Heth worries that the Hittite Empire will be attacked from without. His chariots are more than just new and showy war machines. They might make the difference between life and death as Sargon turns his eye toward Hattus. Zohar is more worried about corruption within. Tawananna and Elon's new life together puts them in the crosshairs of everyone who wants to destroy the fledgling empire. How many laws do they need? How many houses and walls? Winter puts off the danger of invasion for a time, but what will happen when the greatest warrior begins to feel the effects of Lamech's Curse?
How old is prejudice against black people? Were the racist attitudes that fueled the Atlantic slave trade firmly in place 700 years before the European discovery of sub-Saharan Africa? In this groundbreaking book, David Goldenberg seeks to discover how dark-skinned peoples, especially black Africans, were portrayed in the Bible and by those who interpreted the Bible--Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Unprecedented in rigor and breadth, his investigation covers a 1,500-year period, from ancient Israel (around 800 B.C.E.) to the eighth century C.E., after the birth of Islam. By tracing the development of anti-Black sentiment during this time, Goldenberg uncovers views about race, color, and slavery that took shape over the centuries--most centrally, the belief that the biblical Ham and his descendants, the black Africans, had been cursed by God with eternal slavery. Goldenberg begins by examining a host of references to black Africans in biblical and postbiblical Jewish literature. From there he moves the inquiry from Black as an ethnic group to black as color, and early Jewish attitudes toward dark skin color. He goes on to ask when the black African first became identified as slave in the Near East, and, in a powerful culmination, discusses the resounding influence of this identification on Jewish, Christian, and Islamic thinking, noting each tradition's exegetical treatment of pertinent biblical passages. Authoritative, fluidly written, and situated at a richly illuminating nexus of images, attitudes, and history, The Curse of Ham is sure to have a profound and lasting impact on the perennial debate over the roots of racism and slavery, and on the study of early Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
How Torah testimony and ancient civilization align. The result is the strongest chronology of the one historic actuality. Review edition 1.62 Dated 10 Cheshvan, 5778 / Oct. 30, 2017
Recent flashpoints in Black-Jewish relations--Louis Farrakhan's Million Man March, the violence in Crown Heights, Leonard Jeffries' polemical speeches, the O.J. Simpson verdict, and the contentious responses to these events--suggest just how wide the gap has become in the fragile coalition that was formed during the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. Instead of critical dialogue and respectful exchange, we have witnessed battles that too often consist of vulgar name-calling and self-righteous finger-pointing. Absent from these exchanges are two vitally important and potentially healing elements: Comprehension of the actual history between Blacks and Jews, and level-headed discussion of the many issues that currently divide the two groups. In Struggles in the Promised Land, editors Jack Salzman and Cornel West bring together twenty-one illuminating essays that fill precisely this absence. As Salzman makes clear in his introduction, the purpose of this collection is not to offer quick fixes to the present crisis but to provide a clarifying historical framework from which lasting solutions may emerge. Where historical knowledge is lacking, rhetoric comes rushing in, and Salzman asserts that the true history of Black-Jewish relations remains largely untold. To communicate that history, the essays gathered here move from the common demonization of Blacks and Jews in the Middle Ages; to an accurate assessment of Jewish involvement of the slave trade; to the confluence of Black migration from the South and Jewish immigration from Europe into Northern cities between 1880 and 1935; to the meaningful alliance forged during the Civil Rights movement and the conflicts over Black Power and the struggle in the Middle East that effectively ended that alliance. The essays also provide reasoned discussion of such volatile issues as affirmative action, Zionism, Blacks and Jews in the American Left, educational relations between the two groups, and the real and perceived roles Hollywood has play in the current tensions. The book concludes with personal pieces by Patricia Williams, Letty Cottin Pogrebin, Michael Walzer, and Cornel West, who argues that the need to promote Black-Jewish alliances is, above all, a "moral endeavor that exemplifies ways in which the most hated group in European history and the most hated group in U.S. history can coalesce in the name of precious democratic ideals." At a time when accusations come more readily than careful consideration, Struggles in the Promised Land offers a much-needed voice of reason and historical understanding. Distinguished by the caliber of its contributors, the inclusiveness of its focus, and the thoughtfulness of its writing, Salzman and West's book lays the groundwork for future discussions and will be essential reading for anyone interested in contemporary American culture and race relations.
"A servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren." So reads Noah's curse on his son Ham, and all his descendants, in Genesis 9:25. Over centuries of interpretation, Ham came to be identified as the ancestor of black Africans, and Noah's curse to be seen as biblical justification for American slavery and segregation. Examining the history of the American interpretation of Noah's curse, this book begins with an overview of the prior history of the reception of this scripture and then turns to the distinctive and creative ways in which the curse was appropriated by American pro-slavery and pro-segregation interpreters.
Ephron's father Zohar chooses him to lead their family. He not only has vital skills to ensure the security and growth of their tribe but he is still unmarried. Zohar plans to unite the Hittite tribes using Ephron and his sister as peace children in arranged marriages. Marauding enemies and rising waters threaten the homelands of fellow Hittites but no one wants to sacrifice autonomy just for safety, food, clothing, and shelter. Family patriarch Heth's arrival might settle the unrest, but when he does not appear, his representatives find rising tensions and a need for desperate action to show strength, unity, and prosperity. Ephron can't force Shelometh, his intended bride, to marry him. Will she make his tireless work pay off, or destroy his future and her own?
"Noah's sons remained perfect in a world that was already decaying. Their education, training, and abilities came from the world they grew up in. What had once been normal is extraordinary by the time this story takes place, four hundred years after the Flood. Shem is faithful, like his father. Japheth is a free spirit living in the north. Ham is dangerous, and now that Noah is dead, he is seeking revenge. This book combines a literal view of the Bible with the idea that if Noah's sons lived long enough because of genetic perfection, then that perfection also showed itself in other aspects of their lives. Add giants, dinosaurs and Bible characters, mix in hatred, love, sacrifice, and courage, and you have a tale of adventure worthy of the Sons of Noah"--Page 4 of cover.
