Lecture 14: Islamic Jerusalem

IN 614 CE, the Sasanians take possession of Palestine and Jerusalem. As a result Jews were allowed to return to Jerusalem after being banished by Hadrian in 135 CE. Later in 628 CE, Emperor retakes Jerusalem and allows the massacre of Jews. However, ten years later, Muslim Caliph Umar takes Jerusalem. Under Muslim rule, Jews were not allowed to settle in agreement with Christian demands. However, they were later allowed to resettle later.

In Islam, Jerusalem becomes a sacred place because of the construction of the Dome of the Rock and the construction of the Al-Aqsa mosque which is regarded as "the Farthest" mosque. The Dome of the Rock also had an inscription that showed they accepted Jews and Christians but took issue with viewing God as a Trinity as proclaimed by Christians.  Muslims always have to pray toward a particular direction. At the core of Islam are the Five Pillars of Islam which dictate practices of their beliefs which include praying daily, making a pilgrimage to Mecca, and giving to the needy. When a person is making a pilgrimage called Hajj, they decorate their doors to ward off people that may steal from them for it they did they would receive 3x the sin for stealing.

The Al-aqsa mosque was created as an alternative place of worship because the journey from Damascus to Saudi Arabia was very long. The building has no graven images but does have lots of geometric designs.Under Islamic rule, Christians and Jews were tolerated because they were people of the book who worshiped the same God as Muslims. Later the Crusaders retook Jerusalem in 1099.

Lecture 13: Byzantine Jerusalem

One of the trends we see is the gradual movement of Christianity westward. The importance of city's shift from Jerusalem to western cities like Rome. Much of this western movement comes from Paul's letters to the various Christian churches. Through the period of 63 BCE-614 CE, we see increasing Hellenization. There is also an increasing amount of spiritualization of faith and attitude toward Jerusalem. This leads to Faith becoming mobile once more and allowed people to cope with the destruction of the 2nd Temple in 70CE. To Christians, Jerusalem gains more of a symbolic role in their faith. As this sect of Judaism grew, there also arose issues about what was to be kept from Jewish Traditions. At the Jerusalem Council mentioned in Acts 15:1-4, there were debates over kosher regulations, circumcision as a prerequisite to becoming a Christian, and the devouring of offering that had been made to other deities. All of these issues were a Doctrine debate rather than issues regarding Jerusalem the city itself. Here we see the shift of importance from the Temple to the upkeeping of faith.

The growing influence of a faith based religion came as a result of the predicted destruction of the Temple by Jesus and other preachings such as in John 4: 19-26, which talked about a more spiritual Jerusalem rather than a physical one. With the conversion of Jerusalem into Aelia Capitolia in 300 CE, Christians internalized their faith and thus were able to survive as a religion while others that had been based on Temple worship, struggled and received more persecution.

Some other key events that took place that helped lead to the growing influence of Christianity was the division of the Roman empire into a Tetrarchy. This system had flaws regarding the issue of succession. One of the Tetrarchs Constantius, had a son, Constantine, that later would become the sole ruler of the Roman Empire. Some scholars argue that Constantine used Christianity as a political tool because the faith was growing in popularity. Nonetheless, his Edict of Milan in 313 made practicing Christianity legal once more. However, one radical change he brought was use of Christianity for war and conquer. This clashed with the more pacifistic teaching of Jesus, who preached peace and non-violence. Other issues of faith brought divisions amongst Christians of the East and the West. One result was the Council of Nicaea which set a standardized Doctrine for Christians to follow. All that did not agree were considered heretics and non-Christians. This was another result of Constantine's rule.

Constantine's mother, Helena, also helped bring a change to Jerusalem with the finding of the Jesus's tomb. This led to the construction of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and gave Christians a holy site to which they could pay pilgrimage to. The Church became a new center that attracted other myths and legends such as being the place where Adam was buried and where Abraham bound Isaac for sacrifice in the Akadeh.

Lecture 12; Jerusalem in Revolt

King Herod dies in 4 BCE and afterward the rulers of the Jerusalem were regarded as ethnarchs not kings. There were two major revolts that are covered. The 1st Jewish Revolt took place during 66-73 CE and was called the "Great Revolt". The Second revolt was a failure in comparison. After the second revolt Jerusalem ceased to be called Jerusalem. Our main sources of information for these events comes from the writing of Flavius Josephus who was a Jewish General that later became a Roman historian to chronicle Jewish history with a pro-Roman view. His life was spared when he predicted that a Roman General would become Emperor. The others sources we have come from the writings of Tacitus and archeological evidence.

After Herod's death, his inheritance was distributed according to his will. However, Herod had several wills and this made it difficult to see who would receive what. Archelaus, got Jerusalem and Samaria. Herod Antipas got Galilee and Perea. Herod Philip received Iturea. All of his sons were ineffective rulers that prompted Rome to send Procurators to take charge. However, many of these Roman rulers were also ineffective rulers as well.

