Abram was born in Ur, a city of the ASSYRIANS, in the
year 1996 before Christ—the city was known also as the city of Edessa
by the Greeks, a great maritime city on
the right bank of the Euphrates near its confluence with the
Tigris.
From this city his father Terah removed with his children
and kindred to Haran, and dwelt there. It was in Mesopotamia—a
rich district, fruitful in pasturage. Here Abram
remained until he was 75, and had become rich.
The wanderings
and settlements
of
Abraham.
While sojourning in this fruitful plain the Lord said unto
him, “get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred,
and from thy father's house, unto a land which I will show
thee.” “And I will make thee a great nation, and will bless
thee, and make thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing.
And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that
curseth thee. And in thee shall all the families of the earth
be blessed.” So Abram departed with Lot, his nephew, and
Sarai, his wife, with all his cattle and substance, to the land
of Canaan, then occupied by that Hamite race which
had probably proved unfriendly to his family in
ASSYRIA. , situated
in a fruitful valley, one of the passes of the hills
from Damascus to Canaan. He then built an altar to the
Lord, probably among an idolatrous people. From want of
pasturage, , he removed from
thence into a mountain on the east of Bethel, between that
city Ai, when he again erected an altar, and
called upon the living God. But here he did not long remain,
being driven by a famine to the fertile land of Egypt,
then ruled by the Pharaohs, whose unscrupulous character
he feared, and HE was well treated on account by the princes of Egypt,
The patriarch returned to Canaan, enriched by the princes
of Egypt, and resumed his old encampment near
Bethel. But there was not enough pasturage for
his flocks, united with those of Lot. So, with
magnanimous generosity, disinclined to strife or greed,
he gave his nephew the choice of lands, but insisted on a
division. “Is not the whole land before thee,” said he:
“Separate thyself, I pray thee: if thou wilt take the left
hand, I will go to the right, and if thou depart to the right
hand, then I will go to the left.” The children of Ham and
of Japhet would have quarreled, and one would have got
the ascendency over the other. Not so with the just and
generous Shemite—the reproachless model of all oriental virtues
The settlements
of Lot.
Lot chose, as was natural, the lower valley of the Jordan,
a fertile and well-watered plain, but near the wicked cities
of the Canaanites, which lay in the track of the commerce
between Arabia, Syria, Egypt, and the East. The worst
vices of antiquity prevailed among them, and Lot
subsequently realized, by a painful experience, the
folly of seeking, for immediate good, such an accursed
neighborhood.
Abram was contented with less advantages among the
hills, and after a renewed blessing from the Lord, removed
his tents to the plain of Mamre, near Hebron, one of the
oldest cities of the world.
The first battle was fought
between the Babylonian monarch and the kings of
the five cities of Canaan, near to the plain which
Lot had selected. The kings were vanquished,
and, in the spoliation which ensued, Lot himself and his
cattle were carried away by Chederlaomer
The news reached Abram in time for him to pursue the
Babylonian king with his trained servants, three hundred and
eighteen in number. In a midnight ASbraham attacked the Babylonians and were routed, panic was created, and Lot
was rescued, with all his goods, from which we
infer that Abram was a powerful hebrew prince, and was
assisted directly by God,
The king of Sodom, in gratitude, went out to meet him on
his return from the successful encounter, and also
the king of Salem, Melchizedek, with bread and
wine. This latter was probably of the posterity of Shem,
since he was also a priest of the most high God, He blessed
Abram, and gave him tithes,
But Abram would accept nothing from the king of
Sodom—not even to a shoe-latchet—from patriarchal
pride, or disinclination to have any intercourse
with idolators. But he did not prevent his young
warriors from eating his bread in their hunger. It was not
the Sodomites he wished to rescue, but Lot, his kinsman and
friend.
Abram, now a powerful princeand a rich man, well advanced
in years, had no children, in spite of the promise of
God that he should be the father of nations. His apparent
heir was his chief servant, or steward,
Elizur, of Damascus. He then reminds the Lord of the
promise, and the Lord renewed the covenant, and Abram
rested in faith.
Not so his wife Sarai. Skeptical that from herself should
come the promised seed, she besought Abram to make a concubine
or wife of her Egyptian maid, Hagar. Abram
listens to her, and grants her request. Sarai is then
despised by the woman, and lays her complaint before her
husband. Abram delivers the concubine into the hands of
the jealous and offended wife, who dealt hardly with her, so
that she fled to the wilderness. Thirsty and miserable, she
was found by an angel, near to a fountain of water, who
encouraged her by the promise that her child should be the
father of a numerous nation, but counseled her to return to
Sarai, and submit herself to her rule. In due time the child
was born, and was called Ishmael—destined to be a wild man,
with whom the world should be at enmity. Abram was now
eighty-six years of age.
