The journey from Sumeria to Israel – and the sacred stone mount
7000 BC – Sumerians – (Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Arabia) the agricultural revolution begins on the northern fringes as Neolithic farmers started filtering into the Fertile Crescent itself. Although this area received insufficient rainfall to support agriculture, it bordered the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Known in ancient days as Mesopotamia (Greek for “between the rivers”), where the two rivers meet is Babylonia.
5700 BC – Enochian legend speaks of Enoch who was the seventh grandson of Adam and the great grandfather to Noah whom he foretold of the flood. Enoch was a mystic who communicated with Angels and Gods. Enoch becomes an early God/Angel known as Metatron in the Book of Enoch. This story was told verbally for many years and finally committed to text and is a part of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
5600 BC – a Great Flood occurred in the Black Sea region, which caused these early settlers to split apart and spread in multiple directions.
3500 BC – Early cities were called temple towns because they were built around the temple of the local god. The highest authority was the triad of gods: the sky god Anu, the storm god Enlil, and the water god Ea, or Enki. The Sumerians believed that their ancestors had created the ground they lived on by separating it from the water.
ANSHAR – Father God of the Sky
ANU – God of the Sky and Stars
CHAOS – The watery world from which we came.
DAGON – God of the waters and fish
ENKI – God of Water, Wisdom and the Arts. Also known as EA
ENLIL – God of Air and Storms, was thought to have sent the great flood
ENURTA – God of war
ERESHKIGAL – Goddess of Darkness, Gloom and Death
INNANA – Goddess of love, fertility, and war. Also known as Ishtar
ISHTAR – The greatest of all Goddesses. Venus is her star.
KI – Goddess of the Earth
KINGU – husband of Tiamat
KISHU – Mother Goddess of the Earth
KISHAR – Father of earth
LILITU/Lilith – Storm Goddess of wind
NABU – God of the scribal arts
NANNA – God of the Moon
NAMMU – Goddess of the Sea
NINHURSAG – Goddess of the Earth, Fertility
SHAMASH – God of the sun and of justice
TIAMET – Mother God of creation, an immense dragon that gave birth to Chaos.
TAMMUZ –God of fertility and spring
UTU – Sun God, God of Justice
3100 BC - The Bronze Age – metal workers discover that copper is improved by the addition of tin. The resulting alloy, bronze, was harder than copper and provided a sharper cutting edge. The civilization in Sumer is associated with the beginning of the Bronze Age in the West, which in time spread to Egypt, Europe, and Asia. Sumerian towns and cities included Eridu, Nippur, Lagash, Kish, and Ur and eventually Babylon The cities differed from primitive farming settlements. They were not composed of family-owned farms, but were ringed by large tracts of land. These tracts were thought to be owned by a local god. A priest organized work groups of farmers to tend the land and provide barley, beans, wheat, olives, grapes, and flax for the community.
2340 BC – Akkadians migrated north in conflict with the Sumerian city-states, Sargon, conquered Sumer and built an Akkadian empire stretching over most of the Sumerian city-states and extending as far away as Lebanon. Sargon based his empire in the city of Akkad, which became the basis of the name of his people. This great capital of the largest empire humans had ever seen up until that point later became the city of Babylon, which was the commercial and cultural center of the middle east for almost two thousand years. The Akkadians were Semites, they spoke a language drawn from a family of languages called Semitic languages (the term “Semite” is a modern designation taken from the Hebrew Scriptures; Shem was a son of Noah and the nations descended from Shem are the Semites). These languages include Hebrew, Arabic, Assyrian, and Babylonian.
2125 BC – the Sumerian city of Ur rose up in revolt, the Akkadian empire fell before a renewal of Sumerian city-states.
2000 BC – the area came under the exclusive control of Semitic peoples for centuries. Developed the Ugaritic alphabet in cuneiform and gave way to the Hebrew language.
1900 BC – Amorites – believed that the king was a god and had a divine origin. The Amorites did, however, import a new god into Sumerian religion, Marduk, who had supreme position over the other gods. The Amorites did not believe that life after death held any promise or threat.
