Studies of The Old Testament make it evident that kingship is the ruling principle of leadership for a kingdom. There were no presidents with a democracy like The United States has today or communists making everyone equal. There was simply one king, specifically a male, his subordinates, and the kingdom he governed over. Hebrew culture was no different. This is seen through the great kings of the Bible, one of the most well known of them being King YHWH also called Yahweh. Kingship played a vital role in the progression and development of the kingdom of Israel throughout history from the time they first were freed by the mercy of Yahweh. The presentation of ancient Hebrew culture from kingship in the Old Testament reveals the tradition in …show more content…
It is defined by Professor Steven McKenzie of Rhodes College as, “rule by a single, male monarch was the nearly exclusive form of government in the ancient Near East. Female monarchs, such as Hatshepsut in Egypt and Athaliah in Judah (2Kgs 11:1-3), were by far the exception, as illustrated by Hatshepsut: she adopted the costume of Egyptian kings, including the false beard and bare chest.” Further explanation in McKenzie’s article tells us that other requirements included “hereditary and dynastic” and “succession by his oldest son, that son by his oldest son, and so on.” (McKenzie) They were the men responsible for much of what we have today that we see around us. These monuments include the pyramids of Egypt and fortified cities seen across the world. These kings dealt with war, organized strong armies, and even led their troops into battle for their nation. They treated their people with the same loving heart that God treats His people with. The people are willing to follow their king because they know of the love he has for his nation and his people. Similarly, this shows the Hebrew culture as being a nation willing to follow. They had structure and a set guideline of who would rule and keep their people in order. This kept the nation from being chaotic and having no design, thus resulting in a purpose for God to watch so closely over them. The “Holy City” is what Israel is consistently referred to …show more content…
Ancient Hebrew culture differs from what we see around the world today. The Hebrews, even their human king, prayed to their heavenly king YHWH. Today we do not pray to our President because none should pray to another human. But Christians do not refer to God as their “President” because it is a completely different level of what we have than what the Hebrews have. YHWH is their protector. He allows their nation to prosper as they have throughout time. He is their one, true God. In America we have several gods, in addition to our God as Christians. We worship athletes, actors, material items, and other distractions that forces God to take his hand of protection off of us. The Hebrews do not get distracted with worldly matters that could keep them from an eternity in Heaven with Yahweh in “hekal” which is Hebrew for “big house”. (Power) In this same article, Cian Power goes on to explain the genuine love the Hebrews, distinctively the human king, have for YHWH more in-depth. The following excerpt comes from his writing entitled Kingship in the Hebrew
very strong Christian king and does what he has to do as a king. This
Since people feared pharaohs, they respected them. For instance, the passage in Document 5 states that wokers built large pyramids to serve their pharaohs inside tombs. The text states, "Pharaohs were burried with their possessions." In addition, some people (Sumerians Akkadians) practiced polytheism, the worship of gods. Based on the document, "They believed that keeping the gods happy was the key to their own happiness and prosperity. On the other hand, if the gods were angry, they might bring suffering and disaster." In additon, previously stated, Egypt and Mesopotamia develoved into successful civilizations by effectively using the resources that surrounded them to solve problems and live happily. The text states, "Sumerians built huge temples called ziggurats. They believed these temples linked Earth with the heavens and linked people with the gods." This shows that they use dtheir resources to build ziggurats for their own goods so that the gods can give them happiness and prosperity instead of bringing them suffering and disaster. Therefore, Egyptians' religion and beliefs would help develop Egypt and Mesopotamia into successful
In the eleventh century BCE Israel is divided into twelve tribes. The prophet Samuel is called upon to bring the people under one ruler or king and lead Israel into a monarchy. However this brings a major split and for the first time we find a military and political leader, the King, along with a spiritual leader, or the prophet. The prophet played the role of moral keeper and would make sure that the King was ruling justly and keeping the Law of God.
