Chapters 1-4

Chapters 1-4 were very long. 80 pages is a lot of material, however with respect to Jersualem's history, it probably is fitting. I thought that the material seemed pretty dense, however in the same breath refreshing. It was fantastic to have the history, of what is present day Israel, compiled in front of me. I thought it was mostly holistic, or at least as complete as four chapters can be on history.

Karen Armstrong does thorough job of summarizing of the people who controlled the land North of the Sinai and West of Jordan during the time before Christ. Obviously it is impossible to know exactly who controlled what piece of land when. However, she does give the less-informed reader a solid frame of reference.

These chapters are pretty much the reason why I chose to take this course. I wanted the old history of the conflict. From my education in Arabic history, I understand what was going on in that region starting in the late sixth century, however prior to that I was not well informed.

Her perspective, or at least the third person viewpoint, from which she writes is kind of like she is narrating what is happening from a non-bible viewpoint. What  I mean is that, my perceptions of the Israelites, at this time period, is mostly from a christian, old testament education. This piece allowed me or showed me how to look at the Israelites exodus from Egypt, in a different way.