WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.919
 So last week we talked about Assyria.

00:00:02.240 --> 00:00:04.700
 This week, John Belts will be talking about Babylon.

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 Next week is Easter Sunday, so no Sunday school.

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 And then the following week we'll conclude with Persia.

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 As you know, John's a Ph.D. candidate in the Assyriology program

00:00:15.359 --> 00:00:18.900
 at the Yale Department of Near Eastern.

00:00:19.559 --> 00:00:21.839
 Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations.

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 Let's open in a word of prayer.

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 Father in heaven, we thank you for this opportunity to learn about your word

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 and to learn about your world.

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 We ask that you would bless John with insight.

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 You would help him to show us all the beautiful connections, Lord,

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 that the Bible has with history.

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 We pray that you would open our hearts to your Holy Spirit,

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 to work in them, Lord, and that we would not merely gain intellectual knowledge,

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 but knowledge of you.

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 We pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

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 Amen.

00:00:56.299 --> 00:00:56.739
 Okay.

00:00:56.740 --> 00:00:56.859
 Okay.

00:00:57.620 --> 00:00:58.560
 Welcome, everybody.

00:00:58.820 --> 00:01:03.079
 Glad that you all decided to come back and hear me ramble on again.

00:01:03.780 --> 00:01:04.460
 So that's good.

00:01:06.060 --> 00:01:10.219
 As Tom said, we're talking about some of the different major empires

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 and geopolitical figures that show up in the Hebrew Bible.

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 And last week we talked about Assyria,

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 and this week we're going to talk about Babylonia,

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 or the Neo-Babylonian Empire,

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 and we'll talk a little bit about what that means.

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 So just a quick recap from last time.

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 We talked a little bit about how the ancient Israelites and the Judeans

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 were sort of smaller, weaker powers trapped sort of in between larger sort of superpowers of their day.

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 And the ones that we're focusing, so Egypt on this side,

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 and a series of different empires on this side.

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 So those are the three that we're looking at, Assyria, Babylonia, Persia.

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 Okay.

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 So we talked about that.

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 We talked about how even though they are sort of smaller nations that don't have a lot of power in and of themselves,

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 they do sort of form this land bridge between Africa, Asia, and Europe.

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 And so these larger powers did want to control that area.

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 So this is why a lot of these superpowers will have an interest in the area where Israel and Judah are,

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 even though they're not necessarily the biggest players on the stage.

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 So let's go through Assyria.

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 You can see me being scared again.

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 Babylonia.

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 Okay.

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 So let's start with three.

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 There's a number of different verses, several hundred verses, right,

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 in the Hebrew Bible that mention Babylonia specifically.

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 But I pulled three just to sort of talk about,

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 just to get us sort of started in thinking about who these people are as we encounter them in the Bible.

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 Right.

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 So in 2 Kings 25,

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 we first hear about how King Nebuchadnezzar came to Jerusalem,

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 besieged it,

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 and conquered the city and sacked it

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 and deported a large amount of the population to Babylonia.

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 So Babylon appears as a very sort of like destructive force,

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 and this is a very traumatic event that happens in the history of Israel and Judah.

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 But then we hear later in the same chapter

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 that 37 years into his exile,

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 King Jehoiachin of Judah

00:03:55.659 --> 00:04:01.479
 is released under Nebuchadnezzar's successor

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 and allowed to sort of live in Babylon

00:04:04.099 --> 00:04:05.860
 and at least not be a prisoner,

00:04:06.080 --> 00:04:06.439
 but be,

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 I don't know,

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 someone less than,

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 slightly less than a prisoner,

00:04:11.400 --> 00:04:12.280
 house arrest maybe.

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 And then finally in Jeremiah,

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 and this happens a number of other places,

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 but again,

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 this is just emblematic,

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 where God says,

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 promises that he is going to destroy

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 Babylon

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 for what it's done to his people.

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 And he says,

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 as I punished the king of Assyria.

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 So already we're seeing this sort of a,

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 you know,

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 an idea that there is a sort of succession

00:04:40.840 --> 00:04:42.080
 of these empires.

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 So we have these three different sort of depictions

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 sort of of the Babylonians that we find in the Hebrew Bible.

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 One very much of destruction and trauma,

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 one of Judeans living in Babylonia,

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 and one of sort of God's retribution against Babylon

00:05:05.620 --> 00:05:08.880
 for the destruction of Jerusalem.

00:05:12.360 --> 00:05:13.000
 Okay.

00:05:14.760 --> 00:05:18.680
 So let's talk a little bit about the history of the Babylonian Empire.

00:05:18.680 --> 00:05:20.620
 As I said,

00:05:20.680 --> 00:05:21.800
 last week we talked about Assyria,

00:05:22.139 --> 00:05:26.720
 and I mentioned the sort of downfall of the Assyrian Empire.

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 The Assyrians were sort of projected out from their sort of main core area

00:05:35.639 --> 00:05:38.579
 and took over much of the Near East as we know it,

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 down into even as far as Egypt,

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 and were known for their excessive cruelty

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 and bragging about their excessive cruelty.

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 And eventually this sort of caught up with them

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 and the people of Babylonia down here

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 and another group called the Medes up here

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 sort of formed an alliance

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 and attacked the Assyrian heartland

00:06:03.980 --> 00:06:06.219
 and sacked all of their capital cities

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 and basically ended the Assyrian Empire.

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 So with that,

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 with the collapse of the Assyrian Empire,

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 there's sort of a power vacuum.

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 Somebody has to take over.

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 And the king of Babylonia,

00:06:26.000 --> 00:06:26.819
 Nabopolassar,

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 who was Nebuchadnezzar's father,

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 we'll get to Nebuchadnezzar in a couple minutes,

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 sort of begins to,

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 there we go,

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 begins to sort of reincorporate

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 as much of the Assyrian holdings

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 into his empire as he could.

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 This happens particularly more than

00:06:47.319 --> 00:06:49.300
 under Nebuchadnezzar II as well,

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 who is the biblical Nebuchadnezzar.

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 We call this period the Babylonian Empire.

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 It lasts for a little under 100 years.

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 Babylonia and Babylon as we know it

00:07:03.560 --> 00:07:07.379
 have been around for a good 2,000 years or so

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 before this.

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 So if in school,

00:07:09.899 --> 00:07:10.980
 if you ever learned about Hammurabi

00:07:10.980 --> 00:07:12.600
 and his famous law code,

00:07:12.719 --> 00:07:15.659
 that's back maybe during the time of Abraham.

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 So this is a long time before this.

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 But sort of like we did with Assyrian history,

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 I want to break down

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 the Neo-Babylonian Empire

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 into three phases

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 because three is a good number

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 and it's easy to sort of divide things

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 into parts of three.

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 So the first one is expansion and consolidation.

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 This is sort of in the aftermath

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 of the collapse of Assyria

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 and Nebuchadnezzar

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 and Nebuchadnezzar

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 sort of are sort of consolidating

00:07:48.379 --> 00:07:50.860
 their hold on this territory.

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 And this is going to cover,

00:07:55.840 --> 00:07:56.580
 again, we'll get to this

00:07:56.580 --> 00:07:57.819
 when we talk about biblical connections

00:07:57.819 --> 00:07:58.420
 in a little bit.

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 But this is going to cover

00:08:01.719 --> 00:08:05.459
 the period when Judah is destroyed.

00:08:08.540 --> 00:08:09.920
 Sorry, I missed this last time too.

00:08:10.079 --> 00:08:11.740
 I always forget to give the outline

00:08:11.740 --> 00:08:12.339
 of what I'm doing.

00:08:12.480 --> 00:08:13.519
 We're going to first talk about

00:08:13.519 --> 00:08:15.399
 the history of the Neo-Babylonian Empire

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 and then we'll go over some notes

00:08:17.240 --> 00:08:18.240
 about sort of their culture

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 and then finally we'll hit

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 with more biblical connections.

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 Again, I missed that last time too.

00:08:23.259 --> 00:08:23.819
 So.

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 So we first have this period

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 of expansion and consolidation.

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 After Nebuchadnezzar dies,

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 there's what we could call

00:08:36.519 --> 00:08:38.360
 sort of a revolving door of kings.

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 We have this king, Amal Marduk.

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 In the Bible, his name is rendered

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 in Hebrew as Evel Marodach.

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 And he reigns for about two years

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 and then we have three more kings,

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 two or three more kings after him

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 who reign for even less than that.

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 So it's a very, very quick turnover of kings,

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 usually not a good sign of stability.

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 And then we hit our third period

00:09:11.519 --> 00:09:15.960
 of what I've termed to be dramatic

00:09:15.960 --> 00:09:20.960
 the mad king, Nabonidus.

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 Nabonidus was a military commander

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 under Nebuchadnezzar

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 and he, after some of these weak kings

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 sort of launched a military coup,

00:09:32.160 --> 00:09:32.680
 took over,

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 and actually did sort of have

00:09:34.359 --> 00:09:36.219
 a relatively lengthy reign

00:09:36.219 --> 00:09:37.099
 even though he was sort of

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 an elderly man already by that point.

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 He and sort of his son Belshazzar

00:09:45.879 --> 00:09:50.079
 also did some of the ruling at that point.

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 There may have been a co-regency

00:09:51.299 --> 00:09:52.819
 between them for a little bit.

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 The reason I call him the mad king

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 is that he seems to have had

00:09:59.819 --> 00:10:00.919
 a particular,

00:10:01.139 --> 00:10:01.679
 we'll get into this

00:10:01.679 --> 00:10:02.959
 with Babylonian culture a little bit.

00:10:03.359 --> 00:10:04.259
 But he seems to have had

00:10:04.259 --> 00:10:05.439
 a particular fascination

00:10:05.439 --> 00:10:06.459
 with the moon god

00:10:06.459 --> 00:10:10.879
 and sort of really pushed

00:10:10.879 --> 00:10:13.120
 the worship of the moon god

00:10:13.120 --> 00:10:14.059
 over and above

00:10:14.059 --> 00:10:16.059
 some of the other deities

00:10:16.059 --> 00:10:16.959
 that were more common

00:10:16.959 --> 00:10:18.319
 in Babylonia.

00:10:19.279 --> 00:10:21.439
 And this may have put him at odds

00:10:21.439 --> 00:10:22.679
 with some of the priesthood

00:10:23.219 --> 00:10:24.359
 of some of these different gods

00:10:24.360 --> 00:10:28.519
 and other sort of powerful figures

00:10:28.519 --> 00:10:31.860
 in Babylonian society.

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 He also campaigned down into Tema,

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 which is today in Saudi Arabia,

00:10:38.080 --> 00:10:40.639
 and spent a number of years living there,

00:10:41.139 --> 00:10:43.159
 which is when he left his son Belshazzar

00:10:43.159 --> 00:10:44.539
 as sort of either a co-regent

00:10:44.539 --> 00:10:47.399
 or a governor in Babylonia itself.

00:10:47.399 --> 00:10:50.100
 And historians are a little divided

00:10:50.100 --> 00:10:51.600
 as to why he ran away

00:10:51.600 --> 00:10:53.579
 to the Arabian desert

00:10:53.579 --> 00:10:54.459
 for several years.

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 Some people who really lean into the idea

00:10:57.740 --> 00:10:59.340
 that he was like a mad king

00:10:59.340 --> 00:11:02.259
 really think that he had,

00:11:02.559 --> 00:11:02.899
 you know,

00:11:02.959 --> 00:11:04.379
 some kind of religious epiphany

00:11:04.379 --> 00:11:05.639
 that like he was just like,

00:11:05.679 --> 00:11:07.199
 I need to go to the desert

00:11:07.199 --> 00:11:08.299
 and worship the moon god.

00:11:09.340 --> 00:11:10.459
 Other people think,

00:11:10.460 --> 00:11:13.220
 I think that it's more likely

00:11:13.220 --> 00:11:16.440
 that he's trying to control

00:11:16.440 --> 00:11:17.360
 certain trade routes

00:11:17.360 --> 00:11:18.360
 that came up through.

00:11:19.160 --> 00:11:19.660
 Down,

00:11:20.480 --> 00:11:20.700
 okay,

00:11:20.759 --> 00:11:21.259
 off the screen,

00:11:21.420 --> 00:11:22.420
 in Yemen today,

00:11:22.560 --> 00:11:22.700
 right?

00:11:23.060 --> 00:11:26.460
 There's a trade in frankincense

00:11:26.460 --> 00:11:27.040
 and spice

00:11:27.040 --> 00:11:29.320
 that would,

00:11:29.320 --> 00:11:34.259
 moves up through this area here.

00:11:35.280 --> 00:11:36.420
 And this was becoming

00:11:36.420 --> 00:11:37.560
 a real lucrative trade

00:11:37.560 --> 00:11:38.019
 at this point.

00:11:38.100 --> 00:11:39.379
 Think like oil today,

00:11:39.500 --> 00:11:39.660
 right?

00:11:39.659 --> 00:11:41.120
 You can control an oil pipeline,

00:11:41.579 --> 00:11:42.360
 right?

00:11:42.419 --> 00:11:43.259
 This is one of the things now

00:11:43.259 --> 00:11:45.319
 with the Russia and Ukraine thing

00:11:45.319 --> 00:11:45.639
 is,

00:11:46.240 --> 00:11:46.519
 you know,

00:11:46.579 --> 00:11:50.159
 if people cut off,

00:11:50.939 --> 00:11:51.339
 anyway,

00:11:51.519 --> 00:11:53.000
 modern geopolitics.

00:11:54.939 --> 00:11:55.879
 We'll stick with Babylon.

00:11:56.000 --> 00:11:57.600
 I'm better with Babylonian geopolitics.

00:12:00.059 --> 00:12:00.659
 So he,

00:12:00.819 --> 00:12:01.399
 it's possible

00:12:01.399 --> 00:12:02.019
 that he may have wanted

00:12:02.019 --> 00:12:02.639
 to control

00:12:02.639 --> 00:12:03.919
 some of these trade routes

00:12:03.919 --> 00:12:04.480
 in spice

00:12:04.480 --> 00:12:05.399
 because that's a very,

00:12:05.579 --> 00:12:06.159
 would have provided

00:12:06.159 --> 00:12:06.899
 a lot of wealth.

00:12:08.639 --> 00:12:09.299
 But at any rate,

00:12:09.299 --> 00:12:09.779
 he stayed there

00:12:09.779 --> 00:12:10.659
 for a number of years

00:12:10.659 --> 00:12:12.120
 and then

00:12:12.120 --> 00:12:15.620
 ended up returning

00:12:15.620 --> 00:12:16.179
 to Babylon.

00:12:16.659 --> 00:12:17.419
 But later,

00:12:17.639 --> 00:12:18.159
 later,

00:12:19.279 --> 00:12:20.199
 Babylonian authors

00:12:20.199 --> 00:12:21.620
 who wrote about this

00:12:21.620 --> 00:12:23.939
 sort of portrayed him

00:12:23.939 --> 00:12:24.259
 as,

00:12:24.339 --> 00:12:25.740
 as kind of a mad king

00:12:25.740 --> 00:12:27.679
 who angered the gods

00:12:27.679 --> 00:12:29.240
 by pursuing this other cult

00:12:29.240 --> 00:12:30.919
 and stuff like that.

00:12:30.959 --> 00:12:32.000
 So there were a lot of people,

00:12:32.279 --> 00:12:33.379
 even in Babylon itself,

00:12:33.379 --> 00:12:34.740
 who really didn't like him.

00:12:34.740 --> 00:12:37.740
 And so when we get to,

00:12:39.060 --> 00:12:41.039
 do I have a slide here?

00:12:41.259 --> 00:12:41.399
 Oh,

00:12:41.899 --> 00:12:42.480
 we'll come back to that.

00:12:42.759 --> 00:12:43.259
 So basically,

00:12:43.419 --> 00:12:44.700
 the end of

00:12:44.700 --> 00:12:46.759
 the Babylonian empire

00:12:46.759 --> 00:12:49.320
 will come when

00:12:49.320 --> 00:12:50.960
 the,

00:12:51.899 --> 00:12:52.799
 and we'll hit this again

00:12:52.799 --> 00:12:53.379
 next time,

00:12:53.440 --> 00:12:54.340
 more in detail,

00:12:54.820 --> 00:12:56.240
 but when the Medes,

00:12:56.360 --> 00:12:56.680
 again,

00:12:57.840 --> 00:12:59.340
 team up with a different group,

00:12:59.519 --> 00:13:00.100
 the Persians,

00:13:00.100 --> 00:13:02.060
 actually the Persians

00:13:02.060 --> 00:13:02.800
 team up with the Medes,

00:13:02.840 --> 00:13:03.540
 if you want to look at it

00:13:03.540 --> 00:13:03.840
 that way,

00:13:03.879 --> 00:13:04.740
 that Persians take over

00:13:04.740 --> 00:13:05.139
 the Medes.

00:13:06.120 --> 00:13:06.860
 But a guy named,

00:13:07.000 --> 00:13:07.700
 by the name of Cyrus,

00:13:08.340 --> 00:13:09.060
 who is the king

00:13:09.060 --> 00:13:09.700
 of the Persians,

00:13:10.500 --> 00:13:12.940
 invades Babylonia

00:13:12.940 --> 00:13:15.420
 and probably,

00:13:15.620 --> 00:13:16.120
 seems to have had

00:13:16.120 --> 00:13:17.360
 a pretty easy time

00:13:17.360 --> 00:13:18.580
 conquering it

00:13:18.580 --> 00:13:19.340
 and it's thought

00:13:19.340 --> 00:13:20.080
 that there were

00:13:20.080 --> 00:13:20.720
 a lot of people

00:13:20.720 --> 00:13:22.040
 who wanted a turnover

00:13:22.040 --> 00:13:22.800
 of regime

00:13:22.800 --> 00:13:24.080
 after Nabonidus' reign.

00:13:24.080 --> 00:13:26.580
 So,

00:13:27.180 --> 00:13:28.460
 Cyrus will take over

00:13:28.460 --> 00:13:30.300
 and inaugurate

00:13:30.300 --> 00:13:31.660
 the Persian empire,

00:13:31.780 --> 00:13:32.280
 which we'll look at

00:13:32.280 --> 00:13:32.660
 next time.

00:13:34.740 --> 00:13:35.680
 So this is a,

00:13:35.740 --> 00:13:37.280
 it's a fairly short,

00:13:37.340 --> 00:13:37.520
 again,

00:13:37.620 --> 00:13:38.379
 moving from about

00:13:38.379 --> 00:13:40.120
 the 620s

00:13:40.120 --> 00:13:41.780
 to the 530s

00:13:41.780 --> 00:13:42.680
 BC,

00:13:42.900 --> 00:13:43.040
 right?

00:13:43.100 --> 00:13:43.720
 So that's just

00:13:43.720 --> 00:13:46.080
 90-ish years

00:13:46.080 --> 00:13:47.680
 for an empire.

00:13:47.820 --> 00:13:48.360
 It's not very,

00:13:48.379 --> 00:13:49.020
 not very long

00:13:49.020 --> 00:13:49.900
 compared to the Assyrians

00:13:49.900 --> 00:13:50.740
 who had a couple

00:13:50.740 --> 00:13:51.400
 hundred years

00:13:51.400 --> 00:13:52.200
 under their belt.

00:13:52.200 --> 00:13:54.680
 But it's incredibly

00:13:54.680 --> 00:13:55.920
 influential,

00:13:56.379 --> 00:13:58.580
 partly because of

00:13:58.580 --> 00:14:00.759
 some of the things

00:14:00.759 --> 00:14:01.200
 that they do,

00:14:01.280 --> 00:14:02.460
 such as sacking Jerusalem,

00:14:02.960 --> 00:14:03.740
 which, of course,

00:14:03.780 --> 00:14:04.420
 ends up in the Bible

00:14:04.420 --> 00:14:05.800
 and we have it today.

00:14:08.640 --> 00:14:09.580
 But I wanted to

00:14:09.580 --> 00:14:11.060
 next look at

00:14:11.060 --> 00:14:12.540
 some things about

00:14:12.540 --> 00:14:13.320
 Babylonian culture.

00:14:14.180 --> 00:14:15.660
 So these are

00:14:15.660 --> 00:14:16.420
 some different

00:14:16.420 --> 00:14:18.060
 clay tablets

00:14:18.060 --> 00:14:18.860
 that we have here

00:14:18.860 --> 00:14:19.680
 in the Babylonian

00:14:19.680 --> 00:14:20.440
 collection at Yale.

00:14:20.440 --> 00:14:22.260
 I showed,

00:14:22.400 --> 00:14:22.760
 when we did

00:14:22.760 --> 00:14:23.200
 the Assyrians,

00:14:23.300 --> 00:14:23.920
 I showed some

00:14:23.920 --> 00:14:25.760
 clay objects

00:14:25.760 --> 00:14:26.520
 before with

00:14:26.520 --> 00:14:27.200
 writing on,

00:14:27.320 --> 00:14:27.840
 so these have

00:14:27.840 --> 00:14:28.460
 a writing system

00:14:28.460 --> 00:14:29.140
 called cuneiform

00:14:29.140 --> 00:14:29.900
 on them,

00:14:29.940 --> 00:14:30.460
 which is written

00:14:30.460 --> 00:14:31.980
 with signs

00:14:31.980 --> 00:14:32.540
 that are sort of

00:14:32.540 --> 00:14:33.120
 these little

00:14:33.120 --> 00:14:35.180
 triangular wedge

00:14:35.180 --> 00:14:35.580
 shapes

00:14:35.580 --> 00:14:38.100
 that are incised

00:14:38.100 --> 00:14:38.780
 into clay.

00:14:40.140 --> 00:14:41.040
 And I should have

00:14:41.040 --> 00:14:41.580
 put a better

00:14:41.580 --> 00:14:42.600
 view of what

00:14:42.600 --> 00:14:43.240
 that looks like,

00:14:43.740 --> 00:14:45.420
 but I didn't.

00:14:45.660 --> 00:14:45.980
 We'll have to

00:14:45.980 --> 00:14:46.360
 look at these.

00:14:46.360 --> 00:14:48.700
 And this is

00:14:48.700 --> 00:14:49.120
 what I spend

00:14:49.120 --> 00:14:49.980
 a lot of my

00:14:49.980 --> 00:14:50.940
 time looking at,

00:14:51.019 --> 00:14:51.600
 are these

00:14:51.600 --> 00:14:53.039
 beautiful objects

00:14:53.039 --> 00:14:53.600
 that some people

00:14:53.600 --> 00:14:54.240
 think look like

00:14:54.240 --> 00:14:54.840
 rocks and some

00:14:54.840 --> 00:14:55.220
 people think

00:14:55.220 --> 00:14:55.600
 look like

00:14:55.600 --> 00:14:55.919
 cookies.

00:14:56.840 --> 00:14:58.800
 But I had a

00:14:58.800 --> 00:14:58.980
 picture,

00:14:59.139 --> 00:14:59.639
 every now and

00:14:59.639 --> 00:15:00.000
 then I'll post

00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:00.759
 a picture online

00:15:00.759 --> 00:15:01.180
 of myself

00:15:01.180 --> 00:15:01.919
 holding a tablet

00:15:01.919 --> 00:15:02.440
 and someone

00:15:02.440 --> 00:15:02.759
 will be like,

00:15:02.800 --> 00:15:03.259
 oh, wow,

00:15:03.500 --> 00:15:03.899
 did you bake

00:15:03.899 --> 00:15:04.259
 cookies?

00:15:04.639 --> 00:15:05.279
 No, no.

00:15:06.360 --> 00:15:07.279
 No, it's not

00:15:07.279 --> 00:15:07.639
 a cookie.

00:15:09.399 --> 00:15:11.240
 But I do see

00:15:11.240 --> 00:15:11.820
 the resemblance.

00:15:11.860 --> 00:15:12.259
 It's fair.

00:15:12.259 --> 00:15:13.980
 Anyway, so

00:15:13.980 --> 00:15:15.240
 this is what

00:15:15.240 --> 00:15:16.639
 a lot of

00:15:16.639 --> 00:15:17.200
 these big

00:15:17.200 --> 00:15:17.939
 empires in

00:15:17.939 --> 00:15:18.580
 Mesopotamia

00:15:18.580 --> 00:15:19.139
 wrote on.

00:15:19.419 --> 00:15:20.340
 They wrote on

00:15:20.340 --> 00:15:21.220
 these tablets

00:15:21.220 --> 00:15:21.679
 of clay

00:15:21.679 --> 00:15:22.080
 with this

00:15:22.080 --> 00:15:22.500
 sort of

00:15:22.500 --> 00:15:24.220
 impressing

00:15:24.220 --> 00:15:24.879
 these sort

00:15:24.879 --> 00:15:25.399
 of wedge-shaped

00:15:25.399 --> 00:15:25.939
 signs into

00:15:25.939 --> 00:15:26.100
 them.

00:15:27.139 --> 00:15:27.580
 And the

00:15:27.580 --> 00:15:28.139
 Babylonians in

00:15:28.139 --> 00:15:28.720
 particular had

00:15:28.720 --> 00:15:29.539
 a very rich

00:15:29.539 --> 00:15:30.179
 culture in

00:15:30.179 --> 00:15:30.480
 this.

00:15:32.100 --> 00:15:32.879
 So much

00:15:32.879 --> 00:15:33.799
 so that

00:15:33.799 --> 00:15:34.980
 they

00:15:34.980 --> 00:15:37.600
 were in

00:15:37.600 --> 00:15:38.100
 many ways

00:15:38.100 --> 00:15:38.819
 more culturally

00:15:38.819 --> 00:15:39.740
 powerful than

00:15:39.740 --> 00:15:40.159
 Assyria.

00:15:40.159 --> 00:15:43.240
 So the

00:15:43.240 --> 00:15:43.639
 Assyrians

00:15:43.639 --> 00:15:44.480
 actually would,

00:15:44.980 --> 00:15:45.419
 when they

00:15:45.419 --> 00:15:46.639
 were the

00:15:46.639 --> 00:15:47.179
 big power

00:15:47.179 --> 00:15:48.179
 on the

00:15:48.179 --> 00:15:49.079
 scene,

00:15:49.480 --> 00:15:50.000
 would actually

00:15:50.000 --> 00:15:50.699
 imitate

00:15:50.699 --> 00:15:52.379
 Babylonian

00:15:52.379 --> 00:15:52.719
 culture.

