Nadene Goldfoot
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Abram and Abimelech in order to seal a covenant that will prove to be very significant in G-d's plan of redemption. Isaac’s birth progresses G-d's promise toward its goal: a holy nation through which the world would be blessed (Gen. 22:18). This covenant with Abimelech in 21:22–34 is a substantial step forward regarding God’s pledge of land (15:7–21).
Abram was part of a group of people who had been migrating from the East to the West. This took place in Mesopotamia. We know that he was born in the city of Ur of the Chaldees on the Tigris River in about 1948 BCE with his father, Terah and mother, Amathliel. Abram's parents were buried in the town of Haran. Abram's name became Abraham later on showing a traumatic or extremely important event that changed him. We have the facts that his parents and wife were with him, but not the size of the group itself. Maybe it was just clan-size.
What did they do in those days when they had to go? Hide behind a bush. That method was the only one that we know of till the Roman days. Even the Greeks needed a bush or a hilly outcropping to step behind.
People copied what dogs did, not cats. Cats cover up their poop. Dogs don't.
He had traveled with his nephew, Lot. The Book of Genesis explains that during the days of Lot, the vale of Siddim was a river valley where the Battle of Siddim occurred between four Mesopotamian armies and five cities of the Jordan plain. According to the biblical account, before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the Elamite King Chedorlaomer had subdued the tribes and cities surrounding the Jordan River plain. After 13 years, four kings of the cities of the Jordan plain revolted against Chedorlaomer's rule. In response, Chedorlaomer and three other kings started a campaign against King Bera of Sodom and four other allied kings.Among the captives was Abram's nephew, Lot.
When word reached Abram while he was staying in Elonei Mamrei with Aner and Eshcol, he immediately mounted a rescue operation like a general, arming 318 of his trained servants, who went in pursuit of the enemy armies that were returning to their homelands. They caught up with them in the city of Dan, flanking the enemy on multiple sides during a night raid. The attack ran its course as far as Hobah, north of Damascus, where he defeated Chedorlaomer and his forces. Abram recovered all the goods and the captives (including Lot).
Ur was a fully developed city at this point, so it was even past the time of metal age invaders, though invaders of Ur were probably seeing gold and other precious metals. Abram was moving West towards Canaan along the Mediterranean Sea to live among less people who had not become people believing in polytheistic gods and human sacrifice. Abram had come to believe in One G-d. He was also buried in Hebron in the Cave of Machpelah or The Cave of the Patriarchs or Tomb of the Patriarchs, known to Jews by its Biblical name Cave of Machpelah (Biblical Hebrew: מְעָרַת הַמַּכְפֵּלָה ...
Moses b: 1391 BCE-d:1271 BCE moved 603,550 men and their wives and children from Egypt to Canaan which took them 40 years. They ended up with 601,730 men. They had taken two censuses, before and after to give us this information, for Moses was an educated 80 year old at the beginning of this trek and had a good idea of what was necessary to do as the leader. Moses was doing this because of communication with the One G-d who guided the move.
The men had times of needing to fight against those who attacked them like the Amaleks. The Amalekites, descendants of Amalek, were an ancient biblical nation living near the land of Canaan. They were the first nation to attack the Jewish people after the Exodus from Egypt, and they are seen as the archetypal enemy of the Jews.
The scope and scale of warfare in Ancient Greece changed as a result of the Greco-Persian Wars, which marked the beginning of Classical Greece (480–323 BC). To battle the enormous armies of the Achaemenid Empire was effectively beyond the capabilities of a single city-state. The eventual triumph of the Greeks was achieved by alliances of many city-states, on a scale and scope never seen before. The rise of Athens and Sparta during this conflict led directly to the Peloponnesian War, which saw diversification of warfare.
