The Israelites (2000-500 BC) were a civilization that settled in present-day Israel after leaving Egypt in the Exodus. They have also been known as Hebrews or Jews in the stories, and their "Promised Lands" were called Canaan, Israel, or Palestine by others. Famous leaders include Abraham, Moses, and Jacob, and their odyssey was recorded in the Hebrew Bible.
History[]
Israelites were originally nomadic pastoralists, occupying marginal land between the inhospitable desert and the settled agricultural areas of southern Mesopotamia. Abraham, born in the city of Ur, rejected the idol worship of Mesopotamia and migrated with his family and livestock across the Syrian Desert, arriving in the land of Israel, which was promised to him and his descendants by their god, Yahweh, around 1800 BC. Abraham's son Isaac and then his grandson Jacob became the leaders of this migratory group of herders, and in the next generation the squabbling sons of Jacob's several wives sold their brother Joseph as a slave to passing merchants headed for Egypt. Joseph became a high official at the Pharaoh's court, and he helped his people when drought struck and forced the Israelites to move to Egypt. The Egyptians looked down on the rough herders and enslaved them, putting them to work on royal building projects.
The Israelites were led out of captivity by Moses, who had connections to the Egyptian royal family. They wandered for years in the Sinai wilderness, and they spent 40 years in the desert. They entered a covenant with their god: they would be his "chosen people" if they promised to worship him exclusively. Moses brought down tablets from Mount Sinai, inscribed with the Ten Commandments that set out the basic tenets of Jewish belief and practice. The commandments prohibited murder, adultery, theft, lying, and envy, and it demanded respect for parents and rest from work on the Sabbath, the seventh day of the week. Joshua, Moses's successor, led the Israelites from the east side of the Jordan River into Canaan (modern Israel and Palestine), where they destroyed Canaanite cities between 1250 and 1200 BC. Israelite migrants and Canaanite refugees invented a common ancestry, the "Children of Israel", who were divided into 12 tribes. Each tribe was led by one or more chiefs in different parts of the country, and certain charismatic figures famed for daring in war or genius in arbitration called "Judges" enjoyed a special standing that transcended tribal boundaries. They shared access to the shrine in the hill country at Shiloh, which housed the Ark of the Covenant, which contained the Ten Commandments.
In 1200 BC, the Philistines invaded the coastal plain of Israel, where they came into constant conflict with the Israelites. Stories such as Samson toppling a Philistine temple and the shepherd David felling the strongman Goliath with a slingshot were famous accounts of the wars. The religious leader Samuel recognized the need for a strong central government, and he annointed Saul as king of Israel. At the Battle of Mount Gilboa in 1000 BC he was slain, and David became the new king. David oversaw the transition from tribal confederacy to united monarchy, and he captured the hill city of Jerusalem, which became the capital, and he brought the Ark of the Covenant to the city. David won military victories and expanded Israel's borders.
David's son Solomon reigned from 960 to 920 BC, marking the high point of the monarchy. Alliances and trade linked Israel with Hiram, the king of Phoenecian Tyre, and Israel gathered gold, ivory, jewels, sandalwood, and exotic animals from the Red Sea. The Jews traded with south Arabia (present-day Yemen) and the Horn of Africa (Somalia), and a lavish court life, sizeable bureaucracy, and an intimidating chariot army could be funded by these treasures. Solomon built the First Temple in Jerusalem, and the Jews could compete with other religions in the area. Temple preists became a powerful and wealthy class, receiving a share of the harvest in return for making animal sacrifices to Yahweh.
The Israelites lived in extended families, with the eldest male ruling the household of several generations. If a couple had no son, they could adopt one, or the husband could have a child by the wife's slave attendant. If a man died childless, his brother was expected to sire an heir with his widow. First-born sons gained double the share of inheritance, and male heirs were of paramount importance. Women provided vital goods and services and were respected, but they could not inherit property or divorce, and adulterous women would be put to death. Women worked with other family members, and as the society became urbanized, womens worked as cooks, perfumers, wet nurses, prostitutes, and singers of laments at funerals, losing status. A few women like Deborah reached power, as she led battle against the Canaanites, but there was male bias in the Hebrew Bible.
After Solomon's death in 920 BC, the Kingdom of Israel in the north (with its capital at Samaria) and the Kingdom of Judah in the south (with its capital at Jerusalem) separated. During this time, Yahweh was considered the one-and-only god, although some Israelites were attracted to the Canaanite storm god Baal and fertility goddess Asherah. Prophets condemned the adoption of foreign ritual and threatened that Yahweh would punish Israel. Two two kingdoms mounted a joint resistance to the Assyrian Empire, but in 721 BC Israel was desytroyed by the Assyrians and their population deported to the east, while settlers from Syria, Babylon, and Iran replaced the Israelites there. In 587 BC, Nebuchadnezzar of the Neo-Babylonian Empire conquered Jerusalem, and the temple was destroyed and the Jews enslaved, being used as workers. Some deportees prospered so well by the waters of Babylon that Cyrus the Great's offer to return the Israelites home was refused by them, and the Diaspora began. Israelites developed institutions like the synagogue, a communal meeting place that served religious, educational, and social functions in other places. Jewish identity was sharpened with an unyielding monotheism and a rigid set of rules, and the Israelites remained a people even after the fall of their nations.