The Sacred Bridge

Table of Content:

Section	Page
CHAPTER 1 DIMENSIONS AND DISCIPLINES
`Dimensions of Historical Geography`	9
`Disciplines of Historical GeographyPhysical Geography`	10
`Historical Philology`	12
`Toponymy`	14
`Archaeology`	21

CHAPTER 2 THE ANCIENT WORLD VIEW
`The World Stage`	25
`World Economy and Society Sixth Century BCE`	28

CHAPTER 3 THE LAND BRIDGE
`The Levant`	30
`Solomon's Sphere of Influence`	31
`Ancient Names in Non-biblical Sources`	31
`The Northern Levant (Syria/Lebanon)`	32
`The Southern Levant, The Canaanite "Sphere"`	33
`The Land of Israel`	36
`Climate`	41

CHAPTER 4 THE DAWN OF HISTORY EARLY AND INTERMEDIATE BRONZE AGES
`Early Bronze Age Fourth to Third Millennia BCE`	43
`Intermediate Bronze Age Late Third Millennium BCE`	46
`*Excursus 4.1 The Chalcolithic Period (c. 4300_3300 BCE)`	47
`*Excursus 4.2 Early Bronze Age`	48
`*Excursus 4.3 Intermediate Bronze Age (c. 2300_2000 BCE)`	49

CHAPTER 5 AMURRITE DOMINANCE MIDDLE BRONZE AGE
`The Egyptian Middle Kingdom`	50
`The Old Babylonian Period`	50
`Middle Bronze I in the Southern Levant`	51
`Middle Bronze II in the Southern Levant`	55
`Middle Bronze III in the Southern Levant and the Second Intermediate Period in Egypt`	57
`Excursus 5.1 The Execration Texts`	58
`Excursus 5.2 The West Semitic Alphabet`	59
`Excursus 5.3 The Hellenistic Views of the Hyksos`	59
`*Excursus 5.4 Middle Bronze Age`	60

CHAPTER 6 CONQUEST AND CONFRONTATION LATE BRONZE AGE I
`Syria and Mesopotamia`	61
`The Southern Levant`	63
`The Rise of the XVIIIth Dynasty in Egypt`	63
`The Wars for the Control of the Levant`	65
`Excursus 6.1 The Topographical List of Thutmose III`	72
`Excursus 6.2 The Identification of Íar˙ân/Íar˙ôn`	74
`Excursus 6.3 Papyrus St. Petersburg 1116A`	75
`Excursus 6.4 The Taanach Letters`	75
`*Excursus 6.5 Late Bronze Age (c. 1550_1200 BCE)`	76

CHAPTER 7 THE AMARNA AGE LATE BRONZE AGE II
`The Kassite Dynasty`	77
`Mittani (Mitanni)`	77
`The Hittite Empire`	77
`Egypt During the Fourteenth Century BCE`	77
`International Correspondence`	78
`Levantine Correspondence`	80
`Excursus 7.1 Tell el-Amarna and the Amarna Tablets`	87
`Excursus 7.2 The ‘Apîru—A Social Phenomenon`	88
`Excursus 7.3 Gath-Padalla and Its Ruler`	89

CHAPTER 8 THE RAMESSIDE AGE LATE BRONZE AGE III
`Anatolia, North Syria and Mesopotamia`	91
`The XIXth Dynasty in Egypt`	91
`Excursus 8.1 The Kingdom of Ugarit`	100
`Excursus 8.2 Papyrus Anastasi I, "The Problem of Asiatic Geography"`	102
`Excursus 8.3 The Shâsu Pastoralists`	103

CHAPTER 9 CRISIS AND TRANSITION TWELFTH CENTURY BCE
`Mesopotamia`	104
`The Aegean Region`	104
`Anatolia`	105
`Northern Syria and Mesopotamia (el-Jezîrah)`	106
`The Eastern Mediterranean Littoral`	107
`Egypt`	108
`The Southern Levant`	109
`The Cisjordanian Highlands and Transjordan`	111
`Excursus 9.1 Israelite Ancestral Traditions`	112
`Excursus 9.2 The Location of Bethel`	116
`Excursus 9.3 The Epic of the Exodus and Wilderness Wanderings`	118
`Excursus 9.4 Conquest Traditions`	122
`*Excursus 9.5 Iron Age I (c. 1200_1000 BCE)`	129