00:15:53.179 --> 00:15:53.500
 So they

00:15:53.500 --> 00:15:54.139
 would import

00:15:54.139 --> 00:15:54.799
 Babylonian

00:15:54.799 --> 00:15:55.899
 literature and

00:15:55.899 --> 00:15:57.279
 scribes and

00:15:57.279 --> 00:15:59.339
 ideologies and

00:15:59.339 --> 00:15:59.699
 different things

00:15:59.699 --> 00:16:00.019
 like that.

00:16:00.240 --> 00:16:00.860
 And even in

00:16:00.860 --> 00:16:01.480
 some of the

00:16:01.480 --> 00:16:03.199
 royal inscriptions

00:16:03.199 --> 00:16:04.039
 that the

00:16:04.039 --> 00:16:04.659
 Assyrian kings

00:16:04.659 --> 00:16:05.139
 made, they

00:16:05.139 --> 00:16:05.799
 would imitate

00:16:05.799 --> 00:16:07.279
 the language

00:16:07.279 --> 00:16:08.459
 of Babylonia

00:16:08.459 --> 00:16:09.579
 because it

00:16:09.579 --> 00:16:09.939
 always just

00:16:09.940 --> 00:16:10.340
 had more of

00:16:10.340 --> 00:16:10.680
 a cultural

00:16:10.680 --> 00:16:11.120
 force to

00:16:11.120 --> 00:16:11.280
 it.

00:16:13.040 --> 00:16:14.120
 But the

00:16:14.120 --> 00:16:14.660
 Babylonians

00:16:14.660 --> 00:16:15.580
 were, like

00:16:15.580 --> 00:16:16.000
 the Assyrians,

00:16:16.120 --> 00:16:16.620
 also very

00:16:16.620 --> 00:16:17.620
 militarily

00:16:17.620 --> 00:16:18.100
 powerful.

00:16:19.980 --> 00:16:20.200
 They

00:16:20.200 --> 00:16:21.700
 practiced, we

00:16:21.700 --> 00:16:21.960
 talked about

00:16:21.960 --> 00:16:22.180
 with the

00:16:22.180 --> 00:16:22.800
 Assyrians, how

00:16:22.800 --> 00:16:23.320
 they practiced

00:16:23.320 --> 00:16:23.880
 sort of this

00:16:23.880 --> 00:16:24.780
 form of

00:16:24.780 --> 00:16:25.980
 mutual deportation

00:16:25.980 --> 00:16:26.500
 as part of

00:16:26.500 --> 00:16:27.180
 their sort

00:16:27.180 --> 00:16:28.520
 of campaign

00:16:28.520 --> 00:16:29.500
 of terror and

00:16:29.500 --> 00:16:30.060
 psychological

00:16:30.060 --> 00:16:30.760
 warfare that

00:16:30.760 --> 00:16:31.060
 they would

00:16:31.060 --> 00:16:32.000
 take people

00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:37.960
 from one

00:16:37.960 --> 00:16:38.280
 side of

00:16:38.280 --> 00:16:38.740
 their empire

00:16:38.740 --> 00:16:39.279
 and move

00:16:39.279 --> 00:16:39.299
 and move

00:16:39.299 --> 00:16:39.519
 them to

00:16:39.519 --> 00:16:39.919
 the other

00:16:39.919 --> 00:16:41.200
 once they

00:16:41.200 --> 00:16:41.600
 would conquer

00:16:41.600 --> 00:16:42.100
 a place.

00:16:42.279 --> 00:16:42.440
 And this

00:16:42.440 --> 00:16:42.680
 had the

00:16:42.680 --> 00:16:43.240
 effect of

00:16:43.240 --> 00:16:43.919
 breaking up

00:16:43.919 --> 00:16:45.639
 people's

00:16:45.639 --> 00:16:46.279
 attachment to

00:16:46.279 --> 00:16:47.299
 land, the

00:16:47.299 --> 00:16:47.919
 ability to

00:16:47.919 --> 00:16:48.740
 resist and

00:16:48.740 --> 00:16:49.259
 fight back.

00:16:50.960 --> 00:16:51.980
 The Babylonians

00:16:51.980 --> 00:16:52.340
 did something

00:16:52.340 --> 00:16:53.560
 similar, except

00:16:53.560 --> 00:16:54.779
 they practiced

00:16:54.779 --> 00:16:55.279
 what we sometimes

00:16:55.279 --> 00:16:56.039
 call one-way

00:16:56.039 --> 00:16:57.139
 deportation, which

00:16:57.139 --> 00:16:57.560
 is they would

00:16:57.560 --> 00:16:58.299
 take people from

00:16:58.299 --> 00:16:59.120
 an area like

00:16:59.120 --> 00:17:00.399
 Judah when they

00:17:00.399 --> 00:17:01.220
 conquered it, and

00:17:01.220 --> 00:17:01.539
 they would just

00:17:01.539 --> 00:17:02.440
 move them into

00:17:02.440 --> 00:17:03.560
 their heartland.

00:17:03.559 --> 00:17:05.500
 It's thought

00:17:05.500 --> 00:17:06.379
 that they may

00:17:06.379 --> 00:17:06.779
 have had a

00:17:06.779 --> 00:17:08.059
 labor shortage, and

00:17:08.059 --> 00:17:08.519
 they were trying

00:17:08.519 --> 00:17:09.559
 to get an

00:17:09.559 --> 00:17:10.079
 influx of

00:17:10.079 --> 00:17:10.579
 people who

00:17:10.579 --> 00:17:10.960
 could then

00:17:10.960 --> 00:17:11.639
 become workers,

00:17:11.919 --> 00:17:13.059
 so they would

00:17:13.059 --> 00:17:14.119
 forcibly move

00:17:14.119 --> 00:17:16.299
 people closer

00:17:16.299 --> 00:17:16.639
 to their

00:17:16.639 --> 00:17:17.139
 heartland.

00:17:21.940 --> 00:17:25.240
 Here we are.

00:17:25.779 --> 00:17:26.200
 So as I

00:17:26.200 --> 00:17:28.700
 said, culturally

00:17:28.700 --> 00:17:29.359
 the Babylonians

00:17:29.359 --> 00:17:29.700
 were very

00:17:29.700 --> 00:17:31.399
 powerful, and

00:17:31.400 --> 00:17:32.320
 they have, so

00:17:32.320 --> 00:17:33.000
 a lot of the

00:17:33.000 --> 00:17:35.019
 major literary

00:17:35.019 --> 00:17:35.680
 works that

00:17:35.680 --> 00:17:37.480
 come out of

00:17:37.480 --> 00:17:38.740
 Babylonia, or

00:17:38.740 --> 00:17:39.019
 sorry, that

00:17:39.019 --> 00:17:39.380
 come out of

00:17:39.380 --> 00:17:41.300
 Mesopotamia are

00:17:41.300 --> 00:17:42.000
 Babylonian in

00:17:42.000 --> 00:17:42.360
 origin.

00:17:43.019 --> 00:17:43.860
 So if you

00:17:43.860 --> 00:17:44.360
 ever had to

00:17:44.360 --> 00:17:44.740
 read the

00:17:44.740 --> 00:17:45.080
 Epic of

00:17:45.080 --> 00:17:45.900
 Gilgamesh, for

00:17:45.900 --> 00:17:46.480
 example, in

00:17:46.480 --> 00:17:47.259
 like a high

00:17:47.259 --> 00:17:48.759
 school literature

00:17:48.759 --> 00:17:49.280
 class or

00:17:49.280 --> 00:17:49.740
 something, world

00:17:49.740 --> 00:17:50.960
 lit, this is a

00:17:50.960 --> 00:17:52.600
 tablet from that

00:17:52.600 --> 00:17:52.880
 epic.

00:17:53.640 --> 00:17:54.360
 This particular

00:17:54.360 --> 00:17:55.140
 copy is actually

00:17:55.140 --> 00:17:56.660
 a lot older than

00:17:56.660 --> 00:17:57.280
 the period we're

00:17:57.280 --> 00:17:57.700
 talking about.

00:17:57.759 --> 00:17:58.420
 This is closer to

00:17:58.420 --> 00:17:59.140
 Hammurabi's time,

00:17:59.300 --> 00:17:59.420
 right?

00:17:59.480 --> 00:18:00.080
 So that's closer to

00:18:00.080 --> 00:18:00.519
 Abraham.

00:18:01.400 --> 00:18:03.900
 So there's a

00:18:03.900 --> 00:18:04.960
 creation myth

00:18:04.960 --> 00:18:05.480
 called Numa

00:18:05.480 --> 00:18:07.120
 Elish that was

00:18:07.120 --> 00:18:07.920
 Babylonian and

00:18:07.920 --> 00:18:09.940
 very popular, a

00:18:09.940 --> 00:18:10.740
 flood story about

00:18:10.740 --> 00:18:11.180
 a guy named

00:18:11.180 --> 00:18:12.259
 Atrahasis who

00:18:12.259 --> 00:18:13.519
 survives a

00:18:13.519 --> 00:18:14.580
 worldwide flood,

00:18:16.340 --> 00:18:17.460
 lots of, again,

00:18:17.540 --> 00:18:18.400
 really interesting

00:18:18.400 --> 00:18:19.000
 literature that

00:18:19.000 --> 00:18:20.060
 comes out of

00:18:20.060 --> 00:18:22.120
 Babylonia.

00:18:23.120 --> 00:18:23.480
 And I,

00:18:24.140 --> 00:18:25.019
 oops, hit my

00:18:25.019 --> 00:18:26.920
 mic, and I in

00:18:26.920 --> 00:18:27.840
 particular like

00:18:27.840 --> 00:18:28.759
 working with

00:18:28.759 --> 00:18:29.400
 literary sources.

00:18:29.400 --> 00:18:33.620
 last week we

00:18:33.620 --> 00:18:34.220
 also talked about

00:18:34.220 --> 00:18:35.200
 the Assyrian king

00:18:35.200 --> 00:18:35.759
 and how the

00:18:35.759 --> 00:18:36.780
 Assyrian king was

00:18:36.780 --> 00:18:37.580
 sort of the

00:18:37.580 --> 00:18:38.980
 high priest of

00:18:38.980 --> 00:18:39.640
 the Assyrian

00:18:39.640 --> 00:18:40.480
 chief god

00:18:40.480 --> 00:18:42.480
 Ashur, and so

00:18:42.480 --> 00:18:43.120
 he had a lot of

00:18:43.120 --> 00:18:44.560
 like autocratic,

00:18:44.740 --> 00:18:46.840
 authoritarian power

00:18:46.840 --> 00:18:47.900
 that came out of

00:18:47.900 --> 00:18:48.120
 that.

00:18:48.860 --> 00:18:49.980
 The Babylonian king

00:18:49.980 --> 00:18:50.620
 had a little bit of

00:18:50.620 --> 00:18:50.940
 a different

00:18:50.940 --> 00:18:51.720
 relationship with

00:18:51.720 --> 00:18:52.920
 the priesthood

00:18:52.920 --> 00:18:53.300
 around him.

00:18:53.380 --> 00:18:54.420
 He was not the

00:18:54.420 --> 00:18:55.940
 high priest of the

00:18:55.940 --> 00:18:56.720
 Babylonian chief

00:18:56.720 --> 00:18:57.560
 deity whose name

00:18:57.559 --> 00:18:58.119
 was Marduk,

00:18:58.519 --> 00:18:59.220
 not Marmaduke,

00:18:59.319 --> 00:19:00.139
 that's the comic

00:19:00.139 --> 00:19:00.700
 from the newspaper.

00:19:03.599 --> 00:19:04.759
 So he was still

00:19:04.759 --> 00:19:05.720
 very authoritarian,

00:19:06.059 --> 00:19:06.579
 very much in

00:19:06.579 --> 00:19:08.299
 control, but the

00:19:08.299 --> 00:19:09.319
 priesthood of

00:19:09.319 --> 00:19:11.139
 Marduk and of

00:19:11.139 --> 00:19:11.960
 other individual

00:19:11.960 --> 00:19:12.899
 deities also had a

00:19:12.899 --> 00:19:13.419
 significant amount

00:19:13.419 --> 00:19:13.839
 of power.

00:19:14.279 --> 00:19:14.819
 And again, think

00:19:14.819 --> 00:19:16.000
 back to Nabonidus

00:19:16.000 --> 00:19:16.839
 who really wanted

00:19:16.839 --> 00:19:17.359
 to stress a

00:19:17.359 --> 00:19:18.279
 particular god and

00:19:18.279 --> 00:19:18.879
 other priests

00:19:18.879 --> 00:19:19.859
 didn't like that,

00:19:20.339 --> 00:19:21.079
 and he was still

00:19:21.079 --> 00:19:21.940
 able to force them

00:19:21.940 --> 00:19:22.700
 to go along with

00:19:22.700 --> 00:19:23.700
 it, but when they

00:19:23.700 --> 00:19:24.440
 had a chance to

00:19:24.440 --> 00:19:25.799
 take an out,

00:19:25.799 --> 00:19:26.299
 they did.

00:19:30.619 --> 00:19:31.759
 And the power

00:19:31.759 --> 00:19:32.680
 of this priesthood

00:19:32.680 --> 00:19:33.419
 also comes from

00:19:33.419 --> 00:19:34.079
 the fact that

00:19:34.079 --> 00:19:34.740
 a lot of,

00:19:36.220 --> 00:19:38.619
 in Mesopotamia,

00:19:38.839 --> 00:19:38.859
 they,

00:19:39.700 --> 00:19:40.559
 sorry, in

00:19:40.559 --> 00:19:41.539
 Babylonia in

00:19:41.539 --> 00:19:41.839
 particular,

00:19:42.940 --> 00:19:45.019
 there were large,

00:19:45.659 --> 00:19:46.359
 temples were not

00:19:46.359 --> 00:19:47.839
 just like our

00:19:47.839 --> 00:19:48.500
 equivalent of a

00:19:48.500 --> 00:19:49.339
 church, right?

00:19:49.720 --> 00:19:50.500
 Temples in

00:19:50.500 --> 00:19:51.619
 Babylonia specifically

00:19:51.619 --> 00:19:53.779
 were often large

00:19:53.779 --> 00:19:54.339
 estates.

00:19:54.339 --> 00:19:55.000
 They controlled

00:19:55.000 --> 00:19:56.220
 vast amounts of

00:19:56.220 --> 00:19:57.359
 agricultural land

00:19:57.359 --> 00:19:58.859
 and the income

00:19:58.859 --> 00:19:59.679
 from that land,

00:20:00.240 --> 00:20:00.720
 and so there's

00:20:00.720 --> 00:20:01.439
 people, for example,

00:20:01.500 --> 00:20:02.119
 who are economic

00:20:02.119 --> 00:20:03.039
 historians who just

00:20:03.039 --> 00:20:04.759
 dig into that whole

00:20:04.759 --> 00:20:05.459
 system and how that

00:20:05.459 --> 00:20:06.759
 worked, and I don't

00:20:06.759 --> 00:20:07.240
 know enough about

00:20:07.240 --> 00:20:08.059
 money to do that.

00:20:08.199 --> 00:20:08.980
 I just know that it

00:20:08.980 --> 00:20:12.439
 was very powerful,

00:20:12.539 --> 00:20:13.139
 and it gave them a

00:20:13.139 --> 00:20:14.339
 lot of ability to

00:20:15.480 --> 00:20:18.240
 affect society and

00:20:18.240 --> 00:20:23.059
 to affect sort of

00:20:23.059 --> 00:20:23.459
 the way things

00:20:23.460 --> 00:20:23.880
 where it is, where

00:20:23.880 --> 00:20:24.539
 they derived a lot

00:20:24.539 --> 00:20:25.019
 of their power

00:20:25.019 --> 00:20:26.400
 from that meant

00:20:26.400 --> 00:20:26.980
 that they could

00:20:26.980 --> 00:20:28.400
 keep the king in

00:20:28.400 --> 00:20:29.340
 check sometimes.

00:20:34.819 --> 00:20:36.279
 So one final

00:20:36.279 --> 00:20:37.900
 example on that

00:20:37.900 --> 00:20:42.579
 is that the,

00:20:44.759 --> 00:20:45.620
 one of the

00:20:45.620 --> 00:20:46.360
 projects that

00:20:46.360 --> 00:20:46.900
 took place in

00:20:46.900 --> 00:20:47.640
 these Babylonian

00:20:47.640 --> 00:20:51.440
 temples was a

00:20:51.440 --> 00:20:52.440
 series of

00:20:52.440 --> 00:20:54.000
 astronomical

00:20:54.000 --> 00:20:54.779
 observation

00:20:54.779 --> 00:20:55.640
 projects.

00:20:56.900 --> 00:20:57.519
 So from about

00:20:57.519 --> 00:20:58.680
 the, we think,

00:20:58.740 --> 00:20:59.240
 from about the

00:20:59.240 --> 00:21:01.000
 600s down to

00:21:01.000 --> 00:21:01.620
 about the turn

00:21:01.620 --> 00:21:02.100
 of the era,

00:21:03.160 --> 00:21:04.960
 every night

00:21:04.960 --> 00:21:06.019
 Babylonian priests

00:21:06.019 --> 00:21:06.500
 would go up to

00:21:06.500 --> 00:21:06.980
 the top of

00:21:06.980 --> 00:21:08.180
 their, these

00:21:08.180 --> 00:21:09.140
 temples, which

00:21:09.140 --> 00:21:09.480
 were sort of

00:21:09.480 --> 00:21:10.019
 these big kind

00:21:10.019 --> 00:21:10.620
 of stepped

00:21:10.620 --> 00:21:11.460
 pyramid-looking

00:21:11.460 --> 00:21:13.299
 things, and

00:21:13.299 --> 00:21:13.779
 they would take

00:21:13.779 --> 00:21:14.620
 observations of

00:21:14.620 --> 00:21:15.799
 where different

00:21:15.799 --> 00:21:16.700
 planets were in

00:21:16.700 --> 00:21:17.519
 the sky, and if

00:21:17.519 --> 00:21:18.019
 they saw a

00:21:18.019 --> 00:21:18.840
 comet, and if

00:21:18.839 --> 00:21:19.439
 there were, what

00:21:19.439 --> 00:21:20.379
 the weather was

00:21:20.379 --> 00:21:20.919
 like, and all

00:21:20.919 --> 00:21:21.240
 these different

00:21:21.240 --> 00:21:21.500
 things.

00:21:22.599 --> 00:21:24.659
 And, so this

00:21:24.659 --> 00:21:25.199
 is a whole side

00:21:25.199 --> 00:21:25.619
 thing I could

00:21:25.619 --> 00:21:26.659
 give a whole

00:21:26.659 --> 00:21:27.559
 thing on, but

00:21:27.559 --> 00:21:31.039
 they were able

00:21:31.039 --> 00:21:32.019
 to sort of

00:21:32.019 --> 00:21:32.919
 create the

00:21:32.919 --> 00:21:33.439
 beginnings of

00:21:33.439 --> 00:21:33.939
 mathematical

00:21:33.939 --> 00:21:34.679
 observational

00:21:34.679 --> 00:21:35.099
 astronomy.

00:21:36.099 --> 00:21:37.099
 And so if

00:21:37.099 --> 00:21:39.000
 you look at,

00:21:39.059 --> 00:21:39.480
 for example,

00:21:41.159 --> 00:21:42.079
 the later

00:21:42.079 --> 00:21:42.839
 Greek

00:21:42.839 --> 00:21:44.240
 astronomer

00:21:44.240 --> 00:21:44.720
 Ptolemy,

00:21:44.720 --> 00:21:46.120
 when he wrote

00:21:46.120 --> 00:21:47.620
 his big book

00:21:47.620 --> 00:21:48.059
 of astronomy,

00:21:48.200 --> 00:21:48.819
 the Almagist,

00:21:48.880 --> 00:21:49.299
 he has a bunch

00:21:49.299 --> 00:21:49.940
 of charts in

00:21:49.940 --> 00:21:50.339
 the back of

00:21:50.339 --> 00:21:50.720
 it that give

00:21:50.720 --> 00:21:51.100
 a whole bunch

00:21:51.100 --> 00:21:51.759
 of data and

00:21:51.759 --> 00:21:52.319
 numbers about

00:21:52.319 --> 00:21:52.559
 things.

00:21:53.319 --> 00:21:53.839
 And he says,

00:21:53.920 --> 00:21:54.480
 I got this

00:21:54.480 --> 00:21:55.319
 data from, he

00:21:55.319 --> 00:21:55.660
 calls them

00:21:55.660 --> 00:21:56.640
 Chaldean priests,

00:21:56.779 --> 00:21:57.160
 he means

00:21:57.160 --> 00:21:57.920
 Babylonian

00:21:57.920 --> 00:21:59.480
 priests.

00:22:00.680 --> 00:22:01.299
 And it's very

00:22:01.299 --> 00:22:01.720
 clear from the

00:22:01.720 --> 00:22:02.339
 data he has

00:22:02.339 --> 00:22:03.660
 that he got

00:22:03.660 --> 00:22:04.160
 it from them.

00:22:04.940 --> 00:22:06.440
 And that book

00:22:06.440 --> 00:22:07.000
 is considered

00:22:07.000 --> 00:22:07.980
 one of the

00:22:07.980 --> 00:22:09.059
 foundations of

00:22:09.059 --> 00:22:09.579
 the beginnings

00:22:09.579 --> 00:22:10.039
 of Western

00:22:10.039 --> 00:22:10.420
 astronomy.

00:22:11.220 --> 00:22:12.200
 So if you

00:22:12.200 --> 00:22:12.680
 like astronomy,

00:22:12.680 --> 00:22:14.279
 you have

00:22:14.279 --> 00:22:15.420
 Babylonian

00:22:15.420 --> 00:22:16.060
 priests in

00:22:16.060 --> 00:22:16.500
 some sense

00:22:16.500 --> 00:22:16.940
 to thank for

00:22:16.940 --> 00:22:17.180
 that.

00:22:18.120 --> 00:22:18.700
 But they

00:22:18.700 --> 00:22:19.440
 were able to

00:22:19.440 --> 00:22:20.140
 continue doing

00:22:20.140 --> 00:22:20.779
 these observations

00:22:20.779 --> 00:22:21.500
 even when there

00:22:21.500 --> 00:22:22.019
 were regime

00:22:22.019 --> 00:22:22.980
 changes, even

00:22:22.980 --> 00:22:23.259
 when the

00:22:23.259 --> 00:22:23.820
 Assyrians would

00:22:23.820 --> 00:22:24.259
 come in and

00:22:24.259 --> 00:22:24.920
 conquer Babylon,

00:22:25.460 --> 00:22:26.180
 even when

00:22:26.180 --> 00:22:27.140
 later the

00:22:27.140 --> 00:22:27.799
 Persians came

00:22:27.799 --> 00:22:28.799
 in and later

00:22:28.799 --> 00:22:29.400
 Alexander the

00:22:29.400 --> 00:22:29.900
 Great came in

00:22:29.900 --> 00:22:30.299
 and conquered.

00:22:31.039 --> 00:22:32.060
 These Babylonian

00:22:32.060 --> 00:22:32.980
 priests, their

00:22:32.980 --> 00:22:33.580
 temples had

00:22:33.580 --> 00:22:34.340
 enough autonomy

00:22:34.340 --> 00:22:34.980
 that they were

00:22:34.980 --> 00:22:35.539
 able to just

00:22:35.539 --> 00:22:35.940
 kind of keep

00:22:35.940 --> 00:22:36.460
 doing this

00:22:36.460 --> 00:22:38.060
 astronomy project

00:22:38.060 --> 00:22:38.920
 for several

00:22:38.920 --> 00:22:40.360
 hundred years.

00:22:41.460 --> 00:22:41.820
 It's actually

00:22:41.820 --> 00:22:42.279
 the longest

00:22:42.279 --> 00:22:42.920
 running human

00:22:42.920 --> 00:22:43.779
 research project.

00:22:44.819 --> 00:22:46.059
 So, you

00:22:46.059 --> 00:22:47.099
 know, and

00:22:47.099 --> 00:22:48.660
 this tablet

00:22:48.660 --> 00:22:49.000
 that I'm

00:22:49.000 --> 00:22:49.599
 holding here

00:22:49.599 --> 00:22:50.559
 is actually

00:22:50.559 --> 00:22:52.480
 an astronomical

00:22:52.480 --> 00:22:54.200
 it's not one

00:22:54.200 --> 00:22:54.759
 of the diaries.

00:22:54.920 --> 00:22:55.200
 I think it's

00:22:55.200 --> 00:22:56.000
 one of the

00:22:56.000 --> 00:22:58.220
 if I remember

00:22:58.220 --> 00:22:58.720
 I think it's

00:22:58.720 --> 00:22:59.639
 a predictive

00:22:59.639 --> 00:23:00.420
 text, a text

00:23:00.420 --> 00:23:00.660
 where they're

00:23:00.660 --> 00:23:01.200
 actually going

00:23:01.200 --> 00:23:01.619
 through and

00:23:01.619 --> 00:23:02.119
 trying to say

00:23:02.119 --> 00:23:02.599
 like okay if

00:23:02.599 --> 00:23:03.099
 that planet's

00:23:03.099 --> 00:23:03.460
 here at this

00:23:03.460 --> 00:23:03.799
 time and

00:23:03.799 --> 00:23:04.200
 here at that

00:23:04.200 --> 00:23:05.000
 time then at

00:23:05.000 --> 00:23:05.460
 this time it's

00:23:05.460 --> 00:23:05.720
 going to be

00:23:05.720 --> 00:23:06.059
 there.

00:23:06.059 --> 00:23:12.299
 So, yeah.

00:23:13.339 --> 00:23:14.319
 John, is that

00:23:14.319 --> 00:23:14.859
 the background

00:23:14.859 --> 00:23:15.919
 for the Magi

00:23:15.919 --> 00:23:16.919
 viewing star

00:23:16.919 --> 00:23:18.039
 in Matthew,

00:23:18.259 --> 00:23:18.940
 the Chaldeans

00:23:18.940 --> 00:23:19.440
 who are

00:23:19.440 --> 00:23:20.159
 observing the

00:23:20.159 --> 00:23:20.399
 heavens?

00:23:20.599 --> 00:23:21.319
 It very well

00:23:21.319 --> 00:23:21.779
 could be.

