Middle East Empires Jews Have Contended With

 Nadene Goldfoot                                     

As Israel's second king, David built a small empire. He conquered Jerusalem, which he made Israel's political and religious centre. He defeated the Philistines so thoroughly that they never seriously threatened the Israelites' security again, and he annexed the coastal region. David ruled from 1010 BCE to 970 BCE. 

 Israel is not trying to create their old empire, only wanting to live in their ancient land that is today's Judea and Samaria that has been divided into areas A,B, and C with C under Israeli control and B for both Arab and Israeli control.                              

The Assyrian Empire of Semites was an aggressive kingdom in the 20th century BCE.  It expanded rapidly in the 13th and 10th centuries BCE.  Lots of fighting during its existence occurred.  In 853 BCE, Shalmaneser  III attacked Ben -Hadad of Damascus and King Ahab-(876-853 BCE) 7th king after Solomon's death,  of Israel helped Damascus in the battle at Karkar.  Israel lost its territory in Transjordan and Galilee in 735 BCE to Tiglath-Pileser.  By 726 BCE, King Hosea (730-721 BCE) of Israel fought against Shalmaneser  V's siege of Samaria (northern part of Israel where 10 of the 12 tribes lived) and its capture in 721 BCE, led by Sargon.  Sargon  annexed the country and deported 27,290 Israelites to Assyria and Media, and replaced these with Syrian and Babylonian prisoners.                                 

The Babylonian Empire was ruled by Nebuchadnezzar II from 604-656 BCE.  He had inherited the Assyrian Empire, then conquered Judah in 597 BCE and again 11 years later  in 586 BCE, exiling many Jews to Babylon.  Babylonian Jews could keep in contact with Judean Jews.  They supplied leaders such as Hillel.  Babylonian Jews were activists, in later during the Roman Occupation of Jerusalem and fought against the Roman emperor Trajan in a revolt, only ending in 116 by Commander Lucius Quietus.  Babylon remained an active Jewish center.  

                                               

The Persian Empire, made up of 127 provinces,  wants to live again in the hands of the Ayatollahs of Iran. The capital was Susa (Shushan). Cyrus of Persia had taken over the Babylonian Empire in 538 BCE. It existed from the 4th century BCE onward.   Jews, both in Mesopotamia and Judah,  found themselves under Persian rule for the next 200 years.  Cyrus encouraged the Jews to leave and return to Jerusalem to rebuild their Temple  while Jerusalem was still a Persian province.  Being this huge land mass of Persia was unified politically, people could move from one area to the other easily.  

The area was then controlled by Parthia from 250 BCE onward, becoming a state by 225 CE.  under the Sassanid Dynasty, ruling over the ancient centers of intensive Jewish communities in Mesopotamia.                       

It appears that this ancient empire is being revitalized by the Ayatollas who have taken control of it today.  They are threatening the existence of Israel.   Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei (Persian: سید علی حسینی خامنه‌ای, born 19 April 1939) is a Twelver Shia marja' and the second and current supreme leader of Iran, in office since 1989.    He is the supreme ruler.   Khamenei officially succeeded Ruhollah Khomeini after Khomeini's death, being elected as the new Supreme Leader by the Assembly of Experts on 4 June 1989, for the past 33 years.                    

The Ottoman Empire, founded by Turks in 1299,  was also home to many Jews.  The Ottoman Empire, also known as the Turkish Empire, was an empire that controlled much of Southeast Europe, Western Asia, and Northern Africa between the 14th and early 20th centuries. It was founded at the end of the 13th century in northwestern Anatolia in the town of Söğüt by the Turkoman tribal leader Osman I.  The Ottoman Empire was one of the mightiest and longest-lasting dynasties in world history. This Islamic-run superpower ruled large areas of the Middle East, Eastern Europe and North Africa for more than 600 years.  They made the mistake of siding with the Germans in our first World War, and they lost, which meant that they lost their land, keeping only Turkey itself.  The Ottomans ruled Palestine from 1517 to 1917.  They had also taken Egypt, Yemen and Iraq in that same year.  

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is the 12th and current president of Turkey, who has held the office since 28 August 2014. Since 9 July 2018, Erdoğan has served as the first president under the new executive system of government. The president is directly elected by eligible Turkish voters for a five-year term, renewable once.  He seems to have the goal of reviving the Ottoman Empire, and has been a rather erratic president.  Right now he's being more friendly, possibly because of the Abrahamic Accords of friendliness towards Israel.  He's been a hot and cold member of NATO,, too.  He's been running into the Persian Empire desire to also renew their ancient position in the world, and is in the middle of Eastern and Western controls.                                   

