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!