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441 Israel (Ancient), History of 442 his way home. The virtually silent journey opens consisting mainly of people from the former king- with this message: dom of Judah (Ezek 2 : 3; 3 : 1; etc.; 7 : 13); I tried. I think you would all agree that I tried. To be (6) “true” Israel, consisting of returnees from true, to be strong, to be kind, to love, to be right, but Babylonian exile in contrast to those who had re- I wasn’t. And I know you knew this, in each of your mained in the land who were regarded as compro- ways. And I am sorry. All is lost here, except for soul mised (e.g., Ezra 2 : 59; 4 : 3; 6 : 16; Neh 7 : 61; and body, that is what’s left of it, and a half day’s ra- 11 : 20; 13 : 3). tion. It’s inexcusable, I know that now. How it could For the reception of the Bible in the modern have taken this long to admit that, I’m not sure, but it State of Israel, see “Western Asia.” did. I fought to the end. I’m not sure what that is Steven L. McKenzie worth, but know that I did. I’ve always hoped for more for you all. I will miss you. I’m sorry. See also /Holy Land; /Israel (Ancient), History / / It takes the experience of separation to understand of; Israel, Land of; Israel, People of; / / his life and to see his place in his world. Whether Israelite Religion; Israelites, Children/Sons of / / he finds his way home remains an open question. Israel; ; Western Asia

Bibliography: ■ Heller, C., “The Harrowing Question of All Is Lost: How Do You Mourn Your Own Death?,” The Atlantic Israel (Ancient), History of (October 21, 2013; www.theatlantic.com). Sandie Gravett Any reconstruction of the history of Israel must dif- ferentiate between “biblical Israel” and “historical Israel.” The former denotes the history of Israel as Israel it is found in the books of the Bible, while the latter denotes the reconstruction of historical events on The name “Israel” (MT Yiśrāēl; LXX Ισραηλ) is used the basis of extrabiblical evidence. The biblical texts for different entities in the HB/OT: offer only glimpses of the historical reality during (1) the patriarch Jacob (Gen 32 : 28; 35 : 10; 21– the First and periods. For example, 22; etc.), the eponymous ancestor of the Israelites the biblical writers show no awareness of the signif- (see “Jacob [Patriarch]”); icance of the city of Kinneret (Tell el-‘Oreme) on (2) Jacob/Israel’s descendants, the people of Is- the Sea of Genezareth (Josh 19 : 35), which was an rael or the Israelites (e.g., Exod 3 : 16, 18; 5 : 2); they important center as a military fortress during the can also be called the “children” or “sons” of Israel 11th and 10th centuries BCE and as the location of (often translated “Israelites” in the NRSV, Exod an Assyrian palace during the 8th and 7th centuries 3 : 9–10; 5 : 14–15; etc.), the tribes of Israel (e.g., BCE. For the 5th and 4th centuries, recent studies Gen 49 : 28; Deut 29 : 21; Josh 24 : 1), and the have shown that the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, “house” of Israel (e.g., Exod 16 : 31; Lev 10 : 6; Num which were often used by previous scholarship in 20 : 29) (see “Israel, People of”; “Israelites, Children/ reconstructing the history of the Second Temple pe- Sons of Israel”); riod, present only one among several different con- (3) the land promised by YHWH to ’s ceptions of “” in the Persian period. descendants and given to the people of Israel to pos- On the basis of the extrabiblical evidence, the sess, variously defined as the land of the Canaanites history of Israel can be divided into five major peri- (Gen 12), from the river of to the Euphrates ods, which span from the earliest extant reference (Gen 15 : 18), the hill country, Negev (south), and to “Israel” in the ancient Near East in 1208 BCE up Shephelah (lowlands; Josh 10 : 40), and “from Dan to the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE to Beer-sheba” (e.g., Judg 20 : 1; 1 Sam 3 : 20) (see and the transition from the Second Temple period “Israel, Land of”); to the beginnings of rabbinic Judaism. (4) the kingdom of Israel, describing different 1. Israel in the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age. political entities (see “Israel [Ancient], History of”; The origins of Israel remain in obscurity. Every at- “Kingdoms of Israel and Judah”): tempt to associate pre-monarchic Israel or the “He- (a) the “united” kingdom ruled by Saul, David, brews” with the H˚ apiru mentioned in the Amarna and Solomon that included the tribe of Judah (e.g., Letters or with the seminomadic Shasu in Egyptian 1 Sam 13 : 13; 15 : 28; 24 : 20; 2 Sam 5 : 12); texts remains hypothetical. If one is to start with (b) the northern kingdom of Israel which sepa- historically certain evidence, one must begin with rated from the kingdom of Judah and its Davidic the victory stela of the Egyptian pharaoh Mernep- dynasty following Solomon (1 Kgs 12 : 16–33; tah (1208 BCE). This stela knows of “Israel” as a 15 : 9; etc.); people in the southern Levant (COS 2.6). Thus, “Is- (c) the kingdom of Judah after the fall of north- rael” is first mentioned as a group of people in the ern Israel in 722 BCE and including refugees from land of Palestine and not, for instance, in Egypt there (2 Chr 31 : 1; 33 : 18; 35 : 25); (Exod 1) or in (Gen 11–12). (5) in continuity with 4c, the remnant of the During the time of Merneptah, the Southern Le- people of Israel after the fall of Judah in 586 BCE, vant was under Egyptian control. The pharaohs of

Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception vol. 13 Authenticated | [email protected] © Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/Boston, 2016 Download Date | 1/1/19 11:25 PM 443 Israel (Ancient), History of 444 the 18th and 19th Dynasties had created a system main significant for the 11th and 10th centuries: of vassal states to which pre-Israelite Jerusalem also (1) not only “Israelites,” “,” or “Sea Peo- belonged, as the Amarna Letters attest (COS 3.92A). ples” (cf. the Report of Wenamun, COS 1.41) lived in Archaeological surveys and excavations document the southern Levant, but so did the descendants of the existence of a new village-centered culture in the Late Bronze Age city states. Moreover, (2) the the hill country during Iron Age I. Archaeological transition from the Late Bronze Age to the Iron Age evidence gives no indication of nomadic origins for I and Iron Age IIA is characterized by both continu- Israel; rather, the Israelites were presumably peas- ities and discontinuities; for example, at Beth ants who lived within the orbit of Late Bronze Age Shean, the conditions of the Late Bronze Age per- cities and used the decline of Egyptian control in sisted up to the Iron Age IIA. the southern Levant as well as changes in urban cul- 2. From the Late 10th century to the Fall of Sa- ture to their advantage. It is unclear whether a maria (722/720 BCE). The period from the end of group of Yhwh-worshipers from Egypt joined these the time of David and Solomon up to the fall of peasants or whether the historical kernel of the exo- Samaria in 722/720 BCE was characterized by the dus tradition arose instead out of a liberation from western expansion of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Al- Egyptian rule in the southern Levant itself. “Is- ready in the 9th century, the city- and territorial rael’s” presence in Egypt is not attested historically, states of the northern Syro-Palestinian land-bridge and a possible historical context for can- used their commercial relations to form a military not be found. Israel’s “settlement” is therefore pri- alliance. The inscriptions of Shalmaneser III (859– marily to be understood as a process that took place 824) attest to a coalition of “12 kings,” of which the within the land. northern kingdom of Israel was a part; at the battle Just as unclear as its beginnings is “Israel’s” of Qarqar in 853, Ahab, king of Israel, supplied the transition from early Iron Age village culture to the largest contingent of chariots (COS 2.113A: 263– two kingdoms of Israel and Judah. The campaign 64). After its defeat by the Assyrians, the northern of the Egyptian pharaoh Sheshonq I in 926 BCE kingdom under Jehu was required to pay tribute (Weippert: 102) highlights the relations between in 841 (COS 2.113F: 270). This dependence on the the two kingdoms during the 10th century: the Assyrians persisted up to the capture of Samaria in north, i.e., the later northern kingdom, was of in- 722/720. From a historical perspective, and in con- terest to Egypt, while the south, including Jerusa- trast to the biblical account, the northern kingdom lem, was not (in contrast to 1 Kgs 14 : 25–26). At the was more important than the southern kingdom. same time, Sheshonq’s campaign reveals a principle According to the Mesha inscription (ca. 835, COS that continued to apply into the Hellenistic