 The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterranean Sea in Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia, ruled by emperors   Jews lived in Rome from 139 BCE. 

From the accession of Caesar Augustus as the first Roman emperor to the military anarchy of the 3rd century, it was a principate with Italy as the metropole of its provinces and the city of Rome as its sole capital.  

Rome remained the nominal capital of both parts until  476 CE when the imperial insignia were sent to Constantinople following the capture of the Western capital of Ravenna by the Germanic barbarians under Odoacer and the subsequent deposition of Romulus Augustulus. 

The adoption of Christianity as the state church of the Roman Empire in 380 CE and the fall of the Western Roman Empire to Germanic kings conventionally marks the end of classical antiquity and the beginning of the Middle Ages. 

Because of these events, along with the gradual Hellenization of the Eastern Roman Empire, historians distinguish the medieval Roman Empire that remained in the Eastern provinces as the Byzantine Empire.

Look for the deep red boot of Italy to get a grip on this map and see that the white area is the Mediterranean Sea.  

The Byzantine Empire founded on May 11, 330 CE was the medieval Roman Empire of the Eastern provinces. It's rule commenced in the 4th century CE.   It's capital was Constantinople  that ruled over a varying geographical area that up to the year 637, including  Palestine.  

It really was the continuation of the Roman Empire in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinople. It survived the fragmentation and fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century CE and continued to exist for an additional thousand years until the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453. During most of its existence, the empire remained the most powerful economic, cultural, and military force in Europe. The terms "Byzantine Empire" and "Eastern Roman Empire" were coined after the end of the realm; its citizens continued to refer to their empire simply as the Roman Empire, and to themselves as Romans—a term which Greeks continued to use for themselves into Ottoman times.  Although the Roman state continued and its traditions were maintained, modern historians distinguish Byzantium from its earlier incarnation because it was centered on Constantinople, oriented towards Greek rather than Latin culture, and characterised by Eastern Orthodox Christianity. 

Resource:

https://www.britannica.com/biography/David

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Khamenei#:~:text=Sayyid%20Ali%20Hosseini%20Khamenei%20(Persian,Iran%2C%20in%20office%20since%201989.

https://www.history.com/topics/middle-east/ottoman-empire#:~:text=The%20Ottoman%20Empire%20was%20one,for%20more%20than%20600%20years.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Empire

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_Turkey#:~:text=Recep%20Tayyip%20Erdo%C4%9Fan%20is%20the,%2Dyear%20term%2C%20renewable%20once.

A Time Machine Looking Back At Jews and Vikings of Europe

 Nadene Goldfoot                                      

Looking  back in Europe, Rome was the site of emerging Christianity by the 300s CE.  They held a meeting citing Judaism was to be restricted completely as their emerging Christianity developed.  Since Rome felt that Jews were competitors, not only in their religion, as many Romans were converting to Judaism, but in commerce as well.              

The Romans, now called the Byzantine Empire with the capital moved to Constantinople,  was predominant and by 637 had taken over Palestine.  Emperor Justinian in 527 to 565 created elaborate anti-Jewish laws in his Code affecting synagogue services.  The very practice of Judaism was formally forbidden by successive emperors.   In 640 and Jews were being forcibly converted to Christianity.  It continued in 721 and 873 with campaigns and attacks.  Then where did the Jews go?               

The Norman Conquest occurred in 1066, a very important year.  Following William the Conqueror were a handful of Jewish financiers from the Continent of Europe.  The next generation saw cities such as London, York, Canterbury established.  The financiers traded, lent money to the baronage, and advanced funds for current needs on security of the revenue to the Crown who protected them.  The English then were a mixture of Vikings and Anglo-Saxons trying to live together, with some Vikings trying to keep their Norse beliefs, and Jews were then entering the scene, trying to keep to their beliefs.  

What were the Normans? Norman, member of those Vikings, or Norsemen, who settled in northern France (or the Frankish kingdom), together with their descendants. The Normans founded the duchy of Normandy and sent out expeditions of conquest and colonization to southern Italy and Sicily and to England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland.

