The destruction of the First Temple in Jerusalem and the Babylonian Exile were a great catastrophe in the history of the Jewish Nation.
What really happened during that dark, fateful age, and how did new opportunities arise from the ashes?
This course will temporarily close for enrollment from March 1st, 2022 to August 31st, 2022. During this time, the course will be closed for new enrolments. All of the course materials will continue to be able available to previously enrolled learners; however, the course staff will not provide support in the Discussion Forums during this period.
Best,
The Tel Aviv University Team
Overview
Syllabus
- Introduction to geopolitics and geography of the Ancient Near East
- Welcome to the first module of "The Fall and Rise of Jerusalem"! In this module you will be introduced to the geopolitical reality of the time of the Assyrian empire, followed by the Neo-Babylonian. We hope you'll find the videos informative and interesting. We encourage you to use the discussion forums in order to raise any questions or thoughts you might have after watching the videos.
- Judah Under Babylonian Rule
- The second module deals with Judah under Babylonian rule. We will learn about the Babylonian Conquest of Hattu-land and Judah, the events that lead to Jehoiakim's revolt and its outcome, and the changes in the Babylonian policy towards Judah following this revolt. You are welcome to raise questions for discussion regarding these topics.
- The Days of the Destruction of Jerusalem
- This module deals with Zedekiah's rebellion and the destruction of Judah.You are invited to watch the following units and learn about the Egyptian intervention, the reasons for Zedekiah's revolt, and the history of the destruction of Judah.
- Gedaliah son of Ahikam
- In this module we will learn about the transition of the capital city from Jerusalem to Mizpah and the governorship of Gedaliah son of Ahikam in Mizpah following the destruction. We encourage you to use the discussions to ask about anything that isn't clear or raise your own ideas regarding the material you learned.
- Archaeology of the sixth century BCE
- After learning of the days of the destruction and the historical role of Gedaliah son of Ahikam, you are invited to watch the lessons of the fifth module, which deals with the archaeology of the Babylonian Period. We will explore the magnificent finds from Ramat Rahel, the stamp impressions and what they can teach us about continuity or discontinuity in this period and the fate of Jerusalem and Judah following the destruction. I also recommend watching the optional videos which deal with additional interesting research topics.
- The restoration of Jerusalem in the early Persian Period
- The last module of our course will deal with different aspects of the Persian period: the cult of Jerusalem, changes in Jerusalem's status, the Judahite diaspora, the fall of Babylon and much more. We hope you will enjoy this final module which closes the story of Jerusalem's fall and rise.
Taught by
Oded Lipschits and Ido Koch
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Reviews
3.6 rating, based on 9 Class Central reviews
4.6 rating at Coursera based on 336 ratings
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Sheri HavensProfessor Oded Lipschitz's agenda is to promote his book "The Fall and Rise of Jerusalem." I rated his class very hard for the following reasons. Many of his dates on Judean history are ambiguous. On quizzes you have to guess at the dates because the Professor provides more than one set of dates in his lectures. His theories are not main stream archaeology. Don't waste your time. There are much better courses available than this one. -
This course solely directed to the promotion of the book. The author tries to defend his points in any way possible, yet his statements are full of historical inaccuracies and falsified historical data.
The worst MOOC course I have ever taken. -
No doubt to the academics here. However, understanding the Prof english is difficult owing to his accent. The first quiz dosen't conform to other available timelines. I'll continue the course but, will not spend any time on frivolous quizzes!
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I'm taking the course right now and being very interested in the topic thanks to the videos' transcriptions and subtitles, I can better understand and deepen the researches carrier out in those areas and evidences found.
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This is a fabulous course. Professor Lipschits is incredibly knowledgeable and I felt privileged to listen to him work through the problems discussed.
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Pambili SinxotoI wasn't too sure when I started the course whether it was what I was looking for. As I progressed into the topics introduced, I was glued to the screen and thoroughly enjoyed the historical background, research and analysis of the region's archaeological, cultural and political world during the Fall and Rise of Jerusalem. -
Dawn GibsonThe course format includes a peer reviewed final assignment. What a waste of time for so many students. They put in many hours of study each week for nearly two months just to fail the class based on the peer reviewed assignment. I was one of the 'lucky' ones, whose achieved grade dropped from 100 to 91.7. I passed. It looks like coursera dropped the class. Wouldn't recommend it anyway. -
