History Ancient Israel

Ancient Israelites Around 1200 B.C. there were great changes in the Mediterranean sea region. A people called the Israelites built a kingdom in Canaan. Canaan lies along the Mediterranean Sea. Canaan makes up present day Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan.

Ancient Israelites The population was small, but their religious practices have affected most of the world. Most people at this time worshiped many gods and goddesses, but the Israelite religion focused on one God. The belief in one God is called monotheism.

Ancient Israelites The Israelites spoke a language known as Hebrew. They wrote down much of their history in what later became the Hebrew Bible. In General, the Hebrew Bible is what Christians call the Old Testament.

Ancient Israelites According to the Bible the Israelites came from Mesopotamia and settled in Canaan. The Israelites claimed they were descendents of a man named Abraham. According to the Hebrew Bible God told Abraham to leave Mesopotamia and settle in Canaan.

Ancient Israelites According to the Hebrew Bible, Abraham was promised by God that the land of Canaan would belong to Abraham and his decedents. According to the Bible this is the reason that the Israelites settled Canaan. Important promise to Jews today.

Ancient Israelites Abraham had a descendent named Jacob. Jacob was also called Israel, which means “One who struggles with God.” Later the name Israel was given to Jacob’s descendants. Jacob raised 12 sons in Canaan. His family divided into 12 tribes or separated into family groups based on Jacob’s sons.

Ancient Israelites The separate tribes of Jacob became known as the 12 tribes of Israel. The Israelites lived in Canaan for about 100 years. Then a long drought began. Crops withered and livestock died. To survive the Israelites went to Egypt.

Ancient Israelites Life was not good for the Israelites in Egypt. The Egyptian Pharaoh needed men to build his cities and temples so he enslaved the Israelites. To prevent a rebellion he ordered all baby boys born to the Israelites be thrown in the Nile River.

Ancient Israelites The Bible says that one desperate mother put her baby in a basket and hid it on the riverbank. Pharaoh’s daughter found the baby and names him Moses. When Moses grew up he tended sheep outside of Egypt and here he heard a voice and saw a burning bush that he says was God telling him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt.

Ancient Israelites In order to get the Pharaoh to let the Israelites leave God sent 10 plagues to trouble Egypt. The last plague killed all the first-born children in Egypt. This plague convinced the Pharaoh to let the Israelites leave. As the Israelites left the pharaoh changed his mind and tried to come after them this is where God parted the Red Sea to escape.

Ancient Israelites The Israelites escape from slavery is known today as the Exodus. Jews today celebrate a holy day called Passover to remember these events. When the Israelites left they took off in such a hurry that it was said they could not even wait for bread to rise. This is why it is known as, “the festival of the unleavened bread.”

Ancient Israelites In order to remember this struggle during Passover the Jews eat unleavened bread to commemorate.

Ancient Israelites To journey back to Canaan, the Israelites had to travel through the Sinai desert. The Bible says that during this journey Moses went to the top of Mount Sinai. There he received the laws from God that were known as the Torah.

Ancient Israelites The Torah explained what God considered to be right and wrong. One important part of the Torah is the Ten Commandments.

Ancient Israelites The Ten Commandments shaped the basic moral laws of many nations. They told people not to steal, murder, or tell lies about others. The Ten Commandments also helped people believe in the “rule of law.” This is the idea that the laws should apply to everyone equally. This was different because some laws did not apply to royalty or other classes.

Ancient Israelites The Israelites wandered around 40 years before they reached Canaan again. Moses did not live to see the return. When Moses died Joshua took over and brought the Israelites into Canaan.

Ancient Israelites The Israelites believed it was God’s will to conquer the Canaanite people that were there so Joshua led them to battle against the city Jericho. For six days, they marched around the city while seven priests blew their trumpets. On the seventh day, Joshua told the Israelites to shout and according to the story the walls fell down.

Ancient Israelites The Israelites concurred the region and divided up the land among the 12 tribes. After Joshua died the Israelites looked to judges for leadership. Judges did not rule all of the people generally only 1 or 2 of the tribes. The Bible tells about several of the judges.

Ancient Israelites Around 1000 B.C. the strongest people in Canaan were not the Israelites it was the Philistines. The Philistines had strong cities, and they knew how to make iron tools and weapons. The Philistines started to influence the Israelites. They believed they needed to have a king that would unite the tribes to fight the Philistines.

Ancient Israelites Around 1020 B.C. Samuel the prophet was asked to choose a king. Samuel warned that a king would enslave the people and tax them. They still wanted a king. Samuel chose Saul, but Saul was not doing a good things and so a new king was to be appointed.

Ancient Israelites The new king was David, a young shepherd boy. David was chosen and anointed (When you are blessed by oil to show that God has chosen him) by Samuel in secret. David became famous in Israel when he killed the giant Goliath with a slingshot.

