This document provides background information on ancient Israel and its neighboring lands and peoples mentioned in the Bible. It includes maps showing the extent of ancient empires like Assyria and descriptions of artifacts found in the region, such as cuneiform tablets, cylinder seals, and reliefs, that provide historical context. The document also references passages from the Bible that mention significant rulers like Sargon, Shalmaneser, Tiglath-Pileser, and Cyrus and significant places like Lachish.

1. Israel Among the Nations.
The Bible in Context
WESLEYAN LIVE, Fall 2012
Tuesdays, Noon – 1:00 p. m.
9, 16, 23, 30 October and 6, 13 November
with
Professor David B. Peabody
E-mail Questions/Comments to:
Mel Luetchens: mluetche@NebrWesleyan.edu

2. Israel's Next Door Neighbors
(8th Century BCE)

3. What is "The Holy Land"?

4. David's Kingdom at Its Height
10th Century BCE

5. Map of Assyrian Empire
9th – 7th Century BCE

6. Alexander's Empire
ca. 325 BCE

8. Eastern Hemisphere , ca. 100 CE

10. Cuneiform (Wedge
Shaped) Tablet

11. From Gilgamesh Epic –
Tablet 11
 24 Man of Surippak, son if Ubara-Tutu!
 25 Tear down (your) house, build a ship! (Genesis 6:14)
 26 Abandon (your) possessions, seek (to save) life!
 27 Disregard (your) goods, and save (your) life!
 28 [Cause to] go up into the ship the seed of all living creatures.
(Genesis 6:19-20)
 29 The ship which you shall build,
 30 Its measurements shall be (accurately) measured;
 31 Its width and its length shall be equal. (Genesis 6:15)

12. Michelangelo's Vision of the Ark –
Sistine Chapel, Vatican City

13. Multiple Cuneiform Documents at
Ankara, Turkey

14. Cylinder Seals

15. Cylinders and Their Images

16. Mesopotamian Gods on
Cylinder Seal
Sky God, Earth God, River God

17. Votive Statue of Gudea
Ruler of Lagash, ca. 2144-2124
BCE
Note the flowing
waters of the
Tigris
and the
Euphrates
coming out of
the
offering flask.

18. From Series Dealing with a Lion Hunt
from Friezes in Palace at Nimrud, Assyria

19. Wounded Lion Retaliates

20. A Dying Lion

21. From Lion Hunting to Vicious Military
Activity. Assyrians Lay Siege to City

22. Assyrians Attack with Siege
Engine From Nimrud
Palace

23. Mer-Ne-Ptah Stele
Now Housed in Cairo Museum
Discovered in Thebes, Egypt
by Flinders Petrie in 1896.
Contains the first probable
extra-Biblical testimony to
the people of Israel.

24. The Mer-Ne-Ptah (Egyptian
Pharaoh, 1213-1203 BCE) or
"Israel" Stele
 Translation of the Closing lines from the Stele:
The princes lie prostrate, saying, "Salaam!"
Not one lifts his head among the Nine Bows.
Destruction for the Tehenu! Hatti is pacified.
Canaan is plundered with every evil;
Ashkelon is taken; Gezer is captured;
Israel (I-si-ri-ar) lies desolate; its seed is no more;
Hurru has become a widow for To-meri;
All the lands in their entirety are at peace.
Everyone who was restless, he has been bound by the King of Upper
and Lower Egypt; Ba-En-Re, Meri-Amon, the son of Re, Mer-Ne-
Ptah. Hotep-hir-Maat, given life like Re every day.

25. Mummy and Shabti/Osirid
Image of/for Mer-Ne-Ptah

26. Divided Kingdoms
of
Israel and Judah
(931-721 BCE)
Lachish

27. Hebrew Exiles from
Lachish

28. Josh. 10:23 They did so, and brought the five kings out to him from
the cave, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of
Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon.
Josh. 10:31 ¶ Next Joshua passed on from Libnah, and all Israel
with him, to Lachish, and laid siege to it, and assaulted it.
Josh. 10:32 The LORD gave Lachishinto the hand of Israel, and he
took it on the second day, and struck it with the edge of the sword,
and every person in it, as he had done to Libnah.
Josh. 10:33 ¶ Then King Horam of Gezer came up to help Lachish;
and Joshua struck him and his people, leaving him no survivors.
Josh. 10:34 ¶ From LachishJoshua passed on with all Israel to
Eglon; and they laid siege to it, and assaulted it;
Josh. 10:35 and they took it that day, and struck it with the edge of
the sword; and every person in it he utterly destroyed that day, as
he had done to Lachish.
Josh. 12:11 ¶ the king of Jarmuth one ¶ the king of Lachishone
Josh. 15:39Lachish, Bozkath, Eglon,

