The textbook says on page 87, “After Solomon’s death around 920
B.C.E., resentment over royal demands for money and labor and the neglect of
tribal prerogatives split the monarchy into two kingdoms: Israel in the north,
with its capital at Samaria; and Judah in the southern territory around
Jerusalem. The two were sometimes at
war, sometimes allied” Why is it that after Solomon’s death that United
Monarchy was affected and got broken up.
Why was the next ruler or Solomon’s successor, not accepted by the
people ultimately why was Solomon’s death so impactful?
It was interesting to read about people like Xenophanes who
called into question the kind of gods that Homer had popularized. It was
interesting to learn about early philosophers like Xenophanes who rejected traditional
religious conceptions and sought rational explanations. I wonder what these philosophers’ motives were
by doing this, whether it was for their popularity to rise, for the good of other
people, or just something for them to do and question.
Hey Tom I am still in the dark as to how to post so sorry in advance:
ReplyDeleteReading about the struggles that the Israelites suffered reminds me a bit of the struggles endured by early Buddhists. Both religions endure to today, but both faced trails in the form of competition from other major religions in their respective regions. This leads me to question the correlation between “success” (in this case I would contend that in this case it would be measured by share of the world population) of a religion and the military prowess of its followers. Would the Christian faith encompass roughly a third of the modern world had not the Romans and later the Europeans converted? Would Islam still be the fastest growing religion today if the Muslim conquests of the Middle Ages had not sown the seeds of growth centuries ago? I think what I am trying to ask is can a major religion spread, or maintain its place on the global scale, through pacifism or at least through the peaceful ways of living that most religions prescribe?
The emergences of the differences between Sparta and Athens illuminates how different philosophies can lead nations to far different eventualities even if they start in a similar situations. Like legalism and Confucianism, or John Locke and Thomas Hobbes, or maybe even Batman and the Joker, these two states seem to inherently disagree on the nature of humans: are we innately bestowed by our Creator with a tendency towards good deeds and benevolence, or are we inborn with cruelty and evil in our hearts? Can (or more to the point should) the average person afford to govern him or herself? I believe that the range that this debate has (from Ancient China to Archaic Greece to Christopher Nolan’s 2008 classic) is indicative of how universal and intrinsic it is to our existence, but also that it is a question that we as a species are still grappling with.
This was so well written... very thought-provoking.
DeleteThe Jews were one of the first monotheistic communities. Despite the small plot of land and few natural resources, the Jews had a strong central army and laws which governed them, despite being conquered by the Assyrians, Babylonians, and Romans. The Jewish think of themselves as the chosen people by Yahweh their God.
ReplyDeleteThis is my post on the blog for thursday Oct 8 Hw assignment.
ReplyDeleteHow do they move goods and ideas? How do they interact with the rise and fall of empires?
Goods and Ideas on the Silk Road are exchanged through interaction. Interactions occured between various peoples on the silk road when goods and services were traded. Not only were goods such as spices and iron traded but also protection. This led to compliance and the spread of ideas and goods.
The rise and fall of empires on the silk road closed and opened new trade routes. When empires with parts of the silk road going through them in asia fell, those parts of the silk road could also shut down. The unrest in China is a good example, with the Hans threatening China's borders, these parts of the silk road became dangerous and less traveled. Because of this, new trade routes were formed and new ideas and cultures were exchanged in the process.