Anglo-Saxon writers called them Danes, Norsemen, Northmen, the Great Army, sea rovers, sea wolves, or the heathen. From around 860 CE onwards, Vikings stayed, settled and prospered in Britain, becoming part of the mix of people who today make up the British nation.  Britain was very primitive then, and Vikings were very brutal and powerful. 

William the Conqueror  (1028--9 September 1087), descendant of Rollo who was a Viking who became the first ruler of Normandy, today a region in northern France.  So Willian was also  the former Duke of Normandy. 

The blue shading is the Viking (Danish, Norse land of Britain)

The final Viking invasion of England came in 1066, when Harald Hardrada sailed up the River Humber and marched to Stamford Bridge with his men. His battle banner was called Land-waster. The English king, Harold Godwinson, marched north with his army and defeated Hardrada in a long and bloody battle. The English had repelled the last invasion from Scandinavia.   (William’s army crossed the English Channel on the night of 27–28 September 1066, just as King Harold marched north to fight an invading force led by King Harald Hardrada of Norway (reigned 1046–1066) and  the English Harold Godwinson’s own brother, Tostig.)  What are the odds in 1066 that the 2 incumbents of England and Norway would be both named Harold? Both had Viking genes. Many of the English people today carry Viking genes. The latest news is that only 6% of English carry Viking genes.  This is compared with Sweden who only has 10%.  

In 1290 the Jews were expulsed from England and wouldn't be allowed back in for the next 365 years. until 1655.  

Vikings settled in and raided many places in what is today called Germany, mainly along the Rhein river, the North Sea coast, and the Scandinavian borderlands.  Jews lived in Worms, Germany. 

13th century forced costuming for German Jews below.

       

                       Jewish man in Worms in 16th Century-

A pre-Roman foundation, Worms is one of the oldest cities in northern Europe. It was the capital of the Kingdom of the Burgundians in the early 5th century, hence is the scene of the medieval legends referring to this period.

By the year, 1,000 Worms, Germany became most important to Jews as their center with rabbis meeting together and working on understanding the Torah. 

Worms was a  town in Rhein-Hesse, grand duchy of Hesse, Germany. Like Mayence and Cologne, it has one of the oldest Jewish communities in Germany. A legend relates that the Jews of Worms were descended from the Benjamites who had migrated from Palestine to Germany. It is possible that there was a congregation there in the time of the Romans, but the first historical reference is the statement that Jews from this city visited the fair at Cologne about the year 1000.  The earliest authentic information regarding the community, however, dates back only to 1034. On Jan. 18, 1074, Emperor Henry IV. granted the "Jews and other citizens of Worms" exemption from customs duties in the royal-customs ports of Frankfort, Boppard, Dortmund, Goslar, etc., as a reward for their fidelity.

In 1096 the Christian German Crusade managed to massacre Jews in European Jews on their way to Jerusalem. The massacre at Worms was one of a number of attacks against Jewish communities perpetrated during the First Crusade (1096–1099). Followers of Count Emicho arrived at Worms on May 18, 1096. Soon after his arrival, a rumor spread that the Jews had boiled a Christian alive, and used his corpse to contaminate water to poison the town's wells. The local populace later joined forces with Emicho and launched a savage attack on the town's Jews, who had been given sanctuary in Bishop Adalbert's palace, though others chose to remain outside its walls. They were the first to be massacred.               

3 years later in Jerusalem the Crusaders massacred the Jews who lived there. This was one time when Jews and Arabs were on the same side as the Crusaders couldn't differentiate between the two, and wanted to wipe out both as it was.  

Scandinavian settlements in Eastern Europe actually date back to at least A.D. 750. This is when pre-Viking-Age Scandinavians likely settled the NW Russian town of Staraya Ladoga (or “Old Ladoga”), across Lake Ladoga from what is now Finland. One of the artifacts archaeologists have unearthed from the city is a talisman with the face of Odin, the Norse god of war.

For four centuries, Vikings held sway over parts of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, with the greatest expansion happening under Prince Oleg the Prophet. The historical people known as Vikings, who hailed from Scandinavia in Northern Europe, are well-known today for their exploits in the west. The merchant-warriors also made their way into Eastern Europe, where they helped found a medieval federation in territory now known as Belarus, Ukraine and part of Russia. Their loose federation of principalities called Kievan Rus survived for nearly 400 years, finally collapsing during the 13th-century Mongol invasion.