29. Assyrians Impale the Dead
Israelites of Lachish

30.  2Kings 14:19 They made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and
he fled to Lachish. But they sent after him to Lachish, and killed him
there.
 2Kings 18:14 King Hezekiah of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at
Lachish, saying, ―I have done wrong; withdraw from me; whatever you
impose on me I will bear.‖ The king of Assyria demanded of King
Hezekiah of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of
gold.
 2Kings 18:17 The king of Assyria sent the Tartan, the Rab-saris, and
the Rabshakeh with a great army from Lachishto King Hezekiah at
Jerusalem. They went up and came to Jerusalem. When they arrived,
they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is on the
highway to the Fuller‘s Field.
 2Kings 19:8 ¶ The Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria
fighting against Libnah; for he had heard that the king had left Lachish.
 2Chr. 11:9 Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah,
 2Chr. 25:27 From the time that Amaziah turned away from the LORD
they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to
Lachish. But they sent after him to Lachish, and killed him there.

31. After Taking Lachish, Assyrians
Flay Hebrews Alive

32.  2Chr. 32:9 ¶ After this, while King Sennacherib of Assyria was at
Lachishwith all his forces, he sent his servants to Jerusalem to King
Hezekiah of Judah and to all the people of Judah that were in
Jerusalem, saying,
 Neh. 11:30 Zanoah, Adullam, and their villages, Lachishand its
fields, and Azekah and its villages. So they camped from Beer-
sheba to the valley of Hinnom.
 Is. 36:2 The king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh from Lachishto
King Hezekiah at Jerusalem, with a great army. He stood by the
conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Fuller‘s Field.
 Is. 37:8 ¶ The Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of
Assyria fighting against Libnah; for he had heard that the king had
left Lachish.
 Jer. 34:7 when the army of the king of Babylon was fighting
against Jerusalem and against all the cities of Judah that were left,
Lachishand Azekah; for these were the only fortified cities of Judah
that remained.
 Mic. 1:13 Harness the steeds to the chariots, inhabitants of
Lachish;

33. An Original Black Stela of Shalmaneser III,
with Other Stelae in the British Museum,
London

34. Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III,
King of Assyria, 858-824 BCE
Second Panel from Top
Israelite King Jehu (841-814 BCE)
 DoesObeisance to
King Shalmaneser III of Assyria
Contains the Oldest Graphic
Reference and one of the oldest
references to the ancient Hebrews
among the Artifacts of Other Ancient
Cultures; also the earliest ,known
reference to the Persian people.

35. Israelite King Jehu Does Obeisance to
Shalmaneser III of Assyria, 858-824 BCE

36. Note the Presence of a Symbol of an
Assyrian God Above

37. Part of Text from Black Obelisk of
Shalmaneser, Face B, Lines 97-99
 In the eighteenth year of my rule I crossed the Euphrates
for the sixteenth time. Hazael of Damascus put his trust
upon his numerous army and called up his troops in great
number, making the mountain Senir, a mountain, facing the
Lebanon, to his fortress. I fought with him and inflicted a
defeat upon him, killing with the sword 16,000 of his
experienced soldiers. I took away from him 1,121 chariots,
470 riding horses as well as his camp.
 He disappeared to save his life (but) I followed him and
besieged him in Damascus, his royal residence. (There) I
cut down his gardens (outside of the city, and departed). I
marched as far as the mountains of Hauran, destroying,
tearing down and burning innumerable towns, carrying
booty away from them which was beyond counting.

38. Shalmaneser V in the
Catholic Bible
2Kings 17:3 King Shalmaneser of Assyria came up against him; Hoshea became
his vassal, and paid him tribute.
2Kings 18:9 ¶ In the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of
King Hoshea son of Elah of Israel, King Shalmaneser of Assyria came up against
Samaria, besieged it,
Tob. 1:2 who in the days of King Shalmaneser of the Assyrians was taken into
captivity from Thisbe, which is to the south of Kedesh Naphtali in Upper Galilee,
above Asher toward the west, and north of Phogor.
Tob. 1:13 the Most High gave me favor and good standing with Shalmaneser, and I
used to buy everything he needed.
Tob. 1:15 But when Shalmaneser died, and his son Sennacherib reigned in his
place, the highways into Media became unsafe and I could no longer go there.
Tob. 1:16 ¶ In the days of Shalmaneser I performed many acts of charity to my
kindred, those of my tribe.
2Esdr. 13:40 these are the nine tribes that were taken away from their own land into
exile in the days of King Hoshea, whom Shalmaneser, king of the Assyrians, made
captives; he took them across the river, and they were taken into another land.

