Gods Goddesses And Images Of God In Ancient Israel

Author : Othmar Keel
Publisher : Augsburg Fortress Publishing
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 488 pages
Book Rating : 4.49/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Gods, Goddesses, and Images of God in Ancient Israel written by Othmar Keel and published by Augsburg Fortress Publishing. This book was released on 1998 with total page 488 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Keel and Uehlinger's unique study brings the massive Palestinian archaeological evidence of 8,500 amulets and inscriptions to bear on these questions. Vindicating the use of symbols and visual remains to investigate ancient religion, the authors employ iconographic evidence from around 1750 B.C.E. through the Persian period (c. 333 B.C.E.) to reconstruct the emergence and development of the Yahweh cult in relation to its immediate neighbors and competitors. They also fully explore whether female characteristics were present in the early Yahweh figure and how they might have evolved in Israelite religion. Keel and Uehlinger's major study marks the maturation of iconographical studies and affords an exciting glimpse into the vibrant religious life of ancient Canaan and Israel.

Author : Mark S. Smith
Publisher : Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN 13 : 9780802839725
Total Pages : 300 pages
Book Rating : 4.2X/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Early History of God written by Mark S. Smith and published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. This book was released on 2002-08-03 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There is still much disagreement over the origins and development of Israelite religion. Mark Smith sets himself the task of reconstructing the cult of Yahweh, the most important deity in Israel's early religion, and tracing the transformation of that deity into the sole god - the development of monotheism.

Author : Collin Cornell
Publisher : Penn State Press
ISBN 13 : 1646020936
Total Pages : 279 pages
Book Rating : 4.35/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Divine Doppelgängers written by Collin Cornell and published by Penn State Press. This book was released on 2021-05-18 with total page 279 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Bible says that YHWH alone is God and that there is none like him—but texts and artwork from antiquity show that many gods looked very similar. In this volume, scholars of the Hebrew Bible and its historical contexts address the problem of YHWH’s ancient look-alikes, providing recommendations for how Jews and Christians can think theologically about this challenge. Sooner or later, whether in a religion class or a seminary course, students bump up against the fact that God—the biblical God—was one among other, comparable gods. The ancient world was full of gods, including great gods of conquering empires, dynastic gods of petty kingdoms, goddesses of fertility, and personal spirit guardians. And in various ways, these gods look like the biblical God. Like the God of the Bible, they, too, controlled the fates of nations, chose kings, bestowed fecundity and blessing, and cared for their individual human charges. They spoke and acted. They experienced wrath and delight. They inspired praise. All of this leaves Jews and Christians in a bind: how can they confess that the God named YHWH was (and is) the true and living God, in view of this God’s profound similarities to all these others? The essays in this volume address the theological challenge these parallels create, providing reflections on how Jews and Christians can keep faith in YHWH as God while acknowledging the reality of YHWH’s divine doppelgängers. It will be welcomed by undergraduates studying religion; seminarians and graduate students of Bible, theology, and the ancient world; and adult education classes.

Author : Patrick D. Miller
Publisher : Westminster John Knox Press
ISBN 13 : 9780664221454
Total Pages : 378 pages
Book Rating : 4.59/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Religion of Ancient Israel written by Patrick D. Miller and published by Westminster John Knox Press. This book was released on 2000-01-01 with total page 378 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The historical and literary questions about ancient Israel that traditionally have preoccupied biblical scholars have often overlooked the social realities of life experienced by the vast majority of the population of ancient Israel. Volumes in the Library of Ancient Israel draw on multiple disciplines -- such as archaeology, anthropology, sociology, and literary criticism -- to illumine the everyday realities and social subtleties these ancient cultures experienced. This series employs sophisticated methods resulting in original contributions that depict the reality of the people behind the Hebrew Bible and interprets these scholarly insights for a wide variety of readers. Individually and collectively, these books will expand our vision of the culture and society of ancient Israel, thereby generating new appreciation for its impact up to the present.Patrick Miller investigates the role religion played in an expanding circle of influences in ancient Israel: the family, village, tribe, and nation-state. He situates Israel's religion in context where a variety of social forces affected beliefs, and where popular cults openly competed with the "official" religion. Miller makes extensive use of both epigraphic and artefactual evidence as he deftly probes the complexities of Iron Age culture and society and their enduring significance for people today.

Author : John Day
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN 13 : 0567537838
Total Pages : 289 pages
Book Rating : 4.36/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Yahweh and the Gods and Goddesses of Canaan written by John Day and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2010-06-15 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This masterly book is the climax of over twenty-five years of study of the impact of Canaanite religion and mythology on ancient Israel and the Old Testament. It is John Day's magnum opus in which he sets forth all his main arguments and conclusions on the subject. The work considers in detail the relationship between Yahweh and the various gods and goddesses of Canaan, including the leading gods El and Baal, the great goddesses (Asherah, Astarte and Anat), astral deities (Sun, Moon and Lucifer), and underworld deities (Mot, Resheph, Molech and the Rephaim). Day assesses both what Yahwism assimilated from these deities and what it came to reject. More generally he discusses the impact of Canaanite polytheism on ancient Israel and how monotheism was eventually achieved.

