Queen of Sheba The Queen of Sheba (Hebrew: מלכת שבא, Malkaṯ Šəḇâ in Biblical Hebrew; Malkat Sh'va in Modern Hebrew; Ge'ez: ንግሥተ ሳባ, Nigiste Saba (Nəgəstä Saba); Arabic: ملكة سبأ, Malikat Sabaʾ) was a monarch of the ancient kingdom of Sheba and is referred to in Yemenite and Ethiopian history, the Bible, the Qur'an, Yoruba customary tradition, and Josephus. She is widely assumed to have been a queen regnant, but, since there is no historical proof of this, she may have been a queen consort.[9] The location of her kingdom is uncertain. Wallis Budge believes it to be Ethiopia[10] while Islamic tradition says Yemen. More modern scholarship suggests it was the South Arabian kingdom of Saba.[11] Diverse references[edit] The queen of Sheba has been called a variety of names by different peoples in different times. In the Ethiopian Book of Aksum, she is described as establishing a new capital city at Azeba, while the Kebra Negast refers to her building a capital at Debra Makeda, or "Mount Makeda". Story[edit]
Paradise Lost Epic poem by John Milton Composition[edit] In his introduction to the Penguin published edition of Paradise Lost, the Milton scholar John Leonard notes: "John Milton was nearly sixty when he published Paradise Lost in 1667. Leonard also notes that Milton "did not at first plan to write a biblical epic". Publication[edit] In the 1667 version of Paradise Lost, the poem was divided into ten books. Synopsis[edit] The poem follows the epic tradition of starting in medias res (lit. At several points in the poem, an Angelic War over Heaven is recounted from different perspectives. The story of Adam and Eve's temptation and fall is a fundamentally different, new kind of epic:[further explanation needed] a domestic one. Meanwhile, Satan returns triumphantly to Hell, amid the praise of his fellow fallen angels. Adam and Eve are cast out of Eden, and Michael says that Adam may find "a paradise within thee, happier far". Characters[edit] Satan[edit] Adam[edit] Adam is the first human created by God. C.
Garden of Eden The Garden of Eden (Hebrew גַּן עֵדֶן, Gan ʿEḏen) is the biblical "garden of God", described most notably in the Book of Genesis chapters 2 and 3, and also in the Book of Ezekiel.[2] The "garden of God", not called Eden, is mentioned in Genesis 14, and the "trees of the garden" are mentioned in Ezekiel 31. The Book of Zechariah and the Book of Psalms also refer to trees and water in relation to the temple without explicitly mentioning Eden.[3] Traditionally, the favoured derivation of the name "Eden" was from the Akkadian edinnu, derived from a Sumerian word meaning "plain" or "steppe". Biblical narratives[edit] Eden in Genesis[edit] The second part of the Genesis creation narrative, in Genesis 2:4–3:24, opens with "the LORD God"(v.7) creating the first man (Adam), whom he placed in a garden that he planted "eastward in Eden". The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. Eden in Ezekiel[edit] Proposed locations[edit]
Menelik I Menelik I (called Bäynä Ləkḥəm in the Kebra Nagast; also named Ebna la-Hakim, Arabic: Ibn Al-Hakim, "Son of the Wise"[1]), first Solomonic Emperor of Ethiopia, is traditionally believed to be the son of King Solomon of ancient Israel and Makeda, ancient Queen of Sheba (in modern Ethiopia). He is alleged to have ruled around 950 BC, according to traditional sources.[2][3] Tradition credits him with bringing the Ark of the Covenant to Ethiopia, following a visit to Jerusalem to meet his father upon reaching adulthood. According to the Kebra Nagast, King Solomon had intended on sending one son of each of his nobles and one son of each temple priest with Menelik upon his return to his mother's kingdom. According to legend, he founded the Solomonic dynasty of Ethiopia that ruled Ethiopia with few interruptions for close to three thousand years (and 225 generations later ended with the fall of Emperor Haile Selassie in 1974). Popular culture[edit] See also[edit] References[edit]
Ark of the Covenant The Ark of the Covenant (Hebrew: אָרוֹן הַבְּרִית ʾĀrôn Habbərît, modern pron. Aron Habrit), also known as the Ark of the Testimony, is a chest described in the Book of Exodus[1] as containing the Tablets of Stone on which the Ten Commandments were inscribed. According to some traditional interpretations of the Book of Exodus,[2] Book of Numbers,[3] and the Letter to the Hebrews,[4] the Ark also contained Aaron's rod, a jar of manna, and the first Torah scroll as written by Moses; however, the first of the Books of Kings says that at the time of King Solomon, the Ark contained only the two Tablets of the Law.[5] According to the Book of Exodus, the Ark was built at the command of God, in accordance with the instructions given to Moses on Mount Sinai.[6] God was said to have communicated with Moses "from between the two cherubim" on the Ark's cover.[7] Biblical account[edit] Construction and description[edit] Mobile vanguard[edit] Capture by the Philistines[edit] In Solomon's Temple[edit]
Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments, also known as the Decalogue, are a set of biblical principles relating to ethics and worship, which play a fundamental role in Judaism and Christianity. They include instructions to worship only God and to keep the sabbath, and prohibitions against idolatry, blasphemy, murder, theft, dishonesty, and adultery. Different groups follow slightly different traditions for interpreting and numbering them. Terminology[edit] In biblical Hebrew, the Ten Commandments are called עשרת הדברים (transliterated Asereth ha-D'bharîm) and in Rabbinical Hebrew עשרת הדברות (transliterated Asereth ha-Dibroth), both translatable as "the ten words", "the ten sayings" or "the ten matters".[2] The Tyndale and Coverdale English translations used "ten verses". The stone tablets, as opposed to the commandments inscribed on them, are called לוחות הברית: Luchot HaBrit, meaning "the tablets of the covenant". Story in Exodus and Deuteronomy[edit] Traditions for numbering[edit] Traditions: Judaism[edit]
The Exodus Significant portions of the story told in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy may not have been intended to be historiographic, but the overall intent was historical according to the understanding of the ancient writers: to demonstrate God's actions in history, to recall Israel's bondage and salvation, and to demonstrate the fulfillment of Israel's covenant. No archeological evidence has been found to support the Book of Exodus and most archaeologists have abandoned the investigation of Moses and the Exodus as "a fruitless pursuit". The opinion of the overwhelming majority of modern biblical scholars is that the Pentateuch as we know it was shaped into its final form in the post-Exilic period, although the traditions behind the narrative are older and can be traced in the writings of the 8th century prophets. Origins of the Exodus story[edit] Historicity[edit] Numbers and logistics[edit] Archaeology[edit] Anachronisms[edit] Chronology[edit] Route and date[edit] Route[edit]
Mesopotamia Map showing the extent of Mesopotamia Mesopotamia (from the Ancient Greek: Μεσοποταμία: "[land] between rivers"; Arabic: بلاد الرافدين (bilād al-rāfidayn); Syriac: ܒܝܬ ܢܗܪܝܢ (Beth Nahrain): "land of rivers") is a name for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, corresponding to modern-day Iraq, Kuwait, the northeastern section of Syria and to a much lesser extent southeastern Turkey and smaller parts of southwestern Iran. Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization in the West, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the Akkadian, Babylonian, and Assyrian empires, all native to the territory of modern-day Iraq. In the Iron Age, it was controlled by the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian empires. The indigenous Sumerians and Akkadians (including Assyrians and Babylonians) dominated Mesopotamia from the beginning of written history (c. 3100 BC) to the fall of Babylon in 539 BC, when it was conquered by the Achaemenid Empire. Etymology Geography History Periodization Literature
Dead Sea Scrolls Ancient Jewish manuscripts The Dead Sea Scrolls, also called the Qumran Caves Scrolls, are a set of ancient Jewish manuscripts from the Second Temple period. They were discovered over a period of 10 years, between 1946 and 1956, at the Qumran Caves near Ein Feshkha in the West Bank, on the northern shore of the Dead Sea. Dating from the 3rd century BCE to the 1st century CE,[1] the Dead Sea Scrolls are considered to be a keystone in the history of archaeology with great historical, religious, and linguistic significance because they include the oldest surviving manuscripts of entire books later included in the biblical canons, along with extra-biblical and deuterocanonical manuscripts that preserve evidence of the diversity of religious thought in late Second Temple Judaism. Many thousands of written fragments have been discovered in the Dead Sea area. Owing to the poor condition of some of the scrolls, scholars have not identified all of their texts. Discovery Cave 1 Cave 2 Cave 3 Cave 5
