(Genesis)
Chapter One
Creation and Destruction
The garden to the flood
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)
Thus begins the quintessential account of creation for the West. The construction of the world took place over a seven-day period. "And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light" (Genesis 1:2-3). And He separated the light from the darkness on the first day. On the second day, He created the dome of the sky and separated the waters that were above from those that were below. The third day witnessed the appearance of dry land from the midst of the waters and the coming into being of plants yielding seed and trees bearing fruit. The fourth day gave birth to the stars and planets and the great lights of the Sun and Moon—to illuminate the day and night and mark the seasons of the year. On the fifth day were brought forth the birds of the sky and creatures of the sea. And God blessed them. On the sixth day, He created all the animals that move upon the earth. And He created man, male/female, in his own image, giving them dominion over all that moved: the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and the animals that walked on the earth.
And God said, "Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat." (Genesis 1:29)
And God saw every thing that He had made, and, behold, it was very good. (Genesis 1:31)
On the seventh day, He rested. This is known as the First Creation and represents the undivided unity of God.
Opposite: The Tree of Good and Evil, by Berthold Furtmeyr, ca. 1478-1489. Mary, at left, nourishes the righteous with the host of the crucified Christ, while the Serpent passes the Bread of Sorrow to Eve who feeds the wicked.
The Creation of Adam, by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel, 1508-1512
The Garden of Eden
A second creation takes place beginning in Genesis 2:4. Here a new order is given to the creation and a different methodology employed. The Second Creation is administered by an apparently less powerful and universal deity who makes errors and is forced to reconsider certain actions. Biblical scholars and symbolists have addressed such issues for centuries, if not millennia. In the Second Creation, God formed man, Adam, from the dust of the ground, breathing life into his nostrils. God planted a garden in Eden (the meaning of Eden is "delight"), and this became man's home. The Garden contained all trees pleasing to the sight and good for fruit. Among these were two special trees—the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam was given access to all the fruitbearing trees but forbidden to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil on pain of death.
Then God took pity on Adam's loneliness. In this second creation story, He created the
Animals of the field and the birds of the air as Adam's companions (reversing the order of the first creation which had brought forth the animals earlier than humans). While Adam named all the animals, he did not find a helper or partner among them. So God placed him in a deep sleep and took one of his ribs and created Eve. "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh"7 (Genesis 2:24).
Eve was tempted by the Serpent (more crafty than any other animal) to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The Serpent convinced her that God would not really kill them for eating of the tree, "For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil" (Genesis 3:5). And she looked at the tree and it appeared beautiful to
Eve Tempted by the Serpent, by William Blake, late eighteenth century
Her, filled with desirable fruit, and she took of the fruit and shared it with Adam. "And the eyes of them both were opened" (Genesis 3:7). Then they heard the sound of God walking in the Garden and hid from Him. He was not pleased by their disobedience. Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamed the Serpent. God cursed the serpent so it would crawl on its belly henceforth and be despised of men; made childbirth painful for women and placed them under the dominion of men; and bequeathed to Adam toil and trouble, work and struggle all the days of his life.
After clothing them, God realized that since they now knew the difference between good and evil, they might further challenge Him by consuming the fruit of the tree of life and live forever. Thus He sent them forth from the Garden, placing cherubim at the entrance and a flaming sword that turned about in every way to block their return.
After their banishment from Eden, Eve gave birth to Cain and then Abel. Cain slew Abel, and was forced to wander as a fugitive and vagabond. However, he was marked by God in such a way that he would not be attacked by those who resented his murder of Abel. Cain was the first builder. He constructed the first city, which he named for his son Enoch. Generations later, Cain's descendant Tubal-Cain was known as an instructor in the arts of brass and iron. Adam and Eve had a third son named Seth. It was in
The Creation of the World and the Expulsion from Paradise, by Giovanni di Paolo, ca. 1445
The time of Seth's son Enosh that people began to call upon the name of the Lord.2
The Flood human intercourse became the heroes and warriors of renown.8
God saw that the wickedness and corruption of men were great and decided to destroy
As the earth became populated, the "sons of God" saw that the women were fair and took them as wives. God was angry at this and limited the human lifespan to one hundred and twenty years rather than endure competition from His creation. The children of this angelic/
