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__**Research Notes on Hebrew/Israelites**__

__ Table Of Contents __


 * Geography and Climate
 * Events and Leaders
 * Socio-Political Structure
 * Agriculture and the Economy
 * Art, Music and Literature
 * Transportation and Weaponry

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__Geography and Climate__ - Israel at the time was bordered by the the Mediterranean sea, assyria (now lebanon and syria) and egypt. - The climate is usually hot and dry https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/is.html - The climate unpredictable at times because it's geography is so unusual. - Israel had water to the west, mountains to the north, desert to the south and east (D. Ashbel, 38)

__Events and Leaders__ - Abraham and the semitic nomadic tribes move from Ur to Canaan in the 18th century BC - Abraham has a son who becomes the next patriarch of the tribe - The nomadic tribe separates into 12 different tribe each with one of Jacob's sons as a patriarch - The 12 sons: - Because the tribe was going hungry and Joseph was put into slavery, the tribes ended up going to egypt - They are put into slavery when they go to egypt - In the thirteenth century BC, the tribes are freed from slavery and they returned to Caanan - They fight the phillistines for their land back and they don't suceed getting it back until the tribes unite under on ruler - The first chosen king of israel was Saul in 1020 BC, Saul defeated the Phillistines at Michmash - David establishes himself as leader of israelites in Judah, which is still inhabited by Caananites - Israel is defeated on Mount Gilboa by the Phillistines and it kills sons and he commits suicide. - David becomes King of Judah and later the kind of Israel as well - 10th century BC, David makes Jerusalem the capital and makes it the 'holy city of david' - David is sucessful at defeating the Phillistines - David selects Solomon out of his many sons to be his sucessor. - Still in the 10th Century BC, Solomon's reign was the Golden Age. Israel was pretty wealthy and powerful for a short period of time - In Solomon's reign, it appeared that Israel would break apart again. []

__Socio-Political Structure__ - At the beginning they were a patriarchy with one leader Abraham and then his son Jacob. - Jacob's twelve sons took over splitting the people into 12 groups - Not long after they were freed from slavery in Eygpt they chose one leader as their king making a monarchy __[|http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?groupid=399&HistoryID=aa42]__ - there was a distinction between the poor and the rich when taxes and loans were introduced - there were slaves but they weren't treated as horribly as modern slaves. They were considered part of the family - when moses was leading the israelites back to their land he made laws regarding cleanliness and after that the israelites were very hygienic people. (Dubnov, 213-216) - women had far less rights then men - marriage was even called 'taking a wife' in hebrew - a man could get divorced easily but a woman couldn't http://www.womenintheancientworld.com/women%20and%20the%20law%20in%20ancient%20israel.htm - there were many caananites living in israel and during David's reign they were given close to the same rights as israelites - people weren't allowed to harm them because of who they are so the caananites became part of the society easily

__Agriculture and Economy__ - Their economy depended on trade (of food mostly) - They had traded within the communities, between the north and the south of Israel and outside of Israel - Their trades routes were on land because they didn't have big enough ports to use for trade like Sidon and Tyre. - Most families earned a living by working their land. - As Israel's economy grew and became more complex, mortgages, taxes and loans became a part of the economy - When a man was in debt and had to pay back his loans, if he didn't pay his creditor back for the loans, the creditor had permission to enslave the man. (Dubnov, 213-216) The full harvest season was between April and November. Spring: - harvested barley, wheat, herbs and legumes - the grain that was just harvested could not be eaten until after the Festival of Unleavened Bread which was after the sabbath (sabbath is sunday) - barley was the first harvested and also the most important thing harvested during the spring season. - barley was special because it was the only plant that could be grown anywhere in Israel. - Summer: - began after the pentecost (aka:The Feast of Harvest) - harvested grapes dates olives figs pomegranates and other fruits seeds and vegtables - grapes were the first thing to be harvested in the summer season - Grapes couldn't be used until after the new wine festival - Olives couldn't be used until after the new olive oil festival - vegtables weren't worth as much to the Israelites as the fruits [|www.wcg.org/lit/law/festivals/harvest.htm]

__Art, Music and Literature__ - music was used in everyday life by the israelites - when their armies came back home after of victory and at weddings music was played. - there is evidence of instruments from the time and they can be categorized into three groups percussion: - there was the tof (tuppin is plural) which most likely resembled the hand held and tamborines now. They are used during festivals while dancing. - there was the tziltzilim which would be very similar to cymbals - the menaanaim was most likely an early maraca - the paamonim were bells put on the priest robes so everyone could tell if the priest had died with god outside and inside the tabernacle - the mezillot were bells put on horses to ward off bad spirits wind: - shrika (like a whistle) - shofar was used as signals in war and hazozerot was used by priests (both similar to trumpets) - khalil and ugav are both similar to flutes of pipes. strings: - nebel (like a harp) had 4-10 strings - kinnor (like a lyre) was used in festivals and joyous occasions __http://www.utexas.edu/courses/wilson/ant304/projects/projects98/campbellp/campbellp.html__ - the first artist was bezalel who was also an architect - he is most famous for building the tabernacle - some art that remains today from the time are the mosaics of Beth Alpha because the jews temple had been destroyed by the assyrians http://www.jewish-art.org/ancient-jewish-art.html

__Transportation and Weaponry__ - there is evidence that they used horses to travel from the bells they put on horses to keep away evil spirits __http://www.utexas.edu/courses/wilson/ant304/projects/projects98/campbellp/campbellp.html__- camels were domesticated by the israelites back when they were still nomadic tribes under abraham which is also good evidence that they used them for transportation as well. http://www.biblearchaeology.org/post/2009/02/Patriarchal-Wealth-and-Early-Domestication-of-the-Camel.aspx - the israelites were constantly involved in battle and this meant they needed lots of weaponry as well as armour and defense. - they had a disadvantage because their weapons and armour were not made of metal because they didn't have access to access to iron like their enemies - they had short, medium and long range weapons short range: - weapons designed for 'hand-to-hand combat' - swords, daggers and spears medium range: - weapons designed to be thrown at enemies at a small distance - javelin, a lighter, smaller version of a spear the spear was used as a medium range weapon because it could be thrown as well large range: - these weapons were designed to hit enemies from afar - the sling (a stone was usually used to hit enemies) and the bow and arrow defence: - they wore armour from head to toe which included a helmet. - they had coats of mail, scale armour, breast plate and greaves (like shin guards) http://www.wcg.org/lit/bible/hist/weapons.htm

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 - [1]http://www.jewish-art.org/ancient-jewish-art.html [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David [3]http://www.wcg.org/lit/law/festivals/harvest.htm [4] http://www.jewish-art.org/ancient-jewish-art.html [5]http://www.wcg.org/lit/bible/hist/weapons.htm
 * these are the citations for the pictures in order from top to bottom