Today we began a look at the growth of religions in the Middle East. The Jewish faith originated over 3,000 years ago in ancient Canaan with the patriarch Abraham. Judaism was the world's first major monotheistic religion. Hebrew history lives on through the Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. "Hebrew," "Jew," and "Israelite" are often used interchangeably but do have some historical differences between them. "Hebrew" is heavily tied to Judaism but has somewhat less of a religious connotation than "Jew," as it refers to a language and sometimes non-Jewish people or descendants. "Jew" refers to followers of Judaism as well as the Jewish culture, traditions, ethnicity, etc. The Jewish people are descendants of the Hebrews, who are descended from Abraham. One of the main reasons why Judaism has survived for so long is because its beliefs, laws, and history have been recorded in holy texts. The Ark of the Covenant was important to the Hebrews because it held the original Ten Commandments written by God. Judaism differs from other ancient religions when it comes to beliefs about the creation of the universe in that they believe God spoke it into existence.