Babylon Babylon (Arabic: بابل, Bābil; Akkadian: Bābili(m);[1] Sumerian logogram: KÁ.DINGIR.RAKI;[1] Hebrew: בָּבֶל, Bāḇel;[1] Ancient Greek: Βαβυλών Babylṓn; Old Persian: 𐎲𐎠𐎲𐎡𐎽𐎢 Bābiru) was originally a Semitic Akkadian city dating from the period of the Akkadian Empire circa. 2300 BC. Originally a minor administrative center, it only became an independent city-state in 1894 BC in the hands of a migrant Amorite dynasty not native to ancient Mesopotamia. The Babylonians were more often ruled by other foreign migrant dynasties throughout their history, such as by the Kassites, Arameans, Elamites and Chaldeans, as well as by their fellow Mesopotamians, the Assyrians. The remains of the city are found in present-day Hillah, Babil Governorate, Iraq, about 85 kilometres (53 mi) south of Baghdad. Available historical resources suggest that Babylon was at first a small town which had sprung up by the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC (circa 2000 BC). Name History Classical dating Assyrian period
Book of Genesis The Book of Genesis (from the Latin Vulgate, in turn borrowed or transliterated from Greek γένεσις, meaning "origin"; Hebrew: בְּרֵאשִׁית, Bərēšīṯ, "In [the] beginning") is the first book of the Hebrew Bible (the Tanakh) and the Christian Old Testament.[1] Structure[edit] Summary[edit] The Angel Hinders the Offering of Isaac (Rembrandt, 1635) God creates the world in six days. Later after the great flood, God divided the languages of the humans after they were deciding to live together and build a great towered city from atop of the heavens which displeased God. God instructs Abram (the future Abraham) to travel from his home in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) to the land of Canaan. Sarah is barren, and tells Abraham to take her Egyptian handmaiden, Hagar, as a second wife. God tests Abraham by demanding that he sacrifice Isaac. Composition[edit] Abram's Journey from Ur to Canaan (József Molnár, 1850) Origins[edit] This leaves the question of when these works were created. Genre[edit] Themes[edit]
Jubilees The Book of Jubilees, sometimes called Lesser Genesis (Leptogenesis), is an ancient Jewish religious work of 50 chapters, considered canonical by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church as well as Bete Israel (Ethiopian Jews), where it is known as the Book of Division (Ge'ez: Mets'hafe Kufale). Jubilees is considered one of the pseudepigrapha by Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox Churches.[1] It was well known to Early Christians, as evidenced by the writings of Epiphanius, Justin Martyr, Origen, Diodorus of Tarsus, Isidore of Alexandria, Isidore of Seville, Eutychius of Alexandria, John Malalas, George Syncellus, and George Kedrenos. The text was also utilized by the community that originally collected the Dead Sea Scrolls. It was so thoroughly suppressed in the 4th century that no complete Hebrew, Greek or Latin version has survived. There is conjecture among western biblical scholars that Jubilees may be a rework of material found in the canonical books of Genesis and Exodus.
Book of Enoch The older sections (mainly in the Book of the Watchers) are estimated to date from about 300 B.C., and the latest part (Book of Parables) probably was composed at the end of the first century B.C.[2] It is wholly extant only in the Ge'ez language, with Aramaic fragments from the Dead Sea Scrolls and a few Greek and Latin fragments. For this and other reasons, the traditional Ethiopian belief is that the original language of the work was Ge'ez, whereas non-Ethiopian scholars tend to assert that it was first written in either Aramaic or Hebrew; E. Isaac suggests that the Book of Enoch, like the Book of Daniel, was composed partially in Aramaic and partially in Hebrew.[3]:6 No Hebrew version is known to have survived. The authors of the New Testament were familiar with the content of the story and influenced by it:[4] a short section of 1 Enoch (1 En 1:9) is quoted in the New Testament (Letter of Jude 1:14–15), and is attributed there to "Enoch the Seventh from Adam" (1 En 60:8). Peter H.
Tree of life (Kabbalah) The Tree of Life, or Etz haChayim (עץ החיים) in Hebrew, is a classic descriptive term for the central mystical symbol used in the Kabbalah of esoteric Judaism, also known as the 10 Sephirot. Its diagrammatic representation, arranged in 3 columns/pillars, derives from Christian and esoteric sources and is not known to the earlier Jewish tradition.[citation needed] The tree, visually or conceptually, represents as a series of divine emanations God's creation itself ex nihilo, the nature of revealed divinity, the human soul, and the spiritual path of ascent by man. In this way, Kabbalists developed the symbol into a full model of reality, using the tree to depict a map of Creation. The symbolic configuration of 10 spiritual principles (11 can be shown, of which - Keter and Da'at are interchangeable), From the Renaissance onwards, the Jewish mystical concept was adopted by some esoterically inclined Christians as well as some Hermeticists. In Zoroastrianism: In Buddhism: