Old Testament Civilizations
In the history of Israel found in the Old Testament we hear about numerous civilizations with whom the people of God came into contact. We will look at five of these peoples and try and understand who they were, and their relationship to the Israelites.
The First of the peoples we will look at is the Philistines. The Philistines were a people from the area of the Aegean Sea who migrated to southern Palestine around the 12th or 13th century B.C. They were one group among many involved in a mass migration to this area around this time. They invaded Egypt, but were repulsed by the Pharaoh Ramses III around the year 1170 B.C. They were forced out of Egypt, and eventually settled in the area of Southern Palestine which is familiarly called Philistia. There are records in Egypt which refer to these People of the Sea as “prst” from which the word Philistine and Palestine are derived. They took over this land and brought the local Canaanites under their rule. There were five main cities, often referred to as the Philistine Pentapolis, which they occupied: Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Gath, and Ekron. The five lords of these cities, who met in a council, governed the civilization.
There is little known about the culture of the Philistines. They most likely adopted the local Canaanite dialect for a language. Their religion is similarly mysterious; it seems to have involved worship of typical Semitic gods. They also seem to have been interested in the practice of divination.
There are abundant references to these people in the Old Testament. They are referred to during the Age of the Patriarchs, long before the 13th century when they arrived, and these are obviously anachronisms. The philistines and Israelites were often in conflict with each other, especially as they both were seeking to expand their territory. In the 11th century the Philistines were on a campaign and the Israelites met them hoping to stop their advance. They brought the Ark to the battle hoping that Yahweh’s presence would bring victory, but it failed and the ark was captured for a time. The constant military engagement with the Philistines was one of the reasons the monarchy was established, and the most famous references to them is during this time. During the reign of Saul the Israelites often fought against the Philistines who had a strong army, and the giant Goliath, whom David slew, was a Philistine solider. When David ascended the throne some years later he defeated them, and subjected the cities of the Pentapolis under his rule. From this time one there is little unity amongst the Philistine people, and their history is of individual cities. After Solomon’s death most of the cities ruled themselves independently, with various invasions in time after from the Assyrians, Egyptians, Babylonians, and Persians. By the time of Christ they were part of the Roman Empire, had become heavily Hellenized and lacked any real distinctive cultural features.
The next civilization is that of the Canaanites. This is a people often referred to in the Bible; however there was never a unified Canaanites civilization per se. Rather, the name Canaanite refers to the various political organizations which lived side by side in the land of Canaan. It is more of a territorial reference than anything else. The specific area which made up the land of Canaan is all of western Palestine from around Gaza in the south, up to Latakia and Hamath in the north. The heartland of Canaan was from Byblos to Carmel and into the Jezreel Valley.
The exact history of these people is largely unknown. They are speculated to have settled there in sometime in the fourth millennium B.C. Early on they had close commercial and political contact with Egypt, so much so that they could be seen as kind of Egyptian colony. Their close ties meant that their culture rose and fell in prosperity with the Egyptians. Towards the Late Bronze Age (c. 1550-1200) there was a great development in trade and the Canaanites flourished at an unprecedented level. But, amongst the various cities there were many conflicts, and there was a great lack of unity between them.
It was soon there after that the Hebrews fled Egypt in the Exodus and made their way through the desert to the promised land of Canaan, plagued at that time by this infighting. The Israelites sought to take over from the Canaanites the land which the Lord had promised them, the lack of unity made it much easier. Their main target in the conquest was Jericho because of its central location and cultural importance. The siege of Jericho has been immortalized in the story of how they Israelites walked around the town for seven days, and one the seventh, at the blast of trumpets, the walls crumbled, and they took the city. After Jericho fell the Israelites went on to conquer a majority of Canaan, and established the Kingdom. However, the Israelites failed to completely remove the native peoples from the Promised Land, and the Canaanites lived along side them. The Israelites were warned to stay free of contamination with the pagan Canaanites; however, at many times they disobeyed the Lord and would offer sacrifices and worship to the Canaanite gods, particularly the most prominent, Baal. The word Canaanite is found throughout the Old Testament, but it eventually became to be a common term applied to any of the gentile peoples who lived amongst the Israelites.