00:23:21.879 --> 00:23:22.279
 There's a lot

00:23:22.279 --> 00:23:22.700
 of debate

00:23:22.700 --> 00:23:23.440
 about who

00:23:23.440 --> 00:23:24.960
 the Magi

00:23:24.960 --> 00:23:26.779
 were that

00:23:26.779 --> 00:23:28.460
 come and

00:23:28.460 --> 00:23:29.000
 visit Jesus

00:23:29.000 --> 00:23:29.579
 in the

00:23:29.579 --> 00:23:29.980
 Gospel of

00:23:29.980 --> 00:23:30.559
 Matthew but

00:23:30.559 --> 00:23:33.779
 yeah, the

00:23:33.779 --> 00:23:34.700
 possibilities for

00:23:34.700 --> 00:23:35.259
 that range

00:23:35.259 --> 00:23:36.940
 from Persian

00:23:36.940 --> 00:23:37.740
 astronomers who

00:23:37.740 --> 00:23:38.000
 would have

00:23:38.000 --> 00:23:38.740
 gotten their

00:23:38.740 --> 00:23:39.679
 data also from

00:23:39.679 --> 00:23:41.099
 Babylonians to

00:23:41.099 --> 00:23:42.440
 maybe Babylonians

00:23:42.440 --> 00:23:43.079
 themselves who

00:23:43.079 --> 00:23:43.859
 were still doing

00:23:43.859 --> 00:23:44.819
 astronomical

00:23:44.819 --> 00:23:45.599
 projects at that

00:23:45.599 --> 00:23:45.940
 time.

00:23:47.000 --> 00:23:48.119
 We just don't

00:23:48.119 --> 00:23:48.399
 know.

00:23:49.919 --> 00:23:50.839
 But it's a

00:23:50.839 --> 00:23:51.279
 possibility.

00:23:54.200 --> 00:23:55.179
 So a lot of

00:23:55.179 --> 00:23:55.960
 biblical

00:23:55.960 --> 00:23:56.859
 connections here

00:23:56.859 --> 00:23:59.240
 mostly because of

00:23:59.240 --> 00:23:59.799
 the Babylonian

00:23:59.799 --> 00:24:00.159
 exile.

00:24:00.160 --> 00:24:00.980
 As I said,

00:24:01.200 --> 00:24:01.440
 you know,

00:24:01.580 --> 00:24:02.660
 at the end

00:24:02.660 --> 00:24:03.000
 of the Book

00:24:03.000 --> 00:24:03.560
 of Kings,

00:24:04.300 --> 00:24:05.980
 the Kingdom

00:24:05.980 --> 00:24:06.519
 of Judah

00:24:06.519 --> 00:24:08.200
 finally ends

00:24:08.200 --> 00:24:09.180
 up succumbing

00:24:09.180 --> 00:24:10.860
 to Babylonian

00:24:10.860 --> 00:24:11.340
 conquest.

00:24:14.100 --> 00:24:15.000
 The Assyrians

00:24:15.000 --> 00:24:15.779
 before them had

00:24:15.779 --> 00:24:16.320
 never actually

00:24:16.320 --> 00:24:16.759
 managed,

00:24:16.880 --> 00:24:17.300
 if you remember

00:24:17.300 --> 00:24:17.880
 from last week,

00:24:18.300 --> 00:24:18.800
 had never

00:24:18.800 --> 00:24:19.480
 managed to

00:24:19.480 --> 00:24:20.040
 actually fully

00:24:20.040 --> 00:24:20.519
 conquer

00:24:20.519 --> 00:24:23.660
 Judah.

00:24:23.920 --> 00:24:24.160
 They had

00:24:24.160 --> 00:24:24.980
 tried under

00:24:24.980 --> 00:24:25.540
 Sennacherib and

00:24:25.540 --> 00:24:26.160
 we talked about

00:24:26.160 --> 00:24:27.540
 that invasion and

00:24:27.540 --> 00:24:28.240
 how that may or

00:24:28.240 --> 00:24:28.700
 may not have

00:24:28.700 --> 00:24:29.019
 gone.

00:24:30.160 --> 00:24:31.160
 according to

00:24:31.160 --> 00:24:32.080
 Sennacherib and

00:24:32.080 --> 00:24:32.720
 in the Bible.

00:24:36.240 --> 00:24:37.080
 And Nebuchadnezzar,

00:24:37.240 --> 00:24:38.080
 at first, it

00:24:38.080 --> 00:24:39.300
 seems like he

00:24:39.300 --> 00:24:40.480
 may not have

00:24:40.480 --> 00:24:41.460
 initially wanted

00:24:41.460 --> 00:24:43.140
 to fully conquer

00:24:43.140 --> 00:24:43.519
 Judah.

00:24:45.120 --> 00:24:46.140
 It seems that,

00:24:46.279 --> 00:24:46.680
 again, because

00:24:46.680 --> 00:24:47.580
 they're here and

00:24:47.580 --> 00:24:48.040
 they're on that

00:24:48.040 --> 00:24:48.920
 highway that sort

00:24:48.920 --> 00:24:49.779
 of runs between

00:24:49.779 --> 00:24:51.000
 his empire and

00:24:51.000 --> 00:24:53.340
 Egypt, a lot of

00:24:53.340 --> 00:24:53.960
 historians think

00:24:53.960 --> 00:24:54.580
 that he may have

00:24:54.580 --> 00:24:55.080
 intended to

00:24:55.080 --> 00:24:55.580
 simply just,

00:24:55.579 --> 00:24:57.240
 he wanted the

00:24:57.240 --> 00:24:57.919
 Judeans to be

00:24:57.919 --> 00:24:58.839
 on his side

00:24:58.839 --> 00:24:59.899
 as a buffer

00:24:59.899 --> 00:25:01.000
 state against

00:25:01.000 --> 00:25:02.699
 Egypt so that

00:25:02.699 --> 00:25:03.039
 the Egyptians

00:25:03.039 --> 00:25:03.619
 couldn't come

00:25:03.619 --> 00:25:04.119
 and cut into

00:25:04.119 --> 00:25:04.599
 his empire.

00:25:05.679 --> 00:25:06.259
 But the

00:25:06.259 --> 00:25:07.740
 Judeans didn't

00:25:07.740 --> 00:25:08.220
 really want to

00:25:08.220 --> 00:25:08.939
 do that and

00:25:08.939 --> 00:25:09.759
 seemed more

00:25:09.759 --> 00:25:10.480
 likely to cut a

00:25:10.480 --> 00:25:11.039
 deal with the

00:25:11.039 --> 00:25:11.359
 Egyptians.

00:25:12.419 --> 00:25:13.419
 And so he just

00:25:13.419 --> 00:25:13.859
 decided the

00:25:13.859 --> 00:25:14.799
 easiest thing in

00:25:14.799 --> 00:25:15.279
 that case was

00:25:15.279 --> 00:25:16.199
 just to conquer

00:25:16.199 --> 00:25:16.439
 them.

00:25:16.440 --> 00:25:17.600
 So from a

00:25:17.600 --> 00:25:18.100
 geopolitical

00:25:18.100 --> 00:25:18.500
 perspective,

00:25:18.680 --> 00:25:20.620
 that's how we

00:25:20.620 --> 00:25:20.860
 get the

00:25:20.860 --> 00:25:21.620
 Babylonian exile.

00:25:26.100 --> 00:25:27.279
 And this is,

00:25:27.279 --> 00:25:28.240
 again, one of

00:25:28.240 --> 00:25:30.220
 the most pivotal

00:25:30.220 --> 00:25:31.600
 events in the

00:25:31.600 --> 00:25:32.860
 shaping of what

00:25:32.860 --> 00:25:33.559
 will then become

00:25:33.559 --> 00:25:34.320
 early Judaism.

00:25:36.299 --> 00:25:37.720
 And a lot of

00:25:37.720 --> 00:25:40.279
 the biblical

00:25:40.279 --> 00:25:40.799
 books that we

00:25:40.799 --> 00:25:43.700
 have come from

00:25:43.700 --> 00:25:44.880
 this time period.

00:25:44.880 --> 00:25:46.500
 a lot of

00:25:46.500 --> 00:25:47.040
 prophets, for

00:25:47.040 --> 00:25:47.500
 example, I've

00:25:47.500 --> 00:25:47.860
 just listed

00:25:47.860 --> 00:25:48.620
 Jeremiah and

00:25:48.620 --> 00:25:49.420
 Ezekiel here

00:25:49.420 --> 00:25:50.200
 who write at

00:25:50.200 --> 00:25:50.920
 that time.

00:25:52.560 --> 00:25:53.280
 Jeremiah kind

00:25:53.280 --> 00:25:54.340
 of, he gets

00:25:54.340 --> 00:25:56.460
 the, he sees

00:25:56.460 --> 00:25:56.960
 where things are

00:25:56.960 --> 00:25:57.180
 going.

00:25:57.280 --> 00:25:57.500
 He says,

00:25:57.560 --> 00:25:57.880
 look, he

00:25:57.880 --> 00:25:59.960
 says, we

00:25:59.960 --> 00:26:00.640
 can't be cutting

00:26:00.640 --> 00:26:01.080
 a deal with

00:26:01.080 --> 00:26:02.300
 Egypt, right?

00:26:03.040 --> 00:26:04.780
 We, you

00:26:04.780 --> 00:26:06.840
 know, God

00:26:06.840 --> 00:26:07.420
 wants us to

00:26:07.420 --> 00:26:09.120
 just lay

00:26:09.120 --> 00:26:09.520
 low.

00:26:09.700 --> 00:26:10.300
 If the

00:26:10.300 --> 00:26:11.140
 Babylonians want

00:26:11.140 --> 00:26:11.580
 us to do

00:26:11.580 --> 00:26:12.040
 their thing,

00:26:12.100 --> 00:26:12.440
 let them do

00:26:12.440 --> 00:26:12.880
 their thing.

00:26:12.880 --> 00:26:14.980
 And

00:26:14.980 --> 00:26:17.600
 interestingly, it

00:26:17.600 --> 00:26:19.000
 seems that when

00:26:19.000 --> 00:26:19.540
 you look at the

00:26:19.540 --> 00:26:20.500
 things that the

00:26:20.500 --> 00:26:21.580
 people, the other

00:26:21.580 --> 00:26:22.420
 people who are

00:26:22.420 --> 00:26:23.080
 speaking against

00:26:23.080 --> 00:26:23.820
 Jeremiah say,

00:26:24.360 --> 00:26:25.980
 they reference the

00:26:25.980 --> 00:26:27.120
 earlier campaigns

00:26:27.120 --> 00:26:28.860
 by Sennacherib,

00:26:29.040 --> 00:26:30.040
 not so much in

00:26:30.040 --> 00:26:32.040
 directly, but

00:26:32.040 --> 00:26:32.800
 they have this

00:26:32.800 --> 00:26:33.440
 idea that they're

00:26:33.440 --> 00:26:34.840
 like, well, the

00:26:34.840 --> 00:26:35.580
 Assyrians couldn't

00:26:35.580 --> 00:26:36.180
 take Jerusalem,

00:26:36.680 --> 00:26:38.560
 so what do we

00:26:38.560 --> 00:26:38.840
 think the

00:26:38.840 --> 00:26:39.460
 Babylonians are

00:26:39.460 --> 00:26:39.800
 going to do?

00:26:39.880 --> 00:26:40.460
 God won't let

00:26:40.460 --> 00:26:41.000
 anything bad

00:26:41.000 --> 00:26:41.600
 happen to us.

00:26:41.599 --> 00:26:44.539
 And Jeremiah

00:26:44.539 --> 00:26:45.240
 says, well, that's

00:26:45.240 --> 00:26:45.980
 not how things

00:26:45.980 --> 00:26:46.299
 work.

00:26:48.799 --> 00:26:51.839
 So Ezekiel, also

00:26:51.839 --> 00:26:52.719
 writing in the

00:26:52.719 --> 00:26:53.299
 same time, actually

00:26:53.299 --> 00:26:54.240
 writing in exile.

00:26:54.379 --> 00:26:55.099
 He was a

00:26:55.099 --> 00:26:56.039
 priest who was, a

00:26:56.039 --> 00:26:56.659
 Judean priest who

00:26:56.659 --> 00:26:57.339
 was taken into

00:26:57.339 --> 00:26:57.719
 exile.

00:26:58.240 --> 00:26:59.240
 So he is probably

00:26:59.240 --> 00:27:01.519
 actually writing from

00:27:01.519 --> 00:27:02.539
 Babylon itself and

00:27:02.539 --> 00:27:03.019
 delivering his

00:27:03.019 --> 00:27:03.719
 oracles from there.

00:27:05.299 --> 00:27:06.879
 He works, he's, a

00:27:06.879 --> 00:27:07.459
 lot of his oracles

00:27:07.459 --> 00:27:07.919
 come at this

00:27:07.919 --> 00:27:09.139
 interesting time when

00:27:09.140 --> 00:27:10.240
 some of the

00:27:10.240 --> 00:27:10.860
 people have been

00:27:10.860 --> 00:27:12.880
 taken initially and

00:27:12.880 --> 00:27:13.620
 Nebuchadnezzar is

00:27:13.620 --> 00:27:14.360
 hoping that like

00:27:14.360 --> 00:27:15.640
 this, the Judeans

00:27:15.640 --> 00:27:17.360
 will kind of get

00:27:17.360 --> 00:27:18.200
 in line and he

00:27:18.200 --> 00:27:18.660
 won't have to do

00:27:18.660 --> 00:27:19.220
 anything more.

00:27:19.380 --> 00:27:20.140
 And he hasn't

00:27:20.140 --> 00:27:20.759
 actually had to

00:27:20.759 --> 00:27:21.180
 come in and

00:27:21.180 --> 00:27:21.759
 destroy the city

00:27:21.759 --> 00:27:22.140
 yet.

00:27:23.100 --> 00:27:24.100
 So Ezekiel writes

00:27:24.100 --> 00:27:24.660
 at this interesting

00:27:24.660 --> 00:27:25.420
 time when he's

00:27:25.420 --> 00:27:26.700
 kind of, at least a

00:27:26.700 --> 00:27:27.060
 lot of his

00:27:27.060 --> 00:27:27.740
 material, partway

00:27:27.740 --> 00:27:29.200
 through his career

00:27:29.200 --> 00:27:30.420
 the whole city

00:27:30.420 --> 00:27:30.920
 gets destroyed.

00:27:31.280 --> 00:27:32.420
 But his early

00:27:32.420 --> 00:27:33.200
 career, there's a

00:27:33.200 --> 00:27:33.840
 lot of stuff where

00:27:33.840 --> 00:27:35.140
 he talks about,

00:27:35.140 --> 00:27:36.660
 you know, sort

00:27:36.660 --> 00:27:37.100
 of like, guys,

00:27:37.180 --> 00:27:38.680
 I'm in exile and

00:27:38.680 --> 00:27:40.060
 if you don't get

00:27:40.060 --> 00:27:40.660
 your act together

00:27:40.660 --> 00:27:41.200
 you're going to

00:27:41.200 --> 00:27:41.740
 be here too.

00:27:43.060 --> 00:27:44.300
 So we sort of, we

00:27:44.300 --> 00:27:44.920
 see the whole thing

00:27:44.920 --> 00:27:45.720
 in process.

00:27:48.860 --> 00:27:49.560
 Daniel and his

00:27:49.560 --> 00:27:50.440
 friends are also

00:27:50.440 --> 00:27:50.940
 said to have been

00:27:50.940 --> 00:27:51.940
 taken into exile by

00:27:51.940 --> 00:27:52.660
 Nebuchadnezzar,

00:27:52.980 --> 00:27:53.600
 right, especially in

00:27:53.600 --> 00:27:54.200
 Daniel 1.

00:27:54.400 --> 00:27:55.060
 You read about them

00:27:55.060 --> 00:27:55.880
 being taken there

00:27:55.880 --> 00:27:59.180
 and not being

00:27:59.180 --> 00:28:00.080
 trained in all the

00:28:00.080 --> 00:28:02.240
 different, in all

00:28:02.240 --> 00:28:02.780
 the Babylonian

00:28:02.780 --> 00:28:03.440
 culture, right, so

00:28:03.440 --> 00:28:04.480
 their literature and

00:28:04.480 --> 00:28:05.160
 they probably learned

00:28:05.160 --> 00:28:05.759
 some Babylonian

00:28:05.759 --> 00:28:06.900
 astronomy and all

00:28:06.900 --> 00:28:07.920
 this stuff, right?

00:28:09.000 --> 00:28:10.660
 And the historical

00:28:10.660 --> 00:28:11.519
 work that is the

00:28:11.519 --> 00:28:13.200
 Book of Kings, right,

00:28:13.240 --> 00:28:14.279
 since it ends right

00:28:14.279 --> 00:28:15.799
 with the exile, the

00:28:15.799 --> 00:28:16.380
 exile, or right

00:28:16.380 --> 00:28:17.819
 around the exile,

00:28:18.620 --> 00:28:21.819
 seems to have been

00:28:21.819 --> 00:28:22.539
 sort of something that

00:28:22.539 --> 00:28:23.500
 was compiled and

00:28:23.500 --> 00:28:26.759
 written sort of

00:28:26.759 --> 00:28:27.839
 around that time as

00:28:27.839 --> 00:28:29.000
 a way of explaining

00:28:29.000 --> 00:28:29.779
 to people, like,

00:28:29.819 --> 00:28:31.019
 guys, this is why

00:28:31.019 --> 00:28:32.059
 we were taken into

00:28:32.059 --> 00:28:32.440
 exile.

00:28:33.039 --> 00:28:33.960
 If we look back

00:28:33.960 --> 00:28:34.640
 through our history,

00:28:34.640 --> 00:28:36.140
 we can see how we

00:28:36.140 --> 00:28:36.980
 consistently didn't

00:28:36.980 --> 00:28:38.279
 follow God, and he

00:28:38.279 --> 00:28:41.180
 told us we're not

00:28:41.180 --> 00:28:41.740
 going to get to stay

00:28:41.740 --> 00:28:42.420
 in our land if we

00:28:42.420 --> 00:28:44.019
 don't follow him, and

00:28:44.019 --> 00:28:45.120
 then here we are, the

00:28:45.120 --> 00:28:45.440
 exile.

00:28:47.200 --> 00:28:48.259
 So it serves this

00:28:48.259 --> 00:28:51.079
 sort of purpose of

00:28:51.079 --> 00:28:53.640
 explaining how they

00:28:53.640 --> 00:28:54.460
 got where they were,

00:28:55.160 --> 00:28:56.480
 right, which is a lot

00:28:56.480 --> 00:28:57.059
 of good history does

00:28:57.059 --> 00:28:57.240
 that.

00:28:58.860 --> 00:28:59.640
 Interestingly, too,

00:28:59.759 --> 00:29:00.860
 again, looking at

00:29:00.859 --> 00:29:02.399
 things in my field,

00:29:03.159 --> 00:29:06.139
 there's also, just a

00:29:06.139 --> 00:29:07.219
 few years ago, there

00:29:07.219 --> 00:29:07.819
 were a number of

00:29:07.819 --> 00:29:09.219
 texts published from a

00:29:09.219 --> 00:29:10.479
 site called Al-Yehudu,

00:29:11.079 --> 00:29:12.519
 which in Babylonian just

00:29:12.519 --> 00:29:15.439
 means the, like, Judah

00:29:15.439 --> 00:29:17.019
 city, city of Judah.

00:29:18.359 --> 00:29:19.559
 And it's from a place

00:29:19.559 --> 00:29:21.159
 that seems to be, it's

00:29:21.159 --> 00:29:22.179
 right in the heartland

00:29:22.179 --> 00:29:23.699
 of Babylonia, and

00:29:23.699 --> 00:29:24.359
 there's a number of

00:29:24.359 --> 00:29:25.399
 people there who have

00:29:25.399 --> 00:29:26.500
 names that sound an

00:29:26.500 --> 00:29:28.039
 awful lot like good

00:29:28.039 --> 00:29:29.000
 Judean names.

00:29:29.900 --> 00:29:30.819
 And so we can

00:29:30.819 --> 00:29:31.859
 actually see some of

00:29:31.859 --> 00:29:32.839
 these people who are

00:29:32.839 --> 00:29:33.579
 living in exile.

00:29:34.480 --> 00:29:36.099
 And I know some

00:29:36.099 --> 00:29:36.859
 people who work on

00:29:36.859 --> 00:29:39.099
 these texts, and it's

00:29:39.099 --> 00:29:40.039
 very interesting.

00:29:40.279 --> 00:29:41.160
 They have a lot of,

00:29:41.900 --> 00:29:42.839
 we get to see that, I

00:29:42.839 --> 00:29:43.940
 mean, a lot of these

00:29:43.940 --> 00:29:46.160
 texts are things like

00:29:46.160 --> 00:29:48.680
 loan contracts and

00:29:48.680 --> 00:29:50.160
 marriage contracts and,

00:29:50.259 --> 00:29:52.000
 you know, the minutiae

00:29:52.000 --> 00:29:52.640
 of life, right?

00:29:52.640 --> 00:29:53.440
 We don't have, like,

00:29:53.440 --> 00:29:55.080
 hello, I'm a Judean

00:29:55.080 --> 00:29:56.480
 exile, and my name is

00:29:56.480 --> 00:29:56.720
 Bill.

00:29:57.140 --> 00:29:58.220
 And, you know, we don't

00:29:58.220 --> 00:29:58.920
 get that, unfortunately.

00:29:59.220 --> 00:30:00.500
 But we do get their

00:30:00.500 --> 00:30:02.680
 financial records, which

00:30:02.680 --> 00:30:03.940
 is kind of fun, and we

00:30:03.940 --> 00:30:04.720
 can sort of begin to

00:30:04.720 --> 00:30:07.039
 reconstruct aspects of

00:30:07.039 --> 00:30:08.039
 what life may have been

00:30:08.039 --> 00:30:09.500
 like for them in exile.

00:30:10.620 --> 00:30:12.740
 So that's really

00:30:12.740 --> 00:30:13.120
 exciting.

00:30:20.160 --> 00:30:21.480
 Yeah, I think that's

00:30:21.480 --> 00:30:22.320
 basically, I talked

00:30:22.319 --> 00:30:25.139
 about Amal Marduk,

00:30:25.899 --> 00:30:27.799
 Evel Marodach, releasing

00:30:27.799 --> 00:30:30.000
 Yehoiachin, the Judean

00:30:30.000 --> 00:30:33.319
 king, a little bit

00:30:33.319 --> 00:30:33.720
 already at the

00:30:33.720 --> 00:30:34.679
 beginning, right?

00:30:34.700 --> 00:30:35.299
 So this is another

00:30:35.299 --> 00:30:36.359
 example of somebody who

00:30:36.359 --> 00:30:37.399
 gets to sort of live,

00:30:38.419 --> 00:30:39.419
 you know, a Judean who's

00:30:39.419 --> 00:30:40.539
 taken into captivity, but

00:30:40.539 --> 00:30:41.500
 then gets to sort of live

00:30:41.500 --> 00:30:42.179
 in Babylonia.

00:30:42.980 --> 00:30:45.179
 So again, to draw it

00:30:45.179 --> 00:30:45.599
 back to where we

00:30:45.599 --> 00:30:48.500
 started, with these sort

00:30:48.500 --> 00:30:51.599
 of three themes of

00:30:51.599 --> 00:30:52.500
 Babylonia, right?

00:30:53.740 --> 00:30:54.619
 Babylon as the

00:30:54.619 --> 00:30:55.639
 destroyer of Jerusalem,

00:30:56.899 --> 00:30:58.240
 Babylon as a place

00:30:58.240 --> 00:30:59.500
 where Judeans now live,

00:30:59.779 --> 00:30:59.959
 right?

00:31:00.019 --> 00:31:04.339
 In fact, until the

00:31:04.339 --> 00:31:05.339
 20th century, really,

00:31:05.480 --> 00:31:07.099
 there was a huge, huge

00:31:07.099 --> 00:31:08.559
 Jewish community that

00:31:08.559 --> 00:31:09.599
 lived in Babylonia,

00:31:09.759 --> 00:31:09.939
 right?

00:31:10.019 --> 00:31:11.819
 The Babylonian Talmud,

00:31:11.959 --> 00:31:13.119
 one of the major works

00:31:13.119 --> 00:31:14.279
 of Rabbinic Judaism,

00:31:14.279 --> 00:31:16.359
 was compiled in

00:31:16.359 --> 00:31:19.899
 Mesopotamia at a much

00:31:19.899 --> 00:31:20.720
 later time than this,

00:31:20.960 --> 00:31:21.139
 right?

00:31:21.259 --> 00:31:22.059
 This is a couple

00:31:22.059 --> 00:31:23.039
 centuries after Christ.

00:31:23.579 --> 00:31:26.279
 But that Babylonian

00:31:27.160 --> 00:31:28.639
 Jewish community gets its

00:31:28.639 --> 00:31:30.940
 start from these exiles

00:31:30.940 --> 00:31:32.500
 because when they get a

00:31:32.500 --> 00:31:33.399
 chance to go back, not

00:31:33.399 --> 00:31:34.339
 everybody goes back.

00:31:34.339 --> 00:31:39.339
 And finally, then, as we

00:31:39.339 --> 00:31:40.199
 touched on a little bit

00:31:40.199 --> 00:31:41.240
 and we'll hit next time,

00:31:41.879 --> 00:31:46.179
 Babylon will suffer

00:31:46.179 --> 00:31:48.319
 punishment from the Judean

00:31:48.319 --> 00:31:50.439
 perspective of what it's

00:31:50.439 --> 00:31:54.619
 done to Jerusalem, just as

00:31:54.619 --> 00:31:55.899
 Assyria suffers punishment.

00:31:58.059 --> 00:32:00.000
 So, okay, that's all I have

00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:00.559
 for this week.

00:32:00.980 --> 00:32:01.419
 Questions?

00:32:01.420 --> 00:32:02.880
 Yeah?

00:32:03.240 --> 00:32:05.600
 Under what king was the

00:32:05.600 --> 00:32:06.900
 Hanging Gardens of

00:32:06.900 --> 00:32:09.580
 Babylon built and did the

00:32:09.580 --> 00:32:10.420
 Hanging Gardens of

00:32:10.420 --> 00:32:11.720
 Babylon really exist?

00:32:12.100 --> 00:32:12.980
 Great question.

00:32:13.580 --> 00:32:15.740
 So, according to, so the

00:32:15.740 --> 00:32:16.360
 Hanging Gardens of

00:32:16.360 --> 00:32:17.440
 Babylon are something that

00:32:17.440 --> 00:32:18.980
 we know of specifically

00:32:18.980 --> 00:32:20.900
 from Greek historians who

00:32:20.900 --> 00:32:21.720
 were writing a little bit

00:32:21.720 --> 00:32:22.900
 after this period, often in

00:32:22.900 --> 00:32:24.920
 the Persian period, right?

