day 23
defile
a narrow passage (as between hills, rocks, or cliffs):gorge
e.g.come to us from a narrowdefilein the Pennine Alps between Switzerland and Italy, a place called the Great St. Bernard Pass.
perch
to alight, settle, or rest on a perch, a height, or a precarious spot
e.g.pigeons perching on the roof
crag
a steep rugged rock or cliff
sustenance
a:means of support, maintenance, or subsistence:living
b:food,provisions;also:nourishment
march
to have common borders or frontiers
e.g.a region that marches with Canada in the north and the Pacific in the west
intermingle
to mix together
e.g.In her short stories, science fiction and romance intermingle.
pay homage to the Canaanite shrines
homage：a feudal ceremony by which a man acknowledges himself the vassa lof a lord
shrine：a place in which devotion is paid to a saint or deity:sanctuary
exodus
1.capitalized:the mainly narrative second book of canonical Jewish and Christian Scripture 古代以色列人出埃及
2:a mass departure:emigration
sift
to go through especially to sort out what is useful or valuable
e.g.sifted the evidence—often used with through sift through a pile of old letters
glean
1:to gather grain or other produce left by reapers
2:to gather information or material bit by bit
fable
a narration intended to enforce a useful truth;especially:one in which animals speak and act like human beings
e.g.The theme of thefablewas the folly of human vanity.
incredulous
1. to admit or accept what is offered as true:not credulous:skeptical
2:expressing incredulity ：an incredulous stare
etymological puns 词源双关
etymological：the history of a linguistic form(as a word) shown by tracing its development since its earliest recorded occurrence in the language where it is found, by tracing its transmission from one language to another, by analyzing it into its component parts, by identifying its cognates in other languages, or by tracing it and its cognates to a common ancestral form in an ancestral ：
pun：the usually humorous use of a word in such a way as to suggest two or more of its meanings or the meaning of another word similar in sound
scrupulously
1.having moral integrity:acting in strict regard for what is considered right or proper
2:punctiliously exact:painstaking working with scrupulous care
vassal
1:a person under the protection of a feudal lord to whom he has vowed homage and fealty:a feudal tenant
2:one in a subservient or subordinate position
allude
to make indirect reference comments
e.g.alluding to an earlier discussion;
conciliate
1:to gain (as goodwill) by pleasing acts
2:to make compatible:reconcileIt is hard toconciliatethe views of labor and management on this point.
strew
1:to spread by scattering
2:to cover by or as if by scattering somethingstrewing the highways with litter
3:to become dispersed over as if scattered
personage
1:a person of rank, note, or distinction;especially:one distinguished for presence and personal power
2:a human individual:person
3:a dramatic, fictional, or historical character;also:impersonation
hieroglyphic
1:written in, constituting, or belonging to a system of writing mainly in pictorial characters
2:inscribed with hieroglyphic
3:resembling hieroglyphic in difficulty of decipherment
day 24
scanty
limited or less than sufficient in degree, quantity, or extent
outpost
1a:a security detachment dispatched by a main body of troops to protect it from enemy surpriseb:a military base established by treaty or agreement in another country
2a:an outlying or frontier settlementb:an outlying branch or position of a main organization or group
Asiatic
of or relating to Asia
Semites
a member of a group of people originally of southwestern Asia that includes Jews and Arabs
n.闪族人，闪米特人（包括希伯来人、阿拉伯人、巴比伦人等，今特指犹太人）;
flung
1.a:to throw forcefully, impetuously, or casually
flung herself down on the sofa ；clothes were flung on the floor
b:to cast as if by throwing
flung off all restraint
2:to place or send suddenly and unceremoniously was arrested and flung into prison
3:to give unrestrainedly flung himself into music
surmount
1obsolete:to surpass in quality or attainment:excel
2:to prevail over:overcomesurmount an obstacle