period: 2.23), Omri, the founder of a northern Israelite dy- the various imperial powers were less interested in nasty, managed to expand as far as Transjordan. the hinterland and hill country than in the control This territorial expansion fits well with the re- of the strategic and commercially important coastal peated references to the importance of the Omride plain. The kingdoms of Israel and Judah, as well as dynasty (882–841 BCE) in Neo-Assyrian royal in- later “Yehud” and “,” were only of interest scriptions as well as with archaeological evidence: when they became enmeshed in the political cir- alongside monumental buildings at sites such as cumstances of the southern Levant or asserted their Megiddo and Hazor and a new administrative sys- claim over the strategically important coastal plain. tem, the new capital city of Samaria (1 Kgs 16 : 24) The formation of an Israelite kingdom occurred became a political center with manifold contacts to during a period of reurbanization in the southern international trade (see the Samaria ivories; cf. the Levant that accompanied the transition from the diplomatic marriage in 1 Kgs 16 : 31–32). Late Bronze Age to the Iron I and II periods. The During the 8th century, further confrontations “kingdom of David and Solomon” of the 10th cen- between the Neo-Assyrian kings Tiglath-Pileser III tury emerged out of a socio-historical setting with (745–727), Shalmaneser V (727–722), and Sargon II fluent boundaries between a chieftaincy and a mo- (722–705) and the anti-Assyrian coalition took narchic state. After Saul had first established a place. King Menahem of Israel, whose reign fol- chieftaincy in central Palestine, David, the founder lowed the nearly 100-year-long dynasty of Jehu of a dynasty (cf. the Tel Dan inscription, COS 2.39), (841–747 BCE), became a vassal of Tiglath-Pileser apparently managed to incorporate the Late Bronze III, paying tribute to him in 738 BCE (2 Kgs 15 : 19– Age highland stronghold of Jerusalem into his area 20; COS 2.117A: 285). Pekah, however, sided once of control. Whether this area was further expanded again with an anti-Assyrian coalition in 734/732, under Solomon is questionable. In light of the exca- which resulted in a punitive invasion by Tiglath- vations at the early Iron Age site of Khirbet Qeiyafa, Pileser III and a reduction in Israel’s territory (COS some scholars argue that the 10th-century kingdom 2.117C; 2 Kgs 15 : 29). King Hoshea, who had been was not restricted to the earlier area of Israelite oc- installed as an Assyrian vasall, once again rebelled cupation and already possessed larger administra- against the Assyrians (presumably by making con- tive structures. In general, however, two facts re- tact with Egypt [Osorkon IV?]; see 2 Kgs 17 : 4). This

Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception vol. 13 Authenticated | [email protected] © Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/Boston, 2016 Download Date | 1/1/19 11:25 PM 445 Israel (Ancient), History of 446 led to the capture of Samaria in 722/720 under were increasingly forced to focus their attention on Shalmaneser V or Sargon II, making the northern their own territory in the wake of an alliance be- kingdom of Israel into an Assyrian province. The tween the Neo-Babylonians and the Medes, Psam- Assyrians deported the northern élite, settled other metichus I took the opportunity to bring the for- ethnic groups in the area (COS 2.118D; 2 Kgs 17 : 6, merly Assyrian-dominated southern Levant under 24), and converted strategic and economically im- Egyptian control. For Judah, this meant that after a portant northern cities such as Samaria, Megiddo, long period of peace and economic prosperity under and Kinneret (Tell el-Oreme) into Assyrian admin- Hezekiah’s successor Manasseh (696–642), the istrative centers. kings of Judah were gradually drawn into the shift- 3. The Kingdom of Judah from 722/720 to 587/ ing political circumstances in the southern Levant. 