This document provides a summary of Israelite history from pre-historic times through 1900 CE. It covers the major Middle Eastern empires that ruled the land of Israel/Palestine, the patriarchs of Judaism like Abraham and Moses, the establishment of kingdoms of Israel and Judah, the Babylonian and Persian conquests, Hellenistic Greek rule, Roman rule and the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE which led to the Jewish diaspora. It then discusses the Ottoman Empire's control of Palestine from the 16th century through World War I, the British Mandate period, the UN partition plan and establishment of Israel in 1948.

1. Israelite History
Thousands of Years of Development

2. Six Major Middle Eastern Empires
• In biblical history, the land of Israel/Palestine
was ruled by six major empires:
• Egyptians ??? – 911 BCE
• Assyrians 911 BCE – 620 BCE
• Babylonians 620 BCE – 539 BCE
• Persians 539 BCE – 333 BCE
• Greeks 333 BCE – 164 BCE
• Romans 63 BCE – 650 CE

3. Pre-Historic Period
• 3760 BCE - traditional date
of creation of world
• Year 1 in Jewish calendar
• Is Gen 1-11 factual history?
• Or is it our foundational
theological starting place?

4. HEBREW / ISRAELITE PERIOD
(2nd Millennium to ca. 539 BCE)
• 3000 - 1000 BCE
EGYPTIAN overlords
control the area.
• 1800-1700 - Foundations
of Israelite People under
Patriarchs/ Ancestors;
God promises to give the
land to Abraham’s
descendants.

5. HEBREW / ISRAELITE PERIOD
• On that day the LORD made a
covenant with Abram, saying, “To your
descendants I give this land, from the
river of Egypt to the great river, the river
Euphrates, the land of the Kenites, the
Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites,
the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the
Amorites, the Canaanites, the
Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”
(Genesis 15:18-21)

6. Patriarchs
• 1) ABRAHAM & Sarah
(+ her handmaid Hagar)
• 2) Isaac & Rebekah
(+ elder half-brother
Ishmael, son of Hagar)
• 3) Jacob = Israel (two
wives, Leah & Rachel, &
two handmaids, Zilpah &
Bilhah)
• 4) Twelve Sons of Jacob
= 12 Tribes of Israel
(Judah = "Royal Tribe";
Levi = "Priestly Tribe";
Joseph; Benjamin; etc.)

7. Moses & the Exodus Generation
• 1700-1300 - Israelites (a.k.a. Hebrews) in Egypt (since time of
Joseph, the "dreamer"); welcomed at first, but later in slavery
• 1250 - MOSES and the Exodus –
• Plagues; Passover; Exodus from Egypt;
• Torah/Covenant on Mount Sinai;
• Wandering in the Desert for 40 years
• (books of Exodus - Deuteronomy)
• What elements of Jewish faith are tied to the Exodus?

8. Joshua and the Judges
• 1200-1030 – after Moses dies
there is a conquest of the
Promised Land led by Joshua
• Loose confederation of 12 tribes
of Israel
• Judges provide leadership
• Events recorded in books of
Joshua, Judges, Ruth

9. United Kingdom of Israel:
The Golden Age
• 1030 - 12 tribes are united in a
single monarchy; first ruler King
Saul; continual war with
Philistines
• 1000 - Jerusalem conquered by
King DAVID’s army; made
capital of all Israel; David
expands kingdom; God promises
House of David will rule Israel
forever (2 Sam 7)
• 970 - First Temple built in
Jerusalem by David’s son, King
Solomon; worship centralized
• 930 - Death of Solomon; throne
succession struggles; kingdom
divides into two parts: North vs.
South

10. Divided Monarchies
(922 BCE - 587 BCE)
North
• 922-721 - "Kingdom of Israel";
ruled by several series of
corrupt kings;
• 721 - fall of Northern Kingdom
& capital Samaria to
ASSYRIANS; deportation of
most Israelites; importation of
foreigners into areas of former
Israel
South
• 922-587 - "Kingdom of Judah";
ruled by David’s descendants:
some bad, some good;
• 720's - religious reforms under
King Hezekiah; resistance
against Assyrian takeover
• 620's - religious reforms of
King Josiah; Deuteronomy

11. Babylonian Conquest of Judah
• 605 - Babylon defeats Egypt;
territory of Judah becomes part of
Babylonian Empire
• 597 - First unsuccessful revolt of
Judah vs. Babylon; ruling elite of
Judah exiled to Babylon
• 587 - Another unsuccessful revolt of
Judah vs. Babylon; total destruction
of Jerusalem city & temple by
Babylonians

12. Babylonian Exile
• 587-539 BCE - most upper-class
Jews (officials, priests, artisans)
deported to Babylon; others flee
to Egypt, etc.;
• much of Hebrew Bible written or
compiled, especially the major
prophets; final compilation of
Torah (Genesis to Deuteronomy)
& Deuteronomistic History
(Joshua to 2 Kings) by Judean
scribes living in exile in Babylon.

