Jerusalem Test 1 - ID Terms

UGS 303: Jerusalem

Section 1 Study Notes (from lecture slides)

How to use these notes

• Built from your 11 lecture decks (Sessions 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15, 16) and your Master List of ID Terms and Learning Objectives.

• Sessions 3, 6, 8, 11, and 14 fall on Fridays (section meetings), so they were not in the files. Eliade's Sacred Space / Bunting Map and other section material come from general background and are tagged [BG]. Check them against your section notes.

• Dates and names follow the lecture slides where I had them. Where slides disagree with each other or with common scholarship, I flag it in the Discrepancies section.

Master Timeline (as given in lecture)

Unit 1 — Big Picture: Geography and History (Sessions 1, 2, 4)

Location and climate

• Fertile Crescent: Jerusalem sits on the land bridge between Egypt and Mesopotamia/Anatolia. Every great empire passes through.

• Elevation profile (Ben-Dov): about 45 miles from the Mediterranean (Jaffa, Gezer) up to Jerusalem (754 m / 2,474 ft), then steeply down to Jericho and the Dead Sea.

• Austin vs. Jerusalem: Jerusalem is 125.1 km² (Austin 845.66); pop. 971,800 in 2022 (Austin 974,447); 554.1 mm rain (871); average high 21.5°C (26.45°C).

The name

• Proposal 1: Yeru (Sumerian 'settlement/city') + Shalem (a god) = 'city of the god Shalem'.

• Proposal 2: Yarah (verb 'to lay a cornerstone') + Shalem = 'to lay a cornerstone of the Temple of the god Shalem'.

• Earliest forms: Rushalimum (Execration Texts, MBA) and Urusalim (Amarna, LBA). The 'city of peace' reading (shalom) is a later folk etymology [BG].

Local topography

• Eastern Hill/Ridge: original settlement (City of David) in the south and Temple Mount/Mt. Moriah at the peak in the north. Gihon Spring sits on its eastern flank in the Kidron Valley.

• Western Hill: higher hill across the central (Tyropoeon) valley. Jerusalem expands here in the late 8th c. and again in later periods.

• Kidron Valley east; Hinnom Valley west and south; Central Valley between the hills.

Big themes of historical geography (know these cold)

1) Jerusalem always starts from and retracts to the Eastern Ridge near the Gihon Spring. 2) Expansion is always westward toward the Western Hill. 3) The sacred precinct (Temple Mount, later Haram al-Sharif) is always at the peak of the Eastern Ridge, except in the early Christian period.

Phases of the city (maps in lecture)

• Canaanite Urusalim (2nd mill. BCE): small city on the Eastern Ridge around the Gihon.

• City of David and Solomon (ca. 1000 BCE): Jebusite/Davidic city plus Solomon's northward extension to the Temple Mount.

• First Temple period (900–586): expands onto the Western Hill. Hezekiah's Jerusalem includes the Mishneh and Maktesh.

• Persian period (540–330): Nehemiah's walls (minimalist vs. maximalist reconstructions).

• Hasmonean (164–63): Upper City on the Western Hill, Lower City on the Eastern Ridge, Acra, Hasmonean palace.

• Herodian (4 BCE–70 CE): Third Wall, Bezetha (New City), Upper City, Temple Mount platform, Antonia, three towers.

• Roman (70–333): Aelia Capitolina, Camp of the Tenth Legion, cardo and decumanus.

• Byzantine: the Madaba mosaic map (6th c.). Islamic Part 1 (638–1099): lines of today's Old City; city reorients from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher to the Temple Mount (Dome of the Rock and Masjid al-Aqsa). Crusader (1099–1260): renovated Holy Sepulcher; Crusaders consecrate the Dome of the Rock as the 'Temple of Solomon'. Islamic Part 2 (1260–1917): Suleiman the Magnificent's 16th-c. renovation.

• Four Quarters of the Old City: Muslim, Christian, Armenian, Jewish (gates: Damascus, Jaffa, Lion, Dung, Zion, Herod's, New).

Whose city? Competing origin claims

• Yasser Arafat (as quoted by Cline) credits the Canaanites and Jebusites with building 'Bir Salim'. Israel's 'Jerusalem 3000' campaign (1996) dated David's conquest to 1004 BCE. The pairing shows how each side reads the ancient past as a claim on the modern city.

Key terms

• Fertile Crescent: Arc of arable land from Mesopotamia through the Levant to Egypt's Nile. Jerusalem sits on the land bridge, so Egypt, Hittites, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome all interact with it.

• Kidron Valley: Valley on the east side of the Eastern Ridge separating it from the Mount of Olives. The Gihon Spring is on its western slope. LBA tombs lie on the Mount of Olives across the valley.

• Gihon Spring: The city's water source on the eastern slope of the Eastern Ridge. Early settlement clusters here (EBA, 'probably the primary reason for settlement'). Fortifications guard it; Hezekiah's Tunnel starts here.

• Hinnom Valley: Valley on the west and south of the city. Site of Ketef Hinnom burial caves (late 7th c.), where the silver amulets were found. Its later biblical and Christian associations as Gehenna are [BG].

• Western Hill: Higher hill west of the Central Valley. Settled in force in the 8th c. (Hezekiah's Broad Wall) and again under Antiochus III; became the Upper City in Hasmonean and Herodian times. Jerusalem's expansion is always westward to here.

• Eastern Hill: The Eastern Ridge. Original settlement (City of David) in the south, Temple Mount at the peak in the north. The city starts from and retracts to here in every period.

• Mt. Moriah: The Temple Mount peak at the north end of the Eastern Ridge. The threshing floor David bought (2 Sam 24; 2 Chron 3:1) and the site of Solomon's Temple. The Original Temple Mount Theory proposes that the first city was here.

