Lecture 7: Hezekiah's Jerusalem (cont'd) and Beginning of Josiah

Hezekiah prepares for the rebellion against Assyria by building up the economy of Jerusalem and fortifying the city. He helped to build up the wine, olive and grain industries. They started to collect grain and hoard them in storage centers. One was located in a town south of Jerusalem. The government collected taxes in this manner. Later we learn that the Assyrians adopted Aramic because it was easier to learn and use. With increased usage, constant rules for the language developed. As a later result we see the rise of literature. Written law also gained more authority than the king because of the notion that everyone is subject to it. Rule of law needed to have people trained in writing and the law needed to be authoritative. Leaders from different states began to get involved with literature. The state used propaganda and began writing everything down.

Next we moved on to the top of what is a messiah? By definition it is someone who has been anointed by oil that came from either the High Priest line or the line of the Kings. Many groups have used used biblical references for their leaders as the "Messiah". One such reference are the words of Isaiah. Isaiah 10 is a good example. If used with the context of the text, it heralds the coming of Hezekiah. Another important text that we get from Isaiah is Isaiah 36-39 which brings about the belief that Jerusalem is inviolable and is paralleled in 2 Kings 8-20. According to the text, there is a prophecy that God would protect the city. The city survived the siege by the Assyrians. The people of Jerusalem attributed this back to the promise of David. Meanwhile, the Assyrians gave different reasons for why the city survived. The failure of the siege was written down and passed on to generations. Thus, we get the legend of Jerusalem as an inviolable city. Zion Theology stressed that it was for David's sake.

Lastly, we started to talk about Josiah.

Lecture 6; Hezekiah's Jerusalem

We began our discussion with the requirements for a Golden Age. They include: 1. someone had to have died and is being remembered for their contributions, 2. There needed to be a record of them building things. 3. They had to do things for the people like a temple. One of the best ways was to get a divine promise, memorialize it, and chronicle the promise. The era of David and Solomon is considered a Golden Era for early Jerusalem. After Solomon's death, the Kingdom breaks into two factions. The 10 Northern tribes formed Israel under Jeroboam. The last 2 Southern tribes followed Rehoboam, son of Solomon. The division began with the northern tribes asking the King to ease the "yolk" on them. After consulting his father's advisers, Rehoboam disregarded their advise to accommodate the people and threatened that he would be stricter than Solomon in a show of power and dominance. What we know about the incidence is somewhat skewed in favor of the South because it is written from the standpoint of the South.

The Southern Kingdom had Jerusalem and thus had credibility as a holy place. As a result, when people made pilgrimages to the city, the Southern Kingdom could make money. To counter this, the Northern Kingdom established alternate worship centers at Bethel and Dan. The South created shrines in other places as well. Next we looked at a summary of three periods for Jerusalem. The first was the Rise of the United Monarchy around 1000 BCE during the rule of David and Solomon. The Second was during the Era of the Two States in 925 BCE with Israel(north) and Judah(south). The third period is Jerusalem during the 8th century BCE that had the Rise of the Assyrian Empire, growth of urbanization and the reign of Hezekiah.

In the time of the two states, foreign powers were called upon to aid one side or the other in their conflict. Two of these powers was Egypt and Assyria. The two factions would pay off these foreign countries to aid them when they were in trouble or had conflict with another foreign country. As a result, the two states would often play off the foreign empires with each other. They paid the countries with gold from the temples and this often left the country in a form of debt which prompted them to seek another power to get rid of the current owner. Although Assyrian war tactics were brutal: cutting peoples head and putting them on poles, as well as deporting people, the empire had a great effect of society in Jerusalem. They adopted the use of Aramaic and got the nation to use it thus increased literacy and trade specialization in Jerusalem. The city expands and industrializes. There is even the growth of suburbs. As a result of this expansion, we see that the population of Jerusalem growing 400%. People started to migrate to the city and this led to tensions between groups. Families became more nuclear and there was social dislocation.

With the increased population, the demand for water increased. The Gihon Spring alone was not enough to supply the city. Hezekiah later solve this problem by making a tunnel that brought more water into the city. He also helped fortify the northern border as the city prepared to rebel against its Assyrian rulers.

