Line #87 Main/BibleTimes


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3	->''"We now take you back through the ages. To a time before TV, before cowboys, before dinosaurs. The time of the Bible!"''
4	-->-- '''Homer Simpson''', ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS16E8HomerAndNedsHailMaryPass Homer and Ned's Hail Mary Pass]]"
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6	Home to staff-wielding doom-croaking prophets, Philistines, miracles, and loads of people in big robes who sit tableau-like around tables or rocks, looking awe-filled and reverent. It may sound simple on paper, but ”Biblical Times” is a very nebulous label, and trying to reconcile religious stories with historical fact is a notoriously tricky business.
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8	To start with, the dates and accuracy of many biblical events are hotly disputed. The Israelite Exodus, for instance, has been traditionally dated to around 1400 B.C.E., give or take a few centuries. However, since there are no records of the Exodus besides the Bible itself (barring some ''really'' specious readings of the expulsion of the Hyksos from Egypt around 1550 BCE), the majority of secular and religious scholars agree that it never actually happened, or at least nowhere near how the Literature/BookOfExodus describes it. The rest of the Old Testament dates from roughly 1000 B.C.E. to 500 B.C.E., and the New Testament places the death of UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} around 30 C.E. Keep in mind though, that it's unlikely any of these dates are completely accurate, due to the millennia-long game of telephone that has been played with Biblical translations, conversions between different calendar systems over the years, and that many stories were likely transmitted orally for a long time before being written down.
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10	Place can also be as diverse a factor as time. Although events are usually centered around the area of Ancient Israel - {{UsefulNotes/Jerusalem}}, especially - they typically overlap with the timelines of many other civilizations, including AncientEgypt (Literature/BookOfGenesis and [[Literature/BookOfExodus Exodus]], particularly Moses), Ancient Mesopotamia and Persia (Ezra, [[Literature/BookOfDaniel Daniel]] and [[Literature/BookOfEsther Esther]]), UsefulNotes/AncientGreece (parts of the Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha), and AncientRome (the entire New Testament, especially UsefulNotes/JesusChrist).
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12	Since Literature/TheBible covers such a broad span of time, this Trope is much more useful as a determiner of location and setting rather than actual time period; Moses was about as ancient a figure to ''Jesus'' as Jesus is ''to us''.
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14	If {{Time Travel}}ers go back to one of these periods, they will probably have AdventuresInTheBible.
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16	See also the [[DerivativeWorks/TheBible Derivative Works page for The Bible]], which doesn't only contain works set in this time.
17	----
18	!!Popular tropes from this time period are:
19
20	* AsTheGoodBookSays
21	* TheChosenOne
22	* ADayInTheLimelight: Usually [[AscendedExtra an expansion]] of [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse a background character]]'s fates, or ElsewhereFic about an OriginalCharacter meeting a canon character and having his life changed as a result.
23	* DoNotDoThisCoolThing: While the two empires more often than not provide villains of these stories, it is much rarer for them to ''not'' make a case for UsefulNotes/TheGloryThatWasRome, or the splendor of Egypt.
24	* TheFinalTemptation
25	* MosesInTheBulrushes
26	* SwordAndSandal
27
28	----
29	!!Works that are set in this time period include:
30
31	[[foldercontrol]]
32
33	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
34	* ''Anime/FlyingHouse''
35	* ''Anime/InTheBeginningTheBibleStories''
36	* ''Anime/{{Superbook}}''
37	* ''Anime/MyLastDay''
38	[[/folder]]
39
40	[[folder:Art]]
41	* UsefulNotes/TheRenaissance: Much of the most famous art produced during this period arguably fits the trope, due to the omnipresence of religious themes:
42	** Creator/MichelangeloBuonarroti:
43	*** ''Art/{{David}}''
44	*** Art/SistineChapel
45	** ''Art/TheLastSupper'' by Creator/LeonardoDaVinci
46	[[/folder]]
47
48	[[folder:Comic Books]]
49	* ''Recap/AsterixAndTheBlackGold''[[note]]Takes place in about 50 BCE. Doesn't feature any Biblical characters, though the protagonists see the Temple in Jerusalem and one scene parodies the Nativity of Jesus.[[/note]]
50	[[/folder]]
51
52	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
53	* ''DerivativeWork/BenHur''
54	** ''Film/BenHur1925''
55	** ''Film/BenHur1959''
56	** ''Film/BenHur2016''
57	* ''The Bible: In The Beginning...''
58	* ''Film/ExodusGodsAndKings''
59	* ''Film/FromTheMangerToTheCross''
60	* ''Film/TheGospelAccordingToStMatthew''
61	* ''Film/TheGospelOfJohn''
62	* ''Film/TheGreatestStoryEverTold''
63	* ''Film/HistoryOfTheWorldPartI'' (in places)
64	* ''[[Film/{{Jesus1979}} Jesus]]'' aka ''The Jesus Film''
65	* ''Film/JesusChristSuperstar''
66	* ''Film/{{Joseph}}''
67	* ''Film/KingDavid''
68	* ''Film/TheKingOfKings'' (1927)
69	* ''Film/KingOfKings'' (1961)
70	* ''Film/TheLastTemptationOfChrist''
71	* ''Film/MontyPythonsLifeOfBrian''
72	* ''Film/{{Moses}}''
73	* ''Film/TheNativityStory''
74	* ''Film/{{Noah}}''
75	* ''Film/ThePassionOfTheChrist''
76	* ''Film/PaulApostleOfChrist''
77	* ''Film/PeterAndPaul''
78	* ''Film/TheProdigal''
79	* ''Film/{{Risen}}''
80	* ''Film/TheRobe''
81	* ''Film/{{Samson and Delilah\|1949}}''
82	* ''Film/SodomAndGomorrah''
83	* ''Film/SonOfGod''
84	* ''Film/TheStoryOfJacobAndJoseph''
85	* ''{{Film/The Ten Commandments\|1956}}'': The 1956 version, as well as the fifty-minute prologue of [[Film/TheTenCommandments1923 the 1923 silent version]].
86	* ''[[Film/TheVisualBibleMatthew The Visual Bible: Matthew]]''
87	* ''Film/WhollyMoses''
88	* ''Film/YearOne''
89	* ''Film/TheYoungMessiah''
90	[[/folder]]
91
92	[[folder:Literature]]
93	* ''Literature/BenHur''
94	* Literature/TheBible. Duh.
95	* ''ComicBook/TheCartoonHistoryOfTheUniverse'' (the first couple of volumes)
96	* ''{{Literature/Discworld}}'': ''Literature/SmallGods'' is set in the Discworld equivalent of Biblical times.
97	* ''Literature/LambTheGospelAccordingToBiff''
98	* ''The Last Temptation of Christ''
99	* ''Literature/TheLettersFromNicodemus''
100	* ''Literature/ManyWaters''
101	* ''Literature/TheRedTent''
102	* ''Literature/QuoVadis''
103	* ''The Winds of Zarr''
104	* ''Literature/TheTroySaga''
105	[[/folder]]
106
107	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
108	* ''Series/{{The Bible\|2013}}''
109	** ''Series/ADTheBibleContinues''
110	* ''[[Series/TheChosenTVSeries The Chosen]]''
111	* ''Series/JesusOfNazareth''
112	* ''Series/{{Jesus\|1999}}''
113	[[/folder]]
114
115	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
116	* ''Testament: Roleplaying in the Biblical Era''
117	[[/folder]]
118
119	[[folder:Theatre]]
120	* ''Theatre/JosephAndTheAmazingTechnicolorDreamcoat''
121	* Children of Eden
122	* ''Music/JesusChristSuperstar''
123	[[/folder]]
124
125	[[folder:Video Games]]
126	* ''VideoGame/TheYouTestament''
127	* ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}}'' from V onwards tends to use this aesthetic to represent the "ancient era", as opposed to the InventingTheWheel motif present in previous games.
128	[[/folder]]
129
130	[[folder:Western Animation]]
131	* ''WesternAnimation/TheGreatestAdventureStoriesFromTheBible''
132	* ''WesternAnimation/JosephKingOfDreams''
133	* ''Judas and Jesus''
134	* ''The Lion of Judah''
135	* ''WesternAnimation/ThePrinceOfEgypt''
136	* ''WesternAnimation/VeggieTales'' (in some episodes)
137	** ''WesternAnimation/JonahAVeggieTalesMovie''
138	* ''WesternAnimation/JoshuaAndThePromisedLand''
139	* ''Kids Ten Commandments''
140	[[/folder]]

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