The Masjid al-Aqsa of Jerusalem is linked in the Quran to the story of the night journey of Prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Jerusalem. By Dr. Ken ChitwoodLecturer, Concordia College New YorkJournalist-fellow, USC Center for Religion and Civic CultureConcordia College New York Introduction The violence that spread from Jerusalem to cities across Israel and the[…]
Caligula made Herod king of the territories of Gaulanitis (the Golan Heights), Auranitis, Batanaea, and Trachonitis. Curated/Reviewed by Matthew A. McIntoshPublic HistorianBrewminate Introduction Herod Agrippa, also known as Herod II or Agrippa I (11 BC – AD 44), was a King of Judea from AD 41 to 44 and of Philip’s tetrarchy from 39. He was the last ruler with the royal title reigning over Judea and the father[…]
The Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound, known to the Jewish people as Temple Mount, is at the center of religious and geopolitical tension. Curated/Reviewed by Matthew A. McIntoshPublic HistorianBrewminate Overview of the Temple Mount Al-Aqsa Mosque located in the Old City of Jerusalem, is the third holiest site in Islam. The mosque was built on top of the Temple Mount, known as the Al[…]
Finkelstein has carried out his own fieldwork in a variety of sites and regions in Israel and Palestine. Curated/Reviewed by Matthew A. McIntoshPublic HistorianBrewminate Introduction Israel Finkelstein is an Israeli archaeologist, professor emeritus at Tel Aviv University. Finkelstein is active in the archaeology of the Levant and is an applicant of archaeological data in reconstructing biblical history.[1] He is also known[…]
The inscription hence records the construction of the tunnel in ancient Jerusalem. Introduction The Siloam inscription or Shiloah inscripti, known as KAI 189, is a Hebrew inscription found in the Siloam tunnel which brings water from the Gihon Spring to the Pool of Siloam, located in the City of David in East Jerusalem neighborhood of Shiloah or Silwan. The inscription records the construction of the tunnel, which has been dated to the 8th century[…]
Oral-and-literate ancient Israel probably had performance settings that were standardized for its oral narrative literature. By Dr. Robert D. Miller II, O.F.S.Ordinary Professor of Old TestamentAssociate Dean for Graduate StudiesThe Catholic University of America Recent studies in oral tradition have shown that many societies produced oral and written literature simultaneously. Such a model for biblical[…]
Immediately following the deposition of Herod Archelaus in 6 CE as a client king, Judea was turned into a Roman province. Introduction The Roman province of Judea, sometimes spelled in its original Latin forms of Iudæa or Iudaea to distinguish it from the geographical region of Judea, incorporated the regions of Judea, Samaria and Idumea,[…]
Following the installation of client kingdoms under the Herodian dynasty, the Province of Judea was wracked by civil disturbances. Introduction The Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah were related kingdoms from the Iron Age period of the ancient Levant. The Kingdom of Israel emerged as an important local power by the 10th century[…]
Judas Maccabeus prevailing over the Seleucids, painting by Gustav Dore (1832-1883) / Wikimedia Commons Judas Maccabeus’ death would mark the end of the Maccabean revolt against the Greeks – and the start of the extremely unstable Hasmonean dynasty. By Elon Gilad / 12.23.2014 Writer and Editor Haaretz Introduction Judas Maccabaeus was a Kohen and the[…]
Ruins of the ancient Great Synagogue at Capernaum (or Kfar Nahum) on the shore of the Lake of Galilee, Northern Israel / UNESCO, Wikimedia Commons Examining numerous different archaeological schools, disciplines, concepts, and methods currently in existence in Israel. Edited by Matthew A. McIntosh / 10.29.2018 Public Historian Brewminate Editor-in-Chief Introduction LMLK seals with Israeli postage stamps[…]
Impression of a Sumerian cylinder seal from the Early Dynastic IIIa period (ca. 2600 BC). Persons drinking beer are depicted in the upper row. / Cuneiform Digital Library Journal The discovery marks the earliest-known evidence of beer production among ancient peoples. By Brigt Katz / 09.14.2018 Since it was first discovered in 1956, Raqefet Cave, an[…]
Kudurru of Nabû-kudurrī-uṣur granting LAK-ti Marduk freedom from taxation for services rendered during his invasion of Elam / Wikimedia Commons Kingship in Israel and other ancient Near Eastern societies is a major focus of modern scholarship and has produced fascinating results. By Dr. Cian Power Researcher in Ancient Near Eastern Studies Harvard University History of[…]
Ruins of the ancient Great Synagogue at Capernaum (or Kfar Nahum) on the shore of the Lake of Galilee, Northern Israel / Photo by Eddie Gerald, Wikimedia Commons In the Ancient world poverty was a visible and common phenomenon. By Dr. Sakari Häkkinen / 09.22.2016 Research Fellow Department of New Testament Studies University of Pretoria[…]
