Seder Olam revised is a PDF copy of referenced web page

SEDER OLAM REVISITED

SEDER OLAM - Revisited

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Seder Olam

is an ancient book written in Hebrew in about 160 CE which gives a chronology of the history of the Jewish people and the world around them since Contact the first man Adam until the Great Revolt against the Roman rule. Seder Olam means Order (or Chronology) of the World. Some 450 years later, another book called Seder Olam Zutta (the Small "Seder Olam") was issued in Babylone to What is new complete the former work until their time. Since then, and to distinguish the two Index of names works, the former one is often referred as Seder Olam Rabbah (the Great "Seder Olam"). There has not been any such work since. Although the chronology from the Creation to the Exodus is fairly detailed and free from debate, the periods that follow, from the time of Joshua and the Judges until Generations 1- later events is based on assumptions from the original author. Unfortunately these assumptions do not match other historical chronologies that have been established 14 by the Egyptian, Babylonian and Persian records. The present site presents an (3760 - 2080 attempt to reconcile these differences and point to possible mistakes in the original BCE) assumptions made in the Seder Olam. And, of course, the goal is also to continue Generations 15- the original work until the present days. 21 I have divided the chronology in 50 different "generations" of mankind from the (2080 - 1240 arrival of Adam. Why 50? It will be fully explained in the last (50th) generation, BCE) which will be the Messianic times according to Jewish scriptures, but, in essence it is related to the Jubilee of the world. Since the Creation, God has established the Generations 22- Shabbat, which is the 7th day. Then the Israelites were ordered to respect it as a rest 28 day, and to also respect the 7th year as a rest year (for the land). After 7 cycles of 7 (1240 - 400 years, totalling 49 years, they were ordered to respect the Jubilee year, the 50th BCE) year. This cycle is mirrored into the chronology of the world which will continue for 49 generations, until the last generation, the 50th one. The world, as it is known Generations 29- to Jews, is supposed to last 6000 years: this gives 50 generations of 120 years each. 35 So each generation of this revised chronology covers 120 years of Jewish history. (400 BCE The period of 120 years is also given by God, at a certain point of time in the 440 CE) Biblical narrative, as the maximum number of years that humans can live. Creation

Generations 36- I hope you will enjoy going through these pages and, as this is a work in progress, do come back and check the updates in the "What is New" section. If you have 49 (440 - 2120 CE) comment or message to send me, please do so by using the Contact form. Generation 50 Albert Benhamou (Messianic) To search this site with a keyword, enter it in the window below and press the Search button: Quick links to major events in Biblical and Jewish History: - the six "days" of the Creation http://www.seder-olam.info/index.html (1 of 2) [6/11/2013 11:32:22 AM]


- the Flood, 2104 BCE - the Tower of Babel, 1764 BCE - the Exodus, 1306 BCE - end of the kingdom of Israel, 718 BCE - end of the kingdom of Judah and destruction of the First Temple, 587 BCE - Queen Esther and the festival of Purim, 475 BCE - revolt of the Maccabees and the festival of Chanukkah, 167 BCE - crucifixion of Jesus, 33 CE - destruction of the Second Temple, 70 CE - the Great Revolt of Bar-Kochba, 132-135 CE - the rise of Islam and the Hijrah, 622 CE - more to come....

Copyright © Albert Benhamou 2013 - All rights reserved.

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SEDER OLAM - Contact



CONTACT AND FEEDBACK FORM

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What is New?

Contact Gregorian What is new Index of names

Hebrew

March-June 2013 28 March 2013

Addition Content creation

17 Nisan 5773

Opening of the web site and section 'Creation'

Creation Generations 1-14 Generations 15-21 Generations 22-28 Generations 29-35 Generations 36-49 Generation 50


http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-whatsnew.html [6/11/2013 11:32:26 AM]




INDEX OF NAMES

Contact A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-VW-X-Y-Z What is new

A

Index of Names ●

Creation Generations 114

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Generations 1521 ●

Generations 2228

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Generations 2935

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Generations 3649 Generation 50

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Abaye, one of the leading figure of the Babylonian amoraim, and son of Rabba Adam, the first man, death, transmission of his tradition Abel, son of Adam and Eve, murdered by his brother Cain Abimelech, illegitimate son of Judge Gideon, oppressed the Israelites Abraham, Abram of Ur, first time God speaks to him, in Egypt, with Pharaoh, Covenant with God, name change to Abraham, Oak of Abraham in Hebron Absalom, rebellious son of David Abydos, capital of Ancient Egypt Aelia Capitolina, Roman city built over the destroyed Jerusalem Agrippa, king of Judea Agrippa II, king of Judea son of Agrippa, he sided with the Romans during the War of the Jews and witnessed the destruction of Jerusalem Ahasuerus (Xerxes), Persian king, took Esther as a wife Akiva, rabbi, executed after the Great Revolt Alexander the Great Alexander Severus, Roman emperor Alexandria, city founded by the Greeks in Egypt, massacre of the Jews Alphabet, introduction in Canaan, introduction in Persia, Amalekites, tribe who lived in the desert south from Canaan, war against King Saul, Haman of Persia Amarna Period, monotheist heresy of Akhenaten Ammonites, people of the Eastern side of the Jordan River, descendants of Lot Amoraim, the redactors of the Gemara, which completed the Talmud Antipater, father of Herod, procurator of Judea Antoninus Pius, Roman emperor Antony, Roman general, married to Cleopatra, rebelled against Octavian Aramaeans, people of Northern Syria, Aram son of Shem, the Arameans rule over Israel Aretas, king of the Nabataeans

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SEDER OLAM REVISITED ●

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Ark of the Covenant, from Shiloh to Beth-El, captured by the Philistines, in Kiriath-Jearim, brought to Jerusalem Asenath, wife of Joseph Ashkenaz, grandson of Noah, ancestor of the Scythians Ashur-Dan III, king of Assyria Assur, son of Shem Arpachshad, son of Shem Athaliah, self-made queen of the kingdom of Judah Athanasius, the Bishop of Alexandria who finalised the content of the New Testament Atrahasis, Babylonian epic with the tales of the Creation and the Flood Augustus, Roman emperor renamed from Octavian

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Babylon, rebellion after Hammurabi, Bar-Kochba, Jewish leader of the last rebellion against Rome called the Great Revolt Barbarian invasions in the Roman empire Bathsheba, Israelite wife covetted by King David, mother of Solomon Battles: Kadesh 1274 BCE, Meggido 609 BCE, Carchemish 605 BCE, Pelusium 525 BCE, Issus 333 BCE, Raphia/Gaza 217 BCE, Emmaus 166 BCE, Neapolis/Samaria 111 BCE, Alexandria 48 BCE, Actium 31 BCE, Jotapata 67 CE, siege of Jerusalem 70 CE by Titus, Masada 74 CE, Lydda 117 CE, Betar 135 CE, Milvian Bridge 312 CE, Belisarus, Byzantine general who commanded the campaign against the Vandals in North Africa Belshazzar, king of Babylon Benjamin, war against the tribe, founders of Rome Ben-Hadad, king of Aram Beruriah, wife of Rabbi Meir; she was a convert from Rome and her Roman name was Valeria Betar, city of the last stand of Bar-Kochba and his followers against Rome Beth-Shearim, city of Galilee where the Sanhedrin settled for several years Big Bang, theory about the start of the Universe Boaz, husband of Ruth the Moabite, ancestor of King David Book of the Dead, Egyptian, Book of Sirach Book of the Jubilees Book of the Maccabees Book of Zerubbabel, or Sefer Zerubbabel, apocalytic text written about 615 CE Brazen Sea, see Molten Sea Bronze Age Byzantium, the new capital of the Roman empire as decided by Emperor Constantine

C ●

Cain, murder of Abel, descendance, death



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Caleb son of Jephuneh, explorer sent by Moses to Canaan, one of the leaders of the conquest Caligula, Roman emperor Canaan, son of Cham, the Canaanites, conquest by Joshua, allotment to the 12 tribes, Caracalla, Roman emperor Carthage, foundation and fall, conquest by the Vandals, conquest by the Muslims Cham, son of Noah, his sons, descendants Census of the Israelites: by Moses in the desert, by Joshua before Canaan, by King David, by Agrippa Cestius, ill-fated campaign in Judea Circumcision, sign of the Covenant between God and the Hebrews Clemens or Flavius Clemens, member of the Flavia dynasty Constantine, Roman emperor Creation, the six days of the Creation, corruption Cyrus cylinder, giving freedom for the Jews captive of Babylon

D ●

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Daniel, taken to Babylon, the fiery furnace, interprets the writing of the wall, prophecy of Jeremiah, the lions' den, death Decapolis, region of the ten cities of Judea built for the non-Jews Demetrios, Jewish writer of the 3rd century BCE in Alexandria who was first to build a chronology of Jewish history Denys the Small, a Christian scholar who calculated the date of Jesus' birth Dhu Nuwas, Yusef Dhu Nuwas, a Jewish king of Yemen Diaspora, before CE, Jewish upraising in Cyrene, until the fall of Rome Diocletian, Roman emperor Dionysus Exiguus, see Denys the Small Djoser, pharaoh of the early dynasty of Egypt Domitian, emperor of the Flavia dynasty

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Earth, about its spinning Eber, ancestor of the Hebrews, 14th generation of mankind, death Egypt, foundation, Early Dynasty, 13th Dynasty, 18th Dynasty begins, Tax system, Amarna Period, 21st Dynasty "Taanite", Meshwesh, 26th Dynasty Eleazar son of Aaron, death Eli the (High) Priest Enmerkar, city-state of Mesopotamia Enuma Elish, ancient Babylonian tale of the Creation Enosh, son of Seth, death Eridu, city-state of Mesopotamia Eridu Genesis, Babylonian tale of the Creation Esau, son of Isaac, descendants Esarhaddon, king of Assyria Euclid, Greek mathematician of Alexandria Eudoxus of Cnidus, Greek mathematician, disciple of Plato


SEDER OLAM REVISITED ● ● ●

Exodus, calculation of the date Ezekiel plaques Ezra the Scribe, leader of the Return to Sion, compiler of the Tanakh (Bible)

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Faustina the Younger, daughter of Antoninus Pius and wife of Marcus Aurelius Felix, procurator of Judea Fiscus Judaicus, tax imposed on the Jews after the Jewish-Roman war Flood, post-Flood genetic mutations, Babylonian records of the Flood

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Gamaliel, so-called Rabban Gamaliel, grandson of Hillel the Elder, head of the Sanhedrin in the 1st century CE Gamaliel VI, last head of the Sanhedrin, executed in 425 CE Gedaliah, governor of Judea Gelimer, last king of the Vandals Generations: from Adam to the Flood, from the Flood to Babel, Genetics, the Q Haplogroup in Europe Genseric, king of the Vandals who conquered North Africa Gibeon, Jewish leader of North Africa who, with the Berbers, fought successfully against the Vandals Gilgamesh, epic, comparison to the Bible Girgashites, one of the Canaanite people who left at the time of Joshua conquest, Procopius testimonial Gog and Magog, this refers to the conflict that will occur before the venue of the Messiah, blessings of Noah, origin of the name, Great Revolt, name given to the rebellion led by Bar-Kochba that restored an independant Jewish state for 2.5 years Greek philosophers: Hesiod, Thales, Pythagoras, Herodotus, Aristotle, Hecataeus of Abdera,

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Hadad, king of Edom Hadrian, Roman emperor Hammurabi, king of Babylon, Hammurabi code, death Hanoch, son of Yered, mysterious death Hasmonean Dynasty: Simon Maccabee (founder), John Hyrcanus, brothers Aristobulus and Antigonus, Alexander Jannai, Antigonus son of Aristobulus, Mariamne wife of Herod Haran, brother of Abraham, tragid death in Ur Hatshepsut, queen of Egypt Hazael, king of Aram Hazorites, Canaanite people from the city-state of Hazor Hebrews: their origin, slavery in Egypt, the Exodus, generations in Egypt, giving of the Torah, the 12 Tribes Helena, queen of Adiabene


SEDER OLAM REVISITED ● ● ●

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Helena, Saint, mother of Emperor Constantine Herod, "King of the Jews" High Priests: Simon the Just, Onias, Simon II, Alcimus (Hellenistic), "Teacher of Righteousness" (founder of the Essenes sect), Simon Maccabee, Hyrcanus II, Jonathan, Ananus son of Ananus Hiram, king of Phoenicia Homo Sapiens Hyksos, people of the seas who invaded Egypt

I ● ● ●

Ineni, great vizir of Egypt Isaac, son of Abraham, blesses Jacob, death, Ismael, son of Abraham, death

J ●

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Jacob, son of Isaac, goes to Charan, union with Leah and Rachel, births of his sons, return to Canaan, goes down to Egypt, death, burial in Canaan James the Just, brother of Jesus Jericho, Canaanite city, the first one to fall during Joshua conquest Jerome, Christian father who translated the Bible from Greek to Latin Jesus Jezebel, wife of Ahab, death in Jezreel Johanan ben Zakkai, rabbi, founder of Yavne talmudic school (yeshiva) John the Baptist, predicator before Jesus Joseph, son of Jacob and Rachel, in Egypt, death, burial in Sichem Josephus, Jewish army commander, Judeo-Roman historian Joshua son of Hananyah, rabbi, friend to Hadrian Joshua son of Nun, sent by Moses as explorer, leader of the conquest of Canaan, death Jubilee, cycle of generations, Judah son of Jacob, his sons from Tamar Judges period: Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar, Gideon and the 300 fighters, Deborah, Tola, Yair, Samson, Yiftah and the 300 years, Ibzan, Elon, Avdon Julian, Roman emperor so-called The Apostate Julius Caesar, Roman general and emperor Justin, early Christian writer who endeavoured to prove to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah

K ●

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Ka'b al-Ahbar, a Jewish scholar from Yemen who had converted to Islam, and was advisor to Omar ibn al-Khattab Kahina, Judeo-Berber leader who led the war against the Muslims for 12 years until 702 Kairouan, city founded by the Muslims in 670, with the first mosque in North Africa Keturah, second wife of Abraham Khaibar, one of the major Jewish settlement in Arabia conquered by



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Muhammad Kingdom period: Saul, David, Solomon, Scission and chronology of the two kingdoms Kings of Israel (main ones): Jeroboam, Ahab, Jeroham, Jehu, Jehoash, Jeroboam II, Shallum, Menachem, Pekah, Hoshea, end of the kingdom of Israel Kings of Judah (main ones): Rehoboam, Asa, Jehoshaphat, Jeroham, Joash, Joash inscription, Amaziah, Uzziah, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh, Josiah, Jehoiakim, Zedekiah last king

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Laban, father-in-law of Jacob Lamech, descendant of Cain Lemech, son of Metushalach Lost Tribes of Israel, deportation to Assyria, Pashtun of Afghanistan, with the Scythians, Lot, daughters Lucius Quietus, Roman general of Berber origin

M ● ●

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Maatkare, ill-fated princess of Egypt Maccabees: Mattathias and the revolt, Judah Maccabee, Jonathan Maccabee, Tomb of the Maccabees, Simon Maccabee founder of the Hasmonean Dynasty Machaerus, Herodian fortress Machpelah Cave, burial place of the Patriarchs in Hebron Maghreb, origin of the term Marduk-Apla-Idina, king of Babylon Masada, Herodian fortress Meir, Rabbi of the late 1st and early 2nd century, a convert from Rome Melchizedek, wiseman presumed to be Shem son of Noah Merneptah, pharaoh who led a campaign against Canaan at the time of the Judges, his stele bears the firsr record of 'Israel' Mesha king of Moab, Mesha Stele Mesopotamia, post-Flood settlers Metushalach, settles in Canaan, death Midianites, nomadic people of Abrahamite descent, living in the Sinai and Negev deserts Moabites, people descendant of Lot, living on the Eastern side of the Jordan River, encounter with the Hebrews, rule over Israel Molten Sea, a basin located in the Temple courtyard which was used to purity the priests before their service Mordechai and Esther, main Jewish characters related to the Purim festival Moses, birth, death Muhammad, founder of Islam

N


SEDER OLAM REVISITED ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

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Naama, daughter of Lamech Nabataeans, nomadic people of Abrahamite descent, ancestry Nabonides, last king of Babylon Nash Papyrus Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, spoils Jerusalem, destroys the Temple, madness Nefertari, queen of Egypt Nefertiti, queen of Egypt Nehemiah, governor of Judea Nephilim, "fallen" angels who corrupted mankind Nero, Roman emperor Nerva, close advisor to Nero, became emperor after the Flavia dynasty Nimrod, descendant of Cham, reign Nicaea, the modern-day Iznik in Turkey where Emperor Constantine conveyed a council of Christian leaders to formalise several principles for the foundation of the Christian religion in the Roman empire Nineveh, repentance during Sennacherib, destruction Noah, his three sons, the Ark, descendants, death Number 3 as totalness, 3 meals of Shabbat, 3 high festivals, 3 judges, 3 levels of corruption of mankind, 3 sons of Noah Number 7 as will of God and the cycle building towards the Jubilee, the Shabbat, the 7th generation of Lamech, the 14th generation of the Flood, the 21st generation of the Exodus, the 28th generation of the return to Sion Number 22 as number of letters of alphabet, generation of Jacob, reunion of Joseph and Jacob, relation to Passover Number 26 as numerical value of God's name, Abram age, 26th Generation, the last dynasty of local rulers in Egypt, Nebuchadnezzar's end of reign after 26 years Number 40 as maturity/completion, 40 days of flood, Isaac married at 40, 40 years oppression by Philistines, 40 days of Nineveh

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Octavian, see Augustus Omar ibn al-Khattab, one of his fathers-in-law of Muhammad, who led the conquest of Palestine and of the Sassanid empire Onqelos, proselyte, author of the Targum Othniel, conqueror of Hebron, became Judge Oxyrhynchus Papyrii, several papyrii found in Egypt and which contain, for some of them, references to Biblical stories

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Paul the Apostle, claiming to be a Benjaminite, arrestation Persian kings: Cyrus, Cambyses II, Darius, Xerxes, Artaxerxes Pharaohs of Egypt: Sobekhotep IV, Khendjer, Ahmose I, Amenhotep I, Thutmose III, Amenhotep II, Thutmose IV, Amenhotep III, Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten), Tutankhamen, Ay, Horemheb, Ramses II, Psusennes I, Osorkon the Elder, Shoshenq, Necoh, Psamtik, Apries (Hophra) Philistines, oppress Israel, David and Goliath Phoenicians, allies to Solomon, maritime power, origin of their name


SEDER OLAM REVISITED ● ● ● ● ●

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Pi, mathematical number used in the geometry of the circle Pompey, Roman general Pontius Pilate, Roman prefect of Judea Procopius of Caesarea, his testimonial about the North Africa peoples Prophets: Samuel, death of Samuel, Elijah, Elisha, Amos, Isaiah, Jonah, Jeremiah, vision of Ezekiel, death of Ezekiel, Haggai, Zechariah, Nahum Ptolemaic Dynasty: Ptolemy III the Benefactor, Ptolemy IV Philopator, Ptolemy V Epiphanes, Ptolemy Philometor, Ptolemy IX Lathyros, Ptolemy X, Ptolemy XIII against Julius Caesar, Cleopatra Pumbedita: a town of Babylonia where many Jewish scholars lived and contributed to the writing of the Talmud Babli (the Babylonian Talmud)

Q ●

Qurayzah, the last Jewish tribe of Medina that Muhammad ordered to murder

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Rabba, one of the leading figure of the Babylonian amoraim Rachel, wife of Jacob, mother of Joseph and Benjamin Rebekah, wife of Isaac, mother of Jacob and Esau Return to Sion: Exodus, under Cyrus, revolt of the Maccabees Rezin, king of Aram Rome, founded by Benjaminites, Numa king of Rome, Covenant with the Maccabees Rosetta Stone Ruth the Moabite, ancestor of King David

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Sabbation River Salome Alexandra, wife of Alexander Jannai, sister of Simeon ben Shetach (Nassi of Sanhedrin) Sanhedrin heads: Yose ben Yoezer and Yose ben Johanan, Joshua ben Perachiah and Nittai the Arbelite, Simeon ben Shetach and Joshua ben Tabbai, Shemaiah and Avtalyon, Hillel and Shammai, Simeon ben Hillel, Rabban Gamaliel, death of Gamaliel, Shimon ben Gamaliel, Johanan ben Zakkai, Rabban Gamaliel II, Shimon ben Gamaliel II, Judah ha-Nassi, Hillel II, Gamaliel VI the last nassi Sarah, wife of Abraham, death Sargon, king of Akkad Sargon II, king of Assyria Sassanid, the dynasty who reigned over the former Persian empire until the arrival of Islam Scroll of the Fasting Seder Olam (Rabbah): calculation of the Judges, calculation of the First Temple, calculation of the 70 years of Babylon, comparison with present chronology Sepphoris, city of Galilee where the Sanhedrin settled Seleucid Dynasty: Seleucus Nicator, Antiochus III the Great, Antiochus IV



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Epiphanes, Demetrius Soter, Wars of succession, Antiochus VII, Demetrius III Sennacherib of Assyria, campaign in Judea, siege of Lachish, siege of Jerusalem, repentance, assassination, Septimus Severus, Roman emperor Septuagint, translation of the Bible into Greek Seth, son of Adam, death Shalmanezer III, king of Assyria, Black Obelisk Shalmanezer V, king of Assyria, conqueror of the kingdom of Israel Shapur II, king of the Sassanid empire who had a Jewish mother Shefaram, city of Galilee where the Sanhedrin settled after Yavneh Shem, son of Noah, his sons, descendants, as Melchizedek, death Shiloah plaque, tunnel of Jerusalem dug by Hezekiah Shoshenq, Meshwesh pharaoh of Egypt, alliance with Jeroboam, sack of Jerusalem Sibylline Oracles Sicarii, Jewish sect practising political assassinations during the Roman rule Sichemites, people of the city-state of Sichem Simbar-Sihu, king of Babylon Simeon bar Yohai, rabbi disciple of Akiva, author of the Zohar Simon bar Giora, head of the Sicarii, execution in Rome Sodom and Gomorrah, wicked cities destroyed by God Sol Invictus, Roman pagan festival falling at the soltice of winter which served as official date for Christmas Sparta, Leonidas and the 300, Sumer, foundation, king list

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Tahpenes, queen of Egypt Targum, of Onqelos, Tel-Dan Stele Temple of Jerusalem: First Temple construction, destruction, Second Temple construction, completion, restored service and Channukkah, destruction by Titus Theodosius, Roman emperor who split the Roman empire in two Tiaa, daughter of Pharaoh, adopted Moses Tiberius Alexander, an Alexandrian of Jewish origin but his family had assimilated and embraced Roman culture and citizenship; he was procurator of Judea at the beginning of the reign of Agrippa II, then governor of Alexandria during the Jewish War, before joining Titus in the final siege against Jerusalem Tiglath-Pileser III, king of Assyria Tigranes II, king of Armenia Titus, 1st campaign in Judea, siege of Jerusalem Tobit, Jewish exile of Assyria Tower of Babel Trajan, Roman emperor Treasures of the Temple, taken by Titus, taken from Rome by Genseric, returned to Jerusalem by Justinian, lost when the Persians took the city



Tuval-Cain, son of Lamech, initiator of the Bronze Age

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Ur, city-state of Mesopotamia Ur-Nammu, city-state of Mesopotamia, code Uruk, city-state of Mesopotamia

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Vandals, barbarian people who invaded Northern Africa and sacked Rome Vespasian, Roman general conqueror of Judea, then emperor founder of the Flavia dynasty, father of Titus Vulgate, Latin translation of the Hebrew Bible

W ●

War of the Jews (66-70 CE) Writing, invention

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Xerxes, see Ahasuerus

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Yafeth, son of Noah, his sons, descendants Yavneh, religious school established by Johanan ben Zakkai Yitro, priest of the Midianites, father-in-law of Moses Yusef Dhu Nuwas, sse Dhu Nuwas

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X

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Zakkur Stele Zealots, Jewish sect in favour of the revolt against Rome Zohar, mystical book authored by Simeon bar Yohai





‫ םלוע רדס‬- ‫שדח‬ Home Contact

The Six Days of the Creation Strictly speaking, this section is not and should not be part of the Seder Olam chronology. Why? Because Seder Olam only starts from the moment that God made the person called Adam, thus to say when God introduced a human being capable of carrying His representation in the world that was made.

What is new Index of names Creation

But what happened before Adam? This is what the Bible refers to the six days of the Creation. So let's consider these days for a moment. Needless to say that, from the point of vue of Atheists, there is no creator and no creation. So this site is not for those who do not believe in a creation. For the rest of us, it is still puzzling to mention "six days" when Science is proving that the Universe is about 13.8 billion years old ! As for the Earth, it is supposed to have been formed some 4 or 5 billion years ago, and it become populated by all sorts of animals such as the dinosaurs, then by some "humanoids" (the prehistorical "men") for long eras.

Generations How to reconcile both points of view? Simply put, these "six days" are not "human days", or more 1-14 correctly "Adam days". How could they be, when the first man made as "His image" was only made at Generations the end of the 6th "day"? In other words, these 6 days are "godly" days, because the only reference point by which time was measured before the arrival of Adam was God. And a "godly" day could well 15-21 correspond to billions or millions of what we now know as "days" or "years". Those who study Physics Generations already know this: time is not a constant fixed notion, because it depends of the reference point. This was demonstrated some 100 years ago by Einstein in his Theory of the Relativity. He proved that Energy and 22-28 Matter are the same thing, and that Time and Space are also another same thing. Time cannot be dissociated from the space (or reference) from which it is measured. So before Adam, there was no Generations "Adam days", only "God days". His "days" are not ours. 29-35 Generations If Science is proving to us that the whole Universe started some 13.8 billion years ago, then so be it: it only means, from God believers, that the first (God) day of the Creation occuredat that time. No 36-49 argument at all. Generation What is more interesting is that Science does not contradict the Bible... Why? Science proves to us that 50 the whole universe started with a Big Bang, meaning one spark when Time and Energy started, then Space and Matter could become formed some time later. Science calls this the Big Bang, but cannot explain why there was such single event, and believers call it the Creation, and believe that God caused it to happen. At some point, some scientists tried to check if the universe was compressing and expanding, in a sort of cyclic motion that would take billions of years to eveolve. But this has been proven to be incorrect: there was only one Big Bang, and the universe is always expanding ever since. No way back to the "start". The Bible starts with these simple three words:

-

‫( תיִׁשאֵ ְרּב‬pronounced Bereshit) which is generally translated as "At the beginning": it refers to

time and confirms the concept that some clock (God time reference) started to tick; Time was part of the Creation, so didn’t even exist before that starting point -

‫( אָרָּב‬pronounced Bara) which means "created": so here comes the word that makes the non-

believers freak out; it tells us that what has happened is not the result of some random occurrence but the direct consequence of a Creation; Bara means that there was creation -

‫( םיִהֹלֱא‬pronounced Elohim) which is the name assumed by God in His master plan of

Creation: in other word, He was the creator The order of these three words may be viewed as a hint to the proof of God. Because it tells us about a http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g00-creation.html (1 of 5) [6/11/2013 11:32:45 AM]


simple 3-step intellectual thought that everyone can have: 1- question yourself about the concept of Time, if it was always there or if it started at a point and whether there was anything before; surely Science now makes it easy for us because it proved that Time started at one point (the Big Bang) and that there was nothing "before" (as everything has expanded ever since, and that there is no way back) 2- then, if there was a one-time beginning (no cycle) as Science proves it, then this is what we can call a creation (ex nihilo)... a step that seems obvious enough; although Science cannot do such speculation, everyone else can ! What else to assume?? There was nothing before, no time, no space, no energy, no thing, and then _bang_, a big spark from nothing (ex nihilo) from which everything else started moving (time, space, energy, matter, and what will follow) 3- then, if there is a creation, there is a Creator ! Modern science is in fact very useful because, although it doesn't explain the Big Bang, it does explain what and how everything happened next. The Bible says nothing different: the Creation only happened at one time, and no more. Everything that followed was God's actions to direct, divert or channel the created world into some specific results He desired. It is in the text of the Bible itself: the word Bara (‫ )ארב‬for creation is only used in the first verse of the Bible. This is what the great Jewish thinker Nahmanides (about 1194-1270) expressed in his classic Commentary: God only created on the first moment of the first day (His day). Everything else ever since has been evolution, modulation, formation, etc. Science says the same: there was only one Big Bang. In the past 14 billion years, no such event ever occured again. Although non-believers base their thoughts upon evolution to contradict the Bible, they get it entirely wrong: evolution is all over the Bible, except for the very first verse of the first chapter of the first book. Darwin himself, their pronounced hero, was a believer and never suggested that his theory contradicted the Bible. He surely knew the Bible (unlike most of the people who try to argue against it) and could only acknowledge that there was no contradiction with the evolutionary concepts. Like with the Big Bang, we can see there is evolution, we can even measure it, but we cannot fully explain it: why does it happen. This is because, like for the Creation, God is "behind" some changes or modifications of the Creation that trigger evolution. The same goes with Life: we can surely see it is there, that plants grows, that human cells develop and multiply and stop the process at some point (what we call ageing), but can we really explain why it is like this? Surely not. We measure but cannot explain why. And the list is rather long... In Physics, we cannot explain why the gravity, why the atoms hold it together, why certain other forces exist, etc. In every case, we can measure everything and predict behaviours based on these measurements, but we cannot explain why it exists. The Bible tells us, "day by day", that God created, and then "shaped" His creation in order that it would follow His plan. Nothing was random. Some people actually calculated the probability of some simple fact of life to have occured by random fashion and could only agree that the time it would need to take far exceeds the time assumed for the Universe (14 billion years) or the Earth (4.5 billion years): in other words, even the theory of random is mathematically impossible. In other words, all what we see and measure cannot have happened by random occurrence. There was a plan that started from the Big Bang, went on with the cooling period of energy and the formation of basic matter, then onto more cooling and more matter formation to heavier elements to form the universe and the galaxies, then more cooling into these galaxies to form the stars and their systems of planets (and the Earth in the Solar system), then our planet saw the formation of inert objects and structures, then the elements to sustain Life, then Life itself, then living creatures, then… mankind. To start with, everyone knows the old saying that “the world has not been created in one day” but in 7 days. Well… God actually really created everything in one day, the first day, and didn’t need 7 days? Because there was evolution from the moment when nothing existed (the ex nihilo) to the world we know became viable after these days of Creation. This Creation was executed according to a plan, starting with According to Nahmanides, a Jewish scholar of the Middle-Ages, God only "created" on the first day. Because this was the only day when the verb of creation is used in the text: ‫ארב‬. From then on, and for all subsequent days, and for the entire world we know today, it was and has always been evolution. So what did God do the other days, if not an act of creation? He God modelled and shaped the creation, i.e. the created elements (energy and time) into what he needed to achieve… The “creation” only happened on the first day. So let’s look at what the Bible says, day by day:

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Day of Creation What happened

Which verb is used

Genesis verses

Creation of Heavens and Earth

‫ארב‬

Light

‫ רמאיו‬said

Second Day

Firmament, Waters

‫שעיו‬

Third Day

Land, Vegetation


9-13

Fourth Day

Luminaries of the sky

‫שעיו‬

14-19

Living creatures in sea and sky


Day “One”

created 1-5

made

made

Fifth Day

6-8

20-23 Great sea-monsters and reptiles

‫ ארביו‬has created

Living creatures on earth

‫שעיו‬

Original "Adam" (with both genders)

‫ השענ‬let us make

made

24-25

Sixth Day 26-31

The Biblical text of the Creation is actually corroborated by what Science has proven. It was done in the following order, or evolution: 1- The initial Big Bang, some 13.8 billion years ago: the Biblical text calls it the "Day One" and not the "First Day", because that particular day was not as the other days; the day one was "creation", and the other days were formations and evolutions; no creation ever happened after that day One; Light was not immediately created at the moment of the Big Bang, but was forced to "appear" by divine order, and extracted itself to separate from the "void and unformed"; Science recently proved that light only appeared some 380,000 years after the Big Bang.[1] And, better, it proved that, before that time, the Universe was a hot dense "soup" where basic particles such as protons and electrons would interact but not join together: in other words, this was the "Tohu and Bohu" stated in the Bible, the "unformed and void" state of the Universe. Then came the divine order: Let it be Light (Genesis 1:3). The elements started to join together and light was first emitted, and thus could escape the "soup": this is what the Biblical text refers as God dividing the light from the darkness (Genesis 1:4). 2- Formation of the firmament, meaning the stars, solar systems and their planets, and, maybe surprisingly, water as well [2] 3- On the Earth, water made space to the continents which rose above sea levels; then vegetation would start to grow 4- Then the movement of the planets in the Solar System was stabilized, and maybe the Moon was "captured" by the Earth gravity at that time, so that, altogether (Sun, Moon, Planets, Stars) would serve as luminaries for mankind to mark the passing of time and seasons 5- Then Life would finally appear, but in the sea and in the air first; this is not contradictory with Science saying that all life on Earth started from marine organisms before evolving in the air and on earth; note that this verse also mentions a "creation" (word ‫)ארביו‬: this is when God created the "sea-monsters" and the "creatures that creep"; these giant animals were "created" by God Himself to populate the sea and the earth. What were they? Maybe the legendary leviathans in the sea and the known dinosaurs on earth? 6- Finally, more creatures appear on earth, "made" out of the existing created materials; this is evolution, not creation; the Bible tells us that evolution did occur but that it was under the direction of God, because he made it happen; of course non-believers think that all evolutions happen naturally, but would it be the case? Nobody explains why mutation occurred, why creatures appeared and disappeared (multiple forms of dinosaurs, of humanoids, etc.) before we reached the point we are now. Could random evolution have created the dinosaurs? It is mathematically impossible because random theory would have required billions of years to occur, while the earth is barely 4.5 billion years old: it is not enough time to allow random occurrence for such complex living creatures. Of course one could argue that very low probability doesn't mean an event can't happen tomorrow. But it is not just one event we are facing here: http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g00-creation.html (3 of 5) [6/11/2013 11:32:45 AM]


we have tons of events, because each living specie would have required multiple random evolutions to reach a stage to differentiate one from the other. The dinosaur are very different from the sea monsters, which are very different from the flying animals. Mutating from one to another is not impossible but would require billions of years. Probability can be lucky once, twice, or more, but luck can't happen nearly infinitely to create such a diversity of species from fish to insects to complex giant creatures. Science tells us that the earth was formed about 4.5 billion years ago and that life likely started about 4 billions years ago, and that "complex life" is only about 570 million years old... This is too short a timescale for a mathematically impossible sequence of random events to have occured. Any mathematician of probabilities, if he would contemplate for a moment the meaning of this timescale, would nod the head thinking it is impossible for life to have appeared randomly, and have also evolved as fast and randomly. In summary, we should not talk about the (six) days of Creation but only about the day (one) of Creation. Everything else (except for the large animals that populated the sea and earth in the early times of the earth being formed) since that "day one" has been evolution. What about mankind and the 5000 years that the Bible is attributing to it? Science shows that humanoids appeared on Earth some hundreds of thousand years ago, until the Homo Sapiens came some 150,000 years ago. But civilization, as we know it, started when humans started to have the form of intelligence that enabled them to extract themselves from the rest of human creatures on Earth. When did this happen? Well everyone may have some opinion about it as there is no real consensus. But the Bible states that it started with a person called Adam, formed by God according to His image, and that God was able to talk to him. Speech is surely a good reference point for the start of civilized world. So the 5000 or so years of the Bible are not counted from the appearance of intelligent humanoids called the prehistorical men, but from the time God formed one particular person (out of the existing created "material", such as some humanoid extracted from the Homo Sapiens, if Science says so).



"Let there be Light" (Gustave Doré, 1868)

Notes: [1] Devlin, Hannah, "Let there be light: how the Universe looked after Big Bang", article published in The Times, Friday 22 March 2013; also in the BBC Science & Environment web site [2] We will come back to the question of the water in the chapter about the Flood Copyright © Albert Benhamou 2013 - All rights reserved.




‫ םלוע רדס‬- ‫שדח‬ Home Contact What is new

Generations 1-14 This is the period that spans from Adam to the Flood. The 14 periods of 120 years each cover up to the Hebrew year 1680, so about 2080 BCE. Click below to the generation you wish to navigate to, or you can navigate generation by generation from the first one in this list.

Index of names Remember that, to leave a comment, you can use the button Contact from the Menu on the left side. Creation

First generation - Hebrew years 1-120 - From 3760 BCE - Adam

Generations 114 (3760 - 2080 BCE)

Second generation - Hebrew years 120-240 - From 3640 BCE - Cain Third generation - Hebrew years 240-360 - From 3520 BCE - Sumer Fourth generation - Hebrew years 360-480 - From 3400 BCE - Sumer

Generations 1521 (2080 - 1240 BCE) Generations 2228 (1240 - 400 BCE)

Fifth generation - Hebrew years 480-600 - From 3280 BCE - Sumer Sixth generation - Hebrew years 600-720 - From 3160 BCE - City States Seventh generation - Hebrew years 720-840 - From 3040 BCE - Lamech, Bronze Age Eight generation - Hebrew years 840-960 - From 2920 BCE - Ancient Egypt

Generations 29- Ninth generation - Hebrew years 960-1080 - From 2800 BCE - 1st Dynasty of Egypt 35 Tenth generation - Hebrew years 1080-1200 - From 2680 BCE (400 BCE 440 CE) Eleventh generation - Hebrew years 1200-1320 - From 2560 BCE Generations 3649 (440 - 2120 CE) Generation 50 (Messianic)

Twelveth generation - Hebrew years 1320-1440 - From 2440 BCE Thirteenth generation - Hebrew years 1440-1560 - From 2320 BCE - Noah Fourteenth generation - Hebrew years 1560-1680 - From 2200 BCE - the Flood


http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-gg01.html [6/11/2013 11:32:48 AM]




This is the period that spans from the Flood until the Exodus. The 7 periods of 120 years each cover up to the Hebrew year 2520, so about 1240 BCE.

Contact Click below to the generation you wish to navigate to, or you can navigate generation by generation from the first one in this list. What is new Remember that, to leave a comment, you can use the button Contact from the Menu Index of names on the left side. Generation 15 - Hebrew years 1680-1800 - From 2080 BCE - The sons of Noah Creation Generations 114 (3760 - 2080 BCE)

Generation 16 - Hebrew years 1800-1920 - From 1960 BCE - Peoples of the earth, Akkad, Ur-Nammu Generation 17 - Hebrew years 1920-2040 - From 1840 BCE - Hammurabi, Tower of Babel, Abraham, Covenant

Generations 15- Generation 18 - Hebrew years 2040-2160 - From 1720 BCE - Sodom, Sarah, Isaac, Esau 21 (2080 - 1240 Generation 19 - Hebrew years 2160-2280 - From 1600 BCE - Jacob, Leah, BCE) Rachel, Joseph Generations 22Generation 20 - Hebrew years 2280-2400 - From 1480 BCE - Slavery in Egypt, 28 Thutmose IV (1240 - 400 BCE) Generation 21 - Hebrew years 2400-2520 - From 1360 BCE - Akhenaten, Moses, Exodus, Joshua Generations 2935 (400 BCE 440 CE) Generations 3649 (440 - 2120 CE) Generation 50 (Messianic)






This is the period that spans from the period of the Judges until the Exile in Babylon. The 7 periods of 120 years each cover up to the Hebrew year 3360, so about 400 BCE. Click below to the generation you wish to navigate to, or you can navigate generation by generation from the first one in this list.

Index of names Remember that, to leave a comment, you can use the button Contact from the Menu on the left side. Creation Generations 114 (3760 - 2080 BCE)

Generation 22 - Hebrew years 2520-2640 - From 1240 BCE - Judges (Othniel, Ehud, Gideon, Deborah) Generation 23 - Hebrew years 2640-2760 - From 1120 BCE - Judges (Jair, Samson, Yiftah), Kingdom (Saul, David, Solomon) Generation 24 - Hebrew years 2760-2880 - From 1000 BCE - Kings (Jeroboam, Asa, Omri, Ahab, Jehu, Prophet Elijah)

Generations 1521 Generation 25 - Hebrew years 2880-3000 - From 880 BCE - King (Joash, Azariah, (2080 - 1240 Menahem) BCE) Generations 22- Generation 26 - Hebrew years 3000-3120 - From 760 BCE - Fall of Israel (TiglathPileser, Sennacherib), Hezekiah 28 (1240 - 400 Generation 27 - Hebrew years 3120-3240 - From 640 BCE - Fall of Judah BCE) (Nebuchadnezzar, Josiah, Zedekiah, Jeremiah, Daniel), Captivity of Babylon, Cyrus of Persia Generations 2935 Generation 28 - Hebrew years 3240-3360 - From 520 BCE - Return to Sion (400 BCE 440 CE) Generations 3649 (440 - 2120 CE) Generation 50 (Messianic)






This is the period that spans over the period of the Greek and the Roman empires that lead to the Diaspora of the Jewish nation. The 7 periods of 120 years each cover up to the Hebrew year 4320, so about 440 CE. Click below to the generation you wish to navigate to, or you can navigate generation by generation from the first one in this list.

Index of names Remember that, to leave a comment, you can use the button Contact from the Menu on the left side. Creation

Generation 29 - Hebrew years 3360-3480 - From 400 BCE - Alexander the Great

Generations 114 (3760 - 2080 BCE)

Generation 30 - Hebrew years 3480-3600 - From 280 BCE - Ptolemaic and Seleucid empires, revolt of the Maccabees Generation 31 - Hebrew years 3600-3720 - From 160 BCE - Hasmonean dynasty

Generations 15- Generation 32 - Hebrew years 3720-3840 - From 40 BCE - Herod, Agrippa, Jesus, War of the Jews 21 (2080 - 1240 Generation 33 - Hebrew years 3840-3960 - From 80 CE - Bar-Kochba BCE) Generations 22- Generation 34 - Hebrew years 4080-4200 - From 200 CE - Diaspora and the fall of Rome 28 (1240 - 400 Generation 35 - Hebrew years 4200-4320 - From 320 CE - Christianity BCE) Generations 2935 (400 BCE 440 CE) Generations 3649 (440 - 2120 CE) Generation 50 (Messianic)






This is the period that spans from the Diaspora of the Jewish nation to its return to Sion. The 14 periods of 120 years each cover up to Messianic times.

Contact Click below to the generation you wish to navigate to, or you can navigate generation by generation from the first one in this list. What is new Remember that, to leave a comment, you can use the button Contact from the Menu Index of names on the left side. Creation Generations 114 (3760 - 2080 BCE) Generations 1521 (2080 - 1240 BCE) Generations 2228 (1240 - 400 BCE) Generations 2935 (400 BCE 440 CE)

Note that this section and its related pages are currently UNDER CONSTRUCTION, so several links won't work at the present time. Generation 36 - Hebrew years 4200-4320 - From 440 CE - Byzantine Generation 37 - Hebrew years 4320-4440 - From 560 CE - Islam and Jihad Generation 38 - Hebrew years 4440-4560 - From 680 CE - The Moors Generation 39 - Hebrew years 4560-4680 - From 800 CE - Charlemagne Generation 40 - Hebrew years 4680-4800 - From 920 CE - Middle-Age Generation 41 - Hebrew years 4800-4920 - From 1040 CE - Crusades Generation 42 - Hebrew years 4920-5040 - From 1160 CE - Maimonides Generation 43 - Hebrew years 5040-5160 - From 1280 CE - Mysticism Generation 44 - Hebrew years 5160-5280 - From 1400 CE - New World Generation 45 - Hebrew years 5280-5400 - From 1520 CE - Renaissance Generation 46 - Hebrew years 5400-5520 - From 1640 CE - Old Regime

Generations 3649 (440 - 2120 CE)

Generation 47 - Hebrew years 5520-5640 - From 1760 CE - Emancipation Generation 48 - Hebrew years 5640-5760 - From 1880 CE - Sion

Generation 50 (Messianic)

Generation 49 - Hebrew years 5760-5880 - From 2000 CE - Messianic






Under construction

Contact What is new Index of names Creation Generations 114 Generations 1521 Generations 2228 Generations 2935 Generations 3649 Generation 50


http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g50-messianic.html [6/11/2013 11:33:02 AM]



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Hebrew years 1560 to 1680 (2200-2080 BCE)

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From Adam to Noah What is new Index of names

In Hebrew year 1651 (2109 BCE), Lemech died at the age of 777. Then his father Metushalach died in 1656, reaching the longest human life duration of 969. Because he walked in the path of God, God postponed His decree to eradicate His creation. But more importantly, Metushalach lived long enough to be of good influence over Sem, Noah’s first son: Metushalach died when Sem was already 100 years old.

Creation

The generations from Adam until the Flood have been as follows:

Generations 1-14 Generations 15-21 Generations 22-28 Generations 29-35 Generations http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g14-flood.html (1 of 11) [6/11/2013 11:33:13 AM]


36-49 Generation 50

Noah's Ark The scene was now set for God’ s punishment: the Flood. God ordered Noah to build an ark, some years before, maybe soon after Lemech’s death in 1651. The ark was to be made of gopher wood and coated with kopher (Genesis 6:14). Both words are similar in their Hebrew roots: gopher is written

‫ רֶפֹג‬and kopher is ‫רֶפֹּכ‬, the difference being the first letter.[1] We can assume that both

materials were of course complementing each other in the same role of keeping the ark afloat and dry in the inside. But the word

‫ רֶפֹג‬is the root for Sulphur, and the word ‫ רֶפֹּכ‬is the root for "expiation".

There is another parallel between the detailed orders from God to Noah to build the ark, with what materials to build it and with which dimensions: it is with the detailed orders from God to the Hebrew people in the desert on how to build the Tabernacle, after the Exodus. This gives a strong suggestion that God saved His creation at the time of Noah, in the same way that God will later save the Hebrew people at the time of Moses. And that this divine salvation came as an expiation for previous sins. http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g14-flood.html (2 of 11) [6/11/2013 11:33:13 AM]


There is also another parallel between the main characters of both stories, the Flood and the Exodus: Noah was saved from the Flood with the ark, and Moses will be saved from the Nile waters with the cradle. The English translation of both words doesn't highlight anything particular but, in fact, both words ark and cradle use the same Hebrew word: Teva

‫הָבֵּת‬. And this word is not used anywhere else in the entire Bible except for these two occurrences: this shows that

the divine salvation, seen as an expiation in both case, have been unique in our History. The ark’s dimensions were as follows: And this is how you will do it: 300 cubits for the length of the ark, 50 cubits for its width, and 30 cubits for its height. --- Genesis 6:15 The cubit was one of the first measures of length used during the Antiquity and several rods were found in Egypt and Turkey as a sample of its length. The cubit was based on a human feature that would be common everywhere: it was roughly the length of a human arm, so about half of a meter. It was also divided in units, of the size of one palm (hand width), and subunits being the size of a finger’s width. These were convenient human-based measurements for constructions in these old times, even if not accurate.

Egyptian cubit, about 52 cm long ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 1656 – 2104 BCE – The Flood http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g14-flood.html (3 of 11) [6/11/2013 11:33:13 AM]


The ark was completed when Metushalach died in Hebrew year 1656 (2104 BCE). Noah was then 600 years old and Shem was 100 years old. Then, at that time, continuous rain started to fall upon the earth: Noah was six hundred years old and the Flood was water upon the earth. --- Genesis 7:6 This verse is Genesis 7:6 so it is the 6th verse of the 7th chapter of Genesis. And the 5th word of this verse is the word

‫)לּוּבַּמ‬. The divine punishment came upon the earth by the word Flood in position 7:6:5 in the Biblical text.

Flood (

Maybe there is a message behind this particular sequence: the Creation was done in 7 days and included the Shabbat, the 7th day, which was supposed to be the spiritual day for mankind; but mankind erred and behaved as a mere human being as God created him in the 6th day; but then mankind sinned in greater ways to the point that it turned the Creation back to the animal behaviour, as God created them in the 5th day. The sequence 7 > 6 > 5 symbolized the descent of mankind from a purpose-made spiritual life into the abyss of animal behaviour. This is when God had to intervene and stop the decadence of His Creation. The fact that this sequence is symbolised in three steps also means that the decadence was complete.[2] In the 600th year of Noah’s life, in the 2nd month, in the 17th day of the month, on that day, all the springs of the great abyss busted and the windows of the skies opened up. --- Genesis 7:11 The waters that fell upon the earth were waters that were brought in by God, and were not rain waters that resulted from climatic conditions on earth. Already in the tale of the Creation, it is mentioned that the waters created then were separated in two parts: one part consisted of waters that "were above the firmament." (Genesis 1:7) The firmament is the atmosphere that protects the earth. The waters "above it" are waters that came from space. Science is looking for proofs of the presence of water on the planets of the Solar Systems, but there is plenty of water in the Solar System itself ! For example, water and dust is what compose the comets that orbit in our system. The Tunguska Event that occurred in Siberia in 1908 can give us an idea of what a relatively small ball of ice,[3] which was only a mere fragment from a comet, can do to Earth when it collides with it. The blast was as powerful as 1000 times the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima ! And the Solar System is full of comets and meteorites. In the 1980s, the number of them thought to be in the hundreds. Twenty years later, it was thought to be in the thousands. The truth is that we do not know for sure how many comets are in the Solar System. There are today over 7000 asteroids which have been discovered and it is estimated that there are at least 400,000 of them with a radius over 1 km. One expert from NASA even stated that our Solar System may contain "billions of moving bodies beside the planets and satellites" and he went on describing comets as "dirty ice balls".[4] Another report states that the Oort Cloud is "estimated to contain trillions of comets."[5] The Oort Cloud orbits the Solar System at about 1 light-year it and is predominantly composed of ice (comets). http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g14-flood.html (4 of 11) [6/11/2013 11:33:13 AM]


The icy Oort Cloud with the Solar System at the centre In addition, if we go further out in the Universe, astronomers have found in 2011 a mass of water located at 12 billion light years from the Solar System, and which is nearly as old as the Universe itself: this mass contains "140 trillion times more water that all of Earth’s oceans combined."[6] The simple conclusion is that there is plenty of water inside and outside our Solar System, however we wish to interpret these Biblical words that waters "were above the firmament", which, for sure, means at least that they were outside the view of our naked eye. The continuous rain started on the 17th day of the 2nd month and stopped at the end of the 3rd month. And the rain was upon the earth for forty days and forty nights. --- Genesis 7:12 Interestingly, the text shows a reverse order from the one used in the days of the Creation when each "day" was completed by the expression "there was evening, there was morning." With the Flood, the expression is "forty days and forty nights", as http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g14-flood.html (5 of 11) [6/11/2013 11:33:13 AM]


it is signified a de-Creation process. And it was so: with the Flood, God also removed some qualities that His Creation had been previously given, such as an extent of free will to all parts of the Creation, earth, water, animals, plants, etc. And yet there is hope. Because the punishment lasted for 40 days. The number 40 is significant in Jewish tradition as it corresponds to the coming of the age of reason. Indeed, it took 40 years for the Hebrews to wander in the desert as a punishment after the Exodus, until they could then be allowed to enter the Promised Land.[7] It may not be surprising that the Hebrew letter which has 40 for value is the letter ‫ מ‬because this is the letter that is exactly positioned at the middle of the Hebrew alphabet,[8] therefore the letter which is pivotal and provides equilibrium between two antagonisms, equally balanced. In other words, 40 days of Flood meant that God considered that, after this time had elapsed, mankind had paid the price of punishment, and that a new chapter of His Creation would be started. But the return to normal life was not an easy process, because the waters didn’t die out quietly. Instead they had to be forced to, as it is illustrated by the details of the text that proved that God had to impose His will against the waters that He unleashed upon the earth:

‫ ּ)וּכֹׁשָּיַו‬. And the springs of the great abyss and the windows of the skies took a toll (‫ )ּורְכָּסִּיַו‬and the rain was imprisoned (‫ )אֵלָּכִּיַו‬from the heavens. And the waters came back above the earth, were going and coming back. And the waters ceased (‫ )ּובֻׁשָּיַו‬at the very end God caused a spirit to pass over the earth and the waters appeased (

of one hundred and fifty days. --- Genesis 8:1-3 We can only see how the ending of the Flood was not an easy task (even if some of the text is obscure at the reading), as the waters once unleashed would not stop until God finally put a stop to their on-going rampage when they refused to recede. Only then the waters started to retrieve and reduce their strength continuously. And the ark came to a rest, after 150 days of ordeal, on top of Mount Ararat.[9] And the ark came to rest on the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat. The waters were going and diminishing until the tenth month. In the tenth [month], on the first [day] of the month, the tops of the mountains became visible. --- Genesis 8:4-5

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Mount Ararat, seen from Armenia (photo: Martin Gray, National Geographic) Forty days later, Noah sent a dove for the first time, but the bird returned as it couldn’t find dry land. Noah waited 7 more days and tried again. The dove came back to the ark again but, this time, with a branch of olive tree. Then, after waiting another week, and trying again, the dove didn’t come back. In the Talmud, the dove has become the symbol of Israel: Because the Congregation of Israel is likened to a dove, as it is said, as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her pinions with yellow gold [Psalms LXVIII, 14], just as a dove is protected by its wings, so with the Israelites, their precepts protect them. --- Talmud, Shabbat 130a Noah then opened the ark on the 601th year of his life, on the first day of the first month of that year, meaning the Rosh Hashanah day of Hebrew year 1657. But they only came out of the ark on the 27th day of the 2nd month, waiting for http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g14-flood.html (7 of 11) [6/11/2013 11:33:13 AM]


the land to be totally dry. But, in fact, God had to intervene and ordered them out: God spoke to Noah saying: "Come out from the ark." --- Genesis 8:15-16 The story of the Flood has been found in many ancient civilizations, from the Mesopotamian earliest ones but also from other cultures such as the Pre-Colombians. It was one of the very first story that was recorded in human texts, which is probably a proof of its happening because of the obvious psychological impact it left on the ancient human race. In Mesopotamia, the same story has been found in many cuneiform texts (written on clay tablets) of which the famous Epic of Gilgamesh which was a story told and recorded over most of the Antiquity. The tablets found with this story have been dated of about the 18th century BCE but they tell of a story that was supposed to have happened earlier than their recording, before 2500 BCE, which is sufficiently contemporary with the Biblical account of the Flood. Beside the Flood, the epic contains other similarities with the Biblical account of Creation, and narrates what happened to a human hero called Gilgamesh. Here are some extracts from the earliest tablets found with this text:[10] Epic of Gilgamesh

Bible

Anu [the main god] granted him [Gilgamesh] the totality of knowledge of all

The tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden

He brought information [of the time] before the Flood

God told Noah ahead of time that He will bring the Flood and when it will occur

[He] who explored the world regions, seeking li

The human race populated the entire world

[He] who restored the sanctuaries [or cities] that the Flood had destroyed

Some of the survivors of the Flood went back to the old cities and restored them

[…] for teeming mankind

The human race is tasked to grow and populate

Stars of the sky appeared and some kind of meteorite(?) God brought waters from "above the of Anu fell next to me firmament" [comets?] to flood the earth



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After the Flood In the Sumerian King List,[11] there is a clear distinction made about rulers before the Flood, who had long life spans, and the rulers after the Flood, who had much reduced life spans. This is compatible with the Biblical account as seen below for the lifetime of the main Biblical characters where a clear reduction started from Shem, son of Noah:

After the Flood, evil was still present in mankind. Not all three sons of Noah were equal in character. When Noah got drunk from a vine he planted, and was naked, Canaan, Cham’s son, humiliated his grand-father. But Shem took the initiative to cover their father’s nakedness without looking on, and engaged Yafeth to help him. When Noah recovered from his state, he got angry: And he said: "Cursed be Canaan, a slave of slaves shall he be to his brothers." http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g14-flood.html (9 of 11) [6/11/2013 11:33:13 AM]


And he said: "Blessed be God, the God of Shem, and let Canaan be a slave to him. Let God embellish Yafeth, let him dwell in the tents of Shem, and let Canaan be a slave to him." --- Genesis 9:25-27 The three sons of Noah then parted from each other in three different directions, probably as a mean to avoid any future conflict and the application of the curse from Noah. According to traditions, Cham went down to Africa, Yafeth went over to Europe, and Shem remained in Asia. The world started to re-populate from the three sons of Noah, and his sixteen grandsons. Genesis 10 gives an account of the generations since the Flood.[12]

Notes: [1] While nobody knows for certain what gopher wood may have been, it is generally admitted that kopher was a sort of pitch or resin to keep the ark water-proof. [2] In Jewish tradition, the number 3 is synonymous of totalness or completion; examples are numerous: three judges are necessary to cast a judgment in court, three prayers complete the day, three festivals complete the Jewish year, 3 patriarchs, and so on. [3] It was small because it was estimated to be of about 100 meter radius. [4] Short, Nicholas M., Asteroids and Comets, 2002, for the article online, click here. [5] Yep, Jeffrey, Number of Comets, The Physics Factbook, 2009, for the article online, click here. [6] NBCNews.com, Largest, oldest mass of water in the universe discovered, 2011, for the article online, click here. [7] Similarly, it took 40 days for Moses to remain on Mount Sinai and to receive the divine word, the Torah. It is at the age of 40 that a man is allowed to start the study the Kabbalah. It also not before the age of 40 that Rabbi Akiva started to study of the Torah. And, in Jewish tradition, it takes 40 days for a foetus to be considered "human" (meaning that the spiritual faculties are formed) and therefore a time from which it would be considered as a murder to abort a pregnancy. [8] The Hebrew alphabet contains 22 letters, but 5 of them are doubled with final forms; the letter ‫ מ‬is located at the centre of the extended alphabet of 27 letters, with 13 letters before and 13 letters after; we can also note that 13 is the age of Bar-Mitzvah for the Jewish boys, which is the passage from childhood to adulthood, a maturity in other words. [9] Mount Ararat is located in Turkey and culminates at 5165m (about 17,000 ft); some expedition has found wooden http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g14-flood.html (10 of 11) [6/11/2013 11:33:13 AM]


frames quite high up on this mountain, and speculated it came from Noah’s Ark; for the article online, click here. [10] To read the Epic of Gilgamesh online, click here. [11] The Sumerian King List is the record of rulers and dynasties from Sumer, the oldest human civilization; it is available online in Wikipedia. [12] Some have also speculated over the various people of the ancient world and their possible lineage to one of the three sons of Noah;see this Table of Nations online in Wikipedia. Next generation Top of Page






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Generation 17

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Hebrew years 1920 to 2040 (1840-1720 BCE) This generation is marked by the return to God's involvement in His creation through the character of Abraham.


Year 1948 – 1812 BCE – Birth of Abram Terach, son of Nachor, was 70 years when he begot Abram, Nachor and Haran, in year 1948. And here are the generations of Terach. Terach begot Abram, Nachor and Haran, and Haran begot Lot. --- Genesis 10:27

Generations Abram was the oldest of these three sons. Nachor was named after Terach’s father, Nachor (the elder). At the time, the 1-14 latter was about 100 years old and just had a few more years to live because, possibly, he was getting ill, a condition unknown to mankind before but that would the result of God’s will to reduce human lifetime. Terach named his second Generations son, Nachor (the younger), after his father in order to influence fate and prolong his name, if not his life. Then Terach 15-21 begot Haran who will be the first of the three sons to marry and have a child, Lot. Generations 22-28 Generations 29-35 Generations 36-49 Generation 50

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Year 1968 – 1792 BCE – Nimrod At the time, the city of Ur and the whole region were under the rule of the first powerful post-Flood man to rise. He built a kingdom in the valley of Shinaar, with his capital which he called Babel: And Cush [son of Cham] begot Nimrod; he started to be a ruler (‫ )רבג‬on earth. He was a ruler (‫ )רבג‬hunting in the face of God, and so it is said: "Like Nimrod a hero (‫ )רובג‬hunter in the face of God." And the start of his kingdom was Babel, then Erekh, then Akkad, then Chalneh in the land of Shinaar. From that land, Ashur [son of Shem] came forth and built Nineveh and Rehovoth-Yir, and then Resen between Nineveh and Calah’, the big city. --- Genesis 10:8-12 Like his predecessors, in the same region than before the Flood, Nimrod had established new religious beliefs based on idolatry, as it obviously served his purpose to rule over the minds and the people by presenting himself as guided by these gods. In the Babylonian history, one of the greatest rulers of these times was Hammurabi who reigned for 42 years. He is remembered in History as the one who vastly expanded the kingdom of Babylon for the first time. This Hammurabi was most certainly the Biblical Nimrod. He started to reign in year 1792 BCE and will reign for a long period of 42 years, until 1750 BCE.

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Year 1996 – 1764 BCE – The Tower of Babel In the year 1764 BCE, Hammurabi succeeded to repel the threat from the neighbouring Elam kingdom, thanks to an alliance he made with the states of Southern Mesopotamia. He then turned against them and absorbed this region to his realm, conquering the city-states of Ur, Larsa and more. He established a central power from his capital city of Babylon, the Babel of the Bible. Then Hammurabi went too far in his quest of grandeur. In Babylon, he decided to erect a tower high up to reach the sky: And it was that all the earth was one language and common matters. And it was that they travelled from where they were and found a valley in the land of Shinaar. They settled there. And one man said to another: “Come, let us make bricks and burn them in fire.” And the bricks served them as stones, and the bitumen served them as mortar. And they said: “Come; let us build a city and a tower with its head in the sky. And this will make us a name, lest we would be dispersed on the face of the earth.” God came down to see the city and the tower that the sons of Adam had built. God said: “Behold, they are one people with one language for all of them, and this is what they started to do. And now, they will not fortify from all what they have initiated to do. Come, let us descend and let us confuse there their language, so that one would not understand the language from another.” And God dispersed them from there on the face of the earth, and they stopped building the city. This is why it was called Babel (‫ )לבב‬because there God confused (‫ )ללב‬the language of the whole earth and from there God scattered them on the face of the whole earth. --- Genesis 11:2-9 The common matters of the text may refer to the Code imposed by Hammurabi to unify the rules of the world. The event of the Tower of Babel and the subsequent dispersion took place in the year 1996, the year when Peleg died in Ur. He was soon followed by Nachor the elder who died there in 1997. Lot, son of Haran, was probably born at that time. What happened with this family?



The generations from the Flood to Babel ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 1996 – 1764 BCE – The Code of Hammurabi Hammurabi is also recorded in Ancient History as the ruler who first created a new set of laws known as the Hammurabi’s Code. This policy probably became a necessity to unify his realm despite the confusion of languages and customs. His Code was however borrowed from Ur, a city-state that he had conquered like the rest of the regions of Mesopotamia. It is in Ur that the parents of Terach had settled and Hammurabi probably involved their family as priests for his new cult.[1] It is from them that Hammurabi took the concept of codification of laws. Indeed, the oldest recorded code of laws came from Ur, not from Babylon, and is called the Code of Ur-Nammu. It was created around 2100 BCE by the founder of the Dynasty of Ur that was started after the Flood. Hammurabi surely thought that this idea of a code would greatly help him consolidate his newly conquered and vast kingdom. Where did this idea of codifying some "laws" came from? According to Jewish tradition, Noah established rules, dictated by God, for his sons and descendants to follow after the Flood, before they went to scatter on earth. These so-called Noachide Laws included the command not to murder a man, directly commanded by God to all mankind: Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed. --- Genesis 9:6 And it happens that this divine commandment to the generation of Noah and his sons is the first rule of the Code of UrNammu. At the time of this code of Ur, around 2100 BCE, the living patriarch was Arpachshad, son of Shem. He was the one who founded the post-Flood Ur. So he had learned first hand, from his father Shem and grandfather Noah the divine commandments to mankind. His family followed this code, called the Noachide Laws.

The court of Ur-Nammu, ca. 2100 BCE In fact, these ancient codes of Mesopotamia emulated the Noachide Laws and extended them to punish a transgressor for the same act that he did. As Hammurabi/Nimrod wanted to show himself as the greatest ruler of all times, even above the gods (and God), and make a name for him, he did created his own code of laws. And he did so by impressing his contemporaries by asserting that his laws were dictated by God:



Prologue from Hammurabi's Code[2] In the prologue to his code, Hammurabi declares himself appointed by Enlil,[3] to make a justice that will prevail over the land. Further, in the code, the concept of an eye for an eye and of a tooth for a tooth is also stated (code articles 196 and 200 respectively), a concept which also guided the Noachide Laws. This type of law was known in Canaan too, as a recent discovery in the ancient city of Hazor, Northern Israel, has demonstrated.[4] ~~~~~~~~~~

Hammurabi on his throne (Musée du Louvre) ~~~~~~~~~~



Year 1996 – 1764 BCE – The sacrifice of Haran Nachor the elder, like his father Sherug, were important men of the city-state of Ur, probably priests for the city idol gods. His son Terach was probably asked to sacrifice his new-born grandson Lot in order to please the gods after these unexpected deaths of the elders (Nachor and Sherug) at a time when men lived much longer lives (such as Arpachshad, the probable founder of Ur,[5] being still alive). Their early deaths were perceived as a punishment from the gods and this required sacrifice to appease them. Sherug, Terach’s grand-father, was still alive and demanded this sacrifice from his own family, after the deaths of both his father and his son and maybe out of the fear that death will also come after him soon. But Lot’s father, Haran, the younger brother of Abram, preferred to give his life instead of offering his son, and accepted the sacrifice in his place. This is why the text says: And Haran died in front of his father Terach in the land where he was born, in Ur-Kasdim. --- Genesis 11:28 The specific mention in front of his father Terach meant that he died by the hands of his father, in a sacrificial event that was forced upon him. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2000 – 1760 BCE – Start of a new era for mankind Two millennia had passed since the Creation. These millennia were devoted to the emergence of mankind, made at the image of God. But most of it was failure as people turned away from God. Yet there was hope. Abram came to the world and was now 52 years old: this age represents twice the numerical value of God's name (26). The next two millennia will witness the emergence of a new era where the "path of God" will emerge after the first dark ages of mankind. Terach must have felt guilt for sacrificing his youngest son who was the only one of his three sons to have taken a wife and had children, and who himself preferred to spare the life of his own son Nachor. So he decided to correct the matters and to leave the land of his fathers: And he [Terach] took women for Abram and Nachor [the younger]; Abram’s wife was called Sarai, and Nachor’s wife was called Milca, daughter of Haran, father of Milca and father of Yisca. And Sarai was sterile, and she did not have a child. And Terach took his son Abram, and his grandson Lot, son of Haran, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, wife of his son Abram, and they left Ur-Kasdim together to go to the land of Canaan; and they arrived at Charan, and settled there. --- Genesis 11:29-31 So just before his departure from the city of Ur, Terach took wives for his two remaining sons, Abram and Nachor. Sarai was a daughter of Terach from another wife, so was a half-sister of Abram.[6] As of Milca, the Biblical text explains that she was the daughter of Haran, brother of Abram and Nachor. So Nachor was given his niece, who was the sister of Lot. According to some commentators, Sarai and Yisca was the same person. But this would be in contradiction with the further explanation from Abram that Sarai was his half-sister and that Yisca was the daughter of Haran, Abram's brother. Terach had the intent to go to Canaan because, presumably, he wanted to return to the tradition and religion of his ancestor, Shem, who was still alive and living in the land of Canaan. But he stopped half way, in the north of the Mesopotamian region, in a place where he decided to settle: he named this place Charan, after the name of his sacrificed son Haran.[7] The two names are written as follows in Hebrew: The difference is in one letter,

‫ ןָרָה‬for Haran the son, and ‫ ןָרָח‬for Charan the place.

‫ ה‬and ‫ח‬, which is the same difference of letter for Chametz and Matzah, the two different

breads mentioned during the Jewish festival of Passover: the former (Chametz) represents the corrupted Nature and the second (Matzah) the pure Nature. The clear message is that, although he started with good intent, Terach stopped on his way to redemption, and remained in the sin. These two millennia are also represented by the 20 human generations from Adam to Abram. The first 10 generations from Adam to Noah were: Ada > Set > Enosh > Kenan > Mahalalel > Jared > Hanoch > Hanosh > Metushalach > Lemech > Noah. The next 10 generations from Noah to Abram were: Shem > Arpachshad > Shelah > Eber > Reu'> Peleg > Sherug > Nachor > Terach > Abram. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2006 – 1754 BCE – Death of Noah Noah died 350 years after the Flood: this was the Hebrew year 2006. He enjoyed greater longevity than people who came after him as he died at the age of 950. In Canaan, Shem was still alive and will remain alive until he would be able to pass the knowledge of God onto a spiritual heir, who will be Abram.

Year 2010 – 1750 BCE – Death of Hammurabi After Hammurabi’s death in 1750 BCE (Hebrew year 2010), his son Samsu-Iluna succeeded him. The powerful kingdom of Babylon then started to show signs of weakness when several city-states started to rebel against the central power in the http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g17-abraham.html (5 of 9) [6/11/2013 11:33:35 AM]


course of several years. Some large regions, such as Elam and Assur, managed to obtain relative independence with their own king, but remained vassals and allies of Babylon. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2023 – 1737 BCE – God speaks to Abram In the Hebrew year 2023, in Charan, God spoke to Abram, the first man He spoke to since He had instructed Noah and his sons them to populate the earth after the Flood and when He gave them the basic laws of human behaviour (the "Noachide Laws"). Abram was 75 years old: God said to Abram: "Go for yourself, from your land, from your relatives, and from the house of your father, to the land I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make a great name of you, and you shall be a blessing. And I will bless those who will bless you, and him who will curse I will curse him, and all the families of mankind will be blessed with you." And Abram went when God spoke to him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Charan. And Abram took with him his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all their properties that they acquired and the soul that they made in Charan. And they left to go to the land of Canaan, and they arrived to the land of Canaan. Abram passed in the land until the site of Shechem until Elon Moreh, and the Canaanite was then in the land. And God appeared to Abram and said: "To your offspring I will give this land." And he built there an altar for God who appeared to him. --- Genesis 12:1-7 Abram was ready to receive God’s word because, there in Charan, he had made a soul, different from the house of his father. This is why God told him Go for yourself because Abram was ready to find the answers about existence that he asked himself. Then God talked to him, to guide him. The year of this call from God, and Abram's immediate departure as Abram went when God spoke to him, is determined as Hebrew year 2023, because the text mentions that Abram was 75 years old at the time. Abram and his wife had settled in the south of the land of Canaan, at the edge of the desert of the Negev, away from the Canaanite neighbours who may be cause of trouble for them. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2024 – 1736 BCE – Abram in Egypt A famine soon desolated the land of Canaan. It was a trial for Abram, but he and his wife moved down to Egypt to sojourn there. This was a sin, because God had extracted Abram with the wish for him to settle in the land I will show you. But within the year of his arrival, Abram had already left ! But can one human defy God's designs? The famine that havocked the land of Canaan also affected Egypt which was weakened by reductions in the Nile levels at the time. In addition, the country passed through political instability at the end of the 12th Dynasty which left no heir. A new Dynasty, the 13th, started during a period of decline and instability in Egypt called the Second Intermediate Period. [8] Historians know little about this period of transition, except that some rulers were Semitic foreigners who invaded the Nile delta, and the first of them was called Khendjer.[9] His real name was written HNZR equivalent to the Semitic word for ha-nazir (‫ )רצנה‬which means the scion, and not the boar or pig as others have stated which would be quite derogatory for a name. This ruler came as an invader because, maybe, the famine also affected his native land at the time and he sought to invade another region where his followers could settle. The valley of the Nile offered this pool of water that was a regional refuge during severe draughts. When he went down to Egypt, Abram had his wife Sarai taken from him because of her beauty. The court of a semitic Pharaoh probably thought that he would like to have her as a wife because she was from the same ethnicity as him. But God intervened, caused a plague among the court of Egypt and the Pharaoh, maybe the successor of the one who took Sarai, released her and protected her husband Abram, allowing him to enrich in his country (Genesis 12:10-20). But Abram, probably conscious that he had other destiny, remained less than one year in Egypt before returning to Canaanin Hebrew year 2024 (1736 BC). According to historical chronologies of Egypt, the ruling Pharaoh at that time was Sobekhotep IV, who reigned for 10 years and, because of his attitude towards Abram and Sarai, he may have been blessed in his endeavours as he is considered to have been the most powerful king of the 13th Dynasty.[10] After his return from Egypt, much wealthier than when he had left Canaan, Abram settled in the place he was before, a hilly country of today's Samaria, between Beth-El and Ai. But his nephew Lot, also wealthy, opted to settle in the Jordan valley, where the Dead Sea is today, because of the presence of a lot of water in this area before it was destroyed with Sodom. ~~~~~~~~~~



Year 2030 – 1730 BCE – Rebellion against Babylon In the 20th year of the reign of Samsu-Iluna, which started in 1750 BCE after Hammurabi's death, the rebellion spread to more remote parts of the empire. In the land of Canaan, all the cities rejected the allegiance to the king of Elam, vassal of Babylon, the so-called king Kedar-LaOmer in the Bible (Genesis 14:1), who was Kudur-Lagamar from the Elamite dynasties. This king called upon the king of Babylon, Amraphel in the Bible, for military support. The king of Assyria and the king of Goyim[11] joined them in what was the campaign of four powerful kings against five small kings who had rebelled in the land of Canaan. They obviously defeated these five kings in the Valley of Siddim, which used to be where the city of Sodom was, where the Dead Sea is today in Israel. This battle took place in the 20th year after the death of Hammurabi, so in 1730 BCE, Hebrew year 3020.[12] After wrecking the land, they started their return by heading north. Lot, Abram’s nephew, was among the many captives. But Abram and his 318 trained men born in his house (Genesis 14:14), intervened at night and attacked successfully the large enemy camp to free the captives, and then they pursued their enemies even further north (Genesis 14:15-16). This success would not have happened without God's intervention, because of the big difference in number between Abram's small army and the combined forces of four powerful kings who just defeated the alliance of five Canaanite kings. Indeed the expression trained men born in his house refers to disciples who were spiritually raised by Abram to walk with God. Abram was greeted upon his return and the Canaanite kings paid tribute to him. Another king to pay tribute, but who was not in the coalition, was Melchi-Zedek: And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine; and he was priest of God the Most High. And he blessed him, and said: 'Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Maker of heaven and earth; and blessed be God the Most High, who hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand.' And he gave him a tenth of all. --- Genesis 14:18-20 Melchi-Zedek is stated in the Biblical text as being the king of Salem (the location of the future city of Jerusalem), and that a high priest to the god almighty (Genesis 14:18). Presumably this Melki-Zedek was Shem who, at the time of these events, was still alive in the land of Canaan, and was about 450 years old. He was one of the last ancestors still alive and had been a guide to Abram: he was the sole surviving witness of the Flood. With this victory of Abram, with such a small number of disciples compared to the vast army of enemies, Shem could acknowledge that Abram was protected and guided by God and thus was the spiritual heir he had been longing for. ~~~~~~~~~~

About Year 2031 – 1729 BCE – God makes an alliance with Abraham In a series of visions that probably started in Hebrew year 2028 (when Abram was 78 years old, because this age represents three times the numerical value of God's name), God appeared to Abram and addressed to him eight paroles. In one of them, God announced Himself as follows: And He said unto him: 'I am the Lord that brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give you this land to inherit it.' --- Genesis 15:7 One could ask, why did God mention that He brought Abram out of Ur? The previous mention of this departure from Ur was rather as follows: And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his son's son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan. --- Genesis 11:31 So God's statement to Abram was to say that He had been the designer behind Terah's departure. This explains why Terah had plans to go specifically to Canaan. God must have addressed Himself to the father of Abram to leave Ur and go to Canaan. But Terah stopped on his way, in Charan, and later God revealed Himself to Abram. But this sentence is chiefly a direct reference to the future, when God will bring the descendants of Abraham out of Egypt, for example in the following: 'I am the Lord your God who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, to be your God.' --- Leviticus 25:28 In this vision, or this series of visions, God told Abram that his offspring will be form a big nation but that they will go through some ordeal: And it came to pass, that, when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, behold, a dread, even a great darkness, fell upon him. And He said to Abram: "Know for certainty that your offspring will be stranger in a land that will not belong to them; and they will be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years. And also the nation that will make them work, I will judge it. And then they will go out, with great wealth. And you, you will join your fathers in peace and will be buried in a good old age. And the fourth generation will return here, because the iniquity of the Amorite will not be full until then." --- Genesis 15:12-16 http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g17-abraham.html (7 of 9) [6/11/2013 11:33:35 AM]


The vision above is symbolized by the darkness that Abram’s descendants will have to endure before becoming the great nation that God promised. We can assume that God was holding some form of punishment for Abram because he left the land where God took him in order to seek refuge in Egypt during a famine: it was a lack of trust that God would look after him. His stay in Egypt did not actually last long, and therefore the famine must not have been so enduring. All the more a reason for God to hold it against Abram: his offspring will suffer darkness before awaking into a nation. This will happen after the last night they will spend in Egypt, a Passover night from the 14th to the 15th of the month of Nissan. And, in the morning, they will walk out from Egypt in daylight. There was night, there was day… The awakening of the Hebrew nation, during the Exodus, will echo the days of the Creation. But this day for the nation that Abram will beget will not come before a period of 400 years, as God had announced. The number 400 will always be a mark of darkness or bad omen for the Hebrew people across their History, as we shall see later in this work. The other fact is that it will be the fourth generation of Hebrews who dwelled in Egypt that will come out of Egypt at the time of the Exodus, as we shall see. To comfort Abram after such somehow negative vision, God made an alliance with him and repeated His promise: In that day, God made an alliance with Abram by saying: "To your offspring I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates River." --- Genesis 15:18 This vision sets the alliance that God made with Abram and is traditionally called the Brit Bein Habetarim (the Covenant of the Pieces). In the original Seder Olam, it is mentioned that there are two schools of thought: some believe that this vision happened in year 2023 or others in year 2018. But in fact, the text doesn't mention it precisely, for example by mean of stating how old was Abram at the time. And the vision may in fact have been a series of visions that spread over a period of time, because the text mentions euight times that "God said to Abram": if it had been one single event, or day, would the text repeat so many times that "God said"? This vision is however mentioned after the war of the kings, thus we can assume the vision(s) started no earlier than the year 2030, a consideration that voids both schools of thought ! However, it doesn't really matter when it took place, and this is why the text doesn't offer further detail of timing. Because what is important is what the vision said: the reference is the verse Genesis 15:7 which says the Lord that brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees and that draws a clear parallel with the future Exodus with the Lord that brought the Hebrews out of the land of Egypt. The two events are therefore to be understood as directly connected. This connection is not just with this particular mention but through many other details, such as the fact that God stroke Egypt with plagues, the hurry with which Abram was told to leave Egypt, pushed out by Pharaoh and followed by his soldiers until the border of the country, the fact that he was given a lot of wealth when he was sent off, and so on. So it is important to remember that the year that is key to the Biblical chronology is not the imprecise year(s) of the Brit Bein Habetarim but the exact year when Abram left Egypt.

The Covenant with Abraham (Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, "Die Bibel in Bilderm", 1860) ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2034 – 1726 BCE – Birth of Ismael This important Biblical text is immediately followed by the story of Ismael, the son born to Agar the Egyptian http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g17-abraham.html (8 of 9) [6/11/2013 11:33:35 AM]


maidservant of Sarai that she had pushed onto her husband to give him an offspring. It occurred 10 years after Abram came to dwell in the land of Canaan, after his return from Egypt (Genesis 16:3). He had brought Agar the Egyptian maid from there. Ishmael was born when Abram was 86 years old (Genesis 16:16), so it was the Hebrew year 2034 (1726 BCE). As he was a son of Abram, he benefited from the blessing that God gave to his offspring and, to this day, his descendants indeed dwell in the region that God promised to Abram, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates River. But after the birth of Ishmael, the servant Agar lost respect for Sarai, because the latter was still barren. So Abram's wife had to make her leave. In the wilderness, water came to an end and Agar thought her child would die. An angel appeared to Agar and convinced her to come back to Abram and Sarai and told her about her son: "He will be a wild person, his arm against all, and everyone’s arm against his, and he shall dwell in the face of all his brothers." --- Genesis 16:12 ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1] Terach was the high priest of Ur and a maker of idol statues for the religious service. [2] To see the translation by Prof. Martha Roth, 1995, online, click here. [3] The reader could notice that the word is actually Ellil, not the translated Enlil, and that Ellil sounds much closer to the Biblical name Elohim, the God of the Bible who created “heavens and earth”. [4] Israel National News, Tablet Discovered by Hebrew U[niversity] Matches Code of Hammurabi, 26 July 2010; to read the article, click here [5] There is a similarity between the Hebrew names of Arpachshad and Ur-Kasdim that doesn't transpire in English

‫ דַׁשְכַּפְרַא‬while Ur-Kasdim (meaning Ur of the Chaldeans) is written ‫רּוא‬ ‫ ; םיִּדְׂשַּכ‬the following letters are in the same sequence: ‫ ד ש כ ר א‬if we remove the plural of Kasdim

translations; Arpachshad is written

(Chaldeans) and some later deviation of the name Ur which was not in the original name; the name Chaldea is directly taken from the name Arpachshad [6] Abram will explain in Genesis 20:12: And moreover she [Sarai] is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and so she became my wife. It is interesting to note, on this topic, that the argument advanced by Abram is backed by Genetics... Abram' gender gene was of the kind X1Y, X1 from his mother and Y from his father. Sarai was of gender gene X2X, X2 from her mother and X from Abram's common father; but since Abram was a boy, he inherited gene Y from his father, while Sarai inherited gene X from the same father; so there would be no possible genetic issues for Abram and Sarai's children, with an association of X1Y and X2X [7] The ancient city of Charran is located in today's Harran, on the Turkish side near the border with Syria, at coordinates 37oN 39oE. It is a very large fertile plain, the first one that travellers would come across when coming from the dryer Mesopotamian region. [8] For a synopsis of the Second Intermediate Period, see the page on Wikipedia. [9] About Khendjer, see Wikipedia. [10] About Sobekhotep IV, see Wikipedia. [11] In Hebrew, the word Goyim means generically Nations, but it may refer here to the Gutians who were one of the people of Southern Mesopotamia under the control of Babylon, in the region where Sumer used to be before the Flood [12] About the battle of Siddim, see Wikipedia. Next generation Top of Page






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Generation 21

Year 2441 – 1319 BCE – Horemheb, Pharaoh of the Exodus The next ruler to reign after Ay was Horemheb, the military chief during Tutankhamen’s reign. Horemheb pursued the policy of oppression against the Hebrews, and made them build the cities mentioned in the Bible, Pithom and Ramses (Exodus 1:11).

Creation

What was Ramses? The name means Ra bore him. It was a new city built east of the Nile Delta, in the site of an older Generations city called Avaris that was occupied by the Hyksos and that Ahmose I had destroyed. Later this new city of Ramses will be extended and named Pi-Ramses during the reign of Ramses II and will become the capital of Egypt during his 19th 1-14 Dynasty. Horemheb ordered the construction of this city Ramses, a name that must have be of importance to him as Generations his designated heir will take the name of Ramses (he will be Pharaoh Ramses I, founder of the 19th Dynasty). 15-21 What was Pithom? The name spells Pi-Thom, Pi meaning House of in Egyptian, like Pi-Ramses, the above-mentioned city. And Thom could have been the Hebrew word for the Egyptian god Ptah. So Pi-Thom means the House of Ptah. This Generations place would then be associated with the city of Memphis, because this is where the cult of Ptah developed and where the 22-28 Great Temple of Ptah had been raised. This city had of course already been built long time before the Hebrew slaves worked on it but, during Horemheb, it was certainly restored to some past glory after the years of abandon during the Amarna Generations heresy. The restoration to this city is what the Biblical text referred to as building Pi-Thom, meaning the House of Ptah 29-35 (or indirectly City of Ptah), meaning Memphis. Another theory is that Pithom meant Pi-Atom, House of [God] Atum. In such case, the city of Pithom would have been located at the East of the Nile Delta, and would have become in later years a Generations city renamed Heroonopolis at the time of the Greeks. There was the Royal Canal in this location that connected the Nile 36-49 with the Red Sea. http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g21-exodus.html (1 of 26) [6/11/2013 11:34:06 AM]


Generation 50

Horemheb ~~~~~~~~~~ http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g21-exodus.html (2 of 26) [6/11/2013 11:34:06 AM]


Year 2454 – 1306 BCE – The Exodus Horemheb was the Pharaoh to whom Moses addressed himself to free the Hebrews from Egypt: Let my people go... The Exodus took place in Hebrew year 2454, which falls during the reign of Horemheb.

http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g21-exodus.html (3 of 26) [6/11/2013 11:34:06 AM]


Moses and Aaron before Pharaoh (Gustave Doré, 1868) How can we know this year was 2454? In Exodus 12:40, the text mentions the following, based on common translation into English: Now the time that the children of Israel dwelt in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years. And this translation has caused mistakes in the attempts to dress a Biblical chronology, because it was impossible to reconcile these 430 years with the time of their dwelling in Egypt. It also created difficulties to reconcile Bible and History when one would attempt to identify the Pharaoh of the Exodus. But the problem is only a problem of translation... Let us look at the actual text in Hebrew:

‫לֵאָרְׂשִי יֵנְּב בַׁשֹומּו‬, ‫םִיָרְצִמְּב ּובְׁשָי רֶׁשֲא‬--‫הָנָׁש םיִׁשֹלְׁש‬, ‫הָנָׁש תֹואֵמ עַּבְרַאְו‬ Thus it should have been translated as follows: And the dwelling of the Bene-Israel, who had dwelled in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. Spot the difference... The Hebrew text doesn't actually say the Bene-Israel "dwelled 430 years in Egypt", it says the Bene-Israel, who dwelled in Egypt, have dwelled for 430 years. In other words, the counting of the dwelling is not for their sole number of years in Egypt only but for the total number of years they had been dwelling (anywhere) thus far. If we take a simple analogy of a parent who lived a life of 70 years and had lived in Holland for a number of years unlike his other parents, we would say: "and the life of this parent, the one who had lived in Holland, was of 70 years". Similarly here in the Biblical text: the 430 years apply to the word

‫( בַׁשֹומ‬dwelling) but not solely to the word ‫רֶׁשֲא‬ ‫( ּובְׁשָי‬had dwelled).

So where should we start counting these 430 years? Here is another difficulty. Those who had believed that the 430 years applied to the sole dwelling in Egypt were obviously led to the wrong path. But those who followed the original text of the Seder Olam in Hebrew knew that the 430 years applied to the total but came across the difficulty to know where to start the count because it was assumed, reasonably, that the count started with the Brit Bein Habetarim (the Covenant of the Pieces). The problem, as explained in the related chapter (see Generation 17), is that the timing of this Covenant had not been precisely mentioned and may have, in fact, been a series of visions that Abraham had. Thus the importance was not the date of the Covenant but what it referred to which was the exodus of Abraham from Egypt, to draw a parallel with the Exodus of his descendants, 430 years later day for day, on the 15th of the month of Nisan. Abraham, the Patriarch of the Hebrews, had left Egypt in a hurry, pushed out by Pharaoh and accompanied by his soldiers until the border of Egypt, with gifts of wealth, after plagues that God inflicted upon Egypt, and had arrived to dwell in the land (of Canaan) that God has promised to him. This first exodus out of Egypt occurred in Hebrew year 2024 (1736 BCE). Abram went down only to sojourn because of a famine. The same circumstance occurred with his descendance: http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g21-exodus.html (4 of 26) [6/11/2013 11:34:06 AM]


Jacob and his family came down to Egypt because of a famine and initially thought only to sojourn for a while. But they were given wealth and honours, thanks to the role of Joseph, had assimilated and stayed in Egypt, and even adopted the Egyptian gods and cult. All this sojourn in Egypt turned to become a sin and the Hebrews were at the edge of becoming Egyptians altogether and forgetful of where they came from, and of the Covenant with God. Abraham too, when he went down to Egypt, committed a sin by leaving the land that God had promised to him because he had showed that, somehow, he had lacked in the trust that God would be able to allow him to overcome this famine. When an event of famine occurred to Isaac, he too contemplated to go down to Egypt because of it, but then God stopped him and asked him to remain in Canaan, and thus allowed him not to sin by lack of trust as his father Abraham did and as his son Jacob did. And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar.[1] And the Lord appeared unto him, and said: 'Go not down unto Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell you of. Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you, and will bless you; for unto you, and unto your seed, I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore unto Abraham your father; and I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and will give unto your seed all these lands; and by your seed shall all the nations of the earth bless themselves. --- Genesis 26:1-4 Three patriarchs, three famines, and three times the promise or covenant: these are connected circumstances. These famines were ordeals to prove the patriarchs, and their descendants: Abraham went to Egypt but didn't sojourn long, Isaac listened to God and didn't leave Canaan, Jacob went down to Egypt to sojourn for a while but the Hebrews stayed there and assimilated. Their Redemption was at risk, so God had to intervene to extract them out of Egypt. In summary, the Hebrew year 2024 + 430 years of dwelling (without identified "home", in his sense) = Hebrew year 2454 : this was the year of the Exodus. The word used for dwelling, here it is

‫ בַׁשֹומ‬in Hebrew, means seat. And it means exactly what this is about: the

Hebrews, since Abraham, didn't have their own home yet, or homeland, although the land of Canaan had been promised to them through three patriarchs. So they only were dwelling, here and there, and in Egypt too as the Biblical text says, but this was just a seat, not a home. The home was yet to come. There is an additional proof of the above, in the next verse, which should really be translated as follows: And it came to pass, at the very end of four hundred and thirty years, and it came to pass, in fact on that very day, that all the Legions of the Lord came out of Egypt. --- Exodus 12:41 Why does the text take extra length to mention the very day of this event? Because the two events did happen on the same day, the 15th of the month of Nisan, 430 years apart, day for day. With Abraham, the event was recorded in chapter Genesis 12, and with the Hebrews the event was recorded in chapter Exodus 12. At the middle of the night after the last plague of the first-born, Pharaoh called for Moses: http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g21-exodus.html (5 of 26) [6/11/2013 11:34:06 AM]


And he [Pharaoh] called for Moses and Aaron by night and said: 'Rise up, get you forth from among my people, both you and the children of Israel; and go, serve the Lord, as you have said. --- Exodus 12: 31 And in the case of Abraham, the same occurred when God struck Egypt with plague and when Pharaoh called Abraham and expelled him: And Pharaoh called Abram, and said: 'What is this that you have done unto me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? Why said you: She is my sister? So that I took her to be my wife; now therefore behold your wife, take her, and go your way.' --- Genesis 12:18-19



The Hebrews leaving Egypt, by David Roberts, 1828 (Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, UK) It is interesting to note that one of His discussions with Abraham, God mentioned to him: And He said unto Abram: 'Know for your knowledge that your seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall be enslaved, and they shall afflict them --- four hundred years. And also that nation, who shall enslave them, will I judge; and afterward shall they come out with great substance." --- Genesis 15:13-14 So there is an apparent difficulty because the above text mentions 400 years that do not match the 430 years previously mentioned. The reason is that these are two different references. In the 430 years period, it was to state the number of years of dwelling from the exodus of Abraham from Egypt until the Exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt. Whereas, in the above text, it is to state the number of years of affliction in a land that does not belong to the Hebrews. In both cases, dwelling could be considered as affliction, because of the feeling of not having a home or land, although having been promised one by God Himself, and feeling like a stranger in lands that belong to other peoples. So, normally 430 years of dwelling and 400 years of affliction should have been the same period. The difference of 30 years is not fully explicable except that it may represent the period during which Moses (who was a Levite) had succeeded to influence the house of Pharaoh towards monotheism. This would have started when Moses was 20 years old, in year 1366 BCE, and would have lasted until year 1336 BCE, after the reign of Akhenaten and the change of religion he had imposed over his nation. The difference of 30 years corresponds to this monotheist influence that Moses had caused and during which, although the Hebrews were still in Egypt, they could not possibly have been subjected to affliction nor, obviously to enslavement. Even, this period of Egyptian monotheism should have set them free: nothing prevented them at this time http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g21-exodus.html (7 of 26) [6/11/2013 11:34:06 AM]


to leave Egypt by their own mean and return to their promised land in Canaan. They were not afflicted and they were free to move. But they didn't because life was then probably too good for them to leave, and they preferred to assimilate with the Egyptian people. So God sent them a punishment, in the form of the return to oppression, until time for redemption came with the Exodus. The text mentions that Moses was 80 years old when he led his people out of Egypt, and Aaron was 83 (Exodus 7:6). This detail shows that Moses was born in year 2374 (1386 BCE), during the reign of Amenhotep III, as it was considered in a previous chapter (see Generation 20). The Exodus took place 216 years after Jacob and his family came down to Egypt. A duration that was exactly half the 430 years that the text mentioned. This detail has a relation with the Brit Bein Habetarim (Covenant of the Parts) when Abraham took some animals under the instruction of God and split them into two halves to offer them as a sacrifice (Genesis 15:10). Following this, God announced to Abraham the affliction that his descendants will suffer in a foreign land (Egypt) during four generations.

What were these four [family] generations of Hebrews in Egypt? - The first generation is the one that came down to Egypt; they came to sojourn for a while but remained in Egypt, because they were given a rich land (Goshen, in the Nile delta), important positions in the administration (managed by their brother Joseph); the Biblical text emphasizes on their assimilation: And the children of Israel [Jacob] were fruitful, increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceedingly mighty, and the land [of Egypt] was filled with them. (Exodus 1:7) - The second generation completed their assimilation and even worshipped idols (except the tribe of Levi who remained in the path of God, and will be later rewarded for this) - The third generation was enslaved from the time of Thutmoses IV, who decreed the death of the newborn sons - The fourth generation is the one of the Exodus; they missed the opportunity to leave Egypt by themselves during the heresy of Akhenaten, and rather returned to the hope of better life among the Egyptians; God sent them oppression again until He took them out from Egypt Himself after the 10 Plagues, and offered them redemption We can look at these 4 family generations through the example of Moses' ancestry: 1st that came from Canaan to http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g21-exodus.html (8 of 26) [6/11/2013 11:34:06 AM]


Egypt, with Levi son of Jacob, 2nd that settled and assimilated, with Kohath his son, 3rd that was oppressed, with Amram his son, and 4th that missed the opportunity to leave and was led out from Egypt, with Moses. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2454 – 1306 BCE – Death of Horemheb and his wife God struck Egypt with ten plagues, starting from the 1st of the month of Av of the preceding year, at the rate of one plague each first of a new month. The 8th plague was the locust which struck on the 1st of Adar. The 9th plague was obscurity which fell in the 1st of Nisan. The last plague was the death of every first-born (Exodus 11:5). Horemheb is known to have died without an heir. It is thus assumed that he never had any child. But this cannot be true because his wife could indeed bear children, as her mummy was found containing a foetus or newborn child.[2] This wife was Mutnedjmet and she died in the 13th year of the reign of her husband,[3] so this was precisely the same year as the Exodus, in 1306 BCE. It is possible that both her and her son (Horemheb’s heir) were first born children and consequently were both struck by God’s last plague. Another theory is that she was a sister of Nefertiti, that the mummy in her tomb was of a foetus because she died in pregnancy.[4]

Auction of Mutnedjmet bust http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g21-exodus.html (9 of 26) [6/11/2013 11:34:06 AM]


It is today assumed that Horemheb died in the 14th year of his reign, although earlier historians thought he reigned for 27 years. But it is also known that he died without having his own heir. So, if he would have survived his wife for so many years (14 years), there is little doubt that he would have married again to try have a heir. But that was not the case so it makes more sense to admit the current opinion that he died some months, or one year, after his wife Mutnedjmet, and without heir as they died before him. Is it possible that Horemheb, who was a military commander at the time of Akhenaten and of Tutankhamen, had died in the pursuit of the Hebrews to the sea after the Exodus? This would meet the closeness of his death and of his wife's. The Biblical text does mention that Pharaoh and his chariots pursued the Hebrews to bring them back into slavery and then came the episode of the Crossing of the Sea which saw all Pharaoh's army being drawn in the waters (Exodus 14:28). The text doesn't mention the fate of Pharaoh himself. But, as of today, and although Horemheb had benefited from a magnificent tomb built by his successor,[5] nobody has ever found his mummy yet ![6]



The Tomb of Horemheb, magnificent but... empty of his remains Before his death, Horemheb had appointed his vizier, Paramesse, as successor. This Paramesse will reign after Horemheb’s death as Pharaoh Ramses I, and will start the 19th Dynasty of Egypt, thus turning the page on the glorious 18th Dynasty which started with the Pharaoh who raised Joseph to power and ended with Horemheb who died without heir http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g21-exodus.html (11 of 26) [6/11/2013 11:34:06 AM]


and did not survive the events about the Exodus. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2454 – 1306 BCE – The Giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai The Hebrews left Egypt on the 15th of the month of Nisan (which was called Aviv in these times), and crossed the sea 7 days later. It took them a total of 49 days until they reached Mount Sinai where God gave them the Torah on the 50th day from the Exodus. The festival of the Exodus is called Pesach (Passover in English) and the festival of the Giving of the Torah is called Shavuoth (meaning the weeks, but it also refers to the number seven which is the number of weeks from one festival to the other). Moses was ordered to build an ark to host the two tablets where God had inscribed His Ten Commandments: it became the Ark of Covenant, with two facing cherubim on top.

The Ark of Covenant Some of the commandments that God gave to the Israelites at Mount Sinai concerned the Jubilee year, which is to fall every 50th year, after seven periods of 7 years, each of these period being concluded by a Sabbatical year: http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g21-exodus.html (12 of 26) [6/11/2013 11:34:06 AM]


And you shall number seven Sabbaths of years unto you, seven times seven years; and there shall be unto you the days of seven Sabbaths of years, even forty and nine years. Then shall you make proclamation with the blast of the horn on the tenth day of the seventh month; in the Day of Atonement shall you make proclamation with the horn throughout all your land. And you shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land unto all the inhabitants thereof; it shall be a jubilee unto you; and you shall return every man unto his possession, and you shall return every man unto his family. A jubilee shall that fiftieth year be unto you; you shall not sow, neither reap that which grows of itself in it, nor gather the grapes in it of the undressed vines. For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy unto you; you shall eat the increase thereof out of the field. In this year of jubilee you shall return every man unto his possession. --- Leviticus 25:8-13 If we parallel each day or year towards a Sabbath into the generations described in the text, we can notice that every 7th generation thus far has been a special one in the history of the Jews and of Humanity, and should continue to be so: -

7th generation: death of Cain, and start of the Bronze Age 14th generation: the Flood 21st generation: the monotheism in Egypt (Amarna period), the Exodus and the conquest of Canaan 28th generation: the redemption of the Israelites after their captivity in Babylon, and construction of 2nd Temple 35th generation: end of the Jewish political nation at the hand of the Romans, and completion of the Talmud 42nd generation: diaspora and building of the Jewish religious nation (Zohar, Maimonides, Nahmanides) 49th generation: final return to Sion and pre-Messianic times



Mount Sinai ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2455 – 1305 BCE – Census of the Israelites In the second year after the Exodus, God ordered Moses to carry out a census of all Israelites above 20 years old of age. The numbers per tribe were (Numbers 1:20-43): -

Ruben: 46,500 Simeon: 59,300 Gad: 45,650 Judah: 74,600 Issachar: 54,400 Zebulun: 57,400 Ephraim, son of Joseph: 40,500 Manasseh, son of Joseph: 32,200



-

Benjamin: 35,400 Dan: 62,700 Asher: 41,500 Naphtali: 53,400

The total number was 603,550 men, from 20 years old. The tribe of Levi was not part of this census, because the census was to count the number of all that were able to go forth to war in Israel (Numbers 1:45), while the Tribe of Levi was destined to priesthood (Numbers 1:47-49). With over 600,000 men of the age of war, we can assume that they had as many wives, so the total number of Israelites was in excess of 2 million people when counting the young children and older family members as well. It is well assumed that the Israelites were divided into 12 Tribes but in fact there were 13 tribes when we take into account the Tribe of Levi. And 13 was the number of children that Jacob had, composed of 12 sons and one daughter, Dinah. Jacob did want to have 13 sons, to create 13 tribes and thus reflecting upon the unicity of God, because 13 is the numerical value of the Hebrew word ‫ דחא‬meaning One. But Jacob had one daughter. He later took the opportunity to single out the tribe of Joseph into two tribes, one tribe for each of his two sons Ephraim and Manasseh. Thus he obtained 13 tribes, as desired. The number 13 proclaims the unicity of God, and the Covenant with the Israelites which is reflected in the age of circumcision, also 13. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2456 – 1304 BCE – The explorers, Caleb and Joshua After having received the Torah from Moses and God’s commandments, the Israelites moved to a camp at Kadesh-Barneah, on the southern border of Canaan. From there, instead of invading the Promised Land, in full trust in God’s support, they wanted to first send explorers to assess the difficulty of conquering the land that God promised to their ancestors. These explorers were one man from each tribe, mostly all of the same age of 40 years old (Numbers 13:4-16): -

Ruben: Shammua, son of Zaccur Simeon: Shaphat, son of Hori Gad: Geul son of Machi Judah: Caleb, son of Jephuneh Issachar: Igal son of Joseph Zebulun: Gaddiel son of Sodi Ephraim: Hoshea son of Nun (renamed Joshua by Moses) Menasseh: Gaddi son of Susi Benjamin: Palti son of Raphu Dan: Ammiel son of Gemalli Asher: Sethur son of Michael Naphtali: Nahbi son of Vophsi



The return of the Explorers (Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, "Die Bibel in Bilderm", 1860) But, except for Caleb and Joshua, the explorers came back with false reports which undermined the faith of the Israelites: http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g21-exodus.html (16 of 26) [6/11/2013 11:34:06 AM]


And they returned from spying out the land at the end of forty days. And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto the entire congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. And they told him, and said: "We came unto the land where you sent us, and surely it flows with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it. However the people that dwell in the land are fierce and the cities are fortified, and very great; and moreover we saw the children of Anak there. Amalek dwells in the land of the South; and the Hittite, and the Jebusite, and the Amorite, dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanite dwells by the sea, and along by the side of the Jordan." And Caleb stilled the people toward Moses, and said: "We should go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it." But the men that went up with him said: "we are not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we." And they spread an evil report of the land which they had spied out unto the children of Israel, saying: "The land, through which we have passed to spy it out, is a land that eats up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature. And there we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who come of the Nephilim; and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight." And the entire congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night. And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron; and the whole congregation said unto them: "Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would we have died in this wilderness!" --- Numbers 13:25 - 14:2 The explorers were surely shocked by some of the abominations they witnessed among the Canaanites, who sacrificed their children to their gods. They also feared of the tribes of Amalek who were relentlessly attacking the Israelites as soon as they would approach their territory, and probably imagined that the conquest of Canaan would prove to be a disaster if all the people were as belligerent as the Amalekites. They were also impressed by the size of the people who dwelled in the mountains, near Hebron, as being giant like the so-called Nephilim described in Genesis. This detail about the name Nephilim shows furthermore that the contents of the Torah, given by God to Moses and who gave it to the Elders and them to their communities, were taught and known to the Israelites by that time. But these fears, although understandable, were also the proof of a lack of sufficient faith in God to deliver this land to the people He promised it to. If He had been able to extract them out of a powerful nation such as Egypt, couldn’t He help them overcome any obstacle that would be met in the land of Canaan? Only Joshua and Caleb raised their voice against the rumours that the other explorers spread to the camp. So God punished this generation, the one that came out of Egypt (the 4th generation since Jacob) to die in the desert, after a wander of 40 years, because for every day a year (Numbers 14:34). Only Joshua and Caleb will survive this punishment, as well as all the children of age below 20 years old and some of the Levites who were not counted in the census (Numbers 14:29): they formed the generation who will be allowed to enter the Promised Land. Caleb was 40 years old at the time,[7] but how old was Joshua? The Biblical text does not give it explicitely, but gives us the necessary hints to work it out. When the Exodus took place, Moses came across to know Hoshua and took him at his service. Beside he also renamed him Joshua and described him as a young man (Exodus 33:11). There are not many occurrences of the mention of a young man in the Biblical text before him. In fact the only other Hebrew person called as such was Joseph when he was such described by the chamberlain who was with him in prison (Genesis 41:12). The other correlation between Joseph and Hoshua is that the latter was an Efraimite, so his http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g21-exodus.html (17 of 26) [6/11/2013 11:34:06 AM]


direct ancestor was Joseph. Moses knew the text of the Torah by then and knew that Joseph was 28 years old when he had known the chamberlain who called him a young man. And this was the reason for Moses to also call Hoshua a young man, thus reminding that he was 28 years old like his ancestor Joseph when they met first (in the year of the Exodus). Also, Moses had renamed Hoshua (

‫ )ַעֵׁשֹוה‬as Joshua (‫)ַעֻׁשֹוהְי‬, adding the letter yod (‫ )ְי‬as a prefix to Hoshua

(Numbers 13:16). Why did he do this? Because the Yod is the symbol of God,[8] and also, maybe more importantly here, because Hoshua's ancestor, Joseph, has a name starting with this letter Yod. Last, we will learn later in the Biblical text that Joshua died at the age of 110 years old (Joshua 24:29), precisely like Joseph (Genesis 50:26). So there is a precise parallel made in the text between the characters of Joseph and Joshua. So, when Moses called the latter a young man, it was a direct reference of the fact that, like his ancestor Joseph had been 28 years old in the jail when the chamberlain knew him, two years before Joseph was called in front of Pharaoh, the same goes for Joshua who was 28 years old when Moses knew him (at the time of the Exodus), two years before he was called in front of him to participate to the mission of the explorers. So, at the time of this mission, Joshua was 30 years old and Caleb was 40 years old. Weakened in spirits by God's punishment after them, the Israelites avoided confrontation against the Amalekites and the Canaanites, and remained 19 years in the camp of Kadesh-Barneah. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2475 – 1285 BCE – Encounter with Moab When they finally left their camp, the Israelites took a long detour, instead of taking the direct route into Canaan, and passed onto the other side of the Red Sea, into the land of Edom (Numbers 21). Then they went north from that side of the land and made their first encounter with a peaceful foreign people in Moab. There they took wives among this people and even adopted their pagan rites. So God punished them at Shittim (Numbers 25:1), which is north from the Dead Sea.



Exodus route (source: JTF.org web site) ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2486 – 1274 BCE – Ramses II Many historians have assumed that Ramses II was the Pharaoh of the Exodus but this hypothesis was, and still is, based on erroneous translation of the Biblical text which misled the non-Hebrew speakers. This hypothesis was not either in compliance with the fact that Egypt was struck by calamities at the time of the Exodus whereas, at the time of Ramses II, http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g21-exodus.html (19 of 26) [6/11/2013 11:34:06 AM]


this country was flourishing. The fact is that Ramses II had no encounter with the Israelites because, at the time of his splendour, they already passed to the other side of the Jordan River and Dead Sea (Judges 11:18), and thus were not exposed to his passing of Canaan during his military campaigns in the Levant and in Asia. This was the time when Ramses II came to power, in year 1279 BCE. He then started a series of campaign in Canaan and Syria against the Hittites, from the early years of his reign. His biggest victory took place at the battle of Kadesh, in Southern Syria in 1274 BCE.



Ramses II at the battle of Kadesh (wall relief, Abu Simbel Temple) Ramses II campaigned again in the region in the years 1271-1270 BCE and then then stopped to venture in this part of the world for the rest of his long reign. His following campaigns were solely focused on the southern part of his kingdom, in Nubia. In fact, he never stepped foot again in the land of Canaan after 1270 BCE which was about the time when the Israelites started their conquest under the leadership of Joshua. He may have had echoes of this unexpected arrival of the Israelites in Canaan and may not have wanted to confront them, after what he had learned in the past to Pharaoh Horemheb, which must have been still present in the Egyptian memory. It is also at this time that he pursued a policy of systemtic destruction of all traces from the Amarna heresy, of Akhenaten, Moses and the Hebrews. Instead he cultivated the memory of Horemheb as a national hero although, as previously mentioned, the tomb of this Pharaoh remained empty. This absence from Canaan from a Pharaoh as powerful as Ramses II and who ruled over Egypt for a very long period, until 1213 BCE, is a mystery that has neven been fully assessed by Historians. How could it possible that such Pharaoh would have never again found excuses to campaign in this neighbouring region for the rest of his 60 years of reign? For me, there is no clear reason for this other than he avoided to engage in that region from the moment he had learned that the Israelites were conquering it, and doing wonders again with the help of their God. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2494 – 1266 BCE – Facing the Land of Canaan Before engaging in the conquest of Canaan, a second census was recorded of every man of age 20 years and above, as follows (Numbers 26:4), which can be compared to the census at the start of the wandering in the desert, after 40 years of wandering in the desert: - Tribe of Reuben: total of 43,730 which dropped from 46,500 - Tribe of Simeon: total of 22,200 which dropped from 59,300 - Tribe of Gad: 40,500 which dropped from 45,650 - Tribe of Judah: 76,500 which dropped from 74,600 - Tribe of Issachar: 64,300 which increased from 54,400 - Tribe of Manasseh: 52,700 which increased from 32,200 - Tribe of Zebulun: 60,500 which increased from 57,400 - Tribe of Ephraim: 32,500 which decreased from 40,500 - Tribe of Benjamin: 45,600 which increased from 35,400 - Tribe of Dan: 64,400 which increased from 62,700 http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g21-exodus.html (21 of 26) [6/11/2013 11:34:06 AM]


- Tribe of Asher: 53,400 which increased from 41,500 - Tribe of Naphtali: 45,400 which decreased from 53,400 The total number of men from 20 years old had slightly decreased to 601,730 (Numbers 46:51) compared to the previous census with 603,550. As before, the tribe of Levi was not part of this census. God also named the princes from each tribe to whom Moses was to give the possession of the territory that will be assigned to them in the land of Canaan: And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying: "These are the names of the men that shall take possession of the land for you: Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun. And you shall take one prince of every tribe, to take possession of the land. And these are the names of the men. Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh. And of the tribe of the children of Simeon, Shemuel the son of Ammihud. Of the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad the son of Chislon. And of the tribe of the children of Dan a prince, Bukki the son of Jogli. Of the children of Joseph: of the tribe of the children of Manasseh a prince, Hanniel the son of Ephod. And of the tribe of the children of Ephraim a prince, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan. And of the tribe of the children of Zebulun a prince, Eli-zaphan the son of Parnach. And of the tribe of the children of Issachar a prince, Paltiel the son of Azzan. And of the tribe of the children of Asher a prince, Ahihud the son of Shelomi. And of the tribe of the children of Naphtali a prince, Pedahel the son of Ammihud. These are they whom the Lord commanded to divide the inheritance unto the children of Israel in the land of Canaan." --- Numbers 34:16-29 Moses took these 40 years of wandering to instruct the Israelites of the terms and conditions of their covenant with God. He also addressed the issue of choosing a king over the people as God probably told him that this is what would eventually happen to be: "When you are to come unto the land which the Lord your God gave you, and shall possess it, and shall dwell therein; and shall say: 'I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are round about me'; you shall in any wise set him king over you, whom the Lord your God shall choose; one from among your brethren shall you set king over you; you must not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother.[9] Only he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, so that he should multiply horses; forasmuch as the Lord has said unto you: 'You shall henceforth return no more that way.' Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away; neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold. And it shall be, when he will sit upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book, out of that which is before the priests the Levites. And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life; that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them; that his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left; to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children, in the midst of Israel." --- Deuteronomy 17:14-20 It is important to note that God forbad the Israelites to ever go back to Egypt. It had been considered as a sin that two http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g21-exodus.html (22 of 26) [6/11/2013 11:34:06 AM]


patriarchs had done at the time of ordeal with a famine. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2494 – 1266 BCE – Death of Aaron When the Israelites reached the mountains of Moab, on the eastern side of the Jordan River, Aaron went up on Mount Hor at the commandment of God and died there, in the 40th year of the wandering in the desert (Numbers 33:38). He was 123 years old, 3 years older than Moses. Mount Hor is today considered to be Jebel Harun (Harun meaning Aaron in Arabic), a high peak at the west from Petra in Jordan.

