Jewish People with DNA at least 13,200 years old, Judaism, and the Origins of Some of its Ideas

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Baltic Reindeer Hunters: Swiderian, Lyngby, Ahrensburgian, and Krasnosillya cultures 12,020 to 11,020 years ago are evidence of powerful migratory waves during the last 13,000 years and a genetic link to Saami and the Finno-Ugric peoples.

Archaeology shows both the common culture and genetics of the earliest Indo-Europeans in Europe were forming from the 8,000-6,020 years ago, due to migration of the Western Baltic Mesolithic population linked with Poland. Scandinavian Hunter-Gatherers: mix of Western and Eastern Hunter-Gatherers beginning around 13,000 years ago.

Baltic Reindeer Hunters: Swiderian, Lyngby, Ahrensburgian, and Krasnosillya cultures 12,020 to 11,020 years ago are evidence of powerful migratory waves during the last 13,000 years and a genetic link to Saami and the Finno-Ugric peoples. Two Different Bone Point Phases: fine-barbed 11,200–10,100 years ago and larger-barbed 9,658–8,413 years ago.

• Epi-gravettian
• Magdalenian
• Swiderian culture
• Hamburgian
• Creswellian

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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“The shaman is, above all, a connecting figure, bridging several worlds for his people, traveling between this world, the underworld, and the heavens. He transforms himself into an animal and talks with ghosts, the dead, the deities, and the ancestors. He dies and revives. He brings back knowledge from the shadow realm, thus linking his people to the spirits and places which were once mythically accessible to all.–anthropologist Barbara Meyerhoff” ref

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Jewish People with DNA at least 13,200 years old, Judaism, and the Origins of Some of its Ideas

“G1a1a1-L1324, formed 13.200 years ago and is found among Ashkenazi Jews.“

• G1-M342, formed 26.000 years ago, TMRCA 18,600 years ago, has its highest concentrations in Iran, most are in the Near East, South Asia, Central Asia, and East Asia.
• G1a-CTS11562, formed 18600 years ago, TMRCA 14800 years ago.
• G1a1-BY1124/GG353.
• G1a1a-Z3353, arose 14,600 years ago .
• G1a1a1-L1324, formed 13.200 years ago and is found among Ashkenazi Jews, Bulgarians, Kazakhs, Mongols, Kuwaitis.
• G1a1a2-GG362/Z3189, arose 13.200 years ago Slovakia, Germany, Turkey, India (Gujaratis), n.e. Europe (Ashkenazi Jews), Kazakhs, Argyn, Iran, Arabia.
• G1a1a1a1-L201, Ashkenazi Jews of Europa, Arose probably 5,000 years ago.
• G1a1a1a1a~FGC39025, Ashkenazi Jews of Europa, Arose probably 5,000 years ago.
• G1a1a1a1b-Z45735, Ashkenazi Jews of Europa, Arose probably 5,000 years ago.
• G1b1a-Z18606, Ashkenazi Jews of Europa, 5.000 years ago.

“Haplogroup G descends from macro-haplogroup F, which is thought to represent the second major migration of Homo sapiens out of Africa, at least 60,000 years ago. While the earlier migration of haplogroups C and D had followed the coasts of South Asia as far as Oceania and the Far East, haplogroup F penetrated through the Arabian peninsula and settled in the Middle East. Its main branch, macro-haplogroup IJK would become the ancestor of 80% of modern Eurasian people. Haplogroup G formed approximately 50,000 years ago as a side lineage of haplogroup IJK, but seems to have had a slow start, evolving in isolation for tens of thousands of years, possibly in the Near East, cut off from the wave of colonisation of Eurasia.” ref

“As of late 2016, there were 303 mutations (SNPs) defining haplogroup G, confirming that this paternal lineage experienced a severe bottleneck before splitting into haplogroups G1 and G2. G1 might have originated around modern Iran at the start of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), some 26,000 years ago. Haplogroup G1 is found predominantly in Iran, but is also found in the Levant, among Ashkenazi Jews, and in Central Asia (notably in Kazakhstan). G2 would have developed around the same time in West Asia. At that time humans would all have been hunter-gatherers, and in most cases living in small nomadic or semi-nomadic tribes. Members of haplogroup G2 appear to have been closely linked to the development of early agriculture in the Fertile Crescent part, starting 11,500 years before present.” ref

“The G2a branch expanded to Anatolia, the Caucasus and Europe, while G2b diffused from Iran across the Fertile Crescent and east to Pakistan. It is now found mostly among Lebanese and Jewish people, but also at low frequency in the Arabian peninsula, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Nowadays haplogroup G is found all the way from Western Europe and Northwest Africa to Central Asia, India and East Africa, although everywhere at low frequencies (generally between 1 and 10% of the population). The only exceptions are the Caucasus region, central and southern Italy and Sardinia, where frequencies typically range from 15% to 30% of male lineages.” ref

“The overwhelming majority of Europeans belong to the G2a subclade, and most northern and western Europeans fall more specifically within G2a-L140 (or to a lower extend G2a-M406). Almost all G2b (L72+, formerly G2c) found in Europe are Ashkenazi Jews. G2b is found from the Middle East to Pakistan, and is almost certainly an offshoot of Neolithic farmers from western Iran, where G2b was identified in a 9,250 year-old sample by Broushaki et al. (2016).” ref

“G2a makes up 5 to 10% of the population of Mediterranean Europe, but is relatively rare in northern Europe. The only regions where haplogroup G2 exceeds 10% of the population in Europe are in Cantabria in northern Spain, in northern Portugal, in central and southern Italy (especially in the Apennines), in Sardinia, in northern Greece (Thessaly), in Crete, and among the Gagauzes of Moldova – all mountainous and relatively isolated regions. Other regions with frequencies approaching the 10% include Asturias in northern Spain, Auvergne in central France, Switzerland, Sicily, the Aegean Islands, and Cyprus.” ref

“The highest genetic diversity within haplogroup G is found in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent, between the Levant and the Caucasus, which is a good indicator of its region of origin. It is thought that early Neolithic farmers expanded from northern Mesopotamia westwards to Anatolia and Europe, eastwards to South Asia, and southwards to the Arabian peninsula and North and East Africa. So far, the only G2a people negative for subclades downstream of P15 or L149.1 were found exclusively in the South Caucasus region. The testing of Neolithic remains in various parts of Europe has confirmed that haplogroup G2a was the dominant lineages of Neolithic farmers and herders who migrated from Anatolia to Europe between 9,000 and 6,000 years ago.” ref

“Cereal and legume farming first developed 11,500 years ago in the Fertile Crescent, in what is now Israel/Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, but did not expand much beyond this region for the first two and a half millennia. The reason for this delay was that early agriculture was too rudimentary to allow an independent subsistence and was merely a way of supplementing the diet of hunter-gatherers. Cultivation started with wheat, figs and legumes. The domestication of wheat and barley was a lengthy process that necessitated the selection of cultivars that possess mutations for larger, less brittle and nonshattering spikes. The flood plains of Mesopotamia were ideal for primitive cereal farming as they did not require irrigation.” ref

“Pottery first appears in the Near East approximately 9,000 years ago in northern Mesopotamia. The development of pottery seems to coincide with the sudden expansion of G2a agriculturalists toward western Anatolia and Europe. Pottery allowed easy storing of cereals and legumes and could have facilitated trade with neighboring ovicaprid and cattle herders, and pig farmers. Goats and sheep had first been domesticated some 11,000 years ago in the Zagros and Taurus mountains on the northern edge of the Fertile Crescent, but were not introduced to the Levant until approximately 8,500 years ago (see The development of goat and sheep herding during the Levantine Neolithic, A. Wasse, pp. 26-27), just after the appearance pottery.” ref

“The Neolithic settlement of Çatalhöyük in south-central Anatolia was founded by cereal and pulse farmers who also brought domesticated goats and sheep. Only a few centuries later (c. 6500 BCE) were cattle introduced to Çatalhöyük and other sites in Central Anatolia, presumably by trading with their eastern neighbours. Also around 8,500 years ago, G2a Neolithic farmers arrived in northwest Anatolia and Thessaly in central Greece, as attested by the ancient genomes sequenced by Mathieson et al. (2015) and Hofmanová et al. (2015).” ref

“G2a farmers from the Thessalian Neolithic quickly expanded across the Balkans and the Danubian basin, reaching Serbia, Hungary and Romania by 5800 BCE, Germany by 5500 BCE, and Belgium and northern France by 5200 BCE. Ancient skeletons from the Starčevo–Kőrös–Criș culture (6000-4500 BCE) in Hungary and Croatia, and the Linear Pottery culture (5500-4500 BCE) in Hungary and Germany, all confirmed that G2a (both G2a2a and G2a2b) remained the principal paternal lineage even after farmers intermingled with indigenous populations as they advanced. Freilich et al. (2021) analysed seven samples from the Middle Neolithic Sopot culture in northeastern Croatia, three of which belonged to G2a (two G-PF3147 and one G-U1>L13>Z2022).” ref

“By 7,800 years ago, farmers making cardial pottery arrived at the Marmara coast in northwest Anatolia with ovicaprids and pigs. These people crossed the Aegean by boat and colonized the Italian peninsula, the Illyrian coast, southern France and Iberia, where they established the Cardium Pottery culture (5000-1500 BCE). Once again, ancient DNA yielded a majority of G2a samples in the Cardium Pottery culture, with G2a frequencies above 80% (against 50% in Central and Southeast Europe).” ref

“Nevertheless, substantial minorities of other haplogroups have been found on different Neolithic sites next to a G2a majority, including C1a2, H2, I*, I2a1, I2c, and J2a in Anatolia, C1a2, E-M78, H2, I*, I1, I2a, I2a1, J2 and T1a in Southeast and Central Europe (Starčevo, Sopot, LBK), as well as E-V13, H2, I2a1, I2a2a1 and R1b-V88 in western Europe (Cardium Pottery, Megalithic). H2 and T1a were found in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic Levant and are undeniably linked to the early development of agriculture alongside G2a. That being said, C1a2 was also found in Mesolithic Spain (Olalde et al. 2014) and, as it is an extremely old lineage associated with the first Paleolithic Europeans, it could have been found all over Europe and Anatolia before the Neolithic.” ref

“E1b1b was also found in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic Levant, but the subclades may not be E-M78 or E-V13 (more likely E1b1b1* or E-M123). R1b-V88 surely spread from the Near East too, although through a different route, with cattle herders via North Africa, then crossing over to Iberia. The rest probably represent assimilated hunter-gatherers descended from Mesolithic western Anatolian (I*, I2c, J2) and Europeans (E-V13, I*, I1, I2a, I2a1, I2a2). It is interesting to note that many of these lineages, such as C1a2, H2 and I* are virtually extinct anywhere nowadays, and several others are now very rare in Europe (I2c, R1b-V88).” ref

“The distribution map of all G2a subclades does not impart just how thoroughly Proto-Indo-Europeans eliminated G2a lineages in the northern half of Europe because Proto-Indo-Europeans also carried one type of G2a that was assimilated around the Pontic Steppe. These G2a lineages that were Indo-Europeanised before the great migrations belonged to deep clades of G2a-L140 such as L13 and Z1816 (see below). Nowadays, the Neolithic clades of G2a are found especially in Anatolia, the southern Balkans, the Apennines, central France, and in the Pyrennees. They only represent a tiny fraction of all the G2a in the northern half of Europe, where the Indo-European G2a clades are dominant.” ref

