The Origins of the Ancient Israelite Religion | Canaanite Religions | Mythology

In this presentation Dr. Aren Maeir guides us into the very origins of Ancient Israel, their identity and the very foundations of their religion.
In this presentation the great scholar Dr. Maeir takes us into the origins of the religion of the ancient Israelites.
He will address these points:
Canaanite pagan influences on the Israelite religion such as El and Baal.
Discusses the ideological framework of the Israelite texts and the worship of a singular deity, and points out the big question which is "is this the original form and practice of the Israelite religion or did this monotheistic approach come much later?"
He discusses male and female figurines of the Iron Age that depict their God.
He also discusses the evidence of more than one God and even a Goddess in Israelite society and religion and also he points out that we tend to see not necessarily monotheism in ancient Israel but rather monolatrism.
We also ask a harder question and that is, when does Monotheism take root as a dominant ideology in ancient Israel and whether or not this was influenced by the religious reform of Atenism or Zoroastrianism?
How old is Judaism? How is it different today?
We will also discuss religious violence and ethnic cleansing in ancient Israel and the issues of using modern terms on the past in a world where they did things quite differently.
And finally we arrive to the subject of Human Sacrifice in ancient Canaan and even in Ancient Israel and how we may see a conflict between those who partook in human sacrifice and those who did not like it and who in turn wrote stories like "Abraham and Isaac at the Mount" in an attempt to show that we don't believe in that form of practice.
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[@kimberlyperrotis8962]

The first commandment says “…thou shalt have no other gods before me”, which implies that there were other gods.

[@marcosr2]

Perfect, powerful gods too.

[@chaishalom8701]

The other gods were thought of as idols.

[@chaishalom8701]

@Leonard Weisfeld * Could you restate your point?

[@chaishalom8701]

@Leonard Weisfeld * The idea of worshipping One (G-d) was introduced through Abraham and Akhenaten, not through rejection of idols.

[@mr.o8539]

Gods are fictional

[@scottnunnemaker5209]

I haven’t finished watching yet, about halfway through, but I think an important aspect of ancient life might be being omitted and yet might be one of the most important for understanding the rise of monotheism. City Protector Deities. Many ancient cities had a main deity that was worshipped above the rest. Ashur, Marduk, Yahweh, Athena, etc. There are ancient texts that describe covenants made with individual deities for individual cities, then when the people from that city take over a new city you see that some deities change name or disappear completely and they are replaced with the protector deity from the other city. Judaism also has a similar story, the only difference being that they made their covenant with Yahweh when they didn’t have a city, but once they have Jerusalem they set everything up the same way any other city state had done things in the Bronze Age.

[@kapimanen819]

Nice info input tnx

[@3rdeye671]

@Jean Bradberry great piece of information there. Well done.

[@chaishalom8701]

We do not name the name of G-d. I don't think that the name of our Holy One is Yahweh. That is a word that is used in Christianity, but never in Judaism. I have heard El, as in Beth El synagogue. But I have not ever heard the word Yahweh in Judaism used as the name of the Judeans' G-d.

[@3rdeye671]

@@chaishalom8701 so in Judaism who is the God that appears to Moses in the form of the burning Bush?

[@3rdeye671]

@@chaishalom8701 I have a question for you. In the Hebrew Torah in the Genesis chapters, I have heard the ancient Hebrew word that is translated as 'Tree' as in 'Tree of Knowledge', can also be translated as 'Council' or 'Group'. Is this correct?

[@briananderson2219]

Your show is always so classy! I enjoy every video you make

[@johnjohnson1657]

Great show. Kudos. First show. I'm a subscriber now. I can't stress enough how important it is to me that I can watch a program that doesn't belittle anyone or anything...just states the facts. Appreciate it.

[@JrJagsFootball]

Some very good insights presented here. I've often wondered about the Abraham and Isaac story and thought it might be meant to demonstrate the fundamental stance against Human Sacrifice. Thank you for confirming this interpretation around the 25 minute mark.

[@lancewalker2595]

If you like to think about these things to excess I would highly recommend Kierkegaard’s “Fear and Trembling”.

[@NatalTakele]

There are in Ethiopia that follows early hebrewic religion in kimant nation.

[@erinn5842]

It was changed in the bible over time. Originally he did sacrifice his son. But they were changing and moving away from that practice, so they changed it to a sacrifice of an animal instead. They forgot to mention his son anymore after the event. Suggesting he was sacrificed.

[@anthonyfreeman6279]

Brilliant, it's so refreshing to listen to sensible lucid people discuss such a complex topic.

[@jacoboneill2494]

These are some of my favorite topics and great answers!

[@JB-gw8ee]

Some days I just watch these videos for hours. This channel is fantastic.

[@senojah]

“God’s on my side” is the most common defense of war in history.

[@gabeyo5071]

He’s totally on my side. 💯 🤡🇺🇸

[@chingatumadre8915]

No really. God is on my side! Ha

[@dadsonworldwide3238]

Hitler lemon and Chinese in 19 th century killed billions im genocide and had no God most was athiest

[@mikaelzakan1929]

@@dadsonworldwide3238 and god supposedly sent a global flood (which there is no evidence to support) that, if it did happen, would’ve killed billions as well, but Christians will use their twisted sense of morality to justify that amongst the other atrocities committed or supported by god.

[@dadsonworldwide3238]

@@mikaelzakan1929 lol so your saying its no sign of flood catastrophe? No shell ? Lol your ok with the chicken and the egg popped onto existence in one big bang but an ominous explosion everywhere at once? Ok friend Materialism and physicalism isn't even upheld by most theoretical physicist . View from Planck length perspective qautom fields and waves. . If you set parameters of what you would expect to measure and find inside of one of your dreams, this is the evidence you would expect to find And no the Bible is credited with over 27k archeological discoverys just man a shovel with the Bible. No credible scientists doesn't have one im his library . As far as the 2015 hugh quality dna variation mutation count in women found our common ancestor to be roughly 6k yrs ago. Sardinia 8slamd oldest match we ever found carrying our common ancestor. The 2019 y in men didn't go back that far around 22 genrations to get common male ancestors. It doesn't fit the model it drives evolutionist crazy. Atm trying to make sense of this . All archaic dna like Neanderthal isn't common ancestors. . Not even ancient archaic humans in Asia or Europe. Their dna isn't a common ancestors its prior to us.

[@elirothblatt5602]

Great interview and very enlightening, thank you!

[@georgesparks7833]

Great podcast😮 enjoyed this very much.

[@waynesworldofsci-tech]

Wonderful interview. We’ll miss you Nick.

[@crhu319]

#Aren_Maier what a GREAT guest. It's amazingly rare to hear anyone admit that Aten monotheism *being abolished* in Egypt is connected to it moving Northeast to Canaan, and Persian Zoroastrianism moving west to Canaan. You have a lot of disenfranchised priests, skilled at controlling people, why would they not go northeast to try their luck at converting settled Sea Peoples and "habiru" vagrants and sand people that always lived on the southern edges of the Fertile Crescent empires.

[@chaishalom8701]

Preposterous! When did you ever hear of a king being more pious and devoted than the people? That movement of Hibiru was at a different time period all together than the beginning of monotheism in the ancient Levant.

[@Babbajune]

Great questions and answers! Thanks for the interview and presentation here. ❤️

[@abdelelazhari9116]

Thank you guys for everything ..🙏🙏🙏

[@drumstudiomonchengladbach8131]

Thank you! This was very informative.

[@dakrontu]

"Our god's bigger than your god. So there! Don't mess with us, or our god will beat you up!" One can see the wheels of the propagandists turning, spreading fear to put off enemies. We get the same today.

[@lottesrensen8004]

The bigger version of my dad can beat up your dad

[@janmeyer3129]

It is even more important to intimidate your own people and keep them in line

[@Christfollower123]

isn't your statement propaganda

[@davidcoleman2796]

100 %

[@indivestor]

What ever

[@jakec5618]

Interesting stuff. I think something to keep in mind is that, unfortunately, a lot of history/evidence was destroyed when places were conquered/invaded. It'd be awesome to know what the true story of it all is.