Tomb of Aaron in Jebel Harun, Jordan (source: blog Scripture for Today) ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2495 – 1265 BCE – Death of Moses http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g21-exodus.html (23 of 26) [6/11/2013 11:34:06 AM]


The Israelites then went further north, following the east side from the Dead Sea, until the Jordan River at the level of the city of Jericho. God then instructed Moses about how to divide the possession of the land of Canaan between the tribes, and the head of each tribe to be the repository (Numbers 34:16-29). It was then time for Moses to die. Before, he gave ultimate instructions to his people: And Moses wrote this law, and delivered it unto the priests the sons of Levi, that bore the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, and unto all the elders of Israel. And Moses commanded them, saying: "At the end of every seven years, in the set time of the year of release, in the feast of Tabernacles [which is Sukkoth], when all Israel is come to appear before the Lord your God in the place which He shall choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. Assemble the people, the men and the women and the little ones, and your stranger that is within your gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the Lord your God, and observe to do all the words of this law; and that their children, who have not known, may hear, and learn to fear the Lord your God, as long as you live in the land when you go over the Jordan to possess it." --- Deuteronomy 31:9-13 Then Moses gave his blessing to each Tribe of Israel (Deuteronomy 33) before mounting from the plains of Moab onto Mount Nebo to die there, at the age of 120. God Himself buried him. The Falashas, Jews from Ethiopia, hold the following story about the death of Moses, illustrating God's reluctance to tell a man when he would precisely die (as of Talmud, Pesachim, 54b): And Moses went out of his house and left his wife and his children; and he went with his heart sunken and his face withered and he did not know which way to walk. And he met three handsome young men who were digging a grave. And he said to them: 'Peace to you and may God's peace be with you'. And then again Moses said to them: 'For whom are you digging this grave ?' And these young men said to him: 'We are digging it for a man beloved of God '. And Moses said to them: 'If you are digging for a man beloved of God, then I shall help you and dig with you '. And when they had finished the grave Moses said to them: ' Bring the corpse which we are to bury'. And these young men (they were angels who resembled men) said: 'We are afraid that this place will be too short for him whom we are to bury, and he is like you in size, height, and appearance; now enter into the grave and measure it for us'. And Moses entered into the grave and found there the Angel of Death. And the Angel of Death said to Moses: ' Peace to you, Son of Amram '. And Moses said to the Angel of Death : ' May your greeting return upon you ! ' And Moses died and the angels buried him. --- Ullendorff, Edward, The 'Death of Moses' in the Literature of the Falashas, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 24, No. 3 (1961), pp. 419-443 The place of Moses' burial is today identified with Jabal Naba in Jordan (Naba means Prophet in Arabic). Today this site in Jordan is under custody of a Franciscan group who even placed a plaque declaring it "Christian Holy Site"... How ridiculous !



The Franciscan plaque at the top of Mount Nebo !!! ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1] Isaac went south to the land of the Philistines as he was on his way to Egypt [2] See article in Wikipedia about the succession of Horemheb, which mentions an extract from Geoffrey Martin, The Hidden Tombs of Memphis, Thames & Hudson (1991), pp.97-98 [3] See article in Wikipedia about Mutnedjmet [4] Hawass, Zahi, Dig Days: The search for Queen Mutnodjmet, article in Al-Ahram, issue 960, 13-19 August 2009, currently available online [5] Horemheb's tomb in Saqqara was rediscovered in 1975 by Geoffrey Martin and his excavation team; see article and description online [6] For speculation about the possible mummy of Horemheb, see this article online http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g21-exodus.html (25 of 26) [6/11/2013 11:34:06 AM]


[7] In Joshua 14:7, Caleb mentions his age of 40 at the time of this mission of the explorers [8] There are many occurrences where the letter Yod, of numerical value 10, is referred to God, in His direct involvement or presence: the 10 words He used during the Creation, the 10 plagues over Egypt, the 10 commandments He gave at Mount Sinai, and so on. [9] This commandment explains why King Herod, who was not an Hebrew, was unpopular as King of the Jews

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What is new Chronology of the two kingdoms during the 26th Generation Index of names

The 26th Generation is an important milestone in Jewish History. The number 26 is the numerical value of God's 4-letter name. This 26th Generation bears witness of the divine hand upon His chosen people, after years and generations of deviations from His commandments.


Year 3002 3003 3005 3005 3006 3006 3006 3007 3016 3022 3022 3005 3025 3025 3032 3033 3035 3038 3038 3038 3039 3041 3042 3048 3049 3052 3064 3064 3079 3097 3113 3119 3119

CE Differ. Kingdom of JUDAH Kingdom of ISRAEL -758 10 Menahem son of Gadi dies -757 49 Pekahiah son of Menahem reigns -755 2 Pekahiah murdered by Pekah -755 51 Pekah son of Remaliah reigns Vision of Isaiah the -754 Prophet Azariah/Uzziah dies, a -754 52 leper -754 1 Jotham son of Azariah/Uzziah reigns -753 Foundation of Rome -744 Tiglath-Pileser III campaign in Y1 of reign; Deportation of Naphtali Jotham son of Uzziah -738 16 dies Ahaz son of Jotham -738 17 reigns -755 Pekah and Resin of Aram war vs. Judah Tiglath-Pileser III campaign 735BC; Deportation of the northern -735 tribes -735 20 Pekah son of Remaliah is killed by Hoshea -728 Shalmanezer V reigns in Babylon -727 11 Hoshea son of Elah reigns, vassal Assyria -725 2 Hezekiah son of Ahaz reigns -722 16 Ahaz son of Jotham dies -722 -4 Hoshea rebels; taken captive to Assyria -722 0 Shalmanezer V campaign 722BC; Deportation of Israel to Assyria -721 4 Shalmenezer besieges Samaria -719 6 Shalmanezer destroys the capital Samaria -718 9 Hoshea son of Elah - official end of reign Sennacherib invades -712 13 Judah -711 -15 Hezekiah son of Ahaz was fatally ill -708 -12 Manasseh son of Hezekiah born Hezekiah son of Ahaz -696 29 dies -696 29 Manasseh son of Hezekiah reigns -681 Sennacherib is assassinated by his sons in Nineveh -663 -22 Amon son of Manasseh born Josiah son of Amon -647 -8 born -641 55 Manasseh son of Hezekiah dies -641 Amon son of Manasseh reigns 0 No calendar adjustment ; Passover alignment to solar-lunar

Sources II Kings 15:17 II Kings 15:23 II Kings 15:23 II Kings 15:27

Text reigned 10Y Y50 Azariah reigned 2Y Y52 Azariah

Isaiah 6:1

Y of Uzziah

II Kings 15:2 II Kings 15:32 Y2 Pekah Historical Historical II Kings 15:33 reigned 16Y Y17 Pekah II Kings 16:1 Historical II Kings 15:27,30 reigned 20Y Historical II Kings 17:1 Y12 Ahaz II Kings 18:1 Y3 Hoshea II Kings 16:2 reigned 16Y II Kings 17:1 Historical II Kings 18:1 Y4 Hezekiah II Kings 17:5-6 Y6 Hezekiah II Kings 17:1 reigned 9Y II Kings 18:13 Y14 Hezekiah II Kings 20:6 II Kings 21:1

added 15Y

II Kings 18:14 reigned 29Y II Kings 20:21 aged 12Y old Historical II Kings 22:1 II Kings 21:1 II Kings 21:1

reigned 55Y aged 22Y

~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3006 – 754 BCE – Isaiah the Prophet Pekahiah son of Menachem only reigned 2 years in Israel when he was assassinated by Pekah, the son of his army chief Remaliah who was from Gilead. Pekah started to reign in his stead. Isaiah son of Amoz had a prophetic vision about Judah and Israel in the year that Uzziah of Judah died: The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall come to pass in the end of days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established as the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many peoples shall go and say: 'Come you, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths.' For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. --- Isaiah 2:1-4 http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g26-israel.html (1 of 8) [6/11/2013 11:34:28 AM]


Isaiah continued to prophetise in the kingdom of Judah during the reigns of Jotham son of Uzziah, then Ahaz, until Hezekiah (Isaiah 1:1). He promised the divine protection to Ahaz when he was new king over Judah and when both Pekah king of Israel and Rezin king of Aram waged a war against him (Isaiah 7:3-8). Instead God promised to Ahaz that the kingdoms of Aram and Israel will fall under the hand of Assyria, and their people deported (Isaiah 8:4): O Asshur, the rod of My anger, in whose hand as a staff is My indignation! I do send him against an ungodly nation, and against the people of My wrath do I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. --- Isaiah 10:5 But Redemption will eventually come, as Isaiah had the vision of forthcoming events, the destruction of the Temple, the spoil of Jerusalem but also their rebirth with the help of a king called Cyrus who will be God’s instrument: That says of Cyrus: 'He is My shepherd, and shall perform all My pleasure'; even saying of Jerusalem: 'She shall be built'; and to the temple: 'My foundation shall be laid.' --- Isaiah 44:28 The Redemption will not be limited to the children of Israel, but also to all aliens who would embrace the word of God: Also the aliens, that join themselves to the Lord, to minister unto Him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants, every one that keeps the sabbath from profaning it, and holds fast by My covenant: Even them will I bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer; their burnt-offerings and their sacrifices shall be acceptable upon My altar; for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples. Says the Lord God who gathers the dispersed of Israel: Yet I will gather others to him, beside those of him that are gathered. --- Isaiah 56:6-8

Isaiah the Prophet ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3016 – 744 BCE – Tiglath-Pileser III Tiglath-Pileser III was the new ruler of the Assyrian empire. He seized power in 745 BCE by killing all members of the previous royal family. To avoid rebellion from various parties, he declared himself as Pulu, meaning "the Heir", claiming that he was another son of Adad-Nirari III and therefore was legitimate to claim the throne. He first called himself Sargon (Isaiah 20:1), which means "the true [or legitimate] king",[1] following the same goal to ascertain his rule. He was a ruthless but successful military commander. He reigned between 745 and 727 BCE and was in fact one of the most successful military commanders of the old ages. According to the Babylonian records, he started to campaign in the Levant around 740 BCE and his general policy on conquered territories was to cause massive deportations of population in order to avoid future rebellion from these lands.

http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g26-israel.html (2 of 8) [6/11/2013 11:34:28 AM]


Tiglath-Pileser III - from the Central Palace of Nimrud (British Museum) In one relief found in Nimrud, the name of one of the conquered city is Astartu, which was a city located in Moab territory. It is mentioned in the Bible, when the Hebrews approached Canaan, as the capital of Og king of Bashan (Deuteronomy 1:4). After the conquest by Joshua, this territory was part of Gilead and was given to the sons of Gershom from the tribe of Manasseh.

Prisoners from Astartu being deported by the Assyrians - from the Central Palace of Nimrud (British Museum) The succession of fateful events that would bring down the kingdom of Israel started with the aggression they did against the kingdom of Judah: Then Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to war; and they besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome him. At that time Rezin king of Aram recovered Elath to Aram, and drove the Jews from Elath; and the Edomites came to Elath, and dwelt there, unto this day. --- II Kings 16:5-6 Ahaz started to reign in Judah after his father Jotham, son of Uzziah, died. But he worshipped idols and, worse, adopted the abominable pagan customs of human sacrifice because he made his son to pass through the fire (II Kings 16:3). God punished him by raising a war against Judah in which Pekah allied with Rezin king of Aram. But despite their success in parts of the kingdom, they could not take the holy city of Jerusalem from Ahaz. But, the later called Tiglath-Pileser for military support by pledging allegiance. Piglath-Pileser did not need further reason to order another campaign in Aram/Syria:



So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying: 'I am your servant and your son; come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Aram, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, who rise up against me.' And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king's house, and sent it for a present to the king of Assyria. And the king of Assyria hearkened unto him; and the king of Assyria went up against Damascus, and took it, and carried the people of it captive to Kir, and slew Rezin. --- II Kings 16:7-9

Tiglath-Pileser besieging a city (British Museum) ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3025 – 735 BCE – The merit of the Patriarchs is exhausted In the Hebrew year 3025, 1000 years had been accomplished since God spoke to Abraham to ask him to settle in the land he had designated. The Hebrews descendants did not walk in the path of God as their ancestors did and yet God protected His people all the time, because of the merit of these Patriarchs. Now, after 1000 years, this merit had faded away. For the first time, God will let events to unfold against His people and would no longer intervene as directly as He had always done before. The Talmud had reflected on this question of merit and when it was exhausted. Several opinions were expressed, but all agreed that it happened during this period of the kingdoms: And since when has the merit of the Patriarchs been exhausted? — Rab said, Since the days of Hosea the son of Beeri, for it is written, "[And now] will I discover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of my hand." [Hosea 2:12] Samuel said. Since the days of Hazael, for it is said, "And Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz;" [II Kings 13:22] and it is written, "But the Lord was gracious unto them, and had compassion upon them, and had respect unto them, because of the covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, neither cast he them from his presence until now." [II Kings 13:23] R. Joshua b. Levi said: Since the days of Elijah, for it is said, "And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening oblation, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, O Lord, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel, and that I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word."[I Kings 18:36] R. Johanan said: Since the days of Hezekiah, for it is said, "Of the increase of his government and of peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with judgement and with righteousness for henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts shall perform this." [Isaiah 9:6] --- Talmud, Shabbat, 55a ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3025 – 735 BCE – Deportation of the Tribe of Naphtali http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g26-israel.html (4 of 8) [6/11/2013 11:34:28 AM]


After conquering Aram, Tiglath-Pileser turned his attention against the kingdom of Israel. It happened in the 20th year since Pekah had seized power: In the days of Pekah king of Israel came Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria, and took Ijon, and Abel-beth-maacah, and Janoah, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali; and he carried them captive to Assyria. And Hoshea the son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah, and smote him, and slew him, and reigned in his stead, in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah. --- II Kings 15:29-30 This was the first of a series of disasters that struck the kingdom of Israel: the deportation of some of the tribes, those on the eastern side of the Jordan River and those in the northern part of the land, such as the tribe of Naphtali.[2] This catastrophe had cost Pekah his throne and his life. He had reigned for 20 years before being assassinated by Hosea son of Elah. Hoshea inherited a country devastated by war and with a population depleted and reduced in size. He tried to rebuild a kingdom and crowned himself king a few years later, only when the news of the death of Pigath-Pileser reached the region, in the 12th year of the reign of Ahaz. Hoshea probably thought that, this powerful king of Assyria being dead, his empire would collapse under internal political dispute. But this didn’t happen: his son Shalmanezer V rose to power over Assyria and forced his regions, including the kingdom of Israel, to submit to his rule and to pay tribute. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3035 – 725 BCE – Hezekiah king of Judah Ahaz was succeeded on the throne of Judah by his son Hezekiah who was 25 years old. He was influenced not by his pagan father but by his mother who was the daughter of the Prophet Zechariah. And he restored the divine service in Jerusalem: Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign. Twenty and five years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah. And he did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done. He removed the high places, and broke the pillars, and cut down the Asherah; and he broke in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made; for unto those days the children of Israel did offer to it; and it was called Nehushtan. He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among them that were before him. --- II Kings 18:1-5 Hezekiah had no doubt that the Assyrian army would eventually come back to attack his kingdom. So, although he trusted God for protection, he took the important steps to improve the defences of the city of Jerusalem. In order to guarantee its supply of water in case of lengthy siege, he arranged to conceal the access of a natural spring, the Gihon Spring, located outside the city walls and to dig a secret underground tunnel to divert its waters towards inside the city walls. The waters, until today, arrive in the so-called Pool of Siloam. The secret tunnel had been discovered in 1834 and a plaque was later found carved there on the rock, whereas Hezekiah probably wanted to commemorate this great work for the city. The passage reads: ... the tunnel ... and this is the story of the tunnel while ... the axes were against each other and while three cubits were left to cut? ... the voice of a man ... called to his counterpart, (for) there was echo in the rock, on the right ... and on the day of the tunnel (being finished) the stonecutters struck each man towards his counterpart, axe against axe and flowed water from the source to the pool for 1200 cubits. and 100? cubits was the height over the head of the stonecutters ... --- Transcription (source Wikipedia)

The Shiloah plaque (Istanbul Museum) ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3042 – 718 BCE – The end of the Kingdom of Israel While paying tribute to Shalmanezer, Hoshea sought to build an alliance with the king of Egypt, called So in the Biblical text: he was probably Osorkon IV, the last Pharaoh of the 22nd Dynasty so-called Tanite. The call for help was however intercepted by Shalmanezer agents who decided to punish Hoshea for his duplicity: Against him [Hoshea] came up Shalmanezer king of Assyria; and Hoshea became his servant, and brought him presents. And the king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea; for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and offered no present to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year; therefore the king of Assyria shut him up, and bound him in prison. --- II Kings 17:3-4 The Israelite king was taken captive in the 6th year of his reign. But the capital city of Samaria continued the struggle for the 3 following years:



Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years. In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away unto Assyria, and placed them in Halah, and in Habor, on the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. --- II Kings 17:5-6 Shalmanezer V died soon after having conquered Samaria. Maybe he was even murdered by his successor, Sargon II, who campaigned in the Levant as well.[3] This new ruler applied the same policy of “ethnic cleansing” by displacing populations from one place of the empire to another.

Sargon II (British Museum) After he took away the Israelites out of the kingdom of Israel, he moved in other populations and ordered to rebuild the city of Samaria: for this reason, these people would become known as the Samaritans (II Kings 17:24-29).

The deportation of the 10 tribes of Israel (Source Wikipedia) There are historians who believe that Sargon II and Sennacherib were the same person, whereas Sargon II was a name that Sennacherib adopted later in his reign. History has not decided yet whether this king was the actual son of his predecessor or an usurper who killed Shalmanezer on his return from the campaign against Israel. According to the Bible, there were 10 years difference between the campaigns of Shalmanezer and of Sennacherib, because the first one took place in the 4th year of the reign of Hezekiah king of Judah and the second one took place in the 14th year (II Kings 18:9 and 18:13).



Chronology of the kings - until end of Israel ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3045 – 715 BCE – Numa, king of Rome Not all the Israelites chose to become slave and be deported to Assyria. When all hope was lost, many escaped, along with their Phoenician neighbours who also wanted to avoid death or deportation, to cities where they had already established maritime settlements in the Mediterranean basin. One of the destinations was Rome which, we would recall, was originally an establishment of Benjamite Jews who escaped from the civil war at the time of the Judges. At the time a king called Numa Pompilius reigned in Rome. According to the Roman historian Plutarch (46-120 CE), he was a Sabine, and the Sabines were themselves originally Lacedaemonians (Spartans), thus of Hebrew origin as all classic historians knew this as a fact. The Sabines were those who welcomed the Benjamite rescapees from the civil war at the time of the Judges. Numa will acquire a legendary status in Roman history because of his unique character with an aura for wisdom and piety. Most of his story may be legend but some of it may not be totally unfounded. For example, Numa was said to have authored "sacred books" and asked to be buried with them.[4a] Did he author them or were they brought to him by Jewish refugees who may have held documents they saved from their country and containing the psalms of David or some wisdom teachings from Solomon? Numa also established the function of a "high priest", pontifex maximus in Latin, in charge of some "religious vessels". Further, he suddenly changed the calendar with the introduction of new months to accomodate solar and lunar years. Last, Numa imposed that the Roman religion would be "imageless" thus only spiritual.[4b] This custom of Ancient Rome persisted for the next 170 years according to Plutarch, before Rome started to introduce statues in their temples. Plutarch took this information from Marcus Verentius Varro who wrote a chronology of Rome about 50 BCE. Augustine of Hippo (354-430 CE), a Father of the Church, confirmed it some 300 years after Plutarch, where Varro’s works were still existing (they have been lost since): He [Varro] says, also, that the ancient Romans, for more than a hundred and seventy years, worshipped the gods without an image. And if this custom, he says, could have remained till now, the gods would have been more purely worshipped. In favor of this opinion, he cites as a witness among others the Jewish nation; nor does he hesitate to conclude that passage by saying of those who first consecrated images for the people, that they have both taken awayreligious fear from their fellow citizens, and increased error, wisely thinking that the gods easily fall intocontempt when exhibited under the stolidity of images. --- Augustine, The City of God, book IV, chapter 31 All these reforms established by Numa and history of Ancient Rome cannot be fully understood without the help of "foreign" influence. It is well assumed that Rome was founded by Greeks. But was it really so? It rather seems that it was founded or greatly influenced by Hebrews first and Israelites later, before eventually been indeed absorbed by Greek culture, some centuries later. This fact was probably known in ancient times but lost today. The Roman historian and Bishop of Caesarea, Eusebius, repeated Plutarch when he wrote: But Numa the king of the Romans, though he was a Pythagorean,[4c] received benefit from the teaching of Moses, and forbade the Romans to make an image of God in the shape of man or any animal. So, in the first hundred and seventy years [of Rome], though they built themselves temples, they made no image, neither in sculpture nor yet in painting. For Numa used to teach them in secret, that it was not possible for the Perfect Good to be reached by language, but only by the mind. --- Eusebius of Caesarea, Preparation for the Gospel, Book 9, chapter VI, translated by E.H. Gifford, 1903 Eusebius used the writings of Clement of Alexandria as a source. Numa was a peaceful and wise king. But, after his death in 673 BCE, Rome will start turning into the military power that they became known for. And many years later, the Roman Senate would order that the sacred books of Numa be burned and eradicated from public knowledge.



Numa Pompilius (source: blog The Pines of Rome) ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1] See Sargon of Akkad, the founder of this dynasty, in the 16th Generation [2] The Babylonian records give a date of this conquest around 740 or 733 BCE, while the Hebrew calendar placed around year 3004, equivalent to 756 BCE, which is close enough considering the margin of error for old sources [3] His conquest of the Philistine city of Ashdod, c. 711 BCE, is mentioned in Isaiah [4a] Plutarch, The Parallel lives, Numa Pompilius, chapter XXII [4b] In an interview, Italian archaelogist Dr. Clementina Panella mentioned that Numa did so because he thought "it was impious to represent things Divine by what is perishable" ; to see article online, click here [4c] The Greek philosopher Pythagoras lived a couple of centuries after Numa, so Numa could not have possibly been "a Pythagorean"; but this anachronic mention was probably to mean that Numa followed philosophical principles and lived the way Pythagoras did ~~~~~~~~~~

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Year 3163 – 597 BCE – Nebuchadnezzar spoils Jerusalem

Jehoiakim reigned 11 years and probably died in a battle he waged against the Babylonians, following his last rebellion from their yoke. He indeed rebelled after 3 years of paying tribute, hoping that a new alliance with Egypt would defeat the rulers from Babylon. Jehoiakim was succeeded by his 18 years old son Jehoiachin.[1] But the latter did not reign more Creation than 3 months because the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and the Israelite royal family surrendered. The invaders Generations spoiled the city from all its treasures and took to captivity all the key people of the kingdom: 1-14 At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up to Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came unto the city, while his servants were besieging it. And Jehoiachin the king of Generations Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers; and the 15-21 king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign [Nebuchadnezzar’s]. And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's house, and cut in Generations pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the Lord, as the Lord had said. 22-28 And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths; none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land. And he carried away Generations Jehoiachin to Babylon; and the king's mother, and the king's wives, and his officers, and the chief men of the land, 29-35 carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. And all the men of might, even seven thousand, and the craftsmen and the smiths a thousand, all of them strong and apt for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon. Generations And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah his father's brother king in his stead, and changed his name to Zedekiah. 36-49 --- II Kings 24:10-17 Generation 50

It is generally admitted by Jewish scholars that the First Temple was destroyed after 410 years from its construction. The period of 410 years actually refers to the number of years of divine service in the Temple, and not until its actual destruction. This service stopped from the moment the High Priest was taken to captivity in Babylon at the same time than the other dignitaries of the kingdom of Judah. It was Jehozadak, son of Seraiah, who was the last High Priest (I Chronicles 5:41). A temple without divine service and high priest was just stones and no longer the Temple, as the House of God.. The Second Temple was destroyed after 420 years of divine service. We will see that this period was not continuous, unlike for the First Temple. These two numbers 410 and 420 are reflected in the numerical value of the Hebrew word ‫ תיתכ‬which is used to name the pure olive oil that was used by the priests for the Temple service. This word can be divided in two sections ‫ תכ‬and ‫ תי‬which have the numerical value of 420 and 410 respectively (‫=ת‬400, ‫=כ‬20, ‫=י‬10). ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3163 – 597 BCE – Zedekiah, the last king of Judah Zedekiah was the younger brother of Jehoahaz, from a same mother. He was 21 years old when he was chosen as king of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar. Jeremiah continued to prophetize the fall of the kingdom of Judah while many other false prophets were giving false hope that God will not abandon the nation.

http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g27-jerusalem.html (1 of 8) [6/11/2013 11:34:44 AM]


Jeremiah the Prophet and King Zedekiah (Foster, Charles, The Bible pictures and what they teach us, 1897) ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3166 – 594 BCE – Hananiah the false prophet At a time when divine service was no longer performed and when the presence of spiritual leadership with the High Priest was wanting, the people of Judah were confused by several false prophets. One of them, Hananiah, wanted to make them believe that God will save them from the king of Babylon, against Jeremiah’s prophecies. God issued a sentence of death against him, and Jeremiah had to deliver it. Hananiah died in the same year, in the 4th of the reign of Zedekiah. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3168 – 592 BCE – The vision of Ezekiel Ezekiel son of Buzi was a priest who had followed King Jehoiakim and the royal family when they came voluntarily to Nebuchadnezzar. The latter took them captive to Babylon and Jehoiachim would remain incarcerated until the death of Nebuchadnezzar. The years of captivity of the Israelites in Babylon are counted from the start of Jehoiachim’s captivity which began in the 8th year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign. In the 5th year, which started in Hebrew year 3167, God talked to Ezekiel in exile and showed him some frightful vision of fire, unnatural beasts and electricity (Ezekiel 1:4,27). The latter word is difficult to transcribe as Ezekiel used the Hebrew word ‫ לַמְׁשַח‬which, in Modern Hebrew, means Electricity.

One of the visions of Ezekiel (Fontaine, Nicolas, L'Histoire du Vieux et du Nouveau Testament, 1688) God also wanted Ezekiel to repent for the sins of Israel and Judah, one day for one year of iniquity:



Moreover lie you upon your left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it; according to the number of the days that you shall lie upon it, you shall bear their iniquity. For I have appointed the years of their iniquity to be unto you a number of days, even three hundred and ninety days; so shall you bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. And again, when you have accomplished these, you shall lie on your right side, and shall bear the iniquity of the house of Judah; forty days, each day for a year, have I appointed it unto you. --- Ezekiel 4:4-6 How did these years get counted? First, for Israel, it corresponds to the number of years from the time all the Israelites started to sin. It began to count from the death of Elazar the High Priest, son of Aaron, in Hebrew year 2558. The count ends with the destruction of the kingdom of Israel in Hebrew year 3041, when its capital Samaria fell after 3 years of struggle. The difference of years is 483 years, from which God removed all the years when all the Israelites came back to His path during the period of Samuel (after the death Eli the High Priest in Hebrew year 2688), and until the end of the reigns of David and Solomon in Hebrew year 2781 (80 years for the combined two reigns): this makes a total of 93 years to suibstract from the 483 years count, and it results in the 390 years calculation. The period of 390 years corresponds to a collective punishment of all the Israelites, not just for the kingdom of Israel. As of the 40 years of punishment mentioned for Judah, they counted (backwards) for: - the reign of Zedekiah thus far: 4 years - the reign of Jehoiachin until he was taken to captivity: 3 months - the reign of Jehoiakim: 11 years - the reign of Jehoahaz until taken by Necoh to Egypt: 3 months - the reign of Amon until he was murdered: 2 years - part of the reign of Manassah, the greatest of the sinful kings of Judah, who reigned for 55 years but started to reign when he was only 12 years old: probably 22 years and 6 months of sins So God applied a symbolic collective punishment to Ezekiel in place of the Israelites, by ruling the same model as He did to them in the desert after the episode of the 12 explorers. Except that, at that time, we made them pay one year for each day, and now He made Ezekiel pay one day for each year of sin. Ezekiel started the punishment on the 5th day of the 4th month of the 5th year of Jehoiachin’s captivity (Ezekiel 8:1), which lasted a total of 430 days (=390+40). In Babylon, they used a lunar calendar at the time, so each month was based on lunar observation with a new moon every 29.5 days in average (some months were counted with 29 days and others with 30 days). So the 430 days made 14 lunar months and a half, thus one year and two and a half months.[2] God spoke to Ezekiel at the start of the following month, on the same 5th day of the month: And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord God fell there upon me. Then I beheld, and lo a likeness as the appearance of fire: from the appearance of his loins and downward, fire; and from his loins and upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the colour of electrum. And the form of a hand was put forth, and I was taken by a lock of my head; and a spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the gate of the inner court that looks toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy. And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the vision that I saw in the plain. --- Ezekiel 8:1-4 ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3171 – 589 BCE – The siege of Jerusalem Zedekiah eventually rebelled against Babylon, hoping that Pharaoh Psamtik II, son of Necoh, would be able to overcome the Assyrian yoke in the entire region. But no military support could possibly come from Egypt which had already been badly defeated by the Assyrians at the time of Necoh. Nebuchadnezzar was now able to exert his wrath against the rebellious king of Judah. His army started the siege of Jerusalem in the 9th year of Zedekiah’s reign: And it came to pass in the ninth year of his [Zedekiah] reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and encamped against it; and they built forts against it round about. --- II Kings 25:1 The reign of Zedekiah was counted at the same year when King Jehoiachin was taken captive to Babylon. So the time reference is identical for Ezekiel to whom God appeared in a vision to announce the siege of the city: And the word of the Lord came unto me in the ninth year, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, saying: 'Son of man, write you the name of the day, even of this selfsame day; this selfsame day the king of Babylon has invested Jerusalem.’ --- Ezekiel 24:1-2 As the Babylonians used a lunar calendar as the Hebrews did, the months start at the same time with a new moon, and last the same period of time, 29.5 days in average.



The Siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar (Calmet, Dictionary of the Holy Bible,1730) ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3173 – 587 BCE – The fall of Jerusalem In the 10th year of his reign, instead of repenting for his sins, Zedekiah had Jeremiah thrown into a jail (Jeremiah 32:3). This was in fact a pit with no water and Jeremiah would have died there. Then Zedekiah ordered 30 men to take him out (Jeremiah 38:10). The Prophet was then kept in the house of the guards until the city of Jerusalem was conquered (Jeremiah 38:28). In the 11th year of Zedediah’s reign, a breach was made in the city walls (II Kings 25:2). The people of the city could see the breach and the oncoming Assyrian army going through it. One person, named in the Biblical text as Nebo-Sarsechim (Jeremiah 39:3), was recently identified in one of the Assyrian tablets kept in the British Museum as “Nabusharrussu-ukin, the chief eunuch”: […] the property of Nabu-sharrussu-ukin, the chief eunuch, […] Month 11, day 18, year 10 [of] Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. --- Alberge, Dalya, "Museum’s tablet lends new weight to Biblical truth", The Times, 11 July 2007 The Times newspaper reported that this was a rare evidence in a nonbiblical source of a real person, other than kings, featured in the Bible. Seeing the city about to be lost, Zedekiah and his family tried to escape via a secret underground tunnel, but they were caught by chance in the plain of Jericho. Nebuchadnezzar executed all his family in front of Zedekiah, cut off his eyes and sent him captive to Babylon.



Execution of Zedekiah's sons (Gustave Doré, 1868) Three weeks after the breach, the city of Jerusalem fell: Now in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem. And he burnt the house of the Lord, and the king's house; and all the houses of Jerusalem, even every great man's house, burnt he with fire. And all the army of the Chaldeans, that were with the captain of the guard, broke down the walls of Jerusalem round about. And the residue of the people that were left in the city, and those that fell away, that fell to the king of Babylon, and the residue of the multitude, did Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carry away captive. But the captain of the guard left of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and husbandmen. And the pillars of brass that were in the house of the Lord, and the bases and the brazen sea that were in the house of the Lord, did the Chaldeans break in pieces, and carried the brass of them to Babylon. And the pots, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the pans, and all the vessels of brass wherewith they ministered, took they away. And the fire-pans, and the basins, that which was of gold, in gold, and that which was of silver, in silver, the captain of the guard took away. The two pillars, the one sea, and the bases, which Solomon had made for the house of the Lord; the brass of all these vessels was without weight. The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits, and a capital of brass was upon it; and the height of the capital was three cubits; with network and pomegranates upon the capital round about, all of brass; and like unto these had the second pillar with network. And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the door; and out of the city he took an officer that was set over the men of war; and five men of them that saw the king's face, who were found in the city; and the scribe of the captain of the host, who mustered the people of the land; and threescore men of the people of the land, that were found in the city. And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah. And the king of Babylon smote them, and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was carried away captive out of his land. And as for the people that were left in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, even over them he made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, governor. --- II Kings 25:8-22 ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3173 – 587 BCE – The Book of Lamentations While Jeremiah was in house arrest, he composed the Book of Lamentations to mourn the forthcoming destruction of the holy city. This text was chosen to be part of the Jewish Bible and is traditionnally read in Jewish assemblies during the fast day of Tisha Be-Av (the 9th day of the month of Av). The elders have ceased from the gate, the young men from their music. The joy of our heart is ceased; our dance is turned into mourning. The crown is fallen from our head; woe unto us! for we have sinned. For this our heart is faint, for these things our eyes are dim; For the mountain of Zion, which is desolate, the foxes walk upon it. You, O Lord, are enthroned for ever, Your throne is from generation to generation. Wherefore do You forget us for ever, http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g27-jerusalem.html (5 of 8) [6/11/2013 11:34:44 AM]


and forsake us so long time? Turn You us unto You, O Lord, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old. You cannot have utterly rejected us, and be exceeding wroth against us! --- Lamentations 5:14-22, final verses

Jeremiah lamenting the fall of Jerusalem (Rembrandt, 1630) ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3174 – 586 BCE – The assassination of Gedaliah Most of the people of the kingdom of Judah were taken captive to Babylon. Jeremiah was given the choice to follow the people to Babylon or remain in Mitzpah with Gedaliah, the governor chosen by the king of Babylon to administer what was left of the cities of Judah. Jeremiah chose to stay.

Seal of Gedaliah (found in Lachish in 1935, see article) The armed people of Judah, who were outside Jerusalem when the city was taken, gathered again to meet Gedaliah in Mitzpah. The new governor succeeded to reassure them over the future. Israelites started to come back from different places onto Judah. But Gedaliah fell to a gang of mercenaries led by Ishmael son of Netanya who murdered him (II Kings 25:25-26). The gang took away as captives his daughters and other people who were with him in Mitzpah, including the Prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 41:10). But they were caught up by a group of armed Israelites who rescued some of the captives, and Ishmael fled to the land of the Ammonites. To avoid punishment from Babylon, the rescuers fled to Egypt, taking Jeremiah with them. This decision was a lack of faith in God because they had previously asked the Prophet for divine advice and he had passed onto them God’s promise to His protection if they remained in Judah. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3174 – 586 BCE – Jeremiah in Egypt http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g27-jerusalem.html (6 of 8) [6/11/2013 11:34:44 AM]


The divine anger was soon coming. Jeremiah prophetised to the people of Judah that God will deliver the land of Egypt to the king of Assyria, if they would remain there. The Pharaoh of Egypt at the time, Apries from the 26th Dynasty, called Hophra in the Bible (Jeremiah 40:30), favoured those who rebelled against Babylon. He had even tried to come to the rescue of Jerusalem against the Babylonian army but was crushed by them, before they started to besiege the city. Some tradition mentions that Jeremiah met with some Greek philosopher while in Egypt. The one who comes to mind is Thales, who was a wealthy maritime trader based in Miletus (Asia Minor) so could have travelled the seas for his business. He taught new concepts about the origin of life that influenced the philosophers after him, such as that all the world originated from Water. For Aristotle notably, Thales was the father of the Philosophy. [3]

The last kings of Judah ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1] Also called Coniah in Jeremiah 37:1 [2] A lunar year had 12 months at the time, until later when Babylonians added an intercalary month



Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon (Foster, Bible Pictures) [3] Thales has been mentioned in the following page of this site => click here ~~~~~~~~~~

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Generation 28

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Year 3281 – 479 BCE – Ahasuerus and Esther Esther was prepared for her concubine role in the royal palace and, after the return from the Greek war, was introduced to Xerxes/Ahasuerus in early 479 BCE:

Creation Generations 1-14 Generations 15-21 Generations 22-28

So Esther was taken unto king Ahasuerus into his house royal in the tenth month, which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign. And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained grace and favour in his sight more than all the virgins; so that he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti. Then the king made a great feast unto all his princes and his servants, even Esther's feast; and he made a release to the provinces, and gave gifts, according to the bounty of the king. And when the virgins were gathered together the second time and Mordechai sat in the king's gate. Esther had not yet made known her kindred nor her people; as Mordechai had charged her; for Esther did the commandment of Mordechai, like as when she was brought up with him. --- Esther 2:16

Mordechai later discovered that two conspirers from the king’s palace wanted to assassinate him. Such conspiracy was not surprising because of the unconvincing result of the campaign against Greece. Mordechai informed Esther who Generations informed the king, and the conspirers were hanged. The circumstance was recorded in the annals of the empire but 29-35 passed unnoticed at the time. Generations 36-49 Generation 50

Esther in the harem - by Edwin Long, 1878 (National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne) ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3285 – 475 BCE – The festival of Purim Ahasuerus appointed a man called Haman to a rank above all other dignitaries. Haman was from the tribe of Agag, from http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g28-ezra.html (1 of 7) [6/11/2013 11:34:58 AM]


the people of Amalek. Agag had been spared by King Saul against the divine orders: And Saul smote the Amalekites, from Havilah as you go to Shur, which is in front of Egypt. And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, even the young of the second birth, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them; but every thing that was of no account and feeble, that they destroyed utterly. --- I Samuel 15:7-9 Through the voice of Samuel the Prophet, God had commanded to Saul to kill all the Amalekites but Saul did not obey. In doing so, by a reverse of fortune, the survivors ended up years later at the service of the Persian Empire while cultivating hatred towards the Israelites. Haman conspired to make genocide of the Israelites, using the tactics to raise awareness to the king that this people would not show respect to him nor prostrate: And Haman said unto king Ahasuerus: 'There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom; and their laws are diverse from those of every people; neither keep they the king's laws; therefore it profits not the king to suffer them. If it please the king, let it be written that they be destroyed; and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those that have the charge of the king's business, to bring it into the king's treasuries.’ --- Esther 3:8 Haman was given free hand by the king. So he sent a decree throughout the empire to order the execution of all Israelites in a single day, set for the 13th day of the month of Adar, which is the 12th month of the year, before a new year would start in Nisan. And to make the matter even more attractive to the executioners, he decreed that they could seize all the properties of the ones they would slain. He surely thought that greed would guarantee the job to be done with expediency. Consternation fell upon the Israelites and Mordechai called upon Esther for help. After fasting for three days, she came to the king to invite him and Haman to a banquet she intended to prepare for the next day in order to present to him her petition. The entire procedure intrigued the king: On that night could not the king sleep; and he commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles, and they were read before the king. And it was found written, that Mordechai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's chamberlains, of those that kept the door, who had sought to lay hands on the king Ahasuerus. And the king said: 'What honour and dignity hath been done to Mordechai for this?' Then said the king's servants that ministered unto him: 'There is nothing done for him.' And the king said: 'Who is in the court?' -- Now Haman was come into the outer court of the king's house, to speak unto the king to hang Mordechai on the gallows that he had prepared for him. -- And the king's servants said unto him: 'Behold, Haman stands in the court.' And the king said: 'Let him come in.' So Haman came in. And the king said unto him: 'What shall be done unto the man whom the king delights to honour?' -- Now Haman said in his heart: 'Whom would the king delight to honour besides me?' -- And Haman said unto the king: 'For the man whom the king delights to honour, let royal apparel be brought which the king uses to wear, and the horse that the king rides upon, and on whose head a crown royal is set; and let the apparel and the horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king's most noble princes, that they may array the man therewith whom the king delights to honour, and cause him to ride on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaim before him: Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honour.' Then the king said to Haman: 'Make haste, and take the apparel and the horse, as you have said, and do even so to Mordechai the Jew, that sits at the king's gate; let nothing fail of all that you have spoken.' --- Esther 6:1-10 After executing this ultimate royal honour for Mordechai, not even knowing why it was due, Haman was in doubt that his plan to kill all the Israelites would succeed. But he was soon called to join the banquet arranged by Esther and could not have time to change the course of events. At the end of the banquet, she accused Haman to have ordered to kill all her people, which would de facto include her, as she was Israelite herself. Her belonging to Jewish faith had not been known to neither Ahasuerus nor Haman. He was hanged on the gallows he had prepared for Mordechai. Then the king ordered to reverse the evil decree of Haman against the Israelites so that they could defend themselves and kill those who attempted evil against them and take their properties as a spoil. Killing their enemies they did, but taking their properties they did not. The Biblical text takes great length in emphasizing this detail (Esther 9:10, 9:15 and 9:17).

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Haman, Ahasuerus and Esther - by Rembrandt, 1660 The Biblical text also mentions the death of the 10 sons of Haman. Many modern commentators have made a parallel between Haman and Hitler. The circumstances of the festival of Purim indeed share several details in common. For example, the execution of the 10 sons of Haman was similar to the one that took place after the Second World War against the Nazis: after the trial of Nuremberg, 10 ministers and high dignitaries of this regime that hated the Jews were condemned to death. Also the death was performed by hanging, in both cases. But, more importantly, both events occurred after a period of Jewish assimilation and ultimately resulted into fervour to return to the faith in Sion. After the Second World War, a mass exodus of Jews started to take place, as never witnessed before, and the State of Israel was ultimately created with Jerusalem as its historical and eternal capital. The judges and the prophets had often repeated the divine voice: God will punish His people when they would deviate from His convenant, but He will not allow their complete annihilation. The past 2500 years of Jewish history seem to have proven this divine promise, because of the unlikely survival of the Jews despite the persecutions, the forced conversions, the evil decrees, and the rest that nations had in turn orchestrated against them. The same divine protection applies to the Arabs too because both Israelites and Arabs are the legacy of Abraham. It is a tragedy that the two people are today in conflict one against the other which, surely, is against God and Allah’s will. Mutual acceptance and cooperation would transform a war zone into a true beacon for humanity, because this is where civilization and faith had started, and would restore world peace. After these fateful events, Mordechai has decreed that the Israelite people should commemorate their saving every year on the 14th and 15th of the month of Adar, as this is when it took place in the Persian Empire: this became the Jewish festival of Purim. Strangely or not, the Book of Esther is the only book of the Bible where there is no mention of God, although God’s divine designs can be perceived throughout. This is to remind that the Israelites, by their own merit and actions, brought upon themselves salvation from their utter enemy. In this context, Purim is considered the most important festival as the Jews restored their faith by themselves, without being openly guided by any prophet to tell them God’s word. Mordechai became a close advisor to the king: And the king Ahasuerus laid a tribute upon the land, and upon the isles of the sea. And all the acts of his power and of his might, and the full account of the greatness of Mordechai, how the king advanced him, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia? For Mordechai the Jew was next unto king Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and accepted of the multitude of his brethren; seeking the good of his people and speaking peace to all his seed. --- Esther 10:1-3 ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3295 – 465 BCE – Artaxerxes, the “king of kings” Xerxes was ultimately assassinated by military conspirers who also killed one of his sons. His failure in Greece was probably the root cause of his demise. His eldest son, Artaxerxes, revenged his father and executed the conspirers. He then seized power. Artaxerxes was the first son of Xerxes from his wife Amestris/Vashti. He however had profound respect for Esther and had married Damaspia who, according to sources, was Esther’s only daughter because Damaspia was known to follow the Hebrew faith. He adopted the title of “king of kings” instead of using one such as “king of Babylon”.



~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3296 – 464 BCE – The dream of Mordechai Some chapters of the Book of Esther were included in the future Septuagint, the first translation of the Bible in Greek, but are not part of the Jewish Torah. One of these texts concerns a dream that Mordechai had in these times: In the second year of the reign of Artaxerxes the great, in the first day of the month Nisan, Mardochai the son of Jair, the son of Semei, the son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Jew who dwelt in the city of Susa, a great man and among the first of the king's court, had it dream. --- Apocrypha, Esther, chapter 11, 2-3 This detail confirms that Mordechai was advisor to Artaxerxes and that, by consequence, the Ahasuerus of the Bible was indeed Xerxes, the father of Artaxerxes. As of his dream, Mordechai had not been able to understand it and it is still unexplained as it may related to future times. It is not known when Esther and Mordechai died, but they seem to have both been buried in Hamadan, Iran, because this is where a mausoleum still stands today to shelter their tombs.

Tomb of Esther and Mordechai in Hamadan, Iran (photography: Nick Taylor, Wikipedia) ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3302 – 458 BCE – Ezra the Scribe In the 7th year of Artaxerxes’ reign, Ezra, a Levite who had the high priest Zadok as ancestor, was granted to arrange for the return to Sion of a number of Israelites from Babylon. They left the city on the 1st day of the 1st month (Nisan) and arrived to Jerusalem on the 1st day of the 5th month. His goal was to revive the faith among his brethen as the text suggests it: For Ezra had set his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and ordinances. --- Ezra 7:10 Artaxerxes had sent his approval with a strong worded decree which shows the level of respect he had for the “God of heaven”: Artaxerxes, king of kings, unto Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven, and so forth. And now I make a decree, that all they of the people of Israel, and their priests and the Levites, in my realm, that are minded of their own free will to go with you to Jerusalem, go. Forasmuch as you are sent of the king and his seven counsellors, to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of your God which is in your hand; and to carry the silver and gold, which the king and his counsellors have freely offered unto the God of Israel, whose habitation is in Jerusalem, and all the silver and gold that you shall find in all the province of Babylon, with the freewill-offering of the people, and of the priests, offering willingly for the house of their God which is in Jerusalem; therefore you shall with all diligence buy with this money bullocks, rams, lambs, with their meal-offerings and their drink-offerings, and shall offer them upon the altar of the house of your God which is in Jerusalem. And whatsoever shall seem good to you and to your brethren to do with the rest of the silver and the gold that do you after the will of your God. And the vessels that are given you for the service of the house of your God, deliver you before the God of Jerusalem. And whatsoever more shall be needful for the http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g28-ezra.html (4 of 7) [6/11/2013 11:34:58 AM]


house of your God, which you shall have occasion to bestow, bestow it out of the king's treasure-house. And I, even I Artaxerxes the king, do make a decree to all the treasurers that are beyond the River, that whatsoever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven, shall require of you, it be done with all diligence, unto a hundred talents of silver, and to a hundred measures of wheat, and to a hundred baths of wine, and to a hundred baths of oil, and salt without prescribing how much. Whatsoever is commanded by the God of heaven let it be done exactly for the house of the God of heaven; for why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons? Also we announce to you, that touching any of the priests and Levites, the singers, porters, Nethinim, or servants of this house of God, it shall not be lawful to impose tribute, impost, or toll, upon them. And you, Ezra, after the wisdom of your God that is in your hand, appoint magistrates and judges, who may judge all the people that are beyond the River, all such as know the laws of your God; and teach you him that knows them not. And whosoever will not do the law of your God, and the law of the king, let judgment be executed upon him with all diligence, whether it be unto death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment. --- Ezra 7:12-26 As a first step of doing the law of God, Ezra endeavoured to remove from the Israelite congregation all foreign spouses. Inter-marriage had been the norm among the Israelites who had remained in the land of Judah, but it was also the case for some of the people who returned from exile, even among the Levites. It was agreed that separation would need to be done, however painful it might be: And Ezra the priest stood up, and said unto them: 'You have broken faith, and have married foreign women, to increase the guilt of Israel. Now therefore make confession unto the Lord, the God of your fathers, and do His pleasure; and separate yourselves from the peoples of the land, and from the foreign women.' Then the entire congregation answered and said with a loud voice: 'as you have said, so it is for us to do.’ --- Ezra 10:10-12 It is from the time of Ezra that the Jews stopped being proselyte and generally refrained from marrying outside their community, thus keeping one of God’s main commandments. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3314 – 446 BCE – Nehemiah, Governor of Judah In the 20th year of Artaxerxes’ reign, Nehemiah, who was Cupbearer in the castle of Artaxerxes in Susa, received the visit of an Israelite who came from Jerusalem. The visitor told him about the affliction of their brethren, and about the fact that the city was no longer protected by walls. Nehemiah was deeply moved by what he heard, and prayed to God that He would keep His convenant if His people would repent, as those in Jerusalem did. There is a tradition that this visitor from Jerusalem was Ezra himself, who came to Susa to plead to the king for help in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. He would have found in Nehemiah the right person to address himself as an intermediary. And on his way back to Jerusalem, Ezra would have died in that year. A tomb which was known to be his since the Middle Age has been a site of pilgrimage, for both Jews and Muslims.

Ezra’s Tomb, Iraq (Bell Gertrude Archive, Newcastle University Library) A few months later, when Nehemiah was serving the king with wine, he asked his authorization to go to Jerusalem and rebuild the walls and the gates of the city. Artaxerxes granted his approval and even made him Governor of the land of Judah to have authority about this mission (Nehemiah 5:14). Once in Jerusalem, Nehemiah engaged each important family to repair the gates of the city. Then they started to build the wall. This caused the anger of the neighboring tribes who conspired against the Israelites and threatened to attack the city of Jerusalem. Nehemiah organised the method of defence while keeping the work going on despite the threat: And it came to pass from that time forth, that half of my servants wrought in the work, and half of them held the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the coats of mail; and the rulers were behind all the house of Judah. They that builded the wall and they that bore burdens laded themselves, every one with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other held his weapon; and the builders, every one had his sword girded by his side, and so builded. And he that sounded the horn was by me. And I said unto the nobles, and to the rulers and to the rest of the people: 'The work is great and large, and http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g28-ezra.html (5 of 7) [6/11/2013 11:34:58 AM]


we are separated upon the wall, one far from another; in what place soever you hear the sound of the horn, resort you thither unto us; our God will fight for us.’ --- Nehemiah 4:10-14 The works were completed swiftly: So the wall was finished in the twenty and fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty and two days. --- Nehemiah 6:15 ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3320 – 440 BCE – Compilation of the Tanakh In his endeavour to “teach” the Israelites their history and the laws and ordinances given by God, Ezra and the assembly of the Elders had compiled most of the contents of the Tanakh, otherwise called the Bible then the Old Testament. And Nehemiah wrote the last book, concerning Ezra’s and his deeds: And who wrote all the books? Moses wrote his book and a portion of Bil'am [Numbers, xxii.], and Job. Jehoshua wrote his book and the last eight verses of the Pentateuch beginning: "And Moses, the servant of the Lord, died." Samuel wrote his book, Judges, and Ruth. David wrote Psalms, with the assistance of ten elders, viz.: Adam the First, Malachi Zedek, Abraham, Moses, Hyman, Jeduthun, Asaph, and the three sons of Korach. Jeremiah wrote his book, Kings, and Lamentations. King Hezekiah and his company wrote Isaiah, Proverbs, Songs, and Ecclesiastes. The men of the great assembly wrote Ezekiel, the Twelve Prophets, Daniel, and the Book of Esther. Ezra wrote his book, and Chronicles-the order of all generations down to himself. [This may be a support to Rabh's theory, as to which, R. Jehudah said in his name, that Ezra had not ascended from Babylon to Palestine until he wrote his genealogy.] And who finished Ezra's book? Nehemiah ben Chachalyah. --- Talmud, Baba Bathra 14b-15a When Nehemiah built the physical walls to protect Jerusalem, he had also completed the spiritual walls surrounding the Written Law, the Tanakh, for the protection of future generations. Nothing has altered the content, nor of course text, of the Tanakh since these days. It is about these walls and gates that a Psalm says: The Lord loves the gates of Sion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. --- Psalms 87:2 It may also be interpreted as the return to Sion should be more important for a Jew than the [comfort of his] dwellings in Diaspora. The Tanakh (or Torah) is composed of 39 books: - the 5 books of the Torah: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy - the 21 books of the Prophets: Joshua, Judges, Samuel I & II, Kings I & II, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi - the 13 books of Writtings (or Hagiographa): Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel, Ezra & Nehemiah, Chronicles I & II ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3326 – 434 BCE – Nehemiah settles in Jerusalem Nehemiah continued in his role for 12 years, until the 32nd year of the reign of Artaxerxes, when he returned to Susa. He returned to Persia to ask formal permission from Artaxerxes to return definitively to Jerusalem, which was granted. When he returned, he could only see that evil ways were already coming back to the community: But in all this time I was not at Jerusalem; for in the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I went unto the king, and after certain days asked I leave of the king; and I came to Jerusalem, and understood the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah, in preparing him a chamber in the courts of the house of God. And it grieved me sore; therefore I cast forth all the household stuff of Tobiah out of the chamber. Then I commanded, and they cleansed the chambers; and thither I brought again the vessels of the house of God, with the meal-offerings and the frankincense. --- Nehemiah 13:6-9 The lessons taught by Ezra the Scribe were also quickly forgotten: In those days also saw I the Jews that had married women of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab; and their children spoke half in the speech of Ashdod, and could not speak in the Jews' language, but according to the language of each people. And I contended with them, and cursed them, and smote certain of them, and plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God: 'You shall not give your daughters unto their sons, nor take their daughters for your sons, or for yourselves. Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? Yet among many nations was there no king like him, and he was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel; nevertheless even him did the foreign women cause to sin. Shall we then hearken unto you to do all this great evil, to break faith with our God in marrying foreign women?' And one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite; therefore I chased him from me. --- Nehemiah 13:23-28 The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah bring to a close the books that compose Jewish Bible, or Old Testament, the Torah. There are additional books that the New Testament has added to the Christian Bible. Conveniently, it is at this same time that History made its appearance in human investigation because it is at this period, around 440 BCE, that the first ever historical work was created: The Histories by the Greek Herodotus considered being the “Father of History”.



The years that followed Nehemiah’s death were plagued by dissensions between the Israelites and their neighbours, especially the Samaritans who opposed the return of the Jewish faith in the region. The Samaritans would intrigue and petition the local or regional rulers to stop the Israelites from practising their faith and even to destroy the Temple of Jerusalem. ~~~~~~~~~~ Next generation Top of Page






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About Year 3514 – 246 BCE – Joshua ben Elazar ben Sirach

Ptolemy II, the son of the army commander who accompanied Alexander in his campaigns, reigned over Egypt between 285 BCE and 246 BCE His son Ptolemy III reigned from his death and was called “the Benefactor”. He showed some originality in his reign by willing to write his laws or decrees in bilingual way, Egyptian hieroglyphs and Greek Creation alphabet. This was a very important step that would help future historians to decipher old languages. His son Ptolemy IV Generations will follow this method and was the king under whom the Rosetta Stone was created, in three languages. This stone will be the key tool to decipher the hieroglyphs in the 19th century. 1-14 It is probably in this effort of Ptolemy III to rally some scholars able to write in different languages that a Jewish scribe Generations from Jerusalem, Sirach ben Joshua, was invited to Egypt at this time: 15-21 When I arrived in Egypt in the 38th year of the reign of Ptolemy the Benefactor and stayed for some time, I found Generations opportunity for no little instruction. Therefore, it seemed highly necessary that I myself should devote some diligence and 22-28 labor to the translation of this book. During that time I have applied my skill day and night to complete and publish the book for those living abroad who wished to gain learning and are disposed to live according to the law. Generations --- Apocrypha, Sirach, Prologue, 8-10 29-35 Sirach arrived in Egypt at the end of the reign of Ptolemy II, who reigned for 38 or 39 years, when his son was Generations probably already reigning as a regent until his father’s death. He wrote a book to serve as a guide to the Jewish community of Alexandria who, at the time, was in need of books written in a language they could understand, Greek, as they had lost 36-49 the knowledge of Hebrew. Generation The book of Sirach is a praise for Wisdom which comes to those who fear God, and guidance for his brethen about how 50 to conduct their life: Before all other things wisdom was created. […] http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g30-maccabee.html (1 of 22) [6/11/2013 11:35:28 AM]


If you desire wisdom, keep the commandments, and God will bestow her upon you; For fear of God is wisdom and culture; loyal humility is his delight. Do not play the hypocrite before men; keep watch over your lips. Do not exalt yourself lest you fall and bring upon you dishonor. --- Apocrypha, Sirach, Chapter 1, 4 and 26-30 Sirach also advised to learn the history of the generations as a mean to learn from their examples: Study the generations long past and understand: Has anyone hoped in God and been disappointed? Has anyone persevered in His fear and been forsaken? Has anyone called upon Him and been rebuffed? Compassionate and merciful is God; He forgives sins. He saves in time of trouble. --- Apocrypha, Sirach, Chapter 2, 10-11 Sirach gave extended advice to man, wife, children, all to live a life with purpose: With three things I am delighted, for they are beautiful to God and to men: harmony among brethren, friendship among neighbors, and the mutual love of husband and wife. Three kinds of men I hate, their manner of life I loathe indeed: a proud pauper, a rich dissembler, and an old man lecherous in his dotage. --- Apocrypha, Sirach, Chapter 25, 1-2 ~~~~~~~~~~

About Year 3530 – 230 BCE – The Septuagint Ptolemy the Benefactor was eager to gather all the knowledge of the world in the Library he (or his father) founded in Alexandria, capital of the Ptolemaic kings: Demetrius of Phalerum, the president of the king's library, received vast sums of money, for the purpose of collecting together, as far as he possibly could, all the books in the world. By means of purchase and transcription, he carried out, to the best of his ability, the purpose of the king. On one occasion when I was present he was asked: How many thousand books are there in the library? and he replied, 'More than two hundred thousand, O king, and I shall make endeavour in the immediate future to gather together the remainder also, so that the total of five hundred thousand may be reached. I am told that the laws of the Jews are worth transcribing and deserve a place in your library.' 'What is to prevent you from doing this?' replied the king. 'Everything that is necessary has been placed at your disposal.' 'They need to be translated,' answered Demetrius, 'for in the country of the Jews they use a peculiar alphabet (just as the Egyptians, too, have a special form of letters) and speak a peculiar dialect. They are supposed to use the Syriac tongue, but this is not the case; their language is quite different.' And the king when he understood all the facts of the case ordered a letter to be written to the Jewish High Priest that his purpose (which has already been described) might be accomplished. --- Letter of Aristeas, 9-11, translation by R.H. Charles, Clarendon Press, 1913 http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g30-maccabee.html (2 of 22) [6/11/2013 11:35:28 AM]


Upon request from the king, Eleazar the high priest sent six elders from each tribe, totalling 72 elders, to Alexandria to work on the translation of the Bible into Greek (Talmud, Megilah, 9a). The purpose was two folds: first, the main goal was to enrich the library of Alexandria, but, second the Jews who lived in Egypt had lost the use of the Hebrew language and therefore asked to have the Bible translated for their prayers: When the work was completed, Demetrius collected together the Jewish population in the place where the translation had been made, and read it over to all, in the presence of the translators, who met with a great reception also from the people, because of the great benefits which they had conferred upon them. They bestowed warm praise upon Demetrius, too, and urged him to have the whole law transcribed and present a copy to their leaders. After the books had been read, the priests and the elders of the translators and the Jewish community and the leaders of the people stood up and said, that since so excellent and sacred and accurate a translation had been made, it was only right that it should remain as it was and no alteration should be made in it. And when the whole company expressed their approval, they bade them pronounce a curse in accordance with their custom upon any one who should make any alteration either by adding anything or changing in any way whatever any of the words which had been written or making any omission. This was a very wise precaution to ensure that the book might be preserved for all the future time unchanged. --- Letter of Aristeas, 308-311 The translation of the Bible was an extraordinary event as it unveiled for the first to a very large public the contents that were before only known to the keepers of the tradition. It had been approved by early scholars as, according to a Mishna: There is no difference between books [of the Scripture] and tefillin and mezuzahs save that the books may be written in any language whereas tefillin and mezuzahs may be written only in Assyrian. Rabbi Simeon ben Gamaliel says that books [of the scripture] also were permitted [by the Sages] to be written only in Greek. --- Talmud, Megilah, 8b The Septuagint also became a major calalyst to the adoption of Christianity by the Gentiles, especially the Greeks, who had access to the text of the Scriptures and could embrace the new faith more easily. Compared to the 39 official books of the Tanakh in Hebrew, compiled at the time of Ezra the Scribe, around 450 BCE, the Septuagint also contains additional works that were written in Greek before its compilation and were already known to the Jewish diaspora of Greek language. These 14 books were: - 9 books included that will be in the New Testament: the Book of Sirach or Ecclesiasticus (which was provided by Sirach for this community before the writing of the Septuagint), Wisdom of Solomon, Maccabees I & II (the books related to the Maccabee revolt were obviously not part of the original Septuagint, as these events took place later, but were added to later versions of it), Tobit or Tobias, Daniel additions (Bel and the dragon), Judith, Esther additions, Baruch - 5 books not accepted by either Jewish or Christian sacred texts: Esdras (which seemed to be a Greek version of the book of Ezra/Nehemiah), Maccabee III, Prayer of Manasseh, Song of the Three Holy Children, history of Susanna (these two last books are Daniel additions)

http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g30-maccabee.html (3 of 22) [6/11/2013 11:35:29 AM]


God’s name in one of the earliest fragment of the Septuagint ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3539 – 221 BCE – Ptolemy IV Philopator Ptolemy IV succeeded to his father in Egypt. At the time, Israel was under control of the Ptolemaic kingdom but, from the reign of Ptolemy IV, the role of Egypt in the world affairs would start to decline.



The Books of the Maccabees opens with the battle of Raphia (also called battle of Gaza) in 217 BCE when Philopator defeated the Syrian army of Antiochus III the Great who attempted to take control of the Levant. After his victory, Philopator went to Jerusalem at the invitation of the Jews and offered a sacrifice to God to thank Him for the victory. But then he alos wished to enter the Holy of Holies, where only the High Priest was allowed in, and only once a year. The entire population of Jerusalem stood up to oppose such move by prayers and lamentations. The High Priest Simon II prayed for God to intervene: Here the all-seeing God, who is before all things, Holy in the holies, heard our righteous supplication; and chastised him who was greatly exalted with insolence and boldness: shaking him this way and that way, as a reed is shaken by the wind; so that he lay upon the floor without the power of exertion, and paralysed in his limbs, and not even able to speak, being overtaken with a just judgment. Whereupon his friends and body-guards, when they saw that speedy and http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g30-maccabee.html (5 of 22) [6/11/2013 11:35:29 AM]


sharp punishment which had overtaken him, being afraid lest he should even die; struck with overwhelming fear they quickly drew him out of the place. --- Maccabees I, 2:21-23 After his recovery, Philopater left Jerusalem with threats to the Jewish nation. Back in Egypt he began a life of debauchery ans was eventually assassinated a few years later in 204 BCE. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3545 – 215 BCE – Demetrios the Chronographer The campaign of Philopator against Judea probably put the Jews of his realm in disconfort and distress. Most of them lived in Alexandria and had adopted the Greek culture. They didn't speak Hebrew but were sentimentally connected with their brethren in Judeah. At this time, a Jew called Demetrios (or Demetrius) endeavoured to write a chronology of Jewish history. This was probably the first attempt of doing such work, based on the Scriptures and devoid of religious considerations. Demetrios worked with the Septuagint as a source, because he only knew Greek. His work has been lost since, except for the extracts that Christian writers used after his death, of which notably Eusebius of Caesaria and Clement of Alexandria. The former gives an account of the chronology established by Demetrios,[1a] and the second gives an account of the Lost Tribes, as compared to the two of Judah and Benjamin who form the Jewish people.[1b] These chronological calculations, when they concerned event beyond the era of the Bible, are generally wrong. For example, Demetrios stated that there were 573 years between the captivity to Assyria and the reign of Ptolemy IV. Instead, the captivity of the Ten Tribes occurred in various phases between the Hebrew years 3016 (captivity of Naphtali) to year 3038 (fall of Samaria), and Ptolemy started to reign in year 3539. So the difference is between 523 and 501 years, not 573. Despite these errors, the important point is to stress that as early as the Septuagint was published, Israelite and foreign cultures started to immerse into its study, and that it greatly influenced the thinkers of Early Christianity as well as it provided an endless mean of establishing the new doctrine and religion based on interpretation of ancient Hebrew scriptures. As of the Greek philosophers, most Early Christian writers accused them of plagiarism from theese Hebrew scriptures.[1c]. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3556 – 204 BCE – Ptolemy V Epiphanes Ptolemy IV and wife-sister were assassinated and replaced by their son Ptolemy V Epiphanes who was only 5 years old. The kingdom was thus ruled by a succession of military regents who were more interested in eliminating each other. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3560 – 200 BCE – The Nash Papyrus http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g30-maccabee.html (6 of 22) [6/11/2013 11:35:29 AM]


The Nash Papyrus is a manuscript held by the University of Cambridge, England, which was acquired in 1898 in Egypt. The papyrus contains the earliest known scripture of the Ten Commandments and of the Shema prayer.

The Nash Papyrus (University of Cambridge) ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3562 – 198 BCE – Judea passes under Seleucid rule The chaotic situation of Egypt influenced the other parts of Alexander’s heritage to seek a split and annexion of the http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g30-maccabee.html (7 of 22) [6/11/2013 11:35:29 AM]


Ptolemaic kingdom, which caused a war. The result of the conflict was that Macedonia took some islands while Antiochus of the Seleucus dynasty took over the Levant, including Judea. To seal a lasting peace over this annexation, Antiochus gave in 192 BCE one of his daughters, Cleopatra, as a wife to Ptolemy V then aged 17. The bitterness of the loss of territory was however never forgotten and Egypt would later side with Rome in their dispute with the Seleucid kingdom. The Rosetta stone dates from the beginning of the reign of Ptolemy V Epiphanes and contains details about his rise to godhood status over Egypt. Ptolemy V died in 181 BCE and was succeeded by his son Ptolemy VI who reigned from the age of 6 years old until 145 BCE. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3585 – 175 BCE – Antiochus IV Epiphanes Antiochus IV Epiphanes succeeded to his father in 175 BCE, in the 137th year of the Seleucid Dynasty (Maccabees, Book II, 1:10), and would rule the Seleucid kingdom for 11 years until his death in 164 BCE His belligerent attitude would cause Rome to intervene in the affairs of Egypt and would also cause the Jewish revolt of the Maccabees in Judah.[2]



Antiochus IV Epiphanes (Altes Museum, Berlin) ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3588 – 172 BCE – Antiochus spoils the Temple When Antiochus Epiphanes came to power in 175 BCE, he named the opportunistic Jason in the place of High Priest in Jerusalem, instead of his brother of Onias III, the pious High Priest who was in office. Jason was keener in deviating from the traditional Judaism and adopting the Hellenistic customs instead. His role of His Priest was only based on tribute paid to the Seleucid king. So, in 172 BCE, when Menelaus was sent to Antiochus Epiphanes with the due money, the latter decided to give the priesthood to Menelaus, a Benjamite, instead of Jason, a Levite from the High Priest family. The reason for this change is that Menelaus promised to Antiochus to pay more money than Jason did, and he achieved this goal by robbing the Temple from its sacred vessels and other valuable assets. To avoid any complication from zealous Jewish personalities, Menelaus managed to have Onias III executed, as well as several other religious figures. His plundering of the Temple would then continue. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3590 – 170 BCE – Antiochus conquers Egypt Ptolemy VI’s reign was troubled by the fact that Antiochus IV Epiphanes, his uncle (as he was the brother of Ptolemy’s mother, Cleopatra), invaded Egypt for a first time in 170 BCE The invader even crowned himself king of Egypt in 168 B. C while Ptolemy VI was then 19 years old. But Rome threatened the Seleucid king of a war unless he would give up his usurped title and pulled out of the seized territories. Egypt would never again be a regional power, being under the protection of Rome. As of Antiochus, after being obliged by Rome to abandon the conquered Egypt, he passed his anger on Judah by starting religious persecution against the Jews. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3590 – 170 BCE – Yose ben Yoezer and first Zugot http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g30-maccabee.html (9 of 22) [6/11/2013 11:35:29 AM]


Yose ben Yoezer and Jose ben Johanan became the first recorded pair of religious leaders, known as the Zugot (pairs), who shared the functions at the head of Sanhedrin (the religious tribunal, beth din), one as of a president (nassi) and the other as his second (av beth din). Jose ben Yoezer is assumed to have been a disciple of Antigonos of Socho. He was an adversary to the ones who wanted to adopt Greek culture and assimilate. His tenure lasted 30 years until his death in 140 BCE. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3591 – 169 BCE – Antiochus’ repression against Jerusalem When Antiochus Epiphanes was at war in Egypt, Jason spread the rumour that the Seleucid king had been killed and managed to have the people of Jerusalem rebel against Menelaus who found refuge in the citadel. But soon after, Antiochus was backed from Egypt, after his rebuke by Rome, and decided to punish the Jewish rebels for having threatened his chosen High Priest. He massacred a good part of the people of Jerusalem and sacked the Temple, while restoring Menelaus to his role. Apparently, out of personal revenge, Menelaus had himself advised Antiochus to desecrate the Temple. And after that Antiochus had smitten Egypt, he returned again in the hundred forty and third year [of the Seleucid Dynasty], and went up against Israel and Jerusalem with a great multitude, and entered proudly into the sanctuary, and took away the golden altar, and the candlestick of light, and all the vessels thereof, and the table of the shew-bread, and the pouring-vessels, and the vials, and the censers of gold, and the vail, and the crowns, and the golden ornaments which were on the front of the temple, all which he pulled off. He took also the silver and the gold, and the precious vessels; also he took the hidden treasures which he found. And when he had taken all away, he went into his own land, having made a great massacre, and spoken very proudly. Therefore there was great mourning in Israel, in every place where they were; so that the princes and elders mourned, the virgins and young men were made feeble, and the beauty of women was changed. Every bridegroom took up lamentation, and she who sat in the marriage-chamber was in heaviness. The land also was moved for the inhabitants thereof, and all the house of Jacob was covered with confusion. --- Maccabees, Book II, 1:20-28 In the same year, on the 15th of the month of Kislev, they burned the books of the Jewish law they had found in it. And on the 25th, they used the Temple for idol offering.



Antiochus Epiphanes'repression in Jerusalem (Wilhem Goeree, Amsterdam, 1690) A Greek philosopher and astronomer, Posidonius of Apameia in Syria, who lived around 100 BCE, followed Polybius in the effort to write the World History. But instead of following the facts, he gave way to his own opinion, and hatred of the Jewish race, in non-historical legends: http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g30-maccabee.html (11 of 22) [6/11/2013 11:35:29 AM]


Indeed, Antiochus, the so-called Epiphanes, after having defeated the Jews, went inside their divine sanctuary, a place where nobody except for the high priest could enter. He found there the statue of a long bearded man, riding a donkey, holding a book in his hands: he thought that this statue was of Moses, the founder of Jerusalem and the organiser of the Jewish people, the one who imposed laws that are contrary to humanity and justice. Antiochus felt harmed by such hatred against the other people and made it a point of honour to abolish the Jewish institutions. This is why he sacrified, in front of the statue of the founder and on the uncovered altar of their god, a huge sow and spread the blood of the beast; then, after having ordered the meat to be prepared, with the fat that was collected, he ordered to stain the sacred books which were filled with these writings that are contrary to hospitality, and to extinguish the so-called eternal lamp which burned continuously in the temple and, finally, he forced the high priest and the other Jews to eat from the sacrifice. --- Diodorus Siculus, XXXIV, fragment 1, citing Posidonius; in Reinach, Theodore, Textes d’auteurs grecs et romains relatifs au judaisme, Paris 1895, pp. 57-58; translated from the French All other historians reported that Antiochus penetrated the temple not because he defeated the Jews in any war but because he needed money and wanted to get his hands of the treasures of the temple. His hatred of the Jewish nation and his anger after being forced out of Egypt made the rest. Some of the details were however true, including the Greeks forcing Jews to eat pork meat, as the following account, about the supplice of Hannah and her seven sons, was told. After killing his six elder sons in extreme torture, Antiochus tried to convince the youngest son to eat pork meat to spare his life: Now Antiochus thinking' himself despised, and suspecting it to be a reproachful speech, whilst the youngest was yet alive, did not only exhort him by words, but also assured him with oaths, that he would make him both a rich and an enviable man, if he would turn from the laws of his fathers; and that also he would take him for his friend, and trust him with affairs. But when the young man would in no case hearken unto him, the king called his mother, and exhorted her that she would counsel the young man to save his life. And when he had exhorted her with many words, she promised him that she would persuade her son. But she bowing herself towards him, laughing the cruel tyrant to scorn, spoke in her country language on this manner: "O my son, have pity upon me who bore you nine months in my womb, and gave you suck three years, and nourished you, and brought you up unto this age, and endured the troubles of education. I beseech you, my son, look upon the heaven and the earth, and all which is therein, and consider that God made them of things which were not, and so was the race of men made likewise. Fear not this executioner; but being worthy of your brethren, take your death, that I may receive you again in mercy with your brethren." --- Maccabees, Book III, 7:24-29 ; this story is also narranted in Book IV, chapters 8-18 Finally the youngest son was killed with more cruelty than his brothers, and their mother died as well. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3593 – 167 BCE – Decree against the Jewish religion After two years, Antiochus sent his money collector, Apollonius, to spoil the city. The latter caused destruction and killed a great number of the people of Jerusalem. He then built a large wall around the Temple, and towers to protect a garrison, and placed Hellenized Jews at key posts with the goal to prevent the religious service. Moreover, King Antiochus wrote to his whole kingdom, that all should be one people, and every one should leave his own laws: so all the heathen agreed, according to the commandment of the king. Yea, many also of the Israelites consented to his religion, and sacrificed unto idols, and profaned the Sabbath. For the king had sent letters by the hand of messengers unto Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, that they should follow laws strange to the land, and forbid burnt-offerings, http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g30-maccabee.html (12 of 22) [6/11/2013 11:35:29 AM]


and sacrifice, and drink-offerings in the sanctuary, and that they should profane the sabbaths and festival days, and pollute the sanctuary and holy people, set up altars, and temples, and chapels of idols, and sacrifice swine's flesh and unclean beasts, that they should also leave their children uncircumcised, and make their souls abominable with all manner of uncleanness and profanation, to the end they might forget the law, and change all the ordinances. And whosoever would not do according to commandment of the king, he said, he should die. --- Maccabees, Book II, 1:41-50 ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3593 – 167 BCE – The Sibylline Oracles It was in this context of forced assimilation of Jews into the Greek culture that some works were published in Alexandria, where Jews spoke Greek and not Hebrew, that attempted to bridge the gap between the two opposite cultures. At the time, Ptolemy VI Philometor reigned over Egypt. As Jews were keen to follow the word of Prophets, it was probably thought useful to adapt the Greek texts of Oracles to suit a Jewish public. The Sibylline Oracles didn't fully survive until today in their entirety, and many parts have been re-written over the following centuries, but some fragments are known to be genuine of that period when an attempt was made to gain the Jews of Alexandria into the Greek culture. These fragments show the adaptation of the Greek text into Hebrew concepts of monotheism (contrary to Greek paganism), extracted from the Bible itself (which had previously been translated into Greek). Here is the prologue to this Greek work, that shows the effort to make it acceptable by Jewish standards: You men, to whom God has given an image shaped by Him in His likeness, why do you vainly err, and walk not in a straight path, remembering ever the immortal Creator? There is one God, sole ruler, ineffable, dwelling in the sky, self-begotten, invisible, who Himself alone sees all things. --- The Sibylline Oracles, Book III, A Prologue, translated by Rev. H.N. Bate, Macmillan, London, 1918 This sort of work had been made possible from the moment the Bible became translated into Greek, which opened up its contents to the scrutiny of other people and cultures, and it will later greatly helped Christianity to develop as well. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3593 – 167 BCE – The Jewish revolt Officers of the Seleucid king travelled across the land of Judah to force the people to sacrifice to the idols. When they arrived to the city of Modin, Mattathias, the father of five sons, spoke up: Though all the nations which are under the king's dominion obey him, to fall away every one from the religion of their fathers, and give consent to his commandments, yet will I and my sons and my brethren walk in the covenant of our fathers. God forbid that we should forsake the law and the ordinances. We will not hearken to the king's words, to go aside from our religion, either on the right hand, or the left. --- Maccabees, Book II, 2-19-22 Mattathias then killed the king’s officer and destroyed the altar that was built for the idol offering. http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g30-maccabee.html (13 of 22) [6/11/2013 11:35:29 AM]


Mattathias calls for revolt (Gustave Doré, 1868) In the city of Jerusalem, the word of this revolt spread out and many people fled into the wilderness of the hills in order to live as free men and follow the religion. The king sent an army against them to fight during a shabbath day, so that the Israelites would not fight and they all died. The circumstance had also been recorded by a Greek historian called Agatharchides from Cnide, or Knidos, in Asia Minor. He was contemporous to the event because he lived at the time of Ptolemy VI Philometor (186-145 BCE) and of his successor. In a way to derision, he blamed the Jewish religious practice, which he called superstitions, for their disaster: http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g30-maccabee.html (14 of 22) [6/11/2013 11:35:29 AM]


There are a people called Jews, and dwell in a city the strongest of all other cities, which the inhabitants call Jerusalem, and are accustomed to rest on every seventh day on which times they make no use of their arms, nor meddle with husbandry, nor take care of any affairs of life, but spread out their hands in their holy places, and pray till the evening. Now it came to pass, that when Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, came into this city with his army, that these men, in observing this mad custom of theirs, instead of guarding the city, suffered their country to submit itself to a bitter lord; and their law was openly proved to have commanded a foolish practice. This accident taught all other men but the Jews to disregard such dreams as these were, and not to follow the like idle suggestions delivered as a law, when, in such uncertainty of human reasonings, they are at a loss what they should do. --- Josephus, Against Apion, 1,22 When the news of this disaster reached Mattathias, he decreed that, should the Jews be attacked on a Sabbath, it will not be a sin to protect their life and they can fight back. This measure has been applied in the Jewish religion since this time. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3594 – 166 BCE – Judah Maccabee After a short period, the revolt spread to all the land, the altars were destroyed and the Greeks were attacked from all sides. But Mattathias’ life was coming to an end and he addressed himself to his sons to follow the path of God, as heir ancestors did, and he encouraged them to name their brother Simon Thassi as leader of the clan, their brother Judah Maccabee as their military leader. Judah waged the war against ther Greeks, taking city after city. In an ultimate battle, Judah slained Apollonius and the Greek army routed. A second army came from Syria and Judah destroyed it with a few number of his men, an act which gave him greater reknown and caused fear among the neighbouring people so that no other party would rise against Israel.



Judah Maccabee pursues Timotheus (Gustave Doré, 1868) ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3595 – 165 BCE – The battle of Emmaus Then finally Antiochus himself started to raise a great army to go and crush the Jewish rebels. But his treasure was not sufficient to fund such army. He decided to leave his city of Antioch and go first to Persia to collect the tributes with half http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g30-maccabee.html (16 of 22) [6/11/2013 11:35:29 AM]


of his army. The governor left behind, Lysias, decided nevertheless to go against Israel, so he drove the other half of the Greek army to war.[3] They pitched at Emmaus, which is located in the plain, at the start of the Judean hills. They were joined there by the Philistines who were eager not to let Israel rise again. Before this ultimate battle, Judah decided to restore faith and confidence among the Israelites, but Jerusalem was deserted, except for the garrison and Hellenized Jews entrenched behind the built fortications, and its Temple was abandoned. The Israelites pitched at the south of Emmaus and Judah told them: “Arm yourselves, and be valiant men, and see that you be in readiness against the morning, that you may fight with these nations which are assembled together against us, to destroy us and our sanctuary. For it is better for us to die in battle, than to behold the calamities of our nation and our sanctuary. Nevertheless, as the will of God is in heaven, so let Him do.” --- Maccabees, Book II, 3:58-60



The Battle of Emmaus (Gustave Doré, 1868) The battle was won by the Israelites who destroyed most of the Greek army, the rest fleeing to neighboring countries to find shelter. The Greek camp was put on fire. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3596 – 164 BCE – Judah Maccabee restores the Temple service The following year, Lyssius gathered a greater army of 60,000 infantry and 5,000 cavalry. The Israelite army was of 10,000 men but not professional in warfare. Judah decided to go up to Jerusalem to purify the Temple from alien hands: And they saw the sanctuary desolate, and the altar profaned, and the gates burnt down, and shrubs growing in the courts as in a forest, or in one of the mountains, yea, and the priests' chambers pulled down. And they rent their clothes, and made great lamentation, and cast ashes upon their heads, and fell down flat to the ground upon their faces, and blew an alarm with the trumpets, and cried towards heaven. --- Maccabees, Book II, 4:38-40 They then attacked the Greek fortress to rid the desolated city from the foreign rule. They then found some Levites to clean the sanctuary. They pulled down the original altars that had been profaned and placed them in a secret location in the mountains around. They made new holy vessels, and brought back the candlestick and the altar of incense and the table, which had been saved from the Greek hands: Now on the five and twentieth day of the ninth month, (which is called the month Kislev), in the hundred forty and eighth year, they rose up betimes in the morning. And offered sacrifice according to the law, upon the new altar of burntofferings, which they had made. At what time, and what day the heathen had profaned it, even in that was it dedicated with songs, and citherns, and harps, and cymbals. Then all the people fell upon their faces, worshipping and praising the God of heaven, who had given them good success. And so they kept the dedication of the altar eight days, and offered burnt-offerings with gladness, and sacrificed the sacrifice of deliverance and praise. --- Maccabees, Book II, 4:52-56 A miracle took place at this time, because there was no more pure oil for the service of the Temple and yet a holy fire started spontaneously upon the altar and continued all the days of the Temple until its destruction by the Romans (Maccabees, Book V, 9). Judah Maccabee then ordained that this date should be celebrated every year from now on and by all subsequent generations. It became the Jewish festival of Chanukkah.



Judah Maccabee at the gates of Jerusalem http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g30-maccabee.html (19 of 22) [6/11/2013 11:35:29 AM]


(Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, Die Bibel in Bildern, 1860) But the troubles were not over yet because the other neighbouring nations rised up against Israel to destroy it. So Judah went to war against them: Idumeans, Ammonites, Gileadites, and more. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3597 – 163 BCE – Death of Antiochus Epiphanes The Book of Maccabees tells that, when Antiochus heard the news that the army he sent to Judah was destroyed, he fell sick and died after some days from such sorrow. His 9 years old son, Antiochus “Eupator”, was crowned king in his stead. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3599 – 161 BCE – Demetrius returns from Rome Antiochus Epiphanes older brother, Demetrius Soter, the rightful heir of the Seleucid kingdom, was released from Rome and he returned to Antioch. There he was made king, and he killed Antiochus Eupator and his protector Lysias. Demetrius then sent Nicanor, one of the Greek princes and army commanders, and a great hater of the Jewish nation, to wage the war against Judah Maccabee. But on the 13th of the month Adar of the year 161 BCE, the battle of Hadasa ended up with the death of Nicanor and the destruction of the Greek army.



Drachma of Demetrius Soter, Antioch, 161 BCE (photo credit CGB France) Judah Maccabee realized that Rome had become a global power that could not be ignored. They had already conquered the Western Mediterranean region since the destruction of Carthage in 202 BCE and was now turning its eyes towards the Eastern Mediterranean currently ruled by the Greeks, being the Macedonian, the Asian-Syrian (Seleucid) and the Egyptians (Ptolemaic) kingdoms. Rome had forced Antiochus Epiphanes to renounce to his conquest of Egypt and was aiming to end the dominance of Macedonia over the Greek realm. Judah probably perceived that it would be wise to seek for an alliance with Rome in order to get support against the renewed Seleucid threats: And Judas chose Eupolemus the son of John, the son of Accos, and Jason, the son of Eleazar, and sent them to Rome, to make a league of amity and confederacy with them; and to intreatthem, that they would take the yoke from them; for they saw that the kingdom of the Grecians did oppress Israel with servitude. They went therefore to Rome, (which was a very great journey), and came into the senate, where they spoke, and said, "Judah Maccabeus and his brethren, and the people of the Jews, have sent us unto you, to make a confederacy and peace with you, and that we might be registered your confederates and friends." So that matter pleased the Romans well. --- Maccabees, Book II, 8:17-21 Rome made a covenant with the Jewish state and sent a letter of threat to Demetrius, who had been previously held captive in Rome, to stop his ambition towards their new ally in the region: “And if they [the Jews] complain any more against you [Demetrius], we will do them justice and fight with you by sea and http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g30-maccabee.html (21 of 22) [6/11/2013 11:35:29 AM]


by land.” --- Maccabees, Book II, 8:32 ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3600 – 160 BCE – Death of Judah Maccabee Yet, such alliance was probably seen as a sin, in God’s eyes, as it signified that Judah did not put its faith into God’s hands to deliver them from their enemies, as He had done before with Nicanor’s superior army. It did not take long before Demetrius decided to attempt and subdue the Jewish state. He sent a large army with his commander Bacchides who came to besiege Jerusalem, in the first month of the 152nd year of the Seleucid dynasty, in 160 BCE. He took the city and restored Alcimus as high-priest, as he was suitable to the Greek’s policy. In the war that ensued, Judah was killed in a battle. Out of the four sons of Mattathias, Jonathan and Simon were the only ones being still alive. Jonathan was chosen to lead the Jewish struggle against Bacchides, who adopted the tactics to attack the Jews on Shabbat days. But the Maccabeans defended themselves, even on these days. Bacchides then fortified the main cities to protect their Greek garrisons from the Maccabees ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1a] Eusebius of Caesarea, Praeparatio Evangelica, Book IX, chapters 19-29, to access this chapter online, click here [1b] Clement of Alexandria, Stromata, Book I, 21:141, to access this text online, click here [1c] For example, the above mentioned chapter from Clement's work starts with: On the plagiarizing of the dogmas of the philosophers from the Hebrews, we shall treat a little afterwards... [2] The Greek historian Polybius (200-118 BCE) nicknamed him Epimanes, which means the madman (Polybius, Fragments, XXVI, 10) [3] It consisted of 40,000 infantry and 7,000 cavalry (Maccabee Book II, 3:39) Next generation Top of Page






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Generation 32

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Hebrew years 3720 to 3840 (40 BCE - 80 CE) ~~~ Part I ~~~ Part II ~~~ Part III ~~~ Part IV ~~~ Part V ~~~


Year 3720 – 40 BCE – Antigonus

Creation

When Octavian returned to Rome, Antony was ruling over the Eastern provinces from Alexandria where he had a liaison with Cleopatra. In Spring 40 BCE, he returned to Rome to settle the political affairs and married Octavian’s sister. This is when the quarrel between Antony and Octavian started.

Generations Meanwhile, unrest began in Judea when Antigonus, son of Aristobulus, made an alliance with the Parthians to overthrow 1-14 Hyrcanus and Herod son of Antipater, the allies of Rome. The conspiration ended up with Hyrcanus being emprisoned Generations and exiled to Babylon and Herod fleeing to Rome to ask for support from Octavian. While Antigonus reigned in Judea, Herod was made King of the Jews by the Roman Senate. Herod returned to the region to reconquer Jerusalem while 15-21 Antony engaged in a campaign against the Parthians with an army mostly composed of allies, because Octavian would not Generations send him any Roman troop. So this campaign was a failure and Antony retreated to Egypt. He left a part of the Roman army to help Herod regain Judea. Antigonus retreated to Jerusalem and prepared for a long siege. Finally Herod helped by 22-28 the Roman soldiers succeeded to take over the city, and had difficulty to prevent the killing of civilians by the Romans Generations and their intent to plunder the Temple. But Herod succeeded to put a stop to it. 29-35

As of Antigonus, he was taken prisoner and brought to Egypt where Antony slew him in 37 BCE, thus putting an end to the Hasmonean dynasty that had lasted about 126 years, from the death of Antiochus Epiphanes and the rise of Judah Generations Maccabee. 36-49 The road was paved for Herod to become the sole ruler over the Jewish nation. He also had married Marianne, the last Hasmonean princess. Generation 50 He [Herod] employed himself in advancing the dignities, in kindnesses and promotions, of those who were well inclined to him andobeyed his will. He also exerted himself in destroying those persons, together with their families, and in plundering their cattle and their goods, who had opposed him, furnishing aid against him. And he oppressed persons, taking away their property, and despoiling all those who had shaken off obedience to the Jews; and slew those who resisted him, and plundered their goods. Also he made an agreement with all who were obedient to him, that they should pay him money. He also stationed guards at the gates of the Holy House, who might search those who went out, and take whatever gold or silver they should find on any one, and bring it to him. He also ordered the coffins of the dead to be searched; and whatever money any person might endeavour to carry out by stratagem, the same to be taken. And he heaped together so much money as none of the kings of the second house had amassed. --- Maccabees, Book V, 54:2-8 Through deceipt, Herod also got rid in 35 BCE of the popular 16 years old brother of his wife Marianne, Aristobulus, by fear that he may one day rise to power against him. But one obstacle remained: Hyrcanus was still alive in Babylon, captive of the Parthians. Although Antigonus had cut his ear so that he could not be High Priest again, he represented a threat to Herod’s legitimacy to power. In Herod’s court however, Alexandra, the mother of Aristobulus and Marianne, thus also the mother-in-law of Herod, hated the king for what he had done to her son. She conspired with Cleopatra and others to get rid of Herod, but to no avail. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3729 – 31 BCE – Earthquake in Judea Judea experienced a powerful earthquake in year 31 BCE: And there happened a great earthquake in the land of Judah, such as had not occurred since the time of king Harbah [Uzziah],[1] in which a great number of men and of animals was destroyed. And this alarmed Herod much, and caused him great fear, and broke down his spirit. He therefore took counsel with the elders of Judah about making an agreement with all nations round about them; designing peace, and tranquillity, and the removal of wars and bloodshed. He sent also ambassadors on these matters to the surrounding nations, all of whom embraced the peace to which he http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g32-herod.html (1 of 14) [6/11/2013 11:35:55 AM]


had invited them, except the king of the Arabians who ordered the ambassadors whom Herod had sent to him to be put to death, for he supposed that Herod had done this because his men had been destroyed in the earthquake, and therefore, being weakened, he had turned himself to making peace. Wherefore he resolved to go to war with Herod; and having collected a large and wellprovided army, he marched against him. --- Maccabees, Book V, 56:18-22 Outraged by the proceedings of killing ambassadors, Herod raised an angry Jewish army who utterly defeated the Arabian army. Meanwhile, in the Roman Empire, the war began between Octavian and Antony in 31 BCE. After the naval battle of Actium in that year, Antony fled to Egypt with Cleopatra. In 30 BCE, Octavian invaded Egypt and Antony committed suicide. Cleopatra managed to also take her life when she realised she would not be allowed on the throne again. And Octavian put Ptolemy XV “Cesarion”, the son she had with Julius Caesar, to death, but he spared the children she had with Antony.

The death of Cleopatra, Jean-André Rixens, 1874 (Musée des Augustins, Toulouse) ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3729 – 31 CE – The Zugot Hillel and Shammai After Shemaiah's death in 31 BCE, Hillel and Shammai were elected as nassi and av beth din at the head of the Sanhedrin. Hillel was born in 110 BCE in Babylonia and converted to Judaism at the age of 40. He went to Judea to live a Jewish spiritual life and spent the next 40 years in study. At the age of 80, he was one of the most important religious leader and had many disciples, commonly called the House of Hillel. He was then chosen as nassi, the Head of the Sanhedrin. His teachings were generally more liberal than the more stricter Shammai who also had many disciples united as the House of Shammai. Together they analysed issues of the commandments and greatly contributed to the redaction of the Mishna. They were the last of the period called the Zugot (the “pairs”). In most cases, the ruling from Hillel took precedence over the one from Shammai, even if the later was righter according to the strict Scripture. Or, in many cases, the two diverging opinions were mentioned in the Talmud with no definite solution. Here is one argument that Shammai finally won, a rare occasion caused by events that guided the debate: It has been taught: Beth Hillel [the House of Hillel] said to Beth Shammai: according to you, if one ate at the top of the Temple Mount and forgot and descended without having said grace [he forgot so the mistake was accidental], he should return to the top of the Temple Mount and say grace? Beth Shammai replied to Beth Hillel: According to you, if one forgot a purse at the top of the Temple Mount, is he not to go up and get it? And if he will ascend for his own sake, surely he should do so all the more for the honour of Heaven! There were once two disciples who omitted to say grace. One who did it accidentally followed the rule of Beth Shammai and found a purse of gold, while the other who did it purposely [being in a hurry going somewhere else] followed the rule of Beth Hillel, and he was eaten by a lion. --- Talmud, Berachot, 53b The character of the two religious leaders was also compared to the advantage of Hillel: Our Rabbis taught: A man should always be gentle like Hillel, and not impatient like Shammai. It once happened that two men made a wager with each other, saying, He who goes and makes Hillel angry shall receive four hundred zuz. Said one, ‘I will go and incense him.’ That day was the Sabbath eve, and Hillel was washing his head. He went, passed by the door of his house, and called out, ‘Is Hillel here, is Hillel here?’ Thereupon he robed and went out to him, saying, ‘My son, what do you require?’ ‘I have a question to ask,’ said he. ‘Ask, my son,’ he prompted. Thereupon he asked: ‘Why are the heads of the Babylonians round?[2] ‘My son, you have asked a great http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g32-herod.html (2 of 14) [6/11/2013 11:35:55 AM]


question,’ replied he: ‘because they have no skillful midwives.’ He departed, tarried a while, returned, and called out, ‘Is Hillel here; is Hillel here?’ He robed and went out to him, saying, ‘My son, what do you require?’ ‘I have a question to ask,’ said he. ‘Ask, my son,’ he prompted. Thereupon he asked: ‘Why are the eyes of the Palmyreans bleared?’[3] ‘My son, you have asked a great question, replied he: ‘because they live in sandy places.’ He departed, tarried a while, returned, and called out, ‘Is Hillel here; is Hillel here?’ He robed and went out to him, saying, ‘My son, what do you require?’ ‘I have a question to ask,’ said he. ‘Ask, my son,’ he prompted. He asked, ‘Why are the feet of the Africans wide?’ ‘My son, you have asked a great question,’ said he; ‘because they live in watery marshes.’ ‘I have many questions to ask,’ said he, ‘but fear that you may become angry.’ Thereupon he robed, sat before him and said, ‘Ask all the questions you have to ask,’ ‘Are you the Hillel who is called the Nasi of Israel?’ ‘Yes,’ he replied. ‘If that is you,’ he retorted, may there not be many like you in Israel. ‘ ‘ Why, my son?’ queried he. ‘Because I have lost four hundred zuz through you,’ complained he. ‘Be careful of your moods,’ he answered. ‘Hillel is worth it that you should lose four hundred zuz and yet another four hundred zuz through him, yet Hillel shall not lose his temper.’ --- Talmud, Shabbat, 30b-31a The preference for Hillel is also mentioned in the following anecdote about his humble character: R. Abba stated in the name of Samuel: For three years there was a dispute between Beth Shammai and Beth Hillel, the former asserting, ‘The halachah is in agreement with our views’ and the latter contending, ‘The halachah is in agreement with our views’. Then a bath kol issued announcing, ‘[The utterances of] both are the words of the living God, but the halachah is in agreement with the rulings of Beth Hillel’. Since, however, both are the words of the living God’ what was it that entitled Beth Hillel to have the halachah fixed in agreement with their rulings? Because they were kindly and modest, they studied their own rulings and those of Beth Shammai, and were even so [humble] as to mention the words of Beth Shammai before theirs. --- Talmud, Eiruvin, 13b ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3730– 30 BCE – Death of Hyrcanus Herod offered to Hyrcanus to return to Jerusalem with the honours. Despite the words of caution expressed to him by the Babylonian Jews where he had found shelter during his political captiity, and because he was was old and longed to be back to Jerusalem, Hyrcanus ignored the warnings and returned to Judea. As he could not be High Priest again, having being mutilated in the ear by his hephew Antigonus, Herod offered him a seat of the state, and the situation lasted some years with no trouble. But in 30 BCE, Herod unveiled an attempt of Hyrcanus to flee from Jerusalem with the help of the king of Arabia (the Nabateans). After defeating the Arabians, Herold confounded Hyrcanus with the proofs he had against him and had him beheaded in 30 BCE for treason. Hyrcanus was 80 years old when he met his death. The biggest threat for Herod was now Octavian who knew that the King of the Jews had been a supporter of Antony and even assisted Antony against him during the Roman civil war. But after their meeting in Egypt, Octavian forgave Herod on the principle that he had only done his duty towards an ally, and that Antony had deceived him on advice of Cleopatra. Octavian also appreciated that Herod defeated the Arabians alone, which were also enemies of Rome. The Roman emperor also enlarged Herod’s realm by giving him back all the territories that Antony had taken away from Judea to give to Cleopatra. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3731– 29 BCE – Death of Mariamne and Alexandra Before going to Egypt to meet with Octavian, and thinking that he may meet his death there, Herod had given secret orders to execute his wife Mariamne and her mother Alexandra, the last survivors of the Hasmonean dynasty, should he not return alive from Egypt. These orders came to be known to Mariamne who then hated her husband Herod even more than ever before. And he could not reconcile the matter with her after he came back from Egypt. Herod’s sister, the wicked Salome who hated Mariamne, took this opportunity to make false claims that Mariamne intended to poison her husband, and she got her brother's approval to have her executed without trial.

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Mariamne and Herod, John William Waterhouse, 1887 (private collection) After Mariamne’s death, her mother Alexandra was certain that her turn would be next. She conspired against Herod and he came to know it. He then had her executed as well: Now Herod had begotten of her [Mariamne] two sons, namely, Alexander and Aristobulus, who, when their mother was slain, were living at Rome for he had sent them thither, to learn the literature and language of the Romans. Afterwards, Herod repented that he had killed his wife and he was affected with grief to that degree on account of her death, that by it he contracted a disease, of which he had nearly died. --- Maccabees, Book V, 58:20-21

Herod and his dynasty The two sons of Herod and Mariamne returned to Jerusalem as soon as they learned about their mother’s execution. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3748– 12 BCE – The sons of Herod Alexander was married to the daughter of Archelaus, king of Cappadocia in Macedonia, and Aristobulus was married to Bernice, Salome’s daughter. But Herod also had another son called Antipater, named after his father, whom he had from a first wife, before Mariamne. Unsure about his two sons’ feelings after the execution of their mother, Herod got closer to his elder son Antipater and made known his intent to have him as his successor. From this moment, Antipater endeavoured to convince Herod to execute his two sons, making up accusations that they conspired against both Herod and Antipater in order to regain the throne to their noble family of Hasmoneans. Herod travelled to Rome with his son Alexander for a visit to Octavian, who was now known as Emperor Augustus. He



accused his son in front of the Roman leader of intent to kill him, which Alexander vehemently denied. Augustus rebuked Herod's suspicions and convinced him to make peace with his son. So when he returned to Jerusalem, Herod declared to the Elders that all his three sons would have now equal authority. Antipater became angry at seeing his inheritance being at stake but he hid his feelings. After a couple of years, in 9 BCE, he designed a plan with his uncle, Herod’s brother Pheroras, of false accusation that the two sons wanted to murder the king. They were thrown into jail. But Alexander’s father-in-law, King Archelaus, came to Jerusalem to investigate the matter and unveiled the plot. He nonetheless succeeded to avoid punishment against Pheroras, in exchange of a full testimonial. In the end, all Herod’s family was reconciled, at least in appearance because Antipater still had in mind to get rid of his half brothers. In 7 BCE an evil man called Gaius Julius Eurycles, a Spartan who had Roman citizenship, came to Judea and became friend with Herod. Seizing the opportunity of this friendship, Antipater paid him to insinuate to Herod that his son Alexander was again plotting to murder him. This time the plot could not easily be denounced and both Alexander and his brother Aristobulus were executed in the town of Sebaste (today the town of Sebastia which was the old capital Samaria) and buried in the fort of Alexandrium, which was built by their ancestor Alexander Jannai (Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, book 16, 11:7).

Ruins of the Fort Alexandrium, in Jebel al-Melekh Alexander’s wife, Glaphyra, was sent back to her father to Armenia but Herod kept his two grandsons, Alexander’s sons, who remained with him until his death. He also tried to pre-arrange their marriage so that they would keep a part of their dead father’s inheritance. But Antipater, fearing that these fatherless sons would eventually rise against him, and hate him for what he had done to their fathers, endeavoured to change the plans that the ageing Herod had wished (Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, book 17, 1:2). When Pheroras died, Herod suspected that he had been poisoned by his wife, who was then disgraced from the king’s court. But investigations led him to discover that the conspiration of poisoning was aiming at his own person, and was directed by his own son Antipater who, at the time, was travelling to Rome. Antipater chose the timing of this travel in order to coincide with Herod’s death so that no suscipion would rise against him. Upon his return from Rome, Antipater was tried against the accusation of parricide. Herod, disappointed by the actions of his heir and the indirect role of two of his other sons, Archelaus and Philip, chose his youngest son, Antipas, as the new heir. Antipas was the son of a Samaritan wife of Herod. He will later marry Herodias, the daughter of Aristobulus who was first married to Philip, one of the disgraced sons of Herod. At the time, Herod was in his 70’s, according to Josephus (Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, book 17, 146). In the last years of his life, Herod was also subject to the hatred and misunderstanding from his people, in particular of the religious sects who found that the changes he made to the Second Temple were not in accordance with the Jewish Law. Herod put on trial two of their religious leaders, Judas and Matthias, who led a sedition: But the people, on account of Herod's barbarous temper, and for fear he should be so cruel and to inflict punishment on them, said what was done [by the two accused men] was done without their approbation, and that it seemed to them that the actors might well be punished for what they had done. But as for Herod, he dealt more mildly with others [of the assembly] but he deprived Matthias of the high priesthood, as in part an occasion of this action, and made Joazar, who was Matthias's wife's brother, high priest in his stead. Now it happened, that during the time of the high priesthood of this Matthias, there was another person made high priest for a single day, that very day which the Jews observed as a fast. The occasion was this: This Matthias the high priest, on the night before that day when the fast was to be celebrated, seemed, in a dream, to have conversation with his wife; and because he could not officiate himself on that account,[4] Joseph, the son of Ellemus, his kinsman, assisted him in that sacred office.[5] But Herod deprived this Matthias of the high priesthood, and burnt the other Matthias, who had raised the sedition, with his companions, alive. And that very night there was an eclipse of the moon.[6] --- Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, book 17, 164 ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3756 – 4 BCE – Birth of Jesus



The mention of the lunar eclipse by Josephus is important as there were just a few of such occurences in the end of the reign of Herod. The mention of the High Priest and the day of fast are equally important details as they leave the option that this lunar eclipse was probably the one which occurred on the 15th September, 4 BCE, in the month of Tishri, and not in the month of Adar or Nisan as it is generally thought. The fast would have been the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur. On that month of Tishri, the Hebrew year just changed from 3756 to 3757.[7] Some time before this New Hebrew year, Herod’s health had declined very rapidly. He moved to the region of the Dead Sea, in his palace of Jericho, hoping to heal his ailment which caused him great pains. He was also angry about the idea that, when he will die, the nation will actually be joyful and will not mourn him. So he gave an extraordinary order: Now any one may easily discover the temper of this man's mind, which not only took pleasure in doing what he had done formerly against his relations, out of the love of life, but by those commands of his which savored of no humanity; since he took care, when he was departing out of this life, that the whole nation should be put into mourning, and indeed made desolate of their dearest kindred, when he gave order that one out of every family should be slain, although they had done nothing that was unjust, or that was against him, nor were they accused of any other crimes; while it is usual for those who have any regard to virtue to lay aside their hatred at such a time, even with respect to those they justly esteemed their enemies. --- Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, book 17, 180 The Gospels of Luke and Matthew both place the birth of Jesus during the reign of Herod. As it is later attested that Jesus died in his 30’s, this would mean that he was born in the last year(s) of Herod. We can consider that his parents fled to Egypt at the time of the above decree to slain one member of each family, a circumstance which reminds the Christian story called the Massacre of the Innocents. There is no evidence however that this decree from Herod was ever put into execution. Yet, the birth of a new child in this time could have meant his death. Bethlehem was probably on the way from Nazareth towards Egypt where the parents of Jesus were fleeing. So, overall, it is likely that Jesus was born in 4 BCE, but before the change of Hebrew year to 3757.

Massacre of the Innocents, Raphael study, 1510 (British Museum) ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3757 – 4 BCE – Death of Herod After the New Hebrew Year, Herod executed his son Antipater upon reports that he was eager to see his father dead soon. He then changed his will to name Archelaus, the older brother of Antipas, as the new heir to the throne. He died in Jericho five days after the execution of Antipater. He had reigned 34 years, since the death of Antigonus. His tomb has recently been discovered on Herodium, a hill south of Jerusalem, which proved the account of the funerals from Josephus to be historically correct.



Herodium But people, instead of mourning Herod, rather were sorry not to have been able to mourn the priests Judas and Matthias out of fear of reprisal from the ageing king. But when the feast of Passover was approaching, the multitude of pilgrims who came to Jerusalem and the general resentment against Herod’s family caused trouble: At Herod's death, without waiting for the imperial decision, a certain Simon usurped the title of king.[8] He was dealt with by the governor of Syria, Quintilius Varus, while the Jews were disciplined and divided up into three kingdoms ruled by Herod's sons [Archelaus, Herod Antipas and Philip]. In Tiberius' reign all was quiet. --- Tacitus, Histories, 5:9 While Archelaus sailed to Rome to get approval from Augustus of his new status of king, Varus, the governor of Roman Syria who looked after the affairs in Judea, dealt harshly against the Jewish population. And when he left Judea, he placed the procurator Sabinus with one legion entrenched in the fortress of Jerusalem. The latter caused even more tensions: For after Varus was gone away, Sabinus, Caesar's procurator, staid behind, and greatly distressed the Jews, relying on the forces that were left there that they would by their multitude protect him; for he made use of them, and armed them as his guards, thereby so oppressing the Jews, and giving them so great disturbance, that at length they rebelled; for he used force in seizing the citadels, and zealously pressed on the search after the king's money, in order to seize upon it by force, on account of his love of gain and his extraordinary covetousness. --- Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, book 17, 250 Sabinus’ actions aggravated further the resentment against Herod’s family and their Roman protectors. His theft of the Temple’s money sparked a rebellion throughout the land. Some of the factions were criminals themselves, who would rob their own brethen according to Josephus. Varus had to intervene and brought the two other legions he had in Syria, and Arabian auxiliaries as well, back in Judea. He succeeded to overcome the rebellious sedition which, in Jerusalem, was mostly led by the Pharisees who wanted to defend their religious rights and the sanctity of the Temple from political combinations from the royal family. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3758 – 5 BCE – Dispute over Herod’s succession A Jewish deputation was sent to Rome who declared to Emperor Augustus the people's dislike for Herod and their wish to be under a foreign political rule rather than under any abusing tyrant who would call himself king, as long as they would be allowed to live according to their religious laws: Now the main thing they desired was this: That they might be delivered from kingly and the like forms of government, 1 and might be added to Syria, and be put under the authority of such presidents of theirs as should be sent to them; for that it would thereby be made evident, whether they be really a seditious people, and generally fond of innovations, or whether they would live in an orderly manner, if they might have governors of any sort of moderation set over them. --- Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, book 17, 304



Following these representations, and those of Archelaus’ siblings who also disputed the will of their father’s kingdom to give everything to him, Augustus decided to split the inheritance into three parts. Archelaus received the main share (Judea) but was ordered by Augustus to behave moderatly towards his people.

Herod’s kingdom divided between his sons In this division, Galilee was given to Antipas, the youngest son of Herod. Due to Archelaus’ bad reputation among the people, many families of Judea migrated to the north into Galilee. This was the case of Jesus’ family who moved from Bethlehem, the place where Jesus was born, to Nazareth: But because he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there; and having been divinely instructed in a dream, he departed into the regions of Galilee. --- Gospel of Matthew, 2:22 As of Varus, he was eventually removed from his Syrian post and called back to Rome. A few years later, in 9 AD, he led three Roman legions against the German tribes but will be defeated in the forest of Teutoburg, which would become one of the worst military disasters that Rome ever suffered. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3766 – 6 CE – Judea becomes a Roman province Archelaus’ actions in Judea exarcerbated the population who complained again to Augustus. In addition Archelaus did something prohibited by Jewish law: he married his brother’s widow after she had already given children to him. Archelaus had always loved Glaphyra, the Armenian window of Alexander, and he ultimately married her. To do so, he repudied his wife, a cousin, and Glaphyra also had to divorce from her second husband, the king Juba II of Numidia, who was a protégé of Augustus. But Glaphyra did not live long with Archelaus as she died soon after returning to Jerusalem, following a premonition dream (Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, book 17, 349). This time, Augustus decided to punish Archelaus mainly because of the poor management of his realm, and maybe also for personal reasons of having caused sorrow to Juba II. He called him to Rome and then banished him to Vienna, in Gaul. As of Judea, it was added to the authority of the Syrian province, where Cyrenius had replaced Varus, and ruled by a Roman procurator. The first one to be named at this post was Coponius. His first act was to make a census of the new Roman province of Judea, and of its richnesses, in order to impose new taxes. This caused new rebellious feelings and the creation of a new sect, the Zealots, created by a certain Judas ben Hezkiyahu of Galilee, who opposed the Roman occupation. For Josephus, this Zealot sect was the root cause of the catastrophies that fell upon the Jewish nation in the following years: All sorts of misfortunes also sprang from these men, and the nation was infected with this doctrine to an incredible degree; one violent war came upon us after another, and we lost our friends which used to alleviate our pains; there were also very great robberies and murder of our principal men. This was done in pretense indeed for the public welfare, but in reality for the hopes of gain to themselves; whence arose seditions, and from them murders of men, which sometimes fell on those of their own people, (by the madness of these men towards one another, while their http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g32-herod.html (8 of 14) [6/11/2013 11:35:55 AM]


desire was that none of the adverse party might be left,) and sometimes on their enemies; a famine also coming upon us, reduced us to the last degree of despair, as did also the taking and demolishing of cities; nay, the sedition at last increased so high, that the very temple of God was burnt down by their enemies' fire. --- Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, book 18, 1 This assessment has to be taken with caution because Josephus wrote this works when he had become a Roman citizen living in Rome. He had to blame the forthcoming events on these factions or sects, rather than on the Romans despite their exactions and robberies perpetrated against the Jewish people and their religious worship. At that time, the Jewish people were divided into four factions: - the Pharisees who represented the vast majority of the people and followed the Jewish faith and commandments (and ran the Sanhedrin); they accepted the foreign rule as long as their religious freedom was maintained - the Saduccees who were in minority and came from the aristocraty; they generally assimilated to foreign cultures, first Greek then Roman (while they would argue to keep the position of High Priest as honorific for one of their members) - the Essenees who counted about 4000 followers (Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, book 18, 18) and lived a unmarried life in remote locations such as Qumran in the desert - this new group called the Zealots who were issued from the Pharisees but refused to accept foreign rule and fought to restore the independence of Judea from the Roman yoke ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3769 – 9 CE – Death of Hillel Hillel died at the age of 120, like Moses. Beside his great patience which was reknown, Hillel is remembered for having stated the following: On another occasion it happened that a certain heathen came before Shammai and said to him,‘Make me a proselyte, on condition that you teach me the whole Torah while I stand on one foot.’ Thereupon he repulsed him with the builder's cubit which was in his hand. When he went before Hillel, he said to him, ‘What is hateful to you, do not to your neighbour: that is the whole Torah, while the rest is the commentary thereof; go and learn it.’ --- Talmud, Shabbat, 31a This principle, derived from the divine commandment, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18), is the basis of a good and peaceful society. After Hillel and Shammai, the system of Zugot was abandoned and then only one member of the religious leaders was elected as nassi, as President of the Sanhedrin (the Beth Din). ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3770 – 10 CE – Simeon ben Hillel Hillel was succeeded as nassi by his son, Simeon ben Hillel. Little is known concerning him and it is unclear if he held this post for a few months (replaced then by Shammai, who was still alive, as acting nassi), or until the year 20 CE when his successor is known to have taken the role at that time. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3780 – 20 CE – Gamaliel Simeon ben Hillel was succeeded as nassi by his son Gamaliel who held this post until 50 CE, so 20 years before the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE. Gamaliel had such a great reputation that, in the Talmud, he is the first to be referred as Rabban (our master). His main teaching is as follows: Rabban Gamaliel used to say: Appoint a teacher for yourself and avoid doubt, and make not a habit of tithing by guesswork. --- Talmud, Avot 1:16 The great scholar Rashi, who lived in France in the Middle-Age, was a descendant of Gamaliel by his great grandson Yohanan Hasandlar. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3786 – 26 CE – Pontius Pilate Twenty years passed since Judea became a province of the Roman Empire. Augustus had died in 14 CE and was succeeded by Tiberius who appointed Pilate to Judea and Flaccus to Egypt. Both caused tensions with the Jews. It did not take long for Pilate to bring upon himself the wrath of the people:



But now Pilate, the procurator of Judea, removed the army from Cesarea to Jerusalem, to take their winter quarters there, in order to abolish the Jewish laws. So he introduced Caesar's effigies, which were upon the ensigns, and brought them into the city; whereas our law forbids us the very making of images; on which account the former procurators were wont to make their entry into the city with such ensigns as had not those ornaments. Pilate was the first who brought those images to Jerusalem, and set them up there; which was done without the knowledge of the people, because it was done in the night time; but as soon as they knew it, they came in multitudes to Cesarea, and interceded with Pilate many days that he would remove the images; and when he would not grant their requests, because it would tend to the injury of Caesar, while yet they persevered in their request, on the sixth day he ordered his soldiers to have their weapons privately, while he came and sat upon his judgment-seat, which seat was so prepared in the open place of the city, that it concealed the army that lay ready to oppress them; and when the Jews petitioned him again, he gave a signal to the soldiers to encompass them routed, and threatened that their punishment should be no less than immediate death, unless they would leave off disturbing him, and go their ways home. But they threw themselves upon the ground, and laid their necks bare, and said they would take their death very willingly, rather than the wisdom of their laws should be transgressed; upon which Pilate was deeply affected with their firm resolution to keep their laws inviolable, and presently commanded the images to be carried back from Jerusalem to Cesarea. --- Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, book 18, 55 This was one of many examples of Pilate’s actions who exarcerbated the Jewish population, especially in the holy city of Jerusalem. About the historicity of Pilate, a stone has been found in Israel in 1961 which bears the name of Tiberieum (probably a place named after Tiberius) and Pilatus “Prefect of Judea”. The last mention proves the authencity of the stone because Pilate was prefect and not only procurator as it is generally assumed. A prefect had power over civil matters and could pronounce death sentences, which he did against Jesus.

