Ancient Israel

Climate and Fauna of Ancient Israel

The climatic variations are largely due to it being a land hemmed in between the Mediterranean Sea to the west and the Arabian desert to the east. [University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology]...

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Daily Life in ancient Canaan

Includes Home and Family | Bread | Weaving | Animals | Storage | Personal Identity | Writing | Warfare | Glossary | Bibliography | Activities [University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology]...

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Warfare

The maintenance of armies and the defense of cities were of the highest concern for the Canaanites and Israelites. Over the course of time, styles of warfare and weaponry evolved in the southern Levant. Fortified cities were built for defense against marauding bands and enemy armies as early as 3000 BCE. Most of the evidence for early warfare comes...

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The Hazor Excavations

Some past excavation details as well as seasonal reports. a joint project of the Hebrew University, Complutense University of Madrid and the Israel Exploration Society. Currently being excavated are Israelite private and administrative buildings, a Canaanite high place and a large palace. Impressive works of art and four cuneiform tablets - part o...

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The Pharisees

"Pharisee" is from a Greek word (pharisaios) taken from the Heb/Aramaic "Perisha" meaning "Separated one." In the first century A.D. the Pharisees were one of the three chief Jewish sects, the others were the Sadducees and the Essenes. Of the three, the Pharisees were the most separated from the ways of the foreign influences that were invading Jud...

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The Scribes of the First Century A.D.

The Scribes were also called "lawyers" and the "doctors of the law". They were all highly educated from a young age, and at an appropriate time (some say by the age of 30) they were elected to office. They were not only copyists of the law, but they were also the preservers of the oral tradition, which included the commentaries and additions to the...

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Israel History Timeline

This site begins with 10,000 BC: first permanent settlements in Israel and ends with 1995: Pro-compromise Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin killed at a peace rally by a Jewish right-wing assassin. Includes photos....

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Israel Timeline 1845-1998

This site begins with the Balfour Declaration in 1917 and wraps it up with Stage International in 2002....

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The Samaritans

In later Hebrew writings the word Samaritan speaks of the people of the district of Samaria in central Israel. They came from intermarriages of certain Israelites with the colonists from Babylon and other parts of Mesopotamia and Syria. These colonists had been placed there by the Assyrian kings Sargon II and Esarhaddon, after the Northern Kingdom ...

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Israel - Timeline

Starts at the 17th century:The Patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob - patriarchs of the Jewish people - settle in the Land of Israel. Famine forces Israelites to migrate to Egypt. And ends in 1998:Israel celebrates its 50th anniversary.Israel and the PLO sign the Wye River Memorandum to facilitate implementation of the Interim Agreement. ....

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