Last lecture!!

We left off- Israelis declaring Independence. Jordanians took over the east
The Palistenians ended up with nothing. Jordan arrived on May 16, 1948. The occupation by both Israel and Jordan was considered illegal by the UN. The “Catastrophe” referred both to the establishment of Israeli state and the assertion of Jordanian control of the West Bank. Jordan develops tourism when they realized there was a lot of money to be made. There was one hotel in 1948, and 70 hotels by 1967. The Israeles stay there till ’67 and ’68.
Soviets tell Syria that there is going to be an attack.

During the British Mandate, They were western occupiers in control of Palestine. They were in control of the King David Hotel and it was their administrative base for military operations in Trans Jordan. Igrugun (an armed paramilitary group that is not affiliated with a particular recognized state) bombed the hotel to kill what they perceived to be military targets– is this terrorism? Or enemy combats? Within 21st century Jerusalem the apartheid fence was put up. The Israelis are building the wall in and around the villages.

3/8/11

In this class we are talking about 20th Century Jerusalem. 1882- marks the beginning of Secular Zionist. At this point, there was an increase in importance of Changing demographics in Jerusalem. There was a fund established to buy land in Palestine so they can colonize for Jews. But the Orthodox Jews reject Zionism as impious (saying you need to live the lifestyle of a Jew). Theodore Herzel calls for a state for Jews. The Sanctity of Jerusalem plays no role in Herzl’s vision. What was important to them was a Jewish state. Zionists build Tel Aviv (Not Jerusalem, it’s built a new city from scratch). Tel Aviv has modern problems just like LA

Next we discussed the rise of Anti- Semitism and Immigration. With the rise of European Nationalism- where was the land of the Jews? When the Jews become very established and very successful in Europe people began to get angry and blame them for the problems. They weren’t “like them” so they marginalized them. Often it was the Christians/ Catholics that were instigating Anti-Sematism in 1840. It wasn’t just a German problem, and it didn’t stop when Hitler was killed. The percentage of Jews rose from 19% to 28% in Palestine.

Everything changed with WWI (1914-1917). The Ottomons align with Germany against France and Britain. The Armenians flee genocide in Turkey and the Armenian quarter swells. The British use Palestine to break “stalemate”. In the Balfour Declaration (1917) the Brits are very quietly going to support the formation of a Jewish state in Palestine because before this, the Ottomons controlled Palestine so long as the existing civil and religious rights of existing non jewish communities are preserved. From 1918-1948 the Brits take control. They attempt to protect the holy places of all faiths. Churchill’s white paper clarified how Britain viewed the Balfour Declaration. At first, Britian supported a continuation of a Jewish community in Palestine but also Palestinian communities but there was confusion between whose side they were on… the Palestinian state or the Jewish state- they both thought they were going to help them. White papers did not really clarify just said the same thing “louder”. Jewish and Arab militant factions are starting to grow in response to this white paper, fighting one another.

The Peel Commission 1937 called for partisan of Palestine. They propose a 2 state nation. The Jewish state in Galilee, Upper Jordan Valley, Coastal Plain and the Arab state in Central Hills, West Bank, and Negev. Jerusalem was accepted as an “international city” and it was accepted by the UN. The Jews said that it was a bare minimum, they accepted it but would not accept anything less. The Arabs rejected it since in their mind they controlled all of it. Fights began to break out in Jerusalem and a civil war begins. Israel got a state out of it and Jordan got a state out of it. Israelis and Jordanians are the “Winners”. Today, the temple mount is owned by the Jordanians

3/3/11

This lecture began with a continuation of the crusades lecture. We then discussed how Abbasid caliph Al-Ma-mun takes credit for building the Dome of the Rock in the 9th century, but forgets to erase the date of the construction, 72nd year of Moslem era. I found that hilarious. His lack of thought evidenced by this forgetfulness explains why he had to steal credit in the first place- he did not have the creativity to create something of his own.

We also talked about post-crusades Jerusalem- Ayyubid Jerusalem 1187-1250. Jerusalem surrenders to Saladin on Sept 26, 1187. The Legend of Saladin grows out of the contrast between saladin and the crusaders. Saladin knew he had won the city so he let everyone else go if they wanted to compared to many other people who just slaughtered the city. He allowed for other holy sites and religions since they were there first but said it was a Muslim city. Ayybids and Crusaders struggled over Jerusalem.

Important fact: The Western wall is not the one wall left from the temple. It is the western wall of the retaining structure upon which the temple was built.

