AP Human Geography
Lacks


 Oldest monotheistic religion
 Born in the Middle East (Iraq & Israel)
 First Near Eastern religion to have one God that focuses on his relationship with earth, not with other gods


 Father of Judaism (and thus Christianity and Islam)
 Original monotheist
 Lived around 2000 BCE
 Life story: Genesis 11 - 25
 Born in Ur (present day Iraq)
 Leads his people to Canaan (present day Israel)
 Married to Sarah, barren
 Ishmael (son of Hagar) – father to Arabs
 Isaac (son of Sarah) – father to Hebrews


 Hebrews had migrated to Egypt due to drought
 Moses
 Prophet of God
 leads Hebrews out of Egypt (the Exodus), back to Canaan
(40 yrs)
 On journey, Moses receives Ten Commandments from
God on Mt. Sinai
 writes first five books of the Old Testament (aka the
Torah)


 Hebrews fight off warring Arab tribes inhabiting Canaan
 1020BCE: Hebrew tribes come together to form Kingdom of
Israel
 Saul: first king
 David: second king (Golden Age)
 Solomon: third (and final) king
 Built great temple (Solomon’s Temple); under Dome of the
Rock (not excavated)
 Conquered by Assyrian Empire after Solomon’s death, then by the Babylonian Empire
 Jews are displaced until 1948


 Supports Jewish nationalism
 Home state of Israel
 Jewish culture & traditions
 Founded by Theodor Herzi (1887)


Palestinians (Arabs) and Israelites (Jews) have been fighting over this land ever since.
In 1947 (post-Holocaust), United Nations proposed a compromise.
Palestinians would not agree to the compromise, so they got nothing.


 1967: Six Day War with Egypt (Israel gained Sinai
Peninsula from Egypt)
 1982: gave Sinai back to Egypt
 Since: struggles with Palestinians over land rights


 Rabbi: priest; religious leader
 Synagogue: place of worship
 Covenant: promise


 Torah:
 Sacred book
 Aka Hebrew Bible (first five books of the Old Testament)
 Written by Moses
 Mishnah:
 200BC
 Contains six orders (includes prayers, spiritual rites, laws)

• The Menorah is a seven branched candelabrum and is the oldest symbol of the Jewish people
• represents the burning bush as seen by Moses on Mount Sinai
• The end of each branch is a lamp lit by olive oil

• the standard symbol in synagogues
• symbol of Jewish
Community and is named after King David of ancient Israel
• Jews started to use the symbol in the Middle
Ages.

• a scroll which Jewish people keep inside a case (pic above) and fix to the right side of their door frames
• hang the Mezuzah from their door as a constant reminder of God ’ s presence.
• If moving, must remove the Mezuzah from the door and take it. Leaving it behind is considered disrespectful to
God.


 Move from being a child to being an adult.
 Judaism says a boy is a "bar mitzvah" when he turns 13 and a girl becomes "bat mitzvah" when she turns 12.
 The child is now responsible for what they do. If they do anything wrong, it is their fault and not their parents ’ .


 From the time of Mosaic law the People of God have observed fixed feasts, beginning with Passover.
 This feast takes place in early spring for the Jews.
 The feast known as Pesach reminds all Jews of their escape from Egypt over 3000 years ago.
 God told Moses to have all Jews in Egypt paint lamb’s blood over their doorways and they would not be harmed by the last plague


 Jewish New Year (start of Hebrew calendar)
 Anniversary of the creation of Adam and Eve
 Two days of celebration, 163 days after the first day of
Passover (usually early September)

 Day of Atonement

 24 hours of fasting and prayer
 Most important Jewish holiday
 “tenth day of the seventh month” (Leviticus)


 festival celebrating the time when the Jews won a battle against the Greeks to practice their religion freely
 an oil lamp was lit in the temple. There was only enough oil to burn for one day - but miraculously it burned for eight days.
 This is why the Hanukkah festival lasts for eight days and why light is the main item in the celebration.


 Meal every Friday
 Time for rest
 starts on Friday, just before sunset and finishes on
Saturday after sunset. (lasts for 24 hours).
 Before the meal candles are lit.
 meal begins with a blessing said over wiine and two loaves of bread. (special egg bread called Challah bread)


 Temple Mount (holy for all Abrahamic religions): disputed history
 Western (wailing) Wall
 Western portion of Temple Mount
 Site for pilgrimage


 14 million adherents (2012)
 0.2% of the world’s population
 42% live in Israel
 42% live in US & Canada
 Remainder spread throughout the world




 Terminology: Christos = Greek meaning “the anointed one”
 Abraham: Founder of Christianity (same beginnings as
Judaism)
 Support Hebrew scriptures of Moses (Creation, Exodus, plight of Hebrews back to Canaan, 10 Commandments, etc.)
 Jesus: son of God, fully divine and fully human
 Jesus is not just a prophet, but the Messiah, sent by
God to save man from sins


 Born around the 1 st century, AD (had to be before 4AD,
King Herod’s death)
 The Gospels (“Good News”) are stories of Jesus’ life and teachings
 Jewish teacher and rabbi
 Crucified in Jerusalem on the orders of Roman prefect,
Pontius Pilate


 Christian teachings record
 Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the
Virgin Mary
 Performed miracles
 Founded the Christian Church
 Died as a sacrifice to achieve atonement
 Rose from the dead
 Ascended into heaven from which he will one day return


 Judaism rejects the belief that Jesus was the awaited
Messiah, arguing that he did not fulfill the Messianic prophecies in the Tanakh.
 In Islam, Jesus is considered one of God's important prophets and the Messiah. Jesus is a bringer of scripture and the child of a virgin birth, but neither divine nor the victim of crucifixion.


 Scared text
 Includes 66 books divided into Old (pre-Jesus; Hebrew
Bible + historical literature) and New (Jesus’ life and death, historical literature) Testaments


 Most Christians believe that human beings experience divine judgment and are rewarded either with eternal life or eternal damnation.
 Common rituals: baptism, communion, weddings


 Christmas: birth of Jesus
 Lent: 40 day period of fasting and repentance in preparation for Easter
 Ash Wednesday: First day of Lent
 Palm Sunday: sixth Sunday of Lent & the last Sunday before Easter; represents celebration of Jesus arriving in Jerusalem
 Good Friday: death of Jesus
 Easter: Resurrection of Jesus


 Armenia: first country to adopt Christianity (301AD)
 Christians persecuted for their beliefs until Emperor
Constantine converted, making it the official religion of the Roman Empire (extended through rest of Europe)
 Central to daily life throughout Europe in Middle Ages
 Spread widely during Renaissance, Age of Discovery, and later imperialism of 19 th and 20 th centuries


 Roman Catholic Church
 Eastern Orthodox (separated from Catholics in the
Great Schism of the 11 th century)
 Protestantism (separated from Catholics in the
Protestant Reformation; started in Germany in 1517)


 World’s largest religion
 2.2 billion adherents
 Over 41,000 denominations




 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJREErpZHtM