5 March 2003

Jewish History Tables

By David Steinberg

davidsteinberg@rogers.com

Home page http://members.rogers.com/davidsteinberg/

Table 1 - Time/Events Chart for the Levant

Table 2 - Phases of Israelite-Jewish History

Table 3 - Some Differences between the Hellenistic Philosophical-Scientific World View and that Reflected in the Torah

Table 4 - Being Rational in Context; Four Rational Responses to Drought

Table 5 - Variables making for Rapid Hellenization

Table 6 - Phases of Impact of Greek Culture on Normative Judaism

Table 1

Time/Events Chart for the Levant

 From the Early Bronze Age to End of Byzantine Period

(c. 3150 BCE- c. 638 CE)

Period/Dates	Political Situation	Cultural Situation
Early Bronze (3300-1950 BCE)	Rise of Cities	- Development of writing. N. Syria influenced by Mesopotamia; coastal areas by Egypt - Ebla archives
End of Early Bronze (2200-1950 BCE)	- Destruction of cities. - Amorite penetrations
---------------------Major discontinuity---------------------
Middle Bronze (1950 -1539 BCE)	- Reestablishment of cities great wealth - Cosmopolitan city states under suzerainty of Egypt (in south) and Hittites (in north)	- classical Canaanite culture - origin of much of Ugaritic literature - Age of the Patriarchs (if they were historical figures)
Late Bronze (1539-1250 BCE)	Moses c. 1350 BCE (if the Biblical traditions have a substantial historical kernel)	- Wide trade especially with Aegean - Ugarit archives - Birth of Monotheism (if the Biblical traditions have a substantial historical kernel)
Late Bronze-Iron I Transition (1250-1035 BCE)	- Massive invasion of Anatolia and whole Levant. - collapse of Hittite Empire - Egyptian rule ends in Syria-Palestine - Philistines take over southern coast of present day Israel - except in Phoenicia (Lebanese coast), Canaanite city states go under probably to a combination of invasion, internal decay and revolution - proto-states of Israel, Ammon, Moab, Edom - period of the Judges - Neo-Hittite states in North Syria; Aramean states elsewhere	- Canaanite culture continues unbroken only in Phoenicia - Aegean imports cease - Aramean culture and language established in Syria and south-eastern Anatolia - Israelite culture, indicated by the four-room-house, in highlands of Judea, Samaria, Gilead and Galilee - Israelites adopt Canaanite language and literary traditions
Iron I (1035-928 BCE)	- Kingdom of Saul (1035-1017 BCE) - United Israelite Monarchy (1017-928 BCE)	Latter part of this period: - beginnings of Israelite historiography - stories of the Judges - importing administrative system and wisdom tradition and literature from Egypt
Iron II (928-586) BCE	- separate kingdoms of Israel and Judah - Assyrian Destruction of Kingdom of Israel (734-712 BCE)	- exile of Kingdom of Israel ruling class and some foreign settlers brought to Samaria - much of Book of Psalms composed - First Isaiah, Amos, Hosea
	- Deuteronomic Reform in Judah under Josiah (628-609 BCE)	- proclaiming of core of Deuteronomy as the Law of Israel.  Beginning of transition from Israelite Religion to Judaism - Deuteronomic History (Deuteronomy- 2 Kings) - Jeremiah
	Exile from Judah (597-582 BCE) and the destruction of Jerusalem (586 BCE)	- Book of Lamentations - end of scribal schools with literary traditions going back to Bronze Age - Start of Ezekiel’s ministry
	Babylonian Exile	- Start or completion of redaction of Torah - ditto much of rest of Hebrew Bible
Persian Rule 538-332 BCE	Some Babylonian Jews Return to Rebuild Judah and Jerusalem starting 538 BCE	- Proclamation of the Torah and the Law of Israel. Judaism is born (see below) - Books of Ezra, Nehemiah, Chronicles - poverty with slow recovery - conflict with Israelites who never went into exile - cultural continuation of attenuated pre-exilic culture
Alexander’s Conquest 332 BCE – 167 BCE	Rule by Hellenistic dynasties first the Egyptian Ptolemies (301-219 BCE) and then the Syrian-based Seleucids (219-.	- Commencement of 1000 years of Greek language and culture throughout the region.  Cultural impact pervasive and complex - Samaritan Temple built
Maccabean Revolt from 167 BCE	- Independence re-established - conquest and forced conversion of Idumeans in the northern Negev-Hebron-Beer Sheba-Arad area and of the Arab Iturians in Upper Galilee - exile of populations of the Greek cities in Trans-Jordan (northern Gilead)	- rise of eschatology - belief in afterlife and possible resurrection - rise of Hasidim who were probably precursors of Pharisees and Essenes - Book of Daniel - revival of history writing First and Second Books of Macabees
128 BCE	Jewish king John Hyrcanus, destroyed the Samaritan temple	Samaritans and Jews permanently alienated
63 BCE	Roman conquest i.e. end of independence	continuity
40 BCE-44 CE	Herod and his heirs. Client State of Rome	continuity
44 CE-636 CE	Direct Roman Rule pagan (44 CE-313 CE), transitional Christianizing (313 CE- c. 350 CE), Christian (c. 350 CE-636 CE)
67-70 CE	Jewish rebellion against Rome.  Destruction of Jerusalem and Temple	- End of Sadducees and Essenes
73-133 CE	Rabbinic Centre in Yavneh	- development of Rabbinic Judaism out of Pharisaic Judaism - start of formulation of Proto-Mishnah - fixing of Biblical Canon and Biblical text
133-135 CE	Bar Kokhba rebellion which ends in movement of Jewish center to Galilee in wake of Roman eviction of all or most Jews from Judea
c. 200 CE	Publication of Mishnah	Centre of Rabbinic productivity moves to Babylonia.  Eretz Israel continues as second most important center.
3^rd century CE (mainly 220-284 CE)	Great Crisis of Roman Empire	- inflation - civil wars and invasions
4^th century CE	- Roman Empire gradually Christianizes - Roman Christian persecution of Jews and Samaritans - severe decline in Jewish population	- Jerusalem Talmud[1] completed c 390 CE - Genesis Rabba completed - except for liturgical poetry, Eretz Israel ceases to be major center of Jewish cultural productivity - Jews and Samaritans minor element in population of Eretz Israel*
425 CE	Patriarchate Abolished
638 CE	Arab Muslim Conquest	Arabic starts to become main Jewish language in Palestine, Egypt and Iraq