Lecture 5: David's Jerusalem cont'd and Solomon's Jerusalem

One of the important passages we discussed was 2 Samuel 7 which referred to as "the promise to David". In it, Nathan, the court prophet, tells David that God as promised to make him a "house". God promised that the Davidic line would not pass away. Some people viewed this vision literally and lost faith when the temple was destroyed during the Babylonian invasion. People later reinterpreted the promise in the New Testament to validate Jesus' claim of being the Son of David, the Messiah. Another passage we examined was 1 Chronicles 21. This passage gave the reason why David did not build a temple for God but rather his son Solomon was the one to complete the task. David had killed many men and was thus stained by their blood while his son, Solomon, was to be considered a man of peace. The final thing we examined was the book of Psalms which was believed to have been written of/for David.

Next we moved to talking about Solomon's Jerusalem. In 1 Kings 6-8, we learn about the construction and consecration of the Temple of Solomon. The temple was to serve as a physical house for the Ark to rest and thus would become a dwelling for the LORD. He ruled from 970-930 BCE and was called "Wise King Solomon". It is believed that Solomon wrote the wisdom books: Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs. The last two are considered as things that would "soil the hands" because of their sexually provocative text and deviation from the rest of the bible. There is no archeological evidence to show that Solomon did exist. This absence of evidence raises the question if it is evidence of absence.There are no Tels that contain records of his rule. The Tel Meggido was the place where many battles took place and give some evidence about the events of the past because older structures were covered by newer ones.

Regarding the Solomon's temple, there is no physical evidence to show that it once existed, no Tels that contain pieces from the era of the 1st Temple. However, from literary evidence we get details about what and how the Temple was constructed. The structure of the temple had some parallels with temples from other regions and faiths. There was also a shift from a tradition that God had a wife to a monotheist belief. This is seen by the presence of objects like the bronze basin in front of the temple. They were common things found in temples of other deities.

Lecture 4

We began our lecture with a discussion about the existence of King David. Many scholars questioned whether he existed because there had been no archeological evidence to back up the claims made in the bible. When the Tel Dan inscriptions, there was evidence that a group of people existed that referred to themselves as the House of David. Later we shift to talking about construction and how it revolved around water. The closest water source was the Gihon Spring and the Warren shaft was built to access the water. However, there are doubts as to whether the shaft was used for the this purpose. There is also an argument whether the shaft was cut or was it naturally formed.

Next we moved onto the anointing of Solomon as the new King. The coronation ceremony that took place involved the future king riding on a donkey heading to  the Gihon spring. This process is later referenced in Matthew 21 to describe the march of Jesus from the Mount of Olives to Jerusalem, passing through the Gihon spring. The reference demonstrated the importance of the spring and the claim that was being made that he was the next King of the Jews.

We finished the lecture with a discussion about the Ark of the Covenant. To the ancient nomadic Jews, it was a portable shrine and throne for God. Exodus 22 described the Ark in detail. It is said to contain the broken pieces of the 10 Commandments and possibly the Mana eaten by the Jews as the trekked through the desert after their exodus from Egypt. The Ark is moved to Jerusalem under David's orders as he tries to build a temple for God. King Solomon, David's son is the one who ends up constructing temple to house the Ark and in doing so makes the Temple a sacred place.

Lecture 3: Canaanite Jerusalem

The lecture focused on Pre-Israelite Jerusalem during the Late Bronze age which predates 1000 BCE. The city of Jerusalem existed before King David's rule. It had continuous settlement in the area for three reasons. It was near a water source the Gihon Spring. The city had agriculture to support the settled civilization. It was also near a watershed for trade. The evidence that get we through archeology and literary evidence provides us confirmation of some of the claims about Jerusalem. From the people that lived there we get non-biblical text such as the Execration texts with hieroglyphics that were used as a form of simple magic to curse one's enemies. Some of these texts refer to Rusalimum which we know is associated with Jerusalem. This suggests that Jerusalem had some notoriety. Some other archeological evidence we get are the Wall and Tower near the Gihon and the Amarna Letters.

