The Ancient Hebrews. The Origins and Struggles to Preserve Ancient Judaism

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1 The Ancient Hebrews The Origins and Struggles to Preserve Ancient Judaism

Other leaders included Abraham (original), David and Solomon.

2 Judaism Moses was the main founder of Judaism. Jews believe that Torah was revealed by God to Moses on Mount Sinai over 3,000 years ago. Other leaders included Abraham (original), David and Solomon. The most holy Jewish book is the Torah (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible). According to the Torah, Hebrews are thought to be descendents of Abraham from the city-state of Ur in Ancient Sumer.

3 Judaism Beliefs Up until this point, we have only studied polytheistic religions Belief in One God (monotheism)- Considered the first known monotheistic civilization The term Judaism comes from the tribe of Judah, one of the 12 tribes that descended from Abraham (the father of the Jews) Justice and righteousness: to Jews, justice means kindness and fairness in dealing with other people. Everyone deserves justice, even strangers and criminals. Righteousness refers to doing what is proper. Jews are supposed to behave properly, even if others around them do not. The religious and moral law: Jews follows the Ten Commandments. They do not allow Jews to do bad things like murder, steal or lie.

4 The Hebrew Civilization According to the accounts, the Hebrews left Mesopotamia and moved west to the land of Canaan following a man named Abraham who was told his descendants would create a mighty nation

5 The Hebrew Civilization Migrates After some time, some Hebrews continued going west into Egypt where they were happy for a short time. The population of Hebrews was growing and the people were happy.

6 Interaction with Egyptians However, the Pharaoh began to fear that too many Hebrews would threaten his empire. So he ordered to kill them. Later, Hebrews were enslaved for 600 years. Why do you think the Egyptians enslaved the Hebrews?

7 The Israelites Over time, the Hebrews took the name Israelites (where we get the country Israel) For a while the Israelites were the slaves of the Egyptians What do you think the Egyptians made the Israelite slaves do?

Abraham Father of the Hebrews He taught the belief in monotheism after being told to move his family from Mesopotamia to Canaan, the Promised Land.

8 Abraham Father of the Hebrews He taught the belief in monotheism after being told to move his family from Mesopotamia to Canaan, the Promised Land. Belief that God assured him he would be a Father of a Great Nation Abraham and Sarah followed God s instructions and began their journey, traveling across the trade routes of the Fertile Crescent. Abraham arrived at a city-state called Canaan. The Bible says that there God made a special agreement or covenant with Abraham.

9 Moses The Israelites remained the slaves of Egypt until a man named Moses helped them leave The Exodus (meaning departure of a large group of people) was the time when the Israelites left Egypt

10 After the Exodus After the Israelites left Egypt, they wandered around the Sinai desert for 40 years According to the Torah, Moses went to the top of Mount Sinai and God gave him two stone tablets known as the Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments became the basis of the laws for the Israelites

11 Return to Canaan The giving of the Ten Commandments led to the Israelites moving back to their original home (Canaan Mesopotamia) When they got back to Canaan, the Israelites divided into 12 tribes and spread out to establish cities This was not a peaceful time; fighting continued for 200 years

12 Kingdoms and Captivity Recall some knowledge: when the Israelites returned to Canaan from wandering in the Sinai Desert, there was lots of fighting and clashing with the inhabitants of the region

13 Kingdoms and Captivity The Israelites beliefs set them apart from the other cultures in Mesopotamia and the surrounding regions In 1029 B.C.E, a group named the Philistines began to invade the Israelites The Israelites were divided up into 12 different tribes, so they were not united and therefore were weak, they knew they had to unite themselves or be defeated

14 The First Kings The Israelites selected Saul as their first king, who helped the Israelites take back some land from the Philistines After Saul, the Israelites selected a new king, David, who helped the Israelites drive out the rest of the Philistines After David came Solomon, David s son. With David as king, Israel became a powerful nation

15 A Kingdom Divided When the Israelites were under attack, they united in a new kingdom called Israel However, as soon as the threat ended, the Israelites began to quarrel and fight with each other Once the wise King Solomon died, the fighting and quarrelling intensified, which led to the kingdom splitting into two

16 A Kingdom Divided The kingdom of Israel divided over something that countries today are still fighting about today: taxes It split into two kingdoms: Israel (North, 10 tribes) and Judah (South, 2 tribes) The Southern kingdom of Judah remained loyal to Solomon s son, the king. Today we get the word Judaism and Jew from the name Judah

17 Both Kingdoms Conquered The Assyrians invaded Israel and conquered it, forcing both kingdoms to pay tribute. What is tribute??? Then the Babylonians took over under King Nebuchadnezzar (bonus: what was he famous for?) In summary, the Babylonians took the Israelites from both kingdoms as slaves in a time known as the Babylonian captivity. This is when the Israelites became known as the Jews Hebrews Israelites Jews

18 Babylonian Captivity During captivity, the Jews became exiles, a word meaning people removed from their native land The exiles dreamed of a time when they could return home to rebuild their temple in Jerusalem They also dreamed of one day having their own king, who they referred to as the Messiah, meaning anointed one (later, those who believed Jesus Christ was the Messiah became known as Christians)

19 The Temple is Rebuilt As we learned at the very beginning of the year, the Persians conquered the Babylonians under a king by the name of Cyrus the Great Can anybody summarize King Cyrus s policies for conquered peoples?? (Hint: try to remember how he dealt with other peoples religions!) The Israelites were allowed to return to their homeland and rebuild their cities, especially their sacred temple

20 *Rome and Judea* The Jews were allowed to return to their homeland where they once again had to ask themselves the question: Do we want to be united with a king or divided with more freedom to rule ourselves? What happened when the Jews were divided? What happened when they decided to unite? So, what lessons can they learn from history?

21 Rome Conquers Judea The Jews were a free people, but not for long. An empire that had been growing now controlled their region: Rome Unlike Cyrus, who allowed the Jews to practice their religion and choose their own kings, Rome picked the leaders for the Jews Why would Rome want to pick the leaders of the Jews?

22 Another choice Once again the Jews were under control of another ruler, so they began to argue amongst themselves about what to do: should they cooperate or should they fight? Some decided they were going to fight back, these Jews were known as the Zealots Based on history, how do you think this worked out?

23 The Diaspora The Zealots were defeated, the second temple was burned to the ground, and Jerusalem was taken This led to the Diaspora (Greek word meaning scattered ) The Diaspora was the time when Jews began to leave Judea for other parts of the world Some Jews were taken back to Rome as slaves

Israelites/ Jews Wander in desert for 40 years (slaves to God)

24 Hebrews were slaves in Egypt Diaspora, some taken as slaves Moses frees the Hebrews Cyrus allows them to return, back to being free The Hebrews/ Israelites/ Jews Wander in desert for 40 years (slaves to God) Babylonian Captivity back to being slaves Return to homeland, Elect kings, are free

25 Judaism Today After the Diaspora, the Jewish people worried that they would lose their faith and identity Wherever Jews settled, they set up synagogues, which are places for prayer and worship The religious leaders are known as rabbis

Text 2: The Ancient Israelites. Topic 2: The Ancient Middle East and Egypt Lesson 3: The Hebrews and the Origins of Judaism

Text 2: The Ancient Israelites Topic 2: The Ancient Middle East and Egypt Lesson 3: The Hebrews and the Origins of Judaism The Ancient Israelites Abraham is considered the father of the Israelites and