Notes

Have you ever heard of the Jewish religious civilization? Judaism is an ancient religion with historic roots in the Middle East.

Jewish people have a long and sometimes difficult history. It goes back thousands of years. Their story is one of struggle, captivity, and the search for freedom. Historians have been able to learn much about Jewish history from archaeology. Historians also learn about Judaism by studying one of the most important Jewish religious books, the Torah. From the Torah, scholars have been able to learn about such historical figures as Moses and King David. Historians also study the Hebrew people (early Jews) in the period of the Exodus. (This is the ancient Jewish departure from Egypt.) This journey and the impulse to find a “promised land” led the Jews to form the kingdom of Israel in Canaan. There they established ancient Israel’s capital city, Jerusalem.

Throughout their history, because of differing cultural traditions, the Jews have been attacked by other people. Under the rule of Romans, the Jews were oppressed. Jewish people refused to worship Roman gods. Conflicts occurred between Jews and non-Jewish Romans. This eventually led to a diaspora. Jewish people were forced to leave their homes in Jerusalem, and to spread out to different parts of the world.From the Torah, scholars have come to learn about the ancient story of the Hebrews and their migration in various Middle Eastern regions. In 1900 B.C., the Hebrews were a group of people who lived in Ur, near Mesopotamia.

According to Jewish scholars, the Hebrew God commanded a humble Hebrew named Abraham to leave his homeland of Ur and travel to a land called Canaan. God made a covenant, or an agreement, with Abraham. In this agreement, God assured Abraham that if Abraham agreed to follow God’s laws, then God would give Abraham and his descendants a great nation of their own—the “promised land”.

Canaan was a land of fertile valleys and rocky hills, and it was excellent for farming. The people who lived there were mainly nomads. According to the Torah, Abraham led the Hebrews to Canaan. There, the Hebrews established a home and made a good life for themselves. But, around 1800 B.C., there was a horrible famine. Because of this famine, most Hebrews were forced to leave Canaan, so they traveled to Egypt.Around the seventeenth century B.C., in ancient Egypt, the Hebrews did not find a happy home. They were enslaved by the Egyptians. This captivity lasted for over 400 years. According to the Torah, no one came forward to help lead the Hebrews out of Egypt until a man named Moses. Moses was strong, wise, and considered a prophet. Eventually (in about 1300 B.C.), Moses led the Hebrews safely out of Egypt. This famous event in Jewish history is known as the Exodus.

Once the Hebrews were out of Egypt, they wandered around the Sinai desert for 40 years with no home to go to. Moses led the Hebrews back to Canaan, which was also known as Palestine. In Canaan, Moses revealed the Ten Commandments to the Hebrews. According to the Torah, these commandments were given to Moses by God. These religious laws are foundational to the values of both the Jewish and Christian religions.

According to the Torah, the Hebrews believed that Canaan was their promised land. The Hebrews fought many other groups of people (such as the Philistines and Canaanites) for control of Canaan. In Canaan, different tribes of Hebrews came together to form a kingdom called Israel. These Hebrews became known as Israelites.

The first king of the Israelites was Saul. He began his rule in 1025 B.C. The next king was a young man named David. David had saved Israel from their enemy, the Philistines. He was considered an excellent leader. The next king was the son of David, Solomon. Solomon is remembered for his wisdom, strong leadership, and for building many impressive buildings, including a huge palace and an important temple in Jerusalem. Solomon reigned from 977 to 937 B.C.

Historians consider King Solomon to have been a good ruler. However, he made a big mistake. The Israelites were forced to pay heavy taxes to support Solomon’s palace, temple, and other building projects. The Israelites resented this, and there were revolts around the kingdom. The kingdom of Israel was divided in half. Israel was split into the kingdoms of Israel in the North, and Judah in the South. This split weakened the Israelites and made it easier for invaders to conquer them.


David and Goliath
David was a simple shepherd who defeated a great Philistine soldier named Goliath by shooting a rock from a small sling shot. David later became one of the greatest kings of Israel, and was a faithful believer in the Jewish God.The Diaspora
For hundreds of years, Israel was conquered by various enemies. During this time, the Jews were scattered around the Mediterranean area. Many were forced to leave their homes as new armies invaded. This scattering of Jews is called a diaspora.

In 722 B.C., the Assyrians conquered Israel. In 587 B.C., the Babylonians conquered Judah. The Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and Solomon’s great temple, and took many of the Jews away from Israel as prisoners. When the Persians captured Babylon in 540 B.C., the Persian ruler allowed captive Jews to return to Judah, though the Jews were still under the governmental control of the Persians. The Jews were able to rebuild their temple in Jerusalem. Around 200 B.C., the Syrians took over the region. When the Romans were expanding their empire, they claimed Palestine (Israel), where many Jews lived. The Romans made Palestine into the Roman province of Judea. By 63 B.C., the Jewish people lived under the control of the Roman Empire.

Even through all this struggle, the Jewish people kept their religion alive, and rebuilt their temples when they were destroyed. The Jewish people wanted to rule themselves and have their own kingdom. They would continually challenge Roman rule.The Jews were oppressed by many conquerers. Still, they sometimes were allowed to govern themselves in Jerusalem, and to worship at their temple. The Jewish religion of Judaism taught the worship of one single god.

Conquering Romans at first allowed Judaism to be one of many official religions of the Roman Empire. However, most Romans did not practice Judaism. Romans worshipped many different gods and goddesses. According to Roman spiritual beliefs, each god had control over a different aspect of Roman life. There were Roman gods and goddesses for hunting, love, fertility, music, and many other aspects of life. The Romans made sacrifices to these gods and performed religious rituals.

At first, the Romans did not formally punish the Jews for not worshipping Roman gods, but many Romans disliked and distrusted the Jews. The Jews, in turn, did not want to be ruled by Romans. The Jews believed in a messiah, or “Anointed One”. They believed the messiah would lead them, and permit the Jews to rule their own country.


The temple of the Roman god Jupiter
The Pantheon
If you would like to learn about a famous Roman temple, visit the Ancient Rome: Pantheon Web site. You will see pictures of the Pantheon, an impressive temple dedicated to all the Roman gods.The Wailing Wall
When the Romans destroyed the Second Temple during the revolts of 66 to 70 A.D., only one wall of the temple remained. This wall is known as the “Wailing Wall”. Today, the Wailing Wall is considered a sacred site for many Jewish people.

The Desire for Freedom
The Jews and the Romans had widely different political and religious views. The Jewish people were committed to being self-ruled. They did not want to be ruled by Rome. As a result, a series of conflicts took place. One large Jewish revolt happened in 66 A.D.

In response, the Romans sent an army led by the great general Titus. Titus led his Roman army of 60,000 into Jerusalem. The Jewish army had only about half that number. The Jews were not able to defeat the Romans, but they fought hard anyway. Four years passed, during which time the Romans killed thousands of Jews. By 70 A.D., the Romans had defeated the Jews. The Romans destroyed the great Jewish Second Temple.

In 132 A.D., the Jews rebelled again, but they did not succeed. In 135 A.D., the Romans banned all Jews from Jerusalem. This began another diaspora. Jews scattered over many different parts of the Mediterranean and the Middle East.

Even though they were no longer residing in Jerusalem, these Jews kept their religion and culture alive by studying the Torah, building synagogues, and learning from rabbis.








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