Land and People
Israel In antiquity, the land between the eastern shore of the Mediterranean and the Jordan River, occupied by the Israelites from the early second millennium b. c.e. The modern state of Israel was founded in 1948.
The small land of Israel probably appeared insignificant to the Assyrian masters of western Asia, but it would play an important role in world history. Two interconnected dramas played out here between around 2000 and 500 B. c.E. First, a loose collection of nomadic groups engaged in herding and caravan traffic became a sedentary, agricultural people, developed complex political and social institutions, and became integrated into the commercial and diplomatic networks of the Middle East. Second, these people transformed the austere cult of a desert god into the concept of a single, all-powerful, and all-knowing deity, in the process creating ethical and intellectual traditions that underlie the beliefs and values of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
The land and people at the heart of this story have gone by various names: Canaan, Israel, Palestine; Hebrews, Israelites, Jews. For the sake of consistency, the people are referred to here as Israelites, the land they occupied in antiquity as Israel.
Israel is a crossroads, linking Anatolia, Egypt, Arabia, and Mesopotamia (see Map 4.4). Its natural resources are few. The Negev Desert and the vast wasteland of the Sinai (SIE-nie) lie to the south. The Mediterranean coastal plain was usually in the hands of others, particularly the Philistines, throughout much of this period. Galilee to the north, with its sea of the same name, was a relatively fertile land of grassy hills and small plains. The narrow ribbon of the Jordan River runs down the eastern side of the region into the Dead Sea, so named because its high salt content is toxic to life.
The Hebrew Bible
Hebrew Bible A collection of sacred books containing diverse materials concerning the origins, experiences, beliefs, and practices of the Israelites. Most of the extant text was compiled by members of the priestly class in the fifth century b. c.e. and reflects the concerns and views of this group.
Early Pastoralists
Ie PRIMARY SOURCE: Moses Descends Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments Find out why the god of the Old Testament issued the Ten Commandments and what he promised Moses's people in return for keeping—or violating—them.
Egypt and the Exodus
Origins, Exodus, and Settlement
Information about ancient Israel comes partly from archaeological excavations and documents such as the royal annals of Egypt and Assyria. Fundamental, but also problematic, are the texts preserved in the Hebrew Bible (called the Old Testament by Christians), a compilation of several collections of materials that originated with different groups and advocated particular interpretations of past events. Traditions about the Israelites' early history were long transmitted orally. Not until the tenth century b. c.e. were they written down in a script borrowed from the Phoenicians. The text that we have today dates from the fifth century B. c.E., with a few later additions, and reflects the point of view of the priests who controlled the Temple in Jerusalem. The Hebrew language of the Bible reflects the speech of the Israelites until about 500 B. c.E., when it was supplanted by Aramaic. Historians disagree about how accurately this document represents Israelite history. However, it provides a foundation to be used critically and tested against archaeological discoveries.
The history of ancient Israel follows a familiar pattern in the ancient Middle East: Nomadic pastoralists, occupying marginal land between the inhospitable desert and settled agricultural areas, sometimes engaged in trade and sometimes raided the farms and villages of settled peoples, but eventually they settled down to an agricultural way of life and later developed a unified state.
The Hebrew Bible tells the story of Abraham and his descendants. Born in the city of Ur in southern Mesopotamia, Abraham rejected the idol worship of his homeland and migrated with his family and livestock across the Syrian desert. Eventually he arrived in the land of Israel, which had been promised to him and his descendants by the Israelite god, Yahweh.
These “recollections” of the journey of Abraham (who, if he was a real person, probably lived around 1800 B. c.E.) may compress the experiences of generations of pastoralists who migrated from the grazing lands between the upper reaches of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers to the Mediterranean coastal plain. They camped by a permanent water source in the dry season, then drove herds of sheep, cattle, and donkeys to a well-established sequence of grazing areas during the rest of the year. The animals provided them with milk, cheese, meat, and cloth.
The nomadic Israelites and the settled peoples were suspicious of one another. This friction between herders and farmers permeates the story of the innocent shepherd Abel, who was killed by his farmer brother Cain, and the story of Sodom (SOE-duhm) and Gomorrah (guh-MORE-uh), two cities that Yahweh destroyed because of their wickedness.
