The nation of Israel came on the scene in the land of Canaan in a world where the story of civilizations was already old. Writing had been invented sometime around 3300 B.C.E., so written records exist for many of the nations that preceded Israel on the world stage. Empires had risen and fallen many times in that part of the world, and the Fertile Crescent, the stretch of arable land extending in a great arc from Egypt to Mesopotamia, had changed hands many times. The story of the Bible unfolds against the background of more than two thousand years of history in the ancient world. To understand the Bible, it is essential to have a grasp of the history of the Israel and its neighbors. It is also necessary to be familiar with the geography of the lands of the Bible. This lecture will give you an overview of the history of the ancient Near East and the eastern Mediterranean world during the period that concerns the Bible, as well as a brief introduction to the period prior to that.
History will be covered by region until the Persian period, after which the history of the entire area will be considered together. A final section will deal with major historical events that are critical for understanding the history of Israel and Judah. Note the following abbreviations: N (north), S (south), E (east), W (west), ANE (ancient Near East), B.C.E. (before the Common Era = B.C.), C.E. (Common Era = A.D.).
Palaeolithic 100,000-8000 B.C.E.
Mesolithic 8000-6000 B.C.E.
Neolithic 6000-4500 B.C.E.
Chalcolithic 4500-3200 B.C.E.
Bronze Age 3200-1200 B.C.E.
Early Bronze 3200-2150 B.C.E.
Middle Bronze 2150-1550 B.C.E.
Late Bronze 1550-1200 B.C.E.
Iron Age 1200-332 B.C.E.
Iron I 1200-1000 B.C.E.
Iron II 1000-539 B.C.E.
Iron III 539-332 B.C.E.
Hellenistic Period 332 B.C.E.-63 C.E.
Roman Period 63-410 C.E.
All dates in this section are B.C.E.
The early dynastic period of Sumeria lasted from about 3000 to 2334. The first Sumerian leaders ruled over city-states, then larger states. An influx of Semites (Akkadians) throughout the period occurred.
Sargon the Great revolted in 2334 and formed the Akkadian Empire, the first empire ruled by Semites. Akkadians ruled the former Sumerian city-states as governors. This was the first true Mesopotamian empire. The empire fell in 2218 to the Gutians.
The Gutians were overthrown after 100 years by Sumerian kings, who established themselves again as rulers of the region. The city-state of Ur eventually controlled most of Mesopotamia. A new influx of Semites (Amorites) occurred during this period. The end of Neo-Sumerian period came when Ur was conquered by Elam in 2004.
The Amorites dominated many small states throughout Mesopotamia, with the exception of Assyria, where the Akkadians remained predominant. Hammurabi ruled most of Mesopotamia from Babylon from the mid-18th century. Assyria was conquered by the Amorites about this time.
There was an influx of Hurrians from the mountains of Armenia from the 18th to the 16th century. They established the Hurrian state of Mitanni in upper Mesopotamia about 1600, centered around Harran (later Aram-Naharaim).
Mitanni was conquered by the Hittites and Assyrians in the early 14th century. A new influx of Semites (Arameans) obliterated the Hurrian remnant in NW Mesopotamia.
Assyria became dominant in N Mesopotamia and Babylonia in S Mesopotamia. The Neo-Assyrian Empire began in 934 and ruled all of Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine, and even Egypt for a brief period, eventually sending Israel into exile in 722. Capitals of Calah and Nineveh were overthrown by the Babylonians, Medes, and Scythians in 612. The last remnants of the Assyrians were defeated at the Battle of Carchemish in 605.
The Neo-Babylonian Empire (626-539) ruled by Nebuchadnezzar sent Judah into exile in 587. It was defeated by Cyrus the Great of Persia.
All dates in this section are B.C.E.
Historical periods in Egypt are traditionally divided into kingdoms (Old, Middle, New) and dynasties (series of kings in the same immediate family). The Intermediate Periods that separate the Old from the Middle Kingdom and the Middle from the New Kingdom were times of political chaos or times when non-Egyptians ruled much of Egypt. Rulers of Egypt were called Pharaoh, the Egyptian word for king.