586 BCE. The kingdom of Judah only became im- Presumably, the kingdom of Judah had already portant in terms of both its domestic and foreign fallen under Egyptian control by the time of , policy after the end of the northern kingdom of Is- to whom biblical historiography attributes a great rael. Along with the Philistines, Judah now lay be- cultic reform (2 Kgs 22–23). After Josiah’s death tween the Neo-Assyrian sphere of influence and (2 Kgs 23 : 29), the Egyptian pharaoh Necho II that of Egypt, which had regained its strength un- quickly settled the question of Judahite succession der the pharaohs of the 25th Dynasty. In addition, to the throne (2 Kgs 23 : 29–35). important changes occurred within Judah itself: the With their defeat of the Egyptians in the battle surge of refugees from the north resulted in the of Carchemish in 605 BCE, the Neo-Babylonians growth of Jerusalem and other parts of Judah, and under Nebuchadnezzar (605–562) gradually over- a (literate) élite came to Judah from the north. King took control of the southern Levant (2 Kgs 24 : 7). Hezekiah (725–697) supported extensive construc- Now, the same sequence of events that had taken tion projects such as a water system (2 Kgs 20 : 20) place under the Assyrians repeated itself: a particu- and a new city wall in Jerusalem, established a royal lar king first becomes a vassal to the foreign ruler administration (clay seals and lmlk-stamps, COS then rebels against him, resulting in a punitive in- 2.77; Weippert: 233–36), and adopted an expan- vasion by the imperial power. After Jehoiakim of sionist foreign policy. Judah had become a vassal of Nebuchadnezzar Although Judah had previously only been of in- (2 Kgs 24 : 1), he revolted against him, which led terest to the Assyrians during the reign of king Nebuchadnezzar to attack Jerusalem in 598/597 fol- Ahaz (736–725 BCE; COS 2.117D: 289), from the lowing his defeat over the Egyptians in 601 (COS time of Hezekiah onward it became a focal point 1.137; 2 Kgs 24 : 10–16). The Jerusalem temple was for the major ancient Near Eastern powers. Like the despoiled, the Judahite king Jehoiachin and a num- earlier kings of Israel, Hezekiah formed alliances ber of other Judahites were exiled to Babylon (Jer with neighboring states in an anti-Assyrian coali- 52 : 28–30), and Mattaniah/Zedekiah was installed tion. An Egyptian army joined the coalition for the as a vassal king (2 Kgs 24 : 17). The latter also re- first time in the battle of Elteke (701 BCE; COS belled (presumably in anticipation of Egyptian mili- 2.119B; cf. 2 Kgs 19 : 9). Jerusalem was presumably tary assistance), and further military action against besieged but was not captured. In the aftermath of Jerusalem followed in 587/586, during which the Sennacherib’s destruction of numerous Judahite cit- temple was apparently destroyed (Jer 39 : 8) and fur- ies (2 Kgs 18 : 13, the Assyrian report mentions “46 ther segments of the Jerusalemite upper class were fortified walled cities,” COS 2.119B: 303), the im- exiled to Babylon (2 Kgs 25 : 11). Due to these portance of Jerusalem rose for Judahites (2 Kgs 19– events, by the middle of the 6th century there were 20). For the Assyrians, however, it sufficed to keep “YHWH worshipers” dispersed over a wide geo- Hezekiah on a short leash and to reestablish Padi graphical area: (1) the Babylonian exiles, (2) the of Ekron (Tell Miqne), whom Hezekiah had taken group that remained in the land, (3) the Egyptian prisoner, as an Assyrian vassal (COS 2.119B). In the diaspora, which presumably emerged from the pro- end, the conflict with Egypt was more important, Egyptian party at the royal court in Jerusalem (Jer as the Egyptians had increasingly encroached upon 41–44), and (4) the “Samari(t)ans” in the territory the Assyrian sphere of influence in the southern Le- of the former northern kingdom. This is also the vant. In the decades that followed, under Esarhad- same spectrum that is attested during the Second don (681–669) and Ashurbanipal (669–631) the As- Temple period: there were various forms of “Jew- syrians fought against Egypt and deployed in their ish” identity, among which the position of the re- Egyptian campaigns soldiers from conquered terri- turnees from the Babylonian exile was only one, al- tories, including soldiers of “Manasseh, king of Ju- beit one which would influence the perspective of dah” (Weippert: 191). Immediately after the capture certain biblical texts. of Thebes in 661 (cf. Nah 3 : 8–10), however, the 4. The Persian Period (up to 333 BCE). The Baby- Assyrian vassal Psammetichus I (664–610) managed lonian exile (587/586–ca. 539?) coincides with the to shake off Assyrian hegemony and found his own time of the Persian Empire’s expansion. The litera- dynasty (the 26th Dynasty). When the Assyrians ture of the HB/OT portrays both in a distorted

Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception vol. 13 Authenticated | [email protected] © Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/Boston, 2016 Download Date | 1/1/19 11:25 PM 447 Israel (Ancient), History of 448 light: the exile as a traumatic time of oppression province of Samaria during the 5th century, it be- (cf. Ps 137 : 1) and the Persian king Cyrus II as a comes apparent that the events in Jerusalem stand divine instrument (Isa 45 : 1). This, however, is the in a wider religio-political context. Contemporane- particular perspective of the group that returned ous with the community in Jerusalem, the Sa- from exile. The Babylonian exiles lived in their own mari(t)ans on Mount Gerizim and the Judean com- settlements (such as Tel Aviv on the river Chebar, munity on Elephantine represent two other forms near Nippur) and could in certain cases serve in offi- of “Jewish identity” during the Persian period. Like cial positions (such as the Judean Abadyahu, who the Judeans, the Samari(t)an Yhwh-worshipers also served as a Babylonian tax official in 532 BCE). The oriented themselves around the , although archive of the Muraššû family near Nippur (455– they lived in a markedly more multicultural envi- 403 BCE) and the texts from Al-Yāhūdu and Bīt Na- ronment than Jerusalem. The same is true of the šar (near Sippar) reveal the extent to which the ex- “Judahites/Arameans” on the Nile island of Ele- iles were socially, legally, and economically inte- phantine in Upper Egypt, who were part of a multi- grated into Babylonian society, having their own cultural society and had written correspondence administration, business contacts, and agricultural with Samaria and Jerusalem (Weippert: 285; COS production on royally-appointed tracts of land (see 3.49–3.51). On Elephantine, the Torah had no spe- Weippert: 274–81). The exiled king Jehoiachin cial significance: the Aramaic papyri attest to reli- lived together with other “political” prisoners in gious practices that differ significantly from the the Babylonian royal court (Weippert: 265–67). In “Judaism” of the Second Temple described in the view of these conditions, it is not surprising that books of Ezra and Nehemiah. It remains to be clari- many exiles remained in Babylon and only a fied which of these forms of religious life was the (small?) group returned to Judah. The returnees en- “exception” and which was the “rule.” countered Judeans who had remained in Jerusalem 5. The Hellenistic Period (333–64/63 BCE). The and in the former territory of Judah and who still transition to the Hellenistic period is marked by the worshiped YHWH. According to archaeological evi- battle of Issus in Cilicia in 333 BCE, although dence, the inhabitants of the land were not signifi- archaeological evidence indicates that Greek influ- cantly affected by the events of 587/586; perhaps ence in the southern Levant reaches back to the 6th portions of the administrative system established century. The political changes of the year 333 are under Hezekiah even continued to be used by the connected to , who defeated the imperial powers during the 7th and 6th centuries. Persian emperor Darius III at Issus. After his vic- The return of the exiles was likely facilitated by tory, Alexander first turned his attention to Egypt Persian policy, which sought to hold together the (332) before advancing against the heart of the Per- empire taken over from the Babylonians through sian Empire. Thus, the southern Levant once again an efficient administrative structure and religious became a focal point of political activity, such as in policies. After Cyrus II defeated the Babylonian the siege of the Phoenician port city of Tyre. Jerusa- king Nabonidus and captured the city of Babylon lem, however, was not the focus of Alexander’s pol- with the support of the priests of Marduk in 539 icy, but rather Egypt, where he established Alexan- (see the Cyrus Cylinder; Weippert: 273), the exiles dria as a Greek city on the Mediterranean, which were able to return to Judah (cf. the [historical?] would become an important multicultural commer- Edict of Cyrus in Ezra 1 : 1–4; 2 Chr 36 : 22–23). The cial center and a center of Hellenistic Judaism (cf. construction of the (second) temple (probably 520– the LXX, Philo of Alexandria). 