Download The First Israelites - East Lynne School District


Like the Sumerians, the ancient Israelites
developed a society based on ideas of justice
and strict laws.

The Israelites believed that there was only one
God.

Describe the Israelites’ beliefs and their early
history

Discuss the history of the Kingdom of Israel

Discuss Judaism during the period when Jews
were ruled by other people.
Canaan
Babylonian
David
Captivity
Diaspora
Drought
Prophets
Palestine
Cyrus
Torah
Israelites

What is the Torah? What scribe wrote the five books
of the Torah on pieces of parchment?

Who was Solomon and what were his wise sayings
called?

Who defeated the Chaldeans and conquered Babylon?

Who was Moses?

Where do Jews meet to pray?

What is kosher food?

What is the “rule of law”?

Who defeat the Persians to become ruler of
Judah?

What group drove the Romans out of Jerusalem?

Understand how to use the alphabets chart on
page 85.

Know who to interpret Solomon’s proverbs. Page
89.
 Why
did the Israelites fear the Philistines?
 What
Jewish beliefs are shared by Christians
and Muslims?
Overview
 This
section discusses the early history
of the ancient Israelites, including
their relationship with God, their
escape from slavery, and their conflicts
with the Canaanites over land.

About 1200 B.C. great changes were taking place around the
Mediterranean Sea.

Empires fell and many new people entered the region. Many
of these set up small kingdoms.

About 1000 B.C. a group called the Israelites came from
Mesopotamia and built a kingdom in Canaan.

Canaan is located along the eastern coast of the Mediterranean
Sea.

Most civilizations at this time worshiped many gods and
goddesses. The Israelite religion was different because they
worshiped only one God. This belief in one god is called what?

Monotheism

Their faith became the religion known today as Judaism. What are
followers of this religion called? What language did they speak?
Jews
 Hebrew


The early Israelites were herders and traders.

The Israelites believed the were descended from a man named
Abraham. According to the Jewish bible, God had told Abraham and
his followers to leave Mesopotamia and go to Canaan.

Abraham’s grandson was name Jacob. Jacob would go on to raise 12
sons in Canaan.

Each of these sons would become the head of a family group. What
were these family groups called?

tribes

The tribes lived in Canaan for about 100 years. Toward
the end of this time a long drought began. To survive the
Israelites moved into Egypt close to the Nile river. What
is a drought?

A long period with little of no rain.

Soon after they arrived in Egypt, the Israelites were
enslaved by the pharaoh and forced to build pyramids.

To prevent the Israelites from rebelling, the pharaoh
ordered all baby boys born to the Israelites to be thrown
in the river. One mother put her baby in a basket and
hid it among the reeds along the Nile river. There the
baby was found by pharaoh's daughter. Who did this
baby become?

Moses

Moses was raised as Egypt nobleman. As a young
man, he learned of his true heritage and returned to
his Israelite family.

Around 1290 B.C., Moses was tending sheep one day
when he saw a burning bush and heard a voice. He
believed the voice was from God. What was he told
to do?


Lead the Israelites out of Egypt to freedom.
To force the pharaoh into letting the Israelites leave
Egypt, God sent 10 plagues. What is a plague?

A plague is sometimes a disease, but it can also mean
something that causes problems for a lot of people.

The worst of these plaques was one in which every first-born child
was to die, except those of people who marked their doorways with
lamb’s blood. What Jewish holiday is celebrated to remember how
God spared the Israelites?

Passover. When God “passed over” homes marked with blood and
delivered the Jews from Egypt.

This last plaque convinced the pharaoh to let the Israelites leave
Egypt. However, at the last minute the pharaoh changed his mind
and sent his army to destroy the Israelites.

According to the Bible, God parted the Red Sea to let the Jews pass.
The escape from Egypt by the Israelites became known as the Exodus.

On their way back to Canaan, the Israelites had to travel through the
Sinai desert. The Bible says that during the journey, Moses went to
the top of Mount Sinai and received a book of laws. What did this
Jewish book of laws come know as?

The Torah. This is the first part of the Hebrew Bible.

The Torah describes an agreement with God. In this agreement, God promises
to return the Israelites to Canaan if they follow his laws. What is a agreement
with God called?


