Problems With Ancient History

1. Problems With Ancient History How do we know what happened?

2. Lack of Primary Sources Material Little remains of ancient civilizations. What does exist may have many interpretations.

3. Major Sources • Archeology • Epigraphy (Ancient Writing or Inscription) • Myth • תנ"ך (Bible)

4. Archeology • What remains of Ancient civilization? • Pottery shards • Burial Practices and Pyramids • Homes • Ash

5. Tel • A Man Made Mound of Earth In the Middle East • Since water is in short supply most water sources were used for generations • Cities were built on top of the ruins of older cities • The stone and mud-brick used in building in the middle east has survived for thousands of years

6. Strata Layers of Civilization View of Tel Rechov • The earliest civilization to be found on the site will have found on the lowest level. • The layers or strata will become newer closer to the top of the tel. • By comparing finds at many sites archeologists can determine the approximate time period for each stratum in a tell

7. Problems With Relying on Archeology The Archeological Record is Incomplete Notice the lines • Fragments are reconstructed to become whole pieces and then accepted as fact • Pieces can sometimes be put together in several ways

8. Problems With Relying on Archeology The Archeological Record is Incomplete Unknown until the Nineteenth Century • Things are missed even by several generations of Archaeologists • Memory of this Pharaoh Akhenaton was erased by his successors and his existence was forgotten until the 1880s

9. Epigraphy Ancient Writing or Inscription

10. Problems With Epigraphy Scarcity Merneptah Inscription • The more ancient the sources the less writing we have. • This is the oldest reference to Israel in writing. • It was found in Egypt and dated to the reign of Pharaoh Merneptah (1213- 1203 BCE) • It says that Merneptah repelled and invasion of people from Libya and lists his accomplishments

11. Problems With Epigraphy Relevant Text of Inscription Merneptah Inscription • The princes are prostrate saying: "Shalom!" Not one of the Nine Bows lifts his head: Tjehenu is vanquished, Khatti at peace, Canaan is captive with all woe. Ashkelon is conquered, Gezer seized, Yanoam made nonexistent; Israel is wasted, bare of seed, Khor is become a widow for Egypt. All who roamed have been subdued. By the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Banere-meramun, Son of Re, Merneptah, Content with Maat, Given life like Re every day.

12. Myth Ancient Stories Are Not Viewed As Fact By Historians No Person or Event is Considered Factual

13. Myth as History Historians Look for Nuggets of Historical Fact Contained in Myth Greek Colonies 550 BCE Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey • Relate the migration of Greeks from mainland Greece to Asia Minor • Troy is in Asia Minor • It is a national historical tale that describes the motion of people as the settled in a new land and founded a new culture The Aeneid by Virgil • Migration from Asia Minor to Italy has been confirmed by modern DNA analysis

14. תורה נביאים כתובים As Historical Sources We believe that the תנ"ך contains nothing that is not true. Historians disagree.

15. תנ"ך as History Our Beliefs Historians approach to תנ"ך The most widely accepted approach is to treat תנ"ך as Myth They believe that the entire תנ"ך was written during the early period of the Second Beis Hamikdash They look for historical nuggets They do not try and reconcile contradiction in texts rather they ascribe them to different authors They do not allow for the Medrash or Talmud to fill in the entire story • תנ"ך will never say anything that is not true. However: • No assumptions may be made about facts not stated in the תנ"ך • תנ"ך teaches Mussar not history • Facts may be left out of תנ"ך • Presentation of facts may give us a skewed sense of history • There can be more information found that gives us a better historical picture of

16. The Missing Years Problem There is a discrepancy between the established historical dating of the Building of the Second Beis Hamikdash and חז"ל‘s dating.

17. Biblical Chronology בראשית ושמות מלכים The First בית המקדש was built 480 years after leaving Egypt (2448 + 480 = )2,928 after creation The First בית המקדש lasted 410 years until 3,338 after creation • אברהם אבינוwas born 1,948 after creation • יצחק אבינו was born 2,048 after creation • יצאת מצרים was 400 years after יצחק‘s birth (or maybe 430) 2,448 after creation

18. Biblical Chronology אסתר, ועזרה ונחמיה גמרא ומדרשים ע"ז adds The year in which the Second בית המקדש was destroyed after standing for 420 years in 3,828 (or the year 67 CE) That the Persians only ruled Israel 34 years That the Greeks ruled for 180 years The Hasmoneans ruled for 103 years Herodian Kinds ruled for 103 years The Second בית המקדש stood for 420 years • The rebuilding of the בית המקדש began during the reign of Cyrus II the Great • 70 years after the destruction or 3,408 after creation

19. Time Line From Creation Until the Destruction of the Second בית המקדש According to חז"ל

20. Historical Problem Dating the Destruction of the בית המקדש The Reign of the Persian Kings

21. Historical Problems Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon An engraving inside an onyx-stone-eye in a Marduk statue that depicts Nebuchadnezzar I • The Reign of Nebuchadnezzar II who destroyed the first בית המקדש been confirmed to 605 BCE- 562 BCE • According to the Archeological and Epigraphical sources the destruction of the בית המקדדש is 586 or 587 BCE

