Early Jerusalem
This week's readings were all tied together by one main similarity. This similarity is that all of them explain what Jerusalem was like in it's earliest historical stages. The passages in the Hebrew Bible tell the story of Jerusalem's early years as a Jewish city, and the first chapter of the book Jerusalem: One City, Three Faiths talks about how Jerusalem was before it became a part of the Kingdom of Israel. If read together, these excerpts help tie together a more detailed chronology of the early centuries of the city.
In the first chapter of Jerusalem: One City, Three Faiths by Karen Armstrong, the book describes the history of Jerusalem before and during the Bronze Age. It goes into detail about the city's ancient spring, what types of people it attracted, the religious and political nature of the Bronze Age city, as well as a description of a few archeological findings. What stood out to me most about this chapter was that it was the way that Armstrong talked about the sacred and the profane, and how it could have an effect on how people viewed certain spaces. Furthermore, I found the section in pages 14-17, in which Armstrong discusses the god Baal, as well as the religion of the region interesting because it helped me understand the mindset of those who lived in Jerusalem during the Bronze Age. It provided background that, although not of major importance to those studying the city, is still fascinating in the sense that it provides richer history.
The passages from the Bible describe the conquest of Jerusalem at the hands of King David, as well as the subsequent events that took places, such as the ark of the covenant arriving or the plans for the first Temple. Perhaps the most fascinating thing to me was the fact that the Hebrew Bible told these stories in multiple ways. These different accounts are somewhat common in the Old Testament, and help the reader understand these important events in multiple perspectives. These different stories work well together because they painf a better picture of which parts of these events were important to different people, and different contexts help readers understand the world at the time. It is because of these reasons that the passages are useful. In the end, they help people understand the history of this fascinating place and time much better.
In the first chapter of Jerusalem: One City, Three Faiths by Karen Armstrong, the book describes the history of Jerusalem before and during the Bronze Age. It goes into detail about the city's ancient spring, what types of people it attracted, the religious and political nature of the Bronze Age city, as well as a description of a few archeological findings. What stood out to me most about this chapter was that it was the way that Armstrong talked about the sacred and the profane, and how it could have an effect on how people viewed certain spaces. Furthermore, I found the section in pages 14-17, in which Armstrong discusses the god Baal, as well as the religion of the region interesting because it helped me understand the mindset of those who lived in Jerusalem during the Bronze Age. It provided background that, although not of major importance to those studying the city, is still fascinating in the sense that it provides richer history.
The passages from the Bible describe the conquest of Jerusalem at the hands of King David, as well as the subsequent events that took places, such as the ark of the covenant arriving or the plans for the first Temple. Perhaps the most fascinating thing to me was the fact that the Hebrew Bible told these stories in multiple ways. These different accounts are somewhat common in the Old Testament, and help the reader understand these important events in multiple perspectives. These different stories work well together because they painf a better picture of which parts of these events were important to different people, and different contexts help readers understand the world at the time. It is because of these reasons that the passages are useful. In the end, they help people understand the history of this fascinating place and time much better.
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