1.
Al-Aqsa Mosque
–
Al-Aqsa Mosque, also known as Al-Aqsa and Bayt al-Muqaddas, is the third holiest site in Sunni Islam and is located in the Old City of Jerusalem. Muslims believe that Muhammad was transported from the Sacred Mosque in Mecca to al-Aqsa during the Night Journey, Islamic tradition holds that Muhammad led prayers towards this site until the seventeenth month after the emigration, when God directed him to turn towards the Kaaba. The mosque was destroyed by an earthquake in 746 and rebuilt by the Abbasid caliph al-Mansur in 754. His successor al-Mahdi rebuilt it again in 780, another earthquake destroyed most of al-Aqsa in 1033, but two years later the Fatimid caliph Ali az-Zahir built another mosque which has stood to the present day. When the Crusaders captured Jerusalem in 1099, they used the mosque as a palace and the Dome of the Rock as a church, but its function as a mosque was restored after its recapture by Saladin in 1187. More renovations, repairs and additions were undertaken in the centuries by the Ayyubids, Mamluks, Ottomans, the Supreme Muslim Council. Today, the Old City is under Israeli control, but the remains under the administration of the Jordanian/Palestinian-led Islamic Waqf. Al-Masjid al-Aqsa translates from Arabic into English as the farthest mosque, for centuries, al-Masjid al-Aqsa referred not only to the mosque, but to the entire sacred sanctuary, while al-Jami al-Aqsa referred to the specific site of the mosque. This changed during the period of Ottoman rule when the complex came to be known as al-Haram al-Sharif. The al-Aqsa Mosque is located on the Temple Mount, referred to by Muslims today as the Haram al-Sharif, at the time of the Second Temple, the present site of the mosque was occupied by the Royal Stoa, a basilica running the southern wall of the enclosure. The Royal Stoa was destroyed along with the Temple during the sacking of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 CE, however, remains identified as those of the Nea Church were uncovered in the south part of the Jewish Quarter in 1973. Analysis of the beams and panels removed from the mosque during renovations in the 1930s shows they are made from Cedar of Lebanon. Radiocarbon dating indicates a range of ages, some as old as 9th-century BCE. These included a mosaic like those used in Byzantine churches, the current construction of the al-Aqsa Mosque is dated to the early Umayyad period of rule in Palestine. However, Arculf visited Palestine during the reign of Muawiyah I and this latter claim is explicitly supported by the early Muslim scholar al-Muthahhar bin Tahir. According to several Muslim scholars, including Mujir ad-Din, al-Suyuti, and al-Muqaddasi, however, the entire Haram al-Sharif was meant to represent a mosque. The bridge would have spanned the street running just outside the wall of the Haram al-Sharif to give direct access to the mosque. Direct access from palace to mosque was a feature in the Umayyad period
Al-Aqsa Mosque
–
Al-Aqsa Mosque Masjid al-Aqsa
Al-Aqsa Mosque
–
The mosque along the southern wall of Haram al-Sharif
Al-Aqsa Mosque
–
The doors of the Saladin Minbar, early 1900s. The
minbar was built on
Nur al-Din 's orders, but installed by Saladin
Al-Aqsa Mosque
–
The dome of the mosque in 1982. It was made of aluminum (and looked like silver), but replaced with its original lead plating in 1983
2.
Hebrew Bible
–
They are composed mainly in Biblical Hebrew, with some passages in Biblical Aramaic. The term does not comment upon the naming, numbering or ordering of books, the term Hebrew Bible is an attempt to provide specificity with respect to contents but avoid allusion to any particular interpretative tradition or theological school of thought. Hebrew Bible refers to the Jewish biblical canon, in its Latin form, Biblia Hebraica, it traditionally serves as a title for printed editions of the Masoretic Text. Many biblical studies scholars advocate use of the term Hebrew Bible as a substitute to terms with religious connotations. Hebrew Bible Old Testament without prescribing the use of either, however, he accepts that there is no reason why non-Christians should feel obliged to refer to these books as the Old Testament, apart from custom of use. Modern Christian formulations of this tension include Supersessionism, Covenant Theology, New Covenant Theology, Dispensationalism, in terms of canon, Christian usage of Old Testament does not refer to a universally agreed upon set of books but, rather, varies depending on denomination. The Hebrew Bible includes small portions in Aramaic, written and printed in Aramaic square-script, the books that constitute the Hebrew Bible developed over roughly a millennium. The oldest texts seem to come from the 11th or 10th centuries BCE and they are edited works, being collections of various sources intricately and carefully woven together. Since the 19th century, most biblical scholars have agreed that the Pentateuch consists of four sources which have been woven together and these four sources are J, D, E and P sources. They were combined to form the Pentateuch sometime in the 6th century BCE and this theory is now known as the documentary hypothesis, and has been the dominant theory for the past two hundred years. The Deuteronomist credited with the Pentateuchs book of Deuteronomy is also said to be the source of the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, several editions, all titled Biblia Hebraica, have been produced by various German publishers since 1906. Between 1906 and 1955, Rudolf Kittel published nine editions of it,1966, the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft published the renamed Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia in six editions until 1997. Since 2004 the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft has published the Biblia Hebraica Quinta, other projects include, Hebrew University Bible Project Hebrew Bible, A Critical Edition Biblical canon Books of the Bible Non-canonical books referenced in the Bible Torah Brueggemann, Walter. An introduction to the Old Testament, the canon and Christian imagination, the People of Ancient Israel, an introduction to Old Testament Literature, History, and Thought, Harper and Row,1974. Sinai and Zion, An Entry into the Jewish Bible, archived from the original on 14 March 2012. The Ancient Near East, Volume I, Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton University Press. An abridgement of Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament Noth, how the Bible Became a Book. The Old Testament, A Literary History, hebrew-English Tanakh, the Jewish Bible Complete, fully vocalized, contilated, Masoretic text of the Hebrew Bible, together with the classic English translation by the Jewish Publication Society
Hebrew Bible
–
Page from an 11th-century
Aramaic Targum manuscript of the Hebrew Bible.
3.
Temple in Jerusalem
–
These successive temples stood at this location and functioned as a site of ancient Israelite and later Jewish worship. The Hebrew name given in the Hebrew Bible for the complex is either Beit YHWH, Beit HaElohim House of God, or simply Beiti my house. The term hekhal hall or main building is often translated temple in older English Bibles, in rabbinical literature the temple is Beit HaMikdash, The Sanctified House, and only the Temple in Jerusalem is referred to by this name. The Hebrew Bible says that the First Temple was built in 957 BCE by King Solomon and this temple was sacked a few decades later by Shoshenq I, Pharaoh of Egypt. The First Temple was totally destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BCE, according to the Book of Ezra, construction of the Second Temple was authorized by Cyrus the Great and began in 538 BCE, after the fall of the Babylonian Empire the year before. It was completed 23 years later, on the day of Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the Great. However, with a reading of the Book of Ezra and the Book of Nehemiah, there were four edicts to build the Second Temple. Cyrus in 536 BCE, which is recorded in the first chapter of Ezra, next, Darius I of Persia in 519 BCE, which is recorded in the sixth chapter of Ezra. Third, Artaxerxes I of Persia in 457 BCE, which was the year of his reign. Finally, by Artaxerxes again in 444 BCE in the chapter of Nehemiah. Moreover, the narrowly avoided being destroyed again in 332 BCE when the Jews refused to acknowledge the deification of Alexander the Great of Macedonia. Alexander was allegedly turned from his anger at the last minute by astute diplomacy, further, after the death of Alexander on 13 June 323 BCE, and the dismembering of his empire, the Ptolemies came to rule over Judea and the Temple. Under the Ptolemies, the Jews were given many civil liberties, however, when the Ptolemaic army was defeated at Panium by Antiochus III of the Seleucids in 198 BCE, this policy changed. Antiochus wanted to Hellenize the Jews, attempting to introduce the Greek pantheon into the temple. Moreover, a rebellion ensued and was crushed, but no further action by Antiochus was taken. However, his policies never took effect in Judea, since he was assassinated the year after his ascension, Antiochus IV Epiphanes succeeded his older brother to the Seleucid throne and immediately adopted his fathers previous policy of universal Hellenisation. The Jews rebelled again and Antiochus, in a rage, retaliated in force, considering the previous episodes of discontent, the Jews became incensed when the religious observances of Sabbath and circumcision were officially outlawed. When Antiochus erected a statue of Zeus in their temple and Hellenic priests began sacrificing pigs, when a Greek official ordered a Jewish priest to perform a Hellenic sacrifice, the priest killed him
Temple in Jerusalem
–
Herod's Temple as imagined in the
Holyland Model of Jerusalem. It is currently situated adjacent to the
Shrine of the Book exhibit at the
Israel Museum, Jerusalem.
Temple in Jerusalem
–
Remnants of the 1st century Stairs of Ascent, discovered by archaeologist
Benjamin Mazar, to the entrance of the Temple Courtyard. Pilgrims coming to make sacrifices at the Temple would have entered and exited by this stairway.
Temple in Jerusalem
–
Model of Second Temple made by Michael Osnis from Kedumim.
Temple in Jerusalem
–
The
Trumpeting Place inscription, a stone (2.43×1 m) with
Hebrew writing "To the Trumpeting Place" uncovered during archaeological excavations by
Benjamin Mazar at the southern foot of the
Temple Mount is believed to be a part of the complex of the Second Temple.
4.
Hebrew language
–
Hebrew is a language native to Israel, spoken by over 9 million people worldwide, of whom over 5 million are in Israel. Historically, it is regarded as the language of the Israelites and their ancestors, the earliest examples of written Paleo-Hebrew date from the 10th century BCE. Hebrew belongs to the West Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic language family, Hebrew is the only living Canaanite language left, and the only truly successful example of a revived dead language. Hebrew had ceased to be a spoken language somewhere between 200 and 400 CE, declining since the aftermath of the Bar Kokhba revolt. Aramaic and to a lesser extent Greek were already in use as international languages, especially among elites and it survived into the medieval period as the language of Jewish liturgy, rabbinic literature, intra-Jewish commerce, and poetry. Then, in the 19th century, it was revived as a spoken and literary language, and, according to Ethnologue, had become, as of 1998, the language of 5 million people worldwide. After Israel, the United States has the second largest Hebrew-speaking population, with 220,000 fluent speakers, Modern Hebrew is one of the two official languages of the State of Israel, while premodern Hebrew is used for prayer or study in Jewish communities around the world today. Ancient Hebrew is also the tongue of the Samaritans, while modern Hebrew or Arabic is their vernacular. For this reason, Hebrew has been referred to by Jews as Leshon Hakodesh, the modern word Hebrew is derived from the word Ivri, one of several names for the Israelite people. It is traditionally understood to be a based on the name of Abrahams ancestor, Eber. This name is based upon the root ʕ-b-r meaning to cross over. Interpretations of the term ʕibrim link it to this verb, cross over, in the Bible, the Hebrew language is called Yәhudit because Judah was the surviving kingdom at the time of the quotation. In Isaiah 19,18 it is called the Language of Canaan, Hebrew belongs to the Canaanite group of languages. In turn, the Canaanite languages are a branch of the Northwest Semitic family of languages, according to Avraham ben-Yosef, Hebrew flourished as a spoken language in the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah during about 1200 to 586 BCE. Scholars debate the degree to which Hebrew was a vernacular in ancient times following the Babylonian exile. In July 2008 Israeli archaeologist Yossi Garfinkel discovered a ceramic shard at Khirbet Qeiyafa which he claimed may be the earliest Hebrew writing yet discovered, dating around 3000 years ago. The Gezer calendar also dates back to the 10th century BCE at the beginning of the Monarchic Period, classified as Archaic Biblical Hebrew, the calendar presents a list of seasons and related agricultural activities. The Gezer calendar is written in an old Semitic script, akin to the Phoenician one that through the Greeks, the Gezer calendar is written without any vowels, and it does not use consonants to imply vowels even in the places where later Hebrew spelling requires it
Hebrew language
–
Hebrew street sign, above in
Hebrew alphabet, below in
Latin transliteration. Aluf Batslut veAluf Shum (he) ("The Onion Champion and the Garlic Champion") is a
play by
Hayim Nahman Bialik.
Hebrew language
–
Portion of the
Temple Scroll, one of the longest of the
Dead Sea Scrolls discovered at
Qumran
Hebrew language
–
The
Shebna Inscription, from the tomb of a royal steward found in
Siloam, dates to the 7th century BCE.
Hebrew language
–
Hebrew script used in writing a Torah scroll. Note ornamental "crowns" on tops of certain letters.
5.
History of Jerusalem
–
During its long history, Jerusalem has been attacked 52 times, captured and recaptured 44 times, besieged 23 times, and destroyed twice. The oldest part of the city was settled in the 4th millennium BCE, archaeological evidence suggests that the first settlement was established near Gihon Spring between 4500–3500 BCE. The first known mention of the city was in c.2000 BCE in the Middle Kingdom Egyptian Execration Texts in which the city was recorded as Rusalimum. The root S-L-M in the name is thought to refer to either peace or Shalim, archaeological evidence suggests that by the 17th century BCE, the Canaanites had built massive walls on the eastern side of Jerusalem to protect their ancient water system. 1550–1400 BCE, Jerusalem had become a vassal to Egypt after the Egyptian New Kingdom under Ahmose I and Thutmose I had reunited Egypt, the Amarna letters contain correspondence from Abdi-Heba, headman of Urusalim and his suzerain Amenhotep III. The power of the Egyptians in the region began to decline in the 12th century BCE, the Battle of Djahy in 1178 BCE between Ramesses III and the Sea Peoples marked the beginning of this decline. The gradual loss of a central power gave rise to independent kingdoms in the region, according to the Bible, Jerusalem at this time was known as Jebus and its independent Canaanite inhabitants at this time were known as Jebusites. Nevertheless, the text for the Books of Samuel states that David managed to capture the city by stealth, sending his forces through a water shaft. Archaeologists now view this as implausible as the Gihon spring – the only known location from which water shafts lead into the city – is now known to have been heavily defended. There was another king in Jerusalem, Araunah, during, and possibly before, Davids control of the city, according to the biblical narrative, who was probably the Jebusite king of Jerusalem. The city, which at that point stood upon the Ophel, was, according to the account, expanded to the south. Later, according to the narrative, King Solomon built a more substantive temple. Archaeologists are divided whether the biblical narrative is supported by the evidence from excavations. Eilat Mazar contents that her digging uncovered remains of stone buildings from the correct time period. When the Kingdom of Judah split from the larger Kingdom of Israel, Jerusalem became the capital of the Kingdom of Judah, Thomas L. Thompson argues that it only became a city and capable of acting as a state capital in the middle of the 7th century. Both the Bible and regional archaeological evidence suggest the region was unstable during the period 925–732 BCE. Around 75 years later, Jerusalems forces were involved in an indecisive battle against the Neo-Assyrian King Shalmaneser III in the Battle of Qarqar. According to the bible, Jehoshaphat of Judah was allied to Ahab of the Northern Kingdom of Israel at this time, two decades later, most of Canaan including Jerusalem was conquered by Hazael of Aram Damascus
History of Jerusalem
–
Jerusalem
History of Jerusalem
–
ú-ru-sa-lim inscription,
Amarna letters, 14th century BCE
History of Jerusalem
–
Reverse, with lily (symbol of
Jerusalem)
History of Jerusalem
–
Judean silver
Yehud coin (
ma'ah) from the
Persian era with Aramaic inscription in ancient Hebrew script, "יהד" "Yehud" (
Judea)
6.
Nebuchadnezzar II
–
Nebuchadnezzar II was a Chaldean king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, who reigned c.605 BCE – c.562 BCE. Both the construction of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and the destruction of Jerusalems temple are ascribed to him and he is featured in the Book of Daniel and is mentioned in several other books of the Bible. The Akkadian name,
Nebuchadnezzar II
–
An engraving on an eye stone of onyx with an inscription of Nebuchadnezzar II. Anton Nyström, 1901.
Nebuchadnezzar II
–
Nebuchadnezzar faces off against
Zedekiah, the last king of
Judah, who holds a plan of
Jerusalem, in a
Baroque era depiction in
Zwiefalten Abbey, Germany.
Nebuchadnezzar II
–
Building Inscription of King Nebuchadnezar II at the
Ishtar Gate. An abridged excerpt says: "I (Nebuchadnezzar) laid the foundation of the gates down to the ground water level and had them built out of pure blue stone. Upon the walls in the inner room of the gate are bulls and dragons and thus I magnificently adorned them with luxurious splendour for all mankind to behold in awe."
Nebuchadnezzar II
–
Daniel Interpreting Nebuchadnezzar's Dream
7.
Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC)
–
In 589 BC, Nebuchadnezzar II laid siege to Jerusalem, culminating in the destruction of the city and its temple in the summer of 587 BC. Following the siege of 597 BC, the Neo-Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar installed Zedekiah as tributary king of Judah, however, Zedekiah revolted against Babylon, and entered into an alliance with Pharaoh Hophra, the king of Egypt. Nebuchadnezzar responded by invading Judah and began a siege of Jerusalem in December 589 BC, during this siege, the duration of which was either 18 or 30 months, every worst woe befell the city, which drank the cup of Gods fury to the dregs. In 586 BC, after completion of the year of Zedekiahs reign, Nebuchadnezzar broke through Jerusalems walls. Zedekiah and his followers attempted to escape but were captured on the plains of Jericho, there, after seeing his sons killed, Zedekiah was blinded, bound, and taken captive to Babylon, where he remained a prisoner until his death. After the fall of Jerusalem, The Babylonian general, Nebuzaraddan, was sent to complete its destruction, Jerusalem was plundered, and Solomons Temple was destroyed. Most of the elite were taken into captivity in Babylon, the city was razed to the ground. Only a few people were permitted to remain to tend to the land, gedaliah was made governor of the remnant of Judah, the Yehud Province, with a Chaldean guard stationed at Mizpah. On hearing this news, the Jews who were in Moab, Ammon, Edom, gedaliah was assassinated two months later, and the population that had remained and those who had returned then fled to Egypt for safety. In Egypt, they settled in Migdol, Tahpanhes, Noph, the Babylonian Chronicles, published in 1956, indicate that Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem the first time putting an end to the reign of Jehoaichin, on 2 Adar 597 BC. There has been debate as to when the second siege of Jerusalem took place. Thieles reckoning is based on the presentation of Zedekiahs reign on an accession basis, which was occasionally used for the kings of Judah. In that case, the year that Zedekiah came to the throne would be his year, his first full year would be 597/596 BC, and his eleventh year. Since Judahs regnal years were counted from Tishri in autumn, that would place the end of his reign, a timeline for the final siege of Jerusalem is shown in the table below. Dates are taken from the 2011 From Abraham to Paul, A Biblical Chronology, a book by Andrew E. Steinnman
Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC)
–
Zedekiah is chained and brought before
Nebuchadnezzar, from
Petrus Comestor 's "
Bible Historiale," 1670.
