After Byzantine Jerusalem we began with Islamic Jerusalem, which went from 638-1088 CE. At this time in Jerusalem's history we see several groups of people fighting for power. One of the stronger groups, called the Sasanians (Iranians), had power in the East while the Romans had power in the West. Although Hadrian had exiled the Jews from Jerusalem again, the Iranians allowed them to come back. In this time period we see that Muhammad began to have a strong influence over many people. Because he didn't leave an heir, however, the Caliphs took over this Islamic Jerusalem.
The struggle over control became very strong between Ali and Mu'awiya lead to the formation of two prominent group: the Sunnis and the Shi'ites. With this formation we also saw shifts in the religious preferences the people had. The different monumental aspects of belief for the Jews began to change. For example, the importance of jerusalem began to dwindle as people started to pray towards Mecca. Now, we see Mecca become like Jerusalem in that it begins to gravitate stories and legends. They use the thought that the stone in the Kaaba came from space, thus being an attempt to "connect" heaven and earth for the minds of those people.
In this lecture we also covered the five pillars of islam. Here are notes for that:
1. Shahada: Only god is Allah and only prophet of this god is Muhammad
2. Zakat: give to those in need
3. Sawm: fast in the 1st month of Ramadan
4. Salat: pray everyday 5 times towards mecca
5. Hajj: Make a pilgrimage to mecca
With this pilgrimage to mecca we see several accommodations because the trek is very long. People would decorate their houses to show to others that they were making the journey. Also, more importantly, Abd-al Malik made a different site for the pilgrimage, which is now called the dome of the rock. This was at the postulated place of the temple. The dome is a big octagonal building with no graven images, as established by the jews and their coins. The architects of this building were Christians, so the structure of it resembles christian work.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Lecture 13
This lecture is entitled Byzantine Jerusalem. We began by speaking about the shift of faith from a physical sense to a more spiritual sense. We see that with the destruction of the temple and the holy places that the Jews had, the need to accommodate became vital. With the coming of Jesus, their faith began to develop into a more spiritual faith, focusing on the everlasting spirit of god, rather than his physical dwelling.
In the Byzantine Jerusalem, we see different methods of exercising control. One way was by establishing what is called a "tetrarchy." In this, 4 different people rule in different manners, 2 in the west and 2 in the east. West and east have their own Augustus, and their own Caesar. This system worked poorly, however, and was soon toppled by Constantine. Here are notes about Constantine:
Constantine gave power to his mother frequently. His mother, Helena, began to create her own kind of Jerusalem. Perhaps most important in her journeys is the rededication of the Holy Sepulcher. It was here that she is said to have found remnants of the "true cross" where Jesus was crucified. Soon, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher becomes the central axis mundi, not the temple.
After the rule of Constantine, Julian takes over. As he does so, he dismantles the strength of Christianity by reestablishing the temple. He did so because he wanted to establish the Jewish faith. Soon after him, Theodosius takes over and makes Jerusalem become a primarily Christian place. In this we begin to see the importance of pilgrimage, and the expansion of Jerusalem (with places such as the Nea Church). Here are some notes about pilgrimage:
With the Madaba map, a map found on the ground tiles of a church, we see the depiction of Jerusalem as a Roman city. We also see the Church of the Holy Sepulcher as the central axis mundi. With this, and the growth of importance of the Nea Church, we see Jerusalem becoming more and more Christian.