The unification of Upper (south) and Lower (north) Egypt began early in the dynastic period. The first king of united Egypt was Menes, about 3100.
The Old Kingdom began with 3rd Dynasty. Its capital was at Memphis. The great pyramids were built during this period, especially during the 4th Dynasty.
The First Intermediate Period began with fall of the Old Kingdom about 2180. Anarchy was caused largely by internal problems. Egypt unified again under the 11th Dynasty, which ruled from Thebes, about 2050.
The Middle Kingdom began with the establishment of 12th Dynasty in 1991, with capital moved from Thebes back to Memphis. At one point during this period Egypt controlled Palestine, Phoenicia, and S Syria.
Internal problems and invasions of Semitic Hyksos brought an end to the 12th Dynasty and the Middle Kingdom about 1800, and the Second Intermediate Period began. The Hyksos ruled Lower Egypt from Avaris (Zoan) in the Delta for about 200 years, until the start of the 18th Dynasty in 1580.
Pharaoh Ahmose expelled the Hyksos entirely out of Egypt and into Palestine, founding 18th Dynasty, which started the New Kingdom. Thutmose I extended the borders of Egypt to the Euphrates River. Akhenaton changed the capital to Akhetaten and began worshiping the Sun god (Aten) alone, an early form of monotheism. This religion was never accepted by a majority of the Egyptian people, and on his death his son Tutankamon restored the religion of his ancestors. Ramses II (19th) Dynasty built a royal residence near the old Hyksos capital of Avaris, and this city alternated with Memphis as capital during 19th Dynasty. Egypt lost control of Palestine and Syria when the Sea Peoples invaded about 1200. The 20th Dynasty pharaohs were all named Ramses, a series of weak kings after the first three.
For the next 600 years Egypt was ruled by foreign dynasties, including Libya and Ethiopia. The Assyrians and Babylonians both invaded Egypt but were unable to hold it. Egypt was finally conquered by Persia in 525. Egypt regained its freedom briefly in 401, but it was conquered by Alexander the Great in 332.
All dates in this section are B.C.E.
Large fortified cities existed in Palestine as early as 3150. Various Canaanite city-states were common during the 3rd millennium. Many cities were destroyed at the end of 3rd millennium (beginning of Middle Bronze Age), possibly by Amorite invaders, or perhaps by internal confusion and crop failure.
Habiru/Hapiru/ʿApiru appeared in strength in the Fertile Crescent during 2nd millennium. The term seems to refer to a class of migrating foreigners rather than a specific ethnic group. Hebrews probably related to this group. An influx of Hurrians entered Palestine from the 18th to the 16th century. The region was under Egyptian control from the 16th to the 13th century. The Canaanites were indistinguishable from the Amorites by this time. The Philistines (related to the Sea Peoples) entered Canaan from the W shortly after Israel entered from the E.
Israel came to power in Canaan between 1250 and 1020. David subdued Philistines, Edom, Moab, Ammon, and several Aramean states. Israel was divided in 922 into N & S kingdoms. Israel (N kingdom) fell to Assyrians in 722. Judah (S kingdom) was made a vassal of Assyria and finally defeated by Babylonia in 587.
Judah returned to Palestine in 538 under the hegemony of the Persian Empire. Alexander conquered Palestine in 332, and on his death rule over Palestine passed to his general Ptolemy, ruler of Egypt. The Seleucids, rulers of Syria, conquered Palestine in 198. The Jews revolted against Antiochus Epiphanes in 167 and became independent under the Hasmonean rulers. The Hasmonean kingdom fell to the Romans in 63.
All dates in this section are B.C.E.
Ebla in N Syria was a powerful pre-Canaanite city-state by 2400 and was destroyed about 2250. Amorites mixed with indigenous Canaanites, and possibly a new migration about 1900 brought a new urban lifestyle to Syria and Palestine. Many patriarchal customs and names are similar to those of the Amorites, and the patriarchal migration appears to be closely related to Amorite movement.
Ugarit was a trading city on Syrian coast, ruled alternately by Hittites and Egyptians. It had a brief period of independence in the 15th century.