Fourteen years later the Lord again renewed his covenant
that he should be the father of many nations, who
should possess forever the land of Canaan. His name
was changed to Abraham (father of a multitude),
and Sarai's was changed to Sarah. The Lord promised
that from Sarah should come the predicted blessing. The
patriarch is still incredulous, and laughs within himself;
but God renews the promise, and henceforth Abraham believes,
[pg 028]
and, as a test of his faith, he institutes, by divine
direction, the rite of circumcision to Ishmael
In due time, Sarah gave birth to
Isaac, who was circumcised on the eighth day,
when Abraham was 100 years old. Ishmael, now
a boy of fifteen, made a mockery of the event, whereupon
Sarah demanded that the son of the bondwoman, her slave,
should be expelled from the house, with his mother. Abraham
was grieved also, and, by divine counsel, they were
both sent away, with some bread and a bottle of water. The
water was soon expended in the wilderness of Beersheba,
and Hagar sat down in despair and wept. God heard her
lamentations, and she opened her eyes and saw that she was
seated near a well. The child was preserved, and dwelt in
the wilderness of Paran, pursuing the occupation of an
archer, or huntsman, and his mother found for him a wife
out of the land of Egypt. He is the ancestor of the twelve
tribes of Bedouin Arabs, among whom the Hamite blood
predominated.
Meanwhile, as Abraham dwelt on the plains of Mamre,
the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah took
place, because not ten righteous persons could be
found therein. But Lot was rescued by angels, and afterward
dwelt in a cave, for fear, his wife being turned into a pillar
of salt for daring to look back on the burning cities. He
lived with his two daughters, who became the guilty mothers
of the Moabites and the Ammonites, who settled on the
hills to the east of Jordan and the Dead Sea
Before the birth of Isaac, Abraham removed to the South,
and dwelt in Gerah, a city of the Philistines, and probably
for the same reason that he had before sought the land of
Egypt. But here the same difficulty occurred as
in Egypt. The king, Abimelech, sent and took
Sarah, supposing she was merely Abraham's sister; and
Abraham equivocated and deceived in this instance to save
his own life. But the king, warned by God in a dream,
restored unto Abraham his wife, and gave him sheep, oxen,
men servants and women servants, and one thousand pieces
of silver, for he knew he was a prophet. In return Abraham
prayed for him, and removed from him and his house all impediments
for the growth of his family. The king, seeing
how Abraham was prospered, made a covenant with him, so
that the patriarch lived long among the Philistines, worshiping
“the everlasting God.”
Then followed the great trial of his faith, when requested
to sacrifice Isaac. And when he was obedient to the call,
and did not withhold his son, his only son,
from the sacrificial knife, having faith that his
seed should still possess the land of Canaan, he was again
blessed, and in the most emphatic language. After this he
dwelt in Beersheba.
At the age of 120 Sarah died at Hebron, and Abraham
purchased of Ephron the Hittite, the cave of Machpelah,
with a field near Mamre, for four hundred
shekels of silver, in which he buried his wife.
Shortly after, he sought a wife for Isaac. But he would
not accept any of the daughters of the Canaanites, among
whom he dwelt, but sent his eldest and most trusted servant
to Mesopotamia, with ten loaded camels, to secure one of
his own people. Rebekah, the grand-daughter of
Nahor, the brother of Abraham, was the favored
damsel whom the Lord provided. Her father and brother
accepted the proposal of Abraham's servant, and loaded
with presents, jewels of silver and jewels of gold, and raiment,
the Mesopotamian lady departed from her country
and her father's house, with the benediction of the whole
family. “Be thou the mother of thousands of millions,
and let thy seed possess the gate of those which
hate them.” Thus was “Isaac comforted after his mother's
death.”
Abraham married again, and had five sons by Keturah;
but, in his life-time, he gave all he had unto Isaac, except
some gifts to his other children, whom he sent away, that
they might not dispute the inheritance with Isaac.
He died at a good old age, 175 years, and was
buried by his sons, Isaac and Ishmael, in the cave of Machpelah,
which had been purchased of the sons of Heth. Isaac
thus became the head of the house, with princely possessions,
living near a well.