• Urusalim: LBA name of Jerusalem in the Amarna letters. Name proposals: Yeru (Sumerian 'city') + Shalem = 'city of the god Shalem'; or Yarah ('lay a cornerstone') + Shalem = 'to lay a cornerstone of the temple of the god Shalem'.

• Shalem: A god whose name is the second half of 'Jerusalem' in both etymologies. Not the same as the Hebrew word shalom (peace) [BG].

Unit 2 — Canaanite Jerusalem (Sessions 4, 5)

Bronze Age Jerusalem at a glance

Reading Abdu-Heba's letter (EA 286)

• Abdu-Heba prostrates 'seven times and seven times' and claims he rules by the arm of the powerful king, not by family succession.

• He says he is accused of rebelling and asks why the royal commissioner favors the Hapiru and opposes the rulers.

• He begs for garrison troops and archers and says all the king's territory is lost to the Hapiru if they do not arrive this year.

• Take-away: Jerusalem's ruler is an Egyptian vassal, loyal in his own telling, isolated and pressed by Hapiru, rivals, and accusations.

Key terms

• Egyptian Execration Texts: Egyptian ritual texts on pottery sherds from ca. 2000 BCE (MBA) that curse enemies by name. Jerusalem appears as Rushalimum. The text names 'the Ruler of Jerusalem, Yaqir-Ammu' and 'the Ruler of Jerusalem, Saz-Anu', each with their retainers.

• Yaqir-Ammu: One of the two Rulers of Jerusalem named in the Execration Texts. Shows MBA Jerusalem already had local rulers that Egypt knew by name.

• El-Amarna Tablets: Mid-14th c. BCE cuneiform letters from Canaanite rulers to the Egyptian Pharaoh. Jerusalem's letters come from Abdu-Heba. Themes: loyalty, pleas for troops, accusations of rebellion, and the Hapiru threat.

• Abdu-Heba: King of Urusalim in the Amarna letters (mid-14th c.). In EA 286 he swears loyalty, says the king, not his parents, put him in power, and requests garrison troops and archers against the Hapiru.

• Sea Peoples: Seaborn groups who destabilized the eastern Mediterranean late in the LBA (lecture: 'Minoan?'). They attacked Egypt and settled Ashkelon, Gaza, and Gath, forming Philistia on Canaan's border.

• Jebus: Name used for Jerusalem when held by the Jebusites, described in lecture as occupied by a mix of native Canaanites and Hittites just before David.

• Stepped Stone Structure: Massive terraced stone structure in Area G on the east slope of the Eastern Ridge. In lecture it sits under the heading 'Canaanite fortress = fortress of Zion?' (2 Sam 5:7). The House of Ahiel was excavated in the same Area G.

• Melchizedek: [BG] King of Salem and priest of God Most High who blessed Abram and received a tithe (Gen 14). Used to argue that Jerusalem had an ancient priest-king tradition before Israel. Not on the lecture slides I received.

The Original Temple Mount Theory

Minority view that ancient Jerusalem began NOT on the Eastern/Southeastern Hill (City of David) but on the part of the hill covered by the Haram al-Sharif (Temple Mount). Proposed by Ernst Axel Knauf. Supported by Israel Finkelstein, Ido Koch, Oded Lipschits, and more recently Nadav Na'aman. For years it lacked concrete evidence. In 2023 Na'aman argued that cuneiform tablets found on the Ophel (just south of the Haram) 'washed' downhill from a Canaanite administrative center under the platform above Mt. Moriah. Source article on slide: Finkelstein, Koch, Lipschits, 'The Mound on the Mount' (JHS 11, 2011).

• Original Temple Mount Theory: See the highlighted box above. (Minority view that Jerusalem began on the Haram al-Sharif hill; Knauf, Finkelstein, Koch, Lipschits, Na'aman; Na'aman 2023 on the Ophel cuneiform tablets.)

Unit 3 — City of David and Solomon (Sessions 5, 7)

Dates (Bible-based chronology)

• United Monarchy: Saul (1020–1000), David (1000–961), Solomon (961–922 BCE). Divided Monarchy: Rehoboam (922–915, Judah), Jeroboam I (922–901, Israel).

• Jerusalem becomes capital of the united kingdom after David captures it and the primary cultic center ('only at the place that the LORD will choose in one of your tribes', Deut 12:14). It continues as capital of Judah after the split.

Canaanite fortress = Fortress of Zion

• 2 Sam 5:7: 'David captured the mountain fortress of Zion, which is David's City.' 'Fortress of Zion' = Metsudat Tsiyon. Tsiyon is either a root for 'castle' or a root for 'dry land' (Jer 51:43).

• Water is central: the Gihon, its fortifications, and the water system gave the city its defensibility.

David's capture of Jerusalem (2 Sam 5:8–9)

• David says whoever would strike the Jebusites should get up the tsinnor to attack. David occupies the stronghold, renames it the City of David, and builds 'from the Millo inward'.

• Tsinnor can mean pipe, spout, conduit, air shaft, or windpipe. The lecture shows 'accessing the city through the water system' as the likeliest way in.

Why did David choose Jerusalem? [BG: slide is a map]

• Neutral site not owned by any tribe and located between north and south. Already a defensible fortified city with a reliable spring. Captured by David's personal troops, so it belonged to him (the 'City of David'). Bringing the Ark there and Deut 12:14 make it the cultic center as well.

Phoenician and Near Eastern connections

• 2 Sam 5:11: Hiram of Tyre sends messengers, cedar, carpenters, and masons who build David a house. 1 Kings 5:18: Solomon's builders, Hiram's builders, and the Gebalites cut stone and timber for the Temple.

• Threshing floor: site of the altar and Temple (Mt. Moriah).

• Solomon's Temple is a long-axis temple. Parallels: Tel Tayinat (long-axis plan), the giant footprints at the Ain Dara temple, and the Tel Motza temple near Jerusalem.

• Tel Dan Inscription (mid-9th c. BCE): outside evidence for the 'House of David'.

What led to the end of Solomon's kingdom?

Restructuring of earlier societal organization (1 Kings 4); imposition of forced labor (1 Kings 5); petty regional rivalries (Syria, Edom); rise of the Northern Kingdom; Egyptian interference (Sheshonk I = Shishak; 1 Kings 11:40, 14:25; 2 Chron 12:2–9); rise of the Assyrians.

Key terms

• City of David: The stronghold David captured (2 Sam 5:7) on the Eastern Ridge. The small southern end of the ridge around the Gihon, where the Canaanite city had been.

• Tsinor: Word in 2 Sam 5:8 for the way David's men strike the Jebusites. Can mean pipe, spout, conduit, air shaft, or windpipe. The lecture illustrates it as an approach through the city's water system.

• King Hiram of Tyre: Phoenician king of Tyre who sent David cedar, carpenters, and masons to build his house (2 Sam 5:11) and who supplied builders for Solomon's Temple with the Gebalites (1 Kings 5:18).

• Long-Axis Temple: Temple type in which the sanctuary rooms line up in a straight line from the entrance. Solomon's Temple is placed in this type. Closest parallels: Tel Tayinat, Ain Dara (and Tel Motza).

• Tel Tayinat: Site in the Amuq plain (southern Turkey) whose temple is shown in lecture as the long-axis parallel to Solomon's Temple.

• Ain Dara: Temple in northern Syria, shown in lecture for its giant footprint carved in the floor. A long-axis parallel to Solomon's Temple.

• Tel Motza: Site just west of Jerusalem with a temple shown in lecture among Solomon's Temple parallels. Shows cult sites outside Jerusalem [BG].

• Bet David: 'House of David.' Appears on the Tel Dan Inscription (mid-9th c. BCE), the earliest outside reference to David's dynasty.

• Divided Monarchy: Period after 922 BCE when the Northern Kingdom of Israel (Jeroboam I) and the Southern Kingdom of Judah (Rehoboam, capital Jerusalem) were separate. Israel is dominant ca. 922–720; Judah is a 'small-backwater'.

Unit 4 — Sacred Space (Mircea Eliade) [BG: section material]

These three terms and the Bunting Clover Leaf Map were not in the lecture files I received. This is standard Eliade; adjust to your section notes.

• Hierophany: Eliade's term for a manifestation of the sacred in the ordinary world. A hierophany makes a place sacred. Example: Jacob's dream at Bethel (Gen 28).

• Axis Mundi: World axis or center that connects heaven, earth, and the underworld. Jerusalem/Zion and the Temple are described as the center of the world.

• Sacred Space: For Eliade, space is not homogeneous. A hierophany sets apart a fixed point that orients the world, in contrast to chaotic profane space. Applied to Jerusalem (Temple as cosmic center) and to the Bunting Clover Leaf Map, which places Jerusalem at the center of the world.

Unit 5 — Hezekiah, Sennacherib, Manasseh, Josiah (Sessions 7, 9)

Setting

• 922–720: Israel dominant; Judah small. ca. 850: Israel challenges Neo-Assyria successfully. ca. 720: Shalmaneser V and Sargon II conquer Israel and exile its people. Some exiles go south and Jerusalem grows. 701: Hezekiah rebels and Sennacherib devastates Judah. 698: Manasseh becomes king and Judah is an Assyrian vassal.

Hezekiah's expansion of Jerusalem

• Religious reforms at the Temple (2 Kings 18:1–9).

• Broad Wall to bring the Mishneh and Maktesh inside the walls.

• Underground tunnel channels water from the Gihon to the Pool of Siloam (533 m; only about 30 cm difference in height).

• Hezekiah was 25 when he became king and ruled 29 years. 2 Kings 18:1–3: he obeyed the LORD like David (fidelity and divine reward).

Primary sources on 701 BCE (compare them)

Siloam Inscription detail: the slide translation says the water flowed 200 cubits. A full tunnel of 533 m is about 1,200 cubits, so check the number with your instructor. [BG]

Zion Theology

• Emerges under Hezekiah's father Ahaz when Hezekiah's birth is read as a sign of divine favor during the Aramean crisis (Isaiah 7–11). Isaiah 10:32–33: the enemy shakes a fist at Mount Zion but God cuts down the tallest trees.

• Develops further when Jerusalem survives Sennacherib's siege. Jerusalem/Zion is understood as unassailable (Psalm 125: those who trust the LORD are like Mount Zion).

Manasseh and Josiah

• Manasseh (697/687–643; slide timeline says 698): reverses his father's religious policies and becomes a loyal Assyrian vassal; Jerusalem grows again.

• Josiah (639–609), grandson of Manasseh: repairs the Temple (2 Kings 22). A scroll of the law is found, leading to religious reforms like his great-grandfather Hezekiah's (2 Kings 22–23). The Temple becomes the central cult center after his reign.

• Geopolitics in the 7th c.: Assyria wanes; Babylonians and Egyptians rise. Egypt throws off Assyria around 656. Josiah tries to assert independence and challenges Necho II at Megiddo in 609, where he is killed (2 Kings 23:29). Judah ends the century as a ping-pong ball between Babylon and Egypt.

Key terms

• Hezekiah's Tunnel: Underground conduit, 533 m long with only about a 30 cm drop, that brings water from the Gihon Spring to the Pool of Siloam. Part of Hezekiah's preparations (with the Broad Wall) for Assyrian attack; also called the Siloam Tunnel.

• Siloam Inscription: Inscription found in Hezekiah's Tunnel describing how two crews dug toward each other, heard each other call across (there was a zedah in the rock), and broke through pickax against pickax, after which water flowed from the spring to the pool.

• Lachish: Major Judahite city besieged by Sennacherib in 701 BCE. The Assyrian siege relief of Lachish is shown in lecture. Hezekiah sends his tribute offer to Sennacherib at Lachish (2 Kings 18:14).

• Zion Theology: Belief that Jerusalem/Zion is protected by God and cannot be shaken. Emerges under Ahaz and Hezekiah (Isaiah 7–11, 10:32–33) and grows after Jerusalem survives Sennacherib (Ps 125).

• Sennacherib: Neo-Assyrian king who invaded Judah in 701 BCE, took 46 walled cities, but did not take Jerusalem. Factors that may have saved it: Hezekiah's tribute (2 Kings 18), a divine strike on the Assyrian camp (2 Kings 19:35; Herodotus's mice story is a parallel), and Hezekiah's fortifications and water tunnel; the Taylor Prism only claims Hezekiah was caged.

• Proto-Aeolic Capital: Volute-topped stone column capital typical of Iron Age royal Israelite/Judahite architecture. Shown in the Hezekiah section as a marker of monarchic-period construction.

• Manasseh: King of Judah (697/687–643) who reversed Hezekiah's reforms and was a loyal vassal of Assyria. Jerusalem grows again during his reign.

• Josiah: King of Judah (639–609). Temple repair turns up a law scroll, triggering reforms (2 Kings 22–23) that make the Temple the central cult center. Killed at Megiddo by Necho II.

• Pharaoh Necco II: Egyptian pharaoh on his way to fight the Neo-Assyrians when Josiah challenged him at Megiddo in 609; Josiah was killed.

Unit 6 — Babylon and the Destruction of 586 (Sessions 9, 10)

Sequence: from Josiah's death to exile

• 605: Nebuchadnezzar (then crown prince) defeats Neo-Assyrians and Egyptians at Carchemish. 604: Jehoiakim takes the throne as a loyal vassal.

• 601: Jehoiakim withholds tribute and allies with Egypt. 598: Nebuchadnezzar attacks, kills Jehoiakim, and exiles or kills leading citizens (including Ezekiel).

• 597: Jehoiachin (Jehoiakim's young son) on the throne; Nebuchadnezzar attacks again and captures Jerusalem on 16 March (2 Adar). He installs Zedekiah (Jehoiakim's brother), who builds an anti-Babylonian coalition and rebels sometime 591–589.

• Summer 586: Nebuchadnezzar invades, destroys Judean cities, then besieges Jerusalem. Josephus says Egypt comes to Zedekiah's aid and is defeated. Temple and city fully destroyed by mid-August (traditionally 16 Aug, 9 Ab). Zedekiah blinded and deported; Temple looted; inhabitants exiled. Jeremiah had already fled to Egypt. Not everyone was exiled; maybe 50–70% of the population remained.

Key terms

• Nebuchadnezzar: Neo-Babylonian king. Defeated Assyrians and Egyptians at Carchemish (605 as crown prince), attacked Jerusalem in 598 and 597, installed Zedekiah, and destroyed the city and Temple in 586.

• Neo-Babylonian Empire: Empire centered near modern Baghdad that defeated Assyria and Egypt (Carchemish, 605) and dominated Judah until it destroyed Jerusalem in 586. Fell to Cyrus and the Persians.

• Ketef Hinnom Amulets: Silver scroll amulets from burial caves (Ketef Hinnom tombs) in the Hinnom Valley. Amulet 2 preserves a form of the priestly blessing ('May YHWH bless you and keep you... make his face shine upon you and grant you peace'). Late First Temple period evidence for biblical text and for YHWH's name.

• House of Ahiel: Burnt Iron Age house in Area G near the Stepped Stone Structure. Named for a shard inscribed 'Ahiel' found in it. The house includes a stone toilet. Evidence of the 586 destruction.

Unit 7 — Persian Period (Session 10)

Sources

• Isaiah 45:1–4, 13: God calls Cyrus his chosen one who will rebuild 'my city' and set the people free.

• Cyrus Cylinder lines 32–33: Cyrus says he returned the gods of Sumer and Akkad that Nabonidus had brought into Babylon to their abodes, and gathered the inhabitants and returned them to their dwellings, at the command of Marduk.

• Ezra 1:2–4: Cyrus decrees that God has appointed him to build a Temple in Jerusalem and urges any of his people to go back and help.

Persian rulers and Jewish officials in Yehud

How big was Persian-period Jerusalem?

• Minimalist: smaller city (Cline map p. 72 shows Nehemiah's walls per D. Bahat hugging the Eastern Ridge, Temple to Siloam Pool).

• Maximalist (Ben-Dov map p. 87): much bigger city including the Western Hill.

• Pros of maximalist: Nehemiah 7:4 says 'the city was wide and large'; six to eight gates are implied by Nehemiah (7:1 'after the wall had been rebuilt and the gates hung').

• Cons: archaeological evidence is lacking, and Yehud (Judah) was small in this period.

Key terms

• Cyrus the Great: Persian king who took Babylon. In Isaiah 45 called God's chosen one. His policy of returning peoples and gods lies behind the decree in Ezra 1:2–4.

• Cyrus Cylinder: Clay cylinder of Cyrus found at Babylon. Lines 32–33 describe returning the gods to their abodes and gathering the inhabitants to restore their dwellings at Marduk's command. Often paired with Ezra 1.

• Sheshbazzar: First Persian-period Jewish official in Yehud under Cyrus (ca. 538), identified on the slide as a grandson of Jehoiachin. Commenced re-building of the Temple.

• Ezra: Jewish official under Artaxerxes I (458 BCE) who implemented the Mosaic Law and eliminated intermarriage.

• Nehemiah: Jewish official under Artaxerxes I (445–432 BCE) who completed repairs on Jerusalem's fortifications.

Unit 8 — Hellenistic Jerusalem and the Hasmoneans (Sessions 10, 12)

From Alexander to Antiochus III

• Alexander rises in 333 BCE, conquers toward the Persian Empire, and dies at 33 in Babylon in 323. The Diadochi ('successors') fight over the empire.

