Hebrew Essay: Continuity And Cultural Diffusion

Kunal Pathade
11/10/13
10-6 WHAP
Hebrew Essay: Continuity and Cultural Diffusion The Jews lived to preserve their culture; that essentially represented the fundamental goal of life to the Jews. The Jews observed the decadence of the Sumerians as a cause of cultural diffusion, and wanted to make sure that same thing would not happen to them. Eventually, the Jews did become vulnerable to cultural diffusion around the 4th century CE when the Greek-Macedonians from the West came; the great and advanced Greek culture was adorned by the Jews, and as a result, the Greeks Hellenized the Jews. The Hellenized Jews and Greeks eventually translated the Torah and the Tanakh from the Hebrew language, to Greek. Before the Greeks, the Jews resisted
First, the Code of Hammurabi and the Ten Commandments represent cultural continuity and cultural diffusion. The Code of Hammurabi, the laws that dictated the lines along with the Babylonians should live, influenced the Hebrews in the creation of the Ten Commandments. In the Code of Hammurabi, the Babylonians utilized the concept of lex talionis, or the law of retaliation equal to offense; the Hebrews used this same concept in the creation of the Ten Commandments. The Hebrew priest wrote the Ten Commandments on steles; the Babylonians first found these steles, and wrote the Code of Hammurabi on them. The Ten Commandments paralleled the purpose of the Code of Hammurabi: to explain the relationship between man and God. Just as how Hammurabi climbed a mountain and received the Code of Hammurabi from the Babylonian chief God, Marduk, Moses climbed Mount Sinai, encountered God, and received the Ten Commandments. Second, Lilith the Goddess of the Euphrates River in Babylonian religion, represented continuity from the Babylonians to the Jews; the Jews however invoked the Goddess Lilith with a different meaning from the
First, in the 7th century BCE, the Assyrians arose, and conquered the Kingdom of Israel, representing cultural diffusion; the Assyrian rulers used a reign terror, or ruled by fear, which ultimately led to their military success. The Assyrians did not conquer the Kingdom of Judah, for they agreed to pay tribute. Second, the Assyrians developed an efficient imperial government, and constructed magnificent cities; the Assyrians built a city Nineveh in Babylon, and preserved many Sumerian books and literature in huge libraries there, representing continuity from Sumerian culture to Assyrian culture. Lastly, the Assyrians constructed roads and highways, which acted as agents of cultural diffusion, and allowed for contact with other peoples, such as the