Deity Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Ancient Near Eastern=== {{main|Religions of the ancient Near East}} ====Egyptian==== {{Main|Ancient Egyptian deities|Egyptian mythology|Ancient Egyptian religion}} [[File:La Tombe de Horemheb cropped.jpg|thumb|Egyptian tomb painting showing the gods [[Osiris]], [[Anubis]], and [[Horus]], who are among the major deities in ancient Egyptian religion<ref name="Pinch"/>]] [[Ancient Egypt]]ian culture revered numerous deities. Egyptian records and inscriptions list the names of many whose nature is unknown and make vague references to other unnamed deities.<ref name="Wilkinson1"/>{{rp|73}} [[Egyptology|Egyptologist]] [[James Peter Allen|James P. Allen]] estimates that more than 1,400 deities are named in Egyptian texts,<ref name="Allen">{{cite journal|last1=Allen|first1=James P.|author-link=James Peter Allen|title=Monotheism: The Egyptian Roots|journal=Archaeology Odyssey|date=Jul–Aug 1999|volume=2|issue=3|pages=44–54, 59}}</ref> whereas Christian Leitz offers an estimate of "thousands upon thousands" of Egyptian deities.<ref name="Johnston"/>{{rp|393–394}} Their terms for deities were ''nṯr'' (god), and feminine ''nṯrt'' (goddess);<ref name="Baines"/>{{rp|42}} however, these terms may also have applied to any being – spirits and deceased human beings, but not demons – who in some way were outside the sphere of everyday life.<ref name="Assmann"/>{{rp|216}}<ref name="Baines"/>{{rp|62}} Egyptian deities typically had an associated cult, role and mythologies.<ref name="Assmann"/>{{rp|7–8, 83}} Around 200 deities are prominent in the [[Pyramid Texts|Pyramid texts]] and ancient temples of Egypt, many [[Zoomorphism|zoomorphic]]. Among these, were ''Min'' (fertility god), ''Neith'' (creator goddess), ''Anubis'', ''Atum'', ''Bes'', ''Horus'', ''Isis'', ''Ra'', ''Meretseger'', ''Nut'', ''Osiris'', ''Shu'', ''Sia'' and ''Thoth''.<ref name="Pinch"/>{{rp|11–12}} Most Egyptian deities represented natural phenomenon, physical objects or social aspects of life, as hidden immanent forces within these phenomena.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Allen|first1=James P.|title=Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs|date=2001|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0-521-77483-3|pages=43–45}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Dunand|first1=Françoise|last2=Zivie-Coche|first2=Christiane|author-link=Françoise Dunand|last3=Lorton|first3=David|title=Gods and Men in Egypt: 3000 BCE to 395 CE|date=2004|publisher=Cornell University Press|location=Ithaca, NY|isbn=978-0-8014-8853-5|page=26}}</ref> The deity ''Shu'', for example represented air; the goddess ''Meretseger'' represented parts of the earth, and the god ''Sia'' represented the abstract powers of perception.<ref name="Hart"/>{{rp|91, 147}} Deities such as ''Ra'' and ''Osiris'' were associated with the judgement of the dead and their care during the afterlife.<ref name="Pinch"/>{{rp|26–28}} Major gods often had multiple roles and were involved in multiple phenomena.<ref name="Hart"/>{{rp|85–86}} The first written evidence of deities are from early 3rd millennium BCE, likely emerging from prehistoric beliefs.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Wilkinson|first1=Toby A.H.|title=Early dynastic Egypt|date=1999|publisher=Routledge|location=New York|isbn=978-0-415-18633-9|pages=261–262|edition=1st}}</ref> However, deities became systematized and sophisticated after the formation of an Egyptian state under the [[Pharaoh]]s and their treatment as [[sacred king]]s who had exclusive rights to interact with the gods, in the later part of the 3rd millennium BCE.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Traunecker|first1=Claude|last2=Lorton|first2=David|title=The Gods of Egypt|date=2001|publisher=Cornell University Press|location=Ithaca, NY|isbn=978-0-8014-3834-9|page=[https://archive.org/details/godsofegypt00trau/page/29 29]|edition=1st|url=https://archive.org/details/godsofegypt00trau/page/29}}</ref><ref name="Wilkinson1"/>{{rp|12–15}} Through the early centuries of the common era, as Egyptians interacted and traded with neighboring cultures, foreign deities were adopted and venerated.