2. Development of Monotheism
Mono = “one”; Theism = “god- worship” in Greek
Have only one true god

3. Amenhotep IV/Akhenaten?
1353–1336 BCE
“Inventor” of monotheism?
Belief in one god
Changed his name to Akhenaten
“Beneficial to Aten” (Aten: sun god)
Closed temples to other gods (including main god Amon)
Made priests mad
Moved capital of Egypt to Amarna
After his death, temples to other gods opened and Amon re-instated as main god of Egypt
Akhenaten tried to shift his culture from Egypt’s traditional religion, but the shifts were not widely accepted. After his death, his monuments were dismantled and hidden, his statues were destroyed, and his name excluded from the king lists. Traditional religious practice was gradually restored, and when some dozen years later rulers without clear rights of succession from the 18th Dynasty founded a new dynasty, they discredited Akhenaten and his immediate successors, referring to Akhenaten himself as "the enemy" or "that criminal" in archival records.
Akenaten
Nefertiti (primary wife)
Tutankhamen (son by minor wife)

4. Canaan Ancient home of Hebrews - Palestine Cultural crossroads
God promised land
Canaan consisted of the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. The was the land God promised the Hebrew people. Sometime Canaan refers to all of Palestine.

5. Facts of Judaism (2000 – 1500 BCE)
Torah = Hebrew holy book
Yahweh = name for God
Monotheistic = worship of one god
Abraham - father of the Hebrews
Descendents sent to Egypt - forced slavery
God will protect because Abraham will obey = covenant with God
Hebrews developed lasting concept of monotheism
Most of what we know about the Hebrews comes from the Torah or Old Testament. Abraham lived in Ur in Mesopotamia. The Book of Genesis states that God told Abraham to move his people to Canaan(1800). Around 1650 the descendents of Abraham moved to Egypt.
The Hebrews moved to Egypt to escape a drought and famine. Later they were forced into slavery. God chooses to protect the because of their obedience not because of ritual sacrifice.

6. The Torah

7. Moses and the Exodus Exodus - Jews leave Egypt (Passover)
Moses led people from slavery
Mount Sinai – Ten Commandments (written on stone tablets) given to Moses by Yahweh
Wandered 40 years in Sinai Desert
The Ten Commandments create a new covenant with God. God protects them because of their obedience to God’s commandments. Moses took the Hebrews to Canaan but was not allowed to enter the promised land because of disobedience to God. He has struck a rock to create water instead of speaking to it as he was told to do. Moses dies just before the Hebrews enter Canaan. The Hebrews will then change from a nomadic, tribal society to one of herders, farmers, and city dwellers. They will however, keep the tribal structure. They will settle into 12 separate territories and were self-governing in times of peace. In times of emergency or war, Judges would be appointed by God to unite the tribes and provide judicial and military leadership. After the crisis had passed self governance would return.

8. Moses Moses by Michelangelo
You have probably noticed that Moses has horns. This comes from a mistranslation of a Hebrew word that described Moses as having rays of light coming from his head.
Khan Academy

9. The Exodus

10. The Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments became a basis for Jewish religious and civil law.

11. ISRAEL
BCE

12. ISRAEL
Historical information comes from archaeological digs and the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament)
Abraham rejects the idol worship of his home and leaves to follow Yahweh
His descendants (Isaac, Jacob)become leaders of the nomadic group that would become Israel
Famine and drought cause the Israelites to move to Egypt
Eventually enslaved and forced to work on royal building projects
New Kingdom projects??
Led out of Egypt by Moses
Eventually led by Joshua into the Promised Land of Canaan (modern Palestine)

13. KINGS Saul (c 1020-1000 BCE) David (c 1000-960 BCE)
First king of Israel
Anointed by Samuel
David (c BCE)
Unified Israel
Created taxes, standing army
Expanded Israel’s borders
Solomon (c BCE)
Height of Israelite monarchy
Foreign trade
First Temple
Created elite priest class

14. The Kingdom of Israel Hebrew people called Jews Jerusalem = capital
King Solomon - trade thrived, temple to glorify God (962 BCE)
Temple to house Ark of Covenant
Temple led to high taxes, slavery
Led to civil war
Kingdom divided - Judah (south), Israel (North)
The Hebrews were widely scattered and under threat from the Philistines often. Eventually the only large tribe left was the tribe of Judah. This is why the Hebrews become known as Jews and their religion referred to as Judaism. From 1020 to 922ish the Hebrews will unite under a series of kings, Saul, David & Solomon. They called their kingdom Israel. Saul was chosen as the first king bc he was successful at fighting the Philistines. He is succeeded by his son-in-law David. David was v. popular & handsome. He unites the tribes, builds Jerusalem and founds the dynasty.

15. 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.

16. ISRAEL AND JUDAH Solomon’s death splits Israel in two
Israel (north)
Judah (south)
Israel destroyed by Assyrians in 721 BCE
Population is deported to the east and Persia
“Diaspora” dispersion outside the homeland of the Jews
Given the chance to return under the rule of Persian king Cyrus, but many decide to stay
Solomon’s Temple destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar in 587 BCE with the capture of Jerusalem
Some Diasporic communities eventually return to Judah and rebuild the temple

17. 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.

18. King Solomon
His son Solomon, son of Bathsheba succeeds David. Solomon builds a powerful trading empire & the temple on Mt. Mariah & lavish palace. His building projects break Israel forcing high taxes and people having to give 4 months labor a year to the temple. This caused too much discontent and after the death of Solomon the Kingdom will be divided into two. Israel in the n and judah in the s.

19. King Solomon’s Temple

20. The Western Wall

21. Concepts developed by Hebrews
Monotheism = belief in one god
Ten Commandments
Zionism - desire to return to Holy Land
Torah – Old Testament
Prophets
Abraham, Father of Hebrews = Father of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity

22. Zoroastrianism Developed in what is now modern day Iran
Zoroaster - Persian prophet 600BCE
Developed in what is now modern day Iran
Had an answer for why so much suffering in world
Battle b/t good and evil - devil and angels
Monotheistic = belief in one god
Everyone must participate in battle; promised salvation
Will be judged according to how well fought for good
Belief in one supreme deity
High ethical/moral standard for humans
Aspects adopted by Judaism and then Christianity and Islam

23. Zoroastrianism, cont. The Gathas: ancient Iranian hymn by Zoroaster
Ahuramazda – chief god - Created the world
World damaged by Angra Mainyu (hostile spirit)
Struggle between good and evil
Afterlife = reward/punishment depending on life lived
Darius tied his reign to religion by claiming to be appointed by Ahuramazda