14. Persian Period
• 539 BCE – Babylonian empire conquered by Persians
• King Cyrus allows all exiles to return to their homelands
• Urges reconstruction of city & temple of Jerusalem
• Book of Ezra & Nehemiah gives account
• Ca. 520 – rebuilding of Second Temple in Jerusalem
• Not as nice or large as Solomon’s Temple
• Ca. 458-445 – more exiles return to Jerusalem
• Led by priest Ezra & governor Nehemiah
• Some Jews stay in other parts of the Middle East,
sometimes in conflict with other nations.
• Book of Esther

15. Palestine as a regional term
• The term Peleset is found in numerous Egyptian documents referring
to a neighboring people or land starting from about 1150 BCE. Neither
the Egyptian nor the Assyrian sources provided clear regional
boundaries for the term.
• The first clear use of the term Palestine to refer to the entire area
between Phoenicia and Egypt was in 5th century BC Ancient Greece.
Herodotus wrote of a 'district of Syria, called Palaistinê" in The
Histories, the first historical work clearly defining the region, which
included the Judean mountains and the Jordan Rift Valley.
• Approximately a century later, Aristotle used a similar definition in
Meteorology, writing "Again if, as is fabled, there is a lake in Palestine,
such that if you bind a man or beast and throw it in it floats and does
not sink, this would bear out what we have said. They say that this lake
is so bitter and salt that no fish live in it and that if you soak clothes in it
and shake them it cleans them."

16. Hellenistic/Greek Era
• 334 – Alexander the Great begins conquest of
Persian Empire (cf. Daniel 11:1-4)
• Hellenization = establishment of Greek language, religion,
culture, government throughout East (2 Macc 4:13-15)
• 323 Alexander dies; empire divided among four generals
(Daniel 7)
• Hellenistic Empire Divides (cf. 1 Maccabees 1-7)
• Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt controls Palestine 323-198 BCE
• Seleucid dynasty from Syria rules Palestine 198-141 BCE
• Around 250 BCE – Septuagint (LXX)
• Hebrew Bible translated into Greek in Alexandria, Egypt
• More books added; categories rearranged

18. Maccabean Era
• 167 BCE – Desecration of Jerusalem Temple
by Antiochus IV Epiphanes
• Statues of Greek gods
• Sparks revolt of Jews led by Judas “Maccabeus” (167-161)
• Events recorded in First & Second Book of Maccabees
• 164 BCE – Maccabean Revolt’s first main success:
rededication of the Jerusalem Temple (2 Macc 8)
• Hannukah, the Feast of Lights
• 141-63 BCE – Short independence and expansion of Israel
under Maccabean/Hasmonean rulers

19. Hasmonean Dynasty
• 134-67 BC – Hasmoneans rule Israel several generations
• Rivalries among various Jewish Groups
• Pharisees:
• Popular group, mostly laymen
• Strict observance of laws and traditions
• Sadducees:
• Smaller elite group, mostly priests
• followed Torah, rejected new traditions.
• Essenes:
• Small group, lived “monastic” lifestyle near Dead Sea
• Associated with Dead Sea Scrolls

20. Roman Era
• 63 BCE – ca. 650 CE
• 63 – Roman army under General
Pompey takes over Middle East
• 40-4 BCE – King Herod the Great
• Named “King” by Roman Senate
• Fights to gain control over Israel
• Builds cities with Roman temples,
fortresses;
• expands Jerusalem Temple.
• 4BCE – Herod dies;
• Kingdom divided between three
sons and one sister

22. During & After King Herod
• Herod (40-4 BCE)
• 6-4BCE Jesus born in Bethlehem, raised in Nazareth
• Pharisees - (2nd
cent. BCE – 1st
cent. CE)
• Precursors of “rabbis” (founders of “rabbinic Judaism”)
• Followed laws of Hebrew Bible; & “traditions of the elders”
• High Priests
• Members of Tribe of Levi
• Leaders of Jewish people; control Temple
• Caiaphas: arrest & conviction of Jesus (Matt 26:3, John 11:49-53)
• Roman Procurators (esp. Pilate 26-36CE)
• Governors of provinces (e.g. Judea)
• Military, civil & criminal jurisdiction
• Jews had much self-government, run by Sanhedrin
• Death penalty had to be approved & executed
by Roman Procurator