CHAPTER 10 SURVIVAL AND RENEWAL ELEVENTH CENTURY BCE
`The Neo-Hittite States`	131
`Egypt`	132
`The Eastern Mediterranean Coast`	132
`The Southern Levant`	133
`The Judges`	136
`Samuel`	143
`Saul`	145
`Excursus 10.1 Harosheth-ha-goiim—"Farmland of the Gentiles"`	150
`Excursus 10.2 Tribal and Clan Mobility and Stability`	151
`Excursus 10.3 The Identification of Philistine Gath`	154

CHAPTER 11 TERRITORIAL STATES TENTH CENTURY BCE
`Mesopotamia`	157
`North Syria`	157
`Egypt`	157
`The Phoenician Coast`	158
`The Southen Levant`	159
`Solomon's Reign`	164
`The Kingdom Split (931/930 BCE)`	168
`Excursus 11.1 Sources for Monarchial History and Chronology`	171
`Comparison of the Source Citations of Kings and Chronicles`	172
`Excursus 11.2 The Solomonic Districts`	174
`The Danite Territory—Solomon's Second District`	178
`Excursus 11.3 Tribal Border Descriptions`	179
`The Boundary Descriptions`	181
`Excursus 11.4 Shoshenq's Campaign Against Israel and Judah`	185
`The Topographical List of Shoshenq I (Shishak)`	186
`*Excursus 11.5 Iron Age II (c. 1000_700 BCE)`	189

CHAPTER 12 REGIONAL CONFLICTS NINTH CENTURY BCE
`Mesopotamia`	190
`Egypt Under Dynasty XXII`	195
`The Phoenician Coast`	195
`The Southern Levant`	195
`North Syria`	206
`The Southern Levant: Later Developments`	209
`Assyrian Politics`	211
`Excursus 12.1 The Mesha‘ Stele`	211
`Excursus 12.2 The Kilamuwa Inscription`	212
`Excursus 12.3 The Tel Dan Inscription`	212
`Excursus 12.4 Prophetic Legends`	213

CHAPTER 13 WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY EARLY EIGHTH CENTURY BCE
`Aram-Damascus' Period of Supremacy`	214
`Adad-nirœri's Last Campaign to the West`	215
`Period of Assyrian Weakness`	215
`The Resurgence of Israel and Judah`	216
`Excursus 13.1 The Zakkur Inscription`	220
`Excursus 13.2 The Samaria Ostraca`	221
`Excursus 13.3 The Prophet Amos— Political Critique`	222
`Excursus 13.4 Kuntillet ‘Ajrûd`	223

CHAPTER 14 IMPERIAL DOMINATION MID-EIGHTH TO MID-SEVENTH CENTURIES BCE
`Assyria Under Tiglath-pileser III`	225
`Conflicts in the Southern Levant`	227
`Assyrian Intervention in the Southern Levant`	229
`The Last Days of Israel`	232
`The XXVth Egyptian (Cushite) Dynasty`	233
`The Reign of Sargon II (722_705 BCE)`	234
`Hezekiah of Judah Stands Alone`	238
`Rebellion Against Syria (705_701 BCE)`	239
`Sennacherib's Third Campaign`	240
`The Aftermath`	245
`Manasseh, King of an Economically Depressed State`	246
`Assyrian Activity Renewed in the West`	247
`Manasseh Reinstated`	249
`Excursus 14.1 Via Maris—Ghost Road to Nowhere`	250
`Excursus 14.2 Royal Wine Jars`	251
`Excursus 14.3 Siloam Inscription and Tunnel`	253