• Two main powers: Seleucids (Syria/Antioch) and Ptolemies (Egypt/Alexandria). Jerusalem ends up Ptolemaic in the late 4th–early 3rd centuries. It is sacked for its wealth early in the Ptolemaic regime and eventually goes to Joseph the Tobiad, who farms taxes for the regime.

• Antiochus III (the Great) takes power in 223 at 18 and expands toward Pakistan. He conquers Jerusalem in 201 (Keddie slide: 198). His liberal self-determination policies let priestly elites run Jerusalem as a theocracy, and the population expands onto the Western Hill.

• Seleucus IV's Olympiodorus stele (Maresha, 178 BCE): a royal official, Olympiodorus, is put over sanctuaries in Coele-Syria and Phoenicia. It may reflect the pressure on the Temple treasury behind the Heliodorus affair (2 Macc 3). It shows more royal intervention than under the Persians.

Antiochus IV and the crisis (175–164)

• Antiochus IV (175–164) takes the title Epiphanes ('God-manifest'); his subjects called him Epimanes ('the madman'). He backs Jason over Onias III in the contest for high priest.

• Hellenization (from Hellas): 'culture, society, and way of life brought to the peoples of the East by Alexander the Great and his successors' (Cohen).

• Jason's program: renames Jerusalem Antioch-Hierosolyma; founds an Ephebium (youth association); builds a gymnasium on the Western Hill in sight of the Temple. Some men practice epispasm to reverse circumcision.

• Menelaus (Jason's official) carries the tribute to Antioch and pays Antiochus IV to put himself in Jason's place. Jason rebels during Antiochus's Egypt campaign. Antiochus crushes the rebellion, rededicates the Temple to Zeus on 6 December, and builds the Acra, a huge fort that permanently garrisons foreign soldiers in the city.

• According to Jewish sources (1 Macc 1; 2 Macc; Josephus): Temple defiled, looted, and made a Temple of Zeus; forced sacrifice and Greek festivals (including pigs); Torah abandoned; circumcision banned; heavy taxes; killings and captives; 1 Macc 1:41: 'all should be one people, and that all should give up their particular customs'.

The Maccabean revolt and the Hasmoneans

• Mattathias and five sons (priestly family of Modein, about 19 miles west of Jerusalem) reject the edict. Mattathias is killed and Judah haMaccabi ('the hammer') leads. In 164 he rededicates the Temple (Hanukkah) and starts the Hasmonean dynasty.

• Jerusalem is not fully Jewish-held: the Acra remains. 161: Judah appeals to Rome, the Seleucids strike back and kill him. His brother Jonathan takes the high priesthood with Seleucid support (irony: the Hasmoneans become thoroughly Hellenized).

• 142–141: Simon the Great rises, captures the Acra, and serves as Nasi (Ethnarch) and High Priest. 134: Simon and two older sons killed in a coup attempt. John Hyrcanus (third son) reigns until 104 and expands Judea to Solomonic proportions; Judea is truly independent again. His coin reads 'Yehohanan the High Priest and the Council of the Jews'.

• 104–103: Aristobulus I is the first Hasmonean to take the title 'king', the first 'king of Judah' since 586. Alexander Jannaeus (103–76) strikes coins in Greek and Hebrew. Strife continues until Rome is 'invited in' to settle a succession dispute in 63 BCE and Judea becomes a Roman client kingdom.

• Acra location is debated: incorporated into the Herodian Temple Mount, or found in the Givati Parking Lot dig. Hellenistic tombs in Jerusalem: Zechariah, Benei Hezir, Absalom, and Jason's Tomb in Rehavia.

Key terms

• Alexander the Great: Macedonian king who rose in 333 BCE to conquer the Persian Empire and Mediterranean basin. Died in Babylon in 323 at age 33, starting the succession crisis among the Diadochi.

• Diodochi: (Diadochi) 'Successors' of Alexander who fought over his empire after 323. Two main Hellenistic powers result: Seleucids (Syria-Antioch) and Ptolemies (Egypt-Alexandria).

• Seleucids: Hellenistic dynasty based in Syria-Antioch. Antiochus III conquers Jerusalem (201 or 198) and runs a liberal policy. Antiochus IV is the persecutor. Seleucid Era counts from 312/11 BCE.

• Ptolomies: (Ptolemies) Hellenistic dynasty based in Egypt-Alexandria. Held Jerusalem from the late 4th through early 3rd century, sacked it early, then used Joseph the Tobiad to farm taxes.

• Antiochus IV: Seleucid king (175–164) called Epiphanes ('God-manifest'), nicknamed 'the madman'. Picked Jason as high priest, rededicated the Temple to Zeus (6 Dec), built the Acra, and suppressed Torah practice and circumcision.

• Onias III: Jewish High Priest who lost a contest for the office to his brother Jason in 175 BCE. Keddie's notes cite 2 Macc 4:33–35 for his murder.

• Jason: Onias III's brother. Antiochus IV picks him as High Priest. Hellenizes Jerusalem by renaming it Antioch-Hierosolyma, starting an ephebium, and building a gymnasium on the Western Hill in sight of the Temple (epispasm followed). Later ousted by Menelaus and rebels.

• Acra: Massive fortress Antiochus IV built to oversee Jerusalem by permanently garrisoning foreign soldiers. Stays a Greek presence after 164 until Simon captures it (142–141). Location debated: under the Herodian Temple Mount, or the Givati Parking Lot dig.

• Mattathias: Priest from Modein who, with five sons, rejected Antiochus's edict and started the Maccabean revolt. Killed early in the revolt.

• Judah haMaccabi: Mattathias's son ('the hammer'). Leads the revolt and rededicates the Temple in 164 (Hanukkah). Appeals to Rome in 161 and is killed by the Seleucids.

• Simon the Great: Brother who rose in 142–141, captured the Acra, and served as Nasi (Ethnarch) and High Priest, establishing the Hasmonean dynasty. Killed in a coup attempt in 134 with his two older sons.

