You Hebrews they were a people of antiquity that, according to the biblical narrative, had its origins in the Mesopotamia. The Hebrews migrated to Canaan, supposedly by a call from God, and after a time in Egypt they would have slowly penetrated the region. Hebrew history is divided into three phases: the patriarchs, the judges and the kings. Around the 1st century d. a., began to flee from their land because of the persecution of the Romans.
readmore: Phoenicians - people who probably had commercial contacts with the Hebrews
the Hebrews and the Bible
the Hebrews were a semi-nomadic people who settled and settled in the region of Palestine (called Canaan in antiquity). The reconstruction of the history of these people is a great challenge for historians, especially due to the lack of historical sources and evidence that proves certain events.
One of the great sources that bring details about Hebrew history is the Bible, the holy book of Christianity. However, this historical source, like many others, is used with some care by historians, since that many of the narratives are considered mythical, being interpreted as myths and not as reports of events historical records.
Thus, the accounts of the Bible are not seen as absolute truths and undergo critical analysis by historians before being used. Anyway, in this text, we will see some information that mixes the biblical account with other information obtained through historical study.
Origin of the Hebrews
The biblical account tells that the Hebrews arose from the patriarch Abraham. Around the 20th century a. C., Abraham lived in the city of Ur, in Mesopotamia. He, who was a semi-nomadic shepherd, supposedly received a prophecy from God (Yahweh, for the Hebrews), promising him a land and a great offspring if he would leave Mesopotamia and worship this one God.
Abraham would have followed this call and departed on the migration that took him to the region of Canaan, currently called Palestine. In this location, the Hebrews settled in the region of the Jordan River Valley, marked by having more fertile land. Even in the new land, the lifestyle of the Hebrews was based on seminomadism. This phase of Hebrew history is known as the patriarchs' stage.
It is believed that the survival of the Hebrews came from animal husbandry and also the agricultural cultivation. The cultivation of animals was very common among the Hebrew tribes that inhabited more desert regions, while, in agriculture, the plow and irrigation methods were already used to improve soil productivity.
slavery in egypt
After this period in Canaan, the narrative tells that the Hebrews decided to migrate to the Egypt. This could have happened around 1700 BC. Ç. and was motivated by food shortage throughout Canaan. Egypt, in turn, was a fertile land, due to the Nilo river, and therefore did not face food shortages.
There is disagreement over whether the migration of the Hebrews to Egypt was adhered to by all the tribes or whether only a part of the tribes moved there. In any case, the arrival of the Hebrews in Egypt coincided with the period in which the Hyksos, people of Semitic origin (as well as the Hebrews), dominated the region.
The Hebrews would have taken advantage of the Hyksosian domain, settling there peacefully and occupying important positions in the region. Hebrew collaboration with the Hyksos turned out to be costly, and the Hebrews were enslaved after the Egyptians expelled the Hyksos. THE deliverance from the Hebrews would have occurred, around 1300 BC. C., by moisés.
Conquest of Canaan
The migration of the Hebrews from Egypt back to Canaan was known as Exodus, and some historians claim that there is no evidence to support that large numbers of people made this migration simultaneously. So, most likely, the Exodus story has a real historical background, but mythologized in posterity.
When the Hebrews reached Canaan, they found the land populated by the Canaanites (people from the region) and Philistines. The biblical narrative tells that the region would have been conquered in a military campaign carried out under the leadership of Joshua. In this campaign, the region would be completely conquered, and each tribe of Israel would occupy a distinct part.
However, writer André Chouraqui suggests that this conquest of Canaan was probably much slower and that it would have been done by a slow penetration of Israelite tribes in the region. He also suggests that the camel domestication and the domain of metallurgy were fundamental for the Hebrews, as they allowed them to live in regions with less presence of Canaanites and, based on these places, to expand into Canaan|1|.
Historian Karen Armstrong also points out that there is no evidence to support a large foreign invasion of Canaan in the period and that, even though they settled in this region, the “conquests” of the Hebrews would not have been complete: the great cities of Canaan had not been conquered and the Philistines had not been driven out|2|.
During this period, the great authority among the Hebrews was the judge, a military chief who was chosen from each of the Hebrew tribes. The last Hebrew judge, Samuel, was responsible for inaugurating the Hebrew monarchy with the coronation of Saul.
Kingdom of Israel
the coronation of Saul would have happened at the end of the eleventh century a. Ç. he was responsible for centralize the power of the Kingdom of Israel and leading the war against the Philistines for control of Canaan. Saul was responsible for important territorial conquests, and, after his death, David became king. David's transformation into king of Israel went through some years of conflict with Isboset, son of Saul.
David was responsible for leading the conquest of the city of Jebus, embedded in the territory of his kingdom and inhabited by the Jebusites. The Conquest of Jebus, renamed go david, happened around 1000 BC. Ç. and it was one of the great milestones of his reign. The city was transformed into the capital of the Hebrew lands, being currently known as Jerusalem.
One of the great feats of Hebrew history was the construction of the Jerusalem temple, also known as the Temple of Solomon because it was built during the reign of Solomon. the reign of Solomon it was understood as a moment of prosperity, and the Kingdom of Israel had a strengthened army and a thriving trade. The period of these three kings is known as monarchic period of Hebrew history.
Accessalso: Cretans - civilization that had great influence in the Aegean Sea
Diaspora of the Hebrews
The end of Solomon's reign weakened the Kingdom of Israel. The lands were divided into two kingdoms, having Judah emerged in the south, and Israel, in the north of Canaan. This division facilitated the conquest of the region by other peoples. The Kingdom of Israel, for example, was conquered by the assyrians in the VIII century; Ç.
Centuries later, the Kingdom of Judah, south of Canaan, was conquered by the Chaldeans led by KingNebuchadnezzar. In this conquest, the Temple of Solomon was destroyed for the first time and part of the Hebrews were taken as slaves to Babylon — that was the captivity of Babylon. The Hebrews were still dominated by other peoples, and Persians, Macedonians and romans conquered the region in the following centuries
The Romans maintained a rigid hold against the Hebrews who resisted through rebellions. There are historians who maintain that the betrayal of Jesus, for example, would have been an event related to this, since there were Jews who wanted Jesus to join the cause of Hebrew independence, but as Jesus' message was different, he would have been betrayed.
In one of these rebellions, in the year 70 d. C., the Temple of Solomon was destroyed for the second time and the first two centuries of the Common Era (d. C.) were marked by three Roman-Jewish Wars. The Roman persecution against the Hebrews in Palestine would have become very intense, which motivated thousands of them to leave the region from the 1st century ad. Ç.. This abandonment of Palestine by the Hebrews was known as diaspora.
Grades
|1| CHOURAQUI, André. bible men. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 1990. P. 38-39.
|2| ARMSTRONG, Karen. Jerusalem: One City, Three Religions. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2000. P. 44-45.
Image credits
[1] Jekli and Shutterstock