A Hurrian influx occurred from the 18th to the 16th century. Arameans were closely related to the Amorites by culture and language, but they were not in the area until the 13th century. Arameans struggled with Assyria after fall of Mitanni. They also fought against Israel from time to time. The Arameans were the dominant ethnic group in the region during the biblical period and gave their name to the region (Aram).
All dates in this section are B.C.E.
There were three types of pastoral nomads: (1) bedouin, who live in true desert regions, travel long distances in search of food, and have little contact with settled peoples; (2) sheep and goat breeding nomads, who live in semi-desert regions (10-25 cm of rain per year), have more restricted movement, and have more contact with settled peoples; (3) cattle raising nomads, who have almost settled down, and only leave seasonally to find pasture. The second type characterized migrating Semites from Arabia.
Three major waves of Semitic migration from Arabia: (1) Akkadians slowly infiltrated Mesopotamia during the 4th millennium; (2) Amorites infiltrated Mesopotamia, Syria, and Palestine in great numbers in the middle of the 2nd millennium; (3) Arameans infiltrated Mesopotamia and Syria at the end of the 2nd millennium.
All dates in this section are B.C.E.
Hittites were Indo-European people who settled Anatolia about 2000, taking the names and customs of the previous residents (Hattians) but keeping their Indo-European language. They founded the Hittite Old Kingdom about 1700 and expanded into N Syria and even sacked Babylon in the 16th century. The empire collapsed because of crop failure and political chaos. Afterwards, a Hurrian kingdom established in Cilicia.
The Hittite New Kingdom was founded about 1450. They subdued the Hurrian state in Cilicia, conquered Mitanni, and reorganized Syria into a network of Hittite vassal cities. They signed a peace treaty with Egypt (Ramses II) after much fighting. They were overthrown by the Sea Peoples about 1200 and ceased to exist.
Neo-Hittite states, formed out of Hittite vassal cities, continued after fall of the Hittite Empire.
All dates in this section are B.C.E.
Sea Peoples from islands off the coast of Asia Minor and from the Aegean Sea began invading the ANE at the end of the 13th century (beginning of the Iron Age). The Philistines part of this group, probably from Crete.
Alexander united Macedonia and Greece, conquered Anatolia, Syria, Egypt, Palestine, Mesopotamia, and Iran, as far as the Indus River. Upon Alexander's sudden death in 323 at age 33, the empire was divided among his four generals, the Diadochi. Ptolemy ruled Egypt and Palestine, and Seleucus ruled Babylonia and Syria. The Seleucid Empire took Palestine from the Ptolemaic Empire of Egypt in 198. Rome conquered Greece in 146, moved into Anatolia in 133, and conquered Syria and Palestine in 63.
All dates in this section are B.C.E.
Indo-Europeans arrived in the Iranian Plateau by 1700 from further E. There were more migrations from N of the Caspian Sea to the area around Lakes Van and Urmia (Medes) and further S near Persian Gulf (Persians) during the early and middle first millennium. The Medes were dominant during early period, assisting Babylonia in the overthrow of Assyria in 612.
Cyrus the Great, a Persian, revolted against his Median overlords and conquered Media and various Greek states, forming the Achaemenian (Persian) Empire. He conquered the Neo-Babylonian Empire in 539, allowing many exiles, including Judah, to return home. The Achaemenids continued to control the entire ANE for 200 years.
Persia was conquered by Alexander the Great in 330. The Seleucid Empire, set up after Alexander's death, attempted to combine Iranian and Greek cultures, but it was more successful in the W than in the E.
The E section of Seleucid Empire revolted against its Hellenistic rulers and established the Parthian Empire in 248. The remnant of the Seleucid Empire was conquered by the Romans in 63.
All dates in this section are B.C.E.
After the death of Alexander (323), his generals fought for 20 years over control of Palestine, before it was finally won by Ptolemy of Egypt about 301. There followed a series of four Syrian Wars (274-271, 260-253, 246-241, 221-204), during which the Ptolemys gradually became weaker, until the Seleucid king Antiochus III the Great (223-187) conquered all of Syria and Palestine about 198. A measure of autonomy was permitted, and the Torah was made the law of the land.