Next week we are going to get into modern Jerusalem and on Thursday will review and ask the professor any questions we might have :).

3/1/11

This lecture was presented by a friend of Professor Cargill, since he was out of town that day. We discussed Crusader Jerusalem (1099-1187). First I will define Crusade: an expedition authorized by the Pope on Christs behalf where vows are taken and protections are afforded to you. Next I will define Indulgence: remission of penalties due for sins that was granted to crusaders- You get it by contributing to funds, preaching it, collecting money, settling as a colonist in the Holy Land.


I found the factors contributing to Crusades to be quite interesting. First, there were political factors: the emergence of holy roman empire in western Europe and divisions among Christianity. Then there were religious factors: a holy war mentality, Religious persecutions, the Holy Sepulcher set on fire dome collapses and kills Patriarch of Jerusalem in 965 in connection with the descent of the holy fire on easter. It was difficult for Christians to pilgramage to Jerusalem.

Lastly, Pope Urban II’s speech in 1905 where he Christians encouraged to go and take Jerusalem was probably the most influential factor contributing to the crusades. He called people to pick up a weapon and fight the Turks. He called the rich and poor to head off on a foot journey or by boat and work their way across the Mediterranean. Yet, it has unintended consequences- he is blown away by storm at the response of the people (Everyone agrees! And drops what they are doing and large scale masses head to fight heeding the call of the pope) He also says there will be a remission of sins for those who go, the faithful people in Europe who are listening. I find this "remission of sins" and "indulgence" to be quite sickening. I cant even fathom how the Christians thought that this 'holy war' was actually something Jesus would have wanted them to participate in. To me, it seems to completely contradict EVERYTHING he taught.

Byzantine Jerusalem and the potential "ruin" of Christianity

This lecture focused on Byzantine Jerusalem, which was the time after the Romans ban Jews from the city and converted it to a Christian city. Paul goes on a missionary journey off to Rome and there is increasing western expansion of this Jewish sect that eventually became Christianity. We then began talking about how Jesus was a Jew from Jerusalem, who moved to Rome. There was no new testament at the time of Jesus. Before, the Jesus followers referred to themselves as “The Way”, yet later in Antioch once they began to notice a great schism between Judaism and their beliefs, they began to call themselves Christians.
Within Judaism, there was a spiritualization of the faith. It was now portable again and doesn’t have to be tied to a city. Jerusalem and the temple were both destroyed. Jesus predicted the temple destruction. Paul took this new faith, Christianity, to people who weren’t Jews, which caused problems. They faced controversy over issues such as Kosher regulations and had to answer questions such as, must Christians be first circumcised? Paul said no- you don’t have to become a Jew first to then become a Christian. There was also a big debate- did Jesus make the prediction or was it a prediction that was placed into his mouth by the authors of the bible?
Jerusalem is important to Christians because Jesus was said to have been crucified, buried, and raised again from the dead in Jerusalem for the forgiveness of sins of people all over the world. Christian faith became spiritualized away from the temple in Jerusalem – Jesus’s body is a “Temple” that he will rebuild in 3 days (not the physical temple) We then discussed the Tetrarchy and Constantius and his son, Constantine the Great. He realized could use Christianity to unify his entire kingdom. He turned the pacifist, spiritualized religion that did not worry about worldly possessions into a religion that kills/ conquers people in the name of Jesus. He fundamentally changes the way Christianity was practiced.
In 313, the Edict of Milan- Constantine the Great legalizes Christianity
meets with leaders all around uses his influence to come up with a standard orthodox set of beliefs. In 324- holds the Council of Nicaea- created the doctrine of the trinity, theological construct to grapple with the notion that Jesus was fully God and fully Human called the Nicean Creed. C the G made the bishops figure out one right way to have a religious philosophy (which may be why we have so many Christian sects right now). Greco Roman philosophy had an influence and it was an invention of something else, different than what Jesus had taught. Did C the Great “use” Christianity to unite the empire and for his own political gain??? Are the changes he made to the fundamental ideology irreparable? Did he seal doctrines so that it can never be changed such that everybody that doesn’t follow this creed is “not a Christian”?

Jerusalem in Revolt

Harold the Great dies, this is how we knew Jesus was born BC, and his kingdom was divided into 3 parts:

Archelaus- got the lions share of Harold’s kingdom, he was his son. They refused to call him King. He got samaria. He was highly ineffective and was sent into exile after ruling for less than 10 years

Herod Antipas- became tetrarch (ruler) of Perea and Galilee, he was also exiled.

