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Salvation History 26
THEO 100-Prof’s name here
21O1
Ancient Near East: The world of the old -testament

OUTLINE
I Introduction ❖ Assyria
II Diagnosing Severity of Anemia
➢ The north was the land of fierce
A Moderate Anemias
B Severe Anemias warrior and kings.
III Laboratory Diagnosis of Anemia ❖ Babylon
A RBC Indices ➢ Further in the east marked the great
i capital of the ancient world
ii ❖ Sumer
➢ First cradle of human civilization
TRANS CHAP 16: ❖ Fertile crescent
➢ Such route was termed
➢ Enriched by the twin rivers of
CHAPTER THREE Mesopotamia in the east: the
Ancient Near East: The world of the old -testament Euphrates and the Tigris river, as well
as the Nile river of Egypt in western
part.
➢ More than a list of names and books, The
bible is a legacy of people, a rich testimony of 2. People and places of the ancient near east
cultures from the past and a way of life ➢ Mesopotamians/Mesopotamia
different from our own. To appreciate the ✓ Is literally referred to as “the land
bible is to discover such past, and to find the between two river
crucial nexus between experiences and ✓ The two rivers are Tigris and the
universal meanings which both bind the past Euphrate
and the present. ➢ Ubaid people: The pre-sumerian
✓ As to their traditional theory has it
that they descended from a “Semitic
1. Fertile crescent people called Amorites who had been
pressing in on the fertile crescent
❖ Canaan since late in the third millennium and
has overrun Palestine and turned
upper Mesopotamia into an Amorite
land.” (NJBC, 1990 1177)
✓ They knew how to drain the marshes
for agriculture, develop trade and
➢ The promised land to Abraham and
industries, including weaving,
his descendants
leatherwork, metalwork, masonry and
➢ Was a country located at the heart of
pottery
the ancient Near east
❖ Sumerians
❖ Egypt
✓ The sumerians took over and
➢ Southwest to canaan was the home of
pioneered the development of “city
the ancient Pharaohs and the Nile
state government” providing a model
river
of harmony, and order in ancient

