The Ancient

Hebrews

Table of Contents
Introduction.1 The Beginnings Of Judaism..1 The Kingdom Of Israel2 Changes For Israel.3

Defeat & New Beginnings..4 Continuing Traditions.5 Bibliography.6

Introduction
The ancient Hebrew people have had a large impact on the world as we know it. There is up to 14 million Jews in the world today. Judaism is also one of the oldest religions in the world. It was the only religion in the world that lost its holy land and managed to regain it again. The Hebrew people were the first peoples to practice monotheism, meaning that they worshipped only one god. Unlike many other religions, there is not one thing that all Jews believe or do. Their faith led to the development of other great world religions, including all of the faiths of Christianity and the religion of Islam. Furthermore, the way that the Jewish people looked at law has changed the way that the rest of the world looked at law as well. This change in philosophy is still evident in legal systems around the world today. This story will give you a brief introduction to the origins of Judaism.

The Beginning Of Judaism

The story of the Ancient Hebrews begins with the founder of Judaism, Abram. Abram was born in Mesopotamia, Mesopotamians believed in many Gods but Abram believed in only one God. According to the Hebrew bible, God spoke to Abram telling him that he needed to leave

Mesopotamia and move and settle in Canaan. God made a covenant with Abram; he promised that Canaan would always belong to Abram and his decedents. The other part of the covenant, Abram agreed to worship God alone. Later all Hebrews had that same belief. Later Abram changed his name to Abraham, which means father of many in Hebrew. Abrahams son Isaac had a son named Jacob. Jacob, who became known as Israel, had twelve sons. According to the bible Jacob loved his son Joseph more that the others, which made them jealous. In anger, the brother sold Joseph to the traders on their way to Egypt, but they told their father that a wild animal killed had Joseph. Even though Egyptians believed in many Gods Joseph still followed Abrahams religion, worshipping one God only. Joseph was a gifted thinker so the pharaoh made him a trusted adviser. At this time, famine struck Canaan so Josephs brothers traveled to Egypt looking for food. Once they had got to Egypt they didnt realize that Joseph would still be there, the brothers soon reunited. Later, Jacobss entire family moved to Egypt and each of Jacobs sons headed a separate tribe. The Israelites continued to live in Egypt for many years. In time, the pharaoh enslaved the Israelites because he feared of the Israelites regaining power in Egypt. The bible says that the Israelites were slaves when Moses was born. Even then, the pharaoh feared that the Israelites would take over the Egyptians. So the pharaoh ordered that every Israelite baby boy had to be drowned in the Nile, One such baby was Moses. Moses mother set him afloat in a basket in the Nile hoping that someone would save him. In fact, the pharaohs daughter rescued him and raised him as an Egyptian. But later Moses eventually found out that he was an Israelite. The bible said that God told Moses to demand freedom for the Israelites. Moses did it but the pharaoh refused. God sent ten plagues to Egypt to try and change the pharaohs mind. God sent all different plagues but the pharaoh still refused. Eventually on the last plague, killing the first born of every Egyptian, the pharaoh agreed to free the Israelites. The Israelites mass departure from Egypt to escape from slavery is known as the Exodus. After departing from Egypt, the Israelites traveled on the Sinai Peninsula along the Red Sea. They wandered for 40 years, having shortages of water and food. Once they had reached Mount Sinai Moses received the Ten Commandment, which were two stone tablets carved with a set of laws, which some we still live by today.

Figure 1 This is a map of Canaan as it divided among the twelve tribes of Israel.

The Kingdom Of Israel

The Hebrew bible says that the Israelites reached Canaan 40 years after the Exodus. Once the got there they settled and built villages and homes. Unfortunately, enemies including the Philistines surrounded them. So they decided to appoint a king. They asked Samuel, a respected tribal judge, to pick the king. Samuel reluctantly picked Saul and he was the new king. Except from the Philistines, Saul defeated many of the Israelites enemies. By doing these he expanded his kingdom. Saul did not follow Gods commands and as a result, God rejected him and he died in war. By 1000 B.C., David, of the tribe of Judah, had become the new king. David was a strong ruler like the Israelites wanted. He expanded the kingdom, and even defeated the Philistines. In time the kingdom stretched as far as from Egypt to Mesopotamia. David named his new conquered city of Jerusalem as the new capital of the kingdom of Israel. Under David, Jerusalem became the centre of government and religious life in Israel. King Davids descendants ruled for another 400 years. Once David died, his son Solomon became the next king of Israel. Solomon began to plan a temple for the place to worship God and to keep the Ark of the Covenant, the box that held the Ten Commandments. To organize the kingdom king Solomon decided to divide the kingdom into 12 tax districts, which were similar to states. Also, to protect routes and the kingdom, Solomon created a large army. He also formed alliances with Israels neighbours. This helped Solomon keep peace during his rule. Since the people of Israel had no war to worry about they got back to their everyday life. The men worked as farmers, metalworkers, carpenters, or weavers. Some men even got jobs as government officials or soldiers. Women normally

stayed at home and did all the housework and raised the children. They also cooked, cleaned, collected water, and made clothing for their families.

Figure 2 David and Solomon.

