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! ====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|22β24}}<ref name="CooganSmith"/><ref name="MarkSSmith2002"/> [[Baal]] was the god of storm, rain, vegetation and fertility,<ref name="Day"/>{{rp|68β127}} while his consort [[Anat]] was the goddess of war<ref name="Day"/>{{rp|131, 137β139}} and [[Astarte]], the [[West Semitic languages|West Semitic]] equivalent to [[Ishtar]], was the goddess of love.<ref name="Day"/>{{rp|146β149}} 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|13β17}} 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|22β24}} 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|229β233}} 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}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page