8.
Second Temple
–
The Second Temple was the Jewish Holy Temple which stood on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem during the Second Temple period, between 516 BCE and 70 CE. Jewish eschatology includes a belief that the Second Temple will be replaced by a future Third Temple, the accession of Cyrus the Great of the Persian Empire in 559 BCE made the re-establishment of the city of Jerusalem and the rebuilding of the Temple possible. According to the Bible, when the Jewish exiles returned to Jerusalem following a decree from Cyrus the Great, the events take place in the second half of the 5th century BCE. Listed together with the Book of Ezra as Ezra-Nehemiah, it represents the chapter in the historical narrative of the Hebrew Bible. The original core of the book, the memoir, may have been combined with the core of the Book of Ezra around 400 BCE. Further editing probably continued into the Hellenistic era, the book tells how Nehemiah, at the court of the king in Susa, is informed that Jerusalem is without walls and resolves to restore them. The king appoints him as governor of the province Yehud Medinata, there he rebuilds the walls, despite the opposition of Israels enemies, and reforms the community in conformity with the law of Moses. After 12 years in Jerusalem, he returns to Susa but subsequently revisits Jerusalem and he finds that the Israelites have been backsliding and taking non-Jewish wives, and he stays in Jerusalem to enforce the Law. A wide interest was felt in this movement, although it was regarded with mixed feelings by the spectators. The Samaritans made proposals for co-operation in the work, Zerubbabel and the elders, however, declined all such cooperation, feeling that the Jews must build the Temple without help. Immediately evil reports were spread regarding the Jews, according to Ezra 4,5, the Samaritans sought to frustrate their purpose and sent messengers to Ecbatana and Susa, with the result that the work was suspended. Seven years later, Cyrus the Great, who allowed the Jews to return to their homeland and rebuild the Temple, on his death, the false Smerdis, an impostor, occupied the throne for some seven or eight months, and then Darius became king. It was ready for consecration in the spring of 516 BCE, the Book of Haggai includes a prediction that the glory of the second temple would be greater than that of the first. Some of the artifacts from the Temple of Solomon are not mentioned in the sources after its destruction in 597 BCE. In the Second Temple, the Kodesh Hakodashim was separated by curtains rather than a wall as in the First Temple. Still, as in the Tabernacle, the Second Temple included, The Menorah for the Hekhal The Table of Showbread The golden altar of incense, with golden censers. According to the Mishnah, the Foundation Stone stood where the Ark used to be, the Second Temple also included many of the original vessels of gold that had been taken by the Babylonians but restored by Cyrus the Great. According to the Babylonian Talmud, however, the Temple lacked the Shekinah, the dwelling or settling divine presence of God, and the Ruach HaKodesh, judea became at that moment part of the Seleucid empire of Syria
Second Temple
–
Model of Herod's Temple (a renovation of the Second Temple) in the
Israel Museum, created in 1966 as part of the
Holyland Model of Jerusalem. The model was inspired by the writings of
Josephus.
Second Temple
–
This picture shows the temple as imagined in 1966 in the
Holyland Model of Jerusalem.
Second Temple
–
James Tissot - Reconstruction of Jerusalem and the Temple of Herod -
Brooklyn Museum
Second Temple
–
2A model of the Southern wall and Royal Colonnade
9.
Solomon
–
Solomon, also called Jedidiah, was, according to the Bible, Quran, hadith and Hidden Words a fabulously wealthy and wise king of Israel and a son of David, the previous king of Israel. The conventional dates of Solomons reign are circa 970 to 931 BC and he is described as the third king of the United Monarchy, which would break apart into the northern Kingdom of Israel and the southern Kingdom of Judah shortly after his death. Following the split, his descendants ruled over Judah alone. According to the Talmud, Solomon is one of the 48 prophets, in the Quran, he is considered a major prophet, and Muslims generally refer to him by the Arabic variant Sulayman, son of David. Solomon was, according to the Quran, a king of ancient Israel as well as the son of David, the Hebrew Bible credits him as the builder of the First Temple in Jerusalem. It portrays him as great in wisdom, wealth, and power any of the previous kings of the country. His sins included idolatry, marrying foreign women, and ultimately turning away from Yahweh, Solomon is the subject of many other later references and legends, most notably in the 1st-century apocryphal work known as the Testament of Solomon. Solomon was born in Jerusalem, the second child of David and his wife Bathsheba. The first child, a son conceived adulterously during Uriahs lifetime, had died before Solomon was conceived as a punishment on account of the death of Uriah by Davids order. Solomon had three named full brothers through Bathsheba, Nathan, Shammua, and Shobab, besides six known older half-brothers through as many mothers, according to the First Book of Kings, when David was old, he could not get warm. So they sought a young woman throughout all the territory of Israel, and found Abishag the Shunammite. The young woman was very beautiful, and she was of service to the king and attended to him, while David was in this state, court factions were maneuvering for power. Solomon greatly expanded his military strength, especially the cavalry and chariot arms and he founded numerous colonies, some of which doubled as trading posts and military outposts. Trade relationships were a focus of his administration, Solomon is considered the most wealthy of the Israelite kings named in the Bible. Solomon also built the First Temple, beginning in the year of his reign. Solomon was the Biblical king most famous for his wisdom, in 1 Kings he sacrificed to God and prayed for wisdom. God personally answered his prayer, promising him great wisdom because he did not ask for self-serving rewards like long life or the death of his enemies. Perhaps the best known story of his wisdom is the Judgment of Solomon, Solomon easily resolved the dispute by commanding the child to be cut in half and shared between the two
Solomon
–
The Judgment of Solomon, 1617 by
Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640)
Solomon
–
Cornelis de Vos, The Anointing of Solomon. According to 1
Kings 1:39, Solomon was
anointed by
Zadok.
Solomon
–
Luca Giordano – Dream of Solomon – God promises Solomon Wisdom.
Solomon
–
The judgment of Solomon, painting on ceramic, Castelli, 18th century, Lille Museum of Fine Arts
10.
Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy)
–
The United Monarchy is the name given to the Israelite kingdom of Israel and Judah, during the reigns of Saul, David and Solomon, as depicted in the Hebrew Bible. This is traditionally dated between 1050 and 930 BCE, modern historians are divided on the historicity of the United Monarchy as described in the Bible. There is no evidence of a united Kingdom of Judah. According to standard source criticism, a number of source texts were spliced together to produce the current books of Samuel. The most prominent in the parts of the first book are the pro-monarchical source. In identifying these two sources, two separate accounts can be reconstructed, the anti-monarchical source describes Samuel to have thoroughly routed the Philistines, yet begrudgingly accepting that the people demanded a ruler, and thus appointing Saul by cleromancy. Textual critics also point to disparities in the account of Davids rise to power as indicative of separate threads being merged later to create an age of a united monarchy. David is thought by scholars to have been a ruler in Judah while Israel, comparatively immense, modern archaeology also supports this view. Most scholars believe the Books of Samuel exhibit too many anachronisms to have been a contemporary account, for example, there is mention of later armor, use of camels, cavalry, and iron picks and axes. According to the Book of Judges, the Israelite tribes previously lived as a confederation under ad hoc charismatic leaders called Judges. Abimelech was the first to be declared king by the men of Shechem and the house of Millo, and reigned over Israel for three years before he was killed during the Battle of Thebez. The Bible treats the notion of kingship as having been an anathema at the time, it being seen as one man put in a position of reverence and power, which in their faith was reserved for God. According to the Second Book of Samuel, due to his disobedience to God, Sauls reign was curtailed, the Masoretic Text says that Saul ruled for only two years. The Bible portrays Saul as having died in battle against the Philistines, Sauls heir, Ishbaal, took over rulership of Israel but, according to Samuel, ruled for only two years before he was assassinated. David, who had become king of Judah only, ended the conspiracy, a number of textual critics and biblical scholars have suggested that David was actually responsible for the assassination, and Davids innocence was a later invention to legitimize his actions. Israel rebels, according to Samuel, and appoints Davids son Absalom as their new king, the Bible then describes Israel as taking over Judah and ultimately forcing David into exile east of the Jordan. This section of the text, and the bulk of the remainder of the Books of Samuel, is thought by textual critics to belong to a single large source known as the Court History of David. Israel and Judah are portrayed in this source as quite distinct kingdoms, eventually, according to the Book of Samuel, David launches a counter-attack, and wins, although with the loss of Absalom
Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy)
11.
