Israel is located on the southern east coast of the Mediterranean sea. It is bordered to the north by the Phoenicians, the Mesopotamians to the west, and the Egyptians to the south. In scripture it is said that the land was given to them directly from God. This meant when they conquered other nations they believed they were actually claiming what was rightfully theirs. The land the Israelites settled, along …show more content…
It was the first monotheistic, one god, religion. This meant that they only believed in one supreme deity. They also differed from many religions by believing that God was active in their lives and had a plan for them. The religion is believed to be founded by Abraham, after he made a covenant with God. God promised Abraham that if he left his homeland and family to follow and worship him he would make a nation out of his descendants. This required a lot of faith from Abraham since God did not give him a child until he and his wife were old. Later Abraham’s descendants settled in Egypt and were later enslaved by the Egyptians. They were enslaved until a man named Moses delivered them from the Pharaoh and Egypt through many miracles and plagues performed by him through God. He then led them through the desert for years to the promise land, the land that God promised Abraham for his descendants, until his death. Then his brother Aaron finished leading them to the land promised to them. There they established a successful nation from 1050 B.C. to 722 B.C. when they began to be conquered.
The Israelites achieved many things during their reign. Their first achievement was to create the first monotheistic religion. They were a culture, religion, and people all in one. They are famous for the Ten Commandments, a code for moral behavior. This was believed to have been given to them from God who gave it to Moses. He was very important to the Hebrew religion for this and leading the Israelites out of slavery from Egypt. They were also the first religion to have a God who was active in their lives and had a plan for them. The Jews contributed many things to us that is still present in this day and