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Shafer|first1=Byron E.|last2=Baines|first2=John|last3=Lesko|first3=Leonard H.|last4=Silverman|first4=David P.|title=Religion in Ancient Egypt: Gods, Myths, and Personal Practice |date=1991|publisher=Cornell University Press|location=Ithaca, NY|isbn=978-0-8014-9786-5|page=58}}</ref><ref name="Johnston"/>{{rp|160}} ====Levantine==== [[File:Zeus Yahweh.jpg|thumb|A 4th century BC [[Yehud coinage|drachm]] (quarter [[shekel]]) coin from the [[Persia]]n province of [[Yehud Medinata]], possibly representing Yahweh seated on a winged and wheeled sun-throne]] {{main|Ancient Canaanite religion|Origins of Judaism|Ancient Semitic religion|Yahweh|Second Temple Judaism|History of ancient Israel and Judah}} The ancient [[Canaanites]] were polytheists who believed in a pantheon of deities,<ref name="Day">{{cite book|last=Day|first=John|date=2002|orig-year=2000|title=Yahweh and the Gods and Goddesses of Canaan|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=2xadCgAAQBAJ}} |location=Sheffield, England|publisher=Sheffield Academic Press|isbn=978-0-8264-6830-7}}</ref><ref name="CooganSmith">{{cite book|last1 = Coogan|first1 = Michael D.|last2 = Smith|first2 = Mark S.|title = Stories from Ancient Canaan|publisher = Presbyterian Publishing Corp|year = 2012|url = {{google books |plainurl=y |id=G49SJI183IkC}}|isbn = 978-90-5356-503-2|page=8|edition = 2nd}}</ref><ref name="MarkSSmith2002">{{cite book|last = Smith|first = Mark S.|year = 2002|author-link = Mark S. Smith|title = The Early History of God: Yahweh and the Other Deities in Ancient Israel|publisher = Eerdmans|url = {{google books |plainurl=y |id=1yM3AuBh4AsC|page=28}}|edition = 2nd|isbn = 978-0-8028-3972-5}}</ref> the chief of whom was the god [[El (deity)|El]], who ruled alongside his consort [[Asherah]] and their [[Sons of God|seventy sons]].<ref name="Day"/>{{rp|22–24}}<ref name="CooganSmith"/><ref name="MarkSSmith2002"/> [[Baal]] was the god of storm, rain, vegetation and fertility,<ref name="Day"/>{{rp|68–127}} while his consort [[Anat]] was the goddess of war<ref name="Day"/>{{rp|131, 137–139}} and [[Astarte]], the [[West Semitic languages|West Semitic]] equivalent to [[Ishtar]], was the goddess of love.<ref name="Day"/>{{rp|146–149}} The people of the [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Kingdoms of Israel]] and [[Kingdom of Judah|Judah]] originally believed in these deities,<ref name="Day"/><ref name="MarkSSmith2002"/><ref>{{cite book|last = Albertz|first = Rainer|title = A History of Israelite Religion, Volume I: From the Beginnings to the End of the Monarchy|publisher = Westminster John Knox|year = 1994|url = {{google books |plainurl=y |id=yvZUWbTftSgC|page=89}}|page=61|isbn = 978-0-664-22719-7}}</ref> alongside their own [[national god]] Yahweh.<ref>{{cite book|last = Miller|first = Patrick D|author-link = Patrick D. Miller|title = A History of Ancient Israel and Judah|publisher = Westminster John Knox Press|year = 1986|url = {{google books |plainurl=y |id=uDijjc_D5P0C|page=110}}|isbn = 978-0-664-21262-9|page=110}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last = Grabbe|first = Lester L. |title = An Introduction to Second Temple Judaism|publisher = A&C Black|year = 2010|url = {{google books |plainurl=y |id=i89-9fdNUcAC}}|isbn = 978-0-567-55248-8|page=184}}</ref> El later became [[syncretism|syncretized]] with [[Yahweh]], who took over El's role as the head of the pantheon,<ref name="Day"/>{{rp|13–17}} with Asherah as his divine consort<ref name="Niehr"/>{{rp|45}}<ref name="Day"/>{{rp|146}} and the "sons of El" as his offspring.<ref name="Day"/>{{rp|22–24}} During the later years of the [[Kingdom of Judah]], a [[Monolatry|monolatristic]] faction rose to power insisting that only Yahweh was fit to be worshipped by the people of Judah.