroy Rome after a long siege, but ultimately had to return to Carthage. The Roman general Scipio chose that moment of weakness to cross the sea and gave a final blow to Hannibal in 202 BCE at the battle of Zama: this was the end of the Carthaginian empire. Many Jews fled the destruction and Roman enslavement by going west and in the mountains of the Atlas where the Roman legions couldn't make easy progress. In fact Rome managed to control the coastal plains but never the mountain range. At the same period, the Greek empire was weakening under the attacks from the east and from the north, and had to let Judeah, for example, gain independence after the revolt of the Maccabees.
Jewish diaspora after the fall of Carthage in about 200 BCE The Roman empire After conquering the western side of the Mediterranean Sea, Rome turned their attention to the opposite direction and came into conflict against the various Greek kingdoms who were established after the death of Alexander the Great. The disputes among the Hasmonean dynasty of Judeah led Rome to take side and contributed to the rise of Herod into power as King of the Jews. Meanwhile Rome gradually conquered Greece, Egypt and the rest of the Greek dominions until they came against the same ennemies than the Greeks had: the Persians/Parthians in the east and the Scythians in the north. In their empire hower, they were rather tolerant towards the Jews and many of them flocked into the vast Roman empire in search for peaceful lands and business to pursue. Jews moved to Italy, Spain, Gaul and Helvetia, in addition to Ptolemaic Egypt and Seleucid Syria. By the time of the destruction of the Second Temple, Diaspora Jews were all over the Roman empire. In Egypt for example, Philo of Alexandria stated the following: Jews who inhabited Alexandria and the rest of the country from the Catabathmos on the side of Libya to the boundaries of Ethiopia were not less than a million of men. --- Philo, Flaccus, VI,43 This amount of people represented about 12% of the total population of Egypt but most of them were in Alexandria, a city with five boroughs, three of them being populated by Jews. The War of the Jews has probably cost the life of one million people in Judea and in Jerusalem in particular. After the fall of Jerusalem, Titus sent about 100,000 Jews as slaves in the eastern provinces of the empire, and took some back to Rome, where a Jewish population was already firmly established.
Jewish diaspora around 200 CE In the outskirts of the Roman empire, where the conquest had not been successful, some Jewish populations have been able to retain their identity and traditions. This was mainly the case of the decsndants of the early Israelites settlers in North Africa, as these ones remained in the mountain range and didn't mix with the Romans and the Judeo-Romans (those who came as part of the Roman empire) who lived in the coastal plains. It was also the case of the Jews of Scythia because Rome had never managed to completely vanquish that part of the world. In 200 CE, Rome was becoming under the threat of the German "barbarians" as well, who had managed to stop their conquest there as well. In the meantime, Chrsitianity started to spread in the Roman empire, with ups and downs in term of persecution because Christians were considered by the Romans as being a threat to their authority (mostly because they endeavoured to enroll followers, secretly), unlike the Jews who represented no threat (as they were not actively converting the Roman population to their religion). The Scythians were descendants of Ashkenaz, son of Gomer son of Japheth son of Noah. The first Jews living among them were considered to be ashkenazim. They moved with the Scythians into Central Europe, and will later be joined from other Jews who came from the Roman empire after its collapse. So in fact the Ashkenazim Jews had two origins: the most ancient ones came to Central Europe with the Scythians, whereas the vast number came from the Roman empire. The existence of a strong Jewish community among the Scythians, and dating back from the Assyrian invasion, is proven by tombstones found in Crimea and dating from the new CE era. One of such tomb reads: This is the tombstone of Buki, the son of Izchak the priest. May his rest be in Eden at the time of the salvation of Israel. In the year 702 of the years of our exile. --- Pain, H. Herbert, Englishmen Israelites, 1897, p.15 And for those Jews who were following religious commandments, the end of the nation as an political entity did not mean the end of the faith. The Sages had predicted that God will punish His people but, at the same time, will not destroy them utterly. For this, they would recall the covenant that God made with Abraham: Said Abraham before the Holy One, blessed be He: Sovereign of the Universe, perhaps God forbid, Israel will sin before You and You wilt do to them as You did to the generation of the Flood and the generation of the Division [Babel]? He answered, Not so. He then said before Him: Sovereign of the Universe, by what shall I know this? He said: Take me a heifer of three years old [the heifer is the animal for sacrifices] etc. He then said before Him: Sovereign of the Universe, This is very well for the time when the Temple will be standing, but in the time when there will be no Temple what will befall them? He replied to him: I have already fixed for them the order of the sacrifices. Whenever they will read the section dealing with them, I will reckon it as if they were bringing me an offering, and forgive all their iniquities. --- Talmud, Megilah, 31b In other words, the reading of the section of the Torah related to the sacrifice in the Temple would be as valuable for God than the sacrifices themselves. Redemption will occur by keeping knowedge and reading of the book in times when the Temple will no longer stand. However, as God had said by the mouth of Moses, the Jews of Diaspora "shall fear night and day, and shall have no assurance of life." This was because, wherever the Jews settled outside their promised land, they were subjects to periods of hatred, vexations, restrictions, and so on, despite the periods of peace that occurred on rare occasions. It is interesting to also note the similarity between the generations 17 and 34, the latter seeming to be a repetition of the former. In Generation 17, God intervened in the affairs of the world and dispersed the human race after the Tower of Babel. It was this generation that signalled the change of direction this His Creation took: a new era started after two millenia. Similarly, in the present Generation 34 (twice 17), God dispersed His chosen people, but at the same time a new era started which, with the Diaspora, reinforced the Jewish people in the faith in God and in the hope of the final redemption which will start precisely after the 50th generation, and the beginning of a new era with the 51st generation (three times 17). This cycle of three will make the Creation complete, as signalled by the number 3 (see Note 2 of this page). ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes [1a] The name Phoenician comes from the Greek name Phoinikes which came from their word phoinix which means "purple"; this is because the Phoenicians, who rather called themselves Canaanites, were traders of the rare purple dye in the Antiquity; in Hurrian, a semitic language using cuneiform, the name Canaan means "land of the purple"; so the Greeks simply called these maritime people the Phoenicians as a mere translation of the way these people called themselves, Canaan, which meant purple [1b] The name Carthage comes from the Hebrew and semitic word Kyriat Hadash, which means "new city" ~~~~~~~~~~
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Generation 23
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Hebrew years 2640 to 2760 (1120-1000 BCE) ~~~ Part I ~~~ Part II ~~~ Part III ~~~
What is new Year 2745 1015 BCE Solomons alliance with Pharaoh Index of names Creation Generations 1-14 After resolving the succession feuds with his half-brother Adonijah and his supporters, the kingdom became peaceful. It was time for Solomon to pursue peace outside as well: And Solomon became allied to Pharaoh king of Egypt by marriage, and took Pharaoh's daughter, and brought her into the city of David, until he had made an end of building his own house, and the house of the Lord, and the wall of Jerusalem round about. Only the people sacrificed in the high places, because there was no house built for the name of the Lord until those days. --- I Kings 3:1-2
Generations Egypt was then in what is called the Third Intermediate Period, ranging from 1069 to 664 BCE. The previous powerful New Kingdom had been weakened by internal struggles that led into the effective division of the 15-21 country between political and religious powers: Lower Egypt in the north with the political capital Tanis in the Generations Delta region was ruled by the Pharaoh, while Middle and Upper Egypt in the south with the religious capital Thebes was effectively ruled by the High Priests of Amon, linked to the royal family in Tanis. 22-28 Generations Solomon married a daughter of Pharaoh Psusennes I of the 21st Dynasty,[1] who reigned from 1047 to 1001 BCE. It was important for kings of that dynasty to seek alliances and peace on their borders, so that they could 29-35 maintain their power. To this effect and in order to seal his alliance with Solomon, he sent an expedition to Generations secure the border between Egypt and the land of Israel, and destroyed Gezer, the main enemy city on the common border: 36-49 Generation 50 Pharaoh King of Egypt had gone up, and taken Gezer, and burnt it with fire, and slain the Canaanites that dwelt in the city, and given it for a portion unto his daughter, Solomon's wife. And Solomon built Gezer, and Beth-Horon the nether, and Baalath, and Tadmor in the wilderness, in the land, and all the store-cities that Solomon had, and the cities for his chariots, and the cities for his horsemen, and that which Solomon desired to build for his pleasure in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion. --- I Kings 9:16-19
David smote also Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah,[2] as he went to establish his dominion at the river Euphrates. And David took from him a thousand and seven hundred horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen; and David houghed all the chariot horses, but reserved of them for a hundred chariots. And when the Arameans of Damascus came to succour Hadadezer king of Zobah, David smote of the Arameans two and twenty thousand men. Then David put garrisons in Aram of Damascus; and the Arameans became servants to David, and brought presents. And the Lor gave victory to David whithersoever he went. And David took the shields of gold that were on the servants of Hadadezer, and brought them to Jerusalem. And from Betah and from Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, King David took exceeding much brass. --- II Samuel 8:3-8 Most probably, the gold and brass that David took away from the Arameans had been previously taken by them from Babylon, as an inscription of Late Babylonian period stated: During the reign of Adad-apla-iddina, king of Babylon, hostile Aramaeans and Suteans, enemies of the Ekur temple and the city of Nippur, [] plundered the land of Sumer and Akkad, and overthrew all the temples. The Aramaeans carried off the goods and property of the god Enlil. --- Inscription of Simbar-Sipak (or Simbar-Sihu), who reigned around 1025-1008 BCE [3] So, by the time of Solomons reign, the Arameans, and by extent the region of Babylon that they had previously conquered, was under the indirect dominance of the Israelites. The dynasty that followed Dynasty V of Babylon was plagued with distress and famine, so that it never presented any threat to Solomon's kingdom during the time of his reign. Solomon also made alliance with the Phoenicians. Their king, Hiram, had known King David and was married to an Israelite widow from the Tribe of Naphtali (I Kings 7:14). This created bonds between the two royal houses, of Jerusalem and Sidon. Solomon traded with Hiram: he provided him every year wheat and oil, and Hiram provided to Solomon timber from the cedar trees of his land, todays Lebanon (I Kings 5:22-25). Like their allies the Phoenicians, Solomon had a navy that carried Jewish tradesmen and adventurers over the seas: For the king had at sea a navy of Tarshish with the navy of Hiram; once every three years came the navy of Tarshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks. --- I Kings 10:22 This is a period when, most probably, some Israelites settled around the Mediterranean Sea, on the shores of Asia Minor, in Spain, in Northern Africa, in what will later become the Maghreb, but also probably founded the city of Carthage along with the Phoenicians.
after the Exodus, and it was lately used by David and his son Solomon who wrote poetry that would be included in the Jewish Bible, for example the Psalms and the Song of Songs Solomon explained the concept of letters to Hiram who then tought it to his people the Phoenicians. Before letters of alphabet, the ancient world only used symbols, such as cuneiforms or hieroglyphs. From the Phoenicians, the concept of alphabet spread to the maritime cities they used or build. It was first transmitted to the Greeks who passed it to the rest of Europe over time, through their culture. This fact is confirmed by Herodotus, the first world historian, who wrote the following in about 400 BCE: The Phoenicians who came with Cadmus, and of whom the Gephyreans were a part, introduced during their residence in Greece various articles of science, and amongst other things letters, with which, as I conceive, the Greeks were before unacquainted. --- Herodotus, The Histories, Book V Terpsichore, section LVII One of the earliest archaeological proofs of the existence of an alphabet among the Israelites is a seal that was found in Israel and dated about 700 BCE which bears the name of the city of Beth-Lehem.
2700 years old seal written in alphabet (source: Bible History Daily) The wisdom that God gave to Solomon was disseminated to the ancient world by means of stories and knowledge, over the years, and operated a turn in mankind's understanding of nature and science, in many domains, and intellectual investigations became possible with the help of alphabet. ~~~~~~~~~~
Year 2745 1015 BCE Solomon starts the construction of the Temple in Jerusalem
In the 4th year of his reign, Solomon started to build a Temple to host the Ark of Covenant. His father, King David, envisioned to carry out this project but was advised by Nathan the Prophet not to do it in his times. And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month Ziv, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the Lord. --- I Kings 6:1 (usual translation) The 480 years mentioned in this text has widely been assumed to be 480 years from the Exodus, when the children of Israel came out of Egypt. This is what the original Seder Olam has considered. This is what historians have considered and who based their calculations on the various translations that were given in their language to this text. But the interpretation of this text has been erroneous. Here are the words in Hebrew where the misinterpretation occurred:
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This text has been widely understood as the Exodus of the Bene-Israel. But it is not so. When the Biblical text mentions the Exodus, the wording typically implies that God took out the Children of Israel from Egypt. The examples are: - Exodus 12:51 land of Egypt] - Exodus 3:10
[from Egypt] The main message is clear: it is God who brought out the Bene-Israel from Egypt, who were thus beneficiary of His action. But what does the above text says: it mentions that the Bene-Israel did the action themselves, when they came out of Egypt. The difference is not easy to perceive in a simple translation word like Exodus: the actual Exodus refers to the Bene-Israel being taken out, while the text above in I Kings 6:1 refers to the Bene-Israel going out themselves. That is the difference: the result of taking out (by the hand of God) vs. the action of going out (by themselves). So did the Bene-Israel did go out of Egypt by themselves? Yes and there is only one occurrence, if we understand the word Bene-Israel not as the usually translated Chidlren of Israel but instead as Children of Jacob, because Jacob was called Israel. The Children of Jacob did come out of Egypt by themselves, only once... when they went to bury their father to the Cave of Machpelah, and then they returned to Egypt as they had promised to Pharaoh. This was in Hebrew year 2265 (see Generation 19). So the understanding of I Kings 6:1 should have been that the come out of Egypt was not the Exodus, but the funeral procession to bury Jacob in Canaan: And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Jacob were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month Ziv, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the Lord. --- I Kings 6:1 (revisited) And thus, 480 years from this unique event takes our chronology to 2265+480 = Hebrew year 2745 (1015 BCE). ~~~~~~~~~~
Geometry of the square and the circle But little is known that, at the time of Solomon, this proposition was already known. The Talmud contains a discussion about the proportions used by the king to make the "Molten Sea" (also called the "Brazen Sea"), a large basin used in the Temple for the purification of the priests. To start with, here are the dimension of this molten sea: And he made the molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in compass, and the height thereof was five cubits; and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about.
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--- I Kings 7:23 If the diameter was 10 cubits, the circumference would have been over 30 cubits, around 10x 3.14 = 31.4 cubits. The apparent discrepancy is explained in the text itself which says 10 cubits from brim to brim: this means the brim of the recipient was slightly larger than the actual recipient. The brim itself was the size of the brim of a cup as the following text explained: And it was a handbreadth thick, and the brim thereof was wrought like the brim of a cup, like the flower of a lily: it received and held three thousand baths. --- II Chronicles 4:5 So, if we take the circumference of 30 cubits of the Molten Sea, it corresponds to a diameter of 30 / 3.14 = 9.55 cubits. Because the diameter brim to brim was 10 cubits, the brim was half the difference of 10 - 9.55 = 0.45 cubits. The brim was therefore roughly 0.22 cubits, which is about 10 centimetres, roughly a handbreadth thick. The Biblical measurements make sense. Many artists have tried, with not much success, to render the molten sea, as shown in the diagram below:
But it was not rounded at the base, as it is often depicted. It was square at its base and round above it. This calculation was made according to the number of ritual baths it contained,[7] and implied a knowledge of the ratio between a circle and a square of the side being the diameter in order to get the size of the Molten Sea correct: But consider: By how much does [the area of] a square exceed that of a circle? By a quarter. Then of the four hundred [cubic cubits previously assumed] one hundred [must be deducted], and of the hundred [cubic cubits] twenty-five [must be deducted]. [Would not then the number of ritual baths] be only a hundred and twenty-five? Rami b. Ezekiel learned that the sea that Solomon made was square in its lower three cubits and round in its upper three. --- Talmud, Eiruvin, 14b A circle of diameter 2R (R being the radius) is about a quarter less in proportion than the square that has side of 2R. Indeed: - the area of the square is 2R x 2R = 4R2, and the area of the circle is R2; the ratio between the two shapes is 4/ - the circumference of the square if 4x 2R= 8R, and of the circle is 2R; here again the ratio between the two shapes is 8/2 = 4/ So, where we look at the ratio of the circumferences or of the areas, the square is in excess of 4/ compared to the circle, which is close to the Talmudic estimate of a quarter (the error to 4/ is only of 7%). This proportion of estimated 25% between square and circle, used by Solomon to order the making of the Molten Sea, was only mentioned in writing by Euclid, who may have learned it from Eudoxus, some 650 years after the Temple of Solomon. ~~~~~~~~~~
Year 2752 1008 BCE Solomon completes the construction of the Temple
The construction of the Temple took 7 years (I Kings 6:37-38). God promised to Solomon to dwell in it as long
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as he will follow His statutes and commandments. The Holy of Holies was a perfect cube of dimensions 20 x 20 x 20 cubits. Two cherubim were placed in it, 10 cubits of width each, with their two wings spread wall to wall and touching each other, so all the width of the place was used. In between the two cherubim, lower than the wings that touched one another, the Ark was placed: it measured 2.5 x 1.5 1.5 cubits, and two small cherubim covered it (Exodus 25).
The plan of Solomon's Temple (source Wikipedia) ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1] This dynasty is often called Tanite because its capital was in Tanis [2] A region of Aram [3] Source Wikipedia [4] Thales is famous to mathematicians for the theorem named after him; as of the philosophers, it was Aristotle himself who declared that Thales was the founder of the Philosophy [5] In his times in Greece, every writing was in the form of poem [6] It is the personification of Darkness in Greek mythology [7] In Biblical measurements, a ritual bath was the volume of water needed to immerse a full human body, equivalent to 40 se'ah; whereas a bath was simply the quantity of 3 se'ah; the Molten Sea was said to contain a volume of 2000 baths [I Kings 7:26], equivalent to 6000 se'ah, equivalent to 6000/40 = 150 ritual baths; the calculation that follows was to determine to shape of the Molten Sea that contained 150 ritual baths and was round shape in its uper part Next generation Top of Page
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Generation 27
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Hebrew years 3120 to 3240 (640-520 BCE) ~~~ Part I ~~~ Part II ~~~ Part III ~~~ Part IV
About 20 years after the end of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, and 64 years after Daniel interpreted the colossus dream which had puzzled the great king, the Babylonian Empire came to an end at the hand of the Medes people who had founded Creation the Persian Empire. The ruler to wage the war against Babylon was Cyrus the Great, who took the city and the empire in Generations the year 540 BCE Cyruss name in Old Persian is kr-u, which means Sun-like. 1-14 Generations 15-21 Generations 22-28 Generations 29-35 Generations 36-49
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Generation 50
The empires before the conquest of Cyrus (Shepherd, William, Historical Atlas, 1911) Unlike many rulers of the time, Cyrus was very close to monotheism because he followed the religion that was established by Zoroaster (also known as Zarathustra). This religion is generally considered to have started in the late second millenium BCE so its beginning was contemporary to King Solomon. This old religion was built upon duality, with one
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God and one Evil. The theme of evil was widely used in the Israelite literature but not as a evil "god", but more like the human evil sides to which man can be attracted. The religion has borrowed other concepts from the Bible, for example in the theme of the Creation: Thus therefore do we worship Ahura Mazda, who made the Kine,[1] and the Righteousness,[2] and the waters, and the wholesome plants, the stars, and the earth, and all (existing) objects that are good. --- Yasna 37:1 (for text online, click here) It is probable that, in the time of Solomon, who was known in the antique world for his wisdom, and was the author of the Book of the Proverbs and of the poem the Song of Songs, men of importance would come to visit him and benefit from his wise teaching as depicted by the case of the Queen of Sheba who came from Africa or the Arabic Peninsula. They would go back to their abode and, maybe like Zoroaster, would create a new school of thought. Then some details being added to other local legends, a new religion would be established. ~~~~~~~~~~
Depiction of Cyrus the Great (19th century engraving of a bas-relief from Pasargadae) But, more importantly, the cylinder also details how the conqueror restored peace and justice in the empire, and abolished forced labour. In other words, Cyrus was presented more as a liberator of people than a conqueror of kingdoms. The cylinder is also considered as the first declaration of human rights, some 2000 years before the French Revolution. In
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1971, its text has been translated into all the official languages of the United Nations.
The Cyrus Cylinder (British Museum) So, for the captive Israelites as well, this change of ruler meant freedom because the cylinder mentions Cyrus decree of allowing the Jews to return to their homeland and rebuild their temple. This text is corroborated by the Biblical text in the Book of Ezra: 'Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth has the Lord, the God of heaven, given me; and He has charged me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whosoever there is among you of all His people -- his God be with him -- let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord, the God of Israel, He is the God who is in Jerusalem. And whosoever is left, in any place where he sojourns, let the men of his place help him with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, beside the freewill-offering for the house of God which is in Jerusalem.' --- Ezra 1:2-4 ~~~~~~~~~~
some point, once the reconstruction of the Temple came later to a halt under the reign of Cambyses.
Nehemiah in the ruins of Jerusalem (Gustave Dor, 1868) This early return to Sion was not exclusively composed of Israelites from Judah and Benjamin, because about a quarter of
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it came from other Israelites tribes, exiled since the times of Assyria, who happened to dwell in Babylon. After the fall of the Assyrian Empire, and the change of regional power to the city of Babylon, several people from these 10 exiled tribes moved to Babylon from the places in Assyria where they had dwelled. Once they arrived to Jerusalem, they restored the divine service at the place of the destroyed Temple. A year later, they laid the foundations of the Temple for its reconstruction (Ezra 3:8). But they soon faced the opposition of the local Samaritans who were established in the country since the time of the Assyrian conquest and had adopted some of the practices of the Israelites, but with pagan customs. The latter complained about this reconstruction to all Persian rulers from the time of Cyrus until the reign of Darius: Be it known unto the king, that the Jews that came up from you are come to us unto Jerusalem; they are building the rebellious and the bad city, and have finished the walls, and are digging out the foundations. Be it known now unto the king, that, if this city is built, and the walls finished, they will not pay tribute, impost, or toll, and so thou wilt endamage the revenue of the kings. [] We announce to the king that, if this city is built, and the walls finished, by this means you shall have no portion beyond the River. --- Ezra 4:12-16 The works ultimately came to a halt and would not resume until the second year of the reign of Darius. Several of the Israelites who came to Sion returned to Persia after their plans of reconstruction had been compromised. ~~~~~~~~~~
The influence of Pythagoras on many of the philosophic schools in Greece, of which Socrates and Plato, and subsequently on Aristotles, is well known, but the origin of his knowledge is not. ~~~~~~~~~~
Tomb of Cyrus in Pasargadae, Iran Nobody actually knows how Cyrus died. Herodotus assumed it happened during that fateful campaign but admitted that there were other opinions. Although Herodotus wrote his History less than 100 years later after these events, the facts were not firmly established, which demonstrates somehow the hard task of historians to gather witness accounts even a relatively short period after the events. ~~~~~~~~~~
Cambyses declared himself Pharaoh of a new dynasty, which is known to historians as the 27th Dynasty. The conquest on the eastern borders of the Persian Empire, until the Hindus, was done by his father Cyrus and predecessors. But the conquest on the western side, until the border of Ethiopia, was done by Cambyses. There is a enigma though: Cambyses did not have any son, so who did he suppose would continue his dynasty? The answer is in the Bible and in the Achaemenid family tree. First, this tree shows that Cambyses had an elder sister called Atossa who was married to Darius, the son of Hystaspes:
Second, the Bible mentions: And Darius the Mede received the kingdom -- already about threescore and two years. --- Daniel 6:1 So, in fact, Darius son of Hystaspes received the kingdom, which avoided a problem of succession. Under Persian law, when an Achaemenian king would engage into a difficult military campaign, he needed to name a heir before leaving. Darius was the one chosen before Cambyses campaign to Egypt. But then Cambyses could indeed create a dynasty of Egypt, because the Achaemenid heir would de facto become Pharaoh as well. The next part of the above sentence has been wrongly translated from Hebrew to Greek and other languages, so it has misled most of Biblical scholars. The translations usually give about threescore and two years old whereas the Hebrew text does not refer to the age of Darius at the time he came to power. And indeed granting him an old age of 62 years old at the start of his reign would make it nearly impossible to reconcile with the fact that he reigned for 36 years, as this would have made him over 100 years old at death time, a time when he was campaigning in Greece ! History records that Darius reigned from 522 BCE and that he was about 25 years old at the time he came to power. It
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is accepted that he died in 485 BCE which is a sure date because this is when his son Xerxes became king. If we assume that Darius reigned from the age of 25 years old until the year 485 BCE, this would mean that he died at the age of 62 years old, as indicated in the Bible text. So the mention already about threescore and two years could be read as Darius received the kingdom until about the age of 62 years old. But there is another explanation which is more appropriate. Before Darius would become king over the entire Persian Empire, he was given the throne of Babylon at the time of Cambyses new dynasty. The Biblical text indeed mentions Darius as ruler of Babylon: In the first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans. --- Daniel 6:9 Why would the text mention Darius as being made king and over the realm of the Chaldeans if this sentence would apply at the time when he became king of the entire Persian empire? The only sensible explanation is that Darius was already made king over Babylon during Cambyses reign. This would have also allowed him to get a grasp over politics and the role of a king while still young of age. So the mention of already about threescore and two years refers to another event: as usually done in the Bible, the start of a reign is often given in relation to another event that preceded it, such as the reign of another monarch. In the case of the Persian Empire, there is no other monarch to mention as all the kingdoms were absorbed into this single empire. But the one event that is recorded in History and in the Bible is the fall of Jerusalem in 587 BCE. This was precisely 62 years before Cambyses founded his dynasty and made Darius his heir and king of Babylon. So the Biblical text from Daniel refers to the time, 62 years after the fall of Jerusalem, when Darius received the kingdom of the Chaldeans, not of all Persia. This was the time when Darius started to rule as a king. In the same sentence, the Biblical text refers to Darius as son of Ahasuerus, while Darius was the son of Hystaspes. The name Ahasuerus will be used in the Biblical text as the name of the ruler at the time of the story of Esther. And that ruler Ahasuerus is Xerxes, the son of Darius not the father. The matter seems confusing. But, it is not. The name Ahasuerus is formed of the same word as satrap in the Aramaic text of the Book of Daniel. It may be derived from the same Persian root that forms the word Achaemenid, so the Aramaic prefixe Aha would be the Persian Achae or Axa. The name Ahasuerus is written in Daniel 9:1 whereas the word satrap, or rather the function satrapy, is written in Daniel 6:2, and elsewhere (in Old Persian, the term is khshathrapavan). It can be understood that the name Ahasuerus and therefore simply means satrap and head. It is corroborated with the fact that is formed of the two parts and , the name Xerxes (Ahasuerus in the Bible) means ruler [of heroes] in Old Persian: Xerxes is the Latin and Greek version of the name, while the Old Persian was Khashayar. In Babylon, Darius came to know Daniel the Prophet who was still alive and lived in the city. ~~~~~~~~~~
an usurper, who claimed to have rights over the throne as being the brother of Cambyses, seized power. He was killed a few months later by a conspiracy led by a group of 7 dignitaries of the empire, one of them being Darius who had been chosen heir of the empire by Cambyses. ~~~~~~~~~~
In the first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans; in the first year of his reign, I Daniel meditated in the books, over the number of the years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish for the desolations of Jerusalem seventy years. And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes. --- Daniel 9:1-2 Jeremiah's prophecy was that God will remember the Israelites after 70 years of Babylonian exile: For thus says the Lord: After seventy years are accomplished for Babylon, I will remember you, and perform My good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. --- Jeremiah 29:10 When Darius was brought to power in Babylon, this period of Babylonian exile had already come to an end because the captivity of Babylon is counted from the time when King Jehoiachin and the High Priest were taken captive. Jerusalem was then desolated, first spiritually before falling (materialistically) a few years later. This explains the meditation, and calculation, made by Daniel who realized the time had passed and, yet, the "exile of Babylon" was still endured, although at the time Cyrus has already cancelled all the decrees that had given the Israelites of the Babylonian realm the status of captives. But the fact was that the Promised Land was devastated, most of the Israelites remained in exile instead of returning to Sion, and started the process of assimililation in the new ruling power, of Persia, which had shown much more tolerance for them and fred them from their captivity status. So Jeremiahs prophecy mentioning the 70 years was not accomplished yet, except that the Israelites were not captive but remained exiled. The time for the end of their exile was still uncertain. What was causing this delay of redemption? The Israelites were spread over the Chaldean and Persian empires, in which they assimilated and embraced the new status of citizen of the most powerful empire of all times. For them the captivity was finished but for Daniel the exile was not. The problem was that there was a lack of faith in divine designs to eventually decide to depart for Sion, even though Cyrus decree authorized it, because the region of Judah still had the stigma of the ravage caused by preceding wars, and was known to be utterly desolated. In order to push more Israelites out of exile, spiritually and physically, and make them rebuild the destroyed city and Temple, God needed to create the inspiration and faith into His people. This came with a succession of ordeals, designed to put the Israelites in danger and to awaken their dormant spirituality. The same had already occured for their ancestors in Egypt: they went down on selfexile due to a famine in their land, but then received honours and property and decided to remain; they ended up in assimilation and were about to forget all their roots until God designs made a new king to rule over Egypt who decided to enslave the Hebrews. They then missed the opportunity to return to Sion by their own choice during the reign of monotheist Akhenaten, and the same svcenario repeated itself with the semi-monotheist Cyrus who fred them from captivity, gave them back the vessels of the Temple and authorized them to rebuild it, and yet, they remained in the Persian empire instead. Assimilation was threatening their existence once more... Daniel was more personally affected by this situation because he would soon need to move out of Babylon, not to return to Sion but to get himself even further away, to the city of Susa. The exile seemed more and more deepening and this explains why Daniel felt the urge to seek [the Lord God] by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes.
