Returning, the Land of Israel as a Focus in Jewish History
By Benjamin J. Segal
SECTION I THE BIBLICAL AGE
Overview and Chronology
(Page11 in the book)
SECTION ONE – OVERVIEW AND CHRONOLOGY
The Biblical Age
The Jews emerged quietly from the early confines of recorded history, over
three thousand five hundred years ago. As a small family, the first Jews
emigrated from Mesopotamia to Israel many centuries before Buddha spoke
half a continent away, and hundreds of years before Homer was to compose
the classics of Greek literature. The daughter religions were yet to appear
on the horizon. Over a millennium and a half would pass before Jesus would
speak in Jerusalem; over two millennia before Mohammed would be born. The
Jewish family, a small band of relatives, removed themselves from Mesopotamia,
which once had given birth to recorded history and Western civilization,
and entered Canaan, later to be known as Israel. There they settled briefly,
shepherds among other peoples. Two generations later, the growing clan was
already headed for Egypt, and a steady descent into slavery there.
The family emerged from Egypt a people, conquering the land of Canaan as
their own, and eventually giving birth to a new kingdom. Caught between
the world power centers of Egypt and Mesopotamia, the fortunes of the country
waxed and waned across the decades, often in terms of the neighboring “super-powers’“
desires and strengths. The height of Jewish power and achievement was King
David’s. Crowned about 1,000 B.C.E., he extended his rule over wide
territory, while internally establishing new patterns of cultural, political,
and religious life. Just four hundred years later, all lay in ruins. Babylonia,
the dominant force in Mesopotamia, had captured the country, had destroyed
Jerusalem and its Temple, and had taken the Jews into their first exile.
Full independence had come and gone.
As the people changed across those years, so did the type and style of
leadership. The patriarchal authority exercised by the forefathers over
the small Jewish clan receded, as the Jews became a nation, before individual
charismatic leadership. First this appeared on a national scope, as Moses
led the people out of Egypt and through the desert, and as Joshua led them
in their conquest of the promised land. Later, as the tribes settled each
in its own area, individual “judges” arose to lead the loose
confederation when times demanded. This type of rule, in turn, had to give
way before the growing need for federation and permanence. The kingship
was born, under the threatening shadow of the presence of another strong
nation in the land—the Philistines. The kingship survived, despite
a political north-south division just forty years after King David’s
death. For most of its history as an independent nation, two kings ruled
over the people Israel, one from the north and one from the south.
The religious leadership, too, was split, though in a different way. The
priests, understood to be the descendents of Moses’ brother Aaron,
were entrusted with carrying out the Temple service. Simultaneously with
the kingship, however, there arose leaders independent of cult and of monarchy,
individuals who could often criticize priest or king in the name of God
and escape unharmed—the prophets. These men and women, considered
divine emissaries, were charged with carrying both the word of God to the
people and the word of the people to God. In the process, they recorded
and left for future generations some of the world’s greatest religious
poetry.
The literature inherited from all this period is the Bible, a collection
of histories, prophecies, prayers, poems, and laws spanning more than a
thousand years. The holiness accorded the text guaranteed both its survival
and its careful transmission, preserving a relatively clear window to the
past. The earliest histories are there recorded: as stories in the age of
the patriarchs, and as a combination of narrative and documents, from the
exodus from Egypt through the destruction of the First Temple. The prophecies
are contained in the books bearing the prophets’ names. Prayer, wisdom
literature, and instructive stories constitute the rest of the Bible.
Reading such texts bears some semblance to witnessing a birth. This was
the formative age of the Jewish people, politically, religiously, and institutionally.
It was also the age that witnessed the first contacts of the people and
the Land that were to share the same name—Israel. In the Bible we
find not only the accounts of these first contacts, but also reflections
of the first struggles in this developing relationship, one that was to
continue across the millennia.
The Biblical Age—A Chronology
BEFORE COMMON ERA |
EVENT |
1800? |
First Jews move to Canaan and eventually to Egypt |
c.-1280 |
Exodus from Egypt |
-1250 to -1020 |
Conquest of most of the Land by the Tribes under Joshua. Tribes settle,
each in its territory. Loose confederation exists between them. Leadership
by “Judges |
-1020 to -920 |
United monarchy.
a. Saul (1020-1000). First steps to unity.
b. David (1000-960). Period of greatest expansion, defeat of all enemies,
birth of new political, cultural, and religious institutions.
c. Solomon (960-920). Period of tranquility, wealth, and much construction,
including the Temple. |
-920 |
Monarchy splits, North and South. |
c.-750
|
Age of the great literary prophets begins. |
-720 |
North is defeated, population exiled by Assyria. |
-621 |
Religious reform under King Josiah, accentuating the centrality of
Jerusalem. |
-586 |
Fall of Jerusalem and South. Exile of southern tribes. |
-538 |
Edict of Cyrus, allowing Jews to return to Israel from Babylonia. |
-520 to –515 |
Second Temple built by small group of Jews living around Jerusalem.
Most Jews still in Babylonia. |
-450 to –485 |
Ezra and Nehemia lead a return to Israel. Reorganization of religious
and political life |
|
|
Returning: The Land of Israel as a Focus in Jewish
History / Benjamin J. Segal.
Jerusalem, Israel : Dept. of Education and Culture of the World Zionist
Organization, 1987. xiii, 320 p.; 22 cm.