6th Grade Social Studies
October 6th, 2010
The Ancient Israelites
SWBAT:
-Identify the Ancient Israelite civilization
on a map
-Identify aspects of the Early Israelites
Ancient Israel
What type of map is
this?
What are some different
features we see on this
map?
A people called
Israelites built a
kingdom in Canaan,
which lies along the
Mediterranean Sea in
SW Asia.
Who were Israelites?
•Israelites had a very small
population
•They were monotheistic, or
they believed in only one God.
•The Israelite faith became the
religion known today as
Judaism.
•The language they spoke was
Hebrew. They wrote down
much of their History and
many of their religious beliefs
in the Hebrew Bible.
Early Israelites
The earliest Israelites were
herders and traders.
They came from Mesopotamia
and settled in Canaan.
The Israelites lived in Canaan for
about 100 years.
A long drought began; crops
died out and livestock died; To
survive, some Israelites went to
Egypt.
From Slavery to FREEDOM
Life was NOT good in Egypt.
The Egyptian Pharaoh needed men to
build his pyramids, so he enslaved
Israelites.
To prevent a rebellion he ordered all
baby boys born to Israelites thrown
into the Nile River.
The Hebrew Bible tells us that one
desperate mother put her baby in the
basket and hid it on the riverbank. The
pharaoh’s daughter found the baby
and named him Moses.
Moses’ Influence
When Moses grew up he tended
to sheep
In 1290 B.C.E, he saw a burning
bush and heard a voice. He
believed God was telling him to
lead the Israelites out of Egypt
to freedom.
To Moses, he believed that God
was telling him to lead the
Israelites out of Egypt to
freedom.
To get the pharaoh to let the
Israelites go, the Hebrew bible
says that God sent 10 plagues to
trouble Egypt.
The Escape
The Plague convinced the Pharaoh to let the Israelites leave.
As the Israelites headed east out of Egypt, the Pharaoh changed his mind, and
sent his army after the Israelites.
According the Hebrew Bible, God parted the Red Sea to let his people pass.
When the Egyptians followed, the water flowed back and drowned the soldiers.
The Israelite escape from Egyptian slavery is known as the Exodus. Jews today
celebrate a holy day called Passover to remember these events.
Moses and the Red Sea
• Moses Crossing the Red Sea
Journey back to Canaan
• Moses received laws from God known as the
Torah.
• These later became the first part of the
Hebrew Bible.
• The Torah described a covenant, or
agreement, with God in which God promised
to return the Israelites to Canaan if they
followed his laws.
The Ten Commandments
The 10 Commandments
were one of the most
important parts of the
Torah.
The 10 Commandments
helped shape the basic
moral laws of many
nations.
They also said laws
should apply to
everyone equally.
The Phoenicians
Lived in cities along the
Mediterranean Sea
They were skilled sailors and
traders.
One of their most important
ideas was an alphabet, or
group of letters that stood for
sound.
The letters could be used to
spell out the words in their
language.
The alphabet made writing
simpler, and helped people
keep records.