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~~~~~~~~~~
Darius signet (source: Images of Ancient Iran) The fasting of the king was surely borrowed from the common practice he had seen Daniel doing in Babylon in times of fear about the future and of prayer to God. Darius threw the conspirers into the lions den and decreed: Then Darius wrote unto all the peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth: I make a decree, that in all the dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel; for He is the living God, and stedfast for ever, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and His dominion shall be even unto the end; He delivers and rescues, and He works signs and wonders in heaven and in earth; who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.' --- Daniel 6:26-29 ~~~~~~~~~~
Surely if Daniel was still alive, Darius would have conferred with him about several matters that concerned the Jewish nation. Towards the end of his life, after having served the greatest kings of these times, from Nebuchadnezzar the Chaldean to Darius the Mede, Daniel had a last vision about the end of the world. But he could not understand it because God did not reveal to him its significance: And I heard, but I understood not; then said I: O my Lord, what shall be the latter end of these things? And he said: Go your way, Daniel; for the words are shut up and sealed till the time of the end. --- Daniel 12:8-9 Go your way, Daniel: the Prophet knew at this point that the term of his life was near. He was then living in Susa, and knew he would die in Susa, the place where one of his earliest visions had taken him long ago, even before Persia came to overpower the known world: In the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar a vision appeared unto me, even unto me Daniel, after that which appeared unto me at the first. And I saw in the vision; now it was so, that when I saw, I was in Shushan the castle, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in the vision, and I was by the stream Ulai. --- Daniel 8:1-2 He must have been 100 years old when he died, because he was taken to Babylon when he was a young person, probably no older than 20 years old, and had been educated and raised in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar. This was in Hebrew year 3155, and Daniel must have died in Hebrew year 3239, so 84 years before. If he had come to Babylon at the age of 16, he would have died at the age of 100. Daniel was buried near the stream and castle of his vision and his tomb still stands there:
Tomb of Daniel in Susa (Flandin, Eugne, Voyage en Perse Moderne, 1851) ~~~~~~~~~~
Year 3239 521 BCE God orders the reconstruction of the Temple
In the second year of Dariuss reign, God addressed Himself to the Israelites through Haggai the Prophet to appeal to them to return to Sion and rebuild the Temple: Then came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet, saying: Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your sealed houses, while this house lays waste? Now therefore thus, says the Lord of hosts, Consider your ways. You have sown much, and brought in little, you eat, but you have not enough, you drink, but you are not filled with drink, you clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earns wages earns wages for a bag with holes. Thus says the Lord of hosts, consider your ways. Go up to the hill-country, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, says the Lord. You looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when you brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? says the Lord of hosts. Because of My house that lays waste, while you
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run every man for his own house. Therefore over you the heaven has kept back, so that there is no dew, and the earth has kept back her produce. And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground brings forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labour of the hands. --- Haggai 1:3-11 Through the mouth of the prophet Haggai, God chose Zerubbabel as leader of the Jewish people at this time: In that day, says the Lord of hosts, will I take you, O Zerubbabel, My servant, the son of Shealtiel, says the Lord, and will make you as a signet; for I have chosen you, says the Lord of hosts. --- Haggai 2:23 God addressed Himself to Zechariah the Prophet as well: The Lord has been sore displeased with your fathers. Therefore say you unto them, Thus says the Lord of hosts: Return unto Me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will return unto you, says the Lord of hosts. Be you not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets proclaimed, saying: Thus says the Lord of hosts: Return you now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings; but they did not hear, nor attend unto Me, says the Lord. Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live for ever? But My words and My statutes, which I commanded My servants the prophets, did they not overtake your fathers? so that they turned and said: Like as the Lord of hosts purposed to do unto us, according to our ways, and according to our doings, so has He dealt with us. --- Zechariah 1:2-6 And in: The burden of the word of the Lord concerning Israel. The saying of the Lord, who stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundation of the earth, and formed the spirit of man within him: Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of staggering unto all the peoples round about, and upon Judah also shall it fall to be in the siege against Jerusalem. And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will make Jerusalem a stone of burden for all the peoples; all that burden themselves with it shall be sore wounded; and all the nations of the earth shall be gathered together against it. In that day, saith the Lord, I will smite every horse with bewilderment, and his rider with madness; and I will open Mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the peoples with blindness. And the chiefs of Judah shall say in their heart: 'The inhabitants of Jerusalem are my strength through the Lord of hosts their God.' In that day will I make the chiefs of Judah like a pan of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire among sheaves; and they shall devour all the peoples round about, on the right hand and on the left; and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem. The Lord also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem be not magnified above Judah. In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that stumbleth among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as a godlike being, as the angel of the LORDLord before them. And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication; and they shall look unto Me because they have thrust him through; and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son,
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and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born. In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon. And the land shall mourn, every family apart: the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart; The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of the Shimeites apart, and their wives apart; All the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart. --- Zechariah 12 The work of reconstruction of the Temple resumed in the 2nd year of the reign of Darius, when he was king of Persia (Ezra 4:24), and not just when he was king over the realm of the Chaldeans. The Israelites started the work under the guidance of their prophets. When Persian officials asked them who gave them authorization to resume the work, they replied: We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and build the house that was builded these many years ago, which a great king of Israel builded and finished. --- Ezra 5:11 They also mentioned that Cyrus the Great had authorized such work as he had returned the vessels of the Temple to restore its divine service. The officials referred the case to Darius. The decree of Cyrus that the Israelites mentioned was found in a roll (Ezra 6:2), which was surely the so-called Cyrus cylinder. Darius gave his full approval for the works to resume and even granted support from the empire: And that which they [the Jews] have need of, both young bullocks, and rams, and lambs, for burnt-offerings to the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the word of the priests that are at Jerusalem, let it be given them day by day without fail; that they may offer sacrifices of sweet savour unto the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king, and of his sons. Also I have made a decree, that whosoever shall alter this word, let a beam be pulled out from his house, and let him be lifted up and fastened thereon; and let his house be made a dunghill for this; and may the God that has caused His name to dwell there overthrow all kings and peoples, that shall put forth their hand to alter the same, to destroy this house of God which is at Jerusalem. I Darius have made a decree; let it be done with all diligence. --- Ezra 6:9-12
Map of the Temple, drawn by Maimonides (12th century CE) ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1] The Living Creation, which is opposite to the Void and Chaos, the Tohu and Bohu of the Bible [2] God as creator of mankind, where the Righteousness has taken a human form, a body [3] Herodotus is considered as the Father of History as he completed his book in 440 BCE
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[4] This practice has been adopted by Jews since the exile of Babylon [5] To see the ancient Persian alphabet, click here Next generation Top of Page
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Generation 21
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Hebrew years 2400 to 2520 (1360-1240 BCE) ~~~ Part I ~~~ Part II ~~~ Part III ~~~
What is new Year 2407 1353 BCE Amenhotep IV Index of names Creation Amenhotep III was succeeded in 1353 BCE by his son, Amenhotep IV, who was going to reign for the next 17 years. Moses, born in the 5th year of the reign of Amenhotep III, was about the same age of the new Pharaoh. They surely shared a lot during the years of growing together in the royal palace and Moses was de facto his cousin by way of adoption.
~~~~~~~~~~ Generations 1-14 Year 2412 1348 BCE Akhenaten and the Amarna period Generations In the 5th year of his reign, Amenhotep IV decided to change religion, and adopt the faith of one unique God, Aten, 15-21 which is represented by the disk of the Sun, as a symbol for perfection. This was like a new birth for the young Pharaoh, mirroring the birth of Moses in the 5th year of the precedent reign. There is little doubt that Moses, who had Generations grown next to the new Pharaoh in the palace and was about the same age, must have had influence over such sudden 22-28 and unique change in the history of Ancient Egypt. Generations Amenhotep IV changed radically everything when he adopted the new monotheist religion. He changed his name to 29-35 Akhenaten, and also moved his capital from Memphis to Amarna as if his life in the city of Memphis, which was built with many temples to Egyptian deities, would have been impure to him. Generations 36-49 Generation 50
Akhenaten and his enigmatic smile (Alexandria National Museum, Egypt) In Amarna, Akhenaten entertained an official correspondence, surprisingly not in Egyptian hieroglyphs but in cuneiform language as it was used in Mesopotamia. Some of the clay tablets refer to a people of Alashiya, in Cyprus, which have been identified as descendants from Elishah, son of Japeth. Among the letters related to city-states in Canaan, there are a few from a warlord called Abdi-Heba (or maybe Ebed-Nob), probably established there by Pharaoh himself, asking for urgent military support: May the king know (that) all the lands are at peace (with one another), but I am at war. May the king provide for his land. Consider the lands of Gazru [Gaza], Asqaluna [Ashkelon] and Lakisi [Lakish]. They have given them
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[my enemies] food, oil and any other requirement. So may the king provide for archers and send the archers against men that commit crimes against the king, my lord. If this year there are archers, then the lands and the hazzanu [vassals] will belong to the king, my lord. But if there are no archers, then the king will have neither lands nor hazzanu. Consider Jerusalem! This neither my father nor my mother gave to me. The strong hand of the king gave it to me. Consider the deed! This is the deed of Milkilu [Melki means king in Canaanite languages] and the deed of the sons of Labayu [Labaya, warlord of Sichem], who have given the land of the king to the Apiru. Consider, O king, my lord! I am in the right! --- Amarna letter EA 287, posted in Wikipedia Many historians have associated the term Apiru to the "Hebrews", and there are mentioned by other chronicles of these times also in Mesopotamia. The above letter may be a mention of the event that took place long ago at Sichem, when the sons of Jacob (already identified as the Hebrews), killed all the male population of that city to revenge the rape of their sister Dinah. This text is probably a word of caution to the Pharaoh about any weakness towards the Hebrews who, prior to Amenhotep IV, had been subjected to oppression.
Clay tablet from Amarna, with cuneiforms Akhenatens new monotheist religion had many symbols and texts which find parallels with similar concepts from the Bible. For example, concerned some names derived from Aten: - Akhenaten means effective spirit of the Aten: spirit is the term used to illustrate the abstract presence of God, which was very distinct from the usage of the time that rather pictured gods with material representations (such as animals or people) - Tutankhaten, who was Akhenatens son and heir, means living image of the Aten: the concept of being someone at the image of [a] God is borrowed from the Creation story of the Bible - The name of the new capital of Egypt, Amarna, may be understood as Amar-Na, meaning please speak, as if Akhenaten was seeking a communication with God, or may have settled this new city, away from impure temples, in order to create a communication link with God The symbol chosen by Akhenaten to represent Aten was not borrowed from Egyptian and other traditions of these times, which used either human or animal shaped gods. It was the disk of the sun, perfect circle, and the emanations from it, the rays, representations of the spirit of the Aten.
Akhenaten and his family, under the protection of Aten In many of the representations from this period, the number of rays issued from the god-sun Aten is 19 which is a number of years related to the cycle of the Sun called the Metonic Cycle.[1] However this cycle was not discovered by astronomers before about the sixth century BCE. Coincidentally, the verse 19 from the tale of the Creation is the one that concludes the completion of what God created in the fourth day, viz. the great luminary set in the sky to dominate the night and to give light upon the earth (Genesis 1:16-19). Akhenaten is also the author of the Great Hymn to the Aten. The text of this hymn is often explained in parallel with Biblical concepts and texts. For example: O sole God, like whom there is no other! You did create the world according to your desire, While you were alone: All men, cattle, and wild beasts, Whatever is on earth, going upon (its) feet, And what is on high, flying with its wings. [] You are in my heart, There is no other who knows you, Only your son, Neferkheprure, Sole-one-of-Re, Whom you have taught your ways and your might. [Those on] earth come from your hand as you made them. --- Great Hymn of the Aten In this text, some expressions are derived from the divine commandments such as there is no other [God]. The passage only your son, [] whom you have taught your ways and your might suggests that Akhenaten may have had a divine revelation (maybe a dream), and that God instructed him about His ways. This was not uncommon in the Biblical times as God already revealed Himself to several characters, not just the Patriarchs, in their dreams. Akhenatens wife, Nefertiti, whose full name Nefer-Nefer-u-Aten Nefer-Titi means Beauty, Beauty of Aten, the Beautiful has come was very supportive of her husband in the adoption of the new religion. Although her origin is still a mystery and present theories suppose she was of foreign origin.
Ay on the left with Tutankhamen (wall painting from Tutankhamen's tomb) Nefertiti, being very influenced by the Amarna era, had given one of her daughters as spouse to a young man from the tribe of Judah: he was called Caleb and will play a prominent role in the future events of the Israelite history. Caleb has several nicknames in the Biblical text, one of them being Mered which means The Rebel In Hebrew, and this is the reason why Caleb would later be called Mered: The Holy One, blessed be He, said: Let Caleb who rebelled [marad] against the plan of the spies come and take the daughter of Pharaoh who rebelled against the idols of her father's house. --- Talmud, Megilah, 13a This princess went further than her parents, who became monotheists, because she embraced the Hebrew faith under the influence of her husband. In the Biblical text, she was called her Hayehudiyah which means the Jewress. At a time when Jewish religion did not exist yet, Jews were however tagged as the people who believed to one God only. But she was also called Bithiah, maybe as a mean to describe that she was the spiritual heir of Tiaa who saved Moses and adopted him. Bithiah means daughter of God, to say that she embraced the faith of God: And his wife [Caleb/Mereds] Hayehudiyah bore Jered the father of Gedor, and Heber the father of Soco, and Jekuthiel the father of Zanoah -- and these are the sons of Bithiah the daughter of Pharaoh whom Mered took. --- I Chronicles 4:18 Who was this Egyptian princess married to Caleb? There could be several possibilities among the six daughters of Nefertiti. One of them being the princess Merit-Aten whose name means She is beloved of Aten. In some official correspondence, this princess was also named Mayati (may be close enough to the Hebrew Bithiah?) and, in the Egyptian genealogy, it is unclear to whom she was actually married, thus creating the hypothesis that she was not married to any important person of the Egyptian royal or upper class. Some records seem to indicate that she had been married to one of her half-brothers, a prince called Smenkhare who will succeed to his father Akhenaten for a very short time before he died. His widow Meritaten may have then been given as wife to young Caleb. But the wife of Caleb could have also been one of the other daughters of Nefertiti, all of them being half-sisters to Pharaoh Tutankhamen. ~~~~~~~~~~
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Tutankhamen He was succeeded by his first advisor, Ay, who was an older man linked to the royal family. But he died after 4 years. He was the one who had reinitiated the oppression against the Hebrews, as it is said: And it came to pass in the course of those many days that the king of Egypt died; and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God saw the children of Israel, and God took cognizance of them. --- Exodus 2:23-25 ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1] To learn about the Metonic Cycle, see article in Wikipedia. [2] According to a recent DNA analysis, the mother of Tutankhamen seems to be the "Young Lady" for whom a mummy had been discovered but never formally identified before; to read this article, click here Go to >> Part II Next generation Top of Page
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Hebrew years 4200 to 4320 (440 - 560 CE) Year 4215 455 CE The Vandals take the treasures of the Temple
Another group, the Vandals, led by Genseric behaved much in the same way as the Huns. To avoid competition over territory with them, they moved to Spain. But seeing themselves unwelcome by the Visigoths who were there before them, the Vandals crossed over to Africa in 429, near the modern-day city of Oran, and moved eastward destroying the Roman Creation cities that were established in that part of the coastal region. They reached Carthage where they established the seat of their kingdom by 440. They ruled over Northern Africa for about 100 years. The Jews who were established there with Generations the Berbers, long before the arrival of the Romans, fled the cities and sought refuge more south, in the Atlas mountains and beyond, or east towards the desert of Lybia. In these regions, the Vandals who had only horsemen would not chase them. 1-14 It was during this Vandal yoke that the Berbers became judaized when they came in closer contact with the Jews to fight Generations a common enemy. From Carthage, Genseric managed a fleet of pirate ships. In 455, they crossed the sea and sacked Rome. Unlike the Visigoths who had spared the Christian establishment before, the Vandals hated the Christians and 15-21 they sacked the treasures that the papaucy had been keeping after the civil power of Rome moved to Ravenna. In particular, Generations the Vandals took with them the treasures that Titus brought back from the Temple of Jerusalem in 70 CE, and carried them to Carthage. It was these actions that owned them the word vandalism in the languages. 22-28 Generations 29-35 Generations 36-49
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Generation 50
(Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow) This was the second sack of Rome in a period of 35 years. Augustine of Hippo was alive during the first sack in 410, but had died in 430 when Genseric was about to take the city of Hippo, and didn't witness this last blow against the seat of the papal power. After the passage of the Vandals, there was little left of what was once the great city of Rome. It was a trying period in general for the Christian world: after having reached the status of official religion of the Roman empire, that empire got destroyed just over 100 years later, and the core city of Christianity had been sacked, twice. ~~~~~~~~~~
to them, beating as many priests as they caught and lashing them with many blows over the back and commanding them to render such service to the Vandals as they were accustomed to assign to the most dishonoured of their domestics. And as soon as they had departed from there, the spies of Cabaon did as they had been directed to do; for they straightway cleansed the sanctuaries and took away with great care the filth and whatever other unholy thing lay in them, and they lighted all the lamps and bowed down before the priests with great reverence and saluted them with all friendliness; and after giving pieces of silver to the poor who sat about these sanctuaries, they then followed after the army of the Vandals.
After the passage of the Vandals And from then on along the whole route the Vandals continued to commit the same offences and the spies to render the same service. And when they were coming near the Moors, the spies anticipated them and reported to Cabaon what had been done by the Vandals and by themselves to the temples of the Christians, and that the enemy were somewhere near by. And Cabaon, upon learning this, arranged for the encounter as follows. He marked off a circle in the plain where he was about to make his palisade, and placed his camels turned sideways in a circle as a protection for the camp, making his line fronting the enemy about twelve camels deep. Then he placed the children and the women and all those who were unfit for fighting together with their possessions in the middle, while he commanded the host of fighting men to stand between the feet of those animals, covering themselves with their shields. And since the phalanx of the Moors was of such a sort, the Vandals were at a loss how to handle the situation; for they were neither good with the javelin nor with the bow, nor did they know how to go into battle on foot, but they were all horsemen, and used spears and swords for the most part, so that they were unable to do the enemy any harm at a distance; and their horses, annoyed at the sight of the camels, refused absolutely to be driven against the enemy. And since the Moors, by hurling javelins in great numbers among them from their safe position, kept killing both their horses and men without difficulty, because they were a vast throng, they
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began to flee, and, when the Moors came out against them, the most of them were destroyed, while some fell into the hands of the enemy; and an exceedingly small number from this army returned home. --- Procopius, History of the Wars, The Vandalic War, Book III, VIII, 15-27 ~~~~~~~~~~
But again in AD 2000, the end of the world didn't happen, as it didn't happen in Dionysus' time of AD 500. The Church acknowledged that Dyonisos had made mistakes in the birth of Jesus, which is now broadly believed to have taken place some time between 6 and 4 BCE. In November 2012, a statement from the Pope's book declared that "Jesus was born several years earlier than commonly believed". Furthermore, about the date of 25 December, he declared: "We don't even know which season he was born in. The whole idea of celebrating his birth during the darkest part of the year is probably linked to pagan traditions and the winter solstice." [1] ~~~~~~~~~~
Thus, the treasures of the Temple were returned to Jerusalem in 535 CE, some 465 years after they were taken from there by the Romans. In Jerusalem, these treasures were kept under the protection of the Church. When the king of the Vandals, Gelimer, was presented to Justinian in Carthage in 534, during the parade of triumph, Procopius recorded his words: And when Gelimer reached the hippodrome and saw the emperor sitting upon a lofty seat and the people standing on either side and realized as he looked about in what an evil plight he was, he neither wept nor cried out, but ceased not saying over in the words of the Hebrew scripture: "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity." --- Procopius, History of the Wars, The Vandalic War, Book III, IX, 11-16 This anecdote shows that the Vandals had themselves been exposed somehow to the influence of Judaism during their century of life in North Africa which had a vast population of Jews established there from time immemorial. Under the Byzantine rule, North Africa was organised into six provinces, each with a religious leader (a bishop). Then restrictions were soon renewed against the Jews, by applications of the Code that Justinian had established in his empire. Many of them, along with the Judaized Berbers, preferred to find shelter in the mountains again, where no regular army would venture. The Byzantines ruled over this region for about 100 years, as the Vandals did, before they were vanquished by other conquerors: the Muslims. General Belisarius was also successful in his reconquest of the Italian peninsula around 537.
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The Roman Empire in 555 CE (source: Wikipedia) ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1] To read the article from the Telegraph, UK, click here Next generation
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Hebrew years 3600 to 3720 (160-40 BCE) ~~~ Part I ~~~ Part II ~~~
The Hasmonean kingdom under Alexander Jannai (in pink, the areas he conquered) However he was not able to conquer Ashqelon and its region, which ended as an enclave in his kingdom. He also got himself into trouble with Ptolemy IX Lathyros by attempting to convince the mother of this king, Cleopatra, to conspire against her son. Ptolemy learned about it and, as he was campaigning in the Levant, took revenge by killing many Jews, either 30000 or 50000 according to Greek historians,[1] and even pretending that his army boiled and ate them, thus inspiring great fear in the Jewish population. This resulted however in Cleopatra marching to Judea which forced her son to embark for Cyprus. Some time after her return to Egypt, her son Ptolemy X assassinated her, in 101 BCE, and seized power again in the absence of his older brother Ptolemy IX, refugied in Cyprus. ~~~~~~~~~~
And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be put to death, and you hang him on a tree; his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but you shall surely bury him the same day; for he that is hanged is a reproach unto God; that you defile not your land which the Lord your God gives you for an inheritance. --- Deuteronomy, 21:22-23 Thus the author of Nahum Commentary insinuates that Alexanders act was calling for a divine punishment. It is worth noting too that this passage is often translated by Christian commentators as a crucifixion, maybe because they believe that this method of execution was common in the Holy Land in these times. But in fact, the punishment of hanging on a tree for the extreme sinners was not a crucifixion and was only applicable to a criminal already put to death. His corpse being hanged was a display of example for would-be criminals. And the hanged corpse had to be buried before the day of execution would end. Nonetheless, this text seems to prove that Alexanders handling of the religious rebels was cruel. They may have deserved to die, as conspirers against the state and intelligence with a foreign power to hand over the nations independence. But the punishment had been harsh, beyond the permissible ways. ~~~~~~~~~~
to find Alexander and called him to lead them again. Seeing this position becoming critical with this change of allegiance, Demetrius decided to retreat back to Damascus, his home city and died soonafter in 88 BCE at the hand of his main enemy, the Parthians. ~~~~~~~~~~
Coinage of Alexander Jannai (source Wikipedia) The king Tigranes II of Armenia, so-called the Great, took over the Syrian part of the Seleucid kingdom, while the Parthians had control over the eastern and southern part. Tigranes ambition did not take him to the land of Judea, owing to the fact that he had probably made an alliance with Alexander.
The Armenian kingdom under Tigranes II the Great (source Kingdom of Armenia) ~~~~~~~~~~
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the Saduccees would not be pass a religious judgment against him. Simeon, in anger, called for divine judgment and the Saduccees dropped dead. Afraid, Alexander pleaded for Simeon to form a Sanhedrin as he wished and to be called for judgment. When Joshua died, Simeon took back the role of nassi, and Judah ben Tabbai was chosen as av beth din. Simeon ben Shhetah was also the religious leader who was first to establish Jewish schools for children. Before, they were educated by their fathers but, with the religious knowledge being on the decrease for some time, it was considered sensible to leave the education to knowledgeable teachers. The first school was a yeshiva. This was an important move for Jewish life and allowed religious leaders to raise many students of Jewish laws and future disciples for their teaching. And this concept of yeshiva continues unto this day. ~~~~~~~~~~
with their cattle to those of the towns of Judah which they had selected, and dwelt in them ; and there were joined to them those who were devoted to virtue, (i. e. the Hasdanim). --- Maccabees, Book V, 31:8-12 They established themselves, along with the Hasdanim (the Essenes), outside the main cities of Judea, in cities of refuge instored by the Law. ~~~~~~~~~~
After taking the city, Pompey entered Jerusalem and the Temple but was respectful of the religious practice of the Jews, actually encouraging them to cleanse the Holy place and to restore the divine service. Great expectations existed from conquerors to enter the Temple, but only to be deceived: As victor he [Pompey] claimed the right to enter the Temple, and this incident gave rise to the common impression that it contained no representation of the deitythe sanctuary was empty and the Holy of Holies untenanted. --- Tacitus, Histories, 5: 9 In the Temple, Pompey only found the holy candlestick, pouring vessels, and lots of spices. This content is depicted in many Jewish articfacts of which a carved stone that was found in 2009 in the antique synagogue of Migdal in Israel which was operative in the time of Pompeys visit.[3]
The carved stone from Migdal synagogue (100 BCE) (photography: Ferrell Jenkins) Pompey appointed Hyrcanus as king and returned to Rome, taking with him Aristobulus and his children, except Alexander who had fled. In Rome, Pompey was celebrated during a two days triumph during which he exhibited the kings we had conquered: The captives led in triumph, besides the chief pirates, were the son of Tigranes the Armenian [king] with his wife and daughter, Zosime, a wife of King Tigranes himself, Aristobulus, king of the Jews, a sister and five children of Mithridates, Scythian women, and hostages given by the Iberians, by the Albanians, and by the king of Commagene; there were also very many trophies, equal in number to all the battles in which Pompey had been victorious either in person or in the persons of his lieutenants. --- Plutarch, Pompey, 45:5
The Triumph of Pompey in Rome, Nicolo Giolfino, about 1520 (Castelvecchio museum, Verona) Alexander would later lead a rebellion against Hyrcanus and the roman army left behind by Pompey in the Eastern
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provinces. When this army campaigned in Arabia, Alexander took the opportunity to retake Jerusalem in 58 BCE but was driven out from it a few months later by a second Roman army which came from Syria in support to Hyrcanus and led by Aulus Gabinius. When Gabinius went to Egypt in 55 BCE on orders from Pompey, to also restore Ptolemy XII to the throne of Egypt, Alexander started to rebel again and a third Roman army, this time led by Mark Antony (who will become a famous triumvir and the future lover of Cleopatra), moved from Egypt to Judea to defeat the Jewish pretender. Mark forced Alexander to retreat in a Judean fortress called Alexandrium (named after Alexander Jannai who built it) until he came out of the place and was put to death by Gabinius in 49 BCE, by orders from Rome. ~~~~~~~~~~
The burning of the library of Alexandria (source: Dudley, Ambrose, Hutchinsons History of the Nation, 1910) Reinforcements soon came from Mithridates and Antipater who both were eager to show support to Caesar after having been allies of Pompey. The victory, according to the Book of Maccabees, owed to the determination of Antipater and
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the neutral attitude of the Jews of Egypt who initially supported their ruler Ptolemy XIII: But as they [Antipaters army] departed thence, they found an army of the Jews who dwelled in Egypt, making a stand at the entrance, to prevent Mithridates from entering Egypt. And Antipater produced to them a letter from Hyrcanus, commanding them to desist, and not oppose Mithridates, the friend of Caesar. And they forbore. But the others marched till they came to the city of the then reigning king [Ptolemy XIII] who came out to them with all the armies of the Egyptians, and when they engaged with him, he conquered and routed them; and Mithridates turned his back and fled; whom, when he was surrounded by the Egyptian troops, Antipater saved from death, and Antipater and his men ceased not to resist the Egyptians in battle, whom he routed and conquered, and won the whole country of Egypt. --- Maccabees, Book V, 42:17-21 This Ptotemaic-Roman war ended with the death of Ptolemy XIII. Caesar reinstated his older sister Cleopatra on the throne of Egypt, along with her younger brother Ptolemy XIV. Caesar also had a liaison with Cleopatra and gave her a son, Caesarion.
Cleopatra before Caesar, Jean-Lon Grme, 1866 (private collection) As of Antipater, his change of allegiance to Caesar and his decisive actions that secured the victory earned him a Roman citizenship granted by Caesar who also appointed him Procurator of Judea and changed Hyrcanus role back to High Priest, for him and his descendants. The assassination of Caesar in 44 BCE brought another period of unrest in the Roman empire, and old enmities surfaced again. Cleopatra got rid of her brother Ptolemy XIV in order to secure her sons future as Ptolemy XV. In 42 BCE, Antipater was poisoned by a party who supported Hyrcanus without the latters knowledge. Meanwhile Octavian, the heir of Caesar, was gaining ground against those of the Senate who assassinated Caesar. He defeated Crassius rebellious army in Greece and killed Brutus, Caesars adoptive son. At this time, Hyrcanus sent ambassadors to Octavian to show alleagiance to the new Roman ruler.
Hasmonean dynasty from John Hyrcanus to Herod ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1] Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book 13, 12:5 [2] The Idumeans had converted to Judaism some years before, during the reign of John Hyrcanus [3] To date, this synagogue is one of the six only known in Israel that date from the Second Temple period Next generation Top of Page
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Hebrew years 1800 to 1920 (1960-1840 BCE) The descendants from Noah
What is new Index of names Creation Generations 1-14 Generations 15-21 Generations 22-28 Generations 29-35 Generations 36-49 Generation 50 The Biblical text mentions the following descendants of Noah from the sons of Gomer, Yavan and Cush on Yafeth's side, from Mizrahim and Canaan on Cham's side, and Aram and Arpachshad for Shem's side.
A map of the world after Noah, in an edition published in 1854 - Gomer, son of Yafeth, had the following sons who initially populated the Caucasus region before some of them moved north into Central and Eastern Europe: - Ashkenaz: the ancestor of some people of Central Europe, the Scythians, who then gave root to the Slavic people; his name, decomposed as Esh-Ke-Naz, would mean fire like Naz, whatever Naz may have meant; or it could have meant
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Esh-Kanaz where KNH ( )is an old form for named: in such case, Ashkenaz may have meant fire-named; maybe he was red-haired at birth - Rifath: he may be the ancestor to the Eurasian people in Asia Minor; in Hebrew, his name means burning so he may have also been red-haired - Togarmah: the ancestor of Caucasian people such as the Georgians; his name is using the Hebrew root TGR () which means challenge - Yavan, son of Yafeth, had the following sons who populated the Greek region and the Mediterranean islands in general: - Elishah: the ancestor of some of the Greek and Cyprus people; in the times of Ancient Egypt, Cyprus was called Alashiya; the name Elishah may have also been the origin of the word Hellas for Greece - Tarshish: according to Josephus, he was the ancestor of some people in Asia Minor, about the Taurus mountains; Tarshish will later be the name of a harbour in Antiquity, assumed to have been located in Asia Minor, but other theories assume it was a harbour in the very remote part of the known world, so probably as far as the Spanish coast (mentioned as Tartassus in Herodotus' map of the ancient world) - Kittim: he probably was the ancestor of people from Cyprus because the ancient name of Larnaca was Kition - Dodanim: probably the ancestor of people from Rhodes because their name has later been mentioned as Rodanim [1] - Cush, son of Cham, had the following sons who mostly populated Southern Egypt and Eastern Africa regions, before spreading to the rest of the African continent, with the notable exception of Nimrod as explained below: - Seba: his name means grand-father; he is believed to be the ancestor of people from Yemen and Ethiopia - Havilah: generally associated with the people who populated the northern part of the Arabian peninsula - Savtah: associated with the people of Yemen - Raamah: also associated with the Yemen and the southern part of Arabian regions - Savteca: he established himself in Eritrea - Nimrod was the first mighty man who ruled over a vast region in Mesopotamia called Shinaar in the Bible; his main city was Babel, the future Babylon
The ancient world according to Herodotus - Mizrayim, son of Cham, established himself in the Nile valley, which was before the Flood the place of two different settlements: Lower Egypt in the north and Upper Egypt in the south; the name Mizrayim may have been adopted based on the fact that, when he came to the region, he united both north and south parts under one rule; his name may have been Mizri before becoming the dual Mizr-ayim (the suffix -ayim means two in Hebrew); the sons of Mizrayim were: - Ludim: he was the ancestor of a people who left the Nile valley, crossed the sea and established themselves in Asia Minor, in a region called Lydia - Anamim: he was the ancestor of people who established in Lybia; they were referenced in Assyrian records as Anami - Lehavim: possibly the ancestor of the Lubim, who populated Lybia - Naftuhim: possibly the ancestor who established himself in Memphis who was called Na-Ptah - Patrusim: he went to southern Egypt and established himself in Thebes region; his name means Pa-To-Ris, meaning southerner in Ancient Egypt
- Casluhim: he established himself in southern Egypt, in a region called Kalushet, some distance north from Assuan, and also was the ancestor of the Philistines[2] who was a people from the lineage of Cham who moved north from Egypt, and south from the region of Canaan, at some point in the time - Caftorim: he settled in the Nile delta and some of his descendants probably crossed the sea into Crete and other islands because, at the time when the Hebrews came down to Egypt, they settled in this delta region which was inhabited by then - Canaan, son of Cham, established himself in the Levant region and had the following sons: - Sidon: he gave birth to the city-state that gave root to the Phoenician people - Heth: ancestor of the Hittites, a people who established themselves in Anatolia and Canaan, and who became a regional power during Biblical times - Jebusite: a people who lived in the hill on the southern side of the present-day city of Jerusalem - Amorite: a people who established themselves in Syria - Girgashite: a sea-people known by the Egyptians as the Kirkash; they will leave Canaan just before the conquest by Joshua and will re-locate in present-day Lybia - Hivite: they lived in the mountainous region of Canaan and of the Levant - Arkite: they established the city-state of Arka in northern Phoenicia, which will be mentioned in one of the Amarna letters dated 1350 BCE [3] - Sinite: they were desert dwellers, and gave the name to the wilderness of Zin (Negev and Sinai) - Arvadite: they founded the city-state of Arwad in northern Phoenicia (now in coastal Syria) - Zemarite: they founded the city-state of Zemar in Phoenicia, mentioned as Zumur in the Amarna letters - Hamathite: they founded the city-state of Hamath north from Phoenicia (in Syria today)
Map of the Levant region The Biblical text also mentions Noahs descendants from his son Shem:
- The sons of Aram, ancestor of the Aramaeans, were: - Utz: who may have been the founder of the city-state Damascus - Hul: ancestor of Armenian people - Gether: ancestor of people living east from Iran - Mash: also called Meshech in I Chronicles 1:17, there have been several hypothesis about his descendants, one of them locating them near the Black Sea [4] - As of Arpachshad, son of Shem, he is linked to the Hebrews by his son Shelah who established himself in the lower part of Mesopotamia; his name means messenger in Hebrew The human life started to reduce in duration after the Flood, as God had wished it. Presumably it translated into DNA mutations for the human kind that exposed them to elements, diseases or else, that started to shorten their expected life. It is at this time that physical mutations occured such as the red-haired people in the lineage of Yafeth.These mutations gave root to multiple genetic changes in the human population which, also, affected physical traits: skin colour, form of eye, texture of hair, and so on, and also gave root to multiple DNA types.
after the Flood from around 2100 BCE. In the depictions of these times, the kings and officials are all represented with long beards, maybe as a proof that these people still lived long years compared to their successors.