515) and the reorganization of the Jerusalem tem- In the wake of the wars of succession following ple community under Nehemiah (445 BCE?) and Alexander’s death in 323 emerged four successor Ezra (398 BCE?) stands in the context of the return empires, of which the Ptolemies (in Egypt) and the of exiles from Babylon over a long period of time. Seleucids (in Asia Minor, Syria, and the East) deter- The restoration of a community of Yhwh-worship- mined the political history of the southern Levant. ers in Jerusalem was probably supported by Persian The former Persian province of Yehud, now called religious policy. An example of such policy at the “Judea,” was controlled by the Ptolemies from 301 end of the 6th century is the case of Udjahorresnet to 200/198 and was a discrete administrative unit of (519/518 BCE, TUAT 1 : 603–8), an Egyptian whom the Ptolemaic Empire, governed from Alexandria. A the Persians appointed as a special emissary repre- high priest was the head of the Jewish community senting local authorities and assumed responsibility in Jerusalem, accompanied by a Ptolemaic tax offi- for the restoration of the local cult of Neith in Sais, cial. In view of its economic development during the former capital of the 26th Dynasty. A Judean the 3rd century, Judea was required to pay heavy special emissary appointed by the Persians named taxes (cf. the Zenon papyri). Through this pressure Hananiah is attested around 100 years later in the on society, the increase in the high priest’s power, Aramaic papyri from Elephantine. If one also takes and the broader geopolitical situation, there arose into account the construction of a new temple for in Jerusalem conflicts between the Oniad high Yhwh-worshipers on Mount Gerizim in the Persian priestly family and the leading family of the Jerusa-

Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception vol. 13 Authenticated | [email protected] © Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/Boston, 2016 Download Date | 1/1/19 11:25 PM 449 Israel (Ancient), History of 450 lemite aristocracy, the Tobiads. The former were later Hasmoneans. The community, whose generally pro-Seleucid, while the latter were pro- roots reach back to the 3rd century, should be asso- Ptolemaic. The events in Jerusalem during the 3rd ciated with the Hasidim. This community (yahad) century and its polarization between supporters of represents a conception of Jewish identity empha- the Ptolemies and Seleucids stands in the context sizing strict adherence to the Torah as well as the of the conflict between these two empires over con- study of biblical and parabiblical literature, from trol of the southern Levant (five Syrian Wars took which their own writings emerged. place between 274 and 198/194 BCE). According to The political circumstances in Judea during the Flavius , the Seleucid ruler Antiochus III 2nd and 1st centuries BCE were determined by the bolstered the pro-Seleucid party in Jerusalem with kingdom of the Hasmoneans, the successors of the various privileges after his defeat of Ptolemy V (198/ (John Hyrcanus I, r. 135/134–104 BCE). 194; cf. Ant. 12.138–44). When the Seleucids, how- The Hasmonean kingdom attained its greatest ter- ever, were defeated by the Romans in 190 BCE and ritorial extent under Alexander Jannaeus (r. 103–76 were required to make heavy reparations according BCE). When the Romans captured Jerusalem in 64/ to the 188/187 “Peace of Apamea,” their tax policy 63 BCE and Caesar appointed his ally Herod as king changed. In the end, the actions of Anchiochus IV of the Hasmonean Kingdom following the death of Epiphanes (r. 175–164; cf. Dan 9 : 27; 11 : 31; in 48 BCE, an “allied king” of Rome (rex 12 : 11) and the Maccabean revolt must be seen in a socius et amicus populi) ruled over Palestine (with broader context, which was mainly characterized by the exception of the independent cities of the Deca- the financial policy of the , the Hel- polis) beginning in 40/37 BCE. In the decades that lenization of the Jerusalemite Jewish community followed, ancient historians increasingly report of (2 Macc 4 : 12–13) and the plan to convert Jerusalem political unrest. Both the Jewish revolt of 66–70 CE into a Greek polis. and that of 132–135 CE originated among a group Alongside the school of the Jerusalem temple, of , who distanced themselves both from the in which the authoritative texts of Second Temple established ranks of the Zadokite priests and the Judaism were taught, there had already existed in Pharisaic scribes as well as from more radically- Jerusalem two Greek educational institutions – the thinking Jewish groups