History and Geography

What You Need to Know to Understand the Tanakh

Genesis 12:1-7

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you, I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was 75 years old when he departed from Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot, and all the possessions that they had gathered, and the persons whom they had acquired in Haran; and they set forth to go into the land of Canaan. When they had come to the land of Canaan. Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oal of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. Then the Lord appeared to Abram, and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.”

Abram’s Journey

What to call this land

Canaan

Israel

Israel for the Northern Kingdom (922-722/21 BCE) and Judah for the Southern Kingdom (922-587/86 BCE)

Yehud when it was a Persian outpost (538 BCE to the Greek period). Also Judea

Palestine (Palaistino) in the Greek period (late 4th to 2nd centuries BCE)

The Land – Some Facts

Approximately 150 miles long and 70 miles wide

10,000 square miles or the size of Vermont

Roughly the same latitude as the state of Georgia, southern Spain, or the Shanghai-Nanking area of China

Six Major Regions of the Land Coastal Plain

Shephelah

Central Hill Country

Rift Valley

Transjordan Plateau

desert

Coastal Plain

Shephelah

Central Hill Country

“

Valley of Jezreel

Arabah (“Plain”) or The Rift Valley

Some Fun Photos

Transjordan Plateau

Desert

Uninhabitable region that extends eventually into what is now Saudi Arabia

Seasons Two Seasons

Wet or horef (November to February)

Dry (mid-June to mid-September)

Two Transitional periods April to mid-June Mid-September through

October

Sub-tropical climate Generally temperate Can get quite cold at

elevation

Agricultural season starts with the rain Wet ground is softer and so

can be plowed Spring rain ripens crops Rain comes from the west

or the sea and so the west-facing slopes get most of the rain

Rainfall

Rainfall Averages Acco and Jerusalem -- 24

to 26” (comparable to London, but all in one season)

Upper Galilee hills – 47” (NYC 41” average)

Megiddo – 16” Hebron 12”

Climate

Temperatures Overall temperate, but with hot summers along the coast and

around the Dead Sea toward the desert Winters can be chilly at elevation and some snow is typical in the

upper Galilee and even in places like Jerusalem (elevation approximate 2500 ft)

   

Genesis – The Family

Abraham and Hagar Ishmael

Abraham and Sarah Isaac

Isaac and Rebekkah Esau Jacob

Jacob Leah

Reuben (1) Simeon (2) Levi (3) Judah (4) Issachar (9) Zebulun (10) Dinah

Rachel Joseph (11) Benjamin (12)

Bilhah Dan (5) Naphtali (6)

Zilpah Gad (7) Asher (8)

Exodus

Israel enslaved in Egypt

Moses lifted up to deliver the people

Brings them to Mt. Sinai where God makes a covenant with them

Wander in the Wilderness 40 years

Conquest and/or Settlement

Joshua Story told in Joshua 1-12

Three points of attack: North, Central, and South

Archaeological record does not fully support this picture

Judges More of a gradual

settlement of the land

Some battles

Perhaps a combination of external force coming in, a settling of non-disputed areas and internal revolt

Monarchy

Saul the first king

David takes over c. 1000 BCE

Solomon succeeds his father

Monarchy splits after Solomon’s death in 922 BCE (Divided Monarchy)

Northern Kingdom or Israel lasts until 722/21 BCE Assyrian Empire takes over 10 lost tribes of Israel

Southern Kingdom or Judah lasts until 587/86 BCE Babylonian Empire takes

over Jerusalem and the Temple

built by Solomon are destroyed

Persian Period

The people go into exile in 587/86 BCE

Persian leader Cyrus defeats Babylonians; allows people to return to their land

Not many Israelites want to go; Darius takes over and sponsors a new return

Zerubbabel and Joshua lead it

Second Temple built and dedicated

Yehud is a Persian satrapy

Greek Period

Alexander the Great conquers the land c. 333 BCE

Hellenization spreads through region

Division of the kingdom by the diadochi

Seleucid rule c. 198 BCE

Antiochus IV 175 – starts movement that prohibits Judaism

Maccabean Revolt 164 BCE

Final Notes

Brief Period of Independence from 142-63 BCE. Hasmonean Dynasty

Pompey – Roman general – starts his campaign around 64 BCE

Herod the Great 37-4 BCE