Genesis 1-3

Much is made of the paternalist consequences of women supposed being born out of the rib of man (secondary to the creation), however it seems that this ignores the reference in Genesis 1 to "humankind" being created, "male and female". Does this contradiction indicate the presence of editing or multiple writers? Also, why is it that we overlook the initial statement and take on the claim that women were fashioned from the rib of Adam? Is this not an example of using the bible not to construct, but rather to fit into our preconceived norms?

Lecture 20- 6/3/10

As we close out the quarter, today's final lecture brought us to modern Jerusalem, a city filled with all of the tension and cultural strife of its ancient predecessor Aelia Capitolina, and before that, the city of Jerusalem in the days of King David and the Davidic dynasty.
Following the Israeli conquest of the formerly-Jordanian West Bank and East Jerusalem, Arabs living in these conquered territories essentially became strangers in their own homeland. After years of discontent under Israeli rule, with many Palestinian leaders continuing to propose a forceful end to the Jewish state, the First Intifada began in 1988. Marked by the usual back and forth between terror attack and retaliatory strike, the First Intifada eventually came to a close with the Oslo Accords of 1992. Under the agreement, PLO leader Yasser Arafat acknowledged the State of Israel while Israel in return acknowledged the authority of the PLO as the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.
However, with many on both sides of the issue feeling betrayed by their leadership (and with the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin), peace was not achieved, and thus the Second, or Al-aqsa Intifada began in 2000 following PM candidate (and later PM) Ariel Sharon's defiant visit to the Temple Mount. Lasting over the majority of the decade, this conflict had all the hallmarks of its predecessor, including the lack of a suitable conclusion.
And yes, that brings us to today, a day in which peace seems so necessary and yet at the same time so far-fetched.

Lecture 19- 6/1/10

Today's lecture began the conversation on modern, or 2oth Century Jerusalem. Beginning with the fall of the Ottoman Empire during World War I and the institution of the British mandate, the Palestinian territory once again became subject to rule from Western Europe, this time in the form of British and French (north of modern Israel, mainly Lebanon/Syria) imperial authorities.
Although promising to respect the holy sites of all faiths, the British occupiers set in motion a series of events that, although culminating in the State of Israel, ensured that peace would remain simply a hopeful whim for generations to come. While secretly agreeing to divide the conquered territory with French authorities in the Sikes-Picot Agreement, the British also signaled a half-hearted desire to establish a Jewish National Homeland in Palestine in response to growing Zionist sentiment among Jewish populations across Europe. Although the support for a Jewish state was tempered with Churchill's White Paper, the British had done enough damage with their initial proclamation to invigorate Zionist movements to move toward a Jewish state while at the same time angering Arab inhabitants into a series of violent riots.
The establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 only worsened the division centered around control of Jerusalem. With the armistice between Israel and Jordan allowing for Jordanian control of the West Bank, the Jewish state was from its inception in opposition to the plans set forth by the UN for Palestinian partition between two state, one Jewish and the other Arab-Palestinian. Although the UN partition had initially been agreed to by the Zionists (and rejected by the Arabs), Israelis have gradually crept east in their settlement movements, especially after the Six-Day War of 1967 gave Israel full control over East Jerusalem and the West Bank. With these settlements, it has become nearly impossible for Israel to accept the boundaries laid forth by the original UN mandate, boundaries that the Arab population has now come to favor.

Lecture 18- 5/27/10

Today's lecture covered Jerusalem's rise throughout the Mamluk and Ottoman periods, eventually becoming the modern city it is today. Left without the protection of city walls, the Mamluk city was one in which religious significance reigned supreme. Lacking this protection, Jerusalem was no longer the administrative power seat it had been in years past, but rather left as a city whose importance was contained within the religious ideology. Within the Islamic and Jewish faiths (to a lesser extent, the Christian faith), the city came to become prominent in the spiritual realm, making up for its lack of administrative power with a connection to the religious imagination that made the holiness of the city unrestricted by its backwater role in the political and economic worlds.

During the Ottoman Empire, Jerusalem began to rise from the ashes. With its city walls rebuilt under Suleiman the Magnificent, the city once again gained political power, at the same time continuing to play a prominent role in the religious ideology of the region. Once again blessed with an upswing in building volume, Ottoman Jerusalem was made into a city clearly worthy of its claim as the third holiest in the Islamic faith.

However, the decline of the Ottoman Empire, coupled with corruption amongst local politicians, brought Jerusalem once again to its knees. This time, however, the decline in population eventually came to an end with the beginnings of the Zionist movement. With aliyah to the city now firmly engrained in the religious and secular ideology of the Jewish ethnicity, a return of Jewish population to the west side of the city served to once again make Jerusalem a Jewish-majority city despite its being under Islamic rule.