In the Byzantine Jerusalem, we see different methods of exercising control. One way was by establishing what is called a "tetrarchy." In this, 4 different people rule in different manners, 2 in the west and 2 in the east. West and east have their own Augustus, and their own Caesar. This system worked poorly, however, and was soon toppled by Constantine. Here are notes about Constantine:
o The one that got rid of the tetrarchy and took command was CONSTANTINE THE GREAT
§ Was the son of constantius
§ 312-337CE
§ 312: Battle of Milvian bridge (“by this, conquer”)
§ 313: edict of Milan legalizes Christianity
§ 324 Council of Nicaea
· 7th canon, “aelia should have an honored position”
· Brings together all the Christian leaders to so they can figure out an make an orthodox system of standard belief
· Doctrine of the trinity
o Notion that jesus was fully god and fully human
§ Jesus said to be god from the very beginning
· Touching on nature of creation
o Greco-roman influence
· Nicaean Christianity of the west started to win over other sects
· Western notion that there should only be 1 way to worship
§ 330CE: Byzantium (bosphorus straight) becomes Constantinople
§ “used” Christianity to unite empire?
§ He had some strong influence on the formation of orthodox Christianity politically
Constantine gave power to his mother frequently. His mother, Helena, began to create her own kind of Jerusalem. Perhaps most important in her journeys is the rededication of the Holy Sepulcher. It was here that she is said to have found remnants of the "true cross" where Jesus was crucified. Soon, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher becomes the central axis mundi, not the temple.
After the rule of Constantine, Julian takes over. As he does so, he dismantles the strength of Christianity by reestablishing the temple. He did so because he wanted to establish the Jewish faith. Soon after him, Theodosius takes over and makes Jerusalem become a primarily Christian place. In this we begin to see the importance of pilgrimage, and the expansion of Jerusalem (with places such as the Nea Church). Here are some notes about pilgrimage:
· Pilgrimage
o Jewish pilgrimage
§ Pre-destruction: 3 festivals
§ Post-destruction: 9th of Ab
o Christian pilgrimage
§ Empress Helena augusta (Constantine’s mom), 326 CE
o Pilgrim of Bordeaux, 333CE
o Egeria, Spanish pilgrim, 381CE
o Gregory of Nyssa (338-395) writes of benefits for pilgrimage
o Psalms of Ascents
§ Psalms 120-134
§ Psalm 122:1-2
§ “I was glad when they said to me, let us go to the house of the lord”
o Pilgrim’s graffito
§ DOMINE IVIMUS, “lord we have come”
With the Madaba map, a map found on the ground tiles of a church, we see the depiction of Jerusalem as a Roman city. We also see the Church of the Holy Sepulcher as the central axis mundi. With this, and the growth of importance of the Nea Church, we see Jerusalem becoming more and more Christian.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Lecture 12
This lecture began with Jerusalem in revolt. The main resource is from Josephus, who wrote different books chronicling the history of the Jews and the romans. He was very pro-roman because they spared him after he was once a general for the Jews when they were revolting.
We started discussing how Herod broke up his dynasty to his sons Archelaus, Herod Antipas, and Herod Philip. Here are individual notes for each of the three:
After these kings failed, Rome decided to start rule with Roman governors. The governor we discussed was Pontius Palate. This was the Roman governor who is said to have Jesus executed. He was a very ineffective ruler, and was actually called back from his rule by Rome. In the time of these governors, we see that the rulers were getting gradually worse, and Jewish Zealots were rising. When the zealots were rising, the Jews began to mint their own coins to assert their independence. Sadly, this didn't last long. During the time of this revolt, Titus, the son of Vespasian, destroyed the temple. This was in the year 70 CE.
With this destruction sprouted another instance of cognitive dissonance where the jews were trying to rationalize how this could happen again. To be able to understand this, the jews started to become more spiritual, moving away from strict buildings in order to study.
There soon became a second revolt, called the "Bar-Kokhbar" revolt. Here are notes about this revolt:
After this, Rome established the city Aelia Capitolina in Jerusalem.