00:32:25.039 --> 00:32:26.160
 And so, and they

00:32:26.160 --> 00:32:29.560
 attribute it to, if I

00:32:29.560 --> 00:32:30.680
 remember correctly, whoops,

00:32:31.420 --> 00:32:32.200
 why did I go there?

00:32:34.200 --> 00:32:35.160
 They attribute it

00:32:35.160 --> 00:32:35.800
 specifically to

00:32:35.800 --> 00:32:37.700
 Nebuchadnezzar, right?

00:32:39.640 --> 00:32:40.440
 Archaeologically, we

00:32:40.440 --> 00:32:43.000
 haven't found anything in

00:32:43.000 --> 00:32:44.300
 Babylon that seems to be

00:32:44.300 --> 00:32:44.980
 something like this.

00:32:45.680 --> 00:32:47.840
 There is an Assyriologist

00:32:47.840 --> 00:32:50.279
 who has suggested that

00:32:50.279 --> 00:32:53.700
 actually the, that the

00:32:53.700 --> 00:32:54.279
 Hanging Gardens of

00:32:54.279 --> 00:32:55.960
 Babylon were actually in

00:32:55.960 --> 00:32:57.600
 Assyria and that it was an

00:32:57.600 --> 00:32:58.700
 Assyrian king who built

00:32:58.700 --> 00:32:58.960
 them.

00:32:58.960 --> 00:33:00.539
 And she thinks there's a

00:33:00.539 --> 00:33:03.120
 specific part of the

00:33:03.120 --> 00:33:04.000
 archaeological site of

00:33:04.000 --> 00:33:05.400
 Nineveh, which hasn't been

00:33:05.400 --> 00:33:08.680
 fully dug, that might have

00:33:08.680 --> 00:33:10.480
 these gardens in them.

00:33:11.400 --> 00:33:13.420
 It's a theory that some

00:33:13.420 --> 00:33:14.579
 Assyriologists agree with and

00:33:14.579 --> 00:33:15.360
 some don't.

00:33:16.240 --> 00:33:18.500
 I haven't, I haven't looked at

00:33:18.500 --> 00:33:19.579
 it enough to know what I

00:33:19.579 --> 00:33:19.840
 think.

00:33:20.100 --> 00:33:21.700
 I know, I think my advisor

00:33:21.700 --> 00:33:26.559
 doesn't buy it, but it has

00:33:26.559 --> 00:33:27.359
 some strengths, it has some

00:33:27.359 --> 00:33:27.700
 weaknesses.

00:33:30.220 --> 00:33:32.039
 But yeah, it's probably

00:33:32.039 --> 00:33:32.859
 based on something.

00:33:33.240 --> 00:33:34.099
 I'll put it that way.

00:33:36.419 --> 00:33:37.119
 Yeah, Tom?

00:33:37.119 --> 00:33:38.859
 I just wanted to point out the

00:33:38.859 --> 00:33:40.000
 start of the Jewish community

00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:43.319
 in Babylon, that in the area

00:33:43.319 --> 00:33:44.539
 where I studied, like the

00:33:44.539 --> 00:33:46.159
 ancient Near East and the

00:33:46.159 --> 00:33:48.119
 medieval period, there's still

00:33:48.119 --> 00:33:51.659
 tons of Jews living in what

00:33:51.659 --> 00:33:52.919
 was Babylonia.

00:33:53.199 --> 00:33:55.619
 Now we call it Iraq, but like in

00:33:55.619 --> 00:33:57.339
 the 7th, 8th century, you get

00:33:57.339 --> 00:33:59.099
 Persian kings talking about this

00:33:59.099 --> 00:34:00.139
 huge Jewish community.

00:34:00.140 --> 00:34:03.540
 So that started 1200, or like

00:34:03.540 --> 00:34:04.520
 you said, I mean, even until

00:34:04.520 --> 00:34:06.280
 the 1930s, there were lots of

00:34:06.280 --> 00:34:08.059
 Jews still living there.

00:34:08.400 --> 00:34:08.500
 Yeah.

00:34:09.200 --> 00:34:11.380
 It lasted like 2,500 years.

00:34:11.579 --> 00:34:11.780
 Yeah.

00:34:11.980 --> 00:34:12.559
 That community.

00:34:13.180 --> 00:34:14.000
 It's a long time.

00:34:15.360 --> 00:34:16.460
 Yeah, your stuff is a lot

00:34:16.460 --> 00:34:18.119
 closer to the Babylonian town

00:34:18.119 --> 00:34:18.900
 than my stuff.

00:34:19.420 --> 00:34:20.500
 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:34:21.440 --> 00:34:23.420
 And that was, I mean, it

00:34:23.420 --> 00:34:24.660
 wasn't just for a period, it

00:34:24.660 --> 00:34:25.940
 wasn't just a Jewish community.

00:34:26.039 --> 00:34:26.760
 There was a period where it

00:34:26.760 --> 00:34:28.119
 was like the Jewish community,

00:34:28.119 --> 00:34:29.680
 where it was the most powerful,

00:34:29.679 --> 00:34:31.199
 most educated Jewish community

00:34:31.199 --> 00:34:32.899
 in the world for hundreds of

00:34:32.899 --> 00:34:33.159
 years.

00:34:36.379 --> 00:34:37.500
 There's another question in

00:34:37.500 --> 00:34:38.219
 here somewhere, I think.

00:34:38.899 --> 00:34:39.119
 Yeah.

00:34:39.899 --> 00:34:43.179
 So this may be beyond what you,

00:34:43.440 --> 00:34:46.019
 but obviously Genesis 11, you

00:34:46.019 --> 00:34:47.739
 have a Tower of Babel, and then

00:34:47.739 --> 00:34:49.159
 you have this place later called

00:34:49.159 --> 00:34:49.699
 Babylon.

00:34:50.539 --> 00:34:51.899
 Is there a relationship

00:34:51.899 --> 00:34:53.839
 archaeologically, historically,

00:34:54.480 --> 00:34:55.000
 biblically?

00:34:57.179 --> 00:34:58.679
 Yeah, so it's...

00:34:59.679 --> 00:35:02.159
 This is hotly debated as well,

00:35:02.339 --> 00:35:03.179
 as I think you know.

00:35:03.379 --> 00:35:03.460
 Yeah.

00:35:06.379 --> 00:35:08.119
 So there is a connection

00:35:08.119 --> 00:35:09.199
 between the name, right?

00:35:09.299 --> 00:35:10.299
 Babel, Babylon.

00:35:11.679 --> 00:35:13.500
 There's different sort of

00:35:13.500 --> 00:35:15.919
 etymologies that, you know,

00:35:15.940 --> 00:35:16.960
 ancient people love coming up

00:35:16.960 --> 00:35:17.839
 with...

00:35:17.839 --> 00:35:19.219
 Well, even we do this today as

00:35:19.219 --> 00:35:19.319
 well.

00:35:19.379 --> 00:35:20.500
 I shouldn't say ancient people do

00:35:20.500 --> 00:35:22.500
 this, but people love coming up

00:35:22.500 --> 00:35:23.819
 with etymologies for how things,

00:35:24.059 --> 00:35:25.000
 where words come from, right?

00:35:25.000 --> 00:35:27.920
 So the Babylonians, for example,

00:35:28.039 --> 00:35:30.380
 said that Babel, which is how

00:35:30.380 --> 00:35:31.980
 they pronounce Babylon, right?

00:35:32.079 --> 00:35:33.199
 Actually, Babylon is how the

00:35:33.199 --> 00:35:34.119
 Greeks pronounced it, right?

00:35:34.179 --> 00:35:36.260
 So it's really Babel, right?

00:35:36.559 --> 00:35:38.579
 But they said Babel comes from

00:35:38.579 --> 00:35:39.860
 Bab-ili.

00:35:40.519 --> 00:35:42.619
 And Babu in Akkadian is gate,

00:35:43.059 --> 00:35:43.940
 Elu is God.

00:35:44.019 --> 00:35:45.900
 So Bab-ili is gate of the gods.

00:35:45.900 --> 00:35:48.260
 And so that's how...

00:35:48.260 --> 00:35:49.880
 That's what they etymologize it as.

00:35:51.800 --> 00:35:52.559
 The...

00:35:52.559 --> 00:35:54.320
 In the Bible, right,

00:35:54.340 --> 00:35:55.400
 we get this story about

00:35:55.400 --> 00:35:57.320
 how it comes from a root meaning

00:35:57.320 --> 00:35:59.860
 to mix, right?

00:35:59.960 --> 00:36:00.639
 Because it's where God

00:36:00.639 --> 00:36:01.639
 mixed up the languages.

00:36:04.000 --> 00:36:07.619
 So we don't know exactly

00:36:07.619 --> 00:36:10.059
 what site is being referred to

00:36:10.059 --> 00:36:14.240
 by the Tower of Babel narrative,

00:36:14.239 --> 00:36:16.259
 whether it's Babylon itself.

00:36:16.759 --> 00:36:17.659
 Some people will suggest

00:36:17.659 --> 00:36:18.500
 that it might be something

00:36:18.500 --> 00:36:20.319
 in one of the Assyrian capitals.

00:36:23.059 --> 00:36:24.079
 We're not quite sure.

00:36:24.919 --> 00:36:25.839
 It's hotly debated.

00:36:26.399 --> 00:36:26.759
 Sure.

00:36:31.179 --> 00:36:32.219
 John, is it fair to say

00:36:32.219 --> 00:36:33.339
 that some of this stuff,

00:36:33.419 --> 00:36:34.959
 before the Neo-Babylian Empire,

00:36:35.139 --> 00:36:36.439
 when we get to the time

00:36:36.439 --> 00:36:37.619
 of, quote, the Tower of Babel,

00:36:37.819 --> 00:36:39.179
 we're dealing with, like,

00:36:39.239 --> 00:36:40.539
 the mists of history here.

00:36:40.639 --> 00:36:42.000
 Like, this is so far back

00:36:42.000 --> 00:36:42.500
 that we have...

00:36:42.500 --> 00:36:42.799
 Right.

00:36:42.800 --> 00:36:44.100
 And this is...

00:36:44.100 --> 00:36:45.000
 We don't have cuneiform tablets

00:36:45.000 --> 00:36:46.260
 that even would have gone

00:36:46.260 --> 00:36:47.220
 back that far, right?

00:36:47.260 --> 00:36:47.940
 Like, two...

00:36:47.940 --> 00:36:48.760
 I guess maybe...

00:36:48.760 --> 00:36:50.060
 Well, back as far...

00:36:50.060 --> 00:36:51.180
 So we get cuneiform writing

00:36:51.180 --> 00:36:52.380
 as far back as, like,

00:36:53.019 --> 00:36:54.080
 3,200.

00:36:54.440 --> 00:36:54.680
 Okay.

00:36:54.960 --> 00:36:55.120
 Right.

00:36:55.480 --> 00:36:56.539
 So pretty far back.

00:36:56.660 --> 00:36:58.240
 But we also just keep in mind,

00:36:58.320 --> 00:36:59.740
 it's also very spotty.

00:37:00.400 --> 00:37:00.780
 Right?

00:37:00.820 --> 00:37:01.780
 So sometimes we're like,

00:37:01.840 --> 00:37:03.200
 oh, we have a huge archives,

00:37:03.460 --> 00:37:05.420
 but it's only economic tech.

00:37:05.440 --> 00:37:06.240
 It's all receipts.

00:37:07.580 --> 00:37:07.980
 Right?

00:37:08.160 --> 00:37:09.019
 So we're like,

00:37:09.039 --> 00:37:09.860
 well, we know what the city

00:37:09.860 --> 00:37:10.420
 looked like,

00:37:10.420 --> 00:37:11.620
 and we know what people

00:37:11.619 --> 00:37:12.659
 were buying and selling there,

00:37:12.719 --> 00:37:13.699
 but we don't know

00:37:13.699 --> 00:37:16.619
 anything else, right?

00:37:17.420 --> 00:37:19.920
 Or sometimes we'll dig up something

00:37:19.920 --> 00:37:20.659
 and we'll get something

00:37:20.659 --> 00:37:21.239
 that I like,

00:37:21.299 --> 00:37:22.339
 which is literary texts.

00:37:22.759 --> 00:37:23.239
 And then we're like,

00:37:23.279 --> 00:37:24.920
 oh, well, we know what...

00:37:24.920 --> 00:37:25.699
 At least the scribes,

00:37:25.759 --> 00:37:26.539
 anyway, were reading.

00:37:27.139 --> 00:37:28.440
 And maybe what stories

00:37:28.440 --> 00:37:29.679
 people were telling each other.

00:37:32.279 --> 00:37:33.219
 But what do you go from that?

00:37:33.299 --> 00:37:34.380
 So there's a lot

00:37:34.380 --> 00:37:35.299
 of different things.

00:37:36.259 --> 00:37:37.000
 And this is where

00:37:37.000 --> 00:37:37.679
 it gets interesting,

00:37:37.779 --> 00:37:37.960
 you know,

00:37:37.960 --> 00:37:38.920
 in trying to...

00:37:38.920 --> 00:37:39.880
 as readers of the Bible,

00:37:39.880 --> 00:37:41.059
 when we look at this kind of stuff,

00:37:41.119 --> 00:37:42.180
 because we have both, like,

00:37:42.720 --> 00:37:43.639
 what we read in the Bible

00:37:43.639 --> 00:37:44.940
 and what we do with it theologically,

00:37:45.119 --> 00:37:46.000
 and we also have

00:37:46.000 --> 00:37:47.720
 what we can sort of talk about,

00:37:47.780 --> 00:37:49.300
 what we can verify historically,

00:37:50.159 --> 00:37:51.159
 where things overlap.

00:37:51.460 --> 00:37:51.960
 Part of the reason

00:37:51.960 --> 00:37:53.099
 I've focused on the periods

00:37:53.099 --> 00:37:54.019
 that I've focused on here

00:37:54.019 --> 00:37:55.599
 is because we actually have

00:37:55.599 --> 00:37:57.659
 a lot more sources

00:37:57.659 --> 00:37:59.599
 that allow us to sort of

00:37:59.599 --> 00:38:00.860
 line these things up together

00:38:00.860 --> 00:38:02.360
 and then sort of look

00:38:02.360 --> 00:38:03.220
 at how they're interacting

00:38:03.220 --> 00:38:04.360
 a little bit more so.

00:38:04.400 --> 00:38:05.579
 I mean, we have things

00:38:05.579 --> 00:38:06.539
 from earlier periods,

00:38:06.539 --> 00:38:07.480
 don't get me wrong.

00:38:09.300 --> 00:38:10.800
 But there's plenty of gaps

00:38:10.800 --> 00:38:11.380
 in there

00:38:11.380 --> 00:38:14.259
 where certain things

00:38:14.259 --> 00:38:15.079
 can be happening, right?

00:38:15.079 --> 00:38:16.539
 Like, we don't have Abraham

00:38:16.539 --> 00:38:19.360
 attested in a cuneiform document,

00:38:19.699 --> 00:38:22.739
 even though we probably have

00:38:22.739 --> 00:38:24.340
 documents from the time period...

00:38:24.340 --> 00:38:25.199
 We have documents

00:38:25.199 --> 00:38:25.900
 from the time period

00:38:25.900 --> 00:38:26.679
 when he lived.

00:38:28.099 --> 00:38:29.539
 It's just...

00:38:29.539 --> 00:38:31.900
 the ones we happened to find

00:38:31.900 --> 00:38:32.920
 don't mention him.

00:38:32.980 --> 00:38:34.980
 Or maybe because he was living

00:38:34.980 --> 00:38:35.960
 sort of as a nomad,

00:38:35.960 --> 00:38:37.079
 and he may not have shown up

00:38:37.079 --> 00:38:38.000
 in those records, right?

00:38:38.039 --> 00:38:39.760
 So there's a lot of things

00:38:39.760 --> 00:38:41.159
 like this that we sort of

00:38:41.159 --> 00:38:42.699
 have to take into account.

00:38:42.860 --> 00:38:43.820
 And this goes in, I think,

00:38:43.900 --> 00:38:45.559
 also with the Tower of Babel

00:38:45.559 --> 00:38:46.320
 narrative as well,

00:38:46.400 --> 00:38:47.840
 is, you know,

00:38:48.000 --> 00:38:49.360
 they can be referring

00:38:49.360 --> 00:38:50.559
 to something that we

00:38:50.559 --> 00:38:52.220
 simply may not have

00:38:52.220 --> 00:38:52.940
 the text for.

00:38:58.720 --> 00:38:59.079
 Yeah?

00:38:59.079 --> 00:39:05.199
 Do you think because of the...

00:39:05.199 --> 00:39:06.460
 Okay, whoever was king

00:39:06.460 --> 00:39:07.279
 at the time,

00:39:07.380 --> 00:39:08.400
 or whatever empire

00:39:08.400 --> 00:39:09.699
 was in power,

00:39:10.019 --> 00:39:12.400
 that money was more

00:39:12.400 --> 00:39:13.239
 the focus,

00:39:13.679 --> 00:39:15.319
 and that's why you're saying

00:39:15.319 --> 00:39:16.440
 some records that only

00:39:16.440 --> 00:39:18.119
 contain receipts,

00:39:18.440 --> 00:39:19.519
 power over money?

00:39:22.860 --> 00:39:23.619
 Sort of.

00:39:23.719 --> 00:39:24.980
 So one of the things

00:39:24.980 --> 00:39:25.900
 is that, like,

00:39:26.000 --> 00:39:27.400
 when we think of writing...

00:39:27.400 --> 00:39:28.599
 Because we write everything,

00:39:29.059 --> 00:39:29.260
 right?

00:39:29.320 --> 00:39:29.500
 I mean,

00:39:29.940 --> 00:39:30.980
 I wrote my notes,

00:39:31.160 --> 00:39:31.400
 you know?

00:39:32.840 --> 00:39:33.820
 I still write, too,

00:39:33.940 --> 00:39:35.380
 even though there's computers.

00:39:35.440 --> 00:39:35.780
 Exactly.

00:39:35.940 --> 00:39:36.980
 Well, whether we're typing

00:39:36.980 --> 00:39:37.780
 or writing by hand,

00:39:37.900 --> 00:39:39.519
 like, the written word

00:39:39.519 --> 00:39:40.559
 is such a huge part

00:39:40.559 --> 00:39:41.079
 of our lives.

00:39:41.760 --> 00:39:42.660
 But when we look

00:39:42.660 --> 00:39:43.420
 at the development,

00:39:43.820 --> 00:39:45.039
 particularly in Mesopotamia,

00:39:45.099 --> 00:39:46.039
 the development of writing,

00:39:46.180 --> 00:39:47.260
 it's very much centered

00:39:47.260 --> 00:39:48.340
 around administration.

00:39:48.340 --> 00:39:53.300
 So most of the very early sources

00:39:53.300 --> 00:39:53.820
 we have,

00:39:53.940 --> 00:39:54.860
 these things from, like,

00:39:55.019 --> 00:39:56.320
 you know, 3,100

00:39:56.320 --> 00:39:58.519
 up through the 2,000s,

00:39:58.559 --> 00:40:00.920
 a lot of that is...

00:40:00.920 --> 00:40:01.640
 And even beyond that,

00:40:01.660 --> 00:40:02.720
 a lot of what we have

00:40:02.720 --> 00:40:04.380
 are these sort of economic

00:40:04.380 --> 00:40:05.500
 and administrative records,

00:40:05.680 --> 00:40:07.720
 simply because that's...

00:40:08.539 --> 00:40:09.440
 You know, accounting

00:40:09.440 --> 00:40:11.039
 was one of the main things

00:40:11.039 --> 00:40:11.700
 they used it for.

00:40:12.380 --> 00:40:13.820
 And so it's...

00:40:13.820 --> 00:40:16.320
 I think even today,

00:40:16.320 --> 00:40:18.320
 if we looked at, you know...

00:40:18.320 --> 00:40:19.240
 If we actually kept

00:40:19.240 --> 00:40:20.559
 all the receipts that we got

00:40:20.559 --> 00:40:21.460
 and didn't just throw them out

00:40:21.460 --> 00:40:22.220
 like I always do

00:40:22.220 --> 00:40:24.000
 instead of being better

00:40:24.000 --> 00:40:25.160
 at my own personal accounting,

00:40:25.280 --> 00:40:25.440
 right?

00:40:25.680 --> 00:40:27.600
 Like, we might have,

00:40:27.680 --> 00:40:28.800
 in many cases, like,

00:40:29.280 --> 00:40:30.480
 if we looked at all the paper

00:40:30.480 --> 00:40:30.880
 we have,

00:40:30.920 --> 00:40:31.640
 we might actually have

00:40:31.640 --> 00:40:32.420
 a lot more receipts

00:40:32.420 --> 00:40:33.900
 than we do, you know,

00:40:34.120 --> 00:40:34.980
 novels, right?

00:40:36.680 --> 00:40:37.840
 So if we actually kept

00:40:37.840 --> 00:40:38.920
 every single one

00:40:38.920 --> 00:40:39.780
 from every transaction.

00:40:40.300 --> 00:40:41.920
 And so this is, you know...

00:40:41.920 --> 00:40:43.320
 I think I might have mentioned

00:40:43.320 --> 00:40:44.380
 this a little bit last time, too,

00:40:44.440 --> 00:40:45.720
 but because they wrote

00:40:45.719 --> 00:40:48.959
 on clay, you know,

00:40:48.980 --> 00:40:50.059
 especially if it's fired

00:40:50.059 --> 00:40:51.359
 or even if it's just sun-dried,

00:40:51.839 --> 00:40:52.039
 right?

00:40:52.079 --> 00:40:53.719
 You have something that is...

00:40:54.659 --> 00:40:55.500
 Especially if it's fired,

00:40:55.559 --> 00:40:55.919
 you have something

00:40:55.919 --> 00:40:56.459
 that's essentially

00:40:56.459 --> 00:40:58.480
 as robust as your coffee cup,

00:40:59.000 --> 00:41:00.119
 as your coffee mug, right?

00:41:00.279 --> 00:41:01.039
 But that you bury it

00:41:01.039 --> 00:41:01.419
 in the ground,

00:41:01.480 --> 00:41:02.279
 it's going to survive.

00:41:02.939 --> 00:41:03.719
 So because they wrote

00:41:03.719 --> 00:41:04.919
 on a very durable material,

00:41:04.919 --> 00:41:06.179
 we have a lot of this stuff

00:41:06.179 --> 00:41:07.279
 that still survives.

00:41:08.019 --> 00:41:09.139
 Whereas if...

00:41:09.139 --> 00:41:09.759
 When they start writing

00:41:09.759 --> 00:41:10.799
 on papyrus and parchment

00:41:10.799 --> 00:41:11.939
 in the Persian period,

00:41:12.579 --> 00:41:13.699
 we start losing sources

00:41:13.699 --> 00:41:14.379
 as historians

00:41:14.380 --> 00:41:16.039
 because a lot of that stuff

00:41:16.039 --> 00:41:17.340
 just disintegrates over time.

00:41:17.920 --> 00:41:18.300
 Got it.

00:41:19.200 --> 00:41:19.760
 Thank you.

00:41:20.480 --> 00:41:21.180
 I'm curious,

00:41:21.920 --> 00:41:22.940
 what are the...

00:41:22.940 --> 00:41:23.760
 Are there estimates

00:41:23.760 --> 00:41:25.240
 on how much is yet

00:41:25.240 --> 00:41:25.940
 to be dug up

00:41:25.940 --> 00:41:26.480
 out of the ground?

00:41:30.380 --> 00:41:31.240
 Probably a lot.

00:41:32.599 --> 00:41:33.980
 It's hard to sort of estimate

00:41:33.980 --> 00:41:35.300
 what you don't have

00:41:35.300 --> 00:41:36.460
 or how much you don't know.

00:41:37.000 --> 00:41:37.660
 Well, like you said,

00:41:37.700 --> 00:41:38.760
 there was a site in Nineveh

00:41:38.760 --> 00:41:40.400
 that is known to exist

00:41:40.400 --> 00:41:41.539
 that just hasn't been dug up.

00:41:41.700 --> 00:41:42.960
 Like, is that...

00:41:42.960 --> 00:41:44.159
 Are there many such sites?

00:41:45.619 --> 00:41:45.980
 Yes.

00:41:46.320 --> 00:41:47.340
 So there are a number

00:41:47.340 --> 00:41:49.579
 of sites and parts of sites.

00:41:49.699 --> 00:41:50.159
 The other thing, too,

00:41:50.199 --> 00:41:50.780
 is a lot of times

00:41:50.780 --> 00:41:51.659
 when a site...

00:41:51.659 --> 00:41:52.619
 When an archaeological site

00:41:52.619 --> 00:41:52.900
 is dug,

00:41:52.960 --> 00:41:53.760
 especially if it's a big one

00:41:53.760 --> 00:41:54.320
 like Nineveh,

00:41:54.760 --> 00:41:56.320
 they focus on certain areas

00:41:56.320 --> 00:41:56.840
 of the site

00:41:56.840 --> 00:41:59.659
 because you can't really...

00:41:59.659 --> 00:42:01.039
 Unless you just trash the site,

00:42:01.139 --> 00:42:02.300
 you can't scientifically

00:42:02.300 --> 00:42:05.220
 excavate a whole area

00:42:05.220 --> 00:42:07.900
 unless you have, you know,

00:42:07.940 --> 00:42:08.599
 millions and millions

00:42:08.599 --> 00:42:09.099
 of dollars

00:42:09.099 --> 00:42:10.220
 and all kinds of logistics

00:42:10.220 --> 00:42:11.039
 and stuff like that, right?

00:42:11.039 --> 00:42:15.920
 So there's a lot of...

00:42:15.920 --> 00:42:16.840
 There's still a lot of areas

00:42:16.840 --> 00:42:18.920
 that still need to be dug up.

00:42:19.800 --> 00:42:20.920
 One of the...