Lecture 17-5/25/10

Today's lecture covered a period of tremendous turmoil in Jerusalem, the Crusader period. Starting with the bloody conquest by these "Soliders of Christ" in 1099, Jerusalem underwent a nearly 200 year period of dramatic change, with the city falling back and forth between the hands of the Western Christian forces and those from the Islamic world. Although Christianity was in its formative years a religion deeply rooted in principles of peace and non-violence, Pope Urban II responded to a plea from Alexius I for mercenaries following several military losses by the Byzantine empire. In response, Urban makes a captivating (although to this day not completely transcribed) speech calling for "Holy War" to retake the Holy land from the "infidels" of Islam. Playing upon feelings of racism and a deep socioeconomic incentive (pursuit of fame and fortune), Urban's call leads to the formation of a massive Christian force that eventually takes Jerusalem in 1099.

After establishing the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem (with Baldwin I named as "King of Jerusalem" in 1100), the Crusaders began to re-transform the city into a Christian center, rebuilding damaged shrines, erecting new ones, and re-characterizing Muslim holy sites as sites holy to the Christian faith. However, infighting and a lack of incentive for Crusaders to stay in the city left the kingdom vulnerable, a vulnerability exploited by the legendary Ayyubid sultan, Saladin, who regained control of Jerusalem following a rout of Crusader troops at the Horns of Hattin on July 4, 1187 and then the complete surrender of the city on September 26 of the same year. Saladin's mercy in not replicating the slaughter that defined the Crusaders attack gained him a reputation for chivalry in Europe and the Islamic world alike.

But, the Crusader period did not end for another 104 years. During that span, the city bounced back and forth between Christian and Muslim hands, with each conquest leading to fatal infighting on the part of the city's new owners. Finally, in 1291, the last outpost of Crusader power in the Holy Land, Acre, fell into Muslim hands, bringing to an end the Crusader period and instituting a Muslim rule over the Holy Land that would last until the British occupation that followed the fall of the Ottoman Empire during World War I.

Lecture 16- 5/21/10

Today's Lecture dealt with the transformation of Jerusalem into a uniquely Islamic city. Following in the footsteps of a power vacuum created by the divide between the Roman West and the Byzantine East, the Islamic empire swept in and conquered Jerusalem fairly easily, instituting a rule that was uncharacteristically benign in its treatment and tolerance of religious views different from those of the Muslim conquerors.

However, while there was a level of benevolence at the center of Islamic rule, the building projects undertaken by these new rulers clearly had at their core a motive of making Jerusalem an Islamic city, using architectural prowess to assert political and religious authority over the local Christian and Jewish populations (Jews allowed back into the city).

During this building phase, iconic structures such as the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque came to dominate the Temple Mount, at this point known as the Haram al-Sharif. While Jerusalem was simply given the role of 3rd holiest city in the Islamic faith, the political usage of these magnificent structures also came with the added bonus of turning Jerusalem into a tourist attraction, not only bringing in multitudes of Christian and Jewish pilgrims, but now the added patronage of muslim faithful. Now in direct competition for "tourist business" in the form of attracting pilgrims with the holy city of Mecca, the Umayyad dynasty was creating internal tension between those open to the holiest of the newly conquered city and those unnerved by a challenge to the reverence for Mecca. This divide would leave the Islamic empire without a united front and thus vulnerable in the face of the impending Crusade attack.

Lecture 15- 5/18/10

Yesterday's lecture covered Jerusalem's role in the Byzantine era of the Roman empire. An era marking the city's transition into a fully "Romanized" city, Jerusalem during the Byzantine period quickly became a city whose primary religious function lay within the Christian faith. With the Edict of Milan legalizing the faith in 313 and Theodosius making it the state religion in 391, Christianity's influence across the Roman empire grew enormously during this stage of the empire's development. Spurned by the "first" pilgrimage of Helena (Constantine's mother), the city attracted flocks of Christian pilgrims during the Byzantine era, attracted by holy sites such as the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and the Nea ("New") Church.

However, the Byzantine era was also one marked by tension involving the entire Roman empire, tension rooted in both internal and external forces. In addition to the ongoing disputes over the orthodoxy (or lack thereof) that the new Christian church should adopt, the Roman empire itself was undergoing significant political turmoil. During the period, the expansive Roman empire was split, laying the foundation for the political and religious divide that would cement itself between the Christian empire centered in Rome and that which emerged to the east, in Constantinople (Istanbul). Ultimately, this political and religious schism would create a power vacuum leading directly or indirectly to the eventual conquest of the eastern empire (including Jerusalem) by the forces of Islam during the middle stages of the first millenia CE.