[@LynnnnnnnnnN]

What an awesome channel! So glad I found you! This man is a joy to listen to!

[@johnobrien7626]

I very much enjoyed this video, thanks.

[@PaleRider-]

El in Canaanite Religion and the Hebrew Bible Although the Israelites apparently broke off from Canaanite tradition, at some point the essential elements from the Canaanite sources were maintained in the Bible such as the same dwellings and epithets of El resides on Mount Zaphon. In certain texts, he dwells within a tent, just like the Tabernacle described in Exodus. Titles of the Canaanite El were preserved in the Hebrew tradition such as the following: Elyon which is most high Rahem which is bull, also El was called the God of patriarchs, a warrior, and El was called Olam which means eternal, El-Olam, the Ancient One El-Shadday, of the Holy Mountain El-Elyon, the Most High Toru, bull Hatikkuka, god of the Patriarchs Gibbor, warrior Canaanite Phoenician God El These were the names for the Canaanite El and they became the names for the Hebrew El. Interestingly, Babel relating to Babylon is a conjunction of Bab and El meaning “gate of the God.”It was not singly El from which Yahweh evolved but also Baal Haddad, the Canaanite storm god. Indeed, also the name which Jews substitute for Yahweh lest they utter it was Adonai. This term is from Canaanite which means Adon or Lord (Adonai comes from “Adon” for Lord and “ai” for the possessive meaning “My Lord"). It is a synonym for Baal. The Connection Between God of Canaan and God of Israel The connection between Yahweh and Baal is undeniable. We find narrative instances of the Israelites undertake to understand this connection in parts of the Hebrew text such as Exodus 32:8 “...Crafting of the bull by Aaron by the Hebrews when Moses was on Sinai. Their bulls are referred to as gods, in which it is said: "These are your gods o Israel.”We see in the Israelite religion precisely what one should expect to see from a religion evolving from and assimilating surrounding religions. In numerous passages, Yahweh is depicted as any ancient Near East storm deity, the most notable of which is Baal Hadad. Like Baal, Yahweh is a warrior, who descends from his mountain home riding on a chariot of clouds, his voice is thunder and his weapon is lightning and earthquakes. The skies release rain at his command. In primaeval times, he asserted his authority by defeating the sea becoming the ruler of the skies. Exodus 15:3 reads “Yahweh is a warrior, Yahweh is his name” Numbers 23:22 “El who brings them out of Egypt is for them the horns of a wild bull." Numbers” 24:8 “El who brings them out of Egypt is like the horns of a wild bull. For them, he shall devour the nations that are his foes and break their bones.” El of the Canaanites was also called bull and warrior. Here are some examples of parallels between Baal and Yahweh, as attested to by the Ugaritic literature in the Baal cycle and the Hebrew Bible: “Let me tell you, Prince Baal, Let me repeat, Rider on the Clouds, Now your enemy Baal, Now you will kill your enemy, Now you will annihilate your foe, You will take your eternal kingship, Your dominion forever and ever. And the Hebrew Bible reads: Behold your enemies Yahweh, Behold your enemies perish, All evildoers are scattered, Your kingship is an eternal kingship, Your dominion is forever and ever. The parallels with Baal extend also to the motif of the mountain where Yahweh has revealed himself. There were thunder and lightning and the heavy cloud on the mountain and Mount Sinai was covered with smoke because Yahweh had descended upon it in a fire. The whole mountain trembled violently. Canaanite Phoenician God El The same imagery is used of Baal theophany: “Then Baal opened a break in the clouds. Baal sounded his holy voice. Baal thundered from his lips… The Earth's high places [mountains] shook." "Oldest of the gods (Father of Years) Head of Pantheon (Divine Council) Progenitor of other deities Father of Adam (Man -- Divine King) Ruler of the Universe and Supreme Arbiter Full of grace and compassion..." The association of Yahweh as a storm God is also echoed in Judges 5:4-5 "Yahweh when you marched from the highland of Edom, The earth shook. And heavens, too, streamed, And the clouds streamed with water; The mountain shook. Before Yahweh, the one of Sinai, Before Yahweh, the god of Israel.” And Psalm 104:3 “Yahweh sets the beams of his chambers on the waters; he makes the clouds his chariot, he rides on the wings of the wind.” There is also a shared emphasis, on the seventh day. For it was on the seventh day of Daniel’s incubation right, in the temple, that Baal intercedes for him and El blesses him. Similarly, as it is on the seventh day that, Yahweh called to Moses on the cloud-covered mountain. Indeed, the characteristic origin of Yahweh in the roots of El and Baal is preserved in Hosea 2:16 which read “Yahweh says you will call me‘my husband’and no longer‘my Baal.’” Frank M. Cross* suggested, in 1973, a potential connection with the Egyptian deity, Patah who has given the title du gitti, “Lord of Gath” in which Patah is called Lord Eternal. It may be this identification of El with Patah that led to the epithet Olam which means eternal so early and so consistently with the Israelites. Another similarity is that both the gods Pathan and El create the world through their very will and not through a divine battle between gods. * Frank Moore Cross, Jr. was the Hancock Professor of Hebrew and Other Oriental Languages Emeritus at Harvard University, notable for his work in the interpretation of the Dead Sea Scrolls. In his "Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic, Essays in the History of the Religion of Israel," he traces the continuities between early Israelite religion and the Canaanite culture from which it emerged. Canaanite Phoenician God El After Whom all the Names of God Come The Jews also seemed to be oddly concerned with circumcision, which serves as another connection to Egyptian culture. The earliest historical record of circumcision comes from Egypt in an inscription of the tomb at Saqqara dating to around 2,400 BC. While circumcision might have been done for hygienic reasons, it was for the Egyptians part of their obsession with purity and was associated with spiritual and intellectual development. These connections would all make sense considering the Levant was politically and culturally dominated by the Egyptian Empire.

[@iindu11]

Thanks a ton... :)

[@ephemeralthoughts9421]

You jays are just inventing an entire history for yourself, utterly divorced from reality. It's honestly quite sad but somewhat understandable, after all, actual jew history is quite pitiable, tbqh. Anyhow, there is ZERO primary and contemporary of the ancient era that proves the existence of the "abcirg

[@ephemeralthoughts9421]

Sorry, I accidentally clicked reply. Anyhow, there is ZERO primary and contemporary evidenve from the ancient era that proves the existence of an "Israel".

[@hondacbrification]

The Biblical people where GaL and such had a northern tribal culture which can be seen not only through names like ÉL which Ugar or T Ribe of Jackob called Gad which is named after God,Gott,Goth,Gothic….

[@Mickkie]

@Russell Scheirman:Thank You. For "The Awakening EnLightenment".

[@Peecamarke]

This was a really GOOD interview. You asked a lot of questions I didn't know I had and he had answers for everyone! 👌🏿

[@studyofantiquityandthemidd4449]

Thank you so much for appreciating this episode! The good doctor is so awesome, I was honored to host.

[@greggrobinson5116]

When you consider how hard it is to even define the concept of "religion," it's no wonder the history, practices, and evolution of religion is so difficult to pin down in a way we'd like. There's the religion of the state, the religion of the priestly caste (who after all, wrote the biblical texts and so favored themselves), the common people, and the various tribes and cultures passing through, competing or intermingling. he best we can do is maybe to describe a general mood or tone, rather than hard details.

[@prestonknodelliii838]

Religion is merely a set of beliefs. Nothing special or holy about any of it.

[@robertmccracken6930]

It's not hard to define the concept of religion. Oh, me no understand what happening, must be gods. Boom religion 😂

[@MrCharizmatiik]

There is no Judaism, Christianity or Islam without Ancient Egyptian Philosophy.

[@code-52]

All religion is ancient fairy tales.

[@theflipper404]

You mean Sumerian religion correct right? Cause Sumeria predates Egypt lol

[@code-52]

@@theflipper404 The epic of galgamesh.