In the Hebrew Bible, Abraham's son Isaac and then his grandson Jacob became the leaders of this wandering group of herders. In the next generation the squabbling sons of Jacob's several wives sold their brother Joseph as a slave to passing merchants heading for Egypt. Through luck
© Cengage Learning
MAP 4.4
_ Phoenicia and Israel The lands along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea—sometimes called the Levant or Syria-Palestine—have always been a crossroads, traversed by migrants, nomads, merchants, and armies moving between Egypt, Arabia, Mesopotamia, and Anatolia.
Interactive Map
And ability Joseph became a high official at the pharaoh's court. Thus he was in a position to help his people when drought struck and forced the Israelites to migrate to Egypt. The sophisticated Egyptians looked down on these rough herders and eventually enslaved them and put them to work on royal building projects.
Several points need to be made about this biblical account. First, the Israelite migration to Egypt and later enslavement may have been connected to the rise and fall of the Hyksos. Second, although surviving Egyptian sources do not refer to Israelite slaves, they do complain about Apiru (uh-PEE-roo), a derogatory term applied to caravan drivers, outcasts, bandits, and other marginal groups. Some scholars believe there may be a connection between the similarsounding terms Apiru and Hebrew. Third, the period of alleged Israelite slavery coincided with the ambitious building programs launched by several New Kingdom pharaohs. However, there is little archaeological evidence of an Israelite presence in Egypt.
According to the Hebrew Bible, the Israelites were led out of captivity by Moses, an Israelite with connections to the Egyptian royal family. The narrative of their departure, the Exodus, is overlaid with folktale motifs, including the ten plagues that Yahweh inflicted on Egypt to persuade the pharaoh to release the Israelites, and the miraculous parting of the waters of the Red Sea that enabled the refugees to escape. Oral tradition may have embellished memories of a real emigration from Egypt followed by years of wandering in the wilderness of Sinai.
During their forty years in the desert, as reported in the Hebrew Bible, the Israelites entered into a “covenant” or pact with their god, Yahweh: They would be his “Chosen People” if they promised to worship him exclusively. This was confirmed by tablets that Moses brought down from the top of Mount Sinai, inscribed with the Ten Commandments that set out the basic tenets of Jewish belief and practice. The Commandments prohibited murder, adultery, theft, lying, and envy and demanded respect for parents and rest from work on the Sabbath, the seventh day of the week.
The biblical account proceeds to tell how Joshua, Moses's successor, led the Israelites from the east side of the Jordan River into the land of Canaan (KAY-nuhn) (modern Israel and the Palestinian territories), where they attacked and destroyed Canaanite (KAY-nuh-nite) cities. Archaeological evidence confirms the destruction of some Canaanite towns between 1250 and 1200 B. c.E., though not precisely the towns mentioned in the biblical account. Shortly thereafter, lowland sites were resettled and new sites were established in
Settlement in Canaan
David and Solomon
First Temple A monumental sanctuary built in Jerusalem by King Solomon in the tenth century b. c.e. to be the religious center for the Israelite god Yahweh. The Temple priesthood conducted sacrifices, received a tithe or percentage of agricultural revenues, and became economically and politically powerful.
Israelite Society
The hills. The material culture of the new settlers was cruder but continued Canaanite patterns. Most scholars doubt that Canaan was conquered by a unified Israelite army. In a time of widespread disruption, movements of peoples, and decline and destruction of cities throughout this region, it is more likely that Israelite migrants took advantage of the disorder and were joined by other groups and even refugees from the Canaanite cities.
The new coalition of peoples invented a common ancestry. The “Children of Israel,” as they called themselves, were divided into twelve tribes supposedly descended from the sons of Jacob and Joseph. Each tribe was installed in a different part of the country and led by one or more chiefs. Such leaders usually had limited power and were primarily responsible for mediating disputes and seeing to the welfare and protection of the group. Certain charismatic figures, famed for their daring in war or genius in arbitration, were called “Judges” and enjoyed a special standing that transcended tribal boundaries. The tribes also shared access to a shrine in the hill country at Shiloh (SHIE-loe), which housed the Ark of the Covenant, a sacred chest containing the tablets that Yahweh had given Moses.
Rise of the Monarchy
The troubles afflicting the eastern Mediterranean around 1200 B. c.E. also brought the Philistines to the coastal plain of Israel, where they came into frequent conflict with the Israelites. Their wars were memorialized in Bible stories about the long-haired strongman Samson, who toppled a Philistine temple, and the shepherd boy David, whose slingshot felled the towering warrior Goliath. A religious leader named Samuel recognized the need for a strong central authority and anointed Saul as the first king of Israel around 1020 b. c.e. When Saul perished in battle, the throne passed to David (r. ca. 1000-960 B. c.E.). Many scholars regard the biblical account for the period of the monarchy as more historically reliable than the earlier parts, although some maintain that the archaeological record still does not match up very well with that narrative and that the wealth and power of the early kings have been greatly exaggerated.
A gifted musician, warrior, and politician, David oversaw Israel's transition from tribal confederacy to unified monarchy. He strengthened royal authority by making the captured hill city of Jerusalem his capital. Soon after, David brought the Ark to Jerusalem, making the city the religious as well as political center of the kingdom. A census was taken to facilitate the collection of taxes, and a standing army, with soldiers paid by and loyal to the king, was established. These innovations enabled David to win military victories and expand Israel's borders.
The reign of David's son Solomon (r. ca. 960-920 B. c.E.) marked the high point of the Israelite monarchy. Alliances and trade linked Israel with near and distant lands. Solomon and Hiram, the king of Phoenician Tyre, dispatched a fleet into the Red Sea to bring back gold, ivory, jewels, sandalwood, and exotic animals. The story of the visit to Solomon by the queen of Sheba may be mythical, but it reflects the reality of trade with Saba (SUH-buh) in south Arabia (present-day Yemen) or the Horn of Africa (present-day Somalia). The wealth gained from military and commercial ventures supported a lavish court life, a sizeable bureaucracy, and an intimidating chariot army that made Israel a regional power. Solomon undertook an ambitious building program employing slaves and the compulsory labor of citizens. To strengthen the link between religious and secular authority, he built the First Temple in Jerusalem. The Israelites now had a central shrine and an impressive set of rituals that could compete with other religions in the area.
The Temple priests became a powerful and wealthy class, receiving a share of the annual harvest in return for making animal sacrifices to Yahweh on behalf of the community. The expansion of Jerusalem, new commercial opportunities, and the increasing prestige of the Temple hierarchy changed the social composition of Israelite society. A gap between urban and rural, rich and poor, polarized a people that previously had been relatively homogeneous. Fiery prophets, claiming revelation from Yahweh, accused the monarchs and aristocracy of corruption, impiety, and neglect of the poor (see Diversity and Dominance: Protests Against the Ruling Class in Israel and Babylonia).
The Israelites lived in extended families, several generations residing together under the authority of the eldest male. Male heirs were of paramount importance, and first-born sons received a double share of the inheritance. If a couple had no son, they could adopt one, or the husband could have a child by the wife's slave attendant. If a man died childless, his brother was expected to marry his widow and sire an heir.
Monotheism Belief in the existence of a single divine entity. Some scholars cite the devotion of the Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten to Aten (sun-disk) and his suppression of traditional gods as the earliest instance. The Israelite worship of Yahweh developed into an exclusive belief in one god, and this concept passed into Christianity and Islam.
Division and Disaster
Artist’s Rendering of Solomon’s Jerusalem Strategically located in the middle of lands occupied by the Israelite tribes and on a high plateau overlooking the central hills and the Judaean desert, Jerusalem was captured around 1000 b. c.e. by King David, who made it his capital (the City of David is at left, the citadel and palace complex at center). The next king, Solomon, built the First Temple to serve as the center of worship of the Israelite god, Yahweh. Solomon’s Temple (at upper right) was destroyed during the Neo-Babylonian sack of the city in 587 b. c.e. The modest structure soon built to take its place was replaced by the magnificent Second Temple, erected by King Herod in the last decades of the first century b. c.e. and destroyed by the Romans in 70 c. e.
In early Israel, because women provided vital goods and services that sustained the family, they were respected and had some influence with their husbands. Unlike men, however, they could not inherit property or initiate divorce, and a woman caught in extramarital relations could be put to death. Peasant women labored with other family members in agriculture or herding in addition to caring for the house and children. As the society became urbanized, some women worked outside the home as cooks, perfumers, wet nurses, prostitutes, and singers of laments at funerals. A few women reached positions of power, such as Deborah the Judge, who led troops in battle against the Canaanites. “Wise women” composed sacred texts in poetry and prose. This reality has been obscured, in part by the male bias of the Hebrew Bible, in part because the status of women declined as Israelite society became more urbanized.
