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Page 2 of 8 3000 YEARS AGO
Jews under King David become the most powerful warrior and moral force in the area and occupy much more land than they do currently.
1000 BC - David becomes King of the Jews, makes Jerusalem his capital city and commences building their first Temple. Jews become a powerful nation in the Middle East; they expand their territory and exhibit moral fortitude based on their religion or Moses laws in a corrupt and violent world. This commences what is known as the “First Temple Period”. The significant enemy in David’s were the Philistines who lived in what we now call the (Palestine) Gaza Strip (little changes!). David made his name as a warrior early on by killing the giant of the Philistines, Goliath, with a stone hurled with a sling when he was still a boy.. David, once King, expanded his territory and was soon ruling a land very much larger than present day Israel. His country stretched from the Mediterranean sea, over the mountains to the Rift Valley(now known as the West Bank) to the river Jordan which runs north south parallel to the coast and as far on the east side into what we now call the country of Jordon. North south it covered from Damascus to the Red Sea at the south of the Sinai desert peninsular.
David’s (and his successor Solomon’s) High Priest was the well known Zadok and his senior prophet was Nathan. (as in the song written by Handle). The period is noted for a number of moral and human rights firsts:-
- All men are born equal
- Man has a duty to look after other men
- The sanctity of human life
- Man is obliged to obey the laws of God
- State laws must reflect God’s laws
- God organises the future
- Man’s task is to choose between good and evil.
950 BC - Solomon becomes King of the Jews. The early books of the Bible (Jewish Torah) are begun.
800-600 BC - Jews were the first nation to worship one God rather than the pagan idea of many. This period is important as it shows the tendency for Jews to return to the old pagan rituals of worshiping pagan idols like the sun and the moon and fertility gods. The latter obviously have an attraction of their own as some centres of worship were similar to a modern day brothel.
The period of the First Temple produced a succession of Jewish religious prophets spanning a period of some 200 years. The main ones being:-
- c800 BC
Elijah, Normally said to be the first of the classic Prophets but actually not a Prophet at all as he did not predict. He continuously admonished the then King and Queen Ahab and Jezebel for decadent behaviour particularly sexual immorality and the worship of idols. In the end he was forced to flee the country. - c750 BC
Amos,A social revolutionary under King Jeroboam 2nd . He preached that the rich, including the King, should look after the poor. Mainly active in Judea. (Present day area around Jerusalem)
Hosea
He was particularly worried about a return to worshiping idols.
Isiah
Perhaps the most famous of all the Prophets. He was active in Judea throughout the reign of four kings during a time when the Assyrians in the north began threatening Israeli territories. Isiah claimed that the Israelites could blame this enemy action on their own immoral behaviour.
Micah
Much less well known than Isiah but the first to predict the fall of Jerusalem as a punishment for the immoral ways of the Israelites. - c600 BC
Jeremiah
Accurately predicts the outcome of two battles, significant in the defeat of the Assyrians by the Babylonians (605 BC) and the re-capture of Jerusalem (586 BC) by the Babylonians and the subsequent forced exile of the Jews in Babylon.
And finally. Ezekiel
Writing in forced exile in Babylon, he made it very clear that the fall of Jerusalem and the forced exile in Babylon was due to the sins of the Israelis. More famously he introduced the concept of resurrection in his story of the “Dry Bones”. “Oh ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord”
It is now 300 years after the glories of the reigns of Kings David and Solomon when morals were high and armies the most powerful in the region. The Prophets have been predicting disaster as a punishment for the fall from a strict moral way of life.
So as predicted disaster strikes twice in the next 125 years:
- 722 BC, Northern Israel, then called Samaria is overrun by the Assyrians (they came from the fertile land east of the Caspian Sea now Turkmenistan). The ten northern tribes of Israel, some 27,000 people, are taken into captivity and to this day are never seen again. Samaria is repopulated with Assyrians. Jews living a few miles south in Judea and its capital Jerusalem remain intact.
- c750 BC, Disaster in Judea the old south of Israel.
The commencement of the “Diaspora”.
Or scattering of the Jewish race 2500 years ago.