We started discussing how Herod broke up his dynasty to his sons Archelaus, Herod Antipas, and Herod Philip. Here are individual notes for each of the three:
§ 1. Archelaus
· Became “Ethnarch” of Judea
· Ineffective ruler
· Was recalled to Rome and sent into exile in 6CE
o Ruled for less than 10 years
· NT reference: Matt. 2:22-23
· Was the reason why kings were no longer occurring, Romans had it done with Governors
§ 2 . Herod Antipas
· Became tetrarch of Perea and Galilee
· Ruled from 4BCE until his exile in 39CE
· Jesus’ life primarily written to be in Galilee
o So when they say Herod, they mean “Herod Antipas”
· Made coins proving his existence
o Didn’t have graven images
§ 3. Herod Philip
· Became tetrarch of Iturea and Trachonitis, northwest of the Sea of Galilee
· Ruled from 4BCE until his death in 34CE
· On his coin he put his own image on the coin
o Because the land he inherited was so far away from the jewish area, way up to the north
o Also put temple
§ Which could be a temple to Caesar augustus
After these kings failed, Rome decided to start rule with Roman governors. The governor we discussed was Pontius Palate. This was the Roman governor who is said to have Jesus executed. He was a very ineffective ruler, and was actually called back from his rule by Rome. In the time of these governors, we see that the rulers were getting gradually worse, and Jewish Zealots were rising. When the zealots were rising, the Jews began to mint their own coins to assert their independence. Sadly, this didn't last long. During the time of this revolt, Titus, the son of Vespasian, destroyed the temple. This was in the year 70 CE.
With this destruction sprouted another instance of cognitive dissonance where the jews were trying to rationalize how this could happen again. To be able to understand this, the jews started to become more spiritual, moving away from strict buildings in order to study.
There soon became a second revolt, called the "Bar-Kokhbar" revolt. Here are notes about this revolt:
o Very few sources
§ Dio cassius, a roman historian
§ Later (5-6th C. CE) Talmudic sources
§ Archaeology (written remains and material culture)
o Aspects of 2nd revolt (132-135CE)
§ Bar-Kokhbar (Simon ben Kosiba), Akiva, and MEssianism
§ Institutional and spiritual crisis (extinction of sects; e.g., birkat ha-minim; codification of Mishnah
§ Center of Judaism migrates to Yavneh, then to Tiberias
§ Jerusalem rebuilt as Aelia Capitolina (by Hadrian); the province is renamed Syria-Palestina from Iudaea
§ Jews forbidden to visit Jerusalem (Except on 9th of Ab)
o Bar-Kokhba Revolt Coins
§ Words are frequently misspelled/no spell check
§ Called himself “naci”
· Means prince, and can mean messiah
§ Shows temples on all his coins
§ Many coins were overstruck
· Meaning they were old and printed, but printed over it
· Done because this guy was poor
· Overstrike saved money
· Overstrike eliminated “pagan” symbols
§ Wanted to promote Jerusalem as eternal capitol
§ Was really trying to assert himself as the prince of Jerusalem
· Was not from a royal or priest family
o Therefore he didn’t say king or priest, but used “prince”
o There were revolt letters
§ Written in multiple languages
· Outcome of Bar-Kokhba revolt
o Emperor Hadrian punished the jews bloodily
o Rebuilt jerusalem and called it Aelia Capitolina with a temple to Jupiter
o Banned jews from the city
o Banned circumcision
After this, Rome established the city Aelia Capitolina in Jerusalem.
Lecture 11
This lecture was about the Roman Jerusalem, which can also be called the Herodian Jerusalem, or Jesus' Jerusalem. This Roman conquest began in 68 BCE with Pompey taking control of Jerusalem from Darius I. In doing so he settled the dispute between Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II. After this he set Hyrcanus as the "ethnarch," which is considered the ruler of an ethnicity, or of a people. We also see Antipater installed as a procurator.
When Antipater was killed, Herod wanted to get his revenge. He does so in 43 BCE and over time he takes control of Jerusalem in 37 BCE. Here are some notes regarding him and his rule:
His temple that he expanded is said to be the 3rd temple, the first being Solomon's temple and the second being the one rebuilt with Persian money. On this he built the temple mount, which includes the western wall. He also established Herodian Miqvahs, which are places of water baths where people can go purify themselves before entering a holy place. There are several other structures he built, such as the Citadel of David, the Antonia fortress, his palace at masada, etc. He also built the Herodian, another place of his south of Jerusalem. Questions arise regarding whether or not Herod was a good king. He was a great economic king, giving people work by creating structures of his will, but people think he wasn't a great religious monarch.