Kingdom of Judah
–
The Kingdom of Judah was an Iron Age kingdom of the Southern Levant. The Hebrew Bible depicts it as the successor to a United Monarchy, in the 10th and early 9th centuries BCE the territory of Judah appears to have been sparsely populated, limited to small rural settlements, most of them unfortified. Significant academic debate exists around the character of the Kingdom of Judah, archaeologists of the minimalist school doubt the extent of the Kingdom of Judah as depicted in the Bible. Around 1990–2010, an important group of archaeologists and biblical scholars formed the view that the actual Kingdom of Judah bore little resemblance to the portrait of a powerful monarchy. These scholars say the kingdom was no more than a tribal entity. Other archaeologists say that the identification of Khirbet Qeiyafa as an Israelite settlement is uncertain, the status of Jerusalem in the 10th century BCE is a major subject of debate. The oldest part of Jerusalem and its urban core is the City of David. However, unique structures such as the Stepped Stone Structure and the Large Stone Structure. According to the Hebrew Bible, the kingdom of Judah resulted from the break-up of the United kingdom of Israel after the tribes refused to accept Rehoboam. At first, only the tribe of Judah remained loyal to the house of David, the two kingdoms, Judah in the south and Israel in the north, coexisted uneasily after the split until the destruction of the Kingdom of Israel by Assyria in c. 722/721. The major theme of the Hebrew Bibles narrative is the loyalty of Judah, and especially its kings, to Yahweh, which it states is the God of Israel. Accordingly, all the kings of Israel and almost all the kings of Judah were bad, which in terms of Biblical narrative means that they failed to enforce monotheism. Of the good kings, Hezekiah is noted for his efforts at stamping out idolatry, for the first sixty years, the kings of Judah tried to re-establish their authority over the northern kingdom, and there was perpetual war between them. Israel and Judah were in a state of war throughout Rehoboams seventeen-year reign, Rehoboam built elaborate defenses and strongholds, along with fortified cities. In the fifth year of Rehoboams reign, Shishak, pharaoh of Egypt, brought a huge army, in the sack of Jerusalem, Rehoboam gave them all of the treasures out of the temple as a tribute and Judah became a vassal state of Egypt. Rehoboams son and successor, Abijah of Judah continued his fathers efforts to bring Israel under his control and he fought the Battle of Mount Zemaraim against Jeroboam of Israel and was victorious with a heavy loss of life on the Israel side. The Bible does not state whether Zerah was a pharaoh or a general of the army, the Ethiopians were pursued all the way to Gerar, in the coastal plain, where they stopped out of sheer exhaustion. The resulting peace kept Judah free from Egyptian incursions until the time of Josiah some centuries later, in his 36th year, Asa was confronted by Baasha of Israel, who built a fortress at Ramah on the border, less than ten miles from Jerusalem
Kingdom of Judah
–
Mesha Stele c. 850 BCE – An inscribed stone set up c. 840 BCE by
Mesha of
Moab tells how
Chemosh, the God of Moab, had been angry with his people and allowed them to be subjugated to Israel, but at length assisted Mesha to throw off the yoke of Israel and restore the lands of Moab.
Kingdom of Judah
–
Map of the region in the 9th century BCE
Kingdom of Judah
–
Stamped bulla of a servant of King Hezekiah used to seal a papyrus document
12.
Yahweh
–
Yahweh was the national god of the Iron Age kingdoms of Israel and Judah. By the end of the Babylonian exile, the existence of foreign gods was denied, and Yahweh was proclaimed as the creator of the cosmos. The Israelites originated as Bronze Age Canaanites, but Yahweh was not initially a Canaanite god, in this case a plausible etymology for the name could be from the root HWY, which would yield the meaning he blows, appropriate to a weather divinity. There is considerable but not universal support for the view that the Egyptian inscriptions refer to Yahweh, the question that arises is how he made his way to the north. A widely accepted hypothesis is that traders brought Yahweh to Israel along the routes between Egypt and Canaan, the Kenite hypothesis, named after one of the groups involved. Israel emerges into the record in the last decades of the 13th century BCE, at the very end of the Late Bronze Age. The milieu from which Israelite religion emerged was accordingly Canaanite and he lived in a tent on a mountain from whose base originated all the fresh waters of the world, with the goddess Asherah as his consort. This pair made up the top tier of the Canaanite pantheon, the tier was made up of their children. Baals sphere was the thunderstorm with its life-giving rains, so that he was also a fertility god, below the seventy second-tier gods was a third tier made up of comparatively minor craftsman and trader deities, with a fourth and final tier of divine messengers and the like. He subdues the ancient gods, shatters the forces of old, so Israel lives in safety, untroubled is Jacobs abode. Your enemies shall come fawning to you, and you shall tread on their backs. After the 9th century BCE the tribes and chiefdoms of Iron Age I were replaced by ethnic nation states, Israel, Judah, Moab, Ammon and others, each with its national god, and all more or less equal. Thus Chemosh was the god of the Moabites, Milcom the god of the Ammonites, Qaus the god of the Edomites, the festivals thus celebrated Yahwehs salvation of Israel and Israels status as his holy people, although the earlier agricultural meaning was not entirely lost. Sacrifice was presumably complemented by the singing or recital of psalms, prayer played little role in official worship. Shiloh, Bethel, Gilgal, Mizpah, Ramah and Dan were also sites for festivals, sacrifices, the making of vows, private rituals. Yahweh-worship was famously aniconic, meaning that the god was not depicted by a statue or other image, pre-exilic Israel, like its neighbours, was polytheistic, and Israelite monotheism was the culmination of a unique set of historical circumstances. The original god of Israel was El, as the name demonstrates—its probable meaning is may El rule or some other sentence-form involving the name of El. Asherah, formerly the wife of El, was worshipped as Yahwehs consort, and various biblical passages indicate that her statues were kept in his temples in Jerusalem, Bethel, and Samaria
Yahweh
–
A
drachm (quarter
shekel) coin from the Persian province of
Yehud Medinata, apparently showing the god YHW (Yahweh) as a bearded man seated on a winged and wheeled throne.
Yahweh
–
Solomon dedicates the Temple at Jerusalem (painting by
James Tissot or follower, c. 1896–1902)
13.
Ark of the Covenant
–
The Ark of the Covenant, also known as the Ark of the Testimony, is a gold-covered wooden chest described in the Book of Exodus as containing the two stone tablets of the Ten Commandments. According to various texts within the Hebrew Bible, it also contained Aarons rod, when carried, the Ark was always hidden under a large veil made of skins and blue cloth, always carefully concealed, even from the eyes of the priests and the Levites who carried it. God was said to have spoken with Moses from between the two cherubim on the Arks cover. When at rest the tabernacle was set up and the holy Ark was placed under the veil of the covering the staves of it crossing the side bars to hold it up off the ground. Moses instructed Bezalel and Oholiab to construct the Ark, in Deuteronomy, however, the Ark is said to have been built specifically by Moses himself without reference of Bezalel or Oholiab. The Book of Exodus gives detailed instructions on how the Ark is to be constructed and it is to be 2½ cubits in length, 1½ in breadth, and 1½ in height. Then it is to be gilded entirely with gold, and a crown or molding of gold is to be put around it, a golden lid, the kapporet which is covered with 2 golden cherubim, is to be placed above the Ark. Instructions missing from the biblical account include the thickness of the seat, the thickness of its sides and bottom. The Ark is finally to be placed under the veil of the covering, the biblical account continues that, after its creation by Moses, the Ark was carried by the Israelites during their 40 years of wandering in the desert. Whenever the Israelites camped, the Ark was placed in a room in a sacred tent. When the Israelites, led by Joshua toward the Promised Land, arrived at the banks of the River Jordan, as memorials, twelve stones were taken from the Jordan at the place where the priests had stood. In the Battle of Jericho, the Ark was carried round the city once a day for seven days, after the defeat at Ai, Joshua lamented before the Ark. When Joshua read the Law to the people between Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, they stood on each side of the Ark and we next hear of the Ark in Bethel where it was being cared for by the priest Phineas the grandson of Aaron. According to this verse it was consulted by the people of Israel when they were planning to attack the Benjaminites at the battle of Gibeah. A few years later the elders of Israel decided to take the Ark out onto the battlefield to assist them against the Philistines and they were, however, heavily defeated with the loss of 30,000 men. The Ark was captured by the Philistines and Hophni and Phinehas were killed, the news of its capture was at once taken to Shiloh by a messenger with his clothes rent, and with earth upon his head. The mother of the child Ichabod died at his birth, the Philistines took the Ark to several places in their country, and at each place misfortune befell them. At Ashdod it was placed in the temple of Dagon, the next morning Dagon was found prostrate, bowed down, before it, and on being restored to his place, he was on the following morning again found prostrate and broken
Ark of the Covenant
–
Joshua passing the River Jordan with the Ark of the Covenant by
Benjamin West, 1800
Ark of the Covenant
–
The covered ark and seven priests with rams' horns, at the
Battle of Jericho, in an eighteenth-century artist's depiction.
Ark of the Covenant
–
Moses and Joshua bowing before the Ark, painting by James Jacques Joseph Tissot, c. 1900
Ark of the Covenant
–
1728 illustration of the Ark at the erection of the Tabernacle and the sacred vessels, as in Exodus 40:17-19
14.