Changes For Israel

Since the northern tribes disliked Solomon for giving them high taxes and forced labor, when Solomon died and his son, Rehoboam, became the new king they asked Rehoboam if he would stop that, but he said that he would give them harsher treatment than before. Hearing this, the northern tribes rebelled and it caused the kingdom to split into two parts. The northern tribes formed their own kingdom, keeping the name Israel. The city of Samaria became Israels capital. The southern tribes of Judah and Benjamin remained loyal to Rehoboam. Their kingdom, whose capital was Jerusalem, became known as Judah. For the next 200 years, the two kingdoms remained politically divided and sometimes they even fought against each other. Since life was hard some people began to turn away from God. Ahijah, a prophet, said that God told him that since they were ignoring Gods law that something bad would happen. Ahijah was right, soon enough the Israelites fell to the Assyrians, now the Assyrian king, Sargon II, had made a plan to force the Israelites to leave their homeland and then bring in the Assyrians. A large number of Assyrians settled in Samaria and the surrounding areas. The new population became known as Samaritans. The Assyrians had now planned to conquer Judah. The people of Judah fought back and stood up to the Assyrian army. Hezekiah, the king of Judah, protected Jerusalem from the invasion. The Assyrian army completely surrounded the walled city so that the people of Judah could not leave without being captured or killed. They had no way to get the resources they needed so Hezekiah ordered a tunnel built so that the water from the nearby spring could flow into Jerusalem.

Defeat & New Beginnings

In 597 B.C. the Babylonians conquered Judah. They forced the people to move to their city, Babylon. The Babylonians picked a new king

from Jerusalem because they thought that he was loyal to them. But later the people rebelled against the Babylonians. Then the Babylonians conquered Judah a second time. The Babylonians were so angry that they destroyed Jerusalem, and burnt the temple down. The prophet, Jeremiah, told them that since they had not kept their promise to God to worship God alone that that was the reason for the exile. Jeremiah told the people of Judah that they didnt have to worship God in a Temple, but that they could pray anywhere. Since the Temple was burnt down the people of Judah, now called Jews, built synagogues to be a place to pray and study. Teachers called rabbis led the synagogues. Even though some Jews felt at home in Babylon others wanted to go back to Canaan. That people didnt have to wait long, soon after the Persian Empire conquered Babylon. He said that he would accept their religious beliefs. The Persian Empire allowed the Jews to reclaim Canaan and rebuild the Temple. Not all Jews moved back to Canaan, so the exile led to the Jewish diaspora, the scattering of Jews outside their homeland. However, after some of the exiles moved back to Canaan the Jewish community grew stronger. A scribe called Ezra helped restore Judaism in Jerusalem. In about 450 B.C., Ezra led a number of Jews back to Jerusalem from Babylon. Ezra read the Torah for seven days straight. Many of the Torahs laws describe how to practice Judaism. Some tell how to celebrate Jewish traditions and holidays today, like Hanukkah, Days of Awe, and Purim.

Figure 3 Jewish Passover.

Continuing Traditions
In 332 B.C., the Judaeans faced another conqueror, the Macedonian emperor Alexander the Great. At first, the people were allowed to practice

their religion freely. But that ended quickly soon enough they were all forced to worship Greek gods. Judah Maccabee led a revolt, which the Jews rebelled to and that leaving the temple in ruins. After the destruction of the second temple, Yohanan Ben Zaccai, founded a Jewish school in the south of Jerusalem. Soon the school grew to be a centre for Jewish life. Synagogues too regained importance as places for prayer and study. Jewish people observe many holidays and traditions. Two of the most famous ones are Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Rosh Hashanah is known as the Day of Judgment. The Jews believe that on that day God will judge them. Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement. On Yom Kippur, the Jews express regret for their sins and ask God to forgive them.

Bibliography
Porter, Dr. Priscilla, Harcourt Social Studies Ancient Civilizations, Orlando, Figure 4 Jewish star. Florida, Harcourt, 2007. ReligionFacts, (Fast Facts), 2004, www.religionfacts.com/judaism/fastfacts.htm Tracey R Rich, What is Judaism? 2001, www.jewfaq.org/judaism.htm Mandy Barrow, (Judaism), 2008, resources.woodlandsjunior.kent.sch.uk/homework/religion/jewish.htm HubPages, (Fun and interesting facts about Judaism), 2014, tmapsey.hubpages.com/hub/fun-facts-about-Judaism Wikia, (10 facts about the jewish religion?) religion.answers.wikia.com/wiki/10_facts_about_the_jewish_religion Wiki Answers, (what are 10 facts about Judaism?) 2014, wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_10_facts_about_judaism?#slide=2 www.hammondmap.com, (Canaan the 12 tribes) www.katapi.org.uk/Maps/Canaan12t.htm Desert Deliberations, (Mercy spoken by Solomon, expounded by a Saint), 2011, Monday, November 21, 2011, desertdeliberations.blogspot.kr/2011/11/mercy-spoken-by-solomonexpounded-by.html High Point University, (Students Celebrate Hanukkah, Jewish Traditions) 2012, December 4 2012, www.highpoint.edu/blog/2012/12/hpustudents-celebrate-hanukkah-jewish-traditions/

Glogster, (Genocide), 2007-2012, www.glogster.com/pizzamouth/genocide/g-6mho690gfkimmg3cr46tva0