Out of the many Semitic nomads, one group—the Hebrews—later came to be known as the Israelites. According to the Bible, both Semites and Hebrews were named after ancestors—the Semites because they could all trace their ancestry back to Shem, eldest son of Noah, who built the Ark and survived the Great Flood; the Hebrews because they were all descended from Heber, one of Shem’s great-grandsons.
The earliest historical reference to the Hebrews (under the name Hapiru) is found in the so-called Mari tablets. Made around 1800 BCE, these clay records were found in the remains of the palace of King Zimrilim at Mari, a Mesopotamian city on the Euphrates River (now Tall al-Hariri in Syria). The earliest historical reference to Israel and the Israelites comes much later, around 1209 BCE, in the Merneptah stele—a carved stone column recording the
The victory stele of Merneptah (an Egyptian pharaoh) contains the earliest recorded mention of the Israelites. It was made around 1209 BCE.
Achievements of an ancient Egyptian pharaoh, Merneptah, who ruled between 1213 and 1203 BCE. The stele gives an account of Merneptah’s victory in battle over Libyan troops and the armies of the Sea Peoples, and it mentions his defeat in western Canaan of forces from Ashkelon, Gezer, Yanoam, and Israel. It declares: “Canaan is taken prisoner and in despair. Ashkelon is defeated, Gezer taken, Yanoam reduced to nothing; Israel also is brought to ruin, its people slain.”
Almost all knowledge of the Israelites’ earliest history and first migrations comes from the Book of Genesis— the first book of the Hebrew Bible and of the Old Testament in the Christian Bible. This biblical account identifies one man, Abraham (originally called Abram), as the ancestor from whom all the Israelites were descended and as the founder of their religion, Judaism.
World History