[@stealthworx4371]

@@theflipper404 Does it? because From what I've read so far Indus Valley civilisation, Sumerians and Egypt essentially coexisted during the same time with recent evidence showing IVC is perhaps one of the oldest (not sure how accurate the recent studies are so take it with a pinch of salt for now). There is even evidence of Trade being conducted between IVC, Sumerians and Egypt. How cool.

[@theflipper404]

@@stealthworx4371 Sumerian Civilization dates back to 4500 B.C. and lasted to 1900 B.C, Ancient Egypt dates back too 3150 B.C., and Indus Valley Civilization dates back to 2500 B.C. So that would explain why there was trade and how they coexisted. Because there was a point in time where all 3 civilizations thrived for hundreds of years together. But in terms of actual age, Sumerians takes the cake. They are the oldest known Civilization.

[@andybeans5790]

Dr. Maeir seems very balanced in his approach. It hasn't really occurred to me that ancient religions would have considerable variation, it's too easy to think early people would have a unified set of beliefs like religions of today.

[@andybeans5790]

@Taiwanlight aye but the denominations all generally agree on the key "facts". I find it really interesting that early Israelite beliefs might not have all agreed on whether Yahweh was the "one, true" god, when contemporary Judaism holds it as a key tennet of faith. It's really easy to fall for the historian's fallacy.

[@themetalgardener4960]

There is quite a bit of variation today if you dig a bit. More than you think. One example is Mayan Catholism, is basically Mayan religion with a Catholic veneer. All the protestant denominations and the various Catholic sects, African variations (older like Coptic and Ethiopian as well as newer ones mixed with Catholic and Protestant sects), and Eastern Orthodox sects. There is some deep differences, some more than others, about the nature of God, humans, reality, Jesus' divinity, leadership and access to the divine, etc. Buddhism is another good example. The variations within are a mix of various interpretations mixed with local religious beliefs. I don't know a lot about other religions but Muslims seem to have varying beliefs as well, to the point they say each other are not going to heaven (Christians have that issue too) because of them.

[@desidaru1118]

No such thing as "god." Conversation over.

[@desidaru1118]

Anyone who wants to argue. Ask a Roman.

[@GallumArtemi]

which religion today has a unified set of beliefs!?

[@112deeps]

Really fascinating please more on Judaism, Zorastranism and Hinduism... There were lots of connections considering one of the israelite tribe went into india and the Persians also moved into india as refugees they knew of the others

[@CaraCha212]

😂

[@homemdexercito1155]

Hinduísmo is to old my friend. Hinduísmo came from Tamil people and not persians.

[@user-bz2st4ox7l]

@@homemdexercito1155 there is no Hinduism it's sanatan. And sanatan is oldest religion and is most advance till today and have every thing in it all types of possible philosophies related to religion is there and different spirit sciences. Tamil people this people there is no such thing these are incomplete theories besed on assumptions . All humans were in santan whole universe multiverse is sanatan it self nature follows rules of sanatan.bwe bealive it or not dosent matter. It's way to much complicated and deep religion.

[@zainahmed5320]

@@homemdexercito1155 Hinduism originated from Indo-Aryans, not Dravidians (Tamils) and is related to the Hellenistic (Greek) religion.

[@johnwick-ks7yq]

@@zainahmed5320 puncture putre padeophile originated from Islam ...where Mohammad married 7 yrs old 😂😂😂😂😂

[@LeftTurnOnly]

Fantastic stuff 👌 well done

[@themetalgardener4960]

People are mixed bags of things, humanity is more complex than we like to think about sometimes, and thus history is more messy than we make it out to be.

[@joehinojosa8314]

Good questions. FEW ANSWERS

[@dr.enochmetatron6830]

thanks. much appreciated. have a great day always.

[@studyofantiquityandthemidd4449]

Thanks, you too!

[@Sclark2006]

The book of William G. Dever helped me a lot about this topic "Who where the early Israelites and where did they come from?" Very recommended. The Ancient Israelite religion seems to be rooted in the Canaanite religion, but later influenced by the changes occurred after the late Bronze-early Iron I period. The 10 commandments have a different history and a long evolution and sources.

[@LM-jz9vh]

Yes. The Israelite religion evolved out of the Canaanite religion. *Yahweh was some minor deity from the southern Levant who over time took on the imagery and attributes of the older mythical Canaanite deities El and Baal.* He only became the one "true" god when some Yahweh only Israelites pushed that agenda. Jews and Arabs Descended from Canaanites - Biblical Archaeology Society *www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/ancient-cultures/ancient-near-eastern-world/jews-and-arabs-descended-from-canaanites/* Dr Christine Hayes who lectures on the Hebrew Bible at Yale University outlines this in lecture 7 from 30:00 min onwards. *kzbin.info/www/bejne/npC4nqh7d9KGa80* In lecture 8 from 12:00 to 19:00 minutes, Dr Hayes more thoroughly outlines the Baal and Yahweh connection/amalgamation. *kzbin.info/www/bejne/oYSUaJeCqrmDmpI* Also, inscriptions were found in the form of blessings, referencing *"Yahweh and his Asherah."* Asherah was originally the wife of the Canaanite deity El, so the merging of Yahweh with El is obvious. *www.seeker.com/amphtml/gods-wife-edited-out-of-the-bible-almost-1766083399.html* You can also watch Pagan Origins of Judaism that outlines this as well. *kzbin.info/www/bejne/kHamlq2DjtqabsU* Also watch Atheism: A History of God (A) by a former Christian. *kzbin.info/www/bejne/g53Rn4qYoLKfmMk*

[@j.gstudios4576]

@@LM-jz9vh just because they bear similarities means they derive from each other? What if they just gave their God YHWH these attributes to show how powerful their God is compared to other gods

[@LM-jz9vh]

@@j.gstudios4576 This explains it better. It's obvious. *The Israelite people were indigenous Canaanites.* So where did the Israelite people come from? *The Israelite people were originally Canaanite pastoralists who, in 1300 BCE. changed their economic strategy in response to worsening conditions.* There is substantial evidence for this hypothesis. *Linguistic:* Hebrew and Canaanite language are increasingly indistinguishable the further back you go in the Iron Age. *Material culture:* Israelite and Canaanites shared the same building plans, pottery designs, village layouts, cooking habits … *In Canaan, the chief god was El. El’s wife was Asherah, and his sons include Ba’al and Anut. The Canaanite pantheon is well-understood from the discovery of the Ugaritic texts.* In most English translations of the Hebrew Bible, you will see frequent use of the words “God” and “Lord”. The Hebrew terms for these phrases are more literally translated “El” and “Yahweh”. They are used so interchangeably in the Hebrew Bible that you would think them synonyms. *Names: The very name “Israel” means “house of El”. In contrast, later Israelite names have “Yahweh”-based suffixes e.g., Jehu. Further, most Israelite cities were named after the gods in El’s assembly.* The god Anat was honored in the city of Anathoth, the place of origin of the prophet Jeremiah. The god Dagan in Beth-Dagan. The god El in Beth-El. The god Shamash in Beth-Shamash. The god Shalimu in Jerusalem. *Ritual systems:* The priestly system laid out in Leviticus is very nearly copy-and-pasted from the Ugaritic sacrificial system. *Legal codes:* The Covenant, Holiness, and Deuteronomic law codes share strong parallels with surrounding Canaanite legal systems. *Iconography:* A seal found in Jerusalem in a tomb of the seventh century shows a solar god flanked by two minor gods: “Righteousness” and “Justice” *There are also expressions of polytheism throughout the Hebrew Bible. For example,* “Do you not possess that which Chemosh, your god, has given you? So shall we possess what Yahweh has given us.” Judges 11:24 “Who is like Yahweh among the gods?” Exodus 15:11 “The people of Judah have as many gods as they have towns.” Jeremiah 11:13 *Yahweh was introduced to Israel as a second tier deity (a member of El’s family)* *This can be seen in Deuteronomy 32:8-9, where El gives each of his sons a nation to rule over:* *When El gave the nations their inheritance, when he divided all mankind, he set up boundaries for the peoples according to the number of the sons of El. For Yahweh’s portion is his people, Jacob his allotted inheritance.* *In Psalm 82, we see Yahweh not at the head of the pantheon, but later asked to assume the job of all gods. “Yahweh stands in the divine assembly of El. Among the divinities, he pronounces judgment… Arise O Yahweh, judge the world; for You inherit all the nations.” Genesis 49:24-25 and Numbers 23-24 also view YHWH and El existing as distinct deities.* We have seen how Yahweh was first worshiped in Midian, and not Israel. Concurrently, El was worshiped in the land of Israel. *Then, when Yahwism emigrated to Israel (incorporation), Yahweh was not recognized as a god of gods. Rather, Yahweh was elevated to this position (equated with El) as the nation of Judah transitioned towards statehood.* *In summary:* The Israelite origin story is largely a patriotic fiction. The Israelite people were indigenous Canaanites. The first Israelites worshiped the pantheon of El. The original Yahweh cult was a Shasu religion located in southern Edom Yahweh was first worshiped as a god of metallurgy The founder of Judaism, Moses, was said to be a Midianite Yahweh was introduced to Israel as a second tier deity (a member of El’s family) Yahweh, god of metallurgy | Fewer Lacunae kevinbinz.com/2018/07/11/yahweh-god-of-metallurgy/

[@LM-jz9vh]

@@j.gstudios4576 *Yahweh was introduced to Israel in a five-stage process:* *Traditional Polytheism:* The earliest Israelites worshipped creator god El, his wife Asherah, and his sons e.g., Baal. *Incorporation:* Yahweh was incorporated as a 2nd tier god in El’s pantheon. *Elevation:* Yahweh and El are identified as the same deity. *Monolatrism:* A new Yahweh-only movement emerges, and the gods of the second tier are denied. *Monotheism:* Gods of other nations are denied, Yahweh’s power is deemed universal in scope. *At some point in its history, El was identified with Yahweh as the same god.* This equation is expressed clearly in Exodus 6:2-3. “And God said to Moses, “I am Yahweh. I appeared to the patriarchs as El, but by my name Yahweh I did not make myself known to them.” Other Biblical material asserts this equation. Joshua 22:22 states “the god of gods is Yahweh”. Judges 9:46 refers to “El of the covenant”. *The Yahweh-alone movement vigorously condemn prominent Canaanite gods… except El. There are zero condemnations of El in the Hebrew Bible. This makes sense if Yahweh was ultimately identified with this Canaanite creator-god.* What’s more, archaeological evidence suggests that the Yahweh religious centers in Shiloh and Bethel were originally a place of El worship. *El and Yahweh are attributed same characteristics.* El is depicted as a wise old man with a beard eg “You are great, O El, and your hoary beard instructs you”. Yahweh is described in the same terms (Daniel 7:9, Job 36:26, Habakkuk 3:6). Like “Kind El, the Compassionate”, Yahweh is a “merciful and gracious god”. The description of Yahweh’s dwelling place as a tent (Psalms 15:1, 27:6, 91:10) recalls the tent of El in the Canaanite narrative of Elkunirsa. Finally, both Yahweh and El are said to dwell amidst cosmic waters (Isaiah 33:20-22, Ezekiel 47:1-12, Zechariah 14:8). El’s wife was named Asherah. When Yahweh was identified with El, did he also inherit his wife? In the blessings of Joseph, Genesis 49:25 contains language specific to the Asherah cult “blessings from Breast-and-Womb”. *The Bible further admits that the Israelites frequently worshipped a “Queen of Heaven”* (Jeremiah 7:18, 44:17-25). Indeed, 2 Kings 21:7 tells us that worship of Asherah happened within the Temple itself. *Finally, archaeology has uncovered several icons with the inscription “Yahweh and his Asherah”. This evidence cumulatively suggests that, in early forms of Israelite religion Yahweh was believed to have a wife.* The push towards monolatrism led to the eviction of the Asherah cult, whose memory may be preserved in Zechariah 5:5-11. But this eviction created a deficit of femininity to Israelite religious expression. *To compensate, the Biblical writers began attributing feminine attributes to Yahweh (Isaiah 49:15, 46:3, 44:2,24, 42:14).* *To induce the Israelites to stop worshipping Baal, the imagery of Baal was adopted by the Yahweh cult.* The Baal Cycle, ancient mythology on the scale of the Epic of Gilgameth, has four literary themes for the storm god. Here are those themes, along with the Biblical text which mirrors them. The march of the divine warrior (Psalm 104:3 “He makes the clouds his chariot, and travels along on the wings of the wind”) The convulsions of nature as the divine warrior manifests his power (Judges 5:5, Hab 3:10) The return of the divine warrior to his holy mountain to assume divine kingship (Isaiah 31:4) The utterance of the divine warrior’s voice from his palace provides rains that fertilize the earth (Jeremiah 10:13) *Yahweh is also depicted as defeating Baal’s classic enemies:* Baal/Yahweh defeats a seven headed dragon, Leviathan, and River (CAT 5.1, Psalm 74:13-15). Baal/Yahweh defeats Sea (KTU 1.14, Psalm 89:10). Baal/Yahweh defeats Death/Mot (KTU 1.4 VIII-1.6, Isaiah 25:8). Polytheistic Roots of Israelite Religion | Fewer Lacunae kevinbinz.com/2018/07/21/polytheistic-roots-of-israelite-religion/

[@j.gstudios4576]

@@LM-jz9vh thanks for these they were helpful in my understanding and they actually support my case more than go against it also monolateralism is the belief in many gods but the exclusive worship of only one God which I think perfectly fits the biblical authors also isreal being polytheistic and naming their cities after other gods in the canninite pantheon doesn't pose a problem we know from archaeology and the biblical text that isreal worshiped many gods I agree with the part about YHWH and EL being interchangeable and with YHWH being LORD (all caps) and El being a shorter way of saying ELohim hince where we get El from which means God also the name elyon means most high which is why when you see the phrase El Elyon in the bible it is translated as God most high but nevertheless than you for the read

[@mrmr446]

Fascinating Q&A I always appreciate when nuance is emphasised and both the evidence and gaps explored. On the question of religious violence I was surprised he did not offer a last date of eighty years ago by way of a contrast to events of today.

[@theonyxcodex]

19:30 We’d probably view some of our “heroes” differently if we could watch ancient history in real time. “You can’t handle the truth.”

[@elizabethandujar8629]

The truth is way too deep for the minds of many.

[@jamesmassingale8512]

@@elizabethandujar8629 true,people don't want to believe the truth of the bible..they always want something else..

[@juanfervalencia]

I miss you Nick

[@nathanieljackson4021]

I appreciate his commentary on this subject. I myself being Jewish have the same understanding plus going back to KMT creating part of the underlying mythology and canonization of the language. Cannan was an out post for Egypt/KMT. THIS WAS THE BUFFER ZONE before entering Egypt/KMT.

[@shafur3]

Great Show❣️

[@TheDeadlyDan]

Look at Joseph Campbell's work with the Hero's Journey. The hook that all mythology hangs on . . . the monomythology of mankind. The Hero theme is deeply embedded into every religion. As near as anyone can tell, it always has been. We still re-tell this story to ourselves ad nauseam, with each iteration standing in it's own glory or shame. The best of them become our mythology.

[@defunctuserchannel]

To transcend the hero myth requires one to wear their shadow. CG Jung. But people love rhetoric, especially rhetoric that ties into heroic themes, often us versus them themes. Personally I doubt human society will ever transcend the hero theme.

[@kingkoi6542]

​@@defunctuserchannel where did you get this idea from Jung? Jung believed in the hero myth... the hero's goal in myths is frequently to find a treasure, such as a golden egg, rescue a damsel, and return to the fountain of youth. Through danger we equip ourselves with personality.

[@Jippa_33]

Great interview! Thanks guys 👍

[@studyofantiquityandthemidd4449]

Our pleasure!

[@yahiawaleed828]

@@studyofantiquityandthemidd4449 I wanted to ask a question: did Akhenaten's Aten (the exiled faction that was truly affiliated with it as a religion) influence the people that believed in the most powerful Canaanite God El, effectively making them monotheistic and drove them into wiping out/subjugating the rest of the Canaanite groups?