39. Jehu (King of Israel, 842-814 BCE),
"Of the House of Omri," (King of Israel, 885-874 BCE)
According to This Inscription
 I (also) marched as far as the mountains of Balirasi
which is a promontory (lit: at the side of the sea) and
erected there a stela with my image as king. At that
time, I received the tribute of the inhabitants of Tyre,
Sidon, and of Jehu, of the house of Omri.
Translation, lightly edited, from James A. Pritchard,
Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old
Testament, Third Edition with Supplement (Princeton,
NJ: Princeton University Press, 1969, Third Printing,
1974): 280. Translation by D. D. Luckenbill, Ancient
Records of Assyria and Babylonia, 1 (Chicago, 1926).
¶ 578.

40. Note the Similar Symbol Related to Ahura Mazda
in Zoroastrian Religion on Tomb of the Persian
King Darius I (Ruled 550-486 BCE)

41. Tomb of Cyrus of Persia
(ca. 590-530 BCE)

42. Is. 44:24 ¶ Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer,
who formed you in the womb:
I am the LORD, who made all things,
who alone stretched out the heavens,
who by myself spread out the earth;
Is. 44:25 who frustrates the omens of liars,
and makes fools of diviners;
who turns back the wise,
and makes their knowledge foolish;
Is. 44:26 who confirms the word of his servant,
and fulfills the prediction of his messengers;
who says of Jerusalem, ―It shall be inhabited,‖
and of the cities of Judah, ―They shall be rebuilt,
and I will raise up their ruins‖;
Is. 44:27 who says to the deep, ―Be dry—
I will dry up your rivers‖;

43.  Is. 44:28 who says of Cyrus, ―He is my shepherd,
 and he shall carry out all my purpose‖;
 and who says of Jerusalem, ―It shall be rebuilt,‖
 and of the temple, ―Your foundation shall be laid.‖
 Is. 45:1 ¶ Thus says the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus,
 whose right hand I have grasped
 to subdue nations before him
 and strip kings of their robes,
 to open doors before him—
 and the gates shall not be closed:
 Is. 45:2 I will go before you
 and level the mountains,
 I will break in pieces the doors of bronze
 and cut through the bars of iron,
 Is. 45:3 I will give you the treasures of darkness
 and riches hidden in secret places,
 so that you may know that it is I, the LORD,
 the God of Israel, who call you by your name.
 Is. 45:4 For the sake of my servant Jacob,
 and Israel my chosen,
 I call you by your name,
 I surname you, though you do not know me.

44. Sargon II (Assyrian King,
722-705 BCE) in the
Isa. 20:1 In the year that the Bible
commander-in-chief, who was sent by
King Sargon of Assyria, came to Ashdod and fought against it and
took it ---
Isa 20:2 at that time the Lord had spoken to Isaiah, son of Amoz,
saying, "Go, and loose the sackcloth from your loins and take your
sandals off your feet," and he had done so, walking naked and
barefoot.
Isa 20:3 Then the Lord said, "Just as my servant, Isaiah, has walked
naked and barefoot for three years as a sign and a portent against
Egypt and Ethiopia,
Isa 20:4 so shall the king of Assyria lead away Egyptians as captives
and the Ethiopians as exiles, both the young and the old, naked and
barefoot, with buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.
Isa 20:5 And they shall be dismayed and confounded because of
Ethiopia their hope and of Egypt their boast.
Isa 20:6 In that day the inhabitants of this coastland will say, "See,
this is what has happened to those in whom we hoped and to whom
we fled for help and deliverance from the King of Assyria! And we,
how shall we escape?

45. Tiglath-Pileser III, From Nimrud Palace,
ca.728 BCE, Now in British Museum
Assyrian King
Ruled 745-727
BCE

46. Tiglath-Pileser in the
Bible
2Kings 15:29 ¶ In the days of King Pekah of Israel, King
Tiglath-pileserof Assyria came and captured Ijon, Abel-beth-
maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, all the
land of Naphtali; and he carried the people captive to Assyria.
2Kings 16:7 Ahaz sent messengers to King Tiglath-pileser of
Assyria, saying, ―I am your servant and your son. Come up,
and rescue me from the hand of the king of Aram and from the
hand of the king of Israel, who are attacking me.‖
2Kings 16:10 ¶ When King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet
King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria, he saw the altar that was at
Damascus. King Ahaz sent to the priest Uriah a model of the
altar, and its pattern, exact in all its details.