such as the Qumran com- gymnasium and the ephebeion – in which Greek munity and the Baptist- and movements. The literature and culture were transmitted. When the first revolt culminated in the destruction of the Je- pro-Ptolemaic party took control of the city during rusalem temple in 70; the second revolt was led by the first Egyptian campaign of Antiochus IV (169/ a certain Simon Bar Kosiba, whom his contemporar- 168), the Seleucid general Apollonius entered Jeru- ies called “Son of the Star” (Bar Kokhba, cf. Num salem by force of arms and established a Seleucid 24 : 17). After the revolt of 132–135 had been re- military colony there (cf. Samaria). The Seleucids’ pressed, Jerusalem became a pagan Roman city, re- religious policies (the dedication of the temple of named “,” and the former region YHWH to the Olympios and the banning of Judea became the province of “.” of YHWH-worship, 2 Macc 6 : 6–10), which was pos- With these events the “Second Temple period” came to an end, which would be followed by the sibly agreed upon with the high priest Menelaus, age of rabbinic Judaism. had major repercussions. Hyrcanus, from the To- biad family, withdrew to Transjordan, the priest Bibliography: ■ Barclay, J. M. G., Jews in the Mediterranean Onias IV fled to Egypt in exile, where he founded a Diaspora: From Alexander to Trajan (323 B.C.E.–117 C.E.) (Berke- temple at Leontopolis/Heliopolis with the support ley, Calif. 1996). ■ Becking, B., Ezra, Nehemiah, and the Con- struction of Early Jewish Identity (FAT 80; Tübingen 2011). of the Ptolemies (Josephus, Ant. 12.388), and the ■ Collins, J. J., Jewish Cult and Hellenistic Culture (JSJ.S 100; traditionalists within Judea itself called for war. At Leiden 2005). ■ Day, J. (ed.), In Search of Pre-exilic Israel the head of this movement was the priestly family (JSOT.S 406; London/New York 2004). ■ Frevel, C., “Grund- of and his sons, among whom was Ju- riss der Geschichte Israels,” in E. Zenger et al., Einleitung das, nicknamed “Maccabaeus.” Even after the Se- in das Alte Testament (Stuttgart 82012) 701–870. ■ Grabbe, leucids’ cultic reform was countermanded in 164 L. L., A History of the Jews and Judaism in the Second Temple BCE and the Jerusalem temple was rededicated Period, vol. 2 (Library of Second Temple Studies 68; London/ New York 2008). ■ Hallo, W. W. (ed.), The Context of Scrip- (1 Macc 4 : 56–59; 2 Macc 11 : 13–38), the Maccabees ture [COS], 3 vols. (Leiden 1997–2002). ■ Kaiser, O. (ed.), continued their struggle, while the majority of Texte aus der Umwelt des Alten Testaments, 3 vols. (Gütersloh priests at the Jerusalem temple (including the 1982–2001). ■ Knoppers, G. N., Jews and Samaritans: The Or- group that would later be called the Sadducees) and igins and History of Their Early Relations (New York 2013). the representatives of a moderate form of Judaism ■ Kratz, R. G., Historisches und biblisches Israel (Tübingen (the Hasidim or “pious ones”) accepted the new cir- 2013). ■ Levin, Y. (ed.), A Time of Change: Judah and Its Neigh- bours in the Persian and Early Hellenistic Periods (LJB 65; New cumstances by combining Torah observance with a York/London 2007). ■ Lipschits, O./J. Blenkinsopp (eds.), Hellenistic lifestyle. The Hasidim (2 Macc 14 : 6), Judah and the Judeans in the Neo-Babylonian Period (Winona from whom the later emerged, distanced Lake, Ind. 2003). ■ Lipschits, O. et al. (eds.), Judah and the themselves both from the Maccabees and from the Judeans in the Persian Period (Winona Lake, Ind. 2006). ■ Lip-

Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception vol. 13 Authenticated | [email protected] © Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/Boston, 2016 Download Date | 1/1/19 11:25 PM 451 Israel (Modern State) 452 schits, O. et al. (eds.), Judah and the Judeans in the Fourth Cen- Mediterranean Sea. It is mostly sandy beaches with tury B.C.E. (Winona Lake, Ind. 2007). ■ Lipschits, O. et al. tropical climate. The Shephelah is a rural farming (eds.), Judah and the Judeans in the Achaemenid Period (Winona area that runs for 10–15 km between the Coastal ■ Lake, Ind. 2011). Magness, J., The Archaeology of Qumran Plain and Mount Hebron in south-central Israel. and the Dead Sea Scrolls (Grand Rapids, Mich. 2002). ■ Ma- zar, A., Archaeology of the Land of the Bible 10,000–586 B.C.E. Moving eastward is the Central Highlands where (ABRL; New York 1990). ■ Miller, J. M./J. H. Hayes, A His- the hills and