Herod Philip – he got the worst parts, Iturea and Trachonitis, way up in the north. He ruled from 4 BCE- 34 CE, till his death. On the coins, he put his own picture on the coins and also put the tetrus style temple on there. It was a temple honoring Cesear Agustus.

As Archelaus and Antipas dissapear, they were replaced by Roman procurators (direct Roman rule took over) one of whom was named Pontius Pilate- resided over the trial of Jesus and ordered his execution. He was the governor of Judea from 25-36/7 CE and was ineffective and provoked the jews. He was so bad that the romans called him back to Rome. He put pagean symbols on the coin. Not very sensitive. They found the Pilate Inscription that mentions two people- Pilate that talked about what he did so that is good evidence that he did exist.

Roman Governors were inexperienced and inept, they used the east (where there were lots of riots) as a training round to see if they’d do well. By 66 CE, jewish militants (terrorists or nationalists) open revolt against roman soldiers that were trying to fight for a free Jerusalem The romans would then persecute a lot of jewish people in return

Jews begin to mint their own coins, trying to assert their authority and declare independence. Printing your own money allows you to have a statement of propaganda and independence. This is also propaganda.

After the destruction of the Jewish Temple- physical structure is now not possible!! This caused the same problem as 586. How will we worship god if we cant have those promises fulfilled? What does it mean to be Jewish if you cant offer sacrafice in the temple? Where will god go? This is an example of Cognitive dissonance! THe Vespasians said- every jew had to pay a half sheckle temple tax. After the temple is destroyed, you have a fiscal incentive to give up your faith, but you still have to pay the tax!!! The taxes went to Rome and made it stronger- religious problem

There are things you could do to remain Jewish without the temple- adaptations, those jewish sects that survived the destruction of the temple, had ways to survive without the temple. It was spiritualized. It becomes a spiritual or philosophical way of being a jew. It’s a way to reinterpret the promise or the faith. You don’t need to offer a sacrafice to be a good worshiper. You can say prayers, or eat or not eat foods, live a good life, etc. Modified forms of judiasm. What/ who survived the destruction of the jewish temple? It has to have regional local places of worship. Of a spiritialized god not tied to a city. Identity revolves on the way you live, pray, eat, etc. what you wear. Religion is highly personalized.

Who survived? Christians and ribitic- a transformative event for judiasm

We then learned about the Arch of Titus. Titus builds a big arch in Rome to celebrate his victory over the Jews, the minora is being led off into captivity in the arch, he then made Judea Catpta Coins- to rub it in the faces of the Jews that they were captured! Picture of a jewish woman (Judea) crying at the bottom of the tree with a roman soldier standing next to her. So that way , every time they want to buy something they are reminded of their capture.

2/15

At the end of last class, we left off at the end of the Hasmonean dynasty. The Romans started ruling in 63 BCE after the Hasmonean’s became corrupt and insensitive to the Jewish traditions. This time period, Jerusalem under Roman rule, was called the reign of Herod, or Jesus' Jerusalem because, Herod the Great ruled over Jerusalem. He was crowned the ethnarch, or the ruler of the Jew’s which was rare because he was only a half- Jew. In fact, his parents were forcibly turned Jewish by the Hasmoneons. While Herod is depicted in the Bible as being harsh and tyranistic, he nonetheless, he was known to be a good ruler who was a good politian- sensitive to Jews and collected taxes for the Romans. However, Herod became paranoid and impulsive, which was good for Rome, but made Herod hated by Jews because he took the negative publicity from the Jewish people.

He ruled from 37-4 BCE. He economically and religiously supported Jerusalem. He expanded the Jewish holy site, rebuilt the Temple, improved Jerusalem's economic welfare, improved the water system, provided a place of refuge with the Citadel of David, built Herodin (a huge hill with a palace on it) and also somewhat respected all religious Jewish views. He was definitely not believed to be the true messiah. Herod is also believed to have ordered the death of all children two years old and under to protect his power from a new "king of the Jews." This baby king was believed in the Bible to be Jesus. Yet, there is no evidence for the belief that Jesus was the Son of God or that he actually existed.