Pontius Pilate was a Procurator that was mentioned in the Bible. He was highly ineffective, provoked the Jews by minting coins with pagan symbols, and also tried Jesus. He was later recalled to Rome due to his inefficiency. Some other characteristics of Roman governors were that they were often inexperienced, inept, and lead Jerusalem to a steady decline in Law and Order. They were sent there to test their abilities to rule.

Jews began to revolt by minting their own coins. In 66 CE, a revolt breaks out and Vespasian is appointed to conquer the area. Thus in 70 CE, the 2nd temple was destroyed by the Romans. Later Hadrian, a roman, comes to Jerusalem in builds a temple to Jupiter where the 2nd temple once stood in 135 CE. The Second Jewish Revolt was called the Bar-Kokhba Revolt. This revolt also minted coins but did a poor job when re-striking coins with Jewish propaganda. Hebrew words were often misspelled. The revolt was put down and Jews were banned from the city. Jerusalem was renamed as Aelia Capitolina. We see a rise in the use of synagogues and the issue of cognitive dissonance. Religion became more personalized and few Jewish sects were able to cope with the situation. One of these groups was Christianity. The other Jewish sect that remained focused on a more intellectual form of worship rather than blood sacrifice. They studied the "Law" and we see that they use the Ark of the Covenant as a way to protect the "scrolls". They worshiped in synagogues and we see that this was a response to the destruction of the temple.

Lecture 11: Roman, Herodian, and Jesus' Jerusalem

Hasmonean Jewish self-rule lasted for about 100 years. During that time factions began to weaken each other allowing Pompey, a Roman General, to come and annex Jerusalem. In 63 BCE he assumes control and settles a power dispute by installing Hyrcanus II as "ethnarch", a ruler of the people but not a king. He also installs an Idumean, a person from a nation to the south of Judea that had forcibly circumcised by the Jews. This man was Antipater, whose son, Herod, would later become king. After Antipater's murder in 43 BCE, Herod becomes king of Judea after expelling the Parthians in 40 BCE. As a Client King, Herod issued coins that were sensitive to the Jewish tradition of not having faces on coins but also had Roman elements on it to gain favor from Rome.

As a King, Herod was an effective but ruthless dictator. He was compulsive and loved himself greatly. His nature was beneficial to Roman in controlling the Jews. However, his love for himself gave the people jobs. He was known for having massive building projects that employed Jews as workers. One of these projects was the expansion of the Second Temple and the creation of the Temple Mount around it. In addition, He created things such as the Herodian Theater, Antonia Fortress, Caesarea Hippodrome which were attempts to gain favor with the Romans by them that he would support them in oppressing the people.

Next, we looked at the evidence for the existence of Jesus. However, there is no archeological evidence for his existence. A large number of scholars still believe he did exist despite the lack of evidence. There have been attempts to provide concrete evidence for Jesus such as an ossuary of Jesus. However these turned out to be fakes. There is evidence however that crucifixion occured because a bone was found with a nail drived through the ankle. However this does not prove that it was Jesus. It merely shows that people in Jerusalem had crucifixion.  

Lecture 10: Hellenistic and Hasmoean Jerusalem

After Persia defeated Babylon, the Jews were allowed to go back to Jerusalem by King Cyrus of Persia. There return from exile resulted in the development of 3 factions: 1 was the people who wanted to stay in Babylon, the second was the group that returned to Jerusalem after the Exile, and the third was the group that been allowed to stay in Jerusalem by the Babylonians. Persian influences also begin to affect Jewish beliefs. One of these regarded the reestablishment of the temple. There was also a new understanding of the 2nd Temple compared to the 1st. In addition to Persian influences, Greek influences or Hellenistic influences also affected Jewish beliefs.

During the Hellenistic Period, the books that were not included into the Hebrew/Christian Bible were still considered scripture to some groups. Another important source of literature comes from Josephus who although was Jewish became a Roman Historian. He was a rebellion leader at first but was caught. By claiming that he was a prophet and making predictions that came true, he was allowed to live and write Jewish History in Roman era. Later we move on to Alexander the Great who was another influence during this time. During the Persian period, there was the introduction of coins which were stamped pieces of silver and bronze. The Greeks adopted this invention and used it as propaganda. Alexander the Great put himslef on the coins to be like the god, Zeus.

Every aspect of Jewish life was affected by Hellenization. Language, literature and Philosophy greatly affected religion. One concept was the separation of soul and body. These new ideas lead to competition with older ones and brought about conflicts. The growing Greek influence also led to increased usage of Greek as the most spoken language among Jews and the Bible being translated into Greek. However, the translation is not a perfect copy of the Hebrew Bible. Some of the reactions to Hellenization was that some people welcomed a liberalization of ideas while others were against it, more conservative. There was also a social attitude of looking and acting Greek rather than Jewish. These differences between the Jews lead to the formation of sects and factions.