Pilate Stone (Israel Museum, Jerusalem) In Rome, Tiberius became wary of the influence of the Jews over the Romans: As there had been a large influx of Jews into Rome and they were converting many of the native inhabitants to their principles he expelled the great majority of them. --- Cassius Dio, Roman History, volume 57, CE 19 ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3790 – 30 CE – "I am Gabriel" stone A large stone found by Bedouins in 2000 in Israel near the Dead Sea came to display for the first time in 2013.[9a] Its engraving starts with the words "I am Gabriel", alluding to the angel who will appear in Messianic times.[9b] It assumed to date back from the 1st century CE when, after the death of Herod, chaos ensued in Judea and apocalyptic movements and preachers were numerous to tell about the forthcoming end of the world. The stone is in a rather bad condition as only 40% of it could eventually be read, although not without some level of interpretation. It caused a sensation in the Christian world in 2008 because one expert claimed that it contained the words "in three days you shall live", alluding to the resurrection of Jesus, a claim that was not substantiated by further analysis. In fact, there is no concensus yet about the transciption of the text as experts are currently divided between four versions. But all the experts agree that this stone is a text of apocalyptic nature, typical of the era between the death of Herod and the destruction of the Second Temple.



"I am Gabriel" stone - Israel Museum, Jerusalem (photo credit: Eretz magazine, No. 138, June 2013) ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3792 – 32 CE – John the Baptist John the Baptist was an itinerant preacher who would go from city to city to tell people that the apocalypse was soon to come and that they had to purify themselves. This was a belief similar to the Essenes', who were already preparing themselves for the coming of the Messiah. But they isolated themselves in their refuges and remote cities while some others, like John, were preaching this belief in their itinaries. It is during one of his predications that Jesus met him, probably in 30 CE, and was baptized (purified) by John in the Jordan River. Then their roads parted and Jesus followed his own destiny of preacher. It was in this time that Herod Antipas was defeated in a war against Aretas IV, king of the Nabateans, seated in Petra. The cause of this war, besides contest about borders, was that Herod Antipas had repudied his wife, the daughter of Aretas, in order to marry his sister-in-law Herodias, who was the wife of his brother Herod Philip. The latter was still alive and had one child, a daughter called Salome. This union of Antipas and Herodias was against Jewish Law. The war that ensued, and cost Antipas his army, was seen as a divine sign against Antipas’ sin. This sin is what John the Baptist chose to denounced publicly. As a reprisal, John was beheaded by orders from Herod Antipas in year 31 or 32 CE in the fortress of Machearus (Eastern side of the Dead Sea).



A theatrical scene of Salome with the head of John the Baptist Now some of the Jews thought that the destruction of Herod [Antipas]'s army came from God, and that very justly, as a punishment of what he did against John, that was called the Baptist: for Herod slew him, who was a good man, and commanded the Jews to exercise virtue, both as to righteousness towards one another, and piety towards God, and so to come to baptism; for that the washing [with water] would be acceptable to him, if they made use of it, not in order to the putting away [or the remission] of some sins [only], but for the purification of the body; supposing still that the soul was thoroughly purified beforehand by righteousness. Now when [many] others came in crowds about him, for they were very greatly moved [or pleased] by hearing his words, Herod, who feared lest the great influence John had over the people might put it into his power and inclination to raise a rebellion, (for they seemed ready to do any thing he should advise,) thought it best, by putting him to death, to prevent any mischief he might cause, and not bring himself into difficulties, by sparing a man who might make him repent of it when it would be too late. Accordingly he was sent a prisoner, out of Herod's suspicious temper, to Macherus, the castle I before mentioned, and was there put to death. --- Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, book 18, 116 ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3793 – 33 CE – Crucifixion of Jesus Jesus’ adoption of John’s mission to preach in the country also brought him to a tragid end. Josephus has reported the existence of Jesus in his Jewish Antiquities, chapter 18,63. But the original text had greatly been altered by Christians, probably in the Middle-Age, and it was kept as such in subsequent versions. This passage is called the Testimonium Flavianum. But the original more faithful version of Josephus is probably the one which was found in an Arabic translation, dated 12th century: At this time there was a wise man who was called Jesus, and his conduct was good, and he was known to be virtuous. And many people from among the Jews and the other nations became his disciples. Pilate condemned him to be crucified and to die. And those who had become his disciples did not abandon their loyalty to him. They reported that he had appeared to them three days after his crucifixion, and that he was alive. Accordingly they believed that he was the Messiah, concerning whom the Prophets have recounted wonders. --- Transcription, source UNC Charlotte In the Testimonium Flavianum, there is, among other alterations, the addition of the sentence: He [Jesus] was the Christ. But it is very unlikely that Josephus would have openly stated that he was the Christ, meaning the Annointed or Messiah, when he was himself devoid of religious belief. At best he would have written that Jesus’ followers believed him to be the Messiah. It is well known that Jesus was crucified on a Friday at the eve of the festival of Passover. So the Last Supper was not the celebration of Passover Eve, because it happened the night before the crucifixion. This puts his crucifixion on the Hebrew date of 14 Nisan, which was just before a full moon (on the 15th). The only years when a 14th Nisan fell on a Friday, during Pilate’s assignment from 26 to 36 CE, were the years 26, 33 and 36 CE. The year 33 CE is the most likely to have been the one when Jesus was crucified, in his 30’s, although the years 26 and 36 CE would also be possible because Pilate just arrived to Judea in 26 CE (so the crucifixion is unlikely to have occurred then, not until the new prefect would have ascertained his authority) or in the year 36 CE when he was sent back to Rome to be judged by Tiberius. But when Pilate reached Rome in 37 CE, Tiberius had died and was already replaced by Caius Caligula.



The Last Supper (Gustave Doré, 1868) In 1980, a cave had been found in Talpiot, a close suburb in the South-East of modern-day Jerusalem, that contained several ossuaries from a same family, one of them bearing the name "Jeshua bar Yossef", in other words "Jesus son of Joseph"... The datation of these items proved to be from the Second Temple period. Of course, there would have been many people called Jeshua son of Joseph in the Judea of these times, because these were very common names, but the fact that the other ossuaries bore other names related to the historicity of Jesus, such as Miriam for Maria/Mary, has helped build a case that this cave was indeed used to place the ossuaries of Jesus and his family. Furthermore, one of the ossuaries bears the name of "Yehuda bar Jeshua", in other words Judah son of Jesus. Jesus would have been married and had one son ! This would not be surprising for a practising Jew of these times and his age (in his thirties) but this detail would probably sound impossible to Christians.

Entrance to the Talpiot tomb, as found in 1980 A few centuries later, the Christian theologians accused the Jews of having crucified Jesus. It was more convenient to do so, and not accuse the Romans instead who, by that time, had adopted Christianity as a state religion. This was the case of Orosius who re-wrote History about 400 CE: In the seventeenth year of this emperor [Tiberius],[9] the Lord Jesus Christ of His own free will submitted to His passion. Nevertheless, it was through their own impiety that the Jews arrested Him and nailed Him to the cross. --- Orosius, A History against the Pagans, book 7, part 4 http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g32-herod.html (13 of 14) [6/11/2013 11:35:55 AM]


After the departure of Pilate from Judea, Vitellius, the Roman governor of Syrian province, came from Antioch to Jerusalem and restored quiet with tact and without antogonism. He even appointed the former High Priest to his role, an act which pleased the Pharisees. ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1] The earthquake during the time of King Uzziah is mentioned in Zechariah 14 and Amos 1 [2] This question was meant to annoy Hillel who was Babylonian of origin [3] The Palmyreans used to sell lighting materials by wandering at night in the city, which is an oasis city at the middle of the Syrian desert [4] Due to religious law of impurity for the high priest during the period preceding the holy day [5] Thus this Joseph was made High Priest on that single day of Kippur [6] To check the lunar eclipses of this era, see Wikipedia [7] After an astronomical event that took place in 1604, Kepler made some calculation and estimatation that Jesus was born in the 6th year before the Common Era (CE) [8] This Simon, who led a rebellion, is mentioned in Josephus, book 17, 273 [9a] To read the article on Haaretz newspaper, click here [9b] The angle Gabriel is mentioned in the Bible at Daniel's vision in Daniel 8:16 and 9:21 [10] This would be the year of 30 CE, but this is wrong, as explained above, if we assume the correctness of the assumption that Jesus was crucified on a Friday, 14 Nisan Go to >> Part II Next generation Top of Page






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Titus (Louvre, Paris)

Year 3830 – 70 CE – The siege of Jerusalem Before heading to Rome, Vespasian gave the command of the army of Judea to his son Titus, who was only 30 years old but had a lot of experience of warfare command gained alongside his father in their campaigns. He also nominated Tiberius Alexander, the governor of Alexandria and previous procurator of Judea, near his son Titus to be second-incommand. Tiberius Alexander was of Jewish origin, whose family had assimilated to Roman culture and gained Roman citizenship. He was a friend of Agrippa II as both of them came to rule over Judea at the same time in about 45 CE. Both Tiberius Alexander and Agrippa witnessed at the side of the Romans the events that unfolded in this last phase of the Judeo-Roman war. By the time when his father reached Rome, Titus was besieging Jerusalem with four legions. The city was in great disorder and in the control of two armed factions fighting one against the other: on one side the Zealots had the hand on the Temple month and on the other side the Sicarii led by Simon and his son Elazar. The latter had the initial support of the population, who had enough of the terror previously imposed by the Zealots, but had now to suffer their supposed liberators. Josephus recalled that the population was eager to see the Romans deliver them from these factions (but this would be expected to come from Josephus): And now, as the city was engaged in a war on all sides, from these treacherous crowds of wicked men, the people of the city, between them, were like a great body torn in pieces. The aged men and the women were in such distress by their internal calamities that they wished for the Romans, and earnestly hoped for an external war, in order to their delivery from their domestical miseries. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 5,1,5 Titus pitched his command post on the Mount Scopus as Cestius had done before him. He had the existing three legions (the 5th Macedonica, the 10th Fretensis and the 15th Apolnaris), but Vespasian also added the 12th legion who had previously been defeated in Judea during the campaign of Cestius. With the addition of the cavalry, Syrian and other foreign soldiers, his army exceeded 30000. As for the Jews, they had 24000 fighters composed of the Sicarii, the Zealots and also Idumeans (Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 5,6,1). But the civilian population is said to have been in exceess of 1 million people in the city.



The Second Temple, viewed from the East, with Antonia towers on the right (model of the city of Jerusalem in 70 CE) Titus decided to force the walls from the "New City", located at the north-west side of the city, where the natural defenses where not so difficult and the walls lower. The legionaires of the 12th were eager to get a revenge of their previous defeat and fought harder against the exits that the Jews made from time to time in their attempts to break down the works of the Roman engineers against the walls or to destroy the war machines that threw stones and darts at the city: So this fight about the machines was very hot, while the one side tried hard to set them on fire, and the other side to prevent it; on both sides there was a confused cry made, and many of those in the forefront of the battle were slain. However, the Jews were now too hard for the Romans, by the furious assaults they made like madmen; and the fire caught hold of the works, and both all those works, and the engines themselves, had been in danger of being burnt, had not many of these select soldiers that came from Alexandria opposed themselves to prevent it, and had they not behaved themselves with greater courage than they themselves supposed they could have done; for they outdid those in this fight that had greater reputation than themselves before. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 5,6,5 Then Titus ordered to build moveable towers that were higher than the walls. They were to be used for archers to reduce the defense of the outer walls and also to protect the works underneath to weaken and break the wall. Ultimately the Romans made a breach in the north-west part of the outer (third) wall and the Jews retreated to the next middle (second) wall. The outer wall was then entirely taken by the Romans after 15 days of siege, in the 7th of Iyar (May-June) of 70, and almost entirely demolished. Titus moved his camp inside the city between the outer wall and the middle wall, and displaced his line of defense (earthwall) there as well. This move encouraged his soldiers to fight more bravely under his personal and closer watch. The middle wall was breached 5 days after the outer wall by taking the Antonia Tower which was in fact a 4 towers fortress built by Herod and named at the time after his protector, Mark Antony.

Jerusalem and its three walls (source: Ancient Bible Study) Now the fight moved towards the city, with its dense population and narrow alleys: And then [the Jews] attacked those Romans that were come within the wall. Some of them they met in the narrow streets, and some they fought against from their houses, while they made a sudden sally out at the upper gates, and assaulted http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g32-jerusalem.html (2 of 9) [6/11/2013 11:36:15 AM]


such Romans as were beyond the wall, till those that guarded the wall were so aftrighted, that they leaped down from their towers, and retired to their several camps: upon which a great noise was made by the Romans that were within, because they were encompassed round on every side by their enemies; as also by them that were without, because they were in fear for those that were left in the city. Thus did the Jews grow more numerous perpetually, and had great advantages over the Romans, by their full knowledge of those narrow lanes; and they wounded a great many of them, and fell upon them, and drove them out of the city. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 5,8,1 The first attack in the breach was thus repulsed by the Jews but the Romans succeeded to take control after 3 days of fighting. Then Titus ordered the destruction of the middle wall and now faced the first and inner wall, giving access to the upper and lower cities and the flanks of the Temple preccinct. Five days later, on the 12th of Iyar, Titus started the works to prepare the assault of the inner wall. Josephus also mentioned that he endeavoured to leave time for the Jews to think of their situation and give up the siege to save their city. Even Josephus tried to exhort the fighters to give up the war: So Josephus went round about the wall, and tried to find a place that was out of the reach of their darts, and yet within their hearing, and besought them, in many words, to spare themselves, to spare their country and their temple, and not to be more obdurate in these cases than foreigners themselves. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 5,9,3 The point was that the strongest walls of the city had already been destroyed and thus the attack on the last wall would mean the destruction of the Temple. Besides, even without leading any final assault, the cut of supplies and famine in the city would eventually kill its inhabitants. At the contrary, without surrender, a final assault would mean that the city would be delivered to the hands of the soldiers for several days, as the rules of war dictated. The situation of the Jews was thus desperate unless a divine miracle would come. But there was no expectation to this, as the Temple had long been profanated by unworthy men, battles, murders, and other calamities. Josephus continued his exhortation, and mentioned a detail about the water that was now in want for Jerusalem: And as for Titus, those springs [outside the city walls] that were formerly almost dried up when they were under your power since he is come, run more plentifully than they did before; accordingly, you know that Siloam, as well as all the other springs that were without [sic. within] the city, did so far fail, that water was sold by distinct measures [by rationing]; whereas they now have such a great quantity of water for your enemies, as is sufficient not only for drink both for themselves and their cattle, but for watering their gardens also. The same wonderful sign you had also experience of formerly, when the forementioned king of Babylon made war against us, and when he took the city, and burnt the temple; while yet I believe the Jews of that age were not so impious as you are. Wherefore I cannot but suppose that God is fled out of his sanctuary, and stands on the side of those against whom you fight. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 5,9,4 These efforts did not stop the fighters from the war but convinced some civilians to manage to escape the city. Titus encouraged this movement and let those who escaped to go free and leave the area. Yet, when the armed groups saw this happening, they killed whoever attempted to escape. According to Josephus, they killed many of the richer people who were eager to leave, although the famine was on the increase and that it was not possible for all the population to feed: Many there were indeed who sold what they had for one measure; it was of wheat, if they were of the richer sort; but of barley, if they were poorer. When these had so done, they shut themselves up in the inmost rooms of their houses, and ate the corn they had gotten; some did it without grinding it, by reason of the extremity of the want they were in, and others baked bread of it, according as necessity and fear dictated to them: a table was no where laid for a distinct meal, but they snatched the bread out of the fire, half-baked, and ate it very hastily. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 5,10,2 Some people managed to get out of the inner walls to try find food in the valleys that surrounded the other side of the city. But the Romans ambushed them and crucified any one they captured, in hope that the dreadful sight would convine the fighters to surrender out of fear of what would await for them: They were first whipped, and then tormented with all sorts of tortures, before they died, and were then crucified before the wall of the city. This miserable procedure made Titus greatly to pity them, while they caught every day five hundred Jews; nay, some days they caught more: yet it did not appear to be safe for him to let those that were taken by force go their way, and to set a guard over so many he saw would be to make such as great deal them useless to him. The main reason why he did not forbid that cruelty was this, that he hoped the Jews might perhaps yield at that sight, out of fear lest they might themselves afterwards be liable to the same cruel treatment. So the soldiers, out of the wrath and hatred they bore the Jews, nailed those they caught, one after one way, and another after another, to the crosses, by way of jest, when their multitude was so great, that room was wanting for the crosses, and crosses wanting for the bodies. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 5,11,1 And when the valleys were filled with crucified corpses, with no more room to apply the same torment to the newcomers, Titus ordered to cut off the hands of the latter ones and send them back inside the city so that they would not be able to participate in the fighting and could serve as examples for those who remained. On the 29th of Iyar, the Romans completed the ground works to prepare for the final assault. This consisted of raising four banks, one for each legion, as ramps for the war machines and the assault in four different places of the inner wall. At this time, the defenders threw all sorts of materials over the wall, with bitumen, and set them on fire so that it would destroy the works done by the Romans. The tactics worked and the Romans retrieved what could be saved of their war machines and rams: However, seeing the banks of the Romans were demolished, these Romans were very much east down upon the loss of what had cost them so long pains, and this in one hour's time. And many indeed despaired of taking the city with their usual engines of war only. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 5,11,6 Titus could have just surrounded the city and wait for the famine to do its work, as Caesar did to the Gauls besieged in Alesia. But the Roman commander didn’t want to win a war without action. So the ground works resumed, this time in building an earthwall that would encompass the city and prevent anyone to escape from it. Then the famine continued to take its toll and the robbers ruled over the ghastly city: A deep silence also, and a kind of deadly night, had seized upon the city; while yet the robbers were still more terrible than these miseries were themselves; for they brake open those houses which were no other than graves of dead bodies, http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g32-jerusalem.html (3 of 9) [6/11/2013 11:36:15 AM]


and plundered them of what they had; and carrying off the coverings of their bodies, went out laughing, and tried the points of their swords in their dead bodies; and, in order to prove what metal they were made of they thrust some of those through that still lay alive upon the ground; but for those that entreated them to lend them their right hand and their sword to despatch them, they were too proud to grant their requests, and left them to be consumed by the famine. Now every one of these died with their eyes fixed upon the temple, and left the seditious alive behind them. Now the seditious at first gave orders that the dead should be buried out of the public treasury, as not enduring the stench of their dead bodies. But afterwards, when they could not do that, they had them cast down from the walls into the valleys beneath. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 5,12,3 Titus was fully aware that the city was helf by the seditious factions and that the civilians were the ones paying the human cost of the siege, so he ordered the banks and the ramps to be built again, hoping to end the war at the soonest. One of the citizens was Josephus’ parents themselves who were put in a prison by Simon, the leader of the Sicarii (Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 5,13,1). One of the Jewish defenders caught on the 1st of Tammuz month, when the general attack started, declared to Titus that, through the gate he was in charge of, they carried no less than 115,000 dead bodies out of the city since the 14th of the previous month (Iyar) (Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 5,13,7). On that night, one of the towers of the Antonia fortress collapsed from the hammering of the walls. This was an important milestone, and unexpected result too, because the Antonia towers stood higher than the floor of the Temple Mount which was adjacent. Climbing on top of these towers meant that the Romans would then be able to slip into the Temple courts below.

The collapse of one of the Antonia towers (source Visual Timeline of the Roman-Jewish War) On the 3rd day of Tammuz, the first Romans started to climb up the ruins of the collapsed tower but met with the resistance of the defenders. On the 5th day, a night expedition of a few Romans managed to take control of the tower. Now all the Romans followed shortly after signal was done that the passage was taken, and the Jews fled towards the Temple to protect the passage to its courts. And they fought dearly during all the night hand to hand against the Romans for the control of the narrow passage: At length the Jews' violent zeal was too hard for the Romans' skill, and the battle already inclined entirely that way; for the fight had lasted from the ninth hour of the night till the seventh hour of the day, While the Jews came on in crowds, and had the danger the temple was in for their motive; the Romans having no more here than a part of their army; for those legions, on which the soldiers on that side depended, were not come up to them. So it was at present thought sufficient by the Romans to take possession of the tower of Antonia. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 6,1,7 ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3830 – 70 CE – The fall of Jerusalem On the 17th of Tammuz, Titus gave orders to dig under the foundations of the broken tower of Antonia to make a broader passage for his army. It was a day of Jewish bad omen because it was on that day, after 40 days, that Moses came down from Mount Sinai, saw the Hebrews dancing around the Golden Calf and broke the two tablets where God had inscribed the Ten Commandments. That day will be a day of fast for future Jewish generations, as the commencement of the three weeks period until the destruction of the Second Temple. The destruction of the First Temple also followed a breach in its walls that the Babylonians did in Tammuz: In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, came Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon and all his army against Jerusalem, and besieged it; in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, the ninth day of the month, a breach was made in the city. --- Jeremiah 39:1-2 According to Josephus, Titus tried to save the Temple and proposed to the seditious factions to choose another place of fighting than the courts of the Temple which he promised to preserve. But the Zealots wouldn’t hear it, or saw it as a sign of weakness from their enemy, and preferred to defile the sanctuary with the dead bodies of their fighters and of their



enemies, instead of leaving the preccinct of the Temple (Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 6,2,4). After 7 days of work, on the 24th of Tammuz, the foundations of the tower of Antonia were overthrown and a broad passage was made for the Roman army. Soon the Romans penetrated to the edge of the Court of the Gentiles, in the preccinct. A fire started in the Antonia area and spread towards the Temple closeby. At this point, it seems that some of the fighters attempted an exit and rushed to the Roman camp on the Mount of the Olives, opposite the Temple Mount. But the attempt was stopped against the Roman forticications that encompassed the city. On the 27th of Tammuz, the Jews set the cloisters of the Court of Gentiles on fire to stop the Roman advance. The Romans had not anticipated such move and the passage was crowded, so many of them died in the fire or were cut off from their rear and killed by the Jews inside. The next day, the Romans burned the rest of the northern cloister over its entire length up to the Kidron valley on the Eastern side. At about this time, the news spread in the city and in the Roman camp that one woman killed her child out of despair and hunger, and ate him. Josephus recorded Titus’ thoughts at this horror that justified in his eyes the destruction of the city: And at the same time that he said this, he reflected on the desperate condition these men must be in; nor could he expect that such men could be recovered to sobriety of mind, after they had endured those very sufferings, for the avoiding whereof it only was probable they might have repented. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 6,3,5 This horror of the war, and the thought that the holy city was destined to be destroyed, may have fuelled the legend that some historians later recorded, as having happened before the final assault, maybe in a goal to exonerate the Romans, or Titus, from the destruction that was about to take place: A sudden lightning flash from the clouds lit up the Temple. The doors of the holy place abruptly opened, a superhuman voice was heard to declare that the gods were leaving it, and in the same instant came the rushing tumult of their departure. Few people placed a sinister interpretation upon this. The majority were convinced that the ancient scriptures of their priests alluded to the present as the very time when the Orient would triumph and from Judea would go forth men destined to rule the world.[1] This mysterious prophecy really referred to Vespasian and Titus, but the common people, true to the selfish ambitions of mankind, thought that this mighty destiny was reserved for them, and not even their calamities opened their eyes to the truth. --- Tacitus, Histories, 5:13 On the 8th of the month of Av, two legions were ready for the final assault, and Titus ordered the rams to be brought in. But these machines proved useless against the size of the stones that were used to build the Temple. So the assault was attempted by climbing the walls of its court with ladders. But the Jews fought back and prevented the attack. Titus, worried by a greater loss of his men if he continued to try preserve the Temple, gave orders to burn the doors to access the inner court, the last refuge of some of the fighters. The fire then spread to the cloisters that surrounded the inner court.

The siege and destruction of Jerusalem (David Roberts, 1850) Titus gathered a council to decide what was to be done with the Temple. Although opinions were expressed that the Temple ought to be burned, Titus argue to the contrary: But Titus said, that "although the Jews should get upon that holy house, and fight us thence, yet ought we not to revenge ourselves on things that are inanimate, instead of the men themselves;" and that he was not in any case for burning down so vast a work as that was, because this would be a mischief to the Romans themselves, as it would be an ornament to their government while it continued. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 6,4,3 So he ordered to extinguish the fire and not let it spread further, according to Josephus. But later Historians contradicted his version and made it obvious that Titus was rather in favour of destroying the Temple, as did Sulpitius Severus in about 400 CE: Titus is said, after calling a council, to have first deliberated whether he should destroy the temple, a structure of such extraordinary work. For it seemed good to some that a sacred edifice, distinguished above all human achievements, ought not to be destroyed, inasmuch as, if preserved, it would furnish an evidence of Roman moderation, but, if destroyed, would serve for a perpetual proof of Roman cruelty. But on the opposite side, others and Titus himself thought that the temple ought specially to be overthrown, in order that the religion of the Jews and of the Christians might more thoroughly be subverted;[20] for that these religions, although contrary to each other, had nevertheless proceeded http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g32-jerusalem.html (5 of 9) [6/11/2013 11:36:15 AM]


from the same authors; that the Christians had sprung up from among the Jews; and that, if the root were extirpated, the offshoot would speedily perish. Thus, according to the divine will, the minds of all being inflamed, the temple was destroyed, three hundred and thirty-one years ago. --- Sulpitius Severus, The Sacred History, book II, chapter 30 But, on the 9th of Av, the Jews gathered their last forces again and fought in the court at the first hours of the night, repulsed the guards who stood there, penetrated the inner court of the Temple and shut themselves up in it. Titus planned to attack them on the early hours of the morning. But during the night, one of the Romans took a torch and threw it inside the inner cloisters through a window, and the fire started. In the tumult that ensued, the orders of Titus to quench this fire were not heard. Instead the soldiers, in their enthousiasm to finally conquer the last stand, had already penetrated in the inner court and slew every Jewish fighter they could find in there. Yet the fire had not reached the holy house yet, but was burning its cloisters around. So Titus rushed to the place to endeavour to get the soldiers to quench the fire. But the view of the silver, gold and treasures that adorned the holy house was too much for the soldiers’ desire to plunder such a place after such a long and exhausting siege. While the holy house was on fire, every thing was plundered that came to hand, and ten thousand of those that were caught were slain; nor was there a commiseration of any age, or any reverence of gravity, but children, and old men, and profane persons, and priests were all slain in the same manner; so that this war went round all sorts of men, and brought them to destruction, and as well those that made supplication for their lives, as those that defended themselves by fighting. The flame was also carried a long way, and made an echo, together with the groans of those that were slain; and because this hill was high, and the works at the temple were very great, one would have thought the whole city had been on fire. Nor can one imagine any thing either greater or more terrible than this noise; for there was at once a shout of the Roman legions, who were marching all together, and a sad clamor of the seditious, who were now surrounded with fire and sword. The people also that were left above were beaten back upon the enemy, and under a great consternation, and made sad moans at the calamity they were under; the multitude also that was in the city joined in this outcry with those that were upon the hill. And besides, many of those that were worn away by the famine, and their mouths almost closed, when they saw the fire of the holy house, they exerted their utmost strength, and brake out into groans and outcries again. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 6,5,1 Josephus gave an account of the numbers of years that the Temple stood: Now the number of years that passed from its first foundation, which was laid by king Solomon, till this its destruction, which happened in the second year of the reign of Vespasian, are collected to be one thousand one hundred and thirty, besides seven months and fifteen days; and from the second building of it, which was done by Haggai, in the second year of Cyrus the king, till its destruction under Vespasian, there were six hundred and thirty-nine years and forty-five days. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 6,4,8 Solomon started to build the First Temple in Hebrew year 2745, 1015 BCE. So until the year 70 CE, there have been 1085 years, instead of 1130 years assessed by Josephus, an error of 45 years, or barely 4% error. As for the duration of the Second Temple, Josephus got it wrong too but not by a big difference either: he assessed 639 years from the second year of Cyrus. But, since the conquest of Babylon took place in 540 BCE and since the first foundations of the Temple were laid in year 539 BCE, there were 609 years until the fall of Jerusalem in 70. Thus Josephus made a small error of about 4% in his second assessment too. We have previously seen that Jewish tradition says that the Second Temple was destroyed after 420 years. How to conciliate this tradition with the 609 years? It is because, as before for the First Temple, tradition only counts the years when a proper divine service was operated according to tradition. As we know, the service was not always divine during these 609 years when the Second Temple stood because this service was interrupted at the beginning, due to the complaint from the Samaritans to the king of Persia, then the service was often broken during the Seleucid kingdom when high priests were elected according to their allegiance to the invador rather than tradition. The service was then greatly affected in the years of the Herodian dynasty when the high priests were chosen according to power and wealth from the Saduccee families. And last, the service was interrupted during the war against Rome from about the time when Vespasian left for Rome. The priests of the Temple had been hiding in some secret chambers about the Temple but they were running out of water and necessities. So they decided to come out after a few days, hoping for clemency from the conquerors once the rage seemed to have passed: On the fifth day afterward, the priests that were pined with the famine came down, and when they were brought to Titus by the guards, they begged for their lives; but he replied, that the time of pardon was over as to them, and that this very holy house, on whose account only they could justly hope to be preserved, was destroyed; and that it was agreeable to their office that priests should perish with the house itself to which they belonged. So he ordered them to be put to death. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 6,6,1 It is unknown when and how the head of the Sanhedrin, the nassi Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel, died but he was already very old at this time, and he died of natural causes during this siege or during the massacre that followed when the Romans penetrated the city. He had already passed the religious leadership to Johanan ben Zakkai at the time of the siege by Vespasian. When Jerusalem fell, the role of nassi was given to Johanan ben Zakkai who had established a religious school and tribunal in Yavneh. As of the leaders of the sedition, they were not granted any safe passage nor surrender. So they continued the fight or hide inside the lower city, and also went under the ground where they knew were caves. But the Romans found out the escape routes and set fires in the caverns. On the 20th of Av, Titus started to attack the upper city where Simon and the Sicarii had found refuge. At that time, the Idumeans who had allied with the Sicarii decided to surrender. A battle thus broke between the two groups but this could not prevent the flow of them, and a number of the civilians, to escape to the Romans, who let them free to pass in exchange for a ransom for sparing their life.



Destruction of the Second Temple, Francesco Hayez, 1867 (Galleria dell'Academia, Venezia) The above painting is not fully accurate concerning the candelabrum because, according to Josephus, two priests who had escaped the previous slaughter proposed to surrender to Titus in exchange of the precious items that had been deposited in the Temple and that had been spared from destruction: But now at this time it was that one of the priests, the son of Thebuthus, whose name was Joshua, upon his having security given him, by the oath of Caesar [Titus], that he should be preserved, upon condition that he should deliver to him certain of the precious things that had been reposited in the temple came out of it, and delivered him from the wall of the holy house two candlesticks, like to those that lay in the holy house, with tables, and cisterns, and vials, all made of solid gold, and very heavy. He also delivered to him the veils and the garments, with the precious stones, and a great number of other precious vessels that belonged to their sacred worship. The treasurer of the temple also, whose name was Phineas, was seized on, and showed Titus the coats and girdles of the priests, with a great quantity of purple and scarlet, which were there reposited for the uses of the veil, as also a great deal of cinnamon and cassia, with a large quantity of other sweet spices, which used to be mixed together, and offered as incense to God every day. A great many other treasures were also delivered to him, with sacred ornaments of the temple not a few; which things thus delivered to Titus obtained of him for this man the same pardon that he had allowed to such as deserted of their own accord. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 6,8,3 These treasures from the Temple were taken by Titus and brought back to Rome.

From Titus' Arch in Rome On the 7th of the next month, Elul (about August), the ramps were ready for the assault against the upper city. When the walls started to shook by the battering of the rams, the fighters started to escape through underground tunnels and caves unto the Siloam valley. But they soon found themselves facing the fortifiations that Titus had raised around the city. Meanwhile the Romans penetrated the upper city only to find dead corpses and desolation: But when they [the Romans] went in numbers into the lanes of the [upper] city with their swords drawn, they slew those whom they overtook without and set fire to the houses whither the Jews were fled, and burnt every soul in them, and laid waste a great many of the rest; and when they were come to the houses to plunder them, they found in them entire families of dead men, and the upper rooms full of dead corpses, that is, of such as died by the famine; they then stood in a horror at http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g32-jerusalem.html (7 of 9) [6/11/2013 11:36:15 AM]


this sight, and went out without touching any thing. But although they had this commiseration for such as were destroyed in that manner, yet had they not the same for those that were still alive, but they ran every one through whom they met with, and obstructed the very lanes with their dead bodies, and made the whole city run down with blood, to such a degree indeed that the fire of many of the houses was quenched with these men's blood. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 6,8,5 On the 8th of Elul, Titus came to the upper city to see the awesome size of the towers that protected the walls, and decided to leave them as a testimonial of how difficult this city had been to conquer. Some of these structures still exist today, located near the Jaffa Gate in the old city of Jerusalem, and are now part of the Citadel. Next came the issue of the prisoners. Titus sorted the ones who would be useful as slaves or other works in the Roman Empire, and slew all who were suspected of having been fighters, and the elderly and infirm ones as well: So this Fronto [in charge of sorting the prisoners] slew all those that had been seditious and robbers, who were impeached one by another; but of the young men he chose out the tallest and most beautiful, and reserved them for the triumph [in Rome]; and as for the rest of the multitude that were above seventeen years old, he put them into bonds, and sent them to the Egyptian mines. Titus also sent a great number into the provinces, as a present to them, that they might be destroyed upon their theatres, by the sword and by the wild beasts; but those that were under seventeen years of age were sold for slaves. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 6,9,2 The sending of slaves to the mines of Egypt may be the realization of Moses’ prophecy to the Hebrews before they entered Canaan. He said that, if they would not follow God’s commandments: “And the Lord shall scatter you among all peoples, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; and there you shall serve other gods, which you have not known, you nor your fathers, even wood and stone.[3] And among these nations shall you have no repose, and there shall be no rest for the sole of your foot; but the Lord shall give you there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and languishing of soul. And your life shall hang in doubt before you; and you shall fear night and day, and shall have no assurance of your life. In the morning you shall say: 'who will give an evening!' and at evening you shall say: 'who will give a morning!' for the fear of your heart which you shall fear, and for the sight of your eyes which you shall see.[4] And the Lord shall bring you back into Egypt in ships, by the way whereof I said unto you: 'You shall see it no more again'; and there you shall sell yourselves unto your enemies for bondmen and for bondwoman, and no man shall buy you.” --- Deuteronomy 28:64-68 Josephus reckoned that the siege of Jerusalem had costed the life of 1,100,000 Jews, most of them having been trapped in the holy city from the time of Passover of that year, and that 97,000 were taken captives by Titus or sent to slavery in the Roman Empire. He made this assessment from the number of lambs that had been used in Jerusalem for the festival, and deducted the number of people being in the city at the time to about 2,700,000 people (Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 6,9,3). Most of the dead people died of famine during the siege. Simon, the leader of the Sicarii, who came out from underground caves after Titus left the city, was taken to Rome for the triumph and then executed. As of John, the leader of the Zealots, he was condemned to life emprisonment. Before leaving the city, Titus gave his last orders: Now as soon as the army had no more people to slay or to plunder, because there remained none to be the objects of their fury, (for they would not have spared any, had there remained any other work to be done,) Caesar [Titus] gave orders that they should now demolish the entire city and temple, but should leave as many of the towers standing as were of the greatest eminency; that is, Phasael, Hippicus and Mariamne; and so much of the wall as enclosed the city on the west side. This wall was spared, in order to afford a camp for such as were to lie in garrison, as were the towers also spared, in order to demonstrate to posterity what kind of city it was, and how well fortified, which the Roman valor had subdued; but for all the rest of the wall, it was so thoroughly laid even with the ground by those that dug it up to the foundation, that there was left nothing to make those that came thither believe it had ever been inhabited. This was the end which Jerusalem came to by the madness of those that were for innovations; a city otherwise of great magnificence, and of mighty fame among all mankind. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 7,1,1 The three towers built by Herod, Phasael, Hippicus and Marianne, were left standing for some generations but today only the foundation of the Hippicus remains and forms the foundation of the Citadel in the Old City of Jerusalem. As of the wall of the Temple on the “west” side, it is now the famous Western Wall in Jerusalem. Titus left the 10th Legion in Jerusalem as a guard, but sent the 10th Legion, who had been defeated at the time of Cestius, far to the limits of the Empire in Armenia. He took the 2 other legions with him back to Caesarea. He then moved to Caesarea Philippi (near Banyas, northern Israel). In both cities, he organised arene spectacles gladiator fights with Jewish prisoners who, at times, were also thrown to wild beats. In total, Josephus reckoned that 2500 Jews died in these Roman games. Titus then moved to Berytus, an old Phoenician city, called Laodice in the time of the Greek, that became the most Roman city in the East at the time of the Herodian dynasty: it is now Beirut. ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1] Without knowing about it, the author was mentioning the Jewish belief that these times were Messianic times [2] The early Christians, known as the first "Church of Jerusalem", had in fact already left the city after the execution of Jacques the Just, Jesus’ brother, and were established in Pella, a city of the Decapolis [3] This must refer to worship after Antiquity, when all the gods were more or less the same with different names; the reference to ‘wood’ may be Christianity and ‘shall serve’ may refer to forced conversions during those times [4] This is a depiction of the hardship that the Jews would go through in the next 2000 years of diaspora, either under Christian or Muslim nations, until emancipation and return the Sion would enable them a new choice Go to >> Part V Next generation



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Generation 33

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Hebrew years 3840 to 3960 (80-200 CE) ~~~ Part I ~~~ Part II ~~~

What is new Index of names Creation Generations 1-14

Year 3850 – 90 CE – Death of Rabbi Johanan ben Zakai Ben Zakai was the rabbi who escaped Jerusalem during the siege by Vespasian and founded the school of Yavneh. After the destruction of Jerusalem, Yavneh became an important centre of the religious life, and hosted the Sanhedrin. When he fell fatally ill, his disciples came to attend him. His last words were recorded in the Talmud, as they were enigmatic: At the moment of his departure he said to them [the disciples]: Remove the vessels so that they shall not become unclean [due to the presence of a dead person], and prepare a throne for Hezekiah the king of Judah who is coming. --- Talmud, Berachot, 28b

Generations 15-21 Hezekiah had been the righteous king of Judah who built the defenses of Jerusalem in preparation of the forthcoming siege by the Assyrian king Sennacherib. Maybe, in his last moments, and although Jerusalem and the Temple had already Generations been destroyed in his lifetime, ben Zakkai had the vision of the future annointed Messiah who will come to rebuild Jerusslem, as Hezekiah did. 22-28 ~~~~~~~~~~

Generations 29-35

Year 3850 – 90 CE – Gamaliel II of Yavneh

Generations 36-49 After the death of Johanan ben Zakkai who led the survival of the religious authority out of the besieged Jerusalem into Yavneh, Gamaliel, the son of a previous nassi, Shimon ben Gamaliel, was chsoen at the next president of the Sanhedrin. http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g33-bar-kochba.html (1 of 22) [6/11/2013 11:36:43 AM]


Generation 50

It was a time when the religious schools had to reunited and had to end their quarrels, as it had previously been the case between the Houses of Hillel and Shammai. Gamaliel II's authority towards religious and educational matters was also recognized by the Romans. In one anecdote, Gamaliel confounded a Christian who ruled a tribunal for non-Jews, similarly to what Gamaliel and the Sanhedrin was doing for the Jews: Imma Shalom, R. Eliezer's wife, was R. Gamaliel's sister. Now, a certain philosopher[1a] lived in his vicinity, and he bore a reputation that he did not accept bribes [because he was the head of a tribunal for non-Jews]. They wished to expose him, so she brought him a golden lamp, went before him, [and] said to him, ‘I desire that a share be given me in my [deceased] father's estate.’ ‘Divide,’ ordered he. Said he [R. Gamaliel] to him, ‘It is decreed for us, Where there is a son, a daughter does not inherit.’ [He replied], ‘Since the day that you were exiled from your land the Law of Moses has been removed and another book given,[1b] wherein it is written, ‘A son and a daughter inherit equally.’[1c] The next day, he [R. Gamaliel] brought him a Lybian ass. Said he to them, ‘Look at the end of the book, wherein it is written, I came not to destroy the Law of Moses nor to add to the Law of Moses,[1d] and it is written therein, A daughter does not inherit where there is a son. Said she to him, ‘Let thy light shine forth like a lamp.’ Said R. Gamaliel to him, ‘An ass came and knocked the lamp over!’ --- Talmud, Shabbat, 116a-b This anecdote was to stress the discrepancy among Early Christians between those, like Jesus and the Apostles, who were Jews and endeavoured to maintain their faith, and those newcomers to the faith, being the so-named "philosophers", who lived in these contradictions, or even invented laws that were never established by the Early Church. to form their own "gospels"that the Church would not allowed later in the Christian Canon. Rabban Gamaliel II had obviouly studied the gospels and was quite ready to argue on religious points. He held the role of nassi until 120 CE. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3855 – 95 CE – Religious persecutions under Domitian Domitian was the youngest son of Vespasian, and he married the daughter of Titus. He became emperor in 81 and is remembered by historians for having built a cult of his personality as a semi-god and titled himself dominus et deus (master and god). He was popular among the army and people but considered as a tyrant by the Senate. His effort to portray himself as an imperial god led him to persecute the members of non-roman religions that would oppose his divine status. The Jews of the Roman empire were tolerated but heavily taxed, while the Christians were more persecuted according to the Book of Revelation. In the year 95, Domitian executed his cousin Titus Clemens because the latter would not acknowledge the divine status of the emperor. Clemens’ father had been the prefect of the city of Rome at the time of Nero. Clemens had married his cousin Domitilla, one of Vespasian’s grand-daughters, and both converted to Judaism at the time of the visit of Rabbi Akiva in Rome. After her husband’s execution, she was banished to Ventotene island off the Italian coast. The Christians considered that Clemens had converted to Chrsitianity, and so did his wife. In these times, the distinction between http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g33-bar-kochba.html (2 of 22) [6/11/2013 11:36:43 AM]


Christians and Jews was not as pronounced as it became later. The following is an account from Roman consul and historian Cassius Dio who wrote an history of Rome in 80 volumes: And the same year [95] Domitian slew among many others Flavius Clemens the consul, though he was a cousin and had to wife Flavia Domitilla, who was also a relative of the emperor's. The complaint brought against them both was that of atheism,[2] under which many others who drifted into Jewish ways were condemned. Some of these were killed, and the rest were at least deprived of their property. --- Cassius Dio, Roman History, volume 67, section 14 ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3856 – 96 CE – Jewish mission to Rome In order to intercede in favour of the Jews in the Roman Empire, four religious leaders of the Jewish community of Judea set sail to Rome after the Jewish New Year of 3856 to meet with the emperor. These leaders were the great scholar Rabbi Akiva, Rabban Gamaliel II the head of the school of Yavneh and nassi (head of the Sanhedrin), Rabbi Eleazar ben Azariah, a young and rich leader who had Ezra the Scribe as ancestor 10 generations before (he was also at one time elected head of the Sanhedrin instead of Rabban Gamaliel II), and Rabbi Joshua ben Hananiah, a tana and Levite, of witty character, who will be a prominent Jewish leader some 25 years later during the visit of Emperor Hadrian to Judea with whom he will entertain many discussions and will follow him in Egypt and Greece (Talmud, Bechorot, 8b). During their voyage, they celebrated the festival of Sukkoth while on board their ship. But when they arrived to Rome later in that year, they learned that the emperor they came to meet was dead. Indeed, Domitian was assassinated in September 96 and, with him, the Flavius dynasty of Roman emperors had ended. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3856 – 96 CE – Emperor Nerva The party who got rid of Domitian was probably what we could call “the Nero clan”. Because the new chosen emperor was Nerva, who had been the private secretary of Nero. Nerva met the four religious leaders from Judea and told them about a secret, that Nero did not commit suicide but had renounced to his function of emperor to devote his life to Judaism . This has been consigned in the Talmud: He [Nero] said: The Holy One, blessed be He, desires to lay waste his House [the Temple in Jerusalem] and to lay the blame on me. So he ran away [from Judea] and became a proselyte, and Rabbi Meir was descended from him. --- Talmud, Gittin, 56a Soon after the visit of these leaders, Nerva cancelled all Domitian’s anti-religious decrees: http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g33-bar-kochba.html (3 of 22) [6/11/2013 11:36:43 AM]


Nerva also released such as were on trial for maiestas[3] and restored the exiles. All the slaves and freedmen that had conspired against their masters he put to death, and allowed that class of persons to lodge no complaint whatever against their masters. Others were not permitted to accuse anybody for maiestas or for "Jewish living." --- Cassius Dio, Roman History, volume 68, section 1 ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3857 – 97 CE – Abolition of the Fiscus Judaicus Nerva went as far in his policy in favour of the Jews that he abolished in 97 the Fiscus Judaicus, a tax that was imposed upon all the Jews of the Roman Empire by Vespasian after the destruction of the Temple in 70 in order to build a temple of Jupiter in Rome. The Roman tax collectors seemed to have been particularly zealous in chasing after this infamous tax, according to Roman historian Suetonius (69-122) who was contempary to this period: Besides other taxes, that on the Jews was levied with the utmost rigour, and those were prosecuted who without publicly acknowledging that faith yet lived as Jews, as well as those who concealed their origin and did not pay the tribute levied upon their people. I recall being present in my youth when the person of a man ninety years old was examined before the procurator and a very crowded court, to see whether he was circumcised. --- Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Domitian, 12 To symbolise this gesture, Nerva issued new coins with the mention Fisci Judaici calumnia sublata, meaning abolition of the malicious Jewish tax.

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The special coin issued by Nerva But Nerva was already quite old when he came to power and died after two years of reign. He was succeeded in 98 by the one he designated as his successor, and who was not any of his relatives. It was the Roman governor of the German provinces, Trajan. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3870 – 110 CE – The Targum of Onkelos the proselyte Onkelos was a Roman nobleman, nephew of Titus, who converted around 80 CE to Judaism (Talmud Gittin 56b). He was famous for having translated the Torah into Aramaic. The work is called the Targum (meaning Translation) and is considered so important that it is usually added to the normal Hebrew editions of the Torah. Because of its literal translation, it also at times provides some insight in the meaning of obscures passages of the Hebrew text, especially because Onkelos was helped in his task by prominent Tannaim, as other ones would later helped the translation of the rest of the Bible into Aramaic by Jonathan ben Uzziel, known as the Targum of Jonathan: The Targum of the Pentateuch was composed by Onkelos the proselyte under the guidance5 of Rabbi Eleazar and http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g33-bar-kochba.html (5 of 22) [6/11/2013 11:36:43 AM]


Rabbi Joshua. The Targum of the Prophets was composed by Jonathan ben Uzziel under the guidance of Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi, and the land of Israel [thereupon] quaked over an area of four hundred parasangs by four hundred parasangs, and a Bath Kol came forth and exclaimed: Who is this that has revealed My secrets to mankind? Jonathan ben Uzziel thereupon arose and said, It is I who have revealed Your secrets to mankind. It is fully known to You that I have not done this for my own honour or for the honour of my father's house, but for Your honour l have done it, that dissension may not increase in Israel. He further sought to reveal [by] a Targum [the inner meaning] of the Hagiographa, but a Bath Kol went forth and said: Enough! What was the reason? — Because the date of the Messiah is foretold in it. --- Talmud, Megilah, 3a According to Tradition, the Book of Daniel is the book containing hidden references to Messianic times. The fear, according to the Talmud, was that the Targum of Jonathan would give explicit explanation about details that were otherwise obscure and that were intended to stay as that. One exemple of how far the Targum went into detailing the difficulties found in the original text was given below: The meaning of the Pentateuch is expressed clearly, but the meaning of the [books of the] Prophets is in some things expressed clearly and in others enigmatically. [For instance,] it is written: In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon (Zechariah 12:11), and Rabbi Joseph [commenting on this] said: Were it not for the Targum [Jonathan] of this verse, we should not know what it means [because there is no other mention of Hadadrimmon in the Bible]. [It runs as follows]: On that day shall there be great mourning in Jerusalem like the mourning of Ahab son of Omri who was killed by Hadadrimmon son of Rimmon in Ramoth Gilead, and like the mourning of Josiah son of Ammon who was killed by Pharaoh the Lame in the plain of Megiddo’. --- Talmud, Megilah, 3a The Talmud also bears a mention of a much earlier Targum of Job around the time of Rabban Gamaliel, who died 20 years before the destruction of the Second Temple. This translation was probably not considered correct: Said R. Jose: It once happened that my father Halafta visited R. Gamaliel Berabbi [= R. Gamaliel II] at Tiberias and found him sitting at the table of Johanan b. Nizuf with the Targum of the Book of Job in his hand which he was reading. Said he to him, ‘I remember that R. Gamaliel, your grandfather [Rabban Gamaliel], was standing on a high eminence on the Temple Mount, when the Book of Job in a Targumic version was brought before him, whereupon he said to the builder, "Bury it under the bricks." --- Talmud, Shabbat, 115a ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3873 – 113 CE – Trajan’s campaign in the East In 113 CE, Trajan embarked for a military campaign against Parthia. He reached Babylon. http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g33-bar-kochba.html (6 of 22) [6/11/2013 11:36:43 AM]


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Year 3876 – 116 CE – Jewish uprising in Cyrene and Egypt While Trajan was in the East, the Jews of Cyrene (present day Shahhat in Cyrenaic Lybia) revolted against the Roman rule. They had some early success as proven by a papyrus telling about one victory in Hermopolis, Egypt.



Papyrus telling about the Jewish revolt in Hermopolis, 116 CE University of Bremen (photo: Albert Benhamou, from Beth Hatfusoth, Tel Aviv) But the revolt was severely repressed by Quintus Marcius Turbo, the commander of the fleet that brought Trajan to the East: Meanwhile the Jews in the region of Cyrene had put one Andreas [4a] at their head and were destroying both the Romans and the Greeks. They would cook their flesh, make belts for themselves of their entrails, anoint themselves with their blood, and wear their skins for clothing. Many they sawed in two, from the head downwards. Others they would give to wild beasts and force still others to fight as gladiators. In all, consequently, two hundred and twenty thousand perished. In Egypt, also, they performed many similar deeds, and in Cyprus under the leadership of Artemio. There, likewise, two hundred and forty thousand perished. For this reason no Jew may set foot in that land, but even if one of them is driven upon the island by force of the wind, he is put to death. Various persons took part in subduing these Jews, one being Lusius, who was sent by Trajan. --- Cassius Dio, Roman History, volume 68, section 32 The Christian theologian Orosius also mentioned the Jewish uprising in the year that followed a major earthquake: At the same time an earthquake laid low four cities in Asia, Elaea, Myrina, Pitane, and Cyme, and in Greece, the two cities of the Opuntii and the Oriti. This same earthquake demolished three cities of Galatia. Lightning struck and burned the Pantheon at Rome, while at Antioch an earthquake laid almost the entire city in ruins.[4b] Then violent rebellions among the Jews broke out simultaneously in various parts of the world. The Jews acted as if turned into mad savages. Throughout Libya they waged pitiless war against the inhabitants and caused great desolation by killing the tillers of the soil. So merciless were they that if the emperor Hadrian had not afterward colonized the country with people from without, the land would have remained absolutely destitute and entirely without inhabitants. They disturbed all Egypt, Cyrene, and the Thebaid by sedition and bloodshed. In Alexandria, however, the Jews were defeated and crushed in a pitched battle. When they also rebelled in Mesopotamia, the emperor ordered war to be declared against them; many thousands of them were exterminated in a vast carnage. It is true that they did destroy Salamis, a city of Cyprus, after they had killed all the inhabitants. http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g33-bar-kochba.html (8 of 22) [6/11/2013 11:36:43 AM]


--- Orosius, A History against the Pagans, book 7, part 12 The repression nearly annihilated the Jewish communities of Egypt and Cyrene, which was over one million in these times. The Great Synagogue of Alexandria was burned down. It is said that the building was so vast that, during the prayers, a flag was waved to the audience when they were supposed to say "Amen". Turbo remained in Egypt as prefect for several years. He will later be chosen to rule over all Northern Africa Roman provinces by Trajan’s successor. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3877 – 117 CE – Lucius Quietus and the siege of Lydda Lucius Quietus was a general of Berber origin. His father was a king of Mauretania who had supported Rome in their Northern Africa expansion. As a reward, he was granted Roman citizenship, and his son could join the army. Under Trajan, he successfully campained against the Dacians (Romanians) with his Berber cavalry, auxiliary to the Roman army, as depicted in Trajan’s column in Rome.



Lucius Quietus’ Berber cavalry on Trajan’s column, South-South-West side He was named by Trajan governor of the Judea province. In 117, he crushed the Jewish revolt that tried to emulate the one in Cyrene after the leader of that uprising (Andreas or Lukuas) fled to Judea and stirred trouble there. Lucius Quietus besieged the city of Lydda where the Jewish rebels had gathered. The nassi Rabban Gamaliel II died there during the siege. The Romans then took the city and killed all leading figures including prominent rabbis of the religious school. The rest of them moved north to the city of Usha in Galilee, away from the troubled Roman province of Judea. The Sanhedrin and the religious schools will remain there up until the end of the Great Revolt of Bar-Kochba.



Tomb of Rabban Gamaliel II in Yavneh ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3877 – 117 CE – Hadrian In 117, Trajan set sail to return to Rome but died on the way, in a harbour of Asia Minor. His nephew Hadrian, who was his designed heir and adopted son, succeeded him as emperor. One of his first acts was to remove Lucius Quietus from his post in Judea and, mysteriously, the latter died soon after in 118, presumably murdered upon orders from Hadrian although he had been a celebrated general of the Roman army. ~~~~~~~~~~ http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g33-bar-kochba.html (11 of 22) [6/11/2013 11:36:43 AM]


Year 3882 – 122 CE – The Rabbi and the Emperor When Hadrian came to Judea in 122 on his way to Egypt, he met with Rabbi Joshua ben Hananyah, who was a tana of Levite descent, student of Rabbi Johanan ben Zakkai. Rabbi Joshua had witnessed the destruction of the Temple in 70, when Hadrian was not born yet. He had also accompanied his elder colleagues during the mission to Rome at the time of Domitian and Nerva. Hadrian was a great admirer of Greek philosophers and of thoughtful thinkers in general, so he held several conversations with Rabbi Joshua which were recorded in the Talmud. In the extract below, the conversation referred to the interpretation of dreams: The Emperor [Hadrian] said to R. Joshua b. R. Hananyah: You [Jews] profess to be very clever. Tell me what I shall see in my dream. He said to him: You will see the Persians making you do forced labour, and despoiling you and making you feed unclean animals with a golden crook. He thought about it all day, and in the night he saw it in his dream. --- Talmud, Berachot, 56a Maybe this dream, and especially because the Rabbi foresaw it, greatly disturbed the Emperor. The fact is that, for no obvious reason, one of Hadrian's first measures was to withdraw Roman occupation forces from the most Eastern provinces in Mesopotamia, thus avoiding war against the “Persians”. He thus avoided the realization of the bad omen of his dream. The following sentence may apply to his case, when a premonition dream would allow a person to avoid trouble or death: “Wherefore make You me to dream, and make me to live.” --- Isaiah 38:16 Maybe out of the consideration he had for the great minds he met in Judea, Hadrian had plans for the reconstruction of Jerusalem which was left razed to the ground since Titus troops destroyed it in 70 CE. Never before had a Roman emperor allowed it to raise from its ashes again. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3890 – 120 CE – Aelia Capitolina But Hadrian changed his plans after a few years, and decided to rebuild the city of Jerusalem as a Roman city for his troops in the region. On the site of the previous Temple, a new temple to Jupiter was to be erected. He named the new city Aelia Capitolina. The Jewish city had no more walls at this time, and was still guarded by part of the 10th Legion, appointed by Titus, who was mostly camped on the site of the previosuly known Upper City (present day Jewish and Armenia Quarters of Old Jerusalem). http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g33-bar-kochba.html (12 of 22) [6/11/2013 11:36:43 AM]


Map of Aelia Capitolina (source: Geva, Hillel, Searching for Roman Jerusalem, Biblical Archaeology Society, Nov/Dec 1997) http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g33-bar-kochba.html (13 of 22) [6/11/2013 11:36:43 AM]


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Year 3886 – 126 CE – Simeon Bar Yohai and the Zohar The construction of the new city inspired anger among most Jews. During a discussion between some Rabbis, one of them spoke loudly against the Romans: For R. Judah, R. Jose, and R. Simeon were sitting, and Judah, a son of proselytes, was sitting near them. R. Judah commenced [the discussion] by observing, ‘How fine are the works of this people [the Romans] ! They have made streets, they have built bridges, they have erected baths.’ R. Jose was silent. R. Simeon b. Yohai answered and said, ‘All that they made they made for themselves; they built market-places to set harlots in them, baths to rejuvenate themselves, bridges to levy tolls for them.’ Now, Judah the son of proselytes went and related their talk, which reached the government. They decreed: Judah who exalted [us] shall be exalted Jose who was silent shall be exiled to Sepphoris, Simeon who censured let him be executed. --- Talmud, Shabbat, 33b Simeon was informed of his condemnation and went into hiding with his son in a cave for 12 years. He came out of it when he heard that the emperor Hadrian had died (this was in 138 CE) and the decree against him nullified. He soon went back in the cave again for another year. It is during these 12 years of hiding that Simeon bar Yohai is said to have written the major mystical work called the Zohar. Simeon bar Yohai was a disciple of Akiba so this condemnation enabled him to hide and avoid the events that followed and that led to the execution of many Rabbis and of their disciples.



Cave of Simeon bar Yohai near Peki'in, Galilee, Israel (photo: Zohar.com) ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3892 – 132 CE – Rebellion of Bar-Kochba The making of Jerusalem into a Roman city was going to led to yet another Jewish revolt sooner or later. In 132, a man from Judea, called Simon Bar-Kochba (meaning son of a star in Aramaic), led a revolt and exterminated the Roman occupiers. He managed to re-establish Jewish independence over Judea for nearly 3 years. The new rulers even issued new coinage depicting the Temple with sacred items, and a star above as a symbol of Bar-Kochba’s name. This revolt is known as the Great Revolt.



Bar-Kochba silver coinage ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3895 – 135 CE – The end of the Great Revolt Hadrian sent his best general, Sextus Julius Severus, called from the province of Britain, to crush the revolt. In 135, Bar-Kochba and his men made a last stand in the fortress of Betar. The cost of human lives of this war was so great, on both sides, that Hadrian refused to have a triumph, as it was customary in Rome. It is the only case of such occurrence in Roman History. The Talmud bears several references to the massacre of Betar: In a Baraitha it has been taught: For seven years [after the massacre at Beitar] the Gentiles fertilized their vineyards with the blood of Israel without using manure. --- Talmud, Gittin, 57a-b The Romans also put to death several eminent rabbis of this time, one of them being Rabbi Meir who was the grandson of Nero: http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g33-bar-kochba.html (16 of 22) [6/11/2013 11:36:43 AM]


A favourite saying of Rabbi Meir was: Study with all your heart and with all your soul to know My ways and to watch at the doors of My law. Keep My law in your heart and let My fear be before your eyes. Keep your mouth from all sin and purify and sanctify yourself from all trespass and iniquity, and I will be with you in every place. --- Talmud, Berachot, 17a The great Rabbi Akiba was also suppliced: Our Rabbis taught: Once the wicked Government issued a decree forbidding the Jews to study and practise the Torah. Pappus ben Judah came and found Rabbi Akiba publicly bringing gatherings together and occupying himself with the Torah. He said to him: Akiba, are you not afraid of the Government? He replied: I will explain to you with a parable. A fox was once walking alongside of a river, and he saw fishes going in swarms from one place to another. He said to them: From what are you fleeing? They replied: From the nets cast for us by men. He said to them: Would you like to come up on to the dry land so that you and I can live together in the way that my ancestors lived with your ancestors? They replied: Are you the one that they call the cleverest of animals? You are not clever but foolish. If we are afraid in the element in which we live, how much more in the element in which we would die! So it is with us. If such is our condition when we sit and study the Torah, of which it is written, For that is your life and the length of your days (Deuteronomy 30:20), if we go and neglect it how much worse off we shall be! It is related that soon afterwards Rabbi Akiba was arrested and thrown into prison, and Pappus ben Judah was also arrested and imprisoned next to him. He said to him: Pappus, who brought you here? He replied: Happy are you, Rabbi Akiba, that you have been seized for busying yourself with the Torah! Alas for Pappus who has been seized for busying himself with idle things! When Rabbi Akiba was taken out for execution, it was the hour for the recital of the Shema, and while they combed his flesh with iron combs, he was accepting upon himself the kingship of heaven. His disciples said to him: Our teacher, even to this point? He said to them: All my days I have been troubled by this verse, ‘with all your soul’, [which I interpret,] ‘even if He takes your soul’. I said: When shall I have the opportunity of fulfilling this? Now that I have the opportunity shall I not fulfil it? He prolonged the word ‘Ehad’ (One) until he expired while saying it. A bath kol [a voice from heavens] went forth and proclaimed: Happy are you Akiba that your soul has departed with the word ehad! The ministering angels said before the Holy One, blessed be He: Such Torah, and such a reward? [He should have been] from them that die by Your hand, O Lord. He replied to them: Their portion is in life. A bath kol went forth and proclaimed, Happy are you, Rabbi Akiba, that you are destined for the life of the world to come. --- Talmud, Berachot, 61b Some time after the end of the rebellion, the construction of Aelia Capitolina was completed. The main street, the Cardo, was a straight line flanked by shops on both sides. The entrance of the city was from the gate at the north where stood a column. He also renamed the province Judea as Syria-Palestina, in an attempt to erase the remembrance of the Jewish state and capital. It is his choice of name that gave root to the region being called Palestine in modern days.



Aelia Capitolina in Madaba map, 6th century



Remains of the Roman cardo in present-day Jerusalem ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3960 – 200 CE – The synagogue of Sardis As an example of what the Jewish communities were about to be after the Great Revolt is the synagogue of Sardis, in Asia Minor, modern-day Turkey. The Jews of the city petitioned the Roman authorities to obtain the right to build a synagogue for their cult. Jews had lived there since the 3rd century BCE and grew in number over the years. A Roman proquestor had already granted them the right to keep a synagogue as stated by Josephus: "Lucius Antonius, the son of Marcus, vice-quaestor, and vice-praetor, to the magistrates, senate, and people of the Sardians, sends greeting. Those Jews that are our fellow citizens of Rome came to me, and demonstrated that they had http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g33-bar-kochba.html (19 of 22) [6/11/2013 11:36:43 AM]


an assembly of their own [a synagogue], according to the laws of their forefathers, and this from the beginning, as also a place of their own [a rabbinic tribunal], wherein they determined their suits and controversies with one another. Upon their petition therefore to me, that these might be lawful for them, I gave order that these their privileges be preserved, and they be permitted to do accordingly." --- Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, book 14,234 The synagogue of Sardis had vast proportions, which gives some idea of how large the Jewish community was there.



The synagogue of Sardis, model based on present ruins (Beth Hatfusoth, Diaspora Museum, Tel Aviv) ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1a] A "philosopher" (or the term min in Hebrew) was a generic term employed by the practising Jews to name all those who were attracted by alien customs, such as the Saducees, and were assimilated to these foreign cultures; it started with the Greek "philosophy" and the term was coined to embrace any deviation foreign (min) to Jewish values, such as the Jews who were then attracted by the new Christian faith [1b] The books such as the various Gospels written by those who followed Paul the Apostle who had previously declared that the Law of Moses was over, since the venue of Jesus the Messiah (Jesus Christ), and nobody needed to be bound to its commandments (circumcision, dietary laws, respect of the Shabbat, etc.); Paul had done so in order to rally the Pagans to the new religious cult, after failing to convince the Jews [1c] Although the official Gospels do not contain any indication about the rule of inheritance as mentioned here, it is possible that, in these times, when many more gospels existed (over fifty are currently known of, but only four gospels had later been retained in the Christian canon), some texts may have touched into this topic [1d] This part can indeed be found in the canonical gospels, such as Gospel of Matthew 5:17-20: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets [the Torah]; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." [2] In other words, they did not respect the emperor’s religious divine status http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g33-bar-kochba.html (21 of 22) [6/11/2013 11:36:43 AM]


[3] Maiestas were accusations for non-respect for the “majesty of the Roman people”, in other words it was considered as a treason; Domitian used such accusations against those who did not respect his divine status [4a] Other Historians named him as Lukus or Lukuas [4b] A major earthquake occurred on 13 December 115, with the epicentre near Antioch; it had an estimated magnitude of 7.5 in the scale of Richter and caused a tsunami that wrecked several harbours such as the Roman one of Caesaria in Judea

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Hebrew years 4320 to 4440 (560- 680 CE) Year 4330 – 570 CE – Birth of Muhammad

Index of names

Muhammad, who became the prophet of a new religion, Islam, was born in 570 CE in Mecca. His parents died when he was young so he never had a scholastic education. He is said to be of the Quraysh tribe and to descend from from Ishmael, son of Abraham. Modern genetics have explored the Y-DNA pool of the Quraysh tribe, which features today the Creation following haplogroups: about 50% of J (80% of the Jewish people are also J, and J is also preponderant in the Arabian peninsula in the same proportion as the Quraysh tribe), 25% of E (it is an haplogroup commonly found in the Generations Middle-East and in Mediterranean, from the ex Canaanite peoples or Phoenicians who exported it over the sea) and 25% of R (which is majoritarily of European peoples).[1] Yet, there is no haplogroup Q, which is of Asian/Mesopotamian 1-14 origin, which would have been the Y-DNA haplogroup of a person like Abraham (who was from Ur in Chaldea) and of his Generations son Ishmael. 15-21 There was also a Jewish tribe in Arabia called the Qurayza who had settled in Medina. It may be possible that, in earliest Generations times, the Arab Quraysh and the Jewish Qurayza formed one single entity, with the Quraysh splitting from their Jewish ancestry and adopting paganism at some point of time of their History. This would explain the similarity between 22-28 the two names of tribes, one Arab and the other Jewish. Generations Contemporary witness accounts record Muhammad's striking physical complexion: 29-35 Generations 36-49

[He] was neither tall nor lanky nor short and stocky, but of medium height. His hair was neither crispy curled nor straight but moderately wavy. He was not overweight and his face was not plump. He had a round face. His complexion was

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Generation 50

white tinged with redness. He had big black eyes with long lashes. His brows were heavy and his shoulders broad. He had soft skin, with fine hair covering the line from mid chest to navel. The palms of his hands and the soles of his feet were firmly padded. He walked with a firm gait, as if striding downhill. --- Bayrak, Tosun, The Name & the Named: The Divine Attributes of God, 2000, citing Ali, the cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad It is striking to read about the whiteness of his skin and redness, which is barely a typical Arab feature. This may induce people to believe that his ancestry was of mixed arab descent. Or more appropriately we could say that there is some mystery about the origin of Muhammad, if the descriptions such as the above one have been correct. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 4349 – 589 CE – The Gaonim From 589, the Jews of Babylonia established themselves around the two main centers of religious studies: Pumbedita and Sura. Each academy elected a president and the two of them were called the Gaonim, which means the Prides. Beside these religious authorities, there still was a head of the civilian matters and liaison with the authorities: it was the Exilarch who, according to the Tradition, was a person who had King David as ancestor. The work of the Geonim was mostly academic as they, with their schools, were in charge of teaching about the Talmud and also responded to the various Jewish communities about specific questions. Their Responsa formed the continuation of the Talmud, and completed it with specific discussions. The position of Gaonim lasted for 450 years, until the year 1038 CE (Hebrew year 4798). ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 4358 – 598 CE – Pope Gregory protects the Jews In a letter responding to the Bishop of Naples, in 598, Pope Gregory (540-604) wrote that the Jews ought to be treated in a just and equitable way. Since the Council of Nicaea, this was the first instance of religious tolerance in the RomanChristian empire. He wrote: We therefore, although they [the Jews] prefer to continue in their hardness of heart rather than be guided by the hidden meaning of the prophets to a knowledge of the Christian faith, do nevertheless, since they invoke our protection and aid, following in the footsteps of our predecessors and out of the mildness of Christian piety, extend to them the shield of our protection. --- Pope Gregory, History of Toleration, "Sicut Judaeis", source Catholic Encyclopedia http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g37-jihad.html (2 of 19) [6/11/2013 11:37:04 AM]


The document went further as expressing that the Jews should not be forced to conversion to Christianity, nor be attacked physically, nor be deprived of their property, and so on. This shows that, in case of dire need, the Jews could turn to the Pope and ask for protection, which was granted on the basis of this document established by Pope Gregory. He was also a prolific scholar, studying and writing several works, and also composed what became known as the Gregorian Chants. He is often represented with a dove, because of the following story written some 500 years after his death by Pierre le Diacre (Peter the Deacon): When the pope was dictating his homilies on Ezechiel a veil was drawn between his secretary and himself. As, however, the pope remained silent for long periods at a time, the servant made a hole in the curtain and, looking through, beheld a dove seated upon Gregory's head with its beak between his lips. When the dove withdrew its beak the holy pontiff spoke and the secretary took down his words; but when he became silent the servant again applied his eye to the hole and saw the dove had replaced its beak between his lips. --- text cited in the Catholic Encyclopedia



Pope Gregory, represented with the dove - from the "Lives of the Hermits Paul and Guthlac" (Corpus Christi College, Cambridge University) ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 4370 – 610 CE – Muhammad's revelation http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g37-jihad.html (4 of 19) [6/11/2013 11:37:04 AM]


At the age of 40, Muhammad had an encounter with the angel Gabriel who revealed to him future prophecies. In these times, Arabian was predominently pagan, except for pockets of Jewish populations who lived together in specific places. From then on, Muhammad claimed to be the messenger of God. He criticised the way of life of his own Quryash tribe, who was powerful and wealthy, and gathered many followers around him. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 4374 – 614 CE – Jerusalem falls to the Persians The Persians, then called Sassanids, had invaded most of what was the antique empire of Cyrus the Great.

The Byzantine and Sassanid empires in 600 CE The war against the Byzantines started in 602. By 614 CE they took Judea and were about to take Jerusalem, with the help http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g37-jihad.html (5 of 19) [6/11/2013 11:37:04 AM]


of the local Jews who were eager to free their old city from which they had been banned since the revolt of Bar-Kochba. Here is an account of the fall of the city: The beginning of the struggle of the Persians with the Christians of Jerusalem was on the 15th April, in the second indiction, in the fourth year of the Emperor Heraclius [started to reign in 610]. They spent twenty days in the struggle. And they shot from their balistas with such violence, that on the twenty-first day they broke down the city wall. Thereupon the evil foemen entered the city in great fury, like infuriated wild beasts and irritated serpents. The men however who defended the city wall fled, and hid themselves in caverns, fosses, and cisterns in order to save themselves ; and the people in crowds fled into churches and altars; and there they destroyed them. For the enemy entered in mighty wrath, gnashing their teeth in violent fury; like evil beasts they roared, bellowed like lions, hissed like ferocious serpents, and slew all whom they found. Like mad dogs they tore with their teeth the flesh of the faithful, and respected none at all, neither male nor female, neither young nor old, neither child nor baby, neither priest nor monk, neither virgin nor widow. --- Strategos, Antiochus, The Capture of Jerusalem by the Persians in 614, translated into English by F.C. Conybeare, 1910 After they took the city, the Persians handed back to the Jews their city of Jerusalem, after an absence of 500 years caused by the Romans and the Byzantines. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 4375 – 615 CE – The Book of Zerubbabel This Byzantine-Sassanid war inspired some Jewish author to write an apocalyptic book, thinking these times were Messianic times as an occurrence of the war between Gog and Magog. It is Sefer Zerubbabel, Book of Zerubbabel, which resides today at the Bodleian Library, Oxford, as MS. Heb. d. 11 fol. 248r-251 r: On the twenty-first day of the first month, nine hundred and ninety years after the destruction of the Temple, the deliverance of the Lord will take place for Israel. Menahem b. ‘Amiel, Nehemiah b. Hushiel, and Elijah the prophet will come and stand by the Mediterranean Sea and read the prophecy of the Lord. All the bodies of those Israelites who had thrown themselves into the sea while fleeing from their enemies will emerge: a sea-wave will rise up, spread them out, and deposit them alive within the valley of Jehoshaphat near the Wadi Shittim, for there judgment will transpire upon the nations. --- Sefer Zerubbabel, translation by John C. Reeves, UNC Charlotte, to read fhe full text, click here The timing of 990 years is incorrect because Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians in 587 BCE. Until the year 614 CE when Jerusalem was restored to the Jews by the Sassanids, there had been 1201 years. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 4381 – 621 CE – The Sassanid empire The Sassanid empire reached its greatest extent in 621 during the reign of Khosrau II, nicknamed the "Undefeatable". http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g37-jihad.html (6 of 19) [6/11/2013 11:37:04 AM]


The Byzantine empire laid in the west, and the Arabian peninsula was still largely independant but was about to be ruled by the followers of Muhammad.



Map of the Sassanid empire, ca. 621 CE (source: Wikipedia) ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 4382 – 622 CE – Hijrah and the Muslim calendar Muhammad ended up being persecuted by the pagan merchants of Mecca and decided to flee in 622 to Medina along with his early followers. This "migration" of the year 622, called Hijrah, was later taken as the start of the Muslim calendar. Years in the Muslim calendar became noted as A.H., meaning After Hijrah. This calendar is based on lunar monthly cycles only, which causes Muslim holy festivals to fall at different times of the seasons thorughout the years. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 4382 – 622 CE – Muhammad and the Jews The city of Medina had an important Jewish community who had come there from the time of the Roman occupation of Judea which expelled Jews from Jerusalem and its province. In other parts of the Arabian peninsula, Jews had settled over 1000 years before Muhammad's birth, when they fled the Assyrian and Babylonian destructions. In total, there were 15 to 20 Jewish tribes established in Arabia, 3 of them in Medina.[2] Initially, there was mutual respect between Muhammad and the Jews because both rejected pagan rites. Muhammad borrowed many of his teachings from Jewish tradition and this is reflected in the Koran which contains references to the Jewish history and customs. For example, he adopted the ritual of circumcision but applied it to the age of 13 when Ishmael son of Abraham was circumcised. Like the Jews, he also directed his prayers towards Jerusalem (when Mecca was not a holy city for the Muslims yet). And he was doing three prayers a day, like the Jewish custom. He also adopted the Day of Atonement as a day of fasting called Ashura:[3] When the Prophet came to Medina, he found (the Jews) fasting on the day of 'Ashura' (i.e. 10th of Muharram). They used to say: "This is a great day on which Allah saved Moses and drowned the folk of Pharaoh. Moses observed the fast on this day, as a sign of gratitude to Allah." The Prophet said, "I am closer to Moses than they." So, he observed the fast (on that day) and ordered the Muslims to fast on it. --- Muhammad al-Bukhari, "Sahih al-Bukhari", Book 55, Hadith 609, written about 850 CE The character of the angel Gabriel, from Muhammad's revelation, was also borrowed from the Book of Daniel which recounts the prophecy and vision of the future to come, and is the only place of the Bible where the name Gabriel is mentioned: http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g37-jihad.html (8 of 19) [6/11/2013 11:37:04 AM]


And I [Daniel] heard the voice of a man between the banks of Ulai, who called, and said: 'Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.' So he came near where I stood; and when he came, I was terrified, and fell upon my face; but he said unto me: 'Understand, O son of man; for the vision belongeth to the time of the end.' --- Daniel, 8:16-17 Yet, when Muhammad sought to get recognition of himself as prophet of God, they rejected him, for the same reasons their ancestors had rejected Jesus because of lack of messianic signs that would back such claim. This attitude was recorded in the Coran, for example in the following text: Ask the Children of Israel how many a sign of evidence we have given them. And whoever exchanges the favor of Allah [for disbelief] after it has come to him - then indeed, Allah is severe in penalty. --- Coran 2:211 From then, Muhammad changed opinion about the Jews and became critical of them. In Medina, as the result of some local disputes, he managed to expel two of the Jewish tribes, who had established there for about 600 years. Those expelled joined the oasis of Khaibar, where another large Jewish community was established since a long time. As for the third and last Jewish tribe of Medina, called the Qurayzah tribe, Muhammad reserved them a harsher treatment after he accused them of treating with his enemy, the people of Mecca: all the men were beheaded and all the children and women sold to slavery or given as gifts to Muhammad's followers. This took place in year 628. Following this mass execution, the pagan tribes of Mecca were terrorised and preferred to arrange a truce with Muhammad in his army, to avoid the same fate. This enabled Muhammad to continue focus on the Jewish tribes: he targeted the Jewish establishment of Khaibar, the largest one in the Arabian peninsula. After one month of siege, his army took controlled of the place. They imposed to the Jews to pay a tribute and this served as a model for future generations to tolerate the Jews, and non-Muslims in general, with a status of dhimmis in exchange for the payment of a tax. This was defacto setting a religious discrimination not allowing equality in the faith.[4] ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 4389 – 629 CE – Heraclius The Judea (or Palestine) and the city of Jerusalem was reconquered by the army of Byzantine emperor Heraclius in 629. So the Jews had only been able to rule over their city for about 7 years until 628. Heraclius started to reign in 610. He was from Cappadocia, a region of Asia Minor, in modern-day Turkey, but of Armenia descent. In 622, he directed a campaign against the Sassanid empire and inflicted them a turning-point defeat at the Battle of Nineveh in 627 because, following it, the Persians overthrew their king and placed his son on the throne instead. Then they agreed to peace terms with the Heraclius who asked the return of the Holy Land and of Jerusalem, as well as all religious treasures, such as the "True Cross", the cross on which Jesus was crucified according to Christian Tradition. It is in 629 http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g37-jihad.html (9 of 19) [6/11/2013 11:37:04 AM]


that Heraclius took the True Cross to Constantinople. It will remain there until the time of the Crusades when it will be dispersed in many pieces across the Christian world. Many churches claim since to have a relic of it.

Heraclius' troops against the Persians - by Piero della Francesca, 1460 (fresco in the Church of San Francesco, Arezzo, Italy) For the Jews of Jerusalem, the return of Byzantine rule was bad news. They were once more expelled from the city and new restrictions were imposed upon them in the region. It seems that, seeing that the Byzantine were getting the upper hand against the Sassanid in the war, the Jewish authorities of Jerusalem decided to hide in a secret burial place the treasures of the Temple which were sent back to Jerusalem by Justinian. These treasures may still be there today, buried under the old city of Jerusalem, as nobody has found any trace of them since these times. The Jews had to go back to Galilee and the city of Tiberias after being expelled from Judea and Jerusalem. The persecutions against them at the hand of Heraclius were extended to the entire Byzantine empire. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 4390 – 630 CE – Muhammad takes Mecca http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g37-jihad.html (10 of 19) [6/11/2013 11:37:04 AM]


The Pagans of Mecca made a mistake thinking that Muhammad would keep the truce with them. The 10 years truce they agreed on was only a subterfuge, to allow Muhammad to submit the Jews alone while they couldn't get any support from outside alliance. Once Muhammad took control of all the Jewish establishments, he turned his attention on the Pagans. He returned to Mecca after 8 years. When he had left Mecca in 622 he had 40 faithful followers, but when he returned there in 630 he had more than 10,000 armed followers. Many of them were surely simply satisfied with his manner to lead them, not just spiritually but also by benefiting from the spoils of the Jewish properties and the taxation imposed upon them. The large city of Mecca did not offer any resistance and preferred to surrender rather than facing the fate of the Jewish tribes. Muhammad there decreed that the prayers were now to be done towards Mecca and no longer towards Jerusalem. There were two main goals to this choice. First, Mecca was the place of a very ancient sanctuary called the Kaaba, [5] which already a site of veneration by the Pagans: this is towards it that Muslims have been required to pray, and the Pagans of Mecca could only approve of it. Second, it was a way to express his displeasure towards the Jews who alone had resisted his will and Islam. The word Islam means surrender or submission. And it seems that the adoption of Islam had not succeeded as expected among the Jews: But Allah has cursed them [the Jews] for their disbelief, so they believe not, except for a few. --- Koran 4:46



Mecca (old engraving of the 19th century) For the Christians, Muhammed also had a message, of acceptance of Jesus as a messenger of God but of reject of the idea of Trinity: O People of the Scripture, do not commit excess in your religion or say about Allah except the truth. The Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, was but a messenger of Allah and His word which He directed to Mary and a soul [created at a command] from Him. So believe in Allah and His messengers. And do not say, "Three"; desist - it is better for you. Indeed, Allah is but one God. Exalted is He above having a son. --- Koran 4:171 Like the Jews, Muslims rather believe in a One God. http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g37-jihad.html (12 of 19) [6/11/2013 11:37:05 AM]


~~~~~~~~~~

Year 4392 – 632 CE – Death of Muhammad When Muhammad died at the age of 62, he had already become powerful and reknown. He had married women from influential and wealthy families and thus had been able to control trade and to get tribesmen to negotiate or follow him. Over time, he built a large base of supporters. His followers continued to spread Islam, forcing the rest of the peninsula to surrender. Within barely 100 years, they conquered a vast realm including the Sassanid empire, Northern Africa, and Spain, and even entered Gaul until they were stopped precisely in 732, and pushed back behind the Pyrennean mountain range, to the border of Spain. For the Jews who had been the first victims of the campaign for Islam, Muhammed was a prophet sent by God in order to balance the power of the Christian world. Ultimately, with the rise of Christianity and Islam, monotheism has been the winner. The Jews would not have survived in a pure Pagan world, as they had greatly assimilated to the Greek influence and this pattern would have surely be repeated in a Roman pagan empire which would have offered protection and opportunities to the exiled Jews. Christianity came at the right time to rid the empire from pagan traditions and causing the Jews to be sided out. But a world entirely Christian would have been equally bad for the Jews who would have been persecuted over time. With the rise of Islam, Christians had a new enemy to deal with, while Islam also brought monotheism to the pagan regions they invaded while they still considered the Jews as People of the Book, who refused Muhammad's message but could still be tolerated in Muslim dominions. After Muhammad's death, his followers realized that they represented a strong army, so they endeavoured to extend their reach to other regions to preach the submission to their beliefs. Islam was not fully rooted as a religion yet, as it was still missing a code that would unify the early followers. This was the role of the Coran which was written down several years after Muhammad's death. For the time being, Islam was about military conquest known as the Jihad, as it was prescribed for the Muslims to carry out: Jihad is ordained for you (Muslims) though you dislike it, and it may be that you dislike a thing which is good for you and that you like a thing which is bad for you. Allah knows but you do not know. --- Koran 2:216 For Muslims, Allah is the One God, Muhammad was His prophet, and Jihad is His cause (Koran 9:24). ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 4398 – 638 CE – The Muslims take Jerusalem After the death of Muhammad, Omar ibn al-Khattab, one of his fathers-in-law, directed the army of Muslims into the http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g37-jihad.html (13 of 19) [6/11/2013 11:37:05 AM]


Levant. They took several cities from the Byzantines, often with the help of the Jews who saw them as liberators against the oppression exerted upon them by the Christian rulers. Jerusalem alone stood in the midst of the Muslim conquest. The Christian religious authority of the city preferred to surrender it, with suitable peace guarantees, rather than seeing it destroyed. So Omar entered Jerusalem in 638 without a battle. The Jews petitioned Omar to allow them to re-enter the city and settle there, but the Patriarch opposed it. Omar however compromised and allowed 70 Jewish families to live in the city: this became the Jewish Quarter of the city of Jerusalem. This is when, for the first time since the Romans expelled Jews from Jerusalem, and not taking into account the few years of the Sassanid rule, that Jews could settle permanently in the city. The first ones to come in was a Talmudic school from Tiberias. The Jews were also allowed to pray at the only remaining wall from the Second Temple, which became known as the Wailing Wall. Omar was sympathetic toward the Jews who greatly helped him in the conquest of Palestine and in Babylonia. One example is from the city of Homs in Syria, as narrated by the 9th century Arab historian al-Baladhuri: The Jews rose and said, "We swear by the Torah, no governor of Heraclius shall enter the city of Homs unless we are first vanquished and exhausted!" Saying this, they closed the gates of the city and guarded them. --- al-Baladhuri, The origins of the Islamic state, translation Philip Khuri Hitti, 1916, vol.1, p.211 And about the city of Caesaria, which was very well defended and presented a serious obstacle to the progress of the Muslims: A Jew named Yusuf came to the Moslems at night and pointed out to them a road through a tunnel the water in which would reach a man's waist; in consideration for which information, safety was guaranteed him and his relatives. Mu'awiyah sanctioned the conditions [made to Yusuf] and the Moslems entered the city by night, calling "Allah is great !" --- al-Baladhuri, The origins of the Islamic state, translation Philip Khuri Hitti, 1916, vol.1, p.217 On the Islam side, Omar executed the last will of Muhammad by expelling every non-Muslim from the Arabian peninsula. So the Jews of Khaibar, and other places, were allowed to move to Palestine instead, and also to Yemen where a large Jewish community was already there since many centuries. The reason for expelling the Jews from Arabia was, according to, was not only religious but because the Muslims became very rich (from their spoils of Jews and conquered lands) and felt no longer the need for the Jews to help on the cultivation of the land: But when Omar was made caliph, and as the money became abundant in the lands of the Moslems, and the Moslems became numerous enough to cultivate the land, Omar expelled the Jews to Syria and divided the property among the Moslems. --- al-Baladhuri, The origins of the Islamic state, translation Philip Khuri Hitti, 1916, vol.1, p.46 The Jews were good at certain professions, and knew how to make the land fertile. After the expulsion of the Jews, the land became more desertic land after some years. But the Jews had also helped with education in Arabia, prior to the arrival of Islam: http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g37-jihad.html (14 of 19) [6/11/2013 11:37:05 AM]


Al-Wakidi says : Writing in Arabic was rare among the Aus and the Khazraj [tribes]. Some of the Jews taught how to write Arabic, and the young folks in al-Madinah had learned it previous to Islam. Then Islam came; and among the Aus and the Khazraj a number could write. --- al-Baladhuri, The origins of the Islamic state, translation Philip Khuri Hitti, 1916, vol.2, p.273 ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 4404 – 644 CE – Death of Omar Omar ibn al-Khattab was assassinated after 10 years of rule as the Caliph. His close advisor, Ka'b al-Ahbar, a Jewish scholar from Yemen who had converted to Islam, had predicted his death according to Muslim tradition: Ka'b : Omar, you ought to write your will because you will die in three days. Umar : How do you know that ? Ka'b : I found it in the Book of God, the Torah ( Old Testament ). Umar : By God do you find Omar ibn al-Khattab in the Old Testament? Ka'b : By God, no. But I found your description in the Old Testament and your time is coming to an end. Umar : But I do not feel any pain or sickness. On the following day Ka'b came to Omar and said : Amir al-Mu'minin, one day has passed and you have only two more days. The following day Ka'b came to him and said : Amir al-Mu'minin, two days have gone and you have only one day and one night remaining. The following morning Abu Lulu appeared carrying a dagger with two heads and a handle in the middle. He hit Omar six times, one of them hit the Caliph in the navel, killing him. --- Al-Tabari, Muhammad, The History (Tarikh al-Tabari), volume 4; source Wikipedia



Islamic empire at the death of Omar in 644 CE ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 4407 – 647 CE – The fall of Carthage Omar was replaced by Othman who continued the Holy War, Jihad, towards the Byzantine dominions in North Africa. Omar had already conquered Egypt in 641 and completed the conquest of the Sassanid empire in 642. In that time, the Byzantine power was concentrated in the large cities of the coastal plains whereas the rest of the mountainous and desertic regions was at the control of the nomadic tribes composed of Jews and Berbers, many of the latter being also Judaized. The pattern had in fact repeated throughout the history of the region thus far, where the invaders, whether Romans, Vandals or Byzantines, would only control the lands accessible for their armies, whereas the rest of the region was largely controlled by nomadic tribes.



The region in 647 CE The Muslims came from Egypt in 647 with an army of about 40,000 fighters. They took Lybia then Carthage, and the rest of the Byzantine dominion in North Africa after barely 15 months of campaign. The Muslims then returned to Egypt in 648. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 4425 – 665 CE – The conquest of North Africa the fall of the Byzantine empire in North Africa did not mean that the region was subjugated... But the Muslim world went through a series of crisis which led to the assassination of Othman in 656 and of his successor in 661. The central power of Islam moved to Damascus with the Omayyad dynasty. The next caliph stabilized the Muslim empire and could continue the pursuit of the Jihad by invading Asia Minor in 663 and Afghanistan in 664. In 665, a new invasion was launched to complete the conquest of North Africa. As before, an army of 40,000 Muslims reached Carthage and were later joined by other troops coming from Damascus. In 670, these combined forces established themselves in a camp near Carthage that became the city of Kairouan (its name means camp) which served them http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g37-jihad.html (17 of 19) [6/11/2013 11:37:05 AM]


as a base for extending their conquest further west. Kairouan also served as a center to educate new converts to Islam: there in 670 was founded a mosque, the oldest one in North Africa.

The mosque of Kairouan, named after Uqba the Muslim general who founded it in 670 But in 683, this Muslim army was defeated by a joined force of Byzantines and Berbers who recaptured the region. A second Muslim army was sent in 688 and after two years of war, the coalition of Byzantines and Berbers was defeated in 690. ~~~~~~~~~~

Notes: http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g37-jihad.html (18 of 19) [6/11/2013 11:37:05 AM]


[1] To see the genetics mixture of the Quraysh tribe, click here [2] To read about the Jewish tribes of Arabia, see Wikipedia [3] The word Ashura comes from the word asor which means the number 10: the Muslim day of fasting was so called Ashura because it was set on the 10th of the month of Muharram, like the Jews have Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) on the 10th of the month of Tishri [4] The word dhimmi comes from the dhimma which means "guarantee"; this "tax" is not much different than the modernday Mafia asking for a "payment" for "protection" to allow individuals or merchants to carry out with their business; this imposition of dhimma was only ended in the 19th century upon pressure from European powers who asked for equality treatment of non-Muslims in Muslim dominions [5] It is the cube-shaped house that shelters the Black Stone, said to date from the time of Adam; Muslims believe that the first Kabaa house was erected by Abraham and his son Ishmael Next generation Top of Page






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Generation 35

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Hebrew years 4080 to 4200 (320 - 440 CE)

The 35th Generation

Index of names

This Generation falls into the cycle of 7 generations which started with the 7th Generation of Lamech, followed by the 14th Generation of the Flood, then the 21st Generation of the Exodus which represented the first "return to Sion" (the Promised Land), followed by the 28th Generation of Sion which witnessed the second return to the Promised Land, after Creation the Babylonian captivity. Now this 35th Generation represents both the punishment of God against the last great empire, Rome, and the return to the faith for the Jews: after the destruction of their physical nation by Rome, their nation has Generations become spiritual only, their faith, while Rome had to abandon their pagan religion and adopt a monotheist religion, Christianity. 1-14 ~~~~~~~~~~ Generations 15-21

Year 4080 – 320 CE – The school of Pumbedita

Generations Rabba bar Nahmani was the head of the school of Pumbedita and one of the leading Amoraim of the third generation. It was 22-28 a time when, after the completion of the Mishna in Judea, the Jewish community of Babylonia set themselves to the task Generations of compiling the commentaries that completed the original work: this became the Talmud of Babylon, or Babli, which took several generations of disciples (called Amoraim) to complete. The main centers of Jewish life at the time were in 29-35 the cities of Sura, Pumbedita (near modern-day Fallujah, Iraq) and Nehardea (near modern-day Ramadi, Iraq). Generations Babylonia, at the time, was under the Sassanid Empire, which replaced the Parthian Empire, while Rome lost these 36-49 Eastern provinces and retreated to the borders of Syria-Palestina. The Sassanids offered religious freedom and one of their early leader, Shapur, had befriended one of the Talmudist of Babylonion, the amora Samuel (who died in 257 CE), and a Generation later leader, Shapur II, renewed similar friendly ties with Rabba. It is said that Shapur II who reigned all his life, from 50 the moment he was born in 309 until his death in 379, had a Jewish mother. Rabba and his son Abaye are numerously quoted in the Talmud. Both are said to be descended from the priest House of Eli and thus was under the divine decree to live shorter lives than other Levites. Rabba died at the age of 60, in year 320. Rabba is mentioned in one portion of the Talmud about the size of the Earth: Rabba said: The world is six thousand parasangs and the thickness of the heaven [rakia’] is one thousand parasangs;[1] the first one [of these statements] is a tradition, while the other is [based on] reason. --- Talmud, Pesachim, 94a The parasang was a unit of distance used in Persia. It had the value of about 5.5 km. Other units widely used in the Talmud are the mil, which was a quarter of a parasang thus about 1375 m, and the cubit which was one 2000th of a mil, thus 0.69 m. But these values differ at times between regions. For example in Egypt the cubit was about half a meter. Yet, if we use the Persian measurement model, which was probably the one used by the Talmudists of Babylon, the world would have a circumference of 6000 parasangs which is equivalent to about 6000 x 5.5 km = 33,000 km. How does this number fit Science? The circumference of the Earth is known to be of about 40,000 km, at the Equator latitude. But Pumbedita, which was located near today city of Fallujah in Iraq, is at the latitude of 33.35o, so the circumference of the eartn at this latitude is reduced by the factor of Cosinus (33.35o) = 0.8353. Thus the circumference of the Earth at the latitude of Pumbedita is 40,000 km x 0.8353 = 33,400 km. This value is very close to the “tradition” that Rabba knew, without having been able to confirm it by measurement ! In comparison, Jerusalem is located at a latitude of 31.8o, giving a circumference of 34,000 km, which I close enough too. Another contemporary Rabbi of this time was Rabbi Aha ben Jacob who generally dealt with mysterious concepts and was an exorciser. He commented on the opinion of the “Sages”, meaning the secular Jewish thinkers and the non-Jewish ones, about the Earth which was known at their time to be of round shape. The question evolved about whether the Earth was spinning and the rest was immobile, or the contrary: Our Rabbis taught: The Sages of Israel [the Jewish philosophers] maintain: The Galgal [the Earth, as round shape] is stationary while the mazzaloth [the stars] revolve; while the Sages of the nations of the world [especially the Greek philosophers] maintain: The Galgal revolves and the mazzaloth are stationary [the Greeks thought that the stars were attached to a “ceiling” called firmament, which was stationary hence its name as derived from “firm”]. Rabbi observed: This disproves their view: we never find the Wain [Ursa Major] in the south or Scorpio in the north. To this Rabbi Aha ben Jacob demurred: Perhaps it is like the pivot of a millstone, or like the door socket? --- Talmud, Pesachim, 94b Rabbi Aha was right: the Earth spins around an axis, which can indeed be described as a millstone turning around a central pivot. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 4085 – 325 CE – The Council of Nicaea In 325, Constantine convened a meeting of the Christian bishops of the empire in the city of Nicaea (modern-day Iznik in Turkey). The main goal was to define the perimeter of the Christian religion and clarify its difference compared to other religious beliefs such as Arianism (who was a prominent Christian movement at the time) and Judaism. The controversy with the various Christian movements was to decide the nature of Jesus in relation to God: the council decided http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g35-christianity.html (1 of 5) [6/11/2013 11:37:17 AM]


that God, His son Jesus and the Holy Spirit formed one single entity called God (this divine entity was called the Trinity), whereas other movements considered that Jesus was a human messenger of God and not the deity. Concerning the separation from the Jewish religion, the Council decided to set arbitrary new dates for the Christian religious festivals, breaking away from the traditional Jewish calendar. And to facilitate the adoption of the official religion throughout the Roman empire, these arbitrary dates were often picked acoording to popular pagan festivals so that the populations of the enpire won't fell they lost in the change of official religion. For example, the date of Chrismas was set to match the pagan festival of Sol Invictus (meaning Unconquered Sun). This festival used to mark the "victory" of the Sun over the period of darkness, and set at the time of the Soltice of Winter about the 21st December.

Slab dedicated to Sol Invictus with the Moon goddess behind, 2nd century BCE (located at the Baths of Diocletian in Rome, photo: Marie-Lan Nguyen for Wikipedia) The main contention with the Hebrew calendar was the set of the date of Easter, because Jesus was known to have been judged and crucified at the beginning of the Passover Jewish festival. So, until then, the Christians had to rely on the Rabbinic statement about the start of the month of Nisan, to calculate the date for Passover on the 15th of that month. In order to remove this dependancy to the Jewish religion, the Council of Nicaea decided that the Rabbinic court could no longer be relied upon about these calendar matters, and that they should instead abserve the spring equinox by themselves to determine the correct date of the crucifixion of Jesus. And in the first place, it seemed very unworthy for us to keep this most sacred feast following the custom of the Jews, a people who have soiled their hands in a most terrible outrage, and have thus polluted their souls, and are now deservedly blind. Since we have cast aside their way of calculating the date of the festival, we can ensure that future generations can celebrate this observance at the more accurate time which we have kept from the first day of the passion until the present time. --- Emperor Constantine, following the Council of Nicaea (to check the source, click here) This deviation resulted into a Christian tradition to set the date for Easter on a Sunday, and it now rarely falls on a same day than the Jewish Passover. Also, an official text as above, declaring the Jews to be responsible for the death of Jesus, as understated by a people who have soiled their hands in a most terrible outrage, and who are now deservedly blind, created the context of the official hatred of the Jews by the Christian world. And, as Constantine, the Roman emperor, had adopted Christianity as the official religion, the empire could not be held responsible for any participation in the death of Jesus. It would not have been politicall correct ! It thus became a necessityto blame the Jews as a scapegoat. The Council of Nicaea really marks the turning point: the Roman empire could become officially Christian and the Jews had to be the ones to carry the blame. Punishments were sure to follow next... ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 4090 – 330 CE – Byzantium In 330, Constantine moved the capital of the empire from Rome to Byzantium, an old but small Greek city, which had been rebuilt during the reign of Septimus Severius. Constantine probably liked the location of the city, at the entrance of the Bosphorus, linking Europe and Asia. After his death in 367, the city was renamed Constantinople, and will remained so-called even after the fall of the Byzantium empire in 1453 and its conquest by the Muslims. The city was only renamed Istanbul after the establishment of modern-day Turkey in 1923. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 4119 – 359 CE – Hillel II sets the Jewish Calendar Probably due to the rising Christian persecutions, and defiance against the Jewish authority of the Sanhedrin, it was no longer possible for Jews to rely exclusivity on visual observations in Jerusalem to determine the time of their festivals. Importantly the date of Passover had become a contention with the Christians since the Council of Nicaea. The nassi Hillel II decided to set a Jewish Calendar based on lunisolar computations, a decision that proved important to Jewish communities in the entire Diaspora. The Hillel II principles of calendar computation are the same ones being used in modern-day State of Israel to determine the dates for Passover on the 15th of the month of Nisan.[5] ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 4122 – 362 CE – Julian orders to rebuild the Temple of Jerusalem The emperor Julian, although being from the family of Emperor Constantine, his uncle, diverted from the nascent http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g35-christianity.html (2 of 5) [6/11/2013 11:37:17 AM]


Christian state religion and wanted to restore the Roman pagan cult. He oppressed the Christians, who called him Julian the Apostate. Paradoxaly, he was rather lenient towards the Jews who he considered had been the victims of Roman policies thus far, so they rather called him Julian the Hellene (because he was keen about Greek philosophy, but also because Hellene was associated with the name Pagan in these times). In a letter to their community, lead by Hillel II, he announced that he will order to rebuild Jerusalem and its Temple, before setting off for his campaign in Persia: In times past, by far the most burdensome thing in the yoke of your slavery has been the fact that you were subjected to unauthorized ordinances and had to contribute an untold amount of money to the accounts of the treasury. Of this I used to see many instances with my own eyes, and I have learned of more, by finding the records which are preserved against you. Moreover, when a tax was about to be levied on you again I prevented it, and compelled the impiety of such obloquy to cease here; and I threw into the fire the records against you that were stored in my desks; so that it is no longer possible for anyone to aim at you such a reproach of impiety. […] And since I wish that you should prosper yet more, I have admonished my brother Iulus,[2] your most venerable patriarch, that the levy [“apostole”] which is said to exist among you should be prohibited,[3] and that no one is any longer to have the power to oppress the masses of your people by such exactions; so that everywhere, during my reign, you may have security of mind, and in the enjoyment of peace may offer more fervid prayers for my reign to the Most High God, the Creator, who has deigned to crown me with his own immaculate right hand. […] This you ought to do, in order that, when I have successfully concluded the war with Persia, I may rebuild by my own efforts the sacred city of Jerusalem,[4] which for so many years you have longed to see inhabited, and may bring settlers there, and, together with you, may glorify the Most High God therein. --- Julian, The works of the Emperor Julian, edit. And trans. By Wilmer Cave Wright, 1923, volume 3, p. 179, Lettter 51 “to the community of the Jews”, written from Antioch in late 362 CE or early 363 CE The works of the reconstruction of the Temple started but were soon abandoned due to an earthquake that was considered as a divine omen, reminding the old prophecy that the Third Temple will not be built until the time of the Messiah. This earthquake occurred in May 363 and is known as the “Galilee Earthquake”. As of Emperor Julian, he was mortally wounded in battle in June 363 during his campaign in Persia. His body was taken to Tarsus and was later reburied in Constantinople where his tomb still stand today near Emperor Constantine and the rest of their family. Julian was the last non-Christian Roman emperor. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 4146 – 386 CE – John Chrysostom The Christian world had been composed in its early days by Jews exclusively: this was at the time of Jesus and his brother James the Just. Both being religious Jews had not cut off from Jewish traditions and the ones accepted in their circles were Jews or converted Jews. Paul the Apostle was the first one to convert Pagans, and to remove all Jewishness from being Christian: circumcision, dietary laws, respect of the Shbbat, and so on. Over time, the Roman empire turned Christian but there were still some pockets of Jewish communities who had been attached to the early principles of Christianity: for them, Jesus was the Messiah according to the Jewish Scriptures and messianic expectations. The harship endured by the Jews were just the signs of these messianic times. One of this Judeo-Christian community was in the city of Antioch, which had had a large Jewish community from the times of the Greek conquest. But one of the Christian Father, called John Chrysostom (347-407), was determined to change the situation. He was a skilled preacher and also wrote against the acceptance of Jews inside the Christian community if those people would not renounce to their Jewish faith. In truth, the situation of these Judeo-Christians was offering impossible dilemma since the Council of Nicaea decided to cut off all Jewish features from the Christian life. Festivals were no longer falling on the same date, for exemple for Passover and Easter. The writings of Chrysostom were considered as some of the first "antisemitic" publications, although the term didn't formally exist until the 19th century.

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Year 4155 – 395 CE – Theodosius splits the Empire After the death of Julian, the empire went through some turmoil again, but the empire was reunified once more under the reign of Theodosius, who reigned from 379 to 395. Before his death in 395, he split the empire between his two sons, Honorius in the West and Arcadius in the East.

The Roman Empire at the death of Theodosius, 395 CE (source: Wikipedia) ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 4165 – 405 CE – The Vulgate In 382, Jerome was given the task to translate the Bible in Latin, and did so by basing his work on the Greek version, the Septuagint. He completed it in 384 but was expelled from Rome a year later and settled in Bethlehem. Then he improved his knowledge of Hebrew language and set to the task to re-translate the entire Bible into Latin but directly from the Hebrew Scripture, thus hoping to eliminate the mistakes caused by the Greek translation as they had been exposed in previous attempts to translate the Bible from the Greek (these early translations into Latin form what is called the Vetus Latina). Jerome completed his work in 405, and this translation formed the base of what became the official Latin version of the Bible, called the Vulgate. And it remained so for about 1000 years, until the King James Version of the Bible. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 4185 – 425 CE – End of the Sanhedrin Gamaliel VI was the Sanhedrin's last nassi. He came to office in 400 but was executed in 425 by Theodosius II for erecting new synagogues contrary to the imperial decree. Then, with his death, the title of nassi became illegal which defacto meant the closure of the Sanhedrin institution. Further, an imperial decree in 426 diverted the patriarchs' tax (post excessum patriarchorum) into the imperial treasury so that the Jewish religious institution could not have any financial resource to be maintained. This ordeal of the Jewish community of Palestine brought to an end the effort made by the religious schools there to complete the so-called Jerusalem Talmud. In comparison, the communities of Babylonia continue to thrive and pursued the work, helped by Jewish refugees from Palestine, to complete the Talmud of Babylon, until the end of the 5th century CE. Practically, this discriminacy against the Jewish communities of the Roman empire meant that the Christian leadership wanted to terminate the Jewish religion. Yet, it continued to survive in the midst of the political and religious ordeals. ~~~~~~~~~~

The Barbarians The last blows of the Roman empire against the Jewish institution corresponded to the time when the empire was being attacked by many waves of Barbarians coming from Central Europe. They originated, for some of them, from the old tribes of Scythians and other people who moved from the Caucasus region into the European continent. Others came from Asia, such as the Huns. Invasion after invasion, the Roman empire was losing ground, especially the Western Empire, being first exposed to the blows from hords coming from Northern and Central Europe. The bell tolled with the Sack of Rome by Alaric the Visigoth in 410. This sent a shockwave throughout the entire empire, although the capital of the Western Empire had been moved to Ravenna at the time, which was more defensible than Rome. But Rome had remained the seat of the papaucy. So the shock was more felt by the Christian world because it seems that the City of God had fallen. One of the Chritian Fathers, Augustine, who lived in Hippo which is in modernday Algeria and converted to Christianity in 386, conforted his brethren by stating that God only had a heavenly city, which was in the heart and love of his followers, and that such heavenly city will ultimately prevail over the earthly ones. The war against Alaric had the consequence to pull Roman armies out of Britain, as they were recalled to stop the invasion of mainland Italy. But to no avail. So the Roman rule over Britain ended about the time of the sack of Rome, in 410. The Visigoths then moved to Iberia and settled their kingdom there.

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Then the Huns, an Asian people who had settled in Central Europe, went westward, burning and killing on their way. They salvaged the central European regions for many years, leaving no place completely safe except for the large cities. They were ultimately stopped by a Roman army in Gaul in 451 and retreated back to their base in modern-day Hungary.

(source: Wikipedia) ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1] Rashi assumed that this measurement must have referred to the diameter of the Earth; but this does not make sense in the context of this commentary which compared this measurement to walking distances, thus it must have referred to a circumference rather than a diameter [2] It was the Patriarch Hillel II, who was then about 70 years old and who will die two years later [3] These taxes were paid by the Diaspora Jews in support for the patriarchate in Judea [4] The destroyed city was inhabited since the repression of Bar Kochba revolt in 135, during the reign of Hadrian [5] To check the date of Passover from year 2000 CE, click here

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‫ םלוע רדס‬- ‫שדח‬ Creation <<

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Adam What is new After the creation of the universe and of the world, and of all living creatures on earth, the man Adam was made (‫)השענ‬. But, as it also happened with other elements of the Index of Creation, free-will prevailed and led to results that were not always according to the names divine plan. Equally, from the very first generation, man erred. Adam and his companion, Eve,[1] were expelled from the Garden of Eden and lost the divine protection. From then on, they were on their own. Creation Generations Abel and Cain 1-14 They had two first sons: Cain and Abel. Cain worked the earth while Abel was a Generations shepherd. 15-21 And at the end of some days, Cain brought from the fruits of the earth an offering to God. And Abel brought, he as well, from the firstlings of his flock, and from Generations their best choice. And God turned to Abel and his offering. And, as of Cain and 22-28 his offering, He didn’t. This annoyed Cain very much and his countenance fell. God said to Cain: "Why are you annoyed, and why did your countenance fall? Generations Surely if you improve yourself, you will be forgiven. But if you don’t improve 29-35 yourself, sin rests at your door; its desire is towards you. And you will govern it." Cain said to his brother Abel. And it happened when they were in the field, Cain Generations rose against his brother Abel and killed him. 36-49 --- Genesis 4:3-8 Generation Cain gave an offering to God but not from the best of his production and surely not with 50 his heart, as compared to Abel who gave from the best choice, and the expression he as well means that he himself accompanied his offering as if he was prepared to offer himself to God. Abel accompanied his offering with all his heart because Abel loved God, but Cain didn’t. The path of sin starts when man deviates from the love of God, and thus from the faith onto Him. Cain was fully aware of God’s presence, and didn't need a proof of His existence, because his countenance fell after God’s rebuke. Cain could have corrected his path though, and would have been able to govern over the spirit of sin. By his free will, man has the power to do so, as he has been created at the image of God and, through his soul, he knows to distinguish between good and evil. This is what makes man different from the animal. Yet not everyone can behave in an elevated manner, above the animal instincts. Then the first conflict occurred when Cain proved unable to speak out his own issues with Abel. This is why the text said Cain said to this brother Abel. Said what? The text http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g01-adam.html (1 of 3) [6/11/2013 11:37:22 AM]


says nothing else, because Cain had nothing to say. Instead he got overwhelmed by his feelings of jealousy and killed his brother.

The murder of Abel (Gustave Doré, 1868) Then after the murder came the denial. God said to Cain: "Where is your brother Abel?" And he said: "I don’t know. Am I the keeper of my brother?" --- Genesis 4:9 Cain is then cursed to become a wanderer on earth. He established himself further east from Eden, in a land called Nod (‫)דֹונ‬. This Hebrew word both means drifter and exclusion, as a "separation" from society: this was to be the fate deserved by Cain. Presumably he established himself in what was to become Mesopotamia, where he came across the first two large rivers that created a natural "separation" from the land he came from.

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The early males were born with the twin females that they will later take as companions. Thus the procreation could start to operate and the population to grow. After the murder of Abel, Eve did not want to procreate any more. So this first gate was largely left for Cain to populate. And his immediate descendants were hunters like him. The conflict between Cain and Abel has been deeply anchored in early civilizations. It echoes the change of the life style of the early society, starting from being nomadic hunters as Cain was and as the animal kingdom lived, until they settled down to become sedentary farmers who would rather breed cattle and grow plants to regularly provide for their nutrition needs rather than rely on the success of a hunt. This change was surely not easy to make, became men would naturally behave like animals, but it became a necessity. One of these stories has been found in Sumerian clay tablets which was appropriately titled the "Debate between sheep and grain": The people of those days did not know about eating bread. They did not know about wearing clothes; they went about with naked limbs in the Land. Like sheep they ate grass with their mouths and drank water from the ditches. --- Barton, George A., "Miscellaneous Babylonian inscriptions", Yale University Press, 1918, No.8 “A new Creation myth”, pp.54 So, after being mostly composed of hunters, the early humanity gradually became composed of farmers. ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1] Eve was extracted from the original Adam who had both genders when he was made; this was done after God placed the original Adam in the Garden of Eden; with the extraction of Eve, Adam was stripped of feminine gender. Next generation Top of Page


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From the discovery of Tuval-Cain, the technique of metal works was used to create What is new weapons. The know-how quickly spread across the known world. Life became more dangerous for human beings as conflicts eventually begun to be more frequent Index of names between the city-states in their dispute over power and control. Creation

This was a turn for humanity, near the end of the first millennium from Creation and, symbolically, it was the time when Adam died, in Hebrew year 930 (2830 BCE).

Generations 114 The few people who walked in the path of God were Seth and those who lived with him. Generations 1521 Metushalach had already escaped away from the land of Ancient Egypt and had settled in Canaan near Adam and Seth. They nurtured him in righteousness. In year Generations 22- 874, he begot a son called Lemech. 28 Generations 2935


Generations 3649 Generation 50


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Cult of the Dead What is new Index of names Creation Generations 1-14

Hanoch eventually got himself into trouble with the rulers of the First Dynasty in Egypt which were established in Abydos or Thinis, near the Nile river.[1] This time was when the ancient Egyptian religion was first established and were Egyptian cosmology was invented, even asserting that it was the location of the Garden of Eden. Hanoch was unwilling to bind to their new gods and to believe in their way of rewriting the Creation to better fit their purpose of god-rulers. But he could no longer live among the Egyptian people with his rebellous attitude. His ultimate fate was however unique: All the days of Hanoch were five and sixty years and three hundred years. Hanoch walked in the path of God and he was no more, because God took him. --- Genesis 5:23-24

Generations 15-21 The text doesn’t state that Hanoch actually died: it is God who took him away in Hebrew year 987 (2773 BCE). This means that his soul was removed from his body while most probably his body was kept intact Generations and not be physically destroyed during all the years that Hanoch would have lived. It was as if Hanoch did not 22-28 actually (physically) die. This occurrence must have had some strong influence on the Egyptian people which, unlike other ancient civilizations, became obsessed with death, and created the cult of the dead with an Generations afterlife. Some historians even go as far as claiming that the entire Ancient Egypt civilization was based upon 29-35 a "death cult".[2] Generations It was not by chance by this particular practice of embalming and of preparing the dead for the afterlife 36-49 became much more sophisticated in Egypt compared to all other ancient civilizations. The Egyptian Book of the Dead is a compilation of these funeral rites and traditions that date back from the Old Kingdom, which Generation started with the Third Dynasty, about 2700 BCE. Not surprisingly this dynasty was founded by Pharaoh 50 Djoser who built the first pyramid of Egypt (he reigned from about 2690 BCE).

Djoser pyramid in Saqqara, Egypt This is because they could witness the body of a dead man, Hanoch, staying intact and not being destroyed by death. So they thought that what was valid for Hanoch should be valid for other men, and their next ambition was to maintain the body of the dead as intact as in his moment of death to reach eternity. Because, since the extraordinary fate of Hanoch, the Egyptians believe that death was just a transition, not an end: Lift yourself up, N[ut], you shall not die. --- Pyramid Texts [part of the Book of the Dead], Utterance 373, verse 657e [3]

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Eternity needed to at least have the appearance of eternity, so they developped and improved over time the techniques of embalming.

Cult of the Dead in Egypt There may also be a second reason for the Egyptians to look at Hanoch as an example of the life beyond death: he died at the age of 365 years, as the Bible stated, which echoes the 365 days of the year (solar system, followed by the Eyptians). In other words, death was just the end of one cycle of life, an idea from which they built the belief of the afterlife. ~~~~~~~~~~

Corruption of mankind In Canaan, Seth lived until Hebrew year 1042 (2718 BCE) and was of great influence over Metushalach to keep him in the path of God. Because of the short life of his father Hanoch, God granted to Metushalach to live the longest human life, for a total of 969 years. Just after Metushalach will die, God will carry out the punishment over mankind, with the Flood. The reasons for God’s anger are given in Genesis 6 where the reader will find an account of the perversion of morals in mankind: The Nephilim were on earth in those days, and also afterwards when the sons of the gods would consort with the daughters of man, who would bear to them. They were the mighty who were forever men of fame. --- Genesis 6:4 At the turn of the first millennium, mankind fell to its lowest level, as expressed by the word nephilim

‫ ]םיִלִפְּנ‬which means the fallen ones. This term refers to the decadence of mankind and is identical to Cain’s countenance which also fell [‫ ]ּולְפָנ‬after his murder of Abel (Genesis 4:6). The parallel of the two [

texts is particularly striking because of the similarity of the numbers of these two verses, as if one echoes the other: Genesis 4:6 for Cain who fell and Genesis 6:4 for the Nephilim. And, as the text mentions that these mighty people were forever men of fame, it is generally assumed that they survived the eradication that God was aiming to do: the Flood. Even the animals would be destroyed, as they had been corrupted by mankind through practices of abomination. And God said: "I will wipe out the mankind I have created from the surface of the earth, from man to beast, to the creeping creature, to the bird in the sky, so that I would get consolation from what I have done." But Noah found grace in God’s eyes. --- Genesis 6:7-8 But, because of the character of Metushalach and Noah, God postponed the time of punishment, and also decided to spare His Creation. However, He decided to reduce the lifetime of man on earth: And God said: "My spirit shall not contend evermore concerning Man since he is but flesh. His days shall be a hundred and twenty years." --- Genesis 6:3 http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g09.html (2 of 3) [6/11/2013 11:37:30 AM]


~~~~~~~~~~

Birth of Noah Noah was born to Lemech in Hebrew year 1056 (2704 BCE). He was a righteous man and so was his wife Naamah, who had left the land of her Sumerian parents in order to escape the fate of many of the women of

‫ )ַחֹנ‬is derived from the meaning

these times, being the prey of men and of Nephilim. The name Noah (

of comfort: his father named him so because he hoped that this new son would bring them comfort from all the hardship of working the earth, as God had ordered since Adam’s original sin. But, when Adam died in Hebrew year 930 (2830 BCE), 800 years after having begot Seth, those who followed his path may have believed that the world would probably come to an end soon after his death. They were fast approaching the first millennium since the Creation. God was not showing His presence anywhere on earth and mankind had badly turned away from His path: the few righteous people surely expected some divine punishment, much worse than the one that Adam had brought to himself with the original sin. Thus the spirits were low after Adam’s death. But, at the time of Noah's birth in the new millennium when the earth had not been destroyed, people probably thought that the fears were unfounded and this may explain the name of Noah, derived from comfort. And there was another reason for hope with Noah because, while Adam died when Lemech was 56-year old, Noach was born to Lemech 56 years after the start of the new millennium. Lemech may have felt that the birth of Noah, which occurred at a coincidental time, may be a sign that God will eventually accept the redemption from Adam’s curse, in another word it will be the sign of a comfort from the hardship they endured since Adam’s sin. This 9th generation provided the bridge between the era of the first millennium, which symbolically ended with the death of Adam, and a new era of hope which symbolically started with the birth of Noah, a character that found grace in God’s eyes. The hope that characterized this generation is also symbolized with the two events that marked its beginning and its end: it started with the departure of Hanoch, who walked in the path of God, and it ended with the arrival of Noah, who found grace in God’s eyes. ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1] Although the city of Thinis has been mentioned in various antique texts, its ruins have never been found; it is assumed to have been located near Abydos` [2] Tirard, H.M., The Book of the Dead, with an introduction by Edouard Naville, London, 1910, chapter 1, page 13: "No nation of the ancient world has cared for their dead to the same degree as the Egyptians; their care for the dead, indeed, far exceeded their care for the living." [3] See online version of The Pyramid Texts, translated by Samuel A.B. Mercer, 1952 Next generation Top of Page






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What is new Year 2642 – 1118 BCE – Abimelech and the Sichemites Index of names Creation Generations 1-14

Judge Gideon died 40 years after having liberated his part of the land from the Midianites. He had many legitimate sons and one illegitimate son from a concubine of Sichem, which is in the hill countries of Israel: this son was called Abimelech. The faith, just after Gideon’s death, quickly weakened, mainly because Gideon himself made an ephod from the gold he obtained from the battle he fought: And it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel again went astray after the Baalim, and made Baal-berith their god. --- Judges 8:33

Generations God raised Abimelech to punish Gideon’s inheritors. Abimelech gathered a gang of men from his home city and went to kill 15-21 all his half-brothers, the legitimate sons of Gideon. But the youngest one, Jotham, escaped the slaughter. However Abimelech managed to impose his rule over this part of the land for the next 3 years, with the help of the Sichemites. Generations Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Sichem (Judges 9:23). 22-28 ~~~~~~~~~~ Generations 29-35 Year 2645 – 1115 BCE – Death of Abimelech http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g23-judges.html (1 of 24) [6/11/2013 11:37:59 AM]


Generations Three years into his rule, Abimelech made a siege against one rebellious city. A woman threw a stone from the top of one tower which struck Abimelech onto the head and broke his skull. 36-49 Generation 50

Then he called hastily unto the young man his armour-bearer, and said unto him: “Draw your sword and kill me that men say not of me: A woman slew him.” And his young man thrust him through, and he died. And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed every man unto his place. Thus God requited the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did unto his father, in slaying his seventy brethren. --- Judges 9:54-56

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The death of Abimelech (Gustave Doré, 1868) ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2645 – 1115 BCE – Judges Tola of Issachar and Yair of Gilead After the death of Abimelech, God raised Tola son of Puah son of Dodo from Issachar tribe, and Yair from Gilead, a district located east from the Jordan River, in Manasseh territory,[1] to be judges for Israel during 23 and 22 years respectively (Judges 10:1-5). They maintained the hill countries of Israel, on both sides of the Jordan River, quiet during their time. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2648 – 1112 BCE – Birth of Samuel, of Ephraim, the Nazirite In the hill part of the land, a son was born to Elkanah, a man from the tribe of Ephraim. His sterile mother, Hannah, had promised to dedicate her son to God, if she could give birth. Later she brought the child to Eli the Priest, in Shiloh, as soon as he was weaned. Samuel will become a major prophet for Israel. Eli had just become High Priest several months before in this same Hebrew year 2648, and he will hold this role for the next 40 years. He probably did not have the skin of a spiritual leader and his sons were ultimately corrupted. The tribes were http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g23-judges.html (3 of 24) [6/11/2013 11:37:59 AM]


started to move away from their faith under his tenure. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2668 – 1092 BCE – The Tribes of Israel widely adopt idolatry At the end of the 23 years period from Judge Tola, the Israelites sinned again, and badly this time as they adopted pagan rites from most of their neighbours. This was major fallout from God’s path, and the consequence of years of mixing up with the Canaanite neighbours, and inter-marriage: And the children of Israel again did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Baalim, and the Ashtaroth, [2] and the gods of Aram, and the gods of Sidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines; and they forsook the Lord, and served Him not. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and He gave them over into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the children of Ammon. --- Judges 10:6-7



The Israelites adopt pagan rites The divine wrath fell upon the Israelites from the Philistines and the Ammonites.

