1. Babylon and Egypt

2. Amorites established Babylon near the modern border of Syria and Iraq Hammurabi was king there Israelites captured and in exile in Babylon +/- 70 years

3. Stele of Hammurabi records a complex legal code Resembles laws in the Mosaic Torah It was basalt slab almost eight feet tall

4. A towering, multi-tiered edifice, dominating the landscape

5. High, isolated mounds that dot the Near Eastern landscape. They indicated the sites of long-term human occupation, with a series of towns built successively atop one another

6. Egypt’s unique geographical features allowed it to develop independently of most foreign influence. It was bordered by arid deserts on east and west, rugged terrain to the south

7. 1490 BCE, Egyptian forces defeated a coalition of more than 100 Syrian and Canaanite city-states. The battle lends its modern name “Armageddon” to a place where there is a cosmic battle between good and evil

8. Egyptian system of writing in pictorial characters Developed at roughly the same time as cuneiform script in Mesopotamia

9. Historians believe he was the Pharaoh at the time of the Exodus

10. Earliest known reference to Israel as a distinct people appears on a victory inscription of Merneptah, the son of Rameses II.

11. A large flat slab of basalt inscribed with the same message in three different scripts It was not translated until the 19 th century CE Today’s scholars have found many parallels between Egyptian literature and biblical texts, including Proverbs, Job, and Wisdom writings.

12. “divine righteousness”—justice, truth, and good conduct Temples, windowless sanctuaries—similarly Israel built the Ark of the Covenant Temple rituals in both Circumcision Surgical removal of foreskin from the penis This was an ancient Egyptian rite adopted and perpetuated by the Israelites