In 190, Antiochus III lost a battle with the Romans in Greece and was forced to pay a large reparations bill, resulting in increased taxes, and Antiochus was killed while attempting to loot the temple of Bel in Susa. He was succeeded by Seleucus IV (187-175). Higher taxes caused the Jerusalem high priest Onias III to favor the Ptolemys, bringing him into conflict with the powerful pro-Seleucid Tobiad family. After Seleucus IV was murdered, his brother began to rule as Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175-164).
The Tobiads bribed Antiochus to appoint Jason (Joshua), Onias's brother, as high priest. Jason immediately instituted Hellenistic reforms, including the construction of a gymnasium and a relaxation of certain Torah legislation. About three years later, Menelaus, an extreme Hellenist and backed by the Tobiads, bribed Antiochus to be appointed high priest, thus taking the high priesthood out of the Zadokite family. Menelaus committed such crimes as embezzling from the temple treasury to make tribute payments and commissioning the assassination of Onias III (171). When Antiochus made war against the Ptolemys in Egypt in 170, Jason, having heard a rumor of the king's death, attacked Menelaus in Jerusalem and deposed him. Antiochus then reconquered Jerusalem, reinstated Menelaus, and plundered the temple.
When Antiochus attacked Egypt again in 168, the Roman emissary to Egypt humiliated him by demanding his immediate withdrawal from Egypt. Antiochus retaliated by having his subordinate Apollonius attack Jerusalem, which was again restless, slaughtering many Jews on the sabbath, tearing down the walls of the city, and constructing a non-Jewish garrison called the Acra in the City of David, S of the temple. Jerusalem thus became a mixed Jewish and Gentile city, and Gentiles were even allowed access to the temple. Finally, Antiochus decreed that all inhabitants of the Seleucid Empire give up their distinct (non-Greek) religious practices, and specifically that the Jews stop their sacrifices, give up circumcision, ignore the sabbath, defile the temple, and erect new altars and shrines for Greek gods. Inspectors were appointed to enforce these laws, on penalty of death. On Dec. 6, 167, a pagan altar was erected on top of the altar of burnt offerings (called the abomination of desolation in Dan 11:31) and the temple was rededicated to Zeus.
Initial passive resistance (2 Macc 6:18-7:42; 4 Macc 5-18) gave way to open rebellion under the priest Mattathias and his five sons in the village of Modein. After killing a compliant Jew and a Seleucid official, they and others retreated to the mountains and began guerilla warfare. They were soon joined by groups of Hasidim, who had previously fled to the desert. Early battles were led primarily by Judas Maccabeus (the hammer), who won a series of victories. After Antiochus offered to allow the Jews to observe their laws and granted a general amnesty, Judas conquered Jerusalem (except the Acra) and rededicated the temple on Dec. 14, 164. Antiochus died toward the end of 164, and Judas and his brothers continued to consolidate their power and drive the Seleucids from Palestine. Menelaus was executed by the Seleucids and replaced by Alcimus, a moderate Hellenist who was a Zadokite. Onias IV, son of the deposed Onias III, fled to Egypt and erected a schismatic sanctuary called Leontopolis. The Hasidim separated from the Maccabeans when Jonathan assumed the office of high priest in 153. Maccabeans increased in power, until complete independence achieved in 142 under Simon Maccabeus, who assumed the titles of king (or prince), high priest, and commander-in-chief. The Hasmonean family ruled over a nominally independent Judah until the Roman general Pompey captured Jerusalem in 63 and established Roman rule.
When Pompey conquered Jerusalem in 63 B.C.E., Judea became a Roman province ruled by a governor (along with Samaria and Galilee). The Hasmonean family continued as high priests until the time of Herod the Great (37-4 B.C.E.). Julius Caesar ruled as dictator of Rome from 49 to 44 B.C.E., when he was assassinated on the Senate floor. Civil War continued until the time of Augustus, the first emperor, in 27 B.C.E. The Roman Empire dates from this time.
Herod was an Idumean by ancestry but Jewish by religion. He won support of Pompey and later Marc Antony, and he was appointed first governor of Galilee and then King of Judea. Through the Roman civil wars he managed to win the support of the current Roman leader, eventually including Augustus. Herod was a ruthless ruler, killing all his enemies and suspected enemies, including his wife and two sons. He instituted numerous building projects, including the expansion and refurbishing of Solomon's temple and the fortress on Masada. He died in 4 B.C.E.