Lecture 14- 5/13/10

Sorry about the delay. Headed off to Phoenix right after class and forgot to recap. Anyway, Thursday's lecture moved beyond Herodian times and into the periods of revolt that brought to an end Jewish control or at least autonomous settlement of Jerusalem. Following Herod's death, Jerusalem and the Roman colony of Palestina fell into the divided hands of his 3 remaining sons. Unable to control the area, Roman rule quickly shed its autonomous nature and became more concrete when it came to its power of the lives of the Jewish people. With this control came dissent, dissent that eventually culminated in the 1st Jewish revolt of 66-73 CE. Although the Roman power struggle leading Vespasian to take the throne and leave the conquest of Jersualem to Titus delayed the inevitable Roman victory, Roman conquest of Jerusalem meant the total destruction of the Temple. With Jerusalem lost, the remaining Jewish fighters set up camp at Masada, eventually forming a suicide pact before the Romans could overtake the fortress. Although the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple began the Jewish diaspora that would last until the end of World War 2, remaining settlers experienced a 2nd Jewish revolt in 132 CE. Named for its leader, Bar-Kokhba (Simon Bar Kosiba), the revolt had some early success, but eventually ended in total failure.

With the 2nd destruction of a Jewish revolt, Roman emperor Hadrian asserted total control, banning Jews from Jerusalem (except on the famed 9th of Ab) and rebuilding the city as the Roman Aelia Capitolina in hopes of removing any trace of the former Jewish city.

Lecture 13- 5/11/10

Finishing up Hasmonean Jerusalem and moving into the period of Roman occupation (and thus the period of Herod the Great as well as that of Jesus), today's lecture described the Roman conquest of Palestine as a direct result of infighting and corruption among the Hasmonean rulers who had once been heralded as the saviors of the Jewish community. Plagued not only by sectarian dispute caused in part by their impossible claims to both the Judean throne and high priesthood, but also by political struggle amongst the royal family, the Hasmonean dynasty came to an end with Pompey's annexation of Palestine into the Roman empire in 63 BCE, establishing Hyrcanus II as the "puppet" ruler of the Jewish people (with no political authority). After the later installation of the Idumean ruler Antipeter, the Romans had clearly established rule over Jerusalem and all of Palestine, putting in place a leader whose allegiance to the Jewish community existed only because of the forced conversion to Judaism of his people by the Hasmoneans.

After Antipeter's murder, his son, Herod (the Great) ascended to the throne at the behest of the Roman occupiers. Famous for his elaborate building projects, Herod quickly became a ruler revered by the Romans for his ability to assert power over the conquered Jewish people. In the eyes of his subjects, however, Herod was a highly controversial figure. Although he used his knowledge of the Jewish tradition in order to ensure that his rule was done without (overly) offending the religious practice of the land, he was a reviled leader throughout Judea. His respect for the Jewish faith and ability to provide economic stimulus through extensive construction projects was balanced by an impulsive paranoia that led Herod to essentially kill anyone he felt even slightly threatened by, including his own sons. Thus, while Herod is known today as "the Great", his approval rating at the time more closely resembled that of Bush than it did of Washington.

Lecture 12- 5/6/10

Today's lecture covered Jerusalem during the Hellenistic and Hasmonean eras. During the Hellenistic period, Jerusalem was stuck in the middle of a territorial battle between the Seleucids to the north and the Ptolemies to the south following the death of Alexander the Great. Although the Ptolemies gained control of Jerusalem first and allowed for a significant amount of autonomy, the conquest by the Seleucid dynasty after the defeat of Ptolemy V at Paneas in 198 BCE brought a period of strict Hellenization to Jerusalem. This forcible conversion of the Jewish people to Greek religion and culture created immense internal and external strife, conflict that boiled over into the revolt known as the "Maccabean Revolt".

Led by Judas Maccabeus, "the hammer", the revolt brought down the Seleucid army through the use of brutal guerilla tactics and established a 100 year period of Jewish self-rule. While the revolt was hailed as a religious movement, the nationalistic ulterior motivation came out during the later attempts by the Hasmonean leaders to rapidly expand the empire, forcibly "Judaizing" conquered peoples. Eventually, the corruption within the Hasmonean dynasty (cant be both king and priest according to tradition) led to a complete loss of confidence among the Jewish people, fueling internal dissent that allowed for the end of self-rule around 63 BCE.

Lecture 11- 5/4/10

Today's lecture moved on from the exilic period and into the so-called "Persian" period in Jerusalem's development. Following his capture of the Babylonian empire, Persian King Cyrus issued an edict providing support for the Jewish return to Jerusalem and the rebuilding of the Temple.

While the biblical version proclaims Cyrus a messianic figure, reality probably falls closer in line with the characterization of a ruler intent on appeasing a people who were simply a nuisance in Babylon and whose presence in Jerusalem as allies to the Persian throne was of great value in Cyrus' attempt to curb the threat posed by the advance of the Greeks.

