History 413 (The Hebrews)
The Hebrews left no great works of art or
architecture. They
made virtually no contributions to astronomy,
medicine, physics, or
biology.
They created no mighty empire. And yet the Hebrews are
probably
the
most important of all ancient societies in terms of their impact on
subsequent
civilization. As more than one modern scholar has noted, no
member
of Western civilization can consider himself fully eduated if he is not
familiar with the Hebrews and their one major contribution to
subsequent
civilization, the Bible.
This course provides the familiarity with the
Hebrews
necessary to
a good understanding of Western civilization. It includes a
survey
of Hebrew history from the time of the Patriarchs to the time of the
Great
Diaspora. It also includes extensive readings from the Old
Testament
and the Deuterocanonicals.