[@NuisanceMan]

Dr. Maeir ROCKS!

[@Noah-es9cj]

Hi! Question for the History Nerds and Professors out there. So maybe I'm just not connecting the dots, but I just want to ask a question. If Israelite religion / early Judaism is rooted in the Canaanite religion, did it evolve from it? Did the Israelites at one point practice the Canaanite religion? or was the Israelite religion simply influenced on it. (Also if you have any good book recommendations for Israelite religion I'm all ears.)

[@ericthegreat7805]

I've heard the theory that the aborted sacrifice of Isaac and circumcision was developed to modify or subvert human sacrifice which may have been practiced among the Israelites when they were still Canaanites

[@hershelfowler6257]

When debating theism, what was the question, the rabbi asked the egyptian, and canaanite priest ? He asked, Is ra el ?

[@phuckpootube6231]

Dr. Aren Maeir is downplaying the importance of Zoroastrianism, regarding to Judaism. Why am I not surprised.

[@PaulKapow]

Yeah...

[@Brunofromaraguari]

Interesting. New subscriber from Brazil

[@cheryldeboissiere7824]

I am of the thought, after looking at data from Ugarit, Ur, & etc., that the Semitic God El was originally a monotheistic god. Later came Asherah. Even later, Baal & Yah. Even still later were the Seventy Son of El, sometimes known as Elohim, the Assembly of Gods...

[@theophilos0910]

Monotheism in Judah was a post Exilic phenomenon (post 587 BCE)- prior to the Babylonian Exile Monalatry was widely practic’d in the Levant where every city-state had their own National clan god and ‘foreign gods’ were subservient to whatever god is at the head of the local city-state’s pantheon … it is clear that EL (read Deut 32) was the elder chief clan god of the Canaanites which after the Exile became amalgamated with YHWH as ‘elohim’- ditto with the older Canaanite gods El Shaddai, Eloah & El Elyon - all became amalgamated into a single deity (see the poetical sections of the book of Job, where several names for the same divine being seem to be us’d throughout (chapters 3 to 40) … Perhaps the reason why YHWH became the sole clan god of post Exilic Yisro’el might be the fact that of the 24 priestly families that were exil’d into Babylon after 622 BCE (along with metal workers, scribes & the upper classes-anyone who could foster rebellion) only FOUR came back after 532 BCE when Kurosh (‘Cyrus’) allow’d the exiles to return to Palestine - and only the most rabidly right wing Yahweh-only priests came back to rebuild the Temple of ‘Yahweh Alone’ in Jerusalem and write 80% of what we to-day would call the Hebrew Scriptures - including Re-writing the Torah to reflect a much later period than the one in which the ‘story of Moshe’ was set… Food for thought, anyway …

[@ChristAliveForevermore]

I find everything you wrote here compelling. I am curious though where you found your evidence for the 'Yahweh Alone' crowd editing the Torah by the Second Temple Period. Considering the Dead Sea Scrolls post date this period, such a claim would be Earth-shattering if found to be true.

[@theophilos0910]

@@ChristAliveForevermore - the Dead Sea Scrolls were mainly penn’d between 154 BCE through June 68 CE at the approach of Nero’s legions during the 1st Fail’d Jewish War against Rome (66-72 CE) but the ‘Essenoid Dead Sea Scrolls Covenanters’ who call’d themselves by 22 names e.g. sons of light, sons of the Everlasting Plantation, Followers of the Way (see DeuteroIsaiah 40:1-6) and e.g, ‘the true sons of Zadok’ -i.e. Zaddukkim or ‘true Sadducees’, i.e. the true Jerusalem priests who had broken off from the ‘Camp at Jerusalem to the Camp at Damasqim’ i.e. the ruins around modern Khirbet-Qumran near northwest coast the Dead Sea, ancient Fortess of Seccacah)-these Dead Sea Scroll librarian-priests must have existed earlier in some form because these Essenoid separatists (who existed in two flavours, one of c. 160 members who were ‘celibate angels undefil’d by the filth of female flesh’ (cf Rev 14:4) and those living ‘in all the Camps scattered around Eretz Yisro’el’ who were married and had children aka ‘sons of peace’ mention’d in the Greek canonical gospels - see Luke 10:6) also had older scrolls brought with them 100 years older like ‘the Scroll of the Book of the Words of Henoch seventh from Adam to all the sons of light in the last days’ which was carbon dated to c. 260 BCE …) Examination of the textual variants in the scrolls (especially of the Torah, Psalms & major Prophets) shew that ‘the process of redaction was steady and ongoing (to quote the great Immanuel Tov) ‘which is evidently the case from before the two major Exiles’ - Assyria in the North (beginning 722 BCE) and Babylon (BCE 587-531 BCE) but was ‘particularly evident in the postExilic redactions carried out during the time of Ezra where a completely new ‘square’ Aleph-bet was introduc’d (prior to c. 400 BCE, the Hebrew writers relied mainly on the older stolen (or more politely, ‘borrow’d’) horn’d ‘Phoenecian AlephBet’ which was invented before 1600 BCE… Mainstream scholarship links the heavy ‘redactive-editorial’ hand in the Torah of ‘Ezra and his five scribal school representatives’ c. 400 BCE with the Graf-Wellhausen school where strands such as the ‘J Hebronite southern accent source’ is separated off from the ‘E-Shechemite-Shilonite northern accent source’ which is also written in a different Hebrew style of utterance, word order, vocabulary, sentence length, grammar syntax and theological Weltanschauung in the ‘post-Josiah discovery (c. 640 BCE) of scrolls which were written by the scribal school of Jeremiah’s scribe ‘Baruch’ aka the ‘Jeremiah stil’d Deuteronomy Source’ which permeated the Book of Deuteronomy and features heavily in the postExilic heavily redacted books of Samuel & Kjngs) as well as an ‘Hezekielite post Babylonian redacted ‘Priestly Source’ aka the P strand (see Gen 1:1-2:4a) as well as several layers of post Exilic redactors (R-1, R-2 & R-3 etc) the latter two groups (P & R1-2-3) of whom seem’d to have absolutely NO scruples about changing the plural meaning of the original Hebrew (‘let us make man in OUR likenesses and after OUR images’) to grammatically impossible singular verbs like bara in Genesis chapter 1 for example e.g lit. ‘When the (pl. ‘gods’) Elohim (he) began to create the heavens and the earth, the earth was formless & empty…’ where ‘Elohim’ is the grammatical maculine plural of the very rare singular form of Elohim = Eloah (‘a goddess/god’) - a feminine singular found only in the much older Hebrew poetical sections of the Book of Job chapters 3 through 40-the later Hebrew prose sections of Job (tack’d on to Job chapters 1 and 2 and the very last paragraph of the book which is also written out in ‘late Hebrew prose’) - If you examine the older portions of ‘Job’ you can see at least 4 names of the clan gods of the Jews in preExilic times that were edited together as if all these originally separate Canaanite gods (EL, El-Shaddai, EL-Elyon & Eloah etc) all referr’d to the postExilic single clan god YHWH (which was originally a Midianite Eritrean North African desert-nomad-mountain god - see Exodus chapter 3 with the heavily edited Sineh-seraph (‘burning Bush’) narratives.. e.g. ‘to your ancestors I reveal’d myself as El-Shaddai but they did not know my true name (‘Yeheieh esher Yeheieh’ variously lit. ‘I am the one who is’ or ‘I am who I am’ - the latter could carry with it the brusque connotation in modern English of ‘mind your own business, I’m never telling you my real name lest you try and use it for magical purposes !’ - At any rate if you want to do some heavy lifting homework, get out a large print copy of the Torah in English that you can mark up with coloured highlighting pens and you can separate post exilic ‘Ezrite’ joining together c. 400 BCE’ of the different strands of traditions JEPD & redactors 1,2 & 3 in different colours (yellow, fuschia, blue, green, purple etc) and you would see at a glance large blocks of widely varying emphases within many different Hebrew traditions NB Ezra was among those 4 priestly families that return’d to Palestine with 3 other families (of the original 24 exil’d priestly families, not all were of the ‘extreme right wing fanatical monotheistic Yahweh only variety’ but remain’d in Babylon to work not only as priests of YHWH but also some had no scruples by staying permanently in Babylon of becoming priests of Marduk as well (i.e. some were less fussy about monotheism and were us’d to monalatry which included the worship of the wife-of-YHWH Asherah) - And you can tell how rabidly monotheistic the ‘returnee priests & scribes’ were that made the trek back to a ravag’d Palestine by the kind of extreme xenophobic racism we detect in JEPD and the comments of the redactors say in the books of Samuel & Kings (‘and king so-and-so did BAD in the sight of YHWH because he did not remove the shrines of the qedoshin (‘holy ones’ I.e. transgender sodomite male cultic temple prostitutes hous’d in Solomon’s temple since the beginning…) etc. You’ll notice blocks and blocks of different source material throughout by the close-reading of the text (which few lay persons ever bother to do properly…) -with many doublets and triplet repetitions of the same stories from different scribal school geographies (see e.g. the handy breakdown of the Noach Flood stories in ‘Who Wrote the Bible?’ by the Frank Cross student at Harvard University, Richard Elliott Friedman - which breaks down the Graf-Wellhausen Torah sourcing ‘in layman’s terms’ (tho’ for persons unfamiliar with the actual Hebrew pluriform versions of the text you might have to read the first 4 chapters of his little paperback 2 or 3 times to ‘get it’ (and be very aware that we are here dealing not with a single version of any set text but ‘pluriform versions of the Torah’ e.g. the Greek Septuaginta LXX (c. BCE 250) as compar’d to the much older Samaritan Pentateuch (c. 410 BCE) as compar’d to the Masoretic pointed text of the Leningrad Codex from 960 CE and all the variations in the Targums & the Dead Sea scrolls copies) All of what I have thrown at you above is ‘representative of the vast majority of current mainstream biblical studies scholarship’ -so don’t be too hasty in assuming what I have tried to impart (sorry for the verbosity ‘) is anything new or shocking - it has existed for the past 100 years or so (since say, c.1920) in scholarly circles - but quite apart from the ‘common herd of synagogue & church going persons’ especially those who are not conversant either In unpointed PaleoHebrew or Aramaic (Ezra/Nehemiah & portions of Daniel) or the Greek Septuaginta … Clear as mud?