          By the 12th century, there was a Jewish gate mentioned in Kiev, Russia, so some Jews had gone there to try their hand in trading.  There was even a Jewish Quarter that had been looted in 1113.  However, Russian clauses written with foreign powers  in 1550 in treaties prohibited Jews from visiting the country. Jews must have been allowed in afterwards as they were expelled in 1727, 1738 and 1742.  Then in 1753, no surprise now, 35,000 Jews were driven out of Russia.  Catherine II permitted all aliens to live there except the Jews.  Why?  Our religion was different;  it wasn't Christianity.  This was the situation wherever they tried to live.

Jews were living in France before 70 CE when Jerusalem was burned to the ground by the Romans.  The 8th century was a safe time for Jews who were under the protection of Charle-magne and his house.  By the 9th century, southern France was the main center of the Radanites, international traders.  They were Jewish merchants who traveled between southern France and China. 

In Autumn 845, the Vikings were raiding Bordeaux, France and Saintes. Count Seguin II marched on them but was captured and executed.  Although the port of Bordeaux was a buzzing trade center, the stability and success of the city was threatened by Viking and Norman incursions and political instability. The restoration of the Ramnulfid Dukes of Aquitaine under William IV and his successors (known as the House of Poitiers) brought continuity of government.

A map of Europe showing Viking settlements during the Viking Age. Areas subjected to Viking raids but had no Vikings living there are shown in green.  France and Spain are pictured.  

In 1306 the Christian's religious fever reached France who expulsed their Jews of the land.

  A Norse fleet with its blood red sails landed in Galicia after sacking Bordeaux, and proceeded to plunder the coastal villages until they were halted by the troops of King Ramiro I of Asturias near A Coruña on the northwestern coast of Galicia.

King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, banishing Jews The earliest Viking raid on Spain took place in the year 844.

Then in 1355, the Christian religious zeal and demands came to Spain and Jews were expulsed from there. They had lived in Spain since the 1st century CE, going there after 70CE's burning of Jerusalem and expulsion of their land.  1492 was the final expulsion date when they fled to Portugal, next door, only to find that door close to them in a few more years. 

 “The forced conversion and deportation of the Jews of Spain and Portugal at the end of the 15th century were a dramatic shock wave for the Jewish society people, as one of the main Jewish centers was wiped out almost overnight. Many Jews either escaped to other places or converted to Christianity and became new Christians. Some Jews chose to maintain their Jewish identity secretly – those were the “conversos”. 

Christianity wasn't allowing Jews to live anywhere while the Vikings had been invading everywhere.   

Resource:

facts about Israel, Division of Information, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Jerusalem

https://metro.co.uk/2020/09/16/six-percent-of-uk-population-have-viking-dna-new-study-finds-13283006/#:~:text='State%20of%20the%20art'%20DNA,compared%20to%2010%25%20in%20Sweden.

https://www.history.org.uk/primary/resource/3867/the-vikings-in-britain-a-brief-history#:~:text=Anglo%2DSaxon%20writers%20called%20them,make%20up%20the%20British%20nation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worms,_Germany https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/15013-worms

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worms_massacre_(1096)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_the_Conqueror

https://www.bl.uk/people/william-the-conqueror#:~:text=William%2C%20Duke%20of%20Normandy%2C%20conquered%20England%20in%201066.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rollo

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viking_raid_on_Seville

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bordeauxhttps://theconversation.com/spains-little-known-viking-history-is-being-uncovered-165828#:~:text=The%20earliest%20Viking%20raid%20on,the%20northwestern%20coast%20of%20Galicia

https://metro.co.uk/2020/09/16/six-percent-of-uk-population-have-viking-dna-new-study-finds-13283006/#:~:text='State%20of%20the%20art'%20DNA,compared%20to%2010%25%20in%20Sweden.

https://www.anumuseum.org.il/the-expulsion-of-jews-from-spain/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=expulsion+from+spain&utm_campaign=g&device=c&gclid=Cj0KCQjwz7uRBhDRARIsAFqjulmzgvoBs-nzStXInjlRlQJWYmonIWORnB_7juRsnihHh9PyzmNO2t0aArNUEALw_wcB.

https://www.history.com/news/vikings-in-russia-kiev-rus-varangians-prince-oleg#:~:text=Dec%204%2C%202019-,For%20four%20centuries%2C%20Vikings%20held%20sway%20over%20parts%20of%20Russia,their%20exploits%20in%20the%20west.