23. First Jewish Revolt
• 66-74 CE – Jewish war vs. Rome begins in Galilee & Jerusalem
• Recorded in Josephus’ Jewish War
• 68 CE – Most of Judea recaptured by Romans
• 70 CE – Jerusalem captured by Roman Army; city burned;
Second Temple destroyed

24. 70 CE to 1900 CE
• 70 CE The Destruction of the Temple and the Jewish Dispersion
The destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE, becomes an
event considered by the Romans to be a victory of such significance
that they commemorated it by erecting the triumphal Arch of Titus,
which still dominates the Roman Forum.
• The Roman historian Cassius Dio records that in a subsequent revolt in
135 CE some 580,000 Jewish soldiers were killed; and following that
revolt the Emperor Hadrian decreed that the name "Judea" should be
replaced by "Syria Palestina" - Philistine Syria or "Palestine".

25. 70 CE to 1900 CE
• In the ensuing years the greater part of the Jewish population went into
exile as captives, slaves and refugees, although Galilee remained a
center of Jewish institutions and learning until the sixth century CE.
• 312 CE Constantine converts to Christianity
• 325 CE Council of Nicea (Christianity becomes the state religion for the
Byzantine empire – successor to the eastern Roman Empire)
• 622 Birth of Islam (610 CE) and the "migration" of the Prophet
Mohammed from Mecca to Medina (Saudia Arabia), marked the
establishment of the Islamic religion in Arabia.
• In 638 the Islamic Caliph Omar I completed the Arab conquest of
Jerusalem. Omar built the Dome of the Rock (Mohammed’s night
journey stopping spot) on the site of the Temple, and from then out,
Jerusalem was proclaimed the third most holy site of Islam.
• 638 to 1099 Palestine was part of the empires successively ruled by the
Arab dynasties centered in Damascus and Baghdad.

26. 70 CE to 1900 CE
• 1099 The Crusaders establish the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem.
1187 Saladin, the Kurdish ruler of Egypt defeats the Crusaders.
1516 Suleiman the Magnificent of Turkey takes Jerusalem
• Under Turkish Muslim rule Palestine was governed from
Constantinople for the next four hundred years, ending with the
defeat of Turkey as an ally of Germany in the First World War in
1917.
By the 19th century the population of Turkish Palestine had been
reduced to less than 500,000, including about 25,000 Jews. The
only fertile areas were in the narrow central plain.

27. The Ottoman Empire, c. 1900

28. Sykes-Picot
Agreement,
1916
a secret agreement
between the
governments of the
United Kingdom and
France, with the assent
of Russia, defining their
proposed spheres of
influence and control in
the Middle East should
the Triple Entente
succeed in defeating the
Ottoman Empire during
World War I.

29. Mandates after
World War I
(1918)

30. Palestine under the
British Mandate
In 1921 Britain gives
Transjordan to Emir
Abdullah

31. The Peel Partition Plan, 1937
Palestine Royal Commission, was a British Royal
Commission of Inquiry, headed by Lord Peel,
appointed in 1936 to investigate the causes of unrest
in British Mandate for Palestine following the six-
month-long Arab general strike in Mandatory
Palestine.
On July 7, 1937, the commission published a report
that, for the first time, stated that the Mandate had
become unworkable and recommended partition.
British cabinet endorsed the Partition plan in principle,
but requested more information. Following the
publication in 1938 the Woodhead Commission was
appointed to examine it in detail and recommend an
actual partition plan.
The Jewish leadership accepted partition in principle
as an opportunity for sovereignty, while "most of the
Arabs" condemned the Plan considering it unjust.

32. Woodhead Partition Plan, 1938
ultimately rejected partition as being
unfeasible on administrative and
financial grounds. Britain called for a
conference in London for all relevant
parties to work out a compromise.

33. World War II
1939 - 1945
• The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization
established on 24 October 1945 to promote international co-operation.
A replacement for the ineffective League of Nations, the organization
was created following the Second World War to prevent another such
conflict.
• At its founding, the UN had 51 member states; there are now 193.
• Holy See and Palestine currently have Permanent Observer Status

34. United Nations Partition
Plan, 1947 (hypothetical
boundaries)
UN Resolution 181
The Plan was accepted by the Jewish
public, except for its fringes, and by the
Jewish Agency despite its perceived
limitations. With a few exceptions, the Arab
leaders and governments rejected the plan
of partition in the resolution and indicated
an unwillingness to accept any form of
territorial division.
On 14 May 1948, David Ben-Gurion, the
Executive Head of the World Zionist
Organization and president of the Jewish
Agency for Palestine, declared "the
establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz
Israel, to be known as the State of Israel," a
state independent upon the termination of
the British Mandate for Palestine, 15 May
1948. Neighboring Arab armies invaded
Isael/Palestine on the next day and fought
the Israeli forces.

