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History and Geography
What You Need to Know to Understand the Tanakh
Genesis 12:1-7
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you, I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was 75 years old when he departed from Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot, and all the possessions that they had gathered, and the persons whom they had acquired in Haran; and they set forth to go into the land of Canaan. When they had come to the land of Canaan. Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oal of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. Then the Lord appeared to Abram, and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.”
Abram’s Journey
What to call this land
Canaan
Israel
Israel for the Northern Kingdom (922-722/21 BCE) and Judah for the Southern Kingdom (922-587/86 BCE)
Yehud when it was a Persian outpost (538 BCE to the Greek period). Also Judea
Palestine (Palaistino) in the Greek period (late 4th to 2nd centuries BCE)
The Land – Some Facts
Approximately 150 miles long and 70 miles wide
10,000 square miles or the size of Vermont
Roughly the same latitude as the state of Georgia, southern Spain, or the Shanghai-Nanking area of China
Six Major Regions of the Land Coastal Plain
Shephelah
Central Hill Country
Rift Valley
Transjordan Plateau
desert
Coastal Plain
Shephelah
Central Hill Country
“
Valley of Jezreel
Arabah (“Plain”) or The Rift Valley
Some Fun Photos
Transjordan Plateau
Desert
Uninhabitable region that extends eventually into what is now Saudi Arabia
Seasons Two Seasons
Wet or horef (November to February)
Dry (mid-June to mid-September)
Two Transitional periods April to mid-June Mid-September through
October
Sub-tropical climate Generally temperate Can get quite cold at
elevation
Agricultural season starts with the rain Wet ground is softer and so
can be plowed Spring rain ripens crops Rain comes from the west
or the sea and so the west-facing slopes get most of the rain
Rainfall
Rainfall Averages Acco and Jerusalem -- 24
to 26” (comparable to London, but all in one season)
Upper Galilee hills – 47” (NYC 41” average)
Megiddo – 16” Hebron 12”
Climate
Temperatures Overall temperate, but with hot summers along the coast and
around the Dead Sea toward the desert Winters can be chilly at elevation and some snow is typical in the
upper Galilee and even in places like Jerusalem (elevation approximate 2500 ft)
Genesis – The Family
Abraham and Hagar Ishmael
Abraham and Sarah Isaac
Isaac and Rebekkah Esau Jacob
Jacob Leah
Reuben (1) Simeon (2) Levi (3) Judah (4) Issachar (9) Zebulun (10) Dinah
Rachel Joseph (11) Benjamin (12)
Bilhah Dan (5) Naphtali (6)
Zilpah Gad (7) Asher (8)
Exodus
Israel enslaved in Egypt
Moses lifted up to deliver the people
Brings them to Mt. Sinai where God makes a covenant with them
Wander in the Wilderness 40 years
Conquest and/or Settlement
Joshua Story told in Joshua 1-12
Three points of attack: North, Central, and South
Archaeological record does not fully support this picture
Judges More of a gradual
settlement of the land
Some battles
Perhaps a combination of external force coming in, a settling of non-disputed areas and internal revolt
Monarchy
Saul the first king
David takes over c. 1000 BCE
Solomon succeeds his father
Monarchy splits after Solomon’s death in 922 BCE (Divided Monarchy)
Northern Kingdom or Israel lasts until 722/21 BCE Assyrian Empire takes over 10 lost tribes of Israel
Southern Kingdom or Judah lasts until 587/86 BCE Babylonian Empire takes
over Jerusalem and the Temple
built by Solomon are destroyed
Persian Period
The people go into exile in 587/86 BCE
Persian leader Cyrus defeats Babylonians; allows people to return to their land
Not many Israelites want to go; Darius takes over and sponsors a new return
Zerubbabel and Joshua lead it
Second Temple built and dedicated
Yehud is a Persian satrapy
Greek Period
Alexander the Great conquers the land c. 333 BCE
Hellenization spreads through region
Division of the kingdom by the diadochi
Seleucid rule c. 198 BCE
Antiochus IV 175 – starts movement that prohibits Judaism
Maccabean Revolt 164 BCE
Final Notes
Brief Period of Independence from 142-63 BCE. Hasmonean Dynasty
Pompey – Roman general – starts his campaign around 64 BCE
Herod the Great 37-4 BCE