Take in the full history of the Bible with a detailed account that focuses on its major empires, events and personalities. Written by a religious scholar who has taught at high school, college and adult levels, this historical exploration is organized around the major civilizations and epochs of the ancient world, beginning with Sumer and ending with Rome. Author Bruce W. Gore provides a thorough overview of major empires, such as the Assyrians or Babylonians, as well as more modest civilizations, such as the Phoenicians or Hittites. Learn how Cyrus the Persian, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, and others changed the course of Christianity. In the course of historical exploration, this account also examines questions that may have puzzled readers of the Bible in the past: • Who was Sennacherib? • To which Assyrian king did Jonah preach, and did this make any difference in history? • What did the “eight night visions” of Zechariah mean in light of the rule of Darius the Persian? Study the Bible with an eye on its ancient setting and develop an understanding of its key people, places and civilizations with Historical and Chronological Context of the Bible. Historical and Chronological Context of the Bible By Bruce W. Gore Trafford Publishing Copyright © 2010 Bruce Gore All right reserved. ISBN: 978-1-4269-4359-1 Contents Chapter One Mesopotamia (2500 to 1500 B.C.) The story of the Bible begins in a remarkable expanse of land called Mesopotamia, a region largely contained in modern Iraq. The word Mesopotamia ("between the rivers") was coined by the Greeks, and was originally intended to describe the swampy lowland lying between the Tigris and Euphrates as the two waterways flowed south into the Persian Gulf. The name eventually came to incorporate a much larger area extending northward and including both Babylon and Assyria, thus comprising widely varying terrain of perennially snow-capped peaks in the north and extensive swampland in the south, swampland complete with water buffaloes, wild boars, wild birds, mosquitoes, and stifling heat. The Old Testament includes frequent references and allusions to Mesopotamian civilizations, and its importance in shaping Old Testament history could hardly be overstated. Near the beginning of Genesis, for example, we read of "Ur of the Chaldeas," the homeland of Abraham, which referred to an important capital of the ancient civilization of Sumer, the earliest of Mesopotamia. Later the Old Babylonian Empire rose to prominence under Hammurabi and gave the world its most extensive law-code to date, a code that certainly influenced to some extent the great code given 200 years later through Moses. The Assyrians, whose home was in northern Mesopotamia, dominated the Near East for some 200 years, and played a role of vast significance in Israel. Later, the so-called Neo-Babylonian Empire gave rise to the great Nebuchadnezzar, who played a highly influential role in Old Testament history. The Persians, who made their home in the Zagros range just east of Mesopotamia, swept through the Near East, and later Old Testament history reflects the significant role part it played. In short, an understanding of the context of the Old Testament would be impossible without an appreciation for the deep influence of Mesopotamia, and thus our studies will begin with a consideration of that important region. Part of the reason for Mesopotamia's great influence on Old Testament history involves, of course, its mere proximity to Canaan, but that influence was greatly accentuated by the constant travel on well-worn roads connecting Mesopotamia with Syria, Canaan, Egypt, Anatolia (modern Turkey), and the Mediterranean. Although primary means of transportation into and out of Mesopotamia were its two great rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, there were also two major land routes. The first proceeded due west across the dry and forbidding Arabian desert directly to Syria and the Mediterranean. This road was less popular because it presented peril both from its harsh environment and from nomadic desert raiders. The other more commonly used route followed the Euphrates north to the region of Carchemish, from whence a person might either travel west across Anatolia, or south along the Mediterranean to Egypt. The latter route was used by Abraham in the early second millennium when he traveled from Ur to Canaan. The connections between Mesopotamia and the rest of the world were also encouraged by the fact that Mesopotamia, even though it was the so-called "cradle of civilization," depended heavily on its neighbors for the natural resources it needed to survive. To be sure, modern Mesopotamia (Iraq) relies on petroleum for much of its wealth, but the value of the oily fluid was less appreciated by the ancients. They did make use of bitumen, a related product, by which they produced mortar, caulk, fuel, and even certain drugs, but beyond this Mesopotamia had fe