The Ancient Hebrews

Monotheism Up until this point, we have only studied polytheistic religions Judaism is monotheistic, meaning “one god” The term Judaism comes from the tribe of Judah, one of the 12 tribes that descended from Abraham (the father of the Jews)

The Beginnings in Canaan The Hebrew _________ traces back to a man named ______________________. God told Abraham to leave his home in __________________ Abraham settled in _____________________

The Hebrew’s Abraham’s ___________________-The Hebrews-lived in Canaan for many years. Later some Hebrews moved to ______________, because of a ___________________ in Canaan. The Hebrews lived well in Egypt, and their ______________________ grew. The pharaoh feared the Hebrew’s would become too __________________ so he made them _____________.  

The Israelites Over time, the Hebrews took the name Israelites (where we get the country Israel) For a while the Israelites were the slaves of the Egyptians What do you think the Egyptians made the Israelite slaves do?

Moses The Israelites remained the slaves of Egypt until a man named Moses helped them leave The Exodus (meaning departure of a large group of people) was the time when the Israelites left Egypt

After the Exodus After the Israelites left Egypt, they wandered around the Sinai desert for 40 years According to the Torah, Moses went to the top of Mount Sinai and God gave him two stone tablets known as the Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments became the basis of the laws for the Israelites

Return to Canaan The giving of the Ten Commandments led to the Israelites moving back to their original home (CanaanMesopotamia) When they got back to Canaan, the Israelites divided into 12 tribes and spread out to establish cities This was not a peaceful time; fighting continued for 200 years

Kingdoms and Captivity Recall some knowledge: when the Israelites returned to Canaan from wandering in the Sinai Desert, there was lots of fighting and clashing with the inhabitants of the region

Kingdoms and Captivity The Israelites’ beliefs set them apart from the other cultures in Mesopotamia and the surrounding regions In 1029 B.C.E, a group named the Philistines began to invade the Israelites The Israelites were divided up into 12 different tribes, so they were not united and therefore were weak, they knew they had to unite themselves or be defeated

The First Kings The Israelites selected Saul as their first king, who helped the Israelites take back some land from the Philistines After Saul, the Israelites selected a new king, David, who helped the Israelites drive out the rest of the Philistines After David came Solomon, David’s son. With David as king, Israel became a powerful nation

A Kingdom Divided When the Israelites were under attack, they united in a new kingdom called Israel However, as soon as the threat ended, the Israelites began to quarrel and fight with each other Once the wise King Solomon died, the fighting and quarrelling intensified, which led to the kingdom splitting into two

A Kingdom Divided The kingdom of Israel divided over something that countries today are still fighting about today: taxes It split into two kingdoms: Israel (North, 10 tribes) and Judah (South, 2 tribes) The Southern kingdom of Judah remained loyal to Solomon’s son, the king. Today we get the word “Judaism” and “Jew” from the name Judah

Both Kingdoms Conquered The Assyrians invaded Israel and conquered it, forcing both kingdoms to pay tribute. What is tribute??? Then the Babylonians took over under King Nebuchadnezzar (bonus: what was he famous for?) In summary, the Babylonians took the Israelites from both kingdoms as slaves in a time known as the Babylonian captivity. This is when the Israelites became known as the Jews Hebrews  Israelites  Jews

Babylonian Captivity During captivity, the Jews became exiles, a word meaning “people removed from their native land” The exiles dreamed of a time when they could return home to rebuild their temple in Jerusalem They also dreamed of one day having their own king, who they referred to as the Messiah, meaning “anointed one” (later, those who believed Jesus Christ was the Messiah became known as Christians)

The Temple is Rebuilt The Persians conquered the Babylonians under a king by the name of Cyrus the Great King Cyrus let everyone worship as they wanted. The Israelites were allowed to return to their homeland and rebuild their cities, especially their sacred temple

*Rome and Judea* The Jews were allowed to return to their homeland where they once again had to ask themselves the question: Do we want to be united with a king or divided with more freedom to rule ourselves? What happened when the Jews were divided? What happened when they decided to unite? So, what lessons can they learn from history?

Rome Conquers Judea The Jews were a free people, but not for long. An empire that had been growing now controlled their region: Rome Unlike Cyrus, who allowed the Jews to practice their religion and choose their own kings, Rome picked the leaders for the Jews Why would Rome want to pick the leaders of the Jews?

Another choice Once again the Jews were under control of another ruler, so they began to argue amongst themselves about what to do: should they cooperate or should they fight? Some decided they were going to fight back, these Jews were known as the Zealots Based on history, how do you think this worked out?

The Diaspora The Zealots were defeated, the second temple was burned to the ground, and Jerusalem was taken This led to the Diaspora (Greek word meaning “scattered”) The Diaspora was the time when Jews began to leave Judea for other parts of the world Some Jews were taken back to Rome as slaves

The Hebrews/Israelites/Jews 1. Hebrews were slaves in Egypt The Hebrews/Israelites/Jews 2. Moses frees the Hebrews 7. Diaspora, some taken as slaves 3. Wander in desert for 40 years (slaves to God) 6. Cyrus allows them to return, back to being free 4,Return to homeland, Elect kings, are free 5. Babylonian Captivity  back to being slaves

Judaism Today After the Diaspora, the Jewish people worried that they would lose their faith and identity Wherever Jews settled, they set up synagogues, which are places for prayer and worship The religious leaders are known as rabbis