We then touched upon Jesus, and how there is no evidence for his existence at all. It is likely that he did exist, but it is not certain. We have seen different proposed pieces of evidence for his existence, but most are either fake or they don't prove anything.
When Antipater was killed, Herod wanted to get his revenge. He does so in 43 BCE and over time he takes control of Jerusalem in 37 BCE. Here are some notes regarding him and his rule:
§ Rome rules Palestine with Client Kings
§ Herod “The Great”
· No graven images on the coins
o Have coins with his name tho
· Coins have jewish symbols but also roman symbols
o Makes it to where no one wants to overthrow him
§ Was from an area (Idumea) that had been “Judaized” by the Hasmoneans, so he was superficially “Jewish”
§ Knowledge of jewish tradition enabled him to rule w/o provoking wrate of jews
§ King of the Jews from 37 to 4 BCE
§ Paranoid and impulsive (see Matthew 2)
· Effective for Rome, hated by the Jews
· Best known for his massive building projects
· Matthew 2 was detailing the “murder of the innocents”
o Like with moses
o Looks almost like a previous story, so it may not be true
§ But seems to be in line with what we are told about Herod everywhere else
§ But no evidence proving this
His temple that he expanded is said to be the 3rd temple, the first being Solomon's temple and the second being the one rebuilt with Persian money. On this he built the temple mount, which includes the western wall. He also established Herodian Miqvahs, which are places of water baths where people can go purify themselves before entering a holy place. There are several other structures he built, such as the Citadel of David, the Antonia fortress, his palace at masada, etc. He also built the Herodian, another place of his south of Jerusalem. Questions arise regarding whether or not Herod was a good king. He was a great economic king, giving people work by creating structures of his will, but people think he wasn't a great religious monarch.
We then touched upon Jesus, and how there is no evidence for his existence at all. It is likely that he did exist, but it is not certain. We have seen different proposed pieces of evidence for his existence, but most are either fake or they don't prove anything.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Lecture 10
This lecture was about Greek influence on Jerusalem, starting with Alexander the Great. He took control after defeating Darius I of Persia. After this, he established a Hellenistic timepoint for Jerusalem. After his death, Jerusalem came under rule by two different groups, the Ptolemies and the Seleucids. Under the Ptolemies, Jerusalem became Hellenistic, but these people allowed the Jews to maintain their tradition and be their own people.
Once the Ptolemies lost their rule after Antiochus III The Great defeating them, the Seleucids took control. These people were a lot harsher with their rule, making sure to convert everyone and everything into a Greek influence. Here are notes on Antiochus IV, who defeated his brother to get the throne:
The Jews needed to find a way to get their tradition back. Because of the harshness that Antiochus IV exposed them to, the Jews Rebelled. This led to Hasmonean rule, which was the last time the Jews ever had the chance to rule themselves. This revolt was called the Maccabean revolt, who's leader became the temporary. These people were not direct descendants of David, so they swore to lead only for a little while. Sadly, the rulers of the Hasmonean era eventually became corrupt, and also started to act very Greek, supporting the ideals that they had initially ruled against. Under these people came the rise of the priesthood back to power, but eventually the Hasmoneans would fall. This allowed for the rise of the Romans.
