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Yahwism is the name given by modern scholars to the religion of ancient Israel and Judah. [1] An ancient Semitic religion of the Iron Age, Yahwism was essentially polytheistic and had a pantheon, with various gods and goddesses being worshipped by the Israelites. [2]
These practices were influenced by the polytheistic beliefs of the surrounding ethnicities, and were denounced by the prophets. [ 81 ] [ 82 ] [ page needed ] [ 83 ] In addition to the Temple in Jerusalem , there was public worship practised all over Israel and Judah in shrines and sanctuaries, outdoors, and close to city gates.
The religions of the ancient Near East were mostly polytheistic, with some examples of monolatry (for example, Yahwism and Atenism).Some scholars believe that the similarities between these religions indicate that the religions are related, a belief known as patternism.
The core of the book lies in chapters 5, "Archaeological Evidence for Folk Religions in Ancient Israel", 6 "The Goddess Asherah and Her Cult", and 7 "Asherah, Women's Cults, and 'Official Yahwism '". These chapters describe polytheistic religion in ancient Israel, which, Dever points out, was the reality in the religious lives of most people.
In the ancient Near East, magic was generally believed to exist, [12] although the Israelites viewed magic as being malign in origin and were forbidden from it. The Ten Commandments have been interpreted by some as evidence that the Israelites originally practiced monolatry.
Canaanite religions were polytheistic and in some cases monolatristic. They were influenced by neighboring cultures, particularly ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian religious practices. The pantheon was headed by the god El and his consort Asherah, with other significant deities including Baal, Anat, Astarte, and Mot.
Judaism is traditionally considered one of the oldest monotheistic religions in the world, [156] although up to the 8th century BCE the Israelites were polytheistic, with their worship including the gods El, Baal, Asherah, and Astarte. [157] [158] Yahweh was originally the national god of the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah. [159]
The Israelites were named after their ancestor, Jacob/Israel, who was the grandson of Abraham. They were organized into 12 tribes: Reuben , Simeon , Levi , Judah , Dan , Naphtali , Gad , Asher , Issachar , Zebulun , Joseph (or Tribe of Ephraim and Tribe of Manasseh ) and Benjamin .