00:42:20.920 --> 00:42:23.380
 One of the complicating factors

00:42:23.380 --> 00:42:24.579
 is that we have

00:42:24.579 --> 00:42:25.980
 not only, you know,

00:42:26.059 --> 00:42:27.239
 archaeological excavations

00:42:27.239 --> 00:42:28.219
 that dig things up,

00:42:28.779 --> 00:42:29.579
 but looters,

00:42:29.679 --> 00:42:31.980
 especially in the wake

00:42:31.980 --> 00:42:33.920
 of the Second Gulf War

00:42:33.920 --> 00:42:36.840
 and ISIS

00:42:36.840 --> 00:42:38.779
 and the Syrian Civil War.

00:42:38.780 --> 00:42:40.600
 There are a lot of sites

00:42:40.600 --> 00:42:42.240
 throughout this whole area here,

00:42:42.380 --> 00:42:43.060
 especially,

00:42:44.019 --> 00:42:45.940
 that you can see...

00:42:45.940 --> 00:42:47.140
 I've seen satellite images,

00:42:47.660 --> 00:42:47.860
 right?

00:42:47.920 --> 00:42:48.700
 And they'll show you,

00:42:48.780 --> 00:42:49.040
 you know,

00:42:49.400 --> 00:42:51.519
 before some of this stuff

00:42:51.519 --> 00:42:52.340
 and, you know,

00:42:52.380 --> 00:42:53.180
 three years later.

00:42:53.440 --> 00:42:54.480
 And you have what looks

00:42:54.480 --> 00:42:55.260
 like a nice hill

00:42:55.260 --> 00:42:55.960
 in the before

00:42:55.960 --> 00:42:56.580
 and in the after

00:42:56.580 --> 00:42:57.519
 it's just pockmarked.

00:42:58.180 --> 00:42:58.960
 And you can tell

00:42:58.960 --> 00:43:00.160
 that you've had looters

00:43:00.160 --> 00:43:00.920
 in there with

00:43:00.920 --> 00:43:01.880
 sometimes shovels,

00:43:01.920 --> 00:43:02.860
 sometimes backhoes,

00:43:03.620 --> 00:43:04.160
 right?

00:43:04.159 --> 00:43:06.279
 just digging stuff up

00:43:06.279 --> 00:43:07.500
 to sell in the black market.

00:43:08.519 --> 00:43:10.480
 And as a historian,

00:43:10.779 --> 00:43:12.359
 it's heart-rending.

00:43:13.319 --> 00:43:14.759
 I feel for the people as well

00:43:14.759 --> 00:43:15.559
 because the reason

00:43:15.559 --> 00:43:16.159
 they're doing it

00:43:16.159 --> 00:43:17.339
 is because they need

00:43:17.339 --> 00:43:18.179
 to make money

00:43:18.179 --> 00:43:18.920
 to feed their families

00:43:18.920 --> 00:43:19.639
 and there's a war on.

00:43:23.379 --> 00:43:26.279
 But it's heart-rending

00:43:26.279 --> 00:43:30.159
 because that's a lot of...

00:43:30.480 --> 00:43:31.839
 Sometimes this material

00:43:31.840 --> 00:43:32.700
 does come to light

00:43:32.700 --> 00:43:33.539
 and scholars do get

00:43:33.539 --> 00:43:34.280
 to look at it.

00:43:35.800 --> 00:43:37.820
 But a lot of the

00:43:37.820 --> 00:43:38.700
 valuable information

00:43:38.700 --> 00:43:40.500
 about where it comes from,

00:43:40.680 --> 00:43:40.920
 you know,

00:43:42.059 --> 00:43:44.420
 was it found in, like,

00:43:44.480 --> 00:43:44.920
 some sort of

00:43:44.920 --> 00:43:45.840
 administrative building

00:43:45.840 --> 00:43:47.320
 or a palace archive

00:43:47.320 --> 00:43:48.680
 or someone's private home?

00:43:48.820 --> 00:43:49.700
 This is all information

00:43:49.700 --> 00:43:50.800
 that historians can use

00:43:50.800 --> 00:43:52.360
 to help tell us more

00:43:52.360 --> 00:43:53.400
 about what's going on.

00:43:53.800 --> 00:43:55.340
 And we lose all that information

00:43:55.340 --> 00:43:57.340
 if someone just takes it

00:43:57.340 --> 00:43:58.400
 and then sells it somewhere.

00:44:01.300 --> 00:44:01.740
 Yeah.

00:44:01.840 --> 00:44:05.960
 The Bible records,

00:44:06.120 --> 00:44:06.579
 you know,

00:44:07.840 --> 00:44:09.019
 Daniel being brought over

00:44:09.019 --> 00:44:09.660
 to Babylon.

00:44:10.120 --> 00:44:11.180
 We know about the writing

00:44:11.180 --> 00:44:11.900
 on the wall.

00:44:13.960 --> 00:44:14.360
 To me,

00:44:14.500 --> 00:44:15.840
 spectacular things

00:44:15.840 --> 00:44:16.760
 in terms of,

00:44:16.760 --> 00:44:18.160
 you know,

00:44:18.300 --> 00:44:19.440
 Daniel surviving

00:44:19.440 --> 00:44:20.620
 in the lion's den

00:44:20.620 --> 00:44:22.100
 and the fire of the darkness

00:44:22.100 --> 00:44:23.460
 and the writing on the wall

00:44:23.460 --> 00:44:24.340
 and all that other stuff,

00:44:24.579 --> 00:44:25.360
 which is in the Bible.

00:44:25.820 --> 00:44:26.960
 Now, my question to you is,

00:44:27.240 --> 00:44:27.940
 is there anything

00:44:27.940 --> 00:44:30.100
 in the Babylonian literature

00:44:30.099 --> 00:44:32.880
 or archaeological findings

00:44:32.880 --> 00:44:34.559
 that verify that?

00:44:36.119 --> 00:44:36.440
 Yeah.

00:44:39.039 --> 00:44:40.480
 Not a lot specifically.

00:44:41.380 --> 00:44:42.659
 It's not necessarily

00:44:42.659 --> 00:44:43.699
 the kind of thing

00:44:43.699 --> 00:44:45.579
 that if it happened,

00:44:46.259 --> 00:44:47.880
 a Babylonian king

00:44:47.880 --> 00:44:48.639
 is going to have put

00:44:48.639 --> 00:44:49.699
 in their records.

00:44:49.699 --> 00:44:50.379
 right?

00:44:50.439 --> 00:44:50.559
 Like,

00:44:50.659 --> 00:44:51.439
 I got really mad

00:44:51.439 --> 00:44:52.339
 at one of my courtiers

00:44:52.339 --> 00:44:53.619
 and I threw him

00:44:53.619 --> 00:44:54.480
 in a lion's den,

00:44:55.480 --> 00:44:57.319
 but he wasn't eaten

00:44:57.319 --> 00:44:58.699
 and now I feel

00:44:58.699 --> 00:44:59.579
 a little bit chagrined.

00:45:00.299 --> 00:45:00.480
 You know,

00:45:00.500 --> 00:45:00.699
 like,

00:45:00.899 --> 00:45:02.639
 this stuff doesn't end up

00:45:02.639 --> 00:45:03.299
 in their records.

00:45:04.379 --> 00:45:05.139
 There's some people

00:45:05.139 --> 00:45:06.019
 who have suggested,

00:45:07.379 --> 00:45:07.899
 you know,

00:45:07.919 --> 00:45:08.359
 there's the story

00:45:08.359 --> 00:45:09.379
 where Nebuchadnezzar

00:45:09.380 --> 00:45:10.220
 goes insane

00:45:10.220 --> 00:45:11.079
 for a couple of years

00:45:11.079 --> 00:45:15.119
 and people have debated

00:45:15.119 --> 00:45:15.480
 about,

00:45:15.740 --> 00:45:16.300
 you know,

00:45:16.640 --> 00:45:18.260
 somebody even fairly recently

00:45:18.260 --> 00:45:18.940
 in a seriologist

00:45:18.940 --> 00:45:19.980
 has written suggesting

00:45:19.980 --> 00:45:20.740
 that, you know,

00:45:20.780 --> 00:45:21.820
 because there are gaps

00:45:21.820 --> 00:45:22.880
 when we don't have

00:45:22.880 --> 00:45:23.460
 a lot of sources

00:45:23.460 --> 00:45:24.579
 from Nebuchadnezzar's reign

00:45:24.579 --> 00:45:26.440
 and we are always

00:45:26.440 --> 00:45:27.119
 asking the question

00:45:27.119 --> 00:45:27.579
 of, like,

00:45:29.780 --> 00:45:30.559
 was,

00:45:31.340 --> 00:45:32.099
 is that just because

00:45:32.099 --> 00:45:33.039
 we don't have sources

00:45:33.039 --> 00:45:33.940
 for those,

00:45:34.220 --> 00:45:34.440
 you know,

00:45:34.480 --> 00:45:35.300
 just luck of the draw,

00:45:35.400 --> 00:45:36.119
 luck of what we did

00:45:36.119 --> 00:45:36.780
 or didn't dig up

00:45:36.780 --> 00:45:37.900
 or was,

00:45:38.180 --> 00:45:39.200
 did he actually have

00:45:39.200 --> 00:45:40.340
 some sort of

00:45:40.340 --> 00:45:41.840
 mental breakdown

00:45:41.840 --> 00:45:42.980
 at some point?

00:45:43.580 --> 00:45:45.300
 So that is a possibility.

00:45:45.540 --> 00:45:46.800
 Some people also connect

00:45:46.800 --> 00:45:49.240
 that more with Nabonidus

00:45:49.240 --> 00:45:49.740
 and the sort of

00:45:49.740 --> 00:45:51.440
 mad king tradition.

00:45:53.280 --> 00:45:53.960
 Even though, again,

00:45:54.000 --> 00:45:55.100
 it's a different king,

00:45:55.200 --> 00:45:56.040
 so there's a problem there,

00:45:56.140 --> 00:45:56.280
 right?

00:45:56.380 --> 00:45:56.500
 But,

00:45:57.019 --> 00:46:00.040
 yeah,

00:46:00.180 --> 00:46:01.400
 so we don't have

00:46:01.400 --> 00:46:02.160
 a lot of it.

00:46:02.440 --> 00:46:03.080
 It is interesting

00:46:03.080 --> 00:46:03.560
 in Daniel

00:46:03.560 --> 00:46:04.960
 that Belshazzar,

00:46:05.380 --> 00:46:06.340
 Nabonidus' son,

00:46:06.340 --> 00:46:07.100
 shows up

00:46:07.100 --> 00:46:08.039
 as the last king

00:46:08.039 --> 00:46:08.880
 before the Persians

00:46:08.880 --> 00:46:09.340
 come in,

00:46:10.460 --> 00:46:10.660
 right?

00:46:12.820 --> 00:46:13.300
 So,

00:46:13.700 --> 00:46:13.880
 which,

00:46:14.019 --> 00:46:15.120
 which is reflected

00:46:15.120 --> 00:46:15.880
 in,

00:46:16.280 --> 00:46:18.660
 in the historical text,

00:46:18.700 --> 00:46:19.660
 the fact that we have

00:46:19.660 --> 00:46:20.800
 Belshazzar

00:46:20.800 --> 00:46:21.579
 ruling

00:46:21.579 --> 00:46:25.640
 either as a co-regent

00:46:25.640 --> 00:46:26.400
 or as a governor

00:46:26.400 --> 00:46:27.320
 under

00:46:27.320 --> 00:46:28.519
 his father,

00:46:28.600 --> 00:46:29.140
 Nabonidus.

00:46:30.100 --> 00:46:30.579
 So,

00:46:31.140 --> 00:46:32.740
 I think it's interesting

00:46:32.740 --> 00:46:33.180
 that that

00:46:33.180 --> 00:46:34.019
 shows up

00:46:34.019 --> 00:46:34.340
 as something

00:46:34.340 --> 00:46:35.680
 that comes through

00:46:35.679 --> 00:46:36.079
 in Daniel

00:46:36.079 --> 00:46:36.440
 that doesn't

00:46:36.440 --> 00:46:36.940
 come through

00:46:36.940 --> 00:46:38.299
 some of the

00:46:38.299 --> 00:46:38.779
 other sources

00:46:38.779 --> 00:46:39.379
 because we didn't

00:46:39.379 --> 00:46:39.879
 know this

00:46:39.879 --> 00:46:40.259
 until,

00:46:41.440 --> 00:46:41.779
 or we didn't

00:46:41.779 --> 00:46:42.199
 have evidence

00:46:42.199 --> 00:46:42.639
 of this

00:46:42.639 --> 00:46:43.659
 in the cuneiform

00:46:43.659 --> 00:46:44.039
 records,

00:46:44.099 --> 00:46:44.460
 I should say,

00:46:44.500 --> 00:46:44.980
 until about 50

00:46:44.980 --> 00:46:45.440
 years ago.

00:46:48.519 --> 00:46:48.879
 Yeah,

00:46:49.039 --> 00:46:49.179
 Tom.

00:46:49.679 --> 00:46:49.960
 John,

00:46:50.019 --> 00:46:50.579
 I wanted to ask you

00:46:50.579 --> 00:46:51.519
 about the genre

00:46:51.519 --> 00:46:52.019
 of history

00:46:52.019 --> 00:46:52.460
 because you're

00:46:52.460 --> 00:46:52.839
 talking about

00:46:52.839 --> 00:46:53.960
 different genres

00:46:53.960 --> 00:46:55.379
 that are referenced

00:46:55.379 --> 00:46:56.059
 in the cuneiform

00:46:56.059 --> 00:46:56.559
 tablets,

00:46:56.699 --> 00:46:57.440
 so receipts

00:46:57.440 --> 00:46:58.519
 and then some

00:46:58.519 --> 00:46:59.119
 mythological,

00:46:59.519 --> 00:47:00.840
 fictional writings

00:47:00.840 --> 00:47:01.440
 or mythological

00:47:01.440 --> 00:47:02.800
 writings or stories

00:47:02.800 --> 00:47:03.500
 people would tell,

00:47:03.840 --> 00:47:04.440
 but in terms of

00:47:04.440 --> 00:47:06.000
 the genre that we

00:47:06.000 --> 00:47:06.599
 would call

00:47:06.599 --> 00:47:07.920
 history writing,

00:47:08.559 --> 00:47:09.480
 I've heard at least

00:47:09.480 --> 00:47:11.039
 that that's kind of

00:47:11.039 --> 00:47:12.179
 a relatively new

00:47:12.179 --> 00:47:12.980
 genre as far as

00:47:12.980 --> 00:47:13.720
 human civilization

00:47:13.720 --> 00:47:14.280
 is concerned.

00:47:14.940 --> 00:47:16.179
 It didn't come about

00:47:16.179 --> 00:47:17.900
 until more recently

00:47:17.900 --> 00:47:19.099
 than we would think,

00:47:19.440 --> 00:47:20.639
 and that,

00:47:20.980 --> 00:47:21.539
 so I guess I'm

00:47:21.539 --> 00:47:21.980
 wondering about the

00:47:21.980 --> 00:47:22.440
 Babylonians.

00:47:22.500 --> 00:47:23.400
 Did they do that?

00:47:23.559 --> 00:47:24.159
 Did they just have

00:47:24.159 --> 00:47:24.900
 some list of dates?

00:47:24.900 --> 00:47:25.400
 I know they had

00:47:25.400 --> 00:47:26.480
 date lists and stuff,

00:47:26.559 --> 00:47:27.340
 but did they actually

00:47:27.340 --> 00:47:28.500
 say,

00:47:28.940 --> 00:47:30.019
 the king went and

00:47:30.019 --> 00:47:30.539
 did this because

00:47:30.539 --> 00:47:30.960
 of the following

00:47:30.960 --> 00:47:31.460
 reasons,

00:47:31.680 --> 00:47:32.000
 but the right,

00:47:32.000 --> 00:47:32.280
 you know,

00:47:32.340 --> 00:47:33.800
 like a full-blown

00:47:33.800 --> 00:47:34.660
 historical narrative,

00:47:34.920 --> 00:47:36.160
 or does that genre

00:47:36.160 --> 00:47:37.680
 not even exist yet

00:47:37.680 --> 00:47:38.579
 in Babylonian?

00:47:39.400 --> 00:47:39.920
 Yeah,

00:47:40.099 --> 00:47:42.380
 so this is also

00:47:42.380 --> 00:47:43.579
 a hotly debated

00:47:43.579 --> 00:47:44.039
 question.

00:47:44.680 --> 00:47:44.820
 You know,

00:47:44.880 --> 00:47:46.780
 when does history

00:47:46.780 --> 00:47:47.400
 writing start?

00:47:47.680 --> 00:47:49.500
 When do we go

00:47:49.500 --> 00:47:50.160
 from just sort of

00:47:50.160 --> 00:47:50.940
 recording dates

00:47:50.940 --> 00:47:51.700
 when things happen

00:47:51.700 --> 00:47:52.340
 to sort of

00:47:52.340 --> 00:47:54.240
 giving a narrative,

00:47:54.239 --> 00:47:55.119
 giving an interpretation

00:47:55.119 --> 00:47:57.539
 for what happened?

00:47:57.859 --> 00:47:58.239
 I mean,

00:47:58.339 --> 00:47:59.339
 in the Greek tradition,

00:47:59.479 --> 00:47:59.579
 right,

00:47:59.659 --> 00:48:00.619
 Herodotus is usually

00:48:00.619 --> 00:48:01.199
 called the father

00:48:01.199 --> 00:48:01.739
 of history,

00:48:02.279 --> 00:48:03.039
 and he's writing

00:48:03.039 --> 00:48:03.919
 in, you know,

00:48:03.959 --> 00:48:05.159
 the mid-Persian period.

00:48:07.959 --> 00:48:08.159
 So...

00:48:08.159 --> 00:48:09.399
 That's like 450,

00:48:09.519 --> 00:48:09.699
 right,

00:48:09.739 --> 00:48:10.099
 what's that?

00:48:10.119 --> 00:48:10.519
 Yeah,

00:48:10.699 --> 00:48:11.819
 something like that.

00:48:12.259 --> 00:48:12.519
 Yeah.

00:48:16.739 --> 00:48:18.299
 So the Cineiform tradition

00:48:18.299 --> 00:48:20.299
 often in historiographical

00:48:20.299 --> 00:48:21.139
 circles gets a lot

00:48:21.139 --> 00:48:22.139
 of flack for

00:48:22.139 --> 00:48:23.659
 having texts

00:48:23.659 --> 00:48:24.460
 that are mostly

00:48:24.460 --> 00:48:24.859
 like,

00:48:25.379 --> 00:48:26.559
 in this date,

00:48:26.639 --> 00:48:27.339
 I went and I conquered

00:48:27.339 --> 00:48:27.839
 this city,

00:48:27.940 --> 00:48:28.400
 in that date,

00:48:28.480 --> 00:48:29.019
 I went and conquered

00:48:29.019 --> 00:48:29.299
 this,

00:48:29.440 --> 00:48:30.059
 that other city,

00:48:30.179 --> 00:48:30.359
 right,

00:48:31.420 --> 00:48:32.579
 and not having

00:48:32.579 --> 00:48:33.299
 like a narrative

00:48:33.299 --> 00:48:34.440
 historiographical tradition.

00:48:35.579 --> 00:48:36.719
 I tend to think,

00:48:36.839 --> 00:48:37.099
 though,

00:48:37.299 --> 00:48:38.739
 and I have not

00:48:38.739 --> 00:48:40.980
 studied this

00:48:40.980 --> 00:48:42.440
 as in depth

00:48:42.440 --> 00:48:43.819
 as I would like,

00:48:43.879 --> 00:48:44.719
 I've not published

00:48:44.719 --> 00:48:45.119
 on it,

00:48:45.779 --> 00:48:47.759
 but I tend to think

00:48:47.759 --> 00:48:48.400
 that some of their

00:48:48.400 --> 00:48:49.599
 historiographical texts

00:48:49.599 --> 00:48:50.980
 do contain

00:48:50.980 --> 00:48:51.900
 a lot of

00:48:51.900 --> 00:48:52.440
 implicit,

00:48:53.179 --> 00:48:54.579
 implicit but intended

00:48:54.579 --> 00:48:55.679
 interpretation.

00:48:56.860 --> 00:48:58.239
 This idea that,

00:48:58.420 --> 00:49:00.159
 you know,

00:49:00.259 --> 00:49:00.500
 sure,

00:49:00.579 --> 00:49:01.059
 he's listing

00:49:01.059 --> 00:49:02.380
 places that he went

00:49:02.380 --> 00:49:03.460
 and places that he conquered,

00:49:03.799 --> 00:49:04.679
 but he's doing that

00:49:04.679 --> 00:49:05.599
 to tell a narrative.

00:49:05.759 --> 00:49:06.219
 He's doing that

00:49:06.219 --> 00:49:06.599
 to say,

00:49:06.699 --> 00:49:06.839
 like,

00:49:06.920 --> 00:49:07.179
 look,

00:49:07.920 --> 00:49:10.079
 we all know

00:49:10.079 --> 00:49:10.360
 that,

00:49:10.460 --> 00:49:10.619
 like,

00:49:10.679 --> 00:49:11.119
 these are,

00:49:11.339 --> 00:49:12.279
 the first few places

00:49:12.279 --> 00:49:12.759
 that I go

00:49:12.759 --> 00:49:13.239
 are places

00:49:13.239 --> 00:49:14.839
 where most of

00:49:14.839 --> 00:49:15.679
 my forefathers,

00:49:15.679 --> 00:49:16.619
 the kings before me,

00:49:16.679 --> 00:49:17.019
 have gone,

00:49:17.019 --> 00:49:18.619
 but the later places

00:49:18.619 --> 00:49:19.280
 are all places

00:49:19.280 --> 00:49:19.980
 that seemed,

00:49:20.019 --> 00:49:20.320
 like,

00:49:20.480 --> 00:49:21.360
 almost mythological

00:49:21.360 --> 00:49:21.780
 to us

00:49:21.780 --> 00:49:22.659
 until my reign

00:49:22.659 --> 00:49:23.400
 when I went there

00:49:23.400 --> 00:49:24.239
 and conquered them,

00:49:25.360 --> 00:49:25.599
 right?

00:49:25.659 --> 00:49:25.880
 So,

00:49:26.019 --> 00:49:26.759
 look at me being

00:49:26.759 --> 00:49:28.559
 the most advanced

00:49:28.559 --> 00:49:29.460
 of all kings

00:49:29.460 --> 00:49:30.259
 out there,

00:49:30.380 --> 00:49:30.699
 you know.

00:49:33.000 --> 00:49:33.440
 So,

00:49:33.539 --> 00:49:33.800
 there's,

00:49:34.059 --> 00:49:34.300
 which,

00:49:34.380 --> 00:49:34.480
 again,

00:49:34.579 --> 00:49:35.360
 it's still a very

00:49:35.360 --> 00:49:36.000
 simple narrative.

00:49:36.320 --> 00:49:37.579
 It's self-aggrandizing.

00:49:38.579 --> 00:49:39.780
 There's also other texts

00:49:39.780 --> 00:49:40.440
 that are less

00:49:40.440 --> 00:49:42.639
 pro-royal.

00:49:45.000 --> 00:49:45.960
 Some of these ones,

00:49:46.019 --> 00:49:46.159
 again,

00:49:46.159 --> 00:49:46.699
 that we'll get

00:49:46.699 --> 00:49:47.279
 that present

00:49:47.279 --> 00:49:48.099
 Nabonidus

00:49:48.099 --> 00:49:49.239
 as sort of a mad king

00:49:49.239 --> 00:49:49.879
 will sort of

00:49:49.879 --> 00:49:51.059
 are presenting,

00:49:51.239 --> 00:49:51.279
 like,

00:49:51.339 --> 00:49:51.440
 well,

00:49:51.480 --> 00:49:52.859
 there was a bad king

00:49:52.859 --> 00:49:54.659
 who angered the gods

00:49:54.659 --> 00:49:55.719
 and made all the people

00:49:55.719 --> 00:49:56.119
 unhappy,

00:49:56.799 --> 00:49:57.980
 and then there was

00:49:57.980 --> 00:49:58.639
 a good king

00:49:58.639 --> 00:49:59.019
 who came in

00:49:59.019 --> 00:49:59.619
 from the outside

00:49:59.619 --> 00:50:00.480
 and initiated

00:50:00.480 --> 00:50:01.440
 a regime change

00:50:01.440 --> 00:50:02.319
 and a set of reforms

00:50:02.319 --> 00:50:03.319
 and everybody was happy,

00:50:03.879 --> 00:50:04.019
 right?

00:50:04.079 --> 00:50:04.239
 Like,

00:50:04.359 --> 00:50:05.079
 that's a narrative.

00:50:05.559 --> 00:50:05.960
 Again,

00:50:06.079 --> 00:50:06.859
 very simple narrative,

00:50:07.099 --> 00:50:07.779
 but it's a narrative.

00:50:08.599 --> 00:50:08.899
 So,

00:50:09.359 --> 00:50:10.480
 I think it's there

00:50:10.480 --> 00:50:11.039
 more than,

00:50:11.159 --> 00:50:12.059
 more than we,

00:50:12.819 --> 00:50:14.639
 more than we traditionally

00:50:14.639 --> 00:50:15.559
 have thought,

00:50:15.559 --> 00:50:16.880
 but there's a lot

00:50:16.880 --> 00:50:17.179
 of,

00:50:17.179 --> 00:50:18.960
 a lot of that

00:50:18.960 --> 00:50:20.320
 sort of

00:50:20.320 --> 00:50:23.840
 self-awareness

00:50:23.840 --> 00:50:24.360
 that we tend

00:50:24.360 --> 00:50:24.980
 to think of

00:50:24.980 --> 00:50:25.599
 more with the

00:50:25.599 --> 00:50:26.099
 Greek tradition

00:50:26.099 --> 00:50:26.639
 and later,

00:50:27.159 --> 00:50:27.699
 I think is,

00:50:27.739 --> 00:50:28.679
 I think is there

00:50:28.679 --> 00:50:29.639
 in the Kineoform tradition,

00:50:29.900 --> 00:50:30.579
 but they,

00:50:30.799 --> 00:50:31.500
 they have a different

00:50:31.500 --> 00:50:32.099
 way of talking

00:50:32.099 --> 00:50:32.659
 about it.

00:50:34.299 --> 00:50:35.299
 And I have a lot

00:50:35.299 --> 00:50:35.820
 more,

00:50:35.940 --> 00:50:36.239
 like,

00:50:36.400 --> 00:50:37.079
 longer thoughts

00:50:37.079 --> 00:50:37.400
 on that

00:50:37.400 --> 00:50:37.860
 in a number

00:50:37.860 --> 00:50:38.559
 of different genres

00:50:38.559 --> 00:50:39.179
 that we can

00:50:39.179 --> 00:50:39.840
 talk about later,

00:50:39.900 --> 00:50:40.360
 but I don't want to

00:50:40.360 --> 00:50:41.539
 bore everybody

00:50:41.539 --> 00:50:42.179
 with my thoughts

00:50:42.179 --> 00:50:42.460
 on that.

00:50:44.940 --> 00:50:45.380
 So,

00:50:46.139 --> 00:50:48.559
 when we preached

00:50:48.559 --> 00:50:49.019
 through Daniel

00:50:49.019 --> 00:50:49.820
 a couple years ago,

00:50:49.960 --> 00:50:51.000
 you start with Daniel 1,

00:50:51.159 --> 00:50:53.139
 and there's a group

00:50:53.139 --> 00:50:54.219
 of young men

00:50:54.219 --> 00:50:55.059
 who seem particularly

00:50:55.059 --> 00:50:55.940
 who were brought in

00:50:55.940 --> 00:50:57.119
 and given a particular

00:50:57.119 --> 00:50:58.860
 place in the,

00:50:58.860 --> 00:51:01.579
 in the,

00:51:01.579 --> 00:51:02.480
 in the,

00:51:02.480 --> 00:51:04.059
 the court,

00:51:04.240 --> 00:51:04.659
 so to speak.

00:51:04.760 --> 00:51:04.880
 Like,

00:51:04.920 --> 00:51:05.420
 they're brought in,

00:51:05.460 --> 00:51:06.300
 it seems like

00:51:06.300 --> 00:51:07.780
 they're being groomed

00:51:07.780 --> 00:51:09.740
 to become insiders

00:51:09.740 --> 00:51:10.940
 in a global

00:51:10.940 --> 00:51:11.639
 sort of,

00:51:12.440 --> 00:51:12.740
 you know,

00:51:12.860 --> 00:51:13.500
 ruler system

00:51:13.500 --> 00:51:14.280
 where they might be

00:51:14.280 --> 00:51:14.860
 then appointed

00:51:14.860 --> 00:51:15.480
 to governors

00:51:15.480 --> 00:51:16.260
 to go back.

00:51:16.820 --> 00:51:17.639
 Is there actual

00:51:17.639 --> 00:51:18.880
 historical evidence

00:51:18.880 --> 00:51:19.500
 or is that just

00:51:19.500 --> 00:51:19.900
 biblical,

00:51:20.340 --> 00:51:20.699
 you know,

00:51:20.800 --> 00:51:21.740
 inference?

00:51:23.260 --> 00:51:24.039
 I think,

00:51:24.219 --> 00:51:27.079
 I can't think

00:51:27.079 --> 00:51:27.639
 of as many,

00:51:27.639 --> 00:51:27.960
 like,

00:51:28.159 --> 00:51:28.960
 Neo-Babylonian

00:51:28.960 --> 00:51:29.360
 examples,

00:51:29.559 --> 00:51:30.139
 but I can think

00:51:30.139 --> 00:51:30.800
 of some

00:51:30.800 --> 00:51:32.900
 Assyrian examples,

00:51:33.120 --> 00:51:33.580
 for example,

00:51:33.680 --> 00:51:34.539
 where the Assyrians

00:51:34.539 --> 00:51:35.980
 would take,

00:51:36.060 --> 00:51:36.539
 especially when,

00:51:36.600 --> 00:51:37.200
 when the Assyrians

00:51:37.200 --> 00:51:37.960
 were trying to control

00:51:37.960 --> 00:51:38.740
 Babylonia because

00:51:38.740 --> 00:51:39.380
 they had a really

00:51:39.380 --> 00:51:40.280
 hard time with it.

00:51:40.820 --> 00:51:41.820
 Part of it was because

00:51:41.820 --> 00:51:43.200
 Babylonia was another

00:51:43.200 --> 00:51:44.320
 superpower and it's hard

00:51:44.320 --> 00:51:44.900
 for a superpower

00:51:44.900 --> 00:51:45.600
 to control another

00:51:45.600 --> 00:51:45.960
 superpower.

00:51:46.680 --> 00:51:47.580
 And part of it

00:51:47.580 --> 00:51:48.660
 is also that,

00:51:48.920 --> 00:51:50.180
 again,

00:51:50.220 --> 00:51:50.580
 like I said,

00:51:50.700 --> 00:51:52.019
 the Assyrians

00:51:52.019 --> 00:51:55.820
 respected and admired

00:51:55.820 --> 00:51:57.000
 Babylonian culture

00:51:57.000 --> 00:51:58.380
 and so it's kind of

00:51:58.380 --> 00:51:59.340
 hard to sort of

00:51:59.340 --> 00:52:00.440
 say,

00:52:00.560 --> 00:52:00.620
 like,

00:52:00.619 --> 00:52:00.739
 well,

00:52:00.779 --> 00:52:01.359
 we're better than

00:52:01.359 --> 00:52:01.579
 you,

00:52:01.679 --> 00:52:02.460
 but also we really

00:52:02.460 --> 00:52:03.159
 like your culture.

00:52:03.759 --> 00:52:04.359
 Can we have your,

00:52:04.359 --> 00:52:04.759
 like,

00:52:04.900 --> 00:52:05.799
 literature and music

00:52:05.799 --> 00:52:06.579
 and things?

00:52:07.940 --> 00:52:08.219
 You know,

00:52:08.559 --> 00:52:10.380
 so they had a hard

00:52:10.380 --> 00:52:11.000
 time controlling

00:52:11.000 --> 00:52:11.420
 Babylonia.

00:52:11.480 --> 00:52:12.019
 One of the ways

00:52:12.019 --> 00:52:12.339
 that they would

00:52:12.339 --> 00:52:13.079
 try to do it

00:52:13.079 --> 00:52:14.460
 is they would get,

00:52:15.319 --> 00:52:15.500
 you know,

00:52:15.539 --> 00:52:16.139
 they'd have,

00:52:16.259 --> 00:52:16.319
 like,

00:52:16.339 --> 00:52:16.880
 the son of a

00:52:16.880 --> 00:52:17.519
 Babylonian king

00:52:17.519 --> 00:52:17.839
 and they would

00:52:17.839 --> 00:52:18.739
 raise him in the

00:52:18.739 --> 00:52:19.559
 Assyrian court,

00:52:19.779 --> 00:52:20.599
 right?

00:52:20.859 --> 00:52:21.559
 And then they would

00:52:21.559 --> 00:52:22.679
 send him back in,

00:52:22.719 --> 00:52:22.839
 like,

00:52:22.880 --> 00:52:24.159
 if his father got,

00:52:24.920 --> 00:52:25.359
 you know,

00:52:25.619 --> 00:52:26.679
 a mind of his own

00:52:26.679 --> 00:52:27.480
 to start trying to

00:52:27.480 --> 00:52:28.319
 do things independently,

00:52:28.679 --> 00:52:29.480
 they'd go in,

00:52:29.559 --> 00:52:30.380
 take out the dad

00:52:30.380 --> 00:52:31.420
 and then send in

00:52:31.420 --> 00:52:32.260
 the son and be like,

00:52:32.320 --> 00:52:32.559
 hey,

00:52:32.860 --> 00:52:33.119
 you know,

00:52:33.420 --> 00:52:34.140
 you like us,

00:52:34.200 --> 00:52:34.400
 right?

00:52:34.720 --> 00:52:35.380
 We've been on

00:52:35.380 --> 00:52:36.420
 hunting trips together,

00:52:36.780 --> 00:52:37.099
 you know,

00:52:37.160 --> 00:52:38.019
 and then they would

00:52:38.019 --> 00:52:38.780
 send him in there

00:52:38.780 --> 00:52:39.380
 and then they would

00:52:39.380 --> 00:52:39.940
 have him,

00:52:40.000 --> 00:52:40.519
 you know,

00:52:40.579 --> 00:52:42.039
 take over the throne.

00:52:42.820 --> 00:52:43.619
 It didn't seem to

00:52:43.619 --> 00:52:44.380
 work very well.

00:52:44.780 --> 00:52:45.280
 That son,

00:52:45.340 --> 00:52:45.920
 when he got a chance,

00:52:45.960 --> 00:52:46.900
 usually also rebelled,

00:52:46.900 --> 00:52:49.180
 but they tried.

00:52:49.880 --> 00:52:50.380
 And we know that

00:52:50.380 --> 00:52:51.440
 similar things happened

00:52:51.440 --> 00:52:51.740
 right in,

00:52:51.820 --> 00:52:51.900
 like,

00:52:51.960 --> 00:52:52.480
 medieval Europe,

00:52:52.579 --> 00:52:52.720
 right?

00:52:52.740 --> 00:52:53.300
 You had sort of,

00:52:53.360 --> 00:52:53.480
 like,

00:52:54.119 --> 00:52:54.680
 hostages,

00:52:54.880 --> 00:52:55.000
 like,

00:52:55.039 --> 00:52:55.800
 political hostages

00:52:55.800 --> 00:52:57.420
 in medieval Europe

00:52:57.420 --> 00:52:57.940
 were often,

00:52:58.119 --> 00:52:58.840
 you know,

00:52:59.360 --> 00:53:01.599
 sons or daughters

00:53:01.599 --> 00:53:02.139
 of people

00:53:02.139 --> 00:53:03.000
 and you wanted

00:53:03.000 --> 00:53:03.760
 to keep them in check.

00:53:04.019 --> 00:53:05.220
 So there probably

00:53:05.220 --> 00:53:06.039
 is something similar

00:53:06.039 --> 00:53:06.780
 going on there

00:53:06.780 --> 00:53:07.740
 with Daniel

00:53:07.740 --> 00:53:08.320
 and his friends

00:53:08.320 --> 00:53:08.720
 and,

00:53:08.720 --> 00:53:10.160
 you know,

00:53:10.160 --> 00:53:10.559
 even again,

00:53:10.639 --> 00:53:10.740
 like,

00:53:10.780 --> 00:53:11.220
 we can include,

00:53:11.280 --> 00:53:11.380
 like,

00:53:11.440 --> 00:53:11.900
 Ezekiel,

00:53:12.099 --> 00:53:12.700
 not so,

00:53:12.820 --> 00:53:13.639
 Ezekiel isn't in the

00:53:13.639 --> 00:53:13.860
 court,

00:53:13.860 --> 00:53:15.260
 but he is sort of a,

00:53:15.680 --> 00:53:16.260
 he's a priest.

00:53:16.340 --> 00:53:17.380
 He's a higher person

00:53:17.380 --> 00:53:17.900
 in culture

00:53:17.900 --> 00:53:19.160
 who is sort of

00:53:19.160 --> 00:53:20.099
 taken out

00:53:20.099 --> 00:53:20.960
 partly so that

00:53:20.960 --> 00:53:21.660
 his influence

00:53:21.660 --> 00:53:22.140
 is removed

00:53:22.140 --> 00:53:23.160
 from the culture itself

00:53:23.160 --> 00:53:24.519
 and also maybe

00:53:24.519 --> 00:53:25.280
 with the idea

00:53:25.280 --> 00:53:27.480
 that he'll learn,

00:53:27.620 --> 00:53:27.780
 you know,

00:53:27.800 --> 00:53:28.880
 the way we do things

00:53:28.880 --> 00:53:29.740
 and then,

00:53:29.900 --> 00:53:30.160
 you know,

00:53:30.200 --> 00:53:31.260
 if we send him back

00:53:31.260 --> 00:53:32.280
 or if he has the chance

00:53:32.280 --> 00:53:33.160
 to advise people,

00:53:33.340 --> 00:53:33.500
 you know,

00:53:33.519 --> 00:53:34.079
 things like that.

00:53:35.380 --> 00:53:36.320
 So with that,

00:53:36.320 --> 00:53:37.180
 the priests,

00:53:37.820 --> 00:53:40.140
 what was the idea

00:53:40.140 --> 00:53:41.320
 of bringing a priest

00:53:41.320 --> 00:53:43.099
 into Babylon?

00:53:43.099 --> 00:53:45.039
 Was it to retrain them

00:53:45.039 --> 00:53:47.239
 in how to be a priest

00:53:47.239 --> 00:53:47.719
 but for,

00:53:47.860 --> 00:53:47.920
 like,

00:53:48.039 --> 00:53:48.339
 Marduk

00:53:48.339 --> 00:53:48.880
 or one of these

00:53:48.880 --> 00:53:49.940
 other cults?

00:53:50.880 --> 00:53:51.659
 Not necessarily.

00:53:51.880 --> 00:53:52.539
 It's more that,

00:53:52.739 --> 00:53:52.980
 so,

00:53:53.480 --> 00:53:54.579
 we have to think

00:53:54.579 --> 00:53:55.239
 about priests

00:53:55.239 --> 00:53:56.019
 in this culture

00:53:56.019 --> 00:53:58.500
 as not just,

00:53:58.500 --> 00:53:59.299
 not just,

00:53:59.460 --> 00:53:59.519
 like,

00:53:59.659 --> 00:53:59.980
 pastors,

00:54:00.400 --> 00:54:01.039
 for example,

00:54:01.559 --> 00:54:01.719
 right,

00:54:01.719 --> 00:54:03.920
 but as sort of

00:54:03.920 --> 00:54:06.619
 probably some of

00:54:06.619 --> 00:54:07.799
 the most educated people

00:54:07.799 --> 00:54:08.480
 so that the people

00:54:08.480 --> 00:54:08.839
 who,

00:54:09.360 --> 00:54:09.759
 like,

00:54:09.940 --> 00:54:10.579
 who know how to

00:54:10.579 --> 00:54:11.199
 write really well,

00:54:11.299 --> 00:54:12.360
 who know all of

00:54:12.360 --> 00:54:13.200
 the different sort of,

00:54:14.400 --> 00:54:15.440
 they know all the laws,

00:54:15.539 --> 00:54:15.620
 right,

00:54:15.660 --> 00:54:16.960
 but if you go to a priest,

00:54:17.120 --> 00:54:17.340
 you know,

00:54:17.380 --> 00:54:18.340
 if you needed to consult

00:54:18.340 --> 00:54:20.980
 on issues of legal matter,

00:54:21.079 --> 00:54:21.180
 like,

00:54:21.240 --> 00:54:22.500
 they would either know

00:54:22.500 --> 00:54:22.920
 it themselves

00:54:22.920 --> 00:54:23.660
 or be able to point you

00:54:23.660 --> 00:54:24.300
 in the right direction,

00:54:24.420 --> 00:54:24.559
 right,

00:54:24.599 --> 00:54:24.780
 like,

00:54:25.940 --> 00:54:28.660
 they had a much wider

00:54:28.660 --> 00:54:29.760
 role in society.

00:54:30.579 --> 00:54:30.780
 There's,

00:54:30.880 --> 00:54:31.000
 again,

00:54:31.039 --> 00:54:32.579
 even to use the Babylonian

00:54:32.579 --> 00:54:33.220
 example again,

00:54:33.300 --> 00:54:33.440
 right,

00:54:33.440 --> 00:54:34.099
 so we had,

00:54:34.220 --> 00:54:35.380
 I mentioned these Babylonian

00:54:35.380 --> 00:54:35.960
 temples are like these

00:54:35.960 --> 00:54:36.840
 giant estates,

00:54:37.340 --> 00:54:37.480
 right,

00:54:37.480 --> 00:54:38.240
 so you have people

00:54:38.240 --> 00:54:39.699
 who are priests

00:54:39.699 --> 00:54:40.800
 or we consider them

00:54:40.800 --> 00:54:41.400
 priests,

00:54:42.099 --> 00:54:43.280
 but their job is,

00:54:43.480 --> 00:54:43.500
 like,

00:54:43.559 --> 00:54:44.019
 administer,

00:54:44.380 --> 00:54:45.139
 administrating,

00:54:45.920 --> 00:54:46.980
 administering the,

00:54:46.980 --> 00:54:48.539
 the temple's farmland,

00:54:48.780 --> 00:54:49.420
 right,

00:54:49.460 --> 00:54:50.340
 and sort of making sure

00:54:50.340 --> 00:54:50.519
 that,

00:54:50.639 --> 00:54:50.760
 like,

00:54:51.659 --> 00:54:51.940
 you know,

00:54:52.000 --> 00:54:53.240
 all the tenant farmers,

00:54:53.440 --> 00:54:53.780
 you know,

00:54:53.980 --> 00:54:54.760
 stay in check

00:54:54.760 --> 00:54:55.740
 and pay the right amount

00:54:55.740 --> 00:54:57.159
 of stuff to the temple

00:54:57.159 --> 00:54:57.519
 and,

00:54:58.280 --> 00:54:58.860
 but they're priests,

00:54:58.960 --> 00:54:59.199
 you know.

00:54:59.599 --> 00:54:59.800
 They were,

00:54:59.800 --> 00:55:00.039
 like,

00:55:00.519 --> 00:55:01.800
 businessmen and lawyers also.

00:55:02.400 --> 00:55:02.559
 Yeah.

00:55:02.719 --> 00:55:02.880
 Yeah.

00:55:03.139 --> 00:55:03.380
 Yeah.

00:55:03.380 --> 00:55:04.880
 Or you can think again of,

00:55:06.140 --> 00:55:07.480
 in the medieval world,

00:55:07.619 --> 00:55:07.700
 like,

00:55:07.800 --> 00:55:08.000
 the way,

00:55:08.079 --> 00:55:09.059
 the way that the,

00:55:09.059 --> 00:55:10.280
 the Catholic Church worked,

00:55:10.559 --> 00:55:11.760
 in some senses,

00:55:11.760 --> 00:55:12.559
 where you had,

00:55:12.559 --> 00:55:14.599
 you know,

00:55:14.640 --> 00:55:16.200
 certain bishops or things,

00:55:16.320 --> 00:55:16.880
 people like that,

00:55:16.940 --> 00:55:17.420
 who had,

00:55:17.440 --> 00:55:17.660
 like,

00:55:17.720 --> 00:55:18.260
 large,

00:55:18.860 --> 00:55:19.320
 you know,

00:55:19.340 --> 00:55:20.460
 amounts of land and,

00:55:21.019 --> 00:55:21.300
 you know,

00:55:21.420 --> 00:55:21.820
 or,

00:55:21.820 --> 00:55:23.760
 or had positions in what we

00:55:23.760 --> 00:55:24.720
 would consider the secular

00:55:24.720 --> 00:55:26.059
 world and had a lot of

00:55:26.059 --> 00:55:26.500
 control,

00:55:26.720 --> 00:55:27.599
 power and control in the

00:55:27.599 --> 00:55:28.220
 secular world.

00:55:32.160 --> 00:55:32.559
 Yeah.

00:55:32.559 --> 00:55:33.559
 Yeah.

00:55:33.559 --> 00:55:34.340
 A question about,

00:55:34.440 --> 00:55:35.219
 I don't know if this is

00:55:35.219 --> 00:55:36.099
 called the Rusev,

00:55:36.159 --> 00:55:36.420
 but,

00:55:36.920 --> 00:55:37.900
 does Egil and Daniel

00:55:37.900 --> 00:55:38.360
 refer,

00:55:38.779 --> 00:55:39.480
 as they write,

00:55:39.639 --> 00:55:40.179
 I,

00:55:40.420 --> 00:55:40.759
 like,

00:55:40.820 --> 00:55:41.599
 pronoun wise?

00:55:41.960 --> 00:55:43.299
 Is it safe to assume

00:55:43.299 --> 00:55:44.259
 that they would have used

00:55:44.259 --> 00:55:45.000
 the clay,

00:55:46.239 --> 00:55:46.639
 kind of,

00:55:46.840 --> 00:55:47.799
 in what form would they

00:55:47.799 --> 00:55:48.400
 be writing,

00:55:48.820 --> 00:55:49.079
 like,

00:55:49.159 --> 00:55:50.719
 that big chunks of text?

00:55:51.420 --> 00:55:51.860
 Yeah,

00:55:52.039 --> 00:55:52.799
 that's a good question.

00:55:53.119 --> 00:55:53.519
 So,

00:55:53.679 --> 00:55:54.960
 we do know that

00:55:54.960 --> 00:55:57.000
 the,

00:55:57.000 --> 00:55:58.900
 the cuneiform writing

00:55:58.900 --> 00:55:59.279
 on,

00:55:59.299 --> 00:56:00.159
 on clay is,

00:56:00.219 --> 00:56:01.259
 is happening mostly

00:56:01.259 --> 00:56:02.360
 in this area,

00:56:02.559 --> 00:56:03.739
 at that time.

00:56:04.659 --> 00:56:06.119
 In earlier periods,

00:56:06.980 --> 00:56:08.559
 back before the Assyrians,

00:56:08.840 --> 00:56:09.659
 in the first week when we

00:56:09.659 --> 00:56:10.279
 talked about the late

00:56:10.279 --> 00:56:10.860
 Bronze Age,

00:56:11.279 --> 00:56:13.259
 everybody here was using

00:56:13.259 --> 00:56:13.960
 cuneiform.

00:56:14.920 --> 00:56:15.799
 One of the things that

00:56:15.799 --> 00:56:16.299
 happens,

00:56:16.460 --> 00:56:17.179
 that starts happening

00:56:17.179 --> 00:56:17.759
 actually in,

00:56:17.880 --> 00:56:18.619
 in the,

00:56:18.619 --> 00:56:20.940
 the Assyrian period,

00:56:21.099 --> 00:56:21.799
 possibly earlier,

00:56:22.799 --> 00:56:24.380
 is that a lot of these

00:56:24.380 --> 00:56:25.000
 areas in,

00:56:25.139 --> 00:56:25.900
 actually definitely earlier

00:56:25.900 --> 00:56:26.239
 than that,

00:56:26.440 --> 00:56:27.679
 a lot of these areas in here

00:56:27.679 --> 00:56:28.779
 start using

00:56:28.780 --> 00:56:30.700
 an alphabetic script

00:56:30.700 --> 00:56:32.280
 to write some of their

00:56:32.280 --> 00:56:32.840
 own languages.

00:56:33.060 --> 00:56:34.000
 That script develops

00:56:34.000 --> 00:56:34.600
 into what

00:56:34.600 --> 00:56:36.360
 is then used for Hebrew

00:56:36.360 --> 00:56:38.140
 and Phoenician

00:56:38.140 --> 00:56:38.780
 and a couple other

00:56:38.780 --> 00:56:39.180
 languages,

00:56:39.300 --> 00:56:39.500
 right?

00:56:41.680 --> 00:56:42.120
 So,

00:56:42.200 --> 00:56:42.660
 they start using

00:56:42.660 --> 00:56:43.880
 precursors of that script.

00:56:44.580 --> 00:56:45.480
 By the time we get

00:56:45.480 --> 00:56:46.280
 to

00:56:46.280 --> 00:56:49.040
 Ezekiel and Daniel

00:56:49.040 --> 00:56:49.320
 and,

00:56:49.320 --> 00:56:50.019
 and some,

00:56:50.220 --> 00:56:50.440
 and

00:56:50.440 --> 00:56:52.820
 his friends and so forth,

00:56:52.820 --> 00:56:55.880
 there's a pretty long

00:56:55.880 --> 00:56:56.700
 tradition of at least

00:56:56.700 --> 00:56:57.380
 a good couple hundred

00:56:57.380 --> 00:56:58.580
 years of people writing

00:56:58.580 --> 00:57:00.600
 this Hebrew alphabetic

00:57:00.600 --> 00:57:02.260
 script in this area

00:57:02.260 --> 00:57:02.600
 here.

00:57:03.140 --> 00:57:04.360
 And this is probably

00:57:04.360 --> 00:57:05.140
 why we don't have as

00:57:05.140 --> 00:57:06.059
 many records from them

00:57:06.059 --> 00:57:06.940
 because most of those

00:57:06.940 --> 00:57:07.680
 records would have been

00:57:07.680 --> 00:57:09.180
 on papyrus or parchment

00:57:09.180 --> 00:57:11.620
 and they decay and we

00:57:11.620 --> 00:57:12.100
 don't have them.

00:57:13.000 --> 00:57:13.820
 We do know this was

00:57:13.820 --> 00:57:14.740
 happening because we do

00:57:14.740 --> 00:57:15.780
 have some stone

00:57:15.780 --> 00:57:17.140
 inscriptions that were

00:57:17.140 --> 00:57:18.760
 made and we have,

00:57:20.100 --> 00:57:21.200
 they would take little

00:57:21.200 --> 00:57:22.160
 shards of pottery

00:57:22.159 --> 00:57:23.679
 and then they would

00:57:23.679 --> 00:57:24.719
 write on those as sort

00:57:24.719 --> 00:57:25.679
 of like post-it notes,

00:57:26.399 --> 00:57:27.099
 right?

00:57:27.159 --> 00:57:28.460
 Because the little bits

00:57:28.460 --> 00:57:29.000
 of pottery are

00:57:29.000 --> 00:57:29.339
 everywhere,

00:57:29.639 --> 00:57:29.799
 you know,

00:57:29.799 --> 00:57:30.279
 so you just pick one

00:57:30.279 --> 00:57:30.759
 up off the ground

00:57:30.759 --> 00:57:31.599
 and you write yourself

00:57:31.599 --> 00:57:31.899
 a note,

00:57:32.579 --> 00:57:32.819
 you know,

00:57:32.839 --> 00:57:33.399
 and we have some of

00:57:33.399 --> 00:57:33.960
 those because those

00:57:33.960 --> 00:57:34.279
 survive.

00:57:35.139 --> 00:57:35.519
 So,

00:57:35.579 --> 00:57:35.980
 we know that they

00:57:35.980 --> 00:57:37.519
 were writing on that

00:57:37.519 --> 00:57:38.859
 and during this time

00:57:38.859 --> 00:57:39.699
 in the late Assyrian

00:57:39.699 --> 00:57:41.139
 period and into the

00:57:41.139 --> 00:57:42.259
 Neo-Babylonian period,

00:57:43.079 --> 00:57:45.099
 a lot of people in

00:57:45.099 --> 00:57:45.699
 some of these different

00:57:45.699 --> 00:57:46.859
 areas here are beginning

00:57:46.859 --> 00:57:48.199
 to write more in this

00:57:48.199 --> 00:57:49.039
 alphabetic script.

00:57:49.039 --> 00:57:52.759
 A number of different

00:57:52.759 --> 00:57:53.420
 reasons have been

00:57:53.420 --> 00:57:54.320
 suggested for that.