During Hasmonean, conservative Jews led a revolt against the Greeks called the "Maccabean Revolt". This historical event led to the establishment Hanukkah to commemorate the victory: taking back the temple nad the oil miracle. Jews were able to establish self-rule. Hasmonean Kings of the time also used coins for propaganda. One different between Jewish and Greek coins was the absence of  human being on the coins because it was forbidden. Jewish territory was greatly expanded. Despite the growth, the Hasmonean Dynasty became corrupt. The High Priesthood position was threatened. The Hasmonean Dynasty comes to an end as a result of infighting for control of the Dynasty and the arrival of the Romans

Lecture 9: Persian Jerusalem

The Persian Period overlaps with the 2nd Temple Period from 539 BCE-333BCE. Most of the information of this time comes from the book of Chronicles, the prophets Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. The books of Ezra and Nehemiah are written in Aramaic. The book of Daniel is also written in Aramaic. This tells us that Aramaic is becoming the more dominant languages used during this time. Aside from biblical text, there is very little written text about this time period which makes us think that there is not much happening in Jerusalem following their exile and return to Jerusalem. However, it could just be that we have yet to find these pieces of evidence.


Next we move to the Prophet Ezekiel and the discussion of the Ark of the Covenant. Ezekiel preached in an apocalyptic manner with lots of vivid imagery. One of the things he spoke about was the image of the Ark of the Covenant. However, his vision of the Ark showed that it had wheels and could move on its own, without needing carrying poles. The mention of the Ark, draws our attention to the fact that God is once again mobile. During the time of the 1st temple, he had been viewed as a stationary God because the Jews had established a permanent settlement and place of him. However, now that the temple was destroyed, the people are viewing him once more as a mobile God. One interesting fact is that the Ark was not mentioned in the Temple List, a record of the things that were taken away to Babylon. It raises questions like: did the Ark get taken away and wasn't recorded or was it no longer there before the Exile itself as a result of Hezekiah's religious reforms?

We then talked about King Cyrus, the Persian King that sent the Jews back to Jerusalem. He was viewed as a Messiah, even though he was not of the Davidic Line or the High Priest Lineage. However, the Jews viewed him as a savior that was sent by God, even though he was not a Jew. Another thing we explored was the relationship between Judaism and Zoroastrianism which was the religion of Persia. The two shared similarities like a period of creation, humans coming from the 1st couple, commandments given on mountains. One thing that was introduced was the concept of other divine being like angels and the Devil, alongside God. In this manner we get a duality where God represented all the good things that happened and that bad things were caused by the Devil. Among the Jews, these influences also created rifts between people on issues of the afterlife. The Sadducees did not believe in the afterlife while the Pharisees did.

Back in Jerusalem, the people reestablished the High Priesthood with Joshua leading them. The people also began to argue over whether to rebuild the temple because they had adjusted back to the idea of a mobile God. Around Jerusalem, there were also other temples being built. One such place was Samaria and there has been tension between the people of Jerusalem and Samaria over the issue of temple worship

Lecture 8: The exile of the Jewish people and reinterpretation of promise to David

We begin by looking at the Letter of a Literate Soldier. Specifically in the Lachish Letter 3 we can see that even common soldiers could right. This is an indication that a lot of writing was going on at the time. Also we can see a growing stigma against those who couldn't write. Another piece of literature we discussed was the Mezad Hasharyahu Ostracon which is a broken piece of pottery with writing that references something in scripture. It is a complaint letter about a worker being denied the return of his cloak. This echoes back with Exodus 22: 25-26 and Amos 2:8 which tell about a law regarding holding collateral. These writing show that people cited rules that would later show up in the Jewish Bible. The Torah Amulets were silver amulets that also had prayers written on them. This shows how there was an increase in things being written down from oral traditions. They indicate that literacy was going up before the Exile.

The reason why books are important is because they give us a different way to communicate ideas. People could write down oral traditions and compare them for differences much easier. It also gives credibility to things through analysis and facts. The Fate of Jerusalem would closely follow the interpretations of text and bring questions about changing texts or not.

Next, our discussion goes on to the Exile and the Destruction of the temple. The first Babylonian Exile was in 597 BCE and the second was in  586 BCE. During the second, the temple was destroyed and the elites of Jerusalem were exiled. In the third Exile in 581 BCE were the last days of Judah. There is mention that Josiah was killed by the Pharaoh Neco at Megiddo in 609 BCE. We also see through text that King Nebuchanezzar of Babylon defeats Egypt and Assyria in 605 BCE and later puts Zedekiah on the thrown in 597 BCE. He destroys the temple in 586 BCE before exiling the people of Jerusalem. Some of the textual evidence of the exile is found in the 290 tablets near the Ishtar gate, 4 of which mention the Judean Royal family. These Babylonian text agree with the biblical text regarding the exile. We also find that even in exile, the Royal Family was given an allowance. During Zedekiah's reign, he tries to rebel again Babylon and Nebuchanezzar lays siege to the city.

After the exile there were two views regarding the destruction of Jerusalem. The first is the Josianic conclusion and the other is the exilic postscript. Pre-exilic views have the expectation that although Josiah dies, the promise of David would be fulfilled. The post-exilic view looked for theological rationales. This leads on to people reinterpreting the promise to David. There is a Cognitive Dissonance about holding two contradictory ideas at the same time, where reality and belief clash. Thus people tried to rationalize events and find a compromise between the two.