Although the texts confirm some of the claims made, others also show evidence that is contrary to what was thought of as true. There are some inconsistencies in the some of the biblical passages. For instance in Joshua 10,21 and 24, the people that were living in Jerusalem where wiped out by the people of Judah. However, in Joshua 15 and 1 it says that they were not all wiped out. This type of inconsistency lead to the idea that the bible had many different authors contributing to it. There are also some theories that arose such as conquest/non-quest for Jerusalem, immigration, and Mixed ethnic origins.

Later, we began to talk about Jerusalem during the time of David. David's reign was during the Iron Age. He was a prominent figure in biblical history in the tale of David and Goliath. He took control of Jerusalem from the Jebusites and the area he conquered was renamed the City of David in his honor.

Lecture 2: finishing off Jerusalem as a Sacred Space

Today's lecture is a continuation of Lecture 1. It focused on how a sacred space was established and why the city was able to grow in fame as a sacred place. The first issue was the establishment of temples. The idea of temples is a primeval convention that had been used before by other civilizations. The designs for these structures is said to have divine origins and not of human origin. Temples are the place in which God will dwell. These structures had been used before as places of worship by the Babylonians. There are two parts to the establishment of temples. The first is the actual construction of the site based on the designs that had been delivered from a higher power. The second is the consecration of the site itself. Consecration can be achieved by expanding the fame of a place by building it larger and outward or by attracting other legends and histories and assimilating them. In this fashion, the prestige of a site will grow. This is seen in readings such as Genesis 2-3, 14, and 22.

In addition to the establishment of a sacred space in Jerusalem, there was also the establishment of a "sacred time" the Sabbath. This key in the redefinition of what is meant to be Jewish when the temple was destroyed and its people scattered. However, there are some discrepancies which lead to differences in values amongst the groups that share this history. In Exodus 20, the sabbath was held in remembrance of the 7th day in which God rested after creating everything. In Deuteronomy 5, the sabbath was held in remembrance of the Jewish Exodus from Egypt. For the Jewish community, the latter reason is held whereas for the Christian community the former is held. Whatever the reason, there is still the establishment of a sacred time as well as a sacred space that groups can identify to.

There was also a discussion regarding the relationship of geography and axis mundi. The image of mountain which stands high above and overlooking people is seen as place where one can be closer to God who lives in the heavens. It was on a mountain, where God revealed his true name and where the Ten Commandments were given to the Israelite people. Stories from other people that had some relation to the Divine dwelling upon mountains were assimilated. The same can be said for caves and the connection to Hell. They were the "gateways" that lead to places that were farther from the heavens, dark, and mysterious. With these two contrasting images we start to see how Jerusalem can be an axis mundi for the city was near both.

recap of lecture 1: Sacred Space- Laying the Foundations

In our first class we looked at why Jerusalem is considered a "Sacred Space" by three major faiths in the world: Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. It is held on the same level of prestige as Mecca and Rome for some of the faiths. This raised the question of how does a place become sacred? What are the steps and requirements for to be considered sacred? During our lecture we identified a progression that starts with veneration of a site. Later as more people are drawn in to the place an official shrine is erected. This helps to call more people in and the place grows and grows influence and prestige culminating in pilgrimages as is the case of Jerusalem.

In order to have people visit a place, there needed to be inherent features that would draw or allow people to visit. Jerusalem is located between two major routes: Via Maris and the King's Highway. However, neither route goes through the city. In addition to trade routes, the city needed natural defenses and sources of water. Jerusalem was established among near three valleys that provided protection from the West, East, and South. They are the Kidron Valley, Hinnom Valley and the Tyropoeon Valley. The closest source of water for Jerusalem came from a spring called the Gihon spring and later the Siloam pool contributed to the water supply. These attributes allowed the city to thrive and last despite not having a trade route going directly through it.

As the city grew, Jerusalem was able to assimilate other legends which added to its status as a sacred place. One instance of this was mentioned in the story of the "Garden of Eden" which had 4 rivers flowing from it. Two were easily identified: the Tigris and the Euphrates. The Pishon is not found. The 4th river is the Gihon river which people thought was somehow related to the Gihon Spring. By having these references in religious texts, Jerusalem is able to strengthen its claim as a important sacred place and an axis mundi.