22. Working Backwards • Achaemenid Kings • Teispes of Anshan, son of Achaemenes • Cyrus I of Anshan, son of Teispes • Cambyses I of Anshan, son of Cyrus I • Cyrus II the Great, son of Cambyses I, ruled from c.550-530 BCE E(ruler of Anshan c. 559 BCE – conquered Media 550 BCE) • Cambyses II, son of Cyrus the Great, ruled 529-522 BCE • Smerdis (Bardiya), alleged son of Cyrus the Great, ruled 522 BCE (Possibly an usurper) • Darius I the Great, brother-in-law of Smerdis and grandson of Arsames, ruled 521-486 BCE • Xerxes I the Great, son of Darius I, ruled 485-465 BCE • Artaxerxes I Longimanus, son of Xerxes I, ruled 465-424 BCE • Xerxes II, son of Artaxerxes I, ruled 424 BCE • Sogdianus, half-brother of Xerxes II, ruled 424-423 BCE • Darius II Nothus, half-brother of Xerxes II, ruled 423-405 BCE • Artaxerxes II Mnemon, son of Darius II, ruled 404-359 BCE (se • Artaxerxes III Ochus, son of Artaxerxes II, ruled 358-338 BCE • Artaxerxes IV Arses, son of Artaxerxes III, ruled 338-336 BCE • Darius III Codomannus, great-grandson of Darius II, ruled 336-330 BCE The Most Reliable Information is the Most Modern After the year 600 BCE dating becomes exact. There are multiple written sources. They overlap and crosscheck each other. Before 600BCE there are not enough sources to date any event to a specific year The most well documented events can only be approximately dated to the decade or even a 50 year span

23. Persian Monarchy • Achaemenid Kings • Teispes of Anshan, son of Achaemenes • Cyrus I of Anshan, son of Teispes • Cambyses I of Anshan, son of Cyrus I • Cyrus II the Great, son of Cambyses I, ruled from c.550-530 BCE E(ruler of Anshan c. 559 BCE – conquered Media 550 BCE) • Cambyses II, son of Cyrus the Great, ruled 529-522 BCE • Smerdis (Bardiya), alleged son of Cyrus the Great, ruled 522 BCE (Possibly an usurper) • Darius I the Great, brother-in-law of Smerdis and grandson of Arsames, ruled 521-486 BCE • Xerxes I the Great, son of Darius I, ruled 485-465 BCE • Artaxerxes I Longimanus, son of Xerxes I, ruled 465-424 BCE • Xerxes II, son of Artaxerxes I, ruled 424 BCE • Sogdianus, half-brother of Xerxes II, ruled 424-423 BCE • Darius II Nothus, half-brother of Xerxes II, ruled 423-405 BCE • Artaxerxes II Mnemon, son of Darius II, ruled 404-359 BCE (se • Artaxerxes III Ochus, son of Artaxerxes II, ruled 358-338 BCE • Artaxerxes IV Arses, son of Artaxerxes III, ruled 338-336 BCE • Darius III Codomannus, great-grandson of Darius II, ruled 336-330 BCE חז"ל Place 34 years to the Persian Rule The destruction of the בית המקדש is set at 586 BCE The building of the second בית המקדש is set at 516 BCE Alexander the Greats Conquests were well within the historical era and are dated to 330 BCE Roughly coinciding with the 319 BCE date חז"ל give to Greek rule Leaving the 34 years of Persian rule to cover 197 years or a discrepancy of 163 years

24. Who is Right? חז"ל Historians There is an impressive amount of evidence that there were all those Kings of Persia and that they reigned the length of time claimed • They only tell the truth • The תנאים who made the chronology lived with in a century of the destruction of the second בית המקדש and would not have made such a drastic mistake. • 586 years became 420 years?

25. “A Truly Vexing Problem” Rabbi Shimon Schwab “can hardly be doubted for they appear to be the result ofpainstaking research by hundreds of scholars and are borne out by profound erudition and by ever increasing authoritative evidence … we are compelled to admit that the Bayis Sheni must have existed for no less than 586 years.” He believed that חז"ל changed the dates to hide the date of the משיח‘s arrival. Later in life he changed his mind and rejected any change to the Dating given by תנ"ך and חז"ל

26. We Will Work With Both Dates Since dates in the ancient world are approximate we will try to work with both sets of dates.

27. Complete Chronology

28. Next Time Attempt to put the lives of the אבות in historical perspective Begin a discussion of the Slavery in Egypt How long were בני ישראל in Egypt When? What was the bondage? What did they build for Pharaoh? Who was “the Pharaoh of the Exodus”? • Avraham • Where was he born • What was the society like • Who was the Pharaoh that he met? • Yitzchak • Avimelch? • Wells? • Yaakov • Where is Lavan from • The raid on Shechem • Going Down to Egypt