Jerusalem During Lehi’s Time
There can be many layers to things and light to see in different ways.
No, that picture is not of Jerusalem or even ancient at all. The woman’s modern red backpack may have given that away. It’s actually of a monastery in Portugal. But I like the layers of light, and the layers of reality that is shows. I tried to find deeper and deeper layers in many things, but especially in my scripture study. This posting is sharing one of those.
Come Follow Me
As member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we have the opportunity to study “together” the scriptures and share our thoughts, discuss as families and friends, and learn to be better disciples of Christ as we help each other. We call this program “Come Follow Me”. There is daily personal study, family discussions, sharing with friends, and Sunday classes all there to help support our learning and improving. The way this works is each year we study a part of the scriptures so that we are generally all working at the same pace or same area. This does not mean people do not read, study, use or listen to other parts of scripture, just that it give us a little structure to help lift each other and be lifted by insights of others through the year.
This year our area of study of The Book of Mormon. Because of that, I may occasionally do some of my writing and posts here on that topic. I hope that even if you are not of my faith, you will not just pass these by. My goal is to improve my writing, share what I’m thinking about, and maybe discuss with others their thoughts.
That being said, let’s discuss the first prophet in the Book of Mormon. The father of the people that will travel to a new hemisphere and start a new civilization.
Lehi and Sariah
In the Book Of Mormon, Lehi is the first prophet mentioned. He is the father of Nephi who is the author of the first book in the Book of Mormon. Interestingly, when Joseph Smith began the translation of the the book, it actually started with The Book of Lehi. The manuscript of that section was lost, and in the world before digital copies and cloud storage, there was a worry that someone with that manuscript may either change it or simply point out differences in future copies thereby trying to denigrate Joseph and the book in the future. So Joseph decided to not retranslate and use it, but moved to the the book written by his son Nephi, which happened to also tell part of the story of his father.
Lehi was a Hebrew prophet who lived his entire life in Jerusalem. I guess it would be more accurate to say “he lived his entire live in Jerusalem up to the point he was commanded to leave with his mostly grown and adult family”. He was married to Sariah, and they had both son’s and daughters. He, like other prophets of the time, tried to tell the people of Jerusalem to repent or they would be destroyed. His message was not received well and his life was in danger. The Lord instructed him to take his family, and a few others, and travel to the western Hemisphere. To a “land of promise” for them. The beginning of the Book of Mormon tells that story and of his prophecies and visions from God.
I am sure I will write more about him in coming weeks, but for now I wanted to write a little about the world that Lehi and Sariah came from and of their lives prior to leaving Jerusalem. I find understanding the people in scriptures and their world give us a much greater understanding of what they are trying to tell us. We don’t have many details from them specifically, so I did a little research on life at the time in that region.
Let’s Start with the World Lehi Came From
Much of this information, and the starting point for my research, came from book, “Glimpses of Lehi’s Jerusalem” by Jo Ann H. Seely, David Rolph Seely, and John W. Welch. I’ll provide a link at the bottom of this post if you would like to read more. Reading their work caused me to dig a little deeper in some areas and fascinated me in ways I didn’t expect.
Why Look At His World at All?
I find it very rewarding to not only imagine the life of the people in scriptures, but to try the best I can to understand their life, their culture, their history, and how they lived. This gives me much greater insight into what they are writing, what their prophecies may mean, what message they are sharing, and what I could gain from that message. It also opens my heart to the spirit of the Lord where I can gain my own personal insight. That personal inspiration is the reason we go to the scriptures, it is the reason why they are or should be valuable. When we are open to it, we can receive messages just for us, and help in understanding how to apply messages in our own life.
The prophet Lehi and his family in their Jerusalem home
Politics, Wars, and Government of Jerusalem at the Time of Lehi
The period from 610 to 600 B.C. was full of political and social changes and upheavals. While Lehi was receiving his calling, his visions, and while he was trying to preach to the people, there would have been great confusion, worry, and distrust in the city. Leadership was changing, immorality was growing, fortunes were rising and falling, tributes to other nations were high, civil unrest grew, leaders became brutal tyrants, and they saw the possibility of their civilization becoming extinct. This is the world that Lehi eventually was told by God to leave.
