Israel - A Brief History : Modern Era

World War I

1914, July 28^th – WW I began.

1914 – Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers in WW I.

1918, November 11^th – WW I ended.

1920, August 10^th – Treaty of Sèvres signed between the Ottoman Empire and Allies.  Palestine placed under British mandate.

British Mandate

1917-1918 – During WWI, Palestine was governed by Occupied Enemy Territory Administration (OETA)

1920, July 1^st – Palestine governed under a civil administration

1923, September 29^th – British Mandate for Palestine came into effect.  The Mandate includes Palestine and Transjordan.

1946, May 25^th – Transjordan gain independence.   Officially called Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

1948, May 14^th – British Mandate ended

United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine

1947, November 29^th  - United Nations General Assembly recommended the adoption and implementation of the partition plan of Mandatory Palestine.

The United Nation Partition Plan for Palestine would, after the termination of the British Mandate, lead to the creation of independent Arab and Jewish states and the Special International Regime for the city of Jerusalem.  The Plan sought to address the conflicting objectives and claims of two competing movements : Arab nationalism and Jewish nationalism.

It was accepted by the Jewish  but rejected by leaders of the Arabs.

1947, November 30^th – Civil War started between Arabs and Jewish.

Independent State of Israel

1948, May 14^th – Declaration of Independence of State of Israel.

1948, May 15^th – First Arab-Israel War began with invasion of Arab States

1949 – Armistice Agreements signed between Israel and Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria.

The Armistice Agreements saw Israel had control of Galilee, Jezreel, Negev, West Jerusalem and the Costal Plain.  The Gaza Strip and West Bank were occupied by Egypt and Jordan respectively.

1949, May 11^th – Israel admitted as a member of the UN.

1967, June 5^th  – Third Arab-Israel War (Six-Day War) began with Israel bombing Egyptian air-fields.

Israel took control of West Bank (from Jordan), Gaza Strip (from Egypt), East Jerusalem, Golan Heights and the Sinai Peninsular.

West Bank remained under military occupation.  Gaza Strip remained independent of Israel.  Golan Heights and East Jerusalem occupied by Israel.  Sinai Peninsular has returned to Egypt in 1979 as part of Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty.

Today

Today’s State of Israel is divided into 6 administrative districts : Northern, Haifa, Center, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Southern.   Districts are further divided into 15 sub-districts.

East Jerusalem and Golan Heights considered part of Israel territory.  East Jerusalem has been included in the Jerusalem District as of 1967.  Golan Heights aligned into Northern District.

West Bank and Gaza Strip remained Israeli-occupied territories.  Israel control the airspace, territorial waters and border crossings.  Administration is under Palestinian Authority. 

Israel - A Brief History : Classical Period

Hasmonean Dynasty

538 BC - Cyrus the Great of Persia conquered the Babylon and took over its empire.  The Achaemenid Empire spanned from Asia to Africa and Europe. 

538–518 BC - Israelites were allowed to return to Judah and rebuilt the Temple ( Ezra 1:1-4 ; 6:13-18).

456 BC - a second group led by Ezra and Nehemiah returned.

334 BC - Alexander the Great defeated the Persian and conquered the empire.  After the death of Alexander, his generals divided the empire among themselves.  Judah became part of the Seleucid Empire.

Maccabees Revolt

During the 2^nd century BC, Antiochus IV Epiphanes ruler of the Seleucid Empire pursued a zealous Hellenizing policy.  Jewish religious practices were forbidden.  Mattathias , a rural Jewish priest from Modiin, Mattathias the Hasmonean killed a Hellenistic Jew who offered a sacrifice to an idol.  Then Mattathias and his five sons then fled to wilderness of Judah.

