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

Video Description

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. Check out our new store! https://teespring.com/stores/the-history-shop Get your Sea Peoples | Late Bronze Age Merch below! Mugs: https://teespring.com/new-sea-peoples-mediterranean?pid=658&cid=102950 Hoodies | Shirts | Tank Tops: https://teespring.com/get-sea-peoples-mediterranean?pid=212&cid=5819 Get your Hittite Merch below! Mugs: https://teespring.com/HittiteEmpireMug?pid=658&cid=102950&sid=front Shirts | Tank Tops | Hoodies: https://teespring.com/hittite-empire-shirt?pid=2&cid=2397 Trojan War Merch Below! Mugs: https://teespring.com/trojan-war-coffee-mug?pid=658&cid=102950 Tank Tops | Shirts | Hoodies: https://teespring.com/TrojanWarShirt?pid=2&cid=2397 Support Dr. Maeir and his work at these links! Academia : https://biu.academia.edu/AMaeir YouTube Channel : https://www.youtube.com/user/arenmaeir The Tell es-Safi/Gath Archaeological Project Official (and Unofficial) Weblog : https://gath.wordpress.com/ To support the channel, become a Patron and make history matter! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/The_Study_of_Antiquity_and_the_Middle_Ages Donate directly to PayPal: https://paypal.me/NickBarksdale Check out our newly opened store! https://teespring.com/stores/the-history-shop Get your SPQR Face Masks today! https://spqr-emporium.com/collections/face-masks?aff=3 Enjoy history merchandise? Check out affiliate link to SPQR Emporium! http://spqr-emporium.com?aff=3 *Dislaimer, the link above is an affiliate link which means we will earn a generous commission from your magnificent purchase, just another way to help out the channel! Join our community! Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/THESTUDYOFANTIQUITYANDTHEMIDDLEAGES/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/NickBarksdale Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/study_of_antiquity_middle_ages/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/164050034145170/ Attribution for video footage relating to the Philistines goes to the YouTube Channel of Dr. Aren Maeir.