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The first thousand years or so

SEASON FIVE

How did the Jews become Jews?

Believe it or not, but Jews weren’t always Jews! There is a real history to where Jews, who started off as Israelites, come from: geographically, spiritually, culturally, religiously. This season we’re going back into ancient history to explore the origins of the Jewish People. This is going to lead us to other questions: how did the God of Israel become THE God? Why is Jerusalem so important? What were the temples we hear about, the First and then the Second Temples in Jerusalem? What was the Babylonian Exile? Who really was King David? And how was the Hebrew Bible written — who wrote these stories, why, and when? Lots of interesting stuff – enjoy!

Photograph: The Tel Dan Stele, created circa 800s BCE, which mentions the House of David (white letters bottom right). Discovered in 1993, it’s the only non-biblical evidence of the existence of King David. Currently housed in the Israel Museum, Jerusalem.

 

A Timeline

(all dates in BCE — Before the Common Era)

~15 million years ago - formation of the rift valley through the Near East

~2 million years ago - the land rose high enough to cut off the Mediterranean Sea from the rift valley, creating the Dead Sea and forming the mountain range that is today central Israel/the West Bank

~500,000 years ago - evidence found for human habitation in and around the Land of Israel

~60,000 years ago - a Neanderthal (nicknamed Moses) lived in a cave near the modern city of Haifa; skeleton discovered in 1983

~15,000 years ago - Dead Sea settles into roughly its present form, the lowest place on Earth

~9,400 - a group of hunter-gatherers built a small settlement of 70 homes in what became Jericho; a thousand years later they built a wall and tower

~2,300 - writing of the Sumerian Flood Story, the basis for the later biblical story of Noah’s Ark. Followed a few hundred years later by the Epic of Gilgamesh

~1800 - early development of the alphabet by Canaanite workers in the Sinai Peninsula

1792–1750 - reign of Babylonian King Hammurabi and the writing of his law code, which became the basis for some biblical laws found in the Book of Exodus

1350s - reign of Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaton, first instance of monotheism

1330 - first mention of the city of Jerusalem, then a small Canaanite client state of Egypt

1208 - the Merneptah Stele, first mention of the word “Israel”

1200s - beginning of the Bronze Age collapse, in which new peoples arose in the Near East, like the Philistines and the Israelites. Potential era of Moses and the Exodus from Egypt and the adoption of Yahweh as the Israelite national god. Potential era of the biblical conquest of Canaan by the Israelites; or the start of their gradual settlement and absorption/displacement of the Canaanites

1100s - Era of the Judges. One of the oldest texts of the Hebrew Bible, a poem about the judge Deborah, was written

~1050 - King Saul appointed first king of Israel

1005–931 - the United Monarchy

1005–970 - reign of King David, Jerusalem becomes the capital

970–931 - reign of King Solomon, the First Temple is built

early 900s - United Monarchy splits in two separate Israelite kingdoms: Israel in the north and Judah in the south

mid-800s - Reign of King Ahab of Israel; his wife, Jezebel; and the prophet Elijah

~740–680 - Prophecy of Isaiah

720 - the Kingdom of Israel falls to the Assyrians

~720–687 - Reign of King Hezekiah of Judah, major building era in Jerusalem (including sections of what became today’s Old City)

697–643 - Reign of King Manasseh of Judah

640–609 - Reign of King Josiah of Judah; discovery/writing of the Book of Deuteronomy and its historical era

~630–570 - Prophecy of Jeremiah

597 - Siege of Jerusalem by the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar; first waves of Israelite exiles to Babylon

592–570 - Prophecy of Ezekiel

586 - fall of Judah and destruction of Jerusalem and the First Temple

597–538/520 - The Babylonian Exile

597 - Babylonians lay siege to Jerusalem; first wave of exiles

586 - Jerusalem and the Temple are destroyed, second major wave

539 - King Cyrus of Persia conquers Babylon

538 - Cyrus allows the Jews to return to Judah, rebuild Temple

538 or 520 - Jews begin returning to Jerusalem