About this course: The destruction of the First Temple in Jerusalem and the Babylonian Exile were a great catastrophe in the history of the Jewish Nation. What really happened during that dark, fateful age, and how did new opportunities arise from the ashes?
Created by: Tel Aviv University
Taught by: Professor Oded Lipschits, Ph.D., Director, Sonia and Marco Nadler Institute of Archaeology
Jacob M. Alkow Department of Archaeology and Near Eastern Cultures
| Language | English, Subtitles: Spanish, Arabic, Hebrew |
| How To Pass | Pass all graded assignments to complete the course. |
| User Ratings |
Syllabus
WEEK 1
Introduction to geopolitics and geography of the Ancient Near East
Welcome to the first module of "The Fall and Rise of Jerusalem"! In this module you will be introduced to the geopolitical reality of the time of the Assyrian empire, followed by the Neo-Babylonian. We hope you'll find the videos informative and interesting. We encourage you to use the discussion forums in order to raise any questions or thoughts you might have after watching the videos.
16 videos, 1 reading
- Video: Course trailer
- Video: Welcome
- Video: The Babylonian Period
- Video: The Early Persian Period
- Video: Modern Scholarship
- Video: Course Overview
- Video: Geopolitical Background
- Reading: Recommended reading for Week 1
- Video: The outcome of the Assyrian conquest and the Geopolitical situation in the Levant
- Video: Fall of Assyria (A)
- Video: Fall of Assyria (B)
- Video: Rise of Neo-Babylonian Empire
- Video: Babylonian chronicles
- Video: Babylonian-Egyptian struggle
- Video: Summary of part 1
- Video: Rise of The Egyptian 26th Dynasty (Optional)
- Video: The Rise of Judah (Optional)
Graded: Week 1 quiz
WEEK 2
Judah Under Babylonian Rule
The second module deals with Judah under Babylonian rule. We will learn about the Babylonian Conquest of Hattu-land and Judah, the events that lead to Jehoiakim's revolt and its outcome, and the changes in the Babylonian policy towards Judah following this revolt. You are welcome to raise questions for discussion regarding these topics.
7 videos, 1 reading
- Video: Introduction to Week 2
- Reading: Recommended Reading Week 2
- Video: Babylonian conquest of Hattu-land (A)
- Video: Babylonian conquest of Hattu-land (B)
- Video: Babylonian conquest of Judah
- Video: Jehoiakim’s revolt (A)
- Video: Jehoiakim’s revolt (B)
- Video: Babylonian arrangements
Graded: Week 2 quiz
WEEK 3
The Days of the Destruction of Jerusalem
This module deals with Zedekiah's rebellion and the destruction of Judah.You are invited to watch the following units and learn about the Egyptian intervention, the reasons for Zedekiah's revolt, and the history of the destruction of Judah.
7 videos, 1 reading
- Video: Introduction to Week 3
- Reading: Recommended Reading for Week 3
- Video: The Egyptian intervention (A)
- Video: The Egyptian intervention (B)
- Video: The causes of Zedekiah’s rebellion
- Video: History of destruction (A)
- Video: History of destruction (B)
- Video: History of destruction (C)
Graded: Week 3 quiz
WEEK 4
Gedaliah son of Ahikam
In this module we will learn about the transition of the capital city from Jerusalem to Mizpah and the governorship of Gedaliah son of Ahikam in Mizpah following the destruction. We encourage you to use the discussions to ask about anything that isn't clear or raise your own ideas regarding the material you learned.
8 videos, 1 reading
- Video: Introduction – between Jerusalem and Mizpah
- Reading: Recommended Reading for Week 4
- Video: Gedaliah and his status
- Video: Gedaliah as the governor of Judah: the text (A)
- Video: Gedaliah as the governor of Judah: the text (B)
- Video: Gedaliah as the governor of Judah: the history (A)
- Video: Gedaliah as the governor of Judah: the history (B)
- Video: Theology of the destruction (Konrad Schmid)
- Video: Summary of Week 4
Graded: Week 4 quiz
WEEK 5
Archaeology of the sixth century BCE
After learning of the days of the destruction and the historical role of Gedaliah son of Ahikam, you are invited to watch the lessons of the fifth module, which deals with the archaeology of the Babylonian Period. We will explore the magnificent finds from Ramat Rahel, the stamp impressions and what they can teach us about continuity or discontinuity in this period and the fate of Jerusalem and Judah following the destruction. I also recommend watching the optional videos which deal with additional interesting research topics.
12 videos, 1 reading
- Video: Introduction to Week 5
- Reading: Recommended Reading for Week 5
- Video: Ramat Rahel as a starting point
- Video: Stamped jar handles from the seventh and sixth century BCE (Ido Koch)
- Video: Lion Stamp Impressions
- Video: The continuity in the sixth century BCE
- Video: Destruction and changes in the material culture (A)
- Video: Destruction and changes in the material culture (B)
- Video: Destruction and changes in the material culture (C)
- Video: What between the results and the historical reconstruction
- Video: Summary of Week 5
- Video: Problems in research (Optional)
- Video: The rural hinterland of Jerusalem (Dr. Yuval Gadot) (Optional)
Graded: Week 5 quiz
WEEK 6
The restoration of Jerusalem in the early Persian Period
The last module of our course will deal with different aspects of the Persian period: the cult of Jerusalem, changes in Jerusalem's status, the Judahite diaspora, the fall of Babylon and much more. We hope you will enjoy this final module which closes the story of Jerusalem's fall and rise.
12 videos, 1 reading
- Video: The Babylonian and Persian Periods: Methodological Perspective
- Reading: Recommended Reading for week 6
- Video: The Fall of Babylon (Prof. David Vanderhooft)
- Video: The Cult and the Temple in Jerusalem
- Video: Slow Changes in the Geopolitical Situation
- Video: Urbanization and Ruralism
- Video: The Persian Interests in the Hill Country
- Video: The Status of Jerusalem and Persian Interests
- Video: Changes in the Status of Jerusalem
- Video: Polemic Literature in Persian Period Yehud – Joshua 9 (Dr. Cynthia Edenburg)
- Video: The Babylonian Deportations and the Judahite Diaspora in Babylonia (Prof. David Vanderhooft)
- Video: Summary of Part 6
- Video: Final Summary of the Course
Graded: Final Assignment
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Tel Aviv University (TAU) is Israel's largest institution of higher learning – with over 30,000 students and more than 125 schools and departments in nine faculties. Global in outlook and impact, it is consistently ranked among the world's top 100 universities, as well as the top 20 institutions in terms of scientific citations. A spirit of openness and innovation is evident in all of TAU's teaching and research activities, breaking down barriers between disciplines, and boldly striving to address the twenty-first century's most pressing challenges.
Ratings and Reviews
I really enjoyed the course, really well done, thank you!
excelente curso. completo y muy bien estructurado para una mayor comprensión del contenido. un tema complejo estructurado de forma fácil para que el entendimiento esté al alcance de cualquiera con interés. Imágenes de calidad y muy útil uso de las fuentes históricas.
This was a great course. Aside from its comprehensive scope, Lipschitz does a great job of mixing biblical text, archeology and extra-biblical sources. On the other hand, the course suffers from amateurish editing of the slides with typos and places where concepts are often repeated in the same slides and across slides.
These faults were distracting from what struck me as a world class introduction to the topic. I hope the instructor can bring in editors to help him tighten the presentation.
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thank u