Ugaritic mythology – The Levant region was inhabited by people who themselves referred to the land as "ca-na-na-um" as early as the mid-third millennium BCE
Ancient semitic religions – The term ancient Semitic religion encompasses the polytheistic religions of the Semitic speaking peoples of the ancient Near East and Northeast Africa. Its origins are intertwined with Mesopotamian mythology.
Elohim – a grammatically singular or plural noun for "god" or "gods" in both modern and ancient Hebrew language.
Asherah – a Semitic mother goddess, the wife or consort of the SumerianAnu or UgariticEl, the oldest deities of their pantheons
Baal – a Northwest Semitic title and honorific meaning "master" or "lord" that is used for various gods who were patrons of cities in the Levant and Asia Minor
King Saul – the first king of the united Kingdom of Israel.
Ish-bosheth – the second king of the united Kingdom
King David – the third king of the United Kingdom of Israel
King Solomon – the final king before the northern Kingdom of Israel and the southern Kingdom of Judah
Solomon's Temple – the First Temple, was the main temple in ancient Jerusalem, on the Temple Mount (also known as Mount Zion), before its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar II after the Siege of Jerusalem of 587 BCE.
Further information:
Tel Dan Stele – a stele (inscribed stone) discovered in 1993/94 during excavations at Tel Dan in northern Israel.
Mesha Stele – a black basalt stone bearing an inscription by the 9th century BC ruler Mesha of Moab in Jordan.
Mishnah, the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions known as the "Oral Torah".
Gemara, rabbinical analysis of and commentary on the Mishnah
Aggadah, a compendium of rabbinic texts that incorporates folklore, historical anecdotes, moral exhortations, and practical advice in various spheres, from business to medicine.
Tosefta, a compilation of the Jewish oral law from the late 2nd century, the period of the Mishnah
Midrash, the genre of rabbinic literature which contains early interpretations and commentaries on the Written Torah and Oral Torah (spoken law and sermons), as well as non-legalistic rabbinic literature (aggadah) and occasionally the Jewish religious laws (halakha), which usually form a running commentary on specific passages in the Hebrew Scripture (Tanakh).[2]
Geonim, presidents of the two great Babylonian, Talmudic Academies of Sura and Pumbedita, in the Abbasid Caliphate, and generally accepted spiritual leaders of the Jewish community worldwide in the early medieval era
Rishonim, the leading rabbis and poskim who lived approximately during the 11th to 15th centuries, in the era before the writing of the Shulchan Aruch (Hebrew: שׁוּלחָן עָרוּך, "Set Table", a common printed code of Jewish law, 1563 CE) and following the Geonim (589–1038 CE)
Acharonim, the leading rabbis and poskim (Jewish legal decisors) living from roughly the 16th century to the present, and more specifically since the writing of the Shulchan Aruch (Hebrew: שׁוּלחָן עָרוּך, "Set Table", a code of Jewish law) in 1563 CE.
Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, can mean the entire spectrum ofrabbinic writings throughoutJewish history. But the term often refers specifically to literature from theTalmudic era, as opposed tomedieval and modern rabbinic writing, and thus corresponds with theHebrew termSifrut Hazal (ספרות חז"ל; "Literature [of our] sages [of] blessed memory", whereHazal normally refersonly to the sages of the Talmudic era). This more specific sense of "Rabbinic literature"—referring to theTalmudim,Midrash, and related writings, but hardly ever to later texts—is how the term is generally intended when used in contemporary academic writing. On the other hand, the termsmeforshim andparshanim (commentaries/commentators) almost always refer to later, post-Talmudic writers of Rabbinic glosses onBiblical and Talmudic texts.
TheMishnah and theTosefta (compiled from materials pre-dating the year 200) are the earliest extant works of rabbinic literature, expounding and developing Judaism'sOral Law, as well as ethical teachings. Following these came the twoTalmuds:
Themidrash[2] is the genre ofrabbinic literature which contains early interpretations and commentaries on theWritten Torah andOral Torah, as well as non-legalistic rabbinic literature (aggadah) and occasionally the Jewish religious laws (halakha), which usually form a running commentary on specific passages in the Tanakh.[3] The termmidrash also can refer to a compilation of Midrashic teachings, in the form of legal, exegetical, homiletical, or narrative writing, often configured as a commentary on theBible orMishnah.
Meforshim is aHebrew word meaning "(classical rabbinical) commentators" (or roughly meaning "exegetes"), and is used as a substitute for the correct wordperushim which means "commentaries". InJudaism this term refers to commentaries on theTorah (five books of Moses),Tanakh, theMishnah, theTalmud,responsa, even thesiddur (Jewish prayerbook), and more.
Classical Talmudic commentaries were written byRashi. After Rashi theTosafot were written, which was an omnibus commentary on the Talmud by the disciples and descendants of Rashi; this commentary was based on discussions done in the rabbinic academies ofGermany andFrance.
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