2 Genesis 4:26.
Adam and Eve mourn the discovery of Cain's murder of Abel, by William Blake, ca. 1826
All life upon earth. Yet Noah, a descendant of Cain, found grace in His eyes, for he walked with the Lord. So God commanded Noah to build an ark. The construction of the Ark anticipates the Tabernacle of Exodus and the Temple of Solomon. It is the first container of the worthy, the sacred space distinguished from all other existence on earth (which here perished), and the first edifice built on measurements and principles divinely revealed directly to Noah.
The Ark was three stories high. Described in Genesis 6:14-16, it was built of cypress wood and covered with pitch. Its length was three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits.9
God explained that destruction would soon rain down upon the earth and offered to save Noah and his wife, their three sons and their wives, and two of every animal, bird, and creeping thing, male and female. He also provided for extra sacrificial animals to allow for ritual obligations after Noah was safe.
Noah's Ark on Mount Ararat, by Timothy Otis Paine, colored by Nancy Wasserman
God caused it to rain for forty days and nights and all life on earth was destroyed, save for Noah's family and the wildlife in the ark. The waters remained for one hundred fifty days until God made the winds to blow and the earth to dry. And the ark rested upon Mount Ararat (now also known as Mount Buyuk Agri Dagi in Armenia).
Noah Builds the First Altar
When Noah's testing revealed it was safe to leave the ark after some two more months, they went forth to repopulate the earth. Noah built the first altar mentioned in the Bible, making sacrifices of the clean animals as burnt offerings. Their sweet savor was pleasing to the Lord. God promised Himself never again to curse the ground nor to destroy mankind, understanding and accepting that "the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth" (Genesis 8:21).
Then God blessed Noah and his sons, telling them, "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth" (Genesis 9:1). He gave them dominion over all creatures of the earth, air, and sea, and gave man the flesh of every moving thing for meat, as previously He had given all green herbs and fruit in the First Creation. But eating living animals was forbidden, as was consuming blood. And "whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God made He man" (Genesis 9:6). God promised Noah and his family never again to destroy the human race, and announced that the rainbow would be the token of the covenant between Himself and the earth.
Noah began to cultivate the earth and planted a vineyard. One day he became drunk and lay naked in his tent. His youngest son, Ham, saw him in this condition. Ham should have shielded his eyes in modesty. He further erred by telling his two brothers, Shem and
The Tower of Babel, h-y the Bedford Master, ca. 1423-1430
Japheth. They properly covered their father, walking backward so as not to see his nakedness. When Noah awoke and realized what had occurred, he cursed Ham and his descendants, the tribes of Canaan, declaring them to be the servants of the elder two sons.
As the descendants of Noah increased through the generations, all people spoke one language. Some traveled east and decided to build a city, Babel, with a tower so high it would reach to heaven. God was irritated by their effrontery. "And the Lord said, 'Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do'" (Genesis 11:6). So He caused them to speak a multitude of languages to confound them, rending them incapable of accomplishing any task in unison, then scattering them upon the earth.
Chapter Two
The Patriarchs and Matriarchs
And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice. (Genesis 22:18)
Abraham, Sarah, and Monotheism
Many generations later, Abram was born. He was descended from Noah's son Shem. His wife was named Sarai. They lived in the Chaldean city of Ur (near Basra in modern Iraq) and traveled with other members of their family to Haran (in modern Turkey near the Syrian border). After the death of Abram's father, God instructed him and Sarai to leave their relatives and travel to the land of Canaan (modern Israel) with Abram's nephew Lot and all their household. And God promised to make of Abram a great nation (though Sarai was barren), to bless and prosper them, and to make them and their descendants a blessing to all mankind. "And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed" (Genesis 12:3).
