The Rise and Fall of Ancient Israel

Speaker: Eric H. Cline, Chair of the Department of Classical and Semitic Languages and Literatures at The George Washington University

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Part one discusses the account of the Exodus and the conquest of Canaan.

Part two discusses David and Solomon. Both kings have been the subject of controversies and debates. A reference to the "House of David" was found in 1993 on an inscription in the north of Israel — the first extra-biblical mention of David yet discovered — allowing us to reconsider the evidence for David and Solomon.

Part three discusses how the expansionist ambitions of the Neo-Assyrians from Mesopotamia in the eighth century BCE spelled an end to the kingdom of Israel and gave rise to the tradition of the Ten Lost Tribes. The question of where the exiled members of these tribes ended up continues to be debated.

Part four discusses how Nebuchadnezzar and the Neo-Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem not once but twice, burned the Temple of Solomon to the ground, and exiled the leading citizens of Jerusalem and Judah to the far-away city of Babylon. It also provides an in-depth look at Jewish history during the Babylonian period.


The Josephine F. and H. Max Ammerman Study Retreat