1/27/11 Lecture 8

In today’s lecture we finished up Hezekiah’s Jerusalem and started talking about Josiah. When we left off last class we were looking at how Hezekiah was preparing for a rebellion from Assyria. Now we turn to the book of Isaiah to see the prophecy of Jerusalem’s deliverance from the Assyrians. Basically the prophet comes to the palace of the king, Hezekiah, and says that Jerusalem will never be destroyed and that there was a descendent of David that will protect the city and its people. When we look at these verses we think that the prophet is referring to Jesus. However, in context, at the time he was referring to Hezekiah. Later after Jerusalem was taken and the Babylonians destroyed the temple this prophecy was reinterpreted to be about other rulers and eventually Jesus. Back to the time of Hezekiah though, when the Assyrians laid siege on Jerusalem, they had the king trapped in his palace and all was over but then they mysteriously leave the city undestroyed. The Assyrians say this was because they got work that their armies were needed back in their homeland, but Jerusalem of course says that it was God who led them out of the city. Professor Cargill said that, “The Assyrian failure to destroy Jerusalem was the single greatest catalyst for the snowballing legend of an inviolable Jerusalem.”

Now we move to the time of Josiah, which was characterized by religious reform and the centralization of religion in Jerusalem. Josiah took the throne when he was only 8 years old. This is one of the reasons we think there was a rise in written law at this time. Instead of being led by a powerful king, Jerusalem was most likely run by advisors to the throne. By creating a written law it is easier to keep the people loyal than if they have them being ordered around by and 8 year old. Also at this time the city was becoming increasingly urbanized and there was a lot of political and religious unrest. This is expected because there were a large number of people moving into the city from a variety of political and religious backgrounds. Josiah solved this through massive religious reform. He destroyed everything related to the worship of any other god and united them through the worship of one god, in one temple. This religious reform and written law increased the expectation of literacy in Jerusalem and we began to see even soldiers who were literate and writing letter.

1/25/11 Lecture 7

In today’s lecture we talked about Hezekiah’s Jerusalem, the expansion of the city, and the Assyrian Empire. Prof. Cargill also announced that the midterm exam would be bumped back to next Thursday the 3^rd of February. Paper 1 will still be due Tuesday the 1^st.

First, we discussed the separation of Judah and Israel into two kingdoms. Jerusalem was the capital of Judah in the South. There was much dispute about where to worship and the Bible is often critical of the northern tribes of Israel for building alternate places of worship because it is written from the Southern perspective. We found out though that there is evidence of alternate sites of worship in both the North and South. Around the same time the Assyrian Empire was rising, which lead to increased urbanization.

The Assyrians were crazy warriors that were feared by all. Their military tactics were brutal and merciless. They would not only kill their enemies, they would mutilate the bodies to send a message. When they took over a city, if they did not kill everybody they would deport them from their own land. For this reason many people fled smaller settlements in favor of larger cities that had walls and other defense systems. This led to a drastic increase in population for Jerusalem as people came in to seek shelter from the Assyrians. As we closed the lecture we were discussing the evidence that Hezekiah was preparing for a rebellion from Assyria by stocking up on food and supplies expecting a siege on the city. 

1/20/11 Lecture 6

In Thursday’s lecture we finished the slides on David’s Jerusalem and started on Solomon’s Jerusalem. In wrapping up David, we looked at God’s promise to David in 2 Samuel 7. Basically God promises David a house and a throne that will last forever. This is however proven false in 586 BCE when the Babylonians take over Jerusalem and destroys the temple. We also looked at five ways Jerusalem derives its Sacredness:

1. God chooses Jerusalem (Deuteronomy 12; 2 Samuel 24)

2. The Ark of the Covenant in Jerusalem (Exodus 24:12- 31:18)

3. Creation of the Sabbath (Genesis 1-2)

4. Jerusalem & Mt. Moriah (Genesis 22; 2 Chronicles 3)

5. Melchizedek’s Salem & Jerusalem (Psalm 110; 76:2) **

These biblical references and the tradition Jerusalem has built make it the sacred, holy city that it is.

Solomon is credited in the Bible for constructing the first temple in Jerusalem. This was where the Ark of the Covenant was placed and it gave God a physical place to dwell. Today, scholars question whether Solomon actually existed and whether or not he really built a temple. The biggest problem is that there is no archeological evidence of Solomon’s temple anywhere in Jerusalem. This is because when Herod constructed his temple instead of building on top of what was there he cleared everything out. We know that nothing is there but does the absence of evidence for Solomon’s temple constitute evidence of absence? There have been other temples discovered in the Near East that are constructed in a similar fashion to the way Solomon’s was described in the Bible. Whether this is evidence for or against the existence of Solomon’s Temple is debatable. 

**This list is straight from the lecture slides for David's Jerusalem

1/18/11 Lecture 5

In yesterdays quick lecture we discussed David’s Jerusalem, the excavation of the city and the Ark of the Covenant.

Scholars used to question whether David really existed. The Bible describes him in great detail but until recently there was no archeological evidence that David existed. The Tel Dan Inscription was the first non-biblical reference we have seen to David. The inscription is kind of like an execration text but instead of cursing their enemies they would brag again enemies they had conquered. The Tel Dan inscription lists the House of David as a nation that had been conquered.