Stela of Ur-Nammu Arpachshad was 35 years old when he begot Shelah, in year 1693. He then lived 403 years and died in 2096 (Genesis 11:12-13). Shelah was 30 years old when he begot Eber, in year 1723. He then lived 403 years and died in year 2126 (Genesis 11:14-15). Eber was 34 years when he begot Peleg, in year 1757. He then lived 430 years and died in year 2187 (Genesis 11:16-17). At the time of his death, Shem had already died, in year 2158, 29 years earlier. But this overlap of life durations enabled Shem, the righteous son of Noah, to instruct Eber in the knowledge of God. The name Eber means to cross over in Hebrew. He is the direct ancestor of the Hebrews whose name derived from Eber. And to Eber were two sons. The name of the one was Peleg, because in his days the earth dispersed, and the name of his brother was Yoktan. --- Genesis 10:25 Presumably, Ebers first son, Peleg, was a name that was given to him when the dispersion happened on earth. This will be the dispersion of the human population after the construction of the Tower of Babel (see next generation in Hebrew year 1997). Eber also represented the 14th human generation since the Creation: 1-Adam > 2-Seth > 3-Enosh > 4-Kenan > 5-Mahalalel > 6-Jared > 7-Hanoch > 8- Metushalach > 9- Lemech > 10- Noach > 11- Shem > 12- Arpachshad > 13- Shelah > 14Eber. Already at the 7th generation, with Hanoch who walked in the path of God, we witnessed God's attempt to awaken his essence in the human race. Eber represented His 2nd attempt (because 14 is twice 7), and from him will be issued the people, the Hebrews, that God has wished to choose to carry His message. Hanoch was the first man since the Creation to truly walk in the path of God. He represented the 7th human generation since Adam (). This number 7 is symptomatic of God's presence because the 7th day is the Shabbat, a day dedicated by God. So Hanoch had been inspired by God and represented the first divine attempt to awaken the human race to the path of God. Yoktan, whose name means small, had the following 13 sons: - Almodad: it is assumed that he was ancestor to some of the Arabian tribes - Shelef - Chatsarmaveth: his name means the courtyard of death; it is assumed that he is ancestor to some Yemenite tribe - Yerah - Hadoram: his name means the south - Uzal: he settled in Sana, Yemen - Diklah - Oval - Avimael - Sheva: he is the ancestor of the Queen of Sheba, who lived during the reign of King Solomon - Ophir: he is the ancestor of sea people somewhere in Africa, who extracted and traded their gold in ancient times - Havilah: his name means circular and the land where he dwelt also had gold (Genesis 2:11); it is believed that this place is
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Peleg was 30 years when he begot Reu, in year 1787. He then lived 209 years and died in year 1996 (Genesis 11:18-19). Peleg was the first person to have lived a short life compared to his ancestors who were all still alive at the time of his death (Noah, Shem, Arpachshad. Shelah and Eber). It is them who had renamed him Peleg because he died at the time of the so-called dispersion: The name of the one was Peleg, because in his days the earth dispersed, []. --- Genesis 10:25 Reu was 32 years when he begot Sherug, in year 1819. He then lived 207 years and died in year 2026 (Genesis 11:20-21). Sherug was 30 years when he begot Nachor, in year 1849. He then lived 200 years and died in year 2049 (Genesis 11:22-23). It is assumed that he had settled in the city of Ur and started to worship idols. Nachor was 29 years when he begot Terach, in year 1878. He then lived 119 years and died in year 1997 (Genesis 11:2425). Nachor lived a very short life, of 148 years.
~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1] According to I Chronicles 1:7 [2] According to Genesis 10:14 [3] See article in Wikipedia [4] There is also a Meshech son of Yafeth, whereas the current Meshech is the one being grandson of Shem; it may be that the latter was a son of the former, and took his name after being "pulled" (which explains his name Meshech in Hebrew) from Yafeth and adopted by Aram son of Shem with a change of name to Mash Next generation Top of Page
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Generation 22
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Hebrew years 2520 to 2640 (1240-1120 BCE) Year 2536 1224 BCE Death of Joshua
What is new At the end of his life, Joshua addressed the tribes of Israel in Sichem (which is today the city of Nablus) saying: Index of names Creation Generations 1-14 "Take good heed therefore unto yourselves, that you love the Lord your God. Otherwise if you do in any wise go back, and cleave unto the remnant of these [pagan] nations, even these that remain among you, and make marriages with them, and go in unto them, and they to you; know for a certainty that the Lord your God will no more drive these nations from out of your sight; but they shall be a snare and a trap unto you, and a scourge in your sides, and pricks in your eyes, until you will perish from this good land which the Lord your God has given you. --- Joshua 23:11-13
Before he would die, Joshua wrote the Book of Joshua, named after him, which follows the Torah, the book of the law of Generations God as mentioned in the following text: 15-21 So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Sichem. And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God; and he took a great stone, and set it up there under the oak that was by Generations the sanctuary of the Lord. And Joshua said unto all the people: "Behold, this stone shall be a witness against us; for it has 22-28 heard all the words of the Lord which He spoke unto us; it shall be therefore a witness against you, lest you deny your God." --- Joshua 24:25-27 Generations 29-35 Joshua died at the age of 110 years old (Joshua 24:29, Judges 2:8). As he was 30 years old at the time of the explorers, in year Hebrew 2456, he thus died at 110 years old in Hebrew year 2526, which was 82 years from the Exodus, and 41 years Generations from when he started the conquest of Canaan. 36-49 It is in Sichem that the Israelites also transported and buried the remains of Joseph that they had brought back from Egypt at Generation the time of the Exodus.[1] 50
Tomb of Joseph in Nablus (photograph 1868, after restoration of the site) ~~~~~~~~~~
The Merneptah Stele (Cairo Museum; photo credit: blog Bible & Archaeology) The reference to Israel is highlighted in dark at the bottom of the stele This campaign in Canaan is factual, and there is no doubt that some Israelites lived in the coastal plain thus would have been afflicted by such military expedition. Yet, some argue that the text doesn't refer to 'Israel' because of one letter seeming to be wrong: the hieroglyphs (see below), to be read from right to left, and up to down, show the letters i-s-r-a-a-r, which has been transcribed as Israel assuming the last 'r' should have been an 'l'. But this small mismatch is truly little as no foreign name is perfectlty transcribed from one language to another. Also the rest of the passage mentions this Israar being foreign people, not an established city, which definition was indeed applicable to the Israelites who, at this time, didn't consitute a nation but only tribes settled here and there across the land.
Merneptah Stele - close-up on 'Israel' with the first four letters explained ~~~~~~~~~~
them to completely drive out some of the Canaanite people following the conquest of Joshua. Rather He allowed them to remain where Joshua had left them, so that they could oppress the Israelites at times: And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel; and He said: "Because this nation have transgressed My covenant which I commanded their fathers and have not hearkened unto My voice, I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations that Joshua left when he died; that by them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the Lord to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not." So the Lord left those nations, without driving them out hastily; neither delivered He them into the hand of Joshua. --- Judges 2:20-23 These peoples were essentially the Philistines and other Canaanites, who were left by Joshua for each Israelite tribe to complete the conquest. Because, instead of driving out these pagan people, the Israelites were too complacent, allowing them to dwell in their cities, and finally tookspouses from them and adopted their foreign cults. Concerning the Philistines, they would have several years of conflicts against the Israelites, principally towards the end of the Judges period and these conflicts extended into the period of the Kingdom. In general, the Israelites would have difficulties to win against enemies in the valleys, because these city states were very well defended, with impressive fortified walls, and they had chariots of iron. The Israelites would rather find shelter in the hill countries where the chariots of the enemies could not easily venture (Judges 1:19). The Israelites succeeded to take over all the cities in the hills except for the one of the Jebusites, on a hill of Jerusalem, which had been under the responsibility of the Tribe of Benjamin to take (Judges 1:20). This place was destined to host the house of God, and the Tribe of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites. For this reason, maybe, the Tribe of Benjam was almost entirely exterminated, as we shall see here, at the beginning of this dark period of the Judges. The period of the Judges can roughly be divided in three periods, each one starting with the text saying that the children of Israel [] served the Baalim [the idols]. In the first occurrence (Judges 3:7), God sent the spoilers against Israel, which were the Arameans and then the enemies around them [the Israelites] because Israel continued to do evil in the eyes of God. Five judges were raised to redress Israel in the good path: Othniel of Judah, Ehud of Benjamin, Shamgar of Naphtali, Deborah of Ephraim and Gideon of Manasseh. This first period lasted 84 years, from the death of Eleazar until the death of Gideon. In the second occurrence (Judges 8:33), God put Israel in the hand of their direct neighbours but to a degree lesser than before, because this time the text says that Israel went astray after the Baalim rather than they served the Baalim. The Israelites did not sin as badly so their punishment was not as harsh. God raised two judges to redress Israel: Tola of Issachar and Jair of Manasseh. This next period only lasted 26 years. Then came the third occurrence (Judges 10:6) when the Israelites from nearly all the tribes served all the Baalim from all their neighbours, as if the contact with them during the previous period, even if it occurred in the context of war, ultimately resulted into a bad influence over the Israelites. This time God put most of tribes of Israel into trouble, but raised five Judges to contain the yoke of their enemies: Yiftah of Gilead, Ibzan of Judah, Elon of Zebulun, Avdon of Ephraim, Samson of Dan. And this period lasted 31 years until the first king of Israel was annointed. After three attempts of redress of the Israelites, it became clear that the practice of Judges would not suffice. The lack of central command and policy caused the various tribes of Israelites to go astray in turn, and one judge from one tribe or another was never enough to have an impact over the entire nation of 12 tribes. A new model was needed, and this gave rise to the era of kingdom for Israel. In total the period of the Judges has lasted about 141 years. The original book Seder Olam considers that the period of the Judges lasted about 352 years, because it adds the period of each judge in a continuous manner, without taking into account the years of oppression when no judge was saving the Israelites. This approach is debatable, even among religious scholars, because it is clear that the judges judged in different part of the land of for different tribes, and in parallel at times. The Biblical text warns that each tribe was doing their own way because there was no unity between the tribes until the period of the kingdom. In addition, if the period of judges had extended for such a long period of 350 years, it would conflict with the period of the kings, and the result is that the end of the kingdoms of Israel and of Judah would not match the definite years that are confirmed by archaelogical and other historical sources. A last consideration about this issue is the generations that are described in the Book of Chronicles. If we look at the genealogy of the future King David, starting from his ancestor Nahshon, the head of the tribe of Judah who left Egypt at the Exodus. The succession was as follows: Nahshon (generation 3) => Salma (who participated to the conquest of Canaan, generation 4) => Boaz (who married Ruth the Moabite) => Obed => Jesse => David (generation 8) as his 8th son. And the period of the Judges ended with the rule of Prophet Samuel and King Saul. In other words, David was of the 5th generation over this period of Judges. Assuming an average of 25-30 years per genealogy generation, this would add up to 125-150 years for this period, which falls into the window of 141 years assumed here but which is no match with the 352 years assumed by the original Seder Olam. ~~~~~~~~~~
Regional map with Aram The name of this king Kushan-Rishatayim contains the work shatayim meaning two. This could refer to one of the kings with a name as "the Second", such as one called Pahir-Ishshan II, but History knowns little about the kings of Aram prior to later ages. Another possibility is that this king became the king of the alliance of two peoples, the Aramaeans and the "Ahlam", the existence of the latter being testified in inscriptions dating from the reign the Tiglath-Pileser I of Assyria (around 1100 BCE), while the former would be the dominant people of the region in the centuries that followed. The name Ahlam means wanderers, which assumes that they were a nomadic tribe that settled in Aram-Hanaraim. The name has possible Hebrew root to say Ahel-am which means People of the tent, in other words the wanderers indeed. Whoever this king was, he came with a vast army and, with their many chariots, they could therefore conquer all flat lands during their campaign in Canaan. His invasion however must not have affected too much the tribes located in the hill countries, including the main part of Judah. ~~~~~~~~~~
Year 2576 1184 BCE Civil war against the Tribe of Benjamin
It is after the death of Othniel that one of the worst events in Jewish history took place. The story is told at the end of the book of Judges, but it happened at the beginning of that period, after the death of Judge Othniel, when no other judge from Judah would be judging over the tribes. The only person who could have had any influence over the events that would unfold was the High Priest Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron. But he was living in Beth-El, in Benjamins territory, so could probably not felt in a position to initially take side against his hosts. The Levites were living among the different tribes, in cities designated for them. Some people of the tribe of Benjamin behaved in an abominable way towards a Levite who was on his way back from Beth-Lehem with his wife. She was from this town in the territory of Judah, and behaved like a harlot there, and they were on their way home to the territory of Ephraim. The Levite had to cross the territory of Benjamin on his way back, and found shelter over the night in the house of an old man in the Benjaminite town of Gibeah. The behaviour of the people of this city was reminiscent to what Sodom did to Loths visitors in Abrahams time: "Bring forth the man that came into your house, that we may know him." --- Judges 19:22 [3] Their evil deeds ultimately led to the death of the wife of the Levite in a most atrocious manner, and this caused the revulsion of the other Israelite tribes against the city of Gibeah. A total of 400,000 men assembled to decide that the culprits of that city should be put to death, so that, as they stated, we put away evil from Israel (Judges 20:13).
The Levite removing the corpse of his wife from Gibeah (Gustave Dor, 1868) But there was no Judge over Israel at the time, each tribe acted as they saw right. In this case, the tribe of Benjamin would not condemn their city and war started. Their forces totalled 26,000 men, in addition to the 700 men from Gibeah. Although out-numbered, the people of Benjamin were skilled in the use of slings, as they rarely missed, and they all were left-handed.[4] In the first day, Benjamin killed 22,000 Israelites, and then 18,000 in the second day. Before the engagement of the third day, the High Priest passed the word that God will deliver the sons of Benjamin to the hand of Israel: And the Lord smote Benjamin before Israel; and the children of Israel destroyed of Benjamin that day twenty and five thousand and a hundred men; all these drew the sword. --- Judges 20:35 This was a great slaughter for the tribe of Benjamin which counted 26,700 men in total, because 25,600 of them had died on that day. The tribe was nearly entirely wiped out except for 1100 men remaining who were doing a last stand at the Rock of Rimmon. [5] But, in the evening, the tribes of Israel felt sorrow for having nearly exterminated one of their brethren and could not accept that one of the 12 Tribes of Israel would be wiped out. They spared the life of the last men of Benjamin. But, as they had sworn not to ever give their daughters as wives to Benjamin, they went into an expedition to an Israelite city called Jabesh-Gilead (at the east from the Jordan River) who didnt respond to the call to arms against Benjamin and didnt suffer the casualties of war. As a punishment, they killed everyone in that city except for the young virgin women: they found 400 of them and brought them to Shiloh for the sons of Benjamin to repopulate their tribe. The number of wives needed was however not sufficient, so another manner was sought: And they said: Behold, there is the feast of the Lord from year to year in Shiloh, which is on the north of Beth-el, on the east side of the highway that goes up from Beth-el to Sichem, and on the south of Lebonah. And they commanded the children of Benjamin, saying: Go and lie in wait in the vineyards; and see, and, behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then come you out of the vineyard ,and catch you every man his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin. And it shall be, when their fathers or their brethren come to strive with us that we will say unto them: Grant them graciously unto us; because we took not for each man of them his wife in battle; neither did you give them unto them, that you should now be guilty. And the children of Benjamin did so, and took them wives, according to their number, of them that danced, whom they carried off; and they went and returned unto their inheritance, and built the cities, and dwelt in them. --- Judges 21:19:23 The reason for choosing the city of Shiloh was because it used to be a city of priests, before the Ark was moved by Phinehas to Beth-El. Due to their function, these priests could not participate in any war and, as a result, they did not endure the losses of war against Benjamin. After this event though, the Ark of Covenant was moved back from Beth-El to Shiloh, maybe as a way of compensating the city against the ordeal on its daughters. According to Tradition,[6] some of the Benjamin people decided to leave the land of Canaan after this war (or this emigration may have happened at the time of the destruction of the kingdom of Israel). They would have found sea passage with the early Phoenicians and moved to a place where they founded a city, which will become a military power some centuries later: Rome. There are some details of Ancient Rome that fit into the theory of an origin from Benjamin and that may be considered as a body of evidence if not a proof: - The brothers Romulus and Remus were abandoned, as new born children, on a river before being saved by a she-wolf; this is reminiscent of the birth of Moses - The symbol of the foundation of Rome is the she-wolf: the wolf was also the symbol for Benjamin who had been described by his father Jacob as a predatory wolf (Genesis 49:27; this is the only place where a wolf is mentioned in the entire Torah) - The founding of Rome by Romulus occurred after he had killed his brother Remus in a family feud; this is reminiscent of
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the tribes of Israel fighting their own brethren, the Benjamin tribe, or a reminder of the feud between the two brotherhood tribes of Judah and Benjamin that triggered the civil war (the wife of the Levite was from Judah and was abused and left dead by the Benjamite men of Gibeah) - The city was located in a hilly region of Italy, like Benjamins territory in Canaan, which may explain why Benjamin men selected that location to setlle down - The city was named Roma, which is similar to Ramah, which means height in Hebrew, identical to names or prefixes of cities in the hilly territory of Benjamin - The "rape" (or rather abduction) of the Sabines during a festival, in order to populate Rome, is reminiscent to the episode of the girls of Shiloh, taken during a festival too - Last, Paul the Apostle, who was a Jewish scholar (even a Pharisee) before embracing the faith of Jesus, declared himself to be also an Israelite, out of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin (Romans 11:1; also in Philippians 3:5); in his time, nobody knew for certain from which tribe they actually came from, so this mention of Paul may refer to the fact that he was a citizen of Rome and knew that Rome was founded by people from Benjamin
The she-wolf sucking Romulus and Remus The Book of Judges ends with the following statement that explains the dark period that it covers: In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did that which was right in his own eyes. --- Judges 21:25 ~~~~~~~~~~
Year 2595 1165 BCE Judges Ehud of Benjamin and Shamgar of Naphtali
The salvation against the yoke of the Moabites came from the Benjamin tribe itself, with their judge Ehud son of Gera. He killed Eglon in Jericho and this triggered the general revolt of the Israelites living in the hill countries against the oppressor.
Ehud kills Eglon king of the Moabites When Ehud started to wage the liberation war against the Moabites in the hill counties, another judge followed his path to liberate the Israelites from the yoke of the Philistines in the low counties. It was Shamgar, son of Anath (Judges 3:31). Who was Anath? The name is mentioned in the Bible as being Beth-Anath (Joshua 19:38) meaning the House of Anath, a city of the Tribe of Naphtali, whose territory was located in Lower Galilee. This is how we can learn that Shamgar was a man from Naphtali. Both Ehud and Shamgar died after their exploits. The hill countries remained at peace for the next 80 years, until year 2675 (Judges 3:30), but the low countries started to sin again (Judges 4:1), so the next calamities fell on them from both the north and the south of the land. ~~~~~~~~~~
Tablet found in Hazor (source: Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs) And from the south came the Midianites, a nomadic people settled in the southern part of the land and in the Sinai Peninsula who moved north in a multitude, like the locusts, to encamp themselves in the land of Canaan. Their yoke lasted 7 years (Judges 6:1-5). This drove many Israelites to the hill countries and hide in caves of the mountains. ~~~~~~~~~~
of his men carrying a horn to blow into and a torch to light a fire. This surprise attack at night spread fear and panic among the enemy, causing them to run away from their camp.
Gideon and the 300 Israelites defeat the Midianites (Gilliam van der Gouwen, about 1720) Maybe the legend of Leonidas of his 300 Spartans fighting a much greater numbered enemy at the battle of the Thermopylae was borrowed from the tale of Gideon and his 300 men. This exploit must have reverberated in the ancient world, especially because the story tellers were nomadic. In any case, never again would Midian raise against Israel (Judges 8:28). But more future trouble was on its way because of Gideons final act: And Gideon said unto them: 'I would make a request of you, that you would give me every man the ear-rings of his spoil.'-For they had golden ear-rings because they were Ishmaelites-- And they answered: 'We will willingly give them.' And they spread a garment, and did cast therein every man the ear-rings of his spoil. And the weight of the golden ear-rings that he requested was a thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold; beside the crescents, and the pendants, and the purple raiment that was on the kings of Midian, and beside the chains that were about their camels' necks. And Gideon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah; and all Israel went astray after it there; and it became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house. --- Judges 8:24-27 Nonetheless Israel was at peace for the next 40 years, during the lifetime of Gideon. ~~~~~~~~~~
Deborah the Prophetess (Gustave Dor, 1866) ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1] For the history of the tomb and narratives from eye-witnesses, see article in Wikipedia ; the tomb was destroyed by a Palestinian mob during the Second Intifada in 2000 despite agreements to respect the sanctity of the holy sites from all faiths
Tomb of Joseph after its destruction during the Intifada of 2000 [2] The number 22 has a relation with the slavery in Egypt and the Exodus; the Hebrew word for Pesach is which, when we add up the value of each letter, gives 8+60+80; the small count of the word only takes the numbers from 0 to 9, so it is 8 +6+8= 22; 22 also represents the number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet, and the Hebrews were given this alphabet when they received the Torah at Mount Sinai, which was the purpose of the Exodus
The Hebrew alphabet and its numerical values [3] The similarity of the two behaviours is confirmed by the fact that both texts are in the same chapter number: Genesis 22 for Sodom and Judges 22 for Gibeah [4] Their ancestor, Benjamin son of Jacob, was left-handed; according to a scientific research from Oxford University's Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, being left-handed is an advantage in physical combat; to reab about it, click here [5] This rocky formation in the hills of Samaria still exists today, although certainly very eroded, at the location 31o56'43N 35o17'12E [6] Source to be indicated later [7] We know that the tribe of Manasseh was involved because Machir the son of Manasseh (Numbers 27:1) is mentioned in Judges 5:14 [8] In comparison, Pharaoh pursued the Hebrews at the sea with his 600 chariots Next generation Top of Page
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Generation 19
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Hebrew years 2160 to 2280 (1600-1480 BCE) ~~~ Part I ~~~ Part II ~~~
What is new Year 2216 1544 BCE Joseph is sold by his brothers Index of names Creation Generations 1-14 Generations 15-21 Generations 22-28 Generations 29-35 Generations 36-49 Generation 50 At the age of 17 years old (Genesis 37:2), Joseph was having dreams that were understood as if he would rule over his brothers. They hated him for this, and planned to kill him. Reuben wanted to save him and convinced his angry brothers to keep him alive. So instead of killing him, they decided to sell him to an Ishmaelite caravan that was travelling to Egypt for commerce. They sold him for 20 shekels of silver. Then they made their father Jacob believe that Joseph was killed by a wild beast. When he arrived in Egypt, Joseph was sold as a slave to Potiphar, a courtier to Pharaoh (Genesis 37:36).
Then Esau moved his household to Seir, in order to avoid conflicts with Jacob. The grandsons of Esau who were born in Seir were: From Eliphaz: Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, Kenaz Eliphaz also had Amalek from his daughter Timna who was the illegitimate child from his liaison with the wife of Seir the Horite (he dwelt in this region before the arrival of Esau -- Genesis 36:20) From Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, Mizzah ~~~~~~~~~~
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Panehsy - 19th Dynasty (British Museum) Joseph was 30 years old when he stood in front of Pharaoh (Genesis 41:46), so it was Hebrew year 2229. Pharaoh then gave Asenath to Joseph as a wife. She was the daughter of Potiphar, the priest of On [Heliopolis]. She bore him two sons during the years of abundance, before the famine had started: Manasseh and Ephraim.
The reunion of Joseph and his brothers (Gustave Dor, 1866) Jacob and his children went down to Egypt. The Biblical text gives the count of the direct children and grandchildren of Jacob who settled down in Egypt as follows. From Leahs side, they were 33 people, according to the text, but the count only shows 32 people. Some commentators assumed that Jochebed was the 33rd person, as she did not leave Canaan, but entered Egypt as she was born to her father Levi during the journey from Canaan to Egypt:
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Reuben and his sons Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, Carmi Simeon and his sons: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, Shaul (son of a Canaanite woman) Levi and sons Gershon, Kohath, Merari, and possibly the daughter Jochebed Judah and sons (Er, Onan had died), Shelah, Perez (with two sons, Hezron, Hamul), Zerah Issachar and sons Tola, Puvah, Iov, Shimron Zebulun and sons Sered, Elon, Jahleel Leah's daughter, Dinah
From Zilpahs side, they were 16 people: Gad and sons Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, Areli Asher and sons Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah (with sons Heber, Malchiel), and daughter Serah
From Rachels side, they were 14 people: Joseph and sons Manasseh, Ephraim, who were of course already in Egypt Benjamin and sons Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, Ard
From Bilahs side, they were 7 people: Dan and his son Hushim Naphtali and sons Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, Shillem
Among the wives of Jacob, only Leah was buried with the ancestors in the Cave of Machpelah in Hebron. Rachel had previously died giving birth to Benjamin and was buried in Beth-Lehem, on the road to Hebron. Jacob met with his son Joseph after 22 years, from the time Joseph was sold by his brothers. Jacob knew a boy of 17 years of age and now met the second most powerful person of Egypt, being 39 years of age, with spouse and children. Joseph arranged that his family would settle in Goshen, in the Nile delta, a region called Raamses which was uninhabited by the Egyptians so that the Hebrews would not mix with them. And Joseph brought his father Jacob and he made him stand in front of Pharaoh. And Jacob blessed Pharaoh. Pharaoh asked Jacob: "How many days of years of your life?" Jacob said to Pharaoh: "The days of years of my sojourns have been a hundred and thirty years. Few and bad ( )have been the days of years of my life, and they have not achieved the days of years of life of my fathers, in the days of their sojourns." And Jacob blessed Pharaoh and left Pharaohs presence. Then Joseph settled his father and his brothers and gave them a portion of the land of Egypt, in the best part of the land, in the land of Ramses (), as Pharaoh had commanded. --- Genesis 47:7-11 This passage is important for the chronology of the Bible. Jacob came down to Egypt in year 2238, as he stated to be 130 years old. Joseph was 30 years old when he became governor of Egypt, when the 7 years of abundance started. Then, he met his brothers and his father in the 2 years of famine, so he was then 39 years old. This is the same year when Jacob was presented to Pharaoh, so Joseph was born in year 2238-39= 2199. It is with this calculation that the years of all the other events of the chronology can be derived. So, when Joseph was sold to the Ishmaelites and arrived in Egypt, he was 17 years old (year 2216). When he became Governor of Egypt, he was 30 years old (year 2229). In the initial period of 13 years when he has been in Egypt, he was first at the service of Potiphar, then in jail. His encounter with Pharaoh occurred 2 years before his encounter in jail with the two chamberlains. It is worth noting that Jacob did not prostate or bow to Pharaoh but Joseph made him stand in front of Pharaoh. The Egyptian dynasty of this time was the 18th Dynasty. It became the most successful and best known dynasty of Egypt, as it started the prosperous era of the New Kingdom after years of political instability due to the fact that Lower Egypt had been under the rule of foreign invaders called the Hyksos for about 300 years. This period of trouble in Egypt favoured the independence of the people of the land of Canaan, and the peace there in these times. When Egypt was weak, the land of Canaan was peaceful and this is why the patriarch Abraham, Isaac and Jacob did not suffer much from wars and invasions that prevailed elsewhere. This 18th Dynasty started in year 1550 BCE under Pharaoh Ahmose I. He was the Pharaoh who succeeded in expelling the Hyksos from the Nile Delta (in the 18-19th year of his reign, so it was about 1532-1531 BCE), a region which included the land of Goshen which would be given to the Hebrews some years later. Ahmose I was a Pharaoh who built many infrastructures across Egypt and who re-organised the country. He reigned for 25 years, from age 10 (year 1550 BCE) to age about 35 when he died (year 1525 BCE) just about the time when the years of abundance were coming to an end. Ahmose I is the ruler who chose Joseph as viceroy. His meeting with Joseph was in year 1531 BCE, when Ahmose I had already been in power for 19 years and he was 29 years old at that time. Joseph was 30 years old, so they were in fact about the same age, if we allow some months up to one year discrepancy in the calculations. The relationship between Joseph and Ahmose I was great due to the close age between the two.
Pharaoh Ahmose I Ahmoses wife was Nefertari, and she was also his sister or half-sister. She had given him an heir, Amenhotep I (also called Amenophis I), who succeeded his father and reigned over Egypt for about 21 years, from 1526 BCE to 1506 BCE. He was influenced by his mother who was regent when he reigned, and must have died at a rather young age, as all his representations show him as a young Pharaoh. This context better explains the meeting between Jacob and Pharaoh. The latter was still a young boy, who had only been reigning for 3-4 years (Jacob came down to Egypt in the second year of the famine, in 1522 BCE), and his mother was the regent. Jacob behaved in front of this young Pharaoh as a 130 years old patriarch, and Jacob blessed him as a father (or grandfather) would have blessed a son. It is also remarkable that the text mentions twice Jacob blessed Pharaoh.
Nefertari and her son Amenhotep I When the famine became very severe, the Egyptian people sold all their possessions in exchange of grain, and Joseph collected the money for Pharaoh. When their possessions were over, and as the famine continued, the people then sold their land and themselves, as serfs, to Pharaoh: Thus Joseph acquired all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, because the Egyptians sold the man and his field, because the famine was hard on them. And the land became Pharaohs. As for the people, he moved them between cities, from one end of Egypt to the other. Only the land of the priest he did not buy, because of an income from Pharaoh to the priests, and they ate from their income that Pharaoh gave them and therefore they did not sell their land. Joseph said to the people: "Look, I have acquired you this day and also your land for Pharaoh; here is a seed for you and sow them on the land; and at the harvests, you will give one fifth to Pharaoh, and the four fifths will be yours, as seed for the soil and food for you and for those in your house and to feed your young ones." And they said: "You saved our lives, may we find favour in your eyes, my lord, and we will be slaves for Pharaoh."