When they crossed the Jordan River and traveled to Shechem (modern Nablus) in Canaan, the Lord appeared to Abram and promised him and his seed the land. Abram built an altar to the Lord. He then traveled on to Bethel (north of Jerusalem)
Hilltop in Shechem, the ancient city where Abraham built his first altar
Abraham and his family begin the journey to the Land of Canaan, by Jozsef Molndr, 1850
Where he built a second altar and invoked the name of the Lord.
A famine caused them to travel to Egypt, where, in a bizarre scene, Abram pretended Sarai was his sister so the Egyptians would not kill him and seize her because of her beauty. Pharaoh was distraught when he learned of Abram's deception and scolded him for causing Pharaoh to commit adultery and bring bad fortune upon his house. Then Pharaoh sent them away and they returned to Bethel.
Their herds had grown so numerous that Lot went on to Sodom (probably near the south end of the Dead Sea) to seek more grazing land. God promised to Abram a great multitude of descendants and all the land he could see. Abram journeyed on to Hebron where he erected a third altar.
Abram learned that Lot had been captured in a raid on Sodom. He launched a daring and successful guerilla-style night operation with a force of three hundred eighteen of his men and rescued Lot. After this, he was introduced to Melchizedek, king of Salem (Jerusalem), described as "the priest of the most high God" (Genesis 14:18), who blessed him.
When Abram lamented that he and Sarai were childless, the Lord promised him descendants as numerous as the stars in heaven. And Abram believed Him. Making a sacrifice, he fell into a deep sleep and saw a vision of his descendants under the yoke of Egypt for four hundred years. Then he was promised the greatest expanse of land of all the boundaries of Israel mentioned in the Bible.
Soon after, the barren Sarai invited Abram to lay with her Egyptian maid Hagar that they might have children. After Hagar conceived, she looked at Sarai with contempt. Sarai became angry and punished Hagar who fled. But an angel of the Lord came upon Hagar and commanded her to return to Abram's household and submit herself to Sarai and promised her that her descendants would be multiplied exceedingly. He told her she was carrying a male child whom she should call Ishmael. "And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren" (Genesis 16:12). Ishmael was born when Abram was eighty-six.
When Abram was ninety-nine years-old, the Lord appeared to him again and promised to multiply his seed. Abram fell to his face in prayer and awe. The Lord changed his name from Abram ("exalted father") to Abraham ("father of a multitude"). He established an everlasting covenant with the generations of Abraham, and the sign was to be the circumcision of all male children on the eighth day of birth. Sarai's name ("my princess") was changed to Sarah ("princess"), indicating her more impersonal status as queen of the race. The Lord promised Abraham that Sarah would bear him a son and she would become the mother of nations. Then Abraham expressed
Hagar and Ishmael being told by an angel to return to the home of Abram and Sarai, by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, ca. 1732 his gratitude and laughed in his heart that he would become a father at a hundred years old and Sarah a mother at ninety. And he asked God's blessing on Ishmael. God repeated that Sarah would indeed have a son whose name would be Isaac ("he will laugh"), with whom God would continue His everlasting covenant. Ishmael was blessed as well and would also become a great nation. Abraham and Ishmael (who was then thirteen), and all the male servants, workers, and slaves in his household, were circumcised that day.
The Lord appeared to Abraham again at Mamre (Hebron) in the form of three visiting men to whom Abraham and Sarah extended hospitality. The men asked about Sarah and said they would return after a child was born to her. Sarah laughed at the thought but the divine forms asked, "Is any thing too hard for the Lord" (Genesis 18:14)? In addition to this announcement, the visit of the three beings was the prelude to the story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 18-19. While somewhat afield from the Temple theme, it does make clear the power of the judgment of the Lord and His intolerance of communal sin. This has already been demonstrated in the story of Noah and the Flood, and will certainly be revisited in the history to follow.
