Midterm Review 2015

Short Answers, no more than one sentence. (50 points)

1.  When was the exile of Northern tribes and who exiled them?

2.  What did Sargon II do and when?

3.  Who was Yehoyakim, when did he reign and what happened during his tenure?

4.  When did the exile of Yehoyachin occur and who went into exile?

5.  What did Evil-Merodach do?

6.  When was Temple I destroyed and by whom?

7.  When was the return of Exiles and who allowed it to happen?

8.  Who was Zechariah, when did he live?

9.  Who was Ezra and when was he active? (approximate decade)

10.  What is Seder Olam Rabbah and in reference to what did we learn about it?

11.  Who rebuilt the Temple and when?

12.  Who were Herodotus and Thucydides? (Greek fathers of history, wrote about Persians)

13.  What is the Ptolemaic Canon?

14.  When (approximate century) did there exist a Jewish Temple in Elephantine?

15.  When did Alexander the Great take Palestine?

16.  Who did Alexander the Great meet in Palestine? What sources record this?

17.  When did the Ptolemies rule Israel? What country did they rule from?

18.  When did the Seleucids rule Israel? What country did they rule from?

19.  When was the Hasmonean Revolt and whom was it against?

20.  When do the Romans enter Palestine?

21.  Who was Jason and when was he active (within a decade)?

22.  Who was Menelaus and when was he active (within a decade)?

23.  Who was Antiochus IV and state one fact about his personality.

24.  What did John Hyrcanus do?

25.  What did Alexander Yannai do?

26.  State one interesting fact about Salome Alexandra.

27.  Who were Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II? Who was older?

28.  When does Jonathan becomes High Priest?

29.  Who was Pompey and why does he come to Jerusalem?

30.  Who arranged the Weddings at Susa and why?

31.  When was the Second Temple destroyed?

32.  Who changed the Torah from paleo-Hebrew to modern letters according to the Talmud?

33.  Draw five letters in Ketav Ivri (paleo-Hebrew) and explain their pictographic origin.

Dates to know – 1250BCE (Exodus from Egypt), 1000BCE, 722BCE, 605 BCE, 597 BCE, 586 BCE, 539 BCE, 520-516 BCE, 332 BCE, 323 BCE, 301 BCE, 201 BCE, 164 BCE, 153BCE, 63BCE, 70CE

Essays – I will choose three and ask you to answer two (50 points)

1.  When did the Exodus from Egypt happen? What was the theory of Josephus? Why is he wrong? When to modern historians date the Exodus and what are their proofs? How does this knowledge help us understand some details of the Torah?

2.  What is Jeremiah's advice to Jews going into exile and what does he prophecy about the future? How is Jeremiah's prophecy interpreted by Ezra, Zechariah, and Daniel? Why do they each interpret Jeremiah differently? How do most historians interpret the words of Daniel and what how does Seder Olam Rabbah interpret the them?

3.  What are the five stages of Galut and five stages of Geulah as we learned them in class. Provide dates and relevant names for each stage and write a couple of sentences about each.

4.  Who are the Samaritans? What are all the sources we have concerning their origins? What are the differences between these sources and which is the most reliable? What are their practices and beliefs? How do their Scriptures differ from the Massoretic text? Provide some examples. How were relations between Samaritans and Jews during the Hellenistic and Roman periods? What do rabbinic sources say about them?

5.  What was so great about Cyrus the Great? What was his policy towards the Jews? Why did he adopt this policy? What does Yeshayahu say about him? How does archeology help us contextualize the Bible? Compare this to his policy towards other ethnicities in his empire. Include sources and dates.

  1. When were Ezra and Nehemiah active? What did they do? What do their activities tell us about the development of Judaism and the religious practices of the Jews? Compare the typical religious practice during the first Temple with that during Ezra and Nehemiah. Provide an example of how Nehemiah uses “midrash” to apply Biblical laws to contemporary situations.
  1. What are the Elephantine papyri and why are they significant? Who wrote them to whom and when? What do they say? What can we learn from them about the religious activities of Jews in Jerusalem and in the Diaspora?
  1. Describe the events leading up to the Hasmonean revolt? What were the political, social, and religious causes of the war? What do we know about Antiochus IV personality and why did he issue anti-Torah decrees? What are the sources we have that document these events? Provide a description of these sources, when and what language they were written in, what their biases might be, and where one can find them (Josephus and Books of Maccabees).
  1. Why do we celebrate Hannukah? What events does it commemorate? What are the sources we have that document these events? What are the differences between these narratives and which is most reliable? Why do we celebrate on Kislev 25? Why is Hannukah eight days long?
  1. List the Hasmonean rulers after the first generation of brothers. What do we know about each of them? What were each of their major accomplishments and problems? What can we tell about them from their coins? Who do you think is the best Hasmonean leader and who is the worst? How did the dynasty end?
  1. What was the relationship between Hellenism and Judaism? Describe the first encounter between Alexander and the Kohen Gadol – what are the sources for this, how do they differ, and what can we learn from them? What were the different views of the Jews towards various aspects of Hellenistic culture? Discuss this from the point of view of people like Jason and Meneleus and other contemporary Jews. Did the Rabbis know Greek language and stories? Cite sources.