The IVP Concise Atlas of Bible History 0830829288, 9780830829286

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PAUL LAWRENCE

THE IVP CONCISE ATLAS f BIBLE HISTORY MH

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Mark Luke

John

Acts

Romans 1 Corinthians

2 Corinthians Galatians

Ephesians Philippians

1 Thessalonians

2 Thessalonians

1 Timothy 2 Timothy Titus

Philemon Hebrews

James 1 Peter

2 Peter

Of course, archaeology cannot provide evidence for people’s personal experiences of God. If we want to know what happened when God gave the Law to Moses at Sinai, or what happened at the empty tomb of Jesus, we simply have to trust the biblical record.

The Elizabeth Hay Bechtel Psalms scroll from cave 11 at Qumran. Apart from a few minor variations this scroll agrees with the later Masoretic or traditional Hebrew text of the Old Testament. However, it has some additional psalms not found in the Bible. It is dated c. ad 30-50.

The Old Testament

leaders of the early church, Revelation concludes the New Testament.

In the Jewish scriptures the Old Testament consists of the Law, the Prophets and the Writings. The Law is the first five books attributed to Moses. The Prophets consists of all the prophets except Daniel, but includes the books of Joshua. Judges, Samuel and Kings. The Writings are everything else. In the Christian Bible the order differs; the historical books (from Genesis to Esther) are followed by the poetic books (from Job to the Song of Solomon), with the prophets (Isaiah to Malachi) at the end.

1 John

The New Testament

2 John

The New Testament consists of the four Gospels, followed by The Acts of the Apostles, Luke’s account of the growth of the early church. After the letters of Paul and other

3 John Jude

Revelation

The Apocrypha The books of the Apocrypha (a Greek term meaning “hidden") were written in the period between the Old and New Testaments. Later Jewish and Protestant Christian opinion did not regard the Apocrypha as authoritative, or canonical. The Catholic and Orthodox Churches accord the Apocrypha canonical status, but there is not complete agreement as to which writings should be included. We only quote 1 and 2 Maccabees, which are valuable historical sources.

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The Lion Concise Atlas of Bible History

Creation In the beginning “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” So begins Genesis, the Bible’s first book. The Bible nowhere attempts to prove the existence of God; it simply states that he was there “In the beginning”. For the Bible writers everything in the universe was created out of nothing by God. However, the Bible does not give precise details of how or when he did it. No human being was a witness to creation, and the account was not written in response to modern scientific questions. We can, though, make the following observations on the account of creation in Genesis 1:1 — 2:3:

1. God is the Creator. He is separate from his creation, not part of it.

2. Genesis 1 is structured in terms of a normal week of seven “days”: six days of work followed by a day of rest, the sabbath. 3. The account is clearly earthcentred; the rest of the universe is dismissed with less than half a verse - "and also the stars” (Genesis 1:16b).

4. The sun and moon are not mentioned by name, perhaps because of the widespread worship of celestial bodies in the nations around.

5. God was pleased with his creation; it was “good”. Genesis 1 concludes: “God saw all that he had made and it was very good.”

6. Human beings are the climax of God’s creation, being made in God’s image, in his likeness.

Chronological considerations The ages of the people given in the genealogical lists in Genesis appear to provide a way of working back to when God created the world. The most famous calculation is that of 4004 bc, suggested by James Ussher (1 581-1656). However, we need to be cautious in using such an approach. Biblical genealogies were not just concerned with chronology, but were constructed with theological considerations in mind. Ultimately their main purpose was not to look back to Adam, but to point forward to “the last Adam”, the coming Messiah. After Jesus’ birth there are no more genealogies in the Bible.

The Garden of Eden Genesis 2:8 states that the original home of Adam and Eve was “a garden in the east, in Eden”. Genesis 2:10-14 locates it where four rivers rise. The third and fourth rivers One of the nearest nebulae to Earth, the coil-shaped Helix Nebula, as viewed through the NASA Hubble Space Telescope. NASA has nicknamed it "the eye of God".

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The location of the rivers mentioned in Genesis 2

This is a possible solution based on the identification of the river and place names that are known from antiquity. Some consider that the geography was later sufficiently changed by Noah's flood to invalidate direct comparison with modern geographical features.

are the Tigris and Euphrates. The second river, the Gihon, winding through “Cush" (south of Aswan), is probably the Nile. The first river, the Pishon. which ran through Havilah, could be a prehistoric river of Arabia flowing into the Persian Gulf. However, the landscape may have changed sufficiently since to invalidate direct comparison with modern geographical features.