1850 BC – Abraham has a “divine” revelation from “Yahweh” who asks him to leave his home and birthplace in Sumeria (Iraq), with wife Sarah and travel to Canaan where he will make him a great nation.
1800 BC – Abraham receives Hagar an Arab woman from the Egyptian Pharaoh who wants to marry Sarah but then learns that she is Abraham’s wife.
1775 BC – Abraham meets Melchidezek the king of Salem who blesses Abraham.
1750 BC – Sarah gives permission to Abraham to “go into” Hagar to bear a child.
1749 BC – Hagar gives birth to Ishmael.
1748 BC – Sarah discovers she is pregnant and gives birth to Isaac.
1740 BC – Sarah sends Hagar and Ishmael away to the desert where “God” promises her that Ishmael will be the father of a mighty nation.
1730 BC – Abraham is asked by Yahweh to sacrifice his son Isaac on the sacred stone at Mount Morai in (Jerusalem). The Angel Metatron/Shekinah stop him at the last moment.
1690 BC – Isaac names his first son Jacob. Jacob’s Hebrew name means “Israel” his 12 sons beome the leaders of the 12 tribes of Israel that later developed into the Jewish nation. The name Jew derives from Yehuda (Judah) one of the 12 sons of Jacob (Reuben, Shimon, Levi, Yehuda, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Yisachar, Zevulun, Yosef, Binyamin).
1600 BC – Jacob and his family travel to Egypt after a drought in Canaan and find his son Joseph who was tricked by his brothers and sold to the Ishmaelites. He rose through the ranks of Egypt. Jacob dies in Egypt. Levi the son of Jacob becomes the great grandfather to Moses.
1600 BC – Canaanite – These deities are best known because of the hundreds of religious texts dating from the fifteenth and early fourteenth century BC library housed between Ugarit’s two great temples, one dedicated to Baal and the other to Dagon.
El – is a name for “god” in Semitic (Hebrew and Ugaritic) As the god, El had three wives, who were also his sisters El – “father of man”.
Baal – son of El, Ruler of the Universe. “Lord of the Earth” “Lord of Heaven”
Anath – Goddess of Love and War, sister and helpmate of the god Baal. “the Virgin” in ancient texts. Anath is represented as a naked woman on a lion with a lily in one hand and a serpent in the other.
Astarte – Queen of Heaven, the goddess of the evening star. English word “star” comes from this name. She was called Asherar-yam, our lady of the sea, and in Byblos she was Baalat. Later she became assimilated with the Egyptian deities Isis and Hathor, in Greco-Roman Aphrodite, aspects of the Great Mother.
Asherah – wife of El was also referred to as wife of Yahweh by the followers of Abraham
Mot – means “death”, and he was Baal’s enemy. He is the god of the dead and all the powers that opposed life and fertility. He was the favorite son of El, and the most prominent enemy of the god Baal. Mot, however, was annually vanquished and killed by Baal’s sister and lover Anath, who thus aided Baal’s resurrection.
Reshep – a war god represented as a bearded man, brandishing an ax, holding a shield, and wearing a tall, pointed headdress with a goat’s head
Shulman – god of health related to the Hebrew word shalom, “peace”
Koshar – god of arts and crafts related to the Hebrew kosher, “fit” or “proper”.
Melqart – God of Tyre, King of the Underworld. Son of Baal. Protector of the Universe symbolized the annual cycle of vegetation and was associated with the female deity Astarte in her role as the maternal goddess. He was known as Baal, Adon, Eshmun and Thasian.
Shekinah – the God-Who-Dwells-Within. She is often seen as a bird or dove.
Tanit – Chief Goddess of Carthage equivalent of Astarte.
