Hezekiah had fortified the city and extended the water supply in order to prepare for an attack from the Assyrians. In the Bible we then get a reference to a messiah in the Book of Isaiah. In Isiah 9:1-7 there is a mention of a child born that will rule in the throne of David and bring peace. In addition to that, in Isaiah 10 there is another prophecy that the holy mountain, which we can interpret as Jerusalem, will be not be hurt or destroyed. So both of these chapters in the Book of Isaiah speak of prophecys deal with the an upcoming attack from the Assyrians and how Jerusalem will be saved from this attacks.
Eventually in the Book of Isaiah we read of the event that could be one of the greatest catalyst in for beginning the legend of Jerusalem as an inviolable city. In Isaiah 36-39 we read of how God delivers Jerusalem from the Assyrians. The Assyrians were able to wipe out all the other cities in Judah, but they weren't able to capture Jerusalem. Thus the people in Jerusalem took this as a sign that their God will always protect this city and their people and he will never let anything bad happen. We have archaeological evidence that the Assyrians went after Jerusalem in the Sennacherib's Prism. The prism mentions that the Assyrians went after the city of Jerusalem, but it never actually states that the city was captured.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Lecture 5.1 Hezekiah's Jerusalem
The "Golden Age" in Jerusalem is considered to be the time between David and Solomon's reign. Once Solomon dies, his son, Rehoboam, is the next in line to become King, but the North part of the Kingdom, Israel, doesn't want him to be their king unless he accepts their demands, which include lowering taxes. Rehoboam denies their demands, believing to assert his power, but the North decides to secede and Israel sets Jeroboam as their King. The North build shrines in their region, in Bethel and Dan, in order to prevent people from going to the temple in Jerusalem and the South also builds alternate shrines at Beer-Sheva and the Arad temple.
After the Kingdom became divided, the North and South sought help of greater, bigger nations to help defend their state from attacks. Some of the nations they sought help from included, Syria, Assyria, and Egypt. The Assyrian Empire grows in power and strength and in 721 BCE they take over the capital of Israel. Jerusalem saw expansion and growth because of the exiled people of Israel moving into the city. Assyria used public display of the people they killed in order to frighten people.
Once Hezekiah comes into power we see that he begins preparing for a rebellion against the Assyrian empire. He begins to fortify the city by building the "Broad" Wall." Next we see him also finding means of getting water into the city. He builds Hezekiah's tunnel to bring water into the city and the tunnel inscription, or grafitti text, describes the building of the of the tunnel during 710BCE. We also see that he built the"Israel" pool and Hezekiah's Pool to hold the water inside the city. During this time they also found LMLK, meaning "belonging to the the king," seal impressions on jars of grain in order to stock up on food. He did all of this to prepare in case once they rebelled that Assyria would block of all the food and water supplies outside of the city.
"Run Devil Run" by SNSD. Because Hezekiah and Jerusalem didn't run away from the Assyrians.
After the Kingdom became divided, the North and South sought help of greater, bigger nations to help defend their state from attacks. Some of the nations they sought help from included, Syria, Assyria, and Egypt. The Assyrian Empire grows in power and strength and in 721 BCE they take over the capital of Israel. Jerusalem saw expansion and growth because of the exiled people of Israel moving into the city. Assyria used public display of the people they killed in order to frighten people.
Once Hezekiah comes into power we see that he begins preparing for a rebellion against the Assyrian empire. He begins to fortify the city by building the "Broad" Wall." Next we see him also finding means of getting water into the city. He builds Hezekiah's tunnel to bring water into the city and the tunnel inscription, or grafitti text, describes the building of the of the tunnel during 710BCE. We also see that he built the"Israel" pool and Hezekiah's Pool to hold the water inside the city. During this time they also found LMLK, meaning "belonging to the the king," seal impressions on jars of grain in order to stock up on food. He did all of this to prepare in case once they rebelled that Assyria would block of all the food and water supplies outside of the city.
"Run Devil Run" by SNSD. Because Hezekiah and Jerusalem didn't run away from the Assyrians.
Lecture 4.1 Solomon's Jerusalem
King Solomon, according to the Bible, ruled from around 970 to 930 BCE. He is believed to have written the Book of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs. Like the reign of David, we have no archaelogical evidence that Solomon rule in Jerusalem, or that there was even a first temple. In a Tel, like in Tel Megiddo, we can find archaeological evidence because when a new ruler wanted to build something, they would usually build it on top of whatever was there, allowing for higher elevation and defense. This helps current archeaologists because in these Tels they can find remains from one location, but from different times in history. There was some other past evidence at the Ophel Excavativions on the southern end of the temple Mount, with inscriptions dating back to the Old Testament period.
