The
story begins around 3500 BC, when peoples in West Asia
and north Africa settled into the Neolithic pattern of
agriculture. It continues through the development of Mesopotamian
and Egyptian civilizations, and the rise of the Hebrew
peoples.
Sumeria:
symbolic writing
The earliest Mesopotamian civilization, centered
in the south, developed a symbolic writing system.
Although they began as pictographs, Sumerian cuneiform
evolved into a written language based completely
on abstract symbols.
Military
Empire Mesopotamia's geographic exposure to its neighbors
left it open to attack. The result was the development
of militarized states, including the most brutal,
that of the Assyrian Empire. This empire was destroyed
in 612 BC by a combined force of Babylonians and
Medes.
MESOPOTAMIA
Geography
Dominated by the unreliable and violent Tigris and
Euphrates Rivers, Mesopotamian were subject to droughts
and floods. This gave them a pessimistic view of religion,
where human-like gods played with people like toys.
The afterlife was a ghastly place where souls ate
dust and were slaves to the gods. It also gave them
a penchant for change, and an impetus for developing
sophisticated technologies.
Kings and law
Mesopotamian kings were mortals who needed to unify
their rule through written law. One of the most
famous collections of law is called Hammurabi's
Code, which instituted punishments based on a person's
rank in society.
Akhenaton
Egypt was polytheistic, with many gods. But one
pharoah, in a combination of personal spirituality
and an effort to destroy the power of the priestly
class, developed a cult to the worship of one god,
Aton. When he died, his nephew Tut (originally Tutankaton,
then Tutankamen) became pharoah. He died young and
was buried in extraordinary splendor.
EGYPT
Geography
Unlike Mespotamia, Egyptian geography was stable.
The Nile River reliably rose and fell each year,
leaving behind rich silt on either side for planting.
This gave the Egyptians a benign view of the supernatural,
with gods that helped humans. The afterlife was
a pleasant continuation of life on earth.
God-kings
Egyptian kings were also part god, and thus had
little need for written codes. If the pharoah said
it was law, then it was law.
Stability
Egyptians relied on continuity to guide their lives,
thinking of time as cyclical rather than linear.
Change was seen as meaning discontinuity and strife.
Although later creating an Empire of her own, originally
Egypt relied on trade and diplomacy. An era of Nile
droughts and unpredictability led to an era of empire.
Progress
The Hebrew belief in messiahs, people who rose
to lead during times of trouble, led to a forward-looking
faith in progress. Times past were seen as behind
us, and the future stretched ahead as a time of
promise where justice would be achieved and things
made right. This is the origin of our idea of
progress.
Solomon's
Temple
Despite nomadic origins, the Hebrews founded stable
kingdoms in Palestine.They preserved their culture
despite takeover by large empires like Assyria,
Babylonia, Persia, Greece and Rome.
PALESTINE
Monotheism
The Hebrews became a people when Abraham left Mespotamia
for the eastern Mediterranean. Abraham and his followers
believed in one god, and that the Hebrews had been
given a special mission of worship.
Invisible
God
Unlike the civilizations that surrounded them, the
one God of the Hebrews was everywhere, thus there
were no images of him. He was invisible, which made
religion portable. This separated the ceremonies
of worship (performed by priests) from prayer (performed
by believers). The Jewish religion was the first
loyalty of a Hebrew, regardless of where s/he was
living.
Study
of the law
Priests would gradually fade from Judaism as the
emphasis grew on studying the laws of God. During
the Babylonian Empire, Jewish priests and rabbis
(scholars) had been forcibly relocated to Babylon.
Prophets and scholars living in Babylonian codified
the laws of Moses and provided a textual base for
studying God's law and interpreting it for future
generations.