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So Joseph made it a law until this day over the land of Egypt, for Pharaoh the fifth, only the soil of the priests alone was not for Pharaoh. --- Genesis 47:20-26 This text suggests that the tax system in Ancient Egypt, calculated as a 20% percentage of the production of the land, was established by Joseph under the reign of Ahmose I. It would make sense, time-wise, because, before that period, the country was partially or totally under control of the Hyksos during the previous 300 years. Historians are recording the existence of tax systems from the 18th Dynasty, and not before, and this dynasty was founded by Ahmose I. During this dynasty, the most important government official was someone called Ineni, which means Here I am in Hebrew, and has been used by Abraham as a response to God's call. This person served all Pharaohs until the reign of Thutmose III. This is a possible evidence to consider that this person had been Joseph himself because of the role described: Hereditary prince, count, chief of all works in Karnak; the double silver-house was under his charge; the double goldhouse was on his seal; sealer of all contracts in the House of Amon; Excellency, overseer of the doubler granary of Amon. --- Boussac, Hypolite, Mission archologique franaise au Caire, volume XVIII, 1895, cited in Breasted, James Henry, Ancient records of Egypt, Volume 2 This Ineni was in charge of the granary and also in charge of all the works in Karnak, a city near Luxor located far south in Egypt, where he would have needed to move working people from one end of Egypt to the other. Also he had lived long enough to serve under six Pharaohs (of the 18th Dynasty): Ahmose I, Amenhotep I, Thutmose I, Thutmose II, Hatshepsut (wife of the former), and Thutmose III.Who else but Joseph could have held such important role in Egypt and for so long?
Before his death, Jacob asked his sons to bury him in the Cave of Machpelah, near his wife Leah (Genesis 49:33). Joseph arranged for the body to be embalmed, and then:
Joseph spoke to the house of Pharaoh, saying: "If, please, I found grace in your eyes, please speak to the ears of Pharaoh by saying." --- Genesis 50:4 The questions are: why did Joseph embalm Jacob and why did Joseph not speak to Pharaoh directly? Because, when Jacob died, Pharaoh Amenhotep I who had been blessed by Jacob had just died too.[3] His reign had lasted for about 21 years, during which time he never campaigned against Canaan. His campaigns were limited to the south towards Nubia. His mummy was found and is now displayed at the Cairo museum. But it is the only royal mummy that has never been unwrapped, due to its very exquisite face mask. The blessing Jacob gave him may have followed him after-life !
The mummy of Amenhotep I (Cairo Museum) So there was uncertainty about the new ruler and his policy. Joseph had his father embalmed in case delays would be caused until Jacob could be taken to Canaan for burial. Nefertari survived her husband and her son as she died later in 1495 BCE, around the age of 70, during the reign of her grandson Thutmose I. She had known Joseph and, as the regent after Ahmose I, was surely present at the only meeting between her young son, Pharaoh Amenhotep I, and Jacob, when he had blessed him, twice. Maybe one of the two blessings was destined indirectly to his mother as she had been regent to Pharaoh at the time of this meeting with Jacob. So, when Joseph asked the House of Pharaoh to grant him permission to go to Canaan to bury his father Jacob, he addressed to the ears of Pharaoh which was the queen mother, Nefertari, as only her could influence the new Pharaoh to grant permission. The request to leave Egypt for Canaan was however not granted at the time. Maybe Nefertari was afraid of having Joseph leave Egypt and never return, causing bad omen on her country. Also Joseph had been in the affairs of Egypt for so many years that he would be needed next to the new Pharaoh for the time being, until he would be able to ascertain his power and direct his affairs. This possible delay was the reason why Joseph had ordered to embalm his father, sensing that he would not be allowed to leave Egypt at that time. ~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1] His name gave root to the sin of onanism. [2] As an example about the various titles of Pharaoh, see page on Wikipedia [3] The year of his death is disputed: some chronology mentions 1503-4 BCE and others such as Manetho give 1506 BCE, which is the most commonly agreed date.
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Generation 25
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Hebrew years 2880 to 3000 (880-760 BCE) ~~~ Part I ~~~ Part II ~~~
What is new Year 2929 831 BCE Jeroboam II of Israel Index of names Creation Jeroboam, son of Jehoash, succeeded his father in Israel, and reigned for 41 years (II Kings 14:23). Although the new king did not depart from the sinful conduct of his fathers, God however saw the affliction of Israel and decided He would not allow the name of Israel to be blotted out from the face of the earth.
Also, God had given the promise to Jehu king of Israel to have four generations of his children to reign over Israel, and Jeroboam was the 3rd generation. So God made Jeroboam successful in his military campaigns against the enemies Generations of Israel and also of Judah, especially after the kingdom of Judah was weakened by the lack of a king, while Azariah was 1-14 still too young to succeed his father Amaziah. Jeroboam did not however take too much advantage of the situation to oppress Judah and God recompensed him with a long reign. Generations 15-21 ~~~~~~~~~~ Generations Year 2956 804 BCE Azariah / Uzziah of Judah 22-28 Azariah started to reign in the 27th year of reign of Jeroboam II (II Kings 15:1). He was 16 years old and had been educated Generations in the path of God. God granted him an exceptionally long reign of 52 years (II Kings 15:1-2). His name was later changed 29-35 to Uzziah. Generations 36-49 Generation 50 ~~~~~~~~~~
Amos the Prophet (Gustave Dor, 1868) When Amos came to prophetize in the kingdom of Israel, he was rejected and told by Amaziah, the priest of pagan Beth-El, to return to Judah: Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah: 'I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was a herdman, and a dresser of sycamore-trees; and the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said unto me: Go, prophesy unto My people Israel. Now therefore hear you the word of the Lord: You say: Prophesy not against Israel, and preach not against the house of Isaac; Therefore thus says the Lord: Your wife shall be a harlot in the city, and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword, and your land shall be divided by line; and you yourself shall die in an unclean land, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of his land.' --- Amos 7:14-17 God told him about an eclipse that will mark the start of His punishment onto His people. This eclipse took place 40 years later, day for day: And it shall come to pass in that day, says the Lord God, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day. And I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning for an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day. --- Amos 8:9-10 This eclipse was actually recorded in Assyrian records as having occurred in June 763 BCE of their calendar, which corresponds to about the Hebrew year 3000 due to the difference of noting the calendars in Mesopotamia and in Canaan. It corresponds to the first time when an Assyrian king entered the region and threatens the Israelite kingdoms. Amaziah the priest of Beth-Tel tried to slander against Amos so that Jeroboam would execute the prophet, but the king showed restraints and rejected the slander: And whence do we know that he [Jeroboam] did not heed slander? Because it is written, Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying: Amos has conspired against you [etc.]; and it is written, For thus Amos saith: Jeroboam shall die by the sword [etc.]. Said he [Jeroboam]: Heaven forfend that that righteous man should have said thus! Yet if he did say, what can I do to him! The Shechinah told it to him. --- Talmud, Pesachim, 87b After failing with Jeroboam, Amaziah probably tried to carry out a punishment nonetheless because, according to an apocryphic text, Amos was deadly wounded by Amaziahs son who had also been cursed by Amos prophesy: He [Amos] was from Tekoa. Amaziah (the priest of Bethel) had often beaten him, and at last Amaziah's son killed him with a cudgel, striking him on the temple [of the golden calf in Beth-El]. While still living he made his way to his land, and after some days died and was buried there. --- Torrey, Charles Cutler, The Lives of the Prophets, 1946, Amos 1-2 According to the Talmud, Amos and Amaziah, the king of Judah, were brothers, and according to the Bible, Amosson was to become Isaiah the Prophet (Isaiah 1:1): Rabbi Levi further said: The following is a tradition that we have from our ancestors, that Amos and Amaziah were brothers. --- Talmud, Megilah, 10b ~~~~~~~~~~
To save his kingdom, Menachem forced his nation to pay a tribute that had cost every family of Israel a high levy. It was a matter of time before their displeasure would lead them to conspire. He did not reign long, 10 years only (II Kings 15:17). When he died, his son Pekahiah reigned for two years before being murdered by the head of the Israelite army, Pekah son of Remaliah. In Judah, as Uzziah did not destroy the altars of idolatry that were in his country, God punished him and he became a leper towards the end of his life. When this happened, he was put in a separate house as it was the custom then to avoid epidemies. Instead, his son Jotham was reigning as regent until he officially reigned when his father died (II Kings 15:15).
Year 2995 765 BCE The campaign of Ashur-Dan III, king of Assyria
Towards the end of the 25th generation, Assyria reached the Levant for the first time and threatened the various states in that region. The only way for the kingdoms to avoid destruction was to pay a big tribute: There came against the land Pul the king of Assyria; and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to confirm the kingdom in his hand. And Menahem exacted the money of Israel, even of all the mighty men of wealth, of each man fifty shekels of silver, to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned back, and stayed not there in the land. --- II Kings 15:19-20 Pul means "heir" or "prince" in Assyrian, as for example the name of King Ashurbanipal was actually Assur-Nasir-aPli which means "Ashur is the guardian of the Heir". So why would the king of Assyria would be referred as the "heir" in the Biblical text? Because, after the death of the powerful king called Adad-Nirari III, the kingdom of Assyria went through a series of crisis in which three of his sons will successively reign over the realm. There were the "heirs" and it was important for them to be declared so in their very title, in order to avoid any conflict of succession or claim of legitimacy. The Pul of the Bible was one of these three brothers: Ashur-Dan III. He was the one who led military expeditions to strengthen his kingdom at a time when internal feuds threatened its future and after the reign of his brother, Shalmanezer
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IV, for whom little is known about the reign. This lack of records means that didn't achieve much and was probably a weak ruler. Ashur-Dan III reigned between 773 and 755 BCE. In order to build the legitimacy of his reign, Ashur-Dan III had to declare himself as the "heir", although he only was the third son to reign. He also had to lead the Assyrian army into successful military campaigns as it was customary for rulers to maintain themselves in power. This is what he did in the Levant, although his campaign stopped at the entrance of kingdom of Israel when the king Menachem agreed to pay the high tribute. This was a good enough achievement for Ashur-Dan after having conquered the northern countries north from Israel. So, after getting the payment, he turned back as the Biblical text states it.
Assyrian horseman (British Museum) According to Assyrian chronology, his kingdom was hit by a plague in 765 BCE, which would have been another reason for him to turn back as potential problems caused by a national calamity would have made his presence more important in Nineveh at this time. Ashur-Dan III would be succeeded in 755 BCE by another brother Ashur-Nirari V. ~~~~~~~~~~
The eclipse of June 763 BCE, observed by Ashur-Dan III in Nineveh (source: Myths and Legends of Babylonia) Next generation Top of Page
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Generation 24
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Hebrew years 2760 to 2880 (1000-880 BCE) ~~~ Part I ~~~ Part II ~~~ Part III ~~~
What is new Year 2873 887 BCE Jehu king of Israel Index of names Creation Generations 1-14 Generations 15-21 Elisha the Prophet, upon divine order, anointed Jehu from Gilead as king of Israel: And he [Elisha] arose, and went into the house; and he poured the oil on his head, and said unto him [Jehu]: 'Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I have anointed you king over the people of the Lord, even over Israel. And you shall smite the house of Ahab your master, that I may avenge the blood of My servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord, at the hand of Jezebel. For the whole house of Ahab shall perish; and I will cut off from Ahab every man-child, and him that is shut up and him that is left at large in Israel. And I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasa the son of Ahijah. And the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the portion of Jezreel, and there shall be none to bury her.' And he opened the door, and fled. --- II Kings 9:6-10
Generations Jehu then went to Jezreel, where Jehoram son of Ahab was seated, and killed him. He also killed Ahaziah king of Judah 22-28 who was with Joram at the time. The Biblical text mentions that Ahaziah reigned one year in Judah because, after one year, he spent more time in Israel than in Judah. This is the reason why Jehu killed him, as he was part of the royal circle of Generations Israel and was with the king of Israel at the time of his death. As Ahaziah was from the house of Omri and Ahab, he was struck by the same divine order that said the House of Ahab shall perish. 29-35 Generations A stele found in Tel-Dan, Northern Israel, in 1993 bears witness of these events and is one of the rare archaeological finds that mentions the House of David. The stele was attributed to Hazael king of Aram, but it should have been to Jehu. It 36-49 contains the following text (it is in Proto-Canaanite / Phoenician language, which was used at the time in Israel and Judah): Generation Line 6- of my kings. And I killed two [power]ful kin[gs], who harnessed two thou[sand cha-] 50 Line 7- riots and two thousand horsemen. [I killed Jo]ram son of [Ahab] Line 8- king of Israel, and I killed [Achaz]yahu son of [Joram kin]g Line 9- of the House of David. --- Transcription (source: New World Encyclopedia)
Tel-Dan stele Then Jehu entered the city of Jezreel and ordered Jezebel, who was mocking him as a king murderer, to be thrown out of her window, and she died. As the prophecy had it, the dogs ate her corpse and she could not be buried.
The death of Jezebel (Gustave Dor, 1868) Then Jehu went to the other cities to destroy all the family and supporters of the House of Ahab, as ordered by God. Last, Jehu executed all the prophets of Baal who lived in the kingdom of Israel. However the task was not complete, as Jehu left in place the two golden idols that Jeroboam had made: Thus Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel. Howbeit from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, wherewith he made Israel to sin, Jehu departed not from after them, the golden calves that were in Beth-el, and that were in Dan. --- II Kings 10:28-29 So the divine blessing for Jehu was of mixed result: And the Lord said unto Jehu: 'Because you have done well in executing that which is right in My eyes, and have done unto the house of Ahab according to all that was in My heart, your sons of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel.' But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart; he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, wherewith he made Israel to sin. In those days the Lord began to cut Israel short; and Hazael smote them in all the borders of Israel. --- II Kings 10:30-32 Hazael, the king of Aram, started to conquer all the land of the Israelite kingdom located at the east from the Jordan River, in the territories of Gad, Reuben and half of Manasseh, including Gilead. ~~~~~~~~~~
The death of Athaliah (Gustave Dor, 1868) Joash was proclaimed king in the 7th year of the reign of Jehu in Israel (II Kings 12:2), and he was 7 years old (II Kings 12:1). He enjoyed a long reign of 40 years, because he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all his days. This is because he was raised not in a royal family environment but instructed by Jehoiada the priest (II Kings 12:3). Next generation Top of Page
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Generation 27
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Hebrew years 3120 to 3240 (640-520 BCE) ~~~ Part I ~~~ Part II ~~~ Part III ~~~ Part IV Chronology of the two kingdoms during the 27th Generation
The eventful 27th Generation witnessed the fall of the Assyrian empire and destruction of Nineveh, the fall of Jerusalem with the destruction of the Temple of Solomon (the First Temple), the new rise and fall of Babylon, and the rule of the Persian empire.
Generations The first part of the chronology below covers the time until the end of the kingdom of Judah. 1-14 Year CE Differ. Kingdom of JUDAH Sources 3121 -639 2 Amon murdered by his servants II Kings 21:19 Generations 3121 -639 Josiah son of Amon reigns II Kings 22:1 15-21 3127 -633 -25 Jehoiakim son of Josiah born II Kings 23:36 3129 -631 -23 Jehoahaz son of Josiah born II Kings 23:31 Generations 3133 -627 12 Jeremiah the Prophet; 70 years end of Babylon Jeremiah 1:2 22-28 3138 -622 17 Josiah repairs the Temple; Passover II Kings 22:3 Babylon raises to power; end of Assyrian 3140 -620 Historical Generations dominance 29-35 3142 -618 -21 Zedekiah brother of Jehoiakim born Jeremiah 52:1 3145 -615 -18 Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim born Generations 3152 -608 31 Josiah killed in Meggido by Necoh II Kings 22:1, 23:29 36-49 3152 -608 Jehoahaz son of Josiah chosen king II Kings 23:30 3152 -608 Necoh made Jehoiakim son of Josiah king II Kings 23:34 Generation 3155 -605 Nebuchadnezzar reigns in Babylon Historical Jeremiah prophetizes against Judah; writes down 50 3155 -605 3 Jeremiah 25:1 his book Battle of Carchemish; Nebuchadnezzar defeats 3155 -605 3 Jeremiah 46:2 Necoh & Assyria Siege of Jerusalem; Jehoiakim vassal, Daniel 3155 -605 3 Daniel 1:1 taken to Babylon 3156 -604 1 Daniel interprets the dreams of Nebuchadnezzar Daniel 2:1 3158 -602 3 Jehoiakim breaks allegiance to Nebuchadnezzar II Kings 24:1 3163 -597 11 Jehoiakim son of Josiah dies II Kings 23:36 3163 -597 0 Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim reigns II Kings 24:8 Temple service stopped after 410 years from 3163 -597 411 completion 3163 -597 8 Jehoiachin taken captive to Babylon II Kings 24:12 3163 -597 8 Jehoiachin captivity starts Ezekiel 1:1-2 3163 -597 0 Zedekiah named king by Nebuchadnezzar II Kings 24:17 3166 -594 3 False prophecy of Hananiah son of Azzur Jeremiah 28:1 3167 -593 4 Ezekiel the Prophet; vision of the future Ezekiel 1:1-2 Zedekiah rebels; Jerusalem besieged; Zedekiah 3171 -589 8 II Kings 25:1 taken to Babylon 3173 -587 10 Zedekiah prisoner; Temple destroyed II Kings 25:2 3173 -587 Fall of Jerusalem 587 B.C. II Kings 25:8 3174 -586 11 Ezekiel meets a survivor from Jerusalem Ezekiel 33:21 Gedaliah, governor of Judah in Mitzpah, is 3174 -586 1 II Kings 25:25 murdered ~~~~~~~~~~
Text reigned 2Y aged 8Y reigned 25Y old reigned 23Y old Y13 Josiah
reigned 21Y old reigned 18Y old reigned 31Y reigned 3 months older son Y4 Jehoiakim Y4 Jehoiakim Y3 Jehoiakim Y2 Nebuchadnezzar reigned 11Y reigned 3 months
Y8 of Nebuchadnezzar renamed from Mattaniah Y4 Zedekiah Y5 Jehoiakim Y9 Zedekiah Y11 Zedekiah Y19 Nebuchadnezzar Y12 captivity
Excavations of Nineveh by Layard in the 19th century (engraving 1852) Tobit died soon after the destruction of Nineveh, so he saw the accomplishment of Jonahs prediction: And he died at Ecbatane in Media, being an hundred and seven and twenty years old. But before he died he heard of the destruction of Nineveh, which was taken by Nebuchadnezzar and Assuerus [Cyaxares, king of Media, born in Ecbatane]: and before his death he rejoiced over Nineveh. --- Apocrypha, Tobit, 14:14-15 His descendants will however be among the Israelites who will return to Sion, with Ezra the Scribe, although they seemed to have forgotten their origin from the Tribe of Nephtali, or were ashamed to mention it as they were among the tribes who had adopted idolatry in the kingdom of Israel: And these were they that went up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsa, Cherub, Addan, and Immer; but they could not tell [about] their fathers' houses, and their seed, whether they were of Israel: the children of Delaiah, the children of Tobiah, the children of Nekoda, six hundred fifty and two. --- Ezra 2:59 and also Nehemiah 7:61 The destruction of the Assyrian capital did not immediately cause the end of the Assyrian Empire: it took another three years until Babylon would finally conquer all Assyria. ~~~~~~~~~~
[3] taking the great Syrian of Cadytis [Gaza] after the battle. --- Herodotus, The Histories, Book 2, 159:2 After the death of Josiah, the people proclaimed his son Jehoahaz, 23 years old, king of Judah. But he diverted from his fathers ways towards God. This attitude was probably caused by the influence of his mother. He only reigned 3 months until Pharaoh Necoh removed him from office and placed his older brother Eliakim, who was 25 years old, in his stead, and renamed him Jehoiakim (II Kings 23:31-34). Jehoahaz was taken to Egypt where he died. Jehoiakim accepted to be vassal to Necoh and raised money from his people to pay the requested high tribute. And he also diverted from the path of God. But the new Babylonian power was rising stronger in the days of Jehoiakim, and even Necoh could not be a match against the army who invaded the region, until the brook of Egypt (II Kings 24:7). Jehoiakim had no choice but to change allegiance: In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years; then he turned and rebelled against him. And the Lord sent against him bands of the Chaldeans, and bands of the Arameans, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the Lord, which He spoke by the hand of His servants the prophets. Surely at the commandment of the Lord came this upon Judah, to remove them out of His sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did; and also for the innocent blood that he shed; for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; and the Lord would not pardon. --- II Kings 24:1-4 ~~~~~~~~~~
Battle of Carchemish (Ollier, Edmund, Cassell's Illustrated Universal History, vol. 1) ~~~~~~~~~~
in knowledge, and discerning in thought, and such as had ability to stand in the king's palace; and that he should teach them the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans. And the king appointed for them a daily portion of the king's food, and of the wine which he drank, and that they should be nourished three years; that at the end thereof they might stand before the king. Now among these were, of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. And the chief of the officers gave names unto them: unto Daniel he gave the name of Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, of Shadrach; and to Mishael, of Meshach; and to Azariah, of Abed-nego. --- Daniel 1:1-7 And so Daniel was taken to Babylon when he was a young man, and being blessed by an intelligence superior to his brethren. And during the next 3 years, he and his 3 companions would be raised in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar before entering at the service of his empire. Daniel had special skills, above his companions: Now as for these four youths, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom; and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. And at the end of the days which the king had appointed for bringing them in, the chief of the officers brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. And the king spoke with them; and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; therefore stood they before the king. And in all matters of wisdom and understanding that the king inquired of them he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in his entire realm. --- Daniel 1:17-20 ~~~~~~~~~~
Daniel explains Nebuchadnezzars dream Daniel then explained that the vision was about what will become the future after Nebuchadnezzar. The golden head was his present empire, the most powerful of all empires that will ever follow. The silver was the next empire that will take over Babylon: it will be the Persian Empire. It will be a large empire too but weaker than Nebuchadnezzars which was of gold. Then a next empire will come, even weaker: it will be the Greeks under Alexander the Great who will conquer Babylon and will end the Persian rule. It is the brass of the vision. The Greek empire is mentioned by Daniel as being one that shall bear rule over all the earth (Daniel 2:39). Indeed the Greek will spread their culture in the known world and it will become the foundation of the Western civilization that is still a dominant one ever since. Next will come the iron of two legs. It will be Christianity which will also spread broadly in the world but will equally be broadly divided, as two legs are, between Rome and Constantinople (Western and Eastern), or between Catholic and Reformist. Last will be the feet made of a mixture of clay and iron. It will be the world as we know it today, where Islam has taken over most of the lands of these old empires, even Babylon, but in a world where the presence of the Greco-Christian heritage will still remain strongly present. Both "empires" will dominate the affairs of the world and yet both will never be able to mix together because, as Daniel explained to Nebuchadnezzar: And whereas you saw the iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves by the seed of men; but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron does not mingle with clay. --- Daniel 2:43 The vision ends with the allegory of the stone that smashed the colossus, starting by smashing the feet first and then all the rest of the figure would collapse and break. We will come back to this particular vision in the chapter about the end of days. Nebuchadnezzar was grateful to Daniel and granted him the position of governor over the province of Babylon. In turn, Daniel appointed his own companions as governors of other provinces of the empire.
~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1] Tablet BM 21901 (British Museum), translated by A.K. Grayson in Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles (1975); to access it online click here [2] This Battle of Meggido of 609 BCE is reported in Esdras 1 [3] For the Greeks, all the Levant region was considered as Syria since this is where they later established the regional capital of this region they conquered; the Romans followed them
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Generation 31
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Hebrew years 3600 to 3720 (160-40 BCE) ~~~ Part I ~~~ Part II ~~~
Generations According to some theory, the person who succeeded Alcimus was the Teacher of Righteousness, later founder of 1-14 the Essenes sect[1] after he was ousted by the Maccabees in 152 BCE. Generations Bacchides returned to Antioch to seek policy from King Demetrius, and the Judea had rest for two years in the meantime. 15-21 Generations 22-28 Generations The war against the Jewish nation resumed after two years. Bacchides came back with a large army. But Jonathan
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was victorious and struck a deal with Bacchides that he shall return to his land and never come back to Judea to fight the Jews. Peace ensued and Jonathan couldfinally clean the land from the Greek influence and destroy the high places that they Generations had built in Judea. The exception was Jerusalem which was still strongly defended by a Greek garrison, protected by walls and high towers. 36-49 29-35 Generation 50
Jonathan Maccabee destroys the temple of Dagon (Gustave Dor, 1868) ~~~~~~~~~~
army commander, Apollonius, landed near Jaffa and taunted Jonathan to come down to the valley and fight a battle. Jonathan and Simon Maccabee raised an army and defeated the Greeks near Jaffa, who then fled south to Philistine land. There they were defeated again. Alexander was greatly pleased with Jonathan having removed alone the threat from Demetrius Nicator and sent to him gold as well as the possession of Ashqelon and its region. ~~~~~~~~~~
Year 3615 145 BCE The deaths of Alexander Balas and of Ptolemy Philometor
Ptolemy, father-in-law of Alexander, decided to conquer the kingdom of the Seleucids. He raised a great army and entered the Levant region, setting up garrisons in every city he entered on the way. He then made alliance with Demetrius against Alexander, and even took the daughter he gave to Alexander and gave her to Demetrius to seal their alliance. This happened while Alexander was campaigning in Cilicia, Asia Minor. Ptolemy also took the capital Antioch in Alexanders absence, and assumed the crown of the Seleucid kingdom.
Alexander Balas and Cleopatra Thea Alexander returned to Antioch to fight against Ptolemy but lost at the battle outside the city. He fled to Arabia but was caught there and killed. His head was sent to Ptolemy as a token of allegiance. But this victory of the king of Egypt was short-lived because he had also been wounded in the battle. Ptolemy died soon after from his own wounds. As a result, Demetrius Nicator reigned over the Seleucid kingdom (Maccabees, Book II, 11:19). ~~~~~~~~~~
Then raised Simon Maccabee, the last son of Mattathias, to command the Jewish nation. Tryphon, on his side, was getting his army ready to invade Judea. But snow fell over the land, so Tryphon decided to return to his country, and he killed Jonathan on the way back. Simon then recovered the corpse of Jonathan and buried him with his family in Modin: Simon also built a monument upon the sepulchre of his father and his brethren, and raised it aloft to the sight, with polished stone behind and before. Moreover, he set up seven pyramids one against another, for his father and his mother, and his four brethren. And on these he made cunning devices, about the which he set great pillars, and upon the pillars he made all their armour for a perpetual memory, and by the armour ships carved, that they might be seen by all who sail on the sea. This is the sepulchre which he made at Modin, and it standeth yet e unto this day. --- Maccabees, Book II, 13:27-30 This tomb of the Maccabees has recently been found in 1999 on a hill near Modin in Israel, and a monument have been placed there to commemorate the seven pyramids that Simon had built in his time.
Year 3618 142 BCE Simon Maccabee starts the Hasmonean dynasty
After returning to Antioch, Tryphon also deceived his protg, Antiochus the young son of Alexander: he killed him and seized the crown of the kingdom. Tryphon became very unpopular in his country and Simon took the opportunity to seal an alliance with Demetrius who granted immunity and independence to the Jewish nation in 142 BCE. From this time, Simon started to count the years as official years of his leadership of the Jewish nation (Maccabees, Book II, 13:42). The Hasmonean dynasty, as it will become known, will continue until year 37 BCE. The name Hasmonean came from their ancestor Hesmai, or Assamoneaus, grand-father of Mattathias (Maccabees, Book V, 6). Simon then engaged in a campaign to cleanse the land from its idols. He took Gaza, but Jerusalem still had a number of Hellenized Jews who refused to return to the Jewish faith. They were entrenched in some part of the fortification but became under siege with no access to food or supplies. They however asked for peace and Simon granted it to them. He cleansed the city after they departed from the citadel and its fortified towers. It was the year 141 BCE in the 23rd day of the month of the 2nd month (Iyar), which was an observed festival in the times of the Jewish nation (Maccabees, Book II, 13:51). The reign of Simon Maccabee was peaceful, owing to the internal fights for Seleucid power between Tryphon and Demetrius: As for the land of Judah, that was quiet all the days of Simon; for he sought the good of his nation in such wise, as that evermore his authority and honour pleased them well. And in addition to all his glory, he took Joppe [Jaffa] for a haven, and made it an entrance to the isles of the sea, and enlarged the bounds of his nation, and recovered the country. --- Maccabees, Book II, 14:4-6 Rome and Greece renewed with Simon the pact they had made with his brother Jonathan. The Lacedonians, who were the Spartans and who considered themselves descendants from the patriarch Abraham and thus brethren to the Jews, wrote to Simon: The rulers of the Lacedaemonians, and the city [Sparta], unto Simon the high priest, and the elders and priests, and residue of the people of the Jews, our brethren, send greeting. The ambassadors who were sent unto our people, certified us of your glory and honour: wherefore we were glad of their coming: and did register the things which they spoken in the council of the people, in this manner: Numenius, son of Antiochus, and Antipater son of Jason, the Jews' ambassadors, came unto us
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to renew the friendship which they had with us. And it pleased the people to entertain the men honourably, and to put the copy of their ambassage in the appointed records of the people; to the end the people of the Lacedaemonians might have a memorial thereof: furthermore, we have written a copy thereof unto Simon the high priest. --- Maccabees, Book II, 14:20-23 ~~~~~~~~~~
in our country, yet will we give an hundred talents for them. --- Maccabees, Book II, 15:33-35 Antiochus was not pleased and sent an army to the coast of Judea to invade the land, while he himself pursued the affair with Tryphon. Simon was too old at the time to engage in any war so he entrusted his sons Judas and John (or Jochanan) to defend the nation. Judas was wounded in battle and died shortly after, but John succeeded in defeating the Seleucid army and took the surname Hyrcanus after the commander he defeated. ~~~~~~~~~~
Year 3626 134 BCE John Hyrcanus makes a pact with Antiochus VII
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Antiochus VII himself came to besiege Jerusalem but he was defeated by John Hyrcanus. Rather than pursuing a war between them, the two made an alliance: Hyrcanus paid a large sum of money, taken from the sepulchre of the Judean kings, and Antiochus accepted to be the protector of the Jewish nation which gained him a surname, Pius or Euergetes (the Benefactor) according to different sources. Antiochus had more pressing affairs: his eastern provinces were invaded by the Parthians led by their king Phraates II and he had to go to war against them. The Parthians had become a regional power since the rule of Mithridates, brother of Phraates II, who took over some of the Greek realm in the East.
Seleucid Empire in 200 BCE, before the expansion of Parthia (source: Wikipedia) Antiochus overcame his enemies and restored the Mesopotamian territory to the Seleucid realm. But he became the
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last Seleucid ruler to reign over such a large kingdom, as he finally lost most of it over time to the Parthians, except for Syria until that country would eventually be conquered by the Romans. ~~~~~~~~~~
Year 3631 129 BCE John Hyrcanus attacks Samaria and converts Idumea
After the death of Antiochus VII, Hyrcanus intended to restore Samaria to the Jewish nation. He attacked the city of Sichem, who was the capital of Samaria and called Neapolis since the time of the Greeks.[2] The region was occupied by Samaritans since the forced deportation of the Ten Tribes to Assyria. Then Hyrcanus crossed the Jordan River and conquered the region of the Idumeans who lived around Mount Seir, the old Edomite land. As these people were descendants of Isaac the Patriarch, Hyrcanus did not kill them but forced them to Jewish conversion. It is the only example of forced conversion by Jews in the Jewish history. The Idumeans agreed to convert and kept in the Jewish faith until the Judean nation would be destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE.
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It was probably in this context, as an effort to prove the pharisaic interpretation of the Law to the Sadduccees and eventually decide who should be the High Priest, that the Book of Jubilees was written by one of the Pharisees.[3] The book gives a chronology of the Bible from Adam to the Exodus, by periods of jubilees (50 years). ~~~~~~~~~~
Year 3654 106 BCE Hyrcanus orders the persecution of the Pharisees
This role of High Priest led to the darkest page of Hyrcanus reign: Now the Jews had been, in the time of his father and uncles, united in affection towards them [the Hasmonean dynasty], and prompt to obey them, on account of their subduing of their enemies, and the excellent feats which they performed. They also continued united in affection to Hyrcanus, until the slaughter of the Pharisees was committed by him, and the rooting out of the Jews, and the civil wars on account of religion. From hence sprung perpetual enmities, and ceaseless evils, and many murders. This was the reason why many detested Hyrcanus. --- Maccabees, Book V, 27:6-8 Hyrcanus also had some family affairs to worry about: he had three sons, Aristobulus, Antigonus and Alexander. The later hated his father who in turn had the intent to keep him out of the heritage of the dynasty. To this effect, and in order to resolve the potential conflict of interest between religion and state, Hyrcanus took the decision that, after his death, the roles of ruler and High Priest will be separated: his wife was to reign, while his oldest son Aristobulus was to become High Priest.
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Generation 32
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Hebrew years 3720 to 3840 (40 BCE - 80 CE) ~~~ Part I ~~~ Part II ~~~ Part III ~~~ Part IV ~~~ Part V ~~~
Generations 1-14 The legend was that this river would have water flowing very strongly, even carrying stones, every week day but would get dry every Shabbat; in other words, this river seemed to keep Shabbat. Pliny probably never stepped foot in Judea so Generations must have heard the story from Jews who lived in Rome. The fact was known to them at these times because the river, 15-21 called Sabbation, is related in the Talmud. One conversation between Rabbi Akiva and the Roman commander of Judea, Turnus Rufus, who was left to govern over Judea after the departure of Titus (Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 7,2,6; Generations in this text, this governor of Judea is stated as Tereutius Rufus), and who frequently tried to confound the religious scholar with apparent contradictions or difficulties, went as follows: 22-28 Generations 29-35 And this question was asked by Turnus Rufus of R. Akiba: Wherein does this day [the Sabbath] differ from any other? He replied: Wherein does one noble differ from one commoner? Because my Lord [the Emperor] wishes it. - The Sabbath too, R. Akiba rejoined, then, is distinguished because the Lord wishes so. He replied: I ask this: Who
tells you that this day is the Sabbath? He answered: Let the river Sabbation prove it; --- Talmud, Sanhedrin, 65b The river is also mentioned in the Midrash as a northern boundary to the tribes of the kingdom of Israel, a river beyond which these tribes were exiled by the Assyrians.[1] In other words, the river marked the northern entrance to the Holy Land. Josephus also added to the story by mentioning that Titus himself saw this river: He then saw a river as he went along, of such a nature as deserves to be recorded in history; it runs in the middle between Arcea [Acre], belonging to Agrippa's kingdom [Judea], and Raphanea [outside the kingdom, so probably in Phoenicia or Syrian province]. It has somewhat very peculiar in it; for when it runs, its current is strong, and has plenty of water; after which its springs fail for six days together, and leave its channel dry, as any one may see; after which days it runs on the seventh day as it did before, and as though it had undergone no change at all; it has also been observed to keep this order perpetually and exactly; whence it is that they call it the Sabbatic River [Sabbation] that name being taken from the sacred seventh day among the Jews. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 7,5,1 The point of contention with Pliny is of course that Josephus mentioned the particular detail in the opposite way, whereas the river would be dry during six days and flows strongly on Shabbat day. But lets remember that Josephus was not a direct witness and that, probably, Titus didnt wait seven days to certify a different behaviour. Either way, the important point here is that such small details mentioned by religious scholars in Judea would find their way into the knowledge of historians and writers of the Roman Empire. Pliny, most likely, would have heard the story from another source than Titus or Josephus, as he reported it mosre in line with Tamudic tradition, that the river stopped working on Shabbat days.
"Sabbation", first page of a poem by Richard Chevenix Trench, 1838 Titus then returned to Rome by way of Jerusalem, where he saw the desolated and ruined city again, then to Alexandria where he boarded a ship to go to Rome. There his troops and prisoners marched for the triumph, and the spoils of war were also passed through the procession: But for those [spoils] that were taken in the temple of Jerusalem, they made the greatest figure of them all; that is, the golden table, of the weight of many talents; the candlestick also, that was made of gold, though its construction were now changed from that which we made use of; for its middle shaft was fixed upon a basis, and the small branches were produced out of it to a great length, having the likeness of a trident in their position, and had every one a socket made of brass for a lamp at the tops of them. These lamps were in number seven, and represented the dignity of the number seven among the Jews; and the last of all the spoils, was carried the Law of the Jews.
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--- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 7,5,5 By Law of the Jews, Josephus probably refered to a copy of the scrolls of the Bible, probably similar to the copper scroll of the Dead Sea Scrolls, which was meant to withstand the test of time. As for the original Ark of the Covenant, it had been stored in a secret location, probably under the ground of the First Temple, before the destruction by the Babylonians. At the time of the Second Temple, there was no ark in the Temple. Simon Bar Giora, considered by the Romans to have been the enemy leader, was slain just before the procession of the triumph, probably because he resisted to be displayed alive in this show. His dead body was however drawn to the procession and taken to the due place where he ought to have been executed in public. After these triumphs were over, and after the affairs of the Romans were settled on the surest foundations, Vespasian resolved to build a temple to Peace, which was finished in so short a time, and in so glorious a manner, as was beyond all human expectation and opinion: for he having now by Providence a vast quantity of wealth, besides what he had formerly gained in his other exploits, he had this temple adorned with pictures and statues; for in this temple were collected and deposited all such rarities as men aforetime used to wander all over the habitable world to see, when they had a desire to see one of them after another; he also laid up therein those golden vessels and instruments that were taken out of the Jewish temple, as ensigns of his glory. But still he gave order that they should lay up their Law, and the purple veils of the holy place, in the royal palace itself, and keep them there. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 7,5,7 ~~~~~~~~~~
Machaerus, near the Dead Sea, on the Jordanian side (photograph ITS Pilgrimages - Jordan) There was only one stronghold left in the country: Masada, on the western side of the Dead Sea. It was held by the Sicarii since before the war with Rome had begun, and was commanded by a certain Eleazar. The place had strong natural defenses and, in view of an upcoming attack by the Romans, the defenders had gathered plenty of supply to sustain a prolonged siege. Eleazar had a total of 980 men, women and children while the Roman legion had 5000 men as well as auxiliaries, as usual. The Roman commander was Flavius Silva, new procurator over Judea in 73. He established a wall around the rock of Masada, and a camp for his army. He also arranged for supplies of food and water to be brought to them in the desert by Jewish civilians. Then Silva oredered to build a ramp on the western side of the rock, so that the Romans would later be able to bring up their war machines before the assault. In parallel, the Jews inside raised the wall facing the side where the Romans would be coming. Aftre the ramp was made, Silva ordered to throw torches at the Jewish wall, which was made of wooden beams, and it was set on fire.
Masada with the earth ramp the Romans built on the right side The Romans then prepared themselves for an assault on the next day: Now, at the very beginning of this fire, a north wind that then blew proved terrible to the Romans; for by bringing the flame downward, it drove it upon them, and they were almost in despair of success, as fearing their machines would be
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burnt: but after this, on a sudden the wind changed into the south, as if it were done by Divine Providence, and blew strongly the contrary way, and carried the flame, and drove it against the wall, which was now on fire through its entire thickness. So the Romans, having now assistance from God, returned to their camp with joy, and resolved to attack their enemies the very next day; on which occasion they set their watch more carefully that night, lest any of the Jews should run away from them without being discovered. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 7,8,5 The battle to come had obvious outcome as the Jews were vaslty outnumbered. So, before the Roman forthcoming assault, Eleazar gathered his men and gave them a remarkable speech, as reported to the Romans by the only survivor, to prefer volontary death to slavery: We were the very first that revolted from them [the Romans], and we are the last that fight against them; and I cannot but esteem it as a favor that God has granted us, that it is still in our power to die bravely, and in a state of freedom, which has not been the case of others, who were conquered unexpectedly. It is very plain that we shall be taken within a day's time; but it is still an eligible thing to die after a glorious manner, together with our dearest friends. This is what our enemies themselves cannot by any means hinder, although they be very desirous to take us alive. Nor can we propose to ourselves any more to fight them, and beat them. [] But first let us destroy our money and the fortress by fire; for I am well assured that this will be a great grief to the Romans, that they shall not be able to seize upon our bodies, and shall fall of our wealth also; and let us spare nothing but our provisions; for they will be a testimonial when we are dead that we were not subdued for want of necessaries, but that, according to our original resolution, we have preferred death before slavery. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 7,8,6 Each head of family then slew his wife and children. Eleazar then drew lots to select ten men that would kill all their companions of arm. Then the ten last ones chose one to kill the nine others and set the place on fire before killing himself. Only one old woman survived with five children, as they had hidden themselves in caves before the mass killing. She could tell to the Romans what happened. Masada fell on the 15th of Nisan, according to Josephus. The Wars of the Jews had drawn a lot of attention in Rome, and also hatred for Jews in general, as one could read the way that the Roman historian Tacitus described this nation: As I am now to record the death-agony of a famous city [Jerusalem], it seems appropriate to inform the reader of its origins. [] The whole of Egypt was once plagued by a wasting disease which caused bodily disfigurement. So Pharaoh Bocchoris [2] went to the oracle of Hammon to ask for a cure, and was told to purify his kingdom by expelling the victims to other lands, as they lay under a divine curse. Thus a multitude of sufferers was rounded up, herded together, and abandoned in the wilderness. Here the exiles tearfully resigned themselves to their fate. But one of them who was called Moses urged his companions not to wait passively for help from god or man, for both had deserted them: they should trust to their
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own initiative and to whatever guidance first helped them to extricate themselves from their present plight. They agreed, and started off at random into the unknown. But exhaustion set in, chiefly through lack of water, and the level plain was already strewn with the bodies of those who had collapsed and were at their last gasp when a herd of wild asses left their pasture and made for the spade of a wooded crag. Moses followed them and was able to bring to light a number of abundant channels of water whose presence he had deduced from a grassy patch of ground. This relieved their thirst. They traveled on for six days without a break, and on the seventh they expelled the previous inhabitants of Canaan, took over their lands and in them built a holy city and temple. In order to secure the allegiance of his people in the future, Moses prescribed for them a novel religion quite different from those of the rest of mankind. Among the Jews all things are profane that we hold sacred; on the other hand they regard as permissible what seems to us immoral. In the innermost part of the Temple, they consecrated an image of the animal which had delivered them from their wandering and thirst,[3] choosing a ram as beast of sacrifice to demonstrate, so it seems, their contempt for Hammon. [4] The bull is also offered up, because the Egyptians worship it as Apis. They avoid eating pork in memory of their tribulations, as they themselves were once infected with the disease to which this creature is subject. They still fast frequently as an admission of the hunger they once endured so long, and to symbolize their hurried meal the bread eaten by the Jews is unleavened. We are told that the seventh day was set aside for rest because this marked the end of their toils. In course of time the seductions of idleness made them devote every seventh year to indolence as well.[5] Others say that this is a mark of respect to Saturn, either because they owe the basic principles of their religion to the Idaei, who, we are told, were expelled in the company of Saturn and became the founders of the Jewish race, or because, among the seven stars that rule mankind, the one that describes the highest orbit and exerts the greatest influence is Saturn. A further argument is that most of the heavenly bodies complete their path and revolutions in multiples of seven.[6] Whatever their origin, these observances are sanctioned by their antiquity. [] They will not feed or intermarry with gentiles. Though a most lascivious people, the Jews avoid sexual intercourse with women of alien race. Among themselves nothing is barred. They have introduced the practice of circumcision to show that they are different from others. Proselytes to Jewry adopt the same practices, and the very first lesson they learn is to despise the gods, shed all feelings of patriotism, and consider parents, children and brothers as readily expendable. However, the Jews see to it that their numbers increase. It is a deadly sin to kill an unwanted child,[7] and they think that eternal life is granted to those who die in battle or execution - hence their eagerness to have children, and their contempt for death. Rather than cremate their dead, they prefer to bury them in imitation of the Egyptian fashion, and they have the same concern and beliefs about the world below. But their conception of heavenly things is quite different. The Egyptians worship a variety of animals and half-human, half-bestial forms, whereas the Jewish religion is a purely spiritual monotheism. They hold it to be impious to make idols of perishable materials in the likeness of man: for them, the Most High and Eternal cannot be portrayed by human hands and will never pass away. For this reason they erect no images in their cities, still less in their temples. Their kings are not so flattered, the Roman emperors not so honored. --- Tacitus, Histories, 5:2-5 ~~~~~~~~~~
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The Judgment of Solomon - House of the Doctor in Pompeii (National Archaelogical Museum, Naples) (extract from photo from Flickriver, "aegean-blue") This Biblical story has also been found written in a papyrus from the collection Oxyrhynchus Papyrii which was found in Egypt. Indeed the specific papyrus referenced P.Oxy. XLI (41), 2944 contains a story very similar to the Judgment of Solomon (I Kings 3:16-28). This shows that the Greco-Roman world of the first century CE was already well acquainted with this story of the Bible, and surely many others. In fact, some modern historians no longer hesitate to join the opinion of their ancient colleagues who stated that many Biblical themes and stories were known in Greece before the death of Plato (around 350 BCE).[7b] Why was this particular Biblical tale noticed by the Greeks? Because, as the text from Tacitus mentions it above, it is a deadly sin [for the Jews] to kill an unwanted child. This story from Solomon must have struck the Greek minds of these times, about the value of life, of death, of justice, and of society.
P.Oxy. XLI, 2944 (source: Oxyrhynchus Online, Sackler Library, Oxford) ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1] Midrash Rabba, Numbers, XVI, 25: He was referring to those exiles who were living beyond Sambatyon [2] This pharaoh reigned too late compared to the time of the Hebrews in Egypt, but his mention means that the Roman historians already considered that the Jews were already of very ancient origin [3] It may be a reference to the cherubims, representations of angels
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[4] Hammon was a god of Antiquity that was represented as a ram, an animal that the Jews offered in sacrifice since the days of the Exodus (the Pesach Lamb) [5] This refers to the cyclic times of seven years, also concluded by the 50 years jubilee periods [6] It is interesting to note the association between Saturn as the 7th planet; the Romans also called Saturn Day (Saturday) the 7th day, and Saturnalia the festival when many unusual things were then permitted such as masters serving their slaves, and so on [7] The killing of unwanted children, and also sacrifices of children, was common practice in the antiquity, except for the Jews [7b] See for example Morrzejewski, Joseph, The Jews of Egypt: From Rameses II to Emperor Hadrian, 1997, p.66 [8] The Pashtun, or Pashtan, ethnic of this country know themselves to be of Jewish origin and whose ancestors later adopted Islam, as did most people of this part of the world Next generation Top of Page
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Generation 27
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Hebrew years 3120 to 3240 (640-520 BCE) ~~~ Part I ~~~ Part II ~~~ Part III ~~~ Part IV
After having destroyed Judah and the Temple of Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar felt above all gods. He created a large idol statue in gold for people to venerate as an act of obedience to his power, above all gods. As it was against Jewish religion Creation to worship any idol figure, the three governors who were the friends of Daniel would not obey the kings order in Generations their provinces. They were denounced to Nebuchadnezzar by jealous Chaldeans. As a punishment, the three were thrown into a burning fiery furnace but they did not die. 1-14 Generations 15-21 Generations 22-28 Generations 29-35 Generations
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36-49 Generation 50
The three men in the fiery furnace (marble sarcophagus, Vatican Museum, source Flickriver) Nebuchadnezzar could even distinguish in the furnace that a fourth person was among them and, in his own words, the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods (Daniel 3:25). The king quickly realized this was an act of God, and felt immediately as humbled as he had been at the time of the dream that Daniel had interpreted: Nebuchadnezzar spoke and said: 'Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, who has sent His angel, and delivered His servants that trusted in Him, and have changed the king's word, and have yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God. Therefore I make a decree, that every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, shall be cut in pieces,
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and their houses shall be made a dunghill; because there is no other god that is able to deliver after this sort.' Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, in the province of Babylon. --- Daniel 3:28-30 Following his destruction of the Temple and its spoil of religious tools, God would have decreed the death of the King. But, as the act was guided by divine desire, and as Nebuchanezzar then acknowledged the supremacy of God following the incident of the furnace, he was granted extra years to live, 15 in total, as King Hezekiah had also benefited for his good deeds. ~~~~~~~~~~
Representation of the Huldah Gates, the double gates entrance on the left side, as seen by Hezekiel (source: Wikipedia)
The Huldah Gates today, the exit side (photo: Albert Benhamou) In the later years of his life, the British scientist Isaac Newton spent a considerable amount of time deciphering the Hebrew text related to the dimension of the Temple, and wrote a detailed essay about it.[1a] For Newton, the Temple of Solomon was a representation of the cosmos. ~~~~~~~~~~
Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river Chebar that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. --- Ezekiel 1:1 There is no further detail about what happens. The next verse concerns the first vision he had of God in the fifth year [of the captitivy]. We can thus assume that, when Ezekiel wrote the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God, he meant to say that his time was up and that he died. This is the time when he completed his book, that will be included in the Jewish canon, and he would have added the closing verse 1:1 at the beginning. His tomb is still located in Iraq, in a village called Al-Kilf near the city of Najaf, and is revered by both Jews and Muslims. Although, in recent years, there has been some attempt to exlcude the Jews from the shrine and turn it into a mosque.[1b]
Tomb of Ezekiel (photography, 1932) The text of the Book of Ezekiel was inscribed in 66 stone tiles of marble or black basalt, of about 12 inches squared shape
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(so-called the Ezekiel Plates), found in his shrineand smuggled to Lebanon in the 20th century. They were later sold to an Israeli businessman in 1947 and found their way to Jerusalem in 1953 where they are exhibited today. There is barely any difference between the text of these plates and the known text of the Book of Ezekiel.[2]
Old Nebuchadnezzar by William Blake, 1795 (Tate Gallery, London) Jeremiah had prophetized about the end of the nations and empires of the time. Indeed, the 26th Dynasty of Egypt will be the last dynasty of native rulers as they will then be replaced by foreign rulers. Also, Nebuchadnezzars reign ended in 562 BCE, in the 26th year after having destroyed Jerusalem. This was the sign of a divine punishment, because the number 26 is always special in the Biblical text, as it represents the numerical value of the tetragram name of God.[3] ~~~~~~~~~~
Year 3200 560 BCE Belshazzar and the writing on the wall
His son, Amel-Marduk, called Evil-Merodach in the Bible, was brought to reign in his stead. He changed some of the
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policies established by his father and this caused some resentment among the upper class of Babylon. One of his first acts was to free the old king of Judah, Jehoiachin, (Leviticus Rabbah 18:2) who had surrendered voluntarily to Nebuchadnezzar but had nonetheless been taken captive to Babylon and left in jail for over 36 years. Jehoiachin was then treated with the honours due to a king, but died soon after. This new ruler had no talent to become a great leader as his father had, and and occupied in arranging great feasts for his guests. This was certainly a manner to please them but also to key them close enough to better control them, because the new king of Babylon clearly faced some difficulty to impose his authority. In the Bible, he is mentioned as Belshazzar, son of Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 5:1-2). Historians associated this name to the last king od Babylon, before the Persian conquest. But the name Belshazzar simply means son of the lord (Bel/Bels= lord like the good Baal, and Azzar/Usur= firstborn son), in other words the heir of the king. It could have been sed for any king who came to rule after his father, as it was the case for Amel-Marduk. There is also his mention in one of the Apocrypha books: And pray you for the life of Nabuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and for the life of Belshazzar his son, that their days may be upon earth as the days of heaven. --- Apocrypha, Baruch, chapter 1, 11 During a feast, he asked to bring the golden vessels of the Temple of Jerusalem to drink from them (Daniel 5:3). For this act, he was to receive divine punishment. So, during the feast and in front of the entire assembly, God had a human hand to write on a wall. But nobody was found to understand the writing.
Belshazzar's Feast - by Rembrandt, 1635 (National Gallery, London) So Daniel was called to interpret it. He explained that his father Nebuchadnezzar had been punished by God because of his vanity. As of Belshazzar: And you his son, O Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you know all this; but hast lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of His house before you, and you and your lords, your consorts and your concubines, have drunk wine in them; and you have praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know; and the God in whose hand your breath is, and whose are all your ways, have you not glorified; then was the palm of the hand sent from before Him, and this writing [on the wall] was inscribed. And this is the writing that was inscribed: MENE MENE, TEKEL UPHARSIN. This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE, God has numbered your kingdom, and brought it to an end. TEKEL, you are weighed in the balances, and are found
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wanting. PERES, your kingdom is broken, and given to the Medes and Persians. Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with purple, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made proclamation concerning him, that he should rule as one of three in the kingdom. In that night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was slain. --- Daniel 5:22-30
Daniel interpreting the writing on the wall (Gustave Dor, 1868) The Biblical text is correct in mentioning that the son of Nebuchanezzar was slained. Indeed Amel-Marduk was assassinated by his brother-in-law Nergal-sharezer, or Neriglissar, who had been one of the high-ramked officers of Nebuchadnezzars army who conquered Jerusalem and was ordered to protect Jeremiah the Prophet: Now Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon gave charge concerning Jeremiah to Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, saying: 'Take him, and look well to him, and do him no harm; but do unto him even as he shall say unto you.' So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard sent, and Nebushazban Rab-saris, and Nergal-sharezer Rab-mag, and all the chief officers of the king of Babylon; they sent, and took Jeremiah out of the court of the guard [when he was under arrest], and committed him unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, that he should carry him home; so he dwelt among the people. --- Jeremiah 39:11-14 This Nergal-sarezer was married to one of the daughters of Nebuchadnezzar and was the murderer of Belshazzar before succeeding him as king of Babylon. He was probably old himself, since 27 years had passed since the conquest of Jerusalem. He only reigned four years and was succeeded by one of his late sons, still a boy of age. ~~~~~~~~~~
might provoke Me with the work of your hands to your own hurt. Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: Because you have not heard My words, behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the Lord, and I will send unto Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about; and I will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and a hissing, and perpetual desolations. Moreover I will cause to cease from among them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the lamp. And this whole land shall be desolation, and a waste; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, says the Lord, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans; and I will make it perpetual desolations. And I will bring upon that land all My words which I have pronounced against it, even all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah hath prophesied against all the nations. --- Jeremiah 25:1-13 The 70 years of Jeremiahs prophecy started from the year of his prophecy, in the 13th year of Josiah, king of Judah, and ended with the year when Nabonides usurped power and the trone of the Chaldeans. The name of Nabonides is mentioned in a clay cylinder, of which archaeologists have found only two copies. The cylinder was written in the 13th year of Nabonides reign, in year 544 BCE (Hebrew year 3216).
Nabonides cylinder from Sippar (British Museum) A translation of this cylinder has given the following text: I, Nabonidus, the great king, the strong king, the king of the universe, the king of Babylon, the king of the four corners, the caretaker of Esagila and Ezida, for whom Sin and Ningal in his mother's womb decreed a royal fate as his destiny, the son of Nab-balssi-iqbi, the wise prince, the worshiper of the great gods, I: [] In the beginning of my everlasting reign they sent me a dream. Marduk, the great lord, and Sin, the luminary of heaven and the netherworld, stood together. Marduk spoke with me: 'Nabonidus, king of Babylon, carry bricks on your riding horse, rebuild Ehulhul and cause Sin, the great lord, to establish his residence in its midst.' [] But Marduk spoke with
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me: 'The Mede whom you mentioned, he, his country and the kings who marched at his side will be no more.' --- Harper, Assyrian and Babylonian Literature, London, 1911, Vol.1 p.163 It is interesting to note that this cylinder mentions a dream that Nabonides claimed to have had during which the god of Babylon, Marduk, had talked to him. Since the times of Nebuchadnezzar, dreams must have been considered to be very important as being messages from the gods. An usurper like Nabonides would of course find it useful to use dreams in an attempt to portray himself as a messenger of the gods and justify his legitimacy in power. But, in his case, the dream was a political invention and his assertion that Cyrus the Mede will be no more proved to be wrong. ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1a] To look at Isaac Newton's essay, in Latin, click here [1b] Elgot, Jessica, "Iraq cleric slams plan to turn Jewish tomb into mosque", Jerusalem Post, 12 April 2010; to read it online, click here [2] Parsons, David, Bache, Florence, "Dating the Ezekiel Plates", Jerusalem Post, 5 January 2011; to read it online, click here [3] The tetragram name is composed of two letters Heh (value 5 each), one letter Yod (value 10) and one letter Wav (value 6), which adds up to a total of 26
~~~~~~~~~~
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Generation 24
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Hebrew years 2760 to 2880 (1000-880 BCE) ~~~ Part I ~~~ Part II ~~~ Part III ~~~
What is new Chronology of the two kingdoms during the 24th generation Index of names \ Creation Generations 1-14 Generations 15-21 Generations 22-28 Generations 29-35 Generations 36-49 Generation 50 Taking into account the various considerations mentioned earlier about the chronology of Kings, an issue that has puzzled historians in the past because of the apparent discrepancies of the Biblical text, this is how this chronology should be for the present 24th generation. As a reminder, the reader must understand that, because of the difference of about 8 months between the calendars of the two kingdoms, all the years indicated below are to be understood +/- one year. I have tried to accomodate the reasonable necessary adjustments based on that fact. Year 2781 2781 2781 2785 2798 2798 2801 2801 2803 2803 2803 2827 2827 2828 2828 2832 2834 2839 2839 2840 2842 2842 2842 2857 2858 2860 2860 2860 2860 2860 2865 2866 CE -979 -979 -979 -975 -962 -962 -959 -959 -957 -957 -957 -933 -933 -932 -932 -928 -926 -921 -921 -920 -918 -918 -918 -903 -902 -900 -900 -900 -900 -900 -895 -894 5 1 3 41 3 -3 16 21 2 18 Differ. 40 0 0 4 17 17 3 20 22 2 2 24 26 27 27 31 6 11 38 Kingdom of Kingdom of JUDAH ISRAEL Solomon dies after 40Y reign Rehoboam son of Solomon reigns Jeroboam son of Nebat reigns Shoshenq sacks Jerusalem Rehoboam son of Solomon dies Abijam son of Rehoboam reigns Abijam son of Rehoboam dies Asa son of Abijam reigns Jeroboam son of Nebat dies Nadav son of Jeroboam reigns Baasa kills Nadav and reigns in Tirzah Baasa son of Ahijah dies Elah son of Baasa reigns in Tirzah Zimri kills Elah and the house of Baasa Zimri loses to Omri and commits suicide Omri reigns in Tirzah after civil war Omri establishes his capital Samaria Omri dies Ahab son of Omri reigns Obadiah the Edomite, the Prophet Elijah kills the prophets of Baal Asa son of Abijam dies Jehoshaphat reigns; peace with Israel Ahab spares Ben-Hadad king of Aram Ahaziah son of Ahab reigns Ahab dies in battle against Aram Ahaziah falls by accident; dies Jehoram, second son of Ahab, rules Elijah the Prophet taken to heaven Mesha king of Moab rebellion Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat reigns Jehoram son of Ahab reigns I & II Kings I - 11:42 I - 11:43 I - 11:43 I - 14:25 I - 14:21 I - 15:1 I - 15:2 I - 15:9 I - 14:20 I - 15:25 I - 15:25,33 I - 15:33 I - 16:6 I - 16:10 I - 16:15 I - 16:23 I - 16:24 I - 16:23 I - 16:29 reigned 12Y Y38 Asa estimate estimate I - 15:10 I - 22:41 I - 20:42 I - 22:52 I - 16:29 I - 22:52 II - 3:1 II - 2:11 II - 3 II - 8:16 II - 1:17 Y5 Jeroham of Ahab Y2 Jeroham of Judah reigned 41Y Y4 Ahab 3Y peace AramIsrael Y17 Jehoshaphat reigned 22Y reigned 2Y Y18 Jehoshaphat Y5 Rehoboam reigned 17Y Y18 Jeroboam reigned 3Y Y20 Jeroboam reigned 22Y Y2 Asa Y3 Asa reigned 24Y Y26 Asa Y27 Asa reigned 7 days Y31 Asa Text reigned 4Y
2867 2872 2872 2872 2873 2873 2873 2893 2873 2879
-893 -888 -888 -888 -887 -887 -887 -867 -887 -881
25 7 12 12
Jehoshaphat dies Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat dies Ahaziah son of Jehoram reigns Jehoram son of Achab dies Jehu son of Hanani is anointed by Elisha Jehu kills Jehoram and Jehu kills Ahaziah Jezebel Jehu reigns God promises 4 generations to Jehu (est.) Athaliah mother of Ahaziah reigns Joash reigns; Athaliah executed Calendar adjustment from Canaanite to Babylonian ~~~~~~~~~~
reigned 1Y
20 0 6 -2
Shoshenq relief depicting his army around him and Hebrews enemies in front (Karnak Temple) The war against Judah continued in the time of Rehoboams son, Abijam, who also did evil in the eyes of God (I Kings 15:7). ~~~~~~~~~~
Year 2839 921 BCE Ahab king of Israel and Ben-Hadad king of Aram
Ahab reigned in Samaria. He married Jezebel, the daughter of the king of Sidon, a Phoenician. His spouse influenced him towards the cult of foreign gods: Ahab started to worship Baal and built a pagan temple in Samaria. The idolatry was complete in the kingdom in his days: And Ahab made the Asherah [idolatry]; and Ahab did yet more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, than all the kings of Israel that were before him. --- I Kings 16:33 Jezebel also ordered all the prophets of God to be killed, but Obadiah, who was the prophet attached to the royal house, and who lived in fear of the king, managed to save 100 of them in two caves (I Kings 18:4). A couple of years after Ahab rose to power, the good king Asa died in Judah. He was succeeded by his son Jehoshaphat who followed him in the path of God (I Kings 22:43). In Samaria, the prophet Elijah showed himself in front of King Ahab and asked him to assemble all the prophets of Baal and Astarte unto Mount Carmel to challenge them to prove the existence of their gods: there were 850 of them in total (I Kings 18:19). After they failed, Elijah rebuilt an old altar of God, which had been destroyed, and called upon God to make a miracle in front of the people assembled: And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said: 'The Lord, He is God; the Lord, He is God.' And Elijah said unto them: 'Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape.' And they took them; and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there. And Elijah said unto Ahab: 'Get you up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of abundance of rain.' --- I Kings 18:39-41
Elijah executes the prophets of Baal (Gustave Dor, 1868) Jezebel then threatened to kill Elijah so he fled and hid in a cave on Mount Horeb, the mountain of God, in the Sinai (I Kings 19:18). There God gave him the mission to go back and prophesize the death of the people of the kingdom of Israel to near complete annihilation: And the Lord said unto him: 'Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; and when you come, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Aram; and Jehu the son of Nimshi shall you anoint to be king over Israel; and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah shall you anoint to be prophet in your room. And it shall come to pass, that him that escapes from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay; and him that escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay. Yet will I leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.' --- I Kings 19:15-18
Elijah confronts Ahab and Jezebel (Sir Francis Dicksee, 1873) Ben-Hadad, the king of Aram, raised a large army and invaded the kingdom of Israel. When he besieged the city of Samaria, Ahab however received a divine message that God will deliver the enemy to him. Ahabs army, made of all the men of war of his kingdom, had then barely 7000 men according to the prophecy. They were those who had never adopted the cult of Baal. The large Aramean army was nonetheless defeated and Ben-Hadad had to escape for his life. Their
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defeat made them believe that they couldnt beat the Israelites in the hill regions so should rather focus on conquering the plains. A year later, Ben-Hadad invaded the plains and established his camp at Aphek, the old Philistine stronghold. But again, the Israelites defeated them as God wanted to show that he was not just the God of the hills (I Kings 20:28). After the battle, and against the divine will, Ahab spared the life of Ben-Hadad and they made a peace covenant together. This displeased God who sent a prophet to Ahab: And he [the prophet] said unto him: 'Thus says the Lord: Because you have let go out of your hand the man whom I had devoted to destruction, therefore your life shall go for his life, and your people for his people.' And the king of Israel went to his house sullen and displeased, and came to Samaria. --- I Kings 20:42-43 Probably tired of power, or maybe out of fear of God following his mistake concerning Ben-Hadad, Ahab named his son Ahaziah king to rule in his stead. Peace lasted for 3 years between Aram and Israel (I Kings 22:1). Then Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, son of Asa, made an alliance with Israel against Aram to take back their territory in Gilead. In the battle, Ahab was fatally wounded and died soon after. He had reigned over Israel for 22 years. His son Ahaziah worshipped idols following his mother and only reigned for two years before falling from a balcony and dying from his accident. As he had no heir, his brother Jeroham, second son of Ahab, took the throne. He destroyed the temples of Baal in the kingdom of Israel, so he was not as bad in the eyes of God as his father and brother had been. Maybe he did it out of hate for his step-mother Jezebel, who was still alive and worshipping Baal. He nonetheless kept away from Gods commandments and made the people of his kingdom sin (II Kings 3:1-3). ~~~~~~~~~~
king of Judah, and the king of Edom; and they made a circuit of seven days' journey; and there was no water for the host, nor for the beasts that followed them. And the king of Israel said: 'Alas! for the Lord has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab.' But Jehoshaphat said: 'Is there not here a prophet of the Lord that we may inquire of the Lord by him?' And one of the king of Israel's servants answered and said: 'Elisha the son of Shaphat is here, who poured water on the hands of Elijah.' --- II Kings 3:4-11 Eventually the three kings were told by Elisha the Prophet that, because of the presence of the king of Judah among them, they will smite the Moabites, and they did. Mesha escaped sure death at battle and offered his own son and heir to the fire as a sacrifice to his gods. The Israelites, when seeing this abomination, abandoned the battlefield and Mesha returned to Moab (II Kings 3:26-27). Archaeologists have found a stele in 1868 that mentions these historical characters and therefore puts some weight on the truth of the Bible. The so-called Mesha Stele mentions the House of Omri because the seat of the kingdom of Israel was in Samaria from the time that Omri moved the capital there, and because the reigning kings, from Ahab to Jeroham, were Omris son and grandson respectively. The House of Omri simply means the Dynasty of Omri. The stele recollects the earlier events and successes of the rebellion of Moab against Israel after 40 years of yoke since the time of Omri. Some extracts of the translation of the stele are as follows: I am Mesha, son of Chemosh-gad, king of Moab, the Dibonite. My father reigned over Moab thirty years, and I have reigned after my father. And I have built this sanctuary for Chemosh in Karchah, a sanctuary of salvation, for he saved me from all aggressors, and made me look upon all my enemies with contempt. Omri was king of Israel, and oppressed Moab during many days, and Chemosh was angry with his aggressions. His son succeeded him, and he also said, I will oppress Moab. In my days he said, Let us go, and I will see my desire upon him and his house, and Israel said I shall destroy it for ever. Now Omri took the land of Madeba, and occupied it in his day, and in the days of his son, forty years. [] And the king of Israel fortified Jahaz, and occupied it, when he made war against me, and Chemosh drove him out before me, and I took from Moab two hundred men in all, and placed them in Jahaz, and took it to annex it to Dibon. --- King, James, Rev., Moabs Patriarchal Stone, London, 1878, chapter V
Jeroham of Judah, had for mother Athaliah, the daughter of Omri who was the father of Ahab (II Kings 8:26). So it is possible that, while Jeroham was married to a daughter of Ahab, he also had a relationship with Athaliah, daughter of Omri, sister or half-sister of Ahab. Both Jeroham and Joram, who started to reign in the same year also died in a same year. Jeroham of Judah died first and was succeeded by his son Ahaziah. As of Jeroham of Israel, he would be killed in a coup later that year 888 BCE.
