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

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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.