Do Now Today’s Title: Ancient Hebrews Introduction Today in 1925, the first woman governor, Nellie Ross, was inaugurated (or sworn into office) in Wyoming. Would you like to be the governor of your state? Why or why not?

Unit Four!! Today we are beginning a new unit, which will be the last unit before the second Benchmark!! This unit is the…ANCIENT HEBREWS!!

Ancient Hebrews Ancient Hebrews We will spend two weeks learning about the Ancient Hebrews. We will cover many topics, including: ◦ Monotheism ◦ The Hebrew Bible ◦ The Exodus ◦ Significant people in the history of the ancient Hebrews ◦ The Diaspora This short unit is going really more of a story about the Hebrew people. You will learn a lot of interesting information, and it will all flow together like a narrative!!

Today’s Agenda!! Glossary Builder Lesson about Abraham Abraham’s Storyboard-Partner Activity Lesson about Moses Homework!!

Glossary Builder!! Monotheism-the belief that there is only one God. Ethical behavior-behavior based on ideas of right and wrong Covenant-binding agreement Commandment-an order to do something Prophet-a person chosen by God to bring truth to a ruler and the people

Quick Background Knowledge We have already learned about the history of Mesopotamia and Egypt. At the same time, smaller groups of people were migrating throughout these regions. One of the groups was the Hebrews, who created beliefs and traditions that affected many aspects of world history, and are still used around the world today!! Let’s take a look…

The Worship of One God So far, we have learned about people from Mesopotamia and Egypt who practiced polytheism, or the worship of many gods. Now, we are going to learn about the first group of people who practiced monotheism. The Hebrews practiced monotheism, but they also followed a tradition of ethical behavior. ◦ These practices and beliefs became known as Judaism, the religion of the Jewish people. It is one of the world’s oldest religions and one of the most influential.

How did it all start?? The early history of the Hebrews is a story of travels. All of these travels took place between the two lands of civilization, Mesopotamia and Egypt.

How do we know about the Hebrews?? The majority of the knowledge we have about the Hebrews comes from ancient writings, such as the Torah. The Torah has the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, (also the first five books of the Christian Old Testament).

The Hebrew Leaders The early leaders of the Hebrews are known as patriarchs, or the forefathers of their people. The patriarchs were Abraham, his son Isaac, and Isaac’s son Jacob. Abraham

The Israelites The descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are known as Israelites. They are called this because Jacob was renamed Israel, which means, “he who has wrestled with God.” Jacob once had a dream that he struggled with an angel of God, so God renamed him Israel. He had twelve sons who became the founders of the twelve Hebrew tribes, or the Israelites.

What about Abraham?? Abraham was an extremely significant figure in the history of the Hebrews. He lived around 1800 B.C.E., in Ur in Mesopotamia. He was a nomad who herded flocks of sheep, goats, and other livestock. According to the book of Genesis, (the first book of the Torah), God told Abraham to leave his home in Ur.

More about Abraham… God told Abraham to take his people “unto the land that I will show thee.” So, Abraham and his family left Mesopotamia and settled in a land east of the Mediterranean Sea, known as Canaan, or Israel. Abraham and his followers first moved to Israel so they could practice their belief in one God.

Abraham’s Travels On this journey from Mesopotamia to Israel, God made a covenant with Abraham. God promised that if Abraham obeyed God’s laws, he and his descendants would become God’s Chosen People and God would give them a land that would be theirs forever. He also promised Abraham that he would be the father of many nations. Thus, Israel, or Canaan, became known as the Promised Land.

Abraham’s Covenant Abraham’s covenant with God marked the beginning of the history of the Jewish people.

Abraham’s Sacrifice According to the Torah, God tested Abraham’s faith and obedience many times. It was common at that time to offer animals as a sacrifice to the gods; however, in his old age, Abraham had finally fathered a son, Isaac. ◦ The Torah says that one day, God tested Abraham by telling him to make a sacrifice of his son. Abraham loved his son, yet his devotion to God was so complete that he brought Isaac to a mountain to be sacrificed. Would you have done it?? Let’s see what happened…

Abraham’s Sacrifice Continued… Last minute, God sent an angel to stop Abraham from killing his son. Abraham had proved his faith and obedience, and God renewed the promise to him.

Abraham’s Storyboard!! Before we continue to learn about another important figure for Ancient Hebrews, I want you and a partner to reflect on Abraham. You will create a short storyboard to help you remember the key points about Abraham and his life. The storyboard has six squares, in which you will choose six key points, and write them down. Then, for each box, you will draw a picture representing that point. You only have 25 minutes to complete this!! Let me show you…

Another important person for Hebrews The greatest leader of the Hebrews was the prophet Moses. The Torah tells the story of how Moses led the Hebrews out of slavery in Egypt and gave them God’s laws to live by. Let’s take a closer look at this…

The Exodus from Egypt By the time of Moses, around 1250 B.C.E., a large group of Abraham’s descendants were living in Egypt. There, the Torah says, the Hebrews, “increased in number and became very powerful.” Fearful of their growing strength, the pharaoh turned them into slaves. God was not happy with this. God told Moses, “I will send you to the pharaoh, and you shall free my people.”

The Exodus Continued… Moses went to the pharaoh and told him to let the Hebrews go free. When the pharaoh refused, God punished Egypt with ten terrible plagues. One plague involved God sending an angel to kill the firstborn son of every Egyptian family. Weeping over his own dead son, the pharaoh gave in. ◦ Moses began to lead the Hebrews out of Egypt.

But…the pharaoh soon changed his mind!! The Egyptian army chased after the Hebrews and nearly caught up with them at the edge of the Red Sea. Calmly, Moses raised his staff, and the waters of the sea parted. The Hebrews crossed safely to the other side. When the Egyptians tried to follow, the waters flooded over the army, drowning the soldiers. The Hebrews escaped.

The Torah calls the flight from Egypt the Exodus, which means “departure.” It became a central event in the history of the Hebrew people.

The Ten Commandments During the Exodus from Egypt, the Israelites stopped at the foot of Mount Sinai while Moses went up the mountain to meet with God. Moses returned with the laws known today as the Ten Commandments. In addition, Moses also received many other laws. These laws and the commandments told the Israelites how to behave toward God and one another. These are still important today!!

A closer look at the Commandments The Ten Commandments state Judaism’s basic laws. By obeying the commandments, Hebrews would fulfill their part of the covenant with God. That responsibility was to make God’s moral laws known to the world. In turn, God would protect them.

The Wilderness Experience After the Israelites left Egypt, they lived in the desert for forty years while God prepared the people for migration into the Promised Land. During this time, they learned more about the commandments and prepared many items that they would use to worship God. Israelites sometimes had to battle against other people who thought they were a threat.

Israelites finally began a war of conquest against several kingdoms near Canaan, (their final destination). Some of the Israelites liked areas that they had conquered right outside of Canaan, and Moses said that they could settle there, as long as they helped other Israelites with their battles in the Promised Land first. Moses was not to enter the Promised Land. When he died, his assistant Joshua led the armies of Israel.

The Conquest of Canaan The Israelites entered Canaan from the east under Joshua’s leadership. One of the first cities they conquered was the high- walled city of Jericho. After they won at Jericho, they continued on to conquer several small kingdoms. The descendants of each of Jacob’s sons settled in a different part of Canaan.

Homework!! Ancient Hebrews Quiz on Wednesday. STUDY!!