Year 2668 – 1092 BCE – The Philistines From the southern part of Canaan came the Philistines, and they will oppress Israel for 40 years, until King David will reign over all the Israelites in one kingdom. The Philistines' first Israelite neighbours were the Tribe of Dan, and these wer submitted to their rule first. This is the year when Samson was born.

Year 2668 – 1092 BCE – The Ammonites http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g23-judges.html (5 of 24) [6/11/2013 11:37:59 AM]


On the eastern part of the Jordan River, after the death of Judge Yair, came the Ammonites and they later reached over to the hill country on the western part: And they [the Ammonites] oppressed and crushed the children of Israel that year; eighteen years, all the children of Israel that were beyond the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead. And the children of Ammon passed over the Jordan to fight also against Judah, and against Benjamin, and against the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was sore distressed. And the children of Israel cried unto the Lord, saying: "We have sinned against You, in that we have forsaken our God, and have served the Baalim." --- Judges 10:7-10

Ammonite goddess (Israel Museum) http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g23-judges.html (6 of 24) [6/11/2013 11:37:59 AM]


~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2686 – 1074 BCE – Judge Samson, of Dan In the first year of war with the Philistines in Hebrew year 2668 (1092 BCE), Samson of the Tribe of Dan was born. Since he was selected by God before he was conceived, and his birth having been announced to his parents and his tribe of Dan, his years as of Judge are counted from the moment he was chosen by God. He will thus judge all his life, for 20 years, until his death in Hebrew 2688. This is his story. When the Philistines’ yoke started, an angel came to visit a barren woman from the tribe of Dan, near the Philistine country, to announce that she will give birth to a boy who will free Israel from its enemy: And the angel of the Lord appeared unto the woman, and said unto her: "Behold now, you are barren, and have not borne; but you shall conceive, and bear a son. Now therefore beware, I pray you, and drink neither wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing. For, behold, you shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come upon his head; for the child shall be a Nazirite unto God from the womb; and he shall begin to save Israel out of the hand of the Philistines." --- Judges 13:3-5 In this time, when the Israelites started to sin so badly, God decided not to choose a judge among the living, but to breed one, starting from the womb of a woman. The father, Manoah, was however not an adequate model as he doubted in the faith of God, despite the messenger that was sent to him and the divine signs. The woman however kept faithful: which barren woman would not be willing to believe she would bear a child? A son was born and was called Samson, Shimshon in Hebrew (Judges 13:24). This was not an adequate name as it is rooted in the word sun (shemesh in Hebrew) which referred in these times to the sun-god Shamash, or Ra for the Egyptians. It has been suggested that Samson was born in the city of Ir-Shemesh, maybe today's city of Beth-Shemesh, in Dan territory, hence his name,[3] but the text mentioned his parents were of another city called Zorah (Judges 13:1). When He could, God moved the child away from such home (Judges 13:25). Samson was a very strong person, even in his youth, but he was not fully wise despite God’s blessing. He did not reside where God had moved him but moved down to the south of the country and, there, he met with a Philistine woman that he wanted to marry. This greatly distressed his parents, especially because the Philistines were oppressing the Israelites: Then his father and his mother said unto him: "Is there never a woman among the daughters of your brethren, or among all my people, that you go to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines?" And Samson said unto his father: "Get her for me; for she is dear to me." But his father and his mother knew not that she was [sent] from the Philistines by the Lord – because he [Samson] was seeking their answer. Now at that time the Philistines had rule over Israel. http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g23-judges.html (7 of 24) [6/11/2013 11:37:59 AM]


--- Judges 14:3-4 As Samson sought after this Philistine woman, God wanted to raise his feeling and anger at them, in order to breed him as a judge to free Israel from their yoke. But the task would not prove to be easy because Samson was a man who enjoyed too much the pleasure of the flesh. His Philistine wife deceived him and he took revenge by killing a number of her people. Then his wife was given to his Philistine friend. Samson took his revenge by burning the crops of the Philistines: Then the Philistines said: "Who has done this?" And they said: "Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite [a Philistine man from the city of Timnah], because he has taken his wife and given her to his companion." And the Philistines came up, and burnt her and her father with fire. --- Judges 15:6 In revenge of their killing of his wife, Samson killed a great number of Philistines with the jawbone of an ass.



Samson kills a number of Philistines with a jaw-bone (Gustave Doré, 1868) Despite Samson being a Judge for Israel, the yoke of the Philistines was over the Israelites for a total of 40 years, because, concerning Samson, the text states that he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years (Judges 15:20). These 20 years correspond to Samson’s lifetime and then the Philistines continued their oppression over Israel for another 20 years. http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g23-judges.html (9 of 24) [6/11/2013 11:37:59 AM]


Samson brought an end to himself when he coupled with a Philistine prostitute from Gaza called Delilah. She was used by the Philistines as a spy to find the secret of Samson’s supernatural strength and she managed to get it: And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying: "Come up this once, for he has told me all his heart." Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought the money in their hand. And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and had the seven locks of his head shaved off; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him. And she said: "The Philistines are upon you, Samson." And he awoke out of his sleep, and said: "I will go out as at other times, and shake myself." But he knew not that the Lord was departed from him. And the Philistines laid hold on him, and put out his eyes; and they brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison-house. However the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven. --- Judges 16:18-22 Delilah was evil because, after having sold him for money, she took pleasure in teasing him and oppressing his feelings. Yet he would not do anything to her, so much was he besotted with her. He was taken, blind and prisoner, to Gaza. But when he met his end, his hair had grown enough for God to remember His Judge and to allow him a last strike to the temple of his enemies, dedicated to their main god Dagon:[4] And Samson said [to the Lord]: "Let me die with the Philistines." And he bent with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead that he slew at his death were more than they that he slew in his life. --- Judges 16:30



Blind and in chains, Samson destroys the Temple of Dagon (Gustave Doré, 1868) ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2686 – 1074 BCE – Judge Yiftah from Gilead, of Manasseh On the eastern part of the Jordan River, The Ammonites applied their yoke over the tribes of Israel on the eastern side of the Jordan River for 18 years, and then they crossed over to attack Benjamin and Judah. This is the tome when God raised a judge, Yiftah (or Jephthah), from the eastern side of the river to end their rule. Yiftah is described as a mighty man of valour from Gilead. He was the son of a prostitute who was driven out of the family by his half-brothers, issued from the wife of his father Gilead. He became a chieftain of empty fellows before being called up by his Tribe to help them fight back the Ammonites, in exchange for their recognition of him as their leader. http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g23-judges.html (11 of 24) [6/11/2013 11:37:59 AM]




Yiftah and his band in the Jordan valley (source: St-Takla.org) He first tried to reason the king of Ammon to make peace, arguing that the Israelites had dwelled 300 years in that side of the Jordan River so ought to own the land by now since there had been no claim about it during that entire period (Judges 3:30). How comes this period of 300 years? Yiftah knew that the first Israelites arrived to the region of Gilead many years before the Exodus. The period of 300 years before his time falls some years after the birth of Moses, around Hebrew year 2386 (1374 BCE), when the oppression on the Hebrews was starting to ease towards the end of Pharaoh Amenhotep III. Young Moses was already a boy, adopted cousin of Pharaoh's heir the future monotheist Akhenaten. This drove some of the Hebrews to flee Egypt and, being unwelcome in Canaan, as it would happen again at the time of the Exodus, they had followed the same route taken later by Moses and had settled in the eastern side of the Jordan River, in the inhabited land between Amon in the East, Aram in the north and Moab in the south. The Hebrews knew that the land of Canaan had been promised by God to their ancestors and they had waited in this location until the day would come. During all that time, they were not driven out by the Ammonites, as Yiftah claimed on that day. This mention of 300 years is one of the reason why the author of the original Seder Olam had calculated that the period fo the Judges had lasted about 350 years, because he assumed that the 300 years mentioned by Yiftah must have been counted -logically- from the time the Israelites entered Canaan, or at least the eastern side of the Jordan River. But, as explained before, we cannot consider the period of Judges to be extending to such a long time of 350 years otherwise the assumption would conflict with the period of the Kings and with historical evidence. So the only logical interpretation of this mention of 300 years by Yiftah is that some Israelites moved out of Egypt before the Exodus and settled in the eastern side of the Jordan River until the bulk of the Hebrews joined them much later.[5] But the Ammonites did not comply with Yiftah’s offer of peace. War ensued and they lost.



Yiftah in Gilead Before going to war, Yiftah made a fateful vow to God that cost him dearly: http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g23-judges.html (14 of 24) [6/11/2013 11:37:59 AM]


And Yiftah vowed a vow unto the Lord, and said: "If You will indeed deliver the children of Ammon into my hand, then it shall be, that whatsoever come forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, it shall be the Lord's, and I will offer it up for a burnt-offering." So Yiftah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them; and the Lord delivered them into his hand. And he smote them from Aroer until you come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and unto Abel-Cheramim, with a very great slaughter. So the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel. And Yiftah came to Mizpah unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances; and she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter. And it came to pass, when he saw her that he rent his clothes, and said: "Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you are become my troubler; for I have opened my mouth unto the Lord, and I cannot go back." And she said unto him: "My father, you have opened your mouth unto the Lord; do unto me according to that which has proceeded out of your mouth; forasmuch as the Lord has taken vengeance for you of your enemies, even of the children of Ammon." And she said unto her father: "Let this thing be done for me: let me alone two months, that I may depart and go down upon the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my companions." And he said: "Go." And he sent her away for two months; and she departed, she and her companions, and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains. And it came to pass at the end of two months that she returned unto her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed; and she had not known man. And it was a custom in Israel, that the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the daughter of Yiftah the Gileadite four days in a year. --- Judges 11:30-40



Yiftah's daughter (source: Bible Revival) Yiftah had to comply with his vow and maybe he had hoped that an angel would be sent to stop him at the last moment as it happened with their ancestor Abraham. But, in the latter case, it was God who requested Abraham to act so it was God who stopped it. In this case, it was Yiftah who made a foolish vow to sacrifice the first being, animal or person, who will come to his house after the battle. Then why would some person be randomly sacrificed? The Bible forbids human sacrifice, and Yiftah followed one of these abominable pagan customs when he made his fateful vow. God abhors people who swear or make vows in His name, so He wanted to punish Yiftah for this, which would cost a human sacrifice. http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g23-judges.html (16 of 24) [6/11/2013 11:37:59 AM]


His daughter had to pay the price of such vow, and nobody else. This Biblical story was echoed in Greek history too, when both Agamemnon, king of the Greeks, and Priam, king of the Trojans, sacrificed their daughters, Polyxena and Iphigenia respectively, in order to secure good omen in the war. Unlike other judges who brought peace over Israel for lengthy periods of time, Yiftah was judge only for 6 years (Judges 12:7). This probably reflected God’s displeasure at what he had done. Yiftah could not have been a role model for his generation after having sacrificed a human being, his own daughter, as Canaanite peoples he fought against would do themselves. The last years of the life of Yiftah were also tarnished by the war that the Tribe of Ephraim waged against them. These Israelites probably wanted to pass to the eastern side of the Jordan River, as fugitives from the oppression they had from the Philistines in their territory around Hebrew year 2688 (1072 BCE). These fugitives from Ephraim probably hoped to dislodge the Israelites from Gilead and take away their inheritance. Despite Yiftah's own sin for which he had paid the dearest price, God would not allow this to happen and His spirit was with His Judge who prevailed against Ephraim. This war caused the death of 42,000 men from Ephraim. Yiftah died 6 years after having liberated his land, so it was in Hebrew year 2692 (1068 BCE). ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2661 – 1099 BCE – The first prophecy of Samuel The High Priest, based in Shiloh with the Ark of Covenant, was Eli. He had taken under his supervision a young child, of Ephraim tribe, who was destined by his mother Hannah to God's service.



Priest Eli and young Samuel - by John Singleton Copley, 1780 (Wadsworth Atheneum, USA) Eli had two sons: Hophni and Phinehas. They were corrupt but Eli did not redress them. Through Samuel, who then acted as a Prophet for the first time when he was just 13 years old (the age of Bar-Mitzvah), God told Eli what will become of his descendance: http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g23-judges.html (18 of 24) [6/11/2013 11:37:59 AM]


"Behold, the days come, that I will cut off your arm, and the arm of your father's house, that there shall not be an old man in your house. And you shall behold a rival in My habitation, in all the good which shall be done to Israel; and there shall not be an old man in your house for ever. Yet will I not cut off every man of yours from My altar, to make your eyes to fail, and your heart to languish; and all the increase of your house shall die young men. And this shall be the sign unto you, that which shall come upon your two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas: in one day they shall die both of them. And I will raise up for Me a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in My heart and in My mind; and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before Mine anointed forever. And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left in your house shall come and bow down to him for a piece of silver and a loaf of bread, and shall say: Put me, I pray you, into one of the priests' offices, that I may eat a morsel of bread." --- I Samuel 2:31-36 In one sense, we can assume that the morality among the Israelites was so low, and the examples given by the heirs to the priesthood was so bad, that the move to idolatry had become inevitable. When men of importance, in religion or politics, give a bad public example, the morale and the society collapse. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2688 – 1072 BCE – The Ark of Covenant is captured – Death of Eli the High Priest During the war against the Philistines who pitched their army in Aphek (west from present day Tel-Aviv), the Israelites of the hill country assembled for battle and asked for the Ark of Covenant to be brought down from Shiloh in the valley to support their stake against the enemy. It was the first time that the Ark was taken to the battlefield since the fall of Jericho. The sons of Eli took the Ark, without their father’s knowledge, to the Israelite camp. But the battle was lost and both of Eli's sons died. Worse, the Ark was taken away to Ashdod, in the Temple of the Philistines. When he learned about this double catastrophe on the same day, Eli collapsed and died: he was 98 years old (I Samuel 4:15). He was born in Shiloh after the Israelites allowed the Benjamites to take away girls during a holy festival. Eli’s birth and death were marked by events of sad memory in Jewish History.





The death of Eli the Priest (illustration from a Bible, source Genebrooks Blog) The curse that God announced upon Eli was that the priests will no longer enjoy a long life, as he and his fathers had benefited before. The person who brought the news that the Ark had been taken away was mentioned in the text: And there ran a man of Benjamin out of the army, and came to Shiloh the same day with his clothes rent, and with earth upon his head. --- I Samuel 4:12 This person was no ordinary because he didn’t just bring the news of the defeat, or the loss of the Ark, but he actually mourned the situation (as he rent his clothes and put earth on his head, as pious people did in a day of atonement). He was the first Israelite to mourn the loss of the Ark. He will be rewarded by God as being selected to rule over his people, later on, as King Saul, from Benjamin tribe. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2688 – 1072 BCE – Birth of Ichabod, son of Phinehas, son of Eli When Eli died, he had judged Israel for 40 years (I Samuel 4:18). The wife of his dead son Phinehas was reaching term of a pregnancy and the shock of the news brought the birth of her child prematuraly, and she also died at his birth: And his daughter-in-law, Phinehas' wife, was with child, near to be delivered; and when she heard the tidings that the Ark of God was taken, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and brought forth; for her pains came suddenly upon her. And about the time of her death the women that stood by her said unto her: "Fear not; for you have brought forth a son." But she answered not, neither did she regard it. And she named the child Ichabod, saying: "The glory is departed from Israel"; because the Ark of God was taken, and because of her father-in-law and her husband. And she said: "The glory is departed from Israel; for the Ark of God is taken." --- I Samuel 4:19-22 ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2688 – 1072 BCE – The Ark of Covenant is returned What happened to the Ark of Covenant? After the defeat of the Israelites at Afek, the Ark was taken from their camp at http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g23-judges.html (21 of 24) [6/11/2013 11:37:59 AM]


Eben-Ezer to the Philistine city of Ashdod, and placed in the temple of Dagon, the fish-god of Philistia. But every morning the statue of Dagon was found face on the floor, so the Philistines started to fear from the Ark and sent it to the city of Gath. There God smote the people of Gath with hemorrhoids. So Gath sent the Ark to Ekron, another of the five Philistine cities.[6] But there again, God smote the people of that city and the Philistines finally decided to return the Ark to the Israelites, after seven months (I Samuel 6:1). They loaded it with guilt-offering and took it to the border of the territory withJudah, near the city of Beth-Shemesh, during the harvesting of the wheat. But the people of Beth-Shemesh were also punished for having gazed upon the Ark: God smote 50,070 of them (I Samuel 6:19). They asked the Ark to be removed from their territory: And the men of Kiriath-Jearim came, and fetched up the Ark of the Lord, and brought it into the house of Abinadab in the hill, and sanctified Eleazar his son to keep the Ark of the Lord. --- I Samuel 7:1 Kiriath-Jearim is a city in the Judean hills towards Jerusalem.[7] The Ark remained there until King David will bring it to Jerusalem, 20 years later, when he will become king over all Israel (I Samuel 7:2) in Hebrew year 2708. Meanwhile, Samuel had become the only spiritual leader, and Prophet. Thanks to his righteousness, God had reduced the oppression from the Philistines to the Israelite borders: So the Philistines were subdued, and they came no more within the border of Israel; and the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. --- I Samuel 7:13 The Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel, but it didn't mean that their oppression ended in his days. They continued to wage war against Israel, and will eventually gain success again after the death of Samuel, and until the reign of King David over all Israel. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2688-2692 – 1072-1068 BCE – Judge Ibzan of Beth-Lehem, Judge Elon of Zebulon, Judge Avdon son of Hillel of Ephraim To contain the Philistines in the valleys from Hebrew year 2688, and to replace Judge Yiftah who died in 2092, God raised three other judges who kept the remaining Israelite territories at peace. http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g23-judges.html (22 of 24) [6/11/2013 11:37:59 AM]


Ibzan of Beth-Lehem belonged to the tribe of Judah. The Biblical text mentions that he had 30 daughters that he sent out, presumably to marry out of his tribe, and brought 30 girls to marry his own 30 sons. This was not commendable, as the text suggested that these marriages were made out of the community of the Israelites. Ibzan only judged for a short period of 7 years. Some tradition assumes that Ibzan was Boaz who married Ruth the Moabite, maybe because of the detail that both were from Beth-Lehem. But this assumption would not match the chronology of the events because Boaz was the great-grand-father of the future King David, 3 generations away from the current time. Elon from the tribe of Zebulun, judged for 10 years. He pushed back the Philistines from the northern part of the land. Abdon, son of Hillel the Pirathonite, a grand-father from the tribe of Ephraim, removed the threat against the rest of the hill countries and judged for 8 years. After their time, the Philistines were still dominating in the central and southern part of the land, but not the hill countries. ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1] According to Numbers 32:40 [2] The Baalim are the idols and the Astaroth are the goddesses, of which Astarte was a major one, also known as Ishtar in Mesopotamia [3] Ir-Shemesh was part of Dan's inheritance according to Joshua 19:40-41 [4] According to Jewish tradition, Dagon was a fish-god, which is not surprising for people like the Philistines who lived by the sea [5] The Seder Olam does mention the return of some Hebrews to Canaan "under the leadership of Gon" (?), but assumes that it happened at the end of the 400 years period that Abraham was told by God during the Covenant; the other assumption made is that "many perished" in their attempt; so the conclusion we can make is that returns from Egypt did happen, although not in mass until the Exodus, and that, if many perished, some must have succeeded to settle down [6] The five cities of Philistia were Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath and Ekron (I Samuel 6:17) [7] Some say that Kiriat-Jearim is today the Arab Israeli city of Abu Gosh, because the old arab name of this city of Qaryat al'Inab, the "Village of the Grapes" http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g23-judges.html (23 of 24) [6/11/2013 11:37:59 AM]








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Hebrew years 2040 to 2160 (1720-1600 BCE) Year 2047 – 1713 BCE – God makes a covenant with Abraham

What is new A few years later, when Abram was 99 years old, God appeared to him again, this time to make a Covenant: Index of names Creation Generations 1-14

"As for me, here is My covenant with you; you shall be the father of a multitude of nations; and your name will no longer be called Abram but your name shall be Abraham because I have given you to be the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you many many descendants, and make nations of you, and kings will come out from you. And I will ratify My covenant between Me and you, and between your offspring after you, for their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God for you, and for your offspring after you. And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land where you sojourn, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting portion, and I shall be God for them." --- Genesis 17:1-8

Generations Compared to the previous promise that God made to Abram, to give to his descendants all the land from Egypt to 15-21 the Euphrates, the promise has now been "reduced" to all the land of Canaan. It may be seen contradictory but it is not: most of the promised land, from Egypt to the Euphrates, will be given to Ishmael, while the land of Canaan will be given to the Generations son that Abram will have after Ishmael. Thus Abram's inheritance has been shared between the two sons. 22-28 God changed the name of Abram into Abraham to give it a significance. Do names have such role? A teaching of the Generations Talmud says so: 29-35 Generations 36-49

How do we know that the name [of a person] determines one’s destiny? — R. Eleazar said: Scripture says: "Come, behold the works of the Lord, who has made desolations in the earth (Psalms 46:9)." Read not ‘shammoth’ [desolations], but ‘shemoth’ [names]. --- Talmud, Berachot, 7b

Generation 50 The word used in this Psalm is indeed ‫[ תומש‬names] and not ‫[ תוממש‬desolations].

Then God ordered Abraham to perform the circumcision of all males after 8 days from birth, as an agreement of the covenant with Him: "Thus My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. And an uncircumcised male who will not have the flesh of his foreskin circumcised, you shall cut off this soul from its people: he has invalidated My covenant." --- Genesis 17:13-14 Finally God ordered Abraham to call his wife Sarah from now on, instead of Sarai, and told him that she will conceive a son that they will call Isaac. Concerning Abraham’s two sons, God made the following statement: "Here, I have blessed him [Ishmael], and will make many descendants from him, and I will multiply him a great lot; twelve princes will be born from him and I will give them to be a great nation. But I will maintain My covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year." --- Genesis 17:20-21 And Abraham circumcised himself and his son Ishmael, and all the male servants and slaves of his house on the same day that God had spoken to him. Ishmael was then 13 years old and this explains why the Muslim people, who are the spiritual descendants of Ishmael, circumcise their sons at that age until today. Although, strictly speaking, they received God's blessing with no obligation for the act of circumcision which was only imposed on the descendance of Isaac, as an acceptance of His covenant. But, Ishmael having been circumcised like the rest of the male household of Abraham, he took this tradition in his descendance. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2047 – 1713 BCE – Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah The destruction took place on the date of 15 Nissan of year 2047, because it is mentioned that the two angels sent by God to address Abraham went down to the city of Sodom on that day and were welcome there by Lot who prepared them a meal with unleavened bread, the matzos (Genesis 19:3). God had decided to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, in the valley of Siddim, because of their evil manners that were against Nature.[1] Archaeologists have searched for evidence of a massive destruction in the region. Some have been convinced that the site of Tall el-Hammam may probably hold the clue because it is a site that has been dated in the Middle Bronze Age and which shows evidence of "an intense, fiery conflagration that left the […] city in charred ruins". Walls of this ancient city have been found below one meter deep of ashes ![2]

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Excavations at Tall el-Hammam (source: article in Biblical Archaeology Review – March-April 2013) Lot and his daughters escaped to the city of Zoar, which is located east from the valley, in Moab territory (now Jordan), where the two daughters bore sons from their father, in one rare occurence of incestuous story in the Bible: The older one bore a son whom she named Moab (‫ )באומ‬who is the ancestor of the Moabites until this day. And the younger one she too bore a son whom she named Ben-Ammi (‫ןב‬-‫ )ימע‬who is the ancestor of the Ammonites until this day. --- Genesis 19-37-38 The laws of incest were not formally known at the time of the procreation of the daughters of Lot with their father, but they were nonetheless admitted as part of the Noachide laws, as sexual transgressions. The daughters wanted to procreate and had no expectation to find any husband after fleeing their city. So they had made their father drunken in order to couple with him without his knowledge. Strangely, the chapter Genesis 19 started with the tale of the sexual sins of the Sodomites, which caused their destruction, and ended with the sexual sin of Lot’s daughters, from whom the final Redemption will come.[3] The same chapter of the two stories may be a way to show that when God decides to punish mankind for their sins, He also offers the root for their redemption at the same time. The name Moab means from the father and the name Ben-Ammi means son of my people. The kingdom of Moab was located at the East from the Dead Sea, while the kingdom of Ammon was located north from it, also at the East of the Jordan River. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2048 – 1712 BCE – Birth of Isaac Abraham and Sarah then went sojourning in Gerar which was in the Southern part of Canaan, in what became the Philistine land. Their encounter with their king called Avi-Melech led to an alliance. Avi-Melech is the name of a dynasty of kings from this land and the name is recorded in Amarna letters as Abimilku (these Amana letters concerned a descendant of Avi-Melech, who bore the same dynastical name).[4] Then, when Abraham was 100 years old, in year Hebrew 2048 (1712 BCE), his wife Sarah gave birth to a son, Isaac. According to Jewish tradition, Isaac was born on a New Year day, Rosh Hashana. This birth led Sarah to request that Abraham would send off Hagar and her son Ishmael. But God looked after them: God was with the youth [Ishmael] and he grew up; he settled in the desert and became an expert in archery. He settled in the desert of Paran, and she took a wife for him, from the land of Egypt. --- Genesis 21:20-21 The birth of Isaac marks the 3rd direct action of God on the human race to transmit His message. Isaac represented the 21st human generation since the Creation: 1-Adam > 2-Seth > 3-Enosh > 4-Kenan > 5-Mahalalel > 6-Jared > 7-Hanoch > 8- Metushalach > 9-Lemech > 10-Noach > 11-Shem > 12-Arpachshad > 13-Shelah > 14-Eber > 15-Reu'> 16-Peleg > 17-Sherug > 18-Nachor > 19-Terach > 20-Abraham > 21- Isaac. Already at the 7th generation, with Hanoch who walked in the path of God, and in the 14th generation (twice 7) with Eber, we witnessed God's attempt to awaken his essence in the human race. Now, in His 3rd attempt, He ensured that Abraham had an descendance from his wife Sarah, and God will always oversee the life of Isaac who will dedicate it to divine studies and will be void of any conflict or problem, unlike the lives of Abraham and his future son Jacob. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2083 – 1677 BCE – Death of Terach in Charan Terach, the father of Abraham, lived 205 years and died in Charan in the year 2083 (Genesis 11:32). Milca, who had married Nahor, brother of Abraham, had 8 sons: her last son, Bethuel, had a daughter called Rebekah (Genesis 22:20:23). They lived in Aram-Naharayim, near Charan. The name Aram-Naharayim means Aram of the two rivers. Possibly it was located at the present city of Al-Busayrah, which is at the junction of two rivers: the Euphrates and the Nahal Khabur. North from this place of Northern Syria, at the border with Turkey, is the vast oasis of Harran, which is the ancient Charan.



~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2085 – 1675 BCE – Death of Sarah In the year 2085, Sarah died at the age of 127 in Kyryat-Arba which is Hebron today (Genesis 23:1). Abraham was then 137 years old and their son Isaac was 37 years old. The land of burial was at the times under the control of the sons of Heth, the Hittite. Abraham paid 400 silver shekels for the purchase of a burial place which featured an underground cave.

The burial of Sarah in the Cave of Machpelah (Gustave Doré, 1866) According to Tradition, the place was the burial location of Adam and Eve. The names Machpelah and [Kirith] Arba explains it because Machpelah means double (couple, pair) and Arba means four:



The Cave of Machpelah. Rab and Samuel differ as to its meaning. One holds that the cave consisted of two chambers one within the other; and the other holds that it consisted of a lower and upper chamber. According to him who holds that the chambers were one above the other the term 'machpelah' is well justified but according to him who holds that it consisted of two chambers one within the other, what could be the meaning of machpelah? That it had multiples of couples. Mamreh the city of Arba. R. Isaac explained: The city of the 'four' couples: Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Leah. --- Talmud, Eiruvin 53a ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2088 – 1672 BCE – Union of Isaac and Rebekah Abraham then sent his old servant to Charan to find a suitable wife for Isaac, as he did not want him to take a wife among the Canaanites. God guided the servant to the city of Aram-Naharayim, toward Rebecca, daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milca and Nachor, brother of Abraham. And Rebekah had a brother called Laban. After receiving all the gifts of gold and silver that Abraham sent for the family of the selected girl, Laban and her mother Milca intervened and wished to delay the departure of Rebekah for at least ten days, but Rebekah made the decision not to delay her departure and to follow Abraham’s servant(Genesis 24:55-58). Rebekah's family gave her the following blessing: And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her: "Our sister, be you the mother of thousands of ten thousands, and let your seed possess the gate of those that hate them." --- Genesis 24:60 Isaac had been waiting at the northern border of the land of Canaan for the return of the old servant. His first encounter with his destined wife was under the sign of simplicity, modesty and chastity: Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the beginning of the evening, and he raised his eyes and saw, behold, camels coming. And Rebekah raised her eyes and saw Isaac, and inclined over the camel. She said to the servant: "Who is that man in the field walking towards us?" And the servant: "He is my master." And she took the veil and covered herself. And the servant told Isaac all the things that he did. And Isaac brought her to the tent of her mother Sarah, and he took Rebekah and she became his wife. And he loved her, and Isaac consoled after his mother. --- Genesis 24:63-67 This union took place when Isaac was 40 years old (Genesis 25:20), so it was year 2088. The number 40 is symbol of maturity: in the case of Isaac, it means that he had to be mature of age before he could deserve a wife as good as Rebekah. As of Abraham, he was a widower and Jewish customs invite any widower, man or woman, to not stay alone but find another spouse. So he took another wife called Keturah, after Isaac’s union with Rebekah. According to the tradition, Keturah was Hagar, who had remained chaste after being sent off by Abraham. She bore him the following new sons: -

Zimran Yokshan who begot Sheba and Dedan; Dedan begot the Asshurim, Letushim and Leummim Medan Midian who settled in Sinai peninsula and begot Eiphah, Epher, Chanokh, Aviyda’, Elda’ah Ishbak Shuah

But Abraham considered Isaac as his only spiritual heir, as God had told him. Isaac was born in Canaan and will never leave the land of Canaan. Abraham gave all what he had to Isaac. And to the sons of the concubine who were Abraham’s, Abraham gave them presents and sent them away from his son Isaac, while he was still alive, eastward to the previous land. --- Genesis 25:5-6 Abraham did not want to leave Isaac with any conflict from his half-brothers from Keturah, and sent them east from Canaan. But most of them finally settled in the Arabian Peninsula, or towards Charan, and some of them must have gone as far as the Mesopotamia where they mixed there with the locals and did not form a distinctive people. As of Midian, he kept in the monotheist faith, as his father Abraham, and settled close enough from Isaac, in the Sinai peninsula: he is the ancestor of Moses' father-in-law. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2108 – 1652 BCE – Birth of Esau and Jacob Meanwhile, and after Isaac had prayed to God, Rebekah finally got pregnant and gave birth 20 years after their marriage: Isaac was 60 years old. She gave birth to non-identical twins as God had announced to her: "Two nations are in your womb, and two nations from your insides will separate. One will strengthen nation after nation, and many will serve the younger." --- Genesis 25:23 Rebekah gave birth to two boys. The first one came out red-haired and very hairy, and was called Esau. The second came out by holding onto the heel of his brother, and was named Jacob. Jacob represented the 22nd human generation since the Creation. His father Isaac was the 21st one, as explained above, which was a sign of direct divine intervention in his case.[5] But the 22nd generation is equally meaningful because of the number 22. This number is associated with the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet, which was given to the Jewish people, and human race in general as the alphabets, as we known them today (but not the pictogram writings known by the antique people such as hieroglyphs or pictograms) are derived from the Hebrew alphabet. The birth of Jacob represented a turning point in the human race and the start of more divine revelations to come, following the ages of darkness that http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g18-isaac.html (4 of 7) [6/11/2013 11:38:16 AM]


prevailed until the venue or Jacob. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2123 – 1637 BCE – Death of Abraham; Esau sells his birth-right Both boys grew up in different ways, Esau as a hunter who was living in the field, and Jacob as a simple person living and studying in the tents. One evening, Esau came back from the field and asked his brother to serve him the red stuff (‫)םדא‬ that was in his stew: this is why Esau was also named Edom (‫)םודא‬. Jacob said: "Sell as this day your birth right to me." Esau said: "Here, I am going to die, and what use is for me a birth right?" Jacob said: "Swear to me as this day," and he swore to him. And he sold his birth right to Jacob. Jacob gave to Esau bread and a stew of lentils, and he ate and drank, got up and left. And Esau spurned the birth right. --- Genesis 25:31-34 Jewish tradition indicated that Jacob was cooking a stew of lentils because his grandfather Abraham had just died and this was in fact the mourners’ meal. Esau did not feel concerned with Abraham’s death and went to the field, to carry out his usual hunting as if everything was normal at a time when many people, including Ishmael, had gathered at the family’s camp to mourn the death of Abraham whom they knew was guided by God. And Abraham expired, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people. --- Genesis 25:8 Abraham had lived another 38 years after Sarah’s death and died at the age of 175, in year 2123. He was buried in the Cave of Machpelah, near his wife Sarah. Both boys Esau and Jacob were 15 years old at this time.

Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron, mosque built by the Turks above the Cave of Machpelah (engraving by David Roberts, 1838) ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2126 – 1634 BCE - Death of Shelah Abraham’s death was followed by the death of his ancestor Shelah, in 2126. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2148 – 1612 BCE – Esau takes Canaanite wives When he was 40 years old, in Hebrew year 2148, Esau took two wives from the Hittites. One was called Judith and the other Basemath. They created tension between Isaac and Esau. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2158 – 1602 BCE – Death of Shem son of Noah



Shem, the wise Melki-Tedek who lived in Salem, died in 2158, after a lifetime of 600 years. He was the last living witness of the Flood. He had passed all his knowledge of God to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob over the last years of his life. Jacob was 50 years old at the death of Shem. ~~~~~~~~~~

About Year 2160 – 1600 BCE – The Flood in ancient writings With the death of the last witnesses of the Flood, some people felt the urge to record in writing the tales they have heard from them (such as Melchi-Zedek, presumed to be Shem himself), which were about how humanity came to exist (Creation) and how it has been saved by the gods (during the Flood). In the 19th century, archaelogists have found in the Library of Assurbanipal in Nineveh multiple cuneiform-written tablets that told these tales.[6] The oldest ones found date from that period, around the death of Shem, and are known today as the Epic of Atrahasis (probably the oldest one found), Eridu Genesis (Eridu was a city-state neighbour to Ur), the Enuma Elish[7] and the Epic of Gilgamesh: ... the flood came forth. Its power came upon the peoples like a battle, one person did not see another, they could not recognize each other in the catastrophe. The deluge belowed like a bull, The wind resounded like a screaming eagle. The darkness was dense, the sun was gone, ... like flies. the clamor of the deluge. --- Epic of Atrahasis, III:5-20, translation from B.R. Foster adapted by Livius.org

Epic of Atrahasis (British Museum, room 56, #ME 78941) These ancient tales of the Flood are very comparable to the story of the Bible, with more similarities found compared to the tales of the Creation. The latter being a much older story, with witnesses who were no longer alive, it has become distorted in the memory of Humanity. But, as for the Flood, it is a different situation. Although some people believe that the similarities with the Bible are coincidental, which could be accepted if the stories were just about a destruction of the world, but the stories contain details that cannot have been created from pure imagination. For example, beside the fact that the destruction was done by a "flood" in all these stories, here are some unsual details that are also common to the Bible: - the boat (or ark) carrying Noah and his company stopped on a mountain - when Noah wanted to check the levels of the waters, he waited seven days, and then he sent a dove which came back to him: these details are also found in the Epic of Gilgamesh - then Noah sent a raven, and then knew that the levels were right On Mount Nimuš the boat lodged firm, Mount Nimuš held the boat, allowing no sway. One day and a second Mount Nimuš held the boat, allowing no sway. A third day, a fourth, Mount Nimuš held the boat, allowing no sway. A fifth day, a sixth, Mount Nimuš held the boat, allowing no sway. When a seventh day arrived I sent forth a dove and released it. The dove went off, but came back to me;



no perch was visible so it circled back to me. I sent forth a swallow and released it. The swallow went off, but came back to me; no perch was visible so it circled back to me. I sent forth a raven and released it. The raven went off, and saw the waters slither back. It eats, it scratches, it bobs, but does not circle back to me. --- Epic of Gilgamesh, tablet XI, source Livius.org These details that are shared between these recorded tales and the Bible cannot possibly be the result of mere coincidences, unless someone would want to defy the laws of Probability ! The fact is that these tales recorded the same event and this fact is not seriously disputed. The question is to know if this event was a local catastrophy or a more global event that affected the entire planet. The Bible and these tales are supporting the latter, whereas some people may believe otherwise despite what these ancient records are telling us in unison. ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1] The word sodomy is derived from the name of the city of Sodom; this sexual act was officially prohibited in the Roman Empire, based on the account of the Bible, by Emperor Justinian in year 559 CE (source: Novelle 141) [2] Collins, Steven, Where is Sodom? The case for Tall el-Hammam, Biblical Archaeology Review, March-April 2013, pp. 32-41 [3] The Messiah will be a descendant from King David, who was a descendant from Ruth the Moabite, whose ancestor was Moab, the son issued from the incestuous act that Lot's daughter had performed. [4] See article on Abimilki in Wikipedia. [5] The number 21 is equal to three times 7, which represents the 7th day of Shabbat, a direct order from God upon His Creation. The fact that Isaac came in the 3rd divine attempt means that these attempts reached a completion cycle, because the number 3 in Hebrew represents the completion, similarly to the 3 patriarchs, the 3 daily prayers, the 3 holy festivals, and so on [6] The British Museum has a collection of over 30,000 of such tablets that were found in Nineveh [7] The Enuma Elish consists of 7 tablets telling about the Creation; these tablets have been dated of the 7th century BCE but the text is assumed to have been composed much earlier, maybe around the time of Hammurabi Next generation Top of Page






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Year 3826 – 66 CE – The War of the Jews

In 66, a new procurator called Florus, who was born in Asia Minor, came to Judea to replace Albinus, the successor of Felix. And again Agrippa II changed the High Priest and chose Mattathias ben Theophilus, another Sadduccee. Josephus has written a famous book about this Judeo-Roman war that led to the destruction of the Temple and the end of Generations the independence of the Jewish nation: 1-14 Now Gessius Florus, who was sent as successor to Albinus by Nero, filled Judea with abundance of miseries. […] This Florus was so wicked, and so violent in the use of his authority, that the Jews took Albinus to have been [comparatively] Generations their benefactor; so excessive were the mischiefs that he brought upon them. For Albinus concealed his wickedness, and 15-21 was careful that it might not be discovered to all men; but Gessius Florus, as though he bad been sent on purpose to show his crimes to every body, made a pompous ostentation of them to our nation, as never omitting any sort of violence, nor Generations any unjust sort of punishment; for he was not to be moved by pity, and never was satisfied with any degree of gain that came 22-28 in his way; nor had he any more regard to great than to small acquisitions, but became a partner with the robbers themselves. […] And what need I say any more upon this head? Since it was this Florus who necessitated us to take up Generations arms against the Romans, while we thought it better to be destroyed at once, than by little and little. Now this war began in 29-35 the second year of the government of Florus, and the twelfth year of the reign of Nero. --- Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, book 20,252 Generations Creation

36-49 Generation 50

Josephus finished the account of his Jewish Antiquities at the beginning of this war, as he had already written the Wars of the Jews prior to the Antiquities. Faithful to his usual avoidance of blaming any Roman policy (although he frequently blamed Roman rulers of the region), he asserted that the war started because of the tensions with the Hellenistic community of Caesaria, in the month of Artemisins, which is Hebrew Nisan, the month when a lot of Jews would celebrate the Passover festival [1]: Now at this time it happened that the Grecians at Cesarea had been too hard for the Jews, and had obtained of Nero the government of the city, and had brought the judicial determination: at the same time began the war, in the twelfth year of the reign of Nero, and the seventeenth of the reign of Agrippa, in the month of Artemisins [Jyar]. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 2, 14,4 The Jews complained to Florus but he was determined to use a harsh hand on them. He requested payment of a large sum from the Temple treasures, which outraged the Jews. As a response, he marched to Jerusalem and ordered his soldiers to plunder part of the city, the wealthier Upper Market place, in reprisal. He went as far as executing Jews who had Roman status, an act never done before by any Roman official. This took place while Agrippa II was in Alexandria to congratulate the new governor, his friend Tiberius Alexander, the former Roman procurator of Judea whose family was of Jewish origin. Agrippa's sister Bernice was in Jerusalem at the time, and tried to intercede in order to restore peace, but Florus would not change his mind. The matter was then brought to the attention of Cestius, the governor of the Syrian province: However, Florus contrived another way to oblige the Jews to begin the war, and sent to Cestius, and accused the Jews falsely of revolting [from the Roman government], and imputed the beginning of the former fight to them, and pretended they had been the authors of that disturbance, wherein they were only the sufferers. Yet were not the governors of Jerusalem silent upon this occasion, but did themselves write to Cestius, as did Bernice also, about the illegal practices of which Florus had been guilty against the city; who, upon reading both accounts, consulted with his captains [what he should do]. Now some of them thought it best for Cestius to go up with his army, either to punish the revolt, if it was real, or to settle the Roman affairs on a surer foundation, if the Jews continued quiet under them; but he thought it best himself to send one of his intimate friends beforehand, to see the state of affairs, and to give him a faithful account of the intentions of the Jews. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 2, 16,1 Cestius sent an emissary who met with Agrippa who was returning from Alexandria. They toured Jerusalem and saw that people were not seditious as Florus had depicted the situation. But the Jews were eager to either send representatives to Nero to complain about Florus, or to start a war. Agrippa made an address to them against the idea of war against Rome: “Moreover, ten thousand ether nations there are who had greater reason than we to claim their entire liberty, and yet do submit. You are the only people who think it a disgrace to be servants to those to whom all the world has submitted. What sort of an army do you rely on? What are the arms you depend on? Where is your fleet that may seize upon the Roman seas? And where are those treasures which may be sufficient for your undertakings? Do you suppose, I pray you, that you are to make war with the Egyptians, and with the Arabians? Will you not carefully reflect upon the Roman Empire? Will you not estimate your own weakness? Has not your army been often beaten even by your neighboring nations, while the power of the Romans is invincible in all parts of the habitable earth? […] Are you richer than the Gauls, stronger than the Germans, wiser than the Greeks, more numerous than all men upon the habitable earth? What confidence is it that elevates you to oppose the Romans?” --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 2, 16,4 Initially the people seemed to follow Agrippa’s advice but soon after showed signs of rebellion. Agrippa left the city to its fate and returned to his abode. The spirit of war was warming up:

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And at this time it was that some of those that principally excited the people to go to war made an assault upon a certain fortress called Masada. They took it by treachery, and slew the Romans that were there, and put others of their own party to keep it. At the same time Eleazar, the son of Ananias the high priest, a very bold youth, who was at that time governor of the temple, persuaded those that officiated in the Divine service to receive no gift or sacrifice for any foreigner. And this was the true beginning of our war with the Romans; for they rejected the sacrifice of Caesar on this account; and when many of the high priests and principal men besought them not to omit the sacrifice, which it was customary for them to offer for their princes, they would not be prevailed upon. These relied much upon their multitude, for the most flourishing part of the innovators assisted them; but they had the chief regard to Eleazar, the governor of the temple. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 2, 17,2 The resistance came from people that Josephus called the “innovators”, most probably the youth. The Elders and the priests also tried to avoid the war but failed. So then they applied to Florus to come and end the sedition before it would spread too far. But it was too late. The seditious burned the palace of Agrippa and other official buildings on the 14th of the month of Av (22 July 66). The next day they besieged the Antonia fortress and other towers of the citadel. But then they behaved ignonimously as, after securing a truce with the garrison, promising them safe passage if they would lay down their arms, they killed them all once the soldiers walked out of their refuges. This loss to the Romans was but light, there being no more than a few slain out of an immense army; but still it appeared to be a prelude to the Jews' own destruction, while men made public lamentation when they saw that such occasions were afforded for a war as were incurable; that the city was all over polluted with such abominations, from which it was but reasonable to expect some vengeance, even though they should escape revenge from the Romans; so that the city was filled with sadness, and every one of the moderate men in it were under great disturbance, as likely themselves to undergo punishment for the wickedness of the seditious; for indeed it so happened that this murder was perpetrated on the sabbath day, on which day the Jews have a respite from their works on account of Divine worship. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 2, 17,10 In parallel of the killing of the Roman garrison on a Sabbath day, the Jews of Caesarea were all killed by the Greek inhabitants. The ones who survived were sent to the galleys by Florus. This killing caused a harsh response from the Jews of Judea who, in their turn, attacked several Hellenised neighbouring cities and destroyed them, slaughtering local populations on the way. Some of the cities from Galilee however opposed a resistance to these attacks and defended their Greek neighbours: But when they [the Judeans] made excursions to Scythopolis, they found Jew that acted as enemies; for as they stood in battle-array with those of Scythopolis, and preferred their own safety before their relation to us, they fought against their own countrymen; nay, their alacrity was so very great, that those of Scythopolis suspected them. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 2, 18,3 Scythopolis was the hellenized Decapolis city of Beth-Shean where the body of King Saul had been displayed by the Philistines.

Scythopolis (Beth-Shean, Northern Israel) The situation was fast turning into an open war between the Jews and the Gentiles in the country. Many cities attacking the civilians of one camp or the other. Some other people preferred to leave the cities they dwelled in by fear of killing from the other community. The unrest reached the city of Alexandria in Egypt, which had often witnessed hatred between the various communities, Greeks, Egyptians and Jews, the latter representing no less of one third of the population and enjoying



special favour from the city leaders, from Alexander to Julius Caesar. But, this time, the Greek residents were joined by the Roman authorities in their hatred against the Jews of the city. Worse, the Roman army was under the command of Tiberius Alexander, who was of Jewish origin and a friend of Agrippa II: They [the Roman soldiers] were also permitted not only to kill them, but to plunder them of what they had, and to set fire to their houses. These soldiers rushed violently into that part of the city that was called Delta, where the Jewish people lived together, and did as they were bidden, though not without bloodshed on their own side also; for the Jews got together, and set those that were the best armed among them in the forefront, and made a resistance for a great while; but when once they gave back, they were destroyed unmercifully; and this their destruction was complete, some being caught in the open field, and others forced into their houses, which houses were first plundered of what was in them, and then set on fire by the Romans; wherein no mercy was shown to the infants, and no regard had to the aged; but they went on in the slaughter of persons of every age, till all the place was overflowed with blood, and fifty thousand of them lay dead upon heaps; nor had the remainder been preserved, had they not be-taken themselves to supplication. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 2, 18,8 Cestius, the governor of the Syrian province, had to intervene and moved to Judea after the summer, occupying first the cities in the plain. He then sent the 12th Legion to free up the Galilee, which was less sedituous than Judea. This was done with relative ease. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3827 – 66 CE – Cestius’ campaign of Jerusalem Then the Romans marched towards Jerusalem from the north. It was the time of the Feast of Tabernacles, called Sukkot in Hebrew, which falls in the month of Tishri (around September-October), in the Jewish New Year 3827. After a few skirmishes, Cestius camped over Mount Scopus, north-east of Jerusalem. Then he moved his army towards the city on the 30th of Tishri: In the mean time, many of the principal men of the city were persuaded by Ananus, the son of Jonathan, and invited Cestius into the city, and were about to open the gates for him; but he overlooked this offer, partly out of his anger at the Jews, and partly because he did not thoroughly believe they were in earnest; whence it was that he delayed the matter so long, that the seditious perceived the treachery, and threw Ananus and those of his party down from the wall, and, pelting them with stones, drove them into their houses; but they stood themselves at proper distances in the towers, and threw their darts at those that were getting over the wall. Thus did the Romans make their attack against the wall for five days, but to no purpose. But on the next day Cestius took a great many of his choicest men, and with them the archers, and attempted to break into the temple at the northern quarter of it; but the Jews beat them off from the cloisters, and repulsed them several times when they were gotten near to the wall, till at length the multitude of the darts cut them off, and made them retire; but the first rank of the Romans rested their shields upon the wall, and so did those that were behind them, and the like did those that were still more backward, and guarded themselves with what they call Testudo, [the back of] a tortoise, upon which the darts that were thrown fell, and slided off without doing them any harm; so the soldiers undermined the wall, without being themselves hurt, and got all things ready for setting fire to the gate of the temple. And now it was that a horrible fear seized upon the seditious, insomuch that many of them ran out of the city, as though it were to be taken immediately; but the people upon this took courage, and where the wicked part of the city gave ground, thither did they come, in order to set open the gates, and to admit Cestius as their benefactor, who, had he but continued the siege a little longer, had certainly taken the city; but it was, I suppose, owing to the aversion God had already at the city and the sanctuary, that he was hindered from putting an end to the war that very day. ---Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 2, 19,5-6 Thus Cestius called for a retreat of his troops, and retreated back to the camp in Scopus, with Jewish fighters in pursuit of the Roman army. The retreat was not easy and the Romans lost a lot of men, while the number of Jews rishung after them increased all the time. Cestius took refuge in the fort of Beth Horon, at the top of a hill, north-west from Jerusalem, which the Jews surrounded.

Beth-Horon in 1880 To escape the trap, Cestius sacrificed a part of his army to keep the stand, while he marched at night with the rest, quietly, until they reached the fortress of Antipatris (Tel Afeq, near modern Tel-Aviv). In total, the Romans lost over 5000 soldiers in this campaign of Jerusalem, a number which was the size of an entire legion. Many Sadducees took the opportunity of the temporary rest to flee from Jerusalem, in fear of the future reprisal from Rome. Cestius sent some of them to Nero to explain the situation, and to blame the unrest on the actions of the procurator Florus. On their side, the Jews took the opportunity to organise their army and their defense and divided the control of the country between several commanders each in charge of a respective region. This is when Josephus was given the charge over Galilee. He organised his administration by appointing seventy elders in each major city to look over the civilian affairs of their respective city. He also raised an army of 60,000 foot men, but they were ill equipped and had no experience of soldier. ~~~~~~~~~~



Year 3827 – 66 CE – The Scroll of the Fasting It was in this context of perceived victory after the defeat and retreat of the Roman army and the satisfaction following the flight of the Saduccees from Jerusalem that one Pharisee wrote the "Scroll of the Fasting" (Megillat Taanit in Hebrew). In it, he listed all the days on which one is not to fast and on some of which one is not to eulegize. In other words, the contents of this scroll was the list of joyful days. The writer of the scroll has been identified with the tana Hananiah ben Hezekiah ben Garon by the Talmudists (Talmud, Shabbat, 13b). The timing of the writing seems to point to the period between the latest historical event that can be identified with certainty (Caligula’s attempt to erect his statue in the Temple of Jerusalem, in 38-39 CE), and the destruction of the Temple (later in 70 CE) which is not mentioned in the scroll. In this window of time, what period of joy and enthousiasm could be picked to fix the date of the scroll, if not when the Romans and the Saduccees fled and left the Pharisees in charge of the holy city? Beside, one verse of the scroll mentions one joyful date for which fasting must not be done: On the twenty-third of it [the month of Iyyar], the men of the Akra left Jerusalem. --- Megillat Taanit, 7 This event is traditionally associated with the Greeks who left the Akra fortress they had built in Jerusalem. Simon Maccabbee destroyed this Greek fortress during the revolt, but this circumstance could barely be conceived to have had a religious impact as compared, say, to the cleaning of the Temple and the feast of Chanukkah. Rather this verse of the scroll may indeed apply to the fleeing of the Saduccees from Jerusalem, never to return, because Akra was symbolic to the Hellenistic times, and, by its presence in Jerusalem, to the assimilation of the upper class of people which composed the Saduccee sect. The men of the Akra mentioned in the scroll could thus be understood as the Saduccees who were sympathetic to the foreign cultures, Greek then Roman, and diverted from the core Judaism. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3827 – 67 CE – Vespasian When he learned of the disasters of his army in Judea, Nero dismissed Florus from his post of procurator. Or maybe, according to the Talmud, Nero had the vision that God wanted him to destroy His House, the Temple, and, afraid at this perspective, he appointed an able and experienced commander, Vespasian, to crush the Jewish rebellion and restore order in Jerusalem before the unrest would lead to further disaster. Then, a year later, according to the Talmud, Nero converted to Judaism, and abandoned all public life. The official history mentioned that he committed suicide but there had been some secrecy about what happened to his remains: He [the new ruler] consented that Nero’s body should be committed to the flames at the place where he died. The funeral rites were performed without delay, and without pomp. His remains were conveyed to the monument vault of the Domitian family, his paternal ancestors. The urn was carried by two female servants and Acte, the famous concubine. The secrecy with which the obsequies was performend was the cause of some untoward consequences that afterwards disturbed the commonwealth. A doubt remained in the minds of many whether Nero had not made his espcape into Asia or Egypt. --- Tacitus, The Annals, XVI, 14 According to Jewish tradition, Nero rather retired from public life and lived in the Jewish faith. He would have then married and have issue because a famous Jewish scholar, Rabbi Meir ha-Ness, is said in the Talmud to be a grandson of Nero.[2a] Rabbi Meir’s wife was called Valeria, which is a Roman name, otherwise called Beruriah in Hebrew and in the Talmud. She was also very knowledgeable about the Scriptures.[2b] In one circumstance, she even made a remonstrance to a rabbi for speaking too much, with too many words to ask something simple. He had the bad luck to be from Galilee:[2c] R. Jose the Galilean was once on a journey when he met Beruriah. ‘By what road’, he asked her, ‘do we go to Lydda?’ — ‘Foolish Galilean’, she replied: ‘did not the Sages say this: Engage not in much talk with women?[2d] You should have asked: By which to Lydda?’ --- Talmud, Eiruvin, 53b Vespasian had already been successful in the invasion of Britain in 43. Vespasian was seconded by his own son, Titus, who went to fetch the 5th and the 10th legions for the campaign. When he arrived with the 15th legion in Antioch, Vespasian was joined by Agrippa II who joined the Roman cause. They then marched to Ptolemais (modern day Acre, or Akko, in Israel). This is where the people of Sepphoris joined him too, as they deservted the Jewish cause. A Roman force was thus sent to protect the city from the Jewish reprisal for their desertion.



The “Mona Lisa” of Sepphoris (Tzippori, Israel) Josephus gives a good account of the military machine that was the Roman army in these times. Here is one extract, when the call for battle is made in a Roman camp: Now when they are to go out of their camp, the trumpet gives a sound, at which time nobody lies still, but at the first intimation they take down their tents, and all is made ready for their going out; then do the trumpets sound again, to order them to get ready for the march; then do they lay their baggage suddenly upon their mules, and other beasts of burden, and stand, as at the place of starting, ready to march; when also they set fire to their camp, and this they do because it will be easy for them to erect another camp, and that it may not ever be of use to their enemies. Then do the trumpets give a sound the third time, that they are to go out, in order to excite those that on any account are a little tardy, that so no one may be out of his rank when the army marches. Then does the crier stand at the general's right hand, and asks them thrice, in their own tongue, whether they be now ready to go out to war or not? To which they reply as often, with a loud and cheerful voice, saying, "We are ready." And this they do almost before the question is asked them: they do this as filled with a kind of martial fury, and at the same time that they so cry out, they lift up their right hands also. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 3,5,4 In comparison, the Jewish revolt was poorly organised, poorly controlled, and only excited by fervour with no military preparation nor any expertise in proper war. The Roman army was composed of three legions (about 15,000) of very experienced warriors, a cavalry, and many auxiliaries from foreign recruit, as well as a vast number of defectors from the Jewish nation. In total, Vespasian’s army was strong of 60,000 fighters. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3827 – 67 CE – The siege and fall of Jotapata One of the first fortresses to fall to the Romans was Jotapata (modern day Yodfat) in Galilee. At first, many assaults and catapultes and a great ram used against the city did not succeed to reduce the Jewish fighters’ determination: And here a certain Jew appeared worthy of our relation and commendation; he was the son of Sameas, and was called Eleazar, and was born at Saab, in Galilee. This man took up a stone of a vast bigness, and threw it down from the wall upon the ram, and this with so great a force, that it broke off the head of the engine. He also leaped down, and took up the head of the ram from the midst of them, and without any concern carried it to the top of the wall, and this while he stood as a fit mark to he pelted by all his enemies. Accordingly, he received the strokes upon his naked body, and was wounded with five darts; nor did he mind any of them while he went up to the top of the wall, where he stood in the sight of them all, as an instance of the greatest boldness; after which he drew himself on a heap with his wounds upon him, and fell down together with the head of the ram. Next to him, two brothers showed their courage; their names were Netir and Philip, both of them of the village Ruma, and both of them Galileans also; these men leaped upon the soldiers of the tenth legion, and fell upon the Romans with such a noise and force as to disorder their ranks, and to put to flight all upon whomsoever they made their assaults. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 3,7,21 During this siege, Vespasian was slightly wounded in his foot: A certain Jew that defended the city from the Romans hit Vespasian with a dart in his foot, and wounded him a little, the distance being so great, that no mighty impression could be made by the dart thrown so far off. However, this caused the greatest disorder among the Romans; for when those who stood near him saw his blood, they were disturbed at it, and a report went abroad, through the whole army, that the general was wounded, while the greatest part left the siege, and came running together with surprise and fear to the general; and before them all came Titus, out of the concern he had for his father, insomuch that the multitude were in great confusion, and this out of the regard they had for their general, and by reason of the agony that the son was in. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 3,7,22



After this incident, and out of revenge for their general, the Romans fought with greater vigour. The fight continued into the month of Sivan (May-June). At that time, the besieged people were in want of water supply, and it was the hot season. On the 47th day of siege, the Roman army was preparing itself for the final assault led by Titus himself. The city was long depleted of its people, who died from earlier assaults. For the Romans, it was a time of revenge after having enduring such a long resistance: And for the Romans, they so well remembered what they had suffered during the siege, that they spared none, nor pitied any, but drove the people down the precipice from the citadel, and slew them as they drove them down; at which time the difficulties of the place hindered those that were still able to fight from defending themselves; for as they were distressed in the narrow streets, and could not keep their feet sure along the precipice, they were overpowered with the crowd of those that came fighting them down from the citadel. This provoked a great many, even of those chosen men that were about Josephus, to kill themselves with their own hands; for when they saw that they could kill none of the Romans, they resolved to prevent being killed by the Romans, and got together in great numbers in the utmost parts of the city, and killed themselves. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 3,7,34 After killing all the remaining males and sending women and children captive, Vespasian ordered the destruction of the city: So Vespasian gave order that the city should be entirely demolished, and all the fortifications burnt down. And thus was Jotapata taken, in the thirteenth year of the reign of Nero, on the first day of the month Panemus [Tammuz]. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 3,7,36 As of Josephus, his account of what happened to him may be subject to controversy considering that most fighters preferred to kill themselves rather than be subjected to the anger of the Romans after such a long siege. He would have expected the worst punishment from the soldiery. He however explained that he and others managed to hide themselves in a hole when the city was taken, and were discovered after three days. He was offered protection from the vengeance of the soldiers to be taken to Vespasian who, apparently, was determined to preserve a man of his courage (Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 3,8,2). But his companions were desirious to die to to have Josephus die with them. They drew cast and killed themselves one after the other but, owing to chance or providence, Josephus ended up to be the last one with another man who he convinced to remain alive with him. Josephus finally gave himself up to Vespasian with the goal to tell future generations what would happen in this war. For this, we can agree that he had succeeded as he gave to the Posterity an invaluable account of the events that led to the destruction of the Jewish nation. Josephus later adopted a Roman name, Flavius Josephus, in honor to Vespasian, Flavia being the name of his family. Vespasian will later create the Flavius dynasty which will give three emperors between the years 69 and 96. In fact, Josephus stated that he announced to Vespasian that he will become emperor: When he had said this, Vespasian at present did not believe him, but supposed that Josephus said this as a cunning trick, in order to his own preservation; but in a little time he was convinced, and believed what he said to be true, God himself erecting his expectations, so as to think of obtaining the empire, and by other signs fore-showing his advancement. He also found Josephus to have spoken truth on other occasions; for one of those friends that were present at that secret conference said to Josephus, "I cannot but wonder how you could not foretell to the people of Jotapata that they should be taken, nor could foretell this captivity which has happened to yourself, unless what you now say be a vain thing, in order to avoid the rage that is risen against yourself." To which Josephus replied, "I did foretell to the people of Jotapata that they would be taken on the forty-seventh day, and that I should be caught alive by the Romans." Now when Vespasian had inquired of the captives privately about these predictions, he found them to be true, and then he begun to believe those that concerned him. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 3,8,9 This explanation seems to have been known by Roman historians who may have repeated Josephus’ words: But in addition a Jew named Josephus, who had previously been disliked by him [Vespasian] and imprisoned, gave a laugh and said: "You may imprison me now, but a year later when you become emperor you will release me." --- Cassius Dio, Roman History, volume 66, section 1 The excavations at the site of Jotapata in the years 1992-2000 revealed signs of battle, a large mass grave with many human bones, as well as a nefesh stone, which was probably carved as a memorial by one of the fighters for the city about to fall. The troubling detail is that his author carved a crab on the stone, which represents the month of Tammuz. And the city indeed fell the first of that month (corresponding to the 30 June 67), and not earlier. Maybe this is a testimonial of Josephus’ prediction to his war companions of the time when the city will only. A memorial has been placed at the site to commemorate the heroic resistance of the city, with the engravings found on the nefesh stone, a Roman machine of war depicting the siege and the crab.



Memorial for the fighters of Jotapata After the fall of Jotapata, Vespasian went to the city of Caesaria, leaving his army to rest after the long siege. The heat was at its peak. Vespasian was a patient commander and favoured the idea that the rest of the nation may change its mind to fight after the fall of their stronghold of Galilee. But Jerusalem became enraged when they finally learned the news that their northern commander, Josephus, had given himslef up to the enemies and was well treated. Meanwhile Vespasian pursued his conquest of Galilee around the lake of Tiberias until the month of Tishri (about September). More and more Jewish fugitives flocked into Jerusalem. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3828 – 68 CE – The regime of Terror Maybe in a plan to restore order and reconcile matters with the Romans, Ananus son of Ananus, the same prior high priest who had condemned James, the brother of Jesus, to stoning, incited the people of Jerusalem to raise against the religious Zealots who had previously taken control over the Temple from the aristocratic Sadducees. Assuming Ananus was going to receive support from the Romans, the Zealots called in the Idumeans (Edomites) to help them keep the city against Ananus’ designs. After defeating the Sadduccees forces, the Idumeans poured into the city , killed the priests and Ananus, and also killed many of the ordinary people by installing a regime of Terror: Now after these were slain, the zealots and the multitude of the Idumeans fell upon the people as upon a flock of profane animals, and cut their throats; and for the ordinary sort, they were destroyed in what place soever they caught them. But for the noblemen and the youth, they first caught them and bound them, and shut them up in prison, and put off their slaughter, in hopes that some of them would turn over to their party; but not one of them would comply with their desires, but all of them preferred death before being enrolled among such wicked wretches as acted against their own country. But this refusal of theirs brought upon them terrible torments; for they were so scourged and tortured, that their bodies were not able to sustain their torments, till at length, and with difficulty, they had the favor to be slain. Those whom they caught in the day time were slain in the night, and then their bodies were carried out and thrown away, that there might be room for other prisoners; and the terror that was upon the people was so great, that no one had courage enough either to weep openly for the dead man that was related to him, or to bury him. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 4,5,3 The circumstance is quite similar to what occurred during the French Revolution when, in September 1792, the factions in Paris went on killing the priests, then the upper class of people, and even the ordinary people who would not rally them, after rumours had spread of an imminent foreign invasion supported from the inside by the priests and the aristocrats. The pattern seems common to all popular uprising, with a combination of rumours, threats, perception of imminent danger and revenge. The Zealots, like the French much later in History, went on establishing a regime of Terror and tribunals to judge suspected people and condemn them to death: And now these zealots and Idumeans were quite weary of barely killing men, so they had the impudence of setting up fictitious tribunals and judicatures for that purpose. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 4,5,4 Some of the Roman commanders thought it a good opportunity to attack the city, while the Jews were so divided. But Vespasian preferred to be cautious and preferred to wait for the internal feuds to destroy their enemies rather than attacking too early and causing them rather to unite again. To the common saying that “triumph without peril brings no glory”, Josephus had this to say: If any one imagines that the glory of victory, when it is gotten without fighting, will be more insipid, let him know this much, that a glorious success, quietly obtained, is more profitable than the dangers of a battle; for we ought to esteem these that do what is agreeable to temperance and prudence no less glorious than those that have gained great reputation by their actions in war: that he shall lead on his army with greater force when their enemies are diminished, and his own http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g32-jewish-war.html (7 of 11) [6/11/2013 11:38:41 AM]


army refreshed after the continual labors they had undergone. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 4,6,2 The show of temperance from the Roman general also proved beneficial to the Romans because the Jews could see that escaping the city would not put their life in danger. At the contrary, the Romans were now eager to see this desertion happening as much as possible, to facilitate their attack when time would come. But the Zealots did not make these escapes from the city so easy: And indeed many there were of the Jews that deserted every day, and fled away from the zealots, although their flight was very difficult, since they had guarded every passage out of the city, and slew every one that was caught at them, as taking it for granted they were going over to the Romans; yet did he who gave them money get clear off, while he only that gave them none was voted a traitor. So the upshot was this, that the rich purchased their flight by money, while none but the poor were slain. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 4,6,3 ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3828 – 68 CE – Johanan ben Zakkai The head of the Sanhedrin, the nassi Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel, was already very old. He passed the religious leadership to Johanan ben Zakkai in order to save the spirituality from destruction in the city which was doomed. The religious leaders had understood that God’s spirit had left the sanctuary, and this rendered the Temple as inert as mere stones. Johanan left the city, hidden in a coffin to avoid suspicion from the factions who ruled the city by terror. His disciples followed his "coffin" to carry out his burial outside the city walls. When safe, he asked authorization from Vespasian to go and create a school institution outside Jerusalem. This was granted to him and he went to open the religious school of Yavneh. (Talmud, Gittin, 56b) His tomb is located in the old cemetary of Tiberias, near the tomb of Maimonides. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3829 – 69 CE – Rome after Nero In the spring time of 69, Vespasian endeavoured to conquer other parts of the region against the sedition. He took Gadara (also called Jarash) in the Decapolis (near the present city of Umm Qais in north-west of Jordan) and returned to Caesarea while the rest of the army, commanded by Trajan, pursued the campaign along the Jordan River until the Dead Sea: Now this destruction that fell upon the Jews, as it was not inferior to any of the rest in itself, so did it still appear greater than it really was; and this, because not only the whole country through which they fled was filled with slaughter, and Jordan could not be passed over, by reason of the dead bodies that were in it, but because the lake Asphaltiris [the Dead Sea] was also full of dead bodies, that were carried down into it by the river. And now Placidus, after this good success that he had, fell violently upon the neighboring smaller cities and villages; when he took Abila, and Julias, and Bezemoth, and all those that lay as far as the lake Asphaltitis, and put such of the deserters into each of them as he thought proper. He then put his soldiers on board the ships, and slew such as had fled to the lake, insomuch that all Perea had either surrendered themselves or were taken by the Romans, as far as Macherus. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 4,7,6 The campaign lasted until the month of Sivan (about June) when Vespasian joined Trajan in Jericho. This clotured the campaign of which result was that the Romans controlled all Judea except the city of Jerusalem, and some other strongholds such as Hebron, Herodium, Masada[3] and Macherus. In Jerusalem, the Zealots still endeavoured to prevent people from leaving the city, by fear that they would help the Romans, and the latter started to surround the region of the city from all sides. Meanwhile Vespasian returned to Caesaria and learned there that Nero had died in June of the previous year, and that Galba, the governor of one of the provinces in Spain, had been named emperor. Vespasian halted the preparations to attack Jerusalem and sent his son Titus to Rome to great the new rulerand obtain his orders concerning the campaign against the Jews. But when Titus reached Greece, he further learned that Galba had been murdered after 7 months and that Otho took the charge of emperor, although this was now challenged by Vitellius. Instead of proceeding further to Rome, Titus returned to Caesarea near his father: And now they were both in suspense about the public affairs, the Roman empire being then in a fluctuating condition, and did not go on with their expedition against the Jews, but thought that to make any attack upon foreigners was now unseasonable, on account of the solicitude they were in for their own country. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 4,9,2 When the Roman army in Judea learned about the affairs in their homeland, in June 69, they openly declared that Vitellius nor any other Roman commander had no more right than Vespasian to become emperor. Vespasian was older and had lived a longer life of war compared to any of the military prentenders. So they declared Vespasian to be the emperor ! At first, Vespasian considered the possibility to go to Egypt and add to his army the two legions camped there. He sent an emissary to Tiberius Alexander, the Roman governor of Egypt, for backing. Meanwhile the news spread from Judea that he had been declared emperor by his own army.



The Roman Empire during the Year of the Four Emperors ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3829 – 69 CE – Simon Bar Giora The halt of the Roman operations in Judea led to further sedition among the Jews. Simon son of Giora formed an army from the Sicarii of Masada then took over many villages in the region, and made no secret that he intended to take Jerusalem from the Zealots. But first Simon marched into Idumea and took the city of Hebron, the ancient Mamre: Now the people of the country say that it is an ancienter city, not only than any in that country, but than Memphis in Egypt, and accordingly its age is reckoned at two thousand and three hundred years. They also relate that it had been the habitation of Abram, the progenitor of the Jews, after he had removed out of Mesopotamia; and they say that his posterity descended from thence into Egypt, whose monuments are to this very time showed in that small city; the fabric of which monuments are of the most excellent marble, and wrought after the most elegant manner. There is also there showed, at the distance of six furlongs from the city, a very large turpentine tree and the report goes, that this tree has continued ever since the creation of the world. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 4,9,7 The mention of the city being as old as 2300 years is not far off the truth because Seth, son of Noah, settled there after the Flood which occurred in Hebrew Year 1656. As of the “turpentine tree”, it must have instead be a “terebinth tree” as those under which Abraham had set his tents,[4] and where he received the visits of the messengers who came to announce that his wife Sarah would give birth to a son a year later.[5] In the middle of the 19th century, there was still such a large tree called by the locals the “Oak of Abraham”, as witnessed by several travellers who published a journal of their visit to the Holy Land. And the remains of this ancient tree still exist today in the old part of the city of Hebron.



The Oak of Abraham in Hebron (engraving, 1886) Later on, Simon was admitted in the city of jerusalem, in the month of Nisan, as a saviour against the terror imposed by the Zealots. He took the city but the Zealots still occupied the Temple, despite the attacks from Simon’s men. Josephus gave an account of their defense system: However, a considerable number of Simon's party fell, and many were carried off wounded; for the zealots threw their darts easily from a superior place, and seldom failed of hitting their enemies; but having the advantage of situation, and having withal erected four very large towers aforehand, that their darts might come from higher places, one at the northeast corner of the court, one above the Xystus, the third at another corner over against the lower city, and the last was erected above the top of the Pastophoria, where one of the priests stood of course, and gave a signal beforehand, with a trumpet at the beginning of every seventh day, in the evening twilight, as also at the evening when that day was finished, as giving notice to the people when they were to leave off work, and when they were to go to work again. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 4,9,12 This account is interesting because it mentions that the priest in charge of sounding the horn at the beginning and the end of every Shabbat stood on the eastern corner of the Temple Mount, what Josephus called the Pastophoria, as normally being the eastern side of temples and later of churches too. A stone that had fallen from the Temple after the destruction by the Romans in 70, and found in the south-west corner during excavations, bears a sentence about this role of the priest there.

Carved inscription on a stone fallen from the Temple This stone, like other stones found during the excavations, may have been carried from the south-eastern side dorner of the Temple, which was destroyed by the Romans, to the south-western side at a later time when Byzantines or Muslims would build their palace on the southern side of the Temple mouth. They would have cleared the rubble of the Roman destruction and pushed it to the other corner, where the Western Wall still stood. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3829 – 69 CE – Vespasian imperator In Rome, the power struggle between Otho and Vitellius turned to the latter’s advantage. Otho committed suicide to avoid further bloodshed of troops and Vitellius became emperor. But Vitellius did not get the popular support he hoped for. It was about this time that Vespasian revealed to his officers the prediction that Josephus enounced, and proposed to set him at liberty: After that he [Vespasian] related those predictions of his [Josephus] which he had then suspected as fictions, suggested out of the fear he was in, but which had by time been demonstrated to be Divine. "It is a shameful thing (said he) that this man, who hath foretold my coming to the empire beforehand, and been the minister of a Divine message to me, should still be retained in the condition of a captive or prisoner." So he called for Josephus, and commanded that he should be set at liberty; whereupon the commanders promised themselves glorious things, froth this requital Vespasian made to a stranger. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 4,10,7 Then, when Vespasian had received assurances from both the Syrian province and the Egyptian province, where he went



to after Antioch, were backing him as emperor, he decided to send an army to Rome to defend his claim. The time was right to cast the dice because Vitellius was already losing popularity when the news spread to Rome that Vespasian had been acclaimed as emperor by the army of the East. Being aware of his own lack of popularity, Vitellius was prepared to abandon his claim. But, when Vespasian’s army entered Rome, the soldiers dragged him to the infamous Gemonian stairs where they executed him. They also killed his brother and his son to prevent any further claim from their family. The Senate then proclaimed Vespasian as enperor in December 69, while he was still in Alexandria. He arrived to Rome in the middle of 70, and started the Flavian dynasty of emperors.

Vespasian “Fortuna Augusta” golden coin ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1] Although the usual translations of Josephus text mention the month of Iyar, the one stated by Josephus is Artemisins which is not a Greek month per se, but refers to the Greek month of Elaphebolion when the Greeks honoured their god Artemis; this month corresponds to March/April timeframe in our modern calendars, thus the Hebrew month of Nisan [2a] The name Meir is written ‫ ריאמ‬in Hebrew, and the name Rome is written ‫ ;אמור‬there is no difference in the numerical values of these names because the letters ‫ יא‬of Meir have changed in the letters ‫ או‬of Rome, both having a total of 11 (10+1 in one case, and 5+6 in the other); so it seems that Rabbi Meir chose his Hebrew name as derived from the name Rome [2b] For example in Berachot 10a when she changed Rabbi Meir’s opinion [2c] Galileans had the reputation, in the eyes of the Judeans, to be rather ignorant of the Scriptures; this reputation stemmed from the fact that they had been too easy to adopt the Greek culture, unlike the Judeans who opposed it [2d] This is a learning that is in the Talmud [Avoth, Mishna I,5]; the Mishna was not written down at the time of Rabbi Meir and Beruriah, but the lessons were obviously known to the Sages (the Oral Law) before they came to be compiled down in writing (the Talmud) [3] This fortress was then held by the Sicarii who used it as their main refuge [4] Genesis 13:18: And Abram moved his tent and came and dwelt by the terebinths of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the Lord [5] Genesis 18:1: And the Lord appeared unto him [Abraham] by the terebinths of Mamre as he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day Go to >> Part IV Next generation Top of Page






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Generation 23

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Contact What is new Year 2699 – 1061 BCE – King Saul Index of names Creation

Samuel the Prophet had two sons, Joel and Abijah, and he named them both as judges in Beer-Sheba, in the south of the land of Canaan. And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted justice. --- I Samuel 8:3

Generations The Israelites had huge respect for Samuel as a leader but were worried of his sons. History could just repeat itself after the disaster caused by the two corrupt sons of the High Priest Eli. So they asked the Prophet to elect a king among the people 1-14 to command over the entire land. After having tried and failed for many generations with 12 judges to bring back the Generations Israelites into His commandments, God accepted their wish and advised Himself the Prophet Samuel upon the choice of the person to be king: 15-21 Generations 22-28 Generations 29-35

Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah, the son of a Benjamite, a mighty man of valour. And he had a son, whose name was Saul, young and goodly, and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people. --- I Samuel 9:1-2

Generations http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g23-kingdom.html (1 of 20) [6/11/2013 11:39:00 AM]


36-49 Generation 50

http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g23-kingdom.html (2 of 20) [6/11/2013 11:39:00 AM]


Samuel anoints Saul (Gustave Doré, 1868) But Saul only reigned two years over the Israelites (I Samuel 13:1) as he proved to be a disappointment to God and Samuel. So, during all his reign, he never had rest from the arch-enemy, the Philistines (I Samuel 14:52). God instructed Saul to go and destroy all the Amalekites and all their belongings. But Saul’s greed made him spare the best he could find among these enemies and keep them as spoils. Because of that, the descendants of Amalek will continue to cause huge damage to the Israelites in their History. One example will be Haman in Persia, and even probably Hitler in Germany ! This disobedience caused God to regret having chosen Saul as a king. Samuel passed onto Saul the divine displeasure: And Saul said unto Samuel: "Yea, I have hearkened to the voice of the Lord, and have gone the way which the Lord sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the devoted things, to sacrifice unto the Lord your God in Gilgal." And Samuel said: "Has the Lord as great delight in burnt-offerings and sacrifices, as in hearkening to the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as idolatry and teraphim. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has also rejected you from being king." --- I Samuel 15:20-24





King Saul executes Agag king of Amalek (Gustave Doré, 1868) From this time, Samuel had no more involvement with Saul. God instructed the Prophet to go and anoint David instead. He was the youngest and 8th son of Jesse, from Beth-Lehem in Judah. Now he [David] was ruddy, and withal of beautiful eyes, and goodly to look upon. --- I Samuel 16:12 From this secret anointment, God placed an evil spirit in Saul’s mind to terrify him. His servants brought David to play the harp for the king, and appease his mind. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2700 – 1060 BCE – David and Goliath The Philistines were the only Canaanite people left who continued to oppress the Israelites. The Philistines were assembled at the borders of Judah, in the Valley of Elah. From there, a giant Philistine, Goliath from the city of Gath,[1] was provoking during 40 days the Israelite army camped on the opposite hill of Azekah. Similarly for the punishment of the explorers, when God associated one day of their mission for one year of punishment in desert, here again the correspondence of days and years to 40 can be noted. It was finally David, armed with a sling and stones, who managed to kill Goliath from a single stone.



David kills Goliath (Gustave Doré, 1868) The Philistine army was shocked and fled away back to their cities. After such exploit, David was accepted in the royal house and befriended Jonathan, one of Saul’s sons. Also, Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved David and became his wife. But jealousy rose in Saul’s mind against the rising star: And there was war again; and David went out, and fought with the Philistines, and slew them with a great slaughter; and they fled before him. And an evil spirit from the Lord was upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand; and David was playing with his hand. And Saul sought to smite David even to the wall with the spear; but he slipped away out of Saul's presence, and he smote the spear into the wall; and David fled, and escaped that night. --- I Samuel 19:8-10 ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2701 – 1059 BCE – Death of Samuel the Prophet http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g23-kingdom.html (6 of 20) [6/11/2013 11:39:00 AM]


Samuel the Prophet died rather young, although the Biblical text seems to mention that he was already old before having anointed Saul: And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel. --- I Samuel 8:1 But the text actually doesn’t imply what has been used by translators, because it doesn’t actually use the normal form to designate the person was old of age, for example for Joshua. In the case of Samuel, the Hebrew sentence

‫רֶׁשֲאַּכ‬

‫ לֵאּומְׁש ןֵקָז‬should have been translated as when Samuel got old. What is the difference? Samuel got old because he aged too early, by the cause of his inability to redress his sons, as his predecessor Eli had morally suffered. In both cases, both their sons were corrupt, and this caused sorrow and ageing to their fathers. Eli did die old, because he started to judge after his father, and he was then already 58 years old. But for Samuel, the cause of the ageing is directly mentioned in the rest of the same sentence: he made his sons judges, and they became corrupt. Further the text emphasized the matter again when the Elders came to meet Sanuel in Ramah, the city where he lived, and they also connected his ageing with the corruption of his two sons: And they said unto him: "Behold, you got old, and your sons did not walk in your ways; now make us a king to judge us like all the nations." --- I Samuel 8:5 So, if Samuel did not actually die old, how long did he live? His mother Hannah came to Shiloh and made a vow in the year that Eli became the priest. She gave birth in that same Hebrew year, nine months after the vow (this would be the following year in CE calendar). As Samuel died some short time before Saul, he died at about 53 years of age. The text however mentions that he judged Israel all the days of his life. As he was born to be dedicated to God by his mother’s vow, all the days of his life means that he was chosen by God as a judge from birth, as it was the case for the judge Samson. Samuel was buried in his city of Ramah (I Samuel 28:3). According to tradition, this city was located on a height facing Jerusalem, where a building has been raised as the tomb of Prophet Samuel, Nebi Samwil in Arabic.



Tomb of Samuel the Prophet (source: a tourist web site) It is worth noting the case of father-son issues: Eli was the priest but his two sons deviated from God. And before Eli, Aaron himself lost his two sons when they desobeyed God’s commandment. Samuel was also disappointed in the way that his two sons turned into corruption, despite being nominated as judges by their father. As of David, we will see that his son Absalom rebelled against him. And for King Solomon, the dispute between his two sons would cause the Israelites to divide between two kingdoms. ~~~~~~~~~~ http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g23-kingdom.html (8 of 20) [6/11/2013 11:39:00 AM]


Year 2701 – 1059 BCE – Slaughter of Ahimelech and all the priests Saul sought to kill David. The latter went into hiding to avoid Saul’s men sent after him. Before running away, David met with Ahimelech the Priest of Nob who gave him the sword of Goliath that had been kept in the sanctuary. But, among the men present was a foreigner, Doeg the Edomite, who was at the service of Saul. He soon brought to the king the intelligence of this meeting, but lied to Saul about the reason for David’s visit, who had only come to find food: Then answered Doeg the Edomite, who was set over the servants of Saul, and said: "I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub. And he inquired of the Lord for him, and gave him victuals, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.'" Then the king sent to call Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father's house, the priests that were in Nob; and they came all of them to the king. And Saul said: "Hear now, you son of Ahitub." And he answered: "Here I am, my lord." And Saul said unto him: "Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, in that you have given him bread, and a sword, and have inquired of God for him, that he should rise against me, to lie in wait, as at this day?'" Then Ahimelech answered the king, and said: "And who among all your servants is so trusted as David, who is the king's son-in-law, and gives heed unto your bidding, and is honourable in your house? Have I today begun to inquire of God for him? be it far from me; let not the king impute anything unto his servant, nor to all the house of my father; for your servant knows nothing of all this, less or more." And the king said: "You shall surely die, Ahimelech, you, and all your father's house." And the king said unto the guard that stood about him: "Turn, and slay the priests of the Lord; because their hand also is with David, and because they knew that he fled, and did not disclose it to me." But the servants of the king would not put forth their hand to fall upon the priests of the Lord. And the king said to Doeg: "Turn you, and fall upon the priests." And Doeg the Edomite turned, and he fell upon the priests, and he slew on that day fourscore and five persons that did wear a linen ephod. And Nob, the city of the priests, smote he with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and sucklings, and oxen and asses and sheep, with the edge of the sword.[2] And one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped, and fled after David. And Abiathar told David that Saul had slain the Lord’s priests. And David said unto Abiathar: "I knew on that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul; I have brought about the death of all the persons of your father's house. Abide you with me, fear not; for he that seeks my life seeks your life; for with me you shall be in safeguard." --- I Samuel 22:9-23 Who was Ahimelech? When Eli and his son Phinehas died 13 years earlier, in Hebrew year 2688, the heir for the priesthood was just born on that day. He was called Ichabod by his mother who died when giving birth to him. Since the Ark had been taken by the Philistines, and later was hosted in the city of Kiriath-Jearim, the priests service was passed onto the family branch of Ithamar son of Aaron, who was residing in the city of Nob where they arranged a sanctuary. http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g23-kingdom.html (9 of 20) [6/11/2013 11:39:00 AM]


Ahimelech was the head of that family of Levites. Ichabod, the heir of the branch of Eleazar son of Aaron, was only 12 years old when Ahimelech and his sons were murdered by orders of King Saul. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2701 – 1059 BCE – Death of King Saul David ultimately found refuge in the south, in the wilderness of Paran, with 600 followers (I Samuel 25:1). It was in the land of the Philistines, where he dwelt for one year and four months. While David in their territory, the Philistines waged another war against King Saul. The battle, at the feet of Mount Gilboa in Southern Galilee, was won by the Philistines. Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa. And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchishua, the sons of Saul And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers overtook him; and he was in great anguish by reason of the archers. Then said Saul to his armour-bearer: "Draw your sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and make a mock of me." But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took his sword, and fell upon it. --- I Samuel 31:1-4



Death of King Saul - by Elie Macuse, 1848 (Tel Aviv Museum of Art) One of Saul’s sons, Ish-Bosheth, was alive and 40 years old at that time. Abner, the chief of Saul’s army, who was a relative of the royal family, proclaimed Ish-Bosheth king of Israel. But, in Judah, the people proclaimed David as their king (II Samuel 2:8-9). A civil war ensued but the house of David grew stronger over time. http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g23-kingdom.html (11 of 20) [6/11/2013 11:39:00 AM]


~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2703 – 1057 BCE – Death of Abner The civil war lasted two years, until the death of Abner in Hebron. He came to broker a peace with David, and peace was accepted. But Joab, the army chief of David, deceived Abner to come back to Hebron, without David’s knowing about it, and smote him in revenge for the previous death of Asahel, Joab’s brother (II Samuel 3:30). Soon after Abner’s death, Ish-Bosheth, who was a weak man, was assassinated by two of his followers (II Samuel 4:5-6), but the other tribes of Israel would still not accept David as their king who was still confined to the rule over Judah. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2708 – 1052 BCE – End of the yoke of the Philistines The yoke of the Philistines continued over the following years against Israel, until the Israelites finally decided to elect David as king over all the tribes. This is when the Philistines decided to stop their wars against Israel, 40 years after having started them as the Biblical stated it (Judges 13:1). Like for the 40 years spent in the desert by the Hebrew ancestors to pay for their sins, it was time again for the Israelites to be relieved from their oppressors. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2708 – 1052 BCE – King David The Tribes of Israel finally decided to elect David as their king: Then came all the tribes of Israel to David unto Hebron, and spoke, saying: "Behold, we are your bone and your flesh. In times past, when Saul was king over us, it was you who did lead out and bring in Israel; and the Lord said to you: 'You shall feed My people Israel, and you shall be prince over Israel.'" So all the elders of Israel came to the king to Hebron; and King David made a covenant with them in Hebron before the Lord; and they anointed David king over Israel. David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years. In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months; and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty and three years over all Israel and Judah. --- II Samuel 5:1-5 The census of armed men in the kingdom at the time of David’s rule over all the tribes was as follows (I Chronicles 12:24-41): http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g23-kingdom.html (12 of 20) [6/11/2013 11:39:00 AM]


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Judah: 6,800 Simeon: 7,100 Levi: 4,600 ; their leader was Jehoiada Benjamin: 3,000 ; he tribe had been down to 1,000 armed men after the civil war Ephraim: 20,800 Half of Manasseh: 18,000 Issachar: 200 leaders (so probably about 7,500 men) Zebulun: 50,000 Naphtali: 1,000 leaders and 37,000 men Dan: 28,600 Asher: 40,000 East side of the Jordan River (Reuben, Gad, other half Manasseh): 120,000

These numbers represented a total of about 350,000 men of war. But making a census of the Israelites would be considered as bad omen since these days because it is said: And Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to number Israel. --- I Chronicles 21:1 It is necessary to explain though that there is no "bad god" called Satan in the Jewish religion: Satan is rather referring to bad feeling, or bad behaviour, etc. David’s first act was to establish a new capital for the kingdom, instead of reigning over the Judean capital in Hebron. For this purpose he chose a city which didn't belong to any tribe yet, so that no dispute would arise about an act of preference of one tribe over the others. He considered the city of the Jebusites, situated on a hill in what will become the city of Jerusalem, at the border between the territories of Judah and Benjamin, to be the best choice as it would also heal the feud about kingship between the houses of Judah and Benjamin. He took the city of the Jebusites by finding a water tunnel leading to it from the Gihon Spring. He renamed the city as “City of David” (II Samuel 5:8-9). The second act was to bring the Ark of Covenant in the new city (II Samuel 6:12). Sometime later he expressed to the Prophet Nathan the wish to build a proper building for the Ark, a house of cedar, but God made it clear He didn’t need such thing: And it came to pass the same night, that the word of the Lord came unto Nathan, saying: "Go and tell My servant David: Thus says the Lord: 'Shall you build Me a house for Me to dwell in? for I have not dwelt in a house since the day that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle. In all places wherein I have walked among all the children of Israel, spoke I a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed My people Israel, saying: Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?' http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g23-kingdom.html (13 of 20) [6/11/2013 11:39:00 AM]


--- II Samuel 7:4-7 ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2718 – 1042 BCE – David and Bathsheba Later in his reign, David desired a woman called Bathsheba (or Bath-Sheba), married to Uriah the Hittite. He commanded Joab, his army chief, to send Uriah to the frontline to get him killed. And so it happened. Then David took Bath-Sheba as wife, and she begot a first son who died, from divine judgment about David’s sin. But David genuinely loved Bath-Sheba and comforted her about her loss. She begot another son called Solomon. This one found grace in the eyes of God, and lived (II Samuel 12:24).



David and Bathsheba (Jean-Léon Gérôme, 1889, The Atheneum) ~~~~~~~~~~ http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g23-kingdom.html (15 of 20) [6/11/2013 11:39:00 AM]


Year 2734 – 1019 BCE – The rape of Tamar Tamar was one of the daughters of King David, from his marriage with Maacah, the daughter of the king of Geshur of the Arameans. She was loved by her half-brother, Amnon, the eldest son of David from his marriage with Ahinoam from Jezreel. As she refused his advance, he raped her, and then misbehaved towards her. This act angered Absalom, Tamar’s sister, who took revenge against Amnon two years later by having him killed. Absalom then fled from David’s anger and found refuge during 3 years to the foreign land of his mother in Geshur. Eventually David forgives him and Absalom is allowed back in Jerusalem, but never to show himself to the king. Absalom was praised for his beauty and his long hair. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2741 – 1019 BCE – The rebellion of Absalom The last year of David’s reign was soured by the rebellion of his preferred son, Absalom, who declared himself king while his old father was still alive. A civil war threatened to get started but Joab, the army chief, killed Absalom who got caught by a tree because of his long hair. This put an end to the rebellion.