For a few hundred years prior to this time the major power in the region (and most of the known world at the time) as Assyria. They ruled the region with an iron fist and used fear, and violence to keep others in line.
In 612 B.C. the Babylonians and the Medes destroyed the capital of Assyria, Nineveh. This ended their domination.
With this happening, Egypt and Babylon now vied for control of the region. This area at that time would have been know as western Assyria to those in the outside world. This area included Judah.
In 609 B.C., the Egyptian Pharaoh led a force on the Euphrates River to aid the former Assyrian ruler who was trying to retake Haran (a city that is in the area of Modern Day Turkey) from the Babylonians.
Josiah, who had brought many reforms to Judah and Jerusalem, went to battle to try to stop this from happening about 60 miles outside Jerusalem. He did not want an Egyptian-Assyrian superpower controlling them once again.
Josiah was killed in battle and his son Jehoahaz became king.
Egypt's attempt at retaking Haran failed, but on their return home, Pharaoh stopped to depose and take Jehoahaz to Egypt as prisoner. Judah was now a vassal state to Egypt. Jehahaz's brother Eliakim, who's name was changed to Jehoiakim, was placed a king. Judah now owed Egypt a heavy tribute and taxes.
For the next five years, while Babylon was busy fighting in other areas of the world, Judah's situation remained bleak. The new king was a ruthless tyrant (Jeremiah the Prophet took much wrath out on him in his writings and prophecies), and Egypt’s oppression took a heavy toll. The recent reforms from King Josiah were reversed. Immorality ran rampant.
In 604 B.C. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, resumed his campaign in the area and took back the kingdom of Judah. King Jehoiakim pledged his allegiance to Babylon.
While Babylon and Egypt continue to battle, Jehoiakim decided to rebel and back Egypt again. Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to the city, overtook Judah, took the king prisoner and exiled him to Babylon. He then placed the former king’s uncle (who's name was changed to Zedekiah) in his place as king over Judah.
During this time the most precious records of Jerusalem were inscribed on metal plates for safekeeping in the temple treasury, as well as on small silver scrolls that could be worn as amulets to protect one personally.
The general populace believe that the the city and especially the temple could never fall. They believed the Lord would save them even in their wickedness. As prophets such as Jeremiah, Urijah ben Shemaiah (Jeremiah 26:20-21), and Lehi tried to teach them and set them straight, they were threatened, hated, and run out of towns. Nationalistic pride, and the pride of being “God’s chosen people” had blinded them to the truth.
Biblical Prophets Active around 620-580 BCE
During the time of Lehi in Jerusalem, there were other prophets preaching to the people as well. Nephi records in his record that this was a time of increased prophetic activity that started around the time of the coronation of King Zedekiah (1 Nephi 1:4). Given the size of the city (see below) I would have to believe they know of each other, and probably met and talked. We don’t know that, but I like to think it is true. Here are those we know of from the Bible:
Prophet (Years Active)
Engraving of a Crying Jeremiah
Zephaniah (ca. 640–609 BCE)
Nahum (ca. 630–605 BCE)
Jeremiah (ca. 626–580 BCE)
Habakkuk (ca. 622–605 BCE - alt. 609–598 BCE)
Huldah (ca. 621 BCE)
Urijah (ca. 609 BCE)
Daniel (ca. 606–539 BCE)
Ezekiel (ca. 594–574 BCE)
Obadiah (ca. 585–555 BCE)
The City of Jerusalem Around Lehi’s Lifetime
The land itself was a mixture of deserts, fertile valleys, sloping hills and mountains.
The concept of nations, or countries with capitals as we have today was not a part of their society. While there were central cities, or places where the armies or leaders stayed, the concept of a capital was not the same as we think of it today. They would have referred to their area as "The Land of Jerusalem."
People of the villages scattered around the land would have rarely left their village or traveled any where at all. The would have gone to Jerusalem for feasts and festivals as required by The Law of Moses, but no other travel would have been common or needed.
The city at the time of Lehi would have had a population of around 25,000. That is a good sized city by ancient standards but a very small one by modern standards.
The city would not have been nearly as built up and have as many buildings as it did in the time of Jesus. The walls were only about 15 feet high. The temple mount would not have been built up yet into the very large platform it would be in a few hundred years.