In Ancient Egypt, huge pyramids were created to serve as tombs for pharaohs. I believe that a temple was included for Egyptians to make offerings for their kings. Ancient Egyptians had a belief of Polytheism, meaning that they worshipped their gods, which led them to worship their Pharaohs very much. The Egyptians weren’t the only ones that had the belief of Polytheism. The Ancient Mesopotamia did too have the same belief. I mentioned earlier that the Sumerians and Akkadians rely on their gods. Well, by briefly examining the illustration on Document 6, the size of the temple tells me that the Sumerians placed high value on their gods that they look up to them for their own happiness and prosperity. Polytheism was very important for both civilizations. It contributes to how they govern their civilization.
Both Mesopotamia and Egypt were affiliated with divine authority. The priest-king of Mesopotamia and the pharaoh of Egypt were both closely tied to religious institutions. Even though both civilizations carried out their roles of kingship in different ways, the duties and responsibilities that they had to take were the same in many aspects. The two major roles as a priest-king or pharaoh were order and protection. They were in charge of maintaining peace and justice between not only the people of civilization, but also outsiders. He was looked upon as a religious who carried out religious, political, and social rituals and functions. Not only was he looked upon as a religious leader, but also as a military leader. They had to lead their armies into battle, and decide what was best for the people at the moment. Hammurabi, for example, was one of the greatest kings of Mesopotamia. Not only was he a successful military leader and administrator, but also believed in justice, which is why he created laws that governed Babylon called the Code of Hammurabi. An example of a great Egyptian
By analyzing The Code of Hammurabi, it can be seen that the roles of godly figures, kings, landowners, women, children and slaves all differ substantially during this time period. Because of this, life during this time was based on a social hierarchy. Above all the citizens, and King Hammurabi himself, the Gods were seen as the all-knowing and most powerful figures. They were there to guide them religiously in the right direction, but only one individual was thought to be able to communicate with these Gods and that was King Hammurabi himself. He was seen as the “messenger of the divine” which put him at the top of the social hierarchy as well. In the Code of Hammurabi, he refers to himself as “the perfect king,” stating that, “the
“In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in their own sight” (Judg. 21:25). This quote at the end of Judges sets up an optimistic view of kings for the rest of the Deuteronomistic History. King David is considered perhaps the greatest king over all of Israel, whereas King Hezekiah is praised for never turning away from God and being the greatest king among all the kings of Judah (2 Kgs. 5). However, despite the high need for a praise of kings throughout the Deuteronomistic history, Solomon is viewed with a skeptical eye and is the cause of the demise of Israel. Unlike the positive view of kings portrayed throughout the Deuteronomistic history, King Solomon is framed in a negative light in 1 Kings 11: 1-13, which
King David secured the beginnings of a prosperous Israelite empire; he made Jerusalem its capital and brought the Ark of the Covenant there with the hopes of building the First Great Temple for his people. However, it would be his son, King Solomon who would be the one to accomplish this. The Great Temple housed the Ark of the Covenant and also had places to make offerings. Having been nomadic, this temple finally gave the Israelites a stabile place to worship. In fact, the text World Religions by Mary Pat Fisher says that the Israelites looked at this Great Temple as “a central stationary place where God would be most present to them” (Fisher 250). This Temple was a beacon of hope and a place to go where they knew that they would be closer to God.
Religion was a major part of Ancient Egyptians’ lives. Their faith was so engrained in them that it was more of a lifestyle than a set of beliefs. The Egyptians practiced polytheism, or the worship of many gods, and they believed that their pharaoh was a god on Earth (Doc 3). The people worshipped the pharaoh and gave him all respect and power. They believed that their two main goals in life were to keep the pharaoh and the other gods happy and to live a good life so that they may enjoy a happy life after death. Their shared faith strengthened their society because everyone was working toward the same goal. Groups were not divided based on what god they worshipped. Instead, the fact that every person lived to please the same gods and wished to go to the same afterlife gave them something in common and brought them together as a community. Sumerians also practiced polytheism and believed that their priests were connected to the gods. The people thought it was their responsibility to keep the gods happy, and believed that if the gods were pleased, they would allow their people to be content as well (Doc 6). Because of their desire to please the gods, Sumerians performed every task to the best of their ability. For example, they invested lots of time and money into their ziggurats, or temples, because they only wanted to give their best to the gods. The Sumerians’ devotion to every task ensured that everything was done well and helped their civilization
...f the divine world but the kings were in charge of vocalizing god’s wishes on earth. The most famous of these law codes was Hammurabi’s law code. The Hebrews tried to establish order by using Yahweh’s Ten Commandments and the Torah. Mesopotamian deities were hard to please and easily angered. The Mesopotamians constantly felt they were letting their gods down and usually didn’t even know the reason behind it. Hebrews had a much more forgiving god. Through texts like “The Book of Job”, it is apparent that Yahweh was a tough god but always forgiving and fair in the end. He had few demands of his people and all of them were ethical and easy to adhere to. As long as his devotees followed Yahweh’s laws, they were all capable of receiving his blessings. Through it all, it seemed that God and religion was at the center of every aspect of life in the ancient civilization.
