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Roman Empire to British 0-30 CE Jesus of Nazareth & the Birth of Christianity

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Roman Empire to British 0-30 CE Jesus of Nazareth & the Birth of Christianity History of Israel: Roman Empire to British 0-30 CE Jesus of Nazareth & the Birth of Christianity • Jesus was born in Bethlehem • His ministry and disciples were focused in Nazareth and the Galilee area • He made trips to Jerusalem to visit the Temple during the “Aliyah Beregal” (Passover, Sukkot, Shavuot) • Major geo-political battles going on in the region • Fighting between the Roman governance and Jewish zealots was more intense • His crucifixion came in the middle of all of it, in 30 CE. • Then the revolt gained even more momentum leading to a full blown war between the Jews and Romans. 70 CE Expulsion of the Jews and Christians & Destruction of the Temple • Peak in 70 CE when Roman ruler Titus inflicted a siege upon Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple on the 9th of Av, the memorial day of the destruction of the first temple. • He expelled Jews and “Christians” from the city, executing whoever remained. • Between 70 – 96 CE, Jews and Christians were heavily persecuted throughout the Empire • In 130 CE Roman Emperor Hadrian rebuilt Jerusalem and renamed it Aelia Capitolina, forbidding Jewish or Christian presence in the city. • He uses the Temple Mount space to make a pagan temple to the god Jupitor. • To erase all memory of Judea, the Roman emperor renamed the region “Palestina” after the Jews’ biblical nemesis, the Philistines 330-638 CE Byzantine Period • In 324 CE Emperor Constantine unites the east and west and accepts Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire. • After the death of Constantine, the Empire was divided into an eastern and a western part once again. “Byzantium” the East- Roman Empire, became a Christian state. Politics of religion? •Byzantine Queen Helena begins her work constructing churches upon the holy Christian sites related to Jesus’s life Or and crucifixion. Religion for politics? •Many Christians migrated to the Holy Land during this time, and the Jews were welcome to return, but live under Byzantine rule. Early 7th century Creation of Islam • Mohammed received the prophecy • He gathered an army in Medina to conquer Mecca • “The People of the Book” (Ahal Al-Kitab) to help. • He changed the prayer direction of Islam to Jerusalem. • The three Jewish tribes refused: • The first he expelled • The second he expelled • The third he killed. • He changed the prayer direction to Mecca. • Jerusalem is not mentioned in the Quran, only in the Hadith (the life stories of Mohammed). • Mohammed’s night journey in 620 CE to the furthest most mosque, Al-Aqsa. Where the Islamic prophet would arrive at the end of times. 338-1099 CE First Islamic Period • Mohammed died in 632 CE and his four leading disciples, caliphs, began expanding the Islamic empire • 661: The next ruler of the Holy Land after the Byzantines was the Umayyed Caliphate, lead by caliph Muawiya. Economy • Their capital was in Damascus, but established a holy city in Jerusalem to compete with Kufa Or Domination ? 691-705 CE Construction of the Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa Mosque • Umayyed Caliph Abdel al-Malak built the Dome of the Rock in 691 CE (the oldest Islamic Shrine) on top of the ruins of the Temple Mount. • Al-Malak’s son, Al-Walid, finished the construction of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. It is the third holiest site in Islam, following the Kabba in Mecca and the city Madina - the first city of Islamic conquer. ! MORE DIGGING Today the Temple Mount is closed to any religion except Islam, except from 7:30- 10:30, Sunday through Thursday. 749 CE Abbasid Empire The Abbasid claimed victory over the Umayyed Empire in 749 CE and began the next Muslim Caliphate in the region. The Abbasid caliphate first centered its government in Kufa, but in 762 the caliph Al- Mansur founded the city of Baghdad (one of the first Arab cities), and made it his capital. • a Shiite dynasty from Egypt. Fatamid Empire 969 • They did not get along with the Jews or Christians • They destroyed the holy sites, including Helena’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre. • These actions upset the Church in Europe and led to the preparations of the Crusades to regain control of 1073 Seljuk Empire Jerusalem from the Muslims. • The Seljuks conquered the Fatamid empire, but did not hold the region for long due to the Crusaders. 1099-1187CE Crusader Period • The Crusades, military expeditions • Carried out by western European Christians in response to centuries of Muslim wars of expansion. • When they reached Jerusalem they looted the Dome of the Rock, restored the churches and declared a King. King Baldwin began the military order stationed on the Temple Mount called, the Templar Knights. 1187-1917CE The Second Islamic Period • 1187 - Salahdin defeated the Crusaders in the Battle of Hittim, and began the inception of the Ayyubed Dynasty over the region. • 1250 - Led by Egyptian Biabars, the Mamluk conquer the Ayyubed Dynasty. They ended the crusade campaigns with the Christians and ruled over the region until 1517. 1517-1917CE Ottoman Empire • The last Islamic caliphate/empire in the region • Capital was Constantinople (Istanbul) • Jews were allowed to practice their religion, and they began to return to the region, while working under the Gizya tax. 1897 ZIONISM • Zion is an age-old Hebrew name for Jerusalem and the land of Israel. • Zionism The national movement of the Jewish people who sought to restore their freedom and independence in their ancestral homeland, free of prejudice and to further develop their unique culture. • Today, Zionism is Israeli patriotism, the word used to define “a person that believes Israel has a right to exist as a home for the Jewish Ottomans: Gizya Tax? people and all those in it.” – Arabs: “We Arabs, especially the educated among Defined by Israeli Supreme Court us, look with deepest sympathy on the Zionist Justice Jubran (Israeli Arab) movement.… We will wish the Jews a hearty welcome home...our two movements complement Why? one another.” -Emir Faisal, a leader of the Arab world, 1919 British Mandate • May 1916: Sykes-Picot Agreement divided the Levant between France and Great Britain • League of Nations gave Great Britain the Mandate for Palestine and Transjordan *Mandate: Legal instrument for administering territory until it can function on its own. Why? Mosul-Haifa Pipeline, stretching from Iraq to Jordan (active: 1932-1948).
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