MASTER THIS PART 2

• Fertile crescent


  The region in the ancient Near East which was enriched by the twin rivers of Mesopotamia (the Euphrates and Tigris) and the Nile of Egypt
• Canaan, the promised land to Abraham and his descendants, was a country located at the heart of the ancient Near East
• Southwest to Canaan was the home of the ancient Pharaohs and the Nile river, Egypt
• North of Canaan was the land of fierce warriors and kings, Assyria; and further in the East marked the great capital of the ancient world, Babylon, and the first cradle of human civilization, Sumer
• Mesopotamia


  The land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers
• Mesopotamians


  • Descended from a Semitic people called Amorites
  • Knew how to drain marshes for agriculture, developed trade and industries including weaving, leatherwork, metalwork, masonry, and pottery
• Ubaid people


  The pre-Sumerian people
• Sumerians


  • Developed city-state government, legal system, cuneiform writing, lunar calendar, water clock, sundial, chariot and military phalanx, potter's wheel, use of vault, arch, dome, column, and tower in architecture, polytheistic religion
  • Shifted from local assembly to divinely-appointed kings who ruled as god's regent
• Sumerian myths


  • Epic of Gilgamesh - story of a hero-king and demi-god named Gilgamesh, may have influenced the Bible's story of creation and concepts of God-man relationship and man's inevitable fate, death
• Akkadians


  • Subdued the Sumerians under King Sargon, took over the entire Tigris-Euphrates basin and expanded into neighbouring countries, Akkadian language became the common medium of Mesopotamia and took over Sumerian cuneiform writing
• Babylonians


  • King Hammurabi conquered surrounding regions and created an empire, forged lasting legacies to human civilizations including the Law of Hammurabi which was similar yet contrasted with the Mosaic Law
• Assyria


  Named after the warrior-god Ashur, was a military empire with its army as the backbone of the nation
• The Assyrian conquest, particularly in the province of Samaria, left a painful, divisive scar on Israel. The Assyrians brought their own citizens to Samaria and had inter-marriages with the local inhabitants, an event that would eventually be used to project unjustified discrimination against the Samaritans
• Egypt is located southwest of Canaan, its history was complex and fascinating, and it contributed greatly to ancient civilizations
• Assyrian army


  Instrument of divine wrath due to Israel's sinfulness
• The Assyrian conquest, particularly in the province of Samaria, left a painful, divisive scar on Israel
• The Assyrians brought their own citizens in Samaria and had inter-marriages with the local inhabitants (known to be the descendants of the Northern tribes of Israel) an event that would eventually be used to project unjustified discrimination against the Samaritans, due to their mixed blood with the pagan Assyrians
• Egypt


  Land of the immortal pyramids and the great Nile river, located southwest of Canaan
• The Nile had its regular season of flood, allowing the Egyptian for an ample time of preparation, and enabling them to set their time for plowing, planting, and harvest, reflecting stability and prosperity
• To the Egyptians, the Nile was a great gift from the gods: it brought alluvial soil on its banks for their vegetation, and water for their consumption, animals, irrigation and farming
• Pharaoh


  Originally meaning "great house" or "palace", the king of Egypt, believed to be a divine institution and part of a universal cosmic order
• Pharaoh was even described as "a god by whose dealing one lives, the father and mother of all men, alone by himself, without an equal"
• The Egyptians believed in the concept of an afterlife, similar to what Christians believe today
• Afterlife belief in Egypt


  To win eternal life, each soul had to pass a test. Osiris weighted a soul's heart against the feather of truth. Those he judged to be sinners were fed to the crocodile shaped Eater of the Dead. Worthy souls entered the Happy Field of Food. Egyptians believed that the afterlife would be much like life on Earth, so they buried the dead with everything they would need for eternity
• The Canaanites were the earlier settlers of Canaan, and eventually, were replaced by Abraham, and his descendants-in view of YHWH's word to Abraham of the Promised Land
• El


  Chief god, spouse of Asherah, father of all gods (except for Baal); El's epithet was the Bull; also referred as Creator/Possessor of Heaven and Earth
• Baal


  Universal god of fertility; also called as the Lord of Rain and Dew; Baal's epithet as the storm god; also known as 'He who rides on the Clouds)'
• Asherah


  Consort of El and mother of the gods; also cited as the consort of Baal
• Anath


  Goddess of love and war, the sister and helpmate of the god of Baal
• The practice of offering the firstborn as a holocaust sacrifice was uniquely Canaanite
• In the book of Genesis, we are told of Abraham's test (Genesis 22) of offering his firstborn, Isaac. Also, we learn the story of Jephthah who pledged to YHWH a sacrifice of the first person who will meet him upon his return from a victorious war-when only brought grief and sorrow unto his heart when he saw his own daughter as the first person coming towards him while "playing tambourines and dancing" (Judges 11.34)
• King Cyrus


  A well-accepted, and adored leader during his day, a monarch, a person of mercy and compassion who issued a decree for the release, and return of foreigners from their places of origin - the context that enabled the Diaspora Jews (Jews in exile) to return to Judah, and to start the rebuilding of their nation, and the renewal of their faith
• Persians' religious beliefs


  Monotheists who believed in "Ahuramazda (the "Wise Lord")...who brought all things into being...and gave all humans the freedom to choose between right and wrong", but in conflict with Angra Mainyu, the evil spirit, thereby, producing a dualistic struggle between good and evil
• The Greeks, with the young Alexander the Great as the emperor, took advantage of the internal strife among the Persian leaders, and put a final rest to Persian rule and prominence in history
• In 165 BCE, the Seleucid King Antiochus IV Epiphanes "invaded Judaea, tried to Hellenize the Jews, and desecrated the Second Temple in Jerusalem" by placing the statue of Zeus in the Holy of Holies, the most sacred place for the Jews
• As a result, the entire Jewish population was enraged, and furious by the very act of desecration and insult
• From experiences, it is truly a fundamental consideration to investigate and understand the historical past of a specific people and their culture. By taking into account these rich heritage, traditions, beliefs, and key leaders, we get glimpses and pieces of their identity and significance in the world. We are also humbled by these feats and legacies. We are also ushered to greater maturity as we became less and less judgmental of their people