Several of Herod's descendants ruled parts of Palestine for years as governors. Judea was under direct Roman control after 6 C.E., when people petitioned Augustus to remove Archelaus. Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea 26-36 C.E. Herod Agrippa I, grandson of Herod the Great, was given title King of Judea, Samaria, and Galilee.
A series of incidents led to Jewish unrest and revolt against Rome in 66 (First Jewish War), led by the Zealots. After several early victories, the Jews were defeated by the armies of Vespatian and his son Titus. Titus captured Jerusalem and destroyed the temple in 70. The First Jewish War ended with the capture of the fortress of Masada in 73 or 74, following the suicide of 960 defenders of the fortress. Judaism survived when Johanan ben Zakkai, leader of the Pharisees and opposed to revolt, was granted permission to move with his followers to city of Jabneh in Galilee. Jabneh became an important center for rabbinic Judaism. The Second Jewish War (132-135) was led by Simon bar Kokhba, thought by many to be the messiah. The defeat of the Jews and the death of Bar Kochba resulted in the execution of many Jewish leaders and the expulsion of all Jews from Jerusalem, which had previously been renamed Aelia Capitolina in 131 by the Roman Emperor Hadrian.
Early Roman emperors:
Augustus: 27 B.C.E.-14 C.E.
Tiberius: 14-37
Gaius Caligula: 37-41
Claudius: 41-54
Nero: 54-68
Galba, Otho, Vitellius: 68-69
Vespasian: 69-79
Titus: 79-81
Domitian: 81-96
Nerva: 96-98
Trajan: 98-117
Hadrian: 117-135
Israel became an independent state at the beginning of the Iron II period, about 1000 B.C.E. This was a period of great upheaval in the ancient Near East. The great empires of Egypt and Hatti, which had controlled Palestine in the previous centuries, had been either weakened (Egypt) or destroyed (Hatti) by an influx of foreigners from the W, the Sea Peoples, about 1200 B.C.E. Thus, Israel came into being in the midst of a regional power vacuum that lasted about 450 years, which ended when the Neo-Assyrian Empire became dominant under Tiglath-pileser III (745-727 B.C.E.).
After the United Kingdom of Israel split into two parts, Israel in the N and Judah in the S, in 922 B.C.E., the N Kingdom was generally dominant over the S Kingdom. This aspect of the two kingdoms' relationship is usually glossed over by the books of Kings, which were written by inhabitants of Judah. Ahab, king of Israel, was part of a coalition of armies that defended Syria-Palestine from an invasion by Shalmaneser III of Assyria, defeating the Assyrians at the Battle of Qarqar in 853 B.C.E. After this, the Assyrians made only occasional forays into the region until the reign of Tiglather-pileser III.
After the N Kingdom fell to the Assyrians under Sargon II in 722 B.C.E., Judah retained nominal independence but was essentially a vassal state. Judah narrowly avoided the fate of Israel in 701 B.C.E. after King Hezekiah withheld tribute to Sennacherib of Assyria. Judah remained loyal to Assyria for several decades, and after the last strong king of Assyria, Ashurbanipal, died in 627, Assyria quickly fell into chaos. Assyria was defeated by a coalition of armies from Babylonia, Media, and Egypt in a series of campaigns from the fall of Nineveh (612) to the Battle of Carchemish (605), when Assyria ceased to exist as a separate nation. Judah flourished under King Josiah during the chaotic years at the end of the Assyrian Empire, expanding its sphere of influence to include much of the former Kingdom of Israel, but this period of prosperity was short-lived, and after Josiah was killed in battle with Pharaoh Neco, who was on his way to Carchemish, Judah was ruled by a series of weak kings who tried to play politics with Egypt and Babylonia and failed.
Although the Bible spends more time talking about the Babylonian Empire than the Assyrian Empire, from a historical perspective the Assyrian Empire was much more important, since it was a regional power for about 700 years, whereas the Babylonian Empire was a regional power for only about 70 years.
The history of Israel has a number of important turning points that are associated with a series of crises involving foreign powers.