HI131 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Saul, Asherah, Ancient Mesopotamian Religion
Document Summary
Scholars believe you cannot accept it as if it is historical evidence. There are many gaps in time when these religious books were written. The idea is that the israelites are an identifiable group of decedents of one person (abraham). Aetiology: why things are the way they are. Ancient israel is located today where the countries of israel and jordan are. Central location: between mesopotamia, anatolia, and egypt. This makes it wealthy because it can tax everything that goes through. Rich agricultural land but minimal natural resources. They come from the twelve sons of jacob/israel. They were direct descendants of abraham who was from ur then moved to harran then eventually to canaan. They were freed by moses and led them back to canaan. They have no leaders someone comes to power when a problem emerges. Eventually they realize that they don"t like this system. First he rules well but then is replaced mls.