Later on we looked at Warren’s Shaft and its excavation. When it was originally discovered, archeologists believes that it was a man made shaft to get easier access to water. Today they are starting to think that it is natural and they may have carved certain parts of it. There is a reference to the shaft in 2 Samuel that indicates it may have been used to get water to the city. The shaft also may have been a weak point during attack where enemy soldiers could climb up and into the city. 

As class came to a close we discussed the Ark of the Covenant, how it was built, and the founding of the temple. 

1/13/11 Lecture 4

Last Thursday we worked through the Canaanite Jerusalem slides and started on David’s Jerusalem. We looked at Jerusalem in the earliest non-biblical texts as well as Jerusalem before David in the Bible.

Evidence of settlement in Jerusalem can be seen as far back as 1900 BCE in execration texts. Execration texts were basically clay figures that people would make to curse their enemies like voodoo dolls. They would write the names of their enemies on the figure and then break them to symbolically conquer their enemies. The particular execration text we discussed was found in Sakkara, Egypt and has “Rusalimum” or Jerusalem listed as one of Egypt’s enemies. This is really interesting because it proves that there were people in Jerusalem at this time and that they were powerful enough to warrant cursing. We also looked at the Amarna Letters from around 1350 BCE that shows further non- biblical evidence of settlement in Jerusalem. The Amarna Letters were proposed vassal treaties where the rulers of smaller states would write the pharaohs of Egypt and ask for shelter or help in battle in return for allegiance and support. 6 of the letters discovered were from the Jerusalem ruler Abdi- Kheba to the pharaoh.

We then discussed some of the textual problems with the “conquest” of Jerusalem. Several different places in the Bible give different accounts and different outcomes of how the Israelites got to Jerusalem. Prof. Cargill broke this down to three theories that should be known for the exam. The first is that you except that the conquest is true and that the Israelites were just suddenly there. The second is that the Israelites slowly immigrated to Jerusalem. The third and the most accepted theory today is that the Canaanite City was of mixed ethnic origins and the Israelites were always there. That they were actually Canaanites that staged an internal revolt. 

1/11/11 Lecture 3

In today’s lecture we finished up the slides on Jerusalem as Sacred Space. Prof. Cargill originally planned on covering through Canaanite Jerusalem but cut class short so he wouldn’t have to stop in the middle of a topic.

First we recapped the major events of the Jewish Temple. Solomon’s Temple was built about 950 BCE and destroyed 586 BCE. The “2^nd” Temple was rebuilt in 515 BCE and aggrandized by Herod in 20 BCE were he established the Western or Wailing Wall. The “2^nd” Temple was destroyed in 70 CE. The Dome of the Rock was first built in 691 CE.

We then examined the question why a temple? We compared Mesopotamian Ziggurats as places of worship to pyramids as burial sites. Looking through many different examples we see that when a temple is constructed it can be traced back to divine origins. Places for the worship of god are not of human conception but based on god given instructions. We see an example of this when man tried to construct his own holy place with the tower of Babel and God destroyed it.

Jerusalem is made into a sacred place by attracting stories and drawing things to it. It is like when you hear stories about parties at a house, half the stories might be untrue but it still makes a good place to hang out. Prof. Cargill looked at a few examples of how Jerusalem is made sacred in Genesis 2-3 with the Garden of Eden, in Genesis 14 with Melchizedek, and in Genesis 22 with the Binding of Isaac. All of these contain references to Jerusalem geography that pull the story there.

There are also a few key dates for the Dome of the Rock. In 691 CE the dome was completed, this was the “72^nd year of the Moslem era”. In 1099 CE crusaders conquered Jerusalem and converted Dome of the Rock into a church. In 1187 CE Saladin re-concquered Jerusalem and the Dome of the Rock.

Gehema is the New Testament word for hell, which comes from Gai Hinnom or the Valley of Hinnom.

1/6/11 Lecture 2

Today was the second day of class and the first real lecture. Prof. Cargill discussed Jerusalem as sacred space and covered the geography of city. Jerusalem is thought to be the sacred place for three major religions including Christianity, Islam and Judaism. Before discussing any of these in depth we must first look at what makes a place “sacred”. This could be any number of things but basically something special has to happen there.

Jerusalem is very unique when it comes to major cities as it sits on top of a hill and no major routes run through it. There are three valleys that surround Jerusalem: The Kidron Valley (Eastern Valley), The Hinnom Valley (Western Valley), and the Tyropean or Central Valley. The city is also very unique because of the extreme lack of water. Water is a holy, purifying element in many religions so it is interesting to find out that it is a major problem in Jerusalem. Prof. Cargill said that the biggest issue and source of conflict throughout history in Jerusalem is not who settles where in the city, but water. One of the major springs, Gihon, is mentioned as one of the four branches of the river that flows through the Garden of Eden in Genesis 2. Prof. Cargill stressed that Jerusalem is a magnet as it consistently pulls things towards it. 

Prof. Cargill also mentioned a possible exam question about the Western Wall. This is referring to the Western Wall of the Temple Mount, not the Temple. In Judaism this is the closest place you can get to the holy temple.