Mesopotamian creation stories The account of creation in Genesis is sometimes compared to creation stories from ancient Mesopotamia, such as the Atrahasis Epic ofc. 163 5 bc, or Enuma dish (“When on high”), a Babylonian epic composed c. 1200 bc. However, despite occasional similarities, the biggest difference lies in the nature of the Creator; in contrast to the

God of Genesis, the “gods” of the Mesopotamian creation stories are fickle and fearful, at war with each other and with little real concern for their handiwork. In Genesis, however, God acts calmly and authoritatively, with foresight and with a genuine care for the preservation and welfare of his creation.

The Lion Concise Atlas of Bible History

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The Flood

Utnapishtim describes the end of the storm:

From Adam to Noah Genesis 3 tells how Adam and Eve disobeyed God and were expelled from the Garden of Eden. Their descendants are credited with several aspects of civilization: “a city”, “harp and flute", and "tools of bronze and iron”. However, their wickedness caused the Lord to resolve to destroy humankind.

Noah’s flood The Lord chose Noah, “a righteous man”, and told him to build a huge wooden box (traditionally translated “ark”) 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide and 30 cubits high (a cubit is approximately 4 5 cm, or

The map shows places associated with the Genesis and Mesopotamian flood stories.

URARTU (Ararat)

18 inches). Noah was to take into the ark, with him and his family, seven pairs of all clean animals and birds and a pair of all unclean animals. Forty days of rain would wipe off from the face of the “earth” (or “land”) every living creature. For several months the floodwaters rose, so that “every living thing that moved on the earth perished”. Then the waters receded, and about a year after entering the ark Noah, his family and the animals were able to leave. The Lord promised never again to destroy all living creatures and gave a rainbow as a sign of his covenant promise.

"For six days and seven nights the wind came, the flood and storm ravaged the land. On the seventh day the storm and flood, which had struggled like a woman in labour, stopped. The sea became calm, the storm abated, the flood ceased. I looked at the weather, silence was established, and all mankind had turned to clay. The flood water was level like a roof. I opened the hatch and sunlight fell upon my cheeks. I bowed down, sat down and wept. My tears flowed continually over my face." Gilgamesh 11.127-37

Agri Dag 5,165m (16.945ft)

Urmia

iuphrdf&

A fragment of the Epic of Gilgamesh found near the gate at Meggido. Fifteenth century bc.

SYRIAN DESERT

shoreline c. 3000 bc

4_Q0 km

Kish ^Shurruppak "(Fara) Uruk (Erech)

15 GILGAMESH 11

GENESIS 6-9

Date

Copies date to the first millennium bc, but it adopted the story from the earlier Atrahasis Epic, c. 1635 bc.

Ostensibly written by Moses, perhaps 15th or 13th century bc, who probably had access to earlier source material.

Boat

eleppu "ship" (24). Utnapishtim's boat was a 120-cubit cube with seven storeys divided vertically into nine sections (60-62). Pitch used to waterproof (65).

tebah (6:14) traditionally "ark". Noah's ark had dimensions of 300 cubits by 50 by 30 (6:15). It had three decks (6:16). Pitch used to waterproof (6:14).

Occupants

Seed of all living creatures, all his family and relations, domestic and wild animals, craftsmen (83-86).

Noah, his wife, their three sons and their wives, a pair of all living creatures, seven pairs of clean animals (6:18-19; 7:2).

Duration of the flood

6 days and 7 nights (127); after an unspecified time Utnapishtim and those with him left the boat.

40 days and nights of rain (7:12); total time in the ark 371 days.

Resting place

Nimush (140)

"on (one of) the mountains of Ararat" (8:4)

Birds released

1 dove (146) 2 swallows (149) 3 ravens (152)

1 raven (8:7) 2 doves (8:8) and again (8:10) and again (8:12)

Sacrifice

"cane, cedar, myrtle" (158)

"some of all the clean animals and birds" (8:20)

above:

A comparison of the flood stories

The story of the flood is preserved in the biblical book of Genesis and in a number of texts from the Ancient Near East. The table above compares the flood stories recorded in the eleventh tablet of the Epic of Gilgamesh and in Genesis 6-9. The figures in brackets refer to the lines of the eleventh tablet of the Epic of Gilgamesh and to the verses of Genesis.