• John Hyrcanus: Simon's third son who took the throne in 134, reigned to 104, and expanded Judea to Solomonic proportions. Coin: 'Yehohanan the High Priest and the Council of the Jews'.

• Aristobulus I: Hyrcanus's son. First Hasmonean to take the title 'king'; first 'king of Judah' since 586.

Unit 9 — Herod and Rome (Sessions 13, 15)

The Herods

• Herod 'the Great' (37–4 BCE). Sons: Archelaus (4 BCE–6 CE), Antipas (4 BCE–39 CE), Philip (4 BCE–34 CE). Grandson Agrippa I (41–44 CE). Great-grandson Agrippa II (53–ca. 93 CE).

Herod's reign

• Economic prosperity and peace, territorial expansion, political alliances, restrictive measures with a strong military presence, commercial trade, and a building boom.

• Building: public (monuments, theaters, hippodromes, pagan temples, the Jewish Temple), personal (palaces, fortresses), and projects abroad.

Reading Herod: Rome and the Jews

• Herod and Rome: appointed client-king by Antony and then Augustus; boasted the title 'Friend of the Romans'; brought Roman culture; used Roman conventions at Caesarea Maritima (Temple to Augustus and Rome), Masada, and Herodium.

• Herod as King of the Jews: Herod was Jewish; he appointed the High Priests; buildings and coins in Jerusalem lacked figural images; he rebuilt the Jerusalem Temple.

Jerusalem renovated (objective: describe how Herod renovated Jerusalem)

• Map features (Cline 103): Bezetha (New City), Third Wall, Upper City ('Zion') with Herod's Palace and the Hippicus, Phasael, and Mariamne towers, Lower City, Antonia fortress, Royal Portico/Royal Stoa, Solomon's Portico, Temple Mount platform with inner court and center court, theater and hippodrome, Sheep's Pools.

• Josephus (War 5.6) describes the Temple front covered in heavy gold plates that blazed at sunrise, and from afar it looked like a snow-covered mountain where not gilded.

• Temple Mount Sifting Project opus-sectile tiles show the colored stone floor patterns.

Pilgrimage economy

• Three major pilgrimage festivals: Passover, Weeks, Booths. Pilgrims lodged in Jerusalem, brought tithes, paid the Temple tax, and brought or purchased sacrificial offerings. The Temple was also a bank.

• The wealth helped fund urban development and create jobs. Herod and Rome created a new priestly ruling class that oversaw this economy.

After Herod: the road to revolt

• 10 BCE: Temple dedicated (work continues). When construction ends a huge workforce is unemployed. 4 BCE: Herod dies; Archelaus replaces him. 6 CE: Augustus deposes Archelaus; procuratorship (Pontius Pilate).

• 41 CE: Caligula orders a gilded statue of himself in the Temple, an affront to Jewish aniconism; he dies the same year. Agrippa I is appointed king. His major contribution: the Third Wall protecting the northern suburbs (completed mid to late 60s CE). City expands to 310–450 acres.

• 66 CE: Florus (procurator, based at Caesarea Maritima) takes 17 talents from the Temple; the population rebels; Florus plunders the city. August 66: rebels capture the Antonia.

Key terms

• Herod the Great: Client-king of Judea (37–4 BCE) appointed by Rome (Antony, then Augustus). 'Friend of the Romans', Jewish king who appointed High Priests and rebuilt the Temple, plus a huge building program (Caesarea Maritima, Masada, Herodium, theaters, hippodromes, palaces).

• Augustus: Roman emperor who confirmed Herod as client-king. Herod built a Temple to Augustus and Rome at Caesarea Maritima. In 6 CE he deposes Archelaus and turns Judea into a procuratorship.

• Herodian oil lamp: Small pinched-nozzle wheel-made lamp typical of late 1st c. BCE to 70 CE. Used by archaeologists to date Herodian-period contexts [BG on details; lamp is pictured on the Session 13 slide].

• Soreg Inscription: Greek warning inscription from the Temple's balustrade: no foreigner is to go beyond the balustrade and the plaza of the Temple zone; whoever is caught will have himself to blame for the death that follows.

• Herodian masonry: Finely dressed large ashlar stones with carefully drafted edges, as in the Temple Mount retaining walls (photo on Session 13 slide). Identifies Herod-era construction.

Unit 10 — Revolts of 66–70 and 132–135 CE (Sessions 15, 16)

First Jewish Revolt (66–70)

• Cestius Gallus (legate of Syria) moves in with the 12th Legion, besieges the city for five days, inexplicably retreats on the sixth, and is defeated at Beth Horon (where the Maccabees beat the Seleucids 200 years earlier). The 12th Legion is destroyed and its imperial standard (aquila) is captured.

• Nero sends the 5th, 10th, and 15th Legions plus auxiliaries under Vespasian: 65,000–78,000 troops vs. perhaps 20,000 in Jerusalem. Vespasian carries out total destruction across Judea and Samaria before besieging Jerusalem.

• Inside the city the factions fight each other instead of preparing: sectionalized city, destroyed food stores, depleted forces and defenses, growing famine.

• 69: Nero dies and the Year of Four Emperors begins; Vespasian returns to Rome and founds the Flavian dynasty. 70: Titus destroys the Temple on 28 August (9 Av) and the rest of the city within weeks.

Aftermath of 70 CE

• Devaluation of gold in the eastern Empire; large percentage of the populace sold into slavery; slaves and gold used to build the Coliseum.

• Jerusalem destroyed except the three towers of Herod's fortress (Phasael, Mariamne, Hippicus); Tenth Legion garrisoned there.

• Moderates try to make peace with Rome: Josephus Flavius and Yohanan ben Zakkai.

• Victory propaganda: Arch of Titus (relief of the Temple vessels) and coins 'Judea capta' and 'Judea devicta'.