The tomb of Absalom in Jerusalem (A. Sargent, 1890) ~~~~~~~~~~ http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g23-kingdom.html (17 of 20) [6/11/2013 11:39:00 AM]


Year 2741 – 1019 BCE – King David chooses his son Solomon as his successor Towards the end of his reign, David had ordered Joab to number the Israelites in the age of war. Joab showed reluctance to do so, and came back with the figures of 800,000 men for Israel and 500,000 for Judah (II Samuel 24:9). He had missed to count some people in the census and this displeased David. In a later period, God will forbid to carry out censuses of the "children of Israel": Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered. --- Hosea 2:1 After the death of Absalom, Adonijah, the next heir in David’s lineage, started to act as if he would be king. He was supported by Joab, and also by Abiathar, the Priest from Ithamar branch who had escaped the slaughter of his father Ahimelech and the destruction of the sanctuary of Nob on Saul’s orders. But Zadok the Priest from Eleazar branch and Nathan the Prophet both sided with Solomon, the son David had with Bathsheba.. And King David said: 'Call me Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada.' And they came before the king. And the king said unto them: 'Take with you the servants of your lord, and cause Solomon my son to ride upon mine own mule, and bring him down to Gihon. And let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there king over Israel; and blow you with the horn, and say: Long live king Solomon. Then you shall come up after him, and he shall come and sit upon my throne; for he shall be king in my stead; and I have appointed him to be prince over Israel and over Judah.' --- I Kings 1:32-35 ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2741 – 1019 BCE – Death of King David David started to reign at the age of 30 after the death of King Saul. He first reigned over Judah for 7 years, and then over all Israel for 33 years. In total, he reigned for 40 years. Now these are the last words of David: The saying of David the son of Jesse, and the saying of the man rose on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet singer of Israel: The spirit of the Lord spoke by me, and His word was upon my tongue. The God of Israel said, The Rock of Israel spoke to me: 'Ruler over men shall be the righteous, even he that rules in the fear of God, and as the light of the morning, when the sun rises, a morning without clouds; when through clear shining after rain, the tender grass springs out of the earth.' For is not my house established with God? For an everlasting covenant He has made with me, ordered in all things, and sure; for all my salvation, and all my desire, will he not make it to grow? But the ungodly, they are as thorns thrust away, all of them, for they cannot be taken with the hand; http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g23-kingdom.html (18 of 20) [6/11/2013 11:39:00 AM]


but the man that touches them must be armed with iron and the staff of a spear; and they shall be utterly burned with fire in their place. --- II Samuel 23:1-7 When he got old, David had a last conversation with God: David said before the Holy One, blessed be He, ‘Sovereign of the Universe! Lord, make me to know my end.’ ‘It is a decree before Me,’ replied He, ‘that the end of a mortal is not made known.’ ‘And the measure of my days, what it is’-’it is a decree before Me that a person's span [of life] is not made known.’ ‘Let me know how frail I am.’ [Psalms 39:5] Said He to him. ‘You will die on the Sabbath.’ ‘Let me die on the first day of the week!’ ‘The reign of your son Solomon shall already have become due, and one reign may not overlap another even by a hairbreadth.’ ‘Then let me die on the eve of the Sabbath!’ Said He, ‘For a day in your courts is better than a thousand’:[32] better is to Me the one day that you sit and engage in learning than the thousand burnt-offerings which your son Solomon is destined to sacrifice before Me on the altar.’ --- Talmud, Shabbat, 30a This tells us about the power of studying the Scriptures. It is also said: Said Rabbi Joseph: A commandment protects and rescues while one is engaged upon it; but when one is no longer engaged upon it, it protects but does not rescue. As for [study of] Torah, whether while one is engaged upon it or not, it protects and rescues. --- Talmud, Sotah, 21a Before he died, David gave his last recommendations to his Son Solomon, to walk in God’s path. And David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David. --- I Kings, 2:10 ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1] He was six cubits and a span high, so about 3 meter high (I Samuel 17:4); this height may seem exaggerated but, although unusual, Herodotus also mentioned warriors of 5 cubits in height in his times (The History, vol.4, section 83) [2] Doeg the Edomite applied to the city of Nob the punishment that God had asked Saul to do to the Amalekites, killing all people and even animals from their city Go to >> Part III http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g23-kingdom.html (19 of 20) [6/11/2013 11:39:00 AM]








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Hebrew years 600 to 720 (3160-3040 BCE) Early Dynasty of Egypt in Abydos

What is new In year 622, Yered had a son he called Hanoch, born in the new Nile settlement. Index of names Creation Generations 114

Hanoch was five and sixty years old when he begot Metushalach. Hanoch walked in God’s path after the birth of Metushalach for three hundred years, and he begot sons and daughters. --- Genesis 5:21-22

Metushalach was born in year 687, when Hanoch decided to move away from the culture that prevailed then in Egypt and to walk in God’s path. What happened? Generations 15From its Early Dynasty, Ancient Egypt had started a new practice of human 21 sacrifice that would later become a norm in other civilizations under their influence, such as the Canaanites. It is possible that Hanoch was asked to sacrifice his son Generations 22Metushalach and that he refused. This caused him to move away from the 28 abominable society, a decision that put him in trouble with the rulers of Egypt. Generations 29The archaeological evidence of human sacrifice in the Early Dynasty of Egypt was 35 found in the ruins of Abydos, the first capital and one of the oldest cities there. But the practice seems to have completely disappeared from Ancient Egypt from about Generations 362800 BCE.[1] 49 Generation 50

Human sacrifice in the Early Dynasty of Egypt



Hanoch Hanoch was the first man since the Creation to truly walk in the path of God. He represented the 7th human generation since Adam (1-Adam > 2-Seth > 3-Enosh > 4Kenan > 5-Mahalalel > 6-Jared > 7-Hanoch). This number 7 is symptomatic of God's presence because the 7th day is the Shabbat, a day dedicated by God. So Hanoch had been inspired by God and represented the first divine attempt to awaken the human race to the path of God. Notes: [1] see Wikipedia







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Generation 32

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Year 3798 – 38 CE – The massacre of Alexandria

Flaccus Avilius had been appointed by Tiberius to rule over the Egyptian province at the beginning of his reign. In his time, the city of Alexandria in Egypt counted about one million Jews. Tensions were frequent between them and the Greeks. Creation This situation was a matter of concern for all Roman prefects. But Flaccus maintained order during the first five years of his rule. His attitude however changed after the death of his protector, Tiberius, in 37, when Flaccus learned that the Generations next emperor, Gaius Caligula, was seeking revenge against Tiberius’ clan and close friends. Flaccus was among them 1-14 and expected public trial followed by death. He consequently lost the spirit of managing public affairs in Egypt. Generations During the first few months of his reign, Caligula was considered as a moderate ruler, but he was sexually pervert and 15-21 was suspected of having intercourse with his sisters. There was surely some truth in it, as he became cruel and extravagant at the death of his preferred sister, Drusilla in 38 CE. It was at this time that Flaccus was convinced by Egyptian advisers Generations that his personal affairs would get better if he would show severity against the Jewish population of Alexandria. 22-28 His designs were reported by Philo, an Hellenistic Jew of Alexandria who had endeavoured to reconcile Greek philosophy Generations with Jewish tradition. First, pretexting a lack of respect from the Jews to the new emperor, Flaccus ordered the synagogues to be destroyed. He soon directed his decrees against the people themselves: 29-35 http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g32-agrippa.html (1 of 22) [6/11/2013 11:39:26 AM]


Generations 36-49 Generation 50

Since, therefore, the attempt which was being made to violate the law appeared to him to be prospering, while he was destroying the synagogues, and not leaving even their name, he proceeded onwards to another exploit, namely, the utter destruction of our constitution, that when all those things to which alone our life was anchored were cut away, namely, our national customs and our lawful political rights and social privileges, we might be exposed to the very extremity of calamity, without having any stay left to which we could cling for safety, for a few days afterwards he issued a notice in which he called us all foreigners and aliens, without giving us an opportunity of being heard in our own defence, but condemning us without a trial; and what command can be more full of tyranny than this? He himself being everything--accuser, enemy, witness, judge, and executioner, added then to the two former appellations a third also, allowing any one who was inclined to proceed to exterminate the Jews as prisoners of war. So when the people had received this license, what did they do? There are five districts in the city, named after the first five letters of the written alphabet, of these two are called the quarters of the Jews, because the chief portion of the Jews lives in them. There are also a few scattered Jews, but only a very few, living in some of the other districts. What then did they do? They drove the Jews entirely out of four quarters, and crammed them all into a very small portion of one;[1a] and by reason of their numbers they were dispersed over the sea-shore, and desert places, and among the tombs, being deprived of all their property; while the populace, overrunning their desolate houses, turned to plunder, and divided the booty among themselves as if they had obtained it in war. And as no one hindered them, they broke open even the workshops of the Jews, which were all shut up because of their mourning for Drusilla,[1b] and carried off all that they found there, and bore it openly through the middle of the market-place as if they had only been making use of their own property. And the cessation of business to which they were compelled to submit was even a worse evil than the plunder to which they were exposed, as the consequence was that those who had lent money lost what they had lent, and as no one was permitted, neither farmer, nor captain of a ship, nor merchant, nor artisan, to employ himself in his usual manner, so that poverty was brought on them from two sides at once, both from rapine, as when license was thus given to plunder them they were stripped of everything in one day, and also from the circumstance of their no longer being able to earn money by their customary occupations. --- Philo, Flaccus, VIII, 53-57 Then, on the birthday of Caligula, at the end of August, a general massacre was carried out in the portion of the city were the Jews had been crammed in: Some persons even, going still great and greater lengths in the iniquity and license of their barbarity, disdained all blunter weapons, and took up the most efficacious arms of all, fire and iron, and slew many with the sword, and destroyed not a few with flames. And the most merciless of all their persecutors in some instances burnt whole families, husbands with their wives, and infant children with their parents, in the middle of the city, sparing neither age nor youth, nor the innocent helplessness of infants. And when they had a scarcity of fuel, they collected faggots of green wood, and slew them by the smoke rather than by fire, contriving a still more miserable and protracted death for those unhappy people, so that their bodies lay about promiscuously in every direction half burnt, a grievous and most miserable sight. And if some of those who were employed in the collection of sticks were too slow, they took their own furniture, of which they had

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plundered them, to burn their persons, robbing them of their most costly articles, and burning with them things of the greatest use and value, which they used as fuel instead of ordinary timber. Many men too, who were alive, they bound by one foot, fastening them round the ankle, and thus they dragged them along and bruised them, leaping on them, designing to inflict the most barbarous of deaths upon them, and then when they were dead they raged no less against them with interminable hostility, and inflicted still heavier insults on their persons, dragging them, I had almost said, though all the alleys and lanes of the city, until the corpse, being lacerated in all its skin, and flesh, and muscles from the inequality and roughness of the ground, all the previously united portions of his composition being torn asunder and separated from one another, was actually torn to pieces. And those who did these things, mimicked the sufferers, like people employed in the representation of theatrical farces; but the relations and friends of those who were the real victims, merely because they sympathized with the misery of their relations, were led away to prison, were scourged, were tortured, and after all the ill treatment which their living bodies could endure, found the cross the end of all, and the punishment from which they could not escape. --- Philo, Flaccus, IX, 67-72 With such demonstrations of support to Caligula’s orders, Flaccus thought to escape from trial and death. But he was mistaken. He was eventually taken prisoner to Rome and executed there. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3798 – 38 CE – Marullus and Caligula Caligula appointed Marullus as prefect of Judea in 38 CE with orders to turn the Temple of Jerusalem into a Roman shrine and to place a statue of him, Emperor Caligula, in it. The statue was prepared and waited the order to be taken to Jerusalem. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3801 – 41 CE – Claudius Caligula was assassinated in 41, and the plan of his statue in Jerusalame was swiftly and wisely abandoned. Caligula was the first Roman emperor to be assassinated (Julius Caesar was assassinated too, but was not emperor but dictator). He was replaced by his uncle Claudius. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3801 – 41 CE – Agrippa king of Judea http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g32-agrippa.html (3 of 22) [6/11/2013 11:39:26 AM]


Claudius replaced Marullus by Agrippa, a Jewish prince from the Herodian family, who had been educated in Rome and who, owing to his earlier friendship with Caligula, had already been named king of some parts of Herod kingdom. In 41, Claudius made him King of Judea as well. In Rome, Claudius also adapted the rules regarding the Jewish population: In the matter of the Jews, who had again increased so greatly that by reason of their multitude it would have been hard without raising a tumult to bar them from the city, he decided not to drive them out, but ordered them to follow that mode of life prescribed by their ancestral custom and not to assemble in numbers.—The clubs instituted by Gaius [Caligula] he disbanded.—Also, seeing that there was no use in forbidding the populace to do certain things unless their daily life should be reorganized, he abolished the taverns where they were wont to gather and drink and commanded that no dressed meat nor warm water should be sold.[2] Some who disobeyed this ordinance were punished. --- Cassius Dio, Roman History, volume 60 The Jews in Rome were not the only ones to have increased in great number. In Judea, Agrippa carried out a census in an indirect fashion because, since the days of King David, censuses were considered as bad omen: Our Rabbis taught: King Agrippa once wished to cast his eyes on the hosts of Israel. Said he to the High Priest, Cast your eyes upon the Passover sacrifices. He [thereupon] took a kidney from each, and six-hundred-thousand pairs of kidneys were found there, twice as many as those who departed from Egypt, excluding those who were unclean and those who were on a distant journey; and there was not a single Paschal lamb for which more than ten people had not registered; and they called it, ‘The Passover of the dense throngs.’ --- Talmud, Pesachim, 64b Agrippa was well received by the Jewish people because of his kind character and attention to the faith: Agrippa's temper was mild, and equally liberal to all men. He was humane to foreigners, and made them sensible of his liberality. He was in like manner rather of a gentle and compassionate temper. Accordingly, he loved to live continually at Jerusalem, and was exactly careful in the observance of the laws of his country. He therefore kept himself entirely pure; nor did any day pass over his head without its appointed sacrifice. --- Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, book 19,328 In his times, the Judean province was quiet and Jerusalem attracted scores of pilgrims or visitors. In 1913, in Jerusalem, a slab of limestone with the following Greek text was found. It is known as the Theodotus Inscription, which mentions an ancient synagogue, probably built at the time of the Maccabees, that was also used as a hostel for foreign visitors and pilgrims: Theodotus, son of Vettanos, a priest and an archisynagogos, son of an archisynagogos grandson of an archisynagogos, built http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g32-agrippa.html (4 of 22) [6/11/2013 11:39:26 AM]


the synagogue for the reading of Torah and for teaching the commandments; furthermore, the hostel, and the rooms, and the water installation for lodging needy strangers. Its foundation stone was laid by his ancestors, the elders, and Simonides --- Theodosus Inscription, translation K.C. Hanson & Douglas E. Oakman (source: web site)

Theodotus Inscription (Diaspora Museum, Tel Aviv) http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g32-agrippa.html (5 of 22) [6/11/2013 11:39:26 AM]


This inscription proves that, already in the 1st century, and probably much earlier since the restrictions imposed by the Greeks against the Temple service, the Jews were used to meet in synagogues for prayers. This fact is also confirmed in the New Testament: For Moses of old time has in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day. --- New Testament, Acts, 15:21 ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3801 – 41 CE – Claudius and Alexandria Following the anti-Jewish riots in Alexandria, Claudius endeavoured to restore quiet by peaceful means when he declared: Since I am assured that the Jews of Alexandria, called Alexandrians, have been joint inhabitants in the earliest times with the Alexandrians, and have obtained from their kings equal privileges with them, as is evident by the public records that are in their possession, and the edicts themselves; and that after Alexandria had been subjected to our empire by Augustus, their rights and privileges have been preserved by those presidents who have at divers times been sent thither; and that no dispute had been raised about those rights and privileges, even when Aquila was governor of Alexandria; and that when the Jewish ethnarch was dead, Augustus did not prohibit the making such ethnarchs, as willing that all men should be so subject [to the Romans] as to continue in the observation of their own customs, and not be forced to transgress the ancient rules of their own country religion; but that, in the time of Caius, the Alexandrians became insolent towards the Jews that were among them, which Caius, out of his great madness and want of understanding, reduced the nation of the Jews very low, because they would not transgress the religious worship of their country, and call him a god: I will therefore that the nation of the Jews be not deprived of their rights and privileges, on account of the madness of Caius; but that those rights and privileges which they formerly enjoyed be preserved to them, and that they may continue in their own customs. --- Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, book 19,279 He also agitated the threat to those causing agitation againt the Jews among the Greek population: As for the question , which party was responsible for the riots and feud (or rather, if the truth be told, the war) with the Jews, although in confrontation with their opponents your ambassadors, and particularly Dionysios the son of Theon, contended with great zeal, nevertheless I was unwilling to make a strict inquiry, though guarding within me a store of immutable indignation against whichever party renews the conflict. And I tell you once and for all that unless you put a stop to this ruinous and obstinate enmity against each other, I shall be driven to show what a benevolent Prince can be when turned to righteous indignation. Wherefore, once again I conjure you that, on the one hand, the Alexandrians show themselves forebearing and kindly towards the Jews who for many years have dwelt in the same city, and dishonor http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g32-agrippa.html (6 of 22) [6/11/2013 11:39:26 AM]


none of the rites observed by them in the worship of their god, but allow them to observe their customs as in the time of the Deified Augustus, which customs I also, after hearing both sides, have sanctioned. And on the other hand, I explicitly order the Jews not to agitate for more privileges than they formerly possessed, and not in the future to send out a separate embassy as though they lived in a separate city (a thing unprecedented),[3] and not to force their way into gymnasiarchic or cosmetic games, while enjoying their own privileges and sharing a great abundance of advantages in a city not their own, and not to bring in or admit Jews who come down the river from Egypt or from Syria, a proceeding which will compel me to conceive serious suspicions. Otherwise I will by all means take vengeance on them as fomenters of which is a general plague infecting the whole world. --- Letter of the Emperor Claudius to the Alexandrians, published in 1912, to access text online, click here This letter is interesting because it gives a pattern about what antisemitism is all about (although the term did not exist until the 19th century), and the dangers of assimiltion of the Jews into their hosts' culture. What did Claudius ask from the Jews? To live according to their traditions and refrain from forcing their way into their hosts' culture and traditions such as gymnasiarchic or cosmetic games. The latter is about assimilation into the Greek culture, which was rejected -violentlyby the Alexandrians. With the Emancipation of the 19th century in Europe, the same themes will surge again against the Jews who will be accuse of taking away the culture of their hosts, whether in Germany, France, Poland or elsewhere. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3804 – 44 CE – Agrippa II Agrippa died in 44 from a sudden abdominal pain after barely 3 years of reign over Judea. He was succeeded by his 17 years old son, Agrippa II. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3805 – 45 CE – The great famine and false prophets In year 45, the 4th year of Claudius, a famine started in Judea, and lasted two to three years.[4] It was a time of great distress which favoured the ones who preached repentance, cleansing from ther sins, and so on. One of them is mentioned by Josephus: Now it came to pass, while Fadus was procurator of Judea,[5] that a certain magician, whose name was Theudas, persuaded a great part of the people to take their effects with them, and follow him to the river Jordan; for he told them he was a prophet, and that he would, by his own command, divide the river, and afford them an easy passage over it; and many were deluded by his words. However, Fadus did not permit them to make any advantage of his wild attempt, but sent a troop http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g32-agrippa.html (7 of 22) [6/11/2013 11:39:26 AM]


of horsemen out against them; who, falling upon them unexpectedly, slew many of them, and took many of them alive. They also took Theudas alive, and cut off his head, and carried it to Jerusalem. --- Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, book 20,97 Fadus was soon after replaced by Tiberius Julius Alexander, a former Jew from Alexandria whose family was assimilated and had embraced Roman culture and had even obtained Roman citizenship. He would frequently show extra zeal to act against his former brethren in a proof for his allegiance to Rome. Both him and Agrippa will witness the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple, but on the side of the Romans against their fellow Jews.... ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3806 – 46 CE – Queen Helena of Adiabene In Adiabene, a province of the Armenian empire, the king had his sister Helena as one of his wives. They had a son called Izates. Josephus narrated the following: About this time it was that Helena, queen of Adiabene, and her son Izates, changed their course of life, and embraced the Jewish customs. --- Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, book 20,17 Following the influence of some Jewish person in their kingdom, they converted to Judaism after the death of the king. When Izates’ reign was secure, his mother Helena decided to move to Jerusalem. When she arrived there, she found the people oppressed by a famine: Now her coming was of very great advantage to the people of Jerusalem; for whereas a famine did oppress them at that time, and many people died for want of what was necessary to procure food withal, queen Helena sent some of her servants to Alexandria with money to buy a great quantity of corn, and others of them to Cyprus, to bring a cargo of dried figs. And as soon as they were come back, and had brought those provisions, which was done very quickly, she distributed food to those that were in want of it, and left a most excellent memorial behind her of this benefaction, which she bestowed on our whole nation. And when her son Izates was informed of this famine, he sent great sums of money to the principal men in Jerusalem. --- Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, book 20,49 The mention of the famine is helpful to determine the time when Helena came to Jerusalem, which would have been around year 46. Like in the time of the patriarchs, Egypt was the saviour of the region as it continued to produce the much needed corn. http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g32-agrippa.html (8 of 22) [6/11/2013 11:39:26 AM]


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Year 3810 – 50 CE – Death of Rabban Gamaliel Rabban Gamaliel was the grandson of Hillel, and the nassi (President of the Sanhedrin) in these days. He was a respected Pharisee scholar who greatly contributed to the discussions that will be consigned in the Talmud. His death marked a turning point of the righteous life in Judeah: Since Rabban Gamaliel the Elder died, there has been no more reverence for the law, and purity and piety died out at the same time. --- Talmud, Sotah, 15:18 This text from the New Testament is confirmed by Jewish tradition: Our Rabbis taught: From the days of Moses up to Rabban Gamaliel, the Torah was learnt only standing. When Rabban Gamaliel died, feebleness descended on the world, and they learnt the Torah sitting; and so we have learnt that ‘from the time that Rabban Gamaliel died, [full] honour ceased to be paid to the Torah’. --- Talmud, Megilah, 21a According to the New Testament, Paul the Apostle was a student of Rabban Gamaliel before he became a follower of the early Christian sect. (New Testament, Acts, 22:3) ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3810 – 50 CE – Shimon ben Gamaliel Shimon ben Gamaliel succeeded his father as nassi. His key teaching was: Rabban Shimon son of Gamaliel used to say: on three things does the world stand: on justice, on truth and on peace, as it is said: judge you truthfully and a judgment of peace in your gates. --- Talmud, Avot, 1:18 This statement is extracted as an application of divine commandments given to the prophet Zechariah: “These are the things that you shall do: Speak you every man the truth with his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates; and let none of you devise evil in your hearts against his neighbour; and love no false oath; for all these are things that I hate, says the Lord. http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g32-agrippa.html (9 of 22) [6/11/2013 11:39:26 AM]


--- Zechariah 8:16-17 Shimon remained nassi until the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE. He was killed during that Judeo-Roman war but he was already in old age at the time. His tomb in Kfar Kanna in Galilee is a site of pilgrimage to this day.[6] ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3813 – 53 CE – Felix, procurator of Judea In the 12th year of his reign, Claudius appointed Felix as procurator for Judea. When he arrived to Jerusalem, he fell in love with Drusilla, the daughter of defunct Agrippa I, and sister of Agrippa II. The woman was a great beauty but had been promised to Azizus, the king-priest of Emesa (now Homs in Syria) who accepted to convert to Judaism for her and be circumcised for this marriage. As Felix was not Jewish, he had to use a subterfuge: And he [Felix] sent to her a person whose name was Simon, one of his friends, a Jew he was, and by birth a Cypriot, and one who pretended to be a magician, and endeavored to persuade her to forsake her present husband, and marry him; and promised, that if she would not refuse him, he would make her a happy woman. Accordingly she acted ill, and because she was desirous to avoid her sister Bernice's envy, for she was very ill treated by her on account of her beauty, was prevailed upon to transgress the laws of her forefathers, and to marry Felix; and when he had had a son by her, he named him Agrippa. But after what manner that young man, with his wife, perished at the conflagration of the mountain Vesuvius [in year 79], in the days of Titus Caesar, shall be related hereafter. --- Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, book 20,141 ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3814 – 54 CE – Death of Queen Helena In year 56, Izates was fatally ill after 24 years of reign: But when Helena, his mother, heard of her son's death, she was in great heaviness, as was but natural, upon her loss of such a most dutiful son; yet was it a comfort to her that she heard the succession came to her eldest son. Accordingly, she went to him in haste; and when she was come into Adiabene, she did not long outlive her son Izates. But Monobazus sent her bones, as well as those of Izates, his brother, to Jerusalem, and gave order that they should be buried at the pyramids which their mother had erected; they were three in number, and distant no more than three furlongs from the city Jerusalem. --- Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, book 20,92 http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g32-agrippa.html (10 of 22) [6/11/2013 11:39:26 AM]


Helena and her son’s ashes were buried at a small distance north of Jerusalem in a place known today as the “Tombs of the Kings”. Her sarcophagus had been found in the 20th century.



Entrance to the Tombs of the Kings in Jerusalem, David Roberts, 1838 ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3814 – 54 CE – Nero Claudius proved to be an able ruler but he was assassinated in 54. He was succeeded by his adopted son, Nero. Nero was the son of Aggripina the Younger, one of the sisters of Caligula. The official father of Nero was the husband of Aggripina but, in reality, he only accepted paternity. It is more likely that Aggripina had been made pregnant by her brother who would be accused of having incestuous relationship with his sisters. H eultimately preferred his sister Drusilla and got insane when she died. Nero was therefore a member of the ruling Julia-Claudia family and was even the first cousin of Messalina, the first wife of Claudius, who was executed for cheating on her imperial husband.



Nero (Antiquarium of the Palatino) Nero was also a good ruler but his rreputation was later tainted by rumours that he set fire on Rome, in year 64, although Roman historian Tacitus stated Nero’s efforts to relief the unfortunated Romans, and that the fire destroyed his own palace: Nero at this time was at Antium, and did not return to Rome until the fire approached his house, which he had built to connect the palace with the gardens of Maecenas. It could not, however, be stopped from devouring the palace, the house, and everything around it. However, to relieve the people, driven out homeless as they were, he threw open to them the Campus Martius and the public buildings of Agrippa, and even his own gardens, and raised temporary structures to receive http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g32-agrippa.html (13 of 22) [6/11/2013 11:39:26 AM]


the destitute multitude. Supplies of food were brought up from Ostia and the neighbouring towns, and the price of corn was reduced to three sesterces a peck. These acts, though popular, produced no effect, since a rumour had gone forth everywhere that, at the very time when the city was in flames, the emperor appeared on a private stage and sang of the destruction of Troy, comparing present misfortunes with the calamities of antiquity. --- Tacitus, The Annals, XV, 39 The fire was most probably caused by accident. But, in order to divert the anger of the Roman people from rumours involving him, Nero accused the Christians to have set the fire. And persecutions ensued: As a consequence, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians [or Chrestians] by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but, even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their centre and become popular. --- Tacitus, The Annals, XV, 44 Josephus had warned his readers that some historians had told lies about Nero: Nor do I wonder at such as have told lies of Nero, since they have not in their writings preserved the truth of history as to those facts that were earlier than his time, even when the actors could have no way incurred their hatred, since those writers lived a long time after them. --- Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, book 20,154 ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3816 – 56 CE – Assassination of Jonathan Felix had a grudge against the high priest Jonathan and decided to get rid of him. To do so he managed to hire a close friend of Jonathan called Doras to allow assassins to get close to him and carry out their deed: Doras complied with the proposal, and contrived matters so, that the robbers might murder him after the following manner: Certain of those robbers went up to the city, as if they were going to worship God, while they had daggers under their garments, and by thus mingling themselves among the multitude they slew Jonathan 1 and as this murder was never avenged, the robbers went up with the greatest security at the festivals after this time; and having weapons concealed in like manner as before, and mingling themselves among the multitude, they slew certain of their own enemies, and were subservient to other men for money; and slew others, not only in remote parts of the city, but in the temple itself also; http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g32-agrippa.html (14 of 22) [6/11/2013 11:39:26 AM]


for they had the boldness to murder men there, without thinking of the impiety of which they were guilty. And this seems to me to have been the reason why God, out of his hatred of these men's wickedness, rejected our city; and as for the temple, he no longer esteemed it sufficiently pure for him to inhabit therein, but brought the Romans upon us, and threw a fire upon the city to purge it; and brought upon us, our wives, and children, slavery, as desirous to make us wiser by our calamities. --- Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, book 20,160 But Felix’ usage of murderers eventually bounced back against him because these people ultimately organised themselves as assassins of Romans as well. They were called the Sicarii, owing their name from the dagger which looked like a Roman sicae (sickle) that they hid to carry out their deeds. Josephus had little opinion of them, stating they were driven by motives of robbery. This may however be a simplicist view of the historian who tried to blame all the disasters that fell upon the Jewish nation upon themselves, and not much the Romans: And again the robbers stirred up the people to make war with the Romans, and said they ought not to obey them at all; and when any persons would not comply with them, they set fire to their villages, and plundered them. --- Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, book 20,167 ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3818 – 58 CE – Paul the Apostle Felix is know in the New Testament for having emprisoned Paul the Apostle for two years before the end of his post as procurator in year 60. Paul had returned to Judea in 57 after a mission to the communities in Asia Minor in order to bring them to the belief of Jesus as having been the Messiah. This mission was given by the "church" of Jerusalem, which was led by Jesus' brother James the Just. When Paul tried to gain support from the Jewish community in Asia and Greece, he met with refusal to believe that the Messiah had come. But when he attempted to enroll Gentiles, he obtained much better result. He returned to Jerusalem to meet with James and tried to convince him to put their efforts towards the Gentiles. But, as James and his followers were pious Jews who remained in the Jewish faith but only thought that Jesus was the Messiah, they rebuked him. His attempts to convert Jews in Jerusalem resulted into public outrage and trouble that got to the attention of the Romans to maintain order. These times were times of great distress for the Jews and many sects believe that the end of the world would come soon (the Apocalypse). These were mere eschatological movements, to which the Essenes sect falls also into. In their case, they were not followers of Jesus and continued to expect the venue of the Messiah. So, in a sense, it is wrong to talk about "early Christians" or "church of Jerusalem" because these people were no different from the rest of the Jewish community, and they did't create a new religion or faith: they were only Jews who believed that the Messiah has come. Other Jewish movements in the future also adopted the belief that such or such person was the Messiah, such as the known case of Sabbatai Zvi (1626-1676) which will be discussed in this site in the right period. http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g32-agrippa.html (15 of 22) [6/11/2013 11:39:26 AM]


The contention with these "early Christians", and all Jews in fact, was that Paul was admitting Gentiles to the faith by telling them they did not need to follow the Jewish Law, nor be circumcised. His mission was thus considered unlawful in the eyes of the Jewish Law, and this put him at odds with Jesus’ brother, James the Just. As his attempts caused public unrest in Jerusalem, Paul was arrested in 58 CE there by the Romans when he tried to defend himself in front of a hostile crowd of Jews who viewed him as an apostate in the eyes of the Jewish Law: I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city [Jerusalem]. I studied under Gamaliel and was thoroughly trained in the law of our ancestors.[7] I was just as zealous for God as any of you are today. --- New Testament, Acts 22:3 Paul was sent to Caesaria where he appeared before Felix, in the presence of Drusilla, before being emprisoned: But after some days, Felix arrived with Drusilla his wife, who was a Jewess, and he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ Jesus. --- New Testament, Acts, 24:24



Paul before Felix and Drusilla (William Hogarth, 1751) When Felix was called back to Rome two years later, in year 60, Paul was brought for retrial by the new procurator of Judea, Porcius Festus. Paul asked that, being a Roman citizen, he would appeal to the Emperor himself. So he was sent to Rome for trial. History lost track of what happened to Paul but it is believed that he was condemned to death and executed, maybe in the general reprisal following the great fire. http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g32-agrippa.html (17 of 22) [6/11/2013 11:39:26 AM]


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Year 3822 – 62 CE – Stoning of James the Just The case of Paul brought the attention of the Jewish authorities upon this new sect, the "church of Jerusalem", who declared that the Messiah had already come. There were already several attempts to declare someone of being the Messiah. A false prophet, or a predicator, who came from Egypt was also mentioned by Josephus: Moreover, there came out of Egypt about this time to Jerusalem one that said he was a prophet, and advised the multitude of the common people to go along with him to the Mount of Olives, as it was called, which lay over against the city, and at the distance of five furlongs. He said further, that he would show them from hence how, at his command, the walls of Jerusalem would fall down; and he promised them that he would procure them an entrance into the city through those walls, when they were fallen down. --- Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, book 20,167 The church of Jerusalem thus got into trouble for accusations of false prophecy which is punishable by death according to Jewish Law. Under normal circumstances, a condemnation was however extremely hard to obtain, due to the strict rules imposed by Jewish Law to convince a person of guilt. But, at the time, Festus the procurator who replaced Felix had died and a replacement was on his way from Rome. Agrippa II took this opportunity to change the High Priest by a Sadducee called Ananus son of Ananus. The latter wanted to make a show of authority and took the complaints about false prophecy to make an example. He brought James to trial and managed to condemn him to public stoning by the Sanhedrin (the religious court) in 62. This however was blameful and a delegation was sent to meet the new procurator, Albinus, for Ananus’ abuse of power (because conveying the Sanhedrin and pronouncing a death sentence required the prior approval of the Roman procurator): But this younger Ananus, who, as we have told you already, took the high priesthood, was a bold man in his temper, and very insolent; he was also of the sect of the Sadducees, who are very rigid in judging offenders, above all the rest of the Jews, as we have already observed; when, therefore, Ananus was of this disposition, he thought he had now a proper opportunity [to exercise his authority]. Festus was now dead, and Albinus was but upon the road; so he assembled the sanhedrim of judges, and brought before them the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was James, and some others, [or, some of his companions]; and when he had formed an accusation against them as breakers of the law, he delivered them to be stoned: but as for those who seemed the most equitable of the citizens, and such as were the most uneasy at the breach of the laws, they disliked what was done; they also sent to the king [Agrippa], desiring him to send to Ananus that he should act so no more, for that what he had already done was not to be justified; nay, some of them went also to meet Albinus, as he was upon his journey from Alexandria, and informed him that it was not lawful for Ananus to assemble a sanhedrim without his http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g32-agrippa.html (18 of 22) [6/11/2013 11:39:26 AM]


consent. Whereupon Albinus complied with what they said, and wrote in anger to Ananus, and threatened that he would bring him to punishment for what he had done; on which king Agrippa took the high priesthood from him, when he had ruled but three months, and made Joshua, the son of Damneus, high priest. --- Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, book 20,197 The church of Jerusalem felt they were in danger if they would remain in the Holy City so they moved to Pella, a city in the Decapolis,[8] which is now in Jordan. Ananus will only remain in his post for three months, due to the opposition of the Pharisees. The bad choices of Agrippa II for the role of high priest, favouring his aristocratic acquaintances from the Sadducees, made him unpopular among the Jews and in Jerusalem in particular.

Ruins of Pella in Jordan (photograph: Tania Tours) http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g32-agrippa.html (19 of 22) [6/11/2013 11:39:26 AM]


~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1a] This was in essence the first “ghetto” in Jewish History, although Jews would always seperate themselves from the Gentiles in their exiles, and the first ghetto may be considered to be the land of Goshen when Jacob and his family settled in Egypt [1b] At her death, her brother Caligula ordered that divine honours should be paid to her in all the Roman Empire [2] As they were signs of luxury [3] The Jews of Alexandria had sent a deputation to Caligula to seek protection against the Alexandrians; among them was Philo, who accused the Alexandrian Isidorus and his companion Lampo of agitating hatred against the Jews during the tenure of Flaccus; Claudius will ultimately sentence both Alexandrians to death; an anti-jewish pamphlet, called The Acts of the Pagan Martyrs (otherwise known as The Acts of the Alexandrian Martyrs), had been written in these times and told about these details [4] This great famine is also mentioned in the New Testament, Acts 11:28 [5] Cuspius Fadus was procurator during two years, from 44 to 45-46 CE [6] The tomb has been vandalized by Arab residents in April 2006 during the Passover Jewish festival [7] Gamaliel was the grandson of Hillel and nassi until the year 50 CE [8] The Decapolis was a set of ten cities assigned or created at the time of the Greeks where Gentiles could live inside the Judean realm; nine of these cities were located on the Eastern side of the Jordan River while one of them, Scythopolis, the ancient Beth-Shean, was located on the western side of the river; Damascus and Amman (then called Philadelphia) were cities of the Decapolis; at the time of Herod's death, and during the partition of his kingdom between his heirs, the Romans encompassed all these ten cities into one single autonomous region they also called the Decapolis (see map of Herod's kingdom in previous section)











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Generation 28

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The 28th Generation This Generation falls into the cycle of 7 generations which started with the 7th Generation of Lamech, followed by the 14th Generation of the Flood, then the 21st Generation of the Exodus which represented the first "return to Sion" (the Promised Land), and now this 28th Generation is the one that really triggered the real return to Sion of the Israelites who finally abandoned their life of exiles in the Persian Empire.

Generations ~~~~~~~~~~ 1-14 Generations Year 3244 – 516 BCE – The Second Temple is completed 15-21 The construction of the Second Temple was completed 4 years after Darius’ decree, in the 6th year of his reign, in the Generations last month of the year (Adar): 22-28 And this house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king. And the children of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication Generations of this house of God with joy. And they offered at the dedication of this house of God a hundred bullocks, two hundred 29-35 rams, four hundred lambs; and for a sin-offering for all Israel, twelve he-goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. And they set the priests in their divisions, and the Levites in their courses, for the service of God, which is at Generations Jerusalem; as it is written in the book of Moses. 36-49 --- Ezra 6:15-18 Generation 50

A few weeks later, in the month of Nisan, the Israelites followed the festival of Passover. There had not been such celebration in the Temple since the end of the reign of King Josiah, some 92 years before.

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~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3274 – 486 BCE – Death of Darius Darius was the first Persian ruler to extend his reach to the European continent, by crossing from Asia Minor onto Northern Greece. He invaded most of the Greek dominium, including Thrace and Macedonia, but failed to defeat Athens at Marathon in 490 BCE. This saved Greece. Being already old at that time, he left to his son Xerxes the task to continue his work and conquer the rest of Greece. But this will not happen. Darius died in 485 BCE (Hebrew year 3270) and was buried in the necropolis of the Persian kings in Naqsh-Rostan near Persepolis in Iran.

Necropolis of the Achaemenid dynasty (source: Wikipedia Pictures of the Year 2011) ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3274 – 486 BCE – Xerxes becomes king of Persia Xerxes, who is called Ahasuerus in the Bible, had been nominated by his father to become the Achaemenid heir, so he naturally came to rule over the empire after his father’s death. He was 36 years old when he started to reign. His first task was to suppress some revolts in Egypt and in Babylon. As a result, he refused the title of king of Babylon unlike his father Darius. ~~~~~~~~~~



Year 3276 – 484 BCE – Ahasuerus and Vashti The Book of Esther opens with the following details: Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus -- this is Ahasuerus who reigned, from India even unto Ethiopia, over a hundred and seven and twenty provinces -- that in those days, when the king Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the castle, in the third year of his reign, he made a feast unto all his princes and his servants; the army of Persia and Media, the nobles and princes of the provinces, being before him. --- Esther 1:1-3 His son Xerxes started his reign with 127 provinces. The Biblical expression sat on the throne of his kingdom is a reminder that Xerxes had already been chosen as the heir of the Persian Empire, although the succession had already been a matter of dispute in the lifetime of Darius because Xerxes had an older half-brother, Artabazanes. But the latter had a commoner mother, a previous wife of Darius, so Xerxes claimed that the throne was his because he came from a princely lineage from his mother. The reason for this big feast of several months, in which all the army participated, was because Xerxes was preparing to raise the spirit of his nation before engaging in the future military campaign in Greece. His father had been defeated at Marathon and he left the task to Xerxes to complete the conquest. Xerxes was married to Vashti, the daughter of a high dignitary, Otanes, who was one of the 7 conspirers who brought Darius to the throne. Vashti has been identified as Amestris.[1] She did not obey his command during the feast and he needed to punish her in order to ascertain his authority in front of all the important guests: Also Vashti the queen made a feast for the women in the royal house which belonged to king Ahasuerus. On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Bizzetha, Harbona, Bigtha, and Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas, the seven chamberlains that ministered in the presence of Ahasuerus the king, to bring Vashti the queen before the king with the crown royal, to show the peoples and the princes her beauty; for she was fair to look on. But the queen Vashti refused to come at the king's commandment by the chamberlains; therefore was the king very wroth, and his anger burned in him. --- Esther 1:9-12 The Biblical text seems to contain names that have been known to historians: Bizzetha was probably Megabyzus who would later conspire against Xerxes but would eventually switch side again, and Abagtha was Artabanus who was in charge of the harems and who would later assassinate Xerxes. Instead of using authoritative power, as a king of the biggest empire of the times would have done if he would be certain of his authority, Ahasuerus played cautiously against Vashti, as he was too new a king and had not yet won a major military campaign to strengthen his power. And she was the daughter of one of his army commanders. So he used high dignitaries to decide what should we do: Then the king said to the wise men, who knew the times -- for so was the king's manner toward all that knew law and judgment; and the next unto him was Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g28-sion.html (3 of 8) [6/11/2013 11:39:35 AM]


seven princes of Persia and Media, who saw the king's face, and sat the first in the kingdom: 'What shall we do unto the queen Vashti according to law, forasmuch as she has not done the bidding of the king Ahasuerus by the chamberlains?' --- Esther 1:13-15 Among the list of princes of Persia, Marsena was probably Arsamenes who, according to Herodotus, was son of Darius. [2] Alternatively these names may refer to the names of provinces that formed the Persian Empire, such as Shethar for Scythia, Tarshish in Asia Minor, Pakshish which was Bactria, Meres may be Media, Marsena for Margiana, Memucan may refer to Akka.[3] Memucan was the last of the list to be mentioned and yet he was the only one to speak up: And Memucan answered before the king and the princes: 'Vashti the queen has not done wrong to the king only, but also to all the princes, and to all the peoples, that are in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus. For this deed of the queen will come abroad unto all women, to make their husbands contemptible in their eyes, when it will be said: The king Ahasuerus commanded Vashti the queen to be brought in before him, but she came not.’ --- Esther 1:16-17 According to the Talmud, this Memucan was eager to get promoted, and he will… for his good advice: A Tanna taught: Memucan is the same as Haman, And why was he called Memucan? Because he was destined [mukan] for punishment. R. Kahana said: From here we see that an ordinary man always pushes himself in front. --- Talmud, Megilah, 12b Vashti was disgraced, but not executed due to her aristocratic dignity. After some time, Ahasuerus wanted to restore her, probably thinking that he needed a heir before engaging in the difficult campaign against Greece. But his dignitaries wanted to prevent this from happening and rather sought after young virgins to occupy the king’s mind (Esther 2:1-4). Hadassah, an Israelite orphan girl, was noticed by the chamberlain of the king in charge of the harem. She was the niece of Mordechai, a Benjamite who had Kish as an ancestor, as King Saul did. She was brought to the castle of Susa in order to be raised as a concubine, and called herself Esther, which was derived from Ishtar the goddess of Babylon, to conceal her real origin. The name of Mordechai himself could have been created for the same reason, because Mordechai reminds of Marduk, the god of Babylon. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3276 – 484 BCE – The "70 years" The Sages had been arguing about the counting of 70 years of Babylon: did the prophecy of Jeremiah apply to the Babylon rulers? Or to the Babylonian captivity? When was it supposed to end? The question had puzzled Daniel in his days and the following text gives an idea of the difficulty met by our Sages at the time of the Talmud in building the chronology of events to lead to the right calculation: http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g28-sion.html (4 of 8) [6/11/2013 11:39:35 AM]


In those days, when the king [Ahasuerus] sat [on his throne]. [How can this be] seeing that it says just afterwards, in the third year of his reign? — Raba said: What is meant by ‘when he sat’? After he began to feel secure. He reasoned thus: ‘Belshazar calculated and made a mistake; l have calculated and made no mistake’ — What is the meaning of this? — It is written: After seventy years are accomplished for Babylon I will remember you, and it is written, That He would accomplish for the desolations of Jerusalem seventy years. He reckoned forty-five years of Nebuchadnezzar and twenty-three of Evilmerodach and two of his own, making seventy in all. He then brought out the vessels of the Temple and used them [during his great feast]. And how do we know that Nebuchadnezzar reigned forty-five years? — As a Master has said: ‘They went into exile in the seventh year and they went into exile in the eighth year; they went into exile in the eighteenth year and they went into exile in the nineteenth year’ — [That is to say], in the seventh year after the subjection of Jehoiakim they underwent the exile of Jeconiah, this being the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar. In the eighteenth year from the subjection of Jehoiakim they underwent the exile of Zedekiah, this being the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, as a Master has said, In the first year [of his reign] he [Nebuchadnezzar] overthrew Nineveh; in the second year he conquered Jehoiakim and it is written, And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month in the seven and twentieth day of the month, that Evilmerodach King of Babylon, in the year of his reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah and brought him forth out of prison. Eight and thirty-seven make forty-five of Nebuchadnezzar. The twenty-three of Evilmerodach we know from tradition. These with two of his own [years of reign] make seventy. He [Belshazar] said to himself: Now of a surety they will not be redeemed. So he brought out the vessels of the Temple and used them. Hence it was that Daniel said to him, “but you have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven, and they have brought the vessels of His house before you.” It is further written: In that night Belshazar the Chaldean king was slain, and it is written, And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old. He [Ahasuerus] said: He [Belshazar] calculated and made a mistake. I will calculate and make no mistake. Is it written, ‘seventy years for the kingdom of Babylon?’ It is written seventy years for Babylon. What is meant by Babylon? The exile of Babylon — How many years [is this reckoning] less [than the other]? Eight. So in place of them he inserted one of Belshazar, five of Darius and Cyrus, and two of his own, which made seventy — When he saw that seventy had been completed and they were not redeemed, he brought out the vessels of the Temple and used them — Then the Satan came and danced among them and slew Vashti. But he reckoned correctly? — He also made a mistake, since he ought to have reckoned from the destruction of Jerusalem. Granted all this, how many years are short? Eleven. How long did he reign? Fourteen. Consequently in the fourteenth year of his reign he ought to have rebuilt the Temple. Why then is it written, Then ceased the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem? — Raba replied: The years were not full ones. --- Talmug, Megilah, 11b Furthermore, the same Raba believed that Daniel had got the numbers wrong as well: Raba said: Daniel also made a mistake in this calculation, as it is written: In the first year of his reign, I Daniel meditated in the books [etc.]. From his use of the words ‘I meditated’ [which can also be read as ‘I revised’] we can infer that he [at first] made a mistake. --- Talmud, Megilah, 12a The task of setting a correct chronology has been arduous in these times, and still is today ! In this particular case, the 70 years applied to the divine punishment of the Babylonian kingdom: it was destroyed by the Persians 70 years after Jeremiah’s prophecy. But the Babylonian captivity was said to end after these 70 years would be accomplished. The collapse of Babylon had indeed opened the door to the end of the captivity with Cyrus’ decree. But the end of the captivity did not http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g28-sion.html (5 of 8) [6/11/2013 11:39:35 AM]


imply the end of the exile.. because most of the Jews remained in Babylon as free men, and even moved to the Persian cities, rather than returning to Sion as expected and wished by God. Raba’s attempt to place the end of the 70 years period at the time of Ahasuerus was wrong. He surely wanted to match this period with the group of Israelites who were the first to return to Sion. But this first return did not mark the end of the exile. The captivity had indeed ended with Cyrus’ decree, correctly soon after the 70 years prophecy, but the Jews remained exiled in the new empire, and preferred to enjoy their new status of free citizens of the Persian empire. The clear risk was the end of the Jewish nation by assimilation, as it had happened with their ancestors in Egypt where they took high positions and adopted local customs. To get the Jews to move on, and rebuild Sion, God had to design a succession of events that would cause their return to their ancient faith and the binding to the Covenant made with their ancestors. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3280 – 480 BCE – Xerxes’ campaign against Greece Xerxes started to attack Greece in spring 480 BCE with a very large army. He was challenged by Leonidas and a small force of Spartans at the battle of the Thermopylae but succeeded in his campaign and captured Athens. But the war was not over. The Greeks had retreated to nearby Salamis and defeated the entire Persian fleet in the straits there. Xerxes, fearing to be cut off from Asia on the European continent, decided to return to Persia in the winter of 480 BCE thus ending his campaign with mixed result.



Persian warriors from Darius palace in Susa (Louvre) ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1] To read more about Otones and his daughter, the wife of Xerxes, click here [2] Herodotus, op. cit., chapter Polymnia, section LXVIII http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g28-sion.html (7 of 8) [6/11/2013 11:39:35 AM]


[3] The names of Persian provinces are mentioned in Beshitun inscription of Darius, column 2, section [2.2] ; to check them, click here ~~~~~~~~~~







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Generation 29

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Year 3424 – 336 BCE – Alexander of Macedonia

Creation

Alexander was the son of Philip, king of Macedonia, who was tutored until the age of 16 by the philosopher Aristotle. He succeeded to his father in 336 BCE and soon Generations 1- engaged in the conquest of the known world, starting with Asia Minor in 334 BCE. 14 ~~~~~~~~~~ Generations 1521 Year 3428 – 332 BCE – Simon the Just Generations 22When he reached the Levant, he besieged Tyre in 332 BCE and then marched to 28 Gaza which he destroyed. He advanced to Jerusalem and the Talmud gives the following account: Generations 2935 When the Samaritans had obtained permission from Alexander to destroy Generations 3649 Generation 50

the Temple in Jerusalem, the high priest Simon the Just, arrayed in his pontifical garments and followed by a number of distinguished Jews, went out to meet the conqueror, and joined him at Antipatris, on the northern frontier. At sight of Simon, Alexander fell prostrate at his feet, and explained to his astonished companions that the image of the Jewish high priest was always with him in battle, fighting for him and leading him to victory. Simon took the opportunity to justify the attitude of his countrymen, declaring that, far from being rebels, they offered prayers in the Temple for the welfare of the king and his dominions. So impressed was Alexander that he delivered up all the Samaritans in his train into the hands of the Jews, who tied them to the tails of horses and dragged them to the mountain of Gerizim; then the Jews plowed the mountain [demolished the Samaritan temple].[1] --- Talmud, Yoma, 69a Alexander has another encounter with the Jewish nation, this time with the socalled "Elders of the South". He asked them some philosophical questions to learn from their answers. This discussion is related in Talmud, Tamid, 31b-32a. This Talmudic book also relates the legend of the voyage of Alexander in the land of darkness and until the gate of the Garden of Eden. There is another legend regarding his "ascent into the air":

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Rabbi Jonah said: Alexander of Macedon, when he wished to ascend into the air, used to rise higher and higher until he saw the world look like a ball and the sea like a dish. On account of this they depict him with an orb in his hand. Why not let them depict him with a dish in his hand? Because he has no dominion over the sea. The Holy One, blessed be He, however, has dominion on sea and has dominion on land . . . Accordingly they (the princes) brought a dish (as an offering) to symbolize the sea and a basin to symbolize the land. --- Talmud of Jerusalem, Abodah Zarah, ed. Krotoschin (1866), III, 1, 42c cited in The Book of the Gests of Alexander of Macedon, by Israel J. Kazis, 1962, p.18 It is interesting to note in the above text that the Sages who wrote the Talmud were aware that the Earth was round like a ball. The diameter of the Earth was estimated by the Greek astronomer Eratosthenes around 200 BCE. This antique knowledge was however contradicted by the Church when Christianity ruled the Greco-Roman dominion. Alexander then went on conquering Babylon in 331 BCE then the Persian Empire. His last campaign was aimed further East until the Indus River when his generals opposed the decision to go further and rather forced Alexander to return to Babylon.



Alexander at the battle of Issus against Darius III, 331 BCE (Naples Museum) ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3430 – 330 BCE – Aristotle The philosopher Aristotle, who had been tutor for Alexander, had encounters with the Jewish nation, as one of his disciples had related about it in one of his publications that Josephus read 400 years later: For Clearchus [of Soli], who was the scholar of Aristotle, and inferior to no one of the Peripatetics whomsoever, in his first book concerning sleep, says that "Aristotle his master related what follows of a Jew," and sets down Aristotle's own discourse with him. The account is this, as written down by him: "Now, for a great part of what this Jew said, it would be too long to recite it; but what includes in it both wonder and philosophy it may not be amiss to discourse of. […] This man then, [answered Aristotle,] was by birth a Jew, and came from Coele-Syria [region being south from Syria]; these Jews are derived from the Indian philosophers; they are named by the Indians Calami, and by the Syrians Judaei, and took their name from the country they inhabit, which is called Judea; but for the name of their city, it is a very awkward one, for they call it Jerusalem. Now this man, when he was hospitably treated by a great many, came down from the upper country to the places near the sea, and became a Grecian, not only in his language, but in his soul also; insomuch that when we ourselves happened to be in Asia about the same places whither he came, he conversed with us, and with other philosophical persons, and made a trial of our skill in philosophy; and as he had lived with many learned men, he communicated to us more information than he received from us." This is Aristotle's account of the matter, as given us by Clearchus; which Aristotle discoursed also particularly of the great and wonderful fortitude of this Jew in his diet, and continent way of living, as those that please may learn more about him from Clearchus's book itself; for I avoid setting down any more than is sufficient for my purpose. --- Josephus, Against Apion, Book I, 22 Unfortunately, many of the Greek works have been lost, probably at the time of Christianity when censure or destruction of past cultures was common, and this includes the works of Clearchus of Soli that Josephus cited 400 years later. It is interesting to note that the ancient Greeks found similarities between the Jews and some of the Indian people, especially the Brahman philosophy which formed the basis of Hinduism. It is possible that the two cultures came into contact one with the other at the time of Solomon when his kingdom stretched far east and when kings were courting him for a share of wisdom. Another Greek philosopher, Megasthenes, who was sent to India by Alexander as an ambassador and assessed the civilizations of the East, also compared the Jewish to Brahman cultures. His writings, which are lost today, had been recorded by the Christian theologian Clement of Alexandria (150-215 CE) who had access to them in his time. They recorded the civilizations who had most influenced Greek philosophy: Of all these, by far the oldest is the Jewish race; and that their philosophy committed to writing has the precedence of philosophy among the Greeks, the Pythagorean Philo shows at large; and, besides him, Aristobulus the Peripatetic, and several others, not to waste time, in going over them by http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g29-alexander.html (3 of 7) [6/11/2013 11:39:45 AM]


name. Very clearly the author Megasthenes, the contemporary of Seleucus Nicanor, writes as follows in the third of his books, On Indian Affairs: “All that was said about nature by the ancients is said also by those who philosophise beyond Greece: some things by the Brahmins among the Indians, and others by those called Jews in Syria.”. --- Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata, book XV, chapter 1 This is in fact a direct testimonial from a Greek philosopher in Alexander's time that Greek philosophy had “borrowed” from other civilizations who preceded them in intellectual speculations, among them the Jews.

Aristotle tutoring Young Alexander (J L G Ferris, 1895) ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3437 – 323 BCE – Death of Alexander the Great Alexander returned to Babylon from his last campaign in 326 BCE and settled there. He died in Babylon from either fever or poisoning in April or June 323 BCE. He left a vast empire to his military commanders: And it happened, after that Alexander, son of Philip the Macedonian, who http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g29-alexander.html (4 of 7) [6/11/2013 11:39:45 AM]


came out of the land of Chittim, had smitten Darius king of the Persians and Medes, that he reigned in his stead, the first over Greece, and made many wars and won many strong holds, and slew the kings of the earth, and went through to the ends of the earth, and took spoils of many nations, insomuch that the earth was quiet before him ; whereupon he was exalted, and his heart was lifted up. And he gathered a mighty strong host, and ruled over countries, and nations, and kings, and they became tributaries unto him. And after these things he fell sick, and perceived that he should die. Wherefore he called his servants such as were honourable, and had been brought up with him from his youth, and parted his kingdom among them, while he was yet alive. So Alexander reigned twelve 7 years, and then died. And his servants bear rule every one in his place. And after his death, they all put crowns upon themselves; so did their sons after them many years; and they multiplied evils in the earth. --- Maccabees, Book II, 1:1-9 The empire was thus divided between the army commanders during the so-called “Partition of Babylon”: Ptolemy took Egypt and the Levant, Seleucus took Mesopotamia and Syria, Pergamon took Asia Minor and Macedonia. Alexander’s coffin was sent to Macedonia but was diverted to Egypt by Ptolemy Soter. It has been lost in Alexandria after 200 CE. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3440 – 320 BCE – Hecataeus of Abdera in Ptolemaic Egypt Hecataeus was a Greek historian who explored Egypt at the time when Ptolemy Soter, one of Alexander’s generals, came to take possession of the country to become the first Ptolemaic king. He wrote a history of Egypt which has been lost today but that was known to historians for several centuries after his death. In this account, dated of the 4th century BCE, and mentioned by the Greek historian Diodorus in the first century BCE, there is a clear allusion to the Exodus, but biaised by an Egyptian point of view and not devoid of mistakes and legends: The colony [of the Jews “expulsed” from Egypt] was headed by a man called Moses, outstanding both for his wisdom and for his courage. On taking possession of the land he founded, beside other cities, one that is now the most renowned of all, called Hierosolyma. In addition he established the temple that they hold in chief veneration, instituted their forms of worship and ritual, drew up their laws and ordered their political institutions. He also divided them into twelve tribes, since this is regarded as the most perfect number and corresponds to the number of months that make up a year. But he had no images whatsoever of the gods made for them, being of the opinion that God is not in human form; rather the Heaven that surrounds the earth is alone divine, and rules the universe. The sacrifices that he established differ from those of other nations, as does their way of living, for as a result of their own expulsion from Egypt he introduced a kind of misanthropic and inhospitable way of life. --- Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica, 40:3, citing Hecataeus This text is interesting because it relates the history and customs of the Jewish nation in Judea before anything was written in Greek on the subject. The later publication of the Septuagint would offer more material to later historians but Hecataeus did not have any source except probable oral tradition he had heard from Jews living in Egypt at the time of the hellenization of the country. The mention



of misanthropic and inhospitable way of life is probably the first “antisemitic” comment in History and is derived from the fact that the Jews did not generally mix with other people nor admitted foreigners among them. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3448 – 312 BCE – The Seleucid Dynasty One of Alexander’s commanders was Seleucus “Nicator”. He was given the Babylon heritage in 320 BCE at the Partition. But this was contested by another commander, Antigonus, and Seleucus was forced to flee Babylon. A war ensued between the Macedonian successors (“War of the Diadochi”) and Seleucus eventually won a battle in Gaza in 312 BCE which enabled him to return to Babylon and take control of the Near-East region as well. He founded the Seleucid dynasty in the same year and would later die in 281 BCE, being the last surviving general of Alexander’s army.

Seleucus Nicator (Naples Museum) At that time, the high priest Onias was about 66 years old according to Josephus (Josephus, Against Apion, 1, 22; Onias is called Ezekiah in this text). http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g29-alexander.html (6 of 7) [6/11/2013 11:39:45 AM]


~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1] According to Josephus who wrote about 400 years after these events, the High Priest in this encounter with Alexander was Jaddus, or Jaddua, the grand-father of Simon the Just; the historian also considered that the destruction of the Samaritan temple occurred much later, at the time of one of the Hasmonean king, John Hyrcanus; but maybe there were two destructions, at different periods; as of the name of the place of the meeting, Antipatris, it was named as such some 300 years after this meeting in the camp of Alexander; it is a name by which this location of the camp became known at the time of these historical records







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Generation 34

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New Millennium

This 34rd generation witnessed the end of the 4th millennium since the Creation. The first two millennia were about the ancestry of all mankind and how the world had populated, and also saw the emergence of the Jewish people represented Creation by the Patriarchal era. The next two millennia saw the Jewish people emerge as a nation among the nations, with ups and downs, and concluded with its destruction as a national entity and exile as a people. The next two millennia will see Generations the long march through ages of darkness and persecutions, but towards its survival and ultimate redemption, and will 1-14 conclude with the Messianic era. Generations This is how our Sages reflected on the different communities of Israelites throughout the world in their time: 15-21 Rabbi asked R. Ishmael son of R. Jose, The wealthy in Palestine, whereby do they merit [wealth]? — Because they give tithes, he replied, as it is written, ‘Asser te'asser[1] [which means], give tithes [‘asser] so that you may become Generations wealthy [tith'asser]. Those in Babylon, wherewith do they merit [it]? — Because they honour the Torah, replied he. And 22-28 those in other countries, whereby do they merit it? — Because they honour the Sabbath, answered he. --- Talmud, Shabbat, 119a Generations 29-35 This new ordeal that the Israelites will have to go through will be a long exile out of the land of the divine promise: Generations 36-49 Generation 50

Our Rabbis taught: When our Masters entered the vineyard at Yabneh,[2] they said, The Torah is destined to be forgotten in Israel, as it is said, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. And it is said, And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east; they shall run to and from to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it [Amos 8:11-12]. --- Talmud, Shabbat, 138b But, at the same time, the Jewish people had a written code of laws, with the Mishnah, which enabled them to strenghten their knowledge about the divine commandments and find solace in the particular relationship they had with God. By maintaining His commandments, they could find a goal to their own existence and could survive the ordeals that their exile will cause to them in the generations to come. ~~~~~~~~~~

Around Year 4000 – 240 CE – The Jewish Diaspora The fall of the Jerusalem did not mean the end of the Jewish nation. Long before Roman times, many Jews were already living in various parts of the known world and this diaspora started over 1000 years before the start of the Roman exile. About 1000 BCE The first diaspora started in the time of the period of the Judges, when Israelites from Tribes living next to the Phoenicians started to travel the Mediterranean Sea on board their ships looking for commerce and import to the Levant. So the first Jews established themselves near the main ports of the Phoenician trade and explored the region from there, while the Phoenicians mainly remained focused on the maritime transport and trade levies they would take from Jewish explorers and merchants.

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Jewish diaspora around 1000 BCE, along the Phoenician maritime routes Of cource, many of these early Israelite settlers ended up totally disconnected from Jewish life over the centuries and were absorbed in the melting pot of subsequent population migrations and mixed with them. Yet, Genetics offers us a glimpse of what actually happened in these days, because we can find small pockets of populations with a genetic pattern that could only be explained by this early Israelite diaspora. For example, while most of European male genes are of the R haplogroup, we can find locations where the haplogroup is Q. And this haplogroup is of Asian origin, meaning for this time, it came from Mesopotamia. Phoenicians cannot recount for this haplogroup because they were Canaanite people thus of haplogroup E. The Q haplogroup, in the context of these early people migrations, can only be explained by the presence of these early Israelite settlers, mostly in places around the Mediterraneaan Sea of course, but also in the Basque population, in the Celt population (especially in the Cornwall region which was rich of tin resource, which was extremely useful to make metal), and even in the Dane and Nordic population (which gave root to the Vikings). Of course, as we are talking about some settlers, the haplogroup group Q does not represent the vast majority of a genetic mix of any given region, but it does represent a certain proportion of the concerned population. And, in Northern Africa, theHaplogroup Q is no longer present because the Q carriers, which were Jews, had emigrated from that region since the creation of the State of Israel and established themselves there (or in France, for most of the Algerian Jews). In the map below, we can notice presence of Q in the north-east of England but this is easily explained by invasions of the Vikings in that region in the Middle Ages.



Distribution of Haplogroup Q in Europe (source Eupedia) Out of these early Israelite settlers, none of them retained their Jewish culture except for those established in the Mediterranean Sea who were close enough to their home land to keep their customs. In particular, the Israelites established themselves in Northern Africa around 1000 BCE and founded, with their Phoenician maritime transports, the city of Carthage around 800 BCE. Before them, another Canaanite maritime nation came to the region: the Girgashites. We know this from two different sources. The first one is a tradition stated in the Midrash: R. Samuel ben R. Nahman said: What did Joshua do [before the conquest of Canaan]? He published an edict in every place he came to conquer wherein was written, Whosoever desires to go, let him go; and whosoever desires to make peace, let him make peace; and whosoever desires to make war, let him make war. What did the Girgashite do? He turned and went away from before them [the Israelites]. And God gave him another land, as beautiful as his own, namely, Africa. --- Deuteronomy Rabbah, V,14 The second one is a testimony from Procopius of Caesarea, a Byzantine historian of the 6th century CE. He wrote the following account: Now when these [Canaanite] nations saw that the invading general [Joshua] was an irresistible prodigy, they emigrated from their ancestral homes and made their way to Egypt, which adjoined their country. And finding there no place sufficient for them to dwell in, since there has been a great population in Egypt from ancient times, they proceeded to Libya. And they established numerous cities and took possession of the whole of Libya as far as the Pillars of Heracles, and there they have lived even up to my time, using the Phoenician tongue. They also built a fortress in Numidia, where now is the city called Tigisis. In that place are two columns made of white stone near by the great spring, having Phoenician letters cut in them which say in the Phoenician tongue: "We are they who fled from before the face of Joshua, the robber, the son of Nun." --- Procopius of Caesarea, De Bello Vandalico (The Vandalic War), IV, x,22; to read the text online, click here But Procopius was wrong about one detail: the Girgashites didn't go as far as the Pillars of Hercules. They settled around 1250 BCE in what is Lybia today. The Phoenicians[1a] established themselves in what became the city of Carthage[1b]. And when the Israelites who came with them around 1000 BCE saw the Canaanites people already established there on the east from the Phoenician port, they avoided any contact by going west in what is now the Maghreb. The customs were quite different between the Israelites established at the west compared to the Canaanites established at the east. For example, the Israelites emulated the way they were organised in their home land: tribes with a spiritual leader called a judge (shofet in Hebrew). The same was actually adopted in the city of Carthage since its foundation: the city was ruled by shoftim, meaning magistrates in their language. But, in the east, the Canaanites established in Lybia were ruled by a king or champion, which was called agellid in their language. The word agellid is the root for the name Goliath, the famous Philistine warrior that was killed by David. The same word has been borrowed by the Greeks to form the word aegis, which means protection or protector. So Israelites were established in Carthage and at the west of the city in the region now called the Maghreb. Where does this name come from? The Greek Herodotus who lived around 500 BCE named the people who lived there the Maxues, stating that they called themselves like that. Later on the Greek language adapted the name into Maurosioi, which meant the People of the West, from the Phoenician word Mahourim which had the same meaning. Then the Romans adapted this name into Mauri, which gave Mauro in Spanish and Moorish in English. The term Mahourim was used by the Phoenicians to call the people living at the west of Carthage, the Israelites. The word is identical to the Hebrew Maharavim, which mean the People of the West. So in fact the word Maghreb comes from the Hebrew Maarav When the Arabs invaded this region 1500 years later, they called it , which means the Djazirat-el-Maghreb, which means the Island of the Sunset (West). The Assyrian deportations Less than 100 years after the foundation of Carthage, all the Levant region (except the city of Jerusalem), was invaded and destroyed by the Assyrians. Some Israelites escaped with the Phoenicians on their ships, and found refuge in the largest colony of the Phoenician realm, Carthage. But most of the populations were deported to the outskirts of the Assyrian empire, and some Israelites were taken to Nineveh to work for the Assyrian power (the Book of Tobit is an example).

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The Babylonian conquest The Assyrian empire was conquered by Nebuchadnezzar some 150 years later around 600 BCE. The Israelites originated from the Ten Tribes fled the theatre of destructions to farther places. Those established in the East went further east into what became Parthia and Media, and even as far as what became Afghanistan (which was majoritarily populated by people of Jewish origin, for example an ethnics called the Pashtuns). Those established in the north of the Assyrian empire fled farther north and into what became Armenia and Scythia. Then Nebuchadnezzar conquered the kingdom of Judah and destroyed Jerusalem. He took back to captivity in Babylon the most prominent Jews of this time. Some of the Judeans fled into Egypt to avoid being taken captives to Babylon. In parallel, the Israelites established in Carthage continued to flourish and busied themselves with the building of a maritime empire with their hosts the Phoenicians (now called the Carthaginians). Those kept their Jewish traditions whereas the Ten Tribes were mostly assimilated because they had adopted pagan gods already at the time of the Kingdom of Israel.

Jewish diaspora around 600 BCE, after the Babylonian conquest The Persian conquest Babylon fell to the Persian king Cyrus the Great who authorized the captive Jews to return to their homeland. But this return to Sion only became important after the event of Esther and Haman, some 100 years after the exile to Babylon. Most of the Jews however preferred to remain in the Persian empire and developped large communities in the Babylonian realm. The Persians also destroyed Egypt and ended the native dynasties. In the meantime, the Carthagenian maritime empire continued to flourish at the shored of the western side of the Mediterranean, thus avoiding conflict with the Greeks and Persians who fought one against the other in these times.



Jewish diaspora around 450 BCE, after the Return to Sion The Greek world Following the conquest by Alexander the Great, the Greek world spread from Egypt and Greece until Persia. All Jewish populations of the previous Persian empire passed under the new rulers. And, as the Greeks started to build new cities to established themselves in these centers of power, many Jews flocked into these new opportunities and lived in Alexandria, Egypt, and Antioch, Syria, and also in the Greek homeland as well as in the Greek harbours of Asia Minor. As of the Jews who went further east towards Afghanistan, they continued to keep some of their customs but will become converted to Islam some 1000 years later. These were truly "Lost Tribes". The Jews who remained in Scythia continued, like their brethren of North Africa, to keep their Jewish culture and traditions, and managed to remain away from wars and changes of empire that took place in Mesopotamia, Levant and Egypt.

Jewish diaspora around 250 BCE, inside and outside the Greek world But, soon after, a new military power, Rome, started to contest these empires, Carthaginian in the west and Greek in the east. The fall of Carthage After about 600 years of existence, Carthage became the target of the Roman appetite for expansion. The wars between Rome and Carthage toon several turns. At some point, the Carthaginian general Hannibal (his name means Ani-Baal, or I am the Lord) was close to destroy Rome after a long siege, but ultimately had to return to Carthage. The Roman general Scipio chose that moment of weakness to cross the sea and gave a final blow to Hannibal in 202 BCE at the battle of Zama: this was the end of the Carthaginian empire. Many Jews fled the destruction and Roman enslavement by going west and in the mountains of the Atlas where the Roman legions couldn't make easy progress. In fact Rome managed to control the coastal plains but never the mountain range. At the same period, the Greek empire was weakening under the attacks from the east and from the north, and had to let Judeah, for example, gain independence after the revolt of the Maccabees.



Jewish diaspora after the fall of Carthage in about 200 BCE The Roman empire After conquering the western side of the Mediterranean Sea, Rome turned their attention to the opposite direction and came into conflict against the various Greek kingdoms who were established after the death of Alexander the Great. The disputes among the Hasmonean dynasty of Judeah led Rome to take side and contributed to the rise of Herod into power as King of the Jews. Meanwhile Rome gradually conquered Greece, Egypt and the rest of the Greek dominions until they came against the same ennemies than the Greeks had: the Persians/Parthians in the east and the Scythians in the north. In their empire hower, they were rather tolerant towards the Jews and many of them flocked into the vast Roman empire in search for peaceful lands and business to pursue. Jews moved to Italy, Spain, Gaul and Helvetia, in addition to Ptolemaic Egypt and Seleucid Syria. By the time of the destruction of the Second Temple, Diaspora Jews were all over the Roman empire. In Egypt for example, Philo of Alexandria stated the following: Jews who inhabited Alexandria and the rest of the country from the Catabathmos on the side of Libya to the boundaries of Ethiopia were not less than a million of men. --- Philo, Flaccus, VI,43 This amount of people represented about 12% of the total population of Egypt but most of them were in Alexandria, a city with five boroughs, three of them being populated by Jews. The War of the Jews has probably cost the life of one million people in Judea and in Jerusalem in particular. After the fall of Jerusalem, Titus sent about 100,000 Jews as slaves in the eastern provinces of the empire, and took some back to Rome, where a Jewish population was already firmly established.



Jewish diaspora around 200 CE In the outskirts of the Roman empire, where the conquest had not been successful, some Jewish populations have been able to retain their identity and traditions. This was mainly the case of the decsndants of the early Israelites settlers in North Africa, as these ones remained in the mountain range and didn't mix with the Romans and the Judeo-Romans (those who came as part of the Roman empire) who lived in the coastal plains. It was also the case of the Jews of Scythia because Rome had never managed to completely vanquish that part of the world. In 200 CE, Rome was becoming under the threat of the German "barbarians" as well, who had managed to stop their conquest there as well. In the meantime, Chrsitianity started to spread in the Roman empire, with ups and downs in term of persecution because Christians were considered by the Romans as being a threat to their authority (mostly because they endeavoured to enroll followers, secretly), unlike the Jews who represented no threat (as they were not actively converting the Roman population to their religion). The Scythians were descendants of Ashkenaz, son of Gomer son of Japheth son of Noah. The first Jews living among them were considered to be ashkenazim. They moved with the Scythians into Central Europe, and will later be joined from other Jews who came from the Roman empire after its collapse. So in fact the Ashkenazim Jews had two origins: the most ancient ones came to Central Europe with the Scythians, whereas the vast number came from the Roman empire. The existence of a strong Jewish community among the Scythians, and dating back from the Assyrian invasion, is proven by tombstones found in Crimea and dating from the new CE era. One of such tomb reads: This is the tombstone of Buki, the son of Izchak the priest. May his rest be in Eden at the time of the salvation of Israel. In the year 702 of the years of our exile. --- Pain, H. Herbert, Englishmen Israelites, 1897, p.15 And for those Jews who were following religious commandments, the end of the nation as an political entity did not mean the end of the faith. The Sages had predicted that God will punish His people but, at the same time, will not destroy them utterly. For this, they would recall the covenant that God made with Abraham: Said Abraham before the Holy One, blessed be He: Sovereign of the Universe, perhaps God forbid, Israel will sin before You and You wilt do to them as You did to the generation of the Flood and the generation of the Division [Babel]? He answered, Not so. He then said before Him: Sovereign of the Universe, by what shall I know this? He said: Take me a heifer of three years old [the heifer is the animal for sacrifices] etc. He then said before Him: Sovereign of the Universe, This is very well for the time when the Temple will be standing, but in the time when there will be no Temple what will befall them? He replied to him: I have already fixed for them the order of the sacrifices. Whenever they will read the section dealing with them, I will reckon it as if they were bringing me an offering, and forgive all their iniquities. --- Talmud, Megilah, 31b In other words, the reading of the section of the Torah related to the sacrifice in the Temple would be as valuable for God than the sacrifices themselves. Redemption will occur by keeping knowedge and reading of the “book” in times when the Temple will no longer stand. However, as God had said by the mouth of Moses, the Jews of Diaspora "shall fear night and day, and shall have no assurance of life." This was because, wherever the Jews settled outside their promised land, they were subjects to periods of hatred, vexations, restrictions, and so on, despite the periods of peace that occurred on rare occasions. It is interesting to also note the similarity between the generations 17 and 34, the latter seeming to be a repetition of the former. In Generation 17, God intervened in the affairs of the world and dispersed the human race after the Tower of Babel. It was this generation that signalled the change of direction this His Creation took: a new era started after two millenia. Similarly, in the present Generation 34 (twice 17), God dispersed His chosen people, but at the same time a new era started which, with the Diaspora, reinforced the Jewish people in the faith in God and in the hope of the final redemption which will start precisely after the 50th generation, and the beginning of a new era with the 51st generation (three times 17). This cycle of three will make the Creation complete, as signalled by the number 3 (see Note 2 of this page). ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes [1a] The name Phoenician comes from the Greek name Phoinikes which came from their word phoinix which means "purple"; this is because the Phoenicians, who rather called themselves Canaanites, were traders of the rare purple dye in the Antiquity; in Hurrian, a semitic language using cuneiform, the name Canaan means "land of the purple"; so the Greeks simply called these maritime people the Phoenicians as a mere translation of the way these people called themselves, Canaan, which meant purple [1b] The name Carthage comes from the Hebrew and semitic word Kyriat Hadash, which means "new city" ~~~~~~~~~~







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Generation 23

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What is new Year 2745 – 1015 BCE – Solomon’s alliance with Pharaoh Index of names Creation Generations 1-14

After resolving the succession feuds with his half-brother Adonijah and his supporters, the kingdom became peaceful. It was time for Solomon to pursue peace outside as well: And Solomon became allied to Pharaoh king of Egypt by marriage, and took Pharaoh's daughter, and brought her into the city of David, until he had made an end of building his own house, and the house of the Lord, and the wall of Jerusalem round about. Only the people sacrificed in the high places, because there was no house built for the name of the Lord until those days. --- I Kings 3:1-2

Generations Egypt was then in what is called the Third Intermediate Period, ranging from 1069 to 664 BCE. The previous powerful New Kingdom had been weakened by internal struggles that led into the effective division of the 15-21 country between political and religious powers: Lower Egypt in the north with the political capital Tanis in the Generations Delta region was ruled by the Pharaoh, while Middle and Upper Egypt in the south with the religious capital Thebes was effectively ruled by the High Priests of Amon, linked to the royal family in Tanis. 22-28 Generations Solomon married a daughter of Pharaoh Psusennes I of the 21st Dynasty,[1] who reigned from 1047 to 1001 BCE. It was important for kings of that dynasty to seek alliances and peace on their borders, so that they could 29-35 maintain their power. To this effect and in order to seal his alliance with Solomon, he sent an expedition to Generations secure the border between Egypt and the land of Israel, and destroyed Gezer, the main enemy city on the common border: 36-49 Generation 50

Pharaoh King of Egypt had gone up, and taken Gezer, and burnt it with fire, and slain the Canaanites that dwelt in the city, and given it for a portion unto his daughter, Solomon's wife. And Solomon built Gezer, and Beth-Horon the nether, and Baalath, and Tadmor in the wilderness, in the land, and all the store-cities that Solomon had, and the cities for his chariots, and the cities for his horsemen, and that which Solomon desired to build for his pleasure in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion. --- I Kings 9:16-19

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Gold mask of Psusennes I (Cairo Museum) ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2745 – 1015 BCE – God grants wisdom to Solomon This marriage was however more a political alliance than a matrimonial union because the new wife remained in Egypt until, as the Biclical text says, Solomon had made an end of building his own house, and the house of the Lord, and the wall of Jerusalem round about. This will take him a few more years to complete. Meanwhile, the text says: Solomon loved the Lord (I Kings 3:3). God appeared to Solomon in a dream and asked what he desired: "Give Your servant therefore an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil; for who is able to judge this Your great people?" And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. And God said unto him: "Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked for yourself long life; neither have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies; but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice; behold, I have done according to your word: lo, I have given you a wise and an understanding heart; so that there has been none like you before you, neither after you shall any arise like unto you. And I have also given you that which you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that there has not been any among the kings like unto you, all your days. And if you will walk in My ways, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as your father David did walk, then I will lengthen your days." --- I Kings 3:9-14 And God extended the stretch of Solomon kingdom from Egypt, his ally, until the River, which is Mesopotamia. He ruled by a network of allies and provincial leaders. There is historical evidence of this occurrence in the records of Babylon because, before the time of Solomon’s accession to power, the Arameans had made incursions to Babylon, toppled its leader, Nabu-shum-Libur, and ended his dynasty known as Dynasty V of Babylon. And then David submitted the Arameans to his rule: http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g23-solomon.html (2 of 8) [6/11/2013 11:40:19 AM]


David smote also Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah,[2] as he went to establish his dominion at the river Euphrates. And David took from him a thousand and seven hundred horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen; and David houghed all the chariot horses, but reserved of them for a hundred chariots. And when the Arameans of Damascus came to succour Hadadezer king of Zobah, David smote of the Arameans two and twenty thousand men. Then David put garrisons in Aram of Damascus; and the Arameans became servants to David, and brought presents. And the Lor gave victory to David whithersoever he went. And David took the shields of gold that were on the servants of Hadadezer, and brought them to Jerusalem. And from Betah and from Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, King David took exceeding much brass. --- II Samuel 8:3-8 Most probably, the gold and brass that David took away from the Arameans had been previously taken by them from Babylon, as an inscription of Late Babylonian period stated: During the reign of Adad-apla-iddina, king of Babylon, hostile Aramaeans and Suteans, enemies of the Ekur temple and the city of Nippur, […] plundered the land of Sumer and Akkad, and overthrew all the temples. The Aramaeans carried off the goods and property of the god Enlil. --- Inscription of Simbar-Sipak (or Simbar-Sihu), who reigned around 1025-1008 BCE [3] So, by the time of Solomon’s reign, the Arameans, and by extent the region of Babylon that they had previously conquered, was under the indirect dominance of the Israelites. The dynasty that followed Dynasty V of Babylon was plagued with distress and famine, so that it never presented any threat to Solomon's kingdom during the time of his reign. Solomon also made alliance with the Phoenicians. Their king, Hiram, had known King David and was married to an Israelite widow from the Tribe of Naphtali (I Kings 7:14). This created bonds between the two royal houses, of Jerusalem and Sidon. Solomon traded with Hiram: he provided him every year wheat and oil, and Hiram provided to Solomon timber from the cedar trees of his land, today’s Lebanon (I Kings 5:22-25). Like their allies the Phoenicians, Solomon had a navy that carried Jewish tradesmen and adventurers over the seas: For the king had at sea a navy of Tarshish with the navy of Hiram; once every three years came the navy of Tarshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks. --- I Kings 10:22 This is a period when, most probably, some Israelites settled around the Mediterranean Sea, on the shores of Asia Minor, in Spain, in Northern Africa, in what will later become the Maghreb, but also probably founded the city of Carthage along with the Phoenicians.



The Judgment of Solomon (Gustave Doré, 1868)

The Phoenicians obtain wisdom from Solomon The friendship between Solomon and Hiram benefited the Phoenicians who learned about new concepts that were previously unknown to most people of the Antiquity. The only known Phoenician writer and historian was someone called Sanchoniatho (or Sanchuniathon). Although his works have been lost, some fragments have survived and have been referred to by following historians. From these fragments, we can detect the influence of Biblical sources. For example, about cosmology, Sanchoniatho wrote: He supposed that the beginning of all things was a dark and condensed windy air, or a breeze of thick air and a chaos turbid and black as Erebus, and that these were unbounded, and for a long series of ages destitute of form. But when this wind became enamoured of its own first principles (the Chaos), and an intimate union took place, that connexion was called Pothos: and it was the beginning of the creation of all things. And it (the Chaos) knew not its own production; but from its embrace with the wind was generated Môt; which some call Ilus (Mud), but others the putrefaction of a watery mixture. And from this sprung all the seed of the creation, and the generation of the universe. And there were certain animals without sensation, from which intelligent animals were produced, and these were called Zophasemin, that is, the overseers of the heavens; and they were formed in the shape of an egg: and from Môt shone forth the sun, and the moon, the less and the greater stars. And when the air began to send forth light, by its fiery influence on the sea and earth, winds were produced, and clouds, and very great defluxions and torrents of the heavenly waters. And when they were thus separated, and carried out of their proper places by the heat of the sun, and all met again in the air, and were dashed against each other, thunder and lightnings were the result: and at the sound of the thunder, the before-mentioned intelligent animals were aroused, and startled by the noise, and moved upon the earth and in the sea, male and female. These things were found written in the Cosmogony of Taautus, and in his commentaries, and were drawn from his observations and the natural signs which by his penetration he perceived and discovered, and with which he has enlightened us. --- Cory, Isaac Preston, Ancient Fragments, London, 1832

The Phoenicians pass wisdom to the Greeks The new knowledge that every form of life started from a watery mixture spread from Solomon to his friends the Phoenicians, and from the latter to other civilisations among the Phoenician world which were harbour cities. This concept durely pleased a maritime nation like them. It was also adopted by Thales of the city of Miletus, in Asia Minor, who is considered as the founder of Science and of Philosophy.[4] Thales declared: Water constituted the principle of all things. --- Diogenes Laertius, Lives and opinions of eminent philosophers; it is a biography of the philosophers written in about 300 CE But Thales was not the first Greek to believe that water was the beginning of everything. Before him, Hesiod, who lived in year about 700 BCE, wrote a poem[5] called Theogony in which he related the traditions of his times that the initial state of the universe was Chaos, a gaping void (abyss) and total darkness, from which Aether (the upper light) was brought by a divine essence, and then the primordial waters appeared: Verily at the first Chaos came to be, but next wide-bosomed Earth, the ever-sure foundations of all […]. From Chaos came forth Erebus[6] and black Night; but of Night were born Aether and Day, whom she conceived and bare from union in love with Erebus. And Earth first bare starry Heaven, equal to her, to cover her on every side, and to be an ever-sure abiding-place for the blessed gods. --- Hesiod, Theogony, translated by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, 1914, lines 116-138 These considerations about the origin of the universe are reflected in various cultures, about in these same periods prior to 500 BCE, and they probably were legends made from stories that have emerged from the kingdom of Solomon and that spread to other people and cultures in the form of tales. The cooperation with the Phoenicians also brought them the concept of alphabet. Before their encounter with the Hebrews, the Canaan people used cuneiform as evidenced by the letters of Amarna. And a couple of hundred years later, they had switched to alphabet. How? God gave the Torah and its alphabet to the Hebrews http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g23-solomon.html (4 of 8) [6/11/2013 11:40:19 AM]


after the Exodus, and it was lately used by David and his son Solomon who wrote poetry that would be included in the Jewish Bible, for example the Psalms and the Song of Songs Solomon explained the concept of letters to Hiram who then tought it to his people the Phoenicians. Before letters of alphabet, the ancient world only used symbols, such as cuneiforms or hieroglyphs. From the Phoenicians, the concept of alphabet spread to the maritime cities they used or build. It was first transmitted to the Greeks who passed it to the rest of Europe over time, through their culture. This fact is confirmed by Herodotus, the first world historian, who wrote the following in about 400 BCE: The Phoenicians who came with Cadmus, and of whom the Gephyreans were a part, introduced during their residence in Greece various articles of science, and amongst other things letters, with which, as I conceive, the Greeks were before unacquainted. --- Herodotus, The Histories, Book V – Terpsichore, section LVII One of the earliest archaeological proofs of the existence of an alphabet among the Israelites is a seal that was found in Israel and dated about 700 BCE which bears the name of the city of Beth-Lehem.

2700 years old seal written in alphabet (source: Bible History Daily) The wisdom that God gave to Solomon was disseminated to the ancient world by means of stories and knowledge, over the years, and operated a turn in mankind's understanding of nature and science, in many domains, and intellectual investigations became possible with the help of alphabet. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2745 – 1015 BCE – Solomon starts the construction of the Temple in Jerusalem In the 4th year of his reign, Solomon started to build a Temple to host the Ark of Covenant. His father, King David, envisioned to carry out this project but was advised by Nathan the Prophet not to do it in his times. And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month Ziv, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the Lord. --- I Kings 6:1 (usual translation) The 480 years mentioned in this text has widely been assumed to be 480 years from the Exodus, when the children of Israel came out of Egypt. This is what the original Seder Olam has considered. This is what historians have considered and who based their calculations on the various translations that were given in their language to this text. But the interpretation of this text has been erroneous. Here are the words in Hebrew where the misinterpretation occurred:

‫יֵנְּב תאֵצְל‬-‫לֵאָרְׂשִי‬ This text has been widely understood as the Exodus of the Bene-Israel. But it is not so. When the Biblical text mentions the Exodus, the wording typically implies that God took out the Children of Israel from Egypt. The examples are: - Exodus 12:51 land of Egypt] - Exodus 3:10

‫תֶא הָוהְי איִצֹוה‬-‫לֵאָרְׂשִי יֵנְּב‬

=> God brought the Children of Israel [out from the

‫תֶא אֵצֹוהְו‬-‫יֵנְב יִּמַע‬-‫ >= לֵאָרְׂשִי‬bring forth my people the Children of Israel



[from Egypt] The main message is clear: it is God who brought out the Bene-Israel from Egypt, who were thus beneficiary of His action. But what does the above text says: it mentions that the Bene-Israel did the action themselves, when they came out of Egypt. The difference is not easy to perceive in a simple translation word like Exodus: the actual Exodus refers to the Bene-Israel being taken out, while the text above in I Kings 6:1 refers to the Bene-Israel going out themselves. That is the difference: the result of taking out (by the hand of God) vs. the action of going out (by themselves). So did the Bene-Israel did go out of Egypt by themselves? Yes and there is only one occurrence, if we understand the word Bene-Israel not as the usually translated Chidlren of Israel but instead as Children of Jacob, because Jacob was called Israel. The Children of Jacob did come out of Egypt by themselves, only once... when they went to bury their father to the Cave of Machpelah, and then they returned to Egypt as they had promised to Pharaoh. This was in Hebrew year 2265 (see Generation 19). So the understanding of I Kings 6:1 should have been that the come out of Egypt was not the Exodus, but the funeral procession to bury Jacob in Canaan: And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Jacob were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month Ziv, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the Lord. --- I Kings 6:1 (revisited) And thus, 480 years from this unique event takes our chronology to 2265+480 = Hebrew year 2745 (1015 BCE). ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2745 – 1015 BCE – The value of Pi Mathematicians of the Antiquity had long ago understood that the circle had special properties in terms of proportions. They had estimated the circumference of a circle to be about 3 times its diameter. This ratio was used in Mesopotamia and in Egypt. But it took longer time to realise that the ratio of the area was also proportional to the square of its diameter: this was first formulated by the Greek mathematician Euclid (who lived in Alexandria at the time, around 300 BCE) as follows: Circles are to one another as the squares on their diameters. --- Euclid, Elements, book XII, proposition 2 (to read it on line, click here) Nobody knows for certain how Euclid came to this proposition but it is generally assumed he had learned it from another mathematician called Eudoxus of Cnidus, a disciple of Plato, who specialised himself in the calculation of proportions and was a known source for some of Euclid's propositions. This Eudoxus lived one generation before Euclid as he died around 350 BCE. The famous proportion has only been named as Pi (π ) many centuries later, in 1706, and its value is about 3.14.

Geometry of the square and the circle But little is known that, at the time of Solomon, this proposition was already known. The Talmud contains a discussion about the proportions used by the king to make the "Molten Sea" (also called the "Brazen Sea"), a large basin used in the Temple for the purification of the priests. To start with, here are the dimension of this molten sea: And he made the molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in compass, and the height thereof was five cubits; and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about. http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g23-solomon.html (6 of 8) [6/11/2013 11:40:19 AM]


--- I Kings 7:23 If the diameter was 10 cubits, the circumference would have been over 30 cubits, around 10x 3.14 = 31.4 cubits. The apparent discrepancy is explained in the text itself which says 10 cubits from brim to brim: this means the brim of the recipient was slightly larger than the actual recipient. The brim itself was the size of the brim of a cup as the following text explained: And it was a handbreadth thick, and the brim thereof was wrought like the brim of a cup, like the flower of a lily: it received and held three thousand baths. --- II Chronicles 4:5 So, if we take the circumference of 30 cubits of the Molten Sea, it corresponds to a diameter of 30 / 3.14 = 9.55 cubits. Because the diameter brim to brim was 10 cubits, the brim was half the difference of 10 - 9.55 = 0.45 cubits. The brim was therefore roughly 0.22 cubits, which is about 10 centimetres, roughly a handbreadth thick. The Biblical measurements make sense. Many artists have tried, with not much success, to render the molten sea, as shown in the diagram below:

But it was not rounded at the base, as it is often depicted. It was square at its base and round above it. This calculation was made according to the number of ritual baths it contained,[7] and implied a knowledge of the ratio between a circle and a square of the side being the diameter in order to get the size of the Molten Sea correct: But consider: By how much does [the area of] a square exceed that of a circle? By a quarter. Then of the four hundred [cubic cubits previously assumed] one hundred [must be deducted], and of the hundred [cubic cubits] twenty-five [must be deducted]. [Would not then the number of ritual baths] be only a hundred and twenty-five? — Rami b. Ezekiel learned that the sea that Solomon made was square in its lower three cubits and round in its upper three. --- Talmud, Eiruvin, 14b A circle of diameter 2R (R being the radius) is about a quarter less in proportion than the square that has side of 2R. Indeed: - the area of the square is 2R x 2R = 4R2, and the area of the circle is πR2; the ratio between the two shapes is 4/π - the circumference of the square if 4x 2R= 8R, and of the circle is 2πR; here again the ratio between the two shapes is 8/2π = 4/π So, where we look at the ratio of the circumferences or of the areas, the square is in excess of 4/π compared to the circle, which is close to the Talmudic estimate of a quarter (the error to 4/π is only of 7%). This proportion of estimated 25% between square and circle, used by Solomon to order the making of the Molten Sea, was only mentioned in writing by Euclid, who may have learned it from Eudoxus, some 650 years after the Temple of Solomon. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2752– 1008 BCE – Solomon completes the construction of the Temple The construction of the Temple took 7 years (I Kings 6:37-38). God promised to Solomon to dwell in it as long http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g23-solomon.html (7 of 8) [6/11/2013 11:40:19 AM]


as he will follow His statutes and commandments. The Holy of Holies was a perfect cube of dimensions 20 x 20 x 20 cubits. Two cherubim were placed in it, 10 cubits of width each, with their two wings spread wall to wall and touching each other, so all the width of the place was used. In between the two cherubim, lower than the wings that touched one another, the Ark was placed: it measured 2.5 x 1.5 1.5 cubits, and two small cherubim covered it (Exodus 25).

The plan of Solomon's Temple (source Wikipedia) ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1] This dynasty is often called “Tanite” because its capital was in Tanis [2] A region of Aram [3] Source Wikipedia [4] Thales is famous to mathematicians for the theorem named after him; as of the philosophers, it was Aristotle himself who declared that Thales was the founder of the Philosophy [5] In his times in Greece, every writing was in the form of poem [6] It is the personification of Darkness in Greek mythology [7] In Biblical measurements, a ritual bath was the volume of water needed to immerse a full human body, equivalent to 40 se'ah; whereas a bath was simply the quantity of 3 se'ah; the Molten Sea was said to contain a volume of 2000 baths [I Kings 7:26], equivalent to 6000 se'ah, equivalent to 6000/40 = 150 ritual baths; the calculation that follows was to determine to shape of the Molten Sea that contained 150 ritual baths and was round shape in its uper part Next generation Top of Page






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Year 3220 – 540 BCE – Cyrus king of Persia conquers Babylon

About 20 years after the end of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, and 64 years after Daniel interpreted the colossus dream which had puzzled the great king, the Babylonian Empire came to an end at the hand of the Medes people who had founded Creation the Persian Empire. The ruler to wage the war against Babylon was Cyrus the Great, who took the city and the empire in Generations the year 540 BCE Cyrus’s name in Old Persian is kûr-uš, which means “Sun-like”. 1-14 Generations 15-21 Generations 22-28 Generations 29-35 Generations 36-49 http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g27-persia.html (1 of 23) [6/11/2013 11:40:44 AM]


Generation 50

The empires before the conquest of Cyrus (Shepherd, William, Historical Atlas, 1911) Unlike many rulers of the time, Cyrus was very close to monotheism because he followed the religion that was established by Zoroaster (also known as Zarathustra). This religion is generally considered to have started in the late second millenium BCE so its beginning was contemporary to King Solomon. This old religion was built upon duality, with one http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g27-persia.html (2 of 23) [6/11/2013 11:40:44 AM]


God and one Evil. The theme of evil was widely used in the Israelite literature but not as a evil "god", but more like the human evil sides to which man can be attracted. The religion has borrowed other concepts from the Bible, for example in the theme of the Creation: Thus therefore do we worship Ahura Mazda, who made the Kine,[1] and the Righteousness,[2] and the waters, and the wholesome plants, the stars, and the earth, and all (existing) objects that are good. --- Yasna 37:1 (for text online, click here) It is probable that, in the time of Solomon, who was known in the antique world for his wisdom, and was the author of the Book of the Proverbs and of the poem the Song of Songs, men of importance would come to visit him and benefit from his wise teaching as depicted by the case of the Queen of Sheba who came from Africa or the Arabic Peninsula. They would go back to their abode and, maybe like Zoroaster, would create a new school of thought. Then some details being added to other local legends, a new religion would be established. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3221 – 539 BCE – The Cylinder of Cyrus Isaiah the Prophet had predicted the rise of Cyrus, under God’s will: That says of Cyrus: 'He is My shepherd, and shall perform all My pleasure'; even saying of Jerusalem: 'She shall be built'; and to the temple: 'My foundation shall be laid’.' --- Isaiah 44:28 The Book of Ezra also opens with the following mention: Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout his entire kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying. --- Ezra 1:1 This proclamation does exist. It was found written on a clay cylinder discovered in the ruins of Babylon in 1878, and is now at the British Museum. The text is a praise of Cyrus for his conquest of the Chaldean empire and of the great city of Babylon. In this text, Cyrus proclaimed himself king of Babylon, king of Sumer and Akkad, king of the four corners of the world. Since then, Cyrus was represented as a four-winged ruler, conqueror of the four corners of the world, which was an expression borrowed from the defeated Babylon ruler (the text of the Nabonides cylinder bears some similarities).

http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g27-persia.html (3 of 23) [6/11/2013 11:40:44 AM]


Depiction of Cyrus the Great (19th century engraving of a bas-relief from Pasargadae) But, more importantly, the cylinder also details how the conqueror restored peace and justice in the empire, and abolished forced labour. In other words, Cyrus was presented more as a liberator of people than a conqueror of kingdoms. The cylinder is also considered as the first declaration of human rights, some 2000 years before the French Revolution. In http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g27-persia.html (4 of 23) [6/11/2013 11:40:44 AM]


1971, its text has been translated into all the official languages of the United Nations.

The Cyrus Cylinder (British Museum) So, for the captive Israelites as well, this change of ruler meant freedom because the cylinder mentions Cyrus’ decree of allowing the Jews to return to their homeland and rebuild their temple. This text is corroborated by the Biblical text in the Book of Ezra: 'Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth has the Lord, the God of heaven, given me; and He has charged me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whosoever there is among you of all His people -- his God be with him -- let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord, the God of Israel, He is the God who is in Jerusalem. And whosoever is left, in any place where he sojourns, let the men of his place help him with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, beside the freewill-offering for the house of God which is in Jerusalem.' --- Ezra 1:2-4 ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3221 – 539 BCE – Return to Sion Cyrus returned to the Israelites all the vessels that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the Temple of Jerusalem and authorized them to rebuild it. But, in total, only 42,360 people returned to Sion (Ezra 2:64). They were led by a few leaders of the exiled community of Babylon, of which Zerubbabel, the grand grandson of King Jehuiakim of Judah, the governor and prophet Nehemiah, the scribe and priest Ezra, as well as many Levites and Mordechai, who would return to Persia at http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g27-persia.html (5 of 23) [6/11/2013 11:40:44 AM]


some point, once the reconstruction of the Temple came later to a halt under the reign of Cambyses.

Nehemiah in the ruins of Jerusalem (Gustave Doré, 1868) This early return to Sion was not exclusively composed of Israelites from Judah and Benjamin, because about a quarter of http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g27-persia.html (6 of 23) [6/11/2013 11:40:44 AM]


it came from other Israelites tribes, exiled since the times of Assyria, who happened to dwell in Babylon. After the fall of the Assyrian Empire, and the change of regional power to the city of Babylon, several people from these 10 exiled tribes moved to Babylon from the places in Assyria where they had dwelled. Once they arrived to Jerusalem, they restored the divine service at the place of the destroyed Temple. A year later, they laid the foundations of the Temple for its reconstruction (Ezra 3:8). But they soon faced the opposition of the local Samaritans who were established in the country since the time of the Assyrian conquest and had adopted some of the practices of the Israelites, but with pagan customs. The latter complained about this reconstruction to all Persian rulers from the time of Cyrus until the reign of Darius: Be it known unto the king, that the Jews that came up from you are come to us unto Jerusalem; they are building the rebellious and the bad city, and have finished the walls, and are digging out the foundations. Be it known now unto the king, that, if this city is built, and the walls finished, they will not pay tribute, impost, or toll, and so thou wilt endamage the revenue of the kings. […] We announce to the king that, if this city is built, and the walls finished, by this means you shall have no portion beyond the River. --- Ezra 4:12-16 The works ultimately came to a halt and would not resume until the second year of the reign of Darius. Several of the Israelites who came to Sion returned to Persia after their plans of reconstruction had been compromised. ~~~~~~~~~~

About Year 3225 – 535 BCE – Pythagoras of Samos The Greek phisophoser and mathematician, Pythagorus, from the island of Samos, travelled to Egypt in his youth in order to acquire knowledge. He went across the Levant region where he became acquainted with Jews and learned about their faith and customs: Now it is plain that he [Pythagoras] did not only know our doctrines, but was in very great measure a follower and admirer of them. There is not indeed extant any writing that is owned for his but many there are who have written his history, of whom Hermippus is the most celebrated, who was a person very inquisitive into all sorts of history. Now this Hermippus, in his first book concerning Pythagoras, speaks thus: "That Pythagoras, upon the death of one of his associates, whose name was Calliphon, a Crotonlate by birth, affirmed that this man's soul conversed with him both night and day, and enjoined him not to pass over a place where an ass had fallen down; as also not to drink of such waters as caused thirst again; and to abstain from all sorts of reproaches." After which he adds thus: "This he did and said in imitation of the doctrines of the Jews and Thracians, which he transferred into his own philosophy." For it is very truly affirmed of this Pythagoras, that he took a great many of the laws of the Jews into his own philosophy. --- Josephus, Against Apion, 1,22 After his voyage in the region, Pythagoras went on to Croton, in Southern Italy, where he established a secret school of teaching mathematics and also a sect bound by a vow to follow religious rites and practices that he had learned. http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g27-persia.html (7 of 23) [6/11/2013 11:40:44 AM]


The influence of Pythagoras on many of the philosophic schools in Greece, of which Socrates and Plato, and subsequently on Aristotles, is well known, but the origin of his knowledge is not. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3230 – 530 BCE – Death of Cyrus Cyrus had divided his huge empire into four parts, each of them with a capital governed by a general satrap, equivalent to a regional king. Babylon and Suse were two of them. In Suse, the satrap was Hystaspes who controlled Persia and other parts of the empire. One night, during a military campaign, Cyrus had a dream that he immediately understood it to be a message from God. He called Hystaspes and told him: “The gods, whose favour I enjoy, disclose to me all those events which menace my security. In the night just passed I beheld your eldest son having wings on his shoulders, one of which overshadowed Asia, the other Europe; from which I draw certain conclusions that he is engaged in acts of treachery against me.” --- Herodotus, The History, book I, Clio, section 209[3] Hystaspes was sent back to Persia to check the matter which in fact was not a conspiracy led by his eldest son Darius, who was less than 20 years old at the time. But the dream foretold that Cyrus was going to die soon and that Darius would eventually reign over the empire. And Cyrus died soon after, in 530 BCE and was buried in his palace of Pasargadae, one of his capitals.



Tomb of Cyrus in Pasargadae, Iran Nobody actually knows how Cyrus died. Herodotus assumed it happened during that fateful campaign but admitted that there were other opinions. Although Herodotus wrote his History less than 100 years later after these events, the facts were not firmly established, which demonstrates somehow the hard task of historians to gather witness accounts even a relatively short period after the events. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3235 – 525 BCE – The end of the Egyptian dynasties Cyrus was succeeded by his son Cambyses II. In the 5th year of his reign, this new ruler led a campaign against Egypt in order to extend the vast empire that his father had left him. He succeeded in defeating the Pharaoh Psamtik in the battle of Pelusium (modern-day Port-Said) in 525 BCE and then captured the capital Memphis. This campaign effectively put an end to the 26th Dynasty of Egypt, which was the last dynasty composed of native rulers. from that conquest, all subsequent pharaohs of Egypt came from foreign extract, first Persian then Greek. http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g27-persia.html (9 of 23) [6/11/2013 11:40:44 AM]


Cambyses declared himself Pharaoh of a new dynasty, which is known to historians as the 27th Dynasty. The conquest on the eastern borders of the Persian Empire, until the Hindus, was done by his father Cyrus and predecessors. But the conquest on the western side, until the border of Ethiopia, was done by Cambyses. There is a enigma though: Cambyses did not have any son, so who did he suppose would continue his “dynasty”? The answer is in the Bible and in the Achaemenid family tree. First, this tree shows that Cambyses had an elder sister called Atossa who was married to Darius, the son of Hystaspes:

Second, the Bible mentions: And Darius the Mede received the kingdom -- already about threescore and two years. --- Daniel 6:1 So, in fact, Darius son of Hystaspes received the kingdom, which avoided a problem of succession. Under Persian law, when an Achaemenian king would engage into a difficult military campaign, he needed to name a heir before leaving. Darius was the one chosen before Cambyses’ campaign to Egypt. But then Cambyses could indeed create a dynasty of Egypt, because the Achaemenid heir would de facto become Pharaoh as well. The next part of the above sentence has been wrongly translated from Hebrew to Greek and other languages, so it has misled most of Biblical scholars. The translations usually give about threescore and two years old whereas the Hebrew text does not refer to the age of Darius at the time he came to power. And indeed granting him an old age of 62 years old at the start of his reign would make it nearly impossible to reconcile with the fact that he reigned for 36 years, as this would have made him over 100 years old at death time, a time when he was campaigning in Greece ! History records that Darius reigned from 522 BCE and that he was about 25 years old at the time he came to power. It http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g27-persia.html (10 of 23) [6/11/2013 11:40:44 AM]


is accepted that he died in 485 BCE which is a sure date because this is when his son Xerxes became king. If we assume that Darius reigned from the age of 25 years old until the year 485 BCE, this would mean that he died at the age of 62 years old, as indicated in the Bible text. So the mention already about threescore and two years could be read as Darius received the kingdom until about the age of 62 years old. But there is another explanation which is more appropriate. Before Darius would become king over the entire Persian Empire, he was given the throne of Babylon at the time of Cambyses’ new dynasty. The Biblical text indeed mentions Darius as ruler of Babylon: In the first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans. --- Daniel 6:9 Why would the text mention Darius as being made king and over the realm of the Chaldeans if this sentence would apply at the time when he became king of the entire Persian empire? The only sensible explanation is that Darius was already made king over Babylon during Cambyses’ reign. This would have also allowed him to get a grasp over politics and the role of a king while still young of age. So the mention of already about threescore and two years refers to another event: as usually done in the Bible, the start of a reign is often given in relation to another event that preceded it, such as the reign of another monarch. In the case of the Persian Empire, there is no other monarch to mention as all the kingdoms were absorbed into this single empire. But the one event that is recorded in History and in the Bible is the fall of Jerusalem in 587 BCE. This was precisely 62 years before Cambyses founded his dynasty and made Darius his heir and king of Babylon. So the Biblical text from Daniel refers to the time, 62 years after the fall of Jerusalem, when Darius received the kingdom of the Chaldeans, not of all Persia. This was the time when Darius started to rule as a king. In the same sentence, the Biblical text refers to Darius as son of Ahasuerus, while Darius was the son of Hystaspes. The name Ahasuerus will be used in the Biblical text as the name of the ruler at the time of the story of Esther. And that ruler Ahasuerus is Xerxes, the son of Darius not the father. The matter seems confusing. But, it is not. The name Ahasuerus is formed of the same word as satrap in the Aramaic text of the Book of Daniel. It may be derived from the same Persian root that forms the word Achaemenid, so the Aramaic prefixe Aha would be the Persian Achae or Axa. The name Ahasuerus is written ‫ ׁשֹורֵוְׁשַחֲא‬in Daniel 9:1 whereas the word satrap, or rather the function “satrapy”, is written ‫ אָּיַנְּפְרַּדְׁשַחֲא‬in Daniel 6:2, and elsewhere (in Old Persian, the term is khshathrapavan). It can be understood that the name Ahasuerus ‫ׁשֹורֵוְׁשַחֲא‬ is formed of the two parts ‫ ְׁשַחֲא‬and ‫שֹורֵו‬,ׁ and therefore simply means “satrap and head”. It is corroborated with the fact that the name Xerxes (Ahasuerus in the Bible) means “ruler” [of heroes] in Old Persian: Xerxes is the Latin and Greek version of the name, while the Old Persian was Khashayar. In Babylon, Darius came to know Daniel the Prophet who was still alive and lived in the city. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3238 – 522 BCE – Succession crisis in Persia When Cambyses died, of undetermined circumstances, the empire of Persia went through some political turmoil because http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g27-persia.html (11 of 23) [6/11/2013 11:40:44 AM]


an usurper, who claimed to have rights over the throne as being the brother of Cambyses, seized power. He was killed a few months later by a conspiracy led by a group of 7 dignitaries of the empire, one of them being Darius who had been chosen heir of the empire by Cambyses. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3238 – 522 BCE – Daniel recalls Jeremiah’s prophecy With the political changes that brought Darius to power in Persia, after having ruled over Babylon, Daniel reflected upon the prophecy of Jeremiah that he read from the manuscripts that were taken from the Temple of Jerusalem to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar. The presence of such ancient Hebrew documents is confirmed by the Greek historian Berossus who lived at the time of Alexander the Great: And he [Berossus] mentions [in the first book of his history of Babylonia] that there were written accounts, preserved at Babylon with the greatest care, comprehending a period of above fifteen myriads of years, and that these writtings contained histories of the heaven and of the sea, of the birth of mankind, and of the kings, and of the memorable actions which they had achieved. --- Cory, Isaac Preston, Ancient Fragments, London, 1832, chapter Berossus There is little doubt that the written accounts mentioned by Berossus must have included the books of Torah written by Moses himself of which the book of Genesis. Because the Chaldeans had borrowed some of the concepts of the Creation they read from the Hebrew writtings and built their own story more suited to their own pantheon and legends. But some fragments of the tale of the Creation have remained intact: This Belus [the main god of Babylon], by whom they signify Jupiter, divided the darkness and separated the heavens and the earth, and reduced the universe to order. --- ibid. The tale of the Flood is also strikingly similar to the Hebrew account in the book of Genesis, with the ark, the animals to preserve, the birds sent to check the levels of the water after the rain had stopped, and the fact that the bird did not return to the ark the third time it was sent. Berossus also indicates that the landing place of the ark was on the side of a mountain in the land of Armenia. Berossus also detailed the story of the Tower of Babel, as found in the book of Genesis, with a direct reference to the Hebrew sources in the following extract: And the gods introduced a diversity of tongues among men, who till that time had all spoken the same language; […]. The place in which they built the tower is now called Babylon, on account of the confusion of the tongues; for confusion is by the Hebrews called Babel. --- ibid. The prophecy that Daniel referred to was recorded in the Hebrew writtings kept in Babylon: http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g27-persia.html (12 of 23) [6/11/2013 11:40:44 AM]


In the first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans; in the first year of his reign, I Daniel meditated in the books, over the number of the years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish for the desolations of Jerusalem seventy years. And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes. --- Daniel 9:1-2 Jeremiah's prophecy was that God will remember the Israelites after 70 years of Babylonian exile: For thus says the Lord: After seventy years are accomplished for Babylon, I will remember you, and perform My good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. --- Jeremiah 29:10 When Darius was brought to power in Babylon, this period of Babylonian exile had already come to an end because the captivity of Babylon is counted from the time when King Jehoiachin and the High Priest were taken captive. Jerusalem was then desolated, first spiritually before falling (materialistically) a few years later. This explains the meditation, and calculation, made by Daniel who realized the time had passed and, yet, the "exile of Babylon" was still endured, although at the time Cyrus has already cancelled all the decrees that had given the Israelites of the Babylonian realm the status of captives. But the fact was that the Promised Land was devastated, most of the Israelites remained in exile instead of returning to Sion, and started the process of assimililation in the new ruling power, of Persia, which had shown much more tolerance for them and fred them from their captivity status. So Jeremiah’s prophecy mentioning the 70 years was not accomplished yet, except that the Israelites were not captive but remained exiled. The time for the end of their exile was still uncertain. What was causing this delay of redemption? The Israelites were spread over the Chaldean and Persian empires, in which they assimilated and embraced the new status of citizen of the most powerful empire of all times. For them the captivity was finished but for Daniel the exile was not. The problem was that there was a lack of faith in divine designs to eventually decide to depart for Sion, even though Cyrus’ decree authorized it, because the region of Judah still had the stigma of the ravage caused by preceding wars, and was known to be utterly desolated. In order to push more Israelites out of exile, spiritually and physically, and make them rebuild the destroyed city and Temple, God needed to create the inspiration and faith into His people. This came with a succession of ordeals, designed to put the Israelites in danger and to awaken their dormant spirituality. The same had already occured for their ancestors in Egypt: they went down on selfexile due to a famine in their land, but then received honours and property and decided to remain; they ended up in assimilation and were about to forget all their roots until God designs made a new king to rule over Egypt who decided to enslave the Hebrews. They then missed the opportunity to return to Sion by their own choice during the reign of monotheist Akhenaten, and the same svcenario repeated itself with the semi-monotheist Cyrus who fred them from captivity, gave them back the vessels of the Temple and authorized them to rebuild it, and yet, they remained in the Persian empire instead. Assimilation was threatening their existence once more... Daniel was more personally affected by this situation because he would soon need to move out of Babylon, not to return to Sion but to get himself even further away, to the city of Susa. The exile seemed more and more deepening and this explains why Daniel felt the urge to seek [the Lord God] by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes. http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g27-persia.html (13 of 23) [6/11/2013 11:40:44 AM]


~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3238 – 522 BCE – Daniel in the lions’ den Darius set 120 satraps over his empire (Daniel 6:2), which meant that he governed over 120 provinces. And he named 3 general satraps to supervise them, headquartered in Persepolis, Susa and Babylon. One of them was Daniel. This nomination was quite extraordinary because Daniel was not from the high dignitaries of the Persian aristocraty. The special relationship that bonded between the old and wise Daniel and the young Darius while he ruled in Babylon was the only reason for such unusual choice. Daniel then moved from Babylon to Susa, where his new function was calling him. He however felt it as a second exile because he had been taken from Judah to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar to serve as an advisor in his palace, and now history repeated again, only this time to move to Susa and serve in Darius’ palace. This foreign newcomer caused jealousy among the other officials who were firmly established in Susa, and they conspired to bring him down. They convinced young Darius to sign a decree that would condemn to the den of lions any person who would not show enough respect to the king. They then came to Daniel and found him praying towards Jerusalem:[4] And when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house -- now his windows were open in his upper chamber toward Jerusalem -- and he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime. --- Daniel 6:11 Reluctantly, Darius was obliged to bind by his own decree: Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions. Now the king spoke and said unto Daniel: 'Your God whom you serve continually, He will deliver you.' And a stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords; that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel. Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting; neither were diversions brought before him; and his sleep fled from him: Then the king arose very early in the morning, and went in haste unto the den of lions. And when he came near unto the den to Daniel, he cried with a pained voice; the king spoke and said to Daniel: 'O Daniel, servant of the living God, is your God, whom you serve continually, able to deliver you from the lions?’ Then said Daniel unto the king: 'O king, live for ever! My God has sent His angel, and has shut the lions' mouths, and they have not hurt me; forasmuch as before Him innocency was found in me; and also before you, O king, have I done no hurt.' --- Daniel 6:17-23



Darius’ signet (source: Images of Ancient Iran) The fasting of the king was surely borrowed from the common practice he had seen Daniel doing in Babylon in times of fear about the future and of prayer to God. Darius threw the conspirers into the lions den and decreed: Then Darius wrote unto all the peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth: ‘I make a decree, that in all the dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel; for He is the living God, and stedfast for ever, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and His dominion shall be even unto the end; He delivers and rescues, and He works signs and wonders in heaven and in earth; who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.' --- Daniel 6:26-29 ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3238 – 522 BCE – Darius introduces an alphabet The mention of the above Biblical text that Darius wrote unto all… languages is not a insignificant detail. It is well know that this king introduced a new alphabet in Persia about this exact time: it was later called the Aryan script and was used by Darius for royal inscriptions such as the famous Beshitun. It was before his death that Daniel instructed Darius about the use of an alphabet, as Solomon did before with the Phoenicians. The Beshitun inscription is as important to the knowledge of the Old Persian language as the Rosetta stone has been to deciphering the hieroglyphs.



