The five books of Moses come out of a time and culture far different from ours. Over 3500 years ago, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, ... and Moses, lived in a culture now called the
Ancient Near East (ANE.) The culture of the ANE flows throughout the background of the Old Testament. An understanding of that culture is important for interpreting the Old Testament.
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.
As humanity moved from a hunter-gatherer society to one based on agriculture, we see a transition from wandering bedouins with their flocks to people settling down on the land. We can see some of that throughout the story of Genesis. Abraham is a wanderer. His descendants settle Canaan.
A Patriarchal Society
The ANE was intensely patriarchal. This was driven by basic survival needs. In order to survive and produce future generations, a man accumulated flocks and crops. And women and children. Women looked to a powerful man as a protecter and a provider, and so often rich men had numerous wives and concubines, and therefore many children, who themselves would grow up to have many children and provide the important work with the flocks and in the fields. The Old Testament writings swim in the ocean of this culture. It is a grave error to read the Old Testament passages as endorsing the ANE culture. The Old Testament, written in an ancient language within an ancient culture, should not be seen as endorsing either the language or the culture. (We will say more about this as we get into the wilderness wanderings and the Mosaic Covenant.)
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 during the Bronze Age.
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 by the
Hyksos. Joseph and his family likely arrived in Egypt around this time. The Exodus dates to a time later 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
this history.com site and an
Encyclopedia Britannica site. 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 improved their kilns. Using forced air, they developed kilns powerful enough to forge iron. Over the next few centuries, the Bronze Age collapsed and the
Iron Age began. We can see the slow change from Bronze Age to Iron Age at various events 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. In the reign of Saul, the Philistines could forge iron but the Israelites could not. (See
1 Samuel 13:19-22.) Later 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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First published March 5, 2023; updated March 1, 2026
