The Bible and the Ancient World

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The Bible And the Ancient World
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Why Should I Care?

• 3 Major Religious Traditions have an interest in
  this area
• Earliest Flood Epics and Law Codes
• Writing introduced
• Biblical Characters intersected with Ancient
  History

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What Happened Here?

• The Garden of Eden? Tower of Babel?
• God identified himself throughout OT as God of
  Abraham, Isaac, Jacob
• Abraham came through here
• The Assyrians built their kingdom here
• Jonah ran the other way to not come here
• The Babylonians built their kingdom here
• The Exiled of Israel lived here

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Why So Much Confusion?

• One thing is on top of the other!
• The time-span is huge!
• Scholars vary greatly on this issue
• Conservatively, there were kingdoms rising and
  falling here
• 6000 Years Ago

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Abraham

• Father of Israel, to Jewish and Christian
  Tradition
• Important to Muslim Tradition
• Lived in Ur
• Was Called By God to Leave Ur of Chaldees
• Genesis 15
• Abraham was as far away from Jesus in years, 2000
  as Jesus was for Us.
• Abraham is dated somewhere in the Middle Bronze
  Age 2000-1550 BC

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Why is Abraham Significant?

• Before Abraham
• There was no Israel
• There were no Ten Commandments
• There was no Quran
• There was no New Testament
• If you can substantiate Abrahams Existence
• It is an excellent apologetic for your respective
  faith tradition

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What Should I Know?

• The Land Labels of the Past..
• Palestine
• Egypt
• Mesopotamia
• Have Changed
• Palestine is now Israel, Palestinian authority,
  Syria, Jordan
• Egypt is still Egypt
• Mesopotamia is now Iraq

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If You Arent a Chaplain, What is Essential to
Appreciate the Bible?
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Essentials for Meaningful Old Testament Study

• Knowledge of the Land Labels
• Awareness of the complexity of the Background
• A Basic Chronology of Events

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Physical Geography of ANE
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Three Main Parts of Fertile Crescent

• Egypt
• Palestine
• Mesopotamia

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Pre-History of ANE

• The time period in-between Creation and the
  Exodus
• Specifically the Backdrop of
• Genesis 12-50
• Many kingdoms rose and fell
• Welcome to Mesopotamia

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The Kingdoms of Mesopotamia

• Time Period/Developments
• 4000-3500 Al-Ubaid
• 3500-3100 Uruk
• 3100-2900 Proto-Literate
• 2850-2360 Classical Sumerian
• 2360-2180 Akkadian
• 2180-2060 Gutian Decline
• 2060-1950 Neo-Sumerian Revival

• Places
• Warka
• Erech
• Ur
• Eridu
• Nippur
• Kish
• Lagash

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Middle Bronze Age

• Roughly 2000-1550 BC
• Time Period of Abrahams Migration
• Stories of Patriarchs fit authentically into
  Second Millennium
• Patriarchal names fit with Mesopotamian cultures
• Nuzi Texts mirror Patriarchal customs (marriage,
  adoption, inheritance)
• Wanderings of Patriarchs fit into cultural and
  political mileu of early second millennium

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Important Biblical Dates

• Genesis 1-11 4000-2000 (conservative)
• Abraham GE 12-50 2000-1550
• Exodus 1445/1200
• United Monarchy 1000
• Fall of Israel 722 ASSYRIA
• Fall of Judah 586 BABYLON
• Return from Exile 514
• Birth of Jesus 4 BC

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3 Kingdoms in Mesopotamia Intersect Directly with
the Bible

• Assyria-deports Israel
• Shalmaneser III
• Tiglath Pileser (PUL)
• Babylon-deports Judah
• Nebuchadnezzar
• Belshazzar
• Persian
• Darius
• Cyrus

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Divided Kingdom

• Upon Death of Solomon,
• 2 Sons, Jeroboam and Rehoboam
• Jeroboam-Israel
• Rehoboam-Judah

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The Assyrians

• 853 Shalmaneser III Battle of Qarqar
• 841 Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III
• Tiglath-Pileser (PUL)
• Founder of Assyrian Empire

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Assyrias Three Phase Policy

• Collection of Tribute, Reduce King to a Vassal of
  Assyria
• Assyrians are on your doorstep, leave a
  hand-selected king
• Completely annex city-state, punish the people by
  deportation and import foreigners to settle.

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Fall of Israel

• Under Shalmaneser V
• Assyrians besieged Samaria 3 years before it fell
• 722 Sargon II claimed credit for conquering
  Samaria
• Deported 27,000 captives from Israel and settled
  them in Assyria
• II Kings 171-6

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Judah under Assyrian Threat

• 715 Revolt of Hezekiah
• Hezekiahs Reforms II Kings 183-6, II Chronicles
  29-30
• 701 Campaign of Sennacherib against Hezekiah
• Decline of Assyria after death of Ashurbanipal II

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The Babylonians

• 612 Fall of Nineveh
• 605 Battle of Carchemish
• Nebuchadnezzar assumes throne

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The Fall of Judah

• 598 First Siege of Jerusalem
• Jehoiachin Taken into Exile 1st deportation
• II Kings 241-16 Zedekiah appointed king
• Zedekiah rebels, 2nd siege
• 2nd Deportation, destruction of Jerusalem Temple
• II Kings 2524-21, Jeremiah 521-30
• 586 3rd deportation

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Exile

• 586-539
• Ezekiel
• Daniel
• Isaiah 40-66
• Decline of Babylonian Empire through pressure of
  Medes Persians
• 539 Babylon surrendered to Persians

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Persian Period

• 539-334
• Cyrus the Great-Founder conquered Egypt
• Darius I 522-486
• Xerxes
• Artaxerxes I

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Return Restoration

• 538-445
• Edict of Cyrus
• Jews were allowed to go home
• The Temple could be rebuilt
• Rebuilding of Temple accomplished under reign of
  Darius I 522-486

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Other Intersections with Biblical Events

• Ministries of Haggai and Zecheriah 520 BC
• Temple dedicated in 515 BC
• Ministries of Ezra and Nehemiah
• Ezra led spiritual renewal based on Law
• Nehemiah rebuilt walls of Jerusalem

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What Did We Leave Out?

• Exodus
• History of Israel prior to United Monarchy
• United Monarchy
• Saul
• David
• Solomon
• Events specific to Palestine/Egypt
• All New Testament Events

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Changes After Restoration
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Palestine Under Hellenistic Era
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Maccabean Revolt