Week 2: Thursday

Canaanite Jerusalem is the period of time before David ruled Jerusalem. The main resouces that sustained Jerusalem are water from the Gihon spring, argiculture from nearby lands, and trade through the watershed highway. Note that the two other major trade routes did not pass through Jerusalem.

The earliest settlement occurred around 2,000 B.C. and proof occurred in the form of execration texts. Although not a vodoo doll, it had the property that someone would write the name of an enemy and smash the text in order to send a curse. One execution text found by archaeologists  mentioned Jerusalem by name and included several rulers of the city. The mention of Jerusalem suggests that the city was prominent enough to be considered a threat by enemies.

Several Amarna letters also mentioned the existance of Jerusalem in 2,000 B.C. During this period, Egypt was a superpower and tiny cities had to beg Egypt for money and other resources to defend themselves from enemies. Abdi-Kheba, the ruler of Jerusalem at the time, sent 6 letters requesting help for Jerusalem.

According to the professor, there are three different interpretions about how the Israelites came to Jerusalem. The three interpretions are conquest/non-conquest, immigration, and or that the Israelites were always there. Although the text in the Bible conflicts about how the Israelites came to Jerusalem, one possible reason is that the passages in the Bible are not written chronologically. Archeology suggests that the third interpretion is the most reasonable from the evidence uncovered that there is no break in occupation of Jerusalem.