“G2a people may have been among the first humans to have acquired the alleles for fair skin. A hunter-gatherer from northern Spain tested by Olalde et al. 2014 still had dark skinned as recently as 7,000 years ago. In contrast, Early Neolithic farmers from the Balkans and Germany already possessed the alleles for fair skin found in modern Europeans. It is still unclear exactly when and among which haplogroup fair skin arose, but it has been suggested that the new diet brought by cereral agriculture would have caused deficiencies in vitamin D, which was traditionally absorbed from fish and meat among foragers. Mutations for light skin would have been positively selected among Neolithic agriculturalists to stimulate the production of vitamin D from sunlight in order to compensate for the scarcity of meat.” ref

Indo-European branches of G2a

“Contrarily to other branches of G2a, which are more prevalent in mountainous areas, some subclades of G2a-L140 are found uniformly throughout Europe, even in Scandinavia and Russia, where Neolithic farmers had only a minor impact. More importantly, G2a-L140 and its subclades are also found in the Caucasus, Central Asia and throughout India, especially among the upper castes, who represent the descendants of the Bronze Age Indo-European invaders. The combined presence of G2a-L140 across Europe and India is a very strong argument in favour of an Indo-European dispersal. However L140 itself emerged over 11,000 years ago, at the onset of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic is far too old to be Indo-European. It is only certain deeper subclades that would have made their way to the Pontic-Caspian Steppe and been absorbed by the Steppe herders before the Yamna period, and would have been redistributed around Europe and Asia by the Indo-European migrations.” ref

“We should therefore look for subclades that expanded from the Early Bronze Age and are dispersed from northern Europe to Central and South Asia. The best candidates are:

• L1264, which is found in the North Caucasus, in Baltic, Slavic and Germanic countries as well as in Central Asia and India. It was formed 8,000 years ago, but has a TMRCA of only 4,500 years. It would have propagated with haplogroup R1a (Proto-Balto-Slavic and Proto-Indo-Iranian branches).
• L13 came into existence 10,500 years ago, but present carriers all descend from a common ancestors who lived only 5,000 years ago, which corresponds to the Yamna period. Despite its young age, it is found throughout Europe, including Russia, as well as in Central Asia, Iran, the Caucasus, and the Levant. This branch would have spread both with haplogroups R1a and R1b.
• Z1816, which is found throughout Western and Central Europe, and especially in Germanic countries. Its coalescence age was estimated around 4,500 years by Yfull, but its L42 subclade was found in a Trypillian outlier individual who lived between 4,900 and 5,600 years ago. This branch might have been assimilated by Proto-Indo-Europeans through contact with the Late Trypillian people who moved to the Pontic Steppe and merged with Yamna tribes. It would later have spread around Germanic and Celtic countries alongside haplogroup R1b.” ref

“The homeland of R1b1a1a2 (M269) and Pre-Proto-Indo-European speakers is presumed to have been situated in eastern Anatolia and/or the North Caucasus. The Caucasus itself is a hotspot of haplogroup G. Therefore, it is entirely conceivable that a minority of Caucasian men belonging to haplogroup G (and perhaps also J2b) integrated the R1b community that crossed the Caucasus and established themselves on the northern and eastern shores of the Black Sea sometime between 7,000 and 4,500 BCE.” ref

“An alternative theory is that G2a-L140 came from Anatolia to eastern and Central Europe during the Neolithic (a fact proven by ancient DNA test). Once in Southeast Europe men belonging to the U1 branch founded the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture (with men of other haplogroups, notably I2a1b-L621) around modern Moldova. The Cucuteni-Trypillian people traded actively with the neighbouring with the Steppe cultures, and from 3500 BCE, at the onset of the Yamna period in the Pontic-Caspian Steppe, the Cucuteni-Trypillian people started expanding east into the steppe of what is now western Ukraine, leaving their towns (the largest in the world at the time), and adopting an increasingly nomadic lifestyle like their Yamna neighbours. By the time the Proto-Indo-Europeans started their massive expansion, G2a-U1 men belonging to the L13 and L1264 subclades would have joined R1b and R1a tribes in the invasion of Europe, then of Central and South Asia.” ref

Kura-Araxes branches of G2a

“Around the same time as the Indo-European ethnogenesis was taking shape in the Pontic Steppe during the Maykop (3700-3000 BCE) and Yamna (3500-2300 BCE) cultures, another Early Bronze Age society was developping on the other side of the Caucasus: the Kura-Araxes culture (3400-2000 BCE). Although the Kura-Araxes people were less militaristic and more sedentary, they also underwent a major expansion, first west to Anatolia, south to the Fertile Crescent and east toward the Iranian plateau, possibly all the way to Pakistan, where they would have influenced the Indus Valley Civilisation. It is likely that the descendants of the Kura-Araxes culture eventually colonised Greek islands, including Crete, where they would have founded the Minoan Civilisation (2600-1100 BCE), Europe’s oldest civilisation. Minoan remains included G2a-P303>pre-L140 (PF3337+, L140-) and J2a1a-L26>Y7010>Y13128>Z36834.” ref

“Based on the modern phylogeny, Kura-Araxes people are thought to have belonged primarily to Y-DNA haplogroups J2a1 (the largest lineage), J1a2-Z1828, T1a-P77, G2a1 (L293, aka FGC7535 or Z6552), G2a2b1a (M406) and L1b. Other minor haplogroups may have been present too, including the now rare R1b1a-L388, which was identified in one Kura-Araxes individual by Lazaridis et al. (2016). During the Classical Antiquity ancient Greek islanders, who were descended in great part from the Minoans, colonised southern Italy, bringing their Kura-Araxes lineages with them.” ref

“The oldest known G-L293 sample is a Neolithic man from western Iran. Nowadays, G-L293 is the most common G2a clade in the central and northern Caucasus, peaking at 64% of the population in North Ossetia. The Kura-Araxes culture expanded from the South Caucasus, where L293 is considerably lower (1% in Armenia and eastern Turkey). It is nevertheless found at low frequencies across Turkey, northwest Iran, northern Iraq, Syria and Lebanon (i.e. the further extent of the Kura-Araxes culture proper), but also in Bulgaria, Romania, Greece, southern Italy (especially in Sicily) and Corsica. L293 is conspicuously absent from Sardinia and the northern half of Italy, which excludes both a Neolithic and an Indo-European origin.” ref

“G-M406 reaches its maximum frequency (18%) among the Chamalal people in Southwestern Dagestan, but is otherwise more common in Georgia (3%), Armenia (2%), Iran (0.5-2.5%) and Turkey (3-6%) than in the Caucasus itself. It is found at low frequencies in the Levant, and as far south as Egypt and Yemen. In Europe, M406 is most common in Greece (2%), including Crete (2.5%), as well as in Italy (3%), and particularly Sicily (4%). Neither G-L293 nor G-M406 have been identified among the hundreds of Neolithic European individuals tested, which is in agreement with a later Bronze Age dispersal from the South Caucasus.” ref

Scythian G1

“Like G2b, haplogroup G1 (M342) is found across the Middle East as well as in South and Central Asia. During the Neolithic period, whereasa G2a men migrated west across Anatolia to Europe, their G1 cousins migrated east to the Iranian plateau and India. Within Europe, G1 is mostly confined to Romania, Moldova, western Ukraine, eastern Poland, Belarus and Lithuania, with a few samples in central and south Germany. This distribution is reminiscent of R1a-Z93, the Indo-Iranian branch of R1a. Central Asia became a merging zone for southern G1 and J2 lineages with northern R1a lineages during the Bronze and Iron Ages. New hybrid peoples were formed, like the Scythians, who once controlled an empire ranging from northern Pakistan to Xinjiang and to Ukraine. Lineages like R1a-Z93, R1b-Z2103, G1, J2b and Q1b could all have been brought to Europe by the Scythians, Sarmatians and other historical Steppe tribes.” ref

“Three of the main maternal lineages thought to have evolved conjointly with Y-haplogroup G2 are mt-haplogroups N1a1a, W1 and X, all minor lineages with roots in the Middle East. Interestingly, N1a, W (aka N2b) and X are directly descended from the very old haplogroup N*, rather than from the more recent macro-haplogroup R (the ancestor of HV, JT and UK, representing 90% of European mtDNA lineages). The long bottleneck evolution of N1a and X mirror that of Y-haplogroup G2. These haplogroups are called Basal Eurasian.” ref

“Like G2a none have been found in the Neolithic Levant, but all of them were found in the predominantly G2a populations of Early Neolithic Anatolia and Europe. Of the 40 mtDNA samples from Neolithic Anatolia tested to date, 11 belonged to N1a1a, three to X2 and one to W1. Two others belonged to N1b1a, an even rare lineage today, but closely related to N1a. Nearly half of the mtDNA lineages and slightly over half of Y-DNA lineages in Neolithic Anatolia were therefore Basal Eurasian.” ref

“Furthermore, both N1a1a and X2 were found at exceptionally high frequencies in Neolithic Europe compared with present time, N1a1a being found in 13% of samples from the Linear Pottery culture (LBK) and X2 generally ranging between 5% and 10% in various Neolithic cultures. Today, X2 is found in 1.5% of the European population and N1a1a is under 0.5%. The only modern population with high frequencies of mtDNA X are the Druzes, who also have over 10% of Y-haplogroup G. Nevertheless, N1a and X cannot be seen as being exclusively linked to Y-haplogroup G for the simple reason that the first Neolithic farmers from the Fertile Crescent were a compound of several male (and female) lineages, which also included Y-haplogroups E1b1b (at least M123), H2 and T1a (and perhaps minorities of J1 and J2).” ref

Animism, Totemism, Shamanism, and Paganism?

“But Damien, even though archeology may debunk somethings I believe 

archeology also has confirmed parts of the bible too.”

So, if we have errors in the bible then is it lies? Or something else inaccurate, thus an unreliable source for the seemingly “historical tangible facts how could one be certain of the claims of supernatural magic that are not tangible as what is offered as presumably facts are clearly not true? And as for the few things that are known mainly are after the time of the reported king David, but don’t be confused this bible is impregnated with errors and contradictions that should cause any honest thinker to question such an unreliable source (myth sprinkled with truths add in the myths believability through familiar references to its original audience) has added some things as is common in history produced mythic propaganda.

Animistic superstition origins of bible god?

El-Shaddai is the claimed original name of bible god Exodus 6:2 it occurs 48 times in the bible 42 of which in the patriarchal period, but which animistic mountain superstition is this god attributed to? Here are a few mountains/hills of bible god: Mount Zion-Psalms 132:13; Mount Sinai-Exodus 19; Mount Horeb-1 Kings 19:8; Mount Paran- Habakkuk 3:3; Mount Hor- Numbers 20:22-29. More animistic superstition origins of bible god as an earthquake: Judges 5:5 – mountains quaked at the presence of Yahweh; Isaiah 64:1- mountains might quake at Your presence; The earth trembled and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains shook; Psalm 18:7 – The earth trembled and quaked, and the mountains shook trembled because god was angry; Nahum 1:5-6 – Mountains quake because of god and the hills dissolve, who can endure god’s anger; Isaiah 64:3 You did awesome things which we did not expect, You came down, the mountains quaked at Your presence; Habakkuk 3:10 the mountains saw god and quaked. Here is a list of Bible verses that prove beyond all reasonable doubt god was a volcano will be regularly updated and re-circulated. The ‘God’ referred to here is Yahweh of the Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. If you would like to submit some verses for the collection then please add them as a comment. Ref

Did a Volcano Inspire the bible god?

Exodus 3:12 And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.” Exodus 13:21 By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light so that they could travel by day or night. Exodus 15:7 In the greatness of your majesty you threw down those who opposed you. You unleashed your burning anger; it consumed them like stubble. Exodus 19:18 Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the LORD descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled violently.