Since there is no actual evidence for the existence of Solomon's Temple, the Bible is our most importance resource. In 1 Kings we get the mention of the temple structure, with the Devir (in the back) being the holy of holies, where the Ark would have been most likely placed. The temple has some pagan references, especially in the 2 pillars on the front of the temple, named Jachin and Boaz.. There is some possible evidence that the temple might have existed because of the close comparison between the temple description and other temples during this time period, such as 'Ain Dara. Both have pillars in the front and a room in the back, or an inner shrine. This could possibly show that the temple description in the Bible was not made up, but could have actually been the description of the temple since many other temples at the time had the same structure.
"Sorry Sorry" by Super Junior.
Since there is no actual evidence for the existence of Solomon's Temple, the Bible is our most importance resource. In 1 Kings we get the mention of the temple structure, with the Devir (in the back) being the holy of holies, where the Ark would have been most likely placed. The temple has some pagan references, especially in the 2 pillars on the front of the temple, named Jachin and Boaz.. There is some possible evidence that the temple might have existed because of the close comparison between the temple description and other temples during this time period, such as 'Ain Dara. Both have pillars in the front and a room in the back, or an inner shrine. This could possibly show that the temple description in the Bible was not made up, but could have actually been the description of the temple since many other temples at the time had the same structure.
"Sorry Sorry" by Super Junior.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Lecture 3 Davidic Jerusalem (Pt. 2)
In 1 Chronicle 11 we get the mention of Joab, a commander in David's army, climbing up a shaft to get into the Jebusite city. The current city of Jerusalem has Warren's shaft, a possible natural cave, and tunnel to the Pool Tower, so it was used to access the natural water source in the city. The Siloam Channel are undergound channels in the city thought to have brought water from the southern end of the City of David. So all these structures were used to bring water in the city, which was fundamental for the city to grow. The city may have had the Gihon spring, but that would not have helped the city to grow and maintain if there wasn't a way to bring water directly to the city and the inhabitants.
We can see that water played a major role in the city for survival, but also as a sacred object. In 1 Kings 1 we read of the anointing of Solomon in order to become king. The account mentions how the Gihon played an important part in the coronation ceremony, with Solomon riding on a donkey to the spring. We later get another account of the Gihon as part of a ceremony in Mathew 21. It mentions Jesus riding a donkey through the city on his way to the Gihon spring. The writer is making a reference to the Israelite coronation ceremony, claiming Jesus to be royalty as the King of Israel and the Jews.
Before David takes over Jerusalem, the Ark of the Covenant was believed to be the presence of God, but once David rules the city, he wants to build his Lord a house, or temple, to reside in, but his Lord tells him not to. And in 2 Samuel 7 we get one of the most important verses in the Hebrew Bible, especially for the establishment of Christianity. God tells David to not build him a temple, but instead the Lord will make him a promise of building David a house. The word house in Hebrew can also mean dynasty. Thus God is making David an eternal promise that the Davidic line will never pass away and that there will be always be a ruler on the throne. But in 586 the Temple is destroyed, and God's followers interpret the passage differently believing a king will eventually come back, and we see that with Jesus Christ, when he is named the son of David. A descendant of David, and thus he will rule forever under the promise of God.
"I Don't Care" by 2NE1.
We can see that water played a major role in the city for survival, but also as a sacred object. In 1 Kings 1 we read of the anointing of Solomon in order to become king. The account mentions how the Gihon played an important part in the coronation ceremony, with Solomon riding on a donkey to the spring. We later get another account of the Gihon as part of a ceremony in Mathew 21. It mentions Jesus riding a donkey through the city on his way to the Gihon spring. The writer is making a reference to the Israelite coronation ceremony, claiming Jesus to be royalty as the King of Israel and the Jews.
Before David takes over Jerusalem, the Ark of the Covenant was believed to be the presence of God, but once David rules the city, he wants to build his Lord a house, or temple, to reside in, but his Lord tells him not to. And in 2 Samuel 7 we get one of the most important verses in the Hebrew Bible, especially for the establishment of Christianity. God tells David to not build him a temple, but instead the Lord will make him a promise of building David a house. The word house in Hebrew can also mean dynasty. Thus God is making David an eternal promise that the Davidic line will never pass away and that there will be always be a ruler on the throne. But in 586 the Temple is destroyed, and God's followers interpret the passage differently believing a king will eventually come back, and we see that with Jesus Christ, when he is named the son of David. A descendant of David, and thus he will rule forever under the promise of God.