Ancient Israelites The popularity of David after this made the current king Saul jealous and he plotted to kill David. David hid out until Saul and his three sons were killed in battle. David took the thrown around 1000 B.C. Once in power David drove the Philistines from the area.

Ancient Israelites He also conquered other neighboring nations and created an empire. Conquered nations needed to pay tribute. Tribute: is money or slaves given to a strong ruler. David also made the Israelites pay heavy taxes to build up and expand Jerusalem.

Ancient Israelites David wanted to build a fine temple in order to house some of the sacred religious objects that they cherished. David died before the temple was built, but the Israelites remember him as their greatest king, as do Jews today.

Ancient Israelites David had a son named Solomon who became king and he build a splendid stone temple in Jerusalem. It became the symbol and center of the Jewish religion. Solomon was known for his wise sayings, or proverbs.

Ancient Israelites In order to pay for the buildings Solomon taxed the Israelites and so many Israelites hated his rule. The people of the north were especially unhappy because Solomon had made many of their young men work in mines. When Solomon died the northerners rebelled.

Ancient Israelites Ten of the 12 tribes set up their own nation in the north and it was called Israel the capital was Samaria. In the south, the other two tribes founded a smaller kingdom called Judah the capital was Jerusalem, and its people were called Jews.

Ancient Israelites While the Israelites were divided the Assyrians and Chaldeans were building empires. These people wanted to control the trade routes that ran through the Israelite kingdom.

Ancient Israelites In 722 B.C. The warlike Assyrians conquered Israel and scattered the 10 tribes across their empire. Over time the Israelites who were forced to move lost contact with those who remained in Judea and Israel. Historians still do not yet know what happened to these tribes. They are often called the “lost tribes of Israel.”

Ancient Israelites The Assyrians brought people from elsewhere in their empire to live in Samaria. These settlers mixed with the surviving Israelites that lived in Samaria. A new culture developed and became known as the Samaritans. They adopted many of the Israelite beliefs and worshiped the God of Israel, read the Torah over time they were separate.

Ancient Israelites Judaism developed from the religious practices of the tribes of Judah. Judah had survived the Assyrians but around 620 B.C. Egypt conquered Judah. The Jews could keep their king but had to pay tribute to Egypt. Then in 605 B.C. the Chaldeans conquered Egypt.

Ancient Israelites The Jews had tried to rebel against the Chaldeans so in 597 B.C. king Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem and severely punished the Jews. He made 10,000 Jews leave the city and live in Babylon. Then he appointed a new Jewish king.

Ancient Israelites Again, the Jews tried to revolt against the Chaldeans. The revolt did not work and this time Jerusalem was crushed. The temple was destroyed, and thousands of Jews were taken to Babylon. This time period was known as the Babylonian Captivity.

Ancient Israelites The Jews called their time in Babylon exile. Exile: this means they were forced to leave their homeland. During their exile the Israelite religion became what we call Judaism.

Judaism While in Babylon, small groups of Jews met on the Sabbath (this was their weekly day of worship and rest) The Jewish Sabbath goes from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. These weekly meetings gave the people hope. During 500 B.C. the Persians defeated the region. The Persian king Cyprus allowed the Jews to return to Judah. Some did some stayed.

Judaism The Persians did not allow the Jews to have their own governments so the Jews depended mainly on their religious leaders to run their society. Under a scribe named Ezra, the Jews wrote five books of the Torah on pieces of parchment and sewed it together to make long scrolls. This became the Hebrew Bible.

Jews and the Greeks In 334 B.C. Alexander the Great set out to conquer Western Asia. He defeated the Persians, so Judah came under his control. He let the Jews stay in Judah, but he introduced the Greek language and ways to Judah.

Jews At this time you had Jews everywhere. Some still lived in Babylon, some lived in Egypt, and others lived in other lands. The scattering of the Jews outside of Israel and Judah became known as Diaspora. This is Greek for “scattered.” The Hebrew Bible was copied into Greek. As a result, Jewish ideas spread throughout the Mediterranean world.

Jews In 168 B.C. a Greek ruler Antiochus controlled Judah. He tried to make the Jews of Judah worship Greek gods and goddesses. A priest named Judas Maccabeus and his followers rebelled. They fled to the hills and formed an army. They drove the Greeks out of Judah and destroyed all traces of Greek gods.

Jews They rededicated their temples to the worship of God. Each year Jews recall the cleansing of the temple when they celebrate Hanukkah.

Quiz What place did the Israelites settle? What does monotheism mean? What is Jacob’s other name? Why did the Israelites move to Egypt? What do the Jews eat in commemoration of the Passover? Who do the Jews consider their best king? Why did the 10 tribes rebel and form Israel? What civilization scattered the 10 tribes. What is exile? Where did Hanukah come from?