The Birth of Israel | The Oxford History of the Holy Land (2024)

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What is the Oxford history of Israel? ›

Book overview

The Oxford History of the Holy Land covers the 3,000 years which saw the rise of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam - and relates the familiar stories of the sacred texts with the fruits of modern scholarship.

Early History of Jerusalem Scholars believe the first human settlements in Jerusalem took place during the Early Bronze Age—somewhere around 3500 B.C. In 1000 B.C., King David conquered Jerusalem and made it the capital of the Jewish kingdom. His son, Solomon, built the first holy Temple about 40 years later.

The term "holy land" is further used twice in the deuterocanonical books (Wisdom 12:3, 2 Maccabees 1:7). The holiness of the Land of Israel is generally implied by the Tanakh's claim that the Land was given to the Israelites by God, that is, it is the "Promised Land", an integral part of God's covenant.

For Christians, Israel is the “Holy Land,” because it is the place where Jesus' life and death unfolded. And, for Muslims, Jerusalem is the place where the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven.

Throughout time, many names have been given to this area including Palestine, Eretz-Israel, Bilad es-Shem, the Holy Land and Djahy. The earliest known name for this area was "Canaan." The inhabitants of Canaan were never ethnically or politically unified as a single nation.

According to the Bible, the Israelites are the descendants of Jacob, a patriarch who was later renamed as Israel. Following a severe drought in Canaan, Jacob and his twelve sons fled to Egypt, where they eventually formed the Twelve Tribes of Israel.

What is the history of the “holy land”? Over the past 5000 years, this land has been controlled by Egyptians, Israelites, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Turks, Arabs and Jews. While rulers have changed from one era to another, the land remains the same.

God instructed Abraham to leave his home and travel to Canaan, the Promised Land, which is today known as Israel. God asked Abraham to follow his rules and be a good example to others.

3,000 to 2,500 B.C. — The city on the hills separating the fertile Mediterranean coastline of present-day Israel from the arid deserts of Arabia was first settled by pagan tribes in what was later known as the land of Canaan. The Bible says the last Canaanites to rule the city were the Jebusites.

Was Jesus Palestinian? Many Christian schools of thought believe that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, in the now Israeli-occupied West Bank. “Jesus was born on our side of the wall,” Palestinian pastor Reverend Munther Isaac told Al Jazeera.

Why did God choose Israel as the Holy Land? ›

So why did God choose Israel? God chose the ancient Israelites because He had promised Abraham that his descendants would become a great nation and occupy the land of Canaan (Genesis 12:3, 7; 17:4, 7-8; 22:17).

This country received the name of Palestine, from the Philistines, who dwelt on the sea coast: it was called Judea, from Judah: and is termed the Holy Land, being the country where Jesus Christ was born, preached his holy doctrines, confirmed them by miracles, and laid down his life for mankind.

Jerusalem, ancient city of the Middle East that since 1967 has been wholly under the rule of the State of Israel.

However, the Qur'an specifies that the Land of Israel is the homeland of the Jewish people, that God Himself gave that Land to them as heritage and ordered them to live therein.

In turn, Israel provides a strategic American foothold in the region as well as intelligence and advanced technological partnerships in both the civilian and military worlds. During the Cold War, Israel was a vital counterweight to Soviet influence in the region.

The first Jews that we know of in Oxford came in the early 17th century. Most assisted with the cataloguing of Hebrew manuscripts in the Bodleian Library, or taught Hebrew privately to University students. But one Jew, Jacob Wolfgang, converted in order to become a member of the University in 1608.

The majority of biblical archeologists translate a set of hieroglyphs as Israel, the first instance of the name in the record. Under the British Mandate (1920–1948), the whole region was known as Palestine.

The Kingdom of Israel (or the Northern Kingdom or Samaria) existed as an independent state until 722 BCE when it was conquered by the Neo-Assyrian Empire. The Kingdom of Judah (or the Southern Kingdom) existed as an independent state until 586 BCE when it was conquered by the Neo-Babylonian Empire.

While the State of Israel was established on 15 May 1948 and admitted to the United Nations, a Palestinian State was not established. The remaining territories of pre-1948 Palestine, the West Bank - including East Jerusalem- and Gaza Strip, were administered from 1948 till 1967 by Jordan and Egypt, respectively.