The Assyrians are the next important civilization we will investigate. The Assyrians are a people who dwelt in modern day Iraq, the heart of which is the northern region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. They had several main cities including Asshur and Calah, with their capital at Nineveh. These were a Semitic people who spoke a dialect similar to that of their Babylonian neighbors to the south.
They trace back their history through a line of kings that goes back to early nomads who founded a settlement in the area in ca. 2800 B.C. In the book of Genesis (10:11) we hear that these people are the descendents of Shem’s son, Asshur. They began to build cities over the next millennium and by 1900 B.C. they had established trade with the surrounding civilizations. In the time following, known as the Middle Assyrian period, they developed into one of the most powerful states in the area. Under Tiglath-Pileser (1115-1077 B.C.), they settled local disputes and he led them on their first campaign all the way to the Mediterranean. He subjected most of the land of Syria under his rule, but did not invade any of Israel’s land. In the 9th century the Assyrians, under their great king, Asshur-nasir-pal, first came into contact with the Israelites. The Hebrews fought against them for some years, however in the year 842 the king of Israel paid tribute to the Assyrian king Shalamaneser II. Yet, after a time they become discontent with Assyrian rule and under king Hoshea they revolted. The Assyrians, would not put up with the insurgency and King Shalamaneser V, around the year 721 B.C., defeated Israel and carried off nearly all of the people they found, bringing an end to the 10 Kingdoms of the North. The Assyrians, under King Sennacherib, attempted to invade the Southern Kingdoms as well, and it seemed as if they would succeed; however, as we hear in 2 Kings 19:35, the Lord sent an angel to turn them away, and they raised the siege, and abandoned their conquest of Judah. In the years following, the Assyrian empire grew even larger, conquering almost all of the surrounding nations, including Babylonia (c. 703). However, they could not sustain their dominance for too long, they slowly began to lose control, until 612 when Babylonians, under King Nabopolassar, and the Medes conquered Nineveh, effectively bringing to an end the great Assyrian empire.
The Babylonians are the next civilization covered in this study. They are the people who dwelled to the south east of the Assyrians in the Fertile Crescent watered by the Tigris and Euphrates, which roughly corresponds to that area from modern day Bagdad to Basra. The earliest civilizations in this region date back to the 3rd millennium B.C. when the Sumerian people developed city-states, which was well ahead the rest of the world, other than Egypt. The people distinctively known as the Babylonians made their first appearance in history in the early second millennium. Centered at the city of Babylon these people, under the reign of Hammurabi, brought all the other city states under his control, during the 18th century B.C. However, this dominance of the region waned after his fall, and in the time after they were in a constant battle for power in the region. They were conquered by the great Assyrian empire in the late 8th century. However, it was only a hundred years later, towards the end of the 7th century, that the Babylonians, under King Nabopolassar over threw the Assyrians to claim dominance in the region. The height of the Babylonian empire came under Nabopolassar, and his successor Nebachadnezzar II. The great Babylonian Empire, ruling at its height from Egypt to the Persian Gulf, lasted only from 626-539. They were eventually conquered by the rising Persian Empire under Cyrus, and later by Alexander the Great. By the first century A.D. there were only a handful of families dwelling in Babylon, carrying on the traditions.
The Babylonians had influences on Israel at several times during their history. The Patriarch Abraham is said to have come to Canaan from Ur, a city from this region. The famous Tower of Babel is rumored to have taken place in this area as well. The exact historicity of this story is unknown, but it is true that this area had a uniquely large diversity of tongue spoken, and most Babylonian cities had towers called ziggurats which, reached into heaven. So, while the exact facts are unknown, there is certainly historical information that helps to substantiate the biblical story. The most important connection between the Babylonians and the Israelites is when, after fall of the Assyrians, they conquered the Southern Kingdom of Judah. King Nebuchadnezzar led an army to take the city of Jerusalem, after Jehoiakim rebelled and refused to pay tribute to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar was unsuccessful in his first attempt in 587, however, he returned and on 9 July 586, breached the city’s wall. They sacked the city, destroyed the temple, and sent the majority of the people into exile in Babylonia, leaving only a remnant behind.