The Birth of Isaac
Isaac was born and circumcised on the eighth day, and Sarah laughed with God. But she saw Ishmael mocking the baby and demanded that he and Hagar be cast out of the house. Abraham was greatly distressed, but God told him to obey Sarah's request, for Isaac would be the primary holder of Abraham's legacy. Yet He promised to care for Hagar and Ishmael and reaffirmed that Ishmael would found a great nation. Abraham led them away and they reached the wilderness of Beer-sheba. Hagar despaired, but an angel preserved them. As Ishmael grew, he became expert with the bow. Hagar found him a wife from the land of Egypt.
The Temple Mount and the Near-Sacrifice of Isaac
God decided to test Abraham. He commanded him to sacrifice, "thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest" (Genesis 22:2). He was to make of his body a burnt offering in "the land of Moriah," on the mountain traditionally identified as Mount Moriah in Jerusalem, the site of the future Temple of Solomon. Abraham answered the Lord's command and made the three-day journey with Isaac and two servants. Arrived on the third day, father and son left the others and went to build the sacrificial altar. As Abraham gathered the wood, Isaac asked where was the lamb for the offering. Abraham replied that God would provide it. He then bound Isaac to the altar and stretched forth his knife. At this point, an angel called out and commanded him to stay his hand, announcing that Abraham had been found worthy. He saw a ram caught in a thicket and offered it as a burnt offering instead. And God said to Abraham, "And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice" (Genesis 22:18).
The Death of Sarah and the Wedding of Isaac and Rebecca
Sometime later, Sarah died. She was buried in Hebron in a cave in the field of Machpelah that Abraham purchased from the Hittites as his family's burial plot. He then sent his servant to find a wife for Isaac from among his kindred in the region of Haran. He made the servant swear that he would help Abraham maintain the purity of tribal blood by not looking among
The angel stops Abraham from sacrificing Isaac on Mount Moriah, by Linda Gardner, 1989
The shrine of Machpelah was built by King Herod on the site of the cave where the Patriarchs and Matriarchs of Western Civilization were laid to rest during Genesis. My guide Abu Isa is standing in foreground.
The daughters of Canaan whom he might meet on his journey. Abraham also forbade him from bringing Isaac to meet his potential bride in Haran. He reasoned that the Lord had taken him from that land and promised him that he and his descendants would dwell in Israel thereafter.
Upon arriving at Haran, Abraham's servant prayed for the success of his mission. He watered his camels at the town well where he met Rebecca. Her grandfather was Abraham's brother. Her generosity and kindness touched the servant's heart, and he noted she was fair of form. After he explained his mission to Rebecca's family, she traveled to meet Isaac with their blessing. "May you, our sister, become thousands of myriads; may your offspring gain possession of the gates of their foes" (Genesis 24:60 NRSV). When Rebecca arrived in Canaan, she and Isaac were married.
Abraham died and was buried in the cave of Machpelah alongside Sarah by Ishmael and Isaac. After a period of infertility, the Lord answered Isaac's prayer and Rebecca gave birth to the twins Esau and Jacob. They were said to have contested even in the womb. Esau became a hunter, Jacob, a dweller in tents, that is, a shepherd. Esau was favored by Isaac, Jacob by Rebecca. Jacob was cunning and took advantage of Esau, demanding his birthright in
This altar was assembled from pieces found in a storage chamber during the excavations at Tel Beer-sheba. It is currently in the Israel Museum. Reproduced by permission.
Exchange for feeding the famished hunter. Esau agreed and thereby lost his considerable privilege as the firstborn of the twins. Esau married a woman of the neighboring tribes which disturbed his mother and Jacob. Esau is characterized as having despised his birthright, both by selling it to Jacob and by marrying outside the Hebrew community.10
A famine came upon the land and God commanded Isaac to move east to Gerar (southwest of Gaza). The Lord promised him protection and pledged the land to him and his descendants. Isaac settled in Gerar. Here he resorted to the same tactic as Abraham. He lied that Rebecca was his sister, putting her at risk and angering the Philistine king who reprimanded him. If someone had unwittingly lain with Rebecca, thinking she was a single woman, they would have sinned against the Lord and brought retribution to Gerar.