Once the Ptolemies lost their rule after Antiochus III The Great defeating them, the Seleucids took control. These people were a lot harsher with their rule, making sure to convert everyone and everything into a Greek influence. Here are notes on Antiochus IV, who defeated his brother to get the throne:
o Antiochus IV “Epiphanes”
§ 175-164 BCE
· Thoroughly Hellenized Palestine and Jerusalem
· Deposes Onias III and sells high priesthood to his bro Jason in 175 BCE
· Jason establishes gym in Jerusalem
· Antiochus IV sells high priesthood again to Menelaus in 172 BCE
§ To suppress jewish resistance
· Attacks Egypt in 170 BCE
· Returns and conquers Jerusalem
· Looted temple treasury
· 167 BCe edict outlawed jewish religious practices
· Sacrificed a pig on the temple altar
· Converted temple into a temple of zeus
· Fully Hellenizes the jews
The Jews needed to find a way to get their tradition back. Because of the harshness that Antiochus IV exposed them to, the Jews Rebelled. This led to Hasmonean rule, which was the last time the Jews ever had the chance to rule themselves. This revolt was called the Maccabean revolt, who's leader became the temporary. These people were not direct descendants of David, so they swore to lead only for a little while. Sadly, the rulers of the Hasmonean era eventually became corrupt, and also started to act very Greek, supporting the ideals that they had initially ruled against. Under these people came the rise of the priesthood back to power, but eventually the Hasmoneans would fall. This allowed for the rise of the Romans.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Lecture 9
We began this lecture talking about Persian Jerusalem. This time encompasses the 2nd temple period, Cyrus' edict of return, expansion and renovation of temple by Herod the Great, and the destructions of the temple by the romans. We see prove of this period written in the bible and we also see it in non-biblical text.
We then spoke about Ezekiel's visions, such as that of the new mobile god that now uses wheels, and the weird Cherubim thing with 4 faces, wings, etc. We then talked about King Cyrus of Persia, and how he let the people go back to Jerusalem. We see this in evidence too in Cyrus' cylinder. While the jews think it was the hebrew god that made him do it as a messiah (which is a bad mistake because a messiah is supposed to be someone from the davidic line) while on the cylinder it says he did it because of the Marduk, the babylonian god.
With the return of the jews to Jerusalem, we see a struggle to rebuild the temple amongst other things. Finally Darius I won, and set into motion his own way of doing things. He rebuilt the temple, but it didn't look nearly as nice as Solomon's temple. Under his reign we also saw that the Persians maintained control and influence. We see in the Yehud coins an aramaic saying, therefore showing that Persia was controlling at this point.
We also discussed the parallels of Judaism and Zoroastrianism. This religion from Persia shows several similar parables and concepts that Judaism is known to have today. Here is my list of parallels:
We then spoke about Ezekiel's visions, such as that of the new mobile god that now uses wheels, and the weird Cherubim thing with 4 faces, wings, etc. We then talked about King Cyrus of Persia, and how he let the people go back to Jerusalem. We see this in evidence too in Cyrus' cylinder. While the jews think it was the hebrew god that made him do it as a messiah (which is a bad mistake because a messiah is supposed to be someone from the davidic line) while on the cylinder it says he did it because of the Marduk, the babylonian god.
With the return of the jews to Jerusalem, we see a struggle to rebuild the temple amongst other things. Finally Darius I won, and set into motion his own way of doing things. He rebuilt the temple, but it didn't look nearly as nice as Solomon's temple. Under his reign we also saw that the Persians maintained control and influence. We see in the Yehud coins an aramaic saying, therefore showing that Persia was controlling at this point.
We also discussed the parallels of Judaism and Zoroastrianism. This religion from Persia shows several similar parables and concepts that Judaism is known to have today. Here is my list of parallels:
o Judaism and Zoroastrianism
§ Six periods of creation in the Zoroastrian scriptures
· Vs. 6 days in Hebrew bible
§ Humans descend from first couple mashya (man) and mashyana (woman)
· Like adam and eve
§ Zoroaster given commandments on mountain (moses)
· Like moses
§ Introduction of angels (Pharisee v. Sadducee)
· Concept of other divine beings besides god
§ Introduction of evil counterpart (ahriman/angra mainyu) (v. Satan) (Zech 3:2?)