In addition to Cyrus' role in the characterization of the period, prophets such a Ezekiel played a prominent role in describing a period for which little archaeological evidence remains. Drawing upon the same themes within a sort of cognitive dissonance in the exilic period, Ezekiel talked about a dream in which a mobile reincarnation of the Ark of the Covenant appeared to him. This idea of a mobile god, conceived perhaps in an attempt to rationalize the destruction of the Solomonic temple, was integral in the movement from early biblical Judaism to the modern religion of today. In addition to the birth of the 2nd Temple, this growth of heavenly mobility played a key role in making the Persian period one of great significance in the development of Jerusalem, the Holy Land, and the Judaic religion as a whole.

midterm

Thursday's lecture was replaced by the midterm exam taken online. Wasnt bad, felt prepared.

I wasnt expecting as many picture-based questions, and thought that maybe a practice exam with a few sample questions that actually pertained to the material might have helped provide a better picture of what the exam was going to look like. Anyway, fair test no doubt.

Midterm review

Here's a recap of some of the confusing points:

Discussion 5 Notes-4/28/10

• Test Review
• Key Themes Questions
• What are the major religious myths associated with Jerusalem?
• What is axis mundi and how does it relate to Jerusalem in Judaism?
• Hierophanies
• Genesis stories
• Garden of Eden
• Akedah
• Religious myths aid in Jerusalem being conceived as axis mundi
• Garden of Eden
• Solomon’s Temple- JUST DO THIS ONE PLEASE
• Consecration of sacred space
• Threshing floor narrative- David
• Architecture
• Concentric rings of holiness
• Ark of the Covenant
• 2 Samuel 7
• 1 Kings 9- THE AXIS MUNDI CHAPTER
• pray to temple in Jerusalem
• that’s where god is/hears it
• sets Temple as center of world
• describe the role of the ark of the covenant in Jerusalem’s religious history
• built during Tabernacle, instructions from Moses on Mount Sinai
• nomadic people=god travels with them in Ark
• Ark=god’s throne
• Ark fixed outside city in Tabernacle
• Philistines capture Ark, set it up in own temple
• “take god as captive”
• given back, remains outside city
• DAVID
• Looking for neutral capital city
• Center Tribes through religious center in Jerusalem
• Consolidate power through religion
• Religious center by moving Ark into Jerusalem
• Successful move=god legitimizes Jerusalem as capital
• “chosen city”
• Destruction of Ark
• Religious reforms?
• Babylonian capture?
• KNOWN: passed out of Israelite traditions when moved into Temple
• Map the geography of Jerusalem. How has it impacted Jerusalem’s political and economic history?
• 3 valleys
• mountainous
• Western Hill- development
• Gihon Spring=water source (warren’s shaft, siloam tunnel, hezekiah’s tunnel)
• Approachability from the north- defensibility
• Access to water during siege
• Arable land
• What is cognitive dissonance and how does it relate to Jerusalem?
• How do you reconcile contradiction between your reality and your beliefs?
• Babylonian destruction
• Temple lost= god lost?
• 586 BCE
• lamentations, psalms (79,137)
• broken promise to David (2 Sam 7)
• historical inviolability of Jerusalem
• “Assyrian menace”
• Hezekiah’s “victory” of Sennacherib (701 BCE)
• Negotiate tribute (2 Kings 18, Sennacherib’s prism)- HAPPENED
• OR: angel of god came down and struck plague on Assyrians (Isaiah 36-39)- RECONCILED
• Sennacherib gets home and is killed during prayer by sons
• What are the major developments that led to the growth of the legend of Jerusalem?
• David-Solomon
• Taking Jerusalem- Jebusite city
• Census, threshing floor
• 2 Samuel 7
• Temple built
• Inviolability- HEZEKIAH VS SENNACHERIB- KEY
• Terms
• Ain dara/ Ta’yinat
• Other temple in area
• Footprints at steps
• Tripartite division
• Rough estimate of what Solomon’s temple looked like
• Haram esh-sharif
• TEMPLE MOUNT IN ARABIC
• Proper name
• Lachish Letter 3
• Soldier’s letter
• Increasing literacy
• ALSO: Mezad Hashavyahu, Ketef Hinnom Amulet
• Context for development of writing and thus date as to when bible was written
• Ishtar Gate
• Gate in Babylon
• Mentions allowance for Judean monarchy
• Last 4 verses of kings (2 Kings 25:27)
• Ophel
• Sewage dump
• South side of Temple mount
• Child sacrifice?
• Basis for hinnom valley=”hell”

Midterm review

Week 1

Jerusalem as "center of the world"

But why?- its off major trade routes and away from coast

directly between via marus and jordan valley trade routes

difficult, mountainous terrain defines the city

KEy- water from Gihon spring- site of conflict

water into city via underground channels (Hezekiah's tunnel, warren's shaft?)