3:to get to the top of:climb
4:to stand or lie at the top of
countenance
to extend approval or toleration to:sanction
e.g.refused to countenance any changes in the policy
shrines
1a:a case, box, or receptacle;especially:one in which sacred relics (as the bones of a saint) are deposited
b:a place in which devotion is paid to a saint or deity:sanctuaryc:a niche containing a religious image
2:a receptacle (as a tomb) for the dead
3:a place or object hallowed by its associations
prophecy
1:an inspired utterance of a prophet
2:the function or vocation of a prophet;specifically:the inspired declaration of divine will and purpose
3:a prediction of something to come
startling
:causing momentary fright, surprise, or astonishment
e.g.a startling discovery
decipherer
a:to make out the meaning of despite indistinctness or obscurity
e.g.trying to decipher her handwriting
b:to interpret the meaning of：decipher the poem
barbarism
1.a:a barbarian or barbarous social or intellectual condition:backwardness
b:the practice or display of barbarian acts, attitudes, or ideas
2:an idea, act, or expression that in form or use offends against contemporary standards of good taste or acceptability
starveling
1.one that is thin from or as if from lack of food
2.marked by poverty or inadequacy ：starveling wages
decrepit
1:wasted and weakened by or as if by the infirmities of old age
e.g.a decrepit old man
2a:impaired by use or wear:worn-out a decrepit school bus
b:fallen into ruin or disrepair a decrepit industry
dwarf
1.a person of abnormally small stature owing to a pathological condition, especially one suffering from cretinism or some other disease that produces disproportion or deformation of features and limbs.
2.an animal or plant much smaller than the average of its kind or species.
3.(in folklore) a being in the form of a small, often misshapen and ugly, man, usually having magic powers.
canon
1.an ecclesiastical rule or law enacted by a council or other competent authority and, in the Roman Catholic Church, approved by the pope.
2.the body of ecclesiastical law.
3.the body of rules, principles, or standards accepted as axiomatic and universally binding in a field of study or art:
e.g.the neoclassical canon.
4.a fundamental principle or general rule:
e.g.the canons of good behavior.
peremptorily
1.leaving no opportunity for denial or refusal; imperative:
e.g.a peremptory command.
2.imperious or dictatorial.
3.positive or assertive in speech, tone, manner, etc.
monarchs
1.a hereditary sovereign, as a king, queen, or emperor.
2.a sole and absolute ruler of a state or nation.
3.a person or thing that holds a dominant position:
e.g.a monarch of international shipping.
cuneiform
1.having the form of a wedge; wedge-shaped.
2.composed of slim triangular or wedge-shaped elements, as the characters used in writing by the ancient Akkadians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, and others.
sovereign
1.a monarch; a king, queen, or other supreme ruler.
2.a person who has supreme power or authority.
3.a group or body of persons or a state having sovereign authority.
cadastral
1.Surveying.(of a map or survey) showing or including boundaries, property lines, etc.
2.of or relating to a cadastre.
day 25
day 26
任务一
任务二（部分）
1.圣经诗篇第一篇：描述犹太人被掳到巴比伦。
波斯王居鲁士（也称古列）杀了新巴比伦王朝的摄政王——伯沙撒，并占取了新巴比伦之后，居鲁士下令允许这些犹大人回耶路撒冷重新建造圣殿。
2.亚伯拉罕
亚伯拉罕是犹太人的先祖，亚伯拉罕的父亲是开偶像店的，以卖偶像为生。亚伯拉罕从小就`具有反判的性格，下面是几个小故事。关于亚伯拉罕的故事，不是写在《旧约》里，是犹太人一代一代传讼的！
一天一个老者到偶像店买一尊最神奇的偶像，亚伯拉罕问老者，“你多大了，老者说，七十多了！亚伯拉罕说，老人怎能崇拜年经偶像，它可是昨天才做出来的。”
过了几天，亚伯拉罕拿了一把斧头，将父亲店里的偶像全部劈碎了，只留下了一尊最大的偶像，然后把斧头放到它的手里。等父亲回来后，责问亚伯拉罕为什麽把偶像全部破坏了，亚伯拉罕说：“是那尊最大的偶像将其它偶像全部打碎了。”父亲说，“偶像什麽也不会做！”亚伯拉罕则反驳说：“听听你刚才说的！”
这件事情过后，父亲叫亚伯拉罕把食物和美酒放在偶像的面前，过了几天，亚伯拉罕看到食物和美酒没有动，就说：“他们有嘴却不会吃，有眼睛却看不到，有鼻子却不会闻，有手却不会拿，有脚却不能走路。”
day27（中文与英文部分对应，但不完全匹配）
on contents
the Israel history is connected to religious issue，which is more complicated for us to understand.After the 1st reading was finished, nothing had left in my head except a obscure impression that the author shared some opinions in historical research.Piking a side, as Annie had mentioned in the tape,is of particular importance.