Isaac prospered in Gerar, arousing the envy of the Philistines. He was asked to leave. He went further south into the valley. At first he argued with local Philistines, but these disputes were eventually resolved. He proclaimed in gratitude, "Now the Lord hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land" (Genesis 26:22). He again grew wealthy in flocks and cultivated land.
Isaac then traveled to Beer-sheba, where God visited him and confirmed the covenant He had made with Abraham. Isaac built an altar to the Lord at this place. A delegation of Philistines visited him and acknowledged that Isaac was blessed of the Lord. They formed a covenant of peace between them and feasted together.
When Isaac was advanced in age and weak in eyesight he prepared to bestow his paternal blessing on the elder Esau. Rebecca schemed with Jacob and tricked Isaac into passing on this crucial blessing to Jacob instead. Esau hated Jacob for his treachery. Rebecca, learning of Esau's intention to kill him, arranged to send Jacob to her brother Laban's household in Haran that Jacob might be safe until Esau's anger had cooled. Rebecca asked Isaac to encourage Jacob to travel to Haran that he might find a wife of his own people, rather than among the Canaan-ites as had Esau.
Jacob and Rachel
On his journey to Haran, Jacob came to Bethel where Abraham had built an altar. Here Jacob dreamed of a ladder to heaven with angels ascending and descending and beheld the Lord. God promised Jacob the land on which he lay for his generations and extended the patriarchal blessing to him and his seed as He had done before to Abraham and Isaac. And Jacob built an altar of the stones he had used as pillows and
Jacob's Ladder, by William Blake, ca. 1800
Jacob wrestling with the Angel, from an engraving by Gustave Bore, 1865
Poured oil upon it. And he swore allegiance to the Lord.
Jacob continued on to Haran and met Rachel, the daughter of Laban, and loved her. He worked seven years to earn Rachel. But Laban gave him his elder daughter, Leah, instead— veiling her—thus tricking the trickster Jacob. Laban explained that the eldest daughter must be married before the youngest is allowed to do so; that in return for another seven years labor, Jacob could wed Rachel. Jacob and Leah had six sons and a daughter. Because Rachel was barren, she gave her maid to Jacob who bore him two sons. Then Leah's maid gave birth to two more sons. At last, God opened Rachel's womb and Joseph was born.11
The names of the twelve sons of Jacob (with his two wives and two concubines), heads of the twelve tribes of Israel, in order of birth were: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Nap-thali, Gad, Asher, Issacher, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin. A daughter named Dinah was born between Zebulun and Joseph.
After twenty years, Jacob returned to the land of Canaan. On the eve of his reconciliation with Esau, Jacob spent the night wrestling with an angel. The angel sought to leave at daybreak, but Jacob demanded a blessing before releasing him. The angel blessed him and told him
Benjamin. Her tomb in Bethlehem is venerated to this day as a site of pilgrimage. As the mother of Joseph, she is broadly viewed as the mother of the Jewish people, and by some, as the embodiment of the archetypal divine feminine.
Bethel was the site of several altars erected by the Patriarchs in Genesis.
He would no longer be called Jacob, but Israel ("the one who strives with God"), "for you have striven with God and with humans, and you have prevailed" (Genesis 32:28 NRSV). In naming the site of the wrestling match, Jacob proclaimed, "I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved" (Genesis 32:30).
Pitching his tent in Shechem, Jacob (now Israel) erected another altar. After a time, the Israelites were directed to continue on to Bethel where Jacob again erected an altar to the Lord. God spoke to him directly, confirmed his change of name to Israel, blessed him and his descendants, and renewed His promise concerning the land of Israel as the Jewish homeland. Jacob/
Israel continued on to Hebron to see his father Isaac before he passed away. After the death of Isaac, Esau and Israel buried their father. Then Esau traveled on to Edom, west of the Dead Sea, where he and his descendants would remain.