The Beshitun inscription ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3239 – 521 BCE – Death of Daniel There is no mention in the Bible about the death of Daniel. But we can assume that it was around Hebrew year 3239 (521 BCE) because Darius started to communicate with another Israelite, Haggai, as a spokesperson for the Israelite people. http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g27-persia.html (16 of 23) [6/11/2013 11:40:44 AM]


Surely if Daniel was still alive, Darius would have conferred with him about several matters that concerned the Jewish nation. Towards the end of his life, after having served the greatest kings of these times, from Nebuchadnezzar the Chaldean to Darius the Mede, Daniel had a last vision about the end of the world. But he could not understand it because God did not reveal to him its significance: And I heard, but I understood not; then said I: “O my Lord, what shall be the latter end of these things?” And he said: “Go your way, Daniel; for the words are shut up and sealed till the time of the end.” --- Daniel 12:8-9 Go your way, Daniel: the Prophet knew at this point that the term of his life was near. He was then living in Susa, and knew he would die in Susa, the place where one of his earliest visions had taken him long ago, even before Persia came to overpower the known world: In the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar a vision appeared unto me, even unto me Daniel, after that which appeared unto me at the first. And I saw in the vision; now it was so, that when I saw, I was in Shushan the castle, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in the vision, and I was by the stream Ulai. --- Daniel 8:1-2 He must have been 100 years old when he died, because he was taken to Babylon when he was a young person, probably no older than 20 years old, and had been educated and raised in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar. This was in Hebrew year 3155, and Daniel must have died in Hebrew year 3239, so 84 years before. If he had come to Babylon at the age of 16, he would have died at the age of 100. Daniel was buried near the stream and castle of his vision and his tomb still stands there:



Map of the stream and Daniel’s tomb near Susa



Tomb of Daniel in Susa (Flandin, Eugène, Voyage en Perse Moderne, 1851) ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3239 – 521 BCE – God orders the reconstruction of the Temple In the second year of Darius’s reign, God addressed Himself to the Israelites through Haggai the Prophet to appeal to them to return to Sion and rebuild the Temple: Then came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet, saying: “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your sealed houses, while this house lays waste? Now therefore thus”, says the Lord of hosts, “Consider your ways. You have sown much, and brought in little, you eat, but you have not enough, you drink, but you are not filled with drink, you clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earns wages earns wages for a bag with holes. “Thus” says the Lord of hosts, “consider your ways. Go up to the hill-country, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified,” says the Lord. “You looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when you brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why?” says the Lord of hosts. “Because of My house that lays waste, while you http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g27-persia.html (19 of 23) [6/11/2013 11:40:44 AM]


run every man for his own house. Therefore over you the heaven has kept back, so that there is no dew, and the earth has kept back her produce. And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground brings forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labour of the hands.” --- Haggai 1:3-11 Through the mouth of the prophet Haggai, God chose Zerubbabel as leader of the Jewish people at this time: In that day, says the Lord of hosts, will I take you, O Zerubbabel, My servant, the son of Shealtiel, says the Lord, and will make you as a signet; for I have chosen you, says the Lord of hosts. --- Haggai 2:23 God addressed Himself to Zechariah the Prophet as well: “The Lord has been sore displeased with your fathers. Therefore say you unto them, Thus says the Lord of hosts: Return unto Me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will return unto you, says the Lord of hosts. Be you not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets proclaimed, saying: Thus says the Lord of hosts: Return you now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings; but they did not hear, nor attend unto Me, says the Lord. Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live for ever? But My words and My statutes, which I commanded My servants the prophets, did they not overtake your fathers? so that they turned and said: Like as the Lord of hosts purposed to do unto us, according to our ways, and according to our doings, so has He dealt with us.” --- Zechariah 1:2-6 And in: The burden of the word of the Lord concerning Israel. The saying of the Lord, who stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundation of the earth, and formed the spirit of man within him: Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of staggering unto all the peoples round about, and upon Judah also shall it fall to be in the siege against Jerusalem. And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will make Jerusalem a stone of burden for all the peoples; all that burden themselves with it shall be sore wounded; and all the nations of the earth shall be gathered together against it. In that day, saith the Lord, I will smite every horse with bewilderment, and his rider with madness; and I will open Mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the peoples with blindness. And the chiefs of Judah shall say in their heart: 'The inhabitants of Jerusalem are my strength through the Lord of hosts their God.' In that day will I make the chiefs of Judah like a pan of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire among sheaves; and they shall devour all the peoples round about, on the right hand and on the left; and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem. The Lord also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem be not magnified above Judah. In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that stumbleth among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as a godlike being, as the angel of the LORDLord before them. And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication; and they shall look unto Me because they have thrust him through; and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g27-persia.html (20 of 23) [6/11/2013 11:40:44 AM]


and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born. In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon. And the land shall mourn, every family apart: the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart; The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of the Shimeites apart, and their wives apart; All the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart. --- Zechariah 12 The work of reconstruction of the Temple resumed in the 2nd year of the reign of Darius, when he was king of Persia (Ezra 4:24), and not just when he was king over the realm of the Chaldeans. The Israelites started the work under the guidance of their prophets. When Persian officials asked them who gave them authorization to resume the work, they replied: “We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and build the house that was builded these many years ago, which a great king of Israel builded and finished.” --- Ezra 5:11 They also mentioned that Cyrus the Great had authorized such work as he had returned the vessels of the Temple to restore its divine service. The officials referred the case to Darius. The decree of Cyrus that the Israelites mentioned was found in a roll (Ezra 6:2), which was surely the so-called Cyrus cylinder. Darius gave his full approval for the works to resume and even granted support from the empire: And that which they [the Jews] have need of, both young bullocks, and rams, and lambs, for burnt-offerings to the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the word of the priests that are at Jerusalem, let it be given them day by day without fail; that they may offer sacrifices of sweet savour unto the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king, and of his sons. Also I have made a decree, that whosoever shall alter this word, let a beam be pulled out from his house, and let him be lifted up and fastened thereon; and let his house be made a dunghill for this; and may the God that has caused His name to dwell there overthrow all kings and peoples, that shall put forth their hand to alter the same, to destroy this house of God which is at Jerusalem. I Darius have made a decree; let it be done with all diligence. --- Ezra 6:9-12



Map of the Temple, drawn by Maimonides (12th century CE) ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1] The Living Creation, which is opposite to the Void and Chaos, the Tohu and Bohu of the Bible [2] God as creator of mankind, where the Righteousness has taken a human form, a body [3] Herodotus is considered as the Father of History as he completed his book in 440 BCE http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g27-persia.html (22 of 23) [6/11/2013 11:40:44 AM]


[4] This practice has been adopted by Jews since the exile of Babylon [5] To see the ancient Persian alphabet, click here Next generation Top of Page






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What is new Year 2407 – 1353 BCE – Amenhotep IV Index of names Creation

Amenhotep III was succeeded in 1353 BCE by his son, Amenhotep IV, who was going to reign for the next 17 years. Moses, born in the 5th year of the reign of Amenhotep III, was about the same age of the new Pharaoh. They surely shared a lot during the years of growing together in the royal palace and Moses was de facto his cousin by way of adoption.

~~~~~~~~~~ Generations 1-14 Year 2412 – 1348 BCE – Akhenaten and the Amarna period Generations In the 5th year of his reign, Amenhotep IV decided to change religion, and adopt the faith of one unique God, Aten, 15-21 which is represented by the disk of the Sun, as a symbol for perfection. This was like a new birth for the young Pharaoh, mirroring the birth of Moses in the 5th year of the precedent reign. There is little doubt that Moses, who had Generations grown next to the new Pharaoh in the palace and was about the same age, must have had influence over such sudden 22-28 and unique change in the history of Ancient Egypt. Generations Amenhotep IV changed radically everything when he adopted the new monotheist religion. He changed his name to 29-35 Akhenaten, and also moved his capital from Memphis to Amarna as if his life in the city of Memphis, which was built with many temples to Egyptian deities, would have been impure to him. Generations 36-49 Generation 50

Akhenaten and his enigmatic smile (Alexandria National Museum, Egypt) In Amarna, Akhenaten entertained an official correspondence, surprisingly not in Egyptian hieroglyphs but in cuneiform language as it was used in Mesopotamia. Some of the clay tablets refer to a people of Alashiya, in Cyprus, which have been identified as descendants from Elishah, son of Japeth. Among the letters related to city-states in Canaan, there are a few from a warlord called Abdi-Heba (or maybe Ebed-Nob), probably established there by Pharaoh himself, asking for urgent military support: May the king know (that) all the lands are at peace (with one another), but I am at war. May the king provide for his land. Consider the lands of Gazru [Gaza], Asqaluna [Ashkelon] and Lakisi [Lakish]. They have given them http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g21-moses.html (1 of 6) [6/11/2013 11:40:57 AM]


[my enemies] food, oil and any other requirement. So may the king provide for archers and send the archers against men that commit crimes against the king, my lord. If this year there are archers, then the lands and the hazzanu [vassals] will belong to the king, my lord. But if there are no archers, then the king will have neither lands nor hazzanu. Consider Jerusalem! This neither my father nor my mother gave to me. The strong hand of the king gave it to me. Consider the deed! This is the deed of Milkilu [Melki means king in Canaanite languages] and the deed of the sons of Lab’ayu [Labaya, warlord of Sichem], who have given the land of the king to the ‘Apiru. Consider, O king, my lord! I am in the right! --- Amarna letter EA 287, posted in Wikipedia Many historians have associated the term ‘Apiru to the "Hebrews", and there are mentioned by other chronicles of these times also in Mesopotamia. The above letter may be a mention of the event that took place long ago at Sichem, when the sons of Jacob (already identified as the Hebrews), killed all the male population of that city to revenge the rape of their sister Dinah. This text is probably a word of caution to the Pharaoh about any weakness towards the Hebrews who, prior to Amenhotep IV, had been subjected to oppression.

Clay tablet from Amarna, with cuneiforms Akhenaten’s new monotheist religion had many symbols and texts which find parallels with similar concepts from the Bible. For example, concerned some names derived from Aten: - Akhenaten means effective spirit of the Aten: spirit is the term used to illustrate the abstract presence of God, which was very distinct from the usage of the time that rather pictured gods with material representations (such as animals or people) - Tutankhaten, who was Akhenaten’s son and heir, means living image of the Aten: the concept of being someone at the image of [a] God is borrowed from the Creation story of the Bible - The name of the new capital of Egypt, Amarna, may be understood as Amar-Na, meaning please speak, as if Akhenaten was seeking a communication with God, or may have settled this new city, away from impure temples, in order to create a communication link with God The symbol chosen by Akhenaten to represent Aten was not borrowed from Egyptian and other traditions of these times, which used either human or animal shaped gods. It was the disk of the sun, perfect circle, and the emanations from it, the rays, representations of the “spirit of the Aten”.

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Akhenaten and his family, under the protection of Aten In many of the representations from this period, the number of rays issued from the god-sun Aten is 19 which is a number of years related to the cycle of the Sun called the Metonic Cycle.[1] However this cycle was not discovered by astronomers before about the sixth century BCE. Coincidentally, the verse 19 from the tale of the Creation is the one that concludes the completion of what God created in the fourth day, viz. the great luminary set in the sky to dominate the night and to give light upon the earth (Genesis 1:16-19). Akhenaten is also the author of the Great Hymn to the Aten. The text of this hymn is often explained in parallel with Biblical concepts and texts. For example: O sole God, like whom there is no other! You did create the world according to your desire, While you were alone: All men, cattle, and wild beasts, Whatever is on earth, going upon (its) feet, And what is on high, flying with its wings. […] You are in my heart, There is no other who knows you, Only your son, Neferkheprure, Sole-one-of-Re, Whom you have taught your ways and your might. [Those on] earth come from your hand as you made them. --- Great Hymn of the Aten In this text, some expressions are derived from the divine commandments such as there is no other [God]. The passage only your son, […] whom you have taught your ways and your might suggests that Akhenaten may have had a divine revelation (maybe a dream), and that God instructed him about His ways. This was not uncommon in the Biblical times as God already revealed Himself to several characters, not just the Patriarchs, in their dreams. Akhenaten’s wife, Nefertiti, whose full name Nefer-Nefer-u-Aten Nefer-Titi means Beauty, Beauty of Aten, the Beautiful has come was very supportive of her husband in the adoption of the new religion. Although her origin is still a mystery and present theories suppose she was of foreign origin.



Nefertiti (Neues Museum, Berlin) ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2424 – 1336 BCE – Death of Akhenaten Akhenaten ruled for 17 years until 1336 BCE (Hebrew year 2424). He died while Moses was still alive and living in the Amarna palace. He was succeeded by a couple of his children for a very short period of time, probably under the regency of Nefertiti, and, due to their deaths, by his younger inexperienced son Tutankhaten. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2428 – 1332 BCE – Tutankhamen Nefertiti had only given daughters to her husband, six in total. The new Pharaoh was issued from another late consort of Akhenaten (one of his own sisters[2]), so Nefertiti would have no influence over him. The new Pharaoh was very young, and he was soon flocked by advisors who had interest that Egypt should put away every influence of his father’s heresy. Among these key advisors were his military chiefs, Ay and Hohemreb. They convinced him to restore the previous religion, to change his name to Tutankhamen, as the living image of Amon. As his advisors knew that the cause of Akhenaten's heresy came from the Hebrew influence over his court, they also convinced the new young ruler to restore the oppression over them and to impose new labour tasks. It was timely because the decision was made to move the capital back to Memphis after years of political abandon.



Ay on the left with Tutankhamen (wall painting from Tutankhamen's tomb) Nefertiti, being very influenced by the Amarna era, had given one of her daughters as spouse to a young man from the tribe of Judah: he was called Caleb and will play a prominent role in the future events of the Israelite history. Caleb has several nicknames in the Biblical text, one of them being Mered which means The Rebel In Hebrew, and this is the reason why Caleb would later be called Mered: The Holy One, blessed be He, said: Let Caleb who rebelled [marad] against the plan of the spies come and take the daughter of Pharaoh who rebelled against the idols of her father's house. --- Talmud, Megilah, 13a This princess went further than her parents, who became monotheists, because she embraced the Hebrew faith under the influence of her husband. In the Biblical text, she was called her Hayehudiyah which means the Jewress. At a time when Jewish religion did not exist yet, Jews were however tagged as the people who believed to one God only. But she was also called Bithiah, maybe as a mean to describe that she was the spiritual heir of Tiaa who saved Moses and adopted him. Bithiah means daughter of God, to say that she embraced the faith of God: And his wife [Caleb/Mered’s] Hayehudiyah bore Jered the father of Gedor, and Heber the father of Soco, and Jekuthiel the father of Zanoah -- and these are the sons of Bithiah the daughter of Pharaoh whom Mered took. --- I Chronicles 4:18 Who was this Egyptian princess married to Caleb? There could be several possibilities among the six daughters of Nefertiti. One of them being the princess Merit-Aten whose name means She is beloved of Aten. In some official correspondence, this princess was also named Mayati (may be close enough to the Hebrew Bithiah?) and, in the Egyptian genealogy, it is unclear to whom she was actually married, thus creating the hypothesis that she was not married to any important person of the Egyptian royal or upper class. Some records seem to indicate that she had been married to one of her half-brothers, a prince called Smenkhare who will succeed to his father Akhenaten for a very short time before he died. His widow Meritaten may have then been given as wife to young Caleb. But the wife of Caleb could have also been one of the other daughters of Nefertiti, all of them being half-sisters to Pharaoh Tutankhamen. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2430 – 1330 BCE – Death of Nefertiti The new hardship was affecting Moses’ feelings towards his people One day, he hit an Egyptian who was beating on a Hebrew slave and this resulted in the Egyptian's death. The incident had no apparent witness and yet, the fact became immediately known (exodus 2:11-14). This detail tends to indicate that it was a setup framed to get rid of Moses who was influential among some circles at the court. Maybe Nefertiti got involved in his defence, abhorring what was being done to the Hebrews, and was put to death as a result, by poisoning or otherwise. She died at the age of 40, in 1330 BCE and her mummy has never been found. Maybe her body was concealed from future investigation about the cause of her death, or destroyed as thought not to deserve a proper Egyptian burial (after all she was an heretic and probably of foreign origin). Moses was condemned to death and ran away from Egypt. He was 56 years old. He went to the desert of Midian, and started a new life there, marrying Zipporah, the daughter of a local chieftain called Yitro. The Midianites were the descendants of Midian, who was one the sons of Abraham and of his second wife Keturah (see Generation 18).



~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2437 – 1323 BCE – Pharaoh Ay After less than 10 years of reign, Tutankhamen fell ill, maybe due to some genetic disorder caused by so many successive inter-marriages within the current Egyptian 18th dynasty. He died in 1323 BCE, without heir.

Tutankhamen He was succeeded by his first advisor, Ay, who was an older man linked to the royal family. But he died after 4 years. He was the one who had reinitiated the oppression against the Hebrews, as it is said: And it came to pass in the course of those many days that the king of Egypt died; and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God saw the children of Israel, and God took cognizance of them. --- Exodus 2:23-25 ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1] To learn about the Metonic Cycle, see article in Wikipedia. [2] According to a recent DNA analysis, the mother of Tutankhamen seems to be the "Young Lady" for whom a mummy had been discovered but never formally identified before; to read this article, click here Go to >> Part II Next generation Top of Page






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Hebrew years 4200 to 4320 (440 - 560 CE) Year 4215 – 455 CE – The Vandals take the treasures of the Temple

Index of names

Another group, the Vandals, led by Genseric behaved much in the same way as the Huns. To avoid competition over territory with them, they moved to Spain. But seeing themselves unwelcome by the Visigoths who were there before them, the Vandals crossed over to Africa in 429, near the modern-day city of Oran, and moved eastward destroying the Roman Creation cities that were established in that part of the coastal region. They reached Carthage where they established the seat of their kingdom by 440. They ruled over Northern Africa for about 100 years. The Jews who were established there with Generations the Berbers, long before the arrival of the Romans, fled the cities and sought refuge more south, in the Atlas mountains and beyond, or east towards the desert of Lybia. In these regions, the Vandals who had only horsemen would not chase them. 1-14 It was during this Vandal yoke that the Berbers became judaized when they came in closer contact with the Jews to fight Generations a common enemy. From Carthage, Genseric managed a fleet of pirate ships. In 455, they crossed the sea and sacked Rome. Unlike the Visigoths who had spared the Christian establishment before, the Vandals hated the Christians and 15-21 they sacked the treasures that the papaucy had been keeping after the civil power of Rome moved to Ravenna. In particular, Generations the Vandals took with them the treasures that Titus brought back from the Temple of Jerusalem in 70 CE, and carried them to Carthage. It was these actions that owned them the word vandalism in the languages. 22-28 Generations 29-35 Generations 36-49 http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g36-byzantine.html (1 of 14) [6/11/2013 11:41:17 AM]


Generation 50

Genseric sacks Rome, Karl Pavlovich Briullov, 1836 http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g36-byzantine.html (2 of 14) [6/11/2013 11:41:17 AM]


(Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow) This was the second sack of Rome in a period of 35 years. Augustine of Hippo was alive during the first sack in 410, but had died in 430 when Genseric was about to take the city of Hippo, and didn't witness this last blow against the seat of the papal power. After the passage of the Vandals, there was little left of what was once the great city of Rome. It was a trying period in general for the Christian world: after having reached the status of official religion of the Roman empire, that empire got destroyed just over 100 years later, and the core city of Christianity had been sacked, twice. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 4236 – 476 CE – Fall of the Roman Empire Then the Western Roman Empire declined inexorably over time, with disparate provinces, a lack of unity, and an impossible central ruling. In 476 CE, it existed no more, officially on the 4th of September, which corresponds to one of the last days of the Hebrew month of Elul, just before the start of the New Year 4237. Only subsisted the Eastern Empire, with Constantinople as its capital but with its countryside ravaged by Barbarian hords. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 4250 – 490 CE – The Jews fight back the Vandals When the Vandals attempted to extend their realm to the East, they were confronted by nomadic tribes composed of Jews and Berbers (also called Moors) allied together and mounting camels. Their leader was a Jew who inflicted a crushing defeat to the Vandals, as Procopius recalled in his history of the war: There was a certain Cabaon [Gibeon] ruling over the Moors of Tripolis, a man experienced in many wars and exceedingly shrewd. This Cabaon, upon learning that the Vandals were marching against him, did as follows. First of all he issued orders to his subjects to abstain from all injustice and from all foods tending towards luxury and most of all from association with women; and setting up two palisaded enclosures, he encamped himself with all the men in one, and in the other he shut the women, and he threatened that death would be the penalty if anyone should go to the women's palisade. And after this he sent spies to Carthage with the following instructions: whenever the Vandals in going forth on the expedition should offer insult to any temple which the Christians reverence, they were to look on and see what took place; and when the Vandals had passed the place, they were to do the opposite of everything which the Vandals had done to the sanctuary before their departure. And they say that he added this also, that he was ignorant of the God whom the Christians worshipped, but it was probable that if He was powerful, as He was said to be, He should wreak vengeance upon those who insulted Him and defend those who honoured Him. So the spies came to Carthage and waited quietly, observing the preparation of the Vandals; but when the army set out on the march to Tripolis, they followed, clothing themselves in humble garb. And the Vandals, upon making camp the first day, led their horses and their other animals into the temples of the Christians, and sparing no insult, they acted with all the unrestrained lawlessness natural http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g36-byzantine.html (3 of 14) [6/11/2013 11:41:17 AM]


to them, beating as many priests as they caught and lashing them with many blows over the back and commanding them to render such service to the Vandals as they were accustomed to assign to the most dishonoured of their domestics. And as soon as they had departed from there, the spies of Cabaon did as they had been directed to do; for they straightway cleansed the sanctuaries and took away with great care the filth and whatever other unholy thing lay in them, and they lighted all the lamps and bowed down before the priests with great reverence and saluted them with all friendliness; and after giving pieces of silver to the poor who sat about these sanctuaries, they then followed after the army of the Vandals.

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After the passage of the Vandals And from then on along the whole route the Vandals continued to commit the same offences and the spies to render the same service. And when they were coming near the Moors, the spies anticipated them and reported to Cabaon what had been done by the Vandals and by themselves to the temples of the Christians, and that the enemy were somewhere near by. And Cabaon, upon learning this, arranged for the encounter as follows. He marked off a circle in the plain where he was about to make his palisade, and placed his camels turned sideways in a circle as a protection for the camp, making his line fronting the enemy about twelve camels deep. Then he placed the children and the women and all those who were unfit for fighting together with their possessions in the middle, while he commanded the host of fighting men to stand between the feet of those animals, covering themselves with their shields. And since the phalanx of the Moors was of such a sort, the Vandals were at a loss how to handle the situation; for they were neither good with the javelin nor with the bow, nor did they know how to go into battle on foot, but they were all horsemen, and used spears and swords for the most part, so that they were unable to do the enemy any harm at a distance; and their horses, annoyed at the sight of the camels, refused absolutely to be driven against the enemy. And since the Moors, by hurling javelins in great numbers among them from their safe position, kept killing both their horses and men without difficulty, because they were a vast throng, they http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g36-byzantine.html (5 of 14) [6/11/2013 11:41:17 AM]


began to flee, and, when the Moors came out against them, the most of them were destroyed, while some fell into the hands of the enemy; and an exceedingly small number from this army returned home. --- Procopius, History of the Wars, The Vandalic War, Book III, VIII, 15-27 ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 4260 – 500 CE – Completion of the Talmud of Babylone The Talmud of Babylone, or Babli, is traditionnally considered to have been completed with the death of the last amora, Ravina II, in 500 CE. The generations of amoraim have been the following ones since the beginning of the redaction of the Gemara in both Palestine and Babylone: Generation

Timing (CE)

First

Main Palestinian amoraim

Main Babylonian amoraim

220-250

Gamaliel III, R. Hiyya, R. Yannai, Bar Kappara

Samuel, Rav Assi

Second

250-280

Judah II ha-nassi, Shimon b. Lakish

Rav Huna, Judah bar Ezekiel, Abba

Third

280-310

Gamaliel IV, Abbahu, Ulla, Hanina

Rav Nachman, Sheshet, R. Yosef b. Hiyya

Fourth

310-340

Judah III ha-nassi, R. Aha

Rabba, and his son Abaye

Fifth

340-380

Hillel II, Gamaliel V

Rav Papa, Mar Zutra

Sixth

380-410

Judah IV ha-nassi, Tanhuma, Hanina of Sepphoris

Ravina I, Rav Ashi

Seventh

410-460

Mar bar Rav Ashi, Aha b. Raba

Eighth

460-500

Ravina II ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 4260 – 500 CE – The end of the world It was also known among Christian circles, and from Jewish Tradition, that the end of the world would occur 6000 years after the creation of the world. And there was also a belief that the end of the world and the Resurrection of the Justs would occur 500 years after the birth of Jesus, which would have thus taken placed 5500 years after the Creation. As Rome got involved in the Judean affairs 500 years earlier that time, it came as a surprise that the world had not ended as yet around 500 CE. A Christian bishop called Dionysus Exiguus, also known as Denys the Small, set himself the task to recalculate the date of the end of the world and of Jesus' birth, called Anno Domini (or AD). His calculations, from scriptures and from astronomical calculations, led him to believe that Jesus was born 500 years before that present time, and this set the Common Era (CE) to Anno Domini (AD 1, as there was no AD 0). In the same calculation, he established that the end of the world would occur in AD 2000. http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g36-byzantine.html (6 of 14) [6/11/2013 11:41:17 AM]


But again in AD 2000, the end of the world didn't happen, as it didn't happen in Dionysus' time of AD 500. The Church acknowledged that Dyonisos had made mistakes in the birth of Jesus, which is now broadly believed to have taken place some time between 6 and 4 BCE. In November 2012, a statement from the Pope's book declared that "Jesus was born several years earlier than commonly believed". Furthermore, about the date of 25 December, he declared: "We don't even know which season he was born in. The whole idea of celebrating his birth during the darkest part of the year is probably linked to pagan traditions and the winter solstice." [1] ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 4285 – 525 CE – The last Jewish king of Yemen Jews have been established in the southern part of the Arabian peninsula since very old times. Some say they came with the Queen of Sheba after she returned from her visit to King Solomon about 1000 BCE. For sure, many Jews fled there before the destruction of the First Temple, after hearing the prophecy of Jeremiah that the kingdom of Judea would come to its end. At a time when all the Arabian peninsula was pagan, Jews could thrive in good relationship with their neighbours. And several Arab and Yemenite tribes also converted to Judaism. Trouble started in the region with the venue of Christians in the region who, unlike the Jews, were proselytes and endeavoured to convert the Pagans. In 517 CE, a Jewish man called Yusef (Joseph) Dhu Nuwas, who was from a Judaized Arab tribe (the Himyarites), seized power over all Yemen. In 523, he declared that he would persecute the Christians, after having heard that the Christians persecuted his Jewish brethren in the Byzantine empire. He carried out his threat and massacred a great number of Christians in Yemen in this time. The Emperor then sent a fleet to Yemen in revenge to help another Arab ally to conquer Yemen. Yosef apparently died in battle in 525.



Yusef Dhu Nuwas (drawing by Ben Abrahamson) ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 4287 – 527 CE – Justinian In 527, a new emperor came to reign over the Eastern Empire: it was Justinian. His father's name was Sabbatius which means Shabbat ! The origin of his family is supposed to have been from Thrace. When he became emperor, he considered as his duty to restore the Roman Empire to his former glory and dominions, so he engaged in a series of wars of reconquest.



Justinian (Church of San Vitale in Ravenna, Italy) ~~~~~~~~~~



Year 4289 – 529 CE – Closure of the Greek academia Justinian also thought necessary to stop any pagan rite in his empire. To this effect, he decreed in 529 the much controversial closure of the philosophical schools of Greece. These schools had been celebrated for centuries and were a beacon to Western civilization. But the Greek culture had remained pagan by nature, and this caused conflict with the Christians. This was a strange reverse of fortune because Christianity would have never become a world religion without the Greek culture which was first to provide the early followers for the new religion, and which completed the first translation of the Bible from Hebrew in a language that the masses could understand. Also, the Greek culture offered artistic representations of their pantheon and this greatly helped Romans to absorb the new religion better with the help of similar approach to represent divine characters such as the Christ and the Apostles. The Greek culture indeed helped spread the new religion, and the Roman empire, after fighting much against it, finally adopted it. This date of 529 CE can be considered as the end of the Greek culture as a "live" culture and its becoming into the "classics". This change had been made possible because Christianity had become a political power, and no longer simply a religion. This new power endeavoured to terminate the other cultures that were aliens to its principles. The Greeks had aimed to spread their culture to the world, by published works from its schools (Plato, Aristotle, etc.), but Christianity endeavoured to keep the masses generally in ignorance and even put a stop to the spread of culture and books. The study of carefully chosen scriptures was only left to those who ran the churches. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 4294 – 534 CE – The Byzantines conquer North Africa After securing the eastern borders of his empire, Justinian turned his attention on North Africa. He sent an army there led by his general Belisarus. But he also sent an administrator to rule the provinces once they would be liberated. His name of Solomon. The Historian Procopius participated to this campaign and had been able to write his Vandalic War from his own eye witness account. The Christian army took Carthage at the end of 533. There they found the treasures that Genseric took from Rome and sent them to Constantinople. Among them, were the treasures of the Temple of Jerusalem, including the Menorah, the great candelaber that is depicted on the Arch of Titus in Rome: And one of the Jews, seeing these things, approached one of those known to the emperor and said: "These treasures I think it inexpedient to carry into the palace in Byzantium. Indeed, it is not possible for them to be elsewhere than in the place where Solomon, the king of the Jews, formerly placed them. For it is because of these that Gizeric [Genseric] captured the palace of the Romans, and that now the Roman army has captured that the Vandals." When this had been brought to the ears of the Emperor [Justinian], he became afraid and quickly sent everything to the sanctuaries of the Christians in Jerusalem. --- Procopius, History of the Wars, The Vandalic War, Book III, IX, 4-11 http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g36-byzantine.html (10 of 14) [6/11/2013 11:41:17 AM]


Thus, the treasures of the Temple were returned to Jerusalem in 535 CE, some 465 years after they were taken from there by the Romans. In Jerusalem, these treasures were kept under the protection of the Church. When the king of the Vandals, Gelimer, was presented to Justinian in Carthage in 534, during the parade of triumph, Procopius recorded his words: And when Gelimer reached the hippodrome and saw the emperor sitting upon a lofty seat and the people standing on either side and realized as he looked about in what an evil plight he was, he neither wept nor cried out, but ceased not saying over in the words of the Hebrew scripture: "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity." --- Procopius, History of the Wars, The Vandalic War, Book III, IX, 11-16 This anecdote shows that the Vandals had themselves been exposed somehow to the influence of Judaism during their century of life in North Africa which had a vast population of Jews established there from time immemorial. Under the Byzantine rule, North Africa was organised into six provinces, each with a religious leader (a bishop). Then restrictions were soon renewed against the Jews, by applications of the Code that Justinian had established in his empire. Many of them, along with the Judaized Berbers, preferred to find shelter in the mountains again, where no regular army would venture. The Byzantines ruled over this region for about 100 years, as the Vandals did, before they were vanquished by other conquerors: the Muslims. General Belisarius was also successful in his reconquest of the Italian peninsula around 537.



Belisarius against the Goths in Rome - by H. Vogel, 19th century



~~~~~~~~~~

Year 4315 – 555 CE – The Byzantine empire at its peak At the end of Justinian's reign, the Roman Empire had streched to its greatext extent since the days of its past glory.

The Roman Empire in 555 CE (source: Wikipedia) ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1] To read the article from the Telegraph, UK, click here Next generation http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g36-byzantine.html (13 of 14) [6/11/2013 11:41:17 AM]


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Year 3657 – 103 BCE – Alexander Jannai Alexander extended the Hasmonean kingdom to the south and to the north during his 27 years of reign.

Creation Generations 1-14 Generations 15-21 Generations 22-28 Generations 29-35 http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g31-hasmonean2.html (1 of 20) [6/11/2013 11:41:37 AM]



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The Hasmonean kingdom under Alexander Jannai (in pink, the areas he conquered) However he was not able to conquer Ashqelon and its region, which ended as an enclave in his kingdom. He also got himself into trouble with Ptolemy IX “Lathyros” by attempting to convince the mother of this king, Cleopatra, to conspire against her son. Ptolemy learned about it and, as he was campaigning in the Levant, took revenge by killing many Jews, either 30000 or 50000 according to Greek historians,[1] and even pretending that his army boiled and ate them, thus inspiring great fear in the Jewish population. This resulted however in Cleopatra marching to Judea which forced her son to embark for Cyprus. Some time after her return to Egypt, her son Ptolemy X assassinated her, in 101 BCE, and seized power again in the absence of his older brother Ptolemy IX, refugied in Cyprus. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3660 – 100 BCE – Judean civil unrest The internal troubles of Egypt gave free hand to Alexander Jannai to pursue his reconquest of Hebrew land. After taking Gaza however, his kingdom also suffered from internal struggles between the two main sects, the Pharisees and the Saduccees. Alexander sided with the latter against the former. This situation lasted for six years until 94 BCE until the Pharisees sought to attract Demetrius III, the Seleucid king, to help them get rid of Alexander Jannai and they promised to submit to his rule in exchange of his support: [Deme]trius king from Greece who sought, on the counsel of those who seek smooth things [the Pharisees], to enter Jerusalem. [But God did not permit the city to be delivered] into the hands of the kings from Greece, from the time of Antiochus until the coming of the rulers of the Kittim [the Romans]. But then she shall be trampled under their feet. --- Dead Sea Scrolls, Nahum Commentary, 4QpNah/4Q169, commentary of Nahum 2: 12 Alexander’s reaction was fierce as he executed many of the rebels and hanged them alive on trees: Interpreted, this concerns the furious young lion [King Alexander, who executes revenge] on those who seek smooth things [the Pharisees] and hangs men alive. […] Because of a man hanged alive on tree, He proclaims: ‘Behold I am against [you, says the Lord of Hosts’]. --- Dead Sea Scrolls, op. cit., (ii 12a-b) This execution to hang a man alive is punishable by God, because hanging was a divine commandment but only for people put to death first: http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g31-hasmonean2.html (3 of 20) [6/11/2013 11:41:37 AM]


“And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be put to death, and you hang him on a tree; his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but you shall surely bury him the same day; for he that is hanged is a reproach unto God; that you defile not your land which the Lord your God gives you for an inheritance.” --- Deuteronomy, 21:22-23 Thus the author of Nahum Commentary insinuates that Alexander’s act was calling for a divine punishment. It is worth noting too that this passage is often translated by Christian commentators as a crucifixion, maybe because they believe that this method of execution was common in the Holy Land in these times. But in fact, the punishment of hanging on a tree for the extreme sinners was not a crucifixion and was only applicable to a criminal already put to death. His corpse being hanged was a display of example for would-be criminals. And the hanged corpse had to be buried before the day of execution would end. Nonetheless, this text seems to prove that Alexander’s handling of the religious rebels was cruel. They may have deserved to die, as conspirers against the state and intelligence with a foreign power to hand over the nation’s independence. But the punishment had been harsh, beyond the permissible ways. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3660 – 100 BCE – Simeon ben Shetach All the religious leaders fled to Egypt during the persecutions of Alexander Jannai. But Simeon ben Shetach, a leading figure among the Pharisees, who had previously fled to Egypt during the reign of Hyrcanus, because his sister was married to Alexander Jannai, returned to Jerusalem to take over the duties at the Sanhedrin which was then entirely re-composed of Saduccees. He was nonetheless elected as the nassi in absentia of the previous head, Joshua ben Perachiah. Being the brother of the queen, Simeon was successful over time in opposing the Saduccees' practices in many religious decisions and in imposing the rule of the Law to them. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3671 – 89 BCE – Demetrius III invades Judea then retreats So, called by the Pharisees, Demetrius III decided to intervene in the Judean affairs with the goal to take control of the land and attach it to his realm. Alexander opposed resistance but was defeated in 89 BCE and he fled with come of his followers to a hiding place in the mountains. But Demetrius could not come into Jerusalem, because the Jewish rebels who had called for him finally rebelled against him, preferring being ruled by a bad Jewish king than by the Seleucid foreigner. They went http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g31-hasmonean2.html (4 of 20) [6/11/2013 11:41:37 AM]


to find Alexander and called him to lead them again. Seeing this position becoming critical with this change of allegiance, Demetrius decided to retreat back to Damascus, his home city and died soonafter in 88 BCE at the hand of his main enemy, the Parthians. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3674 – 86 BCE – Alexander besieges Antioch Then Alexander marched onto Antioch, the Seleucid capital, and participated to its siege for three years. It was probably done in a combined effort the Armenians who came from the north. According to the Book V of the Maccabees, which is not always accurate for the historical details, the king of Antioch is mentioned to be Demetrius, although Demetrius’seat was in Damascus and he had already died in his war against the Parthians. But the king of Antioch was Antiochus X. After three years of siege, he made an exit in an attempt to unlock the city. But he was killed in battle, in 83 BCE. Then Alexander returned to Judea as a hero: He returned to Jerusalem to his citizens; who magnified him, honouring and praising him for having defeated his enemies. And the Jews agreed to submit to him, and his heart was at rest, and he sent his armies against all his enemies, whom he put to flight, and gained the victory over them. He also gained possession of the mountains of Sarah [Seir], and the country of Ammon, and Moab, and the country of the Philistines, and all the parts which were in the hands of the Arabians who fought with him, even to the bounds of the desert. And the affairs of his kingdom were ruled aright; and he placed his people and his country in a state of safety. --- Maccabees, Book V, 29:17-20



Coinage of Alexander Jannai (source Wikipedia) The king Tigranes II of Armenia, so-called “the Great”, took over the Syrian part of the Seleucid kingdom, while the Parthians had control over the eastern and southern part. Tigranes’ ambition did not take him to the land of Judea, owing to the fact that he had probably made an alliance with Alexander.



The Armenian kingdom under Tigranes II the Great (source Kingdom of Armenia) ~~~~~~~~~~ http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g31-hasmonean2.html (7 of 20) [6/11/2013 11:41:37 AM]


Year 3680 – 80 BCE – Troubles in Egypt Egypt was going through trouble again at this time. After that Ptolemy X had assassinated his mother and seized power from his older brother Ptolemy IX “Lathyros”, in 107 BCE, he had reigned for nearly 20 years until he died in a battle. His older brother Ptolemy IX reigned again from 88 BCE. But he made himself infamous in the eyes of the Ptolemaic nation when he stole the sarcophagus of Alexander the Great for its gold in order to issue coinage. This act outraged the people of Alexandria who will murder him in 81 BCE A period of political instability started in Egypt, at a time when Simeon ben Shetach returned to Jerusalem.

Coinage of Ptolemy IX (source Wildwinds) ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3680 – 80 BCE – Simeon ben Shetach recalls the Pharisees Some time before Alexander’s death, Simeon ben Shetach was authorized to recall the Pharisees from their exile in Egypt, among them was also his predeccessor as nassi, Joshua ben Perachiah. Joshua was eventually elected back to his role of nassi, and Simeon became av beth din, his right hand. The religious authority of the Sanhedrin was then restored. The event that triggered this change of policy from Alexander was told as follows. During a session when the king was called to court for a hearing against him, because he was asked to return a property he had confiscated for his personal use, http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g31-hasmonean2.html (8 of 20) [6/11/2013 11:41:37 AM]


the Saduccees would not be pass a religious judgment against him. Simeon, in anger, called for divine judgment and the Saduccees dropped dead. Afraid, Alexander pleaded for Simeon to form a Sanhedrin as he wished and to be called for judgment. When Joshua died, Simeon took back the role of nassi, and Judah ben Tabbai was chosen as av beth din. Simeon ben Shhetah was also the religious leader who was first to establish Jewish schools for children. Before, they were educated by their fathers but, with the religious knowledge being on the decrease for some time, it was considered sensible to leave the education to knowledgeable teachers. The first school was a yeshiva. This was an important move for Jewish life and allowed religious leaders to raise many students of Jewish laws and future disciples for their teaching. And this concept of yeshiva continues unto this day. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3684 – 76 BCE – Death of Alexander Jannai; regency of Salome Alexander was ill for the last three years of his life. By fear of the Pharisees, he had advised his wife to conceal his death, until she would be able to secure her regency for their young sons to be king. He died after a long reign of 27 years. The Pharisees however made no opposition to his last wish when they learned about his death and respected his will to see his sons rule after him, and to have his wife Salome Alexandra as the regent in the meantime. Salome was the sister of Simeon ben Shetach so had nothing to fear from the Pharisees. She restored all their rights, freed the ones who were still in prison, and recalled the ones who were in exile. As of her brother, Simeon, he restored the Pharisees in the Sanhedrin and the religious rulings that had been discarded by the Saduccees since the great persecution of John Hyrcanus. When her two sons grew up, Salome made Hyrcanus high priest and Aristobulus commander of the army (Maccabees, Book V, 31:6-7). As the army was composed of many Saduccees, they had more influence over Aristobulus while, in his role of high priest, Hyrcanus was guided by the Pharisees. On the account that the Pharisees sought revenge against the Sadducees for what they had done against during Alexander’s reign, the Sadducees complained to Queen Salome and threatened to restart a civil war. They told her: “Nor will we endure to be killed by the Pharisees, like sheep. Therefore, either restrain their malice from us, or allow us to go out from the city [Jerusalem] into some of the towns of Judah." And she said to them, “Do this, that their annoyance to you may be prevented." And the Sadducees went forth of the city ; and their chiefs departed with the men of war who adhered to them ; and went http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g31-hasmonean2.html (9 of 20) [6/11/2013 11:41:37 AM]


with their cattle to those of the towns of Judah which they had selected, and dwelt in them ; and there were joined to them those who were devoted to virtue, (i. e. the Hasdanim). --- Maccabees, Book V, 31:8-12 They established themselves, along with the Hasdanim (the Essenes), outside the main cities of Judea, in cities of refuge instored by the Law. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3693 – 67 BCE – Death of Salome Alexandra Shortly before Salome died of illness, her son Aristobulus joined the Sadducees to exort them to join him for a war to rid the country of his brother and the Pharisees. Meanwhile Salome gave the powers to her son Hyrcanus and died at the age of 73, after 9 years of reign. The war between the two brothers was leading to a victory of Aristobolus who besieged Jerusalem where Hyrcanus and his followers had retreated. To avoid utter destruction, it was agreed to give the kingship to Aristobulus while Hyrcanus, his older brother, would solely focus on the priesthood. Peace was restored. Later on, a Jew called Antipater, who was married to woman from Idumea,[2] conspired against Aristobulus in order to restore, as he said, the kingship to the rightful and pious older brother Hyrcanus. His followers believed that Hyrcanus was behind this conspiration, but that was not the truth. However, after a while, Antipater succeeded to gain Hyrcanus to the conspiration and he also made alliance with Aretas, the king of the Nabataeans in Petra, to gather his army against Aristobulus. When war started, most of the Jewish army joined Hyrcanus’ forces, and Aristobulus retreated to Jerusalem to prepare for a siege. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3691 – 65 BCE – The Zugot Shemaiah and Avtalyon When Simeon ben Shetach died, he was replaced by Shemaiah as nassi and Avtalyon was the av beth din. Both were of Assyrian descent, from converts, and apparently related to Sennacherib's royal family who had destroyed the kingdom of Samaria and later repented of his deeds. The main teaching of Shemaiah was: Love work, hate acting the superior, and do not bring yourself to the knowledge of the ruling authority. --- Talmud, Avot, 1:10 Their tombs have been placed together in Jish, Northern Israel, near the tombs of other scholars of their time. http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g31-hasmonean2.html (10 of 20) [6/11/2013 11:41:37 AM]


Tombs of Zugot Shemaiah and Avtalyon ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3697 – 63 BCE – Pompey’s campaign In parallel to these events in Judea, the roman general Gnaeus Pompeius, who is now known as Pompey the Great, was campaigning against the Tigranes of Armenia and Mithridates of Parthia who had taken control of the Seleucid kingdom. In 65 BCE, he made a separate treaty with Tigranes in order to beat Mithridates which he did and made of Parthia a Roman province. In 64 BCE he deposed the last Seleucid ruler, Antiochus XIII Asiaticus, and made of Syria a Roman province. He then moved south to Judea in 63 BCE. This is when Pompey supported Hyrcanus against Aristobulus. The reason for this decision, although he first inclined to support Aristobolus as the current ruler of Judea, is that Hyrcanus had sent Antipater to meet with the Roman general. The words of the latter convinced Pompey to change opinion: And Pompey (who is Gneus) was inclined to help Aristobulus [because of a big present that he sent to Pompey]. Which when Antipater saw, he watched an opportunity that he might speak with Pompey alone, and said to him: "In truth, that present which you have received from Aristobulus needs not be restored to him, even though you should not assist him; yet Hyrcanus offers you twice so much: and Aristobulus will not be able to bring the Jews into subjection to you, but this Hyrcanus will do." And Pompey supposed the matter to be so as Antipater had said; and rejoiced to think that he could bring the Jews under his dominion. --- Maccabees, Book V, 36:12-16 http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g31-hasmonean2.html (11 of 20) [6/11/2013 11:41:37 AM]


After taking the city, Pompey entered Jerusalem and the Temple but was respectful of the religious practice of the Jews, actually encouraging them to cleanse the Holy place and to restore the divine service. Great expectations existed from conquerors to enter the Temple, but only to be deceived: As victor he [Pompey] claimed the right to enter the Temple, and this incident gave rise to the common impression that it contained no representation of the deity—the sanctuary was empty and the Holy of Holies untenanted. --- Tacitus, Histories, 5: 9 In the Temple, Pompey only found the holy candlestick, pouring vessels, and lots of spices. This content is depicted in many Jewish articfacts of which a carved stone that was found in 2009 in the antique synagogue of Migdal in Israel which was operative in the time of Pompey’s visit.[3]





The carved stone from Migdal synagogue (100 BCE) (photography: Ferrell Jenkins) Pompey appointed Hyrcanus as king and returned to Rome, taking with him Aristobulus and his children, except Alexander who had fled. In Rome, Pompey was celebrated during a two days triumph during which he exhibited the kings we had conquered: The captives led in triumph, besides the chief pirates, were the son of Tigranes the Armenian [king] with his wife and daughter, Zosime, a wife of King Tigranes himself, Aristobulus, king of the Jews, a sister and five children of Mithridates, Scythian women, and hostages given by the Iberians, by the Albanians, and by the king of Commagene; there were also very many trophies, equal in number to all the battles in which Pompey had been victorious either in person or in the persons of his lieutenants. --- Plutarch, Pompey, 45:5



The Triumph of Pompey in Rome, Nicolo Giolfino, about 1520 (Castelvecchio museum, Verona) Alexander would later lead a rebellion against Hyrcanus and the roman army left behind by Pompey in the Eastern http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g31-hasmonean2.html (15 of 20) [6/11/2013 11:41:37 AM]


provinces. When this army campaigned in Arabia, Alexander took the opportunity to retake Jerusalem in 58 BCE but was driven out from it a few months later by a second Roman army which came from Syria in support to Hyrcanus and led by Aulus Gabinius. When Gabinius went to Egypt in 55 BCE on orders from Pompey, to also restore Ptolemy XII to the throne of Egypt, Alexander started to rebel again and a third Roman army, this time led by Mark Antony (who will become a famous triumvir and the future lover of Cleopatra), moved from Egypt to Judea to defeat the Jewish pretender. Mark forced Alexander to retreat in a Judean fortress called Alexandrium (named after Alexander Jannai who built it) until he came out of the place and was put to death by Gabinius in 49 BCE, by orders from Rome. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3711 – 49 BCE – Aristobulus’ return to Judea and his death In the Roman Empire, civil war started when the general Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon in 50 BCE and marched onto Rome which he seized in 49 BCE. As Pompey fled to Egypt and threatened to separate the Eastern provinces from the Roman Empire, Caesar freed Aristobulus and his party and allowed them to return to Judea in order to counter Pompey’s allies in the region. When Aristobulus reached Judea, a large party gathered and showed their support to him, but he soon fell victim of the designs of Antipater who managed to have agents to poison him while he was in Damascus. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3712 – 48 BCE – Death of Pompey and the war in Egypt The Roman civil war came to an end when Julius Caesar defeated Pompey at the battle of Pharsalus in Greece, in the midlle of 48 BCE. Pompey fled to Egypt where he was assassinated by orders of the young king Ptolemy XIII who wanted to gain favour from Caesar. Ptolemy was a young boy married to his older sister Cleopatra. But Ptolemy and his main advisor wanted to expel Cleopatra from Egypt. This happened at the time when Caesar was pursuing Pompey and his followers into Egypt. Caesar executed the advisor who had Pompey assassinated, an act which triggered a war against Ptolemy XIII. Caesar’s forces were outnumbered and entrenched in the city of Alexandria, in 47 BCE, and the famous library went on fire, by accident according to Plutarch.



The burning of the library of Alexandria (source: Dudley, Ambrose, Hutchinsons History of the Nation, 1910) Reinforcements soon came from Mithridates and Antipater who both were eager to show support to Caesar after having been allies of Pompey. The victory, according to the Book of Maccabees, owed to the determination of Antipater and http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g31-hasmonean2.html (17 of 20) [6/11/2013 11:41:37 AM]


the neutral attitude of the Jews of Egypt who initially supported their ruler Ptolemy XIII: But as they [Antipater’s army] departed thence, they found an army of the Jews who dwelled in Egypt, making a stand at the entrance, to prevent Mithridates from entering Egypt. And Antipater produced to them a letter from Hyrcanus, commanding them to desist, and not oppose Mithridates, the friend of Caesar. And they forbore. But the others marched till they came to the city of the then reigning king [Ptolemy XIII] who came out to them with all the armies of the Egyptians, and when they engaged with him, he conquered and routed them; and Mithridates turned his back and fled; whom, when he was surrounded by the Egyptian troops, Antipater saved from death, and Antipater and his men ceased not to resist the Egyptians in battle, whom he routed and conquered, and won the whole country of Egypt. --- Maccabees, Book V, 42:17-21 This Ptotemaic-Roman war ended with the death of Ptolemy XIII. Caesar reinstated his older sister Cleopatra on the throne of Egypt, along with her younger brother Ptolemy XIV. Caesar also had a liaison with Cleopatra and gave her a son, Caesarion.



Cleopatra before Caesar, Jean-Léon Gérôme, 1866 (private collection) As of Antipater, his change of allegiance to Caesar and his decisive actions that secured the victory earned him a Roman citizenship granted by Caesar who also appointed him Procurator of Judea and changed Hyrcanus’ role back to High Priest, for him and his descendants. The assassination of Caesar in 44 BCE brought another period of unrest in the Roman empire, and old enmities surfaced again. Cleopatra got rid of her brother Ptolemy XIV in order to secure her son’s future as Ptolemy XV. In 42 BCE, Antipater was poisoned by a party who supported Hyrcanus without the latter’s knowledge. Meanwhile Octavian, the heir of Caesar, was gaining ground against those of the Senate who assassinated Caesar. He defeated Crassius’ rebellious army in Greece and killed Brutus, Caesar’s adoptive son. At this time, Hyrcanus sent ambassadors to Octavian to show alleagiance to the new Roman ruler.



Hasmonean dynasty from John Hyrcanus to Herod ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1] Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book 13, 12:5 [2] The Idumeans had converted to Judaism some years before, during the reign of John Hyrcanus [3] To date, this synagogue is one of the six only known in Israel that date from the Second Temple period Next generation Top of Page






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The descendants from Noah What is new Index of names

The Biblical text mentions the following descendants of Noah from the sons of Gomer, Yavan and Cush on Yafeth's side, from Mizrahim and Canaan on Cham's side, and Aram and Arpachshad for Shem's side.


A map of the world after Noah, in an edition published in 1854 - Gomer, son of Yafeth, had the following sons who initially populated the Caucasus region before some of them moved north into Central and Eastern Europe: - Ashkenaz: the ancestor of some people of Central Europe, the Scythians, who then gave root to the Slavic people; his name, decomposed as Esh-Ke-Naz, would mean fire like Naz, whatever Naz may have meant; or it could have meant http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g16.html (1 of 6) [6/11/2013 11:41:52 AM]


Esh-Kanaz where KNH (‫ )הנכ‬is an old form for named: in such case, Ashkenaz may have meant fire-named; maybe he was red-haired at birth - Rifath: he may be the ancestor to the Eurasian people in Asia Minor; in Hebrew, his name means burning so he may have also been red-haired - Togarmah: the ancestor of Caucasian people such as the Georgians; his name is using the Hebrew root TGR (‫)רגת‬ which means challenge - Yavan, son of Yafeth, had the following sons who populated the Greek region and the Mediterranean islands in general: - Elishah: the ancestor of some of the Greek and Cyprus people; in the times of Ancient Egypt, Cyprus was called Alashiya; the name Elishah may have also been the origin of the word Hellas for Greece - Tarshish: according to Josephus, he was the ancestor of some people in Asia Minor, about the Taurus mountains; Tarshish will later be the name of a harbour in Antiquity, assumed to have been located in Asia Minor, but other theories assume it was a harbour in the very remote part of the known world, so probably as far as the Spanish coast (mentioned as Tartassus in Herodotus' map of the ancient world) - Kittim: he probably was the ancestor of people from Cyprus because the ancient name of Larnaca was Kition - Dodanim: probably the ancestor of people from Rhodes because their name has later been mentioned as Rodanim [1] - Cush, son of Cham, had the following sons who mostly populated Southern Egypt and Eastern Africa regions, before spreading to the rest of the African continent, with the notable exception of Nimrod as explained below: - Seba: his name means grand-father; he is believed to be the ancestor of people from Yemen and Ethiopia - Havilah: generally associated with the people who populated the northern part of the Arabian peninsula - Savtah: associated with the people of Yemen - Raamah: also associated with the Yemen and the southern part of Arabian regions - Savteca: he established himself in Eritrea - Nimrod was the first mighty man who ruled over a vast region in Mesopotamia called Shinaar in the Bible; his main city was Babel, the future Babylon

The ancient world according to Herodotus - Mizrayim, son of Cham, established himself in the Nile valley, which was before the Flood the place of two different settlements: Lower Egypt in the north and Upper Egypt in the south; the name Mizrayim may have been adopted based on the fact that, when he came to the region, he united both north and south parts under one rule; his name may have been Mizri before becoming the dual Mizr-ayim (the suffix -ayim means two in Hebrew); the sons of Mizrayim were: - Ludim: he was the ancestor of a people who left the Nile valley, crossed the sea and established themselves in Asia Minor, in a region called Lydia - Anamim: he was the ancestor of people who established in Lybia; they were referenced in Assyrian records as Anami - Lehavim: possibly the ancestor of the Lubim, who populated Lybia - Naftu’him: possibly the ancestor who established himself in Memphis who was called Na-Ptah - Patrusim: he went to southern Egypt and established himself in Thebes region; his name means Pa-To-Ris, meaning southerner in Ancient Egypt



- Caslu’him: he established himself in southern Egypt, in a region called Kalushet, some distance north from Assuan, and also was the ancestor of the Philistines[2] who was a people from the lineage of Cham who moved north from Egypt, and south from the region of Canaan, at some point in the time - Caftorim: he settled in the Nile delta and some of his descendants probably crossed the sea into Crete and other islands because, at the time when the Hebrews came down to Egypt, they settled in this delta region which was inhabited by then - Canaan, son of Cham, established himself in the Levant region and had the following sons: - Sidon: he gave birth to the city-state that gave root to the Phoenician people - Heth: ancestor of the Hittites, a people who established themselves in Anatolia and Canaan, and who became a regional power during Biblical times - Jebusite: a people who lived in the hill on the southern side of the present-day city of Jerusalem - Amorite: a people who established themselves in Syria - Girgashite: a sea-people known by the Egyptians as the Kirkash; they will leave Canaan just before the conquest by Joshua and will re-locate in present-day Lybia - Hivite: they lived in the mountainous region of Canaan and of the Levant - Arkite: they established the city-state of Arka in northern Phoenicia, which will be mentioned in one of the Amarna letters dated 1350 BCE [3] - Sinite: they were desert dwellers, and gave the name to the wilderness of Zin (Negev and Sinai) - Arvadite: they founded the city-state of Arwad in northern Phoenicia (now in coastal Syria) - Zemarite: they founded the city-state of Zemar in Phoenicia, mentioned as Zumur in the Amarna letters - Hamathite: they founded the city-state of Hamath north from Phoenicia (in Syria today)

Map of the Levant region The Biblical text also mentions Noah’s descendants from his son Shem:



- The sons of Aram, ancestor of the Aramaeans, were: - Utz: who may have been the founder of the city-state Damascus - H’ul: ancestor of Armenian people - Gether: ancestor of people living east from Iran - Mash: also called Meshech in I Chronicles 1:17, there have been several hypothesis about his descendants, one of them locating them near the Black Sea [4] - As of Arpachshad, son of Shem, he is linked to the Hebrews by his son Shelah’ who established himself in the lower part of Mesopotamia; his name means messenger in Hebrew The human life started to reduce in duration after the Flood, as God had wished it. Presumably it translated into DNA mutations for the human kind that exposed them to elements, diseases or else, that started to shorten their expected life. It is at this time that physical mutations occured such as the red-haired people in the lineage of Yafeth.These mutations gave root to multiple genetic changes in the human population which, also, affected physical traits: skin colour, form of eye, texture of hair, and so on, and also gave root to multiple DNA types.

The people of Ancient Mesopotamia Shem was 98 years old at the time of the Flood and he begot Arpachshad when he was 100 years old (Genesis 11:10). So Shem was born in 1558, as the Flood occurred in 1656, and Arpachshad was born in 1658. Shem died in 2158, at the age of 600 years old (Genesis 11:11). Shem gave root to all the peoples who returned and established in Mesopotamia after the Flood. And unto Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, the elder brother of Japheth, to him also were children born. The sons of Shem: Elam, and Asshur, and Arpachshad, and Lud, and Aram. And the sons of Aram: Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Mash. And Arpachshad begot Shelah; and Shelah begot Eber. --- Genesis 10:21-24 Elam gave root to the Persian people, the Elamites, who settled towards the East of Mesopotamia. Asshur is the ancestor of the Assyrians and they settled in Northern Mesopotamia. Lud was Luddu in Assyrian language, that is known as Lydia: they were some people established in Asia Minor. Aram was the ancestor of the Aramaeans and settled North from Mesopotamia and Assyria, is today's Northern Syria and part of Southern Turkey. Assur son of Shem may be identified with the king Sargon of Akkad. The name Sargon is actually Sarru-kinu, which means the true king. Sarru and Assur could well be the same person, although they both mean king.

Sargon of Akkad (National Museum of Baghdad)

The origin of the Hebrews Arpachshad founded the dynasty of Ur. The name of this city may be derived from the prefix of his name Ar-Ur, as founder of such dynasty named after him. He is probably the historical king Ur-Nammu, who founded this Ur dynasty in the times http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g16.html (4 of 6) [6/11/2013 11:41:52 AM]


after the Flood from around 2100 BCE. In the depictions of these times, the kings and officials are all represented with long beards, maybe as a proof that these people still lived long years compared to their successors.

Stela of Ur-Nammu Arpachshad was 35 years old when he begot Shelah’, in year 1693. He then lived 403 years and died in 2096 (Genesis 11:12-13). Shelah’ was 30 years old when he begot Eber, in year 1723. He then lived 403 years and died in year 2126 (Genesis 11:14-15). Eber was 34 years when he begot Peleg, in year 1757. He then lived 430 years and died in year 2187 (Genesis 11:16-17). At the time of his death, Shem had already died, in year 2158, 29 years earlier. But this overlap of life durations enabled Shem, the righteous son of Noah, to instruct Eber in the knowledge of God. The name Eber means to cross over in Hebrew. He is the direct ancestor of the Hebrews whose name derived from Eber. And to Eber were two sons. The name of the one was Peleg, because in his days the earth dispersed, and the name of his brother was Yoktan. --- Genesis 10:25 Presumably, Eber’s first son, Peleg, was a name that was given to him when the dispersion happened on earth. This will be the dispersion of the human population after the construction of the Tower of Babel (see next generation in Hebrew year 1997). Eber also represented the 14th human generation since the Creation: 1-Adam > 2-Seth > 3-Enosh > 4-Kenan > 5-Mahalalel > 6-Jared > 7-Hanoch > 8- Metushalach > 9- Lemech > 10- Noach > 11- Shem > 12- Arpachshad > 13- Shelah > 14Eber. Already at the 7th generation, with Hanoch who walked in the path of God, we witnessed God's attempt to awaken his essence in the human race. Eber represented His 2nd attempt (because 14 is twice 7), and from him will be issued the people, the Hebrews, that God has wished to choose to carry His message. Hanoch was the first man since the Creation to truly walk in the path of God. He represented the 7th human generation since Adam (). This number 7 is symptomatic of God's presence because the 7th day is the Shabbat, a day dedicated by God. So Hanoch had been inspired by God and represented the first divine attempt to awaken the human race to the path of God. Yoktan, whose name means small, had the following 13 sons: - Almodad: it is assumed that he was ancestor to some of the Arabian tribes - Shelef - Chatsarmaveth: his name means the courtyard of death; it is assumed that he is ancestor to some Yemenite tribe - Yerah’ - Hadoram: his name means the south - Uzal: he settled in Sana, Yemen - Diklah - O’val - Avimael - Sheva: he is the ancestor of the Queen of Sheba, who lived during the reign of King Solomon - Ophir: he is the ancestor of sea people somewhere in Africa, who extracted and traded their gold in ancient times - ‘Havilah: his name means circular and the land where he dwelt also had gold (Genesis 2:11); it is believed that this place is http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g16.html (5 of 6) [6/11/2013 11:41:52 AM]


in the Hijaz mountains in Western Arabia - Yovav

Peleg was 30 years when he begot Reu’, in year 1787. He then lived 209 years and died in year 1996 (Genesis 11:18-19). Peleg was the first person to have lived a short life compared to his ancestors who were all still alive at the time of his death (Noah, Shem, Arpachshad. Shelah’ and Eber). It is them who had renamed him Peleg because he died at the time of the so-called dispersion: The name of the one was Peleg, because in his days the earth dispersed, […]. --- Genesis 10:25 Reu’ was 32 years when he begot Sherug, in year 1819. He then lived 207 years and died in year 2026 (Genesis 11:20-21). Sherug was 30 years when he begot Nachor, in year 1849. He then lived 200 years and died in year 2049 (Genesis 11:22-23). It is assumed that he had settled in the city of Ur and started to worship idols. Nachor was 29 years when he begot Terach, in year 1878. He then lived 119 years and died in year 1997 (Genesis 11:2425). Nachor lived a very short life, of 148 years.

~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1] According to I Chronicles 1:7 [2] According to Genesis 10:14 [3] See article in Wikipedia [4] There is also a Meshech son of Yafeth, whereas the current Meshech is the one being grandson of Shem; it may be that the latter was a son of the former, and took his name after being "pulled" (which explains his name Meshech in Hebrew) from Yafeth and adopted by Aram son of Shem with a change of name to Mash Next generation Top of Page






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Year 2536 – 1224 BCE – Death of Joshua What is new At the end of his life, Joshua addressed the tribes of Israel in Sichem (which is today the city of Nablus) saying: Index of names Creation Generations 1-14

"Take good heed therefore unto yourselves, that you love the Lord your God. Otherwise if you do in any wise go back, and cleave unto the remnant of these [pagan] nations, even these that remain among you, and make marriages with them, and go in unto them, and they to you; know for a certainty that the Lord your God will no more drive these nations from out of your sight; but they shall be a snare and a trap unto you, and a scourge in your sides, and pricks in your eyes, until you will perish from this good land which the Lord your God has given you. --- Joshua 23:11-13

Before he would die, Joshua wrote the Book of Joshua, named after him, which follows the Torah, the book of the law of Generations God as mentioned in the following text: 15-21 So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Sichem. And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God; and he took a great stone, and set it up there under the oak that was by Generations the sanctuary of the Lord. And Joshua said unto all the people: "Behold, this stone shall be a witness against us; for it has 22-28 heard all the words of the Lord which He spoke unto us; it shall be therefore a witness against you, lest you deny your God." --- Joshua 24:25-27 Generations 29-35 Joshua died at the age of 110 years old (Joshua 24:29, Judges 2:8). As he was 30 years old at the time of the explorers, in year Hebrew 2456, he thus died at 110 years old in Hebrew year 2526, which was 82 years from the Exodus, and 41 years Generations from when he started the conquest of Canaan. 36-49 It is in Sichem that the Israelites also transported and buried the remains of Joseph that they had brought back from Egypt at Generation the time of the Exodus.[1] 50

Tomb of Joseph (David Roberts 1839)



Tomb of Joseph in Nablus (photograph 1868, after restoration of the site) ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2552 – 1208 BCE – The Merneptah Stele The Israelites generally respected the promise to keep in God’s path as long as Joshua and all the elders of the generation of the desert, who had witnessed these events since God spoke to the Israelites, were still alive. But deviations started to happen among some of the tribes of Israel, and God sent them some warning of what would occur in such case. The first of these threats came from Egypt itself, the nation their ancestors had been freed from. Pharaoh Merneptah, the son of Ramses II, mostly led military campaigns in Lybia but also in Canaan between 1208 and 1203 BCE, although he was already an old Pharaoh, 60 or 70 years of age. At his death in 1203 BCE, a stele of victory had been created to relate his military achievements, and it was discovered in 1896 in Thebes. The stele is acknowledged to bear the first archaelogical proof of the name "Israel". Indeed one of the last lines of the stele (line 27) mention: 1. 2. 3. 4.

The princes are prostrate, saying, "Peace!" Not one is raising his head among the Nine Bows. Now that Tehenu (Libya) has come to ruin, Hatti is pacified; The Canaan has been plundered into every sort of woe: Ashkelon has been overcome; Gezer has been captured; Yano'am is made non-existent.

5. Israel is laid waste and his seed is not; 6. Hurru is become a widow because of Egypt. --- Merneptah Stele, transcription in Wikipedia This campaign was made along the coastal plain of Canaan, attacking the Philistine country and probably one of the Israelite tribes who lived in the area, such as Dan for example.



The Merneptah Stele (Cairo Museum; photo credit: blog Bible & Archaeology) The reference to Israel is highlighted in dark at the bottom of the stele This campaign in Canaan is factual, and there is no doubt that some Israelites lived in the coastal plain thus would have been afflicted by such military expedition. Yet, some argue that the text doesn't refer to 'Israel' because of one letter seeming to be wrong: the hieroglyphs (see below), to be read from right to left, and up to down, show the letters i-s-r-a-a-r, which has been transcribed as Israel assuming the last 'r' should have been an 'l'. But this small mismatch is truly little as no foreign name is perfectlty transcribed from one language to another. Also the rest of the passage mentions this Israar being foreign people, not an established city, which definition was indeed applicable to the Israelites who, at this time, didn't consitute a nation but only tribes settled here and there across the land.



Merneptah Stele - close-up on 'Israel' with the first four letters explained ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2558 – 1202 BCE – Death of Eleazar the Priest Joshua was the first one mentioned to die, and Eleazar was the last one (Joshua 24:33). There is a parallel with the sons of Jacob when they died in Egypt: the first to die was Joseph in Hebrew year 2309 and the last was Levi in Hebrew year 2331: there is a difference of 22 years.[2] As Joshua had Joseph as ancestor and as Eleazar had Levi, the same difference of years between their deaths applies for Joshua and Eleazar, meaning 22 years of difference. We can conclude that Eleazar died 22 years after Joshua, in Hebrew year 2548. How old was Ealeazar when he died? Although the text does not mention it, we can make some assumption. In the desert, at the time of the explorers, Eleazar was younger than 30 years old otherwise he would have been part of the divine service like his two older brothers, Nadab and Abihu, because the minimum age of priesthood was 30 years: And unto Moses He said: "Come up unto the Lord, you, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship you afar off; and Moses alone shall come near unto the Lord; but they shall not come near; neither shall the people go up with him." --- Exodus 24:1-2 So, if we assume that Eleazar was a bit below 30 years old in Hebrew year 2456, he would have been born a bit earlier than year 2425, making him a man of a bit more than 133 years of age when he died in year 2558. This was longer life than most of the rest of the people because God decreed than human life was not to exceed 120 years. However, at that time, God blessed the priests, the Levites, by granting them longer human life. This will however be nullified, and even reversed, later after the death of Eli the Priest as we shall see here. But, personally, I assume that Eleazar actually died at the age of 137, which is compatible with the above calculation ("a bit more than 133"), because this was the age when his ancestor Levi died (Exodus 6:16), and there is a clear parallel of age/years so far for Joseph/Joshua and for Levi/Eleazar. After Eleazar, his son Phinehas became the High Priest. He moved the Ark of Covenant from Shiloh to Beth-El, a city where he had settled (Judges 20:26-28), which was at the border of the territories of Benjamin and Manasseh (Joshua 18:13), on Benjamin’s side (Joshua 18:22). A total of 104 years had passed from the Exodus. The Israelites were at their third generation of family since this event: the first generation left Egypt and died in the desert, the second generation entered and conquered Canaan and died before Eleazer and the Elders, and the third generation is the one who commenced the period of the Judges. Meanwhile, during this time, Egypt went through a succession of troubles, either caused by foreign invaders or by internal conflicts for political power, and this ended up with divisions of their country. No Pharaoh stepped foot in the land of Canaan during these troubled times although many of the territories conquered by the Israelites had been vassals to Egypt since the time of the military campaign of Ramses II in the region. Probably the souvenir of the Hebrews leaving Egypt was still too painful on the Egyptians to venture in a war against them ever again. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2558 – 1202 BCE – The period of the Judges The generation that followed Joshua and Eleazar's deaths started to sin immediately: And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers; and there arose another generation after them, that knew not the Lord, nor yet the work which He had wrought for Israel. --- Judges 2:10 The above text is stricking of similarity with what was said of Egypt at the time after the sons of Jacob died, Joseph first and Levi last. It was then said that a new king rose to power who had not known Joseph. This sentence is a clear introduction to the punishments that will fall upon the Israelites in these days. As a first sin, this generation took spouses among the Canaanites women and Israelite women married Canaanite men. This was caused by the fact that the Israelites did not finish the conquest and left many Canaanite peoples to dwell in their territories, sometimes in exchange of a levy. These intermarriages caused the Israelites to adopt the rites of their neighbours’ pagan gods. This infuriated God and He decided to punish His people by causing disruptions to the peace that otherwise was prevailing in these times. First the punishment would come from foreign people who came to spoil the Israelites, and then the oppression would come from the Israelites’ neighbours themselves, as it is explicitely said: And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and He delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and He gave them over into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies. --- Judges 2:14 But, at the same time, God had offered them the choice for potential repentance by raising Judges (or Shoftim in Hebrew) among them. And thus started the period of Judges: 12 of them will preside over the destiny of the Bene-Israel, until the time of their Kingdom. The number of 12 judges is indicative that each tribe would give rise to judges, several judges in fact, but only 12 of them would be guided by the spirit of God to act upon the enemies of the Israelites and free them from their oppression. And the Lord rose up judges who saved them out of the hand of those that spoiled them. And yet they hearkened not unto their judges, for they went astray after other gods, and worshipped them; they turned aside quickly out of the way wherein their fathers walked, obeying the commandments of the Lord; they did not so. And when the Lord raised them up judges, then the Lord was with the judge, and saved them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for it repented the Lord because of their groaning by reason of them that oppressed them and crushed them. But it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they turned back, and dealt more corruptly than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to worship them; they left nothing undone of their practices, nor of their stubborn way. --- Judges 2:16-19 Beside the spoilers who were the abovementioned enemies? Because of the behaviour of the Israelites, God did not allow http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g22-judges.html (4 of 12) [6/11/2013 11:42:20 AM]


them to completely drive out some of the Canaanite people following the conquest of Joshua. Rather He allowed them to remain where Joshua had left them, so that they could oppress the Israelites at times: And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel; and He said: "Because this nation have transgressed My covenant which I commanded their fathers and have not hearkened unto My voice, I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations that Joshua left when he died; that by them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the Lord to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not." So the Lord left those nations, without driving them out hastily; neither delivered He them into the hand of Joshua. --- Judges 2:20-23 These peoples were essentially the Philistines and other Canaanites, who were left by Joshua for each Israelite tribe to complete the conquest. Because, instead of driving out these pagan people, the Israelites were too complacent, allowing them to dwell in their cities, and finally tookspouses from them and adopted their foreign cults. Concerning the Philistines, they would have several years of conflicts against the Israelites, principally towards the end of the Judges period and these conflicts extended into the period of the Kingdom. In general, the Israelites would have difficulties to win against enemies in the valleys, because these city states were very well defended, with impressive fortified walls, and they had chariots of iron. The Israelites would rather find shelter in the hill countries where the chariots of the enemies could not easily venture (Judges 1:19). The Israelites succeeded to take over all the cities in the hills except for the one of the Jebusites, on a hill of Jerusalem, which had been under the responsibility of the Tribe of Benjamin to take (Judges 1:20). This place was destined to host the house of God, and the Tribe of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites. For this reason, maybe, the Tribe of Benjam was almost entirely exterminated, as we shall see here, at the beginning of this dark period of the Judges. The period of the Judges can roughly be divided in three periods, each one starting with the text saying that the children of Israel […] served the Baalim [the idols]. In the first occurrence (Judges 3:7), God sent the spoilers against Israel, which were the Arameans and then the enemies around them [the Israelites] because Israel continued to do evil in the eyes of God. Five judges were raised to redress Israel in the good path: Othniel of Judah, Ehud of Benjamin, Shamgar of Naphtali, Deborah of Ephraim and Gideon of Manasseh. This first period lasted 84 years, from the death of Eleazar until the death of Gideon. In the second occurrence (Judges 8:33), God put Israel in the hand of their direct neighbours but to a degree lesser than before, because this time the text says that Israel went astray after the Baalim rather than they served the Baalim. The Israelites did not sin as badly so their punishment was not as harsh. God raised two judges to redress Israel: Tola of Issachar and Jair of Manasseh. This next period only lasted 26 years. Then came the third occurrence (Judges 10:6) when the Israelites from nearly all the tribes served all the Baalim from all their neighbours, as if the contact with them during the previous period, even if it occurred in the context of war, ultimately resulted into a bad influence over the Israelites. This time God put most of tribes of Israel into trouble, but raised five Judges to contain the yoke of their enemies: Yiftah of Gilead, Ibzan of Judah, Elon of Zebulun, Avdon of Ephraim, Samson of Dan. And this period lasted 31 years until the first king of Israel was annointed. After three attempts of redress of the Israelites, it became clear that the practice of Judges would not suffice. The lack of central command and policy caused the various tribes of Israelites to go astray in turn, and one judge from one tribe or another was never enough to have an impact over the entire nation of 12 tribes. A new model was needed, and this gave rise to the era of kingdom for Israel. In total the period of the Judges has lasted about 141 years. The original book Seder Olam considers that the period of the Judges lasted about 352 years, because it adds the period of each judge in a continuous manner, without taking into account the years of oppression when no judge was saving the Israelites. This approach is debatable, even among religious scholars, because it is clear that the judges judged in different part of the land of for different tribes, and in parallel at times. The Biblical text warns that each tribe was doing their own way because there was no unity between the tribes until the period of the kingdom. In addition, if the period of judges had extended for such a long period of 350 years, it would conflict with the period of the kings, and the result is that the end of the kingdoms of Israel and of Judah would not match the definite years that are confirmed by archaelogical and other historical sources. A last consideration about this issue is the generations that are described in the Book of Chronicles. If we look at the genealogy of the future King David, starting from his ancestor Nahshon, the head of the tribe of Judah who left Egypt at the Exodus. The succession was as follows: Nahshon (generation 3) => Salma (who participated to the conquest of Canaan, generation 4) => Boaz (who married Ruth the Moabite) => Obed => Jesse => David (generation 8) as his 8th son. And the period of the Judges ended with the rule of Prophet Samuel and King Saul. In other words, David was of the 5th generation over this period of Judges. Assuming an average of 25-30 years per genealogy generation, this would add up to 125-150 years for this period, which falls into the window of 141 years assumed here but which is no match with the 352 years assumed by the original Seder Olam. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2558 – 1202 BCE – The Arameans Soon after the death of Eleazar, the Israelite tribes of the valleys were subjugated during 8 years by the foreign king called Kushan-Rishatayim of Aram-Naharaim. Aram-Naharaim was already mentioned in Genesis 24:10 when Eliezer, Abraham's old servant, went up north near Charan 470 years earlier to find a wife for Isaac. This is the land of Aram, at the corner of the Northern Syria, Southern Turkey and Northern Mesopotamia. At this time, the Arameans formed themselves as a kingdom of which we do not know much about, because the kingdom was destroyed by the Assyrians some time later.



Regional map with Aram The name of this king Kushan-Rishatayim contains the work shatayim meaning two. This could refer to one of the kings with a name as "the Second", such as one called Pahir-Ishshan II, but History knowns little about the kings of Aram prior to later ages. Another possibility is that this king became the king of the alliance of two peoples, the Aramaeans and the "Ahlamû", the existence of the latter being testified in inscriptions dating from the reign the Tiglath-Pileser I of Assyria (around 1100 BCE), while the former would be the dominant people of the region in the centuries that followed. The name Ahlamû means wanderers, which assumes that they were a nomadic tribe that settled in Aram-Hanaraim. The name has possible Hebrew root to say Ahel-amû which means People of the tent, in other words the wanderers indeed. Whoever this king was, he came with a vast army and, with their many chariots, they could therefore conquer all flat lands during their campaign in Canaan. His invasion however must not have affected too much the tribes located in the hill countries, including the main part of Judah. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2576 – 1184 BCE – Judge Othniel, of Judah After 8 years of foreign rule, the Israelites of the valleys were delivered by the judge Othniel, son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, from the tribe of Judah, who had been Judge for his tribe from the death of Joshua. At the time, the Israelites asked God for a new leader and God designated the tribe of Judah for this role (Judges 1:1-2). Othniel was already the heir of Caleb in leading the war to conquer the Judean hills, and married Achsah, Caleb’s daughter (Judges 1:11-13). Othniel had been Judge for 40 years, from Joshua’s death in 2536, when he died in year 2576. The fact that Othniel was the head of the tribe of Judah and not one of the sons of Nahshon, who was described as the Prince of Judah at the time of the Exodus and in the desert, may be an indication of the reason why one of Nahshon's son, Elimelech, left his Tribe, maybe out of bitterness, and settled in Moab with his wife Naomi and his two sons. Elimelech's brother, Salma or Salmon, however remained in the territory of Judah and had a son called Boaz. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2576 – 1184 BCE – Civil war against the Tribe of Benjamin It is after the death of Othniel that one of the worst events in Jewish history took place. The story is told at the end of the book of Judges, but it happened at the beginning of that period, after the death of Judge Othniel, when no other judge from Judah would be judging over the tribes. The only person who could have had any influence over the events that would unfold was the High Priest Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron. But he was living in Beth-El, in Benjamin’s territory, so could probably not felt in a position to initially take side against his hosts. The Levites were living among the different tribes, in cities designated for them. Some people of the tribe of Benjamin behaved in an abominable way towards a Levite who was on his way back from Beth-Lehem with his wife. She was from this town in the territory of Judah, and behaved like a harlot there, and they were on their way home to the territory of Ephraim. The Levite had to cross the territory of Benjamin on his way back, and found shelter over the night in the house of an old man in the Benjaminite town of Gibeah. The behaviour of the people of this city was reminiscent to what Sodom did to Loth’s visitors in Abraham’s time: "Bring forth the man that came into your house, that we may know him." --- Judges 19:22 [3] Their evil deeds ultimately led to the death of the wife of the Levite in a most atrocious manner, and this caused the revulsion of the other Israelite tribes against the city of Gibeah. A total of 400,000 men assembled to decide that the culprits of that city should be put to death, so that, as they stated, we put away evil from Israel (Judges 20:13).



The Levite removing the corpse of his wife from Gibeah (Gustave Doré, 1868) But there was no Judge over Israel at the time, each tribe acted as they saw right. In this case, the tribe of Benjamin would not condemn their city and war started. Their forces totalled 26,000 men, in addition to the 700 men from Gibeah. Although out-numbered, the people of Benjamin were skilled in the use of slings, as they rarely missed, and they all were left-handed.[4] In the first day, Benjamin killed 22,000 Israelites, and then 18,000 in the second day. Before the engagement of the third day, the High Priest passed the word that God will deliver the sons of Benjamin to the hand of Israel: And the Lord smote Benjamin before Israel; and the children of Israel destroyed of Benjamin that day twenty and five thousand and a hundred men; all these drew the sword. --- Judges 20:35 This was a great slaughter for the tribe of Benjamin which counted 26,700 men in total, because 25,600 of them had died on that day. The tribe was nearly entirely wiped out except for 1100 men remaining who were doing a last stand at the Rock of Rimmon. [5] But, in the evening, the tribes of Israel felt sorrow for having nearly exterminated one of their brethren and could not accept that one of the 12 Tribes of Israel would be wiped out. They spared the life of the last men of Benjamin. But, as they had sworn not to ever give their daughters as wives to Benjamin, they went into an expedition to an Israelite city called Jabesh-Gilead (at the east from the Jordan River) who didn’t respond to the call to arms against Benjamin and didn’t suffer the casualties of war. As a punishment, they killed everyone in that city except for the young virgin women: they found 400 of them and brought them to Shiloh for the sons of Benjamin to repopulate their tribe. The number of wives needed was however not sufficient, so another manner was sought: And they said: “Behold, there is the feast of the Lord from year to year in Shiloh, which is on the north of Beth-el, on the east side of the highway that goes up from Beth-el to Sichem, and on the south of Lebonah.” And they commanded the children of Benjamin, saying: “Go and lie in wait in the vineyards; and see, and, behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then come you out of the vineyard ,and catch you every man his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin. And it shall be, when their fathers or their brethren come to strive with us that we will say unto them: Grant them graciously unto us; because we took not for each man of them his wife in battle; neither did you give them unto them, that you should now be guilty.” And the children of Benjamin did so, and took them wives, according to their number, of them that danced, whom they carried off; and they went and returned unto their inheritance, and built the cities, and dwelt in them.” --- Judges 21:19:23 The reason for choosing the city of Shiloh was because it used to be a city of priests, before the Ark was moved by Phinehas to Beth-El. Due to their function, these priests could not participate in any war and, as a result, they did not endure the losses of war against Benjamin. After this event though, the Ark of Covenant was moved back from Beth-El to Shiloh, maybe as a way of compensating the city against the ordeal on its daughters. According to Tradition,[6] some of the Benjamin people decided to leave the land of Canaan after this war (or this emigration may have happened at the time of the destruction of the kingdom of Israel). They would have found sea passage with the early Phoenicians and moved to a place where they founded a city, which will become a military power some centuries later: Rome. There are some details of Ancient Rome that fit into the theory of an origin from Benjamin and that may be considered as a body of evidence if not a proof: - The brothers Romulus and Remus were abandoned, as new born children, on a river before being saved by a she-wolf; this is reminiscent of the birth of Moses - The symbol of the foundation of Rome is the she-wolf: the wolf was also the symbol for Benjamin who had been described by his father Jacob as a predatory wolf (Genesis 49:27; this is the only place where a wolf is mentioned in the entire Torah) - The founding of Rome by Romulus occurred after he had killed his brother Remus in a family feud; this is reminiscent of http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g22-judges.html (7 of 12) [6/11/2013 11:42:20 AM]


the tribes of Israel fighting their own brethren, the Benjamin tribe, or a reminder of the feud between the two brotherhood tribes of Judah and Benjamin that triggered the civil war (the wife of the Levite was from Judah and was abused and left dead by the Benjamite men of Gibeah) - The city was located in a hilly region of Italy, like Benjamin’s territory in Canaan, which may explain why Benjamin men selected that location to setlle down - The city was named Roma, which is similar to Ramah, which means height in Hebrew, identical to names or prefixes of cities in the hilly territory of Benjamin - The "rape" (or rather abduction) of the Sabines during a festival, in order to populate Rome, is reminiscent to the episode of the girls of Shiloh, taken during a festival too - Last, Paul the Apostle, who was a Jewish scholar (even a Pharisee) before embracing the faith of Jesus, declared himself to be also an Israelite, out of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin (Romans 11:1; also in Philippians 3:5); in his time, nobody knew for certain from which tribe they actually came from, so this mention of Paul may refer to the fact that he was a citizen of Rome and knew that Rome was founded by people from Benjamin

The she-wolf sucking Romulus and Remus The Book of Judges ends with the following statement that explains the dark period that it covers: In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did that which was right in his own eyes. --- Judges 21:25 ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2577 – 1183 BCE – The Moabites - Boaz and Ruth The expedition of the Israelites into the other side of the Jordan River, in Gilead, gave a pretext for Eglon king of Moab to act against them after they had just ended their civil war and nearly exterminated the Tribe of Benjamin. Without the skillful men of this tribe, the hill countries on the west side of the Jordan River became less defended. It was a good opportunity for the Canaanites to seek revenge against the tribes of Israel. Eglon the king of the Moabites formed a coalition with the Ammonites in the north and the Amalekites in the south, and submitted to their rule the land of Canaan during 18 years (Judges 3:14). The reason for the divine punishment in the arm of the Moabites was not this time caused by any wrongdoing in term of faith, or adoption of pagan rites as before. This time, the divine punishment was because the children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord (Judges 3:7). Surely what took place after the war against Benjamin, such as the slaughter of the city of Jabesh-Gilead and the abduction of the virgin girls of Shiloh. All this evil was caused because of the oath that the Israelites took in front of the Ark in Beth-El not to give any of their daughters as wives to the men of Benjamin. As of the civil war itself, it was caused by the evil of the people of Gibeah, which was no better than what Sodom had been punished for. The Moabites were the descendants of Moab, the son born from the incestuous intercourse that one of Lot's daughters caused with her father. King David will be a descendant of Ruth the Moabite, who married Boaz from Judah. How did this occur? A man called Elimelech from Beth-Lehem, in the territory of Judah, left his Tribe on the pretext of a famine and settled down in the land of Moab. He had his wife Naomi and his two sons. They stayed about 10 years there during which the two sons were married to two Moabite women, one of which being called Ruth. But all three men died, the father and his two sons, probably out of divine punishment to have abandoned their land and married out to foreign women. Yet, when Naomi decided to return to Beth-Lehem, Ruth her daughter-in-law decided not to abandon her. Ruth ultimately met and married Boaz, who was the nephew of Elimelech. Boaz and Ruth would become the grand-parents of Jesse, the father of future Kind David: Now these are the generations of Perez [son of Judah and Tamar]: Perez begot Hezron; and Hezron begot Ram, and Ram begot Amminadab; and Amminadab begot Nahshon [generation of the Exodus], and Nahshon begot Salmon [generation who was born in the desert and who entered Canaan]; and Salmon begot Boaz, and Boaz begot Obed; and Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David [his 7th son]. --- Ruth 4:18-22 ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2595 – 1165 BCE – Judges Ehud of Benjamin and Shamgar of Naphtali The salvation against the yoke of the Moabites came from the Benjamin tribe itself, with their judge Ehud son of Gera. He killed Eglon in Jericho and this triggered the general revolt of the Israelites living in the hill countries against the oppressor.



Ehud kills Eglon king of the Moabites When Ehud started to wage the liberation war against the Moabites in the hill counties, another judge followed his path to liberate the Israelites from the yoke of the Philistines in the low counties. It was Shamgar, son of Anath (Judges 3:31). Who was Anath? The name is mentioned in the Bible as being Beth-Anath (Joshua 19:38) meaning the House of Anath, a city of the Tribe of Naphtali, whose territory was located in Lower Galilee. This is how we can learn that Shamgar was a man from Naphtali. Both Ehud and Shamgar died after their exploits. The hill countries remained at peace for the next 80 years, until year 2675 (Judges 3:30), but the low countries started to sin again (Judges 4:1), so the next calamities fell on them from both the north and the south of the land. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2595 – 1165 BCE – The Hazorites and the Midianites Against the Israelites of the low countries, God raised Jabin, king of Hazor, a Canaanite city-state of northern Israel. He was a powerful leader who had nine hundred chariots of iron. His charioted army could be effective in the low countries, but not in the hill countries. The tribes of the hills were then walking in the path of God since Judge Ehud. The Hazorites oppressed the Israelites of the low countries for the next 20 years (Judges 4:3). Excavations in Tel Hazor have found cuneiform tablets mentioning a monarch called Ibni Addi, where Ibni can be the Biblical name Jabin/Yabin.

Tablet found in Hazor (source: Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs) And from the south came the Midianites, a nomadic people settled in the southern part of the land and in the Sinai Peninsula who moved north in a multitude, like the locusts, to encamp themselves in the land of Canaan. Their yoke lasted 7 years (Judges 6:1-5). This drove many Israelites to the hill countries and hide in caves of the mountains. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2602 – 1158 BCE – Gideon the Prophet, of Manasseh God inspired Gideon to raise an army against the Midianites who had allied their forces with the Amalekites in the valley of Jezreel, in Northern Israel. But God was not happy with Gideon’s army as it was too numerous. Instead He wanted to smite the pagans with a clear sign of His power. So God asked Gideon to reduce his army and it came down to a mere 300 men (Judges 7:7). Then God put a dream in the mind of one of the Midianites, a dream which, when told and echoed in their camp, grew fear before the forthcoming battle: Now the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like locusts for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand which is upon the sea-shore for multitude. And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man telling a dream unto his follow, and saying: 'Behold, I dreamed a dream, and, lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian, and came unto the tent, and smote it that it fell, and turned it upside down, that the tent lay flat.' And his fellow answered and said: 'this is nothing else save the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel: into his hand God has delivered Midian, and the entire army.' --- Judges 7:12-14 At once, Gideon assembled and divided his 300 men into small groups to form an attack from multiple directions, with each http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g22-judges.html (9 of 12) [6/11/2013 11:42:20 AM]


of his men carrying a horn to blow into and a torch to light a fire. This surprise attack at night spread fear and panic among the enemy, causing them to run away from their camp.

Gideon and the 300 Israelites defeat the Midianites (Gilliam van der Gouwen, about 1720) Maybe the legend of Leonidas of his 300 Spartans fighting a much greater numbered enemy at the battle of the Thermopylae was borrowed from the tale of Gideon and his 300 men. This exploit must have reverberated in the ancient world, especially because the story tellers were nomadic. In any case, never again would Midian raise against Israel (Judges 8:28). But more future trouble was on its way because of Gideon’s final act: And Gideon said unto them: 'I would make a request of you, that you would give me every man the ear-rings of his spoil.'-For they had golden ear-rings because they were Ishmaelites-- And they answered: 'We will willingly give them.' And they spread a garment, and did cast therein every man the ear-rings of his spoil. And the weight of the golden ear-rings that he requested was a thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold; beside the crescents, and the pendants, and the purple raiment that was on the kings of Midian, and beside the chains that were about their camels' necks. And Gideon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah; and all Israel went astray after it there; and it became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house. --- Judges 8:24-27 Nonetheless Israel was at peace for the next 40 years, during the lifetime of Gideon. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2615– 1145 BCE – Deborah the Prophetess, of Ephraim On the other side of the land, Deborah, a prophetess, of Ephraim, started the revolt against Hazor. She raised a coalition of Israelites from the northern tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh,[7] Issachar, Naphtali and Zebulun, and gathered them near Mount Tabor under the military command of Barak son of Abinoam, of Naphtali. They vanquished the Hazorites, and their regions of Israel then had peace for the next 40 years (Judges 5:31). The Talmud told a tradition that this war was won by God. The commander of the enemy army, Sisera, had gathered 900 chariots against the Israelites.[8] But God intervened: When Sisera came [to fight Israel] he advanced against them with iron staves. Thereupon the Holy One, blessed be He, brought forth the stars out of their orbits against them, as it is written, The stars in their courses fought against Sisera [Judges 5:20]. As soon as the stars of heaven descended upon them they heated those iron staves. So they [the soldiers] went down to cool them and to refresh themselves in the brook of Kishon. Said the Holy One, blessed be He, to the brook of Kishon, 'Go and deliver your pledge.' Straightway the brook of Kishon swept them out and cast them into the sea, as it is said, The brook Kishon swept them away, that ancient brook [Judges 5:21]. What does ‘that ancient brook’ mean? The brook that became a surety in ancient times. In that hour the fish in the sea opened [their mouths] and exclaimed, ‘and the truth of the Lord endures for ever.’ --- Talmud, Pesachim 118b



Deborah the Prophetess (Gustave Doré, 1866) ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1] For the history of the tomb and narratives from eye-witnesses, see article in Wikipedia ; the tomb was destroyed by a Palestinian mob during the Second Intifada in 2000 despite agreements to respect the sanctity of the holy sites from all faiths

Tomb of Joseph after its destruction during the Intifada of 2000 [2] The number 22 has a relation with the slavery in Egypt and the Exodus; the Hebrew word for Pesach is ‫ חספ‬which, when we add up the value of each letter, gives 8+60+80; the small count of the word only takes the numbers from 0 to 9, so it is 8 +6+8= 22; 22 also represents the number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet, and the Hebrews were given this alphabet when they received the Torah at Mount Sinai, which was the purpose of the Exodus



The Hebrew alphabet and its numerical values [3] The similarity of the two behaviours is confirmed by the fact that both texts are in the same chapter number: Genesis 22 for Sodom and Judges 22 for Gibeah [4] Their ancestor, Benjamin son of Jacob, was left-handed; according to a scientific research from Oxford University's Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, being left-handed is an advantage in physical combat; to reab about it, click here [5] This rocky formation in the hills of Samaria still exists today, although certainly very eroded, at the location 31o56'43N 35o17'12E [6] Source to be indicated later [7] We know that the tribe of Manasseh was involved because Machir the son of Manasseh (Numbers 27:1) is mentioned in Judges 5:14 [8] In comparison, Pharaoh pursued the Hebrews at the sea with his 600 chariots Next generation Top of Page






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Generation 19

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What is new Year 2216 – 1544 BCE – Joseph is sold by his brothers Index of names Creation Generations 1-14

At the age of 17 years old (Genesis 37:2), Joseph was having dreams that were understood as if he would rule over his brothers. They hated him for this, and planned to kill him. Reuben wanted to save him and convinced his angry brothers to keep him alive. So instead of killing him, they decided to sell him to an Ishmaelite caravan that was travelling to Egypt for commerce. They sold him for 20 shekels of silver. Then they made their father Jacob believe that Joseph was killed by a wild beast. When he arrived in Egypt, Joseph was sold as a slave to Potiphar, a courtier to Pharaoh (Genesis 37:36).

Generations 15-21 Generations 22-28 Generations 29-35 Generations 36-49 Generation 50

Joseph sold by his brothers (Gustave Doré, 1866) ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2228 – 1532 BCE – Death of Isaac In year 2228, Isaac died in Kyryat-Arba at the age of 180 years old. He will be the patriarch who would have lived the longest life. He had never left the land of Canaan and spent a life of study. He was buried by his two sons Esau and Jacob in the same cave that Abraham bought in that place. ~~~~~~~~~~

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The descendance of Esau The Biblical text gives an account of the descendants of Esau, from his three wives (Genesis 36:1-3). The name of these wives is however not in accordance with the previous account (Genesis 26:34). According to commentators, it proves that Esau’s household was composed of illegitimate unions and incests. The previous account of Genesis 26 mentions the wives as Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite, and then Mahalath daughter of Ishmael. But in the account given 10 chapters later in Genesis 36, the wives have become Adah daughter of Elon the Hittite, Oholibamah daughter of Anah of Zibeon the Hivvite, meaning she was the child from an illegitimate union, and Basemath daughter of Ishmael, whereas Basemath was previously listed as daughter of Elon the Hittite. The sons of Esau born in the land of Canaan were: -

From Adah: Eliphaz From Basemath: Reu’el From Oholibamah: Jeush, Jalam, Korah

Then Esau moved his household to Seir, in order to avoid conflicts with Jacob. The grandsons of Esau who were born in Seir were: From Eliphaz: Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, Kenaz Eliphaz also had Amalek from his daughter Timna who was the illegitimate child from his liaison with the wife of Seir the Horite (he dwelt in this region before the arrival of Esau -- Genesis 36:20) From Reu’el: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, Mizzah ~~~~~~~~~~

Judah and Tamar Judah separated from his brothers, out of guilt to what he had done to Joseph, and settled with the Adullamite people. There he married the daughter of a merchant called Shua. She gave him 3 sons: Er, Onan and Shelah. Judah chose a wife for Er, who was called Tamar. But Er was acting in evil ways and God caused him to die. Judah wanted his second son, Onan, to marry Tamar to provide a seed to his deceased brother. But Onan would not procreate and wasted semen, so God caused him to die too.[1] But then Judah would not give her his third son Shelah as he considered he was too young to marry. Both Er and Onan had married young and turned to sinful ways. So Tamar went back to her father’s house to wait for Shelah until he would reach maturity. But time passed. Later on, Tamar deceived Judah by making him believe she was a prostitute, while she covered her face. When she got pregnant from him, Judah acknowledged that he conceived with her, but will not intimate with her any more out of the deceipt she did. Tamar gave birth from Judah to twin brothers: Perez and Zerah. (Genesis 38).

Judah and Tamar - by Horace Vernet, 1840 (Wallace Collection, London) http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g19-joseph.html (2 of 9) [6/11/2013 11:42:37 AM]


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Year 2229 – 1531 BCE – Joseph becomes Viceroy of Egypt When he arrived in Egypt, Joseph was sold as slave to Potiphar’s house but he quickly became an important member of the staff. Joseph was also good-looking and his master’s wife asked him to sleep with her. He refused on several occasions when she tried again and again. Out of revenge, she finally accused him of attempting to seduce her, and Potiphar had him thrown in Pharaoh’s jail after one year of service. He had been 10 years in jail when he came to meet two chamberlains of Pharaoh who were also put in custody at this time. As they each had a dream, he explained it to them, and the dreams were realised. After two years from the dreams of the chamberlains, Pharaoh himself had a dream that none of his court could understand. He heard about Joseph from one of the chamberlains who had been restored to his function and had him brought out of jail, where Joseph had already spent 12 years. Joseph explained to Pharaoh that there will be 7 years of abundance followed by years of famine in the land of Egypt. Joseph told Pharaoh that he must prepare for this to happen: Pharaoh said to his servants: "Could we find a man like this who has the spirit of God in him?" Then Pharaoh said to Joseph: "After that God informed you about all this, there is no wiser and more intelligent man like you. You will be responsible for my house, and by your command shall all my people be sustained; only the throne will be above you." Pharaoh said to Joseph: "See, I have given you all the land of Egypt." And Pharaoh removed a ring from his hand and gave it to the hand of Joseph, and he dressed him in fine clothes, and put a golden chain upon his neck. He had also him ride on his second chariot and they proclaimed him "Avrech" [the Blessed One], and he gave him all the land of Egypt. --- Genesis 41:38-43 Pharaoh named Joseph Zafenath-Paneach and made him viceroy of Egypt. It was customary in Egypt for princes of the royal household to have an official name in addition to a private name.[2] The fact that Pharaoh gave such official name to Joseph meant that he embraced him as a prince of the royal household. In the British Museum is a statue of an official called Panehsy, from the 19th Dynasty: his role was the overseer of the treasury. The names Paneach and Panehsy are close enough to show that they related to role names.



Panehsy - 19th Dynasty (British Museum) Joseph was 30 years old when he stood in front of Pharaoh (Genesis 41:46), so it was Hebrew year 2229. Pharaoh then gave Asenath to Joseph as a wife. She was the daughter of Potiphar, the priest of On [Heliopolis]. She bore him two sons during the years of abundance, before the famine had started: Manasseh and Ephraim.

Year 2236 – 1524 BCE – The famine strikes Then, after 7 years of abundance, famine struck all the lands, except Egypt thanks to the plan that Joseph had executed. All the earth came to Egypt to count on Joseph because the famine had become severe in all the earth. --- Genesis 41:57 ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2238 – 1522 BCE – Jacob comes down to Egypt After two years of famine, Jacob sends his 10 older sons (not Benjamin) to Egypt to buy provisions. At the time, Judah had already come back to his father’s land. They went down at the end of the second year of famine. The news was heard in Pharaoh’s house saying that the brothers of Joseph had come. And this was pleasing in Pharaoh’s eyes and in his servants’ eyes. And Pharaoh said to Joseph: "Say this to your brothers. ‘Do this, load up your animals and return to the land of Canaan. Take your father and your households and come to me, and I will give you the best from the land of Egypt, and you will eat the fat of the land.’ And you are commanded to say ‘Do this, take for you from the land of Egypt wagons for your small children and for your wives, transport your father and come. And don’t let your eyes take pity of your belongings, because the best of all the land of Egypt is for you." --- Genesis 45:16-20

The reunion of Joseph and his brothers (Gustave Doré, 1866) Jacob and his children went down to Egypt. The Biblical text gives the count of the direct children and grandchildren of Jacob who settled down in Egypt as follows. From Leah’s side, they were 33 people, according to the text, but the count only shows 32 people. Some commentators assumed that Jochebed was the 33rd person, as she did not leave Canaan, but entered Egypt as she was born to her father Levi during the journey from Canaan to Egypt: http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g19-joseph.html (4 of 9) [6/11/2013 11:42:37 AM]


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Reuben and his sons Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, Carmi Simeon and his sons: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, Shaul (son of a Canaanite woman) Levi and sons Gershon, Kohath, Merari, and possibly the daughter Jochebed Judah and sons (Er, Onan had died), Shelah, Perez (with two sons, Hezron, Hamul), Zerah Issachar and sons Tola, Puvah, Iov, Shimron Zebulun and sons Sered, Elon, Jahleel Leah's daughter, Dinah

From Zilpah’s side, they were 16 people: -

Gad and sons Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, Areli Asher and sons Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah (with sons Heber, Malchiel), and daughter Serah

From Rachel’s side, they were 14 people: -

Joseph and sons Manasseh, Ephraim, who were of course already in Egypt Benjamin and sons Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, Ard

From Bilah’s side, they were 7 people: -

Dan and his son Hushim Naphtali and sons Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, Shillem

Among the wives of Jacob, only Leah was buried with the ancestors in the Cave of Machpelah in Hebron. Rachel had previously died giving birth to Benjamin and was buried in Beth-Lehem, on the road to Hebron. Jacob met with his son Joseph after 22 years, from the time Joseph was sold by his brothers. Jacob knew a boy of 17 years of age and now met the second most powerful person of Egypt, being 39 years of age, with spouse and children. Joseph arranged that his family would settle in Goshen, in the Nile delta, a region called Raamses which was uninhabited by the Egyptians so that the Hebrews would not mix with them. And Joseph brought his father Jacob and he made him stand in front of Pharaoh. And Jacob blessed Pharaoh. Pharaoh asked Jacob: "How many days of years of your life?" Jacob said to Pharaoh: "The days of years of my sojourns have been a hundred and thirty years. Few and bad (‫טעמ‬ ‫ )םיערו‬have been the days of years of my life, and they have not achieved the days of years of life of my fathers, in the days of their sojourns." And Jacob blessed Pharaoh and left Pharaoh’s presence. Then Joseph settled his father and his brothers and gave them a portion of the land of Egypt, in the best part of the land, in the land of Ra’mses (‫)ססמער‬, as Pharaoh had commanded. --- Genesis 47:7-11 This passage is important for the chronology of the Bible. Jacob came down to Egypt in year 2238, as he stated to be 130 years old. Joseph was 30 years old when he became governor of Egypt, when the 7 years of abundance started. Then, he met his brothers and his father in the 2 years of famine, so he was then 39 years old. This is the same year when Jacob was presented to Pharaoh, so Joseph was born in year 2238-39= 2199. It is with this calculation that the years of all the other events of the chronology can be derived. So, when Joseph was sold to the Ishmaelites and arrived in Egypt, he was 17 years old (year 2216). When he became Governor of Egypt, he was 30 years old (year 2229). In the initial period of 13 years when he has been in Egypt, he was first at the service of Potiphar, then in jail. His encounter with Pharaoh occurred 2 years before his encounter in jail with the two chamberlains. It is worth noting that Jacob did not prostate or bow to Pharaoh but Joseph made him stand in front of Pharaoh. The Egyptian dynasty of this time was the 18th Dynasty. It became the most successful and best known dynasty of Egypt, as it started the prosperous era of the New Kingdom after years of political instability due to the fact that Lower Egypt had been under the rule of foreign invaders called the Hyksos for about 300 years. This period of trouble in Egypt favoured the independence of the people of the land of Canaan, and the peace there in these times. When Egypt was weak, the land of Canaan was peaceful and this is why the patriarch Abraham, Isaac and Jacob did not suffer much from wars and invasions that prevailed elsewhere. This 18th Dynasty started in year 1550 BCE under Pharaoh Ahmose I. He was the Pharaoh who succeeded in expelling the Hyksos from the Nile Delta (in the 18-19th year of his reign, so it was about 1532-1531 BCE), a region which included the land of Goshen which would be given to the Hebrews some years later. Ahmose I was a Pharaoh who built many infrastructures across Egypt and who re-organised the country. He reigned for 25 years, from age 10 (year 1550 BCE) to age about 35 when he died (year 1525 BCE) just about the time when the years of abundance were coming to an end. Ahmose I is the ruler who chose Joseph as viceroy. His meeting with Joseph was in year 1531 BCE, when Ahmose I had already been in power for 19 years and he was 29 years old at that time. Joseph was 30 years old, so they were in fact about the same age, if we allow some months up to one year discrepancy in the calculations. The relationship between Joseph and Ahmose I was great due to the close age between the two.



Pharaoh Ahmose I Ahmose’s wife was Nefertari, and she was also his sister or half-sister. She had given him an heir, Amenhotep I (also called Amenophis I), who succeeded his father and reigned over Egypt for about 21 years, from 1526 BCE to 1506 BCE. He was influenced by his mother who was regent when he reigned, and must have died at a rather young age, as all his representations show him as a young Pharaoh. This context better explains the meeting between Jacob and Pharaoh. The latter was still a young boy, who had only been reigning for 3-4 years (Jacob came down to Egypt in the second year of the famine, in 1522 BCE), and his mother was the regent. Jacob behaved in front of this young Pharaoh as a 130 years old patriarch, and Jacob blessed him as a father (or grandfather) would have blessed a son. It is also remarkable that the text mentions twice Jacob blessed Pharaoh.

Nefertari and her son Amenhotep I When the famine became very severe, the Egyptian people sold all their possessions in exchange of grain, and Joseph collected the money for Pharaoh. When their possessions were over, and as the famine continued, the people then sold their land and themselves, as serfs, to Pharaoh: Thus Joseph acquired all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, because the Egyptians sold the man and his field, because the famine was hard on them. And the land became Pharaoh’s. As for the people, he moved them between cities, from one end of Egypt to the other. Only the land of the priest he did not buy, because of an income from Pharaoh to the priests, and they ate from their income that Pharaoh gave them and therefore they did not sell their land. Joseph said to the people: "Look, I have acquired you this day and also your land for Pharaoh; here is a seed for you and sow them on the land; and at the harvests, you will give one fifth to Pharaoh, and the four fifths will be yours, as seed for the soil and food for you and for those in your house and to feed your young ones." And they said: "You saved our lives, may we find favour in your eyes, my lord, and we will be slaves for Pharaoh." http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g19-joseph.html (6 of 9) [6/11/2013 11:42:37 AM]


So Joseph made it a law until this day over the land of Egypt, for Pharaoh the fifth, only the soil of the priests alone was not for Pharaoh. --- Genesis 47:20-26 This text suggests that the tax system in Ancient Egypt, calculated as a 20% percentage of the production of the land, was established by Joseph under the reign of Ahmose I. It would make sense, time-wise, because, before that period, the country was partially or totally under control of the Hyksos during the previous 300 years. Historians are recording the existence of tax systems from the 18th Dynasty, and not before, and this dynasty was founded by Ahmose I. During this dynasty, the most important government official was someone called Ineni, which means Here I am in Hebrew, and has been used by Abraham as a response to God's call. This person served all Pharaohs until the reign of Thutmose III. This is a possible evidence to consider that this person had been Joseph himself because of the role described: Hereditary prince, count, chief of all works in Karnak; the double silver-house was under his charge; the double goldhouse was on his seal; sealer of all contracts in the House of Amon; Excellency, overseer of the doubler granary of Amon. --- Boussac, Hypolite, Mission archéologique française au Caire, volume XVIII, 1895, cited in Breasted, James Henry, Ancient records of Egypt, Volume 2 This Ineni was in charge of the granary and also in charge of all the works in Karnak, a city near Luxor located far south in Egypt, where he would have needed to move working people from one end of Egypt to the other. Also he had lived long enough to serve under six Pharaohs (of the 18th Dynasty): Ahmose I, Amenhotep I, Thutmose I, Thutmose II, Hatshepsut (wife of the former), and Thutmose III.Who else but Joseph could have held such important role in Egypt and for so long?

First six Pharaohs of the 18th Dynasty (source : Wikipedia) ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2255 – 1506 BCE – Death of Jacob in Egypt After 17 years in Egypt, Jacob died in year 2255 at the age of 147 years old. Before he died, he gave his blessing to each of the children and grandchildren who will deserve to become one of the 12 tribes of Israel. The order was as follows: -

Reuben: strength and vigour, water-like impetuosity; but he laid with one of Jacob’s concubines Simeon and Levi: accomplices (they murdered the people of Sichem because of Dinah) Judah: a lion, his brothers will prostate to him "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until Shiloh (‫)הליש‬ will arrive and to whom will assemble the nations" --- Genesis 49:10

The above is the first instance in the Biblical text about the arrival of Shiloh, the Messiah, who will gather the nations. -

Zebulon: on the seashores, until Sidon Issachar: a “strong-boned donkey”, a hard worker Dan: will revenge his people, unify the tribes of Israel (Dan is ancestor to Prophet Samson) Gad: will recruit a regiment and will retreat Asher: richness Naphtali: “a hind let loose who delivers beautiful things” Joseph: a “charming son” Benjamin: a “predatory wolf”

Before his death, Jacob asked his sons to bury him in the Cave of Machpelah, near his wife Leah (Genesis 49:33). Joseph arranged for the body to be embalmed, and then:



Joseph spoke to the house of Pharaoh, saying: "If, please, I found grace in your eyes, please speak to the ears of Pharaoh by saying." --- Genesis 50:4 The questions are: why did Joseph embalm Jacob and why did Joseph not speak to Pharaoh directly? Because, when Jacob died, Pharaoh Amenhotep I who had been blessed by Jacob had just died too.[3] His reign had lasted for about 21 years, during which time he never campaigned against Canaan. His campaigns were limited to the south towards Nubia. His mummy was found and is now displayed at the Cairo museum. But it is the only royal mummy that has never been unwrapped, due to its very exquisite face mask. The blessing Jacob gave him may have followed him after-life !

The mummy of Amenhotep I (Cairo Museum) So there was uncertainty about the new ruler and his policy. Joseph had his father embalmed in case delays would be caused until Jacob could be taken to Canaan for burial. Nefertari survived her husband and her son as she died later in 1495 BCE, around the age of 70, during the reign of her grandson Thutmose I. She had known Joseph and, as the regent after Ahmose I, was surely present at the only meeting between her young son, Pharaoh Amenhotep I, and Jacob, when he had blessed him, twice. Maybe one of the two blessings was destined indirectly to his mother as she had been regent to Pharaoh at the time of this meeting with Jacob. So, when Joseph asked the House of Pharaoh to grant him permission to go to Canaan to bury his father Jacob, he addressed to the ears of Pharaoh which was the queen mother, Nefertari, as only her could influence the new Pharaoh to grant permission. The request to leave Egypt for Canaan was however not granted at the time. Maybe Nefertari was afraid of having Joseph leave Egypt and never return, causing bad omen on her country. Also Joseph had been in the affairs of Egypt for so many years that he would be needed next to the new Pharaoh for the time being, until he would be able to ascertain his power and direct his affairs. This possible delay was the reason why Joseph had ordered to embalm his father, sensing that he would not be allowed to leave Egypt at that time. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2265 – 1495 BCE – Burial of Jacob in Canaan When Nefertari died in 1495 BCE, her grandson Thutmose I took command over Egypt. Joseph then finally received approbation, from Pharaoh himself, to go to Canaan to bury his father: And Pharaoh said: "Go up, and bury your father, according as he made you swear." And Joseph went up to bury his father; and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, and all the house of Joseph, and his brethren, and his father's house; only their little ones, and their flocks, and their herds, they left in the land of Goshen. And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen; and it was a very great company. And they came to the threshing-floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, and there they wailed with a very great and sore wailing; and he made mourning for his father seven days. And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning in the floor of Atad, they said: "This is a grievous mourning to the Egyptians." Wherefore the name of it was called Abel-Mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan. And his sons did unto him according as he commanded them. For his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field, for a possession of a burying-place, of Ephron the Hittite, in front of Mamre. --- Genesis 50:6-13 It is remarkable that the funeral procession to Canaan did not take a direct route, across the Negev desert, to directly take the route to Hebron, but passed instead to the other side of the Jordan River where they settled a large mourning camp before entering into the land of Canaan. There they encountered the descendants of Esau, Jacob’s brother, who were living in that part of the region, called Seir or Edom. Thutmose I reigned for about 13 years until 1493 BCE. He had two children whom he married together: his heir Thutmose II and his sister, or half-sister, Hatshepsut. Thutmose II reigned for about 14 years but he had a disease towards the end of his reign, as testified by analysis made on his mummy.



~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1] His name gave root to the sin of onanism. [2] As an example about the various titles of Pharaoh, see page on Wikipedia [3] The year of his death is disputed: some chronology mentions 1503-4 BCE and others such as Manetho give 1506 BCE, which is the most commonly agreed date.

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Generation 25

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What is new Year 2929 – 831 BCE – Jeroboam II of Israel Index of names

Jeroboam, son of Jehoash, succeeded his father in Israel, and reigned for 41 years (II Kings 14:23). Although the new king did not depart from the sinful conduct of his fathers, God however saw the affliction of Israel and decided He would not allow the name of Israel to be blotted out from the face of the earth.

Creation

Also, God had given the promise to Jehu king of Israel to have four generations of his children to reign over Israel, and Jeroboam was the 3rd generation. So God made Jeroboam successful in his military campaigns against the enemies Generations of Israel and also of Judah, especially after the kingdom of Judah was weakened by the lack of a king, while Azariah was 1-14 still too young to succeed his father Amaziah. Jeroboam did not however take too much advantage of the situation to oppress Judah and God recompensed him with a long reign. Generations 15-21 ~~~~~~~~~~ Generations Year 2956 – 804 BCE – Azariah / Uzziah of Judah 22-28 Azariah started to reign in the 27th year of reign of Jeroboam II (II Kings 15:1). He was 16 years old and had been educated Generations in the path of God. God granted him an exceptionally long reign of 52 years (II Kings 15:1-2). His name was later changed 29-35 to Uzziah. Generations 36-49 Generation 50

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About Year 2960 – 800 BCE – Amos the Prophet It is during the reigns of Jeroboam and Uzziah that Amos prophetized the destructions of all the kingdoms in the Levant, including Israel and Judah. During his time, an earthquake also shook the region.