47. Prince Sennacherib (left)
Before King Sargon II (right)
Sargon II
Assyrian King,
722-705 BCE
(See Isa 20:1-6)

48. Sargon II in Isaiah 20:1-6
Is. 20:1 ¶ In the year that the commander-in-chief, who was sent by King
Sargon of Assyria, came to Ashdod and fought against it and took it—
Is. 20:2 at that time the LORD had spoken to Isaiah son of Amoz,
saying, ―Go, and loose the sackcloth from your loins and take your
sandals off your feet,‖ and he had done so, walking naked and barefoot.
Is. 20:3 Then the LORD said, ―Just as my servant Isaiah has walked
naked and barefoot for three years as a sign and a portent against Egypt
and Ethiopia,
Is. 20:4 so shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians as captives
and the Ethiopians as exiles, both the young and the old, naked and
barefoot, with buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.
Is. 20:5 And they shall be dismayed and confounded because of
Ethiopia their hope and of Egypt their boast.
Is. 20:6 In that day the inhabitants of this coastland will say, ‗See, this is
what has happened to those in whom we hoped and to whom we fled for
help and deliverance from the king of Assyria! And we, how shall we
escape?‘‖

49. Prince Sennacherib
(Part of Previous Frieze in Louvre,
Paris

50. Sennacherib
(Assyrian King, 705-681
BCE)

51. Six Sided Stelae/Prisms of
Sennacherib

52. Sennacherib in the Catholic
Bible
 2 Kings 18:13, 19:16, 19:20, 19:36
 2 Chron. 32:1-2, 9-10, 22
 Isa 36:1, 37:17, 21, 37
 Tobit 1:15, 18, 22
 Sirach 48:18,
 2 Maccabees 8:19, 15:22
 3 Maccabees 6:5 (Apochryphal)
 2 Esdras 7:110 [40]

53. Esarhaddon
(Assyrian King, 681-669
BCE)
Defeated Peoples,
Depicted as
Diminutives
at Esarhaddon's Feet

54. Esarhaddon in the Catholic
Bible
2 Kings 19:37
Ezra 4:2
Isa 37:38
Tobit 1:21-22, 2:1
1 Esdras 5:69

55. Assurbanipal
(Assyrian Ruler, 669-631 BCE)

56. Asshur in the Bible
 Gen 10:22
 Num 24:22, 24
 1 Chron 1:17
 Ezekiel 27:23

57. Fall of Nineveh and the Assyrian Empire to
the Babylonian Empire, 612 BCE

59. The Burning of Babylon.
A Modern Imaginative Depiction

60. Babylon's Processional Way
A Reconstruction in the Pergamum Museum, Berlin

61. Gate of Ishtar, Babylon

62. Ishtar Gate

63. An Aurochs, "Bull of Heaven,"
Associated with Ishtar,
Goddess of War, Fertility, Love and Sex
The Last Known
Living
Aurochs, A
Female, Is
Reported to Have
Died in the
Jaktorów Forest
in Poland in 1627
CE.

64. Lion, Symbol of Ishtar,
Goddess of War and Fertility

65. Mythical Beast/Dragon,
Associate of the Babylonian Sun God,
Marduk
Head/Body/Tail
of Serpent,
Front Feet of Lion,
Back Feet of Fowl.

66. Stele of Laws of Hammurabi,
King of Old Babylonian Empire
(1728-1686 BCE)

67. Hammurabi
Receives Law from God
Here Law is Derived
from the Divine, not
the Political Ruler.
Therefore, even the King
is now bound by
"The Laws of God."
Detail
Stele of Hammurabi

68. Ancient Depiction of Ziggurat at Ur,
ca. 604-562 BCE

69. Diagram from this Stele

70. Ziggurat at Ur
(19th Century Remains)

71. Saddam Hussein's
Ziggurat Reconstruction

72. Model of Ziggurat at Rosicrucian
Museum, San Jose, CA

73. Imagined Ziggurat
Reconstruction

74. U. S. Troops In Iraq
Climb Ziggurat of Ur

75. Rosetta Stone,
The Key to Deciphering Hieroglyphics
Same Story in
Hieroglyphics
Demotic
Greek