[@kapimanen819]

Wow nice input thanks. More pls. And kindly suggest readings or links if u have.thanks much

[@kapimanen819]

@@theophilos0910 wooow😯 this is amzing teacher! I shall call you teacher!! Do u have a website?thank u for the info!

[@mmccrownus2406]

@@theophilos0910 Thanks for compiling this into a summary. Very useful

[@jjt1881]

I have enjoyed every single part of it and complemented it with my own research into each topic according to the findings of archeology, as well as biblical and Tohra hermeneutics. I really learned a lot. Thank you very much!

[@russelltreadway]

Good expert, no snobbery here. More like him and less like the others.

[@bullroarer-took]

Excellent and very informative, as always. Great video

[@studyofantiquityandthemidd4449]

Glad you enjoyed it And thanks for your support!

[@bullroarer-took]

@@studyofantiquityandthemidd4449 I've got to get me one of those see people's tour shirts. That's hilarious no one that sees it will get it probably but Ill know lol

[@markmurphy6197]

25:10 Sorry Doc you may be wrong there. What about the story of Jepthah?

[@claudiamanta1943]

Thank you, most informative. Would anyone be so kind to provide sources of information about human sacrifice in Ancient Egypt after the First Dynasty, please?

[@krisinsaigon]

There is a really good resource on KZbin for this subject. The Yale University channel has an entire course of lectures on it for a class on the history of the Old Testament, and the professor goes into this in great depth over several hours. As they say here, originally the people who became the Israelites were just one group of Canaanites among others and slowly they developed their monotheism. The god the Abraham sacrifices to for example is not Yawah, it’s the Canaanite god that isreal is named after. There’s also more than one God in Genesis, and genesis is more than one book than was cut and pasted together in the time the Jews were exiled in Babylon

[@williamshepherd2836]

Finally I have found someone else that understands true history. Abraham tithed to the Melchizdek which was a Canaanite title for the king of Salaam and priest of the Most High God. Yahweh was actually one of the 70 Eloyhim, or lesser gods, that were the sons of El Eloyin and his wife Asherah.

[@ephemeralthoughts9421]

The best candidate for ancient Jews are the habiru people. They were seen as gypsies by the ancient world.

[@krisinsaigon]

@@ephemeralthoughts9421 no the Jews were cannanites

[@ephemeralthoughts9421]

@@krisinsaigon I dont care about your fantasies. The best candidate for ancient hebrews remains the Hapiru people (the gypsies of the ancient ME).

[@camilla6110]

The El of Abraham, Adam, Isaac and all the rest is, was and will always be YHWH! Exodus 6:3 should end with a question mark…translating error in punctuation. It should read, “And I appeared to Abraham, Yitshaq and Ya’aqov as El Shaddai, and by My Name, YHWH, was I not known to them?” Abraham called the mountain YHWH Yireh…he knew His Name was YHWH. They all did, and they worshipped Him.

[@ThumperPruitt]

I agree with the statement made that 'everything influences everything.' The reason I say this is that when you have meetings of people from different cultural traditions and beliefs, you will always get a bleed over, in that there is a sharing of experiences and beliefs. This is an ongoing process that one can see today, speeded up by the ability to travel relatively easily and the world wide web. In the past, this same type of interaction was going on due to trade, conquerors or conquered, migration from one area to another, etc. Even if, as a group, you didn't believe in the other's belief, the exchange of ideas may influence others or cause them to question their beliefs and in essence, one's belief would evolve over time. As the saying goes, one views the world via their own personal bias, which is nothing more than their personal knowledge and experiences. As you interact with other ideas/peoples/traditions/etc this will cause one's personal knowledge and experiences to evolve. That interaction may strengthen one's original views, or it may result in the original view evolving into another. This is why I agree with the statement made that 'everything influences everything.'

[@DrewWestPress]

Very interesting.

[@jonniemae818]

Thank you.

[@Brandazzo22]

Great video. I was wondering if Akhenaten had some sort of influence as well. "The past is a foreign country" Nice line. I'd like to see another video with this professional with more questions

[@jonnylawless6797]

Love this topic. I have YHWH in Canaanite tattooed on my arm. Other than that, I honestly believe monotheism may have just been a misunderstanding of the phrase "no other gods before me".

[@jeremymckeithan7675]

Well if he has the authority to enforce the no other God's before me, that in itself sets him apart from all the other "gods"- none can compare to him, and chances are HE created the other "gods" which I know as fallen angels amongst others.... God is outside of space and time.... he is the creator of everything in the cosmos, In it's entirety...

[@ManiacMayhem7256]

@@jeremymckeithan7675 the Bible clearly doesn't think of those other gods as fallen angels. Psalm 82

[@jonnylawless6797]

@@jeremymckeithan7675 El, as YHWH was known in the Canaanite pantheon, was just the chief of the gods. He was a storm god and a warrior for Israel. He never said he created the other gods, just that he was to be worshipped over them. The Israelites all chose to worship only El after the Exodus.

[@onesonofjacob]

​@@ManiacMayhem7256 Psalms 82 is directed at the chosen people, to be a ''god'' is to be a judge. He is telling his chosen that they have not judged righteously. Because the *real* chosen people don't know their identity, don't consider their power, nor walk after his ways, therefore foundations of the Earth are out of course because they are not in their proper position of authority. It's plain to understand.

[@ManiacMayhem7256]

@@onesonofjacob not at all. Michael Heiser has an excellent response to this. Recommend you check it out

[@seanruss]

Great video. My cousin and I were having this very discussion earlier this week. Loved this.

[@e.t.ethics1771]

Fascinating. Henotheism is the worship of a single, supreme god that does not deny the existence or possible existence of other deities that may also be worshipped.

[@abhishekjrp13]

Great video! The Northern Kingdom pronounced YHWH differently from the Southern Kingdom? How do we know that?

