The five books of Moses come out of a time and culture far different from ours. Over three thousand years ago, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, ... and Moses, lived in a culture now called the
Ancient Near East (ANE.)
The Ancient Near East
The Tigris and Euphrates rivers (mentioned in Genesis 2!) flow out of mountains in eastern Turkey, through modern Syria and Iraq, and into the Persian Gulf. The region between the rivers (Mesopotamia) had fertile soil that promoted early agriculture, possibly as far back at 12,000 years ago. The Neolithic Revolution apparently began there, as humans moved from a predominantly hunter-gatherer society to one based on agriculture. This region was home to some of the most ancient civilizations.
As one moves west of Mesopotamia, the Fertile Crescent forms an arc that moves through ancient Canaan (with the Jordan River) to Egypt. This region was home to ancient peoples who spoke a semitic language of which Hebrew, Arabic and Aramaic are examples. An ancient language of which we have cuneiform writings was Arkkadian, spoken in ancient Babylon.
The Bronze Age
Sometime around 3500 BC, humans realized that in their kilns they could get copper and tin hot enough to melt and so they could create hard, durable alloys we now call
bronze. The Bronze Age allowed better building materials and stronger weapons. The people of
Sumer were one of the first societies to develop bronze. Abraham came out of the Sumerian city of
Ur.
Egypt
One of the most ancient empires was just west of the western end of the fertile crescent, where the Nile River flowed into the Mediterranean. There the civilizations of the Nile valley coalesced into the
Egyptian Empire around 3100 BC, at the merging of two civilizations called "Upper Egypt" and "Lower Egypt." (The terms "upper" and "lower", like everything Egyptian, describe the regions in relation to the Nile river. Lower Egypt was further down the Nile, at its delta, as it entered the sea.) The Egyptian empire lasted, with occasional interruptions, throughout the Bronze Age. This society relied on accurate predictions of Nile flooding and developed significant mathematics and astronomy.
The "interruptions" in the Egyptian dynasties, caused by invasions of other peoples, allow us to break up the Egyptian empire into three eras, the Old, Middle and New Kingdoms. The famous pyramids were built in the time of the Old Kingdom. The Middle Kingdom ended around 1650 with the conquest of the
Hyksos. Joseph and his family likely arrived in Egypt around this time. The Exodus dates to a time in the New Kingdom, which began around 1550 BC.
Can we find evidence of the Israelites in Egypt? Apparently the closest known association occurs in the
Merneptah Stele which may deal with the Israelites at a time when they are already in Canaan.
We now know, through extensive archaeology, a great deal about the Egyptian empire. For most of my understanding of these ancient civilizations, I lean on Wikipedia, relying on its robust internal conversations to ensure a certain level of accuracy. Other resources are
here and
here. Timelines for the Egyptian civilizations are given
here and
here. A list of the Pharaohs, and the dates of their reigns, is given
here.
The Iron Age
Around 1200 BC, humans had developed kilns powerful enough to forge iron. Over the next few centuries, the Bronze Age collapsed and the Iron Age began. We can see this change reported at times in the Old Testament! King Sisera (see
Judges 4) is feared because he had 900 chariots "
fitted with iron." The ability to build hot forges was a sign of power; King Nebuchadnezzar had a fiery furnace in
Daniel 3 and used it as a weapon!
Aware of the Iron Age and the difficulties of forging iron, one should be alert for the mention of iron in the Old Testament.
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