After Mattathias death, his son Judas Maccabee led guerrilla attacks against Seleucid army.  Jerusalem was recaptured and the Temple cleansed.  The celebratory festival of Hanukkah instituted.  ( 1 Maccabees ;  2 Maccabees ; The Wars of the Jews )

160 BC - Judas died in a battle.  His brother Jonathan succeeded as army commander and High Priest. 

Autonomy

142 BC - Jonathan was assassinated, and was succeeded by Simon.  Simon came to terms with Demitrius II Necator, the Seleucid king.  Maccabees won autonomy, yet the region remained a province of the Seleucid Empire.  Simon led the people in peace and prosperity, until he was assassinated. 

129 BC - Judea was freed from Seleucid rule on the death of Antiochus VII Sidetes, the last Seleucid king. 

63 BC - Judea became a protectorate of Roman Empire, coming under the administration of a governor.  Judea was allowed a king.

Herodian Dynasty

During the time of the Hasmonean ruler John Hyrcanus conquered Madaba, Sehechum, Transjordan, Samaria, Galilee and Idumea ( Edom ).  Edomites were forced to convert to Judaism.  The Edomites were gradually integrated into the Judean nation, and some of them reach high ranking positions.

During the time of Hasmonean ruler Alexander Jannaeus, Edomite Antipas was appointed governor of Edom.  Antipas’ son,  Antipater was the chief adviser to Hasmonean ruler Hyrcanus II.

47 BC - Julius Caesar appointed Antipater as procurator of Judea.  Antipater’s sons, Phasael and Herold as governors of Jerusalem and Galilee respectively.

40 BC - Herod made king of the Jews by the Roman Senate.

19 BC - Herod commissioned expansion of the Temple.

4 BC - Herod the Great died.  Judea made a Roman province.  Judea was divided among his three sons.  Herod Archelaus ruled Judea, Edom and Samaria.  Herold Philip I ruled Decapolis. Trachonitis and Iturea.  Herod Antipas ruled Galilee and Perea.

6 AD - Judea made a Roman province.

34 AD - Agrippa I ruled Galilee and Perea.  In 41 AD Judea added to his rule.

70 AD - Herod’s Temple destroyed by Roman troops during the Seige of Jerusalem, ending the Great Jewish Revolt.

92 AC - Herodian Dynasty ended.  Judea fully incorporated into Roman province.

Roman Imperial

131 AD - Roman emperor Hadrian renamed Jerusalem “Aelia Capitolina”, Judea renamed “Palaestina”

285 AD - Roman emperor Diocletian divided the Roman Empire’s administration into eastern and western halves.

324 AD - Roman emperor Constantine I transferred the eastern capital from Nicomedia to Constantinople.

395 AD - following the death of Roman emperor Theodosius I, Roman Empire divided politically

476 AD - fall of Western Roman Empire.

Byzantine Empire

480 AD - Western Empire emperor Zeno separated himself from Roman Empire.

614 AD, Jerusalem conquered by Persian, Jews were left to self-govern.

617 AD, Byzatine recaptured Jerusalem, Judaism banned, Jews fled to Baltic.

Arab Caliphs

636 AD - Palestine conquered by the Arab

691 AD - Dome of the Rock constructed on Temple Mount.

705 AD - Al-Aqsa Mosquue constructed on Temple Mount.

Crusader States Vs Ayyubid Dynasty

1071 AD - Muslims of Seljuk Turks defeated the Byzantine army in Manzikert. Byzantine emperor Alexis I plead Pope Urban II of Roman Catholic in Rome to the aid to free Jerusalem from Muslim rule.

Crusader states were created in the Levant during the crusades :

1098–1149 : County of Edessa

1098–1268 : Principality of Antioch

1099–1291 : Kingdom of Jerusalem

1104–1289 : County of Tripoli

1187 - Egyptian Muslims of Ayyubid Dynasty concurred Jerusalem.

