The first temple period Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The first temple period - Essay Example Later, the rise and the invasions of the Babylonian empire, which eventually led to the destruction of the First Temple in the 6th century BCE, had brought about even more social changes and climaxed into a complete crisis of faith for the Israelites' religion, which was unprecedented. At the start of the First Temple Period, when Jerusalem was ruled by King David and Solomon, people tended to be faithful to one and only one God, the God who had blessed Abraham and his descendents. Alongside Jerusalem was also an independent regional power. However, invasions from foreign empires completely demolished Jerusalem's importance in the area and deeply affected almost all aspect of the people's lifestyles, especially social structures and their religious outlook. To understand the effects of foreign invasions on Jerusalem and on the ancient Israelites living there, one needs to go through the history of the Israelites in Jerusalem. The Israelites were associated with Jerusalem ever since the historical conquest of this place in 1000 BCE by King David as described in the second book of Samuel (NRSV, 2 Samuel 5:6-10). It is mentioned in the book that King David acquired control of the city of Zion. In addition, the accounts in the first book of Chronicles tell us that it was Joab, a kinsman of David, who led the war against Jerusalem (1 Chronicles 2: 4-8). Thus the conquest of Jerusalem helped unite the northern Israelite tribe with the southern Israelite tribe because Jerusalem, which was inhabited by the alien Jebusites, was the only physical barrier separating the two tribes (Kenyon 1967: 54). The unification of the two tribes strengthened the power of the Israelites and allowed for their expansions. Known for his ability to wage war, King David defeated a lot of neighboring cities and extended his control far beyond the limits of Jerusalem, and made thus conquered neighboring cities to pay tribute to him (Burke 2007: 1/12). He sent his forces east across Jordan as far as Damascus and Zobah, and subdued the Ammonites, Moabites, Edomites, and Amalekites. During King David's reign, the Israelites were in control of territories running from Kadesh in Syria to Ezion-geber at the head of the Gulf of Aqabah (Orlinsky 1964: 61). Even the Phoenicians agreed to provide the Israelites with skilled engineers and craftsmen in return for their protection (Orlinsky 1964: 63). King David 's son Solomon, who is famed for his wisdom, kept up the diplomatic relationship with the other cities that were begun by his father. Thus under Solomon's reign, Jerusalem returned to more peace and had strong trading links with its neighbors. Solomon even perfected and extended the administrative organization installed by his father (1 Kings 4), an d was, thus, able to collect more taxes and recruit more labor (Orlinsky 1964: 72). Solomon also built the Temple on the Temple Mount, which later became the center of faith and acted as the axis mundi, connecting the heaven, the earth, and the underworld. The periods ruled by King David and King Solomon are still considered as the golden ages of Jerusalem. It was a great achievement that in mere fifty years, David and Solomon had built the kingdom of Israel from out of a loose tribe, creating an administrative organization, although this kingdom did not last very long (Kenyon 1967: 58). It was during the