Chronology of the Kings - until Jeroham (new dynasty with change of colour) ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1] This Shonshenq must not be confused with Shonsheq I, generally assumed to be the Shishak of the Bible; the Shishak of the Bible was the Shoshenq king of the Meshwesh of Egypt, and grandfather of Shonshenq I (who founded the 22nd Dynasty and reigned from 943 BCE) and of Siamun of the Tanite Dynasty.
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There is no detailed chronology of Cains descendants in the Biblical text, as if they Index of names were not people worthy of mention. We only learn that he eventually quitted his life of wanderer and settled down to build the first city. Creation Generations 114 And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. He became a city builder and he named the city after his son Enoch. --- Genesis 4:17
What is new
Archaeology shows that one of the earliest cities in the world was Uruk, which is Generations 15located in today Iraq.[1] The story of the Bible is not dissimilar to what we have 21 learned from civilization which was first composed of wandering hunters who later turned into sedentary farmers. The same was followed by Cain. Generations 2228 In the oldest Babylonian language, which was Sumerian, Uruk was known as Unug, Generations 29- which is close enough to the Biblical name of Enoch, considering that these languages do not put much emphasis on voyels. The early settlement of Uruk was 35 to be built over and over again over the early ages of antiquity. One of the greatest builders of the city was called Enmerkar which is commonly associated with Generations 36Biblical king Nimrod. Uruk then became the largest city of these times and will 49 later be ruled by the semi-mythical king Gilgamesh. Generation 50 Sumer was a region located between the two big rivers south of Mesopotania. It was a fertile region that saw many city-states being built over time.
Seth
On Adams side, his wife Eve finally conceived again and bore another son, Seth, born in Hebrew year 130. Before the end of the second gate, in year 235, Seth also had a son he named Enosh, a name which is close enough to Cains son, Enoch. Both Enosh and Enoch lived in the same period of time, and followed the same path, turning away from God: And as for Seth, he too had a son; he called him Enosh; at that time, it was profaned to call for the name of God. --- Genesis 4:26
Idolatry
In Genesis 1:26, God decided to make man at His image; and in Genesis 4:26, men decided to make gods at their image: this is what is meant by the text it was profaned to call for the name of God. The God of the Creation, the One that Adam and Eve feared most, was getting "rejected" from mankind. The parallel of the number 26 of these two verses is striking, because the number 26 is known to be the numerical value of God's 4-letter name (YHVH= 10+5+6+5= 26).
The Hebrew alphabet and its numerical values This generation, called the generation of Enosh, which was first to introduce idolatry in mankind, was used as a reference of bad behaviour in later years: R. Hiyya b. Abba said in R. Johanan's name: He who observes the Sabbath according to its laws, even if he practises idolatry like the generation of Enosh, is forgiven. --- Talmud, Shabbat, 118b
Notes: [1] The name Iraq was in fact chosen after the name Uruk; the ruins of the city are located at the following coordinates on Google Earth: 3119'30" N 4538'10" E
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Generation 21
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Hebrew years 2400 to 2520 (1360-1240 BCE) ~~~ Part I ~~~ Part II ~~~ Part III ~~~
What is new Year 2495 1265 BCE Start of the conquest of Canaan Index of names Creation Generations 1-14 Joshua, son of Nun, led the Israelites into the land of Canaan, and God was with them. He dried the waters of the Jordan River for their passage: And it came to pass, when all the kings of the Amorites, that were beyond the Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites, that were by the sea, heard how that the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan from before the children of Israel, until they were passed over, that their heart melted, neither was there spirit in them any more, because of the children of Israel. --- Joshua 5:1
Generations God forgave the Israelites for their sins in Egypt, and they celebrated their first Pesach in the land of Canaan in that year: 15-21 Generations 22-28 And the Lord said unto Joshua: 'This day have I rolled away ( the name of that place was called Gilgal (
)unto this day. And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal; and they
kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho.
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Generations 29-35
The first city they met with was Jericho. God ordered the priests to carry the Ark of the Covenant seven times around the Generations city walls, and blow the horns. For the first six days, they did that once around the city. Then on the 7th day: 36-49 And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they rose early at the dawning of the day, and compassed the city after the same manner seven times; only on that day they compassed the city seven times. And it came to pass at the seventh time, Generation when the priests blew with the horns, that Joshua said unto the people: 'Shout; for the Lord has given you the city.' [...] So 50 the people shouted, and [the priests] blew with the horns. And it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the horn, that the people shouted with a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city. --- Joshua 6:15-20
The fall of Jericho (source: Jones, J. R.,The Devotional and Practical Pictorial Family Bible, 1879) But one of the Israelites sinned, and it caused a curse on the entire nation: But the children of Israel committed a violation of the anathema; for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took from the anathema; and the anger of God was against the children of Israel. --- Joshua 7:1 The ancestry mentioned for Achan is indicative of the 5 generations since Jacob and his 70 souls went down to Egypt: - 1st generation: the ones who came down from Canaan to Egypt and were supposed to only sojourn for a time => Judah - 2nd generation: the ones born in Egypt who assimilated there, and also adopted Egyptian gods while remaining a distinct foreign people => Zerah - 3rd generation: the ones born in Egypt and enslaved there => Zabdi - 4th generation: the ones born in Egypt who went out at the Exodus, sinned in the desert and died there => Carmi - 5th generation: the ones born in the desert, who conquered Canaan => Achan In Genesis 15:16, God told Abraham that the 4th generation will return to Canaan, and it happened to be the case except that the 4th generation was supposed to be the one returning but they sinned with the mission of the explorers: they were cursed to wander 40 years in the desert and die there, until their offsprings will be ready to enter Canaan in their stead.
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The next city to fall was Ai. Joshua and 30,000 armed Israelites camped over night in the hill where Abraham had pitched his tent, between Ai and Beth-El. Joshua then left 5,000 men in that camp before setting a second one north from the city. When the men of Ai went out for the battle, Joshua retreated and the men of Ai pursued them in the valleys. In the meantime, the 5000 Israelites entered the city empty from its defenders and burned it. And when the men of Ai looked behind them, they saw, and, behold, the smoke of the city ascended up to heaven, and they had no power to flee this way or that way; and the people that fled to the wilderness turned back upon the pursuers. --- Joshua 8:20
The Israelites burn the city of Ai (Gustave Dor, 1866) The Israelite people remained in their camp at Gilgal while Joshua and his armed forces endeavoured to conquer the land. But all the Canaanites made an alliance to fight together against the Israelites in one big battle at the waters of Meron (Joshua 11:1-5) in the northern part of the land because Jabin the king of Hazor was at the head of this coalition. The waters of Meron refer to the ancient lake formed by the Jordan River north from the Sea of Galilee. This lake doesn't exist anymore but has become the 'Hula Valley.
The army of the Amorites is destroyed at Gibeon (Gustave Dor, 1868) The conquest was pursued and resulted in the destruction of 31 Canaanite kingdoms: And these are the kings of the land whom Joshua and the children of Israel smote beyond the Jordan westward, from Baalgad in the valley of Lebanon even unto the bare mountain, that go up to Seir; and Joshua gave it unto the tribes of Israel for
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a possession according to their divisions; in the hill-country, and in the lowland, and in the Arabah, and in the slopes, and in the wilderness, and in the South; the Hittite, the Amorite, and the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite: the king of Jericho, one; the king of Ai, which is beside Beth-el, one; 12,10 the king of Jerusalem, one; the king of Hebron, one; 12,11 the king of Jarmuth, one; the king of Lachish, one; the king of Eglon, one; the king of Gezer, one; the king of Debir, one; the king of Geder, one; the king of Hormah, one; the king of Arad, one; the king of Libnah, one; the king of Adullam, one; the king of Makkedah, one; the king of Beth-el, one; the king of Tappuah, one; the king of Hepher, one; the king of Aphek, one; the king of the Sharon, one; the king of Madon, one; the king of Hazor, one; the king of Shimron-meron, one; the king of Achshaph, one; the king of Taanach, one; the king of Megiddo, one; the king of Kedesh, one; the king of Jokneam in Carmel, one; the king of Dor in the region of Dor, one; the king of Goiim in the Gilgal, one; the king of Tirzah, one. All the kings thirty and one. --- Joshua 12:7-24
Year 2496 1264 BCE God orders the allotment of the land
After these battles, a large portion of the land was still left to conquer. But God told Joshua that he was old and stricken in years (Joshua 13:1). This expression is only used with one other person in the Bible: it will be King David before his death, when he was 70 years old. So similarly, Joshua was 70 years old when God told him he was old and stricken in years. As we know that Joshua was 28 years old at the time of the Exodus in Hebrew year 2454, we can conclude that God talked to him in Hebrew year 2454-28+70= 2496. So this happened in the second year of the conquest. ~~~~~~~~~~
The 12 Tribes in Canaan (source: Jewish Virtual Library) At the time Caleb from the tribe of Judah was 85 years old when he spoke to Joshua about the territory around Hebron. and it was 45 years since the mission of the explorers to which both had participated (Joshua 14:7-10). This enables us to state that Caleb spoke to Joshua in year 2456+45= 2501, and this is also when the division of the land was made by Joshua who was then 75 years old. Caleb made a plea to Joshua to receive the hilly country south of Jerusalem, where false reports had mentioned that giant people (the Anakim) lived there at the time of the explorers. The main city-state there was Hebron, which was previously called Kyryat-Arba, meaning City of Arba, named after the Anak giant called Arba (Joshua 14:15). The land of Canaan was ultimately conquered, or under control except for some notable city states such as the city of the Jebusites on one of the hills of Jerusalem, which could not be conquered by the tribe of Judah (Joshua 15:63), nor by the tribe of Benjamin (Judges 1:21). It will take another long period until it will be conquered, only by King David. In many occasions, the Israelites compromised with the local pagan peoples who remained in their respective territory, and allowed them to remain in their cities in exchange for a levy. More importantly, at Gods displeasure, the Israelites didnt destroy the pagan places of worship, which is why the conquest was never allowed by God to be complete. When Caleb made his plea to Joshua, he was 85 years old and passed the leadership of his tribe to his nephew, Othniel, son of Kenaz who was Calebs younger brother. Othniel also married Calebs daughter, called Achsah, his cousin (Judges 1:1215). Caleb must have died in that same year, or some years soon after, as the rest of the conquest in that territory of Judah are no longer counted under Calebs direct name but counted as Judah. Othniel was Judahs heir, and he would be judge for his tribe until his death. Next generation Top of Page
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Generation 15
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What is new Index of names Cham took responsibility for the curse upon his son Canaan. In their History, his descendants will be subjected to slavery as it was stated: a slave of slaves shall he be to his brothers.
Yafeth was the ancestor of the European people: they will be the ones who greatly contributed to the progress of humanity. Their faith, Christianity for most of them, will take its root from the Jewish religion, in other words, Creation Yafeth will dwell in the tents of Shem. But overall, Yafeth descendants will represent a smaller portion of the global population of the world, as they count today for about one billion people (Europe and North America). The Generations sentence Yafeth will dwell in the tents of Shem also refers to Gog and Magog. 1-14 Shem gave birth to the people who populated Asia and maybe also the Americas, as Native Americans, unless Generations these people were descendants of Cain and survived the Flood by seeking refuge in the highest mountains of Asia 15-21 and America. Or they may survived the Flood thanks to skills of navigation on rafts or boats: they would have sought refuge in them when water levels started to rise. This is because God eradicated all living creatures on Generations earth and in the sky, but He did not destroy life in and on the seas. 22-28 ~~~~~~~~~~ Generations 29-35 The sons of Yafeth Generations - Gomer: a people associated as the Cimmerians, known as Gimirri from the Assyrian annals; they lived as 36-49 nomads between the southern part of the Black Sea and Iran, and probably gave root to some of the IndoEuropean people Generation 50 - Magog: known as Mat Gugu by the Assyrians; the 1st Century Jewish historian Josephus considered they were the people who lived north from the Black Sea; they may have given root later to the Hungarian people and some of the Central European people; essentially Magog gave birth to some of the Goths people who will invade Europe and destroy the Roman Empire; they represented the Western civilization who will be involved in the difficult times preceding the venue of the Messiah - Madai: this name is associated with the people who lived in Media (the Medes); Madai was allowed to dwell among Shem descendants because he had married a daughter of Shem (by being the sister of Arpachshad) And Japheth and his sons went towards the sea and dwelt in the land of their portion, and Madai saw the land of the sea and it did not please him, and he begged a (portion) from Cham and Asshur and Arpachshad, his wife's brother, and he dwelt in the land of Media, near to his wife's brother until this day. And he called his dwelling-place, and the dwelling-place of his sons, Media, after the name of their father Madai. --- Book of Jubilees 10:35-36 - Yavan: he was the ancestor of the Greek people - Tubal: he could be the ancestor of some of the Mediterranean people - Meshech: ancestor of the Georgians and Russians - Tiras: ancestor of the Etruscan people
Gog and Magog
Meshech and Tubal, sons of Yafeth, are associated to what is known as "Gog". Gog is a made-up name given as the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal (Ezekiel 38:2), which means their association. And Gog is also described of the land of Magog (Ezekiel 38:14). What was the sin of Gog? Meshech and Tubal, together with Yavan, enslaved other people:
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Yavan, Tubal, and Meshech, they were thy traffickers; they traded the persons of men and vessels of brass for thy merchandise --- Ezekiel 27:13 The full understanding of Gog and Magog will become clear in the Messianic times. ~~~~~~~~~~
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Home Contact What is new By this time, several civilizations had established themselves across the known Index of names world: from Sumer in Lower Mesopotamia over the entire Fertile Crescent, across Canaan and down to Egypt, but also across Turkey into Greece and in the Aegean Sea with the Minoan islands. Further east, people had settled in the Hindus Valley Creation and until the last shores of China. Generations 1Just before the end of this generation, in year 1556, Noah begot three sons: 14 Generations 1521 And Noah was 500-year old and Noah begot Shem, Cham and Yafeth. ---Genesis 5:32 Previous <<
Generation 13
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It is the second instance of the Biblical text where the birth of three sons from one Generations 22individual is mentioned. The previous occurrence was with Adam who begot Cain, 28 Abel and Seth, at different times. Abel died and his life was therefore wasted. Cain turned to the evil ways, and brought wickedness on earth. Seth was the worthy one Generations 29who survive, and he begot multiple sons and daughters, from which only one 35 lineage kept in the path of God. Similarly, with Noahs sons: Cham will choose a sinful path; Yafeth, despite his pleasant physical looks (as depicted by the root of Generations 36his name, meaning beauty), will bring evil kingdoms and wars; and Shem will give 49 birth to multiple people from which a small portion would eventually continue in the path of God. Generation 50 The order of these births is actually reversed from the order in the Biblical text: first Yafeth was born, in year 1556, followed by Cham in year 1557, and then by Shem in year 1558 (Genesis 11:10). Because of the worthiness of Shem, God spared His creation from total annihilation. Indeed mankind got so evil that it made the entire creation unworthy. But one single person, who walks in the good way, has the power to change God's initial decree. The world had indeed become impossible for righteous people to live in: And the Earth corrupted itself in front of God and the earth was filled with violence. God saw the Earth and, behold, it was corrupted because it corrupted every flesh from its path on earth. --- Genesis 6:11-12
Corruption by mankind
Mankind ruined the earth and all the creatures that God created. In fact, there was no more mankind as the boundaries between man and beast became so blur that God had recourse to mention them as every flesh. Looking at the two above verses from the Bible, in the first instance the Earth corrupted itself (
) and then it became irreversibly corrupted (... )and finally it corrupted ( )every flesh on
Earth. This three times mention of the same verb indicates that the corruption was total, complete, because this is the meaning of the number three.
It is also noticeable that the word used for the total corruption of the Earth
)uses the same three letters ( and )that form the word who caused the original sin of Adam and Eve. In other words, it Snake ()
( was one of the animals (the snake) who caused the corruption of the first man, who then produced corrupted mankind, who in turn corrupted the enitre Creation, every flesh. The root of the word snake also gives the name to the copper and bronze (),which has been indicative of the Bronze Age and the era when the Earth became filled with violence. By mixing up different ores of metal found in the earth, mankind created a new metal (bronze) so, in other words, he interfered in the elements of the Creation and corrupted it. But, as the Biblical text states it: mankind was not the sole responsible from the deviation from the divine Creation because the Earth corrupted itself. In fact the Earth had already disobeyed God's orders in the course of the Creation (in the Third Day): And God said: "Let the Earth sprout vegetation, herbage producing seed, and fruit-tree making fruit according to its kind, containing its own seed, upon the Earth.' And it was so. And the Earth sprouted vegetation, herbage producing seed according to its kind, and tree making fruit, containing its own seed, according to its kind; and God saw that it was good. --- Genesis 1:11-12 Where did the Earth deviated from God's order? A careful comparison of the two above verses shows that, for example, God ordered that the trees would be fruittrees themselves, meaning that the tree itself would be a fruit, and not simply a producer of fruit. Man would have been able to eat the fruit and the tree, if the Creation had been according to the divine plan. But the Earth, at a time when some free will existed in all elements of the Creation, diverted from God's will. Although the result was nonetheless pleasing as God saw it was good, it nonetheless represented a corruption from God's will, and the start of sin. The parallel between the Earth's corrupted way during the Creation and the corruption that continued later can also be understood in the number of these verses: Genesis 1:1112 for one and Genesis 6:11-12 for the other. God's punishment would not be directed at mankind only but at the entire Earth and what it contained. God would have to correct the ways His Creation was going, and stripped some of the original benefits from it so that the corruption of the created world would become harder, if not impossible, to achieve by itself. Next generation Top of Page
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Home Contact What is new Index of names Creation In Hebrew year 395, Kenan had a son he called Mehalal-EL which means "the one who praises god". On Cains side, Irads son wasnamed Mehaya-EL which means "the one who gives life to god". We see from these similar names that the two descendances probably lived in the same area of Sumer, and even probably competed one against the other about ruling as a god. The son of the latter was called Metusha-EL which means "the one who crushes god", so presumably he was aimed to conquer cities ruled by other self-made god-rulers. Previous <<
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Generations 1-14 The only purpose of having added EL (god) to their names was that they wanted to create fear in their followers, and their enemies. Other civilisations would later adopt Generations the same principle, which was that their rulers were gods themselves, or chosen by the 15-21 gods. Also we have to consider that the names given in the Bible were probably not the names at their birth but names assumed later in the lifes of the individuals and the ones Generations they were remembered, and recorded, for. 22-28 Then, in year 460, Mehalal-EL had a son he named Yered which is not without Generations reminding of Irad, Cains grandson. But this name means "Descent". Yered moved 29-35 away from Sumer and Canaan and established himself as far away as possible from the known world of his time, which was the Fertile Crescent. He and his followers ended Generations up n the Nile valley where they were physically stopped in their march by the desert. 36-49 They settled in what was to become the other big civilization of these times: Ancient Egypt. Generation 50 In Egypt, some of the knowledge learned from Sumer remained the same: the language was also based on pictograms which would then become the hieroglyphs,[1] the technique of producing sun-dried bricks for city construction was taken from Sumer which was the first region to build cities,[2] the pyramids themselves seem to have been borrowed from the Sumerian ziggurat, [3] and the Egyptian future rulers, the Pharaohs, would go as far as presenting themselves as "living gods".
Notes: [1] The earliest inscriptions found in Egypt are considered to date from about 3200 BCE, which is contemporary from the time of Biblical Yered; see article Inscriptions suggest Egyptians could have been first to write, New York Times, 16 December 1998 [2] See Wikipedia referring to a book by Mogens Herman Hansen, A Comparative Study of Six City-state Cultures, Kbenhavns universitet Polis centret, Videnskabernes Selskab, 2002 [3] The first pyramid of Ancient Egypt was Djoser's step pyramid, dating about 2600 BCE, which was a set of platforms piled on top of another to form a step structure; in Sumer, the first equivalent structure were mounted platforms built around 3500 BCE which were the precursors of the more known ziggurats which began after 2900 BCE; see Wikipedia on this topic
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Generation 19
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Hebrew years 2160 to 2280 (1600-1480 BCE) ~~~ Part I ~~~ Part II ~~~
What is new Year 2171 - 1589 BCE - Death of Ishmael Index of names Creation Ishmael died at the age of 137 in year 2171 (Genesis 25:17). He had given birth to 12 nations who dwelt in the Arabian Peninsula all the way toward Assyria. They were people who filled the deserts between Egypt and Mesopotamia, thus fulfilling God's promise that this land will be given to the descendants of Abraham, through Ishmael. Ishmael's eldest son, Nebaioth, is the ancestor of the Nabataeans.
Generations Then a famine started in the land of Canaan, which was probably a divine design to help the sons of 1-14 Ishmael leave this land. And too Isaac was contemplating going to Egypt as his father had done in the past. But God intervened: Generations And the Lord appeared unto him, and said: "Go not down unto Egypt; dwell in the land which I 15-21 shall tell you of." --- Genesis 26:2 Generations 22-28 So Isaac did not leave Canaan and sojourned in Gerar near the Philistines, like his father did before Generations Isaac's birth. 29-35 ~~~~~~~~~~
Generations Year 2171 - 1589 BCE - Isaac blesses Jacob 36-49 Generation Isaac was already old (123 years old) at the time and nearly blind. He felt that his death would come soon and was prepared to give his final blessing to his first-born Esau. But Rebekah would have it differently: 50 she wanted Jacob to receive this blessing. When Esau was away for his usual hunting, Isaac blessed Jacob believing he was Esau, saying: "And may God give you of the dew of the heavens and the fatness of the earth, and lots of grain and wine. And peoples will serve you, and nations will bow themselves to you. Be a lord to your brothers, and the children of your mother will prostate themselves to you. Cursed be they who curse you, and blessed be they who bless you." --- Genesis 27:28 Rebekah had received from her family the blessing let your seed possess the gate of those that hate them (Genesis 24:60), and now her husband Isaac added to it a more positive note: blessed be they who bless you. When Esau came back from the hunt, he realised he had been deceived but his father nonetheless gave him the following blessing: "Behold, from the fatness of the earth you will get your dwelling, and from the dew of the heavens above. By your sword you will be, and you will serve your brother. And it will be time, you will get rid and depart from his yoke upon your neck." --- Genesis 27:39-40 Esau was bitter and sworn to kill Jacob after their fathers death. Rebekah had heard that Esau wanted to kill Jacob, and asked her son to flee to Charan, to her brothers house,[1] and to choose a wife from there. To justify this departure to her husband Isaac, she made a plea to him against assimilation:
"I have had my life reduced because of the daughters of the Hittite [Esau's wives]. If Jacob would take a wife from the daughters of Heth like these, from the daughters of the land, why do I live?" --- Genesis 27:46 So Isaac summoned Jacob not to take a wife from the Canaanite women, blessed him and sent him away to the land of Aram to find a spouse among Laban's daughters. Jacob left right away and headed north: he was 63 years old in Hebrew year 2171. Esau then understood that his Canaanite wives did not please his father Isaac, as he had never asked him before any approval about his previous unions. So Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath, daughter of Ishmael, son of Abraham, the sister of Nebaioth, as a wife for himself (Genesis 28:8-9). Because the Biblical text mentions that Esau went to Ishmael, the Talmud asserts that the blessing of Jacob took place before the death of Ishmael because it is then that Esau went to Ishmael so that he would give him his daughter for a wife. Ishmael accepted but died soon after. Then Nebaioth completed the agreement: And it has been taught: Jacob our father at the time when he was blessed by his father was sixtythree years old. It was just at that time that Ishmael died, as it is written, Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob... so Esau went unto Ishmael and took Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham's son, the sister of Nebaioth. Now once it has been said Ishmael's daughter do I not know that she was the sister of Nebaioth? This tells us then that Ishmael affianced her and then died, and Nebaioth her brother gave her in marriage. --- Talmud, Megilah, 17a ~~~~~~~~~~
) . There must be a correlation between these 14 years to reach Charan, and the
same duration of 14 years spent to earn the right to obtain Rachel as a spouse: both periods seemed as a few days, and Jacob had spent the former ones in divine thoughts and had spent the latter ones in husbandry. So Jacob arrived in Charan in Hebrew year 2185, when he was 77 years old: the calculation is made from the chronology of the events of his future son Joseph, and in parallel to the age of Jacob when he will go down to Egypt.[2] ~~~~~~~~~~
Eber, the last ancestor of Abraham from Ur died in that year. If one would follow the chronology of the Talmud mentioned above, Eber would have moved to Canaan so that Jacob would have indeed sejourned with him for 14 years. Otherwise the other logical assumption is that Eber died in Ur, as his predecessors who moved away from Canaan and founded that city. ~~~~~~~~~~
Year 2192 - 1568 BCE - Jacob obtains Leah and Rachel as wives
At the end of the first 7 years term, Laban deceived Jacob and brought in his older daughter Leah as a wife instead of the promised Rachel, invoking their customs that no younger daughter would marry unless her older sisters are. Laban promised Jacob to give him Rachel as well after one week, in exchange for another seven years work. Jacob remained in Charan with his two wives: God saw that Leah was unloved, so he opened her womb but Rachel remained barren. --- Genesis 29:31 Leah successively gave birth to Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah. Rachel was envious and pushed her maidservant Bilhah to Jacob. She gave him two sons, Dan and Naphtali. Meanwhile Leah had stopped producing children so she pushed her maidservant Zilpah onto Jacob: she gave him two sons too: Gad and Asher. Then Leah conceived again and gave two new sons to Jacob: Issachar and Zebulon. And also a daughter: Dinah. And then God remembered the condition of Rachel and opened her womb: she gave birth to Joseph. The births of these 12 children happened between years 2193 and 2199. It is generally assumed that their years of birth were as follows in a sequence: Hebrew year 2192 2192 2193 2194 2195 2195 2196 2196 2197 2197 2198 2199 2199 BCE 1568 1568 1567 1566 1565 1565 1564 1564 1563 1563 1562 1561 1561 Event Jacobs union Reuben born Simeon born Levi born Judah born Dan born Naphtali born Gad born Asher born Issachar born Zebulon born Daughter Dinah born Joseph born Spouse Leah and Rachel Leah Leah Leah Leah Bilhah Bilhah Zilpah Zilpah Leah Leah Leah Rachel
judgment on herself saying, Twelve tribes are destined to issue from Jacob. Six have issued from me and four from the handmaids, making ten. If this child will be a male, my sister Rachel will not be equal to one of the handmaids. Forthwith the child was turned to a girl, as it says, And she called her name Dinah [which means Judgment]. --- Talmud, Berachot, 59a Then Rachel finally became pregnant. She conceived a son they called Joseph. The Hebrew year was 2199, as it will become clear later from Josephs life chronology. When Joseph was born, the 14 years period were just over, and Jacob wanted to leave Charan. And it came to pass, when Rachel had borne Joseph that Jacob said unto Laban: "Send me away, that I may go unto my own place, and to my country. Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you know my service wherewith I have served you." --- Genesis 30:25-26 But Laban tried to deceive Jacob again and the latter worked for another 6 years, during which he built his own wealth and cattle. ~~~~~~~~~~
And God went up from him in the place where He spoke with him. And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where He spoke with him, a pillar of stone, and he poured out a drink-offering thereon, and poured oil thereon. And Jacob called the name of the place where God spoke with him, Beth-el. --- Genesis 35:9-15 ~~~~~~~~~~
Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem (early photograph) Later on, as Jacob and his family settled in the south, Reuben, his first-born son, laid with Bilhah, Jacobs concubine and mother of Dan and Naphtali (Genesis 35:22). Reuben will be excluded from Jacob's inheritance as a result of his act. It is only at this time, 2 years after returning to Canaan, that Jacob met again with his father Isaac. In total, he had been absent from his parents house for a total of 36 years: 14 years after leaving his parents' house, 20 years working for Laban in Charan and then 2 years in Canaan.
