CAMPING OUT:

Israel in the Midbar

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1 And the LORD spoke unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year

after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying: Numbers 1:1

SEFER BAMIDBAR

NUMBERS

What is the Sinai Peninsula exactly?

• The Sinai Peninsula lies between Egypt and Israel and is comprised of three main parts: the coastal plain in the north, the central plateau with its cliffs of white limestone, and the southern, mountainous region.

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Monastery of St. Catherine

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2 'The children of Israel shall pitch by their fathers' houses; every man with his own standard, according to the ensigns . . . .

Numbers 2:2

What is a standard?

THE FAMOUS STANDARD OF UR

• Though the work is called a “standard,” we don’t really know if it was used as such

• Leonard Woolley, the man who excavated Ur, named the work a “standard”

THE ARCH OF TITUS

• This triumphal arch was built in 81 CE to commemorate Titus’ defeat of the Jews

• The carrying of standards can be seen clearly here

• Rulers wrote the name of the cities they had conquered on the standards

THE FAMOUS BATTLE OF KADESH

Reliefs are from the Temple of Abu Simbel

• Spies being beaten to give Ramses II information about his Hittite enemy’s position

Reconstruction of the Battle of Kadesh

Peace Treaty between Ramses II and the Hittite king, Muwatalish

• After a four-day battle with heavy losses on both sides, the two kings were persuaded to sign a peace treaty, the world’s first one.

• A copy of it can be found at the United Nations headquarters

Ramses’ Army

• Was divided into four camps that marched under the protective banner, “standard”, of a god

• Ramses II personally led the division of Amun

• The other three camps were Re, Ptah, and Seth

B’nai Yisrael’s Camp

The Jewish Temple at Elephantine