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The Source (novel)
Encyclopedia
The Source is a historical novel
by James A. Michener
, first published in 1965. It is a survey of the history of the Jewish people
and the land of Israel
from pre-monotheistic
days to the birth of the modern State of Israel. The Source uses for its central device a fictional tell
in northern Israel called "Makor" .
Unlike most Michener novels, this book is not in strict chronological order. A parallel frame story
set in modern-day Israel supports the historical timeline. Archaeologists
digging at the tell at Makor uncover artifacts from each layer, which then serve as the basis for a chapter exploring the lives of the people involved with that artifact. The book follows the story of the Family of Ur from a Stone Age
family whose daughter begins to believe that there is a supernatural force, which slowly leads us to the beginnings of monotheism
. The descendants are not aware of the ancient antecedents revealed to the reader by the all-knowing writer as the story progresses through the David
ic kingdom, Hellenistic times, Roman
times, etc. The site is continually inhabited until the end of the Crusades
when it is destroyed by the victorious Mameluks (as happened to many actual cities after 1291) and is not rebuilt by the Ottomans
.
As society moves away from a rural and agricultural existence, fertility is given less and less importance. The phallic is present from the Stone Age
("The Bee Eater"), until 606 BCE ("The Voice of Gomer").
Historical novel
According to Encyclopædia Britannica, a historical novel is-Development:An early example of historical prose fiction is Luó Guànzhōng's 14th century Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which covers one of the most important periods of Chinese history and left a lasting impact on Chinese culture.The...
by James A. Michener
James A. Michener
James Albert Michener was an American author of more than 40 titles, the majority of which were sweeping sagas, covering the lives of many generations in particular geographic locales and incorporating historical facts into the stories...
, first published in 1965. It is a survey of the history of the Jewish people
Jewish history
Jewish history is the history of the Jews, their religion and culture, as it developed and interacted with other peoples, religions and cultures. Since Jewish history is over 4000 years long and includes hundreds of different populations, any treatment can only be provided in broad strokes...
and the land of Israel
Land of Israel
The Land of Israel is the Biblical name for the territory roughly corresponding to the area encompassed by the Southern Levant, also known as Canaan and Palestine, Promised Land and Holy Land. The belief that the area is a God-given homeland of the Jewish people is based on the narrative of the...
from pre-monotheistic
Monotheism
Monotheism is the belief in the existence of one and only one god. Monotheism is characteristic of the Baha'i Faith, Christianity, Druzism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Samaritanism, Sikhism and Zoroastrianism.While they profess the existence of only one deity, monotheistic religions may still...
days to the birth of the modern State of Israel. The Source uses for its central device a fictional tell
Tell
A tell or tel, is a type of archaeological mound created by human occupation and abandonment of a geographical site over many centuries. A classic tell looks like a low, truncated cone with a flat top and sloping sides.-Archaeology:A tell is a hill created by different civilizations living and...
in northern Israel called "Makor" .
Unlike most Michener novels, this book is not in strict chronological order. A parallel frame story
Frame story
A frame story is a literary technique that sometimes serves as a companion piece to a story within a story, whereby an introductory or main narrative is presented, at least in part, for the purpose of setting the stage either for a more emphasized second narrative or for a set of shorter stories...
set in modern-day Israel supports the historical timeline. Archaeologists
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
digging at the tell at Makor uncover artifacts from each layer, which then serve as the basis for a chapter exploring the lives of the people involved with that artifact. The book follows the story of the Family of Ur from a Stone Age
Stone Age
The Stone Age is a broad prehistoric period, lasting about 2.5 million years , during which humans and their predecessor species in the genus Homo, as well as the earlier partly contemporary genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus, widely used exclusively stone as their hard material in the...
family whose daughter begins to believe that there is a supernatural force, which slowly leads us to the beginnings of monotheism
Monotheism
Monotheism is the belief in the existence of one and only one god. Monotheism is characteristic of the Baha'i Faith, Christianity, Druzism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Samaritanism, Sikhism and Zoroastrianism.While they profess the existence of only one deity, monotheistic religions may still...
. The descendants are not aware of the ancient antecedents revealed to the reader by the all-knowing writer as the story progresses through the David
David
David was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible and, according to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, an ancestor of Jesus Christ through both Saint Joseph and Mary...
ic kingdom, Hellenistic times, Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
times, etc. The site is continually inhabited until the end of the Crusades
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...
when it is destroyed by the victorious Mameluks (as happened to many actual cities after 1291) and is not rebuilt by the Ottomans
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
.