channels also served as biblical means of Davidic conquest of the city

Water as SACRED

garden of eden- genesis 2

Ezekiel 47

Revelation 22- New Jerusalem

Quran 47- paradise

Old city

5 quarters

jewish

christian

islamic

armenian

temple mount

8 gates

damascus

jaffa

new

zion

dung

huldah

golden

lion's (st. stephens)

herrod's

valleys

surround all sides but north

hinnom=south

kidron=east

tyropeon="transveral" central valley today covered=west of old city

north as historical attack

SACRED SPACE

construction- divine selection

consecration- human creation (THE TEMPLE)

Week 2

Jerusalem=Gihon=Garden of Eden "river"=connection with creation=axis mundi

Genesis 14= Melchizedek blesses Abraham in salem (later Jerusalem)

Gen 22=binding of Issac=moriah0 2 chronicles=moriah=temple

Axis mundi- creation or "cosmic mountain"=pillar with heaven

Holy Spaces

Western Wall

temple mount

holy sepulcher- "tomb of adam"

dome of the rock- NOT A MOSQUE

al aqsa mosque

EARLIEST SETTLEMENT- PRE-DAVID

Chalcolitic Period

execration texts- hieroglyphics in Egypt refer to city

pottery

factors

water

shelter

agriculture

"watershed highway"

Amarna letters- 1350 BCE-300 cuneiform tablets-6 from Abdi-Kheba, ruler of Jerusalem, asking for help

Biblical- Melchizedek- Gen 14

Joshua attack- Joshua 10

Conquest, immigration, or ethnic mix?

Jebusite city- 2sam5

DAVID

TEL DAN INSCRIPTION-- evidence of David's existence- "bragging" about military experience against "King of Israel and the House of David"- 8th century BCE

CITY OF DAVID

south of temple mount

hill of offense (silwan) to east= idols to foreign gods

The Millo

retaining wall remains

around David's fortress

Area G

house of bullae

Week 3

Warren's shaft

charles warren

originally thought to be point of access to gihon spring

now thought to be natural tunnel

CURRENT: postdates Solomon

gihon spring now known to be within ancient city

hezekiah's tunnel=exposure to shaft

HOW DID DAVID GET IN?

Siloam Channel

"silwan"=key translation in bible

series of channels from kidron into Gihon (inside city)

theory: David's men crawled through channels into Gihon spring

2 Samuel 5-6, ChR11

GIHON

coronation of Israel's kings

creative and destructive element

Jesus tried to recreate coronation

Hezekiah's Tunnel inscription

"miracle" of breach

axes meeting

DAVID IN CITY

brings ark of the covenant

builds palace first

wants to build temple, told son Solomon will do that

built inward from Millo

2 SAMUEL 7- MOST IMPORTANT VERSE IN BIBLE

promise of infinite rule of "house of david"= god's covenant with david/israelites

SOLOMON

TEMPLE- 1 Kings 6-7=description

ark

sacrifice areas

"home of god"

three-part "holiness" process

most holy in world=center of concentric "holiness" system

CONSECRATION OF JERUSALEM AS HOLY

"axis of heaven and earth"

"wise King Solomon"

many wives=foreign idols

no archaeological remains of temple or palace

END OF THE GOLDEN AGE

Judah and Israel split-Rehoboam/ 1 Kings 12

Jeroboam=king of israel= build alternative altars

Shishak takes Temple artifacts as payment- Ark of the Covenant?

Division

North=land=commerce=wealth

South=agricultural=backwater- but victory in persisting longer than north=tell story their way

MAKING A "GOLDEN AGE"

die- Memorial

build great palace/temple

create "united" kingdom

JERUSALEM EXPANDS

toward Western hill

rise of Assyrian empire=villagers urbanization to gain city protection

HEZEKIAH (the "new" messiah?)

Assyrian empire in control of most surrounding regions=global economy develops

empire maintained ethnic cleansing policy of public execution (fear) and cross-breeding through rape

WEEK 4/5

Global economy

literacy growth- aramaic

economic seals/receipts

Hezekiah

suburbs=payment for protection (LMLK "lemelech"- for the king inscription)

Ramat Rahel=possible administrative center

growth of jerusalem

400% population increase, now 30% of Judah

Effects of Assyrian menace

forced urbanization

social dislocation

changing family structure (more nuclear)

new religious movements in jerusalem (until Josiah=one religion, zero tolerance)

centralization of government/power in urban areas

social justice issues

craft specialization

social class development

demographic shifts

war preparations

"broad wall"- Isaiah 22

water supply protected=hezekiah's tunnel, pools

administration= 4 centers- LMLK inscriptions

growth in literacy= foundation for "people of the book"

Hezekiah texts reattributed to Jesus

Isaiah 7, 9, 10, 11, 36-39

Assyrians=Romans, Hezekiah=Jesus

SENNACHERIB

46 cities of Judah destroyed, Hezekiah "trapped like a bird in a cage" *not destroyed (2 Kings 18-19)

Jerusalem "Saved" by god

"for david's sake"- 1 Kings 15, 2 Kings 8 , 2 kings 19-20, Jeremiah 7, 2 Kings 21