Exodus 24:17 To the Israelites the glory of the LORD looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain.

Exodus: 32:14 And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.

Exodus 40:38 So the cloud of the LORD was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the Israelites during all their travels.

Hebrews?

Hebrews is a term appearing 34 times within 32 verses of the Hebrew Bible. While the term was not an ethnonym, it is mostly taken as synonymous with the Semitic-speakingIsraelites, especially in the pre-monarchic period when they were still nomadic, but in some instances it may also be used in a wider sense, referring to the Phoenicians, or to other ancient groups, such as the group known as Shasu of Yhw on the eve of the Bronze Age collapse. By the Roman Empire, Greek Hebraios could refer to the Jews in general, as Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary puts it “any of the Jewish Nation” and at other times more specifically to the Jews living in Judea. In Early Christianity, the Greek term Ἑβραῖος refers to Jewish Christians as opposed to the gentile Christians and Judaizers (Acts 6:1 among others). Ἰουδαία is the province where the Temple was located. In Armenian, Italian, Modern Greek, Serbian, Bulgarian, Russian, Romanian, and a few other modern languages because of pejorative connotation of the word corresponding to the word Jew, “Hebrew” is in the primary word used for a Jew. The name corresponding for Hebrew is used also in the Kurdish and was once used also in French. With the revival of the Hebrew language and the emergence of the Hebrew Yishuv, the term has been applied to the people of this new society or anything associated with it.  The Hebrew language is a member of the larger group of Canaanite languages within Northwest Semitic. The language has been known as “Hebrew” in English since the 11th century, from Old French Ebreu, in turn from Latin Hebraeus and Greek Ἑβραῖος, whose alphabet is ultimately a loan from “Assyrian lettering” (Ktav Ashuri), the “square-script”, by Ezra the Scribe following the Babylonian Exile. Since the Hebrew Bible makes a point of marking the Canaanites as peoples set apart from the Israelites, the extent of the distinction between the culture of the Canaanites and the Israelites is a matter of debate. It has been argued that the Israelites were themselves Canaanites, and that “historical Israel”, as distinct from “literary” or “Biblical Israel” was a subset of Canaanite culture. It is also known that Israelites and later the subdivision of Israelites known as the Judeans spoke Hebrew as their main language and it is still used in Jewish holy scriptures, study, speech and prayer. The origin of the term remains uncertain. The Biblical term Ivri, meaning to traverse or pass over, is usually rendered as Hebrew in English, from the ancient Greek Ἑβραῖος and Latin Hebraeus. In the plural it is Ivrim, or Ibrim. In Genesis 10:21 Shem, the elder brother of Ham and Japheth, first-born son of Noah, is referred to as the father of the sons of Eber, which may have a similar meaning. Some authors argue that Ibri denotes the descendants of the biblical patriarch Eber , son of Shelah, a great grandson of Noah and an ancestor of Abraham, hence the occasional anglicization Eberites. The hieroglyphic rendering of the Egyptian word š³sw (Shasu) means “those who move on foot”. The name “Shasu of Yhw“, e.g., the name rings from Soleb and Amarah-West, corresponds very precisely to the Tetragrammaton in the Hebrew Bible. The demonym‘Israel’ can reasonably be referred to a Shasu enclave, and it can be concluded that the Shasu originated from Moab and northern Edom and eventually helped to constitute the nation of ‘Israel’ which later established the Kingdom of Israel. The Shasu are mostly depicted hieroglyphically with a determinative indicating rather a land than a people, referencing people of that particular land. Since the discovery of the second millennium inscriptions mentioning the Habiru, there have been many theories linking these to the Hebrews. Some scholars argue that the name “Hebrew” is related to the name of the seminomadic Habiru people, who are recorded in Egyptian inscriptions of the 13th and 12th centuries BCE as having settled in Egypt. This is rebutted by others who propose that the Hebrews are mentioned in older texts of the 3rd Intermediate Period of Egypt (15th century BCE) as Shasu of Yhw. Writing in 1989, Anson F. Rainey concluded that attempts to relate apiru (Habiru) to the Hebrew word ibri (Hebrews) were “wishful thinking.” The Jewish historian Josephus maintains that the Hyksos were in fact the children of Jacob who joined his son Joseph in Egypt to escape a famine in the land of Canaan. The Hyksos first appeared in Egypt during the Eleventh Dynasty. They came out of the second intermediate period in control of Avaris and the Nile delta and ruled Lower Egypt as Semite kings (Fifteenth Dynasty). Kamose, the last king of the Theban 17th Dynasty, refers to the Hyksos King Apophis as a Chieftain of Retjenu (Canaan). At the end of the Seventeenth Dynasty of Egypt, they were expelled by an ethnic Egyptian pharaoh. The term “Hyksos” derives from the Egyptian expression heka khasewet (“rulers of foreign lands”). Josephus records the false etymology that the Greek phrase Hyksos stood for the Egyptian phrase Hekw Shasu meaning the Shepherd Kings, which scholars have only recently shown means “rulers of foreign lands.” In the Hebrew Bible, the term “Hebrew” is normally used by Israelites when speaking of themselves to foreigners, or is used by foreigners when speaking about Israelites. In fact, the Torah in parashat Lekh Lekha (“go!” or “leave!”, literally “go for you”) calls Abraham Avram Ha-Ivri (“Abram the Hebrew”), which translates literally as “Abram the one who stands on the other side.”^{[Gen. 14:13]} Israelites are defined as the descendants of Jacob, son of Isaac, grandson of Abraham. Eber, an ancestor of Jacob (seven generations removed), is a distant ancestor of many people, including the Israelites, Ishmaelites, Edomites, Moabites, Ammonites, Midianites and Qahtanites. According to the Jewish Encyclopedia the terms “Hebrews” and “Israelites” usually describe the same people, stating that they were called Hebrews before the conquest of the Land of Canaan and Israelites afterwards. Professor Nadav Na’aman and others say that the use of the word “Hebrew” to refer to Israelites is rare and when used it is used “to Israelites in exceptional and precarious situations, such as migrants or slaves.” Beginning in the late 19th century, the term “Hebrew” became popular among secular Zionists; in this context, the word alluded to the transformation of the Jews into a strong, independent, self-confident secular national group (“the New Jew”) sought by classical Zionism. This use died out after the establishment of the state of Israel when “Hebrew” was replaced with “Jew” or “Israeli”. Ref

Archaeology Disproves the-bible

It starts with provable lies why trust it? Where did the Jewish people come from genetically helps deconstruct the bible falsehoods more accurately? The Bible having a some random unamazingly facts start after the time of the claimed King David before that we enter the complete fantasy portion of the bible so yes the entire beginning of the bible is mythical, not historical and that removes original sin as that shit never happened, neither did a fluid nor any Exodus or a mountain with any ten commandments. All the beginning stories of the bible are discredited. DNA shows that sometime around 4,000 years ago, the Kurds and the Ashkenazi Jews shared a common ancestor who lived in the Lake Van region (mount Ararat: Turkey). About 80% of modern Jews have Ashkenazi ancestry, according to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Albert Einstein was an Ashkenazi Jew, as were Gertrude Stein and Carl Sagan. Steven Spielberg and Scarlett Johansson are also Ashkenazi Jews, along with three current members of the U.S. Supreme Court (Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan) when ancient people split off from the ancestors of today’s Middle Easterners more than 20,000 years ago, with a founding group of about 3,500 to 3,900 people, according to the study. The founding they are referring to is Jews were found to be more closely related to groups in the north of the Fertile Crescent (Kurds, Turks, and Armenians: think of the ancestor in Turkey) than to their Arab neighbors. Ref, Ref

Israeli-Jewish identity?

We claim that Zionism as a meta-narrative has been formed through contradiction to two alternative models, the Canaanite and crusader narratives. These narratives are the most daring and heretical assaults on Israeli-Jewish identity, which is umbilically connected to Zionism. The Israelis, according to the Canaanite narrative, are from this place and belong only here; according to the crusader narrative, they are from another place and belong there. On the one hand, the mythological construction of Zionism as a modern crusade describes Israel as a Western colonial enterprise planted in the heart of the East and alien to the area, its logic, and its peoples, whose end must be degeneration and defeat. On the other hand, the nativist construction of Israel as neo-Canaanism, which defined the nation in purely geographical terms as an imagined native community, demands breaking away from the chain of historical continuity. Those are the two greatest anxieties that Zionism and Israel needed to encounter and answer forcefully. The Origins of Israeli Mythology seeks to examine the intellectual archaeology of Israeli mythology, as it reveals itself through the Canaanite and crusader narratives. Ref

The Birth and Evolution of Judaism: The Pre-Mosaic Stage (around 1950-1300 BCE/3,950-3,300 years ago)

Info from “The Hebrews: A Learning Module from Washington State University, by Richard Hooker”

Little or nothing can be known for certain about the nature of Hebrew worship before the migration from Egypt. In Hebrew history, Abraham is already worshipping a figure called “Elohim,” which is the plural for “lord.” This figure is also called “El Shaddai” (“God the Mountaineer (?),” translated as “God Almighty”), and a couple other variants. The name of God, Yahweh, isn’t learned by the Hebrews until Moses hears the name spoken by God on Mount Sinai. This god requires animal sacrifices and regular expiation. He intrudes on human life with astonishing suddenness, and often demands absurd acts from humans. The proper human relationship to this god is obedience, and the early history of humanity is a history of humans oscillating between obedience to this god and autonomy. This god is anthropomorphic: he has human qualities. He is frequently angered and seems to have some sort of human body. In addition, the god worshipped by Abraham and his descendants is the creator god, that is, the god solely responsible for the creation of the universe. The god of Genesis is bisexual: he/she is often referred to in female as well as male terms. For instance, this god is represented frequently as “mothering” or “giving birth through labor pains” to the world and humans (these passages are universally mistranslated in English as “fathering”—this god is only referred to as a “father” twice in Genesis ). In Genesis , Elohim or El Shaddai functions as a primitive law-giver; after the Flood, this god gives to Noah those primitive laws which apply to all human beings, the so-called Noahide Laws. Nothing of the sophistication and comprehensive of the Mosaic laws is evident in the early history of the human relationship to Yahweh as outlined in Genesis. Scholars have wracked their brains trying to figure out what conclusions might be drawn about this human history. In general, they believe that the portrait of Hebrew religion in Genesis is an inaccurate one. They conclude instead that Hebrew monolatry and monotheism began with the Yahweh cult introduced, according to Exodus, in the migration from Egypt between 1300 and 1200 BC. The text of Genesis in their view is an attempt to legitimate the occupation of Palestine by asserting a covenantal relationship between Yahweh and the Hebrews that had been established far in the distant past. All these conclusions are brilliant but tentative, for we’ll never know for sure much of anything substantial about Hebrew history and religion during the age of the patriarchs or the sojourn in Egypt. Nevertheless, scholars draw on the text of Genesis to conclude the following controversial ideas about early Hebrew religion: Early Hebrew religion was polytheistic; the curious plural form of the name of God, Elohim rather than El, leads them to believe that the original Hebrew religion involved several gods. This plural form, however, can be explained as a “royal” plural. Several other aspects of the account of Hebrew religion in Genesis also imply a polytheistic faith. The earliest Hebrew religion was animistic, that is, the Hebrews seemed worship forces of nature that dwelled in natural objects. As a result, much of early Hebrew religion had a number of practices that fall into the category of magic: scapegoat sacrifice and various forms of imitative magic, all of which are preserved in the text of Genesis. Early Hebrew religion eventually became anthropomorphic, that is, god or the gods took human forms; in later Hebrew religion, Yahweh becomes a figure that transcends the human and material worlds. Individual tribes probably worshipped different gods; there is no evidence in Genesis that anything like a national God existed in the time of the patriarchs. The most profound revolution in Hebrew thought, though, occurred in the migration from Egypt, and its great innovator was Moses. In the epic events surrounding the flight from Egypt and the settling of the promised land, Hebrew religion became permanently and irrevocably, the Mosaic religion. Ref