Josephus
–
Josephus claimed the Jewish Messianic prophecies that initiated the First Roman-Jewish War made reference to Vespasian becoming Emperor of Rome. In response Vespasian decided to keep Josephus as a slave and interpreter, after Vespasian became Emperor in 69 CE, he granted Josephus his freedom, at which time Josephus assumed the emperors family name of Flavius. Flavius Josephus fully defected to the Roman side and was granted Roman citizenship and he became an advisor and friend of Vespasians son Titus, serving as his translator when Titus led the Siege of Jerusalem. Since the siege proved ineffective at stopping the Jewish revolt, the citys destruction, Josephus recorded Jewish history, with special emphasis on the first century CE and the First Jewish–Roman War, including the Siege of Masada. His most important works were The Jewish War and Antiquities of the Jews, the Jewish War recounts the Jewish revolt against Roman occupation. Antiquities of the Jews recounts the history of the world from a Jewish perspective for an ostensibly Roman audience and these works provide valuable insight into first century Judaism and the background of Early Christianity. Josephus introduces himself in Greek as Iōsēpos, son of Matthias and he was the second-born son of Matthias. His older full-blooded brother was also called Matthias and their mother was an aristocratic woman who descended from the royal and formerly ruling Hasmonean dynasty. Josephuss paternal grandparents were Josephus and his wife—an unnamed Hebrew noblewoman, distant relatives of each other and he descended through his father from the priestly order of the Jehoiarib, which was the first of the 24 orders of priests in the Temple in Jerusalem. Josephus was a descendant of the high priest Jonathon, born and raised in Jerusalem, Josephus was educated alongside his brother. In his early twenties, he traveled to negotiate with Emperor Nero for the release of 12 Jewish priests, Josephus successfully fought the Roman army in Galilee, until he was captured by the Romans during the height of the war. After the Jewish garrison of Yodfat fell under siege, the Romans invaded, killing thousands, according to Josephus, he was trapped in a cave with 40 of his companions in July 67 CE. The Romans asked the group to surrender, but they refused, Josephus suggested a method of collective suicide, they drew lots and killed each other, one by one, counting to every third person. Two men were left, who surrendered to the Roman forces, in 69 CE, Josephus was released. According to his account, he acted as a negotiator with the defenders during the Siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE, in which his parents and first wife died. While being confined at Yodfat, Josephus claimed to have experienced a divine revelation, after the prediction came true, he was released by Vespasian, who considered his gift of prophecy to be divine. In 71 CE, he went to Rome in the entourage of Titus, becoming a Roman citizen, in addition to Roman citizenship, he was granted accommodation in conquered Judaea and a decent, if not extravagant, pension. While in Rome and under Flavian patronage, Josephus wrote all of his known works, although he uses Josephus, he appears to have taken the Roman praenomen Titus and nomen Flavius from his patrons
Josephus
–
Photography of a Roman
portrait bust said to be of Josephus,
Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Josephus
–
Galilee, site of Josephus's governorship, before the First Jewish-Roman War
Josephus
–
The
romanticized engraving of Flavius Josephus appearing in
William Whiston 's translation of his works
Josephus
–
The works of Josephus translated by
Thomas Lodge (1602).
15.
Seder Olam Rabbah
–
Seder Olam Rabbah is a 2nd-century CE Hebrew language chronology detailing the dates of biblical events from the Creation to Alexander the Greats conquest of Persia. It adds no stories beyond what is in the text, and addresses such questions as the age of Isaac at the binding. Tradition considers it to have written about 160 CE by Yose ben Halafta, which is not unreasonable. In the Babylonian Talmud this chronicle is several times referred to simply as the Seder Olam, in its present form the Seder Olam Rabbah consists of 30 chapters, each 10 chapters forming a section, or gate. The work is a record, extending from Adam to the revolt of Bar Kokba in the reign of Hadrian. The chronicle is complete only up to the time of Alexander the Great, many passages quoted in the Talmud are missing in the edition of the Seder Olam which has survived. The author probably designed the work for calendrical purposes, to determine the era of the creation, his system, in many cases, however, he gave the dates according to tradition, and inserted, besides, the sayings and halakot of preceding rabbis and of his contemporaries. The application of these principles would obviously have had the effect of compressing the Biblical chronology, the following examples will illustrate the manner in which these principles are applied. The confusion of languages in Genesis is said to have taken place in the days of Peleg, here Biblical chronology presents many difficulties, dates not being clearly given, and in many cases the Seder Olam was used by the later Biblical commentators as a basis of exegesis. Thus, it is known that from the entry of the Israelites into the Holy Land to the time of Jephthah a period of 300 years elapsed. It is further stated that Solomon began to build the Temple in Jerusalem in the year of his reign,480 years after the Exodus. Thus there was a period of 140 years from the year of Jephthah to the building of the Temple. Consequently, there was a period of 83 years from the year of Jephthah to the death of Eli, who ruled 40 years. The chronology of the Kings was more difficult, as there were differences to reconcile between the book of Kings and book of Chronicles. Here especially the author applied the principle of fragments of years, in the 20th chapter, which closes the second part, the author deals with the forty-eight prophets that flourished in the land of Israel. Beginning with Joshua, the reviews the whole prophetic period which terminated with Haggai, Zechariah. Thus, the mentioned in Judges vi.8 was, according to the Seder Olam, Phinehas. The prophecy of Obadiah occurred in the time of Amaziah, King of Judah, and those of Joel, Nahum, and Habakkuk in the reign of Manasseh
Seder Olam Rabbah
–
Talmud Readers by
Adolf Behrman
16.
Jerusalem
–
Jerusalem is a city located on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is considered a city in the three major Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. During its long history, Jerusalem has been destroyed at least twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times, the part of Jerusalem called the City of David was settled in the 4th millennium BCE. In 1538, walls were built around Jerusalem under Suleiman the Magnificent, today those walls define the Old City, which has been traditionally divided into four quarters—known since the early 19th century as the Armenian, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Quarters. The Old City became a World Heritage Site in 1981, and is on the List of World Heritage in Danger, Modern Jerusalem has grown far beyond the Old Citys boundaries. These foundational events, straddling the dawn of the 1st millennium BCE, the sobriquet of holy city was probably attached to Jerusalem in post-exilic times. The holiness of Jerusalem in Christianity, conserved in the Septuagint which Christians adopted as their own authority, was reinforced by the New Testament account of Jesuss crucifixion there, in Sunni Islam, Jerusalem is the third-holiest city, after Mecca and Medina. As a result, despite having an area of only 0, outside the Old City stands the Garden Tomb. Today, the status of Jerusalem remains one of the issues in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, West Jerusalem was among the captured and later annexed by Israel while East Jerusalem, including the Old City, was captured. Israel captured East Jerusalem from Jordan during the 1967 Six-Day War and subsequently annexed it into Jerusalem, one of Israels Basic Laws, the 1980 Jerusalem Law, refers to Jerusalem as the countrys undivided capital. All branches of the Israeli government are located in Jerusalem, including the Knesset, the residences of the Prime Minister and President, the international community does not recognize Jerusalem as Israels capital, and the city hosts no foreign embassies. Jerusalem is also home to some non-governmental Israeli institutions of importance, such as the Hebrew University. In 2011, Jerusalem had a population of 801,000, of which Jews comprised 497,000, Muslims 281,000, a city called Rušalim in the Execration texts of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt is widely, but not universally, identified as Jerusalem. Jerusalem is called Urušalim in the Amarna letters of Abdi-Heba, the name Jerusalem is variously etymologized to mean foundation of the god Shalem, the god Shalem was thus the original tutelary deity of the Bronze Age city. The form Yerushalem or Yerushalayim first appears in the Bible, in the Book of Joshua, according to a Midrash, the name is a combination of Yhwh Yireh and the town Shalem. The earliest extra-biblical Hebrew writing of the word Jerusalem is dated to the sixth or seventh century BCE and was discovered in Khirbet Beit Lei near Beit Guvrin in 1961. The inscription states, I am Yahweh thy God, I will accept the cities of Judah and I will redeem Jerusalem, or as other scholars suggest, the mountains of Judah belong to him, to the God of Jerusalem
Jerusalem
–
From upper left: Jerusalem skyline viewed from Givat ha'Arba,
Mamilla, the
Old City and the
Dome of the Rock, a
souq in the
Old City, the
Knesset, the
Western Wall, the
Tower of David and the
Ottoman Old City walls
Jerusalem
–
Hebrew: יְרוּשָׁלַיִם (Yerushalayim)
Arabic: القُدس (al-Quds)
Aramaic: יְרוּשְׁלֶם (Yərushəlem)
Jerusalem
Jerusalem
–
Stepped Stone Structure in
Ophel /
City of David, the oldest part of Jerusalem
17.