Chapter list
- The Tell – 1963, three archeologists, a Jew, a Catholic, and a Muslim, are at a modern archeological dig. The story moves back and forth between the historical chapters and the modern dig at the tell at Makor.
- The Bee-Eater – Introduction to the Ur family in Stone Age times and their first move in to an agricultural society.
- Of Death and Life – Starting prior to 2000 BCE, the concept of an ultimate supreme being takes root with the introduction of the Cult of El, as are some barbaric and mystic practices, like child sacrifice and temple prostitution.
- An Old Man and His God – Bronze Age, an early view of Hebrews as they moved from the desert life into CanaanCanaanCanaan is a historical region roughly corresponding to modern-day Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and the western parts of Jordan...
and brought along the early teachings of El ShaddaiEl ShaddaiEl Shaddai [shah-'dah-yy] is one of the Judaic names of God, with its etymology coming from the influence of the Ugaritic religion on modern Judaism. El Shaddai is conventionally translated as God Almighty...
. Makor is sacked by the Hebrews in 1491 BCE. - Psalm of the HoopoeHoopoeThe Hoopoe is a colourful bird that is found across Afro-Eurasia, notable for its distinctive 'crown' of feathers. It is the only extant species in the family Upupidae. One insular species, the Giant Hoopoe of Saint Helena, is extinct, and the Madagascar subspecies of the Hoopoe is sometimes...
Bird – Takes place 1040–970 BCE, during the last years of King David. - The Voice of Gomer – Takes place 605 BCE – 562 BCE. Following the Egyptian defeat at the Battle of CarchemishBattle of CarchemishThe Battle of Carchemish was fought about 605 BC between the allied armies of Egypt and Assyria against Babylonia.- Background :When the Assyrian capital Nineveh was overrun by the Babylonians in 612 BC, the Assyrians moved their capital to Harran...
, Nebuchadnezzar II marches into the Levant and deports the Jews to BabylonBabylonian captivityThe Babylonian captivity was the period in Jewish history during which the Jews of the ancient Kingdom of Judah were captives in Babylon—conventionally 587–538 BCE....
. - In the Gymnasium – 222–187 BC, Jewish life under the Seleucid EmpireSeleucid EmpireThe Seleucid Empire was a Greek-Macedonian state that was created out of the eastern conquests of Alexander the Great. At the height of its power, it included central Anatolia, the Levant, Mesopotamia, Persia, today's Turkmenistan, Pamir and parts of Pakistan.The Seleucid Empire was a major centre...
. - King of the Jews – 74 BCE – 4 CE: this chapter is told in epistolary form and describes the rise of the ambitious Herod the GreatHerod the GreatHerod , also known as Herod the Great , was a Roman client king of Judea. His epithet of "the Great" is widely disputed as he is described as "a madman who murdered his own family and a great many rabbis." He is also known for his colossal building projects in Jerusalem and elsewhere, including his...
to his eventual downfall into madness. - Yigal and His Three Generals – 12 CE-70 CE: this chapter begins with rule of the mad CaligulaCaligulaCaligula , also known as Gaius, was Roman Emperor from 37 AD to 41 AD. Caligula was a member of the house of rulers conventionally known as the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Caligula's father Germanicus, the nephew and adopted son of Emperor Tiberius, was a very successful general and one of Rome's most...
and his attempt to force idolatry on the Jews. After his death, he was replaced by the madder NeroNeroNero , was Roman Emperor from 54 to 68, and the last in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius to become his heir and successor, and succeeded to the throne in 54 following Claudius' death....
, who ordered VespasianVespasianVespasian , was Roman Emperor from 69 AD to 79 AD. Vespasian was the founder of the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Empire for a quarter century. Vespasian was descended from a family of equestrians, who rose into the senatorial rank under the Emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty...
to repress JosephusJosephusTitus Flavius Josephus , also called Joseph ben Matityahu , was a 1st-century Romano-Jewish historian and hagiographer of priestly and royal ancestry who recorded Jewish history, with special emphasis on the 1st century AD and the First Jewish–Roman War, which resulted in the Destruction of...
and the Jewish rebellion. - The Law – This chapter takes place after the Empress Helena's pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Christianity is being forced in GalileeGalileeGalilee , is a large region in northern Israel which overlaps with much of the administrative North District of the country. Traditionally divided into Upper Galilee , Lower Galilee , and Western Galilee , extending from Dan to the north, at the base of Mount Hermon, along Mount Lebanon to the...