The Temple of Solomon would have been smaller then that of Herod during the time of Jesus We are used to seeing in illustrations, pictures, or modern depictions of the temple of Herod, but in Lehi’s time it would have been smaller. It had some gold and decorative elements but not much. Herod would rebuild and greatly expand the temple nearer to the time of Christ, centuries later.
The homes inside the walled city would be built on hillsides in a terraced manner. The homes were not very large, most were 2 floors, with the second floor really just being a loft covered by the roof. They were built with stone, mud and wood beams. Paint was rarely used so things would have looked very brown or natural colored.
The gates of the city would have been the place where much of the action took place or where the crowds of people would have been. Official business, trials, regulation of visitors, and commerce would have all happened in that area.
To our modern ears the city would probably have sounded strangely quiet. In today's cities, even the smaller ones, we have honking horns, sirens, bells, school yards, cars, trucks, trains, planes, HVAC systems, subways, and in some cases explosions, guns, or things like construction equipment. To our ears the city would have sounded a bit eerie in its quiet.
Different trades or types of business would have been done in different areas of the city. There would have been areas like a "bakers' street" (Jeremiah 37:21), or a "fullers' field" (Isaiah 7:3), or a "goldsmith's quarter" (Nehemiah 3:31-32) for example.
The Cultural and Living Environment In Jerusalem and Differences from Our World Today
Traveling then was very different than today obviously, but we may sometimes not realize how different and how much more work it was to travel in the ancient world. The difference is more than just the fact that we can move faster with our cars, trains, and airplanes. Personal safety, cultural issues, food and water, communication, the ability to pay or trade for goods, and much more limited and affected the movement of people. I like to imagine myself or someone from our time today traveling to the area in their time and finding all the hardships of just getting there let alone getting to any final destination.
Lehi traveling outside Jerusalem
If you had to travel to Judah or Palestine by boat from outside the area, that travel alone could take days or weeks. It would be very risky with many possible waypoints. There was no commercial travel, so finding way to travel on a merchant ship may be the only way it would have been possible. That type of travel would be long and uncomfortable. It would also be dangerous.
Once arriving on the coast, or along the coast if you walked, it is anywhere from a 50 to 100 mile walk to Jerusalem. The city is in the highlands about 2,500 ft above sea level so it would also be a climb from the coast. That is why the scriptures always say someone traveled “up to Jerusalem,” or when leaving, “down from Jerusalem”. This up and down language was used no matter what compass direction they were traveling.
Walking on foot would be the most common way to get around, but riding a donkey would be possible if you had some means of paying or owned one. Riding a donkey is very uncomfortable so most would chose to walk if given a choice.
Horses did exist, but only the very rich would have the opportunity to ride into the city or to travel with one. There were no saddles or other riding gear developed at the time of Lehi so you would just need to set on the back on the horse, maybe use a blanket for padding, and hold on with your knees for dear life.
There may be a caravan you could travel with if they would allow it. Carts were normally pulled by oxen, but the harnesses at the time were very crude. They consisted of just ropes tied to the animals neck. Horses were not commonly used as a draft animals during this time. They were use to pull chariots, but that would not be an option for any normal traveler. The carts themselves were normally constructed with very simple wood axels, and they did not have bearings or other aids to create a smooth ride. They could not carry much and the ride would not be comfortable if you were allowed to ride.
The roads would be muddy or dusty and very rutted with use. The paved roads would have been within cities, and even those would be paved with rocks or stones with many dust or muddy gaps in them.
Traveling often would have been done at night to help with the heat and fatigue. Thieves and robbers would have been an issue as well. Only the aristocrats or the very rich would have had armed guards of any kind.
If you needed any goods, or food, or wanted to purchase items, life would have been much more complicated as well. Business was done by trade and barter. If you needed goods or services, you would normally need to work for them or trade for them.
There were not any coins used yet, those would be developed and/or brought to this region in the near future, but not quite yet in any real or widely used form. In Lehi's time, exchange would been done by weight. Mostly in silver, but copper or gold as well.
The modern ideas of "retail prices" would not have been understood. You would have needed to sit and become friends with the person you wanted to trade with, then a deal would have been worked out and the items would then change hands.
