EDWARD'S LECTURE NOTES:
More notes at http://tanguay.info/learntracker
C O U R S E
The Bible's Prehistory, Purpose, and Political Future
Dr. Jacob L. Wright, Emory University
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C O U R S E L E C T U R E Maps of Historical Biblical Regions Notes taken on September 6, 2014 by Edward Tanguay |
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Assyrian Empire (911 BC - 612 BC)
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between Greece to Persia
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from Egypt to the Black Sea
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two main cultural centers
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in the East: Mesopotamia
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has been an area of civilization
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writing
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in the West: Egypt
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higher culture on the Nile
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Israel
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served as a land bridge between Mesopotamia and Egypt
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when the cultural center in the West wanted to attack or engage in commerce with the cultural center in the east, they had to go through Israel
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the area that was the most important and most used as a land bridge, was the coastal area
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although Israel was actually not on the coast
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it eventually got in the way of the east and west forces
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areas that will shape Israel's history
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Mesopotamia
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Assyria
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Babylon
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more ancient than Assyria
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Sumer
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in south
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Levant
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Aram
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Damascus
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Ammon
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Moab
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Edom
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Phonecian territories (1200 BC–539 BC)
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above Israel
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Tyre
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commercial centers and trading cities
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later a power emerges in Persia and takes over these areas
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the Persian Median empire
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Jordan Rift Valley
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used in the Bible to define Israel's court territories
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hill country west of Dead Sea
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south of Jerusalem was Judah
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north of Jerusalem was Israel
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issue with Gilead across the Jordan Valley to the east
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whether or not it belongs to Israel
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a running question throughout the Biblical narratives
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"does the Jordan Valley define who we are or is there territory beyond the Jordan that also can be called Israel"
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from Mediterranean coast toward Dead Sea
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1. Coastal Plain (Philistia)
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2. Shephelah
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very rich agricultural region
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one of the regions allotted to Judah
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3. Hill Country (Judah)
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south part: Judean Hill country
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north part: Samaria Hill Country
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4. Wilderness
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drops down to Dead Sea
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south of Hill Country (Judah)
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Negev
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to south, arid, impossible to live there
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Galilee
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Upper Galilee
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Lower Galilee
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Jezreal Valley
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first area that Israel conquers once it moves away from its hill country down in Manasseh and Samaria
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Ephraim hill country is the core territory of Israel
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Southern Hill Country south of that is the core territory of Judah
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Israel and Judah border each other in the area around Jerusalem
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Yehud
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roughly the Kingdom of Judah
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refers to a time when Judah is no longer a Kingdom but a province of Yehud
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to the north of Yehud is Samaria, home of the Samarians
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Samaria is a wealthier province than Judah
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much of the Bible emerged in Judah but it did so in competition with Samaria
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the Ammon region is then across the valley to the east