Joseph and Pharaoh
Jacob/Israel loved Rachel's son Joseph more than all his sons and made him a coat of many colors.12 But his brothers were jealous and hated Joseph. When Joseph related two dreams in which he described himself as reigning over his brothers, their anger grew. They conspired to kill him but instead sold him to merchants traveling to Egypt. They tricked their aging father into believing he was dead.
The merchants sold Joseph to an Egyptian official in whose household he rose to prominence as a capable manager. But falsely accused by his master's wife, Joseph was thrown into prison. Here he interpreted dreams for two members of Pharaoh's court who had suffered temporary incarceration. Two years later, Pharaoh had a disturbing dream that his court magicians and wisemen were unable to interpret. His butler (one of the courtiers formerly incarcerated with Joseph) told Pharaoh of Joseph's skills with dream interpretation. Pharaoh sent for him. Joseph first explained to Pharaoh, "It is not I; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer" (Genesis, 41:16 NRSV). Pharaoh then related his dream and Joseph explained its meaning. He offered a plan to save Egypt from the prophesied famine and was given the highest office in the land. His organizational skills allowed the Egyptians to survive the famine and remain well-fed during the seven years of hardship. Joseph married the daughter of the priest of On, and they had two children, Manasseh and Ephraim.
The famine reached far and wide and all nations came to Egypt to purchase food. In the land of Canaan, Joseph's family suffered the famine's effects. Jacob/Israel sent the ten brothers to buy food in Egypt, keeping his youngest son Benjamin with him. When the brothers arrived, they were brought to Joseph but did not recognize him. He set them a number of tasks and trials, sending them home and exposing them to danger and anxiety. He finally disclosed his identity in a scene of great emotional depth. He forgave his brothers their treachery and welcomed the Hebrew tribe to Egypt. As Joseph explained, their evil behavior in betraying him had been God's will. "God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance"13 (Genesis 45:7).
Joseph's brothers were showered with hospitality by Pharaoh. "Take your father and your households, and come unto me: and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat of the fat of the land" (Genesis 45:18). They traveled to Canaan to retrieve their father and his household. On the journey to Egypt, Jacob/ Israel stopped to offer sacrifice at Beer-sheba, where the Lord told him not to fear. "I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will surely bring thee up again" (Genesis 46:4). Seventy people traveled with Jacob/Israel to Egypt. He blessed Pharaoh upon their meeting and lived in Egypt seventeen years. He charged his family to bury him in the cave of Machpelah with Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebecca, and Leah.
As Jacob/Israel lay dying, he called for Joseph who brought his two sons with him. Jacob/Israel blessed Manasseh and Ephraim with the intention of passing his lineage blessing from Abraham and Isaac to his grandsons. He then called before him his twelve sons and blessed them, making observations and prophesies of their futures. Reuben, the eldest, had violated a tribal precept by sleeping with one of his father's concubines, so he was excluded from the honor of his position as firstborn. Neither Simeon nor Levi were given the honor of next eldest because they had created a situation of political vulnerability for the family. Their sister Dinah had been raped in Shechem, and they avenged her honor by killing many Canaanites, despite the fact that the Israelites were not strong enough to survive a major military confrontation. Judah was singled out as the leader of the Israelites and his was the lineage designated to receive the mantle of kingship. Joseph was accorded the strongest blessing as he who was set apart from his brothers.
When Jacob/Israel died he was embalmed with the Egyptian rites for forty days and mourned for seventy days more. His body was then taken in a grand procession from Egypt to Hebron, where he was buried at Machpelah.
Joseph and his family lived the rest of their days in Egypt. Joseph made the Israelites swear an oath that when the people of Israel should be removed from Egypt, as God had promised, they would not fail to take his bones and lay them with his kindred. And so he too was embalmed with the sacred rites and buried in Egypt. Some four centuries later, his remains would be carried back to join his ancestors in the land of Israel, accompanying the Ark across the Jordan River at the end of the Exodus.
The Egyptian burial rites were strictly controlled. Jacob and later Joseph would have been mourned in a procession similar to this from The Papyrus of Ani, ca. 1250 bce.
Part two
World History