Comparison with Mesopotamian flood stories Parallels with the flood story in Genesis are to be found in Mesopotamian stories of a flood. These exist in three versions: the Atrahasis Epic (c. 1635 bc), the Epic ofZiusudra (c. 1600 bc), and the Epic of Gilgamesh, which is known from copies made in the first millennium bc. The similarities between the accounts of the flood given in Genesis and the Epic of Gilgamesh are shown in the table above. Although some aspects of the Gilgamesh story are legendary, Gilgamesh himself was probably a real king of Uruk, in southern Mesopotamia, living about 2700bc.

In his search for immortality Gilgamesh travels to meet the only immortal human beings, Utnapishtim and his wife. Utnapishtim (meaning “he who found life”) explains how the gods gave him immortality. He was living in Shurruppak (now Fara) by the Euphrates when the gods decided to send a great flood. The god Ea instructed Utnapishtim to build a ship of seven storeys in the shape of a cube which he was to load with gold, silver, cattle, animals and beasts. Utnapishtim boarded the ship with his family and craftsmen. For six days and seven nights the storm raged. The boat came to rest on Mount Nimush. Utnapishtim sent out a dove, then a swallow, and finally a raven before

disembarking from the boat and offering a sacrifice to the gods. For his services in saving humankind the gods granted Utnapishtim and his wife eternal life.

Ararat The resting place of the ark has aroused much passion. All that Genesis 8:4 says is: “on (one of) the mountains of Ararat”. Ararat is simply the Hebrew name of the kingdom of Urartu, which in the eighth century bc encompassed much of what is now eastern Turkey. Turkey’s highest mountain AgnDagi (5.165 mor 16.945 ft) is sometimes called “Mount Ararat”, but Genesis need not be limited to such a specific location.

The Lion Concise Atlas of Bible History

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Nations and Languages The Table of Nations Genesis 10 is often called the “Table of Nations”. Nations are listed as descendants of one of Noah's three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth. The relationships between them represent the perceptions of the writer’s time and involve geographical, political and linguistic

are only approximate. Nevertheless the Table of Nations is an extremely valuable verbal map of the Old Testament world, from Javan (the Ionian Greeks of western Turkey) to Elam in south-west Iran and to Sheba (modern Yemen).

associations, not all of which are understandable today. In very general terms Shem’s name applies to the “Semitic” peoples of the Near East and Ham's to the “Hamitic" inhabitants of Africa, while Japheth covers the “Indo-European” peoples. However, these correlations

Ashkenaz

Tarshish? Tiras?

Meshech

Tubal eTogarmah

LudQ »Magog

Caphtor

Rodanim

MTS Asshur.

Elishahe eKittim Sidon

eAram

Canaan

Put?

DESERT

‘Shinar Babel (Babylon)

Salt Sea

The Table of Nations according to Genesis 10 The possible distribution of groups of people descended from Noah's three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, is shown on the map.

Dedan

Mizraim

Cush

•

descendants of Japheth

•

descendants of Shem

O

descendants of more than one

Madai

Havilah O

Raamah

Ophir

descendants of Ham

p 0

,

Hazarmaveth Arabia

ancient shoreline , , 4Q0km

Sheba

300 miles Put?

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A Babylonian map of the world. Clay tablet, c. 600 bc.

with bitumen, called “ziggurats”, have been found at a number of Mesopotamian cities.

The origin of language

The Tower of Babel God’s purpose was for the nations to spread over the earth. The story of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11:1-9 describes what happens to a group of people, speaking one language, who choose to remain together to “make a name for themselves” and who build a tower in defiance of God’s decree. The Lord “comes down” and confuses their language, and so, in fulfilment of his original purpose, the people are indeed scattered. This incident is placed in Shinar. the land inhabited by the Sumerians, i.e. southern Iraq. The city of which the tower was a part was “Babel”, the Hebrew name for Babylon, a city that was always seen in the Bible as being in rebellion against God. The writer employs a word play between Babel and the Hebrew verb balal. “to confuse”. Stepped towers built of bricks bonded

In the modern world there are 7,148 known languages and approximately ten to twenty distinct language families, although some languages, such as Sumerian and Basque, cannot be related to any family. In the biblical period Indo-European languages were represented by Hittite, Philistine, Old Persian, Greek and Latin; and the Semitic languages by Hebrew, Aramaic, Akkadian, Ugaritic and Phoenician, Amorite, Canaanite, Moabite, Ammonite and South Arabic. Connections between proto-Indo-European and other groups are sometimes suggested, and even a “proto­ world” language, but the nature of such a language remains extremely hypothetical. However, according to Genesis there once was a proto-world language; and the accounts of the Table of Nations and of the Tower of Babel may in some way explain the origin of the various widely different language families.

