Nippur was first settled at about 5000 BCE and grew to become one of the most important cities in ancient Mesopotamia. The supreme god Enlil was believed to reside in Nippur, a sacred city that was also a center for economic, political, and cultural activity. By 2000 BCE, Nippur was at its largest size, a home for 25,000 people and many temples. All that remains of Nippur today is a mound 100 miles south of Baghdad. In 1899 archeologists found a stone tablet from about 1300 BCE depicting a map of the city.

Explore an ancient map of Nippur. This interactive presentation requires Macromedia Flash.

A form of monotheism appeared during the fourteenth century BCE reign of the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten. Akhenaten initiated a new form of worship that centered around a single deity, represented by the sun-god Aten. Theories that this was the source for later Hebrew monotheism have been largely dismissed as remote. Worship of the Aten did not last past the 16 years of Akhenaten’s rule, and after his death Egyptians returned to their polytheistic religion.

Listen to, and compare, a hymn to the Aten and Psalm 104.

The subject of the Israelites' conquest of Canaan has been long debated. The book of Joshua describes a swift conquest of the land, whereas the book of Judges tells of isolated victories and an uneasy existence among the Canaanites. Archeological evidence seems to support the description in the book of Judges, and scholars have offered a number of theories about the settlement of the land.

Listen to the Biblical account of the conquest of the land of Israel.