By the 3rd millennium BCE, the southern Levant was a land of small, fortified towns and villages, ruled over by petty kings and chiefs. Edited by Matthew A. McIntosh / 08.24.2018 Historian Brewminate Editor-in-Chief Introduction y the 3rd millennium BCE, the southern Levant was a land of small, fortified towns and villages, ruled over by[…]
Medieval map of Jerusalem by Konrad Grünenberg / Wikimedia Commons The Kingdom of Israel was created after the capture of the city of Jerusalem by the Crusaders in 1099. 06.30.2018 Creation of the Kingdom The Kingdom was created after the capture of the city of Jerusalem by the Crusaders in 1099. One of the leaders Gottfried[…]
Chaim Weizmann, Israel’s first president / Jerusalem Post The longing for Zion, the hope that the dispersed Jews would be brought back to Eretz Israel, the land of Israel, had always been present in Judaism. By Dr. Kerstin Armborst-Weihs / 08.15.2011 Historian and Research Assistant Institute for European History Mainz Introduction The longing for Zion, the hope[…]
A conservator shows a 2,700-year-old clay seal impression which archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority say belonged to a biblical governor of Jerusalem and was unearthed in excavations in the Western Wall plaza in Jerusalem’s Old City January 1, 2018. REUTERS/Nir Elias Reuters / 01.01.2018 The artifact, inscribed in an ancient Hebrew script as “belonging[…]
Dome of the Rock and Wailing Wall, Jerusalem / Photo by Peter Mulligan, Creative Commons By Dr. Michael W. Palmer / 12.09.2010 That Israel’s understanding of God changed over time is not a controversial claim. The biblical texts record significant changes very clearly. From Henotheism to Monotheism The twelve gods of the Greek Olympic pantheon with[…]
“The Trump administration is giving Israel the green light to entrench a separate and unequal one-state reality with more illegal settlements.” (Photo: Reuters) Seeing willing partner in new U.S. president, Israel defies U.N. resolution with massive expansion of illegal settlements. By Nika Knight / 01.24.2017 Emboldened by the new right-wing Trump administration, Israel Prime Minister[…]
By John LeDell / 01.02.2017 There is a lot of confusion about the variety of peace plans offered in the past for an Israel-Palestine peace. To start this journey of understanding we should begin with Israel under King David. That is the reference point of the radical religious Jews. As you can see in the[…]
By John LeDell / 12.31.2016 Israel’s settlement policy in the West Bank has been called benign by Israelis and a tragic roadblock to a 2 state peace agreement. I will try to illustrate why settlements have been a deliberate Israeli policy to prevent a viable Palestinian state. First lets examine Jerusalem which Israel claims as[…]
A couple walk in the Israeli settlement of Maale Edumim, in the occupied West Bank on December 24, 2016. / Amir Cohen, Reuters By Agence France-Presse / 12.27.2016 Israel could advance plans this week for thousands of more homes in settlements in annexed east Jerusalem in defiance of a landmark UN resolution demanding an end to such[…]
Palestinian Loss of Land, 1947 to Present – Click Image to Enlarge The writer goes around the main reason why Israeli occupation demolishes Palestinian homes and finds that it is in order to grab as much land as possible in case of a permanent solution was achieved. By Richard Hardigan According to the Israeli Committee[…]
Zionism excavates its secular justification from the Jerusalem dirt By Molly Oringer Doctoral Student in Cultural Anthropology UCLA Recent articles and analyses of Jerusalem’s ever-changing landscape have suggested that archaeological digs, sponsored by government agencies, are replacing state security apparatuses, substituting exhibits and visitors centers for walls, fences, and checkpoints. In the wake of the[…]
“I don’t want my children to live my life. I’m looking for a future for my children and all children that is without occupation and violence. We have to have hope to resist.” By Katherine Hughes-Fraitekh Editor’s note: On June 8, 2015, prominent nonviolent resistance leader Iyad Burnat of Palestine received the James Lawson Award for[…]
Novelist Ayelet Waldman and a Palestinian man in Hebron. “For most of my life, I loved Israel, I longed for Israel, I planned to live in Israel,” she says. / Oren Ziv By Daniel Estrin / 05.02.2016 Bestselling author Ayelet Waldman has been called America’s most outrageous writer for her frank books and essays on motherhood.[…]
Ameera Harouda Ameera Harouda leads journalists to the harrowing (and often hidden) stories of the Gaza Strip that they couldn’t find on their own. When Ameera Harouda hears the sounds of bombs or shells, she heads straight towards them. “I want to be there first because these stories should be told,” says Gaza’s first female[…]
Students tape their mouths shut in support for Steve Salaita, a professor who lost a job offer from the University of Illinois over dozens of Twitter messages critical of Israel. during a rally at the University of Illinois campus Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2014, in Champaign Ill. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman) In 2007, it was professional suicide[…]