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Statue of Idri-mi (British Museum) ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1] Laban used to live in Aram-Naharayim, as mentioned previously, but he was ambitious and cunning, so he probably managed to take over the whole inheritance of his grand-father Nahor and took over his house in Charan. [2] This chronology has been confirmed by the Jewish chronographer of the 3rd century BCE, Demetrios, who lived in Alexandria and based his calculations on the first translation of the Bible in Greek, the Septuagint (to go to the related page in this chronology, click here) Go to >> Part II Next generation Top of Page
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What is new Index of names Creation Generations 1-14 Generations 15-21 Generations 22-28 Generations 29-35 Generations 36-49 Generation 50 Enosh would have surely not stayed with his direct parents, Adam and Seth, who feared God. He rather left them to live a life nearer to his uncle Cain. In year 325, Enosh had a son called Kenan which may have been named so in honour of Cain. The two names are written in a similar fasiohn:
Kenan. To materialise this similitude in English language, we should write Cain as KaYiN and Kenan as KeYNaN, and not to forget that the voyels have no great importance in Hebrew. On Cains side, Enochs successor was Irad, a name derived from the Hebrew root "Ir" which means city. Because the Biblical text states that they built cities and named them after their sons,[1] we can assume that Irad was possibly the one who gave his name to the ancient city of Eridu, in southern Mesopotamia. The rulers of these city states of Sumeria had to create myths around fear to dominate their people, and they forbade to mention the name of the real and unique God. For this goal, they assumed the role of god-rulers and new pantheons were invented. Idolatry started to spread in the times of Enosh and Enoch. When kingship from heaven was lowered, the kingship was in Eridu. In Eridug, Alulim became king; he ruled for 28800 years. --- Sumerian king list[2] The name Alulim is very close to the biblical name Elohim, the name of God during the Creation. This proves that the rulers of these ancient cities usurped the name of God for their own designs to rule over their people. This Alulim is assumed to have been the founder of Eridu/Eridug and to have reigned around 3500-3000 BCE. This is very similar to the timeline of the Bible in the times of Irad, the grandson of Cain.
Invention of Writing
Archaeology shows that writing was invented in Sumer, about 3500 BCE (biblical year 260). It is likely that the writing greatly helped these god-rulers spread their control over their people, because rules are better imposed once they are committed in writing. Without the invention of writing, their enterprise would have been more limited. At the time, the first writing was based on pictograms, until it evolved into cuneiform writing which had been used for over 3000 years. Cuneiform was gradually replaced by alphabets (as a combination of letters to form words, and not symbols to represent concepts) as close as we know them today.
Notes: [1] Genesis 4:17 [2] See sources about the Sumerian King List in Wikipedia
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Hebrew years 3000 to 3120 (760-640 BCE) ~~~ Part I ~~~ Part II ~~~ Year 3048 712 BCE Threats to the kingdom of Judah
It is in the 14th year of the reign of Hezekiah that Sennacherib campaigned again in the region, this time against the kingdom of Judah from which he took all the cities. As for Hezekiah [Ha-za-ki-a-u] the Judean [Ia-u-da-ai], who did not submit to my yoke, 46 of his strong walled cities as well as small cities in their neighborhodd, which were without number, [I destroyed?] by levelling with battering rams and by bringing up siege engines, and by attacking and storming on foot, by mines, tunnels and breaches. --- The Annals of Sennacherib, transcription by Danial David Luckenbill, University of Chicago, published 1924
The Annals of Sennacherib in the Taylor Prism (British Museum) The Assyrian text is corroborated by the Biblical account. And Hezekiah sent him a tribute to spare Jerusalem:
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Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fortified cities of Judah, and took them. And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying: 'I have offended; return from me that which you put on me will I bear.' And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king's house. At that time did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the Lord, and from the door-posts which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria. --- II Kings 18:13-16 The tribute sent by Hezekiah to spare his city is also mentioned in the Annals of Sennacherib: As for Hezekiah, the terrifying splendor of my majesty overcame him, [...] In addition to the 30 talents of gold and 800 talents of silver, [also] gems, antimony, jewels, large sandu-stones, couches of ivory [probably the royal throne, see below], elephant hide, ivory, ebony, boxwood, all kings of valuable treasures, as well as his daughters, his harem, his male and female musicians, he had [them] sent after me to Nineveh, my royal city. --- The Annals of Sennacherib, op. cit. It is amazing to note the exact amount of talents of gold in both texts: 30 ! As of the talents of silver, we may suppose that there was a typo mistake or transcription mistake confusing 800 (the Annals) with 300 (the Bible). Unless the 800 talents of silver included the value of all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king's house, valuables that the Bible mentions in addition to the talents (coins).
Cuneiform numbers Sennacherib had invaded the land and chose the Judean city of Lachish as his abode at the time. Many reliefs have been found in the archaeological digs and are preserved in the British Museum. They show the assault on this city, the deportation or execution of prisoners, and the booty.
The assault on Lachisch, with war machines taken up along the ramp leading to the city (British Museum)
Execution of the ruler of the city, in front of his wailing wife and children (British Museum) Another scene of this important collection depicts Sennacherib sitting on a throne. This was not any usual throne: it was the throne of King Solomon ! The description of this throne in the Bible is as follows: Moreover the king made a big throne of ivory, and overlaid it with the finest gold. There were six steps to the throne, and the top of the throne was round behind; and there were arms on either side by the place of the seat, and two lions standing beside the arms. And twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other upon the six steps; there was not the like made in any kingdom. --- I Kings 10:18-20 The similarities between the above Biblical description and the actual relief of Sennacherib are: - there six steps, three for the feet and three for the sitting body - there are twelve figures, [1a] on each side along the six steps - the throne was made of ivory [1b]
The kingdom of Judah with its 2 remaining tribes of Judah and Benjamin, although a tribal state at the time, was not conquered yet. But Sennacherib was not satisfied with a mere tribute, so he resumed the war and sent his army to besiege the capital of Judah. His army chief Rab-Shakeh spoke in Hebrew,[2] and tried to turn the population of Jerusalem against their king Hezekiah: Then Rab-Shakeh stood, and cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and spoke, saying: 'Hear you the word of the great king, the king of Assyria. Thus says the king: Let not Hezekiah beguile you; for he will not be able to deliver you out of his hand; neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying: The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. Hearken not to Hezekiah; for thus says the king of Assyria: Make your peace with me, and come out to me; and eat ye every one of his vine, and every one of his fig-tree, and drink you every one the waters of his own cistern; until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive-trees and of honey, that you may live, and not die; and hearken not unto Hezekiah, when he persuades you, saying: The Lord will deliver us. Has any of the gods of the nations ever delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath, and of Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah? Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? Who are they among all the gods of the countries that have delivered their country out of my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?' But the people held their peace, and answered him not a word; for the king's commandment was, saying: 'Answer him not.' --- II Kings 18:28-36 In Jerusalem, the Prophet Isaiah pronounced Gods commandment not to listen to the king of Assyria, that He will put a spirit in him to the effect that he will return to his land and be murdered there. Indeed, one morning the besieged people of Jerusalem saw that the entire Assyrian camp was abandoned. Their king was hastening back to his capital Nineveh, the capital he had rebuilt in Assyria. Archaeological evidence exists of King Hezekiah having been contemporary to Sennacherib, as shown in one clay cylinder now at the British Museum that clearly states "Hezekiah of Judah, Jerusalem his royal city".
The Assyrian army that besieged Jerusalem was struck by the arm of God, probably by an epidemic that killed them (II Kings 19:35): Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come unto this city, nor shoot an arrow there, neither shall he come before it with shield, nor cast a mound against it. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and he shall not come unto this city, says the Lord. For I will defend this city to save it, for My own sake, and for My servant David's sake. And the angel of the Lord went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand; and when men arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. --- Isaiah 37:33-36 The disaster that fell upon Sennacheribs army is also recorded by historians such as Herodotus, who wrote his work rather shortly after this time, some 150 years later. He could only gather some of the facts, mixed with legends. The text however shows that the disaster did occur and was recorded in the memory of men of his time: On their arrival at Pelusium, so immense a number of mice infested by night the enemy's camp, that their quivers and bows, together with what secured their shields to their arms, were gnawed in pieces. In the morning the Arabians, finding themselves without arms, fled in confusion, and lost great numbers of their men. --- Herodotus, The Histories, book II Euterpe, section 141 According to Herodotus, this event occurred in the city of Pelusium at the entrance of Egypt but there is no record of the Assyrian having campaigned there at this time. The kingdom of Judah is more likely to be the place that he called the entrance of Egypt and Pelusium is likely to have been Jerusalem, the only city of the region with a reknown palace in these times. When Herodotus wrote his work, Jerusalem and its palace no longer existed, so this may have caused his confusion about the place, attributing the event as a failed attempt to conquer Egypt. He noted that Sennacheribs army was composed of Arabians, probably foreign mercenaries who knew the region and served in his army.
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Upon his return to Nineveh, Sennacherib took a revenge against the Israelites who dwelt in the city for his failure in Judah. Tobit, a practising Jew from the tribe of Naphtali, who had been among the deportees to Assyria at the time of Sargon II, gave the following account. This text is part of the Apocrypha, which is a collection of documents that was added to the first translation of the Bible (see later about the Septuagint in this site) but were not considered part of the canonical Hebrew Bible. Although these documents do not have a religious value for Jews, they nonetheless contain some interesting historical details: And in the time of Enemessar [Sargon II], I gave many alms to my brethren, and gave my bread to the hungry, and my clothes to the naked: and if I saw any of my nation dead, or cast about the walls of Nineveh, I buried him. And if the king Sennacherib had slain any, when he was come and fled from Judea, I buried them privily; for, in his wrath, he killed many; but the bodies were not found when they were sought for of the king. And when one of the Ninevites went and complained of me to the king that I buried them, and hid myself; understanding that I was sought for to be put to death, I withdrew myself for fear. --- Apocrypha, Tobit 1:16-19 ~~~~~~~~~~
--- Talmud, Berachot, 10a Because of Hezekiah's new decision to endeavour to have a child, God granted him another 15 years to live in this world (II Kings 20:6). But Hezekiah made a terrible mistake. The king of Babylon, called Berodach-Baladan in the Bible otherwise known as Marduk-Apla-Idina II, sent an emissary to Hezekiah, as he wanted to bring up a coalition against Assyria and free Babylon from the yoke of the Assyrians. But this visit raised his greed: At that time Berodach-Baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent a letter and a present unto Hezekiah; for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick. And Hezekiah hearkened unto them, and showed them all his treasure-house, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious oil, and the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures; there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah showed them not. Then came Isaiah the prophet unto King Hezekiah, and said unto him: 'What said these men? And from whence came they unto you?' And Hezekiah said: 'They are come from a far country, even from Babylon.' And he said: 'What have they seen in your house?' And Hezekiah answered: 'All that is in my house have they seen; there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them.' And Isaiah said unto Hezekiah: 'Hear the word of the Lord. Behold, the days come, that all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have laid up in store unto this day, shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left, says the Lord. And of your sons that shall issue from you, whom you shall beget, shall they take away; and they shall be officers in the palace of the king of Babylon.' --- II Kings 20:12-18
Marduk-Apla-Idina II (Berlin Museum) The king of Judah had been sinful to boast the religious treasures in front of foreigners who would wait the first opportunity to take them away from him. This attitude was blamed as one of the three mistakes that Hezekiah did: Our Rabbis taught: Six things King Hezekiah did; in three they [the Sages] agreed with him, and in three they did not agree with him He dragged his father's bones [corpse] on a rope bier,[3] and they agreed with him; he crushed the brazen serpent,[4] and they agreed with him; [and] he hid the book of remedies,[5] and they agreed with him.
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And in three they did not agree with him: He cut [the gold off] the doors of the Temple and sent them to the King of Assyria, and they did not agree with him; and he closed up the waters of Upper Gihon,[6] and they did not agree with him; and he intercalated [the month of] Nisan in Nisan, and they did not agree with him. --- Talmud, Pesachim, 56a The reason why the Sages did not agree with Hezekiah on the two first issues was that it meant he mistrusted God to act and protect His holy city. As of the third issue, it was because Hezekiah had decreed that one month of Nisan would be a second month of Adar so that Nisan, and thus Passover, would be displaced for another month (II Chronicles 30:1-3). This act was considered as an interference in Gods orders about the time for the festival. ~~~~~~~~~~
About Year 3064 696 BCE Jonah and the repentance of Sennacherib
It was during the reign of Sennacherib, after he returned from the siege of Jerusalem, that the story of Jonah the Prophet took place. He was ordered by God to announce to the inhabitants of Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, that their great city will be destroyed. At first, Jonah preferred to flee rather than confront the power of the Assyrians. But God made him eventually go back to Nineveh and accomplish his mission. Yet the reaction was not what he expected: And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he proclaimed, and said: 'Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.'[7] And the people of Nineveh believed God; and they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. And the tidings reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying: 'Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing; let them not feed, nor drink water; but let them be covered with sackcloth, both man and beast, and let them cry mightily unto God; yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. Who knows whether God will not turn and repent, and turn away from His fierce anger that we perish not?' And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, which He said He would do unto them; and He did it not. --- Jonah 3:4-9
Jonah preaching to the Ninivites (Gustave Dor, 1868) So God spared the great city for the time being. The king who repented was Sennacherib himself because he had experienced first hand the power of the god of the Jews during the siege of Jerusalem. Unlike any other Assyrian king, he would not have underevaluated the divine decree pronounced by one of His prophets. So he repented, and ordered his capital to repent with him. Moreover, it seems that there is historical evidence that Sennacherib even changed god, and adopted religious practice that was foreign to the Assyrian religion. I assume that God gave another 15 years to Sennacherib to live, as He had granted this duration to Hezekiah too. ~~~~~~~~~~
Sennacherib had to deal with a lot of rebellion from Babylon during his reign, and led several campaigns over time. However in a campaign around 690 BCE, he did something that no other ruler had done before him: he destroyed the city. This act was considered as a sacrilege because Babylon had reached a sacred status because it had been considered as one of the oldest city in these times, created by the gods. The rulers would see good omen if they conquered it, but would refrain from damaging it, by fear of upsetting the great gods of the ancient city. But Sennacherib destroyed it all. Why? Because he had adopted another cult, and was no longer respectful of the pagan rites he used to follow. This act would cause his death a few years later. ~~~~~~~~~~
--- The Prism of Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal, found at Nineveh 1917-8, by R. Campbell, Thomson, London, , Pl.2, lines 41-43 Further in the same document, Esarhaddon mentioned that the scoundrels (his brothers) fled to an unknown land (op. cit., line 84). He aso mentions Manasseh, as Menasi king of Judah (op. cit., pl. 11, line 55). ~~~~~~~~~~
And Achiacharus intreating for me, I returned to Nineveh. Now Achiacharus was cupbearer, and keeper of the signet, and steward, and overseer of the accounts: and Sarchedonus appointed him next unto him: and he was my brother's son. --- Apocrypha, Tobit 1:21-22
Stele of Esarhaddon (Pergamon Museum, Berlin) ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1a] The 12 characters are described in translations of the Bible as "lions"; this is because the word in Hebrew in verse 20 is
; however the plural of the word 'lion' should have been , as mentioned just before in verse 19; this is
to signify a difference: the two lions described in verse 19 were indeed lions (they don't show in the relief of Sennacherib maybe because they had been removed from the throne since the time of King Solomon), whereas the lions of verse 20 refer to something else (on the relief of Sennacherib, they resemble to some people sustaining the throne with their arms up), maybe the 12 tribes of Israel as considered as lions
Detail from the throne of Sennacherib [1b] The throne of Sennacherib was said to be decorated with ivory, which was not a material used in Assyria in his time, and the same is known to have been used for Solomon's throne (according to the Bible) [2] He was an important Assyrian official, probably hired from the one of the Israelite tribes previously exiled by Sargon because he was fluent in Hebrew; the existence of this Rab-shaqe is confirmed by an archaeological item called the Assyrian eponym list; it is a clay tablet, from which only a fragment remains and is among the British Museum collections, that gives the names of officials in the time of Shalmaneser; one of the name is indicated as rab-saq
Extract from the Assyrian Eponym List [3] Because his father King Ahaz was wicked [4] The one that Moses had made, as explained in Numbers 21:8-9, and that the Israelites called Nehushtan; they later used to worship it as an idol, as explained in II Kings 18:4 [5] This (lost) sacred book used to bring speedy recovery to the ill, and thus it failed to promote contrition and humility, an attitude that the sages denounced [6] This is related in II Chronicles 32:3-4 [7] The number 40 is recurring in the Bible as a divine punishment ~~~~~~~~~~
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Hebrew years 2280 to 2400 (1480-1360 BCE) Year 2280 - 1480 BCE - Hatshepsut
After Thutmose IIs death, in 1479 BCE, his wife Hatshepsut became regent. In fact, already during his reign, she was acknowledged as the real ruler of Egypt, as shown in many depictions where she is represented with a bigger size than her husband. And her effective reign continued after his death because her step-son, Thutmose III, was only 2 years old when he officially became the next Pharaoh. Then, even when he was getting mature enough, Hatshepsut continued to rule for a total of 21 years, and until her death in 1458 BCE at the age of about 50 years old.
Hatshepsut ~~~~~~~~~~
Thutmose III smiting his enemies (Great Temple of Amon, Egypt) ~~~~~~~~~~
1533 BCE 1531 BCE 1524 BCE 1522 BCE 1506 BCE 1451 BCE
28 30 37 39 56 110
Joseph explains the dreams of the two chamberlains Joseph becomes Governor of Egypt End of the 7 years of abundance; famine starts Joseph reunited with his family; in Goshen Death of Jacob, aged 147 Death of Joseph, aged 110
monarchs, but as a new king [who] rose over Egypt. The reason is that Thutmose IV was not the heir to the throne of Egypt: he usurped it from his brother. This also explains the expression a new king because Thutmose IV was not supposed to be the next Pharaoh. He will obviously become Pharaoh as he quickly consolidated his power, but he was not so at the time of his usurpation, which is when the Biblical text mentioned him in this verse.
Thutmose IV (Musee du Louvre, Paris) Thutmose IV had initiated a policy of enslavement of the Hebrews, now called Bene-Israel [Sons of Israel, or Israelites], after their ancestor Jacob Israel. He probably did so because, as often with usurpers, they know that their power is initially fragile and the best they can do is to focus peoples attention against imaginary threats or enemies. In addition, the Hebrews were wealthy in Egypt so his decree gave to the Egyptians license to steal the wealth from the Hebrews when they enslaved them. This was a populist decree that won support to the usurper. The same will be seen again and again by Jewish people throughout their History, and until today with Arab nations that keep at "war" against Israel as a scapegoat to make their own people not focus on internal affairs and their dictatorship. Blaming the Jews has always been a convenience for rulers, in every generation.
Slaves in Egypt But the more Thutmose IV oppressed the Hebrews in servitude, with the view to reduce their number, the more their number increased. He then tried another tactic, by requesting from the Hebrew
midwives to get rid of any newborn male child. But the midwives used a subterfuge to avoid executing his wish. Seeing that the previous measure was not working, he then asked his own people to get rid of every newborn male by throwing them into the Nile River. This decree was still in force by the time he died, after 10 years in power, in 1391 BCE. An examination of his mummy showed that he had suffered from a disease that had wasted his body in the last years of his life. Maybe a divine punishment for his decree against children.
far too numerous anywy and still constituted a threat. So the decree was reinstated for newborn sons. ~~~~~~~~~~
, the same word used for the Ark of Noah) and left on the Nile,
under the surveillance of his older sister Miriam. And Pharaohs Daughter went down to bathe on the river and her maidens walked along the river. And she saw the basket inside the reeds. She sent her maidservant and she took it. She opened and saw the child, and behold! He was crying. And she took pity of him and said he was a child from the Hebrews. [] and he was a son to her. And she named him Moses because, she said, from the water I have drawn him. --- Exodus 2:5-10
Moses found by Pharaoh's daughter (Gustave Dor, 1868) Amenhotep III started his reign as a young adult, as it was often the case in these times. After five years of reign, he could not possibly already have a daughter who would already be at an adult age herself to take a child as a son to her. So this Pharaohs Daughter was not the daughter of Pharaoh Amenhotep III, but the daughter of the previous Pharaoh, Thutmose IV. She was thus Princess Royal and indeed Pharaohs Daughter because she was unmarried and had no child. Therefore, she was a
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sister (or half-sister) to the present Pharaoh Amenhotep III. She was probably in her 20-30s of age, like her half-brother, the Pharaoh. Which daughter of Thutmose IV could she be? Among his daughters, one remained unmarried. She was called Tiaa. Her tomb was found in 1857 and the label on it mentioned she was Kings Daughter of Menkheperure. Menkheperure was the official name for Thutmose IV. The mention of Kings Daughter meant that she never (officially) married. She was therefore the princess who adopted Moses as her child. Princess Tiaa survived long enough to be in an age to become the adoptive mother of a boy and to raise him as a prince of the house of her brother, Pharaoh Amenhotep III. According to the Midrash, Moses adoptive mother was called Bithiah ( which can be interpreted both as Daughter of God (Bath-Ya
-). One tradition mentions that God would have told her:
"Moses was not your son, yet you called him your son; you, too, though you are not My daughter, yet I will call you My daughter" --- Leviticus Rabba I:3 Moses was weaned by his biological mother, Jochebeth, who took him to the Princess when he was at the right age. He obviously grew up in the knowledge of his Hebrew origin and kept contact with his biological family and the tribe of Levi. He was however raised in the royal palace in Memphis,[2] with the other young princes, the sons of Amenhotep III. Moses was 33 years old when Amenhotep III died. His adoptive mother Princess Tiaa had probably died earlier. The next Pharaoh was the eldest surviving son, of the deceased king, and someone Moses grew up with. ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1] Her name is mentionned in I Chronicles 4:18: and these are the sons of Bithiah ( Pharaoh's Daughter, etc. [2] Nothing much remains of the palace of Memphis which featured many temples dedicated to Ptah and other gods; the ruins are located at 29o51'N 31o15'E, about 3km East from Saqqara, the site of the more ancient city of Egypt; the city of Memphis was desolated at some point of its long History, never to raise again thus receiving the fate of the prophecy of Ezekiel: Thus saith the Lord God: "I will also destroy the idols, and I will cause the things of nought to cease from Noph [Memphis]; and there shall be no more a prince out of the land of Egypt; and I will put a fear in the land of Egypt." (Ezekiel 30:13) Next generation Top of Page
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Hebrew years 2880 to 3000 (880-760 BCE) ~~~ Part I ~~~ Part II ~~~
What is new Chronology of the two kingdoms during the 25th generation Index of names Creation Generations 1-14 Generations 15-21 Generations 22-28 Generations 29-35 Generations 36-49 Generation 50
Year 2900 2900 2900 2900 2907 2913 2914 2915 2917 2917 2919 2929 2929 2940 2944 2956 2960 2962 2970 2993 2994 2994 2995
CE -860 -860 -860 -860 -853 -847 -846 -845 -843 -843 -841 -831 -831 -820 -816 -804 -800 -798 -790 -767 -766 -766 -765
Differ. 22 28 22
Kingdom of ISRAEL
Sources II Kings 12:7 II Kings 10:35-36 II Kings 13:10 II Kings 2:11 Historical II Kings 13:10 II Kings 13:24 II Kings 14:1 II Kings 13:1 II Kings 12:22 Historical II Kings 13:10 II Kings 14:23 II Kings 14:21,15:2 II Kings 14:2,17 II Kings 15:1-2 Amos 1:1 Amos 1:1 II Kings 14:23 II Kings 15:8 II Kings 15:13 II Kings 15:14 Historical
Text Y23 Joash reigned 28Y Y23 Joash estimate Y37 Joash ~Y1 Jehoash Y2 Jehoahaz reigned 17Y reigned 40Y reigned 16Y Y15 Amaziah reigned 16Y old reigned 29Y Y27 Jeroboam assumption reigned 41Y reigned 6 months reigned 1 month
36 1 2 17 40 16 14 -16 29 27 -2 41 37 38 38 -2
Jehu dies Jehoahaz son of Jehu reigns Elisha the Prophet dies Shalmanezer III wins battle of Qarqar against a large coalition Jehoash son of Jehoahaz reigns Hazael king of Aram dies, BenHadad Amaziah son of Joash reigns Jehoahaz son of Jehu dies Joash is murdered by 2 servants Black Obelisk of Shalmanezer III Jehoash son of Jehoahaz dies Jeroboam son of Jehoash reigns Azariah son of Amaziah born Amaziah flees to Lachish; killed there Azariah son of Amaziah reigns Amos the Prophet Earthquake Jeroboam son of Joash dies Zechariah son of Jeroboam reigns and dies Shallum son of Jabesh kills Zechariah Menahem son of Gadi kills Shallum and reigns "Pul" campaign; tributes paid Adjustment from Canaanite to Babylonian calendar ~~~~~~~~~~
120Y
Joash inscription To avoid being conquered by Hazael king of Aram, Joash sent a large tribute to him, made of all the idolatry items that were in the treasures of his royal house. ~~~~~~~~~~
Stele of Zakkur (Louvre) In the year that Jehoahaz came to power, Elisha the Prophet died. When Jehoahaz son of Jehu died, he was succeeded by his son Jehoash who had been placed on the throne a couple of years before, a way to ensure the succession while the old king was still alive (II Kings 13:10). In Judah, Joash did the same when he got old and placed his son Amaziah on the throne. Joashs life however ended
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brutally when he was murdered by two of his servants. Before Jehu died, God promised to him that four generations of his descendants will reign over Israel. The first to reign was his son Jehoahaz. He was followed by his son Jehoash. Then Jeroboam II reigned, and he was succeeded by his son Zechariah who will finally be murdered, thus ending the House of Jehu. ~~~~~~~~~~
The king of Israel bowing to Shalmanezer III (Black Obelisk, British Museum) The find is important because of the text that accompanies the stele. In two occurrences, the name of Hazael king of Aram is mentioned. Hazael was contemporary of the campaigns of Shalmanezer III because he died in about 846 BCE, which was the first year of the reign of Jehoash, king of Israel. Some historians have wrongly assumed that the Israelite king mentioned on the obelisk was "Jehu son of Omri". Jehu was not the "son of Omri" so this mention could only mean a reference to Omri as the founder of the Israelite dynasty that ruled in Samaria: Omri was indeed the one who established the city of Samaria as the capital of the kingdom of Israel, around 826 BCE, when he moved his seat from Tirzah. What about Jehu? This king was not contemporary to Shalmanezer IIIs campaign so his mention on the obelisk cannot be relevant. The issue here is simply that the cuneiform text has been misinterpreted. The text actually shows:
The Israelite king mentioned on the Black Obelisk (Mason, Caroline, and Alexander, Pat, Picture Archive of the Bible, Lion Publishing, 1987) It is obvious that the text mentions Ya-u-a, in fact more probably Ya-Gu-a, which should have rather been translated into Jehoash, instead of Jehu. So Je-ho-a[sh] was the correct contemporary Israelite king that was mentioned on the Black Obelisk of Shalmanezer III. On another side of the obelisk, there is also mention of Shalmanezer's victory against "Hazael of Damascus", a king of Aram also cited in the Bible.
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Generation 07
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What is new Index of names Creation Generations 1-14 In Mesopotamia, Cain was finally killed by one of his descendants, Lamech. It happened at the 7th generation of mankind, as God had only offered protection to Cain until then, following his murder of Abel.[1] According to the great commentator Rashi (1040-1104), Lamech was a blind man from birth and he killed Cain by accident. Being distraught, he then killed his son Tuval-Cain as well. The text mentions two of Lamechs wives: Lamech took to himself two wives. The name of one was Adah and the name of the second was Zillah. And Adah bore Jabal; he was the ancestor of those who dwell in tents and breed cattle. The name of his brother was Jubal; he was the ancestor of those who handle the lyre and the flute. And Zillah too, she bore Tuval-Cain who polished all sorts of crafts in copper and iron. And the sister of Tuval-Cain was Naamah. --- Genesis 4:19-22
Generations 15-21 The names of Lamechs two wives were probably given by him. Indeed Adah means witness: presumably she was sonamed because she was Lamechs eye-witness in the world. As of Zillah, it means shadow: presumably the name could Generations have meant that she followed Lamech in all his moves and was, in other words, his help. 22-28 Generations 29-35
Migration of populations
Jabal, presumably, moved away from the city dwellers and became nomadic before his descendants would settle in other Generations parts of the known world, further east: they established settlements in parts of Asia (Hindus valley, China) and then crossed into the American continent. His descendants were the first to populate vast regions of the globe and accomplished 36-49 the first great human migrations. Most of Asia and all the original Americans probably came from him because genetic studies show that these regions were originally populated from a single male ancestor who gave root to the genetic YGeneration DNA haplogroup called Q. In the diagram of the world distribution below, we can see that all these regions were 50 originally populatedfrom a single male ancestor.
Bronze Age
Jubal was the creator of proper musical instruments. Scholars consider that sophisticated musical instruments, beyond primitive ones which were based on a simple percussion, originated from Mesopotamia.[2] As of Zillah, she bore a son, Tuval-Cain, who was named after his ancestor Cain probably because he died as a result of Cain's death. He was the one who first created metal tools. He died around 3000 BCE and, because of him, mankind evolved from the Stone Age and began the Bronze Age. The Bronze Age period started in the Near East some time around 3300 BCE where tin ores were discovered and used in mixture with copper to create harder metal material.
Timeline of the Bronze Age Presumably Tubal-Cain was the first human to be able to introduce furnaces and to create harder metal work. This was a blessing for humanity but a curse too. Because, with bronze came tools to work the earth but also brought weaponry and war. The technique quickly spread in other regions where tin ores were discovered, such as Central Europe around 2500 BCE.[3]
Early bronze tools from Tell-Brak, Norther Syria, about 3000 BCE Lastly, Lamechs daughter, Naamah, derived her name from the word kind which would have been her type of character. She escaped from the region of her father, and moved back to the land of Canaan where the descendants of Adam and Seth had settled and lived a more peaceful life than what was happening in the city-states of Mesopotamia. There she later became the wife of Noah, the grandson of Metushalach.
Notes: [1] Genesis 4:15 [2] See article on Wikipedia: Images of musical instruments begin to appear in Mesopotamian artifacts in 2800 BC or earlier. [3] Quotation from Penhallurick, R.D., Tin in Antiquity: its Mining and Trade Throughout the Ancient World with Particular Reference to Cornwall, London: The Institute of Metals, 1986, page 86, mentioned in Wikipedia: Tin was first mined in Europe around 2500 BC in Erzgebirge [Central Europe], and knowledge of tin bronze and tin extraction techniques spread from there to Brittany and Cornwall around 2000 BC.