"I Don't Care" by 2NE1.
Lecture 3 Davidic Jerusalem (Pt. 1)
We get the first mention of David in the Hebrew Bible around 1000BCE. Most of what we talk about David is based on the Bible, and there wasn't any archaelogical evidence that David was the King of Jerusalem or that he even existed until we find the Tel Dan Inscription. It is a stone block that has inscriptions from an Aramaic king mentioning all the people he has conquered and defeated. In the list we see the "House of David." This doesn't necessarily proved that David existed or that he was the ruler of Jerusalem, but it does prove that some people during this time of the inscription, around 100 years after the reign of David, considered and called themselves the people, or followers of David.
When David conquered the land of Jerusalem he named the city the city of David, which is currently located between the Hinomm and Kidron Valley, beneath the Temple Mount. Excavations have found a location now called Area G. This area had a stepped stone structure that was believed to support something above it and the "House of Ahiel". The house they found was a typical Israelite house expected during this time. It was probably 2 levels and mainly an agricultural home. In addition, another home was found which was named the "House of Bullae." A seal impression was found, metioning Gemaryahu, with the name also being found in the Bible in Jeremiah 36 as the scribe of the King of Jerusalem. These excavatoins give us insight into how people lived during this time. We can see that they were mostly agriculture and lived a mainly simple life.
"Wedding Dress" by Taeyang.
When David conquered the land of Jerusalem he named the city the city of David, which is currently located between the Hinomm and Kidron Valley, beneath the Temple Mount. Excavations have found a location now called Area G. This area had a stepped stone structure that was believed to support something above it and the "House of Ahiel". The house they found was a typical Israelite house expected during this time. It was probably 2 levels and mainly an agricultural home. In addition, another home was found which was named the "House of Bullae." A seal impression was found, metioning Gemaryahu, with the name also being found in the Bible in Jeremiah 36 as the scribe of the King of Jerusalem. These excavatoins give us insight into how people lived during this time. We can see that they were mostly agriculture and lived a mainly simple life.
"Wedding Dress" by Taeyang.
Lecture 2 Canaanite Jerusalem
Jerusalem's earliest settlement dates back to around 4000BCE and the main factors that played in this settlement were water availability, with the Gihon spring, agriculture, and trade available through the Watershed Highway. There isn't a lot of archaeological evidence for the existence of Jerusalem as a city during this time, but we do get some evidence dating around 1900BCE. The Exercration Texts mention the enemies of Egypt, and in there we see "Rusalimum" or Jerusalem, giving non-biblical evidence to the existence of Jerusalem. We get further evidence of Jerusalem's existence through the Egyptians. The Amarna Letters, which date back to 1350BCE, are tablets with written text from rulers of other states, including Jerusalem, to the Egyptian Pharoah.
We get our earliest Biblical account of Jerusalem is Genesis 14. It mentions Abraham visiting this city, named Salem, where a man, both king and priest, named Melchizedek blesses him. We interpret Salem to be the city of Jerusalem, and so we have a biblical account of the Jerusalem dating back to Abraham. An important part to the history of Jerusalem is how did the Israelites get to the land around city. The Bible has two different accounts of how this happened. Joshua 10, 21, and 24 state that they killed everyone, destroying everything, while Joshua 15 and Judges1 state that no one was killed, and that the Jebusites remained in the city. The Bible, even though confusing, is one explanation, with immigration being another one. What does it mean when a event in the bible has two different explanations, especially in the same book? I thought it possibly meant trying to make the Israelites look powerful and strong, but at the same time not completely evil by killing everyone, so the writer changes the story later on in the same book, or someone else changes it in Judges. Or another explanation could have been that there was more than one writer on the Book of Joshua, leading to two different accounts of the same event, depending on what they saw or heard and at what time during the conquest.