Ivory pomegranate
–
The Ivory Pomegranate is a thumb-sized semitic ornamental artifact acquired by the Israel Museum. It is not actually made of ivory, but of hippopotamus bone and bears an inscription, at the time of its discovery, it was thought to have adorned the High Priests sceptre within the Holy of Holies, thus potentially proving the existence of Solomons Temple. The Ivory Pomegranate is a small ornamental bone object engraved with an inscription in paleo-Hebrew. The inscription is inscribed in circular fashion along the shoulders of the pomegranate which is the shape of the fruit in blossom stage, a significant part of the body of the pomegranate is broken including two breaks to the long petals of the fruit. There is a break on the body that cuts through the inscription. Two areas of this fracture are lighter shades and considered to be new breaks on top of the ancient break, the pomegranate was popular as a cultic object and was not unique to the worship of Yahweh. Baruch Halpern has suggested another interpretation of the inscription, the word house can also mean, literally, a house where a family lived. The missing letters could read H, at least three of the Biblical Ahijahs were priests and the inscription may be a reference to a priestly family rather than a deity. Halpern also notes that the syntax of the inscription makes this interpretation philologically possible. It was once believed by scholars to have adorned a sceptre used by the high priest in Solomons Temple. Its origin is unknown as it appeared on the antiquities market anonymously in 1979 and was smuggled out of Israel and it was considered the most important item of biblical antiquities in the Israel Museum’s collection. In 2004, the Investigative Committee of Israel alleged it was a part of a fraud and was involved with other suspected archaeological forgeries such as the Jehoash Inscription. This resulted in an investigation by the committee which determined that the artifact dated back to the 14th or 13th century B. C. Professor Aaron Demsky claims that there is an 80 percent certainty that the inscription is a forgery, in 2004, Israeli police filed criminal indictments against Oded Golan, accusing him of forging biblical artifacts. This was the first time a court had been asked to rule in a case of antiquities forgery. On March 14,2012 Golan was acquitted of all charges of forgery after the found that police had failed to prove forgery beyond all reasonable doubt. Although the indictment alleged that the inscription was a forgery. Judge Aharon Farkash stated that the acquittal did not mean that the objects were true, in May 2007, three members of the original investigative committee re-examined the inscription to evaluate the counter-arguments of André Lemaire), who was invited to join them
Ivory pomegranate
–
A re-constructioned photo of artifact reconstructed as if fully intact.
Ivory pomegranate
–
A drawing of the Hebraic inscription with missing letters shown as faded
Ivory pomegranate
–
Hebraic inscription from right to left
18.
Jehoash of Judah
–
Jehoash, also known as Joash, Joas or Joás, was a king of Judah, and the sole surviving son of Ahaziah after the massacre of the royal family ordered by his grandmother, Athaliah. He was also the first Judahite king to be descended from both the House of David and the House of Omri, through his grandmother and predecessor. His mother was Zibiah of Beersheba, Jehoash was 7 years old when his reign began, and he reigned for 40 years. He was succeeded by his son, Amaziah of Judah and he is said to have been righteous all the days of Jehoiada the priest. William F. Albright has dated his reign to 837 –800 BC, the Gospel of Matthew does not list Jehoash of Judah in the genealogy of Jesus, being one of four kings of Judah so omitted, the other three being Ahaziah, Amaziah, and Jehoiakim. After hiding him in the Temple for seven years, Jehoiada had Jehoash crowned and anointed king in a coup against Athaliah, Athaliah was killed during the coup. After Jehoash was crowned, the covenant was renewed between God, the king, and the nation, the Tyrian cult of Baal, which had started under Jehoram, and strengthened under Athaliah, was suppressed. Mattan, the priest of Baal, was killed, the altars of Baal were destroyed, and for the first time in Judahs history the Jerusalem Temple, and its priesthood achieved national importance. After Jehoiada died, Jehoash listened to the princes of Judah instead of the priests and forsook Yahweh and worshiped the idols and the Asherim as the previous kings of Israel did. According to 2 Chronicles 24, when prophet Zechariah, Jehoiadas son and successor, rebuked them for forsaking their god, he was put to death, the author of the Books of Chronicles criticizes this cruel act strongly. Thus Joash the king remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, and when he died, he said, The LORD look upon it, and require it. The author also attributes Jehoashs deeds to the oppression suffered at the hands of Aramean invaders as Gods judgement, however this account is unlikely to be true. Jehoash was assassinated by his own servants at Millo, and his assassination is portrayed as an act of revenge for the blood of Zechariah, Joash was buried together with his fathers in the City of David, although he was not in the sepulchres of the kings. Joash escaped death because in the case one priest, Abiathar. The hiding-place of Joash was, according to R. Eleazar, one of the chambers behind the Holy of Holies, naḥman, one of the upper chambers of the Temple. Although a king who is the son of a king need not be anointed, exception was made in the case of Joash, as well as of Solomon and Jeoahaz, the succession of each of whom was contested. Particular mention is made of the placed on Joashs head, because it fitted exactly. Ironically, Moab and Ammon were the two offspring of Lots incest with his two daughters as described in Gen.19, 30-38
Jehoash of Judah
–
Jehoash from
Guillaume Rouillé 's
Promptuarii Iconum Insigniorum, 1553
Jehoash of Judah
–
Athaliah Expelled from the Temple by
Antoine Coypel, 1699
19.
Dedication
–
Dedication is the act of consecrating an altar, temple, church, or other sacred building. It also refers to the inscription of books or other artifacts when these are addressed or presented to a particular person. This practice, which once was used to gain the patronage, in law, the word is used of the setting apart by a private owner of a road to public use. The Feast of Dedication, today Hanukkah, once also called Feast of the Maccabees, was a Jewish festival observed for eight days from the 25th of Kislev and it was instituted in the year 165 B. C. The significant happenings of the festival were the illumination of houses and synagogues, a custom taken over from the Feast of Tabernacles. J. Wellhausen suggests that the feast was connected with the winter solstice. The Feast of Dedication is also mentioned in John 10,22 where it mentions Jesus being at the Jerusalem Temple during the Feast of Dedication and further notes, the Greek term used in John is the renewals. Josephus refers to the festival in Greek simply as lights, churches under the authority of a bishop are usually dedicated by the bishop in a ceremony that used to be called that of consecration, but is now called that of dedication. For the Catholic Church, the rite of dedication is described in the Caeremoniale Episcoporum, chapters IX-X, and in the Roman Missals Ritual Masses for the Dedication of a Church and an Altar. In the Church of England, a church may only be closed for worship after a legal process. The custom of solemnly dedicating or consecrating buildings as churches or chapels set apart for Christian worship must be almost as old as Christianity itself, when we come to the earlier part of the 4th century allusions to and descriptions of the consecration of churches become plentiful. This service is probably of Jewish origin, all these point to the probability of the Christians deriving their custom from a Jewish origin. Eusebius of Caesarea speaks of the dedication of churches rebuilt after the Diocletian persecution, the use of both holy water and of unction is attributed to St. Columbanus, who died in 615. The manuscripts and printed service-books of the church contain a lengthy. The earliest known pontifical is that of Egbert, Archbishop of York, later pontificals are numerous and somewhat varied. A good idea of the character of the service can be obtained from a skeleton of it as performed in England after the Reformation according to the use of Sarum. The service is taken from an early 15th-century pontifical in the Cambridge University Library as printed by W. Makell in Monumenta ritualia ecclesiae Anglicanae, there is a preliminary office for laying a foundation-stone. On the day of consecration the bishop is to vest in a tent outside the church, then proceed to the door of the church on the outside, there he blesses holy water, twelve lighted candles being placed outside, and twelve inside the church
Dedication
–
Latin dedicatory inscription of 1119 for the church of
Prüfening Abbey,
Germany
20.
James Tissot
–
Jacques Joseph Tissot, Anglicized as James Tissot, was a French painter and illustrator. He was a painter of Paris society before moving to London in 1871. He became famous as a painter of fashionably dressed women shown in various scenes of everyday life. He also painted scenes and characters from the Bible, jacques Tissot was born in the port town of Nantes, France and spent his early childhood there. His father, Marcel Théodore Tissot, was a successful drapery merchant and his mother, Marie Durand, assisted her husband in the family business and designed hats. A devout Catholic, Tissots mother instilled pious devotion in the future artist from a young age. Tissots youth spent in Nantes likely contributed to his frequent depiction of shipping vessels, the involvement of his parents in the fashion industry is believed to have been an influence on his painting style, as he depicted womens clothing in fine detail. By the time Tissot was 17, he knew he wanted to pursue painting as a career and his father opposed this, preferring his son to follow a business profession, but the young Tissot gained his mothers support for his chosen vocation. Around this time, he began using the name of James. By 1854 he was known as James Tissot, he may have adopted it because of his increasing interest in everything English. In 1856 or 1857, Tissot travelled to Paris to pursue an education in art, while staying with a friend of his mother, painter Elie Delaunay, Tissot enrolled at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts to study in the studios of Hippolyte Flandrin and Louis Lamothe. Both were successful Lyonnaise painters who moved to Paris to study under Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Lamothe provided the majority of Tissots studio education, and the young artist studied on his own by copying works at the Louvre, as did most other artists of the time in their early years. Around this time, Tissot also made the acquaintance of the American James McNeill Whistler, and French painters Edgar Degas, in 1859, Tissot exhibited in the Paris Salon for the first time. He showed five paintings of scenes from the Middle Ages, many depicting scenes from Goethes Faust and these works show the influence in his work of the Belgian painter Henri Leys, whom Tissot had met in Antwerp earlier that same year. Other influences include the works of the German painters Peter von Cornelius, in about 1863, Tissot suddenly shifted his focus from the medieval style to the depiction of modern life through portraits. During this period, Tissot gained high acclaim, and quickly became a success as an artist. Like contemporaries such as Alfred Stevens and Claude Monet, Tissot also explored japonisme, including Japanese objects and costumes in his pictures, Degas painted a portrait of Tissot from these years, in which he is sitting below a Japanese screen hanging on the wall. Tissot fought in the Franco-Prussian War as part of the defence of Paris
James Tissot
–
Self-portrait in 1865
James Tissot
–
The Circle of the Rue Royale, a scene in Paris seen from the balcony of the Hôtel de Coislin overlooking the Place de la Concorde.
