The Bible

And the

Ancient World

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

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

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

Abraham

Father of Israel, to Jewish and Christian TraditionImportant to Muslim TraditionLived in UrWas Called By God to Leave Ur of ChaldeesGenesis 15Abraham 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

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 Abraham’s Existence

It is an excellent apologetic for your respective faith tradition

What Should I Know?The Land Labels of the Past……..

Palestine

Egypt

Mesopotamia

Have ChangedPalestine is now Israel, Palestinian authority, Syria, Jordan

Egypt is still Egypt

Mesopotamia is now Iraq

If You Aren’t a Chaplain, What is Essential to Appreciate the

Bible?

Essentials for Meaningful Old Testament Study

Knowledge of the Land Labels

Awareness of the complexity of the Background

A Basic Chronology of Events

Physical Geography of ANE

Three Main Parts of Fertile Crescent

Egypt Palestine

Mesopotamia

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

The Kingdoms of Mesopotamia

Places

WarkaErechUrEriduNippurKishLagash

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

`Roughly 2000-1550 BCTime Period of Abraham’s MigrationStories of Patriarchs fit authentically into Second MillenniumPatriarchal names fit with Mesopotamian culturesNuzi Texts mirror Patriarchal customs (marriage, adoption, inheritance)Wanderings of Patriarchs fit into cultural and political mileu of early second millennium

Middle Bronze Age

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

3 Kingdoms in Mesopotamia Intersect Directly with the BibleAssyria-deports Israel

Shalmaneser IIITiglath Pileser (PUL)

Babylon-deports JudahNebuchadnezzarBelshazzar

PersianDariusCyrus

Divided Kingdom

Upon Death of Solomon,

2 Sons, Jeroboam and Rehoboam

Jeroboam-Israel

Rehoboam-Judah

The Assyrians

853 Shalmaneser III Battle of Qarqar

841 Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III

Tiglath-Pileser (PUL)

Founder of Assyrian Empire

Assyria’s Three Phase Policy

1. Collection of Tribute, Reduce King to a Vassal of Assyria

2. Assyrians are on your doorstep, leave a hand-selected king

3. Completely annex city-state, punish the people by deportation and import foreigners to settle.

Fall of Israel

Under Shalmaneser VAssyrians besieged Samaria 3 years before it fell722 Sargon II claimed credit for conquering SamariaDeported 27,000 captives from Israel and settled them in AssyriaII Kings 17:1-6

Judah under Assyrian Threat

715 Revolt of Hezekiah

Hezekiah’s Reforms II Kings 18:3-6, II Chronicles 29-30

701 Campaign of Sennacherib against Hezekiah

Decline of Assyria after death of Ashurbanipal II

The Babylonians

612 Fall of Nineveh

605 Battle of Carchemish

Nebuchadnezzar assumes throne

The Fall of Judah

598 First Siege of Jerusalem

Jehoiachin Taken into Exile 1st deportation

II Kings 24:1-16 Zedekiah appointed king

Zedekiah rebels, 2nd siege

2nd Deportation, destruction of Jerusalem Temple

II Kings 25:24-21, Jeremiah 52:1-30

586 3rd deportation

Exile

586-539

Ezekiel

Daniel

Isaiah 40-66

Decline of Babylonian Empire through pressure of Medes & Persians

539 Babylon surrendered to Persians

Persian Period

539-334

Cyrus the Great-Founder conquered Egypt

Darius I 522-486

Xerxes

Artaxerxes I

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

Other Intersections with Biblical Events

Ministries of Haggai and Zecheriah 520 BC

Temple dedicated in 515 BC

Ministries of Ezra and NehemiahEzra led spiritual renewal based on Law

Nehemiah rebuilt walls of Jerusalem

What Did We Leave Out?

ExodusHistory of Israel prior to United MonarchyUnited Monarchy

SaulDavidSolomon

Events specific to Palestine/EgyptAll New Testament Events