Jewish history doesn't happen in a vacuum. No people's history happens in a vacuum. So before we take a closer look at Abraham, we must first zoom out and get a little understanding of where Abraham fits in the world of his time.
Abraham appears at a period of time commonly known as the Middle Bronze period, around the 18th century BCE. (Early civilization is characterized by the metals they predominantly used and the Middle Bronze period of the Near East covers the period of time from 2200 BCE until 1550 BCE.)
Whereas most anthropologists believe that hominids, forerunners of human beings physically, originated in Africa, human civilization begins in the Near East in the Fertile Crescent, which is where Abraham was born.
When we say civilization, we are talking about sophisticated arrangements of people living together, not hunter/gatherers or simple agrarian settlements, not just a few people living in a few huts. About 5,500 years ago in the Near East, there was a dramatic evolution of humanity from mostly nomadic hunter/gatherers -- people who spend their whole day looking for food -- to people who were able to domesticate livestock and crops. This meant they could raise animals to eat them or to use them for their milk and their hides, and to plow the land to grow crops.
Once this occurred, there was a surplus of food, which led to population growth. People had time to do more than constantly search for food. They started specializing in different types of labor -- you had craftsmen, scholars, priests and warriors. That, in turn, led to the creation of cities, social and political development and the creation of the arts, literature, science and the like. The earliest civilizations in the world, according to most opinions, began in the area called the Fertile Crescent.
THE FERTILE CRESCENT
The Fertile Crescent encompasses the area that extends from the Nile Delta in Egypt, the Levant (the middle section where Israel is located), to the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers.
The three great rivers contribute mightily to the fertility, and consequent desirability, of this area. The Nile is an incredible river, the largest river in the world. Without the Nile, Egypt would be a desert. In ancient times, 3% of Egypt was arable land, 97% was desert. Also the Euphrates and the Tigris Rivers are two tremendous rivers; they run through what is today basically Iraq and into Turkey, but what historians have dubbed Mesopotamia, which is Greek for "in the middle of two rivers."
There is some debate whether the first civilization sprang up in Egypt or in Mesopotamia (specifically in the section of Mesopotamia called Sumer) but we can be fairly sure that the first hallmark of civilization -- writing -- originated in the Fertile Crescent.
Writing was a tremendous invention though we take it for granted today. It began with pictographs. You drew a stick figure and that stood for "man." Later those pictures evolved into more abstract symbols which stood for phonetic sounds, until eventually there came about a system of three "letters," each representing a sound and combining together to make a word that conveyed an idea. (To this day, Hebrew is based on a three-consonant root system.)
Writing was the single greatest human invention and is the hallmark of civilization. All the technology and knowledge of today depends on the collective accumulation of accurately transmitted information, which now comes so fast we can't keep up with it.
"A SPEAKING SOUL"
From the Jewish perspective the ability to express oneself -- whether through writing or speech -- personifies what human beings are all about. We learn that when God created the first human being -- Adam -- He "breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul." (Genesis 2:7) The Hebrew phrase l'nefesh chayah, "living soul," can also be translated as "a speaking soul." (Targum Onkelos, Genesis 2:7)
The Crossroads of Civilization
Of the two earliest civilizations that developed, Egypt is unusual because it's surrounded by desert and so it is virtually unapproachable. Egypt as a civilization survived for close to 3,000 years. This is an incredibly long period of time for civilization to survive. Why did Egypt survive for so long? Because of its isolation it was very difficult to invade. (1). It took the Greeks -- specifically Alexander, the Great -- to finish Egypt off, and then it became a Greek colony.
Mesopotamia had no such natural defenses. It was a giant flood plain sitting in the middle of the great migration route of many ancient peoples. Any conqueror who came out of Asia or out of Europe usually set foot there. It had no natural defenses -- no mountains, no deserts -- and it was a very desirable fertile land.