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 societies but shifted to the way of the
ruler
✓ Became greater and more powerful in
the period from 3000 BC to 2400, the
local assembly gave way to the idea of
divinely appointed kings who ruled as
god’s regent or deputy (1992:40)
✓ They were credited for having
developed a legal system and
inventions of pictographic Cuneiform
writing, the lunar calendar; water
clock; sundial; the chariot; and
military phalanx; the potter’s wheel;
the use of vault, arch, dome, column
and tower in architecture, plus a
highly developed polytheistic religion
that had an enormous influence on all
the later civilization of the ancient
world” (Gill, 2008 22).
✓ They were also famous for their
ziggurat- a temple dedicated to the
chief god or goddess of a Sumerian
city-which has survived through the
aging of time, and the passing of
history.
✓ Central also to the Sumerian religion
was the concept of man and his
relationship to the god again, a great
contrast of between Abraham, and
YHWH.
✓ In a fascinating Sumerian myth, Epic
of Gilgamesh, the story of a hero-king
and demi-god named Gilgamesh may
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have influenced the Bible's story of
creation, and most important, the
concepts of God-man relationship and
man's inevitable fate, death. In that
story, Gilgamesh, "a powerful king
and hero, two-thirds divine, without a
peer in the world" (Gill, 2008:124),
became arrogant in his rule, and
displeased the gods and goddesses,
who eventually decided to terminate
him by creating a wild and innocent
man named Enkidu equal to him in
strength (Ibid.).
✓ Gilgamesh, having learned the plot of
the gods, used his cunning strategy,
and sent whores to seduce him. It said
that "after six days and seven nights
of lovemaking, Enkidu was tamed"
(Ibid.). Later in such account,
Gilgamesh fought Enkidu, defeated
him, and in an unexpected turn of
fate, became his only friend and ally.
From then on, Gilgamesh and Enkidu
enjoyed each other's company, and
later, decided to retaliate against the
gods: Enkidu killed the bull sent by
the goddess Ishtar but met the
inevitable consequence of death,
which was revealed to him in a
dream. The death of Gilgamesh's only
friend, Enkidu, flooded his heart with
grief. After realizing that death awaits
all men as an inescapable end like
Enkidu's, Gilgamesh undertook an
epic journey of finding the fruit of
immortality and seek "Utnapishtim,
the only survivor, along with his
family, of the Flood, and the only man
to whom the gods had granted
everlasting life" (Ibid.,127).
Utnapishtim initially persuaded him to
humbly accept the truth about the
inevitability of death but failed.
❖ Akkadians
✓ With the leadership of King Sargon,
the Akkadians subdued the
Sumerians:
✓ Not only did Sargon manage to
subdue all the Sumerian city-states,
 and put an end to Sumer as a major
political power, he and his successors
also took over the entire Tigris-
Euphrates basin and expanded into
neighbouring countries (Gill, 2008:31)
❖ Babylonians
✓ Babylon attracted increased curiosity,
and greater relevance when its
contributions were unearthed and
known by experts and scholars.
✓ For instance, its rulers forged lasting
legacies to human civilizations.
✓ King Hammurabi (1728-1686 BC), who
was just a "vassal king of the Elamite
dynasty of Larsa" (McKenzio, 1965
334), rose to greater power and
expanded rule when he "conquered
Isin, Larsa, Eshnunna, and Mari and
created an empire which extended
the Persian Gulf to the
Mediterranean" (Ibid. 334)
✓ Quite striking, the similarity, and the
contrast of the Law of Hammurabi,
and the Mosaic Law are apparent.
Hammurabi. received the Law from
the Babylonian god of justice,
Shamash, in order to further the well-
being of mankind' (Gill, 2008.60),
particularly those who are vulnerable
to exploitation (Harris and Platzner,
2003:43).
✓ On the other hand, Moses received
the Decalogue, the Ten
Commandments from YHWH "who
heard the cries of his people... and
[intended] to bring the Israelites out
of Egypt" (Exodus 3.7).
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❖ Assyrians
✓ The name Assyria was derived from
"Ashur” which referred to “the
warrior-god of the city" (Ibid., 63). To
historians and archeologists, Assyria
was most remembered as a military
empire with its army as the backbone
of the nation, giving its structure and
hierarchy (Gill, 2008:72)
✓ In relation to the Bible, the prophets-
Isaiah, Micah, Zephaniah and Nahum
in the southern kingdom (Harris,
2009 65,66) warned Israel of the
danger posed by the Assyrian army,
and interpreted it as "the instrument
of divine wrath“ due to Israel's
sinfulness In later centuries, the
prophets were proven to be right in
their words.
✓ The Assyrian conquest, particularly in
the province of Samaria, left a painful,
divisive scar on Israel. The Assyrians
brought their own citizens in Samaria
and had inter-marriages with the local
inhabitants (known to be the
descendants of the Northern tribes of
Israel) an event that would eventually
be used to project unjustified
discrimination against the Samaritans,
due to their mixed blood with the
pagan Assyrians.
❖ Egyptians
✓ Land of the immortal pyramids and
the great Nile river, Egypt is located
southwest of Canaan. Its history was
complex and fascinating. Its
contributions and legacies echoed the
wealth and power of on ancient great
empire.
✓ The Nile had its regular season of
flood, allowing the Egyptian for an
ample time of preparation, and
enabling them to set their time for
plowing, planting, and harvest,
reflecting stability and prosperity. To
the Egyptians, the Nile was a great gift
from the gods: it brought alluvial soil
on its banks for their vegetation, and
 water for their consumption, animals, everything they would need for
irrigation and farming. eternity (1997:26)
✓ Thus, the Egyptian people willingly
paid their tribute and offered
thanksgiving to their gods. Such
attitude was clearly manifested in Canaanites
their respect and allegiance to the The Canaanites were the earlier
king of Egypt, the Pharaoh, "originally settlers of Canaan, and eventually, were
meaning "great house" or "palace" replaced by Abraham, and his descendants-in
(O'Brien and Wong, 1995:36). view of YHWH's word to Abraham of the
Promised Land. In the Bible, they adhered to a
According to their belief, "kingship
religion independent from their neighbors.
was a divine institution...and formed
EL Chief God, Spouse of
part of a universal cosmic order"
Asherah, father of all
(Ibid., 36). Faithful to this view,
gods (except for Baal);
pharaoh was even described as "a god El’s epithet was the
by whose dealing one lives, the father Bull; also referred as
and mother of all men, alone by Creator/Possessor of
himself, without an equal" (Ibid., 36). Heaven and Earth.
✓ Such religious practice of worshipping
BAAL Universal god of
many gods showed sharp contrast to
fertility; also called as
the one God of Abraham and his
the Lord of Rain and
descendants. In the book of Exodus,
Dew; Baal’s
Moses, a descendant of Abraham,
epithet as the storm
was narrated both as an instrument god; also known as ‘He
and a witness of YHWH's great power who rides on the
over the Egyptian's pantheon of gods Clouds)’
when He sent plagues to the helpless
Egyptians in order to liberate his ASHERAH Consort of El and
mother of the gods;
oppressed people, the Hebrews, from
also cited as the
slavery.
consort of Baal.
✓ In addition, the Egyptians believed in
the concept of an afterlife, similar to ANATH Goddess of love and
what Christians believe today. To this war, the sister and
end, Ellis and Esler offered us a helpmate of the god of
concise Egyptian view on winning a Baal.
blissful afterlife:
✓ Belief in the afterlife affected all The practice of offering the firstborn
Egyptians, from the highest noble to as a holocaust sacrifice was uniquely
the lowest peasant. To win eternal Canaanite. Such Canaanite influence can also
life, each soul had to pass a test. be noticed in the Bible.
Osiris weighted a soul's heart against In the book of Genesis, we are told of
the feather of truth. Those he judged Abraham's test (Genesis 22) of offering his
to be sinners were fed to the firstborn, Isaac. Also, we learn the story of
crocodile shaped Eater of the Dead. Jephthah who pledged to YHWH a sacrifice of
Worthy souls entered the Happy Field the first person who will meet him upon his
of Food. Egyptians believed that the return from a victorious war-when only
brought grief and sorrow unto his heart when
afterlife would be much like life on
he saw his own daughter as the first person
Earth, so they buried the dead with
coming towards him while "playing
tambourines and dancing" (Judges 11.34).

