city‐states flourished along the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, and the Hebrew Kingdom of Israel rose and fell.
The brief life of the Kingdom of Israel merits attention, for the ancient Hebrews provide one of the three streams of civilization that blend together to produce what we call Western, or European, Civilization. The other two are the Greco‐Roman, or Classical, and Germanic traditions. It is primarily to the Hebrews and the Greeks, not the Egyptians or other civilizations of the ancient Near East, that we look to for the spiritual roots of Western Civilization. The Hebrews broke radically with the other peoples of the ancient Near East in how they answered the perennial questions of the meaning and purpose of existence.
Hebrews
Much of what is known about the early history of the Hebrews comes from the Hebrew Scriptures. They are a sacred history, the story of a special, covenant relationship between the one God (Yahweh) and his chosen people, the Hebrews.8 According to the biblical story, Yahweh is the eternally existing, personal, sovereign creator of all that exists, the one who chose to identify Himself to Moses9 (Exodus 3) as “I AM.” The Hebrew people were a seminomadic group of sheep herders who Yahweh chose to be his people. They were not chosen because of who they were, but to become the means by which Yahweh would make himself known to his creation, and through whom he would bless all his creation.
The Hebrew Scriptures relate the story of a group of Hebrews who left the city of Ur in southern Mesopotamia sometime around 1900 BC on a journey westward to the land of Canaan. They were led by Abram, later known as Abraham (“father of a multitude”). Abraham's great‐grandson, Joseph, was taken to Egypt, where he was a slave who became a high official of the pharaoh. That was likely during the time when the Hyksos ruled Lower Egypt. Being foreigners themselves, they would not have any reservations about appointing a foreigner to a position of importance in the government.
When a severe famine struck Canaan, Joseph's father, Jacob, went to Egypt with his family. The Hebrews prospered and grew in number until, according to Exodus 1:8, “there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph” (ESV). The new pharaoh, perhaps alarmed by the fact that the foreigners were living on the frontier of Egypt through which the Hyksos had invaded Egypt and through which any future invasion would likely come, decided to make forced laborers, or slaves, out of them.
The Hebrews were in bondage in Egypt perhaps 400 (Genesis 15:13) or 430 years (Exodus 12:41). When the period of bondage in Egypt, foretold in Genesis 15:13, was fulfilled, the Hebrew people were led out of Egypt by Moses, a leader raised up by Yahweh for that purpose. Moses led them into the Sinai Peninsula, where they wandered for 40 years. Yahweh renewed his covenant with the Hebrews and gave them a code of laws, both legal and moral. During that period, known as the Exodus, the Hebrews became a nation.
There is much debate over when the Exodus occurred. It took place in the year 2448, according to the Jewish calendar. Some scholars, called biblical minimalists (or the Copenhagen School), do not believe that there ever was such a historical event. They begin with the presupposition that the Bible does not contain reliable evidence for historical events in the history of ancient Israel.
The debate centers around two possible dates for the Exodus. One, that favored by most historians, is c. 1270 BC, during the reign of Rameses II (r. 1279–1213 BC). The second, favored by some biblical scholars, is c. 1446 BC, during the reign of Amenhotep II (r. c. 1450–1425 BC). There are good arguments for and against each one. Given the importance of the event in the history of both Judaism and Christianity the debate is unlikely to ever be resolved.
After a period of 40 years wandering in the wilderness, the Hebrews entered Canaan under the leadership of Joshua, Moses' assistant and successor. The conquest and settlement of Canaan took generations. It was a three‐way struggle between the Hebrews, the Canaanites, and the Philistines. The Philistines were an element of the Sea People who were conquering and settling along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Following Joshua's death, the Hebrews were organized into a loose confederation of 12 tribes. During crises, they united under charismatic leaders known as judges.
Around 1024 BC, the 12 tribes united as a kingdom. Saul (d. 1010 BC) of the tribe of Benjamin in Israel was chosen king and anointed by Samuel (fl. c. 1000 BC), who, according to rabbinical literature, was the last judge and the earliest of the Major Prophets. Saul was succeeded by his son‐in‐law, David (c. 1040–c. 970 BC), who completed the conquest of the Canaanites and the Philistines. David established a united kingdom of Israel with its capital at Jerusalem. Israel reached its greatest geographic extent under one of David's younger sons, Solomon (c. 970–931 BC).
Solomon's reign was the “golden age” of Israel. Great prosperity allowed Solomon to engage in a number of impressive building projects, including a very elaborate temple and temple complex in Jerusalem. Jerusalem under Solomon was a very cosmopolitan capital city. Foreigners journeyed to Jerusalem to witness the splendor of Solomon's court. The Old Testament records an account of the queen of Sheba (kingdom of Saba in present day Yemen) who “came to Jerusalem with a very great retinue, with camels bearing spices and very much gold and precious stones” (1 Kings 10:2, ESV). Solomon's wealth was not measured in just gold and silver, but in the size of his harem. According to 1 Kings 11:1‐3, Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines. Following Solomon's death in 931 BC, Israel was divided into two kingdoms, the northern kingdom of Israel with its capital at Samaria and the kingdom of Judah with Jerusalem as its capital.
The Hebrew people understood themselves to be in a covenant relationship with Yahweh. They were to remain separate from the other nations. They were not to worship other gods, intermarry with foreigners, or mix other cultures with their own. They were, in a word, to remain holy. They failed.
Solomon's building projects brought many skilled laborers to Israel. Israel became the center for much of the trade in the Middle East. The wealth gained from trade brought with it foreign cultural influences. Solomon concluded marriage alliances with foreign states, including Egypt. Not only did he intermarry with women from among the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites, all of which were forbidden under the covenant with Yahweh, but he committed idolatry by constructing for them places where they could worship their gods. Solomon, himself, joined in worshiping the foreign gods.
Hebrew Contribution to Western Civilization
The roots of Western Civilization, that is, those core values or principles that distinguishes it from other civilizations, are found in its Judeo‐Christian and Greek heritage. These include the emphasis on reason, the unique value of the individual, and the conviction that there is meaning and purpose for both history and the individual.
In contrast to the other religions of the ancient Near East that believed in many gods who were in some fashion or other born or created, Yahweh is sovereign and transcendent, eternal and omnipotent, the creator of all that exists. Nature is not an extension of the divine, nor is it the dwelling place of gods, spirits, and demons, but the handiwork of God, created from nothing (creatio ex nihilo). Nature is meant to show forth God's glory and inspire worship. God the Creator alone is to be worshiped, not nature. This demythicizing of nature made possible both the Scientific Revolution and the Industrial Revolution in the West.
Central to Judeo‐Christianity is the belief that God created human beings in his own image, distinct from the rest of creation. Since God created an orderly universe, not a universe of random chance, and created human beings in his image, they are able to use reason to understand how the universe works, or as the English philosopher Francis Bacon (1561–1626) said, “capable of thinking God's thoughts after him.” But the Hebrews did not create scientific thought, that is, the scientific method. That awaited the Greek philosophers