Maps from the period of the Old Testament Apart from the Table of Nations the Old Testament writers give other detailed geographical information in the form of lists. For example: • the journey of the Israelites through the desert (Numbers 33:2^9) • Canaan, the promised land as divided between the twelve tribes (Joshua 13:8-21:42) • the restored Israel (Ezekiel 47:13-48:29).

We know of a number of maps that have survived from ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt. The earliest known example comes from the site of Nuzi (Yorghan Tepe, near Kirkuk in northern Iraq) dating to c. 2 300 bc. The cardinal points are clearly indicated on the clay tablet, east being at the top. The map shows a district bounded by two ranges of hills and bisected by a watercourse. Another tablet from Babylon dates to c. 600 bc. Babylon is marked by a rectangle bisected by the two parallel lines of the River Euphrates. An arm of the sea (Persian Gulf) touches these lines. Assyria and Urartu (Ararat) are marked by ovals, and a circular band represents the salt sea which encircles the known world.

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The Lion Concise Atlas of Bible History

Languages of the Bible Peoples and languages

Languages c. 800 bc

In the Bible we meet a complex ethnic and linguistic mix. For example, although the kingdoms of Israel and Judah both spoke Hebrew, they each had their own dialect. Some languages had a very localized base, such as Ashdodite (in the time of Nehemiah), or the Lycaonian language which Paul encountered at Lystra, but we also meet major international languages - Aramaic, Greek and Latin. The changing kaleidoscope of languages in the biblical world is briefly summarized below.

By c. 800 bc, in south-east Turkey Hittite had been replaced by East Luwian, sometimes called Neo-Hittite. Aramaic was spoken from south-east Turkey as far south as Tell Deir Alla in modern Jordan. Hebrew was well established in Palestine. Phoenician was spoken along the coast of Lebanon, in Cyprus and in south-east Turkey. The people of Transjordan spoke Ammonite and Moabite.

Languages c. 1200 bc In c. 1200 bc Hittite and two other Indo-European languages, Palaic and Luwian, were spoken in what is now modern Turkey. Greece was inhabited by Mycenaean Greeks (also Indo-European), but would soon succumb to the Dorian Greeks. The main language of Canaan was Canaanite. Akkadian, the language of Mesopotamia, served as the language of diplomacy. However, in c. 1180 bc two major events occurred. The Hittite empire in central Turkey collapsed; and Egypt was attacked by the so-called Sea Peoples, which triggered events that dramatically changed the ethnic and linguistic map of the Near East.

Languages c. 400 bc In 400 bc the Persian empire had passed its high point, but it still ruled from the Aegean eastwards to Persia and beyond. Old Persian was spoken in a number of places, and many regional

Aramaic inscription from Dascylium (Ergili), north-west Turkey, fifth century bc

languages were permitted, but the administrative language was Aramaic. Classical Greek was spoken in five major dialects, but the Greeks nevertheless saw themselves as one people.

Languages c. 5 bc The conquests of Alexander the Great (336-323 bc) resulted in Greek becoming the official language in many areas. In Egypt Greek replaced Egyptian, but this was later to survive in a modified form known as Coptic. In Syria Greek replaced Aramaic and in Mesopotamia Akkadian was used mainly to record astronomical observations. By the birth of Christ, Greek was the official language of the eastern half of the Roman empire, with Latin being used in the west. New Testament Greek was considerably different from the Classical Greek of Athens in the fifth century bc. Following the conquests of Alexander the Great, koine, or common Greek, fused together several of the main dialects into a single language. Among numerous local languages, the Galatians of the New Testament were perhaps the descendants of Gauls who had invaded in the third century bc. Jerome (b. ad 347) notes that the Galatians spoke a language very similar to that of Trier in Gaul, modern France.

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Languages spoken in the biblical world were constantly changing. Four maps, each 400 years apart, show these changes.

Phoenician

South Arabic • other | Aramaic

y 0

,4Q0 km 300 miles

j) , , ,4Q0 km 0

300 miles