INVIOLABLE CITY

Josiah

"found" the book of the law=religious reforms=centralization of religion in jerusalem (2 Kings 18, 22-23)

idols/other shrines destroyed

ark of the covenant destroyed?

temple as sole worship site

RELIGION BASED UPON WORSHIP OF A BOOK - 2 KINGS 23

Mezad Hashvayahu- ostracon found 15km south of tel aviv- complaint about BANKING LAWS and ABUSE- reveals importance of law and widespread nature of literacy

KETTEF HINNOM- silver amulets- quote Numbers and Deuteronomy- date to pre-exile

dies at Megiddo in battle with Pharaoh Neco (shouldnt happen to "good" king with god's protection)

LATER

babylonian destruction of jerusalem/temple by Nebuchadnezzar

3 exiles- 597, 586 (MAIN, temple destroyed 2 Kings 25), 581

EXILE

ark of the covenant brought?destroyed?

End of Davidic Dynasty?

promise broken?

End of the Land?

what happened to place for gods people?

end of gods "chosen people"?

end of the temple?

where is god's dwelling place?

ark?

experience contradicts faith

KINGS CONTRADICTIONS

Josianic- pre-exile=praise Josiah's dedication to god=positive ending

Exilic postscript=written after exile=destruction "prophesized" as result of gods wrath=inconsistent with other texts (faith crisis after temple destruction)

2 SAMUEL 7 NOW CONDITIONAL PROMISE

10 commandments

Songs of lamentation

lamentations

psalms

TEMPLE= "god puts his NAME there"- not dwelling place- cognitive dissonance after destruction

Deut 12

2 Kings 21

"name of God" in Jerusalem

1 Kings 9, 11, 2 Kings 21

2 Samuel 7 clear about gods presence, "name" in deut 12 not clear

EXILE

Royal family evidence of existence in Babylon, family allowance, tablets near Ishtar gate dating 595 to 570 BCE

Lecture 9- 4/27/10

This lecture was simply a touch up on last week, so I am going to post a recap of the quarter up to the midterm later today or tomorrow. As for the material today, the basic idea was that the problems created by the destruction of Jerusalem and the subsequent exile forced the Israelites to reconsider their faith. As a result, the texts begin to describe a shift in the view of Jerusalem as the "house of god" from that of it being his residence to the view "that His name resides there". This new distinction allowed the city to retain its religious importance while hammering out some of the conflicts between the 2 Samuel promises and the realities of the exilic period.

Recap of the quarter coming soon

Lecture 8- 4/22/10

Sorry about the delay, almost forgot this one. Anyway, yesterday's lecture picked up where Tuesday's left off, delving into the reign of Josiah as well as the destruction of Jerusalem and the beginnings of the Babylonian exile. Although he attained the throne at just eight years old, Josiah's time as king was influential in setting the foundations for modern Judaism. Although probably not an ancient document, but rather a text written at the time, Josiah's court "found" a scroll containing laws supposedly handed down from ancient communications with god. In line with the concepts contained within the scroll, Josiah set about undertaking a widespread program of religious reform, restoring the ideals of and even adding to the orthodoxy establishing under King Hezekiah. However, while religious reforms did indeed move the region toward religious centralization, Josiah's death at Megiddo in 609 BCE began a series of events that would force the followers of Yahweh to put their faith into serious question.

After Josiah's death, Jerusalem was vulnerable to attack by the rapidly-expanding Neo-Babylonian empire. Following a few smaller siege-surrender-exile cycles, the betrayal of Zedekiah prompts Babylonian rule Nebuchadnezzar to enter the city, destroy the Temple, and sent the city's entire learned population into exile. Because this act not betrayed the concept of an eternal temple, but also of eternal Davidic rule, the destruction of Jerusalem forced Israelites to put their faith into question.

As a result, the faith became redefined by the "book" Josiah had used to justify his multitude of religious reforms. No longer bound by the concept of eternal rule over Jerusalem, the Israelites were able to redefined their faith by an adherence to the laws supposedly handed down from their god to Moses on Mount Sinai. This redefinition was pivotal in setting the stage for the development of modern Judaism, a faith whose followers are still known as "The People of the Book".

Lecture 7-4/20/10

Although the latter portion of the lecture shifted toward a focus on the rule of Josiah, the primary focus of today was the rule of Hezekiah over Judah. Responsible both for religious reform and a period of great urbanization, Hezekiah ruled over Jerusalem during a period of great distress for the people of the village. Because of the threat posed by the great menace of the Assyrian Empire, villagers across the region flocked to the relative safety of walled cities such as Jerusalem. As a result of this threat, Jerusalem saw its population increase five fold, transitioning from a small city of around 8,000 to a vibrant metropolis of 40,000 people from varying backgrounds in a matter of just a few years. Along with the increased population and thus physical growth of the city came a multitude of problems associated with diversity of background, class, and belief set. The social stratification that resulted became the focus of many contemporary prophets who saw the lackluster treatment of the city's poor as antithetical to the Jewish faith at that point in time.