Jews taken into captivity in Iraq but are freed by the Iranians (Persians)
592 BC (Iraqi) King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, just south of modern day Baghdad, attacks southern Israel, Judea and takes the remaining Israelites (now definitely called Jews) into captivity in Babylonia. Nebuchadnezzar’s armies destroy the Temple of Jerusalem. (587 BC) There being no Temple in Babylon the Jews develop an alternative centre for their religious and other affairs, like business, the Synagogue
538 BC After some 50 years in captivity, Cyrus King of Persia (Iran) destroys Babylon and frees the enslaved Jews who are allowed to return to Jerusalem. Not all return and two centres of Jewish culture develop. In Babylon Jews follow a less orthodox or freer faith and culture but those who return to Israel (Judea) go back to basics and the more pious sect, the Hasidics (similar to Orthodox Jews) is created, as the forerunner of the Pharisees.
520 BC Those who have returned to Jerusalem commence the rebuilding of the Temple.
2500 YEARS AGO
This commences the second temple period.
Jews, still the only race in the world to worship one God rather than many, like everybody else, following domination by their liberators the Persians, come under the influence of the Greek cultural revolution for 400 years, which is then followed by domination by the pagan Romans commencing some 2100 years ago. Prior to the Romans the Jews under revolutionary Joseph Maccabee, once again become the dominant military force in the area controlling a territory almost the size ruled by King David.
Summary of this 500 years
500 to 300 BC
This is the period of classical history as seen by the west. (In Greece the famous thinkers namely, Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle spanned the period from BC 530 to 300.) Pythagoras is well known to every English school boy/girl who studies Maths and should be known to every musician for developing the mathematical relationships between musical tones. Aristotle wrote over 400 books on such diverse subjects as Logic, Politics, Metaphysics, Biology, Psychology and Rhetoric. The Jews being in the middle of powerful Greek and Persian empires, as they waxed and waned, were heavily influenced by their cultures and logical thought processes.
Following the Greeks came the most formidable rulers the world had ever seen the Romans. We must also remember the Jews direct northern neighbours the Phoenicians (who lived in modern day Lebanon). Jews who had already had 1500 years of documented history were culturally influenced by all these civilised but pagan groups but their own religion was so strong that the Jewish family and culture remained intact albeit splitting into four sects both at home around Jerusalem and abroad in the Diaspora.
The reforming Jew Jesus was born into this cultural and theological cauldron exacerbated by pagan Roman rule.
These 500 years (500-zero BC) are expanded herewith
Jews under Greek rule
330 BC
After a period of rule by the Persians, Alexander the Great, a Macedonian Greek added Palestine and Judea to his vast empire. Greek philosophy, art and science became popular in the coastal areas of the Eastern Mediterranean which had a significant Jewish (Diaspora) population, notably in Alexandria in Egypt. This created more cultural problems in Hassidic Jerusalem. During this period the Bible was translated from Hebrew into Greek which became a standard even in Jerusalem.
323 BC
On Alexander’s death his huge territories were split between his generals. In Jewish areas, Seleucus gained Judea and Ptolemy ruled in Galilee and further south in Alexandria. The Ptolemies encouraged Maths, Astronomy and Geography which intelligent Jews learnt with enthusiasm. (Cleopatra is probably the best known of the Ptolemies). (Claudius Ptolemaeus c.130BC, was the man accredited with developing the science behind this mini “Enlightenment” demonstrating logical scientific thought as opposed to a dogmatic theology)
198 BC
The Seleucids in Judea conquered the Plotemics in Galilee.
168 BC
The ruling Seleucid, Antiochus 4th built a temple to Zeus in Jerusalem and persecuted the local Hasidic Jews for their faith. This polarised the local Jews into two directions.
- Devout fundamentalist Hasidics, the forerunners of the Pharisees
- Modernist Hellenic sympathisers mainly Sadducees
164 BC Revolution;
Jews revolt against their powerful rulers, the Greeks and the Persians and once again become powerful and independent for the next 100 years (As under their historical idols Kings David and Solomon).
164-134 BC, Maccabean Revolution
Not surprisingly the more fundamental Hasidics in and around Jerusalem, eventually rose up against their Pagan Hellenised brethren resulting in 30 years of civil war eventually to be won against all odds by the minority Hasidics. Priest Mattathias started it with gorilla tactics and his sons continued the battle for freedom. The most successful and powerful being Joseph Maccabee, the conflict is thus called the Maccabean Revolution.
Under Joseph Maccabee the Jews regained their independence for the first time for 400 years. His dynasty, called Hasmonean remained intact for over 100 years and regained much of the territory ruled by King David 900 years previously. Noteably both sides of the river Jordan that is not only the western territory as now. The Jews were great once more, so powerful in fact that they signed a non aggression treaty with the Romans who did not or could not at this time extend their empire this far east.
100 BC, Diaspora Jews
It is interesting to take a look at where Diaspora Jews were living prior to invasion by the Romans:
Babylon (Iraq) and Jerusalem were the two main theological centres, Alexandria (Egypt), Carthage (Tunisia) Tyre, Sidon, Antioch in the Levant (modern day Lebanon), Byzantium (now Istanbul in modern Turkey), Athens and Corinth in Greece and Rome itself.
63 BC The Romans invade and occupy Judea and Jerusalem
How did the powerful Jews allow this to happen? As with many ruling dynasties, eventually an heir to the throne is not up to the job and law and order is not maintained. This is what happened to the Hasmonean rulers who thought they could solve a particular internal problem by asking the Romans to come in and adjudicate.
The Romans responded by marching in and taking over. The Roman method of rule in a relatively unimportant state like Judea was to install a puppet government from selected local nobles, answerable to Rome. They chose a man from the Hasmonean family called Herod who was not very popular with the locals particularly in the northern state of Galilee which became a hotbed of fundamentalist terrorism. This fundamentalist religious terrorist group became known as the Zealots whose doctrine was:
- Jews owed allegiance only to God, certainly not the pagan Romans
- The Day of Judgement was fast approaching
- The coming of the Messiah was imminent and He would have the military might to deliver the Jews from their pagan Roman rulers
To the Zealots and the majority of ordinary Jews the Messiah would be
- A real person
- A priest, king and military leader
- Anointed to carry out the will of God
- Descended from the house of David
- Would restore the Jewish race to their former glory as under King David of 1000 years previously or at least the Hasmonean dynasty of the last 100 years.
The Messiah Jesus, as we now all know, turned out to be a religious reformer who rode around on a donkey rather than a king and powerful military leader riding in a chariot. No wonder the Jews refused to accept him and accusing him of blasphemy sentenced him to death.
The religious/political parties present at the time of Jesus and the Roman attitude towards them.
A snapshot at 50 BC
- The Pharisees
They represented mainstream Hasidic Judaism as practised by local Jews in Judea and Galilee. Basically sensible pragmatic people, they sort and found ways of living at peace with their pagan Roman masters. - Sadducccees or Harsmoneans
This was the Jewish aristocracy formed from the previous Harsmonean dynasty and kept in power by the Romans. They appointed the High Priest, ran the Temple finances and organised the money changing centred at the Temple and the collection of taxes from the local Jews. No problem to the Romans. - The Essenes
The Essens were intensely religious but being pacifists were no problem to the Romans. Their doctrine was similar to but preceded the teachings of Christian evangelist Paul emphasising love not war, respect, truth and stressed diligence in work, study and prayer. Many lived in poverty as hermits in the hills west of the Dead Sea and were indeed the authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls only found in 1947 in Quaran. The Essens were the forerunners of the Christian religion. - The Zealots
This was the militant arm of fundamental Judaism who were not prepared to wait for the Messiah and tried to create a few themselves. They had a presence in all townships in the land but were particularly strong in Galilee. Also known as Dagger Men because of their custom of carrying a concealed dagger. Naturally they were much admired by the majority of Jewish youth but were successfully targeted by Roman anti terrorist squads. However it was not until AD 70 that the Romans finally eliminated them and by this time the hills of Jerusalem were covered with crucifixion sites where they had been put to death.
2000 YEARS AGO
The Herods; Jesus, The Temple is rebuilt and finally knocked down by the Romans; Jews have no reason to stay in Jerusalem and the main diaspora begins; the Jews last stand, the Bar Kakhba revolution.
6 BC - 70 AD
The Jesus story in brief. The Temple is rebuilt and destroyed.