<ref name="Day"/>{{rp|229–233}} Monolatry became enforced during the reforms of [[Josiah|King Josiah]] in 621 BCE.<ref name="Day"/>{{rp|229}} Finally, during the national crisis of the [[Babylonian captivity]], some [[Ioudaios|Judahites]] began to teach that deities aside from Yahweh were not just unfit to be worshipped, but did not exist.<ref>{{cite book|last = Betz|first = Arnold Gottfried|chapter = Monotheism|editor1-last = Freedman|editor1-first = David Noel|editor2-last = Myer|editor2-first = Allen C.|title = Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible|publisher = Eerdmans|year = 2000|chapter-url = {{google books |plainurl=y |id=qRtUqxkB7wkC|page=917=bible%20monotheism%20Betz}}|isbn = 978-90-5356-503-2|page=917}}</ref><ref name="Owen"/>{{rp|4}} The "sons of El" were demoted from deities to [[Angels in Judaism|angels]].<ref name="Day"/>{{rp|22}} ====Mesopotamian==== {{multiple image | align = right | direction = horizontal | header = | total_width = 450 <!-- Image 1 -->| image1 = Seal of Inanna, 2350-2150 BCE.jpg | alt1 = | caption1 = Akkadian [[cylinder seal]] impression showing [[Inanna]], the Sumerian goddess of love, sex, and war <!-- Image 2 -->| image2 = Wall relief depicting the God Ashur (Assur) from Nimrud..JPG | alt2 = | caption2 = Wall relief of the Assyrian [[national god]] Aššur in a "winged male" hybrid iconography }} {{Main|List of Mesopotamian deities|Ancient Mesopotamian religion|Sumerian religion}} Ancient [[Mesopotamia|Mesopotamian culture]] in southern [[Iraq]] had numerous ''[[dingir]]'' (deities, gods and goddesses).<ref name="OBrien2"/>{{rp|69–74}}<ref name="Encyclopedia of Linguistics"/> Mesopotamian deities were almost exclusively anthropomorphic.<ref name="Black">{{cite book|last1=Black|first1=Jeremy|last2=Green|first2=Anthony|last3=Rickards|first3=Tessa|title=Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia: An Illustrated Dictionary|date=1998|publisher=British Museum Press|location=London|isbn=978-0-7141-1705-8|edition=2nd|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=05LXAAAAMAAJ&q=Inana|access-date=16 October 2020|archive-date=20 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201120094829/https://books.google.com/books?id=05LXAAAAMAAJ&q=Inana|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|93}}<ref name="OBrien2"/>{{rp|69–74}}<ref>{{cite book|last1=Masson|first1=Vadim Mikhaĭlovich|title=Altyn-Depe|date=1988|publisher=University Museum, University of Pennsylvania|location=Philadelphia|isbn=978-0-934718-54-7|pages=77–78|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QQMzQ_k3ty0C|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en|archive-date=15 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170215081839/https://books.google.com/books?id=QQMzQ_k3ty0C|url-status=live}}</ref> They were thought to possess extraordinary powers<ref name="Black"/>{{rp|93}} and were often envisioned as being of tremendous physical size.<ref name="Black"/>{{rp|93}} They were generally immortal,<ref name="Black"/>{{rp|93}} but a few of them, particularly [[Dumuzid the Shepherd|Dumuzid]], [[Geshtinanna]], and [[Gugalanna]] were said to have either died or visited the underworld.<ref name="Black"/>{{rp|93}} Both male and female deities were widely venerated.<ref name="Black"/>{{rp|93}} In the Sumerian pantheon, deities had multiple functions, which included presiding over procreation, rains, irrigation, agriculture, destiny, and justice.<ref name="OBrien2"/>{{rp|69–74}} The gods were fed, clothed, entertained, and worshipped to prevent natural catastrophes as well as to prevent social chaos such as pillaging, rape, or atrocities.<ref name="OBrien2"/>{{rp|69–74}}<ref name="Nemet"/>{{rp|186}}<ref name="Black"/>{{rp|93}} Many of the Sumerian deities were [[Tutelary deity|patron guardians]] of [[city-state]]s.