The most important part of the Torah explained what God considered to be
right and wrong. What was this list of rules called?


The Ten Commandments
Historically the Ten Commandments are important because they have been
used to shape the basic moral laws of many nations. The Ten Commandments
also helped develop the idea that laws should apply to everyone equally. This
is know as what?


A Covenant
The “rule of law”
It took the Israelites about 40 years to reach Canaan. On the way Moses died
and a leader by the name of Joshua took over. When they arrived in Canaan,
they found another group already living there called the Canaanites. Joshua
led the Israelites into battle against the Canaanite capital of Jericho. The
Israelites defeated the Canaanites and divided the land among the 12 tribes.

After Joshua died, the Israelites used their judges for leadership.
Judges were military leaders. Each judge commanded 1 or 2 tribes.
Among these new leaders were Barak, Gideon, Samuel, Eli, Samson,
and a woman named Deborah.

Eventually the Israelites took over the hilly areas of Canaan and built
walled towns for protection. The Canaanites remained in the areas
near the coast.

One group of Canaanites, known as the Phoenicians, became very
skilled sailors. They began trading with other civilizations across the
Mediterranean.

Through trade, the Phoenicians spread ideas and goods. Their most
important idea was an alphabet based upon groups of letters that
stood for sounds. This alphabet would be adapted by other cultures
and became the bases from the Greek and Roman alphabets. The
Roman alphabet would become what we know today as our alphabet.
Overview
 This
section focuses on the creation
of the kingdom of Israel; its great
kings Saul, David, and Solomon; and
the challenges Israel faced.

Around 1000 B.C. the strongest group living in Canaan did the
Israelites fear the Philistines?

The Philistines had strong cities and knew how to make weapons and
tools from iron.

The Israelites feared the Philistines and many copied their ways and
worshiped their gods.

During this time period the 12 tribes often quarreled about how they
were going to save their religion and way of life. They needed
someone to united them against the Philistines.

In 1020 B.C. the Israelites asked a judge and prophet named Samuel
chose a new king. What is a prophet?

A person who claims to be instructed by God to share God’s words.

Samuel anointed and warrior-farmer named Saul as the new king. When you
anoint someone you bless them with oil to show that God has chosen them

Saul led the Israelites to victory in many battles with their enemies. However,
Saul did not always follow God’s commands. God told Samuel to choose
another king and anoint him in secret. Samuel chose a young shepherd named
David.

David became Saul’s greatest warrior. What Philistine solider did David kill?

Goliath

Saul eventually placed David in charge of his Army. As David continued to win
victories, Saul became jealousy of David and planned to have him killed.
David hide out in enemy territory until Saul and his three sons were killed in
battle.

David became king of Israel in 1000 B.C. After becoming king he drove the
Philistines from the area and conquered other neighboring nations and created
an empire.

David forced the people that the Israelites conquered to pay tribute. He also
made the Israelites pay heavy taxes which he used to build his new capital of
Jerusalem.

After David died his son Solomon became king. Solomon built a stone temple
in Jerusalem that became the symbol and center of the Jewish religion.

In the Bible, Solomon was know for his wise sayings. What are these wise
sayings called?

Proverbs

Solomon was not popular with the northern tribes. To get more money from
them, Solomon made many of their young men work in mines owned by him.

When Solomon died, the northern tribes rebelled. Ten of the tribes formed
their own nation and called it the Kingdom of Israel with its capital in
Samaria. In the south the two remaining tribes formed the smaller kingdom of
Judah. Judah’s capital was what?

Jerusalem

While the Israelites were fighting among themselves, the Assyrians
and Chaldeans were building powerful empires. They wanted to
control trade routes that ran through the Israelite kingdoms.

During this time many Israelites forgot about their religion. The rich
mistreated the poor and the government officials stole money.
Prophets kept trying to get the people to go back to the temples to
worship.

The Assyrians were a feared people because when they would
conquer an area they would destroy all the buildings and scatter the
population in that area. Assyrians would then settle in the area.

In 722 B.C. the Assyrians conquered Israel and scattered the 10 tribes
in that area across the Assyrian empire. Over time, the Israelites who
were forced to move lost their religion and way of live. They are
often called the “lost tribes of Israel.”