Practices and Rituals of Judaism

Provide information on practices and rituals of Judaism.  Where do they come from?  What are some of the reasons given for some of the rituals?  Do all Jews follow all these practices and rituals?  Give specific examples. This was a both interesting as well as informative religion to learn and investigate due to its close ties to my personal religion of Christianity since parts of the Jewish Bible parts are parts in my Christian bible. Practices and rituals of Judaism come from Jewish law or halakhah, meaning “the path one walks” which governs not just religious life, but the daily life of all practicing Jews.  Jewish law is a construction made up of the divine mitzvot, meaning commandments, Although the word is sometimes used more broadly to refer to rabbinic (Talmudic) law or general good deeds in its strictest sense it refers to the divine commandments given by God in the Torah. Which is the book of Jewish secret writings known as the Jewish Bible parts of which are known to Christians as the old testament? There are over 600 commandments he found in the Torah. Here is a link to all 613 as compiled by the important Jewish philosopher Maimonides (Religion Facts, 2007). Ref One practice of Judaism that is the greatest observed and understood by non-Jews is the Jewish Dietary Laws on keeping food Kosher. “One of the most well-known Jewish religious practices is that of eating kosher foods. The laws of kashrut (Jewish dietary laws) may be puzzling or meaningless to the outsider, but they have held great meaning for the Jewish people throughout their history. Not only are they an opportunity for obedience to God, they also strongly contribute to Jewish unity and identity” (Religion Facts, 2007). Another widely known practice of Judaism is circumcision. “Boys are ritually circumcised when they are eight days old, to honor the seal of Gods commandment to Abraham” (Fisher, 2002). A lot of the reasons for the practices and rituals of Judaism could be described as designed to be in obedience to God. This is because to be a follower of Judaism is to be in a living covenant with their god and creator. In the thinking of Judaism followers, there is no difference between sacred and secular life. Practices of Judaism stem all aspects of life from things like land ownership to civil, family and criminal laws and procedures to diet, marital sex, Sabbath, holidays and memorials. Like Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Hanukkah, Tu B’shvat, Purim, Pesach or Passover, Shavuot, and Tisha Be-Av (Fisher, 2002). Orthodox and traditional jews are strict followers and have strong practices that require strict devotion. Were as liberal are less stringent in there following every law and Hasidic jews are mainly concerned by the intensity of praying (Fisher, 2002). Ref

References: Fisher, M. P. (2002). Living religions. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Comparison of Atenism and Ancient Judaism

Perhaps the most obvious similarity between the two is the worship of one single deity. In both instances, this deity had no physical form, but instead was an ethereal consciousness that dwelt on a higher plane than that of humanity. Several scholars have said that there are too many coincidental similarities between these two religious to be accidental. Their most common argument consists of the similarities above, plus a comparison between a hymn to the Aten (usually ascribed to Ankenaten) and Psalm 104 from the Hebrew Bible. But is there really a connection? There were Hebrews living in Egypt at the time of Ankenaten’s reign. 1Ki 18:22-24 Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even  I only, remain a prophet of the LORD ieue-Yahweh; but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men. And call ye on the name of your gods (alei·km – Elohim-of·you, and I will call on the name of the LORD: and the God (e·aleim – the·Elohim) that an swereth by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken.

Jesus and Judaism?

When one compares Shabbat 31a and Matthew 7:12, they seem similar, however, one references in the negative and the other references in the positive. “What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor: that is the whole Torah; all the rest of it is commentary; go and learn” – (Rabbi Hillel, Talmud, Shabbat 31a). This reference is in the negative for it is meant to be sarcastic due to the nature of the event and person who is being instructed. The person being instructed is a prospective convert to Judaism who is asking Rabbi Hillel to teach him the whole Torah while he stood on one leg. Understanding the dynamics involved, it is not hard to decipher the reasoning for the negative connotation. One could even possibly reference it to a rebuke directly referring to the prospective convert. In other words, thinking critically, he is saying to the prospective convert, would you like someone to come and mock your faith by standing on one leg and asking to thus be converted? Therefore, leave and do not mock or do things to others that you would not like done to you. On the other hand, the reference by Jesus is positive. He is instructing a loving following on how to act. They are to act and live in a just way as demonstrated by verse Matthew 7:12. By doing this they are not only living just, they are also following Jesus’ interpretation of the Golden Rule that sums up as well as fulfills the Laws of Moses. Also, it teaches the Prophets’ philosophies into an easily remembered and understandable doctrine to live by. “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 7:12 New International Version, Study Bible). “Much has been made of the Talmudic story (Shabbat 31a) in which Hillel, when asked by a prospective convert to Judaism to teach him the whole Torah while he stood on one leg, replied: That which is hateful unto you do not do to your neighbor. This is the whole of the Torah. The rest is commentary. Go forth and study.  Theologians, Jewish and non-Jewish, have compared this version of the Golden Rule, stated in negative form, with that of Jesus, in the positive form” (Jacobs, 2006). I believe the supposition that the negative is meant to be sarcastic due to the nature of the event and person who is being instructed. The following quote clearly outlines the temperament one must clearly understand why the negative is a highly appropriate arrangement to this verse’s compilation. It is a direct reference to who the quote is for and is more than being the proper literal way one should doctrinally apply this understanding to one’s life. “Hillel and Shammai Two influential Pharisaic leaders whose teachings are remembered in the rabbinic com­mentaries were Hillel and Shammai, who lived into the first decades of the first century ce. A famous anecdote illustrates the striking differences in temperament be­tween these two eminent Pharisees. It was said that a Gentile persistently besought Shammai, known for his aloof personality and strict interpretation of the Torah, to explain the essential meaning of the Law while the Gentile stood on one foot. Appalled that anyone could be simple enough to imagine that the profundities of the Mosaic revelation could be articulated in a single phrase, Shammai sent the Gentile packing. Undaunted, the Gentile then went to Hillel with the same question. Taking the man’s inquiry as sincere, Hillel is said to have replied: Do not do to your neighbor what is hateful to yourself. That is the entire Torah. All the rest is commentary. Although expressed negatively, Hillel’s concise summary of the Torah’s human significance antici­pates Jesus’ expression of the golden rule (Matt. 7:12). Despite his remembered disagreements with Phar­isees on how the Torah should be practiced, Jesus is known to have been on good terms with some of their number, dining at their homes and even benefiting from a friendly warning about a plot on his life (Luke 7:36 -50; 13:31-32). Matthew’s Gospel depicts Jesus as shar­ing the Pharisees’ view that the Law is eternally bind­ing (Matt. 5:17-19) and that they interpret it correctly (Matt. 23:2—3). On numerous matters of belief, Jesus and the Pharisees see eye to eye (Mark 11:18-26)” (Harris, 2007 p. 326). “Some commentators believe that Jesus’ main ob­jective was probably to discover and apply the essential precepts contained in the Mosaic tradition. Matthew’s version of the golden rule most succinctly expresses this view: His Jesus states that treating others as one would like to be treated by them encapsulates the essential bib­lical message, succinctly embodying the Law and the prophets (7:12; cf. Luke 6:31). Similarly, after reciting the Torah injunctions to love God and neighbor whole­heartedly, Jesus states, Everything in the Law and the prophets hangs on these two commandment” (Harris, 2007 p. 386 & 387). Jesus did not come to rewrite or change the Golden Rule but to arrange in the way it should have been minus the sarcasm. “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Matthew 5:17 New International Version, Study Bible). “What was spoken through the prophet. Jesus fulfilled the Law in the sense that he gave it its full meaning. He emphasized its deep, underlying principles and total commitment to it rather than mere external acknowledgement and obedience” (Barker, 2002 p. 1475 New International Version, Study Bible Concordance). “7:12 The so-called Golden Rule is found in negative form in Rabbinic Judaism and also in Hinduism, Buddhism and Confu­cianism. It occurred in various forms in Greek and Roman ethical teaching. Jesus stated it in positive form, in everything. Probably refers to the teaching of the entire Sermon up to this point, the Law and the Prophets” (Barker, 2002 p. 1479 New International Version, Study Bible Concordance). It is not a matter of Jesus copying from Judaism for the concept of a golden rule is an universal one. It simply delineates a concept of a just human being. The following is a list of all the different variations found throughout the differing faiths. Seeing them all listed together, one grasps how seemingly universal it is to treat others like you would want to be treated.

The Golden Rule in Not Spechal?

Baha’i Faith: “Lay not on any soul a load that you would not want to be laid upon you, and desire not for anyone the things you would not desire for yourself” –Bahu’u’llah

Buddhism: “Treat not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful” –Udana-Varga 5:18

Christianity: “In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law of the prophets” –Jesus in Matthew 7:12

Confucianism: “One word which sums up the basis of all good conduct…loving kindness. Do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself” –Confucius, Analects 15:23

Hinduism: ” This is the sum of duty: do not do to others what would cause pain if done to you” –Mahabharata 5:15-17

Humanism: “Try to embrace the moral principle known as the ‘Golden Rule’, otherwise known as the ethic of reciprocity, which means we believe that people should aim to treat each other as they would like to be treated themselves – with tolerance, consideration and compassion.” – Maria MacLachlan, Think Humanism

Islam: “Not one of you truly believes until you wish for others what you wish for yourself” –The Prophet Mohammad, Hadith

Jainism: “One should treat all creatures in the world as one would like to be treated” –Mahavira, Sutrakritanga

Judaism: “What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. This is the whole Torah: all the rest is commentary” –Hillel, Talmud, Shabbat 31a

Native American: “We are as much alive as we keep the earth alive” –Chief Dan George

Satanism: “Do unto others as they do unto you”; because if you “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” and they, in turn, treat you badly, it goes against human nature to continue to treat them with consideration. You should do unto others as you would have them do unto you, but if your courtesy is not returned, they should be treated with the wrath they deserve.” ― Anton Szandor LaVey, The Satanic Bible

Sikhism: “I am a stranger to no one, and no one is a stranger to me. Indeed, I am a friend to all” –Guru Granth Sahib, pg. 1299

Taoism: “Regard your neighbor’s gain as your own gain, and your neighbor’s loss as your own loss” –T’ai Shang Kan Yin P’ien 213-218

Unitarianism: “We affirm and promote respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part” –Unitarian Principle

Wicca: “An’ it harm none, do as thou wilt” –The Wiccan Reed

Zoroastrianism: “Do not do unto others whatever is injurious to yourself. –Shayast-na-Shayast 13:29

Valley Interfaith Council: “Diverse in Expression, United in Compassion. And Strengthened in Action” –VIC

(Kemp, 2003)

“Some commentators believe that Jesus’ main ob­jective was probably to discover and apply the essential precepts contained in the Mosaic tradition. Matthew’s version of the golden rule most succinctly expresses this view: His Jesus states that treating others as one would like to be treated by them encapsulates the essential bib­lical message, succinctly embodying the Law and the prophets (7:12; cf. Luke 6:31). Similarly, after reciting the Torah injunctions to love God and neighbor whole­heartedly, Jesus states, Everything in the Law and the prophets hangs on these two commandment” (Harris, 2007 p. 386 & 387). I personally hold to a positive interpretation since it is telling one to literally do positive things towards others. I know if the same verse was to be authored today as a motto to live by it most certainly would be written as a positive motivational phrase.

