Ancient Greece and ancient Hebrew were obviously two civilizations, so why did they finally merge into one?

Integration refers to the process in which different individuals tend to become one in terms of cognition and emotion after collision. As the two major sources of European civilization, ancient Greek civilization and Hebrew civilization have shown contradictory conflicts and complementary integration trends in their long historical development. There are many reasons why the two can influence and integrate with each other, the most important of which is The fundamental reason is that the two cultures are intrinsically complementary, and their integration conforms to the needs of the human spirit. This article will explore the historical reasons for the integration of the two Greek civilizations from two perspectives. The first is the external reason, that is, the historical opportunity to promote integration during the collision of the two Greek civilizations; the second is the internal reason, that is, the two Greek civilizations themselves have great differences in religion and philosophy. , culture, ethics and other aspects that can promote integration. 1. The historical opportunity for the integration of the two Greek civilizations. Mr. Wen Yiduo pointed out in "Historical Trends in Literature" that the Hebrew nation is one of the "four ancient nations that have had the greatest and most profound influence on modern civilization." Together with China, India, and Greece "raised its head suddenly and took great strides at about the same time." The geographical location of the troubled small nation of the Hebrews also destined it to have a bad fate. It was located in the center of the Middle East and was surrounded by many ancient civilizations. The torture and invasion of big countries such as Egypt, Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Romans, etc., at the same time, they accepted the cultural advantages of these ancient civilizations, digested them, creatively developed them, formed their own systems, and preserved them relatively completely with beautiful words. In the history of the development of world civilization, ancient Greek civilization started relatively late. The "Homeric Age" came to an end in the eighth century BC, and ancient Greece finally began to enter the threshold of the civilized era. In the fifth century BC, it entered the era of economics, politics, and civilization. In terms of culture and other aspects, it was far ahead of other countries in the world at that time, and it was in a leading position. Even some ancient Eastern civilizations that entered slave society two or three thousand years earlier fell behind it. So in addition to political and economic conditions, ancient Greece. The unique geographical location also created important conditions for the emergence of its civilization and had a profound impact. Greek civilization first originated in the Aegean Sea region. It is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia and Africa. The geographical environment is characterized by less land and more mountains. The winding coast, long coastline, dotted with islands, and mild Mediterranean climate laid the foundation for a developed navigation industry, making it easier to establish contact with advanced civilizations in the East and enrich their own civilization. When countries far in the west were still in primitive societies, Mesopotamia, Egypt, India and other places in the east have already developed their own advanced civilizations and established powerful countries. With the development of east-west trade, wars also occurred, and large-scale immigration occurred along the Mediterranean coast. People of all ethnic groups integrated with each other to a certain extent, which promoted the Greeks to absorb Eastern culture. The Greeks absorbed the pinyin script from Eastern culture, absorbed natural knowledge such as astronomy, mathematics and medicine from Egypt and Babylon, and also learned their knowledge in ancient times. The advanced aspects of agriculture, handicrafts, navigation, and iron manufacturing technology also absorbed many things from various primitive religious concepts in the East, thus generating and enriching their own culture and concepts. Under the influence of Eastern culture, Greek civilization was formed and developed. Involving many fields, such as: politics, economy, military, literature, history, philosophy, religion, sports, art, science, technology, marriage, family, education, etc., it merged into the Hellenistic civilization and realized the first great cultural convergence in human history. 2. One of the historical reasons for the integration of the two Greek civilizations is diaspora and penetration. Diaspora is a characteristic of the Hellenistic world. After Alexander’s Eastern Expedition, the Greeks and Macedonians established vast diasporas throughout the Near East, and various ethnic groups evolved through diaspora. The intermixing with culture is also very common. The diaspora of the Jewish people is more prominent. Since Moses’ exodus from Egypt and the captivity in Babylon, diaspora has become the historical characteristic of the Jewish people. In the Hellenistic era, the diaspora of the Jewish people was even more prominent, centered on the Kingdom of Judah. Radiating to vast and distant areas. The early Jews were not a commercial nation engaged in trade. Most of the population was engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry, and some also served in the military or administrative departments. At that time, Alexandria, as the ideological and cultural center of Hellenistic civilization, had a total population of 500,000, 1/5 of which were Jews, and had the largest Jewish community in the world at that time. The number of Jews in Egypt is as high as 1 million. They live mixed with Greeks, Egyptians, Persians, Syrians, ***, and blacks, and they have always maintained the identity of their own nation. The Hellenistic imperial system and tolerance of multiculturalism provided favorable legal, political and cultural guarantees for Jews to settle in pagan cities. Many Jews were granted citizenship in Hellenistic cities, Judaism was fully legal, and Jews retained certain rights to adhere to religious laws because of their Judaism. The canonization of the Bible was the most important reason why the Jewish diaspora was able to maintain its national identity. Through the Bible, the Jews, as a people who have signed a contract with God and must obey his commandments, have maintained the same beliefs, values, and national identity. As the Jews dispersed, Greek culture and Hebrew culture met and blended. At that time, some Hellenistic Jews devoted themselves to the study of traditional Greek wisdom and the popular Greek philosophy at the time.