Author : Othmar Keel
Publisher : Burns & Oates
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 224 pages
Book Rating : 4.51/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Goddesses and Trees, New Moon and Yahweh written by Othmar Keel and published by Burns & Oates. This book was released on 1998 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first study in this volume considers the cults of goddesses dedicated to trees and the Earth in the Near East before the Deuteronomistic reform. The 2nd study c onsiders the cult of the moon and its surprising survival in the Hebrew canon. '

Author : Benjamin D. Sommer
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1139477781
Total Pages : 351 pages
Book Rating : 4.89/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Bodies of God and the World of Ancient Israel written by Benjamin D. Sommer and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2009-06-29 with total page 351 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sommer utilizes a lost ancient Near Eastern perception of divinity according to which a god has more than one body and fluid, unbounded selves. Though the dominant strains of biblical religion rejected it, a monotheistic version of this theological intuition is found in some biblical texts. Later Jewish and Christian thinkers inherited this ancient way of thinking; ideas such as the sefirot in Kabbalah and the trinity in Christianity represent a late version of this theology. This book forces us to rethink the distinction between monotheism and polytheism, as this notion of divine fluidity is found in both polytheistic cultures (Babylonia, Assyria, Canaan) and monotheistic ones (biblical religion, Jewish mysticism, Christianity), whereas it is absent in some polytheistic cultures (classical Greece). The Bodies of God and the World of Ancient Israel has important repercussions not only for biblical scholarship and comparative religion but for Jewish-Christian dialogue.

Author : Bob Becking
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN 13 : 0567232123
Total Pages : 232 pages
Book Rating : 4.20/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Only One God? written by Bob Becking and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2002-02-01 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The view of ancient Israelite religion as monotheistic has long been traditional in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, religions that have elaborated in their own way the biblical image of a single male deity. But recent archaeological findings of texts and images from the Iron Age kingdoms of Israel and Judah and their neighbourhood offer a quite different impression. Two issues in particular raised by these are the existence of a female consort, Asherah, and the implication for monotheism; and the proliferation of pictorial representations that may contradict the biblical ban on images. Was the religion of ancient Israel really as the Bible would have us believe? This volume provides a comprehensive introduction to these issues, presenting the relevant inscriptions and discussing their possible impact for Israelite monotheism, the role of women in the cult, and biblical theology.

Author : Dvora Lederman-Daniely
Publisher : Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN 13 : 1725298902
Total Pages : 74 pages
Book Rating : 4.03/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Sarai written by Dvora Lederman-Daniely and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2021-06-29 with total page 74 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Who was the mother goddess of the ancient religion of Israel, the spouse of the god Yahweh? Archaeological and literary-biblical studies refer to her as "Asherah," yet, they cannot explain why this name is not mentioned in the book of Genesis, a book that portrays the formation of Israel's religion. In this groundbreaking book, Dvora Lederman-Daniely provides an answer to this enigmatic question. Based on meticulous research she argues the goddess's name does appear in the book of Genesis but it is concealed within the name of the first human matriarch of the people of Israel: Sarai. Deciphering and identifying the forgotten and censored name of the divine spouse of Yahweh opens the door to a revolutionary understanding of the relationship between Yahweh and the people of Israel, as perceived during the formation of the Hebrew people. Moreover, biblical images and metaphors are stripped back and their outrageous mythological content is laid bare. Through careful argument Lederman-Daniely excavates the very origins of Jewish customs and decrees exposing how they embody the ancient worship of a goddess who was Yahweh's spouse.

Author : Douglas R. Frayne
Publisher : Penn State Press
ISBN 13 : 1646021290
Total Pages : 443 pages
Book Rating : 4.91/5 ( download)

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Download or read book A Handbook of Gods and Goddesses of the Ancient Near East written by Douglas R. Frayne and published by Penn State Press. This book was released on 2021-02-12 with total page 443 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the tragic young Adonis to Zašhapuna, first among goddesses, this handbook provides the most complete information available on deities from the cultures and religions of the ancient Near East, including Anatolia, Syria, Israel, Sumer, Babylonia, Assyria, and Elam. The result of nearly fifteen years of research, this handbook is more expansive and covers a wider range of sources and civilizations than any previous reference works on the topic. Arranged alphabetically, the entries range from multiple pages of information to a single line—sometimes all that we know about a given deity. Where possible, each record discusses the deity’s symbolism and imagery, connecting it to the myths, rituals, and festivals described in ancient sources. Many of the entries are accompanied by illustrations that aid in understanding the iconography, and they all include references to texts in which the god or goddess is mentioned. Appropriate for both trained scholars and nonacademic readers, this book collects centuries of Near Eastern mythology into one volume. It will be an especially valuable resource for anyone interested in Assyriology, ancient religion, and the ancient Near East.