I think it fits the post, because the song talks about taking the world, while the Israelites may have tried taking Jebusite land. "Lupin" by Kara
We get our earliest Biblical account of Jerusalem is Genesis 14. It mentions Abraham visiting this city, named Salem, where a man, both king and priest, named Melchizedek blesses him. We interpret Salem to be the city of Jerusalem, and so we have a biblical account of the Jerusalem dating back to Abraham. An important part to the history of Jerusalem is how did the Israelites get to the land around city. The Bible has two different accounts of how this happened. Joshua 10, 21, and 24 state that they killed everyone, destroying everything, while Joshua 15 and Judges1 state that no one was killed, and that the Jebusites remained in the city. The Bible, even though confusing, is one explanation, with immigration being another one. What does it mean when a event in the bible has two different explanations, especially in the same book? I thought it possibly meant trying to make the Israelites look powerful and strong, but at the same time not completely evil by killing everyone, so the writer changes the story later on in the same book, or someone else changes it in Judges. Or another explanation could have been that there was more than one writer on the Book of Joshua, leading to two different accounts of the same event, depending on what they saw or heard and at what time during the conquest.
I think it fits the post, because the song talks about taking the world, while the Israelites may have tried taking Jebusite land. "Lupin" by Kara
Lecture 1.2. Jerusalem as Sacred Space
Temples were seen as a place where the divine would come down from heaven and visit the earth. A temple would then connect heaven and earth, becoming an axis mundi, or a "pillar" connecting the divine world, earth, and the underworld. From Revelation 21 we read that a temple plan is not man made, but it comes from the heavens, and is specific by God. This does make sense to me because when going to mass I always hear the mention of the House of the Lord, this is House and how everyone is welcome to come and visit and experience God. It wouldn't be considered his house, the Lord's house, if he hadn't created it himself.
We see that Jerusalem grew as a sacred spot because of its ability to attract stories. For example, it took the creation story, and applied the location of the Garden of Eden to itself, when relation the Gihon river to the Gihon spring in the city. In addition it was able to take the story of the binding of Isaac, where the Lord had revelaved himself to Abraham, and apply it to its city by equating the land of Moriah to a spot in the city. So Jerusalem took these stories where the first humans lived, and where the divine had revealed himself and applied the sacredness that derived from the stories to its location and city. In a way I find this all amazing because it is just pure luck that the city was able to relate to these stories, or was it already planned by the divine. One reason that Jerusalem is seen as an axis mundi is because of the idea that mountains, the highest places on Earth, are the closest places to heaven, and thus to God. Jerusalem has many mountains in its city to relate to this idea, including Mount Zion. I never really thought of mountains as place closer to God, but I guess in the past where, nature played a bigger part in religion that would make perfect sense because if the divine is believed to be in sky then how would you get closer to God? Through a mountain, the highest places on Earth.
Study break time. "Lies" by Big Bang.
We see that Jerusalem grew as a sacred spot because of its ability to attract stories. For example, it took the creation story, and applied the location of the Garden of Eden to itself, when relation the Gihon river to the Gihon spring in the city. In addition it was able to take the story of the binding of Isaac, where the Lord had revelaved himself to Abraham, and apply it to its city by equating the land of Moriah to a spot in the city. So Jerusalem took these stories where the first humans lived, and where the divine had revealed himself and applied the sacredness that derived from the stories to its location and city. In a way I find this all amazing because it is just pure luck that the city was able to relate to these stories, or was it already planned by the divine. One reason that Jerusalem is seen as an axis mundi is because of the idea that mountains, the highest places on Earth, are the closest places to heaven, and thus to God. Jerusalem has many mountains in its city to relate to this idea, including Mount Zion. I never really thought of mountains as place closer to God, but I guess in the past where, nature played a bigger part in religion that would make perfect sense because if the divine is believed to be in sky then how would you get closer to God? Through a mountain, the highest places on Earth.
Study break time. "Lies" by Big Bang.
Lecture 1.1 Jerusalem as Sacred Space
I'm pretty sure that's where the title would go, but I just needed to check out how it would look like, since this is my first blog post. But if this blog were to have a title, it would have to deal with Jerusalem as a sacred space. When dealing with that topic I thought to myself why is Jerusalem a sacred and holy city? What makes it sacred, or how did it become sacred. From a Christian point of view I just assumed it was holy because the city was of great importance in dealing with Jesus Christ and thus Christianity. But it is not only of importance to Christians, but also to Muslims and people of the Jewish faith.