But a famine arose, as in the days of his father, and he
went to Gerar, and not to Egypt. He, however, was afraid
to call Rebekah his wife, for the same reason that Abraham
called Sarah his sister. But the king happening from his
window to see Isaac “sporting with Rebekah,” knew he had
been deceived, yet abstained from taking her, and
even loaded Isaac with new favors, so that he became
very great and rich—so much so that the Philistines
envied him, and maliciously filled up the wells which
Abraham had dug. Here again he was befriended by Abimelech,
who saw that the Lord was with him, and a solemn
covenant of peace was made between them, and new wells
were dug.
Isaac, it seems, led a quiet and peaceful life—averse to all
strife with the Canaanites, and gradually grew very rich.
He gave no evidence of remarkable strength of
mind, and was easily deceived. His greatest
affliction was the marriage of his eldest and favorite son
Esau with a Hittite woman, and it was probably this mistake
and folly which confirmed the superior fortunes of
Jacob.
Esau was a hunter. On returning one day from hunting
he was faint from hunger, and cast a greedy eye on some
pottage that Jacob had prepared. But Jacob
would not give his hungry brother the food until he
had promised, by a solemn oath, to surrender his birthright to
him. The clever man of enterprise, impulsive and passionate,
thought more, for the moment, of the pangs of hunger than
of his future prospects, and the quiet, plain, and cunning
man of tents availed himself of his brother's rashness
But the birthright was not secure to Jacob without his
father's blessing. So he, with his mother's contrivance, for
he was her favorite, deceived his father, and appeared
to be Esau. Isaac, old and dim and
credulous, supposing that Jacob, clothed in Esau's vestments
as a hunter, and his hands covered with skins,
was his eldest son, blessed him. The old man still had
doubts, but Jacob falsely declared that he was Esau, and
obtained what he wanted. When Esau returned from
the hunt he saw what Jacob had done, and his grief was
bitter and profound. He cried out in his agony, “Bless me
even me, also, O my father.” And Isaac said: “Thy
brother came with subtilty, and hath taken away thy blessing.”
And Esau said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob—that
is, a supplanter—for he hath supplanted me these two
times: he took away my birthright, and behold now he
hath taken away my blessing.” “And he lifted up his
voice and wept.” Isaac, then moved, declared that his
dwelling should be the fatness of the earth, even though he
should serve his brother,—that he should live by the sword,
and finally break the yoke from off his neck.
This was all Esau could wring from his father.
He hated Jacob with ill-concealed resentment, as was to
be expected, and threatened to kill him on his father's
death. Rebekah advised Jacob to flee to his uncle, giving
as an excuse to Isaac, that he sought a wife in Mesopotamia.
This pleased Isaac, who regarded a marriage with a Canaanite
as the greatest calamity. So he again gave him his blessing,
and advised him to select one of the daughters of Laban for
his wife. And Jacob departed from his father's house, and
escaped the wrath of Esau. But Esau, seeing that his Hittite
wife was offensive to his father, married also one of the
daughters of Ishmael, his cousin.
Jacob meanwhile pursued his journey. Arriving at a certain
place after sunset, he lay down to sleep, with stones for
his pillow, and he dreamed that a ladder set up on the earth
reached the heavens, on which the angels of God ascended
[pg 032]
and descended, and above it was the Lord himself, the
God of his father, who renewed all the promises that had
been made to Abraham of the future prosperity of his house.
He then continued his journey till he arrived in Haran, by
the side of a well. Thither Rachel, the daughter of Laban,
came to draw water for the sheep she tended.
Jacob rolled away the stone from the mouth of
the well, and watered her flock, and kissed her, and wept,
for he had found in his cousin his bride. He then told her
who he was, and she ran and told her father that his nephew
had come, Isaac's son, and Laban was filled with joy, and
kissed Jacob and brought him to his house, where he dwelt
a month as a guest.
An agreement was then made that Jacob should serve
Laban seven years, and receive in return for his
services his youngest daughter Rachel, whom he
loved. But Laban deceived him, and gave him Leah instead,
and Jacob was compelled to serve another seven years before
he obtained her. Thus he had two wives, the one tender-eyed,
the other beautiful. But he loved Rachel and hated
Leah
Jacob continued to serve Laban until he was the father
of eleven sons and a daughter, and then desired to return to
his own country. But Laban, unwilling to lose so
profitable a son-in-law, raised obstacles. Jacob,
in the mean time, became rich, although his flocks and herds
were obtained by a sharp bargain, which he turned to his
own account. The envy of Laban's sons was the result.
Laban also was alienated, whereupon Jacob fled, with his
wives and children and cattle. Laban pursued, overtook
him, and after an angry altercation, in which Jacob recounted
his wrongs during twenty years of servitude, and
Laban claimed every thing as his—daughters, children and
cattle, they made a covenant on a heap of stones not to
pass either across it for the other's harm, and Laban returned
to his home and Jacob went on his way.
But Esau, apprised of the return of his brother, came out Edom against him with four hundred men. Jacob was
afraid, and sought to approach Esau with presents.
The brothers met, but whether from fraternal
impulse or by the aid of God, they met affectionately,
and fell into each other's arms and wept. Jacob offered
his presents, which Esau at first magnanimously refused
to take, but finally accepted: peace was restored, and Jacob
continued his journey till he arrived in Thalcom—a city of
Shechem, in the land of Canaan, where he pitched his tent
and erected an altar.
Here he was soon brought into collision with the people
of Shechem, whose prince had inflicted a great wrong.
Levi and Simeon avenged it, and the city was spoiled.
Jacob, perhaps in fear of the other Amorites, retreated
to Bethel, purged his household of all idolatry,
and built an altar, and God again appeared to him,
blessed him and changed his name to Israel.
Soon after, Rachel died, on the birth of her son, Benjamin,
and Jacob came to see his father in Mamre, now
180 years of age, and about to die. Esau and
Jacob buried him in the cave of Machpelah.
Esau dwelt in Edom, the progenitor of a long line of
dukes or princes. The seat of his sovereignty was Mount Seir.
Jacob continued to live in Hebron—a patriarchal prince, rich in cattle, and feared by his neighbors. His favorite son was Joseph, and his father's partiality excited the envy of the other sons. They conspired to kill him, but changed their purpose through the influence of Reuben, and cast him into a pit in the wilderness. While he lay there, a troop of Ishmaelites appeared, and to them, at the advice of Judah, they sold him as a slave, but pretended to their father that he was slain by wild beasts, and produced, in attestation, his lacerated coat of colors. The Ishmaelites carried Joseph to Egypt, and sold him to Potaphar, captain of Pharaoh's guard. Before we follow his fortunes, we will turn our attention to the land whence he was carried.
EGYPT AND THE PHARAOHS.
The first country to which Moses refers, in connection with the Hebrew history, is Egypt. This favored land was the seat of one of the oldest monarchies of the world. Although it would seem that Assyria was first peopled, historians claim for Egypt a more remote antiquity. Whether this claim can be substantiated or not, it is certain that Egypt was one of the primeval seats of the race of Ham. Mizraim, the Scripture name for the country, indicates that it was settled by a son of Ham. But if this is true even, the tide of emigration from Armenia probably passed to the southeast through Syria and Palestine, and hence the descendants of Ham had probably occupied the land of Canaan before they crossed the desert between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. I doubt if Egypt had older cities than Damascus, Hebron, Zoar, and Tyre.
Egypt certainly was a more powerful monarchy than any existing on the earth in the time of Abraham.
When Abram visited Egypt, impelled by the famine in Canaan, it was already a powerful monarchy. This was about 1921 years before Christ, according to the received chronology, when the kings of the 15th dynasty reigned. These dynasties of ancient kings are difficult to be settled, and rest upon traditions rather than well defined historical grounds,—or rather on the authority of Manetho, an Egyptian priest, who lived nearly 300 years before Christ. His list of dynasties has been confirmed, to a great extent, by the hieroglyphic inscriptions which are still to be found on ancient monuments, but they give us only a barren catalogue of names without any vital historical truths. Therefore these old dynasties, before Abraham, are only interesting to antiquarians, and not satisfactory to them, since so little is known or can be known. These, if correct, would give a much greater antiquity to Egypt than can be reconciled with Mosaic history. But all authorities agree in ascribing to Menes the commencement of the first dynasty, 2712 years before Christ, according to Hales, but 3893 according to Lepsius, and 2700 according to Lane. Neither Menes nor his successors of the first dynasty left any monuments. It is probable, however, that Memphis was built by them, and possibly hieroglyphics were invented during their reigns.