6 BC
The Jewish boy Jesus was born into this diverse Jewish culture in Roman ruled Palestinium as Judea had been renamed by the Romans to make it sound less Jewish. The Jewish scriptures had predicted the coming of a Messiah who will herald peace amongst all men and Jesus claimed to be this person. The Jewish leaders do not believe him as Jesus clearly has no say over the ruling Romans and clearly was no warrior king like David or even Joseph Maccabee. In addition Jews believed there was only one God, so a son of God concept was not acceptable. Jesus was sentenced to death by the leading Jewish court for blasphemy and executed by the ruling Romans by Crucifixion (c.30 AD), a punishment kept for the worst criminals.
Also during this period
- AD 9 - Herod rebuilds the Temple of Jerusalem
- AD 48 - Christian St Paul’s missionary journeys commence
- AD 66 - A five year struggle in Judea by Jews against the Romans
- AD 70 -Roman Emperor Titus finally quells the riots, sacks Jerusalem and destroys the temple.
King Herod
For clarification readers should remember there was more than one Herod. They were all Jews from the ruling dynasty of the Hasmoneans who had been approved to run Israel by the Romans.
- Herod 1 The Great 73-4 BC. The ruling Herod, very unpopular with the locals, who on hearing a rumour about the birth of a “King of the Jews” ordered the killing of all the male infants in Jerusalem in order to eliminate such a threat to himself!
- Herod Antipas 21BC-39AD, son of Herod the Great, and governor of Galilee. Jesus as a Galilean, was brought to Herod Antipas after his arrest but Antipas sent him to the Roman Pontius Pilate in Judea
- Herod Agrippa 1 was the grandson of Herod the Great and became King of Judea (41-44 AD)
- Herod Agrippa 2, King of Chalcis in southern Lebanon, was the son of Herod Agrippa 1. Judged the case of the arrested Paul, and found him innocent. He attempted to prevent the Jewish rebellion of 66 AD and sent his troops out to help the Romans.
The Diaspora AD 70 to 1800
Jews are now set to live as a persecuted minority as they leave Israel in droves to settle in other lands.
AD 66 sees a number of revolts by Jews against the ruling Romans who now refuse to give Jews Roman citizenship. The Romans kill some 50,000 Jews in Alexandria who up to that time had enjoyed harmony with a Hellenic style rule and culture. Finally the Romans under Emperor Titus became fed up with the continuous civil disorder in Israel and destroyed the centre of Jewish culture, the Temple of Jerusalem. This triggers a mass movement out of Jerusalem and the West Bank and the Diaspora story has begun in earnest.
Jews had many places to go as they join their friends who we have already seen have spread from Babylon to Rome in the north and Carthage on the North African coast. Without their central Temple, religious scholarship is decentralised and the Synagogue comes of age. This period is also when the Jews who had converted to Christianity were travelling through the same towns trying to convert other Jews and Gentiles to the modified Jewish faith of Christianity as documented in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. Remember the Old Testament is the story of the Jews up to this period.
The Bar Kakhba revolution AD 132
Jews make a last stand to finally try and rid Israel of their pagan Roman Rulers
The Jews in Palestine who had been expecting a Messiah to liberate them from the Romans clearly did not see the peaceful reforming evangelist Jesus as their man. However in AD 132 Bar Kakhba sometimes called Simeon, the Prince of Israel fitted the role nicely. Simeon was a good military tactician, his military skirmishes were well planned and Emperor Hadrian was forced to send in his best general with the support of 7 legions to quell the uprising. Hadrian flattened Israel, massacred the Jewish inhabitants and destroyed the Temple. Thenceforth the centre of Jewish culture and religion was in Babylon.
AD 200 By this time in spite of having no guaranteed citizenship the Jews had spread throughout the Roman Empire. The following towns with Jewish communities paint the picture.
Rome, 9 cities in Egypt including Alexandria and Thebes, Carthage in Tunis, 6 towns in Spain including Cordova, 3 in France including Massillia and Lugdunum, in Germany on the Rhine Colonia, 9 cities in Greece including Thessalonica, Athens, Corinth and Sparta and 12 cities Turkey, including Ancyra, Caesarea, Tarsus and Edessa, in the Lebanon, Tyre, Sidon and Antioch and Damascus in Syria. Also Salamis (now Cyrenia) in Cyprus.
To this must be added present day Iraq which was not under continuous Roman Rule in the towns of Babylon and Basra nearby the old city of Ur.
In the Roman Empire, Jews were not allowed slaves who were employed for heavy manual labour and they began to hone their minds and skills in the art of money lending and trade.
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