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as things are going right now, we need to finish this up and get rid of the alternatives and ?s
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Civ Name-Israel/Hebrew/Hebrews
Leader-King Solomon
Great Leaders-Judah, Solomon, Benjamin, Josef, Aaron, Joshua, Samson, Saul, Solomon, Joab, Hezkiah, Ezrah, Juda Maccabeus, Herzel, David Ben Gurion, Golda Meir.
Capital-Jerusalem
Unique Unit-Zealot (Partisan with better defense?)
Civilization Attributes-Religious/Commercial
Golden Age-Modern (To balance things out)
History of the Hebrews (Locutus wrote this. I just polished it up.)-
How the Hebrews (also called Israelites) ended up in Israel is described in the Old Testament through the well known stories of Abraham and Moses. Secular history tells a story which at least partly corresponds with this: the Hebrews arrived in Canaan around 1300 BC (roughly at the same time as the Exodus, how exactly this fits together with the biblical stories is unclear). Since all the 'good spots' were already taken they settled in the relatively less fertile areas inland (Galilee, Judah, Israel). They were originally a semi-nomadic tribe whose social hierarchy was based strongly on kinship and whose ideas of religion and justice were primitive. Both these would soon start to evolve though and greatly influence the history of the World. The Hebrews would eventually spawn the world's most important monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
Around the same time as they Hebrew, the Philistines arrived in Canaan. They drove out the Egyptians and established themselves in the coastal regions in the south. Soon these Philistines tried to expand inland, towards the Hebrew, and skirmishes between the divided Hebrews and Philistines followed. This was the time of the tribe of Dan and the zealous Nazirites (i.e. 'Zealot' Unique Unit). Around 1050 BC, the Hebrew first combined their forces against their common foe and around this time they chose Saul as their first king. After initial setbacks, their new king brought success and pushed back the Philistines.
A young man named David was with Saul and he soon proved himself a skilled warrior (as seen against Goliath) superceding even Saul. This made Saul jealous and he tried to kill David, forcing the latter to flee. However, David allied himself with local tribes and with the Philistines. War between Saul and David (plus the Philistines) followed and resulted in the kings of Israel and Philistine dead and David appointed the new king. The Philistines were unhappy with their new ruler and turned against him. David and the Hebrews not only deviated these Philistines, they also conquered a sizeable empire which included much of present-day Israel, Jordan and Syria and parts of Lebanon.
In this period, Hebrew society was greatly influenced by the Canaanites. Though the Hebrews had embraced Judaism centuries earlier, David had a whole harem of (mostly non-Hebrew) wives and named many of his children after Phoenician and Philistine gods. Apparently the Ten Commandments were not yet an important part of their faith. David created what would be called a golden age for the Hebrews. His rule benefited from the wealth taken from conquered peoples, and Israel benefited from a peace created by conquest. But it was a golden age that had, like other civilizations, antagonisms between rich and poor. Similar to other rulers, David taxed his subjects and forced them to labor for the state. David's subjects rebelled in a revolt led by David's own son, Absalom. David crushed the rebellion and killed Absalom.
After David's death in 965, two of his sons, Solomon and Adonijah, vied with each other to succeed him. Solomon emerged as the victor, and he had Adonijah executed. Like David, Solomon benefited from an era of peace and prosperity. He enjoyed alliances with his Egyptian and Phoenician neighbors. He encouraged trade and built a merchant fleet that he harbored at the Gulf of Acaba at the northeast end of the Red Sea. He acquired copper mines and built refineries for smelting metals. His ships brought goods from afar and important trade routes passed through his kingdom.
Solomon wanted to live as splendidly as the king of Assyria, so to create many luxurious palaces for himself he imported the skilled craftsmen that he could not find among his subjects. According to the Old Testament, Solomon, like his father, had many wives, as many as seven hundred, including princesses from other kingdoms given to Solomon as gifts to promote good relations. And he had four hundred horses. This was an age in which kings acted as a judge for the community and the Old Testament describes Solomon as a very wise judge.
A priest-king like his father, Solomon, according to the Old Testament, led sacrifices to the god Yahweh. This being a time of religious toleration among the Hebrews, Solomon had temples built for his wives who worshiped other gods. As for Yahweh, to give him a home and to put Yahweh worship under his domination, Solomon had the temple constructed that his father had intended to build, a temple to be described in the Old Testament as "the House of the Lord." The temple was built on land on a hill north of Jerusalem that David had purchased. The temple's design resembled the temples of other religions at the time. It was decorated with sculptures and other works of art and in the inner sanctum of the temple was the famous Ark of the Covenant. To run the temple in his behalf he appointed as high priest the court priest who had performed religious duties for David, a priest named Zadok, who was the first of a hereditary priesthood that would last for centuries to come.