lesson
1：do not based on the insufficient evidence to made speculation：We must rid ourselves once for all of the starveling ideas of chronology which a classical training once encouraged, and of the belief thathistory, in the true sense of the word, hardly goes back beyond the age of Darius or Periklê。
2.the danger of forming conclusions from imperfect evidence
Annie：
1.when you’re talking about the history，you‘re actually talking about the source of the evidence
2. pick a side：the facts don't come to you in a coherent way，you need to weave them together
中东历史牵扯到宗教问题，所以会让人有些头大，之前自己也没有怎么主动了解这一块的知识，所以初看文章，简直不知所云，阅读难度还是很大的。第一遍浏览文章的时候，有许多很生僻的人名和地名，所以我了解了一下背景知识，发现撇开这些名字之后，还是得以管中窥豹，作者是历史学家，这篇导论列举了一些考古证据，还有做学术的感想。
feelings
I'm not familiar with this field at all,though I sometimes go to church to listen the enchanting hymns and reflect on myself in an sacred atmosphere,I know nothing about the Bible except the Genesis,and buried in such a tone,I wonder my identitity ,am I a seeker or a pagan(after all,I know little about the God's words） whereas the surrounding people seems to know God and can abandon anything to love God,where I can't undersand this feeling.
later, I read Lin Yutang's the importance of living, in that book,he talked about his relationship with God, and asserted bravely that he was a pagan.his words interpreted why I love the atmosphere in the church"there is always a possibility of surrendering ourselves to the Great Spirit in an atmosphere of ritual and worship as one kneels praying without words and looking at the stained-glasss windows, in spite of all that one may think of the theological dogmas.in this sense,worship becomes a true asethetic experience,an asethetic experience that is one's own,very similar in fact to the experience of viewing a sun setting behind an outline of trees on hills".of course,if you know the history,you know the ture meaning behind the words,you know the real motive why human should do good，you shall not dumped into the trap of a profound preoccupation。
看到密密麻麻的字的时候，我就产生了畏难情绪。最开始的作业布置里面提到了圣经，我最开始听说圣经是源于基督教。因此就直觉来说，以色列怎么会与圣经有关系呢？所以我搜集网上的一些资源，如纪录片大卫王国.以色列人的传奇，才知道圣经的旧约是犹太人写的。基督教与与犹太教虽然都有圣经，但是有不同的内容balabala
以下是纪录片笔记：故事开始于犹太人被掳去巴比伦，他们开始创作圣经，作为流亡生活的指导，也是一种心灵的慰藉。因为之前神是应许他们土地与繁盛，为什么现在有这样的下场，所以创作也是对自身错误的反思，这也体现了圣经的一个重要理念，如果人遭遇厄运，那么必定要反省自己的错误。而圣经，讨论的另一个重要主题便是什么是善恶，如何区分善恶，它教给人们的是人之间的相处之道，而不仅仅是侍奉神的道。
上帝对于凡人的要求是，不能仅仅恪守宗教仪式或是持守特定教义或者信条，上帝只要求人们坚定地追求公义。犹太传统留给世界的是重视家庭和教育的观念，一种我们不仅要善待自己，同样要善待别人的观念。