Transcript Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia
and Judaism
Theme: Order Through Law
Lsn 16
Part 1: Mesopotamia
ID & SIG:
• Babylon, Code of Hammurabi, cuneiform,
Epic of Gilgamesch, lex talionis,
metallurgy, temple communities, Tigris and
Euphrates Rivers, wheel
Mesopotamia
• Greek for “land
between the rivers”
– Tigris and Euphrates
– Modern-day Iraq
Social Hierarchy
Social Hierarchy
• Kings and nobles originally won their
positions by community election based on
valor and success as warriors
– Soon royal status become hereditary
– Nobles were mostly members of the royal
family
• Closely allied with the ruling elites were
priests and priestesses, many who were
younger relatives of the rulers
– Lived in temple communities
Social Hierarchy
• Free commoners worked mostly as
peasant cultivators in the countryside on
land owned by their families, although
some worked in cities
• Dependent clients usually worked on
agricultural estates owned by others
– Both free commoners and dependent clients
paid taxes to support the ruling classes,
military, and temple communities
Social Hierarchy
• Slaves came from:
– Prisoners of war
– Convicted criminals
– Heavily indebted individuals who sold themselves into
slavery to satisfy their obligations
• Patriarchal society
– Authority over public and private affairs vested in
adult men
– Law recognized men as heads of households and
had disproportionate punishments for men and
women
Religion and Education
Religion and Education
• Polytheism
– The ancient Mesopotamians worshipped hundreds of
gods, each with his/her own name and sphere of
activity.
– Every city had its own patron god or goddess, and there
were also deities connected with various professions
such as scribes and builders.
– Individual people also had their own personal god who
protected them and interceded for them with the great
deities.
Enki, god of water
Religion and Education
• Kings often portrayed as offspring of gods
or gods themselves
• Priests intervened with the gods to ensure
good fortune for their communities
– In exchange, priests and priestesses lived in
temple communities and received offerings of
food, drink, and clothing from the city
inhabitants
– Temples also generated income and work
Ziggurats
• Ziggurats were huge
stepped structures
with a temple on top
– Built in honor of the
city’s god (other gods
might have smaller
temples)
– Intended to reach
nearer to the heavens
Tower of Babel
Epic of Gilgamesh
• Classic example of Mesopotamian literature
• Began in the Sumerian city-states, but the entire
epic represents the work of compilers during the
days of the Babylonian empire
• Originally written on 12 clay tablets in cuneiform
script
• Recounts experiences of Gilgamesh and Enkidu
– Gilgamesh was the legendary king of Uruk, ca. 3000
B.C., and Enkidu was a wild-man, raised by animals
that became the friend of Gilgamesh after they fought.
Epic of Gilgamesh
• Principle vehicle for
Mesopotamian reflection
on moral issues
– Friendship
– Relations between humans
and the gods
– The meaning of life and
death
• Taught there is no afterlife
– Death is dark, dank, and
inert
Code of Hammurabi
• Hammurabi (King of
Babylonian Empire from 1792
to 1750 B.C.) maintained
control of empire by a code of
law
• Claimed the gods had chosen
him “to promote the welfare of
the people,… to cause justice
to prevail in the land, to
destroy the wicked and evil,
[so] that the strong might not
oppress the weak, to rise like
the sun over the people, and
to light up the land.”
