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Religions in the middle east
Religions in the middle east
Religions in the middle east
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In my opinion, the good society for ancient Hebrews consists two major factors, having order and have faith in God.
From Genesis’ elaborate logic of creation by God, the creation that first created sky, universe, lives, then human, civilization, then cities and families, and the creation of Abraham which led to the birth of his Israelis, Jews, Christians and Muslims. Such elaborate chain lies in the center of Hebrew society, and they believe that the world can only work properly with order. They also define kings and emperors and religious groups as the people who can make order, so no confusion or dispute will happen among the general public about the creation of order.
Having faith in God is also very important for the Hebrew society. God,
in different chapters of the Bible, have created a complex system of law that the ancient Hebrew people must follow in order to create a model society for the rest of the world. If you follow, then you will be awarded, if not, then punishment will await. He also set strict rules about different classes of society, and the harsh punishment that will follow if disobeyed. God punished Adam and Eve for not obeying his command, he also demonstrated his power in many ways, such as the thunder and lightning that comes with him wherever he appears, and the separation of the red sea. In this way, he demonstrated his ability to award or to punish people based on the laws, and the ancient Hebrew people knew that the god is capable of doing as promised, and harsh punishment will be carried out if his rules have been disobeyed, thus, people followed the order and the laws that God created, and a good society was created.
Between 600 BCE and 600 CE, religion played an important role in the social order of the Middle East. The introduction of monotheistic religions challenged earlier polytheistic religions and caused people to have faith in in one almighty god. Social order was affected by these new understandings because people began to believe that those who sided with God would be granted everlasting life while those who were on the side of evil were sentenced to eternal punishment.
Have you ever wonder how the universe was created? Some people believe in the Earth creation by the Supreme Being, some believe in the scientific explanation of Big Bang explosion theory. Every civilization in the world has its own story of how things are created. Each story reflects how people see and think the world at their time. In this essay, I am going to compare two myths of how man was created – the creation tale of Mohawk Tribe and the Hebrew Bible creation story. There are a lot of similarities as well as differences between these legends. While some differences between the two tales are the development of the stories and the meaning behind the stories, the similarities between them is the concept of creationism.
The film the Ten Commandments (1956) depicts is the cinematic interpretation of the book of Exodus. This essay in particular will focus on the difference between the movie and the book of Exodus. In particular it will focus on the issue of race between the Egyptians and the Hebrews. The movie shows the Egyptians living a lavish life while the Hebrew slaves were mistreated. This movie shows the sharp contrast the life the Egyptians lived compared to the life of Hebrews and how the Hebrews were mistreated. This essay will argue that the accounts of race in Exodus are over exaggerated compared to the Ten Commandments. This can be seen through the movie having an emphasis of violence towards the Hebrews, the disregard of protection laws for the Hebrews, and the overemphasis of the betrayal the Egyptians felt when Moses was discovered to be a Hebrew.
McKeating, Henry. “Sanctions Against Adultery in Ancient Israelite Society with Some Reflection on Methodology in the Study of Old Testament Ethics.” Journal for the Study of the OldTestament. Vol. XVII (Mar. 1979).
The Exodus of the Israelites is the equivalent to our present day Fourth of July or Bastille Day to the French. Israelite writers discuss the Exodus the most out of any other event in history. The story of the Exodus is one of the most famous stories of the Old Testament. Three of the most significant aspects of the story of Exodus are the call of Moses, the use of plagues as miracles, and the Passover.
The Hebrews contributed one of the greatest things any ancient society could give. Their religion, Judaism, and also the key idea of monotheism; that is to say the idea of having and worshiping one God, not may like the ancient Greeks and Romans. Their religion is also the basis for Christianity, as the monotheistic ideas and even some of the Jews religious books contributed as well. The Torah, or the first five books of the Hebrew's bible are great story telling and enlightening religious works. The main, and most important thing the Hebrews contributed was the idea of monotheism, the practice of virtually every religion today.
When Jerusalem fell to the conquering Babylonians in 587 BC, most of what was important to the Hebrew people was gone. They lost their holy city, the Temple was destroyed, and the Davidic monarchy ended (Beasley 221). Following the destruction of Jerusalem, the Babylonian king, Nebuchadrezzar, deported most of the population to other cities, including Babylon. These exiles remained there for about fifty years until the Persian forces, under king Cyrus, took the city of Babylon in 539 BC. The Persian policies concerning captured and exiled peoples were quite different than those of the Babylonians, and because of this King Cyrus allowed the exiles to return to Jerusalem in 538 BC to rebuild the city and the Temple.
How did people revere their gods differently among three civilizations? Did they worship with the same general intent? What were gods’ role(s) in people’s lives? A brief exploration into the religions of Egypt, Greece, and the Hebrew people may bring insight to these questions. Although the main idea of higher beings remains constant throughout societies’ religion, their form of presence in people’s lives varies. I will present the relationship between the leaders and the gods, as well as resemblance to monotheism and systems of government.