Fragmentation and Dispersal
After Solomon's death around 920 B. c.E., resentment over royal demands for money and labor and the neglect of tribal prerogatives split the monarchy into two kingdoms: Israel in the north, with its capital at Samaria (suh-MAH-ree-yuh); and Judah (JOO-duh) in the southern territory around Jerusalem (see Map 4.4). The two were sometimes at war, sometimes allied.
This period saw the final formulation of monotheism, the belief in Yahweh as the one and only god. Nevertheless, many Israelites were attracted to the ecstatic rituals of the Canaanite storm-god Baal (BAHL) and the fertility goddess Asherah (uh-SHARE-uh). Prophets condemned the adoption of foreign ritual and threatened that Yahweh would punish Israel severely.
The two Israelite kingdoms and other small states in the region laid aside their rivalries to mount a joint resistance to the Neo-Assyrian Empire, but to no avail. In 721 b. c.e. the Assyrians destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel and deported much of its population to the east.
Protests Against the Ruling Class in Israel and Babylonia
Israelite society underwent profound changes in the period of the monarchy, and the new opportunities for some to acquire considerable wealth led to greater disparities between rich and poor. A series of prophets publicly challenged the behavior of the Israelite ruling elite. They denounced the changes in Israelite society as corrupting people and separating them from the religious devotion and moral rectitude of an earlier, better time. The prophets often spoke out on behalf of the uneducated, inarticulate, illiterate, and powerless lower classes, and they thus provide valuable information about the experiences of different social groups. Theirs was not objective reporting, but rather the angry, anguished visions of unconventional individuals.
The following excerpt from the Hebrew Bible is taken from the book of Amos. A herdsman from the southern kingdom of Judah in the era of the divided monarchy, Amos was active in the northern kingdom of Israel in the mid-eighth century b. c.e., when Assyria threatened the Syria-Palestine region.
1:1 The following is a record of what Amos prophesied. He was one of the herdsmen from Tekoa. These prophecies about Israel were revealed to him during the time of King Uzziah of Judah and King Jeroboam son of Joash of Israel. . . .
3:1 Listen, you Israelites, to this message which the Lord is proclaiming against you. This message is for the entire clan I brought up from the land of Egypt:
3:2 “I have chosen you alone from all the clans of the earth. Therefore I will punish you for all your sins." . . .
3:9 Make this announcement in the fortresses of Ashdod and in the fortresses in the land of Egypt. Say this: “Gather on the hills around Samaria! [capital of the northern kingdom] Observe the many acts of violence taking place within the city, the oppressive deeds occurring in it." . . .
3:11 “Therefore," says the sovereign Lord, “an enemy will encircle the land. Your power, Samaria, will be taken away; your fortresses will be looted."
3:12 This is what the Lord says: “Just as a shepherd salvages from the lion's mouth a couple of leg bones or a piece of an ear, so the Israelites who live in Samaria will be salvaged. They will be left with just a corner of a bed, and a part of a couch." . . .
4:1 Listen to this message, you “cows of Bashan" who live on Mount Samaria! You oppress the poor; you crush the needy. You say to your husbands, “Bring us more to drink so we can party!"
4:2 The sovereign Lord confirms this oath by his own holy character: “Certainly the time is approaching! You will be carried away in baskets, every last one of you in fishermen's pots.
4:3 Each of you will go straight through the gaps in the walls; you will be thrown out toward Harmon." . . .
5:11 “Therefore, because you make the poor pay taxes on their crops and exact a grain tax from them, you will not live in the houses you built with chiseled stone, nor will you drink the wine from the fine vineyards you planted.
5:12 Certainly I am aware of your many rebellious acts and your numerous sins. You torment the innocent, you take bribes, and you deny justice to the needy at the city gate. . . .
5:21 I absolutely despise your festivals. I get no pleasure from your religious assemblies.
5:22 Even if you offer me burnt and grain offerings, I will not be satisfied; I will not look with favor on the fattened calves you offer in peace.
5:23 Take away from me your noisy songs; I don't want to hear the music of your stringed instruments." . . .
6:4 They lie around on beds decorated with ivory, and sprawl out on their couches. They eat lambs from the flock, and calves from the middle of the pen.
6:5 They sing to the tune of stringed instruments; like David they invent musical instruments.
6:6 They drink wine from sacrificial bowls, and pour the very best oils on themselves.