mountains generally range from 500– tory of Ancient Israel and Judah (Louisville, Ky. 22006). ■ Naa- 800 meters high, and are cut by several fertile val- man, N., “Khirbet Qeiyafa in Context,” UF 42 (2010) 497– leys, such as the Jezreel Valley. Still further east in 526. ■ Pestman, P. W. (ed.), Greek and Demotic Texts from the the southern part of the land lies the Judean Wil- Zenon Archive (Leiden 1980). ■ Schäfer, P., Geschichte der Ju- derness (sometimes referred to as the Steppe land), 2 den in der Antike (Tübingen 2010). ■ Schipper, B. U., Israel whose dry arid climate allows for little to no culti- und Ägypten in der Königszeit (OBO 170; Freiburg i.Ue./Göttin- vation making it a true wasteland. Dominating the gen 1999). ■ Schipper, B. U., “Egypt and the Kingdom of Judah under Josiah and Jehoiakim,” TA 37 (2010) 200–26. majority of Southern Israel is the Negev Desert, ex- ■ Weippert, M., Historisches Textbuch zum Alten Testament tending for approximately 16,000 square kilome- (GAT 10; Göttingen 2010). ters. Bernd U. Schipper Water plays a major role in the land of Israel, the coastline with the Mediterranean not only led See also /Assyria; /; /Habiru, Hapiru; to the fertile crescent, which made the area desir- /Holy Land; /Israel, Land of; /Israel, People able to the empires on either side of the land, but of; /Israelite Religion; /Israelites, Children/Sons also to military vulnerabilities from seafaring ar- of Israel; /Jew, Jews; /Jewish Revolt, First; mies (cf. the Sea Peoples). Within the Bible itself, /Maccabean Revolt; /Maccabees; /Persia the Sea of Galilee (Num 34 : 11; Josh 12 : 3; 13 : 27; (Ancient); /Promised Land; /Ptolemies; 21 : 1; 1 Macc 11 : 67; Matt 4 : 18; 15 : 34; Mark 1 : 16; /Western Asia 7 : 31; Luke 5 : 2; 8 : 22, 23, 33; John 6 : 1; 21 : 1, 7), the 105 km Jordan River (Gen 13 : 10; Num 20 : 10- Israel (Modern State) 13; Deut 32 : 48–52; 34; Josh 1–4; Judg 3 : 28; 6 : 33; 7 : 24; 8 : 4; 12 : 5–6; 2 Sam 10 : 17; 16 : 14; 17 : 22– / Western Asia 24; 19 : 15–18; 2 Kgs 2; 5 : 12; 6 : 1–7; Isa 9 : 1; Jer 12 : 5; 49 : 19; 50 : 44; Zech 11 : 3; Mark 1 : 1–11), and the salty Dead Sea (Gen 14 : 3; Num 34 : 3, 12; Israel, Children of Deut 3 : 17; Josh 3 : 16; 12 : 3; 15 : 2, 5; 18 : 19; /Israel, People of; /Israelites, Children/Sons of 2 Kings 14 : 25) also play significant roles. Israel “Land” on its own usually refers to the land of Israel, but rarely is this exact phrase “the land of Israel” used (cf. Ezek 7 : 2). Land is part of the Israel- Israel, Election of ite covenant made originally with Abraham /Election through Sarah (Gen 12 : 1–2; 15 : 7; 17 : 8; Exod 6 : 1–4; Deut 6 : 10, 18; “inheritance” Num 26 : 52– 56; Josh 11 : 23). Land as a gift is a particularly Israel, Kingdom of strong theme in Deuteronomy (8 : 7–9; 9 : 4–6; cf. /Kingdoms of Israel and Judah Amos 2 : 9; 9 : 7; Mic 6 : 4–5), but one that could be removed for covenantal infractions (Deut 8 : 19–20; 9 : 5; 28 : 64–68). This theme is a major focus of the Israel, Land of book of Judges, which cycles between disobedience (Judg 2 : 11; 3 : 2–7; 4 : 1; 6 : 1; 10 : 6; 13 : 1), loss of I. /Old Testament II. New Testament land (2 : 11–15; 3 : 8; 4 : 2; 6 : 1–2; 10 : 7; 13 : 1), re- III. Judaism pentance (3 : 9; 4 : 3; 6 : 6; 10 : 10; 16 : 28), and re- IV. gaining land (3 : 10–11; 4 : 23; 8 : 28; 11 : 32–33; V. Literature 16 : 30). On a macro scale the Deuteronomistic His- VI. Visual Arts tory evaluates Israel’s (both the nation of Israel and VII. Music Judah) covenantal fidelity based on the leadership VIII. Film of the monarchy, and its ultimate failure leads to the loss of the land through exile. This cycle high- I. Hebrew Bible/Old Testament lights the theme that the land belongs to YHWH The land of Israel contains five major geographical and the Israelites are merely sojourners given the regions: the Coastal Plain, the Shephelah, the Cen- privilege to dwell in it (Lev 25 : 23; Ps 39 : 12; 1 Chr tral Highlands, the Judean Wilderness, and the 29 : 15; Heb 11 : 13; 1 Pet 2 : 11). The loss of land Negev. The Coastal Plain runs along the western becomes a recurring theme in prophetic literature side of Israel for 187 miles north to south along the as a sign of covenantal displeasure (Amos 4 : 1–3;

Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception vol. 13 Authenticated | [email protected] © Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/Boston, 2016 Download Date | 1/1/19 11:25 PM