The Scriptures ascribe ten generations from Shem to Abram. Either the generations were made longer than in our times, or the seventeen dynasties, usually supposed to have reigned when [pg 037] Abram came to Egypt, could not have existed; for, according to the received chronology, he was born 1996, B.C., and the Deluge took place 2349, before Christ, leaving but 353 years from the Deluge to the birth of Abraham. How could seventeen dynasties have reigned in Egypt in that time, even supposing that Egypt was settled immediately after the Flood, unless either more than ten generations existed from Noah to Abram, or that these generations extended over seven or eight hundred years? Until science shall reconcile the various chronologies with the one usually received, there is but little satisfaction in the study of Egyptian history prior to Abram. Nor is it easy to settle when the Pyramids were constructed. If they existed in the time of Abram a most rapid advance had been made in the arts, unless a much longer period elapsed from Noah to Abraham than Scripture seems to represent.
The first great name of the early Egyptian kings was Sesertesen, or Osirtasin I., the founder of the twelfth dynasty of kings, B.C. 2080. He was a great conqueror, and tradition confounds him with the Sesostris of the Greeks, which gathered up stories about him as the Middle Ages did of Charlemagne and his paladins. The real Sesostris was Ramenes the Great, of the nineteenth dynasty. By the kings of this dynasty (the twelfth) Ethiopia was conquered, the Labyrinth was built, and Lake Moevis dug, to control the inundations. Under them Thebes became a great city. The dynasty lasted 100 years, but became subject to the Shepherd kings. These early Egyptian monarchs wore fond of peace, and their subjects enjoyed repose and prosperity.
//
HYKSOS FOREIGNERS OF EGYPT
The Shepherd kings, who ruled 400 years, were Phœnicians——a roving body of conquerors, who easily subdued the peaceful Egyptians. They have left no monumental history. They were alien to the conquered race in language and habits, and probably settled in Lower Egypt where the land was most fertile, and where conquests would be most easily retained. It was under their rule that Abram probably visited Egypt when driven by a famine from Canaan. And they were not expelled till the time of Joseph, by the first of the eighteenth dynasty. The descendants of the old kings, we suppose, lived in Thebes, and were tributary princes for 400 years
it was under the Shepherd kings that the relations between Egypt and the Hebrew patriarchs took place. We infer this fact from the friendly intercourse and absence of national prejudices. The Phœnicians belonged to the same Shemitic stock [pg 039] from which Abraham came. They built no temples. They did not advance a material civilization. They loaded Abram and Joseph with presents, and accepted the latter as a minister and governor. We read of no great repulsion of races, and see a great similarity in pursuits.
Descendants of Ham, Shem, and the First Dynasty of Babylon
Event
|
Year BC
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Founding of (Amorite) First Dynasty
of Babylon. Sumuabum becomes king
|
ca 1830
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sumulael becomes king of Babylon
|
ca 1816
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Shamshi-Adad I becomes king of
Assyria
|
ca 17861 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sabium becomes king of Babylon
|
ca 1780
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Apil-Sin becomes king of Babylon
|
ca 1766
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ishme-Dagan becomes king of Assyria
|
ca 1753 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cometary event
|
1752
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sin-muballit becomes king of Babylon
|
ca 1748
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Birth of Shem (revised biblical chronology)
|
1740
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ham (Hammu-rabi) becomes king of Babylon (Low Chronology)
|
1728
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hyksos invade Lower Egypt
|
1718
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ishme-Dagan flees to
Babylon under Hammurabi. Asshur-dugul becomes king of
Assyria
|
ca 1713
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bel-bani becomes king of Assyria
|
ca 1707
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Libaya becomes king of Assyria
|
ca 1697 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Birth of Arpachshad (revised biblical chronology)
|
1690
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Shem (Samsu-iluna) becomes king of Babylon (Low Chronology)
|
1685
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sharma-Adad becomes king of
Assyria
|
ca 1680
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Birth of Shelah
|
1672
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Iptar-sin becomes king of Assyria
|
ca 1668
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bazaya becomes king of Assyria
|
ca 1656
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Birth of Eber (Ibiranu I of Ugarit)
|
1655
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Lullaya becomes king of Assyria
|
ca 1628
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arpachshad (Abi-eshu) becomes king of Babylon (Low Chronology)
|
1647
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Birth of Peleg
|
1640
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tree-ring event. End of Middle
Bronze. End of Xia Dynasty,
rise of Shang in China. Events described in book of Job
|
1628
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Birth of Reu
|
1625
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arpachshad dies at age 67 (revised biblical chronology)
|
1623
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Shu Ninua becomes king
of Assyria
|
ca 1622
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Shu Ninua builds Nineveh
|
after 1622 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Abi-eshu dies (Low Chronology). Ammi-ditana becomes king of Babylon
|
1619
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Birth of Serug (Sharru-kinu, "true
king")
|
1609
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sharma-Adad II becomes king of Assyria
|
1608 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Shelah dies at age 67. Erishum III becomes king of Assyria
|
1605
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Birth of Nahor ben Serug (Niqmepa II of
Ugarit)
|
1594
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Shamshi-Adad II becomes king of Assyria
|
1592 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ishme-Dagan II becomes king of Assyria
|
1586 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Eber dies at age 71
|
1584
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ammi-saduqa becomes king of Babylon
|
1582
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Birth of Terah
|
1580
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Venus Tablet of Ammi-saduqa
|
1574
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Shamshi-Adad III becomes king of Assyria
|
1570 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Asshur-nerari I becomes king of Assyria
|
1554 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Birth of Abraham
|
1545 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
End First Dynasty of Babylon. Egyptians defeat Hyksos at Sharuhen. Begin Egyptian 17th Dynasty on Crete
| 1531 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1641 years before Tiglath-Pileser I (1145-1106).
