The Bible And the Ancient World
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Transcript of The Bible And the Ancient World
The Bible
And the
Ancient World
Why Should I Care?
3 Major Religious Traditions have an interest in this area
Earliest Flood Epics and Law Codes
Writing introduced
Biblical Characters intersected with Ancient History
What Happened Here?The Garden of Eden? Tower of Babel?
God identified himself throughout OT as God of “Abraham, Isaac, Jacob”
Abraham came through here
The Assyrians built their kingdom here
Jonah ran the other way to not come here
The Babylonians built their kingdom here
The Exiled of Israel lived here
Why So Much Confusion?
One thing is on top of the other!
The time-span is huge!Scholars vary greatly on this issue
Conservatively, there were kingdoms rising and falling here:
6000 Years Ago
Abraham
Father of Israel, to Jewish and Christian TraditionImportant to Muslim TraditionLived in UrWas Called By God to Leave Ur of ChaldeesGenesis 15Abraham was as far away from Jesus in years, 2000 as Jesus was for Us.Abraham is dated somewhere in the Middle Bronze Age 2000-1550 BC
Why is Abraham Significant?
Before Abraham……There was no Israel
There were no Ten Commandments
There was no Quran
There was no New Testament
If you can substantiate Abraham’s Existence
It is an excellent apologetic for your respective faith tradition
What Should I Know?The Land Labels of the Past……..
Palestine
Egypt
Mesopotamia
Have ChangedPalestine is now Israel, Palestinian authority, Syria, Jordan
Egypt is still Egypt
Mesopotamia is now Iraq
If You Aren’t a Chaplain, What is Essential to Appreciate the
Bible?
Essentials for Meaningful Old Testament Study
Knowledge of the Land Labels
Awareness of the complexity of the Background
A Basic Chronology of Events
Physical Geography of ANE
Three Main Parts of Fertile Crescent
Egypt Palestine
Mesopotamia
Pre-History of ANE
The time period in-between Creation and the Exodus
Specifically the Backdrop of
Genesis 12-50
Many kingdoms rose and fell
Welcome to Mesopotamia
The Kingdoms of Mesopotamia
Places
WarkaErechUrEriduNippurKishLagash
Time Period/Developments
4000-3500 Al-Ubaid
3500-3100 Uruk
3100-2900 Proto-Literate
2850-2360 Classical Sumerian
2360-2180 Akkadian
2180-2060 Gutian Decline
2060-1950 Neo-Sumerian Revival
`Roughly 2000-1550 BCTime Period of Abraham’s MigrationStories of Patriarchs fit authentically into Second MillenniumPatriarchal names fit with Mesopotamian culturesNuzi Texts mirror Patriarchal customs (marriage, adoption, inheritance)Wanderings of Patriarchs fit into cultural and political mileu of early second millennium
Middle Bronze Age
Important Biblical Dates
Genesis 1-11 4000-2000 (conservative)
Abraham GE 12-50 2000-1550
Exodus 1445/1200
United Monarchy 1000
Fall of Israel 722 ASSYRIA
Fall of Judah 586 BABYLON
Return from Exile 514
Birth of Jesus 4 BC
3 Kingdoms in Mesopotamia Intersect Directly with the BibleAssyria-deports Israel
Shalmaneser IIITiglath Pileser (PUL)
Babylon-deports JudahNebuchadnezzarBelshazzar
PersianDariusCyrus
Divided Kingdom
Upon Death of Solomon,
2 Sons, Jeroboam and Rehoboam
Jeroboam-Israel
Rehoboam-Judah
The Assyrians
853 Shalmaneser III Battle of Qarqar
841 Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III
Tiglath-Pileser (PUL)
Founder of Assyrian Empire
Assyria’s Three Phase Policy
1. Collection of Tribute, Reduce King to a Vassal of Assyria
2. Assyrians are on your doorstep, leave a hand-selected king
3. Completely annex city-state, punish the people by deportation and import foreigners to settle.
Fall of Israel
Under Shalmaneser VAssyrians besieged Samaria 3 years before it fell722 Sargon II claimed credit for conquering SamariaDeported 27,000 captives from Israel and settled them in AssyriaII Kings 17:1-6
Judah under Assyrian Threat
715 Revolt of Hezekiah
Hezekiah’s Reforms II Kings 18:3-6, II Chronicles 29-30
701 Campaign of Sennacherib against Hezekiah
Decline of Assyria after death of Ashurbanipal II
The Babylonians
612 Fall of Nineveh
605 Battle of Carchemish
Nebuchadnezzar assumes throne
The Fall of Judah
598 First Siege of Jerusalem
Jehoiachin Taken into Exile 1st deportation
II Kings 24:1-16 Zedekiah appointed king
Zedekiah rebels, 2nd siege
2nd Deportation, destruction of Jerusalem Temple
II Kings 25:24-21, Jeremiah 52:1-30
586 3rd deportation
Exile
586-539
Ezekiel
Daniel
Isaiah 40-66
Decline of Babylonian Empire through pressure of Medes & Persians
539 Babylon surrendered to Persians
Persian Period
539-334
Cyrus the Great-Founder conquered Egypt
Darius I 522-486
Xerxes
Artaxerxes I
Return & Restoration
538-445
Edict of Cyrus Jews were allowed to go home
The Temple could be rebuilt
Rebuilding of Temple accomplished under reign of Darius I 522-486
Other Intersections with Biblical Events
Ministries of Haggai and Zecheriah 520 BC
Temple dedicated in 515 BC
Ministries of Ezra and NehemiahEzra led spiritual renewal based on Law
Nehemiah rebuilt walls of Jerusalem
What Did We Leave Out?
ExodusHistory of Israel prior to United MonarchyUnited Monarchy
SaulDavidSolomon
Events specific to Palestine/EgyptAll New Testament Events