Reference:

Barker, K. L. (Ed.). (2002). New international version, study bible. Grand Rapids, MI.: Zondervan.

Harris, S. L. (2007). Understanding the bible (7^th Ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

http://www.myjewishlearning.com/texts/talmud/Gemara/Talmudic Thinking/Jacobs_Hillel.htm

http://home.pacbell.net/mjkemp/site%20-20flc/newsletters/pastorsdesk/TheGoldenRule.htm

No Golden Rule: it’s bronze at best 

True Morality Not the Golden Rule?

Aseret ha-Dibrot: The “Ten Commandments”

First, there are 613 commandments, not 10

The “Ten Commandments” are categories

The 10 are divided into duties to G-d and duties to people

Different religions divide the 10 in different ways

According to Jewish tradition, G-d gave the Jewish people 613 mitzvot (commandments). All 613 of those mitzvot are equally sacred, equally binding and equally the word of G-d. All of these mitzvot are treated as equally important, because of a beings, with our limited understanding of the universe, have no way of knowing which mitzvot are more important in the eyes of the Creator. Pirkei Avot, a book of the Mishnah, teaches “Be as meticulous in performing a ‘minor’ mitzvah as you are with a ‘major’ one because you don’t know what kind of reward you’ll get for various mitzvot.” It also says, “Run after the most ‘minor’ mitzvah as you would after the most ‘important’ and flee from transgression, because doing one mitzvah draws you into doing another, and doing one transgression draws you into doing another, and because the reward for a mitzvah is a mitzvah and the punishment for a transgression is a transgression.” In other words, every mitzvah is important, because even the most seemingly trivial mitzvot draw you into a pattern of leading your life in accordance with the Creator’s wishes, rather than in accordance with your own. But what about the so-called “Ten Commandments,” the words recorded in Exodus 20, the words that the Creator Himself wrote on the two stone tablets that Moses brought down from Mount Sinai (Ex. 31:18), which Moses smashed upon seeing the idolatry of the golden calf (Ex. 32:19)? In the Torah, these words are never referred to as the Ten Commandments. In the Torah, they are called Aseret ha-D’varim (Ex. 34:28, Deut. 4:13 and Deut. 10:4). In rabbinical texts, they are referred to as Aseret ha-Dibrot. The words d’varim and dibrot come from the Hebrew rootDalet-Beit-Reish, meaning word, speak or thing; thus, the phrase is accurately translated as the Ten Sayings, the Ten Statements, the Ten Declarations, the Ten Words or even the Ten Things, but not as the Ten Commandments, which would be Aseret ha-Mitzvot. The Aseret ha-Dibrot are not understood as individual mitzvot; rather, they are categories or classifications of mitzvot. Each of the 613 mitzvot can be subsumed under one of these ten categories, some in more obvious ways than others. For example, the mitzvah not to work on Shabbat rather obviously falls within the category of remembering the Sabbath day and keeping it holy. The mitzvah to fast on Yom Kippur fits into that category somewhat less obviously: all holidays are in some sense a Sabbath, and the category encompasses any mitzvah related to sacred time. The mitzvah not to stand aside while a person’s life is in danger fits somewhat obviously into the category against murder. It is not particularly obvious, however, that the mitzvah not to embarrass a person fits within the category against murder: it causes the blood to drain from your face thereby shedding blood.

List of the Aseret ha-Dibrot

According to Judaism, the Aseret ha-Dibrot identify the following ten categories of mitzvot. Other religions divide this passage differently. See The “Ten Commandments” Controversy below. Please remember that these are categories of the 613 mitzvot, which according to Jewish tradition are binding only upon Jews. The only mitzvot binding upon gentiles are the seven Noahic commandments. Belief in G-d This category is derived from the declaration in Ex. 20:2 beginning, “I am the L-rd, your G-d…” 2. Prohibition of Improper Worship This category is derived from Ex. 20:3-6, beginning, “You shall not have other gods…” It encompasses within it the prohibition against the worship of other gods as well as the prohibition of improper forms of worship of the one true G-d, such as worshiping G-d through an idol. 3. Prohibition of Oaths This category is derived from Ex. 20:7, beginning, “You shall not take the name of the L-rd your G-d in vain…” This includes prohibitions against perjury, breaking or delaying the performance of vows or promises, and speaking G-d’s name or swearing unnecessarily. 4. Observance of Sacred Times This category is derived from Ex. 20:8-11, beginning, “Remember the Sabbath day…” It encompasses all mitzvot related to Shabbat, holidays, or other sacred time. 5. Respect for Parents and Teachers This category is derived from Ex. 20:12, beginning, “Honor your father and mother…” 6. Prohibition of Physically Harming a Person This category is derived from Ex. 20:13, saying, “You shall not murder.” 7. Prohibition of Sexual Immorality This category is derived from Ex. 20:13, saying, “You shall not commit adultery.” 8. Prohibition of Theft This category is derived from Ex. 20:13, saying, “You shall not steal.” It includes within it both outright robbery as well as various forms of theft by deception and unethical business practices. It also includes kidnapping, which is essentially “stealing” a person. 9. Prohibition of Harming a Person through Speech This category is derived from Ex. 20:13, saying, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” It includes all forms of lashon ha-ra (sins relating to speech). 10. Prohibition of Coveting This category is derived from Ex. 20:14, beginning, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house…”

The Two Tablets: Duties to G-d and Duties to People

Judaism teaches that the first tablet, containing the first five declarations, identifies duties regarding our relationship with G-d, while the second tablet, containing the last five declarations, identifies duties regarding our relationship with other people. You may have noticed, however, that the fifth category, which is included in the first tablet, is the category to honor father and mother, which would seem to concern relationships between people. The rabbis teach that our parents are our creators and stand in a relationship to us akin to our relationship with the Divine. Throughout Jewish liturgy, the Creator is referred to as Avinu Malkeinu, our Father, our King. Disrespect to our biological creators is not merely an affront to them; it is also an insult to the Creator of the Universe. Accordingly, the honor of father and mother is included on the tablet of duties to G-d. These two tablets are parallel and equal: duties to G-d are not more important than duties to people, nor are duties to people more important than duties to G-d. However, if one must choose between fulfilling an obligation to G-d and fulfilling an obligation to a person, or if one must prioritize them, Judaism teaches that the obligation to a person should be fulfilled first. This principle is supported by the story in Genesis 18, where Abraham is communing with G-d and interrupts this meeting to fulfill the mitzvah of providing hospitality to strangers (the three men who appear). The Talmud gives another example, disapproving of a man who, engrossed in prayer, would ignore the cries of a drowning man. When forced to choose between our duties to a person and our duties to G-d, we must pursue our duties to the person, because the person needs our help, but G-d does not need our help.

The “Ten Commandments” Controversy?

In the United States, a controversy has persisted for many years regarding the placement of the “Ten Commandments” in public schools and public buildings. But one critical question seems to have escaped most of the public dialog on the subject: Whose “Ten Commandments” should we post? The general perception in this country is that the “Ten Commandments” are part of the common religious heritage of Judaism, Catholicism and Protestantism, part of the sacred scriptures that we all share, and should not be controversial. But most people involved in the debate seem to have missed the fact that these three religions divide up the commandments in different ways! Judaism, unlike Catholicism and Protestantism, considers “I am the L-rd, your G-d” to be the first “commandment.” Catholicism, unlike Judaism and Protestantism, considers coveting property to be separate from coveting a spouse. Protestantism, unlike Judaism and Catholicism, considers the prohibition against idolatry to be separate from the prohibition against worshipping other gods. No two religions agree on a single list. So whose list should we post? And once we decide on a list, what translation should we post? Should Judaism’s sixth declaration be rendered as “Thou shalt not kill” as in the popular KJV translation, or as “Thou shalt not murder,” which is a bit closer to the connotations of the original Hebrew though still not entirely accurate? These may seem like trivial differences to some, but they are serious issues to those of us who take these words seriously. When a government agency chooses one version over another, it implicitly chooses one religion over another, something that the First Amendment prohibits. This is the heart of the controversy. But there is an additional aspect of this controversy that is of concern from a Jewish perspective. In Talmudic times, the rabbis consciously made a decision to exclude daily recitation of the Aseret ha-Dibrot from the liturgy because the excessive emphasis on these statements might lead people to mistakenly believe that these were the only mitzvot or the most important mitzvot, and neglect the full 613 (Talmud Berakhot 12a). By posting these words prominently and referring to them as “The Ten Commandments,” (as if there weren’t any others, which is what many people think) schools and public buildings may be teaching a message that Judaism specifically and consciously rejected. Ref

The bible’s hidden link to Elam?

In Elamite Elam may mean “the lord-country,” but in Mesopotamian languages, it was understood as “The Heights.” The word Elam probably derives from the Elamite, relying on a popular etymology in Akkadian relating it to elû, “high.” In the 21st century B.C.E., the kings of the third dynasty of Ur in Mesopotamia annexed Elam, and Susa became a seat of Sumerian. God is going to set His throne in Elam. This is an astonishing verse! This is the only nation other than Israel, where God states He is going to set His throne! It is clear from many scriptures that God is going to set His throne in His Holy Temple in Jerusalem. It appears that this verse is indicating that God’s authority will be over Elam. In the Hebrew Bible (Genesis 10:22, Ezra 4:9;) is said to be one of the sons of Shem, the son of Noah. It is also used (as in Akkadian), for the ancient country of Elam in what is now southern Iran, whose people the Hebrews believed to be the offspring of Elam, son of Shem. This implies that the Elamites were considered Semites by the Hebrews. Elam (the nation) is also mentioned in Genesis 14, describing an ancient war in the time of Abraham, involving a king of Elam it calls Chedorlaomer. The prophecies of Isaiah (11:11, 21:2, 22:6) and Jeremiah (25:25) also mention Elam. The last part of Jeremiah 49 is an apocalyptic oracle against Elam which states that Elam will be scattered to the four winds of the earth, but “will be, in the end of days, that I will return their captivity,” a prophesy self-dated to the first year of Zedekiah (597 BC). Shushan (or Susa) was the ancient capital of the Elamite Empire. (Dan. 8:2). Elam as a personal name also refers to eight other figures appearing in the Hebrew Bible:

Elam is a son of Shashak of the tribe of Benjamin in 1 Chronicles 8:24 .

Elam is the son of Meshelemiah, a Levite of the family of Kohath in 1 Chronicles 26:3.

Elam is the ancestor of a family that returned with Zerubbabel in Ezra 2:1-2,7.

Elam is the ancestor of a family that returned from the Captivity in Ezra 2:31. This is possibly the same man and family as in Ezra 2:1-2,7.

Elam is the ancestor of a family that returned with Ezra in Ezra 8:7 .

Elam is the grandfather of Shechaniah in Ezra 10:3.

Elam is one of the men who joins Nehemiah in sealing the new covenant in Nehemiah 10:14.

Elam is a priest who helps in the rededication of the rebuilt walls of Jerusalem in Nehemiah 12:42.

According to Ezra 4:9–10, Elamites were deported to Northern Israel in the aftermath of the Assyrian king Assurbanipal’s victory in the 640s, and thus constituted part of the people’s Jews later regarded as Samaritan non-Jews. In Isaiah 11:11 Elam is seen as a place of exile, in Ezekiel 32:24 as a typical foreign nation, and in Dan 8:2 as a site of a vision. Elam also appears as a personal name among returnees from exile, but also as a clan of Benjamin in I Chronicles 8:24. Ref

ABIYMA’EL (אֲבִימָאֵל): Hebrew name meaning “my father is El (God).” In the bible, this is the name of Joktan’s ninth son (of 13), a descendant of Shem.