2/10

This lecture focused on Hellenitic Jerusalem and Hasmonean Jerusalem. Hellenism was started by Alexander the Great, a greek ruler that ruled from 336-323 BCE. Alexander conquers the majority of the modern middle east, including Jerusalem in 332 BCE. He utilizes coins as propaganda for his greatness. When Alexander the Great dies, his kingdom was divided amoung the leaders into two groups: Prolemies (Egyptians) and Seleucias (Syrians). The Hellenization began when the Seleucids took Jerusalem from the Ptolemies and tried to impose the Greek tradition on the Jews, thinking this would create unity. They attempted to make Greece the main language. While some embraced it, others rejected it. Nevertheless, Greek stories entered the Jewish homes and traditions like circumcision were outlawed.

Those opposing Hellenization, mostly conservative Jews, revolted against Seleucias in the Maccabean Revolt. Even though the Jews were disadvantaged, they won and regained control of Jerusalem. They celebrated this victory with the start of Hanukka and the beginning of the Hasmoneon dynasty. It was ruled for around 100 years until the rulers became corrupt dictators. When the romans came in 63 BCE, they easily conquered Jerusalem.

Persian Jerusalem

This lecture discussed Persian Jerusalem which took place during the second temple period (539-333 BCE) up until the rise of Alexander the Great and the Hellenization of Jerusalem. During this time, Aramaic was the dominant spoken language for Jews. Besides the Bible, there are no other texts about Jerusalem at the time.

We once again talked about the feeling of cognitive dissonance. Specifically, prophet Ezekiel had a vision of God as a mobile entity. The prophecy showed a vision of the throne of God that looked like the Ark of he Covenant on concentric wheels. Although nobody knows the location of the ark of the covenant, and it may even be destroyed, Yet, some people in Jerusalem still did not like the idea of God being mobile again and thus did not want to build the second temple.

2/3/11

Midterm!!!

2/1/2011

LAST LECTURE BEFORE MIDTERM!!!

Today a topic that really interested me was cognitive dissonance. This is a concept that, in my opinion, can be interpreted by different people to mean different things. Basically it means that people reinterpret things in a way that makes sense with their religious beliefs and reality. In other words, people rationalize findings to keep their faith. For example, after the great temple was destroyed, people began to say that God's name was in the temple instead of God actually living in the temple. This is a concept of religion that I don't fully agree with. Although I admit that I may not fully understand the topic, it seems ignorant to ignore or reinterpret facts just so that they fit your original understanding. If everyone in the world thought this way, we would never have any new discoveries or critical thinking to advance our world. Then again, I also realize that I am probably thinking about this idea too literally and realize that this is a very extreme way of understanding cognitive dissonance.

1/27/11

Note: The Hebrew Bible always favors the south, and is very critical of the north. This is a point I found very interesting since I was taught to believe that the bible was an unbiased text. I feel ignorant to admit that I had never considered that the bible would favor any one area over another.

Today we learned that it a lot easier to write and learn with the switch to Aramaic since the state had one common language to communicate to each other with. This affected religion too because literature use increased. Judaism, Christianity and Islam all are based on texts and rules.

We also learned that the Assyrian failure to destroy Jerusalem was the simple greatest catalyst for the snowballing legend of an inviolable Jerusalem. This was very significant and Zion theology began which said that God physically resides in Jerusalem.

1/25/10

Today we are talking about Hezekiah’s Jerusalem and the civil war that took place after the end of the Golden Age. Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, took reign of the country and gave the northern tribes high taxes as a way to prove his power and to prove that he is even greater than his father was. The Northern tribes were very angered by this action, especially since they specifically asked him for lower taxes and as a result, they revolted and began a civil war.

Jereboam was declared their King and the Northern Kingdom called themselves Israel. Israel made a pact with Syria and together they went to war against the Southern Kingdom of Judah who had aligned with the Assyrian empire. In 721 BCE Isreal falls and executed and enslaved everyone in the Northern kingdom.

1/20/11

There is no archeological evidence that Solomon existed and that he built the temple. But there are literary traditions of him and people who believe they are descendants of David.

The temple at Ain Dara, there are two massive footprints that represent the God that is being worshiped and then one footprint and then no footprints. This represents God walking into his temple. This was during a period where God physically dwelled in a temple. I found this interesting since first of all, my house has my sister and my footprints in the cement and second of all, I do not usually picture temples or places of worship as places where the devine actually hang out. Interesting concept...

We also learned that the gates into the temple of Solomon were also very similar at this time to the gates of other existing temples. Someone in class brought up an interesting point that someone could have just claimed that the gates were the same in order to make the temple seem more legit and realistic. Good point... I guess these are the decisions one has to make on their own.