Yahweh – (YHWH/Jehovah) – Appeared to Abraham asking him to recognize him as one and only God – “I Am That I AM”
1500 BC – Moses is raised in Pharoahs home has access to Mystery School teachings The discovery of the tablets of el-Amarna shows how extensive the knowledge and use of writing throughout the time of Moses was and that the young prince learned Egyptian hieroglyphics, Akkad. Cuneiform, Ugaritic, which was almost identical with the Hebrew.
1500 BC – Zoroaster, the Prophet of Persia claimed that Ahura Mazda is the one supreme god who created seven archangels, called the Amesha Spentas. Persian mythology is a battle between good and evil. Each person chooses whether to follow the truth or lie. Mithra is seen as the Sun God, the God who brings light.
1480 BC – When he was forty years old Moses saw an Israelite being beaten by an Egyptian, he killed the Egyptian and buried the corpse in the sand. The next day he tried to act as peacemaker between two Hebrews, but his officers refused and he became aware that his act of the preceding day was known.
1479 BC – Moses left Egypt during the reign of Thutmose III into the peninsula of Sinai.
1478 BC – Moses married Jethro’s daughter Zipporah (Ishmaelite) becomes a Shepard.
1470 BC – During his years as a shepherd, Moses became familiar with the wilderness of the Sinai Peninsula.
1431 BC – Moses is told to deliver his people from Egypt to the promised land in Caanen (Israel) which was told to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob before.
1431 BC – Adonai (Lord) spoke to Moses from the midst of a burning bush, but Moses doubted that it was Yahweh (God) who spoke. He asked for a sign. Instantly his rod, which he cast on the ground, became a serpent.
1430 BC – Moses begins the journey through Arabia with his wife and sons.
1429 BC – Moses threatened with death by YAHWEH if he does not circumcise son. Moses reunites with his brother Aaron
1400 BC – Moses travels to Egypt and demands of Pharaoh, “Let my people go”. Pharaoh rejects the demand of this unknown God of Moses and Aaron. He shows his contempt of this God of the Hebrews by increasing the oppression of the slaves. Moses warns Pharaoh if he should refuse to let the people of Israel go.
1400 BC – Ten terrible plagues were visited upon the land of Egypt
1399 BC – Moses begins the Exodus from Egypt to Canaan He took them to Sinai crossing the Red Sea. Moses led his people to the foot of the mountain, he stayed forty days and nights on the mountain receiving the sanctuary and worship of Jehovah, and the two tablets of stone which Moses broke in a rage after returning from the mountain to find a “Golden Calf”. A covenant was made with Israel and after a second stay of forty days upon the mountain Moses returned to the people, and supervised the creation of the Ark of the Covenant. He consecrated Aaron and his sons for the priesthood. He numbered the Levites and arranged for their special calling, gave directions respecting unclean persons, trespasses, Nazirites, he appointed Joshua as his successor
1360 BC – The people were camped in Moab awaiting the command to pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan.
1359 BC – Moses dies and was buried “in the valley in the land of Moab”
1250 BC – The rule of the Israelites starts with the conquests of Joshua
1100 BC – Phoenicians – worshipped a triad of deities, each having different names and attributes depending upon the city in which they were worshipped, although their basic nature remained the same. They developed an alphabet and way of writing
El – Protector of the universe. His name evolved into “Elah,” “Elahona,” ”Eloh,” “Elohaino,” “Eli,” “Eloi,” “Elohim” “Elyon” “Elijiah”- God Most High
Baal – Symbolized the annual cycle of vegetation
Astarte – The combined heavenly mother and earth mother.
Wanax – the God of the local Cypriots called “the Lord”
Adonis – Adon the Semitic word for master or ‘lord’ “ai” means ‘my’, therefore Adonai translates as ‘my lord’; similarly the meaning of Baal, with whom he shares traits, is also ‘lord’ or ‘master’. His mother was Astarte his lover was also Astarte, while his father is Phoenix, father of the Phoenicians.