[@johncotter3788]

Someone had a vision ?

[@juliagoesfrugal]

We don't. The origins of YHWH from the North or South is still debated, but most scholars say the god originated in the South.

[@LM-jz9vh]

@@juliagoesfrugal Yes. The Israelite religion evolved out of the Canaanite religion. *Yahweh was some minor deity from the southern Levant who over time took on the imagery and attributes of the older mythical Canaanite deities El and Baal.* He only became the one "true" god when some Yahweh only Israelites pushed that agenda. Jews and Arabs Descended from Canaanites - Biblical Archaeology Society *www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/ancient-cultures/ancient-near-eastern-world/jews-and-arabs-descended-from-canaanites/* Dr Christine Hayes who lectures on the Hebrew Bible at Yale University outlines this in lecture 7 from 30:00 min onwards. *kzbin.info/www/bejne/npC4nqh7d9KGa80* In lecture 8 from 12:00 to 19:00 minutes, Dr Hayes more thoroughly outlines the Baal and Yahweh connection/amalgamation. *kzbin.info/www/bejne/oYSUaJeCqrmDmpI* Also, inscriptions were found in the form of blessings, referencing *"Yahweh and his Asherah."* Asherah was originally the wife of the Canaanite deity El, so the merging of Yahweh with El is obvious. *www.seeker.com/amphtml/gods-wife-edited-out-of-the-bible-almost-1766083399.html* You can also watch Pagan Origins of Judaism that outlines this as well. *kzbin.info/www/bejne/kHamlq2DjtqabsU* Also watch Atheism: A History of God (A) by a former Christian. *kzbin.info/www/bejne/g53Rn4qYoLKfmMk*

[@juliagoesfrugal]

@@LM-jz9vh Wonderful sources! Thank you!

[@LM-jz9vh]

@@juliagoesfrugal You're welcome.

[@toddmaek5436]

We will see how long this stays up

[@benjibader32]

?

[@WouterHendrickx79]

Religion and obesity, 2 unique human afflictions that are so intreaging, thnx for your insight. Imagine the KZbin videos 100 years from now explaining our Facebook addiction.

[@angeleyeszarai]

That music went in at the beginning 😂🙌

[@jondoe-ki6rv]

Fargard 2 in the Zoarastrian Vestas has an eyewitness account o what the earth looked like 40,000 years ago, before the last glacial maximum; and it describes the earth during the last glacial maximum too. Just because the oldest copy of them was written in fairly recent times, doesn't mean that was the original book. The original Hebrew scriptures were written in stone, but where are they? The oldest copy we have of the Vestas, is much older than the oldest copy of the Torah, which doesn't look anything like the Dead Sea Scrolls, and nobody who wrote the Old Testament would be able to read the letters or the nikkud vowels that were added that totally changed the language it was written in, about 1,000 years after Jesus was crucified.

[@48walsh15]

Congratulations for the excellent scholarship on this period. And also for the interesting insight on the Persian influences during their hegemony which reminds me to ask you if there are any recent archaeological breakthroughs on whether or not the Medes were the ancestors of the Persians. Has dna testing proved or disproved this? I also have a separate separate question on whether the Medes also practiced some form of pre Zoroastrianism or did they practice a more Vedic form of religion? Finally do you have any plans to do an episode on the Medes?

[@AngelSanchez-zp7uj]

the partians were the ancestors of the persians as for the medes they are the people know known as the kurdish 35 million strong without a state and persecurated by the goverments of Turkey Siria Iran and resently betrayed by a western Orangeguntan

[@rsfaeges5298]

Thanks!

[@dinkbuster1]

Can you describe how differently the northern kingdom of Israel pronounce the name of Yahweh versus the southern kingdom? This is the first I've heard of this

[@garnix5612]

Really interesting! Thanks!

[@studyofantiquityandthemidd4449]

Glad you liked it!

[@boxerfencer]

Great stuff

[@themetalgardener4960]

There is evidence of trade over a long period of time with the Levant. So Egyptian ideologies didn't have to just come with the Exodus. If goods can be found in various time layers then the ideas could of made it into the the region as well.

[@AAS-wl3vq]

Within the conversation of Abraham and Issac, what was meant by what the writer is trying to convey? Is that a reference to fiction of sorts

[@davycrockett1112]

I appreciate his points on the normality of violence in the past. In this murder, but especially in the first world, we forget how much violence it takes to survive and move forward. We forget how much violence it took to carve out our for more peaceful society we enjoy in the first world. And even in many other nations today

[@Mr67Stanger]

Gods are an absolute reflection of humanity. All of them. All of them come from the human mind. From human imagination, fears, and feelings.

[@kingp2245]

Psalms 96:5 For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the LORD made the heavens.

[@BACKBEAT432]

I,m like you, I dig the subject. You asked good questions.👍Incredibly program ,good job.

[@George-pl7dw]

Let's just remember who and the why of these belief systems, who is hierarchy, why is to control a mass of people. Even today's political parties, especially in the US, are rising to religious levels, all work to the same ends, to protect a small number of hierarchical persons, mostly those of a super wealth and military position.

[@mazaltawab9360]

Not necessarily

[@Frostifycation]

@@mazaltawab9360 Yes. Absolutely, necessarily. Stop lying to yourself.

[@mazaltawab9360]

@@Frostifycation you have no clue what the Bible says, Christ said he that is greatest among us, let him be as he that is least. You just hate the truth

[@Frostifycation]

@@mazaltawab9360 Naw. I love science though. It's beautiful and leads to the utmost truth. I hope you can find it some day.

[@mazaltawab9360]

@@Frostifycation yeah keep moving the goal post

[@donnaburden.dip.d.analysis2148]

There is evidence of Yahweh being mentioned by Pharaoh Akhenaten father. That's the earliest record regarding Yahweh so far. Outside the Jewish tradition and writings. I hope that helps. Xx

[@marciamartins1992]

Yes, and I think he was black, you could tell by his full lips chizeld in stone.

[@theankhnation]

Awesome video. Love the graphics. Is it just me tho, or does the guest sound a little defensive while talking about Judaism/Israelite religion? 🤔 Anyways keep up the great work! Can't wait for the next video

[@medit8iv_native970]

Sourced from South east Asia, the three baskets of knowledge.

[@omarmunoz5787]

Samuel was both a prophet and a judge, the last of the Judges. Regarding evidence of human sacrifice in the Old Testament, the story of Jephthah's daughter was ignored.

[@brianfox771]

Yup. I was about to mention this as well.👏

[@RudisKetabs]

Yeah that’s great. But everything I’m hearing in this video is “maybe”, “could be”, “should be”. The problem with all of this is: We don’t have enough evidence! We need older evidence to be found!

[@davidcoleman2796]

It is all a lie anyway .

[@korlentalo3876]

Exactly! The problem is the atheists run with this for a got'cha moment.

[@joanhuffman2166]

I know I read a commentary (Dr. J. Vernon McGee) that said that Agag King of the Amalekites was a descendant of Esau and an ancestor of Haman the Agagite.

[@rolandrabier]

It was specified in the second of the ten commandments that, there is only one God and it is mandatory to worship Him (Exodus 20:3-6). But it is the same for Catholics in the european countryside, many believed till the 20th century, in fairies, nature spirits, magic, witchcraft, etc.

[@carolynsilvers9999]

I find this very interesting... sometimes it seems like Man created God in his own image

[@madeinjapan3333]

Genius yes indeed man made

[@zempire9633]

Nope.

[@user-is4sl2sk6k]

@@zempire9633 Yes.

[@divestedhappyblackwoman3465]

Sometimes? All the time.

[@Sclark2006]

It seems that Yahweh was associated to people from the Madian pastoral tribes. He was one of the sons of El, like Baal, but at some point it the in the development of the early judaism he became identified with El, the Father of the gods and creator of everything.

[@bigfel3240]

Baal just means Lord, so how they call God Lord today, it’s the same thing.

[@juliagoesfrugal]

@@bigfel3240 Baal & El were specific deities in the Canaanite pantheon.