However, Hezekiah's pivotal moment came when the Assyrian ruler, Sennacherib, came to Jerusalem's doorstep. Threatening siege and total destruction, the Assyrians first tried to induce surrender, at which point Hezekiah turned to prayer in the hopes of divine deliverance from the Assyrian threat. In what the bible has portrayed as a miracle, Hezekiah's prayers were answered with the pull out of Assyrian troops following a widespread plague amongst their camp. Thus, Jerusalem's "deliverance" from the Assyrian threat became the basis for its supposed inviolability.

What is intriguing about Hezekiah's rule is that the prophecies of deliverance given in the book of Kings give the king an almost messianic image. Providing at the very least the impetus for, and perhaps even the specific text concerning the rise of Jesus some 700 years later, Hezekiah's deliverance from the Assyrian threat is mirrored during the rule of the Romans. This theme of prophetic re-interpretation is common throughout the biblical text, allowing for much of the foundation in both the Christian and Muslim faiths.

Lecture 6- 4/15/10

DONT FORGET ONLINE MIDTERM

ON Date of Midterm, during lecture time

1 Essay question

Look at summary of material on course page

HINTS ON FACEBOOK PAGE

Big concepts from readings not covered in lecture

The lecture began by clearing up some of the loose ends about Solomon. An interesting point made was that most of the stories contained within the bible lack archeological evidence. Not until the 8th/7th century BCE does archeological evidence begin to correlate somewhat with the biblical trajectory. Thus, biblical stories of the exodus, Solomon, David, and battles with the Philistine civilization are lacking in concrete archaeological evidence. Next, we covered the Ophel excavations in and around the Temple Mount, creating controversy between the Muslim controllers of the top and the Israeli government in control of the surrounding area currently under excavation. In the excavations, no temple or palace has been uncovered. However, some fragmentary archaeological evidence has been uncovered relating possibly to the stepped stone structure known as the millo. Additionally, inscriptions have been found referring to water and possibly dating to Solomon's era. However, these inscriptions may postdate the era and the evidence of old hebrew writing may actually be forgery.

In terms of the temple itself, the main concept behind its construction is the three-tiered setup, with each tier becoming increasingly "holy" as one moves toward the center of the structure. First, the outside portico or courtyard, used by landed men in the city for sacrifice. Including the two pillars, Jachin and Boaz, as well as the Bronze Sea (large bath- "god conquers the sea"?), the courtyard area marked a transition into the holy space that was the temple itself. Next was the "main hall", used by the town priests to store temple artifacts. With entry restricted to those of priestly occupation, the hall area was the "sanctuary" of today's synagogue (although in a sense more like the bima, with the courtyard being the sanctuary from which worshippers could be led in prayer). Finally, the inside of the temple, or the "holy of holies", marked the holiest place in the temple and thus in the city as a whole.

With "levels of holiness" increasing inward as those in the Jewish faith moved toward the temple, this "holy of holies" was the axis mundi, or "center of the world". Within this concept of concentric holiness, Jerusalem is thus allowed a higher level of "holiness" than its surroundings, Israel is levied a greater holiness than the rest of the world, and so on and so forth, all revolving around the idea of this "holy of holies" being the most holy space in the Jewish faith and thus a religious axis mundi.

After the temple, we dove into the post-Solomon era of division between Israel and Judah as well as the Assyrian conquest that brought Israel to its knees. Because of this Assyrian encroachment, many villages were destroyed, leaving survivors as well as those in neighboring villages to take up refuge inside the walls of Jerusalem. As a result, the rise of the Assyrian empire coincided with a period of tremendous growth and urbanization crucial to the city's history.

Lecture 5-4/13/10

First of all, I have to say that I was a bit confused as to the parameters of the paper we just turned in. I understood that this was supposed to be far less in-depth than the 2^nd paper, but Jared’s comment in discussion that we weren’t supposed to be “making an argument” was a bit confusing. Since this is a draft, I hope and do think that the comments I get back will clear up most of this confusion.

Okay, on to the lecture. The first part of the lecture revolved around the controversies surrounding Warren’s shaft and Siloam channel/pool. After discussing these archeological discoveries and their connection to the Canaanite settlement as well as David’s assault, we finished discussing the rule of David. One of the key points made concerning David was that he did not build the first temple, his son, Solomon, did. David was responsible for taking back the city, bringing in the Ark of the Covenant, and building his palace, but god instructed David not to build the temple because of the blood on his hands from years as a war lord (1 Chronicles 21:28-22:10).

After discussing David and the Ark of the Covenant, we briefly introduced the rule of Solomon ("Wise" King Solomon). While his father was responsible for most of the "construction" phase of sacred development from Eliade's viewpoint, Solomon completed Jerusalem's consecration as a sacred space. While the bible goes into detail about Solomon's reign and the building of the temple, no archeological evidence remains, leading some to believe that this lack of evidence points toward fallacy in the biblical accounts.