Shekinah – The Shekinah appeared to Moses in the burning bush. Shekinah also descended in the pillar of smoke that guided the Israelites through the desert. Shekinah rested on Mount Sinai when the Ten Commandments were given to the children of Israel. The Talmud teaches that the Shekinah is everywhere. Shekinah in her male aspect manifests as Metatron/Enoch. Shekinah serves as an intermediary between man and God. The Zohar names her as “the way of the Tree of Life” her symbol is a dove.
1020 BC – King David reigns and brings the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem
1003 BC – King David establishes Jerusalem as Capital of the United Kingdom of Israel
950 BC – King Solomon (David’s Son) builds Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem, Temple Mount Ark of the Covenant
931 BC – King Solomon dies civil war begins among Jews begins dividing the nation
722 BC – The Kingdom of Israel is conquered by the Assyrians
717 BC – Assyrians – Syria – (Samaritans) seem to have adopted the same tolerance towards other religions, which allowed the Jewish faith to persist even after the Jewish state of Palestine was destroyed by the Assyrians. The Assyrians adopted the Hebrew god, Yahweh, into their religion. This eventually led to the schism between Jews and Samaritans. The Assyrians were Semitic people living in the northern reaches of Mesopotamia. Among the great mathematical inventions of the Assyrians were the division of the circle into 360 degrees and were among the first to invent longitude and latitude in geographical navigation. They also developed a sophisticated medical science which greatly influenced medical science as far away as Greece.
605 BC – Chaldeans – Nebuchadnezzar was the equal of all the great Mesopotamian conquerors, he not only prevented major powers such as Egypt and Syria from making inroads, he also conquered the Phoenicians and the state of Judah. In order to secure the territory of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar brought Jehoiachin and Zedekiah, the two kings of Judah and held them in Babylon. Under Nebuchadnezzar, the city of Babylon was rebuilt with great splendor; it would eventually become one of the most magnificent cities in the area of the Middle East and Mediterranean. The Chaldean Book of Numbers was created. They worshipped the stars – or rather their “regents.” Sabeanism was the religion of the ancient Chaldees. They offered worship to the solar, lunar, and planetary gods and rulers, regarding the stars and other celestial bodies as their respective symbols, astrologers and diviners.
Ilu (EL) – Supreme Being
Ad – (Adonis) The primordial seed, the unrevealed. Another name for “Lord”
En – Soph – No-thing. The void. The beginning. Feminine
Anu – Anu was the earliest god of the city of Erech
Anata – Feminine counterpart to Anu
Bel (BAAL) – “Lord of the World,” father of the gods
Belta – Feminine counterpart to Bel
Hea – Hea was the maker of fate, Lord of the Deep, God of Wisdom and esoteric knowledge, and Lord of the city of Eridu.
Davkina – Feminine counterpart to Hea
Mylitta – Virgin the female principle the Great Mother, called also Ishtar.
Mithra – The Great father Sun-god, was called “Triple” embodied the trinity of (Anu, Bel, Hea). Sometimes referred to as AD (Adoni) – Lord.
586 BC – Babylonian (Iraq) King Nebuchadnezzar captures Jerusalem, destroys Solomon’s Temple. The Chaldeans forced a large part of the Jewish population to relocate. Numbering up to 10,000, these Jewish deportees were largely upper class people and craftspeople; this deportation marks the beginning of the Exile in Jewish history.
560 BC – The Persians conquer Babylon, Cyrus the Great tells the Jews to return home to the land of Judah.
538 BC – Return of the exiled Jews from Babylon, Persian Zoroasthrusta’a believe their God Ahura Mazda is aligned with Yahweh.
515 BC – Persia supports the rebuilding of the 2nd temple in Jerusalem
323 BC – Alexander the Great allows the Jewish people to rule Israel with a Greek influence
168 BC – Jewish priest, Mathias is murdered by Jews for worshipping a Greek God
167 BC – Antiochus IV destroys the temple in Jerusalem and rebuilds it as a Celeucid fortress, he also outlaws the observance of the Torah. Constructs a statue of himself as Zeus with a Hellenistic altar of sacrifice. Begins the Hellenization of Israel.