ABIY’EL (אֲבִיאֵל): Hebrew name meaning “El (God) is (my) father.” In the bible, this is the name of Saul’s grandfather.

AMMIEL: Anglicized form of Hebrew Ammiy’el, meaning “one of the family of God.”

Lion of Elamits in Protoliterate period of Mesopotamia, 3000 AD

Gebel el-Arak Knife

Pre-historic Egypt, Naqada II (3500-3100 B.C.)

Petrie, W.M. Flinders. The Making of Egypt, London. New York, Sheldon Press; Macmillan, pp. 65-66, 1939.

Petrie was famously known “The Father of Pre-history”.

The Dynastic Conquest?

Conflict of Races

We now have to view as a whole the tumultuous age of dynastic invasion. For some centuries we may see large movements going on, threats from the south and east, and influences from other quarters–one of the great ages of unrest and admixture like the ages of the XIII-XVIIth or XXIIIrd-XXVth dynasties. This troubled time occupied the Semainean age. The opposite side of the handle shows Mesopotamian influence featuring the god El, wearing Mesopotamian clothing, flanked by two upright lions symbolizing the Morning and Evening Stars (now both identified with the planet Venus). For a demonstration of the invasion by the dynastic race, one of the greatest events in the history of Egypt, we turn to a single sculpture in ivory, the knife handle from Gebel el-Arak, probably presented to some great chief. The flint blade of the knife was a fine example of parallel flaking. The ivory handle is carved in relief on both sides. On the top of the first side is shown a combat between short-haired men with bullet heads and long-haired men. Adding to the history, there is on the other side of the knife handle a figure of a hero or divinity subduing two lions. Such a group is widely spread, anciently, with lions in Elam. For various animals, we see that the idea is not the restraint of violence, but the assumption of power over all Nature, however untamable. Such then is the purpose of this group, and the source of it is a cold country, for the hero, has a thick coat and cap, and the lions have thick hair under the whole body as a protection in the snow. It must be from mountainous Elam and not from the plains of Mesopotamia that the figures come. The two beautiful figures of dogs belong to the Babylonian myth of Etana on the flying eagle, with two dogs looking up after it. Ref

“Likely First Male God Concept”

Anu, one of the oldest deities.

5,000 years ago or 3000 B.C.E. An/Anu Bull sculpture from Uruk, was once known as the Great Bull, Uruk was his sacred city. Ref

URUK. (Iraq) Situated 250 km south of Baghdad, on an ancient branch of the Euphrates River in Iraq, known in the Bible as Erech (now Warka, Iraq). Uruk, founded about 3500BC, became the first major city in Sumer. Gilgamesh built the walls of the city Uruk, and the Eanna (house of An) temple complex there, dedicated to Ishtar (goddess of love, procreation, and war). In the heart of the city are two large temple complexes: the Anu sanctuary, belonging originally to Kullaba, and the Eanna sanctuary, dedicated to Inanna. the goddess of love. Both these complexes have revealed several successive temple-structures of the Uruk period, including the White Temple in the Anu sanctuary and the Limestone and Pillar Temples in the Eanna sanctuary. On the northwest side of the Eanna sanctuary is a ZIGGURAT (an ancient Mesopotamian temple tower consisting of a lofty pyramidal structure built in successive stages with outside staircases and a shrine at the top, where the priests ruled from) laid out by Ur-Nammu of UR in the Ur III period (late 3rd millennium BC). Evidence from the deep trench excavated in the Eanna sanctuary has cast much light on the developments of the Uruk period. The most important of these was undoubtedly the development of writing. The earliest CLAY TABLETS appear in late Uruk levels; they are simple labels and lists with pictographic symbols. Tablets from slightly later levels of the Jemdet Nasr phase, show further evelorpments towards the CUNEIFORM script of the Early Dynastic period.  The city remained important throughout the 3rd millennium BC, but declined in importance during the later part of that period. It remained in occupation throughout the following two millennia, down to the PARTHIAN period, but only as a minor center. Uruk was the home of the epic hero GILGAMESH, now thought to be a real king of the city’s first dynasty, and Uruk played an important role in the mythology of the Mesopotamian civilizations to the end. Ref

Anu and the other gods: “An” can be translated from the Sumerian as “high one.” The name later became synonymous with “god,” just as “El” did in the semitic languages.  In Sumerian mythology and later in the religions of Assyria and Babylonia, Anu (also An—from Sumerian An = sky, heaven) was a sky-god and the chief deity, who ruled over the highest spiritual realm. He was the son of the first pair of gods, Ansar and Kisar, and the descendant of the primordial beings Apsu and Tiamat. Anu was described as the father of the 50 “great gods,” as the god of heaven, lord of constellations, king of gods, and the father of spirits and demons. He was part of the most important trinity of deities, together with Enlil and Ea (Enki), who governed the spiritual heaven, the sky and earth, and the waters, respectively. Known as “An” in ancient Sumer, Anu dates back to at least 3,000 B.C.E. in the archaeological record, making him one of the oldest of the gods. Like his Canaanite counterpart El, he was once known as the Great Bull. His original center of worship was probably the sacred city of Uruk (Erech), in the southern herding area of today’s Iraq. Being the father of many gods, the “Great Bull” Anu is portrayed in ancient inscriptions as having several consorts. The foremost of these was Ki (earth). Other important consorts were Nammu and Uras. By Ki he was the father of the Annuna—the 50 “great gods.” By Nammu he was the father of Enki (Ea) and Ningikuga. By Uras he was the father of Nin’insinna. The later chief god Marduk is portrayed as the son of Ea, and thus the grandson of Anu. According to legends, heaven and earth were once inseparable until An and Ki bore Enlil, god of the air, who cleaved heaven and earth in two. An and Ki were, in some texts, identified as brother and sister, being the children of Anshar and Kishar. Ki later developed into the Akkadian goddess Antu, who seems to have been identified with Innana/Ishtar. Anu was one of the oldest gods in the Sumerian pantheon. He was the first named in the primary triad of gods including himself (the god of the high heavens), Enlil (god of the sky and the earth), and Enki/Ea (god of water). Originally known as “An” in Sumerian, he was called Anu by the Akkadians, rulers of Mesopotamia after their conquest of Sumer in 2334 B.C.E. by King Sargon of Akkad. By virtue of being the first figure in the triad consisting of Anu, Enlil, and Ea, Anu came to be regarded as the father and king of the gods. In the Epic of Gilgamesh it is to Anu that the gods turn when they learn of King Gilgamesh’s youthful follies and seek to create a human rival who equals the hero in strength. Anu authorizes them to create the wild man Enkidu to teach Gilgamesh that his power is not unlimited and ultimately to show him his own mortality. Together with his daughter Ishtar, Anu is prominently associated with the E-anna temple in the city of Uruk (biblical Erech) in southern Babylonia. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Ishtar appeals to her father Anu to send the Bull of Heaven, now portrayed as an independent being rather than a title or aspect of Anu himself, to punish Gilgamesh for rejecting Ishtar’s proposal of marriage. There are good reasons for believing Uruk to have been the original seat of the ancient Anu cult. If this is correct, then Inanna (Ishtar) may at one time have been considered his consort as well as his daughter, incest not being taboo among the gods. Ref

Uruk: The First City

For thousands of years, southern Mesopotamia (ancient Iraq) was home to hunters, fishers, and farmers, exploiting fertile soil, rivers, and abundant animals. By around 3200 B.C., the largest settlement in southern Mesopotamia, if not the world, was Uruk: a true city dominated by monumental mud-brick buildings decorated with mosaics of painted clay cones embedded in the walls, and extraordinary works of art. Large-scale sculpture in the round and relief carving appeared for the first time, together with metal casting using the lost-wax process. Simple pictographs were drawn on clay tablets to record the management of goods and the allocation of workers’ rations. These pictographs are the precursors of later cuneiform writing. Until around 3000 B.C., objects inspired by Mesopotamia were found from central Iran to the Egyptian Nile Delta. However, this widespread culture collapsed and Mesopotamia looked inward for the next few centuries. Yet cities such as Uruk continued to expand. During the following Early Dynastic period (2900–2350 B.C.), when city-states dominated Mesopotamia, the city rulers gradually grew in importance and increasingly sought luxury materials to express their power. These goods, often from abroad, were acquired either by trade or conquest. At this time Uruk was surrounded by a massive wall, which according to tradition was built on the orders of King Gilgamesh. Although he may have been an actual king of Uruk around 2700 B.C., Gilgamesh became the hero of many later stories and epics. Ref

We Accept As Fact That The God Concept Comes Out Of The Bible, Taken From The Ancient Sumer Tablets Recorded In The Language Cuneiform. These Tablets Are Called The Atra Hasis, The Enuma Elish, Adafa, The Descent Of Ishtar To The Underworld, Tammuz And Ishtar, The Gilgamesh Epics, Etana; To Mention A Few.