35. Armistice Line, 1949
“the Green Line”
Green Line refers to the demarcation
lines set out in the 1949 Armistice
Agreements between Israel and its
neighbors (Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and
Syria) after the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.
The Green Line is also used to mark the
line between Israel and the territories
captured in the Six-Day War, including
the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Golan
Heights and Sinai Peninsula (the last has
since been returned to Egypt as part of
the 1979 peace treaty). The name derives
from the green ink used to draw the line
on the map while the talks were going on.
The green line is commonly referred to as
the "pre-1967 borders", the "1967
borders" or the "1967 lines" by President
Obama, Palestinian President Mahmoud
Abbas, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu
and by the United Nations in informal
texts and in the text of UN GA
Resolutions.

36. • West Bank & East
Jerusalem
• Gaza
• Sinai
• Golan Heights
Territories occupied by
Israel in the 1967
Six-Day War:

38. Mulk: privately owned in the Western sense.
Miri: Land owned by the government (originally the Ottoman crown) and suitable for agricultural use.
Individuals could purchase a deed to cultivate this land and pay a tithe to the government. Ownership
could be transferred only with the approval of the state. Miri rights could be transferred to heirs, and
the land could be sub-let to tenants. If the owner died without an heir or the land was not cultivated for
three years, the land would revert to the state.
Mahlul: Uncultivated Miri lands that would revert to the state, in theory after three years.
Mawat (or Mewat): So-called “dead”, unreclaimed land. It belonged to the government. ...If the land
had been cultivated with permission, it would be registered, at least under the Mandate, free of
charge.

42. Zoned Land
• Zone A – land that is under full
authority of the Palestinian
Authority (PA). Both civilian and
military.
• Zone B – PA controls civilian
matters; Military authority controlled
by Israel.
• Zone C – Full Israeli control.
• 62% of the West Bank – 160,000
Palestinians

44. The Separation Wall
• Construction began in
2002; when completed
will be 708 km long
(440 mi).
• 85% will run inside of
the West Bank, rather
than along the Green
Line.
• Wall separates
Palestinians from
Israelis, Palestinians
from Palestinians;
• “Temporary Security
Solution”

47. Settlements
• 130 Israeli
settlements built
since 1948;
• Settlements are
self-contained
communities, aside
from utilities.

51. Citizenship vs Residency
Jewish Nationals
Palestinians with Israeli Citizenship (includes IDPs)
Jerusalem Residents
West Bank ID Holders (includes refugees and IDPS in the West Bank)
Gaza ID Holders (includes refugees in Gaza)
Seam and Buffer Zone ID Holders
Refugees in exile

54. Right of Return
• Issue where peace
negotiations have
traditionally broken
down.
• Very dear to the
Palestinians,
especially
generations that
lived through 1948.

55. A briefbrief history of PCUSA engagement
• 2004 GA: Overture for phased, selective divestment from
multinational corporations doing business in Israel leads to MRTI
being called to initiate usual process of corporate engagement, with
divestment being one possible outcome.
• 2006 GA: Overture that PCUSA pursue positive investments that
promote peace in Israel, Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem
replaces overture to divest. MRTI to continue “customary corporate
engagement process.”
• 2008 GA: GA instructs MRTI to report on its progress with
Caterpillar, Motorola, and other corporations. Endorses the “Amman
Call” of the WCC. Calls for complete study of the Middle East to be
brought in 2010.
• 2010: GA approves Middle East Study Committee Report, “Breaking
Down the Walls.” Included are calls for:
• Immediate cessation of all violence (regardless of source)
• End of Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and diversion of water
• Freeze on settlements
• Relocating wall of separation to 1967 boundaries
• Withhold U.S. aid to Israel as long as it continues to create settlements in the West Bank
• MRTI engagement with companies profiting from occupation
• Shared status of Jerusalem
• Equal rights for Palestinian citizens
• Cessation of actions by any body that denies human rights
• Resumption of talks toward two-state solution.
• 2012: GA approves positive investment and creation of a process
for raising funds to invest in the West Bank by 2014. Also approves
boycott of products made by Israel in Occupied Territories