The city states of Greece were Rome’s nearest neighbors. Greece’s loss against the Romans can be found on the Biblical Timeline Chart with World History at 282 BC. The Greeks established colonies in the southern tip of Italy, the historically called ‘Magna Graecia.’ Which included the cities of Neopolis, Syracuse, Tarentum, Sybaris, and Croton. These cities were near the coast and the profits reaped from the trade that went through these harbors made the cities of Magna Graecia wealthy and powerful.
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“These cities were near the coast and the profits reaped from the trade that went through these harbors made the cities of Magna Graecia wealthy and powerful.”
Unfortunately, the cities’ position on the coast also made them vulnerable to attacks from clashing powers such as Rome, Carthage, and Greece. One of those was the coastal city of Tarentum (Taras). It that was caught up in a quarrel between a Samnite tribe and the Greek city of Thurii. The Greek city asked Rome for naval assistance. For Tarentum, that was an act of provocation, so they asked Pyrrhus, the king of Epirus, to help them.
Pyrrhus arrived to help Tarentum and was initially victorious against the Roman forces. It was during this war that the term ‘Pyrrhic victory’ was first used. Pyrrhus suffered huge losses even though he won the war. He left Italy to help the Greeks in Sicily but was defeated when he returned to Rome. Tarentum and other Greek colonies were besieged by Roman forces soon after. They were also caught between the Roman armies and the Carthaginian forces led by Hannibal during the Second Punic War. Hannibal captured the city, but the Roman general Quintus Fabius Maximus retook it years later.
The Maya civilization flourished in 250 to 950 AD (Classic Period) in southern Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, and El Salvador. The date of the earliest known stone calendars that were created by them is recorded on the Biblical Timeline Chart with World History starting in 400 BC. The Maya people built temples, markets, plazas, and palaces located in their great urban centers of Tikal, Chichen Itza, and Palenque. They used the Milpas system and grew corn, squash, beans, manioc, and chili peppers side by side in the same field. The Maya religion reflected their reliance on nature by their worship of gods such as Chaac (god of rain), Ah Mun (corn god), and Kinich Ahau (sun god).
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The Olmec people (1200-400 BC) were the first to develop the concept of a calendar in Mesoamerica. This was improved by the Maya people. Some of the earliest Long Count calendar monuments were found in Olmec-Maya archeological sites in Guatemala and Mexico. While others were found in Mexican sites, such as Chiapa de Corzo, Tres Zapotes, and La Mojarra.
Maya Calendar
The Maya made three additional calendars: the Haab’, Tzolk’in, and Calendar Round. The Haab’ was a practical 19-month calendar with 365 days in one solar year, and it had 18 months of 20 days, plus a 5-day intercalary month. Each month was also symbolized with a unique glyph.
The second calendar is the Tzolk’in which was a 260-day sacred calendar created for ritual purposes. It had thirteen Maya numbers and twenty days represented with glyphs of animals, objects, and events. These numbers and days were moved against each other every day until a complete 260-day cycle had passed.
The combination of Haab’ and Tzolk’in calendars was the Calendar Round, which will not repeat until the end of a 52-year cycle. For events longer than 52 years, the Maya people used the Long Count Calendar. The oldest Maya calendar (9th century) was discovered in 2012 in the Xultun archeological site in Guatemala. It contained murals, hieroglyphics, and astronomical calculations. Another stone calendar was found in an altar in Tikal archeological site.
The twelve-month calendar year is recorded on the Biblical Timeline Chart with World History towards the end of the 7th century BC. This article explains how it transpired, starting before the reforms were implemented by Numa Pompilius.
The Roman calendar was not exactly the most accurate when it came to the division of months. The system was borrowed from the Greeks and was said to be introduced by Romulus, the legendary founder of Rome. It only had 10 months in one year which was divided into 304 days and the Romans generally ignored the 61 days of winter.
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* Martius – named after Mars
* Aprilis – named after the Roman equivalent (Venus) of the Greek goddess Aphrodite; also means “to open”
* Maius – named after Greek goddess Maia
* Junius – named after the Roman goddess Juno
* Quintilis – Latin for “fifth”
* Sextilis – Latin for “sixth”
* September – Latin for “seventh”; originally the seventh month
* October – Latin for “eight”; originally the eight month
* November – Latin for “ninth”; originally the ninth month
* December – Latin for “tenth”; originally the tenth month
“Around 700 BC, legendary Roman king Numa Pompilius (715-673 BC) reformed the Roman calendar and added two months that falls in winter: January and February”
The days were not numbered from beginning to end but were counted by three reference points of the Nones, Ides, and Kalends. Nones corresponds to the 7th day of Martius, Maius, Quintilis, and October and on the 5th of the other months. Ides usually falls on the 15th for longer months and the 13th for shorter ones. Finally, kalends corresponds to the first day of the month.
Around 700 BC, legendary Roman king Numa Pompilius (715-673 BC) reformed the Roman calendar and added two months that falls in winter: January and February. This reformed calendar had 355 days, and Numa inserted Mercedinus every other year so it would correspond to the solar year. The intercalary month Mercedinus was inserted after the 23rd or 24th of February, but the problem was that it now had 377 to 378 days in one year.
The system was inaccurate and prone to manipulation as the decision to incorporate this intercalary month was dependent on the current Pontifex maximus. He may or may not add the month depending on whether he wanted to extend the terms of allied magistrates or shorten the terms of his enemies. This abuse created a mess that Roman historian Suetonius noted, “the harvest and vintage festivals no longer corresponded with the appropriate seasons.”
It was used for hundreds of years until it was once again reformed by Julius Caesar in 46 BC. It was later called the Julian calendar after him, and it consisted of 365 days (366 days for leap years) with the same month names as the previous calendar. They devised a division of a number of days per month which is still being used today.
The sought after alliance with King So of Egypt is recorded on the Biblical Timeline Chart With World History around 700 BC. This event, however, started with Menahem, a usurper who killed King Shallum to gain the throne and paid tribute to Tiglath-pileser III to tighten his grip on power. The Assyrian king was content to let Israel exist after his invasion as long as Menahem continued to pay him tribute (2 Kinga 15:19-20). Twelve years later, Menahem’s son Pekahiah was killed by Pekah, who then declared himself king in Samaria. Tiglath-pileser invaded Israel once again. This time, he conquered a large swath of the kingdom and deported the people to other territories (2 Kings 15:29).
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After Tiglath-pileser’s death, his son Shalmaneser V inherited the Assyrian throne while Israel was now ruled by Hoshea. The Assyrian king then followed the footsteps of his father and launched a new invasion of Israel. Because of this, King Hoshea was forced to pay tribute for Shalmaneser to stop the attacks. Some time later, Hoshea decided to stop paying the heavy tribute required by Shalmaneser and asked King So of Egypt to help him in a bid for independence. The news of Hoshea’s rebellion reached Shalmaneser, and it was not long until the Assyrian army came back to Israel for another wave of invasion. But Shalmaneser was not in a forgiving mood this time, and he put Hoshea in prison (2 Kings 17:3). A large part of the population of Israel was then exiled to Assyrian territories soon after.
“A large part of the population of Israel was then exiled to Assyrian territories”
Identity of King So
Egypt was in the Third Intermediate Period when the Neo-Assyrian empire reached the peak of its power. It was not the strong and influential kingdom it once was when it was ruled by native Egyptians. It was ruled by several dynasties of foreign kings. Including the Libyan Meshwesh tribe, as well as the Nubians from the south.
The name “So” itself was in the Egyptian king list, so his identity was a mystery for a long time. Egyptologist Hans Goedicke first identified him as the 24th Dynasty pharaoh Tefnakht, who ruled from 724-717 BC. The date of his rule would make him a contemporary of the kings Shalmaneser V and Hoshea. Another possibility is that “So” is the 22nd Dynasty Libyan ruler Osorkon IV, who ruled from 730 to 712 BC. Both pharaohs ruled a fragmented Egypt almost at the same time with Tefnakht ruling from Sais and Osorkon IV ruling from Tanis in the Eastern Delta. His inability to help Hoshea and Egypt’s declining power were evident in the Assyrian inscription about a king “Shilkanni” of Egypt who presented Sargon II with twelve horses as tribute.
References:
Tenney, Merrill C., and Moisés Silva. The Zondervan Encyclopedia of the Bible. Revised Full Color ed. Vol. 2. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2009
Ritner, Robert Kriech. The Libyan Anarchy: Inscriptions from Egypt’s Third Intermediate Period. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2009
The nobles and elite of Judean society remained in Babylonian captivity years after they were driven out from Judah by Nebuchadnezzar. After seventy years, another powerful kingdom rose east of Mesopotamia led by King Cyrus of Persia of the Achaemenid dynasty. Who allowed the Jews their freedom which is recorded on the Biblical Timeline Chart around mid 500 BC. After securing his kingdom in 554 BC, Cyrus looked outward and conquered neighboring states which included the Neo-Babylonian empire.
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“Zerubbabel displays a plan of Jerusalem to Cyrus the Great.”
By 539 BC, Cyrus had defeated Babylon’s last king Nabonidus. Cyrus was known as a clever strategist and a savvy political king, and he presented himself as a liberator of the people conquered by Babylon. He was tolerant of other religions, and one of his greatest acts as king was to free the Jews who lived in captivity in Babylon since the time of Nebuchadnezzar. His goodness to the Jews was so appreciated that he was considered as the only foreign messiah (Isaiah 45:1-13) chosen by the Lord.
The Jews, led by Zerubbabel and others, traveled from Babylon in 538 BC, and the full list of people who returned with him is listed in the 2nd chapter of Ezra. Upon their arrival, some of the people settled in Jerusalem while others returned to their own towns. They began to rebuild the temple during the second year after they arrived in Jerusalem (Ezra 3:8).
After the death of Solomon, the kingdom was split into two. Jeroboam controlled the northern kingdom of Israel which included 10 tribes. The rest was ruled by Solomon’s son Rehoboam. He reigned over the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Levi (who served in the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem). This event is recorded on the Biblical Timeline Chart from 1004 BC to 579 BC.
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The kings of Israel and Judah were at war with each other during the first 60 years of the divided kingdoms. This went on until the time of Baasha of Israel and Asa of Judah (1 Kings 15:32). The wars only stopped when Jehoshaphat of Judah entered into an alliance with Ahab of Israel in taking back Ramoth-Gilead from the ruler of Aram.
Location of Judah
This was unsuccessful as Ahab was killed in battle and Jehoshaphat returned to Judah. The southern kingdom also experienced prosperity during the time of Jehoshaphat, as well as victories in the war against Moab and Ammon. While the trading ships he built in an alliance with Ahaziah of Israel were destroyed even before the ships could set sail.
Joram of Judah, Jehoshaphat’s son, formed an alliance with Israel by marrying Athaliah, a daughter of Ahab. She succeeded in killing the remaining family members of her own son Ahaziah after he was killed by Jehu in Israel. Athaliah was killed after Joash, son of Ahaziah and her own grandson, was proclaimed as king. He was followed by his son Amaziah and grandson Uzziah who was one of the longest reigning kings of Judah (52 years).
One of the most well-known kings of Judah was Hezekiah who reopened and rededicated the temple of the Lord, and made religious reforms. King Sennacherib of Assyria laid siege to Judah during Hezekiah’s time, but was unsuccessful.
Manasseh, the longest-ruling monarch of Judah, was also known for killing innocent people (2 Kings 21:16). He was also a captive in Babylon at one time (2 Chronicles 33:11).
Josiah, one of the youngest rulers of Judah, became king at the age of eight. He laid out religious reforms and the Passover was celebrated again during his reign (2 Chronicles 35). He tried to block Necho II of Egypt from going to Carchemish to fight against Babylon. He died during the Battle of Megiddo after he was hit by an arrow from the Egyptian side.
The last king of Judah was Zedekiah and he rebelled against the Babylonians who were powerful at that time. The Babylonians put down this rebellion and Zedekiah was taken as captive to Babylon after his eyes were gouged out.
King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had Jerusalem destroyed after taking King Zedekiah captive and nothing was spared including the temple of the Lord, royal palace, and other important buildings (2 Kings 25:9). The people of Judah, except those who needed to tend the fields and vineyards, were sent to Babylon in exile.
The name Israel first appeared in Genesis 32:28 after Jacob wrestled with God at Peniel and reiterated in Genesis 35:9 with a promise of great blessings. Jacob was given the name Israel which in Hebrew means ‘he struggles with God’ and the group of people descended from him were called Israelites. The Twelve Tribes of Israel is recorded on the Biblical Timeline Chart between 1254 BC – 1004 BC.
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The Israelites wandered for 40 years in the Sinai desert before they were allowed by God to defeat the Canaanites who had already settled in the land. By mid-1200 BC and under the leadership of Joshua, the Israelites had conquered most of the Promised Land, and the displaced ethnic groups included the following:
Joshua 14 gives us a detailed account of the division of lands between the tribes of Israel. With the exemption of the tribe of Levi, who received only towns for their livestock to graze in due to their duty as priests (Numbers 18:24). Joseph received his inheritance through his sons Manasseh and Ephraim, who were claimed by Jacob as his.
This geographical division of land among the Twelve Tribes of Israel existed from the period when judges ruled the land and into the reign of Israel’s kings. Some of the tribes or nations that remained in the area and bordered the land of the Israelites were the Philistines, Moabites, Ammonites, and Edomites who most of the time opposed and made war with the Israelites.
Around 1229 BC, Israel found itself under the rule of the Midianites where it is recorded on the Biblical Timeline Chart. The years following the conquest of Canaan and the death of Joshua saw Israel without a ruler. The book of Judges chronicles Israel’s cycle of worshiping other gods such as
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The book of Judges chronicles Israel’s cycle of worshiping other gods (such as Baal and Asherah) to repentance during times of oppression. This led to deliverance through the leadership of various judges until the appointment of Saul as king over a unified Israel. Various nations, such as Syria or Aram Naharaim (Judges 3:8), Moab (Judges 3:12), Ammon, Amalek, Philistia (Judges 3), and Canaan (Judges 4) took turns in conquering and oppressing the people of Israel. Each time they were delivered by God when they repented. He also appointed judges who led them to victories, such as Othniel (Judges 3:7), Ehud (Judges 3:12), Shamgar (Judges 3:31), and the prophetess Deborah (Judges 4).
“An angel announces Gideon his victory against the Midianites.”
This cycle of turning away from God and repentance continued till the time of Gideon, the son of Joash from the tribe of Manasseh. He helped deliver them from the oppression of the Midianites. The Midianites and the Israelites had a long, intertwined history as Midian was one of Abraham’s son by his third wife, Keturah. The Midianites settled in the area of the Sinai peninsula and may have also settled across the Gulf of Aqaba on the west coast of Arabia.
Moses, later, moved to Midian into voluntary exile after killing an Egyptian. He then and married Zipporah, daughter of Jethro, priest of Midian. The relationship between two groups of people teetered between alliance (such as in the case of Moses’ father-in-law Jethro and his son Hobab [Numbers 10:29]) and much of the time, hostile aggression.
In Judges 6, Israel once again turned away from God and worshiped other gods. They were handed over to the Midianites. Then they suffered from economic sabotage when Midianites and allied peoples such as the Amalekites destroyed their crops. The livestock was also taken away, reducing the Israelites to starvation.
Raiding and stealing of Israelite crops and livestock was so severe that when God sent an angel to Gideon, he was found “threshing wheat at the bottom of a winepress to hide the grain from the Midianites” (Judges 6:11). This went on for seven years.
The Israelites were successfully delivered from the oppression of the Midianites through the leadership of Gideon. Other judges followed, delivering the people of Israel from their enemies after Gideon’s death. It even seemed that the Midianites were completely subdued after the time of Gideon and soon faded into obscurity.
For reasons not stated in the Bible, Terah took his son Abraham (then called Abram), his grandson Lot whose father died earlier in their homeland, and Abraham’s wife Sarah from Ur of the Chaldeans (traditionally modern day Tell al-Muqayyar, Iraq) to Canaan. Instead of continuing to Canaan, they stopped and settled in Haran where Terah died at the age of 205. Abraham’s departure from Haran is recorded on the Biblical Timeline Chart around 2004 BC.
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After staying in Haran for an unspecified period, God told Abraham to leave his country again and go to the land that the Lord would show him. This message contained a promise of great blessings for Abraham and his descendants. It was also extended to all the families on earth that would be blessed through him.
“A painting of Abraham’s departure by József Molnár.”
Abraham was 75 years old when he left Haran along with his wife Sarah (then named Sarai), his nephew Lot, their livestock, and everyone in their household. Their destination was far South into the land of Canaan. He went as far as Shechem (Tell Balata in present day Nablus city) where he set up camp beside the oak of Moreh.
In the succeeding verses, God promised the land of Canaan to Abraham’s descendants. He moved on to the hills east of Bethel and later continued South to the desert area of Negev. He built altars and worshipped God in both places.
Jacob lived a long and colorful life with more than his fair share of highs and lows starting from Genesis 25 up to Genesis 50. His history is listed on the Biblical Timeline Chart around 1704 BC. After his clan’s migration from Canaan to Egypt at the behest of his son Joseph, Jacob lived 17 more years. Bringing his age to a total of 147 at the time of his death (Genesis 47:28). In Genesis 48, old age had taken its toll on his body and the end of his life drew near. With his death fast approaching, he called Joseph to his side and made his son swear to transport his body out of Egypt and bury him where Abraham and Isaac were buried (Cave of Machpelah in Hebron).
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Not long after, Jacob fell ill. Joseph took his sons Manasseh and Ephraim to his father to have them blessed before Jacob died (Genesis 48). These were his sons by Asenath, daughter of Potiphera, priest of On (Heliopolis). The boys were born to Joseph in Egypt, but Jacob claimed them as his own (Genesis 48:5) and gave them his blessing. This is why after the establishment of Israel in Canaan, the Promised Land land was divided among the original ten sons of Jacob (except Joseph and Levi), plus Manasseh and Ephraim.
Jacob blesses Ephraim and Manasseh
His eyesight was failing, so Joseph had to introduce his sons to his father. Following the custom back in the days of the patriarchs, older sons were placed on the right side, and younger ones were placed on the left side for the blessing. Jacob crossed his arms and laid his left hand on the older Manasseh’s head and favored the younger Ephraim with his right hand.
This perplexed Joseph, and he tried to correct his father, but for unknown reasons Jacob was bent on giving the younger Ephraim a greater portion of the blessing. This draws a parallel to the case of the other patriarchs when the younger son is favored by the father above the older one, including the cases of Ishmael and Isaac, as well as Esau and Jacob. The chapter is followed by Jacob giving all of his sons blessings in Genesis 49.