We can begin talking about Jerusalem with its physical features. The city has three main valleys, the Kidron, Hinnom, and Tyropean. With valleys also come some higher grounded areas, such as mountains, which were used to city's advantage against foreign invasions or attacks. A certain square region in the city can be separated in four parts, with the NW side being the Christian quarter, NE Islamic, SE Jewish, SW Armenian, and the Temple Mount can sometimes be counted as the 5th quarter. Professor Cargill speaks of what an ancient city needed to survive, and some of the requirements were fresh water, trade (through sea since there is a desert on the other end), a trade route, and natural defenses. Jerusalem barely meets any of these requirements, only having a small water source, the Gihon spring, that could be enough for the city during the BCE period, but not during modern times, and the natural defenses that came from the mountains. The city wasn't close enough to the sea to have trade and there were no major trade routes near to it, but even without these requirements it still managed to become one of the most sacred spots on the planet.
Jerusalem was able to become such a sacred spot because of its ability to attract stories from the Hebrew Bible and applying it to the city. But before that can happen, Eliade argues that a sacred spot must be founded. It is not up to humans to choose which spot will be holy, only the divine can set that location. The "Tower of Babel" myth speaks of the origin of different languages when humans tried building a tower to heavens and then God scattered them all around, confusing them. On the other hand, the story of "Jacob's ladder" shows that if the divine presents himself, then that location is founded, and thus can have something built to commerate that spot." What Eliade makes sense because if humans were allowed to choose a sacred spot, then every spot in the world could be considered sacred, and that ruin the whole purpose of a sacred location. We need a place or spot that is different from the rest, different from the place of our problems and worries. A place where we can relax, think, and communicate with God.
On a non-Jerusalem note, I had trouble coming up with my url name for this blog site. In general, I am not good with coming up with idea or names on the spot. So I thought of something in my head, and I came out with something korean because I like listening to Korean music, or better known as K-pop. Since the url is stuck that like I thought I should post some k-pop songs at the end if anyone needed a break. I would say a lot of people like k-pop, considering the music videos range from views to the thousands to millions of viewers. So my first song will be. . . (looking at recently played playlist) and I will choose the song that helped me choose my url: 소원을 말해봐 (Genie) or in English "Tell Me Your Wish (Genie)" by SNSD, a.k.a. Girls' Generation.
We can begin talking about Jerusalem with its physical features. The city has three main valleys, the Kidron, Hinnom, and Tyropean. With valleys also come some higher grounded areas, such as mountains, which were used to city's advantage against foreign invasions or attacks. A certain square region in the city can be separated in four parts, with the NW side being the Christian quarter, NE Islamic, SE Jewish, SW Armenian, and the Temple Mount can sometimes be counted as the 5th quarter. Professor Cargill speaks of what an ancient city needed to survive, and some of the requirements were fresh water, trade (through sea since there is a desert on the other end), a trade route, and natural defenses. Jerusalem barely meets any of these requirements, only having a small water source, the Gihon spring, that could be enough for the city during the BCE period, but not during modern times, and the natural defenses that came from the mountains. The city wasn't close enough to the sea to have trade and there were no major trade routes near to it, but even without these requirements it still managed to become one of the most sacred spots on the planet.
Jerusalem was able to become such a sacred spot because of its ability to attract stories from the Hebrew Bible and applying it to the city. But before that can happen, Eliade argues that a sacred spot must be founded. It is not up to humans to choose which spot will be holy, only the divine can set that location. The "Tower of Babel" myth speaks of the origin of different languages when humans tried building a tower to heavens and then God scattered them all around, confusing them. On the other hand, the story of "Jacob's ladder" shows that if the divine presents himself, then that location is founded, and thus can have something built to commerate that spot." What Eliade makes sense because if humans were allowed to choose a sacred spot, then every spot in the world could be considered sacred, and that ruin the whole purpose of a sacred location. We need a place or spot that is different from the rest, different from the place of our problems and worries. A place where we can relax, think, and communicate with God.
On a non-Jerusalem note, I had trouble coming up with my url name for this blog site. In general, I am not good with coming up with idea or names on the spot. So I thought of something in my head, and I came out with something korean because I like listening to Korean music, or better known as K-pop. Since the url is stuck that like I thought I should post some k-pop songs at the end if anyone needed a break. I would say a lot of people like k-pop, considering the music videos range from views to the thousands to millions of viewers. So my first song will be. . . (looking at recently played playlist) and I will choose the song that helped me choose my url: 소원을 말해봐 (Genie) or in English "Tell Me Your Wish (Genie)" by SNSD, a.k.a. Girls' Generation.
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