The Rise of Judaism

1. The Rise of Judaism Mr. Hawthorne World Civilizations

2. Introduction • Israelites = Hebrews = Jews • Judaism stood apart from other religions because of monotheism (belief in one all-powerful god). • Judaism shares many beliefs with two later religions: Christianity and Islam.

3. Introduction, cont. • Abraham is regarded as the first Jew. • He and his followers left Mesopotamia and settled in Canaan (now Lebanon, Israel and Jordan) at the commandment of God, in 1900 BC. • Abraham’s grandson, Jacob (Israel), had 12 sons who each led his own tribe.

4. Abraham’s Journey to Canaan

5. Slavery and Exodus • Famine caused the Israelites to migrate to Egypt, where Jacob’s son, Joseph, lived. • They were eventually enslaved. • Many of the monuments of Egypt’s New Kingdom were built by Israelite slaves.

6. Slavery and Exodus, cont. • Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt in the 13th century BC, possibly when Ramses II ruled. • Ten Plagues • Crossing of the Red Sea • Shortly afterward, Moses received the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai.

7. The Kingdom of Israel • The Israelites fought for 200 years before successfully reclaiming Canaan. • Saul became the first king of Israel, uniting the 12 tribes for the first time.

8. The Kingdom of Israel

9. The Kingdom of Israel, cont. • Saul’s successor, David, ruled Israel from 1012 BC to 962 BC, and established Jerusalem as the capital.

10. The Kingdom of Israel, cont. • David’s son, Solomon, built the magnificent temple in Jerusalem, at the cost of high taxes and intensive labor. • After Solomon’s death (922 BC), the two southern tribes split from Israel to create the kingdom of Judah.

11. The Divided Kingdoms

12. Exile • Israel was conquered in 722 BC by the Assyrians, who scattered the Israelites throughout their empire. • Judah was conquered in 597 BC by the Chaldeans, under King Nebuchadnezzar. • In 586, after a rebellion, they destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem and captured many Jews to be slaves in Babylon.

13. Exile, cont. • Jews continued to maintain their religion while in exile. • The Chaldeans were conquered in 539 BC by the Persians, under Cyrus the Great. • He allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple.

14. After Exile • Judah/Israel would eventually be ruled by: • the Greeks (Alexander the Great) • the Romans • the Islamic Empire (when it became known as Palestine) • the Ottoman Empire • Israel would not be an independent state until 1948.

15. Important Aspects of Judaism • The Torah: the Jewish Bible, known by Christians as the Old Testament. • The first five books are known as the Books of Moses. • The Torah records the history of the Jews and is a collection of various Jewish holy writings.

16. Important Aspects of Judaism, cont. • Every human being is made in the image of God and has infinite worth. • People work in partnership with God to strive to achieve a better world.

17. 10 Commandments ONE: 'You shall have no other gods before Me.' TWO: 'You shall not make for yourself a carved image--any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.' THREE: 'You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.' FOUR: 'Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.' FIVE: 'Honor your father and your mother.' SIX: 'You shall not murder.' SEVEN: 'You shall not commit adultery.' EIGHT: 'You shall not steal.' NINE: 'You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.' TEN: 'You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's.'

18. Discussion Questions • What is monotheism? • How is Judaism similar & different from Egyptian & Mesopotamian religion? • Why might an Egyptian & a Jew disagree? • How are the Ten Commandments similar to and different from Hammurabi’s Code? • What plausible reasons might explain why Jews have been persecuted throughout their history?