These Tablets Had The Most High El, Who Is Also Known As ANU, Meaning ” Heaven” And He Had Appointed One Of His Sons NUNAMNIR Known as ENLIL, Meaning EL- ” God Of The Heaven” And His Son NUDIMMUD Known As ENQI Who Is ” God Of The Earth.” This ENLIL Was Called DAMMUZI Or GABRIY From Which The Name GABRIEL Comes From. He Was The Father OF TAMMUZ By The Female Deity ISHTAR. This TAMMUZ Was Called ADONIS, He (ENLIL) Became The Supreme And Gave Birth To The Concept Of A Supreme Being Because According To These Tablets Recorded Thousands Of Years Before The Bible,  TAMMUZ Was Appointed To Rule In The Place Of His Father ENLIL Who Art In Heaven For 6,000 Years. He Declared He Was Before Abraham. He Was Also Known as Horus To The Ancient Egyptians, Alah To The Ancient Babylonians. He Became Elyon, And Later Inherited The Title Kurious And Kristos In Greek From The Sanskrit And Meant ” Christ” The Son Of The God”-ENLIL Of The Heavens; And His Blessed Mother ISHTAR, Also Known As Ashteroth, Aphrodites, Ashdar, Dina, Nuntud, And In Ancient Egypt Isis Whose Husband Was Osiris, Another Name For Dammuzi. It Was Another Name For Yashua (Jesus) Whose Galactical Name Is SANANDA And Whose Ancient Name Is TAMMUZ The Name TAMMUZ Can Be Found In The Ancient Tablets Called ” Tammuz And Ishtar” In Cuneiform. Tammuz Is The Name Of An Ancient Sumerian Deity Whose Name Is Mentioned In The Akkadian Tablets Also, Tammuz’s Name Can Be Found In The Old Testament In Ezekiel 8:14. TAMMUZ Was Known By The Babylonians As Dumuzi, But That Was His Father’s Name, Which They Say Means ” God Of Pastures And Flocks” Of Subterranean Water And Vegetation. TAMMUZ Was Originally A Disagreeable ELOHIM As Found In The Ancient Tablets Of The Atra Hasis And The Enuma Elish Where The ELOHIM Are Referred To As The ANUNNAQI. He Was The Son Of ISHTAR And Dummuzi And He Was Called ADONIS, Which Is Where The Hebrew Israelites Or Jews Get The Name ADONAI (Exodus 4:10) And I Quote: ” And Moses Said To Yahweh Adonai: ” Oh My Yahweh, I Am Not Eloquent, Neither Heretofore, Nor Since Thou Has Spoken Unto Thy Servant: But I Am Slow Of Speech, And Of A Slow Tongue.” It Is Obvious That Mosses Is Talking To His And Their God And Refers To Him As ADONAI. Which Was TAMMUZ’S Personal Mname In Judges 3:25 It States; ” And. Behold Their Lord (Was) Fallen Down Dead On The Earth. The Word They Used Here Was ADOWN Meaning ” Lord, Master” Which Proves That The ADONAI Is A Physical Person And ADONIS Can Die- The Phoenician And Greek ADONIS, The Hebrew ADONAI, And To The People Of Frug- Gee’a (Phrygia) Attis, And Other Well Known Types Of ” Dying Sons” Of Mother Earth. The Worship Of Tammuz In Babylonia And Those Adjacent Lands To Which It SpreadWas A Cult Of Sorrow, Death And Resurrection. The Name Tammuz Is Sumerian And Means The “Sprout Forth As A Faithful Son”, Where You Get Your “Son Of God” Concept (Mathew 3:17) Dammuzi. So Tammuz Was The Son Of ENLIL, The Son Of ANU. The Ancient Egyptians Called ANU “HU” Meaning “Creative Will” All Of The Egyptian Culture Comes From Beyond The Stars. They As A Group Are Called ANUNNAQI. The Bible Calls Them ELOHIMYashua (Jesus) Was One Of These ELOHIM Called ELOH Or Allah , Son Of An Allah, Or EL OH, ENLIL, Son Of The Supreme Being ANU. Gabriel, Whose ANUNNAQI Name is Nusku Was Under ENLIL From The Ranks Of Those Selected ELOHIM ( ) Called The Arch Angels, Seven In All: 1. Micha’el 2. Gabri’el 3. Uria’el 4. Izraafi’el 5. Izraa’el 6. Uzzi’el 7. Zamar’el. The Very First Was MICHA’EL Who Was Known As MURDUK, Having 50 Attributes. He Gave Birth To The Concept Of One God And Gave All The Praise To ANU. He Was Appointed Over All The Gods, And He Named All Of Them MURDUK. He Was Taught By ANU. He Was The Son Of ENQI, ANU’S Other Son; Yet He Took Rule Over All The Universes And Restored IT Back To ANU By Establishing The One God Teachings And That Was ANU. All Of These Names End With EL And Another Name For El Is ANU Which Means Above, On High , The Highest One And Also “Ana” Or I Am. Thus Gabri’el Merely Brought The Holy Spirit Or The Seed To Be Artificially Inseminated Into Mary. Yes, We’re Talking Cloning, CRYOGENICS, A frozen Gene Of The Adonis Placed Into Mary. Tammuz Called The Sun God , Also Named Dumu-Zi After His Father Became The One Appointed By ANU The Most High God Over The Planet Earth El Aliya The 36Th Attribute Or ELYON. After Adam And Eve Disobeyed An ELOHIM Named Kalkael, Also Called Uriel, One Of The 24 Elders In The Enclosed Garden Of Delight. Which Translates ” He Who Is Of The Elohim” Genesis 3:6-13 This Adam Became As One Of The ELOHIM (Genesis 3:22). And I Quote: “And The Lord God Said, Behold, The Man Is Become As One Of Us. To Know Good And Evil”. When Man Disobeyed Kalkael, Which Was The Name Of The Head Of The 24 Elders Or ELOHIM In The Garden Of Delight, And Ate Of The Fruit A fter They Were Commanded Not To In Genesis 3:3, They Were Cast Out Of The Garden In Genesis 3:25 And I Quote: ” And Now, Lest He Put Forth His Hand, And Take Also Of The Tree Of Life, And Eat, And Live Forever.” Thus Adam, Eve And Their Descendants Were Cut Off And No Longer Allowed To Communicate With All The ELOHIM. Meaning More Than One ELOH, Nor With ANU The Most High. But Now They Could Only Communicate Through One ELOH, Which is An ELOHIM Who Was Appointed Out Of The 24 Elders Responsible For Hum an Beings And That They Should Have No Other Being Besides Him. He Was A YAHWEH (Genesis 4:25-26). This One ELOH Was Called In The Ancient Tablets Of Which The Bible Comes, Tammuz. He Was Also Called “The Spirit Of God ” (Genesis 6:3) And I Quote “And T he Lord Said, My Spirit Shall Not Always Strive With Man, For That He Also Is Flesh; Yet His Days Shall Be A Hundred And Twenty Years”. And Again Yashua (Jesus) Makes A Statement In John 8:58 And I Quote: “Yashua (Jesus) Said Unto Them, Verily, Verily, I Say Unto You, Before Abraham Was, I Am.” This Clearly States That Yashua (Jesus) Existed Before Judaism, Christianity, Or Islam And Abraham, Whose Real Name Was Abram, Followed The Religion Of The Original CANAANITES Which Was The Doctrine Of The Tablet s Of The Enuma Elish And The Gilgamesh Epics And The “El” As Well As “Baal” , Until Abraham Met With MURDOQ (MURDUK) The ANUNNAQI Son Of ENQL, Brother Of ENLIL, Also Called Melchisedek In Genesis 14:18 Who Taught Abraham Millatu Ibrahim Or The Worship Of What Verse 18 Calls The Most High God ” Elyown El” Who Was MURDUK’S Grandfather Called ANU; The Heavenly father Whom Yashua (Jesus) Commanded All To Worship In This Manner According To Mathew 6:9 “Our Father Who according to Matthew 6:9 ” Our Father Who A rt In Heaven…” Thus He Is The Only Connection Between Man And The ELOHIM, Which Ties Into The New Testament In John 14:6. The Word Used In The Above Quote For “The Way” Is Hodos(greek) Meaning ” Way, Highway Journey”. Tammuz Was Converted Into Being A n Agreeable ELOHIM. Tammuz Was Captured By The ELOHIM ENUNGI And The Scientist NERGAL – One Of The Sons Of ANU Who Was The Master Of The Underworld And Tammuz Was Taken Because The ANUNNAQI (Elohim) Wanted To Convert Him From Disagreeable To Agreeable. His Mother Broke Through The 7 Seals To Get To The Inner City Agharta In Order To Get Her Son Back And Stop What Was About To Happen. Ishtar Was Captured By Arishkegal, The Wife Of Nergal Who Was Also A Scientist. And Imprisoned Her. However, Ishtar Us ed Tammuz As Her Alibi And Released Enqi From The KURNUGI, The Prison In The Underworld. When The ELOHIM Of Agharta (Esharra) Converted Tammuz To An Agreeable He Was Assigned To Oversee You As Your YAHWEH (Lord) Or ELOH For 6,000 Years. Thus, He Became The master of Agreeable (Good) And Disagreeable (Evil). Tammuz Is The Name Of A Babylonian Being Who Corresponds To The Egyptian Osiris. He Is Also A YAHWEH Because YAHWEHS In The Plural Are ELOHIM And Under The Great “Most High” Called “Al” Or “Alyuwn” (Elyon) The Deity That MELCHISEDEK Taught To Abraham In Genesis 14:18 These Are The Actual Facts. Don’t Believe Me Check Them Out. From This You Get Your Father ANU, Son ENLIL, Incarnated Holy Ghost TAMMUZ, And Blessed Mother ISHTAR Which Later Took A Change To The Present Day Religious Concepts. This Is Right Knowledge For Those Children Of The ELOHIM Called The ANUNNAQI, Meaning Those Who ANU Sent To QI (Earth) In 50’s. These Seeds, Meaning Some Of You, Seek To Know The Facts About Where You Come From? Why Are You Here? Are You Ever Going Home? Who Put You, Or Created You Here? You Keep Looking To The Stars. You Know That The U.F.O.’S Are Real. If This Is You Then You’re A Child Of The ELOHIM, Who Wish To Be Lifted From The Spell Of Blind F aith And Silly Beliefs, Who Want To Be A Part Of The All-Intelligent And All-Knowing. In Reality This Is Not A Bible Or A Koranic Concept, For The God YAHWEN (Aramic Hebrew), Or THE Gods ELOHIM (Akkadian Babylonian) Or Even Theh-Os (Greek Idonian) Or ALLAH (Ashuric Arabic) And That The God Of These Scriptures- Ol d Testament, New Testament And The Koran Asked Questions Like These: “Who Did This Or That (Genesis 3:11; 13)? Where Is He Or She (Genesis 3:9, 4:9)? Don’t Bind Partners With Me (Exodus 2:3). I Am Jealous (Exodus 20:5); He Was Grieved To His Heart (Ge nesis 6:6) Who Told You, You Were Naked (Genesis 3:11). Nor Did He Know That Ibliys In The Koran 2:34, Who Was One Of The Many Angels Was Not Going To Bow Down.” The Bible And Koranic Concept Of God Was Created In The Hearts And Minds Of Their Authors, And As These Authors Became Authentic, And Within The Pages Of Their Documents Called Scriptures, God Was Born. In English It Simply Mean s Good; Go-D The Jews Write It Like G -D. They Took The Names: 1. Al 2. El 3 Elyon 4. Yehweh 5. Elohim 6. Adonai 7. El Shadai 8. El Roi 9. El Olam 10. El Berith 11. Hadad 12. Rab 13. Rabb 14. Eloh 15. Allah 16. Rahman 17 Ilah 18.Allahuma 19. Aba 20. Baal 21. Ashtoreth 22. Tammuz. The Greek Make Their Names Up From The Hindu’s Names Such As: Christ From Krishna. Then You Have Thehos From The Word Those. Then you Have Aylee From The Most High, Aly; In Hebrew And Arabic-Ali. Then You Have The Word Kurious -Master, Lord. Hu Taken From The Ancient Egyptians Who Got It From The Sumerians Means The Force Of Creative Will. The Word “Sea” In The Bible Comes From A Sumerian God Yam And The Word Sun Comes From A Sumerian God Shamash; Din Or Diyn They Use For Rel igion Which Really Means Judgement. The Word “Diyn” In The Bible And The Koran Comes From The Sumerian Female Deity Dina, Dinah. This Was That Same One ISHTAR. The Very Word God Itself Comes From The Bible Name Of The Seventh Son Of Jacob Called Gad Pr onounced Gawd (Genesis 30:11) Which Would Be God And Means A Troop Which Would Be A Group Of Beings. And From It Came The God Symbolic Letters Of G (Gomer, Wisdom) O (Oz, Strength) And D (Dabar, Beauty) Which Became Got In Dutch, Gott In German, Gudd Inn Danish. And Then You Get Your Om For Omnipotent, Omnipotency, Omnipotence, Omnipresence, Omnipresent, Omniscient, Omnisciency, Omniscience; All Of Them Coming From The Ancient Name AUM, In Hinduism, A Mantra Characterizing The Supreme Power And Used In F ormal Worship To Invoke BRAHMA. Put Together The Got Jabalum, Ja=Jehovah, Bal=Baal Adad And Om=Aum. Then In Modern Times You Get A Host Of Names That Came From The One Name Zeus. When You Combine The Modern Form Of The Hebrew Y To Get The Latin J And T hen Add It To The Word Zeus-You Get Ja-Zeus Which Is Short For Yashua (Jesus) And From The Zeus You Got The Word Souse And Then It Became A Deity From Which Comes: Deus In Portuguese, Dieu In French, Dio In Italian, Dios In Spanish, Dia In Scotch And Iris h; And Duw In Welsh. Every Day New Names Are Being Added. God Is ” Anyone” Or ” Thing” In Control Of Other Beings Or Things. This Kind Of God Who Referred To As We, Us, And I In The Scriptures, Yet Taught As A Single One God Cannot Not And Is Not The A ll. Nor Can It make You The All, “For Ye Are Gods” As Psalm 82:6 States And John 10:34 Supports It Stating “…Is It Not Written In Your Laws, I said, Ye Are Gods?” All Things Are In The Heavens. So If Your God Is In Heaven Then He Or It Is Inside Some thing Or Place (Psalm 14: 1-2). This Yehweh Looked Down From Inside Heaven, Then Heaven Is Bigger Than Him, He Is Not The ALL. He Is In The ALL, You Are Not The Source Of All Things In The Source; For It Reads, ” And All Of You Are The Children Of The Mo st High”, It’s The Arrow Tip That Takes The Life, So It Becomes The God Over Death. It’s The Sperm And Ovum Meeting For Procreation That Give New Life, So It Becomes God Over Life. The nourishment That Controls Food For The Health Is God Of Health And T he Bacteria That controls Sickness Is God OF Sickness. Thus You Can Say: I AM THAT I AM Exodus 3:14 Yet, The All could Not Say I Am That I Am, Only A Being Trapped In: 1. Person 2. Places 3. Things Would Be bound By The Law I Am, For To Be An I Am Is Not To Be A He Is Or She Is, Or They Are, Or We Are. To Be An I Am, Is Not To Be The Total Or The All. All Of Us, As Children Of The Theh-Os (Elohim) Individually, Are I Am That I Am. Yet, Together We Become We, Us, “Ye Are Gods”, The Children Of The Most High Al Alyuwn Aly, Elyown Elyown El-All Within Al Kuluwm, The All Guard Yourself, That You Don’t Get A God Complex. THIS INFORMATION WAS TAKEN FROM THE HOLY TABERNACLE FAMILY GUIDE, AUTHORED BY DR MALACHI Z. YORK. If you would like your own personal copy of “THE HOLY TABERNACLE FAMILY GUIDE” Link