Table 2

Phases of Israelite-Jewish History

Period	Religion	Literature	Languages	Events	Historical sources
1. Early Israelite Religion (c. 1200 to 1006 BCE)	Unknown.	None known	some form of early Aramaic of Canaanite Dialect	- Collapse of Egyptian control of Canaan - Establish of Israelite peasant communities in unoccupied hill country of Canaan - Philistines occupy coast of Canaan - establishment of Ammonite, Edomite, Moabite, Aramean kingdoms	none except mute archaeology
2. Late Israelite Religion - First Temple until Deuteronomic Reform^[2] (1006 - c. 621BCE)	- Local high places - Prophets and casting of lots to determine divine will - no written Torah	Latter part of this period: - beginnings of Israelite historiography - stories of the Judges, early cores of - Psalms, First Isaiah, Amos, Hosea - importing administrative system and wisdom tradition and literature from Egypt	Canaanite Dialects = Biblical Hebrew	- United Kingdom of David (c. 1004-970 BCE) and Solomon (c. 970-928 BCE) succeeded by kingdoms of Israel (c. 928-732 BCE) and Judah (c. 928-587 BCE) - Assyrian hegemony and destruction of Kingdom of Israel (732 BCE)	critical reading of Tanach especially: Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers; Judges-2 Kings; literary prophets
3. Transition I - Deuteronomic Reform Period (c. 621- 587 BCE) - Transition Late Israelite to Early Judaism	- First attempts to centralize sacrifice in Jerusalem and establish written Torah - Probable great increase in importance of prayer to compensate for loss of local sacrificial worship.	- core of Deuteronomy made basis of covenant on which Judah refounded - early version of Deuteronomic History (Deuteronomy-2 Kings) - Amalgamation of traditions preserved at shrines in the areas of Judah, Simeon, Benjamin and the Joseph tribes. Probably huge loss of diverse traditions previously maintained in shrines, particularly in Galilee and Gilead.		- collapse of Assyria at end of 7^th century BCE and rise of Babylonia and Media-Persia - Babylonians destroy Jerusalem and Temple 587 BCE.	2 Kings, Deuteronomy, Jeremiah
4. Transition II - Exile and Early Post-Exilic (587- approx 400 BCE) - Phase I - Theocracy	- Torah=Pentateuch becomes central to Judaism rise of interpretation of Torah to establish God’s will - Decline of prophecy - all leadership devolved on the Priests who led the cult, interpreted the Torah and acted as agents of the foreign empires i.e. keeping things quiet and ensuring taxes paid	- Completion of redaction of Torah - ditto much of rest of Hebrew Bible - Ezra, Nehemiah, 1 and 2 Chronicles	Late Biblical Hebrew increasingly replaced by Aramaic	- 538 BCE King Cyrus of Persia, who had conquered Babylon, permitted the exiles to return to Jerusalem. - c. 514 BCE Second Temple dedicated. Construction took 23 years.	- Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah.  At that point mainstream Judaism lost interest in history
5. Early Judaism Phase I (c. 400-c. 170 BCE)		- Kohelet, Proverbs	Palestinian Aramaic majority language throughout Eretz Israel with Proto-Mishnaic Hebrew also spoken in rural areas of Yahud-Judaea (until 135 CE), and Greek (after 332 BCE) in Greek cities spread throughout country except in Judaea proper.	- Hellenistic period opens with Alexander’s conquest 332 BCE - Start of major Hellenization of Jewish society - 175 BCE Seleucid persecution begins	- Josephus main source
6. Early Judaism Phase II (c. 170 BCE-70 CE). Hellenization, Seleucid Oppression, Maccabean Uprising, Independence and Roman Domination	- rise of sects and chronic religious conflict - belief in afterlife (first in 2 Macabees) and martyrdom - Pharisees develop dogma of Oral Torah and seize control of interpreting the Law from priests - constant warfare - forced conversions - Samaritan Schism - Jews against all (Arabs, Samaritans, Greeks etc) - Jews call in Romans to decide their civil strife	- Daniel - 1 and 2 Macabees - closing of Canon of Tanach		- 168 BCE the Maccabean revolt led 20 years later to an 80-year period of Judean political independence. - 63 BCE to 637 CE Roman-Byzantine Control. Early period using Herodian puppet kings. - 67 to 70 CE Rebellion Against Rome. Destruction of Jerusalem and Temple.	Josephus only source for most of periods except for Maccabean uprising when we have 2 and 1 Maccabees (cover 187-134 BCE).  Even where other sources exist, they can only be understood within framework presented by Josephus.
7. Rabbinic Judaism in Roman-Hellenistic Setting in Eretz Israel (70 CE- c. 350 CE)	Pharisees develop into Rabbinic Judaism which is spread to Babylonia with the Mishnah and eventually becomes Normative Judaism	- Mishnah c. 200 CE - Palestinian Talmud: the productive work ended with destruction of academies in 351 CE. Final redaction between 351 and 500		- 70 CE to mid-fourth century control by basically tolerant pagan Rome - Mid fourth century – 638 CE Christian Roman-Byzantine Empire persecutes Jews and Samaritans.	- mostly Rabbinic literature
8. Rabbinic Judaism in Zoroastrian cum pagan setting in Babylonia (southern Iraq) (200 - c. 600 CE)		- Mishnah carried to Babylon soon after completion c. 200 CE. From that point into 10^th century leadership of Rabbinic study was in Babylon. - Babylonian Talmud redacted 6^th century CE	Babylonian Aramaic	- Jews living under tolerant, feudal Iranian Parthians 247 BCE to 226 CE. Babylonian Jewry took little part in Rabbinic tradition in this period. - Iranian Sassanian Rule 226-651 CE. Sassanians less tolerant built strong state. Babylonian Jewry took over leadership of Rabbinic tradition.

Table 3

Some Differences between the Hellenistic Philosophical-Scientific World View and that Reflected in the Torah (For background see)