Bar Kokhba revolt (132–135)

• Hadrian (Aelius Hadrianus) tries to impose a uniform culture in the eastern Empire to present a common front against Parthia. Sources disagree on cause: Cassius Dio says refounding Jerusalem as Aelia Capitolina sparked the revolt; Eusebius says it was punishment for the revolt.

• ca. 130: Hadrian bans circumcision, kosher laws, and Torah study. Shimon bar Kosiva ('Bar Kokhba', messianic title 'son of the star') launches a three-year insurgent rebellion that ends when Rome crushes his forces at the fortress of Betar. Possible motivation also from expectations of Jerusalem's restoration tied to Jeremiah's 70-year prophecy.

• Coins in Paleo-Hebrew: 'Shimon' / 'For the Freedom of Jerusalem' and 'Year Two of the Freedom of Israel'.

• Aftermath: Jerusalem and Judea depopulated (more than after 70); Aelia Capitolina is a minor Roman garrison town; Judea renamed Syria Palaestina on the erroneous view that the Philistines owned the land originally.

Aelia Capitolina

• Aelia = Hadrian's family name (Aelius); founded in 130 CE on the ruins of the city Titus destroyed. Capitolina = the Capitoline Triad (Jupiter, Juno, Minerva). Standard Roman colonial plan: Cardo Maximus (N/S route) and Decumanus (E/W route), Temple of Jupiter(?), Temple of Aphrodite, forum, Camp of the Tenth Legion. Jerash (Jordan) shown as a comparison for tetrapylon and decumanus.

Key terms

• Vespasian: General sent by Nero with the 5th, 10th, and 15th Legions after the 12th was destroyed. Wages a campaign of total destruction in Judea and Samaria, becomes emperor after the Year of Four Emperors (Flavian dynasty), and sends Titus to Jerusalem.

• Titus: Vespasian's son who destroyed the Temple on 28 August (9 Av) 70 CE and the rest of the city within weeks. Commemorated on the Arch of Titus and on 'Judea capta/devicta' coins.

• Roman Aquila Standard: Imperial eagle standard of a Roman legion (the slide shows a legion standard with SPQR). In 66 CE the 12th Legion's imperial standard is captured at Beth Horon when Cestius Gallus is defeated.

• Arch of Titus: Triumphal arch in Rome celebrating the conquest of Jerusalem. Its relief shows the Temple vessels being carried in procession.

• Shimon bar Koseba: Shimon bar Kosiva, called Bar Kokhba ('son of the star', messianic). Led the 132–135 revolt against Hadrian; his coins read 'For the Freedom of Jerusalem'. Insurgent tactics ended when Rome crushed him at Betar.

• Hadrian: Roman emperor (Aelius Hadrianus) who pursued a uniform culture in the east, founded Aelia Capitolina, and ca. 130 banned circumcision, kosher laws, and Torah study. After 135 renamed Judea Syria Palaestina.

• Aelia Capitolina: Hadrian's Roman colony on the ruins of Jerusalem (130 CE). Aelia from the emperor's family name, Capitolina from the Capitoline Triad. Laid out with the Cardo Maximus and Decumanus; a minor Roman garrison town after 135.

Bonus — Byzantine Jerusalem (Session 16, beyond the Master List)

• Phase 1, Constantine (306–337) and his mother Helena: Christianity unifies the Empire (capital shifts east to Byzantium). Helena oversees the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and the Church of St. Sion. Jews are banned from Jerusalem. The Temple Mount is probably left in ruins as a sign God had forsaken the Jews. Jerusalem develops a pilgrimage economy and trade in relics.

• A Julian interlude (331–363). Phase 2: Theodosius II and Eudocia (443–460). Phase 3: Justinian I (527–565). Phase 4: Heraclius (610–641). The 6th-c. Madaba carpet map shows the city.

Learning Objectives: Model Answers

1. Outline the big themes in Jerusalem's historical geography.

(1) The city always starts from and retracts to the Eastern Ridge near the Gihon. (2) Expansion is always westward onto the Western Hill. (3) The sacred precinct is always at the peak of the Eastern Ridge, except in the early Christian period (when the Holy Sepulcher is the focus). Add the Fertile Crescent land-bridge location.

2. Describe the major geographical features of Jerusalem.

Eastern Hill/Ridge (City of David in the south, Temple Mount/Mt. Moriah at the peak); Western Hill; Central (Tyropoeon) Valley; Kidron Valley to the east; Hinnom Valley to the west and south; Gihon Spring on the Eastern Ridge's slope. Elevation 754 m.

3. Explain at least one theory for the meaning of a name of the city.

Yeru (Sumerian 'settlement/city') + Shalem (a god) = 'city of the god Shalem'. Alternatively Yarah ('to lay a cornerstone') + Shalem = 'to lay a cornerstone of the Temple of the god Shalem'. Earlier forms: Rushalimum (Execration Texts) and Urusalim (Amarna).

4. Articulate possible theories for why people chose to settle Jerusalem before the Israelites.

The Gihon Spring (probably the primary reason in the EBA); a defensible Eastern Ridge; a location on the land bridge between Egypt and the Hittites; control of the surrounding region once fortified (LBA). Also the Original Temple Mount Theory, which places the earliest settlement on the Temple Mount hill.

5. Describe the development of Jerusalem in the third and second millennia BCE.

EBA (ca. 3000): village-like settlement around the Gihon. MBA (ca. 2000): Rushalimum, ruled by Yaqir-Ammu and Saz-Anu in the Execration Texts. LBA (1550–1200): fortified town with control of the region, fortifications around the Gihon, tombs on the Mount of Olives, Semitic names, border between Egypt and the Hittites. Near the end: Sea Peoples disrupt the region and Jerusalem (Jebus) has Canaanites and Hittites.

6. Discuss ways that the rulers of Jerusalem interacted with the rulers of Egypt during this period.

MBA: Egypt curses Jerusalem's rulers by name in the Execration Texts. LBA: Abdu-Heba writes to the Pharaoh in the Amarna letters as a loyal servant, says the king put him in office, requests garrison troops and archers against the Hapiru, and answers accusations that he rebelled.