James Tissot
–
Portrait of James Tissot by Edgar Degas, c.1866-67
James Tissot
–
Still on Top, 1873
21.
Tyre, Lebanon
–
Tyre, sometimes romanized as Sour, is a city in the South Governorate of Lebanon. There were approximately 117,000 inhabitants in 2003, however, the government of Lebanon has released only rough estimates of population numbers since 1932, so an accurate statistical accounting is not possible. Tyre juts out from the coast of the Mediterranean and is located about 80 km south of Beirut, the name of the city means rock after the rocky formation on which the town was originally built. The adjective for Tyre is Tyrian, and the inhabitants are Tyrians, Tyre is an ancient Phoenician city and the legendary birthplace of Europa and Dido. Today it is the fourth largest city in Lebanon and houses one of the major ports. The city has a number of ancient sites, including its Roman Hippodrome which was added to UNESCOs list of World Heritage Sites in 1979. Tyre originally consisted of two urban centres, Tyre itself, which was on an island just off shore. Alexander the Great connected the island to the mainland by constructing a causeway during his siege of the city, the original island city had two harbours, one on the south side and the other on the north side of the island. The harbour on the side has silted over, but the harbour on the north side is still in use. Tyre was founded around 2750 BC according to Herodotus and was built as a walled city upon the mainland. Phoenicians from Tyre settled in houses around Memphis, south of the temple of Hephaestus in a called the Tyrian Camp. Tyres name appears on monuments as early as 1300 BC, philo of Byblos quotes the antiquarian authority Sanchuniathon as stating that it was first occupied by Hypsuranius. Sanchuniathons work is said to be dedicated to Abibalus king of Berytus—possibly the Abibaal who was king of Tyre, there are ten Amarna letters dated 1350 BC from the mayor, Abimilku, written to Akenaten. The subject is often water, wood and the Habiru overtaking the countryside of the mainland, the commerce of the ancient world was gathered into the warehouses of Tyre. The city of Tyre was particularly known for the production of a rare and extraordinarily expensive sort of dye, produced from the murex shellfish. The colour was, in ancient cultures, reserved for the use of royalty or at least the nobility, Tyre was often attacked by Egypt, besieged by Shalmaneser V, who was assisted by the Phoenicians of the mainland, for five years. From 586 until 573 BC, the city was besieged by Nebuchadnezzar II until it agreed to pay a tribute. The Achaemenid Empire conquered the city in 539 BC and kept it under its rule until Alexander the Great laid siege to the city, in 315 BC, Alexanders former general Antigonus began his own siege of Tyre, taking the city a year later
Tyre, Lebanon
–
Tyre fishing harbor
Tyre, Lebanon
–
The Triumphal Arch (reconstructed)
Tyre, Lebanon
–
Remains of ancient columns at Al Mina excavation site – supposed
palaestra
Tyre, Lebanon
–
Rectangular theatre at Al Mina excavation site
22.
Anno Mundi
–
Anno Mundi, abbreviated as AM or A. M. or Year After Creation, is a calendar era based on the biblical accounts of the creation of the world and subsequent history. That calendar is similar to the Julian calendar except that its epoch is equivalent to 1 September 5509 BC on the Julian proleptic calendar, the Hebrew calendar is based on rabbinic calculations of the year of creation from the Hebrew Masoretic text of the bible. This calendar is used within Jewish communities for religious and other purposes, on the Hebrew calendar, the day begins at sunset. The calendars epoch, corresponding to the date of the worlds creation, is equivalent to sunset on the Julian proleptic calendar date 6 October 3761 BC. The new year begins at Rosh Hashanah, roughly in September, Year anno mundi 5777, or AM5777, began at sunset on 2 October 2016 on the Gregorian calendar. While differences in biblical interpretation or in calculation methodology can produce differences in the creation date. The primary reason for the disparity seems to lie in which underlying Biblical text is chosen, most of the 1, 732-year difference resides in numerical discrepancies in the genealogies of the two versions of the Book of Genesis. The net difference between the two genealogies of Genesis is 1466 years, 85% of the total difference. During the Talmudic era, from the 1st to the 10th centuries AD, jews in these regions used Seleucid Era dating as the primary method for calculating the calendar year. Why not say that it is reckoned from the Exodus from Egypt, omitting the first thousand years, in that case, the document is really post-dated. Said Rav Nahman, In the Diaspora the Greek Era alone is used and he thought that Rav Nahman wanted to dispose of him anyhow, but when he went and studied it thoroughly he found that it is indeed taught, In the Diaspora the Greek Era alone is used. By his calculation, based on the Masoretic Text, Adam and Eve were created on 1st of Tishrei in 3760 BC, in the 8th and 9th centuries AD, the center of Jewish life moved from Babylonia to Europe, so calculations from the Seleucid era became meaningless. From the 11th century, anno mundi dating became dominant throughout most of the worlds Jewish communities, the new system reached its definitive form in AD1178 when Maimonides completed the Mishneh Torah. In the section Sanctification of the Moon, he wrote of his choice of Epoch, from which calculations of all dates should be made, which is the year 4938 of the creation of the world. He included all the rules for the calculated calendar epoch and their basis, including the modern epochal year in his work. The first year of the Jewish calendar, Anno Mundi 1, began one year before Creation. The first five days of Jewish Creation week occupy the last five days of AM1, the sixth day of Creation, when Adam and Eve were created, is the first day of AM2, Rosh Hashanah. Its associated molad Adam occurred on Day 5 at 14 hours and this is also called molad BaHaRaD, because it occurred on Day 2,5 hours,204 parts
Anno Mundi
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A
Jewish gravestone using the Year After Creation found just outside the
Rotunda of
Thessaloniki. (Anno Mundi) chronology
Anno Mundi
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The inscription over the
Bevis Marks Synagogue,
City of London, gives a year in Anno Mundi (5461) and
Anno Domini (1701).
23.
Temple Mount
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The Temple Mount, known to Muslims as the Haram esh-Sharif, a hill located in the Old City of Jerusalem, is one of the most important religious sites in the world. It has been venerated as a site for thousands of years by Judaism, Christianity. The present site is dominated by three monumental structures from the early Umayyad period, the al-Aqsa Mosque, the Dome of the Rock, Herodian walls and gates with additions dating back to the late Byzantine and early Islamic periods cut through the flanks of the Mount. Currently it can be reached through eleven gates, ten reserved for Muslims and one for non-Muslims, the Temple Mount is the holiest site in Judaism, which regards it as the place where Gods divine presence is manifested more than in any other place. According to the rabbinic sages whose debates produced the Talmud, it was here the world expanded into its present form. Several passages in the Hebrew Bible indicate that during the time when they were written, the Temple Mount was identified as Mount Zion. The Mount Zion mentioned in the parts of the Book of Isaiah, in the Book of Psalms. The name later migrated for a last time, this time to Jerusalems Western Hill, according to the Bible, both Jewish Temples stood at the Temple Mount, though archaeological evidence only exists for the Second Temple. However, the identification of Solomons Temple with the area of the Temple Mount is widespread, according to the Bible the site should function as the center of all national life—a governmental, judicial and religious center. During the Second Temple period it functioned also as an economic center, according to Jewish tradition and scripture, the First Temple was built by King Solomon the son of King David in 957 BCE and destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BCE. The second was constructed under the auspices of Zerubbabel in 516 BCE, in the 2nd century, the site was used for a temple to Jupiter Capitolinus. It was redeveloped following the Arab conquest, Jewish tradition maintains it is here a Third and final Temple will also be built. The location is the holiest site in Judaism and is the place Jews turn towards during prayer and it was from the Holy of Holies that the High Priest communicated directly with God. The Temple was of importance in Jewish worship, in the Tanakh. In the New Testament it remains the site of events in the life of Jesus. It was to end, proof of a biblical prophecy fulfilled and of Christianitys victory over Judaism with the New Covenant. Among Sunni Muslims, the Mount is widely considered the third holiest site in Islam, revered as the Noble Sanctuary, the location of Muhammads journey to Jerusalem and ascent to heaven, the site is also associated with Jewish biblical prophets who are also venerated in Islam. Muslims preferred to the esplanade as the heart for the Muslim quarter since it had abandoned by Christians
Temple Mount
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Aerial southern view of the Temple Mount
Temple Mount
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Jerusalem
Temple Mount
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The
Holyland Model of Jerusalem in the late
Second Temple period. The large flat expanse was a base for Herod's Temple, in the center. The view is from outside the Eastern Wall of the Temple Mount.
Temple Mount
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The
Trumpeting Place inscription, a stone (2.43x1 m) with
Hebrew inscription לבית התקיעה להב "To the Trumpeting Place" excavated by
Benjamin Mazar at the southern foot of the Temple Mount is believed to be a part of the Second Temple
24.