1193 - civil war within Ayyubid Dynasty

1250 - Mamluk overthrew Ayyubid Dynasty in Egypt

1260 - Mongols overthrew Ayyubid Dynasty in Aleppo

1341 - fall of Ayyubid Dynasty

Mamluk Dynasties

1260 - Mamluk Sultan Qutuz defeated Mongols in Battle of Ain Jalut, conquered Palestine

1291 - Mamluk Sultan Al-Ashraf Khalil conquered Acre, capital of Kingdom of Jerusalem

Ottoman

1516 - Turkish Ottoman Empire Sultan Selim II conquered Palestine

1799 – Napoleon briefly occupied Palestine

1878 – First modern Jewish settlement founded in Petah Tikva.

Large scare return of Jew from the diaspora back to Israel began in 1882.

1882-1903 : First Aliyah – 35,000 Jews returned

1904-1914 : Second Aliyah – 40,000 Jews returned

1919-1923 : Third Aliyah – 40,000 Jews returned

1924-1929 : Fourth Aliyah – 82,000 Jews returned

1929-1939 : Fifth Aliyah – 250,000 Jews returned

1909 – First Hebrew-speakng city, Ahuzat Bayit ( later Tel Aviv ) established.

Israel - A Brief History : Biblical History

The Twelve Tribes

The Transjordan Tribes

After defeating the Amorites, the Reubenites and Gadites, who had very large herds and flocks, saw that the lands of Jazer and Gilead were suitable for livestock.  So they came to Moses and Eleazar the priest and to the leaders of the community, and asked for allocation of the land.  As the Reubenites and Gadites promised to join in battles with the rest of the Israelites in the Promised Land, Mosses agreed to their request. ( Numbers 32:1-38 ; Deuteronomy 3:12-13, 16-17 ; Deuteronomy 3:15-28 )

The descendants of Makir son of Manasseh captured Gilead form the Amorites, and they settled there.  Jair, another descendant of Manasseh, captured their settlements and named them Havvoth Jair.  Nobah captured Kenath and its surrounding settlements and called it Nobah.  ( Numbers 32:39-42 ; Deuteronomy 3:13-15 ; Deuteronomy 3:29-31 )

The Two and Half Tribes

After the death of Moses, Joshua was installed as leader.  Joshua lead the Israelites into the Promise Land, as commanded by the Lord.   The land the Israelites conquered were divided among the nine and half tribes.

The allotment for the tribe of Judah, according to its clans, extended down to the territory of Edom, to the Desert of Zin in the extreme south. ( Joshua 15:1 )

The allotment for Joseph ( Ephraim and Manasseh ) began at the Jordan, east of the springs of Jericho, and went up from there through the desert into the hill country of Bethel. It went on from Bethel (that is, Luz), crossed over to the territory of the Arkites in Ataroth, descended westward to the territory of the Japhletites as far as the region of Lower Beth Horon and on to Gezer, ending at the Mediterranean Sea. ( Joshua 16:1-3 )

The Seven Tribes

The remaining seven tribes divided the rest of the land by casting lots.

The tribe of Benjamin allotted territory lay between the tribes of Judah and Joseph. ( Joshua 18:11 ) The tribe of Simeon’s land lay within the territory of Judah. ( Joshua 19:1-8 )   The Zebulun get a land between Sea of Galilee and the Mediterranean Sea.  The Issachar occupied south of Zebulun, west boundary to the Jordan River. The Asher’s territory laid along the northern shore of Mediterranean Sea.  The Naphtali settled between the Asher and the Lake Samechonitis.  The tribe of Dan’s inheritance sandwiched between the Ephraim and Judah, west to the Benjamin’s and east to the Mediterranean  ( Joshua 18:11 - 19:46 )

United Monarchy

Around 1000 BC, under extreme threat from foreign powers, the Israelites feels that they need a king to lead them, so they pressurized Samuel to appoint them a king ( 1 Samuel 8:1 - 21 ).  Samuel anointed Saul from the tribe of Benjamin as the first king.  However, it was David who created a strong unified Israelite monarchy.  Under David, Israel grew into a regional power.  The kingdom’s boarder stretch from the Mediterranean sea to the Arabian Desert, from the Red Sea to the Euphrates River.

