Notes

Abraham
Moses
Solomon
David
were very important to history of the Israelites.Where there was a body of water filled with fish,

they worked as fishermen.
While the men worked as shepherds or fishermen,

the women did most of the household work including

grinding grain, making garments and making

cheese and butter.The ancient Israelite farmers followed a seasonal

schedule for harvesting and planting.

According to the Gezer Calendar, which was written around

925 B.C., the olive harvest lasted two months.
The ancient Israelite farmers and shepherds had many

foods available to them including wheat, barley,

lentils, grapes, olives, nuts and milk for cheese and

butter. They developed a strict code which told

them which animals could be eaten. They had

strict rules about cleanliness and food preparation.

Archaeologists are scientists who study the ruins of ancient buildings

and ancient cities. Sometimes these ancient sites have been

covered by soil or have had newer buildings

constructed over them. Archaeologists have carefully searched for clues

about the cities, temples and homes of the Israelites.Artifacts
We learn about a culture by what the people leave behind.

We can learn about their daily lives by studying artifacts they left.



Would you like to learn more about the Israelites from

the artifacts they left behind?

More examples of Israelite artifacts can be seen here.According to the Bible, many Hebrews had gone down into

Egypt because there was a famine

in Canaan and they had no food. Instead of returning home

to Canaan, they stayed in Egypt

for a long time. The number of Hebrews living in Egypt

grew very large.

Treatment of laborors in Egypt was cruel during the time

of the Israelites' bondage. In this

wall painting from a 15th century B.C. tomb,

a farm overseer is thrashing a slave while

another slave begs for mercy. According to the book

of Exodus, it was treatment

like this that caused Moses to kill an Egyptian

and run away from Egypt.



who became afraid that the Hebrews would become

powerful enough to upset his rule.

To prevent this, he made the Hebrews

(also called Israelites) into slaves.