· Like satan
§ YHWH became a universal god of love, good, perfect, remote (like ahura mazda)
§ Cyrus is called Jewish messiah (Isa 45:1)
§ Aramaic in Bible (Ezra, Daniel), Targums, and Talmud
§ Purity codes in marriage (Ezra 9-10)
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Lecture 8
We started this lecture talking more about the strong impact that literature had on non-scribe classes of people. Different artifacts have been found that demonstrate how profound of an effect literature was having on the people. One example would be the Mezad Hashavyahu Ostracon. On this broken piece of pottery a working man wrote about how another man stole his clothes. It is written in the bible that if a man borrows another man's clothes, then that man must return them before sundown. Failure to do so would result in punishment of some kind. Because we see this man complaining to Yahweh about this, we can hypothesize different things. 1) Literature was becoming very common amongst most people. 2) People at the time period were referencing the writings of the bible (or the opposite where the writers of the bible made reference to these already set laws of conduct.
Other artifacts displaying the impact of literature would be the Ketef Hinnom Torah Amulets which have a prayer written on them. This prayer is the same that is seen in the bible. As with the Mezad Hashavyahu Ostracon, we can hypothesize the same things regarding literature and references of people to the bible (or vice versa).
We then talked about the fall of Jerusalem. There were different events that were leading to the fall of the city. The first of which would be the development of the Babylonian empire, which was becoming very powerful. The next would occur in 597 BCE where the Babylonians exiled King Jehoiachin and Ezekiel. Then in 586 BCE we see the first fall of Jerusalem at the hands of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. We then spoke of the last days of Judah, as written in the bible with 2 different endings to the death of Josiah (more specifically 2 reasons as to why Josiah was killed).
We then spoke about Jehoiachin and his people after exile, and how both biblical text and Babylonian records support that the nobles still received allowance of oil for their people. Back in Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar had replaces Jehoiachin with Zedekiah. Zedekiah, however, rebelled against Babylon too. This rebellion pissed off Nebuchadnezzar, and so Babylon came and destroyed Jerusalem. With this downfall of Jerusalem we see different stories such as Lamentations 1 and Psalms 79/137 having been written to reflect on the situation. Furthermore, we discussed the theory of cognitive dissonance, which is the uncomfortable feeling someone has when he or she has two different ideas or beliefs that contradict each other, but this person still wants to hold on to them. This feeling ran rampant with the people of Jerusalem after the fall of the city. They were told by God that he would protect them forever, but that is not the case. What can they think now?
Other artifacts displaying the impact of literature would be the Ketef Hinnom Torah Amulets which have a prayer written on them. This prayer is the same that is seen in the bible. As with the Mezad Hashavyahu Ostracon, we can hypothesize the same things regarding literature and references of people to the bible (or vice versa).
We then talked about the fall of Jerusalem. There were different events that were leading to the fall of the city. The first of which would be the development of the Babylonian empire, which was becoming very powerful. The next would occur in 597 BCE where the Babylonians exiled King Jehoiachin and Ezekiel. Then in 586 BCE we see the first fall of Jerusalem at the hands of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. We then spoke of the last days of Judah, as written in the bible with 2 different endings to the death of Josiah (more specifically 2 reasons as to why Josiah was killed).
We then spoke about Jehoiachin and his people after exile, and how both biblical text and Babylonian records support that the nobles still received allowance of oil for their people. Back in Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar had replaces Jehoiachin with Zedekiah. Zedekiah, however, rebelled against Babylon too. This rebellion pissed off Nebuchadnezzar, and so Babylon came and destroyed Jerusalem. With this downfall of Jerusalem we see different stories such as Lamentations 1 and Psalms 79/137 having been written to reflect on the situation. Furthermore, we discussed the theory of cognitive dissonance, which is the uncomfortable feeling someone has when he or she has two different ideas or beliefs that contradict each other, but this person still wants to hold on to them. This feeling ran rampant with the people of Jerusalem after the fall of the city. They were told by God that he would protect them forever, but that is not the case. What can they think now?
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