    ..
the older dynasties under whom Thebes was
built, probably B.C. 2200, gathered strength in misfortune and
subjection. They reigned, during five dynasties, in a subordinate
relation, tributary and oppressed. The first king of the
eighteenth dynasty seems to have been a remarkable man—the
deliverer of his nation. His name was Aah-mes, or Amo-sis,
and he expelled the shepherds from the greater
part of Egypt, B.C. 1525. In his reign we see on
the monuments chariots and horses. He built temples both
in Thebes and Memphis, and established a navy. This was
probably the king who knew not Joseph. His successors
continued the work of conquest, and extended their dominion
from Ethiopia to Mesopotamia, and obtained that part of
Western Asia formerly held by the Chaldeans. They built
the temple of Karnak, the “Vocal Memnon,” and the avenue
of Sphinxes in Thebes.
The grandest period of Egyptian history begins with
the nineteenth dynasty, founded by Sethee I., or Sethos,
B.C. 1340. He built the famous “Hall of Columns,”
in the temple of Karnak, and the finest of the tombs of the Theban
kings. On the walls of this great temple are depicted
his conquests, especially over the Hittites. But the glories
of the monarchy, now decidedly military, culminated
in Ramesis II.—the Sesostris of the Greeks.
He extended his dominion as far as Scythia and Thrace,
while his naval expeditions penetrated to the Erythræan
Sea. The captives which he brought from his wars were
employed in digging canals, which intersected the country,
for purposes of irrigation, and especially that great canal
which united the Mediterranean with the Red Sea. He
added to the temple of Karnak, built the Memnonium
on the western side of the Nile, opposite
[pg 040]
to Thebes, and enlarged the temple of Ptah, at Memphis,
which he adorned by a beautiful colossal statue, the fist
of which is (now in the British Museum) thirty inches
wide across the knuckles. But the Rameseum, or Memnonium,
was his greatest architectural work, approached by
an avenue of sphinxes and obelisks, in the centre of which
was the great statue of Ramesis himself, sixty feet high,
carved from a single stone of the red granite of Syene.
The twentieth dynasty was founded by Sethee II., B.C.
1220 (or 1232 B.C., according to Wilkinson), when Gideon
ruled the Israelites and Theseus reigned at Athens and
Priam at Troy. The third king of this dynasty—Ramesis
III.—built palaces and tombs scarcely inferior to any of
the Theban kings, but under his successors the Theban
power declined. Under the twenty-first dynasty,
which began B.C. 1085, Lower Egypt had a new
capital, Zoan, and gradually extended its power over Upper
Egypt. It had a strong Shemetic element in its population,
and strengthened itself by alliances with the Assyrians
The twenty-second dynasty was Assyrian, and
began about 1009 B.C. It was hostile to the Jews, and
took and sacked Jerusalem.
fEgypt is obscure. BEING DEFEATED
by Assyrians, and then by Ethiopians, the grandeur
of the old Theban monarchy had passed
away. On the rise of the Babylonian kingdom, over the
ruins of the old Assyrian Empire, Egypt was greatly prostrated
as a military power. Babylon became the great
monarchy of the East, and gained possession of all the territories
of the Theban kings, from the Euphrates to the
Nile.
Leaving, then, the obscure and uninteresting history of
Egypt, which presents nothing of especial interest until its
conquest by Alexander, B.C. 332, with no great kings even,
with the exception of Necho, of the twenty-sixth dynasty,
B.C. 611,
=========================================================
THE PATRIARCHS
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Walang komento:
Mag-post ng isang Komento