166 BC – The Jewish Maccabees reclaim the Temple Mount led by Judah Macabee.
100 BC – 24 religious sects had formed including the Basusim, Essenes, Pharisees, Sadducees and Zealots. Many anticipated the arrival of the Messiah, a religious-political-military leader who would drive out the Roman invaders and restore independence.
63 BC – Romans capture Jerusalem and subjected Israel to Roman Rule.
37 BC – Herod the Great – Roman King of Israel rebuilds the 2nd temple
4 BC – Jesus is born to a Jewish father and mother
12 AD – Jesus teaches in the Jewish Temple left of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem
33 AD – Jesus is crucified in Jerusalem as the “King of the Jews” Jewish leaders do not agree that he is the king or the messiah.
70 AD – Roman army led by Titus conquers Jerusalem and destroys the Second Temple.
71 AD – Jewish people migrated to Europe and North Africa called the Diaspora scattered outside of the Land of Israel.
100 – Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi creates the first Mishnah, the written version of the Oral Torah
132 – Bar Kokhba organized a revolt against Romans, he and 600,000 jews were killed.
133 – Romans rename Jerusalem as Aelia Capitolina and Judea as Palaestina to obliterate Jewish identification with the Land of Israel. Jews begin immigrating to Europe.
200 – The remaining Jewish community moved to northern towns in the Galilee. The Head of Sanhedrin, Rabbi Yehuda HaNassi compiled the Jewish oral law, Mishna
330 – Constantine declares Christianity as the official religion of Rome after years of persecution of both Jews and early followers of Jesus. He moves the capital of Rome to Constantinople in Turkey, (Istanbul)
336 – Christian Church of the Holy Sepulcher is built by Constantine in Jerusalem on the site of the Crucifixion and where Jesus is believed to have risen from the dead.
395 – The Roman empire is split in half – Eastern/Greek speaking (Byzantine – Greece, Turkey, Northern Egypt, Syria, Judea, Arabia,) Western/ (Roman – Italy, France, Spain, Germany, England, Northwest Africa, Romania, Slavia)
399 – Constant battles existed between the Roman Empire and the Persians (Iran) these battles ultimately weaken both empires.
300 – Jerusalem Talmud was compiled in Israel.
400 – Babylonian Talmud was compiled in Babylon.
570 – Mohammad is born in Mecca as an Arab, father Abd Allah dies before birth
610 – Mohammed begins sharing his “visions” of beauty and God is One.
625 – Persians control Jerusalem bringing Roman Empire to the brink of destruction
632 – Mohammed dies in Medina and his belief is called Islam his followers are Muslims.
638 – Jews help Muslims defeat Persians/Syrians in Jerusalem and guard the temple mount together,
680 – Islam splits between Suni and Shiite over succession of Mohammed.
691 – Dome of the Rock is built on Temple Mount by Muslims as a place of worship because Muslims did not have access to Mecca or Medina due to civil wars with Persians.
715 – Muslim’s build a 2nd Mosque and attach it to Mohammed’s night journey, when the Angel Gabriel brought him to the Heavenly Lote Tree in Jerusalem during his sleep.
800 – Islam conquers 50% of what was the Roman Empire,
1095 – Pope Urban II begins the crusades against the Jews and the Muslims
1099 – Crusaders capture Jerusalem slaughtering Jews and Muslims
1104 – The Dome of the Rock is turned into a Christian Church by King Baldwin I
1129 – The Knights Templar are established to protect the treasures from Solomon’s Temple for Christianity.
1187 – Saladin attacks the Crusaders wins Jerusalem – Jews & Muslims allowed in to worship.
1192 – Richard the Lion Heart fails to capture Jerusalem, Saladin permits Christians in to worship.
1250 – Kabbalah is committed to paper after years of secrecy – Tree of Life
1229 – Holy Roman Crusaders reclaimed Jerusalem for Christianity
1244 – Khwarezmi Turks recapture Jerusalem transfer power to Ottoman Turks
1492 – Queen Isabella-King Ferdinand unify Spain Christian and expel Jews & Muslims
1516 – During the reign of the Ottoman Empire the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem were rebuilt. Population of Jewish community in Jerusalem increased.