CHAPTER 15 CRISIS AND TURMOIL LATE SEVENTH TO EARLY SIXTH CENTURIES BCE
`Trouble from the North`	254
`Philistia`	255
`The Kingdom of Judah`	255
`The Fall of Assyria—The Rise of the Neo-Babylonian Dynasty`	258
`Egyptian Intervention and Occupation of the Levant`	259
`Judah as a Vassal of Egypt`	260
`The Neo-Babylonian Conquest of the Levant`	261
`Life on the Edge: The Kingdom of Judah in the Vise of Levantine Geopolitics`	264
`Further Conflicts in the Levant`	268
`Developments in Egypt`	270
`The Final Stages of the Neo-Babylonian Dynasty`	271
`The Medians and the Persians`	275
`*Excursus 15.1 Iron Age III (c. 700_586 BCE)`	277
`*Excursus 15.2 Neo-Babylonian Period (c. 586_539 BCE)`	277

CHAPTER 16 PERSIAN DOMINATION LATE SIXTH TO FOURTH CENTURIES BCE
`The Name "Beyond the River"`	278
`Territorial Entity`	280
`Population and Political Organization`	283
`Historical Outline`	285
`Excursus 16.1 The Province of Yehud`	295
`*Excursus 16.2 Persian Period (c. 539_333 BCE)`	296

CHAPTER 17 ALEXANDER AND THE EARLY HELLENISTIC PERIOD
`Judea Under the Diadochi 323_301 BCE`	300
`Judea Under the Ptolemies 301_200 BCE`	300
`Syrian Wars`	301
`Zenon Papyri`	303
`The Tobiads`	303
`Judea Under Seleucid Rule`	304
`**Excursus 17.1 The Urban Revolution of the Levant After Alexander the Great`	307

CHAPTER 18 THE HASMONEAN STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE 167 TO 142 BCE
`The Early Battles`	308
`Hasmonean Campaigns Outside of Judea`	311
`Judas' Final Battles`	313
`The Campaigns of Jonathan and Simon`	317
`Jonathan's Final Campaigns`	321

CHAPTER 19 THE HASMONEAN KINGDOM 142 TO 76 BCE
`John Hyrcanus (135_104 BCE)`	328
`Aristobulus I (104_103 BCE)`	329
`Alexander Jannaeus (103_76 BCE)`	331

CHAPTER 20 HASMONEAN DECLINE AND THE RISE OF HEROD 67 TO 37 BCE
`Excursus 20.1 Qumran`	339

CHAPTER 21 HEROD AND HIS SONS 37 BCE TO 6 CE
`Herod's Early Years (37_25 BCE)`	342
`Herod's Building Projects`	344
`The Declining Years of Herod`	347
`Herod's Death and the Division of His Kingdom`	348
`**Excursus 21.1 Cities in the Roman Period`	348

CHAPTER 22 HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE GOSPELS
`The Birth of Jesus and the Flight into Egypt`	349
`The Geographical Setting for the Ministry of John and the Baptism of Jesus`	350
`From Nazareth to Capernaum`	351
`The Sea of Galilee: Development of an Early Christian Toponym`	352
`The First-century Environs of the Sea of Galilee`	354
`Literary and Geographical Contours of "The Great Omission"`	360
`The Last Days of Jesus`	362
`From the Empty Tomb to the Road to Emmaus`	366
`Excursus 22.1 Jesus and the Myth of an Essene Quarter in Jerusalem`	368

CHAPTER 23 THE EARLY DAYS OF THE CHURCH FIRST CENTURY CE
`Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria`	370
`Paul's Encounter on the Road to Damascus`	372
`Paul's First Missionary Journey`	372
`Paul's Second Missionary Journey`	374
`Paul's Third Missionary Journey`	376
`The Arrest and Imprisonment of Paul`	378
`The Seven Churches of the Apocalypse`	379

CHAPTER 24 THE FIRST JEWISH REVOLT AGAINST ROME 66 TO 74 CE
`The End of the Herodian Dynasty`	383
`The Outbreak of Violence`	385
`The Aftermath of the Revolt`	394

CHAPTER 25 THE BAR KOCHBA REVOLT
`132 TO 135 CE`	396
`Abbreviations`	401
`References`	403
`Index`	433

The Sacred Bridge