Around 922 BC, Solomon died of old age. Soon after this, the north rebelled and became an independent state, maintaining the name Israel. The state to the south, which included the city Jerusalem, was smaller and less commercially advanced, and it became known as Judah. These states would remain independent until the 700s BC when they were conquered by the Assyrians. The rule of the Assyrians was followed by that of the Persians and then the Greeks. Things got so bad under the Seleucid rule that the Maccabees started a war for independence and began the Hasmonean dynasty. This lasted until the First Century BC.
Next there was a succession problem with two brothers, who asked Rome to intervene. Bad idea. The Romans were there to stay. The Edomite chieftain Antipater supported Julius Caesar in Egypt and against Parthia, and won the 'crown' for his family. His son was the infamous despot Herod the Great. Around this time Jesus was born and the Christian movement soon commenced. Relations with Rome continually worsened until Jerusalem was under siege again. In AD 70, legions under Prince Titus sacked the city and destroyed the Great Temple. This started the Great Diaspora, when Hebrews were scattered across the world and Israel would lose its independence for nearly two millenii.
Eventually, through the efforts of Great Britain, the United States, and thousands of dedicated Zionists around the world, the state of Israel was founded in 1948, with David Ben-Gurion elected as Prime Minister the next year. They came into immediate conflict with the neighboring Arab nations and angry Palestinians, but won the wars in the 1960s, occupying the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Golan Heights and Sinai Peninsula. The latter was fazed back to Egypt over several decades, but the other areas are still under Israeli occupation today. Israel, despite international efforts for a cease fire is currently involved in a bloody struggle with the Palestinians over the creation of an independent Palestinian state.
Israel is now an old-new country, small in size, but with a widely varied landscape and a culturally active population of about 6 million. It is a place where East meets West, where past and present touch, and where ideologies mold lifestyles. Four thousand years of Jewish heritage, more than a century of Zionism and five decades of modern statehood have contributed to a culture which has already created an identity of its own, while preserving the uniqueness of many different communities.
Other Cities-
-Tel Aviv
-Be'er Sheva
-Haifa
-Shechem
-Hebron
-Joppa
-Jericho
-Betlehem
-Nasaret
-Mizpah
-Gibeah
-Ezion-Geber
-Ramat
-Gan
-Netanya
-Eilat
-Sena (in Jemen)
-Ashdod
-Tvzat
-Tiberias
-Shilo
-Giliead
-Masada
-Gamla
-Dan
-Betar
-Yafo
-Yavneh
-Eliat
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Civ Name-Israel/Hebrew/Hebrews
Leader-King Solomon
Great Leaders-Judah, Solomon, Benjamin, Josef, Aaron, Joshua, Samson, Saul, Solomon, Joab, Hezkiah, Ezrah, Juda Maccabeus, Herzel, David Ben Gurion, Golda Meir.
Capital-Jerusalem
Unique Unit-Zealot (Partisan with better defense?)
Civilization Attributes-Religious/Commercial
Golden Age-Modern (To balance things out)
History of the Hebrews (Locutus wrote this. I just polished it up.)-
How the Hebrews (also called Israelites) ended up in Israel is described in the Old Testament through the well known stories of Abraham and Moses. Secular history tells a story which at least partly corresponds with this: the Hebrews arrived in Canaan around 1300 BC (roughly at the same time as the Exodus, how exactly this fits together with the biblical stories is unclear). Since all the 'good spots' were already taken they settled in the relatively less fertile areas inland (Galilee, Judah, Israel). They were originally a semi-nomadic tribe whose social hierarchy was based strongly on kinship and whose ideas of religion and justice were primitive. Both these would soon start to evolve though and greatly influence the history of the World. The Hebrews would eventually spawn the world's most important monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
Around the same time as they Hebrew, the Philistines arrived in Canaan. They drove out the Egyptians and established themselves in the coastal regions in the south. Soon these Philistines tried to expand inland, towards the Hebrew, and skirmishes between the divided Hebrews and Philistines followed. This was the time of the tribe of Dan and the zealous Nazirites (i.e. 'Zealot' Unique Unit). Around 1050 BC, the Hebrew first combined their forces against their common foe and around this time they chose Saul as their first king. After initial setbacks, their new king brought success and pushed back the Philistines.
A young man named David was with Saul and he soon proved himself a skilled warrior (as seen against Goliath) superceding even Saul. This made Saul jealous and he tried to kill David, forcing the latter to flee. However, David allied himself with local tribes and with the Philistines. War between Saul and David (plus the Philistines) followed and resulted in the kings of Israel and Philistine dead and David appointed the new king. The Philistines were unhappy with their new ruler and turned against him. David and the Hebrews not only deviated these Philistines, they also conquered a sizeable empire which included much of present-day Israel, Jordan and Syria and parts of Lebanon.
In this period, Hebrew society was greatly influenced by the Canaanites. Though the Hebrews had embraced Judaism centuries earlier, David had a whole harem of (mostly non-Hebrew) wives and named many of his children after Phoenician and Philistine gods. Apparently the Ten Commandments were not yet an important part of their faith. David created what would be called a golden age for the Hebrews. His rule benefited from the wealth taken from conquered peoples, and Israel benefited from a peace created by conquest. But it was a golden age that had, like other civilizations, antagonisms between rich and poor. Similar to other rulers, David taxed his subjects and forced them to labor for the state. David's subjects rebelled in a revolt led by David's own son, Absalom. David crushed the rebellion and killed Absalom.
After David's death in 965, two of his sons, Solomon and Adonijah, vied with each other to succeed him. Solomon emerged as the victor, and he had Adonijah executed. Like David, Solomon benefited from an era of peace and prosperity. He enjoyed alliances with his Egyptian and Phoenician neighbors. He encouraged trade and built a merchant fleet that he harbored at the Gulf of Acaba at the northeast end of the Red Sea. He acquired copper mines and built refineries for smelting metals. His ships brought goods from afar and important trade routes passed through his kingdom.
Solomon wanted to live as splendidly as the king of Assyria, so to create many luxurious palaces for himself he imported the skilled craftsmen that he could not find among his subjects. According to the Old Testament, Solomon, like his father, had many wives, as many as seven hundred, including princesses from other kingdoms given to Solomon as gifts to promote good relations. And he had four hundred horses. This was an age in which kings acted as a judge for the community and the Old Testament describes Solomon as a very wise judge.
A priest-king like his father, Solomon, according to the Old Testament, led sacrifices to the god Yahweh. This being a time of religious toleration among the Hebrews, Solomon had temples built for his wives who worshiped other gods. As for Yahweh, to give him a home and to put Yahweh worship under his domination, Solomon had the temple constructed that his father had intended to build, a temple to be described in the Old Testament as "the House of the Lord." The temple was built on land on a hill north of Jerusalem that David had purchased. The temple's design resembled the temples of other religions at the time. It was decorated with sculptures and other works of art and in the inner sanctum of the temple was the famous Ark of the Covenant. To run the temple in his behalf he appointed as high priest the court priest who had performed religious duties for David, a priest named Zadok, who was the first of a hereditary priesthood that would last for centuries to come.
Around 922 BC, Solomon died of old age. Soon after this, the north rebelled and became an independent state, maintaining the name Israel. The state to the south, which included the city Jerusalem, was smaller and less commercially advanced, and it became known as Judah. These states would remain independent until the 700s BC when they were conquered by the Assyrians. The rule of the Assyrians was followed by that of the Persians and then the Greeks. Things got so bad under the Seleucid rule that the Maccabees started a war for independence and began the Hasmonean dynasty. This lasted until the First Century BC.
Next there was a succession problem with two brothers, who asked Rome to intervene. Bad idea. The Romans were there to stay. The Edomite chieftain Antipater supported Julius Caesar in Egypt and against Parthia, and won the 'crown' for his family. His son was the infamous despot Herod the Great. Around this time Jesus was born and the Christian movement soon commenced. Relations with Rome continually worsened until Jerusalem was under siege again. In AD 70, legions under Prince Titus sacked the city and destroyed the Great Temple. This started the Great Diaspora, when Hebrews were scattered across the world and Israel would lose its independence for nearly two millenii.
Eventually, through the efforts of Great Britain, the United States, and thousands of dedicated Zionists around the world, the state of Israel was founded in 1948, with David Ben-Gurion elected as Prime Minister the next year. They came into immediate conflict with the neighboring Arab nations and angry Palestinians, but won the wars in the 1960s, occupying the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Golan Heights and Sinai Peninsula. The latter was fazed back to Egypt over several decades, but the other areas are still under Israeli occupation today. Israel, despite international efforts for a cease fire is currently involved in a bloody struggle with the Palestinians over the creation of an independent Palestinian state.
Israel is now an old-new country, small in size, but with a widely varied landscape and a culturally active population of about 6 million. It is a place where East meets West, where past and present touch, and where ideologies mold lifestyles. Four thousand years of Jewish heritage, more than a century of Zionism and five decades of modern statehood have contributed to a culture which has already created an identity of its own, while preserving the uniqueness of many different communities.
Other Cities-
-Tel Aviv
-Be'er Sheva
-Haifa
-Shechem
-Hebron
-Joppa
-Jericho
-Betlehem
-Nasaret
-Mizpah
-Gibeah
-Ezion-Geber
-Ramat
-Gan
-Netanya
-Eilat
-Sena (in Jemen)
-Ashdod
-Tvzat
-Tiberias
-Shilo
-Giliead
-Masada
-Gamla
-Dan
-Betar
-Yafo
-Yavneh
-Eliat
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I'm not sure if the last two were Jewish though
), it was Salomon who actually ruled during the Golden Age of Israel - the biggest territory and the greatest culture.
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