Jordaniah...does that make me divine?

David's Jerusalem was an interesting lecture since there is no proof of David (and Solomon) existing. There was no archeological evidence of either of them found. David's existence is thus very controversial. No evidence was found until the Tel Dan inscription where some people claimed to be David's descendants. Some people think that history began in the 9th century.

One other thing I found very interesting (yet disappointing) about this lecture was the fact that cherubs are in fact mythological beasts that act as protectors instead of cute little chubby baby angels. The primary reason I found this discovery so upsetting was because my sister had the Renaissance interpretation of the baby angels painted on her bedroom wall. We always referred to the two angels as cherubs. So, for the first time so far, Prof. Cargill has (as promised) surprised me and taught me something that went against my preconceived notion of a term.

Its not a voodoo doll... its an execration text

In early Jerusalem, there was evidence of houses created small villages and early settlement. Their livelihood was around vegetables plotted on small plots of land that was made available because of water and hearding.

Professor Cargill explained that many of these stories we discuss in lecture are from the bible – but he tries to back it up with scientific evidence. Many of the claims from the bible are true and backed up by scientific and archeological evidence, many are not. In fact, some stories have evidence to the contrary.

Something that I found interesting from this lecture was the Execration text. On these texts, you would write the names of your enemies on them and then you smashed them. It was almost magical. These showed that Jerusalem had people living there in 1900 BCE and that it was significant enough to have enemies in Egypt.

Another interesting fact is that the existence of david is controvercial- a lot of biblical scholars doubt that he existed, EXCEPT the Tel Dan Inscription- which demonstrates that there were some people who refered to themselves as the people of/ descendents of David. Someone must have thought he was real a long time ago...

He who must not be named..

This lecture was a continuation of the first lecture, Jerusalem as a sacred space. We learned the differences of a temple- ziggurats (places of worship) and pyramids (tombs). We also discussed a quick and easy way to make everyone agree on a plan- call it divine! Some temple plans are considered “divine” and people believe that god gave them the designs and determined how the temple should look. There is also an idea that places that are founded for places of god are of divine origin. Also, we learned of the consecration of sacred space by having a ceremony before you construct something by making it sacred.

I was intrigued by the conversation about God’s name in the Old Testament. Yahweh (the jewish God’s name, also called Adoni and Jehovah). I found it quite interesting that orthodox’s do not even utter their lords name out of sheer respect for him. This is a practice I do not really understand since my understanding of faith is that all are equal, yet I do admire their intentions and strong sense of faith.

Another thing that I found interesting was the way that Judiasm became a mobile faith. They strictly adhere to many traditions and ways of life such as keeping the sabboth (because of the exodus), dressing properly, not eating certain foods. Although I have many Jewish friends and have even been to many Jewish ceremonies such as temple, holiday celebrations, and bar and bat mitzvahs, I had never really thought about the longevity of the traditions I was witnessing and the fact that such practices had been taking place for so many years all across the globe. It gave me a new appreciation of their faith and their willpower to stick to their somewhat demanding beliefs, rituals, and traditions.

"As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death..." - Coolio, 'Gangster's Paradise'

 In this lecture, we learned about the characteristics of a sacred space.  Many things can occur that can lead to the belief that a place is sacred such as trade routes, the belief that something supernatural happened there, or someone was born there. Despite the fact that Jerusalem does not have any major trade routes through it, it is considered one of the holiest cities in the religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. 

We discussed the geography of Jerusalem in detail, using one of my favorite computer programs Google Earth (no, I do not use it to stalk ex-boyfriends). Because it is located on a hill and is surrounded by valleys was crucial to its survival because it made it much more protected and less susceptible to attack. We learned that water, surprisingly, was the biggest problem that Jerusalem had to overcome. Without water, the people could not survive and the population could not grow. In order to solve this problem, they utilized water from the Gihoh spring and built tunnels that led the water to the city. 

Professor Cargill clarified that the Western wall is NOT the western wall of the temple, it’s the western wall of the retaining wall.  It’s the closest you can get to the temple, to the holy of holy’s, without being on the temple mount (going up it).  Jerusalem is known as the Axis mundi, the center of the world.

Testing 123

AnE10 Day 1... This is my second attempt at blogging, the first being when I was abroad in Argentina. That only lasted until my first weekend trip at which point I fell behind and never picked up where I left off...  Lets hope this time around I stick with it!