Reasons For the Bar Kochba Revolt

Reasons For the Bar Kochba Revolt Killing more than half a million Jews and destroying almost a thousand villages, the Bar Kochba Revolt (132-35) was a major event in Jewish history and a blotch on the reputation of the good emperor Hadrian. The revolt was named for a man called Shimon, on coins, Bar Kosibah, on papyrus, Bar Kozibah, on rabbinic literature, and Bar Kokhba, in Christian writing. Bar Kochba was the messianic leader of the rebel Jewish forces. The rebels may have held land south of Jerusalem and Jericho and north of Hebron and Masada. They may have reached into Samaria, Galilee, Syria, and Arabia. They survived (as long as they did) by means of caves, used for weapons storage and hiding, and tunnels. Letters from Bar Kochba were found in the caves of Wadi Murabbaat around the same time archaeologists and Bedouins were discovering the Dead Sea Scroll caves. [Source:​ The Dead Sea Scrolls: A Biography, by John J. Collins; Princeton: 2012.] The war was very bloody on both sides, so much so that Hadrian failed to declare a triumph when he returned to Rome at the revolts conclusion. Why Did the Jews Rebel? Why did the Jews rebel when it must have seemed likely the Romans would defeat them, as they had before? Suggested reasons are outrage over Hadrians prohibitions and actions. CircumcisionCircumcision was a vital part of the Jewish identity and it is possible Hadrian made it illegal for Jews to practice this custom, and not just with proselytes. In the Historia Augusta Pseudo-Spartianus says Hadrians prohibition against genital mutilation caused the revolt (Life of Harian 14.2). Genital mutilation could mean either castration or circumcision (or both). [Source: Peter Schafer The Bar Kochba Revolt and Circumcision: Historical Evidence and Modern Apologetics 1999]. This position is challenged. See: Negotiating Difference: Genital Mutilation in Roman Slave Law and the History of the Bar Kokhba Revolt, by Raanan Abusch, in The Bar Kokhba War Reconsidered: New Perspectives on the Second Jewish Revolt against Rome, edited by Peter Schafer; 2003. SacrilegeThe second to third century Greek-writing Roman historian Cassius Dio (Roman History 69.12) said it was Hadrians decision to rename Jerusalem Aelia Capitolina, to establish a Roman colony there, and to build a pagan temple. A complication of this is the possible retraction of a promise by Hadrian to rebuild the Jewish Temple. References: Axelrod, Alan. Little-Known Wars of Great and Latin Impact. Fair Winds Press, 2009. The Archaeology of Roman Palestine, by Mark Alan Chancey and Adam Lowry Porter. Near Eastern Archaeology, Vol. 64, No. 4 (Dec. 2001), pp. 164-203. The bar Kokhba Revolt: The Roman Point of View, by Werner Eck. The Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 89 (1999), pp. 76-89 The Dead Sea Scrolls: A Biography, by John J. Collins; Princeton: 2012. Peter Schafer The Bar Kochba Revolt and Circumcision: Historical Evidence and Modern Apologetics 1999

buy custom World War II essay

buy custom World War II essay The Second World War is no doubt a war of its own kind in history of human conflict. It involved many people and killed many people. The war involved participants from various parts of the world but concentrated most of its activities in the Europe, Far East and North Africa. The Second World War was an action-dominated conflict between two opposing sides. Each side rallied supporters behind them as much as they could. One side was the group of countries called Allies which comprised of Britain, France, USSR and their supporters. The Allies were later joined by USA. On the other side of the conflict was the Axis group of countries which comprised of Germany, Italy, Japan and their supporters. The war began on September 1st, 1939 when Germany invaded Poland.Germany did not heed the warning issued by Allies and instead went ahead to attack other countries such as Norway, Denmark, Belgium among others. Therefore, Britain and Francedeclared war on Germany. Meanwhile, Japan was also making various invasions in China. Japan attacked Pearl Harbor which belonged to the USA in December, 1941. This action drew USA into the war on the side of the Allies. Almost all the powerful countries of the world were in the war by 1942. The war ended in 1945 by a terrible defeat and surrender of the Axis side. The atomic bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima cities of Japan by USA marked the end. USA emerged the strongest power. The causes of the war were majorly ideological. For instance, USSR was against NAZI ideology of politics in Germany and therefore joined the Allies group to fight against Germany. Other causes include the failures of the League of Nations and the Versailles treaty to resolve the issues in the First World War. In addition, most countries wanted to expand their territories and colonies in order to acquire raw materials for economic expansion. They were therefore ready to go to war in order to fulfill quest for economic expansion. Buy custom World War II essay

Children and video games Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Children and video games - Essay Example Video games are commonly known as time wasters by parents and educational experts. Many educational experts define video games as tools that corrupt children's brains. However even with the studies video games also have positive impacts on children, these positive impacts include the development of the brain and increases the communicational levels of children. In the world, almost 80% of the children play video games at least once a month, some of them are addicted spending almost 13 hours of video games per week (8-12 years old). Those of the age 13-18 years spend fourteen hours a week playing video games, an hour more than those of 8-12 years old (metrics 2.0, 2007). In most cases, stopping the children from playing video games is difficult as video games are prominent in most of their lives. Past evidence proves that gaming has more advantages than disadvantages, especially in the development of the brain and improvement in the social life. When a child plays video games, his or her brain is in a real workout, many of the video games require the child to use a lot of skill in order to win through the levels. In this, the kids have the chance to engage the high level of thinking, skills not even in school. Some of these skills include gained when playing video games include, fine motor, hand-eye coordination, and spatial skills, following instructions and problem solving and logic. Children who play violent games have high levels of aggressive thoughts and are more violent, behaviors, and feelings.