7. Articulate why David chose Jerusalem as the capital of his kingdom.

[BG] Neutral site not belonging to any tribe and between north and south; an already fortified city; a spring-fed water system; taken by David's own troops (City of David), so it was his personal possession; then made the cultic center by bringing the Ark (Deut 12:14 'the place that the LORD will choose').

8. Describe what significant changes happened to Jerusalem during the reign of David according to the Bible.

David captures the Jebusite fortress of Zion (2 Sam 5:7) via the tsinnor, renames it the City of David, builds from the Millo inward, and receives Hiram of Tyre's cedar, carpenters, and masons to build his house (2 Sam 5:11). Becomes capital and primary cultic center.

9. Describe what significant changes happened to Jerusalem during the reign of Solomon according to the Bible.

Solomon's builders plus Hiram's builders and the Gebalites cut stone and timber for the Temple (1 Kings 5:18), built as a long-axis temple on Mt. Moriah at the threshing floor. The city extends north to the Temple Mount and palace area. Forced labor (1 Kings 5) funds the building.

10. Describe what factors led to the dissolution of the United Monarchy.

Restructuring of societal organization (1 Kings 4); forced labor (1 Kings 5); regional rivalries (Syria, Edom); rise of the Northern Kingdom of Israel; Egyptian interference by Sheshonk I/Shishak (1 Kings 11:40, 14:25; 2 Chron 12:2–9); rise of the Assyrians. Division in 922 BCE.

11. Articulate Mircea Eliade's concept of Sacred Space and apply it to a number of biblical passages and the Bunting Clover Leaf Map.

[BG] Space is not homogeneous. A hierophany marks a fixed sacred point (axis mundi) that orients the world. Apply to Jacob's dream at Bethel (Gen 28), the Temple and Zion as the center of the world, and the Bunting Clover Leaf Map, which draws Jerusalem at the center of a trefoil of Europe, Asia, and Africa.

12. Describe what significant changes happened to Jerusalem during the reign of Hezekiah.

Religious reforms at the Temple (2 Kings 18:1–9); the Broad Wall brings the Mishneh and Maktesh (Western Hill) inside the walls; Hezekiah's Tunnel channels Gihon water to the Pool of Siloam (Siloam Inscription); Jerusalem grows with refugees after Israel's fall (ca. 720); survives Sennacherib in 701 and Zion Theology matures.

13. Describe what factors may have prevented Sennacherib from capturing Jerusalem.

Hezekiah's tribute (2 Kings 18:14–16); the biblical divine strike on the Assyrian camp, 185,000 dead (2 Kings 19:35); Herodotus's Egyptian version with a field-mouse plague; Hezekiah's fortifications and secure water; and the Taylor Prism's own claim that Hezekiah was only caged 'like a bird'. The sources disagree, so say 'may have'.

14. Describe how Josiah impacted the religious life of Jerusalem.

After repairing the Temple a law scroll is found (2 Kings 22) and Josiah launches reforms like Hezekiah's (2 Kings 22–23). After his reign the Temple truly becomes the central cultic center.

15. Describe the maximalist position for Jerusalem's size during the Persian period and articulate its pros and cons.

Maximalist (Ben-Dov map): a large city that includes the Western Hill. Pros: Nehemiah 7:4 ('wide and large'); six to eight gates in Nehemiah. Cons: lack of archaeological evidence; Yehud was small. The minimalist view (Cline, per D. Bahat) keeps Jerusalem on the Eastern Ridge.

16. Describe how Jason 'Hellenized' Jerusalem.

Jason, picked over Onias III by Antiochus IV, renamed the city Antioch-Hierosolyma, founded an Ephebium (youth association), and built a gymnasium on the Western Hill in sight of the Temple, which led some men to practice epispasm. Menelaus then buys Jason's office.

17. Describe how Herod renovated Jerusalem.

Rebuilt the Temple and platform with Herodian masonry, built the Royal Stoa, Antonia, a palace with the Hippicus, Phasael, and Mariamne towers, a theater and hippodrome, and more. Buildings and coins in Jerusalem lacked figural images; he appointed High Priests and financed it through the pilgrimage economy.

18. Describe the features of the pilgrimage economy in Jerusalem during Herod's reign.

Three festivals (Passover, Weeks, Booths); pilgrims lodged in the city, brought tithes, paid the Temple tax, and bought or brought offerings; the Temple also acted as a bank; the wealth funded urban projects and jobs; Herod and Rome set up a new priestly ruling class to manage it.

19. Describe what happened to Jerusalem in the wake of the First Jewish Revolt against Rome in 66–70 CE.

Titus destroyed the Temple (28 Aug/9 Av, 70) and the rest of the city; gold devalued; much of the populace sold into slavery; the Coliseum was funded by the plunder; only the three Herodian towers stood; the Tenth Legion garrisoned the ruins; Josephus and Yohanan ben Zakkai sought peace with Rome; the Arch of Titus and Judea capta coins celebrated it.

20. Describe what factors led to the revolt of 132–135 CE.

Hadrian's program to Romanize the east: refounding Jerusalem as Aelia Capitolina (Cassius Dio says this sparked it; Eusebius says it was punishment after); the ca. 130 ban on circumcision, kosher laws, and Torah study; messianic hopes around Bar Kokhba; possibly expectations of restoration tied to Jeremiah's 70-year prophecy.

Discrepancies Between Slides (know both)

Logistics noted on slides

• University lecture report (500–600 words, polished summary and response to one of the two posted Fall 2025 lecture videos) due 11:00 a.m. Friday, Oct 9. It is 5% of the grade and no generative AI may be used for it.

• Library orientation in the PCL was Friday, Sept 11 (reading: Hacker, Pocket Manual). The slides ask you to have an idea or two for your research assignment topic.