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Generation 24
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Hebrew years 2760 to 2880 (1000-880 BCE) ~~~ Part I ~~~ Part II ~~~ Part III ~~~ Year 2761 999 BCE Solomon deviates from Gods path
At the end of twenty years of reign, after having built his kingdom, the Temple for 7 years and his own Palace for 13 years (I Kings 7:1), Solomon started to fall into complacency. In particular, he loved many women who influenced his heart and judgment, away from Gods faith: Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, besides the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites; of the nations concerning which the Lord said unto the children of Israel: 'You shall not go among them, neither shall they come among you; for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods'; Solomon did cleave unto these in love. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart. For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not whole with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the detestation of the Ammonites. And Solomon did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, as did David his father. Then did Solomon build a high place for Chemosh the detestation of Moab, in the mount that is before Jerusalem and for Molech the detestation of the children of Ammon. And so he did for all his foreign wives, who offered and sacrificed unto their gods. And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared unto him twice, and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he kept not that which the Lord commanded. Wherefore the Lord said unto Solomon: "Forasmuch as this has been in your mind, and you have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely rend the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant. Notwithstanding in your days I will not do it, for David your father's sake; but I will rend it out of the hand of your son. Howbeit I will not rend away the entire kingdom; but I will give one tribe to your son; for David My servant's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake which I have chosen." --- I Kings 11:1-13 At the beginning of Solomons reign, God had promised him to extend his life, at the condition that he would keep His commandments. But, after 20 years of reign in such path, Solomons spirit changed, because of his foreign wives. So God only granted another 20 years of sinful reign to Solomon, one sinful year for one year of righteousness, with no extension of life. ~~~~~~~~~~
Map of the region around 1200 BCE (Bates, Oric, The eastern Libyans: an essay, London, 1914, p. 50) Osorkon changed the balance of alliances and established the Meshwesh as the new rulers of Lower Egypt, while the Priests of Amon were still ruling Upper Egypt from their capital Thebes. Osorkon didnt have benefit in maintaining the alliance with Solomon that prevailed before, because the Israelite king was married to the sister of the preceding Pharaoh, from another family. So what happened to this preceding ruling Tanite dynasty? Here the text of the Bible brings us some light: And the Lord raised up an adversary unto Solomon, Hadad the Edomite; he was of the king's seed in Edom. For it came to pass, when David was in Edom, and Joab the captain of the host was gone up to bury the slain, and had smitten every male in Edom --for Joab and all Israel remained there six months, until he had cut off every male in Edom-- that Hadad fled, he and certain Edomites of his father's servants with him, to go into Egypt; Hadad being yet a little child. And they arose out of Midian, and came to Paran; and they took men with them out of Paran, and they came to Egypt, unto Pharaoh King of Egypt, who gave him a house, and appointed him victuals, and gave him land. And Hadad found great favour in the sight of Pharaoh, so that he gave him to wife the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tahpennes the Queen. And the sister of Tahpenes bore him Genubath his son, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh's house; and Genubath was in Pharaoh's house among the sons of Pharaoh. And when Hadad heard in Egypt that David slept with his fathers, and that Joab the captain of the host was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh: "Let me depart, that I may go to my own country." Then Pharaoh said unto him: "But what have you lacked with me, that, behold, you seek to go to your own country?" And he answered: "Nothing; howbeit let me depart in any wise." --- I Kings 11:14-22 So, as a child, Hadad, the heir to the throne of Edom, had fled to Egypt with the help of his fathers close advisors. There he was welcomed and raised in the royal house. His host was probably Pinedjem I who was the High Priest in Thebes since 1070 BCE. He had also crowned himself Pharaoh in year 1054 BCE, at a time when David took the kingship over all Israel and started to wage war towards Aram and Edom. Pinedjem I had an extended family from a few wives. Many of his sons and daughters got a share in the power of both political Tanis and religious Thebes. One of his sons, Psusennes I, became Pharaoh in Tanis from 1047 BCE and he is the one who gave one of his daughters as a wife to King Solomon. Hadad grew up in the house of Pinedjem I and knew all the family children in Thebes and Tanis. Pinedjem I married Hadad to a sister of his own wife Tahpennes. This Biblical Tahpennes was probably the Egyptian queen whose name was Se-tepe-Amun which means "chosen by Amun": it was her official name, called the "throne name", like any other important royal member had. Most of the rulers of the 21st Dynasty used this "chosen by Amun" as a root for their official throne name. Psusennes for example is the Greek version of his name but his real names in Egypt were: Paseba-khanniut for his personal name ("nomen") and Akhepe-Re-Setepe-Amun, meaning "Great are the manifestations of Ra, chosen by Amun", for his throne name ("praenomen"). Psusennes had two wives, one called Wiay and one who was his own sister, Mutnedjmet. Hadads desire to depart Egypt probably did not meet approval from Psusennes because, beside the fact that Hadads wife was Pharaohs sister through their father Pinedjem I, he knew that Hadad hated the Israelites, and thus Solomon, Pharaohs son-in-law, and would necessarily cause trouble to him. There is no further mention in the text about Pharaohs decision to let Hadad go, but we can assume that it was refused in order not to cause trouble to Solomon. However, the rest of the text indicates that something went awfully wrong, after Solomon deviates from Gods path: And God raised up another adversary unto him [Solomon], Rezon the son of Eliada, who had fled from his lord Hadadezer king of Zobah. And he gathered men unto him, and became captain over a troop, when David slew them [of Zobah]; and
they went to Damascus, and dwelt therein, and reigned in Damascus. And he was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, beside the evil that Hadad did; and he abhorred Israel, and reigned over Aram. --- I Kings 11:23-25 What "evil" could Hadad have possibly done? He desired to leave Egypt after he learned from Davids death in 1019 BCE. But God watched after Solomon in the first 20 years of his reign. It is only after 999 BCE that God raised adversaries to Solomon, among them Hadad. After the death of Psusennes I in 1001 BCE, his son Amenemope reigned in Tanis, but not for long: he died in 992 BCE and without heir. The crown could have then been taken by one of Psusennes family members, who mostly lived in Thebes. But there too, the High Priest Smendes II died in that same year of 992 BCE. So this whole royal family must have been shaken, and it was more important for them to control the religious power in Thebes, over Middle and Upper Egypt. So, in Tanis, another ruler came: it was Osorkon, of Canaanite origin like Hadad. It is possible that Hadad had something to do in the misfortune of the Egyptian dynasty, maybe poisoning the two rulers, in Tanis and in Thebes. Another strange and unique circumstance happened to this family at the same period: one of Psusennes sisters was the High Priestess called Maatkare Mutemhat. The High Priestess title, Maatkare, was revived by their father Pinedjem I to grant honour to one of his daughters and strengthen the faith to Amun. The name Maatkare means the "wife of God [Amun-]Re", Maat being the goddess wife of Amun-Re in the Egyptian pantheon. The High Priestess took the vow to never marry, because she was already officially the "wife" of a god. But, when Maatkares tomb was discovered in the Theban Necropolis in 1881, they found a small mummy besides her inside the sarcophagi. It was initially thought to be the mummy of a child, but it would not have been possible for a High Priestess to give birth ! Recent X-Ray analysis however determined that it was the mummy of a monkey, a baboon, so the assumption has been that she had been buried with her baboon pet. Was it normal for a High Priestess to be buried with a pet? Probably not, as there is no other occurrence of such kind found anywhere in the History of Ancient Egypt. So there is suspicious that Maatkare did indeed give birth to a child This situation would have shaken the religious establishment and, beyond the mere scandal it caused, priests would have feared from the gods displeasure and outrage: in essence, her husband-god god Amun had been cheated ! It would seem plausible that the mother and the child would have been sacrificed to appease the gods after such sacrilege and, as an extraordinary measure, it would have been decided that Maatkare would be buried with a symbol of her would-have-been-child, the only son she could have had from her husband-god Amun: the god Thoth, who is often represented with the face of a baboon. Also importantly, Thoth was the god responsible for the judgment of the dead. So his place in Maatkares sarcophagi was to expiate the sin and a hope that Thoth would protect her in the afterlife.
Sarcophagi of Maatkare with the small mummy in it, photography published in Brugsch, Emile, "La trouvaille de Deir-el-Bahari", Le Caire, 1881 (Cairo Museum CG61088) We can assume that the "evil" Hadad had been the cause of this situation: maybe he ordered the High Priestess to be raped, or maybe he managed to seduce her, so that she would be pregnant. This would have been a sure way, in addition of getting rid of the High Priest himself, to shaken the entire royal and priestly establishment. Then, when he managed to get rid of the royal figure, Pharaoh Amenemope, as well, he would have been sure that the recovery or the nomination of a new Pharaoh would not come from Thebes, as it should have been the case. Hadad had in effect destroyed politically and religiously the family who had an alliance with King Solomon, the son of David who had destroyed Hadad's family and kingdom. This is why the Biblical text mentioned "evil" in his case, unlike the king of Aram who was only an "adversary". Hadad was not a direct military threat to Solomons kingdom, like Aram was, but his evil actions indirectly had impacts on the fate of the Israelite kingdom. ~~~~~~~~~~
to keep My statutes and My ordinances, as did David his father. Howbeit I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand; but I will make him prince all the days of his life, for David My servant's sake, whom I chose, because he kept My commandments and My statutes; but I will take the kingdom out of his son's hand, and will give it unto you, even ten tribes. And unto his son will I give one tribe, that David My servant may have a lamp always before Me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen Me to put My name there. And I will take you, and you shall reign over all that your soul desires, and shall be king over Israel. And it shall be, if you will hearken unto all that I command you, and will walk in My ways, and do that which is right in My eyes, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as David My servant did, that I will be with you, and will build you a sure house, as I built for David, and will give Israel unto you. And I will for this afflict the seed of David, but not forever.' Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam; but Jeroboam arose, and fled into Egypt, unto Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon. --- I Kings 11:31-40 Jeroboam fled to Egypt, but not to the Pharaoh of Egypt, which at the time was Osorkon the Elder. Jeroboam found asylum to Shishak king of Egypt. Who was Shishak? He was Shoshenq, the father of Osorkon. Shoshenq was king of the Meshwesh dynasty of Egypt, but he was not himself the Pharaoh, the political ruler over the capital of Lower Egypt, Tanis. It was his son Osorkon who was the Pharaoh. So the Meshwesh dynasty sheltered in fact both enemies of Solomon, first Hadad the Edomite and then Jeroboam who would later wage war against Solomons son. ~~~~~~~~~~
Year 2781 979 BCE Jeroboam establishes idolatry in the kingdom of Israel
Jeroboam established the capital of the new kingdom in Sichem (today's , in the territory of his tribe, Ephraim. During the reign of Solomon, he had been ordered to build the "House of Joseph" in this city (I Kings 11:28) probably a mausoleum, as Joseph had been buried just outside Sichem. Jeroboams chief concern was that the people of his new kingdom would go to Jerusalem for pilgrimage and religious sacrifices and, as a consequence, may turn against him to remain under the protection of the house of God. The solution he found was to divert his people from their traditional divine service and force them to serve idol worship: Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold; and he said unto them: 'You have gone up long enough to Jerusalem; behold your gods, O Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.' And he set the one in Beth-el, and the other put he in Dan. And this thing became a sin; for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan. And he made houses of high places, and made priests from among all the people, that were not of the sons of Levi. And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he went up unto the altar; so did he in Beth-el, to sacrifice unto the calves that he had made; and he placed in Beth-el the priests of the high places that he had made. --- I Kings 12:28-32 The choice of locations for the two new high places, Beth-El and Dan, was carefully chosen. Beth-El was important because the Ark of the Covenant had been placed there in the Judges period, and Beth-El was also close enough from the kingdom of Judah thus enabling the Israelites not to have to travel to Jerusalem any more during the festivals. As of Dan,
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it was located in the northern part of the kingdom at this period of time, so it kept the Israelites of the north as farther as possible from the kingdom of Judah and Jerusalem. As a result of this turn to idolatry, all the Levites who had been in the divine service among the territories of Israel left and found refuge in the kingdom of Judah. God tried to send signs to Jeroboam to turn him back into the good path, but to no avail. His kingdom was doomed to disappear: After this thing Jeroboam returned not from his evil way, but made again from among all the people priests of the high places; whosoever would, he consecrated him, that he might be one of the priests of the high places. And by this thing there was sin unto the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off, and to destroy it from off the face of the earth. --- I Kings 13:33-34 Jeroboam also established a new calendar of festivals in which the new year of his kingdom was set on the 8th month compared to the calendar used in Judah (I Kings 12:32). The Hebrews had used a solar-lunar calendar, combining the 12 months and the 4 seasons, and the start of it was decreed to be in Nisan, which was also called Aviv, as the month of Spring. Conveniently it was also the month when the Hebrews were taken out from Egypt, as the Exodus took plave on a 15th of Nisan. The Egyptian calendar was not much different as it also started in that same period, but was divided in 12 months of 30 days, thus not taking into account the lunar phases: this is the calendar that the Hebrews used when they were in Egypt, but they had been given a new calendar by divine commandments based both on solar (seasons) and lunar (regular) cycles. When Jeroboam started to reign, after a few months of conflicts with Rehoboam, he decreed to start the year from the start of his reign, which took place on the 15th day of the 8th month of the corresponding Judah calendar: this was the month of Marshvevan, called Bul at the time (I Kings 6:38). This was another important step for him to grad mindshare of his people because he knew that, after a while, they would adapt to the new calendar and will be forgetful of the Judean calendar and festivals. ~~~~~~~~~~
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What is new In this period, the Sumerian cities continued to be built across Mesopotamia and Index of names their rulers would eventually be at war one against another for regional domination. Idolatry was spreading fast, as a mean to subjugate people to the power of these rulers. Creation Generations 114 Generations 1521 Generations 2228 Generations 2935 Generations 3649 Generation 50
Stele of Uruk, ca. 3000 BCE, Bagdad Museum (source: 2DCODE) In Ancient Egypt, civilization started to form and the Early Dynastic Period dates around 3200-3100 BC.
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Generations 1- Just before the end of this generation, in year 1556, Noah begot three sons: 14 And Noah was 500-year old and Noah begot Shem, Cham and Yafeth. Generations 15---Genesis 5:32 21 It is the second instance of the Biblical text where the birth of three sons from one Generations 22- individual is mentioned. The previous occurrence was with Adam who begot Cain, 28 Abel and Seth, at different times. Abel died and his life was therefore wasted. Cain turned to the evil ways, and brought wickedness on earth. Seth was the worthy one Generations 29- who survive, and he begot multiple sons and daughters, from which only one 35 lineage kept in the path of God. Similarly, with Noahs sons: Cham will choose a sinful path; Yafeth, despite his pleasant physical looks (as depicted by the root of Generations 36- his name, meaning beauty), will bring evil kingdoms and wars; and Shem will give 49 birth to multiple people from which a small portion would eventually continue in the path of God. Generation 50 The order of these births is actually reversed from the order in the Biblical text: first Yafeth was born, in year 1556, followed by Cham in year 1557, and then by Shem in year 1558 (Genesis 11:10). Because of the worthiness of Shem, God spared His creation from total annihilation. Indeed mankind got so evil that it made the entire creation unworthy. But one single person, who walks in the good way, has the power to change God's initial decree. The world had indeed become impossible for righteous people to live in: And the Earth corrupted itself in front of God and the earth was filled with violence. God saw the Earth and, behold, it was corrupted because it corrupted every flesh from its path on earth. --- Genesis 6:11-12 Mankind ruined the earth and all the creatures that God created. In fact, there was no more mankind as the boundaries between man and beast became so blur that God had recourse to mention them as every flesh.
Looking at the two above verses from the Bible, in the first instance the Earth corrupted itself (
) and then it became irreversibly corrupted (... )and finally it corrupted ( )every flesh on
Earth. This three times mention of the same verb indicates that the corruption was total, complete, because this is the meaning of the number three.
It is also noticeable that the word used for the total corruption of the Earth
)uses the same three letters ( and )that form the word who caused the original sin of Adam and Eve. In other words, it Snake ()
( was one of the animals (the snake) who caused the corruption of the first man, who then produced corrupted mankind, who in turn corrupted the enitre Creation, every flesh. The root of the word snake also gives the name to the copper and bronze (),which has been indicative of the Bronze Age and the era when the Earth became filled with violence. By mixing up different ores of metal found in the earth, mankind created a new metal (bronze) so, in other words, he interfered in the elements of the Creation and corrupted it. But, as the Biblical text states it: mankind was not the sole responsible from the deviation from the divine Creation because the Earth corrupted itself. In fact the Earth had already disobeyed God's orders in the course of the Creation (in the Third Day): And God said: "Let the Earth sprout vegetation, herbage producing seed, and fruit-tree making fruit according to its kind, containing its own seed, upon the Earth.' And it was so. And the Earth sprouted vegetation, herbage producing seed according to its kind, and tree making fruit, containing its own seed, according to its kind; and God saw that it was good. --- Genesis 1:11-12 Where did the Earth deviated from God's order? A careful comparison of the two above verses shows that, for example, God ordered that the trees would be fruittrees themselves, meaning that the tree itself would be a fruit, and not simply a producer of fruit. Man would have been able to eat the fruit and the tree, if the Creation had been according to the divine plan. But the Earth, at a time when some free will existed in all elements of the Creation, diverted from God's will. Although the result was nonetheless pleasing as God saw it was good, it nonetheless represented a corruption from God's will, and the start of sin. The parallel between the Earth's corrupted way during the Creation and the corruption that continued later can also be understood in the number of these verses: Genesis 1:1112 for one and Genesis 6:11-12 for the other. God's punishment would not be directed at mankind only but at the entire Earth and what it contained. God would have to correct the ways His Creation was going, and stripped some of the original benefits from it so that the corruption of the created world would become harder, if not impossible, to achieve by itself. Next generation Top of Page
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Hebrew years 3840 to 3960 (80-200 CE) ~~~ Part I ~~~ Part II ~~~
Shortly after the Bar-Kochba revolt was crushed by the Romans, one Christian man called Justin endeavoured to convince the Jews of the Messianic nature of Jesus. It was a right time because the Jews, once again, seemed to have been abandoned Creation by God to the harsh hands of the pagan Romans. Surely God must be angry at His people for refusing to accept the Messiah He sent to earth ! To make his point, Justin imagined that he communicated with a Jew called Tryphon with whom he Generations would argue using the Jewish Scriptures in favour of Jesus to be the Messiah of the Jews. The written work is known as 1-14 the Dialogue with Trypho. Generations But his arguments failed to convince anyone among the Jewish population because he had no knowledge of Hebrew so only used the text of the Septuagint, the Greek version of the Bible, and built many of his demonstrations based on 15-21 erroneous assumptions in interpreting the Greek words. One famous example concerned the so-called announcement of Generations the forthcoming birth of Jesus in the Scriptures based on Isaiah 7:14: 22-28 In the Septuagint, the word Generations in such sense in other parts of the Biblical text, had been translated in Greek as the Virgin ! Thus the early 29-35 Christians misunderstood this verse as an announcement of the venue of Jesus. The correct translation of this verse is:
, , , .
Behold, the young girl shall conceive and bear a son, and will name him With Us, God (Emmanuel). Generations 36-49 In general, the Jews rejected these Christian attempts to demonstrate that the Messiah had come, with Jesus, because of
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in Messianic times, before the venue of the Messiah, the "exiles" will be gathered to the Promised Land; but, in these times, the contrary was happening, with many Jews taken as slaves to many parts of the Roman Empire, and the Promised Land changing name and ownership under the Roman yoke the Temple will be rebuilt in Jerusalem; and then, at the contrary, it had just been destroyed and the holy city of Jerusalem was turning into a Roman city dedicated to a pagan god, Jupiter before the venue of the Messiah, wars will prevail in the world, as it seemed to appear at this time, but, once the Messiah will come to light, peace will prevail, even in the animal kingdom when the beast will be able to live next to the lamb; yet, since Jesus had lived, wars and destructions became worse, and the holy city and the Temple were even destroyed the Messiah will be a man who will come from the Tribe of Judah and a direct descendant of King David; but, in the case of Jesus, such lignage had not been ascertained
For the above reasons, and many others related to Scriptures, Jesus could not possibly have been the Messiah of the Jews. And he didn't declare himself as such either. Justin's efforts were obviously doomed to fail. Later, Justin set to Rome in the time of the next emperor, Antoninus Pius, where he opened a Christian school, which had to be clandestine in these times. He was denounced by a Greek philosopher, then tried and executed in 165 in the reign of Marcus Aurelius. It is worth noting as well that the term Christian did not exist yet in these times: it will appear some years later, from the Greek version of the word Messiah translated as Christos. In the Holy Land, the early Christians were considered as a sect (min in Hebrew), like the Sadducees or the Essenes, and were called the Nazarenes or Nazoreans, because they were the followers of Jesus of Nazareth. This term will remain as such in the Eastern provinces of the Roman empire (and is still used today in Hebrew as Notzrim and in Arabic as Nasrani), whereas the Western part adopted the Greek term and called them Christians. ~~~~~~~~~~
with Antoninus were kept secret, and even their future communications, when Antoninus returned to Rome, were done by the means of symbols. Yet some particular details of the Talmud would prove this special relationship to be correct. One example concerned his daughter Galeria who committed adultery, a circumstance that was hidden in the official History, except for rumours that were reported by other sources. Antoninus had sought advice from Judah: The Emperor [Antoninus] had a daughter named Gilla [Galeria] who committed a sin, so he sent to Rabbi a rocket-herb, [5a] and Rabbi in return sent him coriander.[5b] The Emperor then sent some leeks,[5c] and he sent lettuce in return.[5d] --- Talmud, Abodah Zarah, 10b This Talmudic anecdote shows that Rabbi saved Galeria from sure punishment from her father. Some Roman sources cited the rumours of adultery concerning Antoninus' daughter: Some say, and it seems plausible, that Commodus Antoninus, his son and successor [of Marcus Aurelius], was not begotten by him but in adultery; they embroider this assertion, moreover, with a story current among the people. On a certain occasion, it was said, Faustina, the daughter of [Antoninus] Pius and wife of Marcus, saw some gladiators pass by and was inflamed for love of one of them; and afterwards, when suffering from a long illness, she confessed the passion to her husband. And when Marcus reported this to the Chaldeans, it was their advice that Faustina should bathe in his blood and thus couch with her husband. --- Historia Augusta, The Life of Marcus Aurelius, 19:1-2 [5e] The difference with the story of the Talmud is that above it was said that it was her father who sought advice from the "Chaldeans", a term which would have meant people of the East and could therefore have applied to Rabbi, whereas the reality was that it was her father Antoninus who did. Yet the wife and daughter was pardonned for this moment of her life, and the official History of Rome retained that she was a good wife to her husband and honoured by him.
Year 3900 140 CE The new Sanhedrin with Shimon ben Gamaliel II
Shimon, the son of Rabban Gamaliel II who died in the siege of Lydda, as the last nassi, was elected to the same role as his father in 140 by the assembly of Galilee. They then established the new Sanhedrin in the city of Shefaram. Shimon participated in the Revolt of Bar-Kochba, like many other religious leaders who thought the Messianic times had started, but managed to escape the massacre of the last stand at Betar and could tell his companions and disciples the horrors of the Roman repression in that place. During his tenure, the seat of the Sanhedrin moved to various locations in Galilee, probably as a mean to escape persecution. After Shefaram, it moved to Beth-Shearim where many religious were later buried, and then it moved to Sepphoris in 163.
Entrance to some of the toms at Beth-Shearim (photo from the author's collection) ~~~~~~~~~~
3338
-422
3173
-587
- Up to the time of the Exodus, both chromologies are identical, simply because the chronology of the Bible is very detailed from the Creation until Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt - For the Exodus, the main reference is that exile of the Hebrews ended after 430 years, from the presumed year of the Convenant; the discrepancy has been explained in the Generation 21 - For the construction of the First Temple, it started 480 years from the Exodus according to interpretations of the text; so the Seder Olam added 480 to their calculation of the year of Exodus (2448) to reach the year 2928; but this simple assumption would make the period of Judges and Kings far too lenghty and the reslt does not fit any archaeological evidence about the presumed reign of David and Solomon (around 1000 BCE); the correct interpretation of these 480 years has been given in Generation 23 - The destruction of the First Temple is assumed to have happened 410 years from its foundation (the construction took 7 years); and there is historical evidence for this particular event, based on the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, who destroyed Jerusalem in 587 BCE; the Seder Olam has reached the calculation with Hebrew year 3338 which corresponds to 422 BCE, far too late in the historical time... The reason for this discrepancy is obviously chiefly caused by the above issue about when the First Temple's foundation was laid; but then there is also another issue related to the 410 years, as explained in Generation 27 of this revised calculation The original work is now referred as Sefer Olam Rabbah, meaning the Great Seder Olam, to distinguish it from another later work called Seder Olam Zutta, meaning the Smaller Seder Olam. ~~~~~~~~~~
place to place to avoid troubles. In these times, there were fears that the knowledge of the Sages would eventually get lost so it was decided that a written compilation of the Oral Law was thus needed for future generations who will live under the rule of foreign powers. The Mishna was composed under six sections: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Zeraim the laws related to Land of Israel and its agriculture Moed - the laws concerning the Holy Days in the time of the Temple and in Diaspora Nashim - the laws concerning family life and women in particular Nezikin the laws governing the person-to-person relationships, business, damages, etc. Kodashim the laws concerning the "sanctity" such as sacrifices, dietary practices, prohibitions, etc. Tehoroth the laws of "family purity"
Judah ha-Nassi kept his role of nassi until his death in 219,[6] and was buried in Beth-Shearim. ~~~~~~~~~~
The Roman Empire at the death of Marcus Aurelius in 180 CE (Source Wikipedia) ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [5a] The word rocket-herb is called gargilla which indicated to Rabbi the meaning of gar Gilla, or "Gilla has gone astray". [5b] The coriander is called kusbarta which gives the meaning kus barta; barta is the daughter but kus has dual meaning,
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either reprove or slay; Rabbi wanted to indicate that the Emperor had the two options... [5c] The leeks are called karethi, which means cut-off, thus indicating that Antoninus was prepared to choose a harsh sentence against his daughter [5d] The lettuce is called hasa which also means compassion, thus indicating that Rabbi recommended to Antoninus to rather choose the other option [5e] This text is available online; to read it click here [6] Some say that he died in 188 CE but this date would be quite short for a tenure of 8 years during which the compilation of the Mishna would have been completed
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Hebrew years 3960 to 4080 (200-320 CE) ~~~ Part I ~~~ Part II ~~~
Generations 15-21 His policy will be continued during his entire reign. In 202, he endeavoured to increase the Roman empire in Northern Africa and, from 208, he campaigned in Britain beyond the Hadrian Wall. When he died in York (England) in 211, his Generations two sons Caracalla and Geta succeeded him. But the former, the older one, had his younger brother Geta murdered after a few months, so Caracalla reigned alone from the end of 211. 22-28 Generations 29-35 ~~~~~~~~~~
Generations 36-49 At the beginning of his reign, Caracalla made an unprecedented move by granting Roman citizenship to all free men and women of the Empire whereas, previously, only the citizens of Italy could enjoy such privilege. The motives are
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Generation 50
unclear but Roman historians assumed it was a mean to increase the number of taxpayers, because non-citizens were not obligated to the Roman taxes. Although this can be contended because Jews, for example, were imposed special tax so the same could have been applied to other foreigners, one way or another, without granting full citizenship. The Talmud has many references to Caracalla, whose real name was Antoninus Augustus, who came to the Eastern provinces in 216 to wage a war against the Parthians. In the Levant, he remained for some time: The emperor [Caracalla] then left Troy and traveled through the rest of Asia, Bithynia, and the remaining provinces. After tending to affairs in these regions, he came to Antioch. Given a warm welcome there, he remained for some time. --- Herodian, Roman History, 4:8, paragraph 6 Caracalla had several discussions with the rabbis of the time. The Talmud put him on a high scale by stating: Rabbi Hama son of Rabbi Hanina said: Three treasures did Joseph hide in Egypt: one was revealed to Korah; one to Antoninus the son of Severus; and the third is stored up for the righteous for the future time. --- Talmud, Pesachim, 119b But Caracallas campaign against Parthia was not successful. He was assassinated a year later in 217 by one of his officers in a field near Charan (Northern Syria), when he stopped to urinate. He was succeeded by Macrinus, a bureaucrat of Berber origin (North Africa) who also was assassinated after a few months in 218. He was succeeded by 14 years old Elagabalus, of Syrian origin by his mother side. The latter was assassinated too in 222, due to his disregard for religion and morality, and replacedby his cousin Alexander Severus. ~~~~~~~~~~
When in the field or on a campaign he lunched and dined in an open tent and ate the soldiers' ordinary food in the sight of all and greatly to their pleasure; and he used to go about to all the tents and never permitted anyone to be absent from the colours. Moreover, if any man turned aside from the road into someone's private property, he was punished in the Emperor's presence according to the character of his rank, either by the club or by the rod or by condemnation to death, or, if his rank placed him above all these penalties, by the sternest sort of a rebuke, the Emperor saying, "Do you desire this to be done to your land which you are doing to another's?" He used often to exclaim what he had heard from someone, either a Jew or a Christian, and always remembered, and he also had it announced by a herald whenever he was disciplining anyone, "What you do not wish that a man should do to you, do not do to him." And so highly did he value this sentiment that he had it written up in the Palace and in public buildings. --- Historia Augusta, The Life of Severus Alexander, chapter 51 ~~~~~~~~~~
also reorganised the empire with new administrative centres. For example, the province of Syria-Palaestina was divided into Palaestina Prima (Judea, Samaria, Idumea, Peraea and the coastal plain with Caesarea as capital), Palaestina Secunda (Galilee, Decapolis, Golan heights with Beth-Shean as capital) and Palaestina Tertia (the Negev with Petra as capital). This division remained the same until the Byzantine Empire.
The 3 new divisions of Syria-Palaestina in the 3rd-5th centuries (source Wikipedia) ~~~~~~~~~~
The Christian Martyrs' Last Prayer, Jean-Lon Grme, 1883 (Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, USA) ~~~~~~~~~~
Constantine (Museo Chiaramonti, Vatican) His reign was a turning point in the religious affairs too because, in 313, he decreed the Edict of Milan by which the Christian religion become officially tolerated in the empire. It was said that this change was mostly due to his mother,
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Helena, who was greatly influenced by Christianity and was credited, during a last trip to Judea in her old age, to have found the relics of the cross on which Jesus was crucified. At her time, Jerusalem was being rebuilt and several churches were erected such as over the Calvary in Jerusalem (which will become the Saint Sepulchre), at the Nativity in BethLehem, and so on. Helena died in 327 or 330 and was later canonized as Saint Helena. The new policy opened up the road to the building of churches throughout the Roman provinces, not only on the holy sites as Helena directed. ~~~~~~~~~~
Diagram for Dating of Exodus Year by Epochs of Determined Time using The Balfour Generation method Time Gap 1 is time From Old Covenant start when Abraham was age 75 until Jacob Birth 85 years later Gen. 12:4, 21:5, & 25:26 Time Gap 2 is 430 years From Law to Covenant Confirmation with Jacobs Birth Ex. 12:40-41, 19:1 & Gal.3:15-17 1 2 1Tim.1:4
A
3974 BC
1459 BC
CA
27 AD
2023.5
eX
1974 BC
3027 AD
|<- 7k years total - From A to CA, 4,000 years, & O to CA, 2,000 years, & CA to E 3,000 years ->| Total Determined Time is Comprised of 1000 years of Rest and 6,000 years of Labor * Year of Completion for Solomons Temple, 1459 487 = 972 BC 1Kgs.6:1&:38
The Seven Covenant Days between God & Man: by O. P. Armstrong, July 2013
Jesus baptism by John began the Kingdom Epoch. If time is linear, then knowing one point in the divine calendar allows mapping all other seven days into Gregorian time. Whilst there may be minor disputing about the precise counting of the 15th year of Tiberius Caesar, etc, all concur to within a few years (range 26AD to 29AD). The birth of Jesus in Year 4BC fits within both historical and prophetic documentation. The Biblical Seven Days of Creation teach us to consider that God shall complete all his work with fallen mankind and make a new creation in seven days of one thousand years each. And I saw a New heaven and a New Earth spake John in his Revelation.
B.C.
747 700 587 500 400 300 200 100 AD 100 200 300 400 476 600 637 700 800
PROPHETIC TIMES
CAPTIVITY ERA
End of Western Roman Empire
B.C.
BABYLON
MEDO-
747
723
2520 YEARS
RISE OF PAPAL AND MOHAMMEDAN POWERS 476
End of Western Roman Empire
676
605
604
598
PERSIA
444 408 395
457
GREECE ROME:
PAGAN;
96 CHRISTIAN
300 400
ROME PAPAL
533 590 590
1260 DAYS
607
637
42 MONTHS
900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1699 1800 1900 1934
HEIGHT
OF
SANCTUARY CYCLE
3 TIMES
42 MONTHS
1260 DAYS
PAPACY
1699
1774
1798
1793
1821
1856-7
1844
1844
1849
1849. 1879
1844. 1878
1860. 1889
1915
1917
1923
1867
1898
1903
1934
From the inside cover of Light For the Last Days, by H. G. Guinness. New Edition. Ed by E.P. Cachemaille. London: Marshall, Morgan & Scott. 1917. Historicism.com 2002.
1924
1917
1933