Ancient Hebrews and Israel

What did ancient Hebrew/Israelite/Jewish soldiers look like? How were battles typically fought in ancient Israel and surrounding lands? Ideally, I would like to learn as much about their ancient warfare conventions as could possibly be gathered here, from the time of the Exodus, all the way through the Bar Kokhba Revolt. What characterized their tactics, weaponry, armor, and other features? Were they particularly different from their neighbors, except spiritually?

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They looked like this.

Israelites were poor mostly disorganized nomads for most of their history, and thei warfare was pre Greek ceremonial warfare meaning:

Average soldier is a skirmisher
Champion combat resolved many battles
Omens and morale more important than tactics and equipment

During the period of settled kingdoms of Israel, warfare became a bit more decisive, but the only thing separating the Israelites from their neighbors was their poverty (few chariots, weak or absent cavalry), and their occasional willingness to genocide certain small tribal groups that opposed them in ways deemed unholy

The reason that the Israelites got their shit kicked in by first Hellenistic conquerors then the Romans is that they were politically disunited, never had a more than passable army, and were always poor (ironic given modern stereotypes)

Any other questions OP? Otherwise I’m going to bed

>What did ancient Hebrew/Israelite/Jewish soldiers look like?
Early Hebrews had no charriots unlike Canaanites, and used bronze weapons unlike Philistines who used iron weapons.

>Were they particularly different from their neighbors, except spiritually?
Archeollogy-wise, they are easily recognizable in the earliest time because there was no class distrinction, ie. Hebrews had houses of the same size, unlike the Canaanites were there were big houses and tiny houses, Hebrew settlements were also characterized by the heavy use of large store-jars.

Early Hebrew Culture was also cruder than the Canaanite Culture and lack several buildings(drainage system, and so on) found in the Canaanite settlements.

Hebrews were also better at survival than Canaanites, since they settled anywhere there was rain, while Canaanites only settled near springs and streams.

>unlike the Canaanites were there were big houses and tiny houses
unlike the Canaanites who had big houses and tiny houses

>by the heavy use of large store-jars.
by the heavy use of large storage-jars.


ftfm

>Barely civilized desert nomads are better at surviving in marginal lands and are more egalitarian

It checks out

...

Guys in girded loinclothes wielding weapons of either Hittite/Egyptian/Mesopotamian/Phoenician Style.

The Inhabitants of tiny kingdoms that dotted Judea and Canaan were an easily influenced lot.

Afterwards in the classical period they started wearing Assyrian/Persian/ and Hellenic shit and organizing their troops along such lines.

They even ran around in Celtic Gear, after the Galatians- Anatolian-settled Celts- made a name for themselves in the Middle East as the most fearsome mercenaries in the region.

So much so that in the royal guards of the Region, there would be a regiment called "Galatian Guards" which were initially staffed by legit Celts, but afterwards just manned by people wearing their gear and fighting in their manner.

Were Classical Age Jews usually known to be trousers-wearers, or did they wear tunics with their legs exposed, as the Greeks and the Romans had? The Persians were also wearers of trousers, but I am not sure about other groups in the Middle East of the time.

The Classical Period Jews, the Aristocracy dabbled in both Hellenic and Persian high life. Considering they were massive -boos of both cultures.

To a point of course. Then the SELEUCIDS GET OUT! memes start happening.

>and were always poor (ironic given modern stereotypes)
It's really not that ironic considering for 90% of the history of the jews, they were shit poor.

Was Herod a particularly good king?

He accomplished quite a lot during his reign. There is the whole Massacre of the Innocents, but literally only the bible ever brought this up, neither Roman nor Judean historians did.

...

canaanites were wealthy people

damn sand niggas u scary

Early Hebrews WERE Canaanites though. They literally come from the same culture and same people. They were just Canaanites that left the major city-states and moved to the hills in the South. Their houses were basically Canaanite houses, only plainer and less ornamented.

>Then the SELEUCIDS GET OUT! memes start happening.
Can you explain this time period to me vis a vis the Jews? I am vaguely aware of their Roman-era history, but the history of the Jews under the Diadochoi are a complete mystery to me

>Early Hebrews WERE Canaanites
Nah

I am also interesting in learning more about the Jews' occupation by the Diadochoi.

You can read the 1st book of the macabeese which is considered pretty reliable 1st person account on the Greek Jewish wars.
The Jewish wars is also a great first person account of the Judean Roman wars.
With regards to military traditions:
King Ahab had a shitload of chariots apparently and was in the leadership of a coalition that fought the Assyrians to a draw. Macabeans were successful against hellenic armies and were also used by different Selecuid factions to assist them in their civil wars.
The rebeliion against Rome was a disaster but several Roman legions were destroyed. That's more than the Gauls achived agains Caesar.
Persians used Jewish mercenaries in their armies. After that there were several rebelions against Byzantine, and fighting against the crusaders with no much luck (but with some heroic acts).
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_military_history?wprov=sfla1

>That's more than the Gauls achived agains Caesar
Gauls actually sacked and conquered Rome.

You can kill as many legions as you want, as long as you don't take Rome, your achievements mean nothing.

>first
I don't remember it being called an Athenian exile.

Fpbp

I reffered to the Gaulic wars. Gauls taking of Rome is a semi legendary event that happened hundreds of years prior.

They looked the same as ancient Egyptians

I don't understand the lack of acknowledgement of this basic fact - that there is negligible difference among the Canaanites/Philistines/Hebrews/Phoenicians beyond location.
>common language of proto-Canaanite
>common script of the Phoenician alphabet
>common religion of the Semitic pantheon
>politically unified at times
There are Egyptian and Babylonian and Greek steles and mosaics and paintings showing what ancient Canaanite soldiers looked like.

>this many people care about the finer points of Jewish history

That explains a lot going on with this board

>Canaanites/Phoenicians
Mixed race of Hurrians and Afro-Asiatic carrying J1, J2, and E3b

>Philistines
IEs invaders from Greece and/or Anatolia

>Hebrews
Pure Afroasiatics carrying E3b

>common language of proto-Canaanite
That's a controversial theory
Most linguists claim that Hebrew and Canaanite are both Northwest Semitic languages, but unrelated beyond that(pic related)

>>common religion of the Semitic pantheon
YHWH-worshipping Hebrews would kill anyone not worshipping their god
Kemosh-worshipping Moabites would kill anyone not worshipping their god
Qosh-worshipping Edomites would kill anyone not worshipping their god

Only Philistines/Canaanites were "tolerant".

>>politically unified at times
Canaan was composed of EXTREMELY divided city states and tribal states

You don't understand the meaning of the phrase "at times" do you

Sounds like back too me as we can find evidence of brutal siege warfare during the uruk period.

>There are Egyptian and Babylonian and Greek steles and mosaics and paintings showing what ancient Canaanite soldiers looked like.

dump them you lazy bitch

>Early Hebrews had no charriots unlike Canaanites, and used bronze weapons unlike Philistines who used iron weapons.
>Archeollogy-wise, they are easily recognizable in the earliest time because there was no class distrinction, ie. Hebrews had houses of the same size, unlike the Canaanites were there were big houses and tiny houses, Hebrew settlements were also characterized by the heavy use of large store-jars.
>Their houses were basically Canaanite houses, only plainer and less ornamented.
And you call those people Hebrews and not Canaanites why?
>Inb4 pig bones
A worship of pig gods is an equally likely explanation.

>He thinks the real world is like a grand strategy game where every factions have their own extremely distinct culture

Kys desu