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Amos the Prophet (Gustave Doré, 1868) When Amos came to prophetize in the kingdom of Israel, he was rejected and told by Amaziah, the priest of pagan Beth-El, to return to Judah: Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah: 'I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was a herdman, and a dresser of sycamore-trees; and the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said unto me: Go, prophesy unto My people Israel. Now therefore hear you the word of the Lord: You say: Prophesy not against Israel, and preach not against the house of Isaac; Therefore thus says the Lord: Your wife shall be a harlot in the city, and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword, and your land shall be divided by line; and you yourself shall die in an unclean land, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of his land.' --- Amos 7:14-17 God told him about an eclipse that will mark the start of His punishment onto His people. This eclipse took place 40 years later, day for day: And it shall come to pass in that day, says the Lord God, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day. And I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning for an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day. --- Amos 8:9-10 This eclipse was actually recorded in Assyrian records as having occurred in June 763 BCE of their calendar, which corresponds to about the Hebrew year 3000 due to the difference of noting the calendars in Mesopotamia and in Canaan. It corresponds to the first time when an Assyrian king entered the region and threatens the Israelite kingdoms. Amaziah the priest of Beth-Tel tried to slander against Amos so that Jeroboam would execute the prophet, but the king showed restraints and rejected the slander: And whence do we know that he [Jeroboam] did not heed slander? Because it is written, Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying: Amos has conspired against you [etc.]; and it is written, For thus Amos saith: Jeroboam shall die by the sword [etc.]. Said he [Jeroboam]: ‘Heaven forfend that that righteous man should have said thus! Yet if he did say, what can I do to him! The Shechinah told it to him. --- Talmud, Pesachim, 87b After failing with Jeroboam, Amaziah probably tried to carry out a punishment nonetheless because, according to an apocryphic text, Amos was deadly wounded by Amaziah’s son who had also been cursed by Amos’ prophesy: He [Amos] was from Tekoa. Amaziah (the priest of Bethel) had often beaten him, and at last Amaziah's son killed him with a cudgel, striking him on the temple [of the golden calf in Beth-El]. While still living he made his way to his land, and after some days died and was buried there. --- Torrey, Charles Cutler, The Lives of the Prophets, 1946, Amos 1-2 According to the Talmud, Amos and Amaziah, the king of Judah, were brothers, and according to the Bible, Amos’son was to become Isaiah the Prophet (Isaiah 1:1): Rabbi Levi further said: The following is a tradition that we have from our ancestors, that Amos and Amaziah were brothers. --- Talmud, Megilah, 10b ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2993 – 767 BCE – Zechariah of Israel The last king from the House of Jehu was Zechariah, son of Jeroboam II. But he only started to reign 13 years after his father had died, most probably because, like Azariah in Judah, he was too young to reign for the time being. This situation surely caused some parties to enjoy the independence from a king. So, when Zechariah was called to reign, he only did so for six months before being murdered (II Kings 15:8). ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2993 – 767 BCE – Shallum and Menachem, of Israel Zechariah was killed publicly in the capital of Samaria by a conspirator called Shallum, son of Jabesh, who took over the throne from the house of Jehu after this dynasty reigned for 120 years. But the duration was only 100 years from the divine promise to Jehu, which corresponds to four times 25 years for four human generations. Shallum did not enjoy his new position very long because another party led by Menachem came from Tirzah and killed him after one month. Then Menachem reigned in his stead (II Kings 15:13). However this new coup was not easily accepted by the people so Menachem had to crush some cities of the kingdom that rebelled against his usurpation. And, maybe as a divine punishment for his murder, he would be the first king of Israel to have to deal with a new much more powerful invader towards the end of his reign: Assyria.



To save his kingdom, Menachem forced his nation to pay a tribute that had cost every family of Israel a high levy. It was a matter of time before their displeasure would lead them to conspire. He did not reign long, 10 years only (II Kings 15:17). When he died, his son Pekahiah reigned for two years before being murdered by the head of the Israelite army, Pekah son of Remaliah. In Judah, as Uzziah did not destroy the altars of idolatry that were in his country, God punished him and he became a leper towards the end of his life. When this happened, he was put in a separate house as it was the custom then to avoid epidemies. Instead, his son Jotham was reigning as regent until he officially reigned when his father died (II Kings 15:15).

Chronology of the Kings - until Jotham ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2995 – 765 BCE – The campaign of Ashur-Dan III, king of Assyria Towards the end of the 25th generation, Assyria reached the Levant for the first time and threatened the various states in that region. The only way for the kingdoms to avoid destruction was to pay a big tribute: There came against the land Pul the king of Assyria; and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to confirm the kingdom in his hand. And Menahem exacted the money of Israel, even of all the mighty men of wealth, of each man fifty shekels of silver, to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned back, and stayed not there in the land. --- II Kings 15:19-20 Pul means "heir" or "prince" in Assyrian, as for example the name of King Ashurbanipal was actually Assur-Nasir-aPli which means "Ashur is the guardian of the Heir". So why would the king of Assyria would be referred as the "heir" in the Biblical text? Because, after the death of the powerful king called Adad-Nirari III, the kingdom of Assyria went through a series of crisis in which three of his sons will successively reign over the realm. There were the "heirs" and it was important for them to be declared so in their very title, in order to avoid any conflict of succession or claim of legitimacy. The Pul of the Bible was one of these three brothers: Ashur-Dan III. He was the one who led military expeditions to strengthen his kingdom at a time when internal feuds threatened its future and after the reign of his brother, Shalmanezer http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g25-kings2.html (3 of 5) [6/11/2013 11:42:48 AM]


IV, for whom little is known about the reign. This lack of records means that didn't achieve much and was probably a weak ruler. Ashur-Dan III reigned between 773 and 755 BCE. In order to build the legitimacy of his reign, Ashur-Dan III had to declare himself as the "heir", although he only was the third son to reign. He also had to lead the Assyrian army into successful military campaigns as it was customary for rulers to maintain themselves in power. This is what he did in the Levant, although his campaign stopped at the entrance of kingdom of Israel when the king Menachem agreed to pay the high tribute. This was a good enough achievement for Ashur-Dan after having conquered the northern countries north from Israel. So, after getting the payment, he turned back as the Biblical text states it.

Assyrian horseman (British Museum) According to Assyrian chronology, his kingdom was hit by a plague in 765 BCE, which would have been another reason for him to turn back as potential problems caused by a national calamity would have made his presence more important in Nineveh at this time. Ashur-Dan III would be succeeded in 755 BCE by another brother Ashur-Nirari V. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3000 – 763 BCE – Millennium eclipse The eclipse announced to Amos the Prophet occurred at the turn of the millennium of the Hebrew calendar, which corresponded to about 763 BCE in Assyrian chronology. Their historical records also mention this eclipse during the reign of Ashur-Dan III.



The eclipse of June 763 BCE, observed by Ashur-Dan III in Nineveh (source: Myths and Legends of Babylonia) Next generation Top of Page






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What is new Year 2873 – 887 BCE – Jehu king of Israel Index of names Creation Generations 1-14 Generations 15-21

Elisha the Prophet, upon divine order, anointed Jehu from Gilead as king of Israel: And he [Elisha] arose, and went into the house; and he poured the oil on his head, and said unto him [Jehu]: 'Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I have anointed you king over the people of the Lord, even over Israel. And you shall smite the house of Ahab your master, that I may avenge the blood of My servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord, at the hand of Jezebel. For the whole house of Ahab shall perish; and I will cut off from Ahab every man-child, and him that is shut up and him that is left at large in Israel. And I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasa the son of Ahijah. And the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the portion of Jezreel, and there shall be none to bury her.' And he opened the door, and fled. --- II Kings 9:6-10

Generations Jehu then went to Jezreel, where Jehoram son of Ahab was seated, and killed him. He also killed Ahaziah king of Judah 22-28 who was with Joram at the time. The Biblical text mentions that Ahaziah reigned one year in Judah because, after one year, he spent more time in Israel than in Judah. This is the reason why Jehu killed him, as he was part of the royal circle of Generations Israel and was with the king of Israel at the time of his death. As Ahaziah was from the house of Omri and Ahab, he was struck by the same divine order that said the House of Ahab shall perish. 29-35 Generations A stele found in Tel-Dan, Northern Israel, in 1993 bears witness of these events and is one of the rare archaeological finds that mentions the House of David. The stele was attributed to Hazael king of Aram, but it should have been to Jehu. It 36-49 contains the following text (it is in Proto-Canaanite / Phoenician language, which was used at the time in Israel and Judah): Generation Line 6- of my kings. And I killed two [power]ful kin[gs], who harnessed two thou[sand cha-] 50 Line 7- riots and two thousand horsemen. [I killed Jo]ram son of [Ahab] Line 8- king of Israel, and I killed [Achaz]yahu son of [Joram kin]g Line 9- of the House of David. --- Transcription (source: New World Encyclopedia)



Tel-Dan stele Then Jehu entered the city of Jezreel and ordered Jezebel, who was mocking him as a king murderer, to be thrown out of her window, and she died. As the prophecy had it, the dogs ate her corpse and she could not be buried.

The death of Jezebel (Gustave Doré, 1868) Then Jehu went to the other cities to destroy all the family and supporters of the House of Ahab, as ordered by God. Last, Jehu executed all the prophets of Baal who lived in the kingdom of Israel. However the task was not complete, as Jehu left in place the two golden idols that Jeroboam had made: Thus Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel. Howbeit from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, wherewith he made Israel to sin, Jehu departed not from after them, the golden calves that were in Beth-el, and that were in Dan. --- II Kings 10:28-29 So the divine blessing for Jehu was of mixed result: And the Lord said unto Jehu: 'Because you have done well in executing that which is right in My eyes, and have done unto the house of Ahab according to all that was in My heart, your sons of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel.' But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart; he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, wherewith he made Israel to sin. In those days the Lord began to cut Israel short; and Hazael smote them in all the borders of Israel. --- II Kings 10:30-32 Hazael, the king of Aram, started to conquer all the land of the Israelite kingdom located at the east from the Jordan River, in the territories of Gad, Reuben and half of Manasseh, including Gilead. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2879 – 881 BCE – Joash king of Judah In Judah, after Ahaziah was killed by Jehu, his mother Athaliah seized power and killed all the royal family. One child however was taken away and hidden to be saved: her grandson Joash, son of Ahaziah. Athaliah reigned for 6 years (II Kings 11:3). Then a rebellion occurred among the army, who proclaimed Joash, who was 7 years old, king of Judah and they executed Athaliah.



The death of Athaliah (Gustave Doré, 1868) Joash was proclaimed king in the 7th year of the reign of Jehu in Israel (II Kings 12:2), and he was 7 years old (II Kings 12:1). He enjoyed a long reign of 40 years, because he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all his days. This is because he was raised not in a royal family environment but instructed by Jehoiada the priest (II Kings 12:3). Next generation Top of Page






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Chronology of the two kingdoms during the 27th Generation The eventful 27th Generation witnessed the fall of the Assyrian empire and destruction of Nineveh, the fall of Jerusalem with the destruction of the Temple of Solomon (the First Temple), the new rise and fall of Babylon, and the rule of the Persian empire.

Generations The first part of the chronology below covers the time until the end of the kingdom of Judah. 1-14 Year CE Differ. Kingdom of JUDAH Sources 3121 -639 2 Amon murdered by his servants II Kings 21:19 Generations 3121 -639 Josiah son of Amon reigns II Kings 22:1 15-21 3127 -633 -25 Jehoiakim son of Josiah born II Kings 23:36 3129 -631 -23 Jehoahaz son of Josiah born II Kings 23:31 Generations 3133 -627 12 Jeremiah the Prophet; 70 years end of Babylon Jeremiah 1:2 22-28 3138 -622 17 Josiah repairs the Temple; Passover II Kings 22:3 Babylon raises to power; end of Assyrian 3140 -620 Historical Generations dominance 29-35 3142 -618 -21 Zedekiah brother of Jehoiakim born Jeremiah 52:1 3145 -615 -18 Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim born Generations 3152 -608 31 Josiah killed in Meggido by Necoh II Kings 22:1, 23:29 36-49 3152 -608 Jehoahaz son of Josiah chosen king II Kings 23:30 3152 -608 Necoh made Jehoiakim son of Josiah king II Kings 23:34 Generation 3155 -605 Nebuchadnezzar reigns in Babylon Historical Jeremiah prophetizes against Judah; writes down 50 3155 -605 3 Jeremiah 25:1 his book Battle of Carchemish; Nebuchadnezzar defeats 3155 -605 3 Jeremiah 46:2 Necoh & Assyria Siege of Jerusalem; Jehoiakim vassal, Daniel 3155 -605 3 Daniel 1:1 taken to Babylon 3156 -604 1 Daniel interprets the dreams of Nebuchadnezzar Daniel 2:1 3158 -602 3 Jehoiakim breaks allegiance to Nebuchadnezzar II Kings 24:1 3163 -597 11 Jehoiakim son of Josiah dies II Kings 23:36 3163 -597 0 Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim reigns II Kings 24:8 Temple service stopped after 410 years from 3163 -597 411 completion 3163 -597 8 Jehoiachin taken captive to Babylon II Kings 24:12 3163 -597 8 Jehoiachin captivity starts Ezekiel 1:1-2 3163 -597 0 Zedekiah named king by Nebuchadnezzar II Kings 24:17 3166 -594 3 False prophecy of Hananiah son of Azzur Jeremiah 28:1 3167 -593 4 Ezekiel the Prophet; vision of the future Ezekiel 1:1-2 Zedekiah rebels; Jerusalem besieged; Zedekiah 3171 -589 8 II Kings 25:1 taken to Babylon 3173 -587 10 Zedekiah prisoner; Temple destroyed II Kings 25:2 3173 -587 Fall of Jerusalem 587 B.C. II Kings 25:8 3174 -586 11 Ezekiel meets a survivor from Jerusalem Ezekiel 33:21 Gedaliah, governor of Judah in Mitzpah, is 3174 -586 1 II Kings 25:25 murdered

Text reigned 2Y aged 8Y reigned 25Y old reigned 23Y old Y13 Josiah

reigned 21Y old reigned 18Y old reigned 31Y reigned 3 months older son Y4 Jehoiakim Y4 Jehoiakim Y3 Jehoiakim Y2 Nebuchadnezzar reigned 11Y reigned 3 months

Y8 of Nebuchadnezzar renamed from Mattaniah Y4 Zedekiah Y5 Jehoiakim Y9 Zedekiah Y11 Zedekiah Y19 Nebuchadnezzar Y12 captivity

~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3121 – 696 BCE – The 8-year old king of Judah Amon was murdered by his servants 2 years after the start of his reign. This called for revenge and the people killed all the servants who conspired against Manasseh. They then put his son Josiah on the throne in his stead, although he only was 8 years old. This young age however allowed the people to raise the child in the path of God and he reigned for 31 years. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3133 – 627 BCE – Jeremiah the Prophet Jeremiah, son of Hilkiah from a family of priests in the tribe of Benjamin, started to prophetise in the 13th year of the reign of Josiah until Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, was carried away as captive to Babylon, 30 years later. His main prophecy was about the end of the kingdom of Judah, because it adopted the customs of the other nations. This end happened so in his lifetime: Hear you the word which the Lord speaks unto you, O house of Israel; thus says the Lord: Learn not the way of the nations, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the nations are dismayed at them. For the customs of the peoples are vanity; for it is but a tree which one cuts out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers [so] that it moves not. They are like a [still] pillar in a garden of cucumbers, and speak not; they need to be borne, because they cannot make a step. Be not afraid of them, for

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they cannot do evil, neither is it in them to do good. --- Jeremiah 10:1-5

Jeremiah the Prophet (Gustave Doré, 1868) ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3138 – 622 BCE – Passover In the 18th year of his reign, Josiah started to make repairs to the Temple of Solomon and destroyed all the pagan altars that had been raised in the kingdom by all the kings before him. He also broke down the altar that Jeroboam, first king of Israel, raised in Bet-El: And the king commanded all the people, saying: 'Keep the Passover unto the Lord your God, as it is written in this book of the covenant.' For there was not kept such a Passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah; but in the eighteenth year of king Josiah was this Passover kept to the Lord in Jerusalem. --- II Kings 23:21-23 No king before Josiah had done as much to restore the divine spirit among Israelites.



King Josiah is shown the Holy Scriptures (engraving, 1897) ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3148 – 612 BCE – The destruction of Nineveh In the last years of his life, Tobit had the vision of the future and gave advice to his son Tobias: And when he was very aged he called his son, and the sons of his son, and said to him, My son, take your children; for, behold, I am aged, and am ready to depart out of this life. Go into Media my son, for I surely believe those things which Jonah the prophet spoke of Nineveh, that it shall be overthrown; and that for a time peace shall rather be in Media; and that our brethren shall lie scattered in the earth from that good land: and Jerusalem shall be desolate, and the house of God in it shall be burned, and shall be desolate for a time. --- Apocrypha, Tobit, 14:3-4 The Book of Nahum in the Bible is dedicated to God’s decree against the great city of Assyria: "And I will cast detestable things upon you [Nineveh], and make you vile, and will make you as dung. And it shall come to pass, that all they that look upon you shall flee from you, and say: 'Nineveh is laid waste; who will bemoan her? Whence shall I seek comforters for you?'" --- Nahum 3:6-7 Nahum also predicted that the city will suffer a siege, as did Samaria: Draw you water for the siege, strengthen your fortresses; go into the clay, and tread the mortar, lay hold of the brickmould. --- Nahum 3:14 This siege lasted 3 months from the month of Sivan to the month of Av, and was led by a formidable coalition of Babylonians, Medians and Scythians against the Assyrian capital: From the month Simanu [Sivan] until the month Âbu [Av] -for three months- they subjected the city to a heavy siege. On the Nth day of the month Âbu they inflicted a major defeat upon a great people. At that time Sin-šar-iškun, king of Assyria, died. They carried off the vast booty of the city and the temple and turned the city into a ruin heap. --- Chronicle of the Fall of Nineveh, ABC 3[1]

Excavations of Nineveh by Layard in the 19th century (engraving 1852) Tobit died soon after the destruction of Nineveh, so he saw the accomplishment of Jonah’s prediction: And he died at Ecbatane in Media, being an hundred and seven and twenty years old. But before he died he heard of the destruction of Nineveh, which was taken by Nebuchadnezzar and Assuerus [Cyaxares, king of Media, born in Ecbatane]: and before his death he rejoiced over Nineveh. --- Apocrypha, Tobit, 14:14-15 His descendants will however be among the Israelites who will return to Sion, with Ezra the Scribe, although they seemed to have forgotten their origin from the Tribe of Nephtali, or were ashamed to mention it as they were among the tribes who had adopted idolatry in the kingdom of Israel: And these were they that went up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsa, Cherub, Addan, and Immer; but they could not tell [about] their fathers' houses, and their seed, whether they were of Israel: the children of Delaiah, the children of Tobiah, the children of Nekoda, six hundred fifty and two. --- Ezra 2:59 and also Nehemiah 7:61 The destruction of the Assyrian capital did not immediately cause the end of the Assyrian Empire: it took another three years until Babylon would finally conquer all Assyria. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3150 – 610 BCE – Pharaoh Necoh When Necoh II became Pharaoh of Egypt in 610 BCE, in the 26th Dynasty, he led a campaign in support of the Assyrians against the Babylonians. He had to cross the kingdom of Josiah but the latter would not agree to let the Egyptian army pass freely. Josiah marched onto the city of Meggido, Lower Galilee in Israel, where Necoh’s army was stationed but was killed in the battle that he wanted to wage.[2] Necoh also destroyed the Philistine cities, of which the powerful Gaza (Jeremiah 47:1). These events of the Bible have also been recorded by Herodotus, the famous Greek historian: He [Necoh] used these ships when needed, and with his land army met and defeated the Syrians at Magdolus [Meggido],



[3] taking the great Syrian of Cadytis [Gaza] after the battle. --- Herodotus, The Histories, Book 2, 159:2 After the death of Josiah, the people proclaimed his son Jehoahaz, 23 years old, king of Judah. But he diverted from his father’s ways towards God. This attitude was probably caused by the influence of his mother. He only reigned 3 months until Pharaoh Necoh removed him from office and placed his older brother Eliakim, who was 25 years old, in his stead, and renamed him Jehoiakim (II Kings 23:31-34). Jehoahaz was taken to Egypt where he died. Jehoiakim accepted to be vassal to Necoh and raised money from his people to pay the requested high tribute. And he also diverted from the path of God. But the new Babylonian power was rising stronger in the days of Jehoiakim, and even Necoh could not be a match against the army who invaded the region, until the brook of Egypt (II Kings 24:7). Jehoiakim had no choice but to change allegiance: In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years; then he turned and rebelled against him. And the Lord sent against him bands of the Chaldeans, and bands of the Arameans, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the Lord, which He spoke by the hand of His servants the prophets. Surely at the commandment of the Lord came this upon Judah, to remove them out of His sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did; and also for the innocent blood that he shed; for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; and the Lord would not pardon. --- II Kings 24:1-4 ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3155 – 605 BCE – Jeremiah prophetizes the destruction of Judah 23 years after the beginning of his prophesies, Jeremiah announced in the 4th year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, which was in the 1st year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon, the forthcoming exile: Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: Because you have not heard My words, behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the Lord, and I will send unto Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about; and I will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and a hissing, and perpetual desolations. Moreover I will cause to cease from among them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the lamp. And this whole land shall be desolation, and a waste; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon 70 years. And it shall come to pass, when 70 years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, says the Lord, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans; and I will make it perpetual desolations. And I will bring upon that land all My words which I have pronounced against it, even all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations. --- Jeremiah 25:8-13 This book is the Book of Jeremiah that God instructed the Prophet to write down. He did so with the help of Baruch son of Neriah (Jeremiah 36:1-4). ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3155 – 605 BCE – Battle of Carchemish After defeating the army of King Josiah at Meggido, Pharaoh marched north to meet with the Assyrian army, their ally, against the king of Babylon. In Carchemish, which is in the northern Syria near Haran, a big battle took place in 605 BCE, precisely when the Biblical text mentioned it as happening in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah (Jeremiah 46:2). The result of this battle was that Nebuchadnezzar entirely destroyed both enemies: Assyria never rose to power again and Egypt lost all their conquest in the Levant and had to retire back to the Nile region. In the years that followed this decisive battle, the king of Babylon pushed the border of his empire until the brook of Egypt which probably meant one of the canal that was located on the eastern side of the Nile Delta, acting as a border with the Sinai Peninsula (before the construction of the Suez Canal in the 19th century).

Battle of Carchemish (Ollier, Edmund, Cassell's Illustrated Universal History, vol. 1) ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3155 – 605 BCE – Daniel taken to Babylon Then Nebuchadnezzar and his army invaded the kingdom of Judah and started to besiege Jerusalem. Rather than facing destruction as his neighbours endured, King Jehoiakim chose to become vassal to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar took a tribute and spoils from the Temple, and he also had some special request: In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God; and he carried them into the land of Shinar to the house of his god, and the vessels he brought into the treasure-house of his god. And the king spoke unto Ashpenaz his chief officer, that he should bring in certain of the children of Israel, and of the seed royal, and of the nobles, youths in whom was no blemish, but fair to look on, and skilful in all wisdom, and skilful



in knowledge, and discerning in thought, and such as had ability to stand in the king's palace; and that he should teach them the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans. And the king appointed for them a daily portion of the king's food, and of the wine which he drank, and that they should be nourished three years; that at the end thereof they might stand before the king. Now among these were, of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. And the chief of the officers gave names unto them: unto Daniel he gave the name of Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, of Shadrach; and to Mishael, of Meshach; and to Azariah, of Abed-nego. --- Daniel 1:1-7 And so Daniel was taken to Babylon when he was a young man, and being blessed by an intelligence superior to his brethren. And during the next 3 years, he and his 3 companions would be raised in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar before entering at the service of his empire. Daniel had special skills, above his companions: Now as for these four youths, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom; and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. And at the end of the days which the king had appointed for bringing them in, the chief of the officers brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. And the king spoke with them; and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; therefore stood they before the king. And in all matters of wisdom and understanding that the king inquired of them he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in his entire realm. --- Daniel 1:17-20 ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3156 – 604 BCE – The dream of Nebuchadnezzar In the second year of his reign, even before the 3 years period that was set for for Daniel and his companions to learn about the royal service, Nebuchadnezzar was troubled by a dream. He challenged his magicians and wisemen to interpret what it meant, but none of them could do it. In an anger of seeing their uselessness, he decreed that all wisemen of Babylon were full of lies and that they should be put to death. This decree would have been executed upon Daniel and his companions too, as they also were part of the wisemen, but Daniel had a divine vision at night and was able to explain the king’s dreams. Nebuchadnezzar’s dream is detailed in the Book of Daniel, chapter 2, in Aramaic language, not Hebrew. It tells the vision of the future that God granted to the king of Babylon. The vision was of a colossus with a head made of gold, a chest and arms made of silver, a belly and thighs made of brass, legs of iron and feet of a mixture of iron and clay. Then a stone is detached from a mountain and first breaks the feet into pieces, then breaks all the other parts of this colossus altogether.

Daniel explains Nebuchadnezzar’s dream Daniel then explained that the vision was about what will become the future after Nebuchadnezzar. The golden head was his present empire, the most powerful of all empires that will ever follow. The silver was the next empire that will take over Babylon: it will be the Persian Empire. It will be a large empire too but weaker than Nebuchadnezzar’s which was of gold. Then a next empire will come, even weaker: it will be the Greeks under Alexander the Great who will conquer Babylon and will end the Persian rule. It is the brass of the vision. The Greek empire is mentioned by Daniel as being one that shall bear rule over all the earth (Daniel 2:39). Indeed the Greek will spread their culture in the known world and it will become the foundation of the Western civilization that is still a dominant one ever since. Next will come the iron of two legs. It will be Christianity which will also spread broadly in the world but will equally be broadly divided, as two legs are, between Rome and Constantinople (Western and Eastern), or between Catholic and Reformist. Last will be the feet made of a mixture of clay and iron. It will be the world as we know it today, where Islam has taken over most of the lands of these old empires, even Babylon, but in a world where the presence of the Greco-Christian heritage will still remain strongly present. Both "empires" will dominate the affairs of the world and yet both will never be able to mix together because, as Daniel explained to Nebuchadnezzar: And whereas you saw the iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves by the seed of men; but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron does not mingle with clay. --- Daniel 2:43 The vision ends with the allegory of the stone that smashed the colossus, starting by smashing the feet first and then all the rest of the figure would collapse and break. We will come back to this particular vision in the chapter about the end of days. Nebuchadnezzar was grateful to Daniel and granted him the position of governor over the province of Babylon. In turn, Daniel appointed his own companions as governors of other provinces of the empire.



~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1] Tablet BM 21901 (British Museum), translated by A.K. Grayson in Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles (1975); to access it online click here [2] This Battle of Meggido of 609 BCE is reported in Esdras 1 [3] For the Greeks, all the Levant region was considered as Syria since this is where they later established the regional capital of this region they conquered; the Romans followed them

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Year 3601 – 159 BCE – Death of Alcimus the High Priest

Creation

When Bacchides started to put down the walls around the Temple of Jerusalem, Alcimus was struck with ailment and died. He was the High Priest who favoured assimilation to the Hellenistic culture and had, just before his death, threatened to execute the head of Sanhedrin, Yose ben Yoezer, as they had been in constant conflict about religion and assimilation.

Generations According to some theory, the person who succeeded Alcimus was the “Teacher of Righteousness”, later founder of 1-14 the Essenes sect[1] after he was ousted by the Maccabees in 152 BCE. Generations Bacchides returned to Antioch to seek policy from King Demetrius, and the Judea had rest for two years in the meantime. 15-21 Generations 22-28

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Year 3603 – 157 BCE – Jonathan Maccabee

Generations The war against the Jewish nation resumed after two years. Bacchides came back with a large army. But Jonathan http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g31-hasmonean1.html (1 of 18) [6/11/2013 11:43:30 AM]


was victorious and struck a deal with Bacchides that he shall return to his land and never come back to Judea to fight the Jews. Peace ensued and Jonathan couldfinally clean the land from the Greek influence and destroy the high places that they Generations had built in Judea. The exception was Jerusalem which was still strongly defended by a Greek garrison, protected by walls and high towers. 36-49 29-35

Generation 50



Jonathan Maccabee destroys the temple of Dagon (Gustave Doré, 1868) ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3608 – 152 BCE – The Seleucid wars of succession When Alexander Balas, an usurper claiming to be the youngest son of Antiochus Epiphanes, took some city of the Seleucid kingdom, Demetrius wanted to engage in a war to defeat the new claimant to the throne. He thus sought to strengthen his peace with Jonathan to avoid having the Jews join forces with Alexander. Jonathan agreed to the peace at the condition that Jerusalem would be returned to the Jews, to which Demetrius gave his consent: And Jonathan settled himself in Jerusalem, and began to build and repair the city. And he commanded the workmen to build the walls, and the mount Sion round about with square stones, for fortification: and they did so. Then the strangers who were in the fortresses which Bacchides had built, fled away: insomuch that every man left his place, and went into his own country. Only at Bethsura certain of those [Jews] who had forsaken the law and the commandments, remained still: for it was their place of refuge. --- Maccabees, Book II, 10:10-14 But Alexander also sought Jonathan’s alliance by proclaiming him high priest of the Jewish nation and sending him a gold crown. Upon this, Demetrius raised the stakes by promising dignities to Jonathan and removing all duties and taxes from the Jewish state. He even offered to pay 15,000 shekels of silver every year to the Jewish state. He also promised to respect the Jewish festivals as days of immunity (Maccabees, Book II, 10:34). Yet Jonathan and his counsel did not believe the words of Demetrius, owing to the great evil he had caused to the Jews in the past. So they approved the alliance with Alexander instead. In addition, Alexander’s claims to the throne were also accepted by Rome which started to see the Greek empire as an obstacle to their own expansion to the East. In 150 BCE, Alexander finally defeated Demetrius and reigned over the Seleucid kingdom. He also sealed an alliance with the Ptolemaic king, with blessing from Rome, and married Cleopatra Thea, a daughter of Ptolemy Philometor. Alexander also met with Jonathan and honoured him as an ally. But, in 147 BCE Demetrius’ son, called Demetrius Nicator, came from Crete to contest the rule of Alexander. His http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g31-hasmonean1.html (3 of 18) [6/11/2013 11:43:30 AM]


army commander, Apollonius, landed near Jaffa and taunted Jonathan to come down to the valley and fight a battle. Jonathan and Simon Maccabee raised an army and defeated the Greeks near Jaffa, who then fled south to Philistine land. There they were defeated again. Alexander was greatly pleased with Jonathan having removed alone the threat from Demetrius Nicator and sent to him gold as well as the possession of Ashqelon and its region. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3615 – 145 BCE – The deaths of Alexander Balas and of Ptolemy Philometor Ptolemy, father-in-law of Alexander, decided to conquer the kingdom of the Seleucids. He raised a great army and entered the Levant region, setting up garrisons in every city he entered on the way. He then made alliance with Demetrius against Alexander, and even took the daughter he gave to Alexander and gave her to Demetrius to seal their alliance. This happened while Alexander was campaigning in Cilicia, Asia Minor. Ptolemy also took the capital Antioch in Alexander’s absence, and assumed the crown of the Seleucid kingdom.



Alexander Balas and Cleopatra Thea Alexander returned to Antioch to fight against Ptolemy but lost at the battle outside the city. He fled to Arabia but was caught there and killed. His head was sent to Ptolemy as a token of allegiance. But this victory of the king of Egypt was short-lived because he had also been wounded in the battle. Ptolemy died soon after from his own wounds. As a result, Demetrius Nicator reigned over the Seleucid kingdom (Maccabees, Book II, 11:19). ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3617 – 143 BCE – Death of Jonathan Maccabee Another Greek commander, named Diodotus Tryphon, took the young son of Alexander and Cleopatra to claim the throne of the Seleucid kingdom back from Demetrius. As Jonathan Maccabee had sided with Demetrius, he came under pressure from Tryphon. War seemed inevitable but Tryphon lured Jonathan with peace talks, until he took him prisoner when duped. http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g31-hasmonean1.html (5 of 18) [6/11/2013 11:43:30 AM]


Then raised Simon Maccabee, the last son of Mattathias, to command the Jewish nation. Tryphon, on his side, was getting his army ready to invade Judea. But snow fell over the land, so Tryphon decided to return to his country, and he killed Jonathan on the way back. Simon then recovered the corpse of Jonathan and buried him with his family in Modin: Simon also built a monument upon the sepulchre of his father and his brethren, and raised it aloft to the sight, with polished stone behind and before. Moreover, he set up seven pyramids one against another, for his father and his mother, and his four brethren. And on these he made cunning devices, about the which he set great pillars, and upon the pillars he made all their armour for a perpetual memory, and by the armour ships carved, that they might be seen by all who sail on the sea. This is the sepulchre which he made at Modin, and it standeth yet e unto this day. --- Maccabees, Book II, 13:27-30 This tomb of the Maccabees has recently been found in 1999 on a hill near Modin in Israel, and a monument have been placed there to commemorate the seven pyramids that Simon had built in his time.



Tomb of the Maccabees near Modin, Israel http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g31-hasmonean1.html (7 of 18) [6/11/2013 11:43:30 AM]


(photography from the author) ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3618 – 142 BCE – Simon Maccabee starts the Hasmonean dynasty After returning to Antioch, Tryphon also deceived his protégé, Antiochus the young son of Alexander: he killed him and seized the crown of the kingdom. Tryphon became very unpopular in his country and Simon took the opportunity to seal an alliance with Demetrius who granted immunity and independence to the Jewish nation in 142 BCE. From this time, Simon started to count the years as official years of his leadership of the Jewish nation (Maccabees, Book II, 13:42). The Hasmonean dynasty, as it will become known, will continue until year 37 BCE. The name Hasmonean came from their ancestor Hesmai, or Assamoneaus, grand-father of Mattathias (Maccabees, Book V, 6). Simon then engaged in a campaign to cleanse the land from its idols. He took Gaza, but Jerusalem still had a number of Hellenized Jews who refused to return to the Jewish faith. They were entrenched in some part of the fortification but became under siege with no access to food or supplies. They however asked for peace and Simon granted it to them. He cleansed the city after they departed from the citadel and its fortified towers. It was the year 141 BCE in the 23rd day of the month of the 2nd month (Iyar), which was an observed festival in the times of the Jewish nation (Maccabees, Book II, 13:51). The reign of Simon Maccabee was peaceful, owing to the internal fights for Seleucid power between Tryphon and Demetrius: As for the land of Judah, that was quiet all the days of Simon; for he sought the good of his nation in such wise, as that evermore his authority and honour pleased them well. And in addition to all his glory, he took Joppe [Jaffa] for a haven, and made it an entrance to the isles of the sea, and enlarged the bounds of his nation, and recovered the country. --- Maccabees, Book II, 14:4-6 Rome and Greece renewed with Simon the pact they had made with his brother Jonathan. The Lacedonians, who were the Spartans and who considered themselves descendants from the patriarch Abraham and thus brethren to the Jews, wrote to Simon: The rulers of the Lacedaemonians, and the city [Sparta], unto Simon the high priest, and the elders and priests, and residue of the people of the Jews, our brethren, send greeting. The ambassadors who were sent unto our people, certified us of your glory and honour: wherefore we were glad of their coming: and did register the things which they spoken in the council of the people, in this manner: Numenius, son of Antiochus, and Antipater son of Jason, the Jews' ambassadors, came unto us http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g31-hasmonean1.html (8 of 18) [6/11/2013 11:43:30 AM]


to renew the friendship which they had with us. And it pleased the people to entertain the men honourably, and to put the copy of their ambassage in the appointed records of the people; to the end the people of the Lacedaemonians might have a memorial thereof: furthermore, we have written a copy thereof unto Simon the high priest. --- Maccabees, Book II, 14:20-23 ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3620 – 140 BCE – Joshua ben Perachiah After the death of the nassi Yose ben Yoezer in 140 BCE, Joshua ben Perachiah replaced him at the head of the Sanhedrin. With him, Nittai the Arbelite (also called Mattai of Arbela) was elected av beth din, the vice-president of the Sanhedrin. Both formed the second of the Zugot (pairs) as heads of this religious institution. Joshua ben Perachiah is known for the following wisdom: Appoint a teacher for yourself. And get yourself a study companion. And judge all men in the scale of merit. --- Talmud, Pirke Avot, Mishna 1:6 Their tenure as nassi lasted for 40 years until he fled to Egypt in 100 BCE with all the religious leaders to avoid persecutions from the Hasmonean ruler, Alexander Jannai. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3621 – 139 BCE – Simon Maccabee is chosen High Priest Three years after the beginning of his rule, Simon was confirmed as High Priest by the Jewish nation, as well as Governor of the people and Keeper of the Sanctuary in Jerusalem. A year later, Antiochus son of Demetrius succeeded to reconquer the Seleucid kingdom from the hands of Tryphon and reigned as Antiochus VII Sidetes. Tryphon fled to a city that Antiochus besieged. Acting in good faith, Simon sent reinforcements to Antiochus to support him, but the latter refused the Jewish help. Furthermore he sent a messenger to Jerusalem to ask from Simon a tribute in exchange of the cities he had taken possession of, which, he claimed, belonged to the Seleucid kingdom. Else, he threatened Simon with war. Simon replied: We have neither taken other men's land, nor held that which appertains to others, but the inheritance of our fathers, which our enemies had wrongfully in possession a certain time. Wherefore we, having the opportunity, hold the inheritance of our fathers. But as for Joppe [Jaffa] and Gazara [Gaza] which you demanded, although they did great harm unto the people http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g31-hasmonean1.html (9 of 18) [6/11/2013 11:43:30 AM]


in our country, yet will we give an hundred talents for them. --- Maccabees, Book II, 15:33-35 Antiochus was not pleased and sent an army to the coast of Judea to invade the land, while he himself pursued the affair with Tryphon. Simon was too old at the time to engage in any war so he entrusted his sons Judas and John (or Jochanan) to defend the nation. Judas was wounded in battle and died shortly after, but John succeeded in defeating the Seleucid army and took the surname Hyrcanus after the commander he defeated. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3625 – 135 BCE – Death of Simon Maccabee Simon and two of his sons, Judas and Mattathias, came down to Jericho for an official visit. There they were killed deceiptfully during a banquet by a party led by a Ptolemy who wanted to take over their kingdom. This Ptolemy then sought to get rid of Simon’s surviving son, John, and make alliance with Antiochus by asking his support to take over the Jewish land.

The start of the Hasmonean dynasty ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3626 – 134 BCE – John Hyrcanus makes a pact with Antiochus VII http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g31-hasmonean1.html (10 of 18) [6/11/2013 11:43:30 AM]


Antiochus VII himself came to besiege Jerusalem but he was defeated by John Hyrcanus. Rather than pursuing a war between them, the two made an alliance: Hyrcanus paid a large sum of money, taken from the sepulchre of the Judean kings, and Antiochus accepted to be the protector of the Jewish nation which gained him a surname, “Pius” or “Euergetes” (the Benefactor) according to different sources. Antiochus had more pressing affairs: his eastern provinces were invaded by the Parthians led by their king Phraates II and he had to go to war against them. The Parthians had become a regional power since the rule of Mithridates, brother of Phraates II, who took over some of the Greek realm in the East.

Seleucid Empire in 200 BCE, before the expansion of Parthia (source: Wikipedia) Antiochus overcame his enemies and restored the Mesopotamian territory to the Seleucid realm. But he became the http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g31-hasmonean1.html (11 of 18) [6/11/2013 11:43:30 AM]


last Seleucid ruler to reign over such a large kingdom, as he finally lost most of it over time to the Parthians, except for Syria until that country would eventually be conquered by the Romans. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3631 – 129 BCE – John Hyrcanus attacks Samaria and converts Idumea After the death of Antiochus VII, Hyrcanus intended to restore Samaria to the Jewish nation. He attacked the city of Sichem, who was the capital of Samaria and called Neapolis since the time of the Greeks.[2] The region was occupied by Samaritans since the forced deportation of the Ten Tribes to Assyria. Then Hyrcanus crossed the Jordan River and conquered the region of the Idumeans who lived around Mount Seir, the old Edomite land. As these people were descendants of Isaac the Patriarch, Hyrcanus did not kill them but forced them to Jewish conversion. It is the only example of forced conversion by Jews in the Jewish history. The Idumeans agreed to convert and kept in the Jewish faith until the Judean nation would be destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE.



Judea under John Hyrcanus (in pink, the areas he conquered) http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g31-hasmonean1.html (13 of 18) [6/11/2013 11:43:30 AM]


~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3649 – 111 BCE – The siege of Samaria Hyrcanus and his two preferred sons, Aristobulus and Antigonus, started the siege of the capital of the Samaritans in 111 BCE. The latter implored both the Syrians and the Egyptians for rescue. Both Antiochus IX and Ptolemy IX marched respectively onto Judean land against Hyrcanus. Antiochus IX “Cyzicenus” was the son of Antiochus VII Sidetes, and had regained his throne in 116 BCE while Ptolemy IX “Lathyros” also started to reign in 116 BCE but jointly with his mother Cleopatra III. Hyrcanus went first to fight the Egyptian army and defeated them: Ptolemy returned to Egypt. He was soon deposed by his mother who put his younger brother Alexander on the throne as Ptolemy X. But a few months later she reinstated Ptolemy IX as king. The Jews eventually destroyed the city of Sichem-Neapolis after two years and took over all the land of the Samaritans. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3653 – 107 BCE – The Book of the Jubilees In these days, the Jewish people were divided between three main movements: the Pharisees who lived according to the tradition learned from their forefathers who taught the Oral Law, the Sadducees who were disciples of Zadok and claimed to follow the Written Law alone but were the most assimilated to the Greek culture, and the Hasdanim who lived in an aesthete way of virtues (Maccabees, Book V, 25). The latter category is considered to be the same as the Essenes mentioned by Flavius Josephus. There was another sect, similar to the Sadducees, and often counted as such, called the Boethusians. They came from one founder, Boethus, who, like Zadok, had been a disciple of Antigonus of Socho and diverted from mainstream Judaism to assimilate the Greek culture. Hyrcanus was first a Pharisee but he later changed to be Sadducee. There were permanent disputes between the Pharisees and the Saduccees in his times. The Pharisees contested the right for Hyrcanus to be the High Priest owing to the fact that his mother was a captive while she conceived him. This was an extrapolation of the Written Law, which the Saduccees rejected, thus causing Hyrcanus to join their movement and to get at odds with the Pharisees. http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g31-hasmonean1.html (14 of 18) [6/11/2013 11:43:30 AM]


It was probably in this context, as an effort to prove the pharisaic interpretation of the Law to the Sadduccees and eventually decide who should be the High Priest, that the Book of Jubilees was written by one of the Pharisees.[3] The book gives a chronology of the Bible from Adam to the Exodus, by periods of jubilees (50 years). ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3654 – 106 BCE – Hyrcanus orders the persecution of the Pharisees This role of High Priest led to the darkest page of Hyrcanus’ reign: Now the Jews had been, in the time of his father and uncles, united in affection towards them [the Hasmonean dynasty], and prompt to obey them, on account of their subduing of their enemies, and the excellent feats which they performed. They also continued united in affection to Hyrcanus, until the slaughter of the Pharisees was committed by him, and the rooting out of the Jews, and the civil wars on account of religion. From hence sprung perpetual enmities, and ceaseless evils, and many murders. This was the reason why many detested Hyrcanus. --- Maccabees, Book V, 27:6-8 Hyrcanus also had some family affairs to worry about: he had three sons, Aristobulus, Antigonus and Alexander. The later hated his father who in turn had the intent to keep him out of the heritage of the dynasty. To this effect, and in order to resolve the potential conflict of interest between religion and state, Hyrcanus took the decision that, after his death, the roles of ruler and High Priest will be separated: his wife was to reign, while his oldest son Aristobulus was to become High Priest.





Ruins of John Hyrcanus Palace (Iraq al Amir, Jordan) ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3656 – 104 BCE – Aristobulus and Antigonus Hyrcanus died after 31 years of reign, and was succeeded on the throne by his wife. But she was quickly deposed by Aristobulus with the complicity of Antigonus, and put to prison with her preferred son, Alexander. She died there of starvation. Aristobulus was a vain person, the first ruler since many generations to actually call himself king and to wear a crown,[4] while only the descendants of King David were allowed the royal title according to Jewish tradition. In his campaigns, Aristobulus added the region of Galilee to the Hasmonean realm. But misfortune soon struck his reign. Aristobulus had a wife, Salome, who despised him. When he was sick in bed in his palace, his brother Antigonus came to visit him. Salome made an evil design which resulted in the guards killing Antigonus as he entered the palace, due to orders wrongly interpreted. And Aristobulus died soon after from aliment. Thus, after barely one year since Hyrcanus’ death, his wife and his two preferred sons had died and Alexander, the son he despised most, was called to rule. And he married Salome, by law of the levirate. ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1] One of the centre of the Essenes was Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls had been discovered in mountain caves near the site [2] Neapolis means New City in Greek, and is the name which has remained today as Naplouse or Nablus [3] To read a translation of the text online, click here [4] Before him, the Hasmonean rulers called themselves nassi which means president

Go to >> Part II http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g31-hasmonean1.html (17 of 18) [6/11/2013 11:43:30 AM]








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Year 3831 – 71 CE – The Sabbation river When he published his Natural History in 77, the Roman author Pliny the Elder mentioned:

Creation

In Judea there is a river that is dry every Sabbath day. --- Pliny the Elder, Natural History, book 31, chapter 18

Generations 1-14 The legend was that this river would have water flowing very strongly, even carrying stones, every week day but would get dry every Shabbat; in other words, this river seemed to “keep Shabbat”. Pliny probably never stepped foot in Judea so Generations must have heard the story from Jews who lived in Rome. The fact was known to them at these times because the river, 15-21 called Sabbation, is related in the Talmud. One conversation between Rabbi Akiva and the Roman commander of Judea, Turnus Rufus, who was left to govern over Judea after the departure of Titus (Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 7,2,6; Generations in this text, this governor of Judea is stated as Tereutius Rufus), and who frequently tried to confound the religious scholar with apparent contradictions or difficulties, went as follows: 22-28 Generations 29-35

And this question was asked by Turnus Rufus of R. Akiba: ‘Wherein does this day [the Sabbath] differ from any other?’ — He replied: Wherein does one noble differ from one commoner?’ — ‘Because my Lord [the Emperor] wishes it.’ -— ‘The Sabbath too,’ R. Akiba rejoined, ‘then, is distinguished because the Lord wishes so.’ — He replied: ‘I ask this: Who

http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g32-masada.html (1 of 13) [6/11/2013 11:43:45 AM]



tells you that this day is the Sabbath?’ — He answered: ‘Let the river Sabbation prove it;’ --- Talmud, Sanhedrin, 65b The river is also mentioned in the Midrash as a northern boundary to the tribes of the kingdom of Israel, a river beyond which these tribes were exiled by the Assyrians.[1] In other words, the river marked the northern entrance to the Holy Land. Josephus also added to the story by mentioning that Titus himself saw this river: He then saw a river as he went along, of such a nature as deserves to be recorded in history; it runs in the middle between Arcea [Acre], belonging to Agrippa's kingdom [Judea], and Raphanea [outside the kingdom, so probably in Phoenicia or Syrian province]. It has somewhat very peculiar in it; for when it runs, its current is strong, and has plenty of water; after which its springs fail for six days together, and leave its channel dry, as any one may see; after which days it runs on the seventh day as it did before, and as though it had undergone no change at all; it has also been observed to keep this order perpetually and exactly; whence it is that they call it the Sabbatic River [Sabbation] that name being taken from the sacred seventh day among the Jews. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 7,5,1 The point of contention with Pliny is of course that Josephus mentioned the particular detail in the opposite way, whereas the river would be dry during six days and flows strongly on Shabbat day. But let’s remember that Josephus was not a direct witness and that, probably, Titus didn’t wait seven days to certify a different behaviour. Either way, the important point here is that such small details mentioned by religious scholars in Judea would find their way into the knowledge of historians and writers of the Roman Empire. Pliny, most likely, would have heard the story from another source than Titus or Josephus, as he reported it mosre in line with Tamudic tradition, that the river stopped “working” on Shabbat days.



"Sabbation", first page of a poem by Richard Chevenix Trench, 1838 Titus then returned to Rome by way of Jerusalem, where he saw the desolated and ruined city again, then to Alexandria where he boarded a ship to go to Rome. There his troops and prisoners marched for the triumph, and the spoils of war were also passed through the procession: But for those [spoils] that were taken in the temple of Jerusalem, they made the greatest figure of them all; that is, the golden table, of the weight of many talents; the candlestick also, that was made of gold, though its construction were now changed from that which we made use of; for its middle shaft was fixed upon a basis, and the small branches were produced out of it to a great length, having the likeness of a trident in their position, and had every one a socket made of brass for a lamp at the tops of them. These lamps were in number seven, and represented the dignity of the number seven among the Jews; and the last of all the spoils, was carried the Law of the Jews. http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g32-masada.html (3 of 13) [6/11/2013 11:43:45 AM]


--- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 7,5,5 By “Law of the Jews”, Josephus probably refered to a copy of the scrolls of the Bible, probably similar to the copper scroll of the Dead Sea Scrolls, which was meant to withstand the test of time. As for the original Ark of the Covenant, it had been stored in a secret location, probably under the ground of the First Temple, before the destruction by the Babylonians. At the time of the Second Temple, there was no ark in the Temple. Simon Bar Giora, considered by the Romans to have been the enemy leader, was slain just before the procession of the triumph, probably because he resisted to be displayed alive in this show. His dead body was however drawn to the procession and taken to the due place where he ought to have been executed in public. After these triumphs were over, and after the affairs of the Romans were settled on the surest foundations, Vespasian resolved to build a temple to Peace, which was finished in so short a time, and in so glorious a manner, as was beyond all human expectation and opinion: for he having now by Providence a vast quantity of wealth, besides what he had formerly gained in his other exploits, he had this temple adorned with pictures and statues; for in this temple were collected and deposited all such rarities as men aforetime used to wander all over the habitable world to see, when they had a desire to see one of them after another; he also laid up therein those golden vessels and instruments that were taken out of the Jewish temple, as ensigns of his glory. But still he gave order that they should lay up their Law, and the purple veils of the holy place, in the royal palace itself, and keep them there. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 7,5,7 ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3833 – 73 CE – Masada The Romans in Judea realized that the resistance had not ended with the destruction of Jerusalem because many of the fighters had escaped and regrouped in various Judean fortresses. The 10th Legion was sent to conquer Herodium and Machaerus, both located at the top of high hills, and did so in the year 72.





Machaerus, near the Dead Sea, on the Jordanian side (photograph ITS Pilgrimages - Jordan) There was only one stronghold left in the country: Masada, on the western side of the Dead Sea. It was held by the Sicarii since before the war with Rome had begun, and was commanded by a certain Eleazar. The place had strong natural defenses and, in view of an upcoming attack by the Romans, the defenders had gathered plenty of supply to sustain a prolonged siege. Eleazar had a total of 980 men, women and children while the Roman legion had 5000 men as well as auxiliaries, as usual. The Roman commander was Flavius Silva, new procurator over Judea in 73. He established a wall around the rock of Masada, and a camp for his army. He also arranged for supplies of food and water to be brought to them in the desert by Jewish civilians. Then Silva oredered to build a ramp on the western side of the rock, so that the Romans would later be able to bring up their war machines before the assault. In parallel, the Jews inside raised the wall facing the side where the Romans would be coming. Aftre the ramp was made, Silva ordered to throw torches at the Jewish wall, which was made of wooden beams, and it was set on fire.



Masada with the earth ramp the Romans built on the right side The Romans then prepared themselves for an assault on the next day: Now, at the very beginning of this fire, a north wind that then blew proved terrible to the Romans; for by bringing the flame downward, it drove it upon them, and they were almost in despair of success, as fearing their machines would be http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g32-masada.html (7 of 13) [6/11/2013 11:43:45 AM]


burnt: but after this, on a sudden the wind changed into the south, as if it were done by Divine Providence, and blew strongly the contrary way, and carried the flame, and drove it against the wall, which was now on fire through its entire thickness. So the Romans, having now assistance from God, returned to their camp with joy, and resolved to attack their enemies the very next day; on which occasion they set their watch more carefully that night, lest any of the Jews should run away from them without being discovered. --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 7,8,5 The battle to come had obvious outcome as the Jews were vaslty outnumbered. So, before the Roman forthcoming assault, Eleazar gathered his men and gave them a remarkable speech, as reported to the Romans by the only survivor, to prefer volontary death to slavery: “We were the very first that revolted from them [the Romans], and we are the last that fight against them; and I cannot but esteem it as a favor that God has granted us, that it is still in our power to die bravely, and in a state of freedom, which has not been the case of others, who were conquered unexpectedly. It is very plain that we shall be taken within a day's time; but it is still an eligible thing to die after a glorious manner, together with our dearest friends. This is what our enemies themselves cannot by any means hinder, although they be very desirous to take us alive. Nor can we propose to ourselves any more to fight them, and beat them. […] But first let us destroy our money and the fortress by fire; for I am well assured that this will be a great grief to the Romans, that they shall not be able to seize upon our bodies, and shall fall of our wealth also; and let us spare nothing but our provisions; for they will be a testimonial when we are dead that we were not subdued for want of necessaries, but that, according to our original resolution, we have preferred death before slavery.” --- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 7,8,6 Each head of family then slew his wife and children. Eleazar then drew lots to select ten men that would kill all their companions of arm. Then the ten last ones chose one to kill the nine others and set the place on fire before killing himself. Only one old woman survived with five children, as they had hidden themselves in caves before the mass killing. She could tell to the Romans what happened. Masada fell on the 15th of Nisan, according to Josephus. The Wars of the Jews had drawn a lot of attention in Rome, and also hatred for Jews in general, as one could read the way that the Roman historian Tacitus described this nation: As I am now to record the death-agony of a famous city [Jerusalem], it seems appropriate to inform the reader of its origins. […] The whole of Egypt was once plagued by a wasting disease which caused bodily disfigurement. So Pharaoh Bocchoris [2] went to the oracle of Hammon to ask for a cure, and was told to purify his kingdom by expelling the victims to other lands, as they lay under a divine curse. Thus a multitude of sufferers was rounded up, herded together, and abandoned in the wilderness. Here the exiles tearfully resigned themselves to their fate. But one of them who was called Moses urged his companions not to wait passively for help from god or man, for both had deserted them: they should trust to their http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g32-masada.html (8 of 13) [6/11/2013 11:43:45 AM]


own initiative and to whatever guidance first helped them to extricate themselves from their present plight. They agreed, and started off at random into the unknown. But exhaustion set in, chiefly through lack of water, and the level plain was already strewn with the bodies of those who had collapsed and were at their last gasp when a herd of wild asses left their pasture and made for the spade of a wooded crag. Moses followed them and was able to bring to light a number of abundant channels of water whose presence he had deduced from a grassy patch of ground. This relieved their thirst. They traveled on for six days without a break, and on the seventh they expelled the previous inhabitants of Canaan, took over their lands and in them built a holy city and temple. In order to secure the allegiance of his people in the future, Moses prescribed for them a novel religion quite different from those of the rest of mankind. Among the Jews all things are profane that we hold sacred; on the other hand they regard as permissible what seems to us immoral. In the innermost part of the Temple, they consecrated an image of the animal which had delivered them from their wandering and thirst,[3] choosing a ram as beast of sacrifice to demonstrate, so it seems, their contempt for Hammon. [4] The bull is also offered up, because the Egyptians worship it as Apis. They avoid eating pork in memory of their tribulations, as they themselves were once infected with the disease to which this creature is subject. They still fast frequently as an admission of the hunger they once endured so long, and to symbolize their hurried meal the bread eaten by the Jews is unleavened. We are told that the seventh day was set aside for rest because this marked the end of their toils. In course of time the seductions of idleness made them devote every seventh year to indolence as well.[5] Others say that this is a mark of respect to Saturn, either because they owe the basic principles of their religion to the Idaei, who, we are told, were expelled in the company of Saturn and became the founders of the Jewish race, or because, among the seven stars that rule mankind, the one that describes the highest orbit and exerts the greatest influence is Saturn. A further argument is that most of the heavenly bodies complete their path and revolutions in multiples of seven.[6] Whatever their origin, these observances are sanctioned by their antiquity. […] They will not feed or intermarry with gentiles. Though a most lascivious people, the Jews avoid sexual intercourse with women of alien race. Among themselves nothing is barred. They have introduced the practice of circumcision to show that they are different from others. Proselytes to Jewry adopt the same practices, and the very first lesson they learn is to despise the gods, shed all feelings of patriotism, and consider parents, children and brothers as readily expendable. However, the Jews see to it that their numbers increase. It is a deadly sin to kill an unwanted child,[7] and they think that eternal life is granted to those who die in battle or execution - hence their eagerness to have children, and their contempt for death. Rather than cremate their dead, they prefer to bury them in imitation of the Egyptian fashion, and they have the same concern and beliefs about the world below. But their conception of heavenly things is quite different. The Egyptians worship a variety of animals and half-human, half-bestial forms, whereas the Jewish religion is a purely spiritual monotheism. They hold it to be impious to make idols of perishable materials in the likeness of man: for them, the Most High and Eternal cannot be portrayed by human hands and will never pass away. For this reason they erect no images in their cities, still less in their temples. Their kings are not so flattered, the Roman emperors not so honored. --- Tacitus, Histories, 5:2-5 ~~~~~~~~~~ http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g32-masada.html (9 of 13) [6/11/2013 11:43:45 AM]


Year 3839 – 79 CE – Pompeii The Roman city of Pompeii was destroyed by an eruption of the Vesuvius in 79 CE. The city was buried under up to 6 meters of volcanic ash and was only discovered some 1500 years after its destruction. This created an unique environment for preservation of the life of the Romans in this city, caught in their activities at the time of the instant destruction. The archaelogists have been able to recover many items of the buried city and could contemplate the decoration of rich houses of that time. The frescos show many scenes of sexual content in postures that would even be banished in many countries today. But one fresco, found in what was called the "House of the Doctor" was of particular interest because it represented a scene taken from a story of the Bible: the judgment of Solomon. In the scene, we can clearly see a woman imploring sitting judges about her child about to be cut by a Roman soldier standing on the left side with a sharp butched knife, with another woman staning next to him and the child.



The Judgment of Solomon - House of the Doctor in Pompeii (National Archaelogical Museum, Naples) (extract from photo from Flickriver, "aegean-blue") This Biblical story has also been found written in a papyrus from the collection Oxyrhynchus Papyrii which was found in Egypt. Indeed the specific papyrus referenced P.Oxy. XLI (41), 2944 contains a story very similar to the Judgment of Solomon (I Kings 3:16-28). This shows that the Greco-Roman world of the first century CE was already well acquainted with this story of the Bible, and surely many others. In fact, some modern historians no longer hesitate to join the opinion of their ancient colleagues who stated that many Biblical themes and stories were known in Greece before the death of Plato (around 350 BCE).[7b] Why was this particular Biblical tale noticed by the Greeks? Because, as the text from Tacitus mentions it above, it is a deadly sin [for the Jews] to kill an unwanted child. This story from Solomon must have struck the Greek minds of these times, about the value of life, of death, of justice, and of society.



P.Oxy. XLI, 2944 (source: Oxyrhynchus Online, Sackler Library, Oxford) ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1] Midrash Rabba, Numbers, XVI, 25: He was referring to those exiles who were living beyond Sambatyon [2] This pharaoh reigned too late compared to the time of the Hebrews in Egypt, but his mention means that the Roman historians already considered that the Jews were already of very ancient origin [3] It may be a reference to the cherubims, representations of angels http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g32-masada.html (12 of 13) [6/11/2013 11:43:45 AM]


[4] Hammon was a god of Antiquity that was represented as a ram, an animal that the Jews offered in sacrifice since the days of the Exodus (the Pesach Lamb) [5] This refers to the cyclic times of seven years, also concluded by the 50 years jubilee periods [6] It is interesting to note the association between Saturn as the 7th planet; the Romans also called Saturn Day (Saturday) the 7th day, and Saturnalia the festival when many unusual things were then permitted such as masters serving their slaves, and so on [7] The killing of unwanted children, and also sacrifices of children, was common practice in the antiquity, except for the Jews [7b] See for example Morrzejewski, Joseph, The Jews of Egypt: From Rameses II to Emperor Hadrian, 1997, p.66 [8] The Pashtun, or Pashtan, ethnic of this country know themselves to be of Jewish origin and whose ancestors later adopted Islam, as did most people of this part of the world Next generation Top of Page






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Year 3173 – 587 BCE – Nebuchadnezzar defies God

After having destroyed Judah and the Temple of Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar felt above all gods. He created a large idol statue in gold for people to venerate as an act of obedience to his power, above all gods. As it was against Jewish religion Creation to worship any idol figure, the three governors who were the friends of Daniel would not obey the king’s order in Generations their provinces. They were denounced to Nebuchadnezzar by jealous Chaldeans. As a punishment, the three were thrown into a burning fiery furnace but they did not die. 1-14 Generations 15-21 Generations 22-28 Generations 29-35 Generations http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g27-babylon.html (1 of 17) [6/11/2013 11:44:08 AM]


36-49 Generation 50

The three men in the fiery furnace (marble sarcophagus, Vatican Museum, source Flickriver) Nebuchadnezzar could even distinguish in the furnace that a fourth person was among them and, in his own words, the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods (Daniel 3:25). The king quickly realized this was an act of God, and felt immediately as humbled as he had been at the time of the dream that Daniel had interpreted: Nebuchadnezzar spoke and said: 'Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, who has sent His angel, and delivered His servants that trusted in Him, and have changed the king's word, and have yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God. Therefore I make a decree, that every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, shall be cut in pieces, http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g27-babylon.html (2 of 17) [6/11/2013 11:44:08 AM]


and their houses shall be made a dunghill; because there is no other god that is able to deliver after this sort.' Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, in the province of Babylon. --- Daniel 3:28-30 Following his destruction of the Temple and its spoil of religious tools, God would have decreed the death of the King. But, as the act was guided by divine desire, and as Nebuchanezzar then acknowledged the supremacy of God following the incident of the furnace, he was granted extra years to live, 15 in total, as King Hezekiah had also benefited for his good deeds. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3187 – 573 BCE – Ezekiel's vision of the Second Temple In the 25th year of the captivity, Ezekiel had a vision where he was taken by an angel and brought to the Temple that will be rebuilt. This vision offers many details that were confirmed by the future. One passage says: Then came he [the angel]unto the gate which looks toward the east, and went up the steps thereof; and he measured the jamb of the gate, one reed broad, and the other jamb, one reed broad. --- Ezekiel 40:6 The gate described above is the one that gave access to the courtyard of the Temple, by which all the pilgrims were directed. It was a double gate, of identical size as mentioned by Ezekiel, whereas the exit was a set of triple gates. The access to these gates was through a set of stairs, of irregular depth so that the pilgrims would have their heard turned downwards (as a sign of piety) when going up to the Temple. These gates were facing towards the East, as also mentioned by Hezekiel. The following is a diagram how these gates looked approximately. They still exist today in Jerusalem, partially and obstructed, and called the Huldah Gates.

http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g27-babylon.html (3 of 17) [6/11/2013 11:44:08 AM]


Representation of the Huldah Gates, the double gates entrance on the left side, as seen by Hezekiel (source: Wikipedia)





The Huldah Gates today, the exit side (photo: Albert Benhamou) In the later years of his life, the British scientist Isaac Newton spent a considerable amount of time deciphering the Hebrew text related to the dimension of the Temple, and wrote a detailed essay about it.[1a] For Newton, the Temple of Solomon was a representation of the cosmos. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3190 – 570 BCE – Nebuchadnezzar spoils Egypt The king of Babylon turned against Egypt after having conquered the Levant: In the 37th year of Nebuchadnezzar, king of the country of Babylon, he went to Mitzraim [Egypt] to wage war. Amasis, king of Egypt, collected [his army], and marched and spread abroad. --- J. Pritchard, Ancient Bear Eastern Texts, 1974, p. 308, translation from clay tablet at the British Museum This campaign was announced to Ezekiel in that same year, at the very beginning of the new Hebrew year 570 BCE, as a divine prize to Nebuchadnezzar after Tyre: And it came to pass in the seven and twentieth year, in the first month, in the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying: 'Son of man, Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great service against Tyre; every head was made bald, and every shoulder was peeled; yet had he no wages, nor his army, from Tyre, for the service that he had served against it; therefore thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will give the land of Egypt unto Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall carry off her abundance, and take her spoil, and take her prey; and it shall be the wages for his army. I have given him the land of Egypt as his hire for which he served, because they wrought for Me, saith the Lord God. --- Ezekiel 29:17-20 The years in Ezekiel are counted from the start of the captivity of King Jehoiachin, in 597 BCE, while the Babylonian chronicles count the years from the start of the reign of the king, so 605 BCE for Nebuchadnezzar. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3192 – 568 BCE – Death of Ezekiel The Book of Ezekiel opens with the following sentence: http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g27-babylon.html (6 of 17) [6/11/2013 11:44:08 AM]


Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river Chebar that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. --- Ezekiel 1:1 There is no further detail about what happens. The next verse concerns the first vision he had of God in the fifth year [of the captitivy]. We can thus assume that, when Ezekiel wrote the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God, he meant to say that his time was up and that he died. This is the time when he completed his book, that will be included in the Jewish canon, and he would have added the closing verse 1:1 at the beginning. His tomb is still located in Iraq, in a village called Al-Kilf near the city of Najaf, and is revered by both Jews and Muslims. Although, in recent years, there has been some attempt to exlcude the Jews from the shrine and turn it into a mosque.[1b]



Tomb of Ezekiel (photography, 1932) The text of the Book of Ezekiel was inscribed in 66 stone tiles of marble or black basalt, of about 12 inches squared shape http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g27-babylon.html (8 of 17) [6/11/2013 11:44:08 AM]


(so-called the Ezekiel Plates), found in his shrineand smuggled to Lebanon in the 20th century. They were later sold to an Israeli businessman in 1947 and found their way to Jerusalem in 1953 where they are exhibited today. There is barely any difference between the text of these plates and the known text of the Book of Ezekiel.[2]

Ezekiel Plates (photo: ICEJ, Matthias Guggisberg) ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3198 – 562 BCE – The madness of King Nebuchadnezzar However Nebuchadnezzar suffered from mental torments, with dreams and nightmares, in the years that folllowed. A new dream preoccupied him and he called upon Daniel for help. The dream portrayed a huge tree that grew to dominate the world, until an angel from Heaven came down to cast a spell that destroyed it. What happened is that Nebuchadnezzar being the master of the known world of the times, he grew in vanity so God would not let him rest upon it. Yet, as He had granted him extra years to live, He surely decided to comply with it but did so but by making Nebuchadnezzar lose power in 562 BCE because of madness. He was cast out of the city of Babylon, as he was considered insane, and he probably died 7 years later, as the Biblical text stated, in insanity.



Old Nebuchadnezzar by William Blake, 1795 (Tate Gallery, London) Jeremiah had prophetized about the end of the nations and empires of the time. Indeed, the 26th Dynasty of Egypt will be the last dynasty of native rulers as they will then be replaced by foreign rulers. Also, Nebuchadnezzar’s reign ended in 562 BCE, in the 26th year after having destroyed Jerusalem. This was the sign of a divine punishment, because the number 26 is always special in the Biblical text, as it represents the numerical value of the tetragram name of God.[3] ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3200 – 560 BCE – Belshazzar and the writing on the wall His son, Amel-Marduk, called Evil-Merodach in the Bible, was brought to reign in his stead. He changed some of the http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g27-babylon.html (10 of 17) [6/11/2013 11:44:08 AM]


policies established by his father and this caused some resentment among the upper class of Babylon. One of his first acts was to free the old king of Judah, Jehoiachin, (Leviticus Rabbah 18:2) who had surrendered voluntarily to Nebuchadnezzar but had nonetheless been taken captive to Babylon and left in jail for over 36 years. Jehoiachin was then treated with the honours due to a king, but died soon after. This new ruler had no talent to become a great leader as his father had, and and occupied in arranging great feasts for his guests. This was certainly a manner to please them but also to key them close enough to better control them, because the new king of Babylon clearly faced some difficulty to impose his authority. In the Bible, he is mentioned as Belshazzar, son of Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 5:1-2). Historians associated this name to the last king od Babylon, before the Persian conquest. But the name Belshazzar simply means “son of the lord” (Bel/Bels= lord like the good Baal, and Azzar/Usur= firstborn son), in other words “the heir of the king”. It could have been sed for any king who came to rule after his father, as it was the case for Amel-Marduk. There is also his mention in one of the Apocrypha books: And pray you for the life of Nabuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and for the life of Belshazzar his son, that their days may be upon earth as the days of heaven. --- Apocrypha, Baruch, chapter 1, 11 During a feast, he asked to bring the golden vessels of the Temple of Jerusalem to drink from them (Daniel 5:3). For this act, he was to receive divine punishment. So, during the feast and in front of the entire assembly, God had a human hand to write on a wall. But nobody was found to understand the writing.



Belshazzar's Feast - by Rembrandt, 1635 (National Gallery, London) So Daniel was called to interpret it. He explained that his father Nebuchadnezzar had been punished by God because of his vanity. As of Belshazzar: “And you his son, O Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you know all this; but hast lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of His house before you, and you and your lords, your consorts and your concubines, have drunk wine in them; and you have praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know; and the God in whose hand your breath is, and whose are all your ways, have you not glorified; then was the palm of the hand sent from before Him, and this writing [on the wall] was inscribed. And this is the writing that was inscribed: MENE MENE, TEKEL UPHARSIN. This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE, God has numbered your kingdom, and brought it to an end. TEKEL, you are weighed in the balances, and are found http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g27-babylon.html (12 of 17) [6/11/2013 11:44:08 AM]


wanting. PERES, your kingdom is broken, and given to the Medes and Persians.” Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with purple, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made proclamation concerning him, that he should rule as one of three in the kingdom. In that night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was slain. --- Daniel 5:22-30



Daniel interpreting the writing on the wall (Gustave Doré, 1868) The Biblical text is correct in mentioning that the son of Nebuchanezzar was slained. Indeed Amel-Marduk was assassinated by his brother-in-law Nergal-sharezer, or Neriglissar, who had been one of the high-ramked officers of Nebuchadnezzar’s army who conquered Jerusalem and was ordered to protect Jeremiah the Prophet: Now Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon gave charge concerning Jeremiah to Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, saying: 'Take him, and look well to him, and do him no harm; but do unto him even as he shall say unto you.' So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard sent, and Nebushazban Rab-saris, and Nergal-sharezer Rab-mag, and all the chief officers of the king of Babylon; they sent, and took Jeremiah out of the court of the guard [when he was under arrest], and committed him unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, that he should carry him home; so he dwelt among the people. --- Jeremiah 39:11-14 This Nergal-sarezer was married to one of the daughters of Nebuchadnezzar and was the murderer of Belshazzar before succeeding him as king of Babylon. He was probably old himself, since 27 years had passed since the conquest of Jerusalem. He only reigned four years and was succeeded by one of his late sons, still a boy of age. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3204 – 556 BCE – Nabonides Nergal-sarezer was killed in another conspiracy and Nabonides seized power. He had no letitimacy to reign and was not even Chaldean but probably from Assyria because he worshipped Sin, which was the god of Charan, and not Marduk, god of Babylon. His reign effectively marked the end of the Chaldean dynasty over the Babylonian empire, and it occurred precisely when Jeremiah had prophetized: The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, that was the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; which Jeremiah the prophet spoke unto all the people of Judah, and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying: “From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, even unto this day, these three and twenty years, the word of the Lord has come unto me, and I have spoken unto you, speaking betimes and often; but you have not hearkened. And the Lord has sent unto you all His servants the prophets, sending them betimes and often -- but you have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear -- saying: 'Return you now every one from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that the Lord has given unto you and to your fathers, for ever and ever; and go not after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, and provoke Me not with the work of your hands, and I will do you no hurt.' Yet you have not hearkened unto Me, says the Lord; that you http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g27-babylon.html (14 of 17) [6/11/2013 11:44:08 AM]


might provoke Me with the work of your hands to your own hurt. Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: Because you have not heard My words, behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the Lord, and I will send unto Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about; and I will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and a hissing, and perpetual desolations. Moreover I will cause to cease from among them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the lamp. And this whole land shall be desolation, and a waste; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, says the Lord, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans; and I will make it perpetual desolations. And I will bring upon that land all My words which I have pronounced against it, even all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah hath prophesied against all the nations. --- Jeremiah 25:1-13 The 70 years of Jeremiah’s prophecy started from the year of his prophecy, in the 13th year of Josiah, king of Judah, and ended with the year when Nabonides usurped power and the trone of the Chaldeans. The name of Nabonides is mentioned in a clay cylinder, of which archaeologists have found only two copies. The cylinder was written in the 13th year of Nabonides’ reign, in year 544 BCE (Hebrew year 3216).



Nabonides cylinder from Sippar (British Museum) A translation of this cylinder has given the following text: I, Nabonidus, the great king, the strong king, the king of the universe, the king of Babylon, the king of the four corners, the caretaker of Esagila and Ezida, for whom Sin and Ningal in his mother's womb decreed a royal fate as his destiny, the son of Nabû-balâssi-iqbi, the wise prince, the worshiper of the great gods, I: […] In the beginning of my everlasting reign they sent me a dream. Marduk, the great lord, and Sin, the luminary of heaven and the netherworld, stood together. Marduk spoke with me: 'Nabonidus, king of Babylon, carry bricks on your riding horse, rebuild Ehulhul and cause Sin, the great lord, to establish his residence in its midst.' […] But Marduk spoke with http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g27-babylon.html (16 of 17) [6/11/2013 11:44:08 AM]


me: 'The Mede whom you mentioned, he, his country and the kings who marched at his side will be no more.' --- Harper, Assyrian and Babylonian Literature, London, 1911, Vol.1 p.163 It is interesting to note that this cylinder mentions a dream that Nabonides claimed to have had during which the god of Babylon, Marduk, had talked to him. Since the times of Nebuchadnezzar, dreams must have been considered to be very important as being messages from the gods. An usurper like Nabonides would of course find it useful to use dreams in an attempt to portray himself as a messenger of the gods and justify his legitimacy in power. But, in his case, the dream was a political invention and his assertion that Cyrus the Mede will be no more proved to be wrong. ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1a] To look at Isaac Newton's essay, in Latin, click here [1b] Elgot, Jessica, "Iraq cleric slams plan to turn Jewish tomb into mosque", Jerusalem Post, 12 April 2010; to read it online, click here [2] Parsons, David, Bache, Florence, "Dating the Ezekiel Plates", Jerusalem Post, 5 January 2011; to read it online, click here [3] The tetragram name is composed of two letters Heh (value 5 each), one letter Yod (value 10) and one letter Wav (value 6), which adds up to a total of 26

~~~~~~~~~~

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What is new Chronology of the two kingdoms during the 24th generation Index of names \ Creation Generations 1-14

Taking into account the various considerations mentioned earlier about the chronology of Kings, an issue that has puzzled historians in the past because of the apparent discrepancies of the Biblical text, this is how this chronology should be for the present 24th generation. As a reminder, the reader must understand that, because of the difference of about 8 months between the calendars of the two kingdoms, all the years indicated below are to be understood +/- one year. I have tried to accomodate the reasonable necessary adjustments based on that fact. Year

CE

Differ.

2781 2781

-979 -979

40 0

2781

-979

0

Generations 22-28

2785

-975

4

Generations 29-35

2798 2798 2801 2801

-962 -962 -959 -959

17 17 3 20

Generations 36-49

2803

-957

22

2803

-957

2

2803

-957

2

2827

-933

24

2827

-933

26

2828

-932

27

2828

-932

27

2832

-928

31

2834

-926

6

2839 2839

-921 -921

11 38

2840

-920

2842

-918

3

2842 2842

-918 -918

41 3

2857

-903

-3

2858

-902

16

2860

-900

21

2860

-900

2

2860

-900

18

2860

-900

2860

-900

2865

-895

5

2866

-894

1

Generations 15-21

Generation 50

Kingdom of Kingdom of JUDAH ISRAEL Solomon dies after 40Y reign Rehoboam son of Solomon reigns Jeroboam son of Nebat reigns Shoshenq sacks Jerusalem Rehoboam son of Solomon dies Abijam son of Rehoboam reigns Abijam son of Rehoboam dies Asa son of Abijam reigns Jeroboam son of Nebat dies Nadav son of Jeroboam reigns Baasa kills Nadav and reigns in Tirzah Baasa son of Ahijah dies Elah son of Baasa reigns in Tirzah Zimri kills Elah and the house of Baasa Zimri loses to Omri and commits suicide Omri reigns in Tirzah after civil war Omri establishes his capital Samaria Omri dies Ahab son of Omri reigns Obadiah the Edomite, the Prophet Elijah kills the prophets of Baal Asa son of Abijam dies Jehoshaphat reigns; peace with Israel Ahab spares Ben-Hadad king of Aram Ahaziah son of Ahab reigns Ahab dies in battle against Aram Ahaziah falls by accident; dies Jehoram, second son of Ahab, rules Elijah the Prophet taken to heaven Mesha king of Moab rebellion Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat reigns Jehoram son of Ahab reigns


I & II Kings I - 11:42 I - 11:43

Text reigned 4Y

I - 11:43 I - 14:25

Y5 Rehoboam

I - 14:21 I - 15:1 I - 15:2 I - 15:9

reigned 17Y Y18 Jeroboam reigned 3Y Y20 Jeroboam

I - 14:20

reigned 22Y

I - 15:25

Y2 Asa

I - 15:25,33

Y3 Asa

I - 15:33

reigned 24Y

I - 16:6

Y26 Asa

I - 16:10

Y27 Asa

I - 16:15

reigned 7 days

I - 16:23

Y31 Asa

I - 16:24 I - 16:23 I - 16:29

reigned 12Y Y38 Asa estimate estimate

I - 15:10 I - 22:41 I - 20:42

reigned 41Y Y4 Ahab 3Y peace AramIsrael

I - 22:52

Y17 Jehoshaphat

I - 16:29

reigned 22Y

I - 22:52

reigned 2Y

II - 3:1

Y18 Jehoshaphat

II - 2:11 II - 3 II - 8:16

Y5 Jeroham of Ahab

II - 1:17

Y2 Jeroham of Judah


2867 2872

-893 -888

25 7

Jehoshaphat dies Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat dies

I - 22:42 II - 8:17

2872

-888

12

Ahaziah son of Jehoram reigns

II - 8:25

2872

-888

12

2873

-887

2873

-887

2873

-887

2893

-867

20

2873 2879

-887 -881

0 6 -2

1

Jehoram son of Achab dies Jehu son of Hanani is anointed by Elisha Jehu kills Jehoram and Jehu kills Ahaziah Jezebel Jehu reigns God promises 4 generations to Jehu (est.) Athaliah mother of Ahaziah reigns Joash reigns; Athaliah executed Calendar adjustment from Canaanite to Babylonian

II - 3:1

reigned 25Y reigned 8Y Y12 Jeroham of Ahab reigned 12Y

II - 9:6 II - 3:1, 9:29

reigned 1Y

II - 10:30 II - 10:30 II - 12:1

Y7 Jehu 2Y less every 120Y

~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2785 – 975 BCE – Shoshenq sacks Jerusalem During the reign of Rehoboam in Judah, his people sinned greatly, as they built altars to idol gods and also practised sodomy, which is an abomination in the eyes of God (I Kings 14:24). Divine punishment was due and it came from the powerful ally of Jeroboam: And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem; and he took away the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's house; he even took away all; and he took away all the shields of gold which Solomon had made. And king Rehoboam made in their stead shields of brass, and committed them to the hands of the captains of the guard, who kept the door of the king's house. --- I Kings 14:25-27 Shoshenq, king of the Meshwesh (called Ma in Egypt),[1] ally to Jeroboam, was too happy to attack the weakened kingdom of Judah and spoil their Temple. This surely was welcome by Jeroboam who was at war against Rehoboam all the days of his life (I Kings 15:6). The sack of the Temple was also a sign of the weakening of the faith in both Israel and Judah: the people of Judah especially would no longer feel that they were protected by God, after this sack. The name Shoshenq is a Greek adaptation of the Egyptian name which was ššnq. This name was not uncommonly written ššq, without the letter n, and was therefore even closer to the Hebrew name Shishaq or indeed Sh-Sh-Q without the vowels that are unneeded in Hebrew.



Shoshenq relief depicting his army around him and Hebrews enemies in front (Karnak Temple) The war against Judah continued in the time of Rehoboam’s son, Abijam, who also did evil in the eyes of God (I Kings 15:7). ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2801 – 959 BCE – Asa king of Judah Abijam’s son, Asa, started to reign in 2801 in Judah. He restored the good ways towards God, destroyed the altars, and put away the sodomites from his kingdom. God granted him a long reign of 41 years (I Kings 9:12). During that time, God relieved the hardship on the kingdom of Judah and punished the kingdom of Israel which went into crisis. After Jeroboam had died, his successor and son Nadav was assassinated one year later by Baasa from the tribe of Issachar. Baasa then reigned over Israel in the stead of the house of Ephraim, founded by Jeroboam: And it came to pass that, as soon as he was king, he smote all the house of Jeroboam; he left not to Jeroboam any that breathed, until he had destroyed him; according unto the saying of the Lord, which He spoke by the hand of His servant Ahijah the Shilonite. --- I Kings 15:29 But Baasa was a belligerent king who did not pursue peace with the kingdom of Judah. So Asa made a pact with the Aram kingdom in the northern border with Israel: And there was war between Asa and Baasa king of Israel all their days. And Baasa king of Israel went up against Judah, and built Ramah, that he might not suffer any to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. Then Asa took all the silver and the gold that were left in the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's house, and delivered them into the hand of his servants; and king Asa sent them to Ben-hadad, the son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, king of Aram, that dwelt at Damascus, saying: 'There is a league between me and thee, between my father and thy father; behold, I have sent unto thee a present of silver and gold; go, break thy league with Baasa king of Israel, that he may depart from me.' And Ben-hadad hearkened unto king Asa, and sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel, and smote Ijon, and Dan, and Abel-beth-maacah, and all Chinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali. --- I Kings 15:16-20 Baasa reigned 24 years, and made the kingdom of Israel sin again (I Kings 15:33-34). He was succeeded by his son Elah who just reigned for about a year before being assassinated by one of his two army chiefs, Zimri, who then killed the entire house of Baasa. But, after a week, the rest of the Israelite army decided to show support to the other army chief, Omri, and proclaimed him as king. His army marched onto Tirzah, the capital of the house of Baasa, where Zimri had settled, and besieged it. Seeing that the battle was lost, Zimri set fire on his house and killed himself in it (I Kings 16:18). The conflict was however not over because it triggerred a civil war: Then were the people of Israel divided into two parts: half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath, to make him king; and half followed Omri. But the people that followed Omri prevailed against the people that followed Tibni the son of Ginath; so Tibni died, and Omri reigned. --- I Kings 16:21-22 After having reigned 6 years over part of the kingdom, Omri finally gained the upper hand in the civil war and started to reign over all the kingdom of Israel. He had initially settled in Tirzah, and then moved the capital to a hill near Sichem, that he called Samaria (I Kings 16:24). His was succeeded by his son Ahab. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2839 – 921 BCE – Ahab king of Israel and Ben-Hadad king of Aram Ahab reigned in Samaria. He married Jezebel, the daughter of the king of Sidon, a Phoenician. His spouse influenced him towards the cult of foreign gods: Ahab started to worship Baal and built a pagan temple in Samaria. The idolatry was complete in the kingdom in his days: And Ahab made the Asherah [idolatry]; and Ahab did yet more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, than all the kings of Israel that were before him. --- I Kings 16:33 Jezebel also ordered all the prophets of God to be killed, but Obadiah, who was the prophet attached to the royal house, and who lived in fear of the king, managed to save 100 of them in two caves (I Kings 18:4). A couple of years after Ahab rose to power, the good king Asa died in Judah. He was succeeded by his son Jehoshaphat who followed him in the path of God (I Kings 22:43). In Samaria, the prophet Elijah showed himself in front of King Ahab and asked him to assemble all the prophets of Baal and Astarte unto Mount Carmel to challenge them to prove the existence of their gods: there were 850 of them in total (I Kings 18:19). After they failed, Elijah rebuilt an old altar of God, which had been destroyed, and called upon God to make a miracle in front of the people assembled: And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said: 'The Lord, He is God; the Lord, He is God.' And Elijah said unto them: 'Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape.' And they took them; and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there. And Elijah said unto Ahab: 'Get you up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of abundance of rain.' --- I Kings 18:39-41



Elijah executes the prophets of Baal (Gustave Doré, 1868) Jezebel then threatened to kill Elijah so he fled and hid in a cave on Mount Horeb, the mountain of God, in the Sinai (I Kings 19:18). There God gave him the mission to go back and prophesize the death of the people of the kingdom of Israel to near complete annihilation: And the Lord said unto him: 'Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; and when you come, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Aram; and Jehu the son of Nimshi shall you anoint to be king over Israel; and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah shall you anoint to be prophet in your room. And it shall come to pass, that him that escapes from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay; and him that escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay. Yet will I leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.' --- I Kings 19:15-18

Elijah confronts Ahab and Jezebel (Sir Francis Dicksee, 1873) Ben-Hadad, the king of Aram, raised a large army and invaded the kingdom of Israel. When he besieged the city of Samaria, Ahab however received a divine message that God will deliver the enemy to him. Ahab’s army, made of all the men of war of his kingdom, had then barely 7000 men according to the prophecy. They were those who had never adopted the cult of Baal. The large Aramean army was nonetheless defeated and Ben-Hadad had to escape for his life. Their http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g24-kings2.html (4 of 7) [6/11/2013 11:44:22 AM]


defeat made them believe that they couldn’t beat the Israelites in the hill regions so should rather focus on conquering the plains. A year later, Ben-Hadad invaded the plains and established his camp at Aphek, the old Philistine stronghold. But again, the Israelites defeated them as God wanted to show that he was not just the God of the hills (I Kings 20:28). After the battle, and against the divine will, Ahab spared the life of Ben-Hadad and they made a peace covenant together. This displeased God who sent a prophet to Ahab: And he [the prophet] said unto him: 'Thus says the Lord: Because you have let go out of your hand the man whom I had devoted to destruction, therefore your life shall go for his life, and your people for his people.' And the king of Israel went to his house sullen and displeased, and came to Samaria. --- I Kings 20:42-43 Probably tired of power, or maybe out of fear of God following his mistake concerning Ben-Hadad, Ahab named his son Ahaziah king to rule in his stead. Peace lasted for 3 years between Aram and Israel (I Kings 22:1). Then Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, son of Asa, made an alliance with Israel against Aram to take back their territory in Gilead. In the battle, Ahab was fatally wounded and died soon after. He had reigned over Israel for 22 years. His son Ahaziah worshipped idols following his mother and only reigned for two years before falling from a balcony and dying from his accident. As he had no heir, his brother Jeroham, second son of Ahab, took the throne. He destroyed the temples of Baal in the kingdom of Israel, so he was not as bad in the eyes of God as his father and brother had been. Maybe he did it out of hate for his step-mother Jezebel, who was still alive and worshipping Baal. He nonetheless kept away from God’s commandments and made the people of his kingdom sin (II Kings 3:1-3). ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2860 – 900 BCE – Death of Elijah the Prophet Elijah was taken to Heaven in a chariot of fire (II Kings 2:11). The Prophet was replaced in his role by Elisha.

Elijah taken to Heaven (Gustave Doré, 1868) ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2860 –900 BCE – The Mesha stele As soon as Ahab of Israel died, Mesha the king of Moab, vassal of Israel, rebelled and waged a war against Jeroham the new king of Israel, son of Ahab. The Biblical text narrates these events: Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheep-master; and he rendered unto the king of Israel the wool of a hundred thousand lambs, and of a hundred thousand rams. But it came to pass, when Ahab was dead, that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. And king Jehoram went out of Samaria at that time, and mustered all Israel. And he went and sent to Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, saying: 'The king of Moab has rebelled against me; will you go with me against Moab to battle?' And he said: 'I will go up; I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.' And he said: 'Which way shall we go up?' And he answered: 'The way of the wilderness of Edom.' So the king of Israel went, and the http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g24-kings2.html (5 of 7) [6/11/2013 11:44:22 AM]


king of Judah, and the king of Edom; and they made a circuit of seven days' journey; and there was no water for the host, nor for the beasts that followed them. And the king of Israel said: 'Alas! for the Lord has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab.' But Jehoshaphat said: 'Is there not here a prophet of the Lord that we may inquire of the Lord by him?' And one of the king of Israel's servants answered and said: 'Elisha the son of Shaphat is here, who poured water on the hands of Elijah.' --- II Kings 3:4-11 Eventually the three kings were told by Elisha the Prophet that, because of the presence of the king of Judah among them, they will smite the Moabites, and they did. Mesha escaped sure death at battle and offered his own son and heir to the fire as a sacrifice to his gods. The Israelites, when seeing this abomination, abandoned the battlefield and Mesha returned to Moab (II Kings 3:26-27). Archaeologists have found a stele in 1868 that mentions these historical characters and therefore puts some weight on the truth of the Bible. The so-called Mesha Stele mentions the House of Omri because the seat of the kingdom of Israel was in Samaria from the time that Omri moved the capital there, and because the reigning kings, from Ahab to Jeroham, were Omri’s son and grandson respectively. The House of Omri simply means the Dynasty of Omri. The stele recollects the earlier events and successes of the rebellion of Moab against Israel after 40 years of yoke since the time of Omri. Some extracts of the translation of the stele are as follows: I am Mesha, son of Chemosh-gad, king of Moab, the Dibonite. My father reigned over Moab thirty years, and I have reigned after my father. And I have built this sanctuary for Chemosh in Karchah, a sanctuary of salvation, for he saved me from all aggressors, and made me look upon all my enemies with contempt. Omri was king of Israel, and oppressed Moab during many days, and Chemosh was angry with his aggressions. His son succeeded him, and he also said, I will oppress Moab. In my days he said, Let us go, and I will see my desire upon him and his house, and Israel said I shall destroy it for ever. Now Omri took the land of Madeba, and occupied it in his day, and in the days of his son, forty years. […] And the king of Israel fortified Jahaz, and occupied it, when he made war against me, and Chemosh drove him out before me, and I took from Moab two hundred men in all, and placed them in Jahaz, and took it to annex it to Dibon. --- King, James, Rev., Moab’s Patriarchal Stone, London, 1878, chapter V

Mesha Stele (Louvre) ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2865 –895 BCE – The two kings Jeroham Soon after these events, the old Jehoshaphat decided to leave the power to his son, as Ahab had done in his kingdom. And Jehoshaphat had also named Jeroham him out of friendship with Ahab. The two kingdoms were at peace together in the time of the two kings Jeroham. In Aram, Ben-Hadad was old and ill. He was murdered by Hazael who reigned in his stead. Just before, Elisha the Prophet had been on a visit to Damascus and prophesised to Hazael that Aram will ruin Israel. Surely the latter wanted to accelerate the prediction by getting rid of the old king ! In the Biblical text, the names Jeroham and Joram are at times mixed for both kings, as to show that they both followed the same path, away from God’s commandments. This was particularly true because the king of Judah married a daughter of Ahab, thus making him also a son of Ahab by marriage: And in the fifth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel, Jehoshaphat being the king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah began to reign. Thirty and two years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab; for he had the daughter of Ahab to wife; and he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord. Howbeit the Lord would not destroy Judah, for David His servant's sake, as He promised him to give unto him a lamp and to his children always. --- II Kings 8:16-19 The text however reveals a more complicated relation because it is further mentioned that Ahaziah, the heir and son of http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g24-kings2.html (6 of 7) [6/11/2013 11:44:22 AM]


Jeroham of Judah, had for mother Athaliah, the daughter of Omri who was the father of Ahab (II Kings 8:26). So it is possible that, while Jeroham was married to a daughter of Ahab, he also had a relationship with Athaliah, daughter of Omri, sister or half-sister of Ahab. Both Jeroham and Joram, who started to reign in the same year also died in a same year. Jeroham of Judah died first and was succeeded by his son Ahaziah. As of Jeroham of Israel, he would be killed in a coup later that year 888 BCE.

Chronology of the Kings - until Jeroham (new dynasty with change of colour) ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1] This Shonshenq must not be confused with Shonsheq I, generally assumed to be the Shishak of the Bible; the Shishak of the Bible was the Shoshenq king of the Meshwesh of Egypt, and grandfather of Shonshenq I (who founded the 22nd Dynasty and reigned from 943 BCE) and of Siamun of the Tanite Dynasty.







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Cain and Sumer What is new There is no detailed chronology of Cain’s descendants in the Biblical text, as if they Index of names were not people worthy of mention. We only learn that he eventually quitted his life of wanderer and settled down to build the first city. Creation Generations 114

And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. He became a city builder and he named the city after his son Enoch. --- Genesis 4:17

Archaeology shows that one of the earliest cities in the world was Uruk, which is Generations 15located in today Iraq.[1] The story of the Bible is not dissimilar to what we have 21 learned from civilization which was first composed of wandering hunters who later turned into sedentary farmers. The same was followed by Cain. Generations 2228 In the oldest Babylonian language, which was Sumerian, Uruk was known as Unug, Generations 29- which is close enough to the Biblical name of Enoch, considering that these languages do not put much emphasis on voyels. The early settlement of Uruk was 35 to be built over and over again over the early ages of antiquity. One of the greatest builders of the city was called Enmerkar which is commonly associated with Generations 36Biblical king Nimrod. Uruk then became the largest city of these times and will 49 later be ruled by the semi-mythical king Gilgamesh. Generation 50 Sumer was a region located between the two big rivers south of Mesopotania. It was a fertile region that saw many city-states being built over time.

http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g02-cain.html (1 of 4) [6/11/2013 11:44:27 AM]


Sumer and its first city states

Seth On Adam’s side, his wife Eve finally conceived again and bore another son, Seth, born in Hebrew year 130. Before the end of the second gate, in year 235, Seth also had a son he named Enosh, a name which is close enough to Cain’s son, Enoch. Both Enosh and Enoch lived in the same period of time, and followed the same path, turning away from God: And as for Seth, he too had a son; he called him Enosh; at that time, it was profaned to call for the name of God. --- Genesis 4:26 Idolatry

In Genesis 1:26, God decided to make man at His image; and in Genesis 4:26, men decided to make gods at their image: this is what is meant by the text it was profaned to call for the name of God. The God of the Creation, the One that Adam and Eve feared most, was getting "rejected" from mankind. The parallel of the number 26 of these two verses is striking, because the number 26 is known to be the numerical value of God's 4-letter name (YHVH= 10+5+6+5= 26).



The Hebrew alphabet and its numerical values This generation, called the generation of Enosh, which was first to introduce idolatry in mankind, was used as a reference of bad behaviour in later years: R. Hiyya b. Abba said in R. Johanan's name: He who observes the Sabbath according to its laws, even if he practises idolatry like the generation of Enosh, is forgiven. --- Talmud, Shabbat, 118b

Notes: [1] The name Iraq was in fact chosen after the name Uruk; the ruins of the city are located at the following coordinates on Google Earth: 31°19'30" N 45°38'10" E









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What is new Year 2495 – 1265 BCE – Start of the conquest of Canaan Index of names Creation Generations 1-14

Joshua, son of Nun, led the Israelites into the land of Canaan, and God was with them. He dried the waters of the Jordan River for their passage: And it came to pass, when all the kings of the Amorites, that were beyond the Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites, that were by the sea, heard how that the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan from before the children of Israel, until they were passed over, that their heart melted, neither was there spirit in them any more, because of the children of Israel. --- Joshua 5:1

Generations God forgave the Israelites for their sins in Egypt, and they celebrated their first Pesach in the land of Canaan in that year: 15-21 Generations 22-28

And the Lord said unto Joshua: 'This day have I rolled away (

‫ )יִתֹוּלַּג‬the reproach of Egypt from off you.' Wherefore

‫ )לָּגְלִּג‬unto this day. And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal; and they

the name of that place was called Gilgal (

kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho. http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g21-joshua.html (1 of 11) [6/11/2013 11:44:41 AM]


Generations 29-35

--- Joshua 5:9-10

The first city they met with was Jericho. God ordered the priests to carry the Ark of the Covenant seven times around the Generations city walls, and blow the horns. For the first six days, they did that once around the city. Then on the 7th day: 36-49 And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they rose early at the dawning of the day, and compassed the city after the same manner seven times; only on that day they compassed the city seven times. And it came to pass at the seventh time, Generation when the priests blew with the horns, that Joshua said unto the people: 'Shout; for the Lord has given you the city.' [...] So 50 the people shouted, and [the priests] blew with the horns. And it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the horn, that the people shouted with a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city. --- Joshua 6:15-20

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The fall of Jericho (source: Jones, J. R.,The Devotional and Practical Pictorial Family Bible, 1879) But one of the Israelites sinned, and it caused a curse on the entire nation: But the children of Israel committed a violation of the anathema; for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took from the anathema; and the anger of God was against the children of Israel. --- Joshua 7:1 The ancestry mentioned for Achan is indicative of the 5 generations since Jacob and his 70 souls went down to Egypt: - 1st generation: the ones who came down from Canaan to Egypt and were supposed to only sojourn for a time => Judah - 2nd generation: the ones born in Egypt who assimilated there, and also adopted Egyptian gods while remaining a distinct foreign people => Zerah - 3rd generation: the ones born in Egypt and enslaved there => Zabdi - 4th generation: the ones born in Egypt who went out at the Exodus, sinned in the desert and died there => Carmi - 5th generation: the ones born in the desert, who conquered Canaan => Achan In Genesis 15:16, God told Abraham that the 4th generation will return to Canaan, and it happened to be the case except that the 4th generation was supposed to be the one returning but they sinned with the mission of the explorers: they were cursed to wander 40 years in the desert and die there, until their offsprings will be ready to enter Canaan in their stead. http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g21-joshua.html (3 of 11) [6/11/2013 11:44:41 AM]


The next city to fall was Ai. Joshua and 30,000 armed Israelites camped over night in the hill where Abraham had pitched his tent, between Ai and Beth-El. Joshua then left 5,000 men in that camp before setting a second one north from the city. When the men of Ai went out for the battle, Joshua retreated and the men of Ai pursued them in the valleys. In the meantime, the 5000 Israelites entered the city empty from its defenders and burned it. And when the men of Ai looked behind them, they saw, and, behold, the smoke of the city ascended up to heaven, and they had no power to flee this way or that way; and the people that fled to the wilderness turned back upon the pursuers. --- Joshua 8:20



The Israelites burn the city of Ai (Gustave Doré, 1866) The Israelite people remained in their camp at Gilgal while Joshua and his armed forces endeavoured to conquer the land. But all the Canaanites made an alliance to fight together against the Israelites in one big battle at the waters of Meron (Joshua 11:1-5) in the northern part of the land because Jabin the king of Hazor was at the head of this coalition. The waters of Meron refer to the ancient lake formed by the Jordan River north from the Sea of Galilee. This lake doesn't exist anymore but has become the 'Hula Valley.



The army of the Amorites is destroyed at Gibeon (Gustave Doré, 1868) The conquest was pursued and resulted in the destruction of 31 Canaanite kingdoms: And these are the kings of the land whom Joshua and the children of Israel smote beyond the Jordan westward, from Baalgad in the valley of Lebanon even unto the bare mountain, that go up to Seir; and Joshua gave it unto the tribes of Israel for http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g21-joshua.html (6 of 11) [6/11/2013 11:44:41 AM]


a possession according to their divisions; in the hill-country, and in the lowland, and in the Arabah, and in the slopes, and in the wilderness, and in the South; the Hittite, the Amorite, and the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite: the king of Jericho, one; the king of Ai, which is beside Beth-el, one; 12,10 the king of Jerusalem, one; the king of Hebron, one; 12,11 the king of Jarmuth, one; the king of Lachish, one; the king of Eglon, one; the king of Gezer, one; the king of Debir, one; the king of Geder, one; the king of Hormah, one; the king of Arad, one; the king of Libnah, one; the king of Adullam, one; the king of Makkedah, one; the king of Beth-el, one; the king of Tappuah, one; the king of Hepher, one; the king of Aphek, one; the king of the Sharon, one; the king of Madon, one; the king of Hazor, one; the king of Shimron-meron, one; the king of Achshaph, one; the king of Taanach, one; the king of Megiddo, one; the king of Kedesh, one; the king of Jokneam in Carmel, one; the king of Dor in the region of Dor, one; the king of Goiim in the Gilgal, one; the king of Tirzah, one. All the kings thirty and one. --- Joshua 12:7-24





Map of the Conquest by Joshua ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2496 – 1264 BCE – God orders the allotment of the land After these battles, a large portion of the land was still left to conquer. But God told Joshua that he was old and stricken in years (Joshua 13:1). This expression is only used with one other person in the Bible: it will be King David before his death, when he was 70 years old. So similarly, Joshua was 70 years old when God told him he was old and stricken in years. As we know that Joshua was 28 years old at the time of the Exodus in Hebrew year 2454, we can conclude that God talked to him in Hebrew year 2454-28+70= 2496. So this happened in the second year of the conquest. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2501 – 1259 BCE – Canaan is divided between the 12 Tribes At the end of six years since their entrance to Canaan, the Ark of Covenant was brought up from the camp at Gilgal, with all the congregation of Israelites, into the city of Shiloh (Joshua 18:1) which was given to the priests. It is there that Joshua divided the land between the tribes and assigned to each of them the task to complete the conquest, in their allotted territory. It is surprising that it took a few months to win the vast portion of the land and conquer 31 kingdoms, and yet not finish the conquest after an additional 4 years of wars. The reason for this lenghty time and incomplete conquest was that the Israelites were also starting to sin.





The 12 Tribes in Canaan (source: Jewish Virtual Library) At the time Caleb from the tribe of Judah was 85 years old when he spoke to Joshua about the territory around Hebron. and it was 45 years since the mission of the explorers to which both had participated (Joshua 14:7-10). This enables us to state that Caleb spoke to Joshua in year 2456+45= 2501, and this is also when the division of the land was made by Joshua who was then 75 years old. Caleb made a plea to Joshua to receive the hilly country south of Jerusalem, where false reports had mentioned that giant people (the Anakim) lived there at the time of the explorers. The main city-state there was Hebron, which was previously called Kyryat-Arba, meaning City of Arba, named after the Anak giant called Arba (Joshua 14:15). The land of Canaan was ultimately conquered, or under control except for some notable city states such as the city of the Jebusites on one of the hills of Jerusalem, which could not be conquered by the tribe of Judah (Joshua 15:63), nor by the tribe of Benjamin (Judges 1:21). It will take another long period until it will be conquered, only by King David. In many occasions, the Israelites compromised with the local pagan peoples who remained in their respective territory, and allowed them to remain in their cities in exchange for a levy. More importantly, at God’s displeasure, the Israelites didn’t destroy the pagan places of worship, which is why the conquest was never allowed by God to be complete. When Caleb made his plea to Joshua, he was 85 years old and passed the leadership of his tribe to his nephew, Othniel, son of Kenaz who was Caleb’s younger brother. Othniel also married Caleb’s daughter, called Achsah, his cousin (Judges 1:1215). Caleb must have died in that same year, or some years soon after, as the rest of the conquest in that territory of Judah are no longer counted under Caleb’s direct name but counted as Judah. Othniel was Judah’s heir, and he would be judge for his tribe until his death. Next generation Top of Page






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The sons of Noah What is new Index of names

Cham took responsibility for the curse upon his son Canaan. In their History, his descendants will be subjected to slavery as it was stated: a slave of slaves shall he be to his brothers.

Yafeth was the ancestor of the European people: they will be the ones who greatly contributed to the progress of humanity. Their faith, Christianity for most of them, will take its root from the Jewish religion, in other words, Creation Yafeth will dwell in the tents of Shem. But overall, Yafeth descendants will represent a smaller portion of the global population of the world, as they count today for about one billion people (Europe and North America). The Generations sentence Yafeth will dwell in the tents of Shem also refers to Gog and Magog. 1-14 Shem gave birth to the people who populated Asia and maybe also the Americas, as Native Americans, unless Generations these people were descendants of Cain and survived the Flood by seeking refuge in the highest mountains of Asia 15-21 and America. Or they may survived the Flood thanks to skills of navigation on rafts or boats: they would have sought refuge in them when water levels started to rise. This is because God eradicated all living creatures on Generations earth and in the sky, but He did not destroy life in and on the seas. 22-28 ~~~~~~~~~~ Generations 29-35 The sons of Yafeth Generations - Gomer: a people associated as the Cimmerians, known as Gimirri from the Assyrian annals; they lived as 36-49 nomads between the southern part of the Black Sea and Iran, and probably gave root to some of the IndoEuropean people Generation 50 - Magog: known as Mat Gugu by the Assyrians; the 1st Century Jewish historian Josephus considered they were the people who lived north from the Black Sea; they may have given root later to the Hungarian people and some of the Central European people; essentially Magog gave birth to some of the Goths people who will invade Europe and destroy the Roman Empire; they represented the Western civilization who will be involved in the difficult times preceding the venue of the Messiah - Madai: this name is associated with the people who lived in Media (the Medes); Madai was allowed to dwell among Shem descendants because he had married a daughter of Shem (by being the sister of Arpachshad) And Japheth and his sons went towards the sea and dwelt in the land of their portion, and Madai saw the land of the sea and it did not please him, and he begged a (portion) from Cham and Asshur and Arpachshad, his wife's brother, and he dwelt in the land of Media, near to his wife's brother until this day. And he called his dwelling-place, and the dwelling-place of his sons, Media, after the name of their father Madai. --- Book of Jubilees 10:35-36 - Yavan: he was the ancestor of the Greek people - Tubal: he could be the ancestor of some of the Mediterranean people - Meshech: ancestor of the Georgians and Russians - Tiras: ancestor of the Etruscan people Gog and Magog

Meshech and Tubal, sons of Yafeth, are associated to what is known as "Gog". Gog is a made-up name given as the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal (Ezekiel 38:2), which means their association. And Gog is also described of the land of Magog (Ezekiel 38:14). What was the sin of Gog? Meshech and Tubal, together with Yavan, enslaved other people: http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g15.html (1 of 3) [6/11/2013 11:44:46 AM]


Yavan, Tubal, and Meshech, they were thy traffickers; they traded the persons of men and vessels of brass for thy merchandise --- Ezekiel 27:13 The full understanding of Gog and Magog will become clear in the Messianic times. ~~~~~~~~~~

The sons of Cham - Cush: ancestor of people around the African horn as well as Kish in Mesopotamia - Mizrayim: ancestor of the people who re-populated Ancient Egypt after the Flood; the previous dynasties of Egypt formed what was called the Old Kingdom; but although this kingdom was prosperous and mighty, and during which the great pyramids were built, it came to an end before 2000 BCE caused by climate changes; then came what was called the First Intermediate Period of Ancient Egypt, which is described by historians as the "dark period"; this period probably corresponded to the return of people into the Nile valley after the Flood, and it took about 100 years before Egypt would witness another period of prosperity with the so-called Middle Kingdom - Puth: he is associated with the Phoenicians or with the Land of Punt which is an unknown place probably located south from Ancient Egypt, in Nubia - Canaan: the son of Cham who caused the curse on his father and his descendants; he established himself in the land of the future Israel, but his descendants also populated this entire Levant region, at the crossing routes between Africa, Asia and Europe; the Talmud states the following about Canaan, who diverted from the Noachite laws: Five things did Canaan charge his sons: Love one another, love robbery, love lewdness, hate your masters and do not speak the truth. --- Talmud, Pesachim, 113b ~~~~~~~~~~

The sons of Shem Concerning Shem, the Biblcal text states: He was the ancestor of the people of Heber. --- Genesis 10:21 Heber will be the ancestor of the Hebrew people. But his Hebrew name also means "to cross over" or "the past". So the text can also be read as saying Shem was the ancestor of those who went to the past, meaning back to the original location of the older kingdoms of Mesopotamia. The sons of Shem were: - Elam: he was the ancestor of the Elamites, in northern Iran - Ashur: he settled in the northern part of Mesopotamia and was the ancestor of the Assyrians - Arpachshad: he settled in the southern part of Mesopotamia, founded the city of Ur, and was the ancestor of the Hebrews - Lud: he was the ancestor of the Anatolian people - Aram: he was the ancestor of the Arameans; his name is mentioned as "Arame" in the inscriptions of Naram-Sin of Akkad dated 2300 BCE In the following map of the early settlements of the sons and grandsons of Noah, and despite some possible mistakes, Yafeth is in red, Cham in blue, and Shem in green









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Hebrew years 1440 to 1560 (2320-2200 BCE) The sons of Noah

What is new By this time, several civilizations had established themselves across the known Index of names world: from Sumer in Lower Mesopotamia over the entire Fertile Crescent, across Canaan and down to Egypt, but also across Turkey into Greece and in the Aegean Sea with the Minoan islands. Further east, people had settled in the Hindus Valley Creation and until the last shores of China. Generations 1Just before the end of this generation, in year 1556, Noah begot three sons: 14 Generations 1521

And Noah was 500-year old and Noah begot Shem, Cham and Yafeth. ---Genesis 5:32

It is the second instance of the Biblical text where the birth of three sons from one Generations 22individual is mentioned. The previous occurrence was with Adam who begot Cain, 28 Abel and Seth, at different times. Abel died and his life was therefore wasted. Cain turned to the evil ways, and brought wickedness on earth. Seth was the worthy one Generations 29who survive, and he begot multiple sons and daughters, from which only one 35 lineage kept in the path of God. Similarly, with Noah’s sons: Cham will choose a sinful path; Yafeth, despite his pleasant physical looks (as depicted by the root of Generations 36his name, meaning beauty), will bring evil kingdoms and wars; and Shem will give 49 birth to multiple people from which a small portion would eventually continue in the path of God. Generation 50 The order of these births is actually reversed from the order in the Biblical text: first Yafeth was born, in year 1556, followed by Cham in year 1557, and then by Shem in year 1558 (Genesis 11:10). Because of the worthiness of Shem, God spared His creation from total annihilation. Indeed mankind got so evil that it made the entire creation unworthy. But one single person, who walks in the good way, has the power to change God's initial decree. The world had indeed become impossible for righteous people to live in: And the Earth corrupted itself in front of God and the earth was filled with violence. God saw the Earth and, behold, it was corrupted because it corrupted every flesh from its path on earth. --- Genesis 6:11-12

Corruption by mankind

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Mankind ruined the earth and all the creatures that God created. In fact, there was no more mankind as the boundaries between man and beast became so blur that God had recourse to mention them as every flesh. Looking at the two above verses from the Bible, in the first instance the Earth

‫ )ץֶרָאָה תֵחָּׁשִּת‬and then it became irreversibly corrupted (‫ץֶרָאָה‬... ‫ )הָתָחְׁשִנ‬and finally it corrupted (‫ )תיִחְׁשִה‬every flesh on

corrupted itself (

Earth. This three times mention of the same verb indicates that the corruption was total, complete, because this is the meaning of the number three. It is also noticeable that the word used for the total corruption of the Earth

‫ )הָתָחְׁשִנ‬uses the same three letters (‫ חשנ‬and ‫ )שחנ‬that form the word Snake (‫ ׁ)שָחָּנַה‬who caused the original sin of Adam and Eve. In other words, it (

was one of the animals (the snake) who caused the corruption of the first man, who then produced corrupted mankind, who in turn corrupted the enitre Creation, every flesh. The root of the word snake also gives the name to the copper and bronze (‫)תשוחנ‬,which has been indicative of the Bronze Age and the era when the Earth became filled with violence. By mixing up different ores of metal found in the earth, mankind created a new metal (bronze) so, in other words, he interfered in the elements of the Creation and corrupted it. But, as the Biblical text states it: mankind was not the sole responsible from the deviation from the divine Creation because the Earth corrupted itself. In fact the Earth had already disobeyed God's orders in the course of the Creation (in the Third Day): And God said: "Let the Earth sprout vegetation, herbage producing seed, and fruit-tree making fruit according to its kind, containing its own seed, upon the Earth.' And it was so. And the Earth sprouted vegetation, herbage producing seed according to its kind, and tree making fruit, containing its own seed, according to its kind; and God saw that it was good. --- Genesis 1:11-12 Where did the Earth deviated from God's order? A careful comparison of the two above verses shows that, for example, God ordered that the trees would be fruittrees themselves, meaning that the tree itself would be a fruit, and not simply a producer of fruit. Man would have been able to eat the fruit and the tree, if the Creation had been according to the divine plan. But the Earth, at a time when some free will existed in all elements of the Creation, diverted from God's will. Although the result was nonetheless pleasing as God saw it was good, it nonetheless represented a corruption from God's will, and the start of sin. The parallel between the Earth's corrupted way during the Creation and the corruption that continued later can also be understood in the number of these verses: Genesis 1:1112 for one and Genesis 6:11-12 for the other. God's punishment would not be directed at mankind only but at the entire Earth and what it contained. God would have to correct the ways His Creation was going, and stripped some of the original benefits from it so that the corruption of the created world would become harder, if not impossible, to achieve by itself. Next generation Top of Page http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g13-noah.html (2 of 3) [6/11/2013 11:44:50 AM]



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Hebrew years 360 to 480 (3400-3280 BCE) Foundation of Egypt


In Hebrew year 395, Kenan had a son he called Mehalal-EL which means "the one who praises god". On Cain’s side, Irad’s son wasnamed Mehaya-EL which means "the one who gives life to god". We see from these similar names that the two descendances probably lived in the same area of Sumer, and even probably competed one against the other about ruling as a god. The son of the latter was called Metusha-EL which means "the one who crushes god", so presumably he was aimed to conquer cities ruled by other self-made god-rulers.

Generations 1-14 The only purpose of having added EL (god) to their names was that they wanted to create fear in their followers, and their enemies. Other civilisations would later adopt Generations the same principle, which was that their rulers were gods themselves, or chosen by the 15-21 gods. Also we have to consider that the names given in the Bible were probably not the names at their birth but names assumed later in the lifes of the individuals and the ones Generations they were remembered, and recorded, for. 22-28 Then, in year 460, Mehalal-EL had a son he named Yered which is not without Generations reminding of Irad, Cain’s grandson. But this name means "Descent". Yered moved 29-35 away from Sumer and Canaan and established himself as far away as possible from the known world of his time, which was the Fertile Crescent. He and his followers ended Generations up n the Nile valley where they were physically stopped in their march by the desert. 36-49 They settled in what was to become the other big civilization of these times: Ancient Egypt. Generation 50 In Egypt, some of the knowledge learned from Sumer remained the same: the language was also based on pictograms which would then become the hieroglyphs,[1] the technique of producing sun-dried bricks for city construction was taken from Sumer which was the first region to build cities,[2] the pyramids themselves seem to have been borrowed from the Sumerian ziggurat, [3] and the Egyptian future rulers, the Pharaohs, would go as far as presenting themselves as "living gods".



Sun-dried brick wall (source: iMalqata)

Notes: [1] The earliest inscriptions found in Egypt are considered to date from about 3200 BCE, which is contemporary from the time of Biblical Yered; see article Inscriptions suggest Egyptians could have been first to write, New York Times, 16 December 1998 [2] See Wikipedia referring to a book by Mogens Herman Hansen, A Comparative Study of Six City-state Cultures, Københavns universitet Polis centret, Videnskabernes Selskab, 2002 [3] The first pyramid of Ancient Egypt was Djoser's step pyramid, dating about 2600 BCE, which was a set of platforms piled on top of another to form a step structure; in Sumer, the first equivalent structure were mounted platforms built around 3500 BCE which were the precursors of the more known ziggurats which began after 2900 BCE; see Wikipedia on this topic







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What is new Year 2171 - 1589 BCE - Death of Ishmael Index of names Creation

Ishmael died at the age of 137 in year 2171 (Genesis 25:17). He had given birth to 12 nations who dwelt in the Arabian Peninsula all the way toward Assyria. They were people who filled the deserts between Egypt and Mesopotamia, thus fulfilling God's promise that this land will be given to the descendants of Abraham, through Ishmael. Ishmael's eldest son, Nebaioth, is the ancestor of the Nabataeans.

Generations Then a famine started in the land of Canaan, which was probably a divine design to help the sons of 1-14 Ishmael leave this land. And too Isaac was contemplating going to Egypt as his father had done in the past. But God intervened: Generations And the Lord appeared unto him, and said: "Go not down unto Egypt; dwell in the land which I 15-21 shall tell you of." --- Genesis 26:2 Generations 22-28 So Isaac did not leave Canaan and sojourned in Gerar near the Philistines, like his father did before Generations Isaac's birth. 29-35

~~~~~~~~~~

Generations Year 2171 - 1589 BCE - Isaac blesses Jacob 36-49 Generation Isaac was already old (123 years old) at the time and nearly blind. He felt that his death would come soon and was prepared to give his final blessing to his first-born Esau. But Rebekah would have it differently: 50 she wanted Jacob to receive this blessing. When Esau was away for his usual hunting, Isaac blessed Jacob believing he was Esau, saying: "And may God give you of the dew of the heavens and the fatness of the earth, and lots of grain and wine. And peoples will serve you, and nations will bow themselves to you. Be a lord to your brothers, and the children of your mother will prostate themselves to you. Cursed be they who curse you, and blessed be they who bless you." --- Genesis 27:28 Rebekah had received from her family the blessing let your seed possess the gate of those that hate them (Genesis 24:60), and now her husband Isaac added to it a more positive note: blessed be they who bless you. When Esau came back from the hunt, he realised he had been deceived but his father nonetheless gave him the following blessing: "Behold, from the fatness of the earth you will get your dwelling, and from the dew of the heavens above. By your sword you will be, and you will serve your brother. And it will be time, you will get rid and depart from his yoke upon your neck." --- Genesis 27:39-40 Esau was bitter and sworn to kill Jacob after their father’s death. Rebekah had heard that Esau wanted to kill Jacob, and asked her son to flee to Charan, to her brother’s house,[1] and to choose a wife from there. To justify this departure to her husband Isaac, she made a plea to him against assimilation:

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"I have had my life reduced because of the daughters of the Hittite [Esau's wives]. If Jacob would take a wife from the daughters of Heth like these, from the daughters of the land, why do I live?" --- Genesis 27:46 So Isaac summoned Jacob not to take a wife from the Canaanite women, blessed him and sent him away to the land of Aram to find a spouse among Laban's daughters. Jacob left right away and headed north: he was 63 years old in Hebrew year 2171. Esau then understood that his Canaanite wives did not please his father Isaac, as he had never asked him before any approval about his previous unions. So Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath, daughter of Ishmael, son of Abraham, the sister of Nebaioth, as a wife for himself (Genesis 28:8-9). Because the Biblical text mentions that Esau went to Ishmael, the Talmud asserts that the blessing of Jacob took place before the death of Ishmael because it is then that Esau went to Ishmael so that he would give him his daughter for a wife. Ishmael accepted but died soon after. Then Nebaioth completed the agreement: And it has been taught: Jacob our father at the time when he was blessed by his father was sixtythree years old. It was just at that time that Ishmael died, as it is written, Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob... so Esau went unto Ishmael and took Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham's son, the sister of Nebaioth. Now once it has been said ‘Ishmael's daughter’ do I not know that she was the sister of Nebaioth? This tells us then that Ishmael affianced her and then died, and Nebaioth her brother gave her in marriage. --- Talmud, Megilah, 17a ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2185 - 1575 BCE - Jacob arrives to Charan The chronology between Jacob and Joseph would however show a gap of 14 years from this departure of Jacob at the time of Ishmael's death. As we know for certain the year when Jacob actually reached the house of Laban, the Talmud assumes that Jacob spent these 14 years with the patriarch Eber from his departure from his father's house until his arrival in Charan. Although we agree with the 14 years gap, there is a doubt about how Jacob spent these years. Eber was a descendant of Arpachshad who had founded and settled in Ur. Presumably Eber and all this family until Terach had settled in Ur. It was the generation before Arpachshad who remained in Canaan, of which Shem. So what did Jacob do? And Isaac sent away Jacob; and he went to Paddan-Aram [the land of Aram] unto Laban, son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob's and Esau's mother. --- Genesis 28:5 And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba, and went toward Charan. --- Genesis 28:10 Then Jacob went on his journey and came to the land of the children of the east. --- Genesis 29:1 So we can only assume from the Biblical text that it took 14 years for Jacob to arrive to Charan. He must have been absorbed into divine study and thoughts that made look these 14 days like a few days. How do we know this? Because a bit further in the text, when Jacob met Rachel and immediately fell in love with her, the total duration of his working for Laban during twice 7 years, in order to obtain her as a spouse, felt to him like a few days (Genesis 29:20). The term few days is written in the Hebrew text as unique

‫)םיִדָחֲא םיִמָי‬. There must be a correlation between these 14 years to reach Charan, and the

days (

same duration of 14 years spent to earn the right to obtain Rachel as a spouse: both periods seemed as a few days, and Jacob had spent the former ones in divine thoughts and had spent the latter ones in husbandry. So Jacob arrived in Charan in Hebrew year 2185, when he was 77 years old: the calculation is made from the chronology of the events of his future son Joseph, and in parallel to the age of Jacob when he will go down to Egypt.[2] ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2187 – 1573 BCE – Death of Eber



Eber, the last ancestor of Abraham from Ur died in that year. If one would follow the chronology of the Talmud mentioned above, Eber would have moved to Canaan so that Jacob would have indeed sejourned with him for 14 years. Otherwise the other logical assumption is that Eber died in Ur, as his predecessors who moved away from Canaan and founded that city. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2192 - 1568 BCE - Jacob obtains Leah and Rachel as wives At the end of the first 7 years term, Laban deceived Jacob and brought in his older daughter Leah as a wife instead of the promised Rachel, invoking their customs that no younger daughter would marry unless her older sisters are. Laban promised Jacob to give him Rachel as well after one week, in exchange for another seven years work. Jacob remained in Charan with his two wives: God saw that Leah was unloved, so he opened her womb but Rachel remained barren. --- Genesis 29:31 Leah successively gave birth to Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah. Rachel was envious and pushed her maidservant Bilhah to Jacob. She gave him two sons, Dan and Naphtali. Meanwhile Leah had stopped producing children so she pushed her maidservant Zilpah onto Jacob: she gave him two sons too: Gad and Asher. Then Leah conceived again and gave two new sons to Jacob: Issachar and Zebulon. And also a daughter: Dinah. And then God remembered the condition of Rachel and opened her womb: she gave birth to Joseph. The births of these 12 children happened between years 2193 and 2199. It is generally assumed that their years of birth were as follows in a sequence: Hebrew year

BCE

Event

Spouse

2192

1568

Jacob’s union

Leah and Rachel

2192

1568

Reuben born

Leah

2193

1567

Simeon born

Leah

2194

1566

Levi born

Leah

2195

1565

Judah born

Leah

2195

1565

Dan born

Bilhah

2196

1564

Naphtali born

Bilhah

2196

1564

Gad born

Zilpah

2197

1563

Asher born

Zilpah

2197

1563

Issachar born

Leah

2198

1562

Zebulon born

Leah

2199

1561

Daughter Dinah born

Leah

2199

1561

Joseph born

Rachel

Year 2199 – 1561 BCE – Birth of Joseph After Zebulon was born, Leah was pregnant again and, so far, all the children of Jacob had been sons. The Talmud mentioned what happened next: Rabbi Joseph cited the following in objection: And ‘afterwards’ she bore a daughter and called her name Dinah [Genesis 30:21]. What is meant by ‘afterwards’? Rab said: After Leah had passed http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g19-jacob.html (3 of 7) [6/11/2013 11:45:03 AM]


judgment on herself saying, ‘Twelve tribes are destined to issue from Jacob. Six have issued from me and four from the handmaids, making ten. If this child will be a male, my sister Rachel will not be equal to one of the handmaids’. Forthwith the child was turned to a girl, as it says, ‘And’ she called her name Dinah [which means Judgment]. --- Talmud, Berachot, 59a Then Rachel finally became pregnant. She conceived a son they called Joseph. The Hebrew year was 2199, as it will become clear later from Joseph’s life chronology. When Joseph was born, the 14 years period were just over, and Jacob wanted to leave Charan. And it came to pass, when Rachel had borne Joseph that Jacob said unto Laban: "Send me away, that I may go unto my own place, and to my country. Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you know my service wherewith I have served you." --- Genesis 30:25-26 But Laban tried to deceive Jacob again and the latter worked for another 6 years, during which he built his own wealth and cattle. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2205 – 1555 BCE – Jacob returns to Canaan At the end of the 6 years period, and Laban would still not give to Jacob the blessing to leave. So God sent a messenger to Jacob in a dream: "I am the God of Beth-el, where you did anoint a pillar, where you did vow a vow unto Me. Now arise, get you out from this land, and return unto the land of your nativity.' --- Genesis 31:13 So Jacob decided to leave with his family, servants and cattle without further notice (Genesis 31:20). In total he had stayed 20 years in Charan. But before she left, Rachel acted wrongly: she took away the idol amulets belonging to her father, without mentioning it to Jacob. Laban rode up after Jacob and they met north from the Sea of Galilee. He couldn't find his amulets that Rachel concealed from him but, there, he made a covenant with his son-in-law: the place was called Gilead, and was located on the eastern side of the Jordan River. Then, while he advanced into northern Canaan, his brother Esau marched onto him with 400 men. Jacob, fearing his brother’s intent to kill him, sent presents ahead of him as greetings. He then sent all his family ahead. Then during the night: Jacob was left alone and a man fought with him until the break of dawn. When he saw he could not overpower him, he struck the side of his hip, so Jacob’s hip side was strained. Then he said: "Let me go because the darkness is over." And he said: "I will not let you go unless you bless me." He said to him: "What is your name?" He said: "Jacob." He said: "Jacob will no longer be your name, but Israel (‫)לארשי‬. Because you fought with God (‫םע תירש‬-‫ )םיהלא‬and with men and you won." --- Genesis 32:25-29 The reunion with Esau however went well. Then Esau decided to settle on the other side of the Dead Sea, in Seir, and to leave Jacob in Canaan. Jacob pursue his march to a place he named Sukkot which means shelters. Then he continued to Sichem (today the city is called Samaria or Nablus) where he bought a land to settle his camp there. Then occurred the dramatic episode with the rape of Dinah, the ruse of the sons of Jacob to revenge their sister, and the final killing of the males of Sichem by Simeon and Levi (Genesis 34). The sons of Jacob took away women, children and cattle. Then God asked Jacob to move his camp to Beth-El, and to purify themselves and to remove all alien gods that were brought by the women of Sichem (also, Rachel had taken the idol statues from her father Laban when she left Charan). And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came from Paddan-aram [which is Charan], and blessed him. And God said unto him: "Your name is Jacob: your name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be your name"; and He called his name Israel. And God said unto him: "I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of you, and kings shall come out of your loins; and the land which I gave unto Abraham and Isaac, to you I will give it, and to your seed after you will I give the land." http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g19-jacob.html (4 of 7) [6/11/2013 11:45:03 AM]


And God went up from him in the place where He spoke with him. And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where He spoke with him, a pillar of stone, and he poured out a drink-offering thereon, and poured oil thereon. And Jacob called the name of the place where God spoke with him, Beth-el. --- Genesis 35:9-15 ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2207 – 1553 BCE – Death of Rachel But one of Jacob’s family members did not follow God's command for purification: And they journeyed from Beth-el; and there was still some way to come to Ephrath; and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labor. And it came to pass, when she was in hard labor that the mid-wife said unto her: "Fear not; for this also is a son for you." And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing --for she died-- that she called his name Ben-oni (‫ןב‬-‫ ;)ינוא‬but his father called him Benjamin (‫)ןימינב‬. And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath -- the same is Beth-lehem. And Jacob set up a pillar upon her grave; the same is the pillar of Rachel's grave unto this day. --- Genesis 35:16-20 Rachel was punished by death for having taken idol statues from Charan, an act for which Jacob had sworn death to the transgressor not knowing it was any member of his family, and for not having given them away after God specifically required all Jacob’s household to do so and purified themselves from symbols of idolatry. As she had hidden them from her father and from her husband, maybe feeling ashamed about these statues, she never had done repentance about them. On her death, she had named her newborn son the son of my distress (‫ןב‬-‫)ינוא‬, but the word can also mean son of my iniquity as she knew she had done wrong. After her death, Jacob did not want her son to bare such name for ever as a burden, and changed it to son of my right side (‫)ןימינב‬. God probably did not allow Rachel, to approach Hebron, the sanctuary where Abraham was buried and where Isaac was still sojourning. Instead she died a short distance from it, in Beth-lehem. Her tomb still exists today and is a site of Jewish pilgrimage.

Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem (early photograph) Later on, as Jacob and his family settled in the south, Reuben, his first-born son, laid with Bilhah, Jacob’s concubine and mother of Dan and Naphtali (Genesis 35:22). Reuben will be excluded from Jacob's inheritance as a result of his act. It is only at this time, 2 years after returning to Canaan, that Jacob met again with his father Isaac. In total, he had been absent from his parents’ house for a total of 36 years: 14 years after leaving his parents' house, 20 years working for Laban in Charan and then 2 years in Canaan. http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g19-jacob.html (5 of 7) [6/11/2013 11:45:03 AM]


~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2210 – 1550 BCE – Idri-mi In 1939, an archaelogical expedition found in an ancient site, Alalakh (modern-day Tell Atshanah), the statue of the king Idri-mi who ruled in that city around 1550 BCE. The statue bears cuneiform inscriptions that narrated the story of this king, his flee south into Canaan and his dwelling there for 7 years among the Hebrews (called Hapiru people): On the next day, I left and went towards Canaan. In Canaan, Ammija is situated. Also staying in Ammija were people from Halab, people from the country Mukish, people from the country Nihi and people from the country Amae. They lived there. When they saw me (and knew) that I was the son of their lord, they assembled around me. Thus I was made noble and received the command authority. I stayed among the Hapiru people for seven years. I let birds fly and sacrificed lambs. In the seventh year, Teshub turned to me. Thereupon I built ships. --- Idri-mi inscription, transcription available online in this site The interest of this text is that Idri-mi mentioned the people he came across in the land of Canaan, which do not include the Hebrews (Hapiru), who also came down to Canaan (Jacob and all his family and followers) at about the same time than he did so they were not "locals". And he stayed with the latter, for seven years, and there he sacrificed lambs which is more typical of the custom of the Hebrews whereas other Canaanite people, and the Egyptians, rather considered lambs as sacred.



Statue of Idri-mi (British Museum) ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1] Laban used to live in Aram-Naharayim, as mentioned previously, but he was ambitious and cunning, so he probably managed to take over the whole inheritance of his grand-father Nahor and took over his house in Charan. [2] This chronology has been confirmed by the Jewish chronographer of the 3rd century BCE, Demetrios, who lived in Alexandria and based his calculations on the first translation of the Bible in Greek, the Septuagint (to go to the related page in this chronology, click here) Go to >> Part II Next generation Top of Page






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Hebrew years 1080 to 1200 (2680-2560 BCE) In Hebrew year 1140, Enosh, who was Seth's son, died at the age of 905.



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Eridu What is new Index of names

Enosh would have surely not stayed with his direct parents, Adam and Seth, who feared God. He rather left them to live a life nearer to his uncle Cain. In year 325, Enosh had a son called Kenan which may have been named so in honour


of Cain. The two names are written in a similar fasiohn:

‫ ןִיַק‬for Cain and ‫ ןָניֵק‬for

Kenan. To materialise this similitude in English language, we should write Cain as KaYiN and Kenan as KeYNaN, and not to forget that the voyels have no great importance in Hebrew. On Cain’s side, Enoch’s successor was Irad, a name derived from the Hebrew root "Ir" which means city. Because the Biblical text states that they built cities and named them after their sons,[1] we can assume that Irad was possibly the one who gave his name to the ancient city of Eridu, in southern Mesopotamia. The rulers of these city states of Sumeria had to create myths around fear to dominate their people, and they forbade to mention the name of the real and unique God. For this goal, they assumed the role of god-rulers and new pantheons were invented. Idolatry started to spread in the times of Enosh and Enoch. When kingship from heaven was lowered, the kingship was in Eridu. In Eridug, Alulim became king; he ruled for 28800 years. --- Sumerian king list[2] The name Alulim is very close to the biblical name Elohim, the name of God during the Creation. This proves that the rulers of these ancient cities usurped the name of God for their own designs to rule over their people. This Alulim is assumed to have been the founder of Eridu/Eridug and to have reigned around 3500-3000 BCE. This is very similar to the timeline of the Bible in the times of Irad, the grandson of Cain.

http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g03-sumer.html (1 of 3) [6/11/2013 11:45:16 AM]


Sumerian list of gods (about 2400 BCE)

Invention of Writing Archaeology shows that writing was invented in Sumer, about 3500 BCE (biblical year 260). It is likely that the writing greatly helped these god-rulers spread their control over their people, because rules are better imposed once they are committed in writing. Without the invention of writing, their enterprise would have been more limited. At the time, the first writing was based on pictograms, until it evolved into cuneiform writing which had been used for over 3000 years. Cuneiform was gradually replaced by alphabets (as a combination of letters to form words, and not symbols to represent concepts) as close as we know them today.

Notes: [1] Genesis 4:17 [2] See sources about the Sumerian King List in Wikipedia

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Generation 26

Year 3048 – 712 BCE – Threats to the kingdom of Judah It is in the 14th year of the reign of Hezekiah that Sennacherib campaigned again in the region, this time against the kingdom of Judah from which he took all the cities. As for Hezekiah [Ha-za-ki-a-u] the Judean [Ia-u-da-ai], who did not submit to my yoke, 46 of his strong walled cities as well as small cities in their neighborhodd, which were without number, [I destroyed?] by levelling with battering rams and by bringing up siege engines, and by attacking and storming on foot, by mines, tunnels and breaches. --- The Annals of Sennacherib, transcription by Danial David Luckenbill, University of Chicago, published 1924

Generations 15-21 Generations 22-28 http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g26-judah.html (1 of 22) [6/11/2013 11:45:37 AM]


Generations 29-35 Generations 36-49 Generation 50

The Annals of Sennacherib in the Taylor Prism (British Museum) The Assyrian text is corroborated by the Biblical account. And Hezekiah sent him a tribute to spare Jerusalem: http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g26-judah.html (2 of 22) [6/11/2013 11:45:37 AM]


Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fortified cities of Judah, and took them. And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying: 'I have offended; return from me that which you put on me will I bear.' And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king's house. At that time did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the Lord, and from the door-posts which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria. --- II Kings 18:13-16 The tribute sent by Hezekiah to spare his city is also mentioned in the Annals of Sennacherib: As for Hezekiah, the terrifying splendor of my majesty overcame him, [...] In addition to the 30 talents of gold and 800 talents of silver, [also] gems, antimony, jewels, large sandu-stones, couches of ivory [probably the royal throne, see below], elephant hide, ivory, ebony, boxwood, all kings of valuable treasures, as well as his daughters, his harem, his male and female musicians, he had [them] sent after me to Nineveh, my royal city. --- The Annals of Sennacherib, op. cit. It is amazing to note the exact amount of talents of gold in both texts: 30 ! As of the talents of silver, we may suppose that there was a typo mistake or transcription mistake confusing 800 (the Annals) with 300 (the Bible). Unless the 800 talents of silver included the value of all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king's house, valuables that the Bible mentions in addition to the talents (coins).



Cuneiform numbers Sennacherib had invaded the land and chose the Judean city of Lachish as his abode at the time. Many reliefs have been found in the archaeological digs and are preserved in the British Museum. They show the assault on this city, the deportation or execution of prisoners, and the booty.





The assault on Lachisch, with war machines taken up along the ramp leading to the city (British Museum)



Execution of the ruler of the city, in front of his wailing wife and children (British Museum) Another scene of this important collection depicts Sennacherib sitting on a throne. This was not any usual throne: it was the throne of King Solomon ! The description of this throne in the Bible is as follows: Moreover the king made a big throne of ivory, and overlaid it with the finest gold. There were six steps to the throne, and the top of the throne was round behind; and there were arms on either side by the place of the seat, and two lions standing beside the arms. And twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other upon the six steps; there was not the like made in any kingdom. --- I Kings 10:18-20 The similarities between the above Biblical description and the actual relief of Sennacherib are: - there six steps, three for the feet and three for the sitting body - there are twelve figures, [1a] on each side along the six steps - the throne was made of ivory [1b]



Sennacherib in Lachish, item found in Nineveh (British Museum) http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g26-judah.html (8 of 22) [6/11/2013 11:45:37 AM]


The kingdom of Judah with its 2 remaining tribes of Judah and Benjamin, although a tribal state at the time, was not conquered yet. But Sennacherib was not satisfied with a mere tribute, so he resumed the war and sent his army to besiege the capital of Judah. His army chief Rab-Shakeh spoke in Hebrew,[2] and tried to turn the population of Jerusalem against their king Hezekiah: Then Rab-Shakeh stood, and cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and spoke, saying: 'Hear you the word of the great king, the king of Assyria. Thus says the king: Let not Hezekiah beguile you; for he will not be able to deliver you out of his hand; neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying: The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. Hearken not to Hezekiah; for thus says the king of Assyria: Make your peace with me, and come out to me; and eat ye every one of his vine, and every one of his fig-tree, and drink you every one the waters of his own cistern; until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive-trees and of honey, that you may live, and not die; and hearken not unto Hezekiah, when he persuades you, saying: The Lord will deliver us. Has any of the gods of the nations ever delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath, and of Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah? Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? Who are they among all the gods of the countries that have delivered their country out of my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?' But the people held their peace, and answered him not a word; for the king's commandment was, saying: 'Answer him not.' --- II Kings 18:28-36 In Jerusalem, the Prophet Isaiah pronounced God’s commandment not to listen to the king of Assyria, that He will put a spirit in him to the effect that he will return to his land and be murdered there. Indeed, one morning the besieged people of Jerusalem saw that the entire Assyrian camp was abandoned. Their king was hastening back to his capital Nineveh, the capital he had rebuilt in Assyria. Archaeological evidence exists of King Hezekiah having been contemporary to Sennacherib, as shown in one clay cylinder now at the British Museum that clearly states "Hezekiah of Judah, Jerusalem his royal city".



The Assyrian army that besieged Jerusalem was struck by the arm of God, probably by an epidemic that killed them (II Kings 19:35): Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria: ‘He shall not come unto this city, nor shoot an arrow there, neither shall he come before it with shield, nor cast a mound against it. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and he shall not come unto this city,’ says the Lord.’ For I will defend this city to save it, for My own sake, and for My servant David's sake.’ And the angel of the Lord went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand; and when men arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. --- Isaiah 37:33-36 The disaster that fell upon Sennacherib’s army is also recorded by historians such as Herodotus, who wrote his work rather shortly after this time, some 150 years later. He could only gather some of the facts, mixed with legends. The text however shows that the disaster did occur and was recorded in the memory of men of his time: On their arrival at Pelusium, so immense a number of mice infested by night the enemy's camp, that their quivers and bows, together with what secured their shields to their arms, were gnawed in pieces. In the morning the Arabians, finding themselves without arms, fled in confusion, and lost great numbers of their men. --- Herodotus, The Histories, book II – Euterpe, section 141 According to Herodotus, this event occurred in the city of Pelusium at the entrance of Egypt but there is no record of the Assyrian having campaigned there at this time. The kingdom of Judah is more likely to be the place that he called the entrance of Egypt and Pelusium is likely to have been Jerusalem, the only city of the region with a reknown palace in these times. When Herodotus wrote his work, Jerusalem and its palace no longer existed, so this may have caused his confusion about the place, attributing the event as a failed attempt to conquer Egypt. He noted that Sennacherib’s army was composed of Arabians, probably foreign mercenaries who knew the region and served in his army. http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g26-judah.html (10 of 22) [6/11/2013 11:45:37 AM]


Upon his return to Nineveh, Sennacherib took a revenge against the Israelites who dwelt in the city for his failure in Judah. Tobit, a practising Jew from the tribe of Naphtali, who had been among the deportees to Assyria at the time of Sargon II, gave the following account. This text is part of the Apocrypha, which is a collection of documents that was added to the first translation of the Bible (see later about the Septuagint in this site) but were not considered part of the canonical Hebrew Bible. Although these documents do not have a religious value for Jews, they nonetheless contain some interesting historical details: And in the time of Enemessar [Sargon II], I gave many alms to my brethren, and gave my bread to the hungry, and my clothes to the naked: and if I saw any of my nation dead, or cast about the walls of Nineveh, I buried him. And if the king Sennacherib had slain any, when he was come and fled from Judea, I buried them privily; for, in his wrath, he killed many; but the bodies were not found when they were sought for of the king. And when one of the Ninevites went and complained of me to the king that I buried them, and hid myself; understanding that I was sought for to be put to death, I withdrew myself for fear. --- Apocrypha, Tobit 1:16-19 ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3049 – 711 BCE – The last years of Hezekiah After the siege of Jerusalem, Hezekiah fell sick and was about to die: In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him: 'Thus says the Lord: Set your house in order; for you shall die, and not live.' --- Isaiah 38:1 Why say you shall die and not live? It seems redundant. The interpretation of the Prophet’s word was that Hezekiah will die in this world and will not live in the next world (meaning the world of the justs, after the venue of the Messiah). This seems to have been a harsh curse on the good king Hezekiah ! The reason why this virtuous king fell ill is explained in the Talmud: He [Isaiah] replied: Because you did not try to have children – He [Hezekiah] said: The reason was because I saw by the Holy Spirit that the children issuing from me would not be virtuous – He said to him: What have you to do with the secrets of the All-Merciful? You should have done what you were commanded, and let the Holy One, blessed be He, do that which pleases Him. – He said to him: Then give me now your daughter; perhaps through your merit and mine combined virtuous children will issue from me. – He replied: The doom has already been decreed. http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g26-judah.html (11 of 22) [6/11/2013 11:45:37 AM]


--- Talmud, Berachot, 10a Because of Hezekiah's new decision to endeavour to have a child, God granted him another 15 years to live in this world (II Kings 20:6). But Hezekiah made a terrible mistake. The king of Babylon, called Berodach-Baladan in the Bible otherwise known as Marduk-Apla-Idina II, sent an emissary to Hezekiah, as he wanted to bring up a coalition against Assyria and free Babylon from the yoke of the Assyrians. But this visit raised his greed: At that time Berodach-Baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent a letter and a present unto Hezekiah; for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick. And Hezekiah hearkened unto them, and showed them all his treasure-house, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious oil, and the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures; there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah showed them not. Then came Isaiah the prophet unto King Hezekiah, and said unto him: 'What said these men? And from whence came they unto you?' And Hezekiah said: 'They are come from a far country, even from Babylon.' And he said: 'What have they seen in your house?' And Hezekiah answered: 'All that is in my house have they seen; there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them.' And Isaiah said unto Hezekiah: 'Hear the word of the Lord. Behold, the days come, that all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have laid up in store unto this day, shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left, says the Lord. And of your sons that shall issue from you, whom you shall beget, shall they take away; and they shall be officers in the palace of the king of Babylon.' --- II Kings 20:12-18



Marduk-Apla-Idina II (Berlin Museum) The king of Judah had been sinful to boast the religious treasures in front of foreigners who would wait the first opportunity to take them away from him. This attitude was blamed as one of the three mistakes that Hezekiah did: Our Rabbis taught: Six things King Hezekiah did; in three they [the Sages] agreed with him, and in three they did not agree with him — He dragged his father's bones [corpse] on a rope bier,[3] and they agreed with him; he crushed the brazen serpent,[4] and they agreed with him; [and] he hid the book of remedies,[5] and they agreed with him. http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g26-judah.html (13 of 22) [6/11/2013 11:45:37 AM]


And in three they did not agree with him: He cut [the gold off] the doors of the Temple and sent them to the King of Assyria, and they did not agree with him; and he closed up the waters of Upper Gihon,[6] and they did not agree with him; and he intercalated [the month of] Nisan in Nisan, and they did not agree with him. --- Talmud, Pesachim, 56a The reason why the Sages did not agree with Hezekiah on the two first issues was that it meant he mistrusted God to act and protect His holy city. As of the third issue, it was because Hezekiah had decreed that one month of Nisan would be a second month of Adar so that Nisan, and thus Passover, would be displaced for another month (II Chronicles 30:1-3). This act was considered as an interference in God’s orders about the time for the festival. ~~~~~~~~~~

About Year 3064 – 696 BCE – Jonah and the repentance of Sennacherib It was during the reign of Sennacherib, after he returned from the siege of Jerusalem, that the story of Jonah the Prophet took place. He was ordered by God to announce to the inhabitants of Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, that their great city will be destroyed. At first, Jonah preferred to flee rather than confront the power of the Assyrians. But God made him eventually go back to Nineveh and accomplish his mission. Yet the reaction was not what he expected: And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he proclaimed, and said: 'Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.'[7] And the people of Nineveh believed God; and they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. And the tidings reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying: 'Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing; let them not feed, nor drink water; but let them be covered with sackcloth, both man and beast, and let them cry mightily unto God; yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. Who knows whether God will not turn and repent, and turn away from His fierce anger that we perish not?' And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, which He said He would do unto them; and He did it not. --- Jonah 3:4-9





Jonah preaching to the Ninivites (Gustave Doré, 1868) So God spared the great city for the time being. The king who repented was Sennacherib himself because he had experienced first hand the power of the god of the Jews during the siege of Jerusalem. Unlike any other Assyrian king, he would not have underevaluated the divine decree pronounced by one of His prophets. So he repented, and ordered his capital to repent with him. Moreover, it seems that there is historical evidence that Sennacherib even changed god, and adopted religious practice that was foreign to the Assyrian religion. I assume that God gave another 15 years to Sennacherib to live, as He had granted this duration to Hezekiah too. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3064 – 696 BCE – Manasseh the worst king of Judah When Hezekiah died after 29 years of reign, he was succeeded by his 12-year old son Manasseh. The young king had no opportunity to be raised under the good influence of a father, and he inevitably fell into sinful behaviour when he grew up. He restored the worship of Baal as Ahab king of Israel did in his time. He went even further by setting a pagan service in the Temple of Solomon, where he sacrificed his own son (II Kings 21:4-5). God was greatly offended, as no other king of Judah had done before: Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I bring such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever hears of it, both his ears shall tingle. And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab; and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. And I will cast off the remnant of My inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies; because they have done that which is evil in My sight, and have provoked Me, since the day their fathers came forth out of Egypt, even unto this day.’ --- II Kings 21:12-15 Manasseh however reigned for 55 years (II Kings 21:1). His son Amon succeeded him when he was 22 years old and followed his father’s path. ~~~~~~~~~~

About Year 3071 – 689 BCE – Sennacherib destroys Babylon http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g26-judah.html (16 of 22) [6/11/2013 11:45:37 AM]


Sennacherib had to deal with a lot of rebellion from Babylon during his reign, and led several campaigns over time. However in a campaign around 690 BCE, he did something that no other ruler had done before him: he destroyed the city. This act was considered as a sacrilege because Babylon had reached a sacred status because it had been considered as one of the oldest city in these times, created by the gods. The rulers would see good omen if they conquered it, but would refrain from damaging it, by fear of upsetting the great gods of the ancient city. But Sennacherib destroyed it all. Why? Because he had adopted another cult, and was no longer respectful of the pagan rites he used to follow. This act would cause his death a few years later. ~~~~~~~~~~

About Year 3079 – 681 BCE – The assassination of Sennacherib Following Jonas' prophecy in 696 BCE, Sennacherib had repented, so God delayed his decree against him and the city of Nineveh, and granted him another 15 years to live until he was assassinated in 681 BCE, as He had granted the same number of years to Hezekiah. Sennacherib ultimately fell by the hand of two of his own sons: And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sarezer his sons smote him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead. --- II Kings 19:36-37 The reason for the assassination was religious. As the Biblical text states it, he was murdered in the temple as he was worshipping his god. The place and time had been carefully chosen on purpose, in order to restore faith into the old cult of Assyria by proving that Sennacherib's god had not been able to protect him even during the worship. His sons fled because their purpose was not to seize power, but only to prove wrong their father’s new cult towards Nisroch his god. It is also possible that the new cult had stemmed from his desire to present himself as godly, like Pharaoh, because the name NiSRoCH uses similar letters as the name SeNaCHeRib, but read in the inverse direction. This would explain the Biblical text saying his god. Maybe Sennacheib felt that, since God had not destroyed Nineveh after forty days as decreed by Jonah, it meant that Sennacherib had His attention, and this engaged him in feeling that he was close to his [new] god. This assassination on religious motives was confirmed by Esarhaddon, the younger son of Sennacherib: Thereafter my brothers went mad and whatever was wicked against gods and men they did, and plotted evil; they drew the sword in the midst of Nineveh godlessly. http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g26-judah.html (17 of 22) [6/11/2013 11:45:37 AM]


--- The Prism of Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal, found at Nineveh 1917-8, by R. Campbell, Thomson, London, , Pl.2, lines 41-43 Further in the same document, Esarhaddon mentioned that the scoundrels (his brothers) fled to an unknown land (op. cit., line 84). He aso mentions Manasseh, as Menasi king of Judah (op. cit., pl. 11, line 55). ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3079 – 681 BCE – Esarhaddon, king of Assyria Esarhaddon, the youngest son and successor to Sennacherib, undertook the task to rebuild Babylon and to restore all the faiths that were previously established in the Assyrian Empire. In the old kingdom of Samaria, the new dwellers, who came partly from Babylon and were then known as the Samaritans, also requested from him to be allowed to practice the cult of the Israelites. With the help of an exiled Levite, they learned the fear of God, but they served Him, but under their own pagan customs including the sacrificing of their children: Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying: 'Carry there one of the priests whom you brought from thence; and let them go and dwell there, and let him teach them the manner of the God of the land.' So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Beth-el, and taught them how they should fear the Lord. Howbeit every nation made gods of their own, and put them in the houses of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities wherein they dwelt. And the men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima, and the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burnt their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. So they feared the Lord, and made unto them from among themselves priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places. They feared the Lord, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away. --- II Kings 17:27-33 In Nineveh, Esarhaddon employed a nephew of Tobit in his administration: And there passed not five and fifty days before two of his sons killed him [Sennacherib], and they fled into the mountains of Ararath; and Sarchedonus [Esarhaddon] his son reigned in his stead; who appointed over his father's accounts, and over all his affairs, Achiacharus my brother Anael's son. http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g26-judah.html (18 of 22) [6/11/2013 11:45:37 AM]


And Achiacharus intreating for me, I returned to Nineveh. Now Achiacharus was cupbearer, and keeper of the signet, and steward, and overseer of the accounts: and Sarchedonus appointed him next unto him: and he was my brother's son. --- Apocrypha, Tobit 1:21-22



Stele of Esarhaddon (Pergamon Museum, Berlin) ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1a] The 12 characters are described in translations of the Bible as "lions"; this is because the word in Hebrew in verse 20 is

‫ ; םיִיָרֲא‬however the plural of the word 'lion' should have been ‫ תֹויָרֲא‬, as mentioned just before in verse 19; this is

to signify a difference: the two lions described in verse 19 were indeed lions (they don't show in the relief of Sennacherib maybe because they had been removed from the throne since the time of King Solomon), whereas the lions of verse 20 refer to something else (on the relief of Sennacherib, they resemble to some people sustaining the throne with their arms up), maybe the 12 tribes of Israel as considered as lions



Detail from the throne of Sennacherib [1b] The throne of Sennacherib was said to be decorated with ivory, which was not a material used in Assyria in his time, and the same is known to have been used for Solomon's throne (according to the Bible) [2] He was an important Assyrian official, probably hired from the one of the Israelite tribes previously exiled by Sargon because he was fluent in Hebrew; the existence of this Rab-shaqe is confirmed by an archaeological item called the Assyrian eponym list; it is a clay tablet, from which only a fragment remains and is among the British Museum collections, that gives the names of officials in the time of Shalmaneser; one of the name is indicated as rab-saqê



Extract from the Assyrian Eponym List [3] Because his father King Ahaz was wicked [4] The one that Moses had made, as explained in Numbers 21:8-9, and that the Israelites called Nehushtan; they later used to worship it as an idol, as explained in II Kings 18:4 [5] This (lost) sacred book used to bring speedy recovery to the ill, and thus it failed to promote contrition and humility, an attitude that the sages denounced [6] This is related in II Chronicles 32:3-4 [7] The number 40 is recurring in the Bible as a divine punishment ~~~~~~~~~~

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Hebrew years 2280 to 2400 (1480-1360 BCE) Year 2280 - 1480 BCE - Hatshepsut


After Thutmose II’s death, in 1479 BCE, his wife Hatshepsut became regent. In fact, already during his reign, she was acknowledged as the real ruler of Egypt, as shown in many depictions where she is represented with a bigger size than her husband. And her effective reign continued after his death because her step-son, Thutmose III, was only 2 years old when he officially became the next Pharaoh. Then, even when he was getting mature enough, Hatshepsut continued to rule for a total of 21 years, and until her death in 1458 BCE at the age of about 50 years old.

Generations 1-14 Generations 15-21 Generations 22-28 Generations 29-35 Generations 36-49 Generation 50

Hatshepsut ~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g20-egypt.html (1 of 7) [6/11/2013 11:45:50 AM]


Year 2302 – 1458 BCE – Thutmose III After the death of his step-mother Hatshepsut, Thutmose III became sole ruler of Egypt and endeavoured to raise his country as a military power. Historians have nicknamed him the "Napoleon of Egypt". He campaigned in many lands, and even crossed the Euphrates, and his reign lasted a total of 54 years, or rather 33 years from Hatshepsut’s death. On the home affairs, he wanted to remove the souvenir of Hatshepsut from History, due to his anger at her retaining power control during so many years of his reign.

Thutmose III smiting his enemies (Great Temple of Amon, Egypt) ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2309 – 1451 BCE – Death of Joseph Joseph died at the age of 110: this was the Hebrew year 2309. He was the first of Jacob’s sons to die as the text mentions the following deaths, in order: And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls; and Joseph was in Egypt already. And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation. - Exodus 1:5-6 With Joseph’s death ends the book of Genesis, at chapter 50 verse 26. The chronology of the main steps of his life has been: Hebrew Year

BCE

Joseph’s ageEvent

2199

1561 BCE

0

Birth of Joseph in Charan

2216

1544 BCE

17

Joseph sold by his brothers; taken as slave to Egypt



2227

1533 BCE

28

Joseph explains the dreams of the two chamberlains

2229

1531 BCE

30

Joseph becomes Governor of Egypt

2236

1524 BCE

37

End of the 7 years of abundance; famine starts

2238

1522 BCE

39

Joseph reunited with his family; in Goshen

2255

1506 BCE

56

Death of Jacob, aged 147

2309

1451 BCE

110

Death of Joseph, aged 110

Year 2332 – 1428 BCE – Death of Levi Joseph was the first son of Jacob to die, and Levi was the last. Only both are mentioned in the Biblical text concerning their life length, as all the other brothers died in between. For Levi, it is said: And these are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon and Kohath and Merari. And the years of the life of Levi were a hundred thirty and seven years. --- Exodus 6:16 As we assumed that Levi was born in year 2195, he therefore died in Hebrew year 2332 (1428 BCE). Beside his three sons, he also had a daughter, Jochebeth, who was born in Egypt. The eldest son of Kohath, called Amram, took her as a wife. They will give birth to Aaron and Moses (Exodus 6:20), who are the two brothers who will conduct the Hebrews out from Egypt. According to Jewish tradition, all the sons of Jacob were taken back to Canaan after their death for burial. There are various locations presently in Israel which are assumed to be the resting place of each of them. As for Joseph who had been an important official in Egypt, his embalmed body will be taken to Canaan when the Israelites will all leave Egypt at the Exodus. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2335 – 1425 BCE – Amenhotep II Thutmose III died in 1425 BCE (Hebrew year 2335) and was replaced by his son Amenhotep II. This king ruled for 24 years until his death in 1401 BCE. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2359 – 1401 BCE – Thutmose IV starts to oppress the Hebrews The next Pharaoh was Thutmose IV who reigned for 10 years until 1391 BCE. He was the Pharaoh who started the oppression against the Hebrews: A new king rose over Egypt who had not known Joseph. And he said to his people: "Behold, the people of Bene-Israel are numerous and mighty compared to us. Come and let us outsmart it lest it will increase, and if there would be a war, it would join our enemies, and make war against us, and rise from the land." --- Exodus 1:8-10 Why is it written that he had not known Joseph? Indeed Joseph had died in Hebrew year 2309 (1451 BCE) so 50 years before the start of Thutmose IV’s reign. He was probably the first ruler of Egypt who had not known Joseph because his father, Thutmose III, died 25 years after Joseph’s death, so, assuming that he died in his thirties or forties of age, he had known Joseph in his youth, and will become the last ruler to have known Joseph. The Biblical text of the Bible does not name him as Pharaoh, as previously used for Egyptian http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g20-egypt.html (3 of 7) [6/11/2013 11:45:50 AM]


monarchs, but as a new king [who] rose over Egypt. The reason is that Thutmose IV was not the heir to the throne of Egypt: he usurped it from his brother. This also explains the expression a new king because Thutmose IV was not supposed to be the next Pharaoh. He will obviously become Pharaoh as he quickly consolidated his power, but he was not so at the time of his usurpation, which is when the Biblical text mentioned him in this verse.

Thutmose IV (Musee du Louvre, Paris) Thutmose IV had initiated a policy of enslavement of the Hebrews, now called Bene-Israel [Sons of Israel, or Israelites], after their ancestor Jacob “Israel”. He probably did so because, as often with usurpers, they know that their power is initially fragile and the best they can do is to focus people’s attention against imaginary threats or enemies. In addition, the Hebrews were wealthy in Egypt so his decree gave to the Egyptians license to steal the wealth from the Hebrews when they enslaved them. This was a populist decree that won support to the usurper. The same will be seen again and again by Jewish people throughout their History, and until today with Arab nations that keep at "war" against Israel as a scapegoat to make their own people not focus on internal affairs and their dictatorship. Blaming the Jews has always been a convenience for rulers, in every generation.

Slaves in Egypt But the more Thutmose IV oppressed the Hebrews in servitude, with the view to reduce their number, the more their number increased. He then tried another tactic, by requesting from the Hebrew



midwives to get rid of any newborn male child. But the midwives used a subterfuge to avoid executing his wish. Seeing that the previous measure was not working, he then asked his own people to get rid of every newborn male by throwing them into the Nile River. This decree was still in force by the time he died, after 10 years in power, in 1391 BCE. An examination of his mummy showed that he had suffered from a disease that had wasted his body in the last years of his life. Maybe a divine punishment for his decree against children.

Thutmose IV's mummy head ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2369 – 1391 BCE – Amenhotep III The next Pharaoh was Amenhotep III (also called Amenophis III) who reigned for 38 years until 1353 BCE. Although he did not cancel the decrees set by his father, he did not apply them as harshly as his father did, otherwise the Hebrews would have been exterminated over such a long reign. He must have been more pragmatic: if he had got rid of all the Hebrew males, who would have worked for him? ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2371 – 1389 BCE – Birth of Aaron At the beginning of Amenhotep III’s reign, with the change of ruler over Egypt, the decree against the newborn Hebrew boys was questioned, whether it should be maintained or not. Meanwhile it was suspended and this is when a boy was born from Amram and Jochebeth and they called him Aaron. He lived because of this suspension of the application of the evil decree. The birth years for Aaron and Moses are calculated from the year of the Exodus and considering that Aaron was 3 years older than Moses.And Moses will be 80 years old at the time of the Exodus (see next chapter). Some time after Aaron's birth, Pharaoh’s advisors probably argued that the Hebrew population was http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g20-egypt.html (5 of 7) [6/11/2013 11:45:50 AM]


far too numerous anywy and still constituted a threat. So the decree was reinstated for newborn sons. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2374 – 1386 BCE – Birth of Moses In Hebrew year 2374, which was the fifth year of Amenhotep III’s reign, another boy was born to Amram and Jochebeth. Due to the decree being inforced this time, the new baby boy was put in a basket (the word in Hebrew is

‫הַבֵּת‬, the same word used for the Ark of Noah) and left on the Nile,

under the surveillance of his older sister Miriam. And Pharaoh’s Daughter went down to bathe on the river and her maidens walked along the river. And she saw the basket inside the reeds. She sent her maidservant and she took it. She opened and saw the child, and behold! He was crying. And she took pity of him and said he was a child from the Hebrews. […] and he was a son to her. And she named him Moses because, she said, from the water I have drawn him. --- Exodus 2:5-10

Moses found by Pharaoh's daughter (Gustave Doré, 1868) Amenhotep III started his reign as a young adult, as it was often the case in these times. After five years of reign, he could not possibly already have a daughter who would already be at an adult age herself to take a child as a son to her. So this Pharaoh’s Daughter was not the daughter of Pharaoh Amenhotep III, but the daughter of the previous Pharaoh, Thutmose IV. She was thus Princess Royal and indeed Pharaoh’s Daughter because she was unmarried and had no child. Therefore, she was a http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g20-egypt.html (6 of 7) [6/11/2013 11:45:50 AM]


sister (or half-sister) to the present Pharaoh Amenhotep III. She was probably in her 20-30’s of age, like her half-brother, the Pharaoh. Which daughter of Thutmose IV could she be? Among his daughters, one remained unmarried. She was called Tiaa. Her tomb was found in 1857 and the label on it mentioned she was King’s Daughter of Menkheperure. Menkheperure was the official name for Thutmose IV. The mention of King’s Daughter meant that she never (officially) married. She was therefore the princess who adopted Moses as her child. Princess Tiaa survived long enough to be in an age to become the adoptive mother of a boy and to raise him as a prince of the house of her brother, Pharaoh Amenhotep III.

‫ )הָיְתִּב‬by the Hebrews,[1]

According to the Midrash, Moses’ adoptive mother was called Bithiah ( which can be interpreted both as Daughter of God (Bath-Ya

‫תּב‬-‫ )הי‬or Tiaa is with Me (Bi-Tiaa

‫ִּב‬-‫)הית‬. One tradition mentions that God would have told her: "Moses was not your son, yet you called him your son; you, too, though you are not My daughter, yet I will call you My daughter" --- Leviticus Rabba I:3 Moses was weaned by his biological mother, Jochebeth, who took him to the Princess when he was at the right age. He obviously grew up in the knowledge of his Hebrew origin and kept contact with his biological family and the tribe of Levi. He was however raised in the royal palace in Memphis,[2] with the other young princes, the sons of Amenhotep III. Moses was 33 years old when Amenhotep III died. His adoptive mother Princess Tiaa had probably died earlier. The next Pharaoh was the eldest surviving son, of the deceased king, and someone Moses grew up with. ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes:

‫)הָיְתִּב‬

[1] Her name is mentionned in I Chronicles 4:18: and these are the sons of Bithiah ( Pharaoh's Daughter, etc.

[2] Nothing much remains of the palace of Memphis which featured many temples dedicated to Ptah and other gods; the ruins are located at 29o51'N 31o15'E, about 3km East from Saqqara, the site of the more ancient city of Egypt; the city of Memphis was desolated at some point of its long History, never to raise again thus receiving the fate of the prophecy of Ezekiel: Thus saith the Lord God: "I will also destroy the idols, and I will cause the things of nought to cease from Noph [Memphis]; and there shall be no more a prince out of the land of Egypt; and I will put a fear in the land of Egypt." (Ezekiel 30:13) Next generation Top of Page






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What is new Chronology of the two kingdoms during the 25th generation Index of names Creation Generations 1-14 Generations 15-21 Generations 22-28 Generations 29-35 Generations 36-49 Generation 50

Year

CE

Differ.

2900 2900 2900 2900 2907 2913

-860 -860 -860 -860 -853 -847

22 28 22

2914

-846

1

2915 2917 2917 2919 2929 2929 2940 2944 2956 2960 2962 2970

-845 -843 -843 -841 -831 -831 -820 -816 -804 -800 -798 -790

2 17 40

2993

-767

37

2994

-766

38

2994

-766

38

2995

-765

36

16 14 -16 29 27 -2 41

-2

Kingdom of JUDAH The Temple is repaired

Kingdom of ISRAEL

Jehu dies Jehoahaz son of Jehu reigns Elisha the Prophet dies Shalmanezer III wins battle of Qarqar against a large coalition Jehoash son of Jehoahaz reigns Hazael king of Aram dies, BenHadad Amaziah son of Joash reigns Jehoahaz son of Jehu dies Joash is murdered by 2 servants Black Obelisk of Shalmanezer III Jehoash son of Jehoahaz dies Jeroboam son of Jehoash reigns Azariah son of Amaziah born Amaziah flees to Lachish; killed there Azariah son of Amaziah reigns Amos the Prophet Earthquake Jeroboam son of Joash dies Zechariah son of Jeroboam reigns and dies Shallum son of Jabesh kills Zechariah Menahem son of Gadi kills Shallum and reigns "Pul" campaign; tributes paid Adjustment from Canaanite to Babylonian calendar

Sources

Text

II Kings 12:7 II Kings 10:35-36 II Kings 13:10 II Kings 2:11 Historical II Kings 13:10

Y23 Joash reigned 28Y Y23 Joash estimate

II Kings 13:24

~Y1 Jehoash

II Kings 14:1 II Kings 13:1 II Kings 12:22 Historical II Kings 13:10 II Kings 14:23 II Kings 14:21,15:2 II Kings 14:2,17 II Kings 15:1-2 Amos 1:1 Amos 1:1 II Kings 14:23

Y2 Jehoahaz reigned 17Y reigned 40Y

II Kings 15:8

reigned 6 months

II Kings 15:13

reigned 1 month

Y37 Joash

reigned 16Y Y15 Amaziah reigned 16Y old reigned 29Y Y27 Jeroboam assumption reigned 41Y

II Kings 15:14 Historical 120Y

~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2900 – 860 BCE – Joash repairs the Temple In the 23rd year of Joash's reign, he repaired the Temple of Jerusalem. This act seems to have been inscribed in a text that was found in Jerusalem and called the Jehoash [Joash] inscription. The authotities consider that this document is a forgery but there are other expert opinions that do not agree based on the material used for it. The text says: [I am Yeho'ash, son of A]hazyahu, k[ing over Ju]dah, and I executed the re[pai]rs. When men's hearts became replete with generosity in the (densely populated) land and in the (sparsely populated) steppe, and in all the cities of Judah, to donate money for the sacred contributions abundantly, in order to purchase quarry stone and juniper wood and Edomite copper / copper from (the city of) ‘Adam, (and) in order to perform the work faithfully (= without corruption). (Then) I renovated the breach(es) of the Temple and of the surrounding walls, and the storied structure, and the meshwork, and the winding stairs, and the recesses, and the doors. May (this inscribed stone) become this day a witness that the work has succeeded, (and) may God (thus) ordain His people with a blessing. --- Transcription (source Wikipedia)



Joash inscription To avoid being conquered by Hazael king of Aram, Joash sent a large tribute to him, made of all the idolatry items that were in the treasures of his royal house. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2900 – 860 BCE – The House of Jehu, kings of Israel Jehu reigned for 28 years over Israel, and was succeeded by his son Jehoahaz. During his reign, Hazael the king of Aram waged war against Israel and Judah until his death. His son Ben-Hadad however could not defeat Jehoahaz, who succeeded to conquer back all the territories that his father Jehu had lost to Hazael. The Stele of Zakkur, found in 1903 near Alep in Syria, testifies of the existence of this king and father of the kingdom of Aram: I am Zakkur, king of Hamath and Luash […] Bar-Hadad, son of Hazael, […] --- Transcription (source Wikipedia)

Stele of Zakkur (Louvre) In the year that Jehoahaz came to power, Elisha the Prophet died. When Jehoahaz son of Jehu died, he was succeeded by his son Jehoash who had been placed on the throne a couple of years before, a way to ensure the succession while the old king was still alive (II Kings 13:10). In Judah, Joash did the same when he got old and placed his son Amaziah on the throne. Joash’s life however ended http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g25-kings1.html (2 of 4) [6/11/2013 11:46:01 AM]


brutally when he was murdered by two of his servants. Before Jehu died, God promised to him that four generations of his descendants will reign over Israel. The first to reign was his son Jehoahaz. He was followed by his son Jehoash. Then Jeroboam II reigned, and he was succeeded by his son Zechariah who will finally be murdered, thus ending the House of Jehu. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2915 – 845 BCE – Amaziah of Judah In Judah, Amaziah had succeeded to his father Joash before the latter was murdered by two servants. Amaziah started to reign when he was 25 years old and did what was right in the eyes of God at the beginning of his reign of 29 years (II Kings 14:1-2). He soon punished the murderers of his father: And it came to pass, as soon as the kingdom was established in his hand, that he slew his servants who had slain the king his father; but the children of the murderers he put not to death; according to that which is written in the book of the law of Moses, as the Lord commanded saying: 'The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the children be put to death for the fathers; but every man shall be put to death for his own sin.' --- II Kings 14:5-6 Amaziah was successful in his military campaigns against Aram to conquer what had been previously lost. He then sought to forge an alliance with Jehoash, king of Israel. This was a bad omen because, instead of a peace, the latter attacked Jerusalem, smashed a good part of its walls, and took all the gold and silver vessels found in the Temple (II Kings 14:14). This act however caused the death of Jehoash, as he had entered the Temple against the divine commandment that only the priests could do so. But ultimately, after 15 years, this also caused Amaziah his throne as conspirators decided to overthrow him for a succession of bad politics that had already cost the sack of the Temple (II Kings 14:17). Amaziah fled to the city of Lachish in the 29th year of his reign, but was followed there and killed. His son, Azariah, being 4 years old at the time, was too young to reign. He was proclaimed king of Judah when he reached the age of 16 years old. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2920 – 840 BCE – The Black Obelisk of Shalmanezer III The Black Obelisk is a stele that was found in the ruins of the palace Nineveh. It was made to commemorate the reign of Shalmanezer III who ruled Assyria in 858-824 BCE. It is made of black limestone and is composed of four sides. One of the side shows an Israelite king bowing and paying tribute to Shalmanezer.

The king of Israel bowing to Shalmanezer III (Black Obelisk, British Museum) The find is important because of the text that accompanies the stele. In two occurrences, the name of Hazael king of Aram is mentioned. Hazael was contemporary of the campaigns of Shalmanezer III because he died in about 846 BCE, which was the first year of the reign of Jehoash, king of Israel. Some historians have wrongly assumed that the Israelite king mentioned on the obelisk was "Jehu son of Omri". Jehu was not the "son of Omri" so this mention could only mean a reference to Omri as the founder of the Israelite dynasty that ruled in Samaria: Omri was indeed the one who established the city of Samaria as the capital of the kingdom of Israel, around 826 BCE, when he moved his seat from Tirzah. What about Jehu? This king was not contemporary to Shalmanezer III’s campaign so his mention on the obelisk cannot be relevant. The issue here is simply that the cuneiform text has been misinterpreted. The text actually shows:

The Israelite king mentioned on the Black Obelisk (Mason, Caroline, and Alexander, Pat, Picture Archive of the Bible, Lion Publishing, 1987) It is obvious that the text mentions Ya-u-a, in fact more probably Ya-Gu-a, which should have rather been translated into Jehoash, instead of Jehu. So Je-ho-a[sh] was the correct contemporary Israelite king that was mentioned on the Black Obelisk of Shalmanezer III. On another side of the obelisk, there is also mention of Shalmanezer's victory against "Hazael of Damascus", a king of Aram also cited in the Bible.



Cuneiform alphabet ~~~~~~~~~~







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Lamech What is new Index of names Creation Generations 1-14

In Mesopotamia, Cain was finally killed by one of his descendants, Lamech. It happened at the 7th generation of mankind, as God had only offered protection to Cain until then, following his murder of Abel.[1] According to the great commentator Rashi (1040-1104), Lamech was a blind man from birth and he killed Cain by accident. Being distraught, he then killed his son Tuval-Cain as well. The text mentions two of Lamech’s wives: Lamech took to himself two wives. The name of one was Adah and the name of the second was Zillah. And Adah bore Jabal; he was the ancestor of those who dwell in tents and breed cattle. The name of his brother was Jubal; he was the ancestor of those who handle the lyre and the flute. And Zillah too, she bore Tuval-Cain who polished all sorts of crafts in copper and iron. And the sister of Tuval-Cain was Naamah. --- Genesis 4:19-22

Generations 15-21 The names of Lamech’s two wives were probably given by him. Indeed Adah means witness: presumably she was sonamed because she was Lamech’s eye-witness in the world. As of Zillah, it means shadow: presumably the name could Generations have meant that she followed Lamech in all his moves and was, in other words, his help. 22-28 Generations 29-35

Migration of populations

Jabal, presumably, moved away from the city dwellers and became nomadic before his descendants would settle in other Generations parts of the known world, further east: they established settlements in parts of Asia (Hindus valley, China) and then crossed into the American continent. His descendants were the first to populate vast regions of the globe and accomplished 36-49 the first great human migrations. Most of Asia and all the original Americans probably came from him because genetic studies show that these regions were originally populated from a single male ancestor who gave root to the genetic YGeneration DNA haplogroup called Q. In the diagram of the world distribution below, we can see that all these regions were 50 originally populatedfrom a single male ancestor.

World distribution of Y-DNA haplogroup Q (source: Mauricio Lucioni - Wikipedia)

Bronze Age Jubal was the creator of proper musical instruments. Scholars consider that sophisticated musical instruments, beyond primitive ones which were based on a simple percussion, originated from Mesopotamia.[2] As of Zillah, she bore a son, Tuval-Cain, who was named after his ancestor Cain probably because he died as a result of Cain's death. He was the one who first created metal tools. He died around 3000 BCE and, because of him, mankind evolved from the Stone Age and began the Bronze Age. The Bronze Age period started in the Near East some time around 3300 BCE where tin ores were discovered and used in mixture with copper to create harder metal material.

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Timeline of the Bronze Age Presumably Tubal-Cain was the first human to be able to introduce furnaces and to create harder metal work. This was a blessing for humanity but a curse too. Because, with bronze came tools to work the earth but also brought weaponry and war. The technique quickly spread in other regions where tin ores were discovered, such as Central Europe around 2500 BCE.[3]

Early bronze tools from Tell-Brak, Norther Syria, about 3000 BCE Lastly, Lamech’s daughter, Naamah, derived her name from the word ‘kind’ which would have been her type of character. She escaped from the region of her father, and moved back to the land of Canaan where the descendants of Adam and Seth had settled and lived a more peaceful life than what was happening in the city-states of Mesopotamia. There she later became the wife of Noah, the grandson of Metushalach.

Notes: [1] Genesis 4:15 [2] See article on Wikipedia: Images of musical instruments begin to appear in Mesopotamian artifacts in 2800 BC or earlier. [3] Quotation from Penhallurick, R.D., Tin in Antiquity: its Mining and Trade Throughout the Ancient World with Particular Reference to Cornwall, London: The Institute of Metals, 1986, page 86, mentioned in Wikipedia: Tin was first mined in Europe around 2500 BC in Erzgebirge [Central Europe], and knowledge of tin bronze and tin extraction techniques spread from there to Brittany and Cornwall around 2000 BC.



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Generation 24

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Hebrew years 2760 to 2880 (1000-880 BCE) ~~~ Part I ~~~ Part II ~~~ Part III ~~~ Year 2761– 999 BCE – Solomon deviates from God’s path At the end of twenty years of reign, after having built his kingdom, the Temple for 7 years and his own Palace for 13 years (I Kings 7:1), Solomon started to fall into complacency. In particular, he loved many women who influenced his heart and judgment, away from God’s faith: Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, besides the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites; of the nations concerning which the Lord said unto the children of Israel: 'You shall not go among them, neither shall they come among you; for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods'; Solomon did cleave unto these in love. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart. For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not whole with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the detestation of the Ammonites. And Solomon did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, as did David his father. Then did Solomon build a high place for Chemosh the detestation of Moab, in the mount that is before Jerusalem and for Molech the detestation of the children of Ammon. And so he did for all his foreign wives, who offered and sacrificed unto their gods. And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared unto him twice, and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he kept not that which the Lord commanded. Wherefore the Lord said unto Solomon: "Forasmuch as this has been in your mind, and you have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely rend the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant. Notwithstanding in your days I will not do it, for David your father's sake; but I will rend it out of the hand of your son. Howbeit I will not rend away the entire kingdom; but I will give one tribe to your son; for David My servant's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake which I have chosen." --- I Kings 11:1-13 At the beginning of Solomon’s reign, God had promised him to extend his life, at the condition that he would keep His commandments. But, after 20 years of reign in such path, Solomon’s spirit changed, because of his foreign wives. So God only granted another 20 years of sinful reign to Solomon, one sinful year for one year of righteousness, with no extension of life. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2768 – 992 BCE – Osorkon the Elder, of Egypt The 21st Dynasty of Egypt came into trouble again during Solomon’s second phase of reign. His father-in-law, Psusennes I, was succeeded a few years earlier by his son Amenemope, brother of Solomon’s wife. But the new Pharaoh was inexperienced due to his youth, and only reigned for about 10 years until his death in 992 BCE. There is a probability that he was murdered because, in the same year, Smendes II, the High Priest of Amon, in Thebes, also died. Pinedjem II, the brother of Smendes II took over the post of High Priest but, in Tanis, the lineage of male king was broken: a new Pharaoh, called Osorkon, came from the ruling family of Berber tribes located in present day Libya. These people were originally of Canaanite origin, from the Girgashites who came to that region at the time of the conquest of Joshua. These tribes were known to the Egyptians as the Meshwesh.



Map of the region around 1200 BCE (Bates, Oric, The eastern Libyans: an essay, London, 1914, p. 50) Osorkon changed the balance of alliances and established the Meshwesh as the new rulers of Lower Egypt, while the Priests of Amon were still ruling Upper Egypt from their capital Thebes. Osorkon didn’t have benefit in maintaining the alliance with Solomon that prevailed before, because the Israelite king was married to the sister of the preceding Pharaoh, from another family. So what happened to this preceding ruling Tanite dynasty? Here the text of the Bible brings us some light: And the Lord raised up an adversary unto Solomon, Hadad the Edomite; he was of the king's seed in Edom. For it came to pass, when David was in Edom, and Joab the captain of the host was gone up to bury the slain, and had smitten every male in Edom --for Joab and all Israel remained there six months, until he had cut off every male in Edom-- that Hadad fled, he and certain Edomites of his father's servants with him, to go into Egypt; Hadad being yet a little child. And they arose out of Midian, and came to Paran; and they took men with them out of Paran, and they came to Egypt, unto Pharaoh King of Egypt, who gave him a house, and appointed him victuals, and gave him land. And Hadad found great favour in the sight of Pharaoh, so that he gave him to wife the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tahpennes the Queen. And the sister of Tahpenes bore him Genubath his son, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh's house; and Genubath was in Pharaoh's house among the sons of Pharaoh. And when Hadad heard in Egypt that David slept with his fathers, and that Joab the captain of the host was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh: "Let me depart, that I may go to my own country." Then Pharaoh said unto him: "But what have you lacked with me, that, behold, you seek to go to your own country?" And he answered: "Nothing; howbeit let me depart in any wise." --- I Kings 11:14-22 So, as a child, Hadad, the heir to the throne of Edom, had fled to Egypt with the help of his father’s close advisors. There he was welcomed and raised in the royal house. His host was probably Pinedjem I who was the High Priest in Thebes since 1070 BCE. He had also crowned himself Pharaoh in year 1054 BCE, at a time when David took the kingship over all Israel and started to wage war towards Aram and Edom. Pinedjem I had an extended family from a few wives. Many of his sons and daughters got a share in the power of both political Tanis and religious Thebes. One of his sons, Psusennes I, became Pharaoh in Tanis from 1047 BCE and he is the one who gave one of his daughters as a wife to King Solomon. Hadad grew up in the house of Pinedjem I and knew all the family children in Thebes and Tanis. Pinedjem I married Hadad to a sister of his own wife Tahpennes. This Biblical Tahpennes was probably the Egyptian queen whose name was Se-tepe-Amun which means "chosen by Amun": it was her official name, called the "throne name", like any other important royal member had. Most of the rulers of the 21st Dynasty used this "chosen by Amun" as a root for their official throne name. Psusennes for example is the Greek version of his name but his real names in Egypt were: Paseba-khanniut for his personal name ("nomen") and Akhepe-Re-Setepe-Amun, meaning "Great are the manifestations of Ra, chosen by Amun", for his throne name ("praenomen"). Psusennes had two wives, one called Wiay and one who was his own sister, Mutnedjmet. Hadad’s desire to depart Egypt probably did not meet approval from Psusennes because, beside the fact that Hadad’s wife was Pharaoh’s sister through their father Pinedjem I, he knew that Hadad hated the Israelites, and thus Solomon, Pharaoh’s son-in-law, and would necessarily cause trouble to him. There is no further mention in the text about Pharaoh’s decision to let Hadad go, but we can assume that it was refused in order not to cause trouble to Solomon. However, the rest of the text indicates that something went awfully wrong, after Solomon deviates from God’s path: And God raised up another adversary unto him [Solomon], Rezon the son of Eliada, who had fled from his lord Hadadezer king of Zobah. And he gathered men unto him, and became captain over a troop, when David slew them [of Zobah]; and



they went to Damascus, and dwelt therein, and reigned in Damascus. And he was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, beside the evil that Hadad did; and he abhorred Israel, and reigned over Aram. --- I Kings 11:23-25 What "evil" could Hadad have possibly done? He desired to leave Egypt after he learned from David’s death in 1019 BCE. But God watched after Solomon in the first 20 years of his reign. It is only after 999 BCE that God raised adversaries to Solomon, among them Hadad. After the death of Psusennes I in 1001 BCE, his son Amenemope reigned in Tanis, but not for long: he died in 992 BCE and without heir. The crown could have then been taken by one of Psusennes’ family members, who mostly lived in Thebes. But there too, the High Priest Smendes II died in that same year of 992 BCE. So this whole royal family must have been shaken, and it was more important for them to control the religious power in Thebes, over Middle and Upper Egypt. So, in Tanis, another ruler came: it was Osorkon, of Canaanite origin like Hadad. It is possible that Hadad had something to do in the misfortune of the Egyptian dynasty, maybe poisoning the two rulers, in Tanis and in Thebes. Another strange and unique circumstance happened to this family at the same period: one of Psusennes’ sisters was the High Priestess called Maatkare Mutemhat. The High Priestess title, Maatkare, was revived by their father Pinedjem I to grant honour to one of his daughters and strengthen the faith to Amun. The name Maatkare means the "wife of God [Amun-]Re", Maat being the goddess wife of Amun-Re in the Egyptian pantheon. The High Priestess took the vow to never marry, because she was already officially the "wife" of a god. But, when Maatkare’s tomb was discovered in the Theban Necropolis in 1881, they found a small mummy besides her inside the sarcophagi. It was initially thought to be the mummy of a child, but it would not have been possible for a High Priestess to give birth ! Recent X-Ray analysis however determined that it was the mummy of a monkey, a baboon, so the assumption has been that she had been buried with her baboon pet. Was it normal for a High Priestess to be buried with a pet? Probably not, as there is no other occurrence of such kind found anywhere in the History of Ancient Egypt. So there is suspicious that Maatkare did indeed give birth to a child… This situation would have shaken the religious establishment and, beyond the mere scandal it caused, priests would have feared from the gods’ displeasure and outrage: in essence, her husband-god god Amun had been cheated ! It would seem plausible that the mother and the child would have been sacrificed to appease the gods after such sacrilege and, as an extraordinary measure, it would have been decided that Maatkare would be buried with a symbol of her would-have-been-child, the only son she could have had from her husband-god Amun: the god Thoth, who is often represented with the face of a baboon. Also importantly, Thoth was the god responsible for the judgment of the dead. So his place in Maatkare’s sarcophagi was to expiate the sin and a hope that Thoth would protect her in the afterlife.

Sarcophagi of Maatkare with the small mummy in it, photography published in Brugsch, Emile, "La trouvaille de Deir-el-Bahari", Le Caire, 1881 (Cairo Museum CG61088) We can assume that the "evil" Hadad had been the cause of this situation: maybe he ordered the High Priestess to be raped, or maybe he managed to seduce her, so that she would be pregnant. This would have been a sure way, in addition of getting rid of the High Priest himself, to shaken the entire royal and priestly establishment. Then, when he managed to get rid of the royal figure, Pharaoh Amenemope, as well, he would have been sure that the recovery or the nomination of a new Pharaoh would not come from Thebes, as it should have been the case. Hadad had in effect destroyed politically and religiously the family who had an alliance with King Solomon, the son of David who had destroyed Hadad's family and kingdom. This is why the Biblical text mentioned "evil" in his case, unlike the king of Aram who was only an "adversary". Hadad was not a direct military threat to Solomon’s kingdom, like Aram was, but his evil actions indirectly had impacts on the fate of the Israelite kingdom. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2770 – 989 BCE – Jeroboam and Shoshenq Solomon also had trouble in his own house. Jeroboam, the son of a king’s servant from the tribe of Ephraim, lifted his hand against the king (I Kings 11:26). Jeroboam was a mighty young man. The text tells us the root cause of his rebellion, despite the fact that Solomon gave him position and responsibility: it was the consequence of a divine prophecy that Ahijah had told him: And he [Ahijah the Shilonite] said to Jeroboam: "Take you ten pieces; for thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: 'Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to you -- but he shall have one tribe, for My servant David's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel -- because that they have forsaken Me, and have worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon; and they have not walked in My ways, to do that which is right in My eyes, and



to keep My statutes and My ordinances, as did David his father. Howbeit I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand; but I will make him prince all the days of his life, for David My servant's sake, whom I chose, because he kept My commandments and My statutes; but I will take the kingdom out of his son's hand, and will give it unto you, even ten tribes. And unto his son will I give one tribe, that David My servant may have a lamp always before Me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen Me to put My name there. And I will take you, and you shall reign over all that your soul desires, and shall be king over Israel. And it shall be, if you will hearken unto all that I command you, and will walk in My ways, and do that which is right in My eyes, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as David My servant did, that I will be with you, and will build you a sure house, as I built for David, and will give Israel unto you. And I will for this afflict the seed of David, but not forever.' Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam; but Jeroboam arose, and fled into Egypt, unto Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon. --- I Kings 11:31-40 Jeroboam fled to Egypt, but not to the Pharaoh of Egypt, which at the time was Osorkon the Elder. Jeroboam found asylum to Shishak king of Egypt. Who was Shishak? He was Shoshenq, the father of Osorkon. Shoshenq was king of the Meshwesh dynasty of Egypt, but he was not himself the Pharaoh, the political ruler over the capital of Lower Egypt, Tanis. It was his son Osorkon who was the Pharaoh. So the Meshwesh dynasty sheltered in fact both enemies of Solomon, first Hadad the Edomite and then Jeroboam who would later wage war against Solomon’s son. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2781 – 979 BCE – Death of Solomon When King Solomon died after 40 years of reign, the Israelite kingdom was still intact, but it was undermined by threats that waited to unleash. The root cause of them was that Solomon allowed idolatry to exist in his kingdom. God did not accept such deviation from His commandments, and had planned to split the kingdom, as announced to Jeroboam. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2781 – 979 BCE – Scission of the kingdom Solomon was succeeded by his son Rehoboam who would make irreparable political mistakes which lead to a scission of the kingdom in the first year of his reign. In addition, Egypt was no longer an ally to Daviv’s house, due the previous change of rulers. As for the borders in the north, they were also under the threat from the rise of Aram. As soon as he heard about the death of Solomon, Jeroboam returned to Israel and was soon chosen to be king for all the tribes which broke away from the house of Judah, following their discontent with Rehoboam. The threat of a civil war was growing: And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, be assembled all the house of Judah, and the tribe of Benjamin, a hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men that were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to bring the kingdom back to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. But the word of God came unto Shemaiah the man of God, saying: "Speak unto Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and unto all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, saying: Thus says the Lord: You shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel; return every man to his house; for this thing is of Me." So they hearkened unto the word of the Lord, and returned and went their way, according to the word of the Lord. --- I Kings 12:21-24 Eventually, Rehoboam had to bind to the fact that the other tribes, except Benjamin, would not accept his kingship. The kingdom split in that first year, about 280 years after the end of the conquest by Joshua. But the reigns of the early kings of Judah and Israel were plagued by recurrent conflicts between the two sides, without any of the side to be able to overcome the other. The kingdom of Israel would be sinful from the very first reign of Jeroboam, and will remain so until the end. In Judah, a few kings would follow the path of God but most of them would sin. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 2781 – 979 BCE – Jeroboam establishes idolatry in the kingdom of Israel Jeroboam established the capital of the new kingdom in Sichem (today's , in the territory of his tribe, Ephraim. During the reign of Solomon, he had been ordered to build the "House of Joseph" in this city (I Kings 11:28) probably a mausoleum, as Joseph had been buried just outside Sichem. Jeroboam’s chief concern was that the people of his new kingdom would go to Jerusalem for pilgrimage and religious sacrifices and, as a consequence, may turn against him to remain under the protection of the house of God. The solution he found was to divert his people from their traditional divine service and force them to serve idol worship: Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold; and he said unto them: 'You have gone up long enough to Jerusalem; behold your gods, O Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.' And he set the one in Beth-el, and the other put he in Dan. And this thing became a sin; for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan. And he made houses of high places, and made priests from among all the people, that were not of the sons of Levi. And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he went up unto the altar; so did he in Beth-el, to sacrifice unto the calves that he had made; and he placed in Beth-el the priests of the high places that he had made. --- I Kings 12:28-32 The choice of locations for the two new high places, Beth-El and Dan, was carefully chosen. Beth-El was important because the Ark of the Covenant had been placed there in the Judges period, and Beth-El was also close enough from the kingdom of Judah thus enabling the Israelites not to have to travel to Jerusalem any more during the festivals. As of Dan, http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g24-kings1.html (4 of 5) [6/11/2013 11:46:18 AM]


it was located in the northern part of the kingdom at this period of time, so it kept the Israelites of the north as farther as possible from the kingdom of Judah and Jerusalem. As a result of this turn to idolatry, all the Levites who had been in the divine service among the territories of Israel left and found refuge in the kingdom of Judah. God tried to send signs to Jeroboam to turn him back into the good path, but to no avail. His kingdom was doomed to disappear: After this thing Jeroboam returned not from his evil way, but made again from among all the people priests of the high places; whosoever would, he consecrated him, that he might be one of the priests of the high places. And by this thing there was sin unto the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off, and to destroy it from off the face of the earth. --- I Kings 13:33-34 Jeroboam also established a new calendar of festivals in which the new year of his kingdom was set on the 8th month compared to the calendar used in Judah (I Kings 12:32). The Hebrews had used a solar-lunar calendar, combining the 12 months and the 4 seasons, and the start of it was decreed to be in Nisan, which was also called Aviv, as the month of Spring. Conveniently it was also the month when the Hebrews were taken out from Egypt, as the Exodus took plave on a 15th of Nisan. The Egyptian calendar was not much different as it also started in that same period, but was divided in 12 months of 30 days, thus not taking into account the lunar phases: this is the calendar that the Hebrews used when they were in Egypt, but they had been given a new calendar by divine commandments based both on solar (seasons) and lunar (regular) cycles. When Jeroboam started to reign, after a few months of conflicts with Rehoboam, he decreed to start the year from the start of his reign, which took place on the 15th day of the 8th month of the corresponding Judah calendar: this was the month of Marshvevan, called “Bul” at the time (I Kings 6:38). This was another important step for him to grad mindshare of his people because he knew that, after a while, they would adapt to the new calendar and will be forgetful of the Judean calendar and festivals. ~~~~~~~~~~

Chronology of the two kingdoms This difference of calendar has some implication in the calculation of the chronology of events that followed because each time a new king would reign, the years stated would be the years from the start of his reign. So, generally speaking, there is always some slight difference in the years stated in the Biclical text because the referential of the years depends of the reign of such or such king, in Judah or Israel. There are typically two indications in the Biblical text: 1The start of a reign: it is relative to the year of reign in the other kingdom (for example a new king of Judah came to reign on the Xth year of reign of the king of Israel); obviously, as there is no mention of a starting month, some discrepancy would cumulate and need to be readjusted in some particular moments where we have an indication that enables us to do so; of course, as mentioned above, the reign of Jeroboam over Israel started 8 months from the start of the reign of Rehoboam in Judah (a reign which started at the death of Solomon) 2The length of a reign: it is generally given in a number of years, or in months for reigns of a period smaller than 12 months, or in days for a period smaller than 29 or 30 days (lunar months); obviously, here again, as there is no mention of reigns being of X years + Y months precisely, when a reign ends after X years, it will mean that X years of reign have completed and up to 11 months have completed as well; so some discrepancy also cumulates because of this, and needs to be readjusted at particular events of the chronology, when we have some indication to do so To minimize the effects of apparent discordance of the chronologies between Judah and Israel, we applied the simple rules as follows: when the text says (as an example) in the 10th year of the reign of King X of Judah, we need to consider that year being after 9 (full) years to fit into the chronology of Israel which started 8 months after the one of Judah; but when the text says in the 10th year of the reign of King Y of Israel, we keep the full 10 years to compensate for the 8-month shift from the start of the chronology of Judah the length of a king’s reign is until his death; but, there are several occurrences where his son was raised to reign in the last years of his father (surely to guarantee the succession while the old king was still alive), and would receive his status of king generally at the death of his father; so, for as long as his father was alive, the chronology was counted from the start of the reign of his father, even if it is mentioned that the son started to reign, and the chronology of the reign of the son begins from the death of his father; this detail explains some apparent non-logical statements of the text, but, in essence, we have to read the text as it occurred at the moment it was written down, with the father was alive, or the father had just died there are necessary adjustments to make from time to time in the chronology to make good sense of some events (for example the death of a king followed by the reign of his son, and not the reverse); these adjustments are not a contradiction of the text but simply a necessity because of the lack of complete detail of an event happening in year X, month Y and day Z; such adjustments cannot however exceed one year in any chronology the adjustment of lunar and solar-lunar calendars are done after two periods of 120 years with a difference counting for about two years ~~~~~~~~~~







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Early Dynasties What is new In this period, the Sumerian cities continued to be built across Mesopotamia and Index of names their rulers would eventually be at war one against another for regional domination. Idolatry was spreading fast, as a mean to subjugate people to the power of these rulers. Creation Generations 114 Generations 1521 Generations 2228 Generations 2935 Generations 3649 Generation 50



Stele of Uruk, ca. 3000 BCE, Bagdad Museum (source: 2DCODE) In Ancient Egypt, civilization started to form and the Early Dynastic Period dates around 3200-3100 BC.







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Hebrew years 1200 to 1320 (2560-2440 BCE) In Hebrew year 1235, Kenan died at the age of 905. He was followed by MehalalEL who died at the age of 895 in Hebrew year 1290.

Index of names Next generation Creation Top of Page Generations 114 Generations 1521 Generations 2228 Generations 2935 Generations 3649 Generation 50






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Hebrew years 1320 to 1440 (2440-2320 BCE) In year 1422, Jared died at the age of 962. He was the longest living person to die since Adam who died at the age of 930. Next generation

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Top of Page Creation Generations 114 Generations 1521 Generations 2228 Generations 2935 Generations 3649 Generation 50





‫ םלוע רדס‬- ‫שדח‬ Home Contact What is new Creation

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Hebrew years 1441 to 1560 (2320-2200 BCE) By this time, several civilizations had established themselves across the known world: from Sumer in Lower Mesopotamia over the entire Fertile Crescent, across Canaan and down to Egypt, but also across Turkey into Greece and in the Aegean Sea with the Minoan islands. Further east, people had settled in the Hindus Valley and until the last shores of China.

Generations 1- Just before the end of this generation, in year 1556, Noah begot three sons: 14 And Noah was 500-year old and Noah begot Shem, Cham and Yafeth. Generations 15---Genesis 5:32 21 It is the second instance of the Biblical text where the birth of three sons from one Generations 22- individual is mentioned. The previous occurrence was with Adam who begot Cain, 28 Abel and Seth, at different times. Abel died and his life was therefore wasted. Cain turned to the evil ways, and brought wickedness on earth. Seth was the worthy one Generations 29- who survive, and he begot multiple sons and daughters, from which only one 35 lineage kept in the path of God. Similarly, with Noah’s sons: Cham will choose a sinful path; Yafeth, despite his pleasant physical looks (as depicted by the root of Generations 36- his name, meaning beauty), will bring evil kingdoms and wars; and Shem will give 49 birth to multiple people from which a small portion would eventually continue in the path of God. Generation 50 The order of these births is actually reversed from the order in the Biblical text: first Yafeth was born, in year 1556, followed by Cham in year 1557, and then by Shem in year 1558 (Genesis 11:10). Because of the worthiness of Shem, God spared His creation from total annihilation. Indeed mankind got so evil that it made the entire creation unworthy. But one single person, who walks in the good way, has the power to change God's initial decree. The world had indeed become impossible for righteous people to live in: And the Earth corrupted itself in front of God and the earth was filled with violence. God saw the Earth and, behold, it was corrupted because it corrupted every flesh from its path on earth. --- Genesis 6:11-12 Mankind ruined the earth and all the creatures that God created. In fact, there was no more mankind as the boundaries between man and beast became so blur that God had recourse to mention them as every flesh.



Looking at the two above verses from the Bible, in the first instance the Earth

‫ )ץֶרָאָה תֵחָּׁשִּת‬and then it became irreversibly corrupted (‫ץֶרָאָה‬... ‫ )הָתָחְׁשִנ‬and finally it corrupted (‫ )תיִחְׁשִה‬every flesh on

corrupted itself (

Earth. This three times mention of the same verb indicates that the corruption was total, complete, because this is the meaning of the number three. It is also noticeable that the word used for the total corruption of the Earth

‫ )הָתָחְׁשִנ‬uses the same three letters (‫ חשנ‬and ‫ )שחנ‬that form the word Snake (‫ ׁ)שָחָּנַה‬who caused the original sin of Adam and Eve. In other words, it (

was one of the animals (the snake) who caused the corruption of the first man, who then produced corrupted mankind, who in turn corrupted the enitre Creation, every flesh. The root of the word snake also gives the name to the copper and bronze (‫)תשוחנ‬,which has been indicative of the Bronze Age and the era when the Earth became filled with violence. By mixing up different ores of metal found in the earth, mankind created a new metal (bronze) so, in other words, he interfered in the elements of the Creation and corrupted it. But, as the Biblical text states it: mankind was not the sole responsible from the deviation from the divine Creation because the Earth corrupted itself. In fact the Earth had already disobeyed God's orders in the course of the Creation (in the Third Day): And God said: "Let the Earth sprout vegetation, herbage producing seed, and fruit-tree making fruit according to its kind, containing its own seed, upon the Earth.' And it was so. And the Earth sprouted vegetation, herbage producing seed according to its kind, and tree making fruit, containing its own seed, according to its kind; and God saw that it was good. --- Genesis 1:11-12 Where did the Earth deviated from God's order? A careful comparison of the two above verses shows that, for example, God ordered that the trees would be fruittrees themselves, meaning that the tree itself would be a fruit, and not simply a producer of fruit. Man would have been able to eat the fruit and the tree, if the Creation had been according to the divine plan. But the Earth, at a time when some free will existed in all elements of the Creation, diverted from God's will. Although the result was nonetheless pleasing as God saw it was good, it nonetheless represented a corruption from God's will, and the start of sin. The parallel between the Earth's corrupted way during the Creation and the corruption that continued later can also be understood in the number of these verses: Genesis 1:1112 for one and Genesis 6:11-12 for the other. God's punishment would not be directed at mankind only but at the entire Earth and what it contained. God would have to correct the ways His Creation was going, and stripped some of the original benefits from it so that the corruption of the created world would become harder, if not impossible, to achieve by itself. Next generation Top of Page






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Year 3896 – 136 CE – Justin and the Dialogue with Trypho

Shortly after the Bar-Kochba revolt was crushed by the Romans, one Christian man called Justin endeavoured to convince the Jews of the Messianic nature of Jesus. It was a right time because the Jews, once again, seemed to have been abandoned Creation by God to the harsh hands of the pagan Romans. Surely God must be angry at His people for refusing to accept the Messiah He sent to earth ! To make his point, Justin imagined that he communicated with a Jew called Tryphon with whom he Generations would argue using the Jewish Scriptures in favour of Jesus to be the Messiah of the Jews. The written work is known as 1-14 the Dialogue with Trypho. Generations But his arguments failed to convince anyone among the Jewish population because he had no knowledge of Hebrew so only used the text of the Septuagint, the Greek version of the Bible, and built many of his demonstrations based on 15-21 erroneous assumptions in interpreting the Greek words. One famous example concerned the so-called announcement of Generations the forthcoming birth of Jesus in the Scriptures based on Isaiah 7:14: 22-28 In the Septuagint, the word Generations in such sense in other parts of the Biblical text, had been translated in Greek as the Virgin ! Thus the early 29-35 Christians misunderstood this verse as an announcement of the venue of Jesus. The correct translation of this verse is:

‫הָמְלַעָה הֵּנִה‬, ‫ןֵּב תֶדֶלֹיְו הָרָה‬, ‫ֹומְׁש תאָרָקְו‬, ‫לֵא ּונָּמִע‬.

‫ הָמְלַע‬which means Young Girl in Hebrew as it has been used

Behold, the young girl shall conceive and bear a son, and will name him With Us, God (Emmanuel). Generations 36-49 In general, the Jews rejected these Christian attempts to demonstrate that the Messiah had come, with Jesus, because of http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g33-mishna.html (1 of 10) [6/11/2013 11:46:49 AM]


the following "messianic signs" that did not come: Generation 50

●

●

●

●

in Messianic times, before the venue of the Messiah, the "exiles" will be gathered to the Promised Land; but, in these times, the contrary was happening, with many Jews taken as slaves to many parts of the Roman Empire, and the Promised Land changing name and ownership under the Roman yoke the Temple will be rebuilt in Jerusalem; and then, at the contrary, it had just been destroyed and the holy city of Jerusalem was turning into a Roman city dedicated to a pagan god, Jupiter before the venue of the Messiah, wars will prevail in the world, as it seemed to appear at this time, but, once the Messiah will come to light, peace will prevail, even in the animal kingdom when the beast will be able to live next to the lamb; yet, since Jesus had lived, wars and destructions became worse, and the holy city and the Temple were even destroyed the Messiah will be a man who will come from the Tribe of Judah and a direct descendant of King David; but, in the case of Jesus, such lignage had not been ascertained

For the above reasons, and many others related to Scriptures, Jesus could not possibly have been the Messiah of the Jews. And he didn't declare himself as such either. Justin's efforts were obviously doomed to fail. Later, Justin set to Rome in the time of the next emperor, Antoninus Pius, where he opened a Christian school, which had to be clandestine in these times. He was denounced by a Greek philosopher, then tried and executed in 165 in the reign of Marcus Aurelius. It is worth noting as well that the term Christian did not exist yet in these times: it will appear some years later, from the Greek version of the word Messiah translated as Christos. In the Holy Land, the early Christians were considered as a sect (min in Hebrew), like the Sadducees or the Essenes, and were called the Nazarenes or Nazoreans, because they were the followers of Jesus of Nazareth. This term will remain as such in the Eastern provinces of the Roman empire (and is still used today in Hebrew as Notzrim and in Arabic as Nasrani), whereas the Western part adopted the Greek term and called them Christians. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3898 – 138 CE – Antoninus Pius Hadrian spent his following years in Rome, in poor health, with worries and unhappiness. In 138, he chose his successor, Antoninus Pius, who had previously served as proconsul of the Asian provinces. Before he came to power, all of Antoninus' children had died except for one daughter, Annia Galeria Faustina "the Younger" (Faustina "the Elder" was her mother, wife of Antoninus), who was married to Marcus Aurelius. Her husband later succeeded Antoninus in 161 CE. According to Tradition, Antoninus had befriended with Judah the son of the nassi Shimon ben Gamaliel, probably when he was proconsul of Syria and was often stationed in Tiberias. Judah was greatly acknowledged for wisdom in his times and received the surname of Judah the Prince or is mostly mentioned in the Talmud as simply Rabbi. His meetings http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g33-mishna.html (2 of 10) [6/11/2013 11:46:49 AM]


with Antoninus were kept secret, and even their future communications, when Antoninus returned to Rome, were done by the means of symbols. Yet some particular details of the Talmud would prove this special relationship to be correct. One example concerned his daughter Galeria who committed adultery, a circumstance that was hidden in the official History, except for rumours that were reported by other sources. Antoninus had sought advice from Judah: The Emperor [Antoninus] had a daughter named Gilla [Galeria] who committed a sin, so he sent to Rabbi a rocket-herb, [5a] and Rabbi in return sent him coriander.[5b] The Emperor then sent some leeks,[5c] and he sent lettuce in return.[5d] --- Talmud, Abodah Zarah, 10b This Talmudic anecdote shows that Rabbi saved Galeria from sure punishment from her father. Some Roman sources cited the rumours of adultery concerning Antoninus' daughter: Some say, and it seems plausible, that Commodus Antoninus, his son and successor [of Marcus Aurelius], was not begotten by him but in adultery; they embroider this assertion, moreover, with a story current among the people. On a certain occasion, it was said, Faustina, the daughter of [Antoninus] Pius and wife of Marcus, saw some gladiators pass by and was inflamed for love of one of them; and afterwards, when suffering from a long illness, she confessed the passion to her husband. And when Marcus reported this to the Chaldeans, it was their advice that Faustina should bathe in his blood and thus couch with her husband. --- Historia Augusta, The Life of Marcus Aurelius, 19:1-2 [5e] The difference with the story of the Talmud is that above it was said that it was her father who sought advice from the "Chaldeans", a term which would have meant people of the East and could therefore have applied to Rabbi, whereas the reality was that it was her father Antoninus who did. Yet the wife and daughter was pardonned for this moment of her life, and the official History of Rome retained that she was a good wife to her husband and honoured by him.

http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g33-mishna.html (3 of 10) [6/11/2013 11:46:49 AM]


Galeria Faustina The Younger (Musée du Louvre) ~~~~~~~~~~ http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g33-mishna.html (4 of 10) [6/11/2013 11:46:49 AM]


Year 3900 – 140 CE – The new Sanhedrin with Shimon ben Gamaliel II Shimon, the son of Rabban Gamaliel II who died in the siege of Lydda, as the last nassi, was elected to the same role as his father in 140 by the assembly of Galilee. They then established the new Sanhedrin in the city of Shefaram. Shimon participated in the Revolt of Bar-Kochba, like many other religious leaders who thought the Messianic times had started, but managed to escape the massacre of the last stand at Betar and could tell his companions and disciples the horrors of the Roman repression in that place. During his tenure, the seat of the Sanhedrin moved to various locations in Galilee, probably as a mean to escape persecution. After Shefaram, it moved to Beth-Shearim where many religious were later buried, and then it moved to Sepphoris in 163.



Entrance to some of the toms at Beth-Shearim (photo from the author's collection) ~~~~~~~~~~

About Year 3920 – 160 CE – Seder Olam Rabbah Around the year 160 CE, the book called Seder Olam, meaning the "Order of the World", was composed by Rabbi Yose ben Halafta, a disciple of Akiva (Talmud, Yevamoth 82b, Niddah 46b), and contains is a chronology from Adam until the revolt of Bar-Kochba . It has been referred in the Talmud and many later works since. The first printing version was published in Mantua, Italy, in 1514, less than 60 years after the invention of the printing press by Gutenberg in 1455. The Sefer Olam consists of 30 chapters, but the entire period Nehemiah until the Great Revolt only covers the last chapter. Most of the chronology is thus derived from the Biblical sources, which may also explain that there is little added from the Hellenistic period. Although the chronology from the Creation to the Exodus is fairly detailed and free from debate, the periods that follow, from the time of Joshua and the Judges until later events, are based on personal calculations and assumptions made by the author. Unfortunately these assumptions do not match other historical chronologies that have been established by the Egyptian, Babylonian and Persian records. The present book is in fact an attempt to reconcile these differences and explain where the original assumptions were wrong in the chronology established by the Seder Olam. The main milestones between the Seder Olam and the present work are shown below: Seder Olam (Hebrew Year)

Equivalent Year (BCE)

Seder Olam Revisited (Hebrew Year)

Equivalent Year (BCE)

1

-3760

1

-3760

The Flood

1656

-2104

1656

-2104

Birth of Isaac

2048

-1712

2048

-1712

The Exodus

2448

-1312

2454

-1306

First Temple - foundation

2928

-832

2745

-1015

Event Creation



First Temple - destruction

3338

-422

How to explain the differences? - Up to the time of the Exodus, both chromologies are identical, simply because the chronology of the Bible is very detailed from the Creation until Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt - For the Exodus, the main reference is that exile of the Hebrews ended after 430 years, from the presumed year of the Convenant; the discrepancy has been explained in the Generation 21 - For the construction of the First Temple, it started 480 years from the Exodus according to interpretations of the text; so the Seder Olam added 480 to their calculation of the year of Exodus (2448) to reach the year 2928; but this simple assumption would make the period of Judges and Kings far too lenghty and the reslt does not fit any archaeological evidence about the presumed reign of David and Solomon (around 1000 BCE); the correct interpretation of these 480 years has been given in Generation 23 - The destruction of the First Temple is assumed to have happened 410 years from its foundation (the construction took 7 years); and there is historical evidence for this particular event, based on the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, who destroyed Jerusalem in 587 BCE; the Seder Olam has reached the calculation with Hebrew year 3338 which corresponds to 422 BCE, far too late in the historical time... The reason for this discrepancy is obviously chiefly caused by the above issue about when the First Temple's foundation was laid; but then there is also another issue related to the 410 years, as explained in Generation 27 of this revised calculation The original work is now referred as Sefer Olam Rabbah, meaning the Great Seder Olam, to distinguish it from another later work called Seder Olam Zutta, meaning the Smaller Seder Olam. ~~~~~~~~~~

About Year 3940 – 180 CE – Judah ha-Nassi, compiler of the Mishna Shimon ben Gamaliel II died in 180, the same year that Marcus Aurelius, who had succeeded Antoninus Pius as emperor, also died: When Rabban Simeon b. Gamaliel died, locusts [the tax collectors] came up and troubles increased. --- Talmud, Sotah, 49b He was succeeded as nassi by his son Judah "the Prince". According to Tradition, Judah was born the moment that Akiva had died at the hands of the Romans in 135 CE, thus perpetuating the scholarship of the talmudic schools. Judah was the one who directed the huge task of compiling the Mishna, which is the foundation for the Talmud. This was done in his difficult times, when Roman persecutions were great against religious leaders and when the Sanhedrin had to move from http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g33-mishna.html (7 of 10) [6/11/2013 11:46:49 AM]

3173

-587


place to place to avoid troubles. In these times, there were fears that the knowledge of the Sages would eventually get lost so it was decided that a written compilation of the Oral Law was thus needed for future generations who will live under the rule of foreign powers. The Mishna was composed under six sections: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Zeraim – the laws related to Land of Israel and its agriculture Moed - the laws concerning the Holy Days in the time of the Temple and in Diaspora Nashim - the laws concerning family life and women in particular Nezikin – the laws governing the person-to-person relationships, business, damages, etc. Kodashim – the laws concerning the "sanctity" such as sacrifices, dietary practices, prohibitions, etc. Tehoroth – the laws of "family purity"

Judah ha-Nassi kept his role of nassi until his death in 219,[6] and was buried in Beth-Shearim. ~~~~~~~~~~

About Year 3953 – 193 CE – The Year of the Five Emperors When Marcus Aurelius died, he left a vast and powerful empire in the hands of Rome. He was succeeded by his son Commodus who was rumoured to be the son of a gladiator with whom Galeria had had an affair. Commodus behaved in a most abnormal way as a ruler, and would rather take the arena to fight as a gladiator. He was assassinated in 192, a situation which left a political crisis about his succession. Five people claimed to deserve the role of emperor in that year, and will fight one against the other by declaring themselves emperor, until ultimately only one of them survived, Septimus Severus, and defeated his last opponent in 197.



The Roman Empire at the death of Marcus Aurelius in 180 CE (Source Wikipedia) ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [5a] The word rocket-herb is called gargilla which indicated to Rabbi the meaning of gar Gilla, or "Gilla has gone astray". [5b] The coriander is called kusbarta which gives the meaning kus barta; barta is the daughter but kus has dual meaning, http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g33-mishna.html (9 of 10) [6/11/2013 11:46:49 AM]


either reprove or slay; Rabbi wanted to indicate that the Emperor had the two options... [5c] The leeks are called karethi, which means cut-off, thus indicating that Antoninus was prepared to choose a harsh sentence against his daughter [5d] The lettuce is called hasa which also means compassion, thus indicating that Rabbi recommended to Antoninus to rather choose the other option [5e] This text is available online; to read it click here [6] Some say that he died in 188 CE but this date would be quite short for a tenure of 8 years during which the compilation of the Mishna would have been completed







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Generation 34

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What is new Index of names Creation Generations 1-14

Year 3960 – 200 CE – Septimus Severus The new emperor Septimus Severus was not too tolerant towards foreign religions and rather persecuted the communities with decrees when he came to Syria for a campaign in the East from the year 195: After this, having first raised his soldiers' pay, he turned his steps toward Alexandria, and while on his way thither he conferred numerous rights upon the communities of Palestine. He forbade conversion to Judaism under heavy penalties and enacted a similar law in regard to the Christians. --- Historia Augusta, Severus, chapter 17

Generations 15-21 His policy will be continued during his entire reign. In 202, he endeavoured to increase the Roman empire in Northern Africa and, from 208, he campaigned in Britain beyond the Hadrian Wall. When he died in York (England) in 211, his Generations two sons Caracalla and Geta succeeded him. But the former, the older one, had his younger brother Geta murdered after a few months, so Caracalla reigned alone from the end of 211. 22-28 ~~~~~~~~~~

Generations 29-35

Year 3972 – 212 CE – The Edict of Caracalla

Generations 36-49 At the beginning of his reign, Caracalla made an unprecedented move by granting Roman citizenship to all free men and women of the Empire whereas, previously, only the citizens of Italy could enjoy such privilege. The motives are http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g34-roman.html (1 of 9) [6/11/2013 11:46:59 AM]


Generation 50

unclear but Roman historians assumed it was a mean to increase the number of taxpayers, because non-citizens were not obligated to the Roman taxes. Although this can be contended because Jews, for example, were imposed special tax so the same could have been applied to other foreigners, one way or another, without granting full citizenship. The Talmud has many references to Caracalla, whose real name was Antoninus Augustus, who came to the Eastern provinces in 216 to wage a war against the Parthians. In the Levant, he remained for some time: The emperor [Caracalla] then left Troy and traveled through the rest of Asia, Bithynia, and the remaining provinces. After tending to affairs in these regions, he came to Antioch. Given a warm welcome there, he remained for some time. --- Herodian, Roman History, 4:8, paragraph 6 Caracalla had several discussions with the rabbis of the time. The Talmud put him on a high scale by stating: Rabbi Hama son of Rabbi Hanina said: Three treasures did Joseph hide in Egypt: one was revealed to Korah; one to Antoninus the son of Severus; and the third is stored up for the righteous for the future time. --- Talmud, Pesachim, 119b But Caracalla’s campaign against Parthia was not successful. He was assassinated a year later in 217 by one of his officers in a field near Charan (Northern Syria), when he stopped to urinate. He was succeeded by Macrinus, a bureaucrat of Berber origin (North Africa) who also was assassinated after a few months in 218. He was succeeded by 14 years old Elagabalus, of Syrian origin by his mother side. The latter was assassinated too in 222, due to his disregard for religion and morality, and replacedby his cousin Alexander Severus. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3982 – 222 CE – Alexander Severus The emperor Alexander Severus was born in a town of modern-day northern Lebanon, which was part of the Roman province of "Syria-Palestina", and started to reign at the age of 13. So he was greatly influenced by his mother, of Syrian origin, who educated him for his role and advised him on every affair. On religious affairs, he was very tolerant and gave freedom of cult to Jews and Christians in the Empire: He respected the privileges of the Jews and allowed the Christians to exist unmolested. --- Historia Augusta, The Life of Severus Alexander, chapter 22 He authorized the construction of a synagogue in Rome and gave as a gift a scroll of Torah that had been brought back by Titus from the Temple of Jerusalem in 70. This scroll, also called Codex Severi, has been lost since. He lived a life of modesty and even adopted the great maxim of Hillel: http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g34-roman.html (2 of 9) [6/11/2013 11:46:59 AM]


When in the field or on a campaign he lunched and dined in an open tent and ate the soldiers' ordinary food in the sight of all and greatly to their pleasure; and he used to go about to all the tents and never permitted anyone to be absent from the colours. Moreover, if any man turned aside from the road into someone's private property, he was punished in the Emperor's presence according to the character of his rank, either by the club or by the rod or by condemnation to death, or, if his rank placed him above all these penalties, by the sternest sort of a rebuke, the Emperor saying, "Do you desire this to be done to your land which you are doing to another's?" He used often to exclaim what he had heard from someone, either a Jew or a Christian, and always remembered, and he also had it announced by a herald whenever he was disciplining anyone, "What you do not wish that a man should do to you, do not do to him." And so highly did he value this sentiment that he had it written up in the Palace and in public buildings. --- Historia Augusta, The Life of Severus Alexander, chapter 51 ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 3995 – 235 CE – The "Crisis of the Third Century" But Severus reign was also marked by troubles on the borders of the empire, with both Persian and German attacks that resulted in territorial losses for Rome. 'The emperor was assassinated by his own troops in 235 while campaigning in Germany: they had lost faith in his leadership after the defeats that the German tribes inflicted to the Roman legions. This led the Roman empire to another crisis of succession that has been called by Historians the "Crisis of the Third Century" because it lasted a long time until the year 284, and during which the empire was divided between various parts, each ruled by different claimants to the emperorship.

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The Roman Empire in 271 CE (source Wikipedia) ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 4045 – 285 CE – Diocletian divides the Empire A Roman army commander, Diocletian, managed to conclude the crisis that plagued the Roman Empire in the 3rd Century by establishing the model of Tetrarchy whereas the ruling of the empire was divided between four individuals. Diocletian's last opponent was defeated in July 285, and this victory secured his model of the empire. This date marked the moment when the Roman Empire began to divide, most generally between an Western and an Eastern empires. In the years that followed, Diocletian also brought success against the enemies of Rome at the borders of the empire. He http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g34-roman.html (4 of 9) [6/11/2013 11:46:59 AM]


also reorganised the empire with new administrative centres. For example, the province of Syria-Palaestina was divided into Palaestina Prima (Judea, Samaria, Idumea, Peraea and the coastal plain with Caesarea as capital), Palaestina Secunda (Galilee, Decapolis, Golan heights with Beth-Shean as capital) and Palaestina Tertia (the Negev with Petra as capital). This division remained the same until the Byzantine Empire.



The 3 new divisions of Syria-Palaestina in the 3rd-5th centuries (source Wikipedia) ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 4063 – 303 CE – Persecutions against the Christians The Christians had been discriminated during the reigns of some of the Roman emperors but not as much persecuted as in the time of Diocletian who issued a series of decrees against the followers of that religion. According to estimates, the persecutions that followed and lasted until the reign of Constantine costed the life of about 3500 Christians.



The Christian Martyrs' Last Prayer, Jean-Léon Gérôme, 1883 (Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, USA) ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 4073 – 313 CE – Constantine and the Edict of Milan At the end of 312 CE, Constantine won a decisive battle against the only other ruler of the empire, Maxentius, at the Milvian Bridge. This paved the way for him to become the sole emperor of the Roman Empire, thus ending the period of the Tetrarchy for a certain time.



Constantine (Museo Chiaramonti, Vatican) His reign was a turning point in the religious affairs too because, in 313, he decreed the Edict of Milan by which the Christian religion become officially tolerated in the empire. It was said that this change was mostly due to his mother, http://www.seder-olam.info/seder-olam-g34-roman.html (8 of 9) [6/11/2013 11:46:59 AM]


Helena, who was greatly influenced by Christianity and was credited, during a last trip to Judea in her old age, to have found the relics of the cross on which Jesus was crucified. At her time, Jerusalem was being rebuilt and several churches were erected such as over the Calvary in Jerusalem (which will become the Saint Sepulchre), at the Nativity in BethLehem, and so on. Helena died in 327 or 330 and was later canonized as Saint Helena. The new policy opened up the road to the building of churches throughout the Roman provinces, not only on the holy sites as Helena directed. ~~~~~~~~~~

Year 4075 – 315 CE – The New Testament In 315, Athanasius, the Bishop of Alexandria, finalised the books to be included in the canon of Christian scripture: it became known as the New Testament. It is composed of the following 27 books: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, Corinthians I & II, Timothy I & II, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, Peter I & II, John I & II & III, Jude, Revelation. In total, the Old and New Testaments represent 66 books. ~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: [1] It refers to Deuteronomy 14:22: You shall surely tithe [2] Johanan ben Zakkai established the first talmudic school (metaphorically a vineyard) in that city, away from the Judeo-Roman war that led to the destruction of Jerusalem and of the Temple Next generation Top of Page



Diagram for Dating of Exodus Year by Epochs of ‘Determined Time’ using “The Balfour Generation” method Time Gap 1 is time From Old Covenant start when Abraham was age 75 until Jacob Birth 85 years later Gen. 12:4, 21:5, & 25:26

3974 BC

1974 BC -25 -60 -430 1459 BC

O

1974 BC

Luke 16:16, 3:21-23 & Matt. 11:12-13

N End of New Covenant 1Th.4:16-18 E Eternity Future Start Rev.20:1&7, &10; Rev.10:6

eX 1459 BC

CA 27 AD

N

3023.5 AD

1

CA Christ Anointing @30Yr, born 4BC

2023.5

A

C A O Old Covenant Gen. 12:4

2016.5 AD

Time Gap 2 is 430 years From Law to Covenant Confirmation with Jacob’s Birth Ex. 12:40-41, 19:1 & Gal.3:15-17

A Adamic Covenant Gen. 3:15

1Tim.1:4

2

E

3027 AD

04 BC Jesus Birth alt

|<- 7k years total - From A to CA, 4,000 years, & O to CA, 2,000 years, & CA to E 3,000 years ->| Total Determined Time is Comprised of 1000 years of Rest and 6,000 years of Labor * Year of Completion for Solomon’s Temple, 1459 – 487 = 972 BC 1Kgs.6:1&:38

The Seven Covenant Days between God & Man: by O. P. Armstrong, July 2013 

Appendix Balfour Century Determined Times Figure A

Jesus baptism by John began the Kingdom Epoch. If time is linear, then knowing one point in the divine calendar allows mapping all other seven days into Gregorian time. Whilst there may be minor disputing about the precise counting of “the 15th year of Tiberius Caesar, etc”, all concur to within a few years (range 26AD to 29AD). The birth of Jesus in Year 4BC fits within both historical and prophetic documentation. The Biblical Seven Days of Creation teach us to consider that God shall complete all his work with fallen mankind and make a new creation in seven days of one thousand years each. „And I saw a New heaven and a New Earth‟ spake John in his Revelation. Go page 1 Page 13 of 17

Explanation of “The Balfour Century” Timeline: by O. P. Armstrong, 2010

Page 6

PROPHETIC TIMES

B.C.

Omar takes Jerusalem

400

ROME:

THE 2300 YEARS

400

637

900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600

1860. 1889

1844. 1878

1849. 1879

1867

1849

1793

1903

1898

1856-7

1844

1821

1934

1923

1934

1917

1900

AND

1699 1800 1900 1934

From the inside cover of Light For the Last Days, by H. G. Guinness. New Edition. Ed by E.P. Cachemaille. London: Marshall, Morgan & Scott. 1917. Historicism.com 2002.

1933

1917

1924

MOHAMMEDAN POWERS. RISING AGAIN OF ISRAEL.

1915

1800

FALL OF PAPAL

1844

1699

1798

1600

1774

REFORMATION

1699

1500

600 637 700 800

42 MONTHS

1260 DAYS

1400

42 MONTHS

PAPACY

3 ½ TIMES

OF

1260 DAYS

1300

HEIGHT

SANCTUARY CYCLE

622 3 ½ TIMES with the 30 + 45 years

590

607

590

900

1200

476

ROME PAPAL

800

1100

300

CHRISTIAN

Omar takes Jerusalem

TIMES OF THE GENTILES

AD

200

End of Western Roman Empire

1000

100

100

533

600 637 700

476

476

RISE OF PAPAL AND MOHAMMEDAN POWERS

200

96

68

300

395

408

33

34

6

2520 YEARS

300

PAGAN;

100 200

400

GREECE

THE SEVENTY WEEKS

AD

500

PERSIA 444

457

480

THE PERIOD OF SEVEN TIMES

100

587

MEDO-

400

200

747 700

BABYLON

587

598

604

605

500

300

B.C.

End of Western Roman Empire

676

723

587

CAPTIVITY ERA

747

747 700

Seder Olam revised is a PDF copy of referenced web page

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