as churches are mass produced. This chapter is about two Jews who convert to Christianity due to the strictness of the Talmud (during this time the GemaraGemaraThe Gemara is the component of the Talmud comprising rabbinical analysis of and commentary on the Mishnah. After the Mishnah was published by Rabbi Judah the Prince The Gemara (also transliterated Gemora or, less commonly, Gemorra; from Aramaic גמרא gamar; literally, "[to] study" or "learning by...
is being written), but are soon disenfranchised by the Christian Schism. This chapter is also the fictional origin of St. Mark. - A Day in the Life of a Desert Rider – This chapter begins with the introduction of IslamIslamIslam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
to the Holy Land by Muslim conquestsMuslim conquestsMuslim conquests also referred to as the Islamic conquests or Arab conquests, began with the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He established a new unified polity in the Arabian Peninsula which under the subsequent Rashidun and Umayyad Caliphates saw a century of rapid expansion of Muslim power.They...
. - Volkmar – This chapter opens with Peter the HermitPeter the HermitPeter the Hermit was a priest of Amiens and a key figure during the First Crusade.-Before 1096:According to Anna Comnena, he had attempted to go on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem before 1096, but was prevented by the Seljuk Turks from reaching his goal and was tortured.Sources differ as to whether he...
as he travels the European countryside in search of participants for the ill-fated People's CrusadePeople's CrusadeThe People's Crusade is part of the First Crusade and lasted roughly six months from April 1096 to October. It is also known as the Peasants' Crusade or the Paupers' Crusade...
. It concludes with the First Crusade and the Siege of Jerusalem. - The Fires of Ma Coeur – In 1291, the last crusader strongholds begin to fall to the Mamaluks. The final strong hold is AcreSiege of Acre (1291)The Siege of Acre took place in 1291 and resulted in the loss of the Crusader-controlled city of Acre to the Muslims. It is considered one of the most important battles of the time period. Although the crusading movement continued for several more centuries, the capture of the city marked the end...
. - The Saintly Men of Safed – This chapter focuses on the three Rabbis who meet in SafedSafedSafed , is a city in the Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevation of , Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and of Israel. Due to its high elevation, Safed experiences warm summers and cold, often snowy, winters...
while escaping the Spanish Inquisition and European pogromsAnti-Jewish pogroms in the Russian EmpireThe term pogrom as a reference to large-scale, targeted, and repeated antisemitic rioting saw its first use in the 19th century.The first pogrom is often considered to be the 1821 Odessa pogroms after the death of the Greek Orthodox patriarch Gregory V in Constantinople, in which 14 Jews were killed...
, and their culture clashes between Sephardim, Ashkenazim and KabbalisticKabbalahKabbalah/Kabala is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the esoteric aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It was systematized in 11th-13th century Hachmei Provence and Spain, and again after the Expulsion from Spain, in 16th century Ottoman Palestine...
traditions. - Twilight of an Empire – In the 1880s the Ottoman EmpireOttoman EmpireThe Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
is falling apartRise of nationalism under the Ottoman EmpireThe rise of the Western notion of nationalism under the Ottoman Empire eventually caused the break-down of the Ottoman millet concept...
and this chapter delves into the deep corruption in the public administration and Sultan Abdul Hamid IIAbdul Hamid IIHis Imperial Majesty, The Sultan Abdülhamid II, Emperor of the Ottomans, Caliph of the Faithful was the 34th sultan of the Ottoman Empire...
's backlash at reformFirst Constitutional Era (Ottoman Empire)The First Constitutional Era of the Ottoman Empire was the period of constitutional monarchy from the promulgation of the Kanûn-ı Esâsî , written by members of the Young Ottomans, on 23 November 1876 until 13 February 1878...
. - Rebbe Itzik and the Sabra – 1948 – The new state of IsraelIsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
starts to emerge. This chapter deals with the origins of two characters in the present day narrative – Ilan Eliav and Vered Bar El. - The Tell – culmination of the novel and rediscovery of the well built and described in the previous chapter Psalm of the Hoopoe Bird.
Fertility/The phallic
In the early civilizations, the concept of fertility sprouts from agriculture, and the desire for a fruitful harvest. During the earliest layer of history, the giant stone idol named El is created to please the earth, and bring good crops.As society moves away from a rural and agricultural existence, fertility is given less and less importance. The phallic is present from the Stone Age
Stone Age
The Stone Age is a broad prehistoric period, lasting about 2.5 million years , during which humans and their predecessor species in the genus Homo, as well as the earlier partly contemporary genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus, widely used exclusively stone as their hard material in the...
("The Bee Eater"), until 606 BCE ("The Voice of Gomer").