<ref name="Nemet">{{cite book|last1=Nemet-Nejat|first1=Karen Rhea|author-link=Karen Rhea Nemet-Nejat|title=Daily Life in Ancient Mesopotamia|date=1998|publisher=Greenwood Press|location=Westport, CN|isbn=978-0-313-29497-6|page=[https://archive.org/details/dailylifeinancie00neme/page/179 179]|url=https://archive.org/details/dailylifeinancie00neme/page/179}}</ref> The most important deities in the Sumerian pantheon were known as the [[Anunnaki]],<ref name="Kramer1963">{{cite book|last1=Kramer|first1=Samuel Noah|title=The Sumerians: Their History, Culture, and Character|url=https://archive.org/details/sumerianstheirhi00samu|url-access=registration|date=1963|publisher=University of Chicago Press|location=Chicago|isbn=978-0-226-45238-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/sumerianstheirhi00samu/page/122 122–123]}}</ref> and included deities known as the "seven gods who decree": [[Anu|An]], [[Enlil]], [[Enki]], [[Ninhursag]], [[Sin (mythology)|Nanna]], [[Utu]] and [[Inanna]].<ref name="Kramer1963"/> After the conquest of Sumer by [[Sargon of Akkad]], many Sumerian deities were [[syncretism|syncretized]] with [[East Semitic]] ones.<ref name="Nemet"/> The goddess Inanna, syncretized with the East Semitic Ishtar, became popular,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Leick|first1=Gwendolyn|author-link=Gwendolyn Leick|title=A Dictionary of Ancient Near Eastern Mythology|date=1998|publisher=Routledge|location=London|isbn=978-0-415-19811-0|page=87|edition=1st|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=c52EAgAAQBAJ|page=91}}|access-date=22 January 2018}}</ref><ref name="Wolkstein"/>{{rp|xviii, xv}}<ref name="Nemet"/>{{rp|182}}<ref name="Black"/>{{rp|106–09}} with temples across Mesopotamia.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Harris|first1=Rivkah|title=Inanna-Ishtar as Paradox and a Coincidence of Opposites|journal=History of Religions|date=February 1991|volume=30|issue=3|pages=261–78|doi=10.1086/463228|s2cid=162322517}}</ref><ref name="Black"/>{{rp|106–09}} The Mesopotamian mythology of the first millennium BCE treated [[Anshar|Anšar]] (later [[Ashur (god)|Aššur]]) and [[Kishar|Kišar]] as primordial deities.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/listofdeities/anarandkiar/ |title=Ancient Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses – Anšar and Kišar (god and goddess) |publisher=Oracc |access-date=6 June 2017 |archive-date=16 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181116000951/http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/listofdeities/anarandkiar/ |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Marduk]] was a significant god among the Babylonians. He rose from an obscure deity of the third millennium BCE to become one of the most important deities in the Mesopotamian pantheon of the first millennium BCE. The Babylonians worshipped Marduk as creator of heaven, earth and humankind, and as their [[national god]].<ref name="OBrien2"/>{{rp|62, 73}}<ref>{{cite book|last1=Leeming|first1=David|title=The Oxford Companion to World Mythology|date=2005|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-028888-4|pages=122–124|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=iPrhBwAAQBAJ|page=122}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref> Marduk's iconography is zoomorphic and is most often found in Middle Eastern archaeological remains depicted as a "snake-dragon" or a "human-animal hybrid".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/listofdeities/marduk/ |title=Ancient Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses – Marduk (god) |publisher=Oracc |access-date=6 June 2017 |archive-date=26 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161126050252/http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/listofdeities/marduk/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="VDT"/><ref>{{cite book|last1=Bienkowski|first1=Piotr|last2=Millard|first2=Alan|title=Dictionary of the ancient Near East|date=2000|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|location=Philadelphia, PA|isbn=978-0-8122-2115-2|page=246|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=V9QrPMN1C4EC}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. 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