In later works of the Old Testament, such as "The Aristotelian Letters", "The Life of the Maccabees", "The Wisdom of Solomon", etc., we can find that Jewish writers have used Greek philosophy to defend their religion, calling it Greek philosophy The Romans received their monotheistic concept of one God from Moses; they also absorbed Plato's ideas on the cardinal virtues and Stoic ideas on world reason, divine wisdom, and self-control. On the other hand, the Greeks also continued to deepen their understanding of Hebrew culture and asked Jewish scholars to translate the holy books into Greek. Alexander's first major achievement was to translate the Old Testament into Greek, which not only allowed the Greeks to understand the core part of Hebrew culture, but also allowed the Greeks to know the entire Old Testament. 3. The second historical reason for the integration of the two Greek civilizations. Struggle and penetration. The Hebrews were originally a branch of the Semitic tribe. They were nomads who lived by the water at first. During the three large-scale northern expeditions, they absorbed elements from human civilization. It has merged many cultures and formed the Hebrew culture with its own characteristics. The ancient Babylonian culture emerged during the first northern expedition; the second northern expedition recuperated; and the third northern expedition conquered many Bedouin people. After more than a hundred years of struggle, they entered Canaan and gradually reconciled with the local people. Assimilation and integration of people were influenced by Canaanite culture, Phoenician culture, Syrian culture, Egyptian culture, and Babylonian culture. Their cultural systems were all part of the larger Greek system. In Canaan, the Hebrews interacted with complex nations, languages, texts, religions, arts, and customs, struggled with each other, and merged in the struggle. As a result, a unique Hebrew culture was created, and the people were transformed through language. The epics, ballads, myths, legends, proverbs and other achievements they created were recorded in writing. They also recorded their own nation’s religious canons and the history of struggles, and invented their unique ""prophetic literature"" and ""knights". "Literature", etc. The arrangement of historical documents, the maturity of Judaism, and the new influence of Persian and Greek culture have caused new changes in Hebrew culture, giving rise to Christian culture, and its influence has spread to the whole world. 4. Summary of Christianity in Judaism Therefore, during this period, the Hebrew culture of Judaism was gradually understood and accepted by the Greeks, which made important preparations for the further acceptance of Hebrew culture and the establishment of Christian civilization in the West. The integration of the two ideological trends of Greek philosophy and Jewish theology and the theoretical core of the two civilizations marked the deepening of the convergence of the two civilizations, and had a direct impact on the rise of early Christianity and its combination of Neoplatonism. The Bible is the essence of medieval literature. It is not only a religious treasure, but also a historical material and literary work. It is also the criterion of ethics and the law of judgment. Among them, the New Testament is the canon and has the upper hand in religion; but in In terms of literary aesthetic value, the Old Testament is a more glorious monument. Through the influence of the Bible and the inheritance of Christianity, the two Greek civilizations have deeply penetrated into Western culture.

References 1. Chen Heng's "The Lost Civilization of Ancient Greece" East China Normal University Press 2. Yao Jiehou, Li Yucheng, and Yang Shen's "Western European Civilization" China Social Sciences Press