Along with this controversy over a lack of evidence comes the fundamental question of whether an "absence of evidence" is indeed itself "evidence of absence". Extended to the question of god's existence, this assertion probably carries a bit more weight. Because many of the supposed fundamental surrounding divine existence go beyond the physical norms we know true today, an absence of evidence can easily be argued as evidence of absence. However, while the context we know of surrounding Solomon makes this argument weaker when applied to biblical accounts of his reign, the lack of familiar with earlier events involving a divine being could account for the belief by many that this assertion is true in the case of god's existence. Who's right? Honestly, I dont know and quite frankly, without evidence, no one does.

Lecture 4-4/8

Today focused primarily on Jerusalem before David as well as an introduction of David's intrusion and set-up of the City of David. In the discussion of Canaanite Jerusalem, one of the main topics was the dispute over Joshua's role in Jerusalem as it comes out through Joshua 10 and Joshua 15. Also discussed was the role of pottery in dating Jerusalem's development prior to David as well as the importance of execration texts and the Amarna letters in showing that the city had a prominent role in the Egyptian empire of Canaan.

With so much tension and violence continuing to stem from biblical disputes such as that which continues over the role of Joshua, I cannot understand why modern civilization cannot simply put history aside and move on? As a person of the Jewish faith myself, it truly makes no sense why our faith continues to engage in violent struggle over a city with merely religious importance and a shaking historical background. Without attempting to appear more informed than anyone else on the realities behind such biblical disputes, it still makes no sense to me why my faith isnt willing to just say "fine, youre right" and move on. Death and destruction is simply not worth a fight over literary significance.

April 6, 2010- Sacred Space and Time

This lecture, building upon last Thursday, focused on the general concepts of Sacred space and time, while getting more specific in terms of these concepts as they apply to the development of Jerusalem. In biblical stories ranging from the Garden of Eden in Genesis 2 to David's building of an altar at the Threshing floor in 1 Chronicles 21-22, the development of sacred space has been marked both by ritual procedure as well as the common theme of divine dictation. Whereas the consecration (and physical construction) of the space itself is the work of humanity, such sacred space is located only at those spots supposedly dictated by god to the person with whom he is communicating.

While this idea was brought up briefly last lecture, the new theme of sacred time came to the forefront today. Beginning with the divine creation of the sabbath, faiths across the board have developed what are now commonly known as "holidays" out of the biblical procedures handed down from the heavens. Although many of these holidays, including the sabbath, are justified by various (and sometimes conflicting) means throughout the bible and other texts, they all portray the common thread of importance in time for those involved in faith. Whereas the development of sacred places did not including specific reference to common "places of worship" that abound today (save for the divine Temples- but worship could occur anywhere), time is singled out and set aside specifically for religious purpose. Within the Christian faith that dominates today, we see the importance of time in the simple fact that, although churches differ widely in design, location, and even specific sect, they all worship on Sunday, the sabbath (well, at least most do, but you get the point). Whether one worships in a tent on the outskirts of Jackson, Wyoming or a church in the heart of New York City is irrelevant. But leaving Sunday as the designated time of that worship is.

Lecture 2-4/1/10

Today's Lecture focused on two main themes:

First, We discussed the formation of Jerusalem as a major city for many faiths, societies, and human civilizations. Without direct access to any major trade route, nor with proximity to any major water source or abundance of other natural resource, Jerusalem's location is highly atypical of a major human settlement. Still, Jerusalem has been viewed as such by the three major faiths of today and by humans throughout time.

Jerusalem does have a topographical prowess. With the Old City situated on top of a hill and surrounded on its south, east, and west edges by severe valleys, natural defense was a selling point. Still, the northern edge of the city remained vulnerable, leading to its being the location of the city's most fortified walls and most historical intrusions.

Moving on in the lecture, the concept of sacred space became the primary topic. With three faiths viewing Jerusalem in this light, we broke down the concept into the construction, consecration, and creation/re-creation phases. Because this process of creating and maintaining sacred space is largely the same among all faiths, Jerusalem (and its holy sites) has come to be revered by those not simply of the faith to whom the site is considered holy, but rather to all mankind. Perhaps the same phenomena is at play in the common occurrance of churches being converted into/used as synagogues and visa versa. For some reason, having high holy day services in a Catholic Church feels less awkward than a high school gym or hotel ballroom. While the Church itself has no sacred meaning to the Jewish faith, there is something about places of worship, regardless of type, that all mankind recognizes as "holy".

Lecture 1- 3/30

Today was pretty simple, just an overview of the class and the syllabus. Reading is out of Bahat for Thursday. Not much to say for the first class. Discussion tomorrow and back at it with lecture on Thursday.