The fifth and final civilization which will be analyzed in this paper is Persia. The Persians are Indo-Europeans whose homeland was the modern day area around Iran. The first traces of this people are from around 1700 B.C. They grew stronger after that date, and the first real kingdom was that of Mitanni in the 15th century. They were a powerful military state, and are the predecessors to the later Iranian peoples. The ancestors of the Persian people immigrated to this area from the Caucasus, and settled around the Lake Urmia in the West, sometime near the end of the first millennium B.C. They were divided into two main tribes, the Persians and the Medes. These two tribes would vie for power throughout the following centuries. During the years of Assyrian dominance in this area the Medes were dominate in the area, fighting sporadically with the Assyrians, but never losing their independence. In the mid-seventh century, the Median King Phraortes attacked Assyria, but was defeated. After the Median defeat the Persians became independent, and in 651 King Cyrus I of Persia came to power. However, this was short-lived and, a few years later, Phraortes son, Cyaxares, again subjugated the Persians. It was Cyaxares, who, in alliance with Nabopolassar of Babylonia, defeated the Assyrians at Nineveh in 612. After Cyaxares, his son, Astyages, took the throne. His daughter married a Persian king, and they gave birth to a son who would later be known as Cyrus the Great. Cyrus, led a revolt against the rule of his grandfather, and around 550 B.C. he was captured the capital of the Medes. With Cyrus’ victory, the Medes lost their power, and the first real Persian Empire began, under the Achaemenid kings.
Cyrus brought great glory to the Persian Empire. He began conquering the neighboring peoples. He took the Greeks in the west, Indians in the east, and he also captured Babylon in October of 539 with no resistance, due to the internal deterioration of that formerly great empire. He expanded his empire all across the near east; it extended at its height from Indian in the east to Greece in the west, the largest empire the world had ever seen. After his death in 530, his son, Cambyses, took over and expanded the empire into Egypt. This success was fleeting, and Cambyses died, in 522, on his way home from Egypt, after hearing about a revolt that had begun. Over the next year the Persian Empire was in turmoil, with the Egyptians, Babylonians, Medes, and others trying to throw off the Persian government. It was King Darius who, with his armies, overcame all the rebellions, and by the next year in 521 he was the undisputed ruler of the entire empire, with the exception of the fringe provinces, like Egypt and Asia Minor. He soon reconquered Egypt and annexed several other territories enlarging the empire more than ever before. He also attempted to bring all of Greece under his rule, however, his forces were defeated at the battle of Marathon in 490. It was under Darius that the empire was split into 23 different Satrapies or provinces, which were governed by Satraps appointed by the King. This remained the main organizational structure of the empire until its fall, with a varying number of Satrapies at different times. Xerxes, took power after the death of his father Darius, however, he was not as effective as his predecessor and his attempts to expand the empire into Greece were failures, ending at Plataea in 479. His empire began to show signs of decay as many revolts arose in different areas across the enormous empire, and he was eventually murdered, in 465, by discontents. After Xerxes, the empire continued on with little growth and a fairly steady decline over the next century, until under the reign of Darius III, the Persian Empire fell under the armies of Alexander of Macedonia, in 330 B.C.
There was a large influence on the Jewish people by the Persians. The main interactions took place under Cyrus. Cyrus’ policy was extremely pluralistic, and he supported all the regional religions so long as the people were faithful to the empire. In view of this he restored the Jewish people to Jerusalem, and commanded that the temple be rebuilt according to the original plans. Cyrus’ generosity, and his role in restoring God’s people to Jerusalem and the rebuilding of the temple, led many of the Jews to see him as even more than a liberator, they even called him the messiah, God’s anointed one. However, in later years they ran into problems from the Samarians who did not want the Jews to rebuild the temple. They bribed the local officials to stop the building. Finally, under the new King Darius the edict was recovered, and in 521 the building was again officially supported and financed. The temple was finished in the year 515. The Persians also influenced Jewish history during the time of Ezra and Nehemiah. Ezra was appointed by the King to a post in the Persian government. He was sent to bring order to Jerusalem. He returned to find many of the Jews, including their leaders, had been unfaithful to the covenant. He dreamed of a purified Israel and he worked, with the authority of the King to return to the Law. He became a great moral leader, and along with Nehemiah, the Persian appointed governor of Jerusalem, brought the Israelites back to Yahweh, and order to the area.
Throughout Israel’s history there have been many different empires in power, which impacted the people of God. In the midst of these worldly power’s God was always watching over His people, and sending them messengers to guide them. They were watching and waiting for the day when the true Messiah would come and bring them the freedom of the sons of God.