00:57:55.940 --> 00:57:56.860
 Some people suggest

00:57:56.860 --> 00:57:57.659
 that they simply may

00:57:57.659 --> 00:57:59.159
 have preferred learning

00:57:59.159 --> 00:58:00.279
 a script with 22

00:58:00.279 --> 00:58:01.920
 characters rather than

00:58:01.920 --> 00:58:02.619
 a script that had

00:58:02.619 --> 00:58:03.179
 several hundred.

00:58:05.400 --> 00:58:05.800
 Maybe,

00:58:06.000 --> 00:58:06.579
 maybe not,

00:58:06.639 --> 00:58:07.059
 I don't know.

00:58:09.099 --> 00:58:09.420
 But,

00:58:10.380 --> 00:58:11.579
 I would have to,

00:58:11.719 --> 00:58:12.420
 so I would think

00:58:12.420 --> 00:58:12.860
 that,

00:58:13.279 --> 00:58:14.219
 to answer your

00:58:14.219 --> 00:58:14.460
 question,

00:58:14.599 --> 00:58:15.360
 I would have to

00:58:15.360 --> 00:58:16.960
 think that Daniel

00:58:16.960 --> 00:58:17.779
 probably would have

00:58:17.780 --> 00:58:18.760
 been trained in how

00:58:18.760 --> 00:58:19.920
 to write in

00:58:19.920 --> 00:58:20.280
 cuneiform.

00:58:21.380 --> 00:58:21.820
 But,

00:58:22.100 --> 00:58:23.780
 if he's writing

00:58:23.780 --> 00:58:24.760
 things that go into

00:58:24.760 --> 00:58:25.540
 the book of Daniel,

00:58:26.700 --> 00:58:27.420
 those he's probably

00:58:27.420 --> 00:58:28.000
 writing in,

00:58:28.080 --> 00:58:29.400
 in using the

00:58:29.400 --> 00:58:30.060
 alphabetic script.

00:58:31.360 --> 00:58:32.019
 And Ezekiel,

00:58:32.980 --> 00:58:33.560
 I don't know if

00:58:33.560 --> 00:58:34.140
 Ezekiel would have

00:58:34.140 --> 00:58:34.920
 ever learned cuneiform.

00:58:36.280 --> 00:58:36.700
 Maybe,

00:58:36.940 --> 00:58:37.340
 maybe not.

00:58:37.940 --> 00:58:38.360
 But,

00:58:38.440 --> 00:58:39.240
 he probably would have

00:58:39.240 --> 00:58:39.860
 been able to write

00:58:39.860 --> 00:58:40.300
 in Hebrew.

00:58:42.980 --> 00:58:43.760
 With that,

00:58:44.040 --> 00:58:44.500
 when,

00:58:44.680 --> 00:58:45.420
 when would

00:58:45.420 --> 00:58:46.880
 widespread literacy

00:58:46.880 --> 00:58:48.340
 come to the

00:58:48.340 --> 00:58:49.019
 Hebrew people as

00:58:49.019 --> 00:58:49.360
 a whole?

00:58:49.460 --> 00:58:49.700
 Because,

00:58:49.860 --> 00:58:50.559
 by the time we

00:58:50.559 --> 00:58:51.240
 get to Ezra,

00:58:51.760 --> 00:58:52.500
 one of the big

00:58:52.500 --> 00:58:53.519
 issues with

00:58:53.519 --> 00:58:54.840
 intermarrying,

00:58:55.320 --> 00:58:56.039
 seems like,

00:58:56.180 --> 00:58:57.140
 is that they're

00:58:57.140 --> 00:58:57.820
 not teaching their

00:58:57.820 --> 00:58:58.619
 kids how to read

00:58:58.619 --> 00:58:59.519
 our,

00:58:59.519 --> 00:59:01.140
 our religious

00:59:01.140 --> 00:59:01.900
 works.

00:59:02.079 --> 00:59:02.599
 And that's,

00:59:02.660 --> 00:59:03.099
 that's a big

00:59:03.099 --> 00:59:03.599
 problem.

00:59:03.900 --> 00:59:04.440
 And so,

00:59:05.019 --> 00:59:05.320
 about,

00:59:05.800 --> 00:59:06.220
 because like,

00:59:06.240 --> 00:59:07.260
 I think a lot of

00:59:07.260 --> 00:59:07.960
 us have this,

00:59:08.200 --> 00:59:09.200
 maybe,

00:59:09.340 --> 00:59:10.220
 misconception that

00:59:10.220 --> 00:59:10.460
 like,

00:59:11.140 --> 00:59:11.340
 oh,

00:59:11.400 --> 00:59:11.960
 ancient peoples,

00:59:12.079 --> 00:59:12.559
 they didn't know

00:59:12.559 --> 00:59:12.980
 anything because

00:59:12.980 --> 00:59:13.660
 they couldn't read.

00:59:13.659 --> 00:59:16.379
 are we

00:59:16.379 --> 00:59:17.199
 mistaken in that?

00:59:17.299 --> 00:59:17.679
 And like,

00:59:17.819 --> 00:59:18.559
 when would they

00:59:18.559 --> 00:59:19.579
 have really

00:59:19.579 --> 00:59:20.420
 focused on the

00:59:20.420 --> 00:59:20.699
 literacy,

00:59:20.879 --> 00:59:21.339
 especially for

00:59:21.339 --> 00:59:22.279
 that religious

00:59:22.279 --> 00:59:22.879
 aspect?

00:59:23.539 --> 00:59:23.739
 So,

00:59:23.839 --> 00:59:24.279
 if I remember

00:59:24.279 --> 00:59:24.699
 right,

00:59:25.119 --> 00:59:26.000
 and I could be

00:59:26.000 --> 00:59:26.539
 wrong about this,

00:59:26.579 --> 00:59:26.960
 but if I remember

00:59:26.960 --> 00:59:27.339
 correctly,

00:59:27.460 --> 00:59:28.279
 in Ezra and Nehemiah,

00:59:28.440 --> 00:59:29.319
 the issue with the

00:59:29.319 --> 00:59:30.299
 language is not so

00:59:30.299 --> 00:59:31.199
 much that the kids

00:59:31.199 --> 00:59:31.719
 are learning how to

00:59:31.719 --> 00:59:33.339
 write it or read it,

00:59:33.440 --> 00:59:34.000
 but that they're not

00:59:34.000 --> 00:59:34.399
 learning how to

00:59:34.399 --> 00:59:34.940
 speak it.

00:59:35.159 --> 00:59:35.460
 Ah,

00:59:35.619 --> 00:59:35.859
 okay.

00:59:36.339 --> 00:59:36.599
 Right?

00:59:36.699 --> 00:59:36.899
 So,

00:59:36.980 --> 00:59:37.619
 because they're,

00:59:37.619 --> 00:59:39.039
 if they're intermarried

00:59:39.039 --> 00:59:39.599
 with these other

00:59:39.599 --> 00:59:40.179
 people groups who

00:59:40.179 --> 00:59:40.579
 speak different

00:59:40.579 --> 00:59:40.960
 languages,

00:59:40.960 --> 00:59:43.820
 the thought is that,

00:59:43.940 --> 00:59:44.280
 you know,

00:59:44.519 --> 00:59:45.480
 the other parent is

00:59:45.480 --> 00:59:46.599
 teaching them a

00:59:46.599 --> 00:59:47.179
 different language.

00:59:47.480 --> 00:59:48.019
 And so,

00:59:48.079 --> 00:59:48.519
 they're either not

00:59:48.519 --> 00:59:49.380
 learning Hebrew or

00:59:49.380 --> 00:59:50.480
 they're learning Hebrew

00:59:50.480 --> 00:59:51.740
 with an accent.

00:59:52.159 --> 00:59:52.280
 Right?

00:59:52.539 --> 00:59:52.679
 Yeah.

00:59:56.019 --> 00:59:56.880
 Literacy is a tricky

00:59:56.880 --> 00:59:57.619
 issue in the ancient

00:59:57.619 --> 00:59:57.940
 world.

00:59:58.860 --> 00:59:59.260
 Again,

00:59:59.340 --> 01:00:00.220
 because we have the

01:00:00.220 --> 01:00:00.420
 text,

01:00:00.480 --> 01:00:00.880
 we don't necessarily

01:00:00.880 --> 01:00:01.539
 have the people who

01:00:01.539 --> 01:00:02.139
 read the texts.

01:00:03.079 --> 01:00:04.220
 There seems to

01:00:04.220 --> 01:00:05.300
 probably have been

01:00:05.300 --> 01:00:06.240
 different levels of

01:00:06.240 --> 01:00:06.539
 literacy.

01:00:06.720 --> 01:00:06.800
 So,

01:00:06.880 --> 01:00:07.380
 some people,

01:00:07.599 --> 01:00:07.679
 like,

01:00:07.740 --> 01:00:07.980
 for example,

01:00:08.099 --> 01:00:08.940
 scribes probably

01:00:08.940 --> 01:00:09.579
 were like,

01:00:09.860 --> 01:00:10.559
 scribes and priests

01:00:10.559 --> 01:00:11.039
 very,

01:00:11.179 --> 01:00:11.579
 very good at

01:00:11.579 --> 01:00:11.900
 reading and

01:00:11.900 --> 01:00:12.139
 writing.

01:00:12.719 --> 01:00:13.119
 Right?

01:00:13.279 --> 01:00:13.739
 Those are the

01:00:13.739 --> 01:00:14.460
 people who could

01:00:14.460 --> 01:00:16.940
 write you one of

01:00:16.940 --> 01:00:17.199
 these.

01:00:17.820 --> 01:00:18.019
 Yeah.

01:00:20.219 --> 01:00:20.840
 But then there

01:00:20.840 --> 01:00:21.579
 probably were people

01:00:21.579 --> 01:00:23.840
 who could read

01:00:23.840 --> 01:00:24.279
 and write their

01:00:24.279 --> 01:00:24.779
 own name,

01:00:26.139 --> 01:00:26.940
 could read and

01:00:26.940 --> 01:00:28.360
 write small,

01:00:28.539 --> 01:00:29.079
 short letters.

01:00:29.980 --> 01:00:30.900
 Some of the

01:00:30.900 --> 01:00:32.299
 economic documents

01:00:32.299 --> 01:00:32.900
 that we have from

01:00:32.900 --> 01:00:33.699
 certain periods,

01:00:34.519 --> 01:00:35.579
 there's one period

01:00:35.579 --> 01:00:36.440
 in particular

01:00:36.440 --> 01:00:38.320
 in Assyria,

01:00:38.400 --> 01:00:38.920
 but from a much

01:00:38.920 --> 01:00:39.579
 older period,

01:00:39.579 --> 01:00:41.039
 where we have a

01:00:41.039 --> 01:00:41.840
 lot of documents

01:00:41.840 --> 01:00:43.159
 that are letters

01:00:43.159 --> 01:00:44.179
 written between

01:00:44.179 --> 01:00:45.420
 merchants.

01:00:46.699 --> 01:00:47.539
 And some people

01:00:47.539 --> 01:00:48.480
 have suggested

01:00:48.480 --> 01:00:48.940
 that these

01:00:48.940 --> 01:00:49.319
 merchants,

01:00:49.519 --> 01:00:50.099
 because of the

01:00:50.099 --> 01:00:50.759
 really intimate

01:00:50.759 --> 01:00:51.480
 details they're

01:00:51.480 --> 01:00:52.000
 talking about

01:00:52.000 --> 01:00:52.559
 with each other,

01:00:53.099 --> 01:00:53.539
 and sometimes

01:00:53.539 --> 01:00:54.299
 between merchants

01:00:54.299 --> 01:00:55.039
 and their wives,

01:00:55.099 --> 01:00:55.519
 if the merchants

01:00:55.519 --> 01:00:56.059
 are away from

01:00:56.059 --> 01:00:56.819
 home and they're

01:00:56.819 --> 01:00:57.279
 writing back to

01:00:57.279 --> 01:00:57.659
 their wives,

01:00:58.199 --> 01:00:58.739
 that both these

01:00:58.739 --> 01:00:59.360
 merchants and

01:00:59.360 --> 01:00:59.940
 their wives

01:00:59.940 --> 01:01:01.299
 might not be

01:01:01.299 --> 01:01:01.900
 working through

01:01:01.900 --> 01:01:02.599
 an intermediary

01:01:02.599 --> 01:01:03.239
 scribe,

01:01:03.599 --> 01:01:04.059
 but might be

01:01:04.059 --> 01:01:04.380
 writing,

01:01:04.599 --> 01:01:05.159
 actually taking

01:01:05.159 --> 01:01:05.599
 a chunk of

01:01:05.599 --> 01:01:06.380
 clay and writing

01:01:06.380 --> 01:01:06.759
 a letter

01:01:06.759 --> 01:01:08.400
 themselves to

01:01:08.400 --> 01:01:08.900
 each other,

01:01:09.559 --> 01:01:10.360
 just because

01:01:10.360 --> 01:01:10.720
 of some of

01:01:10.720 --> 01:01:11.019
 the intimate

01:01:11.019 --> 01:01:11.559
 details that

01:01:11.559 --> 01:01:11.940
 they're sharing

01:01:11.940 --> 01:01:12.260
 with each

01:01:12.260 --> 01:01:12.440
 other.

01:01:14.039 --> 01:01:14.500
 And so in

01:01:14.500 --> 01:01:14.940
 those cases,

01:01:15.059 --> 01:01:15.680
 it seems like

01:01:15.680 --> 01:01:17.480
 those people

01:01:17.480 --> 01:01:19.420
 who were sort

01:01:19.420 --> 01:01:19.860
 of like maybe

01:01:19.860 --> 01:01:20.280
 upper middle

01:01:20.280 --> 01:01:20.840
 class or

01:01:20.840 --> 01:01:21.180
 something like

01:01:21.180 --> 01:01:21.460
 that,

01:01:22.500 --> 01:01:23.519
 at least were

01:01:23.519 --> 01:01:23.940
 able to

01:01:23.940 --> 01:01:24.720
 function with

01:01:24.720 --> 01:01:25.059
 these more

01:01:25.059 --> 01:01:25.800
 rudimentary

01:01:25.800 --> 01:01:27.280
 documents,

01:01:28.800 --> 01:01:29.380
 but not

01:01:29.380 --> 01:01:29.820
 necessarily,

01:01:30.099 --> 01:01:30.300
 I mean,

01:01:30.340 --> 01:01:30.700
 they would not

01:01:30.700 --> 01:01:31.079
 have been able

01:01:31.079 --> 01:01:32.220
 to write that,

01:01:32.740 --> 01:01:33.099
 might be able

01:01:33.099 --> 01:01:33.740
 to read part

01:01:33.740 --> 01:01:34.000
 of it.

01:01:34.720 --> 01:01:35.400
 So there's

01:01:35.400 --> 01:01:36.079
 different levels

01:01:36.079 --> 01:01:36.659
 to literacy

01:01:36.659 --> 01:01:37.340
 as well.

01:01:40.559 --> 01:01:41.360
 I want to

01:01:41.360 --> 01:01:41.960
 just go back

01:01:41.960 --> 01:01:42.380
 to the

01:01:42.380 --> 01:01:43.719
 cultural aspects.

01:01:43.940 --> 01:01:44.239
 Were the

01:01:44.239 --> 01:01:45.119
 Babylonians

01:01:45.119 --> 01:01:46.819
 interested in

01:01:46.819 --> 01:01:48.619
 cultural acquisition

01:01:48.619 --> 01:01:50.360
 or were they

01:01:50.360 --> 01:01:51.539
 looking to

01:01:51.539 --> 01:01:52.559
 cross-pollinate

01:01:52.559 --> 01:01:53.599
 ideas and if

01:01:53.599 --> 01:01:54.139
 that was the

01:01:54.139 --> 01:01:54.420
 case,

01:01:54.519 --> 01:01:54.920
 then do we

01:01:54.920 --> 01:01:55.380
 have any

01:01:55.380 --> 01:01:56.039
 evidence in

01:01:56.039 --> 01:01:56.500
 any of the

01:01:56.500 --> 01:01:57.860
 artworks of

01:01:57.860 --> 01:01:58.659
 any of the

01:01:58.659 --> 01:02:00.279
 cross-pollination?

01:02:01.079 --> 01:02:01.659
 Or were they

01:02:01.659 --> 01:02:01.960
 looking to

01:02:01.960 --> 01:02:02.579
 stamp out

01:02:02.579 --> 01:02:03.239
 whatever the

01:02:03.239 --> 01:02:03.920
 other culture

01:02:03.920 --> 01:02:04.319
 was?

01:02:04.320 --> 01:02:05.320
 Yeah,

01:02:05.519 --> 01:02:06.059
 so they,

01:02:07.780 --> 01:02:09.500
 this is a

01:02:09.500 --> 01:02:10.080
 trickier one,

01:02:10.160 --> 01:02:10.440
 I think.

01:02:12.780 --> 01:02:14.120
 The Babylonians

01:02:14.120 --> 01:02:14.600
 in particular,

01:02:14.740 --> 01:02:15.039
 I think,

01:02:15.140 --> 01:02:16.640
 were a little

01:02:16.640 --> 01:02:16.820
 bit,

01:02:16.940 --> 01:02:17.800
 they were not

01:02:17.800 --> 01:02:18.260
 as interested

01:02:18.260 --> 01:02:19.880
 in taking

01:02:19.880 --> 01:02:20.300
 stuff from

01:02:20.300 --> 01:02:20.760
 other cultures

01:02:20.760 --> 01:02:21.180
 and using

01:02:21.180 --> 01:02:21.420
 it.

01:02:23.440 --> 01:02:24.059
 But I

01:02:24.059 --> 01:02:24.940
 don't know

01:02:24.940 --> 01:02:25.460
 how sort

01:02:25.460 --> 01:02:25.760
 of like

01:02:25.760 --> 01:02:26.480
 hegemonic

01:02:26.480 --> 01:02:26.960
 they were

01:02:26.960 --> 01:02:27.780
 about it.

01:02:28.760 --> 01:02:29.680
 I don't,

01:02:29.800 --> 01:02:30.220
 so for

01:02:30.220 --> 01:02:30.440
 example,

01:02:30.580 --> 01:02:30.820
 when they

01:02:30.820 --> 01:02:31.360
 conquer

01:02:31.360 --> 01:02:31.840
 Jerusalem,

01:02:32.300 --> 01:02:33.100
 they don't

01:02:33.100 --> 01:02:33.600
 rebuild a

01:02:33.600 --> 01:02:33.960
 temple to

01:02:33.960 --> 01:02:34.260
 Marduk.

01:02:34.320 --> 01:02:34.539
 there.

01:02:35.440 --> 01:02:36.000
 They're not

01:02:36.000 --> 01:02:37.320
 forcing the

01:02:37.320 --> 01:02:38.300
 Judeans to

01:02:38.300 --> 01:02:38.640
 convert

01:02:38.640 --> 01:02:39.120
 religiously.

01:02:39.300 --> 01:02:39.620
 Even the

01:02:39.620 --> 01:02:40.000
 ones who

01:02:40.000 --> 01:02:40.500
 move to

01:02:40.500 --> 01:02:41.180
 this town,

01:02:41.940 --> 01:02:42.240
 who are,

01:02:42.360 --> 01:02:42.780
 not move,

01:02:42.860 --> 01:02:43.340
 they're taken,

01:02:43.539 --> 01:02:43.760
 right,

01:02:43.820 --> 01:02:44.180
 and put in

01:02:44.180 --> 01:02:44.559
 this town

01:02:44.559 --> 01:02:45.519
 in Babylon,

01:02:45.840 --> 01:02:47.340
 they don't

01:02:47.340 --> 01:02:48.039
 seem to

01:02:48.039 --> 01:02:49.400
 force them

01:02:49.400 --> 01:02:51.300
 to

01:02:51.300 --> 01:02:52.480
 worship

01:02:52.480 --> 01:02:53.140
 Babylonian

01:02:53.140 --> 01:02:53.640
 deities,

01:02:54.100 --> 01:02:54.519
 things like

01:02:54.519 --> 01:02:54.700
 that.

01:02:54.820 --> 01:02:55.460
 A lot of

01:02:55.460 --> 01:02:55.940
 the records

01:02:55.940 --> 01:02:56.320
 there that

01:02:56.320 --> 01:02:56.760
 are kept

01:02:56.760 --> 01:02:57.980
 in cuneiform,

01:02:58.360 --> 01:02:58.640
 so they're

01:02:58.640 --> 01:02:59.059
 kept in a

01:02:59.059 --> 01:02:59.580
 Babylonian

01:02:59.580 --> 01:02:59.980
 style,

01:03:00.500 --> 01:03:01.140
 not in

01:03:01.140 --> 01:03:01.500
 Hebrew,

01:03:01.980 --> 01:03:02.740
 like the

01:03:02.740 --> 01:03:03.460
 Judeans would

01:03:03.460 --> 01:03:03.660
 have been

01:03:03.659 --> 01:03:04.039
 used to,

01:03:04.399 --> 01:03:04.779
 but that's

01:03:04.779 --> 01:03:04.980
 probably

01:03:04.980 --> 01:03:05.539
 simply because

01:03:05.539 --> 01:03:05.779
 again,

01:03:05.839 --> 01:03:06.179
 these are

01:03:06.179 --> 01:03:07.279
 administrative and

01:03:07.279 --> 01:03:07.980
 economic records,

01:03:08.079 --> 01:03:08.659
 they have to be

01:03:08.659 --> 01:03:09.420
 kept in the

01:03:09.420 --> 01:03:09.819
 sort of,

01:03:10.480 --> 01:03:11.460
 the way that

01:03:11.460 --> 01:03:11.739
 they do

01:03:11.739 --> 01:03:12.399
 things locally,

01:03:12.619 --> 01:03:12.879
 right?

01:03:13.960 --> 01:03:14.839
 And so,

01:03:15.559 --> 01:03:17.759
 I don't,

01:03:17.759 --> 01:03:18.339
 I don't think

01:03:18.339 --> 01:03:19.000
 they were quite

01:03:19.000 --> 01:03:19.759
 as sort of

01:03:19.759 --> 01:03:20.599
 forcible

01:03:20.599 --> 01:03:21.799
 with,

01:03:21.920 --> 01:03:22.399
 with their

01:03:22.399 --> 01:03:22.899
 sort of

01:03:22.899 --> 01:03:24.759
 cultural

01:03:24.759 --> 01:03:26.139
 export.

01:03:26.139 --> 01:03:26.199
 import.

01:03:28.279 --> 01:03:28.940
 The Assyrians

01:03:28.940 --> 01:03:29.779
 also weren't,

01:03:30.639 --> 01:03:31.039
 as much,

01:03:31.079 --> 01:03:31.619
 we talked

01:03:31.619 --> 01:03:31.839
 about this

01:03:31.839 --> 01:03:31.960
 a little

01:03:31.960 --> 01:03:32.299
 bit last

01:03:32.299 --> 01:03:32.500
 week,

01:03:32.599 --> 01:03:32.980
 but the,

01:03:34.119 --> 01:03:34.900
 they did

01:03:34.900 --> 01:03:35.659
 not force

01:03:35.659 --> 01:03:36.199
 everybody

01:03:36.199 --> 01:03:37.119
 to worship

01:03:37.119 --> 01:03:37.440
 Ashur,

01:03:37.480 --> 01:03:37.719
 they would

01:03:37.719 --> 01:03:37.980
 force you

01:03:37.980 --> 01:03:38.179
 to pay

01:03:38.179 --> 01:03:38.599
 tribute.

01:03:41.379 --> 01:03:42.000
 And next

01:03:42.000 --> 01:03:42.299
 week when we

01:03:42.299 --> 01:03:42.639
 get to the

01:03:42.639 --> 01:03:43.079
 Persians,

01:03:43.279 --> 01:03:43.699
 they also

01:03:43.699 --> 01:03:44.159
 were not

01:03:44.159 --> 01:03:44.559
 forcible

01:03:44.559 --> 01:03:45.099
 exporters,

01:03:45.239 --> 01:03:45.519
 but they

01:03:45.519 --> 01:03:46.299
 were a

01:03:46.299 --> 01:03:46.679
 lot more

01:03:46.679 --> 01:03:46.940
 sort of

01:03:46.940 --> 01:03:47.179
 cultural

01:03:47.179 --> 01:03:47.719
 importers.

01:03:48.339 --> 01:03:48.739
 And we

01:03:48.739 --> 01:03:49.079
 will see

01:03:49.079 --> 01:03:49.319
 that with

01:03:49.319 --> 01:03:49.799
 the Persians,

01:03:49.859 --> 01:03:50.079
 that the

01:03:50.079 --> 01:03:50.599
 Persians will

01:03:50.599 --> 01:03:51.039
 kind of like

01:03:51.039 --> 01:03:51.699
 conquer people

01:03:51.699 --> 01:03:52.019
 and then be

01:03:52.019 --> 01:03:52.219
 like,

01:03:52.679 --> 01:03:53.219
 you guys have

01:03:53.219 --> 01:03:53.579
 a really

01:03:53.579 --> 01:03:54.159
 great way of

01:03:54.159 --> 01:03:54.599
 doing this,

01:03:54.639 --> 01:03:54.940
 you mind if

01:03:54.940 --> 01:03:55.559
 we steal that?

01:03:55.559 --> 01:03:56.460
 you know.

01:03:56.699 --> 01:03:57.239
 That's kind

01:03:57.239 --> 01:03:57.539
 of what I

01:03:57.539 --> 01:03:57.960
 was looking

01:03:57.960 --> 01:03:58.480
 for in

01:03:58.480 --> 01:03:59.079
 terms of

01:03:59.079 --> 01:03:59.500
 any of

01:03:59.500 --> 01:03:59.960
 the skill

01:03:59.960 --> 01:04:00.799
 sets that

01:04:00.799 --> 01:04:01.659
 the Judeans

01:04:01.659 --> 01:04:02.259
 might have

01:04:02.259 --> 01:04:02.980
 brought to

01:04:02.980 --> 01:04:03.539
 the tables

01:04:03.539 --> 01:04:03.860
 of the

01:04:03.860 --> 01:04:04.159
 city.

01:04:04.779 --> 01:04:06.239
 And I've

01:04:06.239 --> 01:04:06.980
 always looked

01:04:06.980 --> 01:04:08.940
 at the

01:04:08.940 --> 01:04:12.199
 exile into

01:04:12.199 --> 01:04:13.579
 Egypt as

01:04:13.579 --> 01:04:15.279
 400 plus

01:04:15.279 --> 01:04:15.900
 years of

01:04:15.900 --> 01:04:16.639
 being able to

01:04:16.639 --> 01:04:17.059
 look at

01:04:17.059 --> 01:04:18.000
 Egyptian culture

01:04:18.000 --> 01:04:18.659
 and figure

01:04:18.659 --> 01:04:19.420
 out how to

01:04:19.420 --> 01:04:19.860
 do what

01:04:19.860 --> 01:04:20.599
 they did,

01:04:20.980 --> 01:04:21.480
 so that

01:04:21.480 --> 01:04:22.259
 then when

01:04:22.259 --> 01:04:23.779
 God removes

01:04:23.779 --> 01:04:24.460
 them from

01:04:24.460 --> 01:04:25.219
 Egypt,

01:04:25.559 --> 01:04:26.360
 they had

01:04:26.360 --> 01:04:26.599
 some

01:04:26.599 --> 01:04:27.159
 skillset.

01:04:27.279 --> 01:04:27.799
 They could

01:04:27.799 --> 01:04:28.619
 build a

01:04:28.619 --> 01:04:29.219
 tabernacle,

01:04:29.420 --> 01:04:30.599
 there were

01:04:30.599 --> 01:04:31.039
 things that

01:04:31.039 --> 01:04:31.400
 they could

01:04:31.400 --> 01:04:32.219
 do that

01:04:32.219 --> 01:04:33.400
 they possibly

01:04:33.400 --> 01:04:34.000
 would not

01:04:34.000 --> 01:04:34.980
 have come

01:04:34.980 --> 01:04:35.579
 to Egypt

01:04:35.579 --> 01:04:36.559
 with as

01:04:36.559 --> 01:04:38.380
 nomadic

01:04:38.380 --> 01:04:39.259
 farmer type

01:04:39.259 --> 01:04:41.019
 people.

01:04:41.460 --> 01:04:41.980
 So the

01:04:41.980 --> 01:04:42.880
 question is,

01:04:43.779 --> 01:04:44.340
 were some

01:04:44.340 --> 01:04:44.739
 of those

01:04:44.739 --> 01:04:45.539
 skills then

01:04:45.539 --> 01:04:46.360
 transposed

01:04:46.360 --> 01:04:47.599
 into the

01:04:47.599 --> 01:04:48.259
 Babylonian

01:04:48.259 --> 01:04:48.699
 culture,

01:04:48.900 --> 01:04:49.019
 or did

01:04:49.019 --> 01:04:49.340
 we not

01:04:49.340 --> 01:04:50.000
 really see

01:04:50.000 --> 01:04:50.400
 any

01:04:50.400 --> 01:04:51.880
 evidence of

01:04:51.880 --> 01:04:52.119
 that?

01:04:56.119 --> 01:04:56.920
 I can't

01:04:56.920 --> 01:04:57.199
 think of

01:04:57.199 --> 01:04:57.539
 any evidence

01:04:57.539 --> 01:04:57.699
 of that.

01:04:57.699 --> 01:04:59.539
 There probably

01:04:59.539 --> 01:04:59.900
 would,

01:04:59.980 --> 01:05:00.340
 especially if

01:05:00.340 --> 01:05:00.719
 they're bringing

01:05:00.719 --> 01:05:02.139
 that one-way

01:05:02.139 --> 01:05:02.800
 deportation,

01:05:02.920 --> 01:05:03.340
 they're bringing

01:05:03.340 --> 01:05:03.599
 all these

01:05:03.599 --> 01:05:03.940
 people in.

01:05:05.019 --> 01:05:05.900
 There's probably

01:05:05.900 --> 01:05:06.480
 examples of

01:05:06.480 --> 01:05:06.579
 that.

01:05:06.619 --> 01:05:07.159
 I can't think

01:05:07.159 --> 01:05:07.480
 of any off

01:05:07.480 --> 01:05:07.820
 the top of

01:05:07.820 --> 01:05:08.219
 my head,

01:05:09.159 --> 01:05:10.139
 but I'm

01:05:10.139 --> 01:05:10.559
 sure that

01:05:10.559 --> 01:05:11.260
 that happened.

01:05:11.420 --> 01:05:11.579
 And that

01:05:11.579 --> 01:05:12.000
 probably is

01:05:12.000 --> 01:05:12.619
 why some

01:05:12.619 --> 01:05:12.820
 of the

01:05:12.820 --> 01:05:13.199
 people that

01:05:13.199 --> 01:05:13.800
 they took

01:05:13.800 --> 01:05:14.420
 when they're

01:05:14.420 --> 01:05:14.820
 taking

01:05:14.820 --> 01:05:15.980
 priests and

01:05:15.980 --> 01:05:16.340
 they're taking

01:05:16.340 --> 01:05:16.900
 people from

01:05:16.900 --> 01:05:17.160
 some of

01:05:17.160 --> 01:05:18.980
 these skilled

01:05:18.980 --> 01:05:20.220
 laborers and

01:05:20.220 --> 01:05:21.080
 skilled positions

01:05:21.080 --> 01:05:21.940
 and bringing

01:05:21.940 --> 01:05:22.240
 them to

01:05:22.240 --> 01:05:22.539
 Babylon.

01:05:22.680 --> 01:05:22.960
 It's because

01:05:22.960 --> 01:05:23.440
 they want

01:05:23.440 --> 01:05:24.860
 people who

01:05:24.860 --> 01:05:25.140
 can do

01:05:25.140 --> 01:05:25.460
 this kind

01:05:25.460 --> 01:05:25.760
 of stuff.

01:05:27.900 --> 01:05:28.460
 Most of

01:05:28.460 --> 01:05:29.000
 the examples

01:05:29.000 --> 01:05:29.480
 I'm thinking

01:05:29.480 --> 01:05:30.940
 of that are

01:05:30.940 --> 01:05:31.280
 from the

01:05:31.280 --> 01:05:32.580
 Assyrian and

01:05:32.580 --> 01:05:33.480
 Persian periods,

01:05:34.240 --> 01:05:36.160
 but I'd have

01:05:36.160 --> 01:05:36.559
 to think that

01:05:36.559 --> 01:05:37.039
 that happens

01:05:37.039 --> 01:05:39.539
 in the Babylonian

01:05:39.539 --> 01:05:40.100
 period as well.

01:05:40.200 --> 01:05:40.580
 I just can't

01:05:40.580 --> 01:05:40.940
 think of any

01:05:40.940 --> 01:05:41.340
 examples.

01:05:41.340 --> 01:05:41.700
 Okay,

01:05:41.900 --> 01:05:42.320
 wait till

01:05:42.320 --> 01:05:42.640
 I'm sorry.

01:05:42.820 --> 01:05:42.960
 Yeah.

01:05:44.820 --> 01:05:45.900
 I'm interested

01:05:45.900 --> 01:05:46.620
 in this

01:05:46.620 --> 01:05:48.680
 question where

01:05:48.680 --> 01:05:50.180
 throughout the

01:05:50.180 --> 01:05:50.920
 Bible it seems

01:05:50.920 --> 01:05:51.220
 like the

01:05:51.220 --> 01:05:52.720
 Babylonians are

01:05:52.720 --> 01:05:53.780
 portrayed as

01:05:53.780 --> 01:05:55.220
 like the

01:05:55.220 --> 01:05:55.900
 peak of

01:05:55.900 --> 01:05:56.580
 wickedness,

01:05:57.260 --> 01:05:58.880
 like particularly

01:05:58.880 --> 01:05:59.220
 in the book

01:05:59.220 --> 01:05:59.760
 of Revelation,

01:06:00.760 --> 01:06:01.600
 whereas they

01:06:01.600 --> 01:06:02.360
 were obviously

01:06:02.360 --> 01:06:03.100
 not the only

01:06:03.100 --> 01:06:04.140
 people who

01:06:04.140 --> 01:06:04.620
 had other

01:06:04.620 --> 01:06:05.100
 gods,

01:06:05.420 --> 01:06:06.460
 and they were

01:06:06.460 --> 01:06:07.100
 not the only

01:06:07.100 --> 01:06:07.760
 empire that

01:06:07.760 --> 01:06:09.000
 conquered things.

01:06:09.920 --> 01:06:10.640
 Was it just

01:06:10.640 --> 01:06:11.180
 because they

01:06:11.180 --> 01:06:11.940
 were the ones

01:06:11.940 --> 01:06:12.340
 who conquered

01:06:12.340 --> 01:06:12.760
 Jerusalem,

01:06:13.019 --> 01:06:13.559
 or were there

01:06:13.559 --> 01:06:14.519
 reasons to

01:06:14.519 --> 01:06:14.800
 think that

01:06:14.800 --> 01:06:15.300
 they were

01:06:15.300 --> 01:06:18.960
 somehow more

01:06:18.960 --> 01:06:19.760
 or more

01:06:19.760 --> 01:06:20.280
 wicked or

01:06:20.280 --> 01:06:20.820
 wicked in a

01:06:20.820 --> 01:06:21.380
 different way

01:06:21.380 --> 01:06:21.980
 than the

01:06:21.980 --> 01:06:22.720
 other empires

01:06:22.720 --> 01:06:24.840
 that might

01:06:24.840 --> 01:06:25.700
 also have

01:06:25.700 --> 01:06:28.840
 deserved titles

01:06:28.840 --> 01:06:29.260
 like that?

01:06:29.920 --> 01:06:30.100
 Yeah,

01:06:30.260 --> 01:06:30.820
 so this is,

01:06:30.880 --> 01:06:31.380
 and this is

01:06:31.380 --> 01:06:31.680
 part of the

01:06:31.680 --> 01:06:32.519
 reason I'm

01:06:32.519 --> 01:06:33.039
 sort of doing

01:06:33.039 --> 01:06:33.640
 this series,

01:06:33.780 --> 01:06:33.940
 right,

01:06:33.960 --> 01:06:34.400
 is that,

01:06:34.600 --> 01:06:34.880
 you know,

01:06:34.960 --> 01:06:36.720
 in the Bible,

01:06:37.039 --> 01:06:37.220
 right,

01:06:37.380 --> 01:06:37.560
 you know,

01:06:37.740 --> 01:06:37.920
 yeah,

01:06:38.080 --> 01:06:38.780
 Babylon is sort

01:06:38.780 --> 01:06:39.120
 of like the

01:06:39.120 --> 01:06:39.500
 worst of the

01:06:39.500 --> 01:06:39.860
 worst of the

01:06:39.860 --> 01:06:40.120
 worst.

01:06:43.019 --> 01:06:43.620
 Historically and

01:06:43.620 --> 01:06:44.300
 geopolitically it

01:06:44.300 --> 01:06:45.380
 may not really

01:06:45.380 --> 01:06:45.920
 have been so.

01:06:46.000 --> 01:06:46.420
 Part of the

01:06:46.420 --> 01:06:47.000
 reason that it

01:06:47.000 --> 01:06:47.900
 becomes this

01:06:47.900 --> 01:06:49.740
 sort of symbol

01:06:49.740 --> 01:06:50.660
 for the worst

01:06:50.660 --> 01:06:51.060
 of the worst

01:06:51.060 --> 01:06:51.580
 of the worst

01:06:51.580 --> 01:06:53.320
 is because of

01:06:53.320 --> 01:06:54.519
 the sack of

01:06:54.519 --> 01:06:54.920
 Jerusalem,

01:06:55.280 --> 01:06:56.280
 and just how

01:06:56.280 --> 01:06:58.080
 traumatic an

01:06:58.080 --> 01:06:58.780
 event that that

01:06:58.780 --> 01:07:00.220
 was for the

01:07:00.220 --> 01:07:00.880
 Judean people,

01:07:01.100 --> 01:07:02.640
 and also for

01:07:02.640 --> 01:07:04.519
 the way then

01:07:04.519 --> 01:07:05.300
 that that,

01:07:05.300 --> 01:07:07.600
 that that is

01:07:07.600 --> 01:07:08.440
 sort of born out

01:07:08.440 --> 01:07:09.400
 in the biblical

01:07:09.400 --> 01:07:09.880
 tradition,

01:07:10.039 --> 01:07:10.180
 right,

01:07:10.179 --> 01:07:11.500
 the fact that

01:07:11.500 --> 01:07:13.899
 you have all

01:07:13.899 --> 01:07:14.419
 of these people,

01:07:14.599 --> 01:07:14.779
 sort of,

01:07:14.899 --> 01:07:15.339
 all these

01:07:15.339 --> 01:07:15.819
 different biblical

01:07:15.819 --> 01:07:16.879
 authors addressing

01:07:16.879 --> 01:07:18.799
 aspects of this

01:07:18.799 --> 01:07:19.739
 one major

01:07:19.739 --> 01:07:20.480
 event,

01:07:21.099 --> 01:07:21.539
 and the fact

01:07:21.539 --> 01:07:21.940
 that,

01:07:23.179 --> 01:07:23.599
 I mean,

01:07:23.739 --> 01:07:24.359
 this is,

01:07:24.539 --> 01:07:25.379
 it's really one

01:07:25.379 --> 01:07:25.899
 of these pivotal

01:07:25.899 --> 01:07:26.819
 moments in

01:07:26.819 --> 01:07:29.500
 the sort of

01:07:29.500 --> 01:07:32.940
 history of

01:07:32.940 --> 01:07:35.159
 early Judaism,

01:07:35.299 --> 01:07:35.500
 really,

01:07:35.579 --> 01:07:36.679
 because before

01:07:36.679 --> 01:07:37.179
 this period,

01:07:37.299 --> 01:07:37.679
 they have a

01:07:37.679 --> 01:07:37.879
 king,

01:07:37.960 --> 01:07:38.319
 they have a

01:07:38.319 --> 01:07:38.579
 temple.

01:07:38.579 --> 01:07:39.960
 Like everybody

01:07:39.960 --> 01:07:40.219
 else,

01:07:40.360 --> 01:07:41.199
 they have a

01:07:41.199 --> 01:07:41.599
 country,

01:07:41.900 --> 01:07:42.059
 right?

01:07:42.420 --> 01:07:43.099
 When that's

01:07:43.099 --> 01:07:43.500
 gone,

01:07:44.400 --> 01:07:45.059
 one of the

01:07:45.059 --> 01:07:45.739
 main traumas

01:07:45.739 --> 01:07:46.179
 they have to

01:07:46.179 --> 01:07:46.639
 work through

01:07:46.639 --> 01:07:48.500
 is how do

01:07:48.500 --> 01:07:51.900
 we go on

01:07:51.900 --> 01:07:54.340
 without a

01:07:54.340 --> 01:07:54.840
 temple that's

01:07:54.840 --> 01:07:55.319
 our own,

01:07:56.340 --> 01:07:56.880
 and that's

01:07:56.880 --> 01:07:57.480
 huge,

01:07:57.639 --> 01:07:57.699
 like,

01:07:57.779 --> 01:07:58.639
 we're very

01:07:58.639 --> 01:07:59.039
 used to the

01:07:59.039 --> 01:07:59.500
 idea today

01:07:59.500 --> 01:07:59.699
 that,

01:07:59.819 --> 01:07:59.880
 like,

01:07:59.900 --> 01:08:00.019
 oh,

01:08:00.059 --> 01:08:00.179
 well,

01:08:00.179 --> 01:08:00.460
 God is

01:08:00.460 --> 01:08:00.819
 everywhere,

01:08:01.219 --> 01:08:01.400
 right?

01:08:01.440 --> 01:08:01.639
 Like,

01:08:01.799 --> 01:08:02.299
 they didn't

01:08:02.299 --> 01:08:02.699
 have that.

01:08:02.759 --> 01:08:03.039
 They had the

01:08:03.039 --> 01:08:03.179
 idea,

01:08:03.299 --> 01:08:03.360
 like,

01:08:03.420 --> 01:08:04.860
 if you aren't

01:08:04.860 --> 01:08:06.659
 in the area

01:08:06.659 --> 01:08:07.699
 where that

01:08:07.699 --> 01:08:08.859
 God rules

01:08:08.859 --> 01:08:09.299
 and that

01:08:09.299 --> 01:08:09.699
 God doesn't

01:08:09.699 --> 01:08:10.000
 have a

01:08:10.000 --> 01:08:10.319
 temple,

01:08:11.279 --> 01:08:11.639
 that God

01:08:11.639 --> 01:08:11.899
 might as

01:08:11.899 --> 01:08:12.119
 well not

01:08:12.119 --> 01:08:12.599
 exist,

01:08:14.059 --> 01:08:14.259
 right?

01:08:14.359 --> 01:08:14.639
 So,

01:08:14.919 --> 01:08:16.579
 they're working

01:08:16.579 --> 01:08:17.179
 through how

01:08:17.179 --> 01:08:17.639
 to sort of

01:08:17.639 --> 01:08:18.539
 carry on

01:08:18.539 --> 01:08:21.199
 after they

01:08:21.199 --> 01:08:21.599
 don't have a

01:08:21.599 --> 01:08:21.840
 temple,

01:08:21.960 --> 01:08:22.239
 after they

01:08:22.239 --> 01:08:22.720
 don't have

01:08:22.720 --> 01:08:23.500
 a city,

01:08:23.579 --> 01:08:23.779
 they don't

01:08:23.779 --> 01:08:24.059
 have a

01:08:24.059 --> 01:08:24.920
 king who

01:08:24.920 --> 01:08:25.340
 is appointed

01:08:25.340 --> 01:08:26.039
 by God,

01:08:26.179 --> 01:08:26.380
 right?

01:08:26.479 --> 01:08:26.639
 So,

01:08:27.439 --> 01:08:29.720
 so much

01:08:29.720 --> 01:08:31.119
 of that,

01:08:31.779 --> 01:08:32.599
 the reason

01:08:32.599 --> 01:08:33.019
 that Babylon

01:08:33.019 --> 01:08:33.579
 is used as

01:08:33.579 --> 01:08:34.179
 that symbol

01:08:34.179 --> 01:08:34.859
 is because

01:08:34.859 --> 01:08:35.819
 of this

01:08:35.819 --> 01:08:36.639
 trauma that's

01:08:36.639 --> 01:08:37.000
 used.

01:08:37.699 --> 01:08:38.039
 And I

01:08:38.039 --> 01:08:38.519
 very much

01:08:38.519 --> 01:08:38.699
 think,

01:08:38.759 --> 01:08:39.199
 we might

01:08:39.199 --> 01:08:39.460
 get to

01:08:39.460 --> 01:08:39.819
 talk about

01:08:39.819 --> 01:08:41.319
 this in

01:08:41.319 --> 01:08:41.519
 the week

01:08:41.519 --> 01:08:41.759
 we do

01:08:41.759 --> 01:08:42.259
 Persia,

01:08:42.779 --> 01:08:43.119
 but I

01:08:43.119 --> 01:08:43.500
 very much

01:08:43.500 --> 01:08:43.819
 think that

01:08:43.819 --> 01:08:44.079
 there is

01:08:44.079 --> 01:08:44.699
 this idea

01:08:44.699 --> 01:08:45.839
 that

01:08:45.839 --> 01:08:47.339
 empires,

01:08:47.559 --> 01:08:48.139
 particularly

01:08:48.139 --> 01:08:48.880
 empires like

01:08:48.880 --> 01:08:49.279
 Babylon,

01:08:49.519 --> 01:08:49.799
 sort of

01:08:49.799 --> 01:08:50.779
 helped to

01:08:50.779 --> 01:08:51.619
 develop this

01:08:51.619 --> 01:08:53.119
 sort of

01:08:53.119 --> 01:08:54.319
 nebulous

01:08:54.319 --> 01:08:55.059
 symbol in

01:08:55.059 --> 01:08:55.839
 later biblical

01:08:55.839 --> 01:08:56.239
 literature,

01:08:56.399 --> 01:08:56.599
 especially

01:08:56.599 --> 01:08:57.380
 like apocalyptic

01:08:57.380 --> 01:08:57.799
 literature,

01:08:57.899 --> 01:08:58.319
 which is very

01:08:58.319 --> 01:08:58.779
 symbolic,

01:08:59.179 --> 01:08:59.299
 right?

01:09:00.000 --> 01:09:00.859
 Of sort of

01:09:00.859 --> 01:09:01.719
 like the

01:09:01.719 --> 01:09:02.439
 empire,

01:09:02.839 --> 01:09:03.539
 like empire

01:09:03.539 --> 01:09:04.000
 in the

01:09:04.000 --> 01:09:04.399
 abstract.

01:09:04.859 --> 01:09:05.039
 Right?

01:09:05.079 --> 01:09:05.599
 Like the

01:09:05.599 --> 01:09:06.219
 world and

01:09:06.219 --> 01:09:06.559
 the world

01:09:06.559 --> 01:09:07.559
 systems of

01:09:07.559 --> 01:09:07.779
 the way

01:09:07.779 --> 01:09:08.000
 that the

01:09:08.000 --> 01:09:08.619
 world works.

01:09:08.859 --> 01:09:08.960
 Right?

01:09:09.079 --> 01:09:09.279
 So,

01:09:10.059 --> 01:09:12.019
 and I

01:09:12.019 --> 01:09:12.479
 think very

01:09:12.479 --> 01:09:12.819
 much that's

01:09:12.819 --> 01:09:12.979
 what's

01:09:12.979 --> 01:09:13.880
 happening in

01:09:13.880 --> 01:09:14.880
 Revelation,

01:09:15.259 --> 01:09:15.719
 where you

01:09:15.719 --> 01:09:16.479
 have references

01:09:16.479 --> 01:09:17.019
 to Babylon

01:09:17.019 --> 01:09:19.359
 that might

01:09:19.359 --> 01:09:19.859
 actually be

01:09:19.859 --> 01:09:20.460
 talking about

01:09:20.460 --> 01:09:21.479
 Rome or

01:09:21.479 --> 01:09:21.979
 something yet

01:09:21.979 --> 01:09:23.039
 to come or

01:09:23.039 --> 01:09:23.359
 whatever,

01:09:23.519 --> 01:09:23.659
 you know,

01:09:23.719 --> 01:09:24.179
 but they

01:09:24.179 --> 01:09:25.119
 use Babylon

01:09:25.119 --> 01:09:25.739
 as a symbol

01:09:25.739 --> 01:09:26.259
 for that

01:09:26.259 --> 01:09:27.000
 because of

01:09:27.000 --> 01:09:27.500
 how much

01:09:27.500 --> 01:09:27.839
 of a

01:09:27.839 --> 01:09:29.359
 that is.

01:09:30.119 --> 01:09:30.599
 I was

01:09:30.599 --> 01:09:30.979
 talking to

01:09:30.979 --> 01:09:31.339
 a friend

01:09:31.339 --> 01:09:31.659
 of mine

01:09:31.659 --> 01:09:32.119
 recently

01:09:32.119 --> 01:09:33.659
 who's

01:09:33.659 --> 01:09:34.339
 Jewish,

01:09:34.859 --> 01:09:35.359
 and I

01:09:35.359 --> 01:09:35.739
 mentioned

01:09:35.739 --> 01:09:36.039
 to her

01:09:36.039 --> 01:09:36.259
 that I

01:09:36.259 --> 01:09:36.920
 was talking

01:09:36.920 --> 01:09:37.319
 about this

01:09:37.319 --> 01:09:37.659
 today.

01:09:37.880 --> 01:09:38.000
 I said,

01:09:38.039 --> 01:09:38.199
 yes,

01:09:38.219 --> 01:09:38.399
 I'm going

01:09:38.399 --> 01:09:38.519
 to talk

01:09:38.519 --> 01:09:38.699
 about

01:09:38.699 --> 01:09:39.259
 Nebuchadnezzar

01:09:39.259 --> 01:09:39.519
 and those

01:09:39.519 --> 01:09:39.739
 guys,

01:09:39.839 --> 01:09:40.099
 and she's

01:09:40.099 --> 01:09:40.239
 like,

01:09:40.319 --> 01:09:40.500
 oh,

01:09:40.759 --> 01:09:41.059
 yeah,

01:09:41.319 --> 01:09:42.019
 Nebuchadnezzar.

01:09:42.719 --> 01:09:43.219
 Still don't

01:09:43.219 --> 01:09:43.739
 like him.

01:09:45.000 --> 01:09:45.460
 And it's

01:09:45.460 --> 01:09:46.119
 been 2,500

01:09:46.119 --> 01:09:46.639
 years.

01:09:49.279 --> 01:09:49.639
 Now,

01:09:49.679 --> 01:09:49.819
 she was

01:09:49.819 --> 01:09:51.159
 kidding a little

01:09:51.159 --> 01:09:51.380
 bit,

01:09:51.479 --> 01:09:52.000
 but still,

01:09:52.099 --> 01:09:52.199
 right,

01:09:52.219 --> 01:09:52.639
 there's still

01:09:52.639 --> 01:09:54.779
 that animus

01:09:54.779 --> 01:09:55.000
 there.

01:09:55.000 --> 01:09:55.039
 there.

01:09:57.760 --> 01:09:58.380
 I realize

01:09:58.380 --> 01:09:58.720
 that we've

01:09:58.720 --> 01:09:59.020
 gone on

01:09:59.020 --> 01:09:59.300
 for a

01:09:59.300 --> 01:09:59.739
 while now.

01:09:59.840 --> 01:10:00.119
 I can

01:10:00.119 --> 01:10:00.460
 hang out

01:10:00.460 --> 01:10:00.779
 and chat

01:10:00.779 --> 01:10:01.060
 for a

01:10:01.060 --> 01:10:01.380
 bit if

01:10:01.380 --> 01:10:01.640
 you guys

01:10:01.640 --> 01:10:01.939
 want,

01:10:02.079 --> 01:10:02.680
 but I

01:10:02.680 --> 01:10:03.039
 also don't

01:10:03.039 --> 01:10:03.279
 want to

01:10:03.279 --> 01:10:03.680
 keep you

01:10:03.680 --> 01:10:04.439
 as the

01:10:04.439 --> 01:10:04.760
 services

01:10:04.760 --> 01:10:05.220
 starting

01:10:05.220 --> 01:10:05.680
 and stuff.

01:10:06.680 --> 01:10:07.159
 Thank you,

01:10:07.239 --> 01:10:07.380
 John.

01:10:07.640 --> 01:10:08.140
 Thanks for

01:10:08.140 --> 01:10:08.319
 coming,

01:10:08.439 --> 01:10:08.720
 everybody.