We see the land changing hands many times and a huge number of civilizations in this part of the world -- Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans and then, of course, the Muslims.
This tumultuous place is where Jewish history begins -- at the bottom of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, in the cradle of civilization. This was the logical place for civilization to begin in terms of the development of agriculture and culture. And it's also a logical place for Abraham to appear, because if it is Abraham's destiny to change the world, he has to be at the center of civilization. If he were born an Eskimo or a Native American, all of human history would have been different. So our story begins in Ancient Mesopotamia and from here Abraham's journey begins.
1)In the 3,000 year history of ancient Egypt, it was conquered only three times: by the Hyksos, the Assyrians and finally the Greeks. Compared to the Land of Israel, which has been conquered and destroyed dozens of times.
(16) Anonymous, October 6, 2016 3:57 PM
is it correct to say that human civilization began in near east?
referring to the line 3rd and 4th in the paragraph 3 ,which says that the human civilization began from the near east .But at the same time in the south-east another civilization had existed(Indus valley civilization) and through out the historical archives there is no proof of any connection between the two oldest civilizations.Also there are lack of descriptions which can suggest that a large scale migration took place before both the civilizations had came into the existence .
(15) shoshana, March 28, 2016 5:56 PM
Thank you
I grew up frum and learned Jewish history and World history and American history, all separately. At this point, it's one big blur in my mind. I've been looking for a way of understanding our history, beginning from creation, in the context of what was going on in the world - to understand and recall ...
I will continue with this series as I'm learning so much.
Thank you!
(14) Saphyriel, April 28, 2015 4:55 PM
Inaccuracy.
Part of the fertile crescent is in africa, being in the fertile crescent doesnt mean necessarily you are not originated in africa. The Nile Delta is one of the "tips" of the crescent.
"Whereas most anthropologists believe that hominids, forerunners of human beings physically, originated in Africa, human civilization begins in the Near East in the Fertile Crescent, which is where Abraham was born."
(13) Kore, November 24, 2012 12:17 PM
Fact check
For the sake of historical accuracy and scholarly integrity it must acknowledged Egypt is in Africa. Therefore if the Nile Delta is considered part of the fertile crescent (where civilization is believed to have began), it is true that civilization began in Africa. Why do so many "scholars" try to distinguish between Egypt and Africa? "...Whereas most anthropologists believe that hominids, forerunners of human beings physically, originated in Africa, human civilization begins in the Near East in the Fertile Crescent..."
(12) Isahiah62, February 3, 2011 7:20 PM
Hyksos were the Hebrews?
I was watching History channel show on the Exodus- they say the Hyksos were the Jews- in the inscriptions you can see they are not dressed like Egyptians, nor physically like them-he re-dated the Exodus to 1500 BCE when they left the lands as a group- also corroborated in a stele found describing the story - under the Pharoh ACHMOSES (brother of Moses) - The show is fascinating as it proves that all the events, plague of frogs, red water and more could and did happen as result of a huge earthquake that destoyed Minoa (now Santorini, Greece )---coins with the seal of Joseph were found as well but the Egyptians are keeping the place secured and hidden- except one Viennese archaeologist-
(11) Jay, April 6, 2009 8:09 AM
Great series! What about Torah?
Thanks for this series. I am enjoying it thoroughly! You mention in the first few lectures that this is not a Bible class. Can you maybe point me in the direction of a Bible class that is is the same league as your lectures on Jewish history?? Thanks and chag sameach!
(10) Dave Baruch, September 23, 2007 5:59 AM
Excellent
This crash course is most interesting and important, as it shows the connection of Jewish History and the world and portrays the Jewish spirit as well.
(9) Jennifer, December 10, 2006 12:19 PM
Jewish History Part 3
Very interesting, but I noted in the footnote that only 3 conquerors of Egypt were listed. I've heard that the Nubians (Ethiopians) have also been credited with conquering Egypt; artifacts found in later dynasties clearly show African features on the Pharaoh & other leaders, providing additional evidence of Nubian conquest.
