Student Reader » Foreign Control

Crusades

Levi Clancy — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 03:10:28 +0000

At this time, Christianity was divided into two realms, the West (Europe) and the East (Anatolia, Palestine, Syria). The pope could be likened to an emperor over Western Europe, the Holy Roman Empire.

Pope Urban II’s Speech	1095	Pope Urban II issued a famous speech calling for all Christians to sell their land and make a pilgrimage to start living in the Holy Land, take it back from Muslims and Eastern Christians. Pope Urban II did not want a military march of soliders, but instead a mass movement of people, of families, to settle in the Middle East and dominate it by changing the demographics. Pope Urban asserted that Christ commanded this, but still, what would motivate somebody to leave their homeland and settle in a backwater? Pope Urban issued an indulgence that granted remittance for all sins to any who died taking part in the Crusade; this was a passport to heaven. Pope Urban may have initiated the Crusades to create an enemy: the barbaric, subhuman, non-Christian easterners who had taken the Holy Land. This was a potent distraction from maladies in Europe such as the plague. Yet when the French or German Christians arrived in the Middle East, they could not differentiate between Jews, Christians and Muslims. Thus, according to sources, the Crusaders are blamed as essentially butchering indiscriminately because they could not identify who was non-Christian.
	1096 – 1098	Men from modern-day France, the Franks, began to appear in the Muslim world, from the direction of Constantinople, with numbers so numerous that they could not be reckoned (ibn al-Qalanisi 41). The Crusaders picked off one harbor city after another, creating a gateway for the eventual Crusader kingdom based in Jerusalem. Also, this was economically brilliant. Trade between the West and East flowed through the northern Levantine harbors, so by controlling this area the Crusaders grew wealthy.
Jerusalem Conquered	1099 July 15	Jerusalem was conquered by Dofgrey de Boullon, who refused to wear the crown and instead gave the city over to the religious authority. There are several accounts of the Crusader conquest of Jerusalem in July 1099. They knew lots about the history of it, so they stationed the bulk of their military on the northern part of the city walls, the most vulnerable part of the city. For five or six weeks they began to undermine the northern walls and when the Crusaders finally cut out part of the northern wall they attacked the city, but could not achieve it. The suffering of the Crusaders mirroring the suffering of Christian — a central part of the ideology of the Crusades, and which left a deep imprint on Western view on Christianity, the time of Lent, when one tries to suffer like Jesus. William of Tyre tells us of the bloodbath. The Temple of Solomon was the Dome of the Rock. Despite his inflations, it was a massive, massive massacre. The city waned to its lowest population in hundreds of years, as few as 2,000 people and that most of those were Crusaders.
King of Jerusalem	1100	Baldwin became king of Jerusalem.

Herod the Great

Levi Clancy — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 21:48:00 +0000

Roman governance style was not to appoint a governor, but to find a middleman well aware of Jewish sensibilities and in 40 BC the Romans find the able politician and successful military leader Herod to hold this position. His family is from Edom to the southeast of Jerusalem, and area outside the traditional border of Israel. However, the Maccabeans had forcefully Judah-ized land around Israel, enforcing circumcision and other practices. Thus, Herod was somewhat Jewish n heritage but was loyal to Rome. Thus, in 40 BC Herod was chosen by Rome as the provincial ruler and he immediately began campaigns from 40 – 20 BC to solidify control over Israel.

Herod considered the Hasmonean’s oppression of non-Jewish religion as inept and politically disastrous. He allowed his subjects to freely practice their faiths.

Second Return to Jerusalem

Levi Clancy — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 20:23:29 +0000

Ezra and Nehemiah were the leaders of a second wave of returnees to Zion; the governor Nehemiah arrived in 445 BC and the priest Ezra arrived in 398 BC. Ezra and Nehemiah represented a group of returnees who claimed that they had a pure lineage traceable all the way back to before the exile, and were thus the real Judeans with a claim to Jerusalem. Ezra and Nehemiah protested that the mixed locals were pseudo-Jews and were not a pure Jewish line like the Second Return allegedly represented; they thus initiated ethnic separatist reforms. Nehemiah saw Jerusalem in a very grim, ruined state. He shamed the Jerusalem elders with his picture of the city, and the whole city united, priests and laity alike, to ereect new walls in a stunning mere 52 days. The Jewish identity tensions that arose amidst the First Return did not go away (Ezra 4-5). The Am Ha-Aretz were ready to attack at any moment and workers rebuilding the walls clutched their weapons with one hand and tools with the other. Nehemiah instituted reforms: he created a lottery to forcibly relocate people to Jerusalem; he banned charging interest, creating tension with the wealthy but relieving the poor; and in his second term, he outlawed marriage between the Golah and the Am Ha-Aretz. He believed that the exiles were under divine grace, and that Israelites were a holy, separate people. Their identity excluded those outside the Golah unit, and marrying these outsiders was equivalent to exiting the sacred enclave to immerse oneself in the non-sacred, the profane. These excluded Jews would form their own identity, still extant today as Samaritan.

The biblical author portrays Ezra’s mission as pivotal — it was he who took Nehemiah’s reforms even further. He saw priestly and marital collusion between the Golah and the Am Ha-Aretz. Nehemiah summoned all the Golah to a meeting in Jerusalem, and any who failed to attend would be excommunicated and his property seized. Ezra read to the citizens the Law, explaining as he went along. It is unclear whether this was the Deuteronomy, the Holiness Code or the entire Pentateuch. The people were stunned, having never heardd it before, and Ezra commanded them to take literally a passage from the Torah that they live during the month of Sukkoth like their ancestors’ forty years of wilderness. The Golah set up booths throughout Jerusalem with branches taken from the hills. For seven days they lived in these booths, a carnival atmosphere presiding, and each night listeneed to Ezra exposit the Law. The next assembly was not so cheerful: amidst torrential rain, Ezra limited Jerusalem only to those descended from the exiles, and all foreigners, including wives, had to be sent away. A ruthless exclusivity henceforth charactized Jerusalem. Ezra 9-10 presents a radical ethnic separatist on Jewish identity, though the vehemence of Ezra underlies the overall nonchalance of the population. The Book of Ruth presents a moderate, accepting story of intermarriage. Other reforms included Nehemiah’s push to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 2-3, 4:15-17) and replant crops to increase the population of the city.

First Return to Jerusalem

Levi Clancy — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 20:21:55 +0000

Life in Jerusalem was strifed by bad harvests and a weak economy. Enthusiasm for rebuilding the Temple waned when there was not enough to even eat. But in August 520 the prophet Haggai scolded the Golah, the community of exiles: How could plenty, wealth and vivacity flourish without that essential aspect, the Temple, the link to God? The foundations of the Second Temple were finally laid in the autumn of 520, upon the site of Solomon’s Temple, and the Temple was completed on 23 March 515. Though the Temple was rebuilt, the return did not live up to expectations nor memories. Persian Jerusalem was a disappointment, especially the Second Temple. There was no great triumph of Jerusalem and Yahweh over the world. The Temple itself was a disappointment. It was unimpressive, there was no more Ark, and God seemed more intangible than ever. Anyways, Yahweh was nowadays drawn to a humbled and contrite spirit (Isaiah 66:2) rather than splendid temples.

Furthermore, identity issues emerged between the People of the Land (the Am Ha-Aretz) who had remained or settled in Judah, and the formerly exiled community, the Golah. The prophet Jeremiah advocated for the exiles, claiming that they were the good figs taken away and now brought back, while the ones who had stayed were the bad figs. Yet this was counter-intuitive to the locals who had remained in Judah through the exile and now were presented with arriving hordes claiming to be the chosen ones; had not their piety and obedience allowed the Am Ha-Aretz to stay? Were not the exiles just heretics who had been expelled? Did somebody born in exile have any real claim to Israel? However, it was the Golah who Cyrus granted the duty of rebuilding the Temple. Jerusalem governor Zerubbabel and the priest Joshua aggressively excluded the Am Ha-Aretz. Identity issues, disappointment with the Second Temple and Jerusalem’s poverty were issues that erupted in the Second Return.

Glass Pilgrim Flasks

Levi Clancy — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 19:37:58 +0000

The technique of blowing glass into a mould is particularly associated with pilgrim flasks. The flasks were filled with sanctified oil or earth and taken away by pilgrims as mementoes.

Image	Details	Date	Overview
	Glass pilgrim flask. Syria. British Museum, MME 1911,5-13,1. Image by L M Clancy 2009/09/13.	AD 450-650	On one side is a hooded bust above a cross in a circle on a pillar. The bust represents a stylite, a monk who spent his life on a pillar. These ascetics were particularly associated with Syria, where the first stylite, Symeon the Elder, died in AD 459.
	Glass pilgrim flask. Holy Land. British Museum, MME 1971,10-2,1. Image by L M Clancy 2009/09/13.	AD 575-625	Two sides are decorated with the crux gemmata of Golgotha, a monumental gemmed cross erected there by Theodosios II. The presence of the crux gemmata mounted on three steps suggests that the flask was made between the first appearance of this design on the coins of Tiberius II (AD 578-82) and the loss of the cross during the Persian attack of AD 614.