“Judah” is a proper noun which occurs hundreds of times referring to various entities in the Hebrew Bible. The Hebrew יְהוּדָ֗ה, or yᵉhûdâ, appears 810 times in the text. In addition to its main form yᵉhûdâ, it can be found 60 times with the gentilic suffix yᵉhûdî and in 6 more forms in the feminine yᵉhûdît. Finally, there are seven occurrences of the Aramaic translation yᵉhûd and ten of yᵉhûdây. The etymology of Judah is uncertain and unknown; however an association between יְהוּדָ֗ה and the verb ידה, “to praise,” exists. This verb, ydh, is known in Aramaic and Arabic meaning “to confess.” Hebrew encompasses “to praise” and “to confess” in both the hithpael and hiphil forms of ydh, making up its primary uses in the Hebrew Bible. A potential
Regardless, tax records provide valuable information about how the Egyptian Jewry was employed during the Ptolemaic Period. Based on the taxes Jews paid, they worked in a large variety of professions. Jews are named with respect to paying a dyer’s tax (CPJ No. 65), shoe-makers tax (CPJ No 66), fisher’s tax (CPJ No. 61), and wine tax (CPJ No. 48-49). There are also multiple occurrences of Jews paying a pasture tax. One tax receipt shows Abramos (a Jew) and Diokles paying it (CPJ No. 50). Another shows Simon also paying a pasture tax for using the land at Thebes (CPJ No. 108). These tax records show that the Egyptian Jewry were a part of the Egyptian economy in a variety of professions, not exclusively constrained to one particular form of employment
The questions about the existence of life and the creation of the world are always mind-boggling and fascinating, however, the real answer to these questions may never surface. All there is to rely on are the myths, stories and legends passed on from generation to generation by ancestors and the clues they have left. This essay will try to uncover the ancient Mesopotamian and Hebrew views on existence and creation by looking at sources like the Genesis and other ancient Mesopotamian texts and poems. Mesopotamians and Hebrews had contrasting views on how they explained the events in their lives, and through analysis of ancient sources, those differences will be outlined. In such populated and booming areas, human conflict was inevitable and some of the law codes that were placed in effect to establish order within the society will be examined. Throughout it all, god and religion played a central role in these ancient civilizations.
The code of Hammurabi was one of the most important documents in Babylon history. It was adopted from many Sumerian customs that had been around for a while before the Babylonians. Though many of the Laws were adopted from Sumeria they were published by Hammurabi and thus known as the code of Hammurabi. This code had four main parts to it. They were: Civil Laws, Commercial Laws, Penal Laws, and the Law of procedures.
Millions of years ago the procreant low lands in the river basins of Euphrates and Tigris was probably the home of some animal life, but no great civilizations. However, things change over time, and just a few thousand years ago the same fertile low lands in the river basins of Euphrates and Tigris became the home of a very rich and complex society. This first high society of man was located in what some still call "Mesopotamia". The word "Mesopotamia" is in origin a Greek name meaning "land between the rivers." The name is used for the area watered by the Euphrates and Tigris and its tributaries, roughly comprising modern Iraq and part of Syria. South of modern Bagdad, this alluvial plain was called the land of Sumer and Akkad. Sumer is the most southern part, while the land of Akkad is the area around modern Bagdad, where the Euphrates and Tigris are closest to each other. This first high, Mesopotamian society arose as a combined result of various historical, institutional, and religious factors. The reality of these factors occurring at a specific place within the fabric of space / time indeed established the basis for this first high civilization. Items like irrigation, topography, and bronze-age technical innovations played a big part along with the advent of writing and the practice of social conditioning (through the use of organized religion) in this relatively early achievement of man.
Judaism is one of the most ancient religions in the world. Abraham, his descendants, and Moses are believed to have been the founders. According to Jewish beliefs until Abraham man worshiped many Gods. The story begins with Abraham and his wife Sarah trying to conceive a child. When Abraham was 99 and Sarah 90 God came to Abraham and told him they would have a son. After the child was born God again came to Abraham and tested his beliefs by asking him to sacrifice his only son Isaac. Isaac willingly went with Abraham to be sacrificed. Before Abraham could sacrifice Isaac God sent an angel down to stop him. As a reward for his faith God made a covenant with Abraham that he and his descendants would be protected as long as they continued to show faith in him and live a life that was wholesome. Also from this it is said God blessed Abraham with many children. His son Isaac had two sons Jacob and Esau, Jacob who changes his name to Israel had twelve sons. Israel’s had twelve sons they are the “12 tribes of Israel” and their descendants are later known as the Israelites also called Hebrews.
While the Hebrews and Egyptians creation theories bear resemblances and differences, the study and comparison of both the Egyptian myths and the biblical account allow us to comprehend the religious views of ancient civilizations in a better light. One may come to the conclusion that the Hebrews were influenced by the cultures of Egyptians by creating similarities in their own beliefs, or by drawing a line of defense of what is in their terms true, by separating from the mass ideals of the Egyptians and establishing distinct