Your views, please.
(8) Anonymous, August 13, 2006 12:00 AM
The "assimilated Jew" is bereft of the historical and cultural bases of his distinctive cultural qualities and self-knowledge dictates that he must dispel this ignorance.
A crash course in jewish history is desperately needed by the secularized jews of the diaspora that were fortunate enough to have wound up in America. I am a 78 year old doctor who is also a professor in a major university, so learning is not foreign to me. But my exposure, like the majority of my professional colleagues, to the details of our history and sources of our cultural tradition, was never present. We would all benefit from access to full bodied expositions of these important foundations that have determined what and how we became unknowing conveyers of our distinctive cultural tradition.
(7) deborah Courage, February 20, 2004 12:00 AM
Sheer genius.Sheer damn genius.
Rabbi Spiro - Kudos!You are truly blessed with knowledge and the ability to make what is usually a tedious history lesson extremely enjoyable.
(6) Marilyn Bloom, June 12, 2002 12:00 AM
This series is informative and incredibly well written. Thank You!
(5) Anonymous, June 10, 2002 12:00 AM
Re: to Anonymous, 4/6/02
Israel is about the size of New Jersey. Very tiny. You can travel, by car, from the northern-most region to the southern tip in about 5 hours, and cross it from West to East (or vice-versa) in about 90 minutes (depending on where you cross, and/or if you include the West Bank. Some places will take you less.)
Arafat calls ALL of Israel his homeland, although he is, in fact, an Egyptian. There is no such thing as a Palestinian homeland, as there is also no such thing as a Palestinian.
"Palestine" is the name the Romans gave to the parcel of land formerly known as Canaan, now known as Israel (which included Jordan and parts of Syria in Biblical times.)
The term "Palestinian" is an invention of Yasser Arafat. They are no different than any of their Arab neighbors, and most of them are descended from Arabs of the surrounding Arab countries, and not native to the land we now call Israel. They started arriving in droves about the beginning of the 20th century, concurrently with the influx of the Jewish Zionist pioneers because there was work available for them, and because of the improvements the Jews were making to the land.
(4) Anonymous, June 10, 2002 12:00 AM
who is civilized?
I am african American, and I do believe that civilization originated in Africa. I believe that the people were as civilized as they could have been during that period of history. To say that they were not civilized because they did not form groups such as Abram's family suggests that you have set one people against the other because of living conditions of their time.
If we were to comeare the 21st century with Abram's time, would he be uncivilized as well?
(3) Rex Rambo, June 10, 2002 12:00 AM
Gives a quick overview of Abraham
One of the things that draws me to Judiam is the fact that Abraham advanced civilization by being the instrument to stop idol worship and greatest of all stopped human sacrifice.We are witnessing the inherent evil in human sacrifice with the struggle that the Jewish and American people are having with radical islam andtheir fanatical suicide murderers.Rex
(2) Frank Pacheco, June 10, 2002 12:00 AM
It is refreshing to understand Jewish claim to the land of Israel
I am of hispanic descendant and hope that in the future, more latin countries will benefit from Jewish presence and influence. We are becoming a melting pot in the world and older civilizations can guide the new ones. Lets think in terms of peace, let's resolve for peace.
(1) Anonymous, April 6, 2002 12:00 AM
I just wanted to let you know that I am supporting Israel in their fight for freedom, just like the USA is doing in Afganistan. As a non-jew it is hard to understand though why the Arabs are so dead set on illiminating the entire Jewish population. Can you tell me why Isreal has so easy access to Yaser Arafat? It appears that his country (to put it mildly) is nothing more than a neighborhood. How big is Israel compaired to any state in the USA, and how small is the area in which Arafat calls his homeland. As a non-Jewish person, I am interested in the history of the state of Israel and have enjoyed reading your crash course on the subject.