Ancient Egypt’s stability was the reason for the great civilization that lasted for more than 3000 years. Therefore, the ancient Egyptians created a sign for the stability which is the Djed Pillar . The ancient Egyptian artisans were very keen on representing the importance of stability. Therefore, many scenes represented the kings raising the Djed pillar “symbol of stability” in fornt of the gods as a metaphor for the stability of the monarch. The ancient Egyptian Kings were very keen on securing the stability of the country on all the aspects: the administrative system, the religion, the economical status, and the army. The Ptolemaic Kings followed the steps of the Pharaohs in maintaining the stability of the regime. They adopted the same
The Tanakh provides the groundwork for the Jewish/Hebrew religion from the third century BCE (Trulove, Woelfel, Aauerbach, & Buller, 2007). One centralized theme discussed in the Tanakh is going against a higher power. In Genesis, God told Adam and Eve “‘you shall not eat of [the tree of the knowledge of good and evil] or touch it, lest you die’” (Trulove et al., 2007, p. 40). Adam and Eve chose to consume a piece of fruit from the tree; as a consequence, God banished them from the Garden of Eden (Trulove et al., 2007). As a result of their sin, the world became corrupt and “filled with lawlessness” (Trulove et al., 2007, p. 43). In these instances, the higher power was the people’s God. When they disobeyed him, they suffered the consequences. These consequences were more severe since a divine power was in charge. Similarly, in Exodus, the Pharaoh “set taskmasters over [the Israelites] to oppress them into forced labor” (Trulove et al., 2007, p. 58). The Pharaoh established rules and punishments for the taskmasters to bestow on the Israelites. In this situation, the higher power was the ruler of the land. The Israelites not only had to follow the laws set forth by the Pha...
One of the greatest cultural achievements of Ancient Egypt was undoubtedly in their architecture associated with religion.
Ancient Egypt’s pyramids are the oldest and largest stone structure in the world. Along the Nile 35 major pyramids still stand. The three largest pyramids at Giza rank as one of the seven wonders of the Ancient World. It was on the list of notable things to see which was made up by the travelers during ancient times. The ancient Egyptians also built temples of limestone. They designed parts of the temples to resemble plants. Moreover, many of ancient Egypt’s finest paintings and other works of art were produced for tombs and temples. Ancient Egyptian sculptors decorated temples with carvings showing festivals, military victories, and other important events. Sculptors also carved large stone sphinxes. These statutes were supposed to represent Egyptian Kings or Gods and were used to Guard temples and tombs. The Temples were houses of worship. The word temple most often refers to Buddhist, Confucian, Hindu, Taoist, and ancient Near Eastern and European places of worship. Most Temples are built to honor god, a God, or many Gods. Many of these buildings are considered the homes of gods. Back then and still today worship at temples often involves traditional ceremonies and may include sacrifices. Certain temples stood on sacred sites. The design of numerous temples was symbolic.
With God’s help the Biblical leaders Ezra and Nehemiah were able to fulfill their roles as leaders in the Jewish community. These men of God were chosen to be leaders to pray for the Israelites, relay Gods commands and encourage the people. As God’s leaders Ezra and Nehemiah carried out their respective duties even if fierce opposition awaited them.