David was succeeded on his death by his son, Solomon.  Under the rule of Solomon, kingdom of Israel knew unprecedented peace.

832 BC– King Solomon commissioned construction of the Temple.

Divided Kingdom

Kingdom of Israel

Following Solomon’s death in circa 926 BC, all the Israelite tribes except for Judah and Benjamin refused to accept Rehoboam, the son of Solomon as their king.  The rebellion against Rehoboam arose after he refuse to lighten the burden of taxation and services that his father had imposed on his subjects.  Thus the kingdom was split into two kingdoms : the northern Kingdom of Israel, and the southern Kingdom of Judah. 

The territory of the Kingdom of Israel comprised the territories of the tribes of Zebulum, Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, Dan, Manasseh, Ephraim, Reuben and Gad.  Its capital was Samaria.

In circa 732 BC, Tiglath-Pileser III king of Assyria sacked Damascus and Israel, annexing Aram and territory of the tribes of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh.  People from these tribes were taken captive and resettled in the Khabur region ( 2Kings 16:9 ).

During the reign of Hosea, Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up to attack Kingdom of Israel.  In circa 722 BC, Assyria conquered Samaria and deported the Israelites to Assyria ( 2Kings 17:1-6), becoming known as the “Lost Tribes of Israel”.

The Samaritans claim to be descended from survivors of the Assyrian conquest.   

Kingdom of Judah

The capital of Kingdom of Judah was Jerusalem.

During Jehoiakim’s reign, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon invaded Judah.  Jehoiakim became Babylon vassal for three years.   Jehoiakim’s son, Jehoiachin succeeded as king of Judah in circa 597 BC, only reigned for 3 months, Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem and raided the Temple. Israelites were taken hostages and exiled. Jehoiachin was taken captive to Babylon, where he lived and died. ( 2Kings 24:8-16)

Nebuchadnezzar appointed Jeoiachin’s uncle, Zedekiah as king of Judah ( 2Kings 24:17-18). 

586 BC - second rebellion erupted against Nebuchadnezzar.  Jerusalem was captured, the Temple destroyed, the Israelites exiled.  Zedekiah blinded and taken into exile.  Judah reduced to a province of the Babylonian Empire. Gedaliah was appointed governor of the Yehud province ( 2Kings 25:1-22)

Kings of Israelites

Hebrews - Israelites - Jews - Jewish - Israelis

希伯来人Hebrews

希伯來人(Hebrew) 的名稱源自希伯来语 Ivri (עברי, 跨越的意思，复词 Ivrim)。英语Hebrew 源之希腊语  Ἑβραῖος 和拉丁语Hebraeus。 

Ivri延自Eber，出处《圣经·创世纪10:21》:「雅弗 (Japheth) 的哥哥闪 (Shem)， 是希伯 (Eber)，子孙之祖」。

根据《圣经·创世纪10:22-24》: 闪生亚法撒 (Arphaxad)，亚法撒生沙拉 (Shelah)，沙拉生希伯 (Eber)。希伯是亚伯拉罕 (Abraham) 的先祖。

「希伯来」在《圣经》最早出现在《创世纪14:13》: 「有一个逃出来的人告诉希伯来人亚伯兰；亚伯兰正住在亚摩利人幔利的橡树那里。幔利和以实各并亚乃都是弟兄，曾与亚伯兰联盟。」

亚伯兰 (既亚伯拉罕) 的爱子约瑟也被称希伯来人。《圣经·创世纪39:14&17 ; 41:12》

沦落在埃及的亚伯拉罕后裔，也被统称为希伯来人。《圣经·创世纪43:32》;《圣经·出埃及记》。希伯来人后来由摩西带领离开埃及，回到了迦南。于前11世纪建立以色列王国，直到以色列分裂、亡国、放逐。

以色列人  Israelites　

以色列人 (Israelites) 是指雅各的後代，根據《聖經·創世記32:28》記載，亞伯拉罕(Abraham) 之嫡幼子以撒 (Isaac) 的次子原名雅各 (Jacob)，後被神改名為以色列 (Israel)，雅各的後代子孫於是稱為以色列人。