Lack of manpower was a serious concern for many Hellenistic rulers. The disparity between the manpower reserves available to Rome and to any other Hellenistic monarch had a profound influence on the way in which the opponents made war. Roman generals could more easily risk defeat in battle, while for Hellenistic generals, a defeat might cripple their manpower base for nearly a generation. Many states had to rely on mercenaries to bulk up their citizen forces:
For example, the army of the Achaean League under Aratus of Sicyon was re-organized to contain a permanent corps of mercenaries that numbered 8,000 foot soldiers and 500 on horseback, compared with the corps of picked Achaean troops, which numbered only 3,000 foot and 500 horse.
Greek armies attacked Jews in Israel, that had become a country through King Saul and after Jerusalem became their capital through King David who reigned from 1010 BCE to 970 BCE. In the late 330s BCE, Alexander the Great invaded the Middle East (including the area which is now Israel), during his campaigns against the Achaemenid Empire. Alexander's army numbered fewer than 40,000 men, mostly Macedonian and fiercely loyal. The versatile force included cavalry and heavily armed foot soldiers, who wielded spears and formed a phalanx, advancing relentlessly behind raised shields. Jews really liked Alexander who was the king of Macedonia and young and handsome. He honored the high priest,Jaddua by visiting with him and gave privileges to the Jews in Palestine and the Diaspora.
Rome occupied Jerusalem. In 63 BCE the Roman General Pompey(106-48 BCE captured Jerusalem. By 70 CE, the Romans burned down the Jew's 2nd Temple and then the city itself. First he went to Syria and was there from 65-3 BCE. He became arbiter in the dispute between Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus for the throne of Judea. Pompey favored Hyrcanus, so he captured Jerusalem and the Temple from Aristobulus' supporters. He left the shrine intact, although entering the Holy of Holies. Judea was made tributary and stripped of the territories acquired by the Hasmoneans. Aristobulus and is family were taken to Rome to grace Pompey's triumph. Pompey effectively terminated Jewish independence enjoyed since Simon the Maccabee.
During the First Jewish–Roman War (66–73 CE), the population of Jerusalem was estimated at 600,000 persons by Roman historian Tacitus, while Josephus estimated that there were as many as 1,100,000 who were killed in the war—though this number included people who did not belong to the city itself. It was the worst time ever. People were starving to death.
Over the Temple, the Romans built their pagan Temple. Osorius describes Pompey as having 88 cohorts of Roman infantry, which at full strength would come to 44,000 men, while Brunt and Wylie estimated Pompey's Roman infantry as being as 38,000 men, and Greenhalgh said they contained a maximum of 36,000.
- Contubernium: consisted of 8 men.
- Centuria: (century) was made up of 10 contubernium with a total of 80 men commanded by a centurion.
- Cohorts: (cohort) included 6 centurie, a total of 480 men.
- Legio: (Legion) consisted of 10 cohorts, about 5,000 men.
A fundamental element of classical Roman warfare, ancient Rome’s marching camps were both an offensive and defensive tool for its military. (A Marching Camp).
By Arnold Blumberg
From the late 3rd century bc to the 3rd century ad, Roman troops on campaign built a defended camp at their resting place each night. Carefully detailed and prearranged in their location and manner of construction, these bivouac marching camps were made to accommodate the headquarters, personnel, animals, baggage, and camp followers of whatever military-sized formation was to be housed within. Today, a camp of this nature is referred to by historians as a Roman marching camp.
Very seldom does the literature of the classical Greeks mention camps. Even in the case of Alexander the Great and his successors, the strengthening of a camp is only touched upon under special circumstances, the implication being that it was not done otherwise. Supporting this contention is a passage by the ancient historian Polybius expressly stating that the Greeks, in order to save themselves the trouble of entrenching, sought out terrain with natural protection for their campsites.
Even the Romans did not employ fortified camps during their expansion on the Italian peninsula between 389 and 281 BCE. It was not until they encountered King Pyrrhus of Epirus and his Macedonian-type phalanx and Thessalian and Epirote cavalry that they started to rely on marching camps as a protective device.
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