Code of Hammurabi
• High standards of behavior and stern
punishments for violators
• Death penalty for murder, theft, fraud,
false accusations, sheltering of runaway
slaves, failure to obey royal orders,
adultery, and incest
• Civil laws regulating prices, wages,
commercial dealings, marital relationships,
and the conditions of slavery
Code of Hammurabi
• Relied on lex talionis– the law of retaliation
– Offenders suffered punishments resembling
their violations
• If a man put out the eye of another man, his eye
shall be put out. [ An eye for an eye ]
(196)
• If he break another man's bone, his bone shall be
broken. (197)
• If a man knock out the teeth of his equal, his teeth
shall be knocked out. [ A tooth for a tooth ] (200)
Part 2: Judaism
ID & SIG:
• Abraham, Canaan, covenant, diaspora,
Joshua, Kingdom of David, Kingdom of
Solomon, Moses, Passover, Talmud,
Temple, Ten Commandments, Torah,
Yahweh, Yom Kippur
Abraham
• Originally from the Sumerian city of Ur
• Migrated to Palestine around 1850 B.C. on God’s
command (Genesis 12:1)
• God established a covenant with Abraham (Genesis
17:7-8)
– “I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between
me and you and your descendants after you for the generations
to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after
you. The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I
will give as an everlasting possession to you and your
descendants after you; and I will be their God.”
• It is from this passage that modern Jews claim Israel
belongs to them
Moses
• Moses led the
Hebrews out of
slavery in Egypt to
Canaan, the land God
had promised them
(Exodus 12: 31)
• Along the way, God
gave Moses the Ten
Commandments
(Exodus 20: 1-17)
Statue of Moses
by Michelangelo
Ten Commandments
• I. Thou shalt have no
other gods before me.
• II. Thou shalt not make
unto thee any graven
image.
• III. Thou shalt not take
the name of the Lord
thy God in vain.
• IV. Remember the
Sabbath day, to keep it
holy.
• V. Honor thy father
and thy mother.
• VI. Thou shalt not kill.
• VII. Thou shalt not
commit adultery.
• VIII. Thou shalt not
steal.
• IX. Thou shalt not bear
false witness against
thy neighbor.
• X. Thou shalt not covet
anything that is thy
neighbor's.
Yahweh
• The God of the Abraham and Moses was
Yahweh
– The only god; all others were false imposters
(monotheism)
– A personal god who expected the Israelites to
worship him alone and to observe high moral
and ethical standards
Torah
• Between 1000 and 400 B.C., Israelite religious
leaders compiled Yahweh’s teachings into the
Torah
– What Christians call the Old Testament
• Yahweh would punish or reward both the
individuals and the community based on how
well they observed his commandments
– Many would see the exile imposed by the New
Babylonian Empire in 586 B.C. as an example of
Yahweh’s punishment
Rabbis
• Rabbi means teacher or master
• They are Jewish religious officials trained
in Jewish law, ritual, and tradition
• The synagogue is the Jewish place of
assembly for prayer and study
– It is not required for a synagogue to have a
rabbi, but if it does, he is appointed by the lay
leadership
Talmud
• An authoritative record of
rabbinic discussions on Jewish
laws, Jewish ethics, customs,
legends and stories
• Fundamental source of
legislation, customs, case
histories and moral
exhortations
– For example, the Torah
does not prohibit
pronouncing the name of
God, but the Talmud does
(Talmud, Sanhedrin 90a)
Joshua
• Joshua succeeded Moses as
the one who will lead the
Israelites into the Promised
Land
• A series of battles occurred
between the invading Israelites
and the native Canaanites:
– Jericho (Joshua 5:13–6:27)
– Ai and Bethel (Joshua 8:129)
– Against an alliance of
southern cities (Joshua 10:143)
– Against an alliance of
northern cities (Joshua 11:115)
Conquest of Canaan
• Formative event in Israel’s history
– Now the Israelites could describe themselves
as the inhabitants of the land God had
promised to their forefathers.
• Israel is now a land, not just a people
– But this event will also set up continuing
conflict between the Jews who claim the land
is given them by God and the Palestinians
who are displaced from it
Kingdoms
• Kingdom of David
(1000-970 B.C.)
– Extended the kingdom
by war
– Made Jerusalem the
political capital
– Drew up plans for the
Temple
• Kingdom of Solomon
(970-930 B.C.)
– Asserted “federal
power” over “tribal
power”
• Divided the country into
12 taxable units
– Preserved the
kingdom by peace
(David had extended it
by war)
Temple
• Under King Solomon, the
Jews built an elaborate
temple in their new capital
of Jerusalem
– Housed the Ark of the
Covenant and the Ten
Commandments
• Romans destroyed the
Temple in 70 A.D.
• In 638 A.D., Muslim
invaders captured
Jerusalem and eventually
built two mosques on the
site of the old Jewish
temple, including the Dome
of the Rock
Jerusalem: A Divided City
• The Dome of the Rock is
the holiest Islamic shrine
in Jerusalem.
• It stands over the rock
from which Muslims
believe Muhammad rose
to heaven.
• For Jews, the shrine
stands on the traditional
location of the first
Jewish temple, the
Temple of Solomon.
• Jews believe the site to
be where Abraham
prepared to sacrifice his
son Isaac.
Diaspora
• After King Solomon, tribal tensions led to a
division of the larger kingdom into Israel in the
north and Judah in the south
• Eventually both Israel and Judah came under
foreign domination
• As a result of these various conquests, the
Jewish people were displaced from their
homeland
• Babylonian, Archaemenid, Alexandrian,
Seleucid, and Roman regimes all ruled over the
Jewish Diaspora
Diaspora
• All these regimes embraced
many different ethnic and
religious groups and mostly
tolerated the cultural
preferences of their subjects
so long as the communities
paid their taxes and
refrained from rebellion
• However they sometimes
created state cults which
honored their emperors as
gods
• This created a problem for
the monotheistic Jews
18th Century icon of Shadraeh,
Meshaeh, and Abed-nego in the
furnace (Daniel 3:8-12) and
Daniel in the lion’s den (Daniel
6:10-13)
Major Jewish Holy Days
• Rosh Hashanah
– First of the year
– Begins the Days of Awe which are a time of
introspection culminating in Yom Kippur
• Yom Kippur
– “Day of Atonement” for sins man commits
against God
Major World Religions
Source: About, Inc
http://christianity.about.com/library/weekly/blreligiontop.htm
Religion
Members
Christianity
Islam
Hinduism
Buddhism
Judaism
Sikhism
Baha‘i
Confucianism
Jainism
Shintoism
Wicca
Zoroastrianism
2 Billion
1.2 Billion
785 Million
360 Million
17 Million
16 Million
5 Million
5 Million
4 Million
3 Million
.7 Million
.2 Million
Divisions of Judaism Today
• Orthodox
– Jewish law comes from God and cannot be changed
– Torah is the fundamental text
• Conservative
– Accepts the binding nature of Jewish law but believes
that the law can change
– Use the Talmud along with the Torah
• Reformed
– Most liberal (i. e., open to change)
– The process of reinterpretation of the Torah to the
language of today is ongoing, and that every Jew has
a stake and a role in that restatement and extension.
Ideas Unifying Judaism
•
•
•
•
•
One people (Abraham is their forefather)
The Chosen People (holy people)
Covenant relationship (Promised Land)
Temple/synagogue
Torah and Talmud
Jewish Concept of the Messiah
• Hebrew word is moshiach (annointed)
• The moshiach will be chosen by God to put an
end to all evil in the world, rebuild the Temple,
bring the exiles back to Israel, and usher in the
world to come.
• “I believe with perfect faith in the coming of the
moshiach, and though he may tarry, still I await
him every day.” (Principle 12 of Rambam’s 13
Principle’s of Faith)
– Rambam is Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, one of the
greatest medieval Jewish scholars
Afterlife
• Olam Ha-Ba is Hebrew for “the World to Come”
and also the term used to refer to the spiritual
afterlife.
• When the moshiach comes to initiate the perfect
world of peace and prosperity, the righteous
dead will be brought back to life and given the
opportunity to experience the perfected world
that their righteousness helped to create. The
wicked dead will not be resurrected.
• Jews prepare for the Olam Ha-Ba through study
of the Torah and good deeds
Next
• Christianity