The Assyrians that settled the area around Samaria
become known as Samaritans. Over time they to on
many of the religious view of the Israelites and
started worshiping in the same fashion as the
Israelites. The people of Judah look down upon the
Samaritans.

Around 620 B.C. the Egyptians conquered the
kingdom of Judah. Soon after this same area was
captured by the Chaldeans led by King
Nebuchadnezzar.

Nebuchadnezzar forced all Jews to leave the city of
Jerusalem and move to Babylon. This became know
as the period of Babylonian Captivity.
Overview
 This
section focuses on the growth
of Judaism, including the challenges
it overcame and the setbacks it
suffered.

The Jews called their time in Babylon an exile. During this time the
Israelite religion became know as Judaism.

During the exile in Babylon small groups of Jews would meet on the
Sabbath. These meetings took place at Jewish places of worship
called what?


During the 500s B.C. a group called the Persians swept across
southwest Asia and defeated the Chaldeans and took over Babylon.
The Persian king allowed the Jews to return to Judah. What was
Persian king’s name?


synagogues
Cyrus
Those Jews that returned to Judah rebuilt Jerusalem. During this
time religious leaders took over Judah. These leaders had a scribe
named Ezra write the five books of the Torah on pieces of parchment.
These pieces were then sewed together to make long scrolls. Look on
page 94 to see what a Torah scroll looks like.

The Hebrew Bible is really a series of book. It includes the five books of the
Torah and 34 other books.

One of these books, called Genesis, describes how Jews believed God created
the earth. Other books describe Gods plan for the future.

In 334 B.C. the Greeks led by Alexander the Great took over the areas around
the Mediterranean. He allowed the Jews to stay in Judah and introduced the
Greek language and culture to the area.

Jews were also living in other areas Greece controlled during this time period.
Jews living outside of Judah were called Diaspora. The Hebrew Bible was
translated into Greek and the Jewish religion and culture spread throughout
the Mediterranean world.

In 168 B.C. a Greek rule name Antiochus controlled Judah. He decided to
make the Jews of Judah worship Greek gods and goddesses. A Jewish priest
named Judas Maccabeus and his followers rebelled. After many battles the
Maccabees drove the Greeks out of Judah. They also destroyed all trace of
the worship of Greek gods. This “cleansing of the temple” is celebrated today
as the Hanukkah.

Jewish law sets out many rules for Jewish daily life. These
laws influence their education, food they eat, and clothing
that they wear.

Education in important in Jewish family life.

Under Jewish law, Jews can only eat certain animals. For
example, they can eat beef and lamb but not pork. They
could also eat scaly fish, like salmon, but not smooth-skinned
fish. Today food must be prepared according to Jewish dietary
laws. What is food prepared in this way called?


Kosher
Jewish law forbade the mixing of fabrics. Women could us
wool or flax to make clothing, but not the two together. Men
wore layers of tunics and women wore long, simple dresses.
On their heads they wore caps of turbans.

In 63 B.C. the Romans conquered Judah. They renamed it Judaea and
at first allowed Jewish rulers to run Judaea.

The most famous of these rulers was King Herod. He was know for his
cruelty and the fact that he was the ruler when Jesus was born.

After Herod died, the Romans replaced the Jewish king with Roman
officials.

By this time the Jews had split into three groups.
Pharisees – They taught the Torah and how to apply is laws to daily life.
 Sadducees – They were more concerned about how the Torah applied to the
priests in the temple. Many of them were priests and scribes.
 Essenes – They were priest that broke away from the Temple in Jerusalem.
They lived as a group in the dessert. It is believed that it was this group
that wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls.


During the A.D. 60s, Jewish hatred of Roman rule was at its
peak. Many Jews were waiting for a messiah or deliverer sent
by god.

Other Jews want to fight the Romans for their freedom. They
were called ______?

Zealots

In A.D. 66 the Zealots revolted and drove the Romans from
Jerusalem. Four years later the Romans took the city back and
destroyed the Temple. The Romans renamed Judah to
Palestine.

Today the teachers of the Torah are called ________________?

Rabbis
Chapter
Review