雅各生12个儿子 : 流便(Reuben)， 西缅(Simeon)， 利未(Levi)， 犹大(Judah)， 但(Dan)， 拿弗他利(Naphtali)， 迦得(Gad)， 亚设(Asher)， 以萨迦(Issachar)， 西布伦(Zebulun)，约瑟(Joseph)， 便雅悯(Benjamin)。《圣经·创世纪25:23–26》

雅各的12个儿子，后来演变成12支派 。约瑟的两个儿子以法莲(Ephraim)和玛拿西(Manasseh)的后裔各晋升为支派。《圣经·民数纪1:20–42》

犹太人  Jews, Jewish, Yahudi　

犹太人(Jews) 源自拉丁语  Iudaeus意为  Judaean，即「来自Judaea地区的人」。该词本身与希腊语中的同义词  Ἰουδαῖος一样，是从中古时期的亚拉姆语的  Y'hūdāi、希伯来语的Yehudi 、Yehudim中演化而来的，含义是「犹大族人」或「犹大王国的国民」。

犹太人大致上是亚伯拉罕的曾孙犹大。亚伯拉罕生以撒(Isaac)，以撒生以扫(Esau)和雅各(Jacob)。《圣经·创世纪25:19-26》

Jew一词起源于中古英语的Gyw, Iewe，后者来自古法语中的giu以及更早的juieu，最初则可以追溯至拉丁语的Iudaeus。

希伯来人离开埃及进入迦南，分别按照12支派分居。后来统一成一个国家，先由便雅悯支派 (tribe of Benjamin) 的扫罗 (King Saul,1020BC-1000BC) 作王。之后犹大支派 (tribe of Judah) 的大卫 (King David, 1000BC-960BC) 继位，定都耶路撒冷。

大卫之子所罗门 (King Solomon, 960BC-931BC) 死后，以色列王国分列。北国由以10支派组成，名以色列国(931BC-722BC)，立都撒玛利亚 ; 南国则继续立大卫的后裔为王，由2个支派（犹大支派和便雅悯支派）组成，名犹大国(931BC-587BC)，立都耶路撒冷。

《圣经·撒母耳记上、下 》，《圣经·列王记上、下 》&《圣经·历代志上、下 》

根据犹太教律法Halakha的定义，一切皈依犹太教的人（宗教意义）以及由犹太母亲所生的人（民族意义）都属于犹太人。

以色列人  Israelis　

以色列国民统称为以色列人 (Israeli citizen)。犹太人占多数(75%)，其次是阿拉伯人(20%)，其余的有非洲人 (African)、亚美尼亚人 (Armenians)、亚述人  (Assyrians) 、 撒马利亚人(Samaritans) 等。

以色列亡国后，经历过亚述 (Assyria)、巴比伦 (Babylon)、波斯 (Persian)、希腊 (Greek)、罗马 (Romans)、拜占廷 (Byxantine) 等古国的统治，犹太人在这一地区逐渐衰落并遭驱逐。罗马帝国更将地名改为巴勒斯坦 (Palestine) 。

之后又被数个穆斯林政权统治 : 烏邁耶王朝 (Umayyad Caliphate) ，阿拔斯王朝 ( Abbasid Caliphate)，花剌子模 (Chorasmia)，蒙古 (Mongol Empire)，馬木魯克 (Mamluk)，奥斯曼帝国 (Ottoman Empire)。巴勒斯坦就此被阿拉伯穆斯林占据。

數個世紀以來，諸多流亡海外的猶太人一直試圖返回以色列。18至19世紀便有數波回歸潮。随着犹太居民的增多，他们与阿拉伯人之间的關係也日趋紧张。

1947, November 29，联合国大会通过了《1947年联合国分治方案》，将巴勒斯坦分为两个国家 : Arab State和 Jewish State。

1948，May 14，以色列国正式宣布成立。