[@bigfel3240]

@@juliagoesfrugal No Baal just meant lord

[@bigfel3240]

@@juliagoesfrugal There are a few different

[@juliagoesfrugal]

@@bigfel3240 No, El was the leader of the Canaanite pantheon and had a strangely... guarded? relationship with the rest of the pantheon and his people. Baal was a fertility deity who would sometimes take the place of Asherah's husband instead of El.

[@AlexanderMcArthy]

This channel always has content I'm extremely interested in but the poor audio quality/garble on host & guest mics makes it unbarable for me

[@denisflannery8415]

What began the perpetual conflict between the descendants of Abraham that continues to this day?

[@konyvnyelv.]

Yhwh in Israel can be compared to the Roman father of gods Iovis /Iuppiter which means Father IU. In China there's a god called YAO and in India YAHVA means Great and is often referred to Shiva or Indra

[@camilla6110]

There is only One True El, YHWH! ☺️

[@kishordas2300]

Yahweh is Vishnu.El is Shiva Asherah is Kali/shakti

[@mrtoothless]

@@camilla6110 Except for when Yahweh was only one of EL's 70 sons, you mean...

[@TheMrgoodmanners]

this is the one speaker you've had on here who didnt give any concrete answers. I feel his answers were just broad generalizations to the questions you asked him. There was also very little in way of supporting historical info that he offered.

[@petravh4711]

agreed, just so much time-wasting waffle, could have said everything he had to say in 5 short sentences. I learned nothing new, identified fogging in regard to questions he didn't want directly to answer and found him to be a very bad speaker. Pity but at least I learned this is a channel to avoid in future.

[@thedoubtfuls]

good balanced pov

[@TimoneIthy]

So if u believe in god and asherah and stuff what do u call that

[@forestonerootspirit1326]

God getting jealouse doesn't make any sense, why would god get jealous when he's perfect, false gods are man made they're always imperfect by nature, god is perfect by nature, he doesn't have imperfections . God doesn't get jealous or blinded by emotions, he's above everything, he doesn't act on pure emotions even though he knows and understands emotions but because he's completely unique, the human mind cannot grasp the nature of god, there is nothing like him, there boundaries for his knowledge, he knows everything

[@camilla6110]

Ahmein! Ecclesiastes 8:17! We can’t fathom His greatness! He is YHWH! ☺️☺️

[@aaronhill212]

The ancient Israelites basically received the 10 Commandments from the ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead. Also in the Biblical Book of Psalms, it states that Moses dwelt in the Land of Ham ( Ancient Egypt ) and was learned in all the ways of the Egyptians, for he was mighty in word and deed

[@SI-ln6tc]

No evidence Jews were ever in Egypt.

[@stefanlaskowski6660]

@@SI-ln6tc Certainly not in any measurable numbers. There may have been the odd Hebrew trader, tourist, or servant. But the enslavement of the entire Hebrew nation in Egypt is patently false.

[@korlentalo3876]

@@SI-ln6tc Do you really expect to find evidence of a pastoral people group from 3000 or more years ago.

[@Remember_GULAG-holocaust]

Good argumend he's got! No question about it 🎉🎉🎉🎉 7:25

[@jordanwhatley8312]

The part at about 9 mins about the difference in Judaism and Israelite religion reminds me of going from a pantheon to a a full blown religion in Civilization

[@BackwardAssassin]

@16:12 Having studied the history of the levant myself (albeit at an amateur level), I have to agree with Dr. Maeir that the possibility of Atenism influencing Jewish Monotheism is a *hard* sell with the time gap before Jewish Monotheism actually emerges. However, there are certain similarities that are almost impossible to ignore. There's the "Hymn to the Aten" that's very similar to psalm 104, and most important there's the Iconoclastic element of Atenism. At some point during his rain Akhenaten prohibited any *graven image* of the Aten. And I cant find any other ancient religion prior to Judaism with that prohibition. Even the wikipedia page on Iconoclasm lists only Atenism and Judaism as the two oldest instances of the phenomenon. Hell, the reason for Iconoclasm makes more sense in Atenism than Judaism, because *you can't even look directly at the sun without damaging your eyes!* And then there's the Osarseph legend written by the greek historian Manetho in the early 3rd century BCE, I say legend but he intended it as history, of a renegade priest of Osiris who attempted to ban the worship of all other egyptian gods. The story also says that Orsarseph allied with the Canaanite Shasu nomads. Orsarseph and his allies are then driven out by Amenophis and his son Rameses. It's not really accurate as history, but scholars have noted parallels in the story between multiple real events. There's the expulsion of the Hyksos (who were canaanites) by Ahmose I, who went on to found the 18th dynasty. Ahmose's father Seqenenre Tao died in battle with the Hyksos. And the other parallel is Akhenaten and his religious reforms just a few generations later. The pharaoh's who succeeded Akhenaten did everything they could to eradicate the memory of Akhenaten's reign. They omitted him from future written records and kings lists, tore down his temples, and removed his name from all the monuments they could get their hands on. But it is very *very* plausible to me that these events were still remembered years later albeit in a distorted form, perhaps as a sort of oral folklore. Is it a coincidence that the (arguably) oldest occurrence of the name Yahweh was in an inscription made in the reign of Amenhotep III, Akhenaten's father, where it mentions the "Shasu of YHW?" Now maybe the Shasu had some involvement in Akhenaten's late Amarna period or maybe they didn't. But the ideas floating around could have had some impact, even if they didn’t take root on the large scale until much later.

[@ipeeinmysinkimafraidtocome7127]

?

[@SI-ln6tc]

@@LM-qv7cy No evidence Jews ever in Egypt.

[@elliegotfredson3712]

Enjoyed - thanks. I like that Dr. Maeir admits there are lots of theories, not just the one he adheres to. Remember when Jacob/Israel disinherited his 3 oldest sons for murdering the Philistines and keeping instruments of torture in their houses? (King James) Well, how did the line of Levi become the line of priests when their own father cursed them on his death bed? Anyone else ever think about that problem?

[@davycrockett1112]

The birthright and priesthood were two different things. Jacob could decide the birthright whereas the priesthood was chosen by God. Also we dont have definite opinion from God on their actions.

[@boxerfencer]

@@davycrockett1112 as far as the Levites, inheritance and priesthood are the one and the same. Deuteronomy 18:1-2 ESV 18 “The Levitical priests, all the tribe of Levi, shall have no portion or inheritance with Israel. They shall eat the Lord’s food offerings as their inheritance. 2 They shall have no inheritance among their brothers; the Lord is their inheritance, as he promised them ...

[@davycrockett1112]

@@boxerfencer sure after the priesthood was established, but that's not we are talking about. We are talking about their father Levi himself and the original bestowing of the priesthood on him. These are 2 different points

[@boxerfencer]

@@davycrockett1112 if we're to assume a historical Levite patriarch from which the Levite priest class descended , and the storyline being historically accurate, and each generation inheriting from the prior, then yes the two are indeed related. And that's exactly what the OP is talking about. In ancient cultures, occupations were inherited. Sons apprenticed alongside their fathers. Disinhereting a son would undermine a son being able to practice his father's occupation, and so the OP justly points out a discontinuity in the storyline, which wouldnt be the first time this happens. And I don't recall why, but we do have some priestly classes in late antiquity questioning the legitimacy of rival priestly classes. I'm sure it more complicated, but it establishes the question of inheritance and legitimacy as being well establashed.

[@davycrockett1112]

@@boxerfencer no the OP is not strictly historical question, it's also a theological question which why I said what I said. You can't subtract that from equation if you are going to evaluate the situation honestly. I addressed that factor and you are not And even from historical point, whether from a priest figure or diety are often made for exceptions to the rules or traditions. Also Jacob wasn't a priest, so it wasn't his occupational inheritance to pass on in the first place

[@johnnygroc1]

What is it ment by Iron age?

[@bking17383]

Monotheism found, circa 3200 bc. Essay, "a man and his God." Available at Oxford University online translation of Sumerian.

[@talonshadows4587]

Abram was Sumerian before he became Abraham of the Israelites. So of course he would take the stories and legends of his homeland.