Samaritan

Levi Clancy — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 18:58:55 +0000

The Davidic Kingdom divided in 931 BC (1 Kings 12–14,19; 2 Kings 17:21). Samaria was destroyed and repopulated in 721 BC (2 Kings 17; Ezra 4:2) and the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel made their way into Judah, while some stayed behind. When Jews began to return to their homeland during the Persian Period, there was opposition between the Samaritans (People Who Remained) and the returnees (Ezra 4-5). The Myth of the Empty Land refers to the claim that the land was empty, which is likely a manifestation of radical separatism (Ezra 9-10) that just left the people who remained completely unacknowledged (those who remained had developed their own unique culture).

Tel Dor

Levi Clancy — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 18:09:48 +0000

Tel Dor, the best-preserved Persian Period settlement, was a very sophisticated port city (there were even special structures for boats to pull into). The Eastern mound was residential and had a Hippodamian plan that heralds from a late Persian style. The architecture itself is heavily Phoenician. Area D had canine burials. Dor and Joppa were given to Eshmun’azar II by the Persian king. Dor’s destruction was likely due to the Persian king’s 348 BC military action against coastal Phoenician cities that were revolting.

Dor Favissae

The Dor Favissae (aka Dor Crypts) were established during the 5^th and 4^th centuries BC. They contained discarded cult objects, including: a clay mold for fertility figurines (Asherah or Astarte); a head of Ba’al-Zeus with Greek helmet; the Bes amulet (Egyptian deity; made of bone); and horse and rider figurines. Two different views of 6^th-5^th century horse and rider figurine from Cyprus are shown to the left.

Nehemiah

Levi Clancy — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 16:11:29 +0000

Nehemiah went to Judah in 445 BC, the 20^th year of Persian king Artaxerxes (Neh 1:1, 2:1). Nehemiah had been a cupbearer to the Persian king (Neh 1:1). Nehemiah rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem (part of a confrontation with the Samaritans), battled social injustice in Jerusalem (Neh 5) and built upon Ezra’s reforms.

The books of Ezra and Nehemiah consist of various unrelated documents strung together by an editor. The editor incorrectly dated the missions of Ezra and Nehemiah, though. Rather than the former preceding the latter, Nehemiah likely left Susa for Jerusalem in 445 BC; and Ezra likely arrived in Jerusalem much later, around 398 BC under Persian king Artaxerxes II.

Levant: Persian Control

Levi Clancy — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 21:50:14 +0000

The period of Persian hegemony (538-332 BC) began when Persian king Cyrus seized Babylonia. Persian Control is split into Persian I (538-450 BC) and Persian II (450-332 BC), ending with Alexander’s conquest of the Levant (332 BC).

Jewish diaspora communities appeared in Israel and Judah (amidst the First Return and Second Return), as well as in Babylon and Elam (which had popped up as early as the 8^th cent BC), Northern Mesopotamia (ie, Guzana) and Egypt (mostly the Delta and additional migrations to Elephantine).

Cyrus Takes Babylon	539 BC	The period of Persian hegemony (538-332 BC) began when Persian king Cyrus captured Babylon in 539 BC and assumed control of Babylonian territory. The Levant (aka land Beyond the River) was Persia’s 5^th satrapy (aka province) and was divided into Samaria (aka Samerian), Dor, Megiddo and Judah (aka Yehud). These provinces were clearly defined by: coinage, which was minted specially for each province; bullae, which bore the names of provinces; and textual attestation of governors of the satrapy Beyond the River.
Decree of Cyrus		When Cyrus captured Babylon, he issued a decree that those who had been exiled by the Babylonians could return to their homelands and start rebuilding. This culminates in 515 when the Israelites rebuilt the temple. Cyrus prepared a cylinder that described how the Babylonian deity should approve of his work improving the lives of Babylonians, repatriating displaced peoples and restoring temples and sanctuaries. In fact, Persian Jerusalem was depopulated and impoverished. Persia enacted heavy taxes (Nehemiah 5) and there were conflicts with the Samaritans (Nehemiah 4, 6). The Jerusalem Temple was rebuilt, but it was meager compared to its former glory (Ezra 3). There was a Samaritan Temple at Mount Gerizim. May all the gods whom I have resettled in their sacred cities ask daily Bel and Nebo for a long life for me and may the recommend me (to him); to Marduk, my lord, they may say this: “Cyrus, the king who worships you, and Cambyses, his son,…”…all of them I settled in a peaceful place … ducks and doves … I endeavored to fortify/repair their dwelling places … (Cyrus Cylinder, 6^th century BC)
First Return Persian I	538-450 BC	Persian I is markd by rebuilding of Jerusalem’s Temple (520-515 BC) and Ezra’s arrival in Jerusalem (458 BC). Leading figures of the First Return of Jews to the former land of Israel were: the prophets Zechariah and Haggai; a member of the Davidic line, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel; and the High Priest Joshua. The Temple was rebuilt ~520 – 515 BC, and thus 515 BC marks a significant new era. This period is attested in Haggai 1-2, Zechariah 6:9-15 and Ezra 3.
Second Return Persian II	450-332 BC	The Second Return of Jews to the former land of Israel was pioneered by Ezra (arrived in 458 BC) and Nehemiah (arrived in 445 BC). Ezra began the return by forming a so-called purified community without foreigners (Ezra 7-10). When Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem around 445 BC, he had the Wall of Jerusalem rebuilt (Nehemiah 2-3, 4:15-17). There were conflicts with the current inhabitants of the land, including some remnants of Jews and the particularly troublesome Samaritans led by Sanballat I (2 Kings 17).
Alexander the Great	332 BC	Alexander the Great seized the territory.

Vessels were rarely painted during the Persian period. Burnishing was the norm, as well as knife shaving, ribbing (a new development) and impression. In Persian-ruled former-Israel, the earliest coins were Greek. These were replaced by Phoenician coins from Tyre, Sidon and Arwad (but not Byblos).

By the 5^th and 4^th centuries BC, the five Beyond the River satrapy (Yehud, Samaria, Ashdod and Gaza) each manufactured their own coins. During 400-344 BC, Egyptian coins also were used. The cosmopolitan nature of Persian control over the Levant extended to burial customs.

Pottery Style	Overview
Local	Continuation of local Iron Age tradition.
Eastern	Local copies of imported “eastern” wares. (Assyrian, Persian, Phoenician, & Egyptian)
Western	Local copies of imported “western” wares. (Greek)

Burial	Overview
Cist Burial	Found at Gezer.
Phoenician Tophets	Found at Achzib and Ruqeish.
Phoenician Shaft Tombs	Phoenician shaft tombs of the 5^th and 4^th centuries were anthropoid sarcophagai. They did not contain Achaemenid pottery, although they sometimes contained Greek wares.
Rock-Cut Bench	The rock-cut bench tomb.
Infant Storejars	Infant storejar burials (“tots in pots”).
Tumuli	Tumuli tombs were found in the Jordan Valley.
Greek Tombs

Levant: Neo-Babylonian Control

Levi Clancy — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 21:25:24 +0000

After destroying Ashkelon and the Philistine coastal plain, the Babylonians besieged Judah and controlled it form 604-538 BC (Jerusalem was destroyed in 586 BC). The Persian Empire (its first incarnation was under the Medes) began around this time. The Babylonian administration in Judah used an Assyrian approach of balkanization: Megiddu (capital at Megiddo); Samerina (Samaria); Dor; and Yehud (Mizpah). There was a short-lived temple to Yahweh in Yehud (Jer 41:4–6).

Jewish diaspora communities (any Jewish community outside Israel) were an inevitable consequence of deportations, beginning with deportations by Assyria. Babylonian deportations led to Jewish diaspora in Babylon (2 Kings 24–25), along the Khabur River (Ezekiel 3:15) and in Egypt (as refugees) (Jeremiah 42–44). Regarding Egypt, ,Jewish mercenaries had already settled Elephantine Island. Judah’s population underwent an extreme decline. There were almost 120 sites in the time of Josiah, and just over 40 sites in the time of Babylonia. There had been more sites even before the United Monarchy. Luxury items, once popular, vanished almost completely from the archaeological record.

Destroyed sites included Ashlar House, House of Ahiel, Burnt Room and House of the Bullae. The Babylonian presence in Judah is attested only via its army, as its time physically spent in Judah was too brief to leave a lasting impression on the material culture (besides the population depletion). The army left behind scythian arrowheads (a giveaway of Babylonian presence), slingballs and much fiery destruction.