Old Testament Historical Report

Joseph M. Bolton RELS 103-02 Online Old Testament Studies Spring Semester 2011 Session E May 8, 2011 to July 2, 2011 The Old Testament TimeLine Creation & Primeval History The Creation: * God creates the Heavens and the Earth * God creates man in his image. *

According to Diamond, Human ancestors moved to Eurasia around 1 to 2 million years ago and after human fossils began to resemble modern Homo sapiens and archaeologists called that period the Great Leap Forward. According to “Human Evolution and the Great Leap Forward - By Advocate De Waal Lubbe,” Scientists have estimated that humans branched off from their common ancestor, with chimpanzees, about 5-7 million years ago. Several species and subspecies of Homo evolved and are now extinct. These include Homo erectus, which inhabited Asia, and Homo Sapiens Neanderthalensis, which inhabited Europe. Archaic Homo sapiens evolved between 400,000 and 250,000 years ago.

Supporters of the Documentary Hypothesis draw on quite a few sources as evidence. Firstly, they argue that the use of divine names. The Elohist document refers to God as “Elohim”, while Jahwist refers to God as “Jehovah”. It is argued that this inconsistency signals that Genesis 1 and 2 were written at two different times by two different groups of people. The next argument is the proposed continuous narration in the J document and E document. The fact that these documents can stand alone as their own pieces of literature has the potential to negate the idea that the books were written during the same period, let alone by the same person. The parallel passages also offer a higher critical argument for the Documentary Hypothesis. The “doublet” account of Creation traces Genesis 1 to the Priestly source during or after the Exile and Genesis 2 to the Jahwist source of the 9th century. While the passages seem to be describing the same story, the inconstancies create a problem for single authorship. The lack of continuity in literary style of the Pentateuch also offers evidence for the division into documents. Each document seems to carry its own traits and characteristics that define it from another document. For example, the J document features a much more active God in the Creation story. The E document, alternatively, has a more transcendent quality in how it depicts God’s role in the Creation. The differences in style offer no support that a single author was responsible for

Studying the Old Testament is not as straightforward as some may think. Being able to recall stories of the Bible does not necessarily mean you have a thorough grasp on the history of Israel and the surrounding nations. Some people read and discuss the Bible without a solid understanding of the history and social issues that were going on at the time. Being able to relate to the stories in the Bible and struggle with some of the same problems faced by the people in the Bible gives you a greater appreciation for the works in the Bible. I feel that having a firm understanding of all the related history of Israel gives a student of the Old Testament a far greater understanding of why these stories are in the Bible and what was meant to

So how did they spread? While it is generally accepted that the forerunner to Homo sapiens - Homo erectus - left Africa about 1.5 million years ago to populate other parts of the world, there are two main theories about the spread of Homo sapiens. The first theory, known as the 'Out of Africa' model, is that Homo sapiens developed first in Africa and then spread around the world between 100 and 200,000 years ago, superseding all other hominid species. The implication of this argument is that all modern people are ultimately of African descent. The other theory, known as the 'Multiregional' Model, which basically means homo erectus left Africa 2 mya to to become homo sapiens in different parts of the world. The Multiregional Continuity Model contends that after Homo erectus left Africa and dispersed into other portions of the Old World, regional populations slowly evolved into modern

I agree with you James that the complete replacement model or Out of Africa model suggests that modern humans were firstly originated in Africa from a single group of Homo sapiens approximately around 200,000 years ago, which they continuously evolve then migrated out from Africa, then spread out into the broader world throughout Eurasia, which replaced other archaic humans, such as Neandertals in Europe. Researchers like Stringer and Andrew supported this due to the evidence they have shows that the identified oldest fossils of Homo sapiens originated from Africa, and also, a variety of various DNA studies on modern human populations all suggest that common lineage from a small gene pool was derived in

Most of the the history we know about the Ancient Israelites is due the Torah, the most sacred text for the jews. According to the book of Genesis, the majority of the Jews were forced to migrate to Egypt because of a famine, where they spent 400 years being enslaved. An Israelite named moses had finally helped the Israelites escape Egypt. The Israelites had set up in Canaan by 1000 B

The term "Patriarchs" in the Old Testament makes a reference to two groups of men. The first group is the twenty-men making up the ancestral lineage between Adam to Abraham. At the beginning of this familial lineage there were ten men that lived before the flood who had extremely long lives and were known as the Antediluvian Patriarchs, which consisted of Adam, Seth, Enos, Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech and Noah. The second group known as the Patriarchs of Judaism were the first three leaders of the Israelites that included Abraham, his son Isaac and his grandson Jacob. This chapter along with its sub-chapters only concerns itself with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

There are four terms used to describe those who believe in the religion of Judaism “Hebrew, Israelites, Judeans and Jews.” These terms frequently are incorrectly used as an alternate name for each other, but instead should be used to describe the evolution of Judaism. The first term “Hebrew” begins with Abraham, who upon God’s request leaves Ur of the Chaldeans and travels to Canaan where his descendants will establish a nation. Explained by traditional biblical historians the term Hebrew means "to traverse or to pass over" as relating to Abraham, in Genesis 14:13, who crossed over the Euphrates River of Mesopotamia on his journey from Ur to Canaan.

I have always been interested in fashion in a creative way in not just my life, but fashion has also impacted my academic journey. From an early age, I knew belonged in and wanted to be a part of the world of fashion, to not only build a life around Fashion but to make a career for myself in the Fashion Industry.

Homo sapiens were evolved in Africa, now worldwide and have been dated about 200,000 years ago to present. Home sapiens adapations to tropical environments (Institute of Human Origins 2008). Homo sapiens are bipedalism because they can walk on ground level. Homo sapiens spend large part of their day gathering plants and hunting or scavenging animals, and control over fire (Smithsonian Institution 2016). Homo sapiens interact with each other and with their surroundings in new and different ways. “Cultural behaviours they made specialized tools, exchanged resources over wide areas; and they created art, music, personal adornment, rituals, and a complex symbolic world” (Smithsonian Institution 2016).

There is increasing evidence for an African origin for behavioral and technological modernity more than 70,000 years ago and that the earliest origin of all Homo sapiens lies in Africa with a special focus in southern Africa.

I concur on the fact that with the advancement of scientific technology the credibility of some myths has been lost; however, I believe that some myths, to this day still hold the same credibility as they did hundreds or maybe thousands of years ago. Let me be clear I have the outmost respect to every religion in the world and their beliefs: with that being said, for the sake of intellectual discussion and for academic purposes, I believe that one of the greatest myths that still hold its original credibility is the bible or any other text that explains the origins of the universe and humanity. In academia, the Old Testament can be viewed as a divine myth for it has all the elements such the supernatural being that has superior powers to Adam

The process by which the English Bible, as it is known to the English culture today, was compiled is an extraordinary thing to see. The Bible consists of two parts: the Old Testament and the New Testament. The process by which both Testaments were written and then canonized into one book transpired over a period of many years. Once the canonization of the Bible officially came to an end, it was translated into English. Since then, many versions of the modern Bible have been made. Since the individual books of the Bible became scattered as they were written, people set forth to preserve God’s Word by compiling them into one

There are two theories about the origin of modern humans: 1) they began in one place, Africa—and 2) pre-modern humans migrated from Africa to become modern humans in other parts of the world. According to the lectures, most evidence trace to the first theory because of a few satisfying valid reasons. In the lectures it was told that “fossils of modern humans are particularly found in Africa” (Zeanah: lecture). In addition to this logic, it is also mentioned that “DNA studies suggest a originating population in Africa” (Zeanah). Although it seems that the first theory might be more credible, both theories to this day are