1799 – French revolution brought about the emancipation of Jews living in Europe
1808 – Lithuanian Jews, followers of the Vilna Gaon arrived in Palestine and purchased land to begin an agricultural settlement.
1836 – Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Kalischer petitioned Anschel Rothschild to buy Palestine or at least the Temple Mount for the Jews.
1878 – The first modern Jewish settlement is formed in Petah Tikvah
1882 – The first “Aliya” – “going up” 150 Yemenite Jews moved to Palestine. Soon the first Aliya numbered about 25,000 persons, primarily from Eastern Europe. Jerusalem was a small town of 25,000 inhabitants, slightly more than half Jewish. The Ottoman government barely tolerated the settlers, especially those who retained their foreign nationality, and occasionally the government restricted immigration. Settlers who adopted Ottoman nationality were liable for the Turkish draft.
1898 – Theodor Herzl becomes the Founder of the Zionist Movement
1900 – The Second Aliya increases the Jewish population of Palestine to approximately 85,000 to 100,000. The new immigrants arrived with the ideals of socialist Zionism, they had no training in agriculture and were unable to compete with Arab peasants. The plantation owners had a superior colonialist mentality which suited the hiring of “natives,” and clashed with the egalitarian ideas of the newly arrived socialists.
1914 – Plantations sponsored by Baron Rothschild were based on plantations in Algeria and India. Colonialism was fashionable and “progressive,” and early Zionist leaders saw nothing wrong in assimilating this idea to Zionism along with other “modern” ideas such as socialism, utopianism and nationalism.
1917 – Great Britain recognized the rights of the Jewish people to establish a national home in Israel. The British split Palestine into two independent states. (Jordan – Arabian/Muslim) (Israel – Jewish)
1919 – The Third Aliya of Eastern European and Russian was still under British military rule 35,000- 40,000 more Jews came to Palestine.
1921 – Arabs of Palestine are upset by the Jewish majority and feared that they would be dispossessed. Anti-Jewish rioting and violence broke out with the Arabs.
1923 – The British Mandate – the British split Jordan from the Palestine Mandate they also split off a portion of northern Palestine and gave it to French mandated Syria.
1924 – The Fourth Aliya – immigration quotas were established, and applicants had to prove that they had some capital with which to begin life in Palestine. Polish Jews were motivated by new immigration quotas imposed in the United States.
1935 – The Fifth Aliya – the Germans allowed Jews to leave in return for ransom paid to Reich 250,000 Jews arrived many are German Jews fleeing Nazism.
1936 – Arab revolt in response to the large Jewish immigration from Europe.
1942 – the British responded to Arab pressure and ended Jewish immigration to Palestine.
1944 – Nazi regime in Germany killed 6 million Jews during the Holocaust.
1945 – Jewish refugees tried to reach Palestine. Turks would not grant them sanctuary
1947 – United Nations voted to partition Palestine into Jewish and Arab states. War broke while British were still in Palestine.
1948 – Under the leadership of David Ben-Gurion the Jewish people established their independence from Britain and created the modern State of Israel.
1948 – A day after the declaration of independence armies of five Arab countries, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq, invaded Israel. Despite the numerical superiority of the Arab armies, Israel defended itself and won. After each war the Israeli army withdrew from most of the areas it captured. As a result over 600,000 muslims fled or were expelled from their homes.
1967 – Six Day War – For a few hours the Israeli flag was hoisted over the Dome of the Rock but taken down to keep the peace.
1967 – Muslims, Jews and Christians given access to their Holy places within Jerusalem
1980 – Israeli historians and sociologists began to question facts about the official history of Israel and Zionism, as well as the Zionist ideology.
2010 – Tension continues to exist between Jews and Muslims as they fight for peace and the right to their ancestral homeland.