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 King Cyrus was a well-accepted, and
adored leader during his day. He was a
monarch, a person of mercy and compassion
(O'Brien and Wong, 2005:52). He issued a
decree for the release, and return of
foreigners from their places of origin - the
context that enabled the Diaspora Jews (Jews
in exile) to return to Judah, and to start the
rebuilding of their nation, and the renewal of
their faith. Such royal decree, and many other
well-remembered decisions, legacies, and
achievements of Cyrus earned him a special
respect in the ancient Near East.
CONCLUSION
From experiences, it is truly a
fundamental consideration to investigate and
understand the historical past of a specific
people and their culture. By taking into
account these rich heritage, traditions, beliefs,
and key leaders, we get glimpses and pieces
of their identity and significance in the world.
We are also humbled by these feats and
legacies. We are also ushered to greater
maturity as we became less and less
judgmental of their people.

As to their religious beliefs, the

Persians, like the Israelites, were monotheists:
they believed in "Ahuramazda (the "Wise
Lord")...who brought all things into
being...and gave all humans the freedom to
choose between right and wrong" (O'Brien
and Wong, 2005:54). However, this good god
Ahuramazda was in conflict with Angra
Mainyu, the evil spirit, thereby, producing a
dualistic struggle between good and evil
(McKenzie, 1965:662)..

The Greeks, with the young Alexander

the Great as the emperor, took advantage of
the internal strife among the Persian leaders,
and put a final rest to Persian rule and
prominence in history. The young Greek
emperor "defeated the Persian king Darius III”
in 333 BCE (Porter, 2007:133), and initiated
the spread of Hellenism. In 165 BCE, the
Seleucid King Antiochus IV Epiphanes
“invaded Judaea, tried to Hellenize the Jews,
and desecrated the Second Temple in
Jerusalem" (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2010) by
placing the statue of Zeus in the Holy of REFERENCES
Holies, the most sacred place for the Jews. As
a result, the entire Jewish population was “PROF’S PPT ON QUIPPER AND LECTURE”
enraged, and furious by the very act of
desecration and insult.

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