Dome of the Rock
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The Dome of the Rock is an Islamic shrine located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. The original dome collapsed in 1015 and was rebuilt in 1022–23, the Dome of the Rock is in its core one of the oldest extant works of Islamic architecture. The octagonal plan of the structure may also have influenced by the Byzantine Church of the Seat of Mary built between 451 and 458 on the road between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Herods Temple was destroyed in 70 CE by the Romans, and after the Bar Kokhba revolt in 135 CE, Jerusalem was ruled by the Christian Byzantine Empire throughout the 4th to 6th centuries. During this time, Christian pilgrimage to Jerusalem began to develop, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was built under Constantine in the 320s, but the Temple Mount was left undeveloped after a failed project of restoration of the temple under Julian the Apostate. The Dome of the Rock is now assumed to have been built by the order of Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik and his son. According to Sibt ibn al-Jawzi, construction started in 687, construction cost was reportedly seven times the yearly tax income of Egypt. A dedicatory inscription in Kufic script is preserved inside the dome, the date is recorded as AH72, the year historians believe the construction of the original Dome was completed. In this inscription, the name of al-Malik was deleted and replaced by the name of Abbasid caliph Al-Mamun and this alteration of the original inscription was first noted by Melchior de Vogüé in 1864. Some scholars have suggested that the dome was added to a building, built either by Muawiyah I, or indeed a Byzantine building dating to before the Muslim conquest. Its architecture and mosaics were patterned after nearby Byzantine churches and palaces, the two engineers in charge of the project were Raja ibn Haywah, a Muslim theologian from Beit Shean and Yazid Ibn Salam, a non-Arab who was Muslim and a native of Jerusalem. Creswell in his book The Origin of the Plan of the Dome of the Rock notes that those who built the shrine used the measurements of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The diameter of the dome of the shrine is 20.20 m and its height 20.48 m, while the diameter of the dome of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is 20.90 m and its height 21.05 m. It comprises a dome, approximately 20 m in diameter. Surrounding this circle is an arcade of 24 piers and columns. The original construction was surrounded by arcades, like the Dome of the Chain. Under Abbasid caliph Al-Mamun, a wall was added. The building was damaged by earthquakes in 808 and again in 846
Dome of the Rock
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Dome of the Rock Cubbat As-Sakhrah قبة الصخرة
Dome of the Rock
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Dome of the Rock as viewed from the
Mount of Olives and showing the walls of the Old City
Dome of the Rock
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Dome of the Rock at night viewed from the Austrian Hospice
Dome of the Rock
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Print from 1887. Architect
Frederick Catherwood was the first westerner known to have made detailed drawings of the Dome, which he accomplished during a six-week period in 1833.
25.
Neo-Babylonian Empire
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The Neo-Babylonian Empire, also known as the Chaldean Empire, was a period of Mesopotamian history which began in 626 BC and ended in 539 BC. During the preceding three centuries, Babylonia had been ruled by their fellow Akkadian speakers and northern neighbours, Assyria, a year after the death of the last strong Assyrian ruler, Assurbanipal, in 627 BC, the Assyrian empire spiralled into a series of brutal civil wars. Babylonia rebelled under Nabopolassar, a member of the Chaldean tribe which had migrated from the Levant to south eastern Babylonia in the early 9th century BC. This period witnessed an improvement in economic life and agricultural production, and a great flourishing of architectural projects. The Neo-Babylonian period ended with the reign of Nabonidus in 539 BC, to the east, the Persians had been growing in strength, and eventually Cyrus the Great conquered the empire. Babylonia was subject to and dominated by Assyria during the Neo-Assyrian period, the Assyrians of Upper Mesopotamia had usually been able to pacify their southern relations through military might, installing puppet kings, or granting increased privileges. Even though Aramaic had become the everyday tongue, Akkadian was retained as the language of administration, archaic expressions from 1500 years earlier were reintroduced in Akkadian inscriptions, along with words in the long-unspoken Sumerian language. Neo-Babylonian cuneiform script was modified to make it look like the old 3rd-millennium BC script of Akkad. Ancient artworks from the heyday of Babylonias imperial glory were treated with reverence and were painstakingly preserved. For example, when a statue of Sargon the Great was found during work, a temple was built for it. The story is told of how Nebuchadnezzar, in his efforts to restore the Temple at Sippar, had to make repeated excavations until he found the foundation deposit of Naram-Sin of Akkad, the discovery then allowed him to rebuild the temple properly. Neo-Babylonians also revived the ancient Sargonid practice of appointing a royal daughter to serve as priestess of the moon-god Sin, much more is known about Mesopotamian culture and economic life under the Neo-Babylonians than about the structure and mechanics of imperial administration. It is clear that for southern Mesopotamia, the Neo-Babylonian period was a renaissance, large tracts of land were opened to cultivation. Peace and imperial power made available to expand the irrigation systems. The Babylonian countryside was dominated by large estates, which were given to government officials as a form of pay, the estates were usually managed by local entrepreneurs, who took a cut of the profits. Rural folk were bound to these estates, providing both labour and rents to their landowners, urban life flourished under the Neo-Babylonians. Cities had local autonomy and received privileges from the kings. Centered on their temples, the cities had their own law courts, free laborers like craftsmen enjoyed high status and a sort of guild system came into existence, which gave them collective bargaining power
Neo-Babylonian Empire
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The Neo-Babylonian Empire at its greatest extent
Neo-Babylonian Empire
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The
Ishtar Gate of
Babylon as reconstructed in the
Pergamon Museum in
Berlin
Neo-Babylonian Empire
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An engraving on an eye stone of onyx with an inscription of Nebuchadnezzar II
26.
Jeconiah
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Jeconiah, also known as Coniah and as Jehoiachin, was a king of Judah who was dethroned by the King of Babylon in the 6th century BC and was taken into captivity. He was the son and successor of King Jehoiakim, most of what is known about Jeconiah is found in the Hebrew Bible. Records of Jeconiahs existence have been found in Iraq, such as the Jehoiachins Rations Tablets and these tablets were excavated near the Ishtar Gate in Babylon and have been dated to c.592 BC. Written in cuneiform, they mention Jeconiah and his five sons as recipients of food rations in Babylon, Jeconiah reigned three months and ten days, beginning December 9,598. He succeeded Jehoiakim as king of Judah after raiders from surrounding lands invaded Jerusalem and it is likely that the king of Babylon was behind this effort, as a response to Jehoiakims revolt, starting sometime after 601 BC. Three months and ten days after Jeconiah became king, the armies of Nebuchadnezzar II seized Jerusalem, the intention was to take high class Judahite captives and assimilate them into Babylonian society. On March 15/16th,597 BC, Jeconiah, his entire household, the Masoretic Text of 2 Chronicles states that Jeconiahs rule began at the age of eight, while in 2 Kings 24,8 Jeconiah is said to have come to the throne at eighteen. Modern scholars have treated the difference between eight and eighteen as reflecting a copying error on one side or the other of the question, after Jeconiah was deposed as king, Jeconiahs uncle, Zedekiah, was appointed by Nebuchadnezzar to rule Judah. Zedekiah was the son of Josiah, Jeconiah would later be regarded as the first of the exilarchs. In the Book of Ezekiel, the author refers to Jeconiah as king, the author identifies himself as Ezekiel, a contemporary of Jeconiah, and he never mentions Zedekiah by name. According to 2 Kings 25,27, Jeconiah was released from prison in the 37th year of the exile, Babylonian records show that Amel-Marduk began his reign in October 562 BC. According to 2 Kings 25,27, Jeconiah was released from prison on the 27th day of the twelfth month and this indicates the first year of captivity to be 598/597 BC, according to Judahs Tishri-based calendar. The 37th year of captivity was thus, by Judean reckoning, -- Jeremiah 22,30, NIV Jeconiah was the son of Jehoiakim with Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. He had seven children, Shealtiel, Malkiram, Pedaiah, Shenazzar, Jekamiah, Hoshama, Jeconiah is also mentioned in the first book of Chronicles as the father of Pedaiah, who in turn is the father of Zerubbabel. A list of his descendants is given in 1 Chronicles 3, in listing the genealogy of Jesus Christ, Matthew 1,11 records Jeconiah as an ancestor of Joseph, the husband of Mary. The Babylonian Chronicles establish that Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem the first time on 2 Adar 597 BC, Thiele said that the 25th anniversary of Jeconiahs captivity was April 25,573 BC, implying that he began the trip to Babylon on 10 Nisan 597,24 years earlier. His reasoning in arriving at this date was based on Ezekiel 40,1. He therefore ended Jehoiachins reign of three months and ten days on this date, the dates he gives for Jeconiahs reign are then,21 Heshvan 598 BC to 10 Nisan 597 BC
Jeconiah
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Jeconiah from
Guillaume Rouillé 's
Promptuarii Iconum Insigniorum, 1553
Jeconiah
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Lunette in the
Sistine Chapel of Jeconiah with
Shealtiel and
Josiah.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Easton, Matthew George (1897). "Temple, Solomon's". Easton's Bible Dictionary (New and revised ed.). T. Nelson and Sons.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "Temple of Solomon". Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company.
Media related to Temple of Solomon at Wikimedia Commons