6:7 Therefore they will now be the first to go into exile, and the religious banquets where they sprawl out on couches will end.
7:10 Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent this message to King Jeroboam of Israel: “Amos is conspiring against you in the very heart of the kingdom of Israel! The land cannot endure all his prophecies.
7:11 As a matter of fact, Amos is saying this: 'Jeroboam will die by the sword and Israel will certainly be carried into exile away from its land.'"
7:12 Amaziah then said to Amos, “Leave, you visionary! Run away to the land of Judah! Earn money and prophesy there!
7:13 Don't prophesy at Bethel any longer, for a royal temple and palace are here!"
7:14 Amos replied to Amaziah, “I was not a prophet by profession. No, I was a herdsman who also took care of sycamore fig trees.
7:15 Then the Lord took me from tending flocks and gave me this commission, 'Go! Prophesy to my people Israel!'" . . .
8:8 “Because of this the earth will quake, and all who live in it will mourn. The whole earth will rise like the River Nile, it will surge upward and then grow calm, like the Nile in Egypt.
8:9 In that day," says the sovereign Lord, “I will make the sun set at noon, and make the earth dark in the middle of the day.
8:10 I will turn your festivals into funerals, and all your songs into funeral dirges. I will make everyone wear funeral clothes and cause every head to be shaved bald. I will make you mourn as if you had lost your only son; when it ends it will indeed have been a bitter day." . . .
9:8 “Look, the sovereign Lord is watching the sinful nation, and I will destroy it from the face of the earth. But I will not completely destroy the family of Jacob," says the Lord.
9:9 “For look, I am giving a command and I will shake the family of Israel together with all the nations. It will resemble a sieve being shaken, when not even a pebble falls to the ground. . . .
9:11 In that day I will rebuild the collapsing hut of David. I will seal its gaps, repair its ruins, and restore it to what it was like in days gone by."
A document from Babylon, which may have been composed around 1000 b. c.e., reveals the prevalence of similar inequities and abuses in that society. It is presented as a dialogue between a man in distress (who, despite his claim of low status, is literate and presumably comes from the urban middle class) and his compassionate friend.
Sufferer
I have looked around in the world, but things are turned around.
The god does not impede the way of even a demon.
A father tows a boat along the canal,
While his son lies in bed.
The eldest son makes his way like a lion,
The second son is happy to be a mule driver.
The heir goes about along the streets like a peddler,
The younger son (has enough) that he can give food to the destitute.
What has it profited me that I have bowed down to my god?
I must bow even to a person who is lower than I,
The rich and opulent treat me, as a younger brother, with contempt. . . .
Friend
O wise one, O savant, who masters knowledge,
Your heart has become hardened and you accuse the god wrongly.
The mind of the god, like the center of the heavens, is remote; Knowledge of it is very difficult; people cannot know it.
Among all the creatures whom Aruru formed
Why should the oldest offspring be so. . . [text uncertain]?
In the case of a cow, the first calf is a runt,
The later offspring is twice as big.
A first child is born a weakling,
But the second is called a mighty warrior.
Though it is possible to find out what the will of the god is, people do not know how to do it.
Sufferer
Pay attention, my friend, understand my clever ideas,
Heed my carefully chosen words.
People extol the words of a strong man who has learned to kill But bring down the powerless who has done no wrong.
They confirm (the position of) the wicked for whom what should be an abomination is considered right Yet drive off the honest man who heeds the will of his god. They fill the [storehouse] of the oppressor with gold,
But empty the larder of the beggar of its provisions.
They support the powerful, whose. . . [text uncertain] is guilt, But destroy the weak and trample the powerless.
And, as for me, an insignificant person, a prominent person persecutes me.
Friend
Narru, king of the gods, who created mankind,
And majestic Zulummar, who pinched off the clay for them, And goddess Mami, the queen who fashioned them,
Gave twisted speech to the human race.
With lies, and not truth, they endowed them forever.
Solemnly they speak favorably of a rich man,
“He is a king," they say, “riches should be his,"
But they treat a poor man like a thief,
They have only bad to say of him and plot his murder,
Making him suffer every evil like a criminal, because he has no. . . [text uncertain].
Terrifyingly they bring him to his end, and extinguish him like glowing coals.
Sufferer
You are kind, my friend; behold my trouble,
Help me; look on my distress; know it.
I, though humble, wise, and a suppliant,
Have not seen help or aid even for a moment.
I have gone about the square of my city unobtrusively,
My voice was not raised, my speech was kept low.
I did not raise my head, but looked at the ground,
I did not worship even as a slave in the company of my associates.
May the god who has abandoned me give help,
May the goddess who has [forsaken me] show mercy,
The shepherd, the sun of the people, pastures (his flock) as a god should.
QUESTIONS FOR ANALYSIS
1. For whom is Amos’s message primarily intended? How does the ruling class react to Amos’s prophetic activity, and how does he respond to their tactics?
2. What does Amos see as wrong in Israelite society, and who is at fault? Why are even the religious practices of the elite criticized?
3. What will be the means by which God punishes Israel, and why does God punish it this way? What grounds for hope remain?
4. What are the main complaints of the Babylonian Sufferer, and where does he look for a solution? Do the Babylonian gods seem to be less directly involved in human affairs than the Israelite deity?
Sources: Excerpts from the Hebrew Bible quoted by permission. NETS Bible copyright © 1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L. L.C. Http://www. bible. org. All rights reserved. Excerpts from Babylonian document: James B. Pritchard, Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament (3rd edition with Supplement). © 1950, 1955, 1969, renewed 1978 by Princeton University Press. Reprinted by permission of Princeton University Press.
N ew settlers were brought in from Syria, Babylon, and Iran, changing the area's ethnic, cultural, and religious character. The kingdom of Judah survived more than a century longer, sometimes rebelling, sometimes paying tribute to the Assyrians or the Neo-Babylonian kingdom (626539 B. c.E.) that succeeded them. When the Neo-Babylonian monarch Nebuchadnezzar (NAB-oo-kuhd-nez-uhr) captured Jerusalem in 587 b. c.e., he destroyed the Temple and deported to Babylon the royal family, the aristocracy, and many skilled workers such as blacksmiths and scribes.
Diaspora Greek word meaning "dispersal," used to describe the communities of a given ethnic group living outside their homeland. Jews, for example, spread from Israel to western Asia and Mediterranean lands in antiquity and today can be found throughout the world.
Diaspora and Identity
SECTION REVIEW
The deportees prospered so well in their new home “by the waters of Babylon” that half a century later most of their descendants refused the offer of the Persian monarch Cyrus (see Chapter 5) to return to their homeland. This was the origin of the Diaspora (die-ASS-peh-rah)— a Greek word meaning “dispersion” or “scattering.” This dispersion outside the homeland of many Jews—as we may now call these people, since an independent Israel no longer existed— continues to this day. To maintain their religion and culture, the Diaspora communities developed institutions like the synagogue (Greek for “bringing together”), a communal meeting place that served religious, educational, and social functions.
• Because of its strategic location, the small, resource-poor land of Israel has played an important role in world history.
• The history of the ancient Israelites can be reconstructed by critically comparing information in the Hebrew Bible with archaeological discoveries.
• The early Israelites were nomadic pastoralists, but eventually they settled down as farmers and herders in Canaan.
• As a result of their rivalry with the coastal Philistines, the once loosely organized Israelite tribes united under a monarchy, with Jerusalem as the capital.
• Urbanization, wealth from trade, and the status of the Temple priesthood created divisions within Israelite society. Fiery prophets railed against the greed and corruption of the elite.
• Following conquests by the Assyrian Empire and NeoBabylonian kingdom, many Israelites were taken from their homeland. Diaspora communities created new institutions, a distinctive way of life, and a strong Jewish identity.
Several groups of Babylonian Jews did make the long trek back to Judah in the later sixth and fifth centuries B. c.E. They rebuilt the Temple in modest form and edited the Hebrew Bible into roughly its present form.
The loss of political autonomy and the experience of exile had sharpened Jewish identity. With an unyielding monotheism as their core belief, Jews lived by a rigid set of rules. Dietary restrictions forbade the eating of pork and shellfish and mandated that meat and dairy products not be consumed together. Ritual baths were used to achieve spiritual purity. The Jews venerated the Sabbath (Saturday, the seventh day of the week) by refraining from work and from fighting, following the example of Yahweh, who, according to the Bible, rested on the seventh day after creating the world (this is the origin of the concept of the week and the weekend). These strictures and others, including a ban on marrying non-Jews, tended to isolate the Jews from other peoples, but they also fostered a powerful sense of community and the belief that the Jews were protected by a watchful and beneficent deity.
World History