A person's wealth was counted in in gold and silver in Lehi's time. Previously it would have been in cattle or sheep, but in the time of Lehi and Sariah it was more common to make exchanges in weights of silver or gold.
The days are counted form sundown to sundown. So to say something like "Tuesday night" would mean the night before the day of Tuesday. That is different from our language where Tuesday night means the night after the day of Tuesday.
Meat is very expensive so very little of it would have been eaten. This is an agrarian society so most families farmed at least a bit for their own sustenance. It would have been common to raise and eat wheat, barley, beans, and vegetables. The storage of food was not easy and most could be kept for only a short time. For this reason things like olives that could be pickled and stored for longer times were staples of their diet. Dates, figs, and grapes could be dried and pressed into cakes for longer storage as well.
Water, which is a chief concern for the people then and now, would have been stored in cisterns. The cisterns would be simple holes in the ground lined with clay or plaster or some other other sealant. The water would not have been clean.
The people of Lehi's time would have been pretty suspicious of outsiders and visitors due to the politics and the power of surrounding nations at the time. The Law of Moses required them to welcome and care for the visitor and for traveling strangers. The give and take between those two realities for them would have been a challenge to navigate at times and I’m sure a source of stress and disagreements.
The Law of Moses caused the people of the time to be cleaner than other ancient cultures but cleanliness would still have been an issue. Sicknesses caused by these conditions could be dangerous. The common cold, flu, or things like diarrhea that we see as discomforts could prove to be deadly. Healing of sickness was viewed as a religious matter during these times. It was not a matter for a doctor, but one for God.
The normal household would have included the immediate family, but also many more. This was a patriarchal society. The father was the head of the household. A household may have consisted of multiple homes that would have been built close together. The sons, the unmarried daughters, any aging parent and even uncles, unmarried aunts would have been included in the household.
Women were not considered property. They had more rights in ancient Israel that many have assumed. The mother of a household had legitimate and significant influence and authority in decision making.
As with many ancient societies having many children was a great desire and considered an honor. Sons were valued over daughters because daughters left the family when married. Son's carried on the family name and preserved the family fortune. The oldest son is given a double inheritance, but that is because it is his duty to care for the family when the father dies.
When young, the mother would provide most of the children's education. As a son grows older the father would assume the responsibility to teach him the Law of Moses. (Deuteronomy 6:7, Alma 36-39)
There were different ways to earn a living in this time. There were craftsmen that would work together as guilds or as families in areas like millwork, baking, as barbers, potters, locksmiths, or jewelers, etc. There were also those who would work to make a daily wage. Daily wages happened usually in the areas of farming but could be other areas as well. These people were often taken advantage of and paid unfairly. There were also merchants, but in most cases this type of business belonged to royalty so any merchant would have essentially worked for the king. There were also slaves of course. Due to the Law of Moses slavery was different there than other parts of the world. By today’s standards these differences in no way justify the practice, but it is important to realize it was at least a little different under the Law of Moses. In some cases, slaves may have been considered more a part of the family. Slaves were also set free after 6 years of servitude in some cases. The law protected slaves from harsh treatment or abuse.
The legal system worked well and was very efficient. There were no paid judges or a police system. There were no prisons, and trials usually last less than a day. The population is small so most people know each other well. Because of this, shame and honor help people uphold the law. The real threat of capital punishment by things like stoning also help keep people within the bounds of the law.
Marriages were arranged and negotiated by the fathers of the bride and groom. You can see this in Lehi's family as well in 1 Nephi 16:7. There was no dating or courting and most marriages are arranged when the children were very young.
This does not mean there was no love or romance of course, but people were more focused on survival, the perpetuation of their family, their family honor, or other economic needs than they were on pleasure.
As part of the arrangements, the groom's father gives an agreed-upon payment to the bride's father or family to act as compensation for the loss of a daughter and the smaller household left behind.
Next Week - More About Who Lehi Was as a Person and Prophet
Next week I plan on putting together some of what we know about Lehi the person and the prophet. He did so much that we sometimes lose track of. The Book of Mormon gets started quickly with visions, prophecies, action, and even fights between siblings that it can be easy to overlook the father of the family that starting this story and history. I think we have much to learn from Lehi.
Want More information? A few links I found helpful are below:
Would I listen or be more like the Nephites, pushing him out of the city and ignoring his warnings?