4900 B.C. Goseck Circles for Space German “Stonehenge” marks oldest observatory suggests that Neolithic and Bronze Age people measured the heavens far earlier and more accurately than scientists had imagined. 245 feet wide originally, it consisted of four concentric circles–a mound, a ditch and two wooden palisades about the height of a person–in which stood three sets of gates facing southeast, southwest and north, respectively. On the winter solstice, someone at the center of the circles would see the sun rise and set through the southern gates. Although aerial surveys have demarcated 200-odd similar circles scattered across Europe, the Goseck structure is the oldest and best preserved of the 20 excavated thus far, and it is the first circle whose function is evident. Perhaps the observatory’s most curious aspect is that the roughly 100-degree span between the solstice gates corresponds with an angle on a bronze disk unearthed on a hilltop 25 kilometers away, near the town of Nebra. In addition to pottery shards and arrowheads within, excavators found the decapitated skulls of oxen, apparently displayed on poles, and parts of two human skeletons. The human bones were cleaned of flesh before being buried. Similar skeletons–several with cut marks or with arrowheads in their necks–have turned up in other circles, but archaeologists cannot agree on whether they attest to human sacrifices or to uncommonly gory funeral rites. Nevertheless, such ceremonies anoint the site as a temple, Bertemes notes–and show that science was inextricably entangled with superstition since Neolithic times. The Nebra disk, may have been a ritual object measuring 32 centimeters in diameter, dates from 1600 B.C. and is the oldest realistic representation of the cosmos yet found. It depicts a crescent moon, a circle that was probably the full moon, a cluster of seven stars interpreted to represent the Pleiades, scattered other stars and three arcs, all picked out in gold leaf from a background rendered violet-blue. The ancients did not understand how the sun could set in the west and end up in the east the next morning. Representations of a disk in a ship, from Bronze Age Egypt and Scandinavia, reveal an age-old belief that a ship carried the sun across the night sky. The Nebra disk is the first evidence of such a faith in central Europe. That the land-bound cultivators knew of ships is no surprise: Bertemes points out that travelers spread the latest in Bronze Age technology as well as mythology.

Jewish DNA?

Diversity was present from Jewish beginnings, when various Semitic and Mediterranean peoples came together to form the Israelites of long ago.

We cannot stress enough how absolutely imperative it is for all Christians to consider the startling proof in Arthur Koestler’s book that today’s Jews are not Israelites, and never have been. Koestler was Jewish by birth, but he did not practice the religion. In an interview published in the (London) Jewish Chronicle in 1950, he argued that Jews should either emigrate to Israel or assimilate completely into the majority cultures they lived in.  In The Thirteenth Tribe (1976) Koestler advanced a theory that Ashkenazi Jews are descended, not from the Israelites of antiquity, but from the Khazars, a Turkic people in the Caucasus that converted to Judaism in the 8th century and was later forced westwards. Koestler argued that a proof that Ashkenazi Jews have no biological connection to biblical Jews would remove the racial basis of European anti-Semitism. Koestler embraced a multitude of political as well as non-political issues. Zionism, Communism, anti-Communism, voluntary euthanasia, the abolition of capital punishment, particularly hanging, and the abolition of quarantine for dogs being reimported into the United Kingdom are example. Ref The Jewish influence on American life has reached such a stage that no student of contemporary history can ignore it. Not only the news media are Jewish monopolies, but top positions in the U.S. government are largely filled by Eastern European Jews. The magazine and book publishing houses are in Jewish hands; and movies, television, and the other entertainment industries are dominated by Jews in all phases. America’s government and most of her people’s sources of information are controlled and directed by Jews. If these people were really “God’s Chosen People,” perhaps Americans would have little cause for concern — BUT IF THEY ARE REALLY THE “HUNS” THEY ARE THE ANCIENT ENEMIES OF CHRISTENDOM. Since many Americans may not have an opportunity to read Koestler’s book, we have here submitted our own index-style review as follows: THE THIRTEENTH TRIBE by Arthur Koestler, Random House.

Page Information:

15 Khazars adopt Judaism as their religion in A.D. 740.

16 Majority of Eastern European Jews are Khazar and Japhetic in origin, not Semitic. Refers to 1973 Jewish Encyclopedia and A. N. Poliak, Professor, Medieval Jewish History, Tel Aviv University.

17 Jews are more closely related to Hun, Uigur, and Magyrs than to the seed of Abraham Isaac and Jacob.

18 Khazars exacted tribute from subject peoples.

20 Identified them with the hosts of Gog and Magog.

22 German word Ketzer is our word for Khazar and means heretic, i.e., Jew.

23 Khazars were with Attila the Hun in 4th century.

37-39 Some were phallic worshipers, killed anyone thought to be extra intelligent and called it an offering to god.

46 Quotes 1,000-year-old Arab historian, “The Khazars and their King are all Jews…some are of the opinion that Gog and Magog are the Khazars.”

47-50 Khazars were re-exporters of foreign goods, middlemen, inspectors of trade, gold smiths, and silver smiths; and they exacted 10% tax on all trade.

59-63 Jews fled Rome and Greece to Khazaria to avoid forced conversion to Christianity. They adopted Islam when forced but repudiated it when safe.

72 Khazar King, in a letter, traced his people in Togarma and Japheth, the ancestors of all the Turkisk tribes.

81 In A.D. 864 a monk wrote “there exists a people under the sky in regions where no Christians can be found, whose name is Gog and Magog, and who are Huns; among them is one called Gazari [Khazari?], who are circumcised and observe a religion called jew-dah-ism.” Koestler quoted another source that Christians were prisoners of these Jews.

93 Russian communists tried to hide Khazar-Jewish connection!

95-132 History of breaking up of Khazar Empire and integration of these Jews into Russia, Poland, etc.

135 Khazar kingdom known as a kingdom of “Red” Jews.

141 Khazars joined Ghengis Khan and retained their Jew-dah-ism.

145 Interchangeable names –Khazar, Zhid (or Yid), and Jew

151 Majority of Jews in Middle Ages were Khazars.

152-154 Jews were mint-masters, royal treasurers, tax collectors, and money lenders, money changers. Principal source of income was foreign trade and the levying of customs dues and they practiced communal life.

159-161 They lost the name of Khazars and became known as Jews. During Dark Ages commerce was largely in Jewish hands, including slave trade.

163-167 During Crusades whole families and towns of Jews committed suicide rather than accept Christianity.

167-171 Proves only a handful of Sephardim Jews were in Europe so the vast majority of Jews today are Khazar in origin.

172-174 Gives origin of Yiddish language. It is NOT Hebrew!

178 “The Jewish dark ages may be said to begin with the Renaissance.” (Reviews comment: This remark by the Jew Cecil Roth, coupled with other information, is a sorrowful admission that the Jews were supreme in the Dark Ages but lost their dominion over Europe when the Light of (God’s) Word brought about the Renaissance in Europe!)

180-199 Quotes from many sources to prove Jews are NOT descended from Biblical Israelites, ending with this, …evidence from anthropology concurs with history in refuting the popular belief in a Jewish race descended from the biblical tribe.

200-222 Refers to others who have written on the same subject.

223 The Israeli’s right to exist in Palestine…is not based on…the hypothetical origins of the Jewish people, nor on the mythological covenant of Abraham with God; it is based on international law — i.e., on the United Nations’ decision in 1947 to partition Palestine, once a Turkish province, then a British Mandated Territory, into an Arab an a Jewish State. (Reviewers comment: This however displaced the then inhabitants, the Palestinians, and gave their land to a people group, the Jews, who had no historical claim to the land. It is the reason there will not be peace in the area.)

224-226 Koestler ends his book by saying he believes many Jews have learned of their Khazar ancestry and some reject the Chosen-Race doctrine. (Reviewer’s comment: This section of Koestler’s book is practically a rejection of any relationship between Yahweh (God) and the “Jews.” It is a cry of We have no king but Ceasar heard 19 centuries ago from the Edomite Jews in Palestine!)

THE THIRTEENTH TRIBE written by a Jew, supports the claim that modern Jews are not related to Biblical Israelites, and have no ethnic right to Palestine. Every church member in America should insist that his Pastor investigate these claims, and read the book. Are our Jewish politicians, publishers, movie makers, and opinion molders God’s “Chosen People”? Or are they Mongol and Hun infiltrators, haters of Christendom. Are they the persecutors, and terrorists of the true residents of the Holy Land, the Palestinian people?

Is The Jewish “Chosen People” cliche and falsehood Masquerade Finally Over? 

Canaanites and Israelites?

Canaanite religion describes the belief systems and ritual practices of the people living in the ancient Levant region throughout the Bronze Age and Iron Age. the Canaanite religion seems to have involved a rich mythological tradition which served as a bridge between the more ancient Mesopotamian religions and the later Greek and Roman gods. Several of the most famous Greek gods, for example, clearly evolved from Canaanite antecedents, just as several of the Canaanite gods grew out of Mesopotamian roots. The supreme deity of the Canaanite pantheon was El, together with his consort, Asherah. As with the Greek tradition, these early gods were later supplanted by younger, more immediate presences, especially the rain/thunder god Ba’al and his cpresencesuch as the warrior goddess Anat and the love/fertility goddess Astarte. Early Israelite religion may once have shared the Canaanite belief in El and other gods, before the Jewish monotheistic tradition emerged. study of the Ugaritic material from Ras Shamra—together with inscriptions from the Ebla archive at Tel Mardikh and various other archaeological finds—have cast more light on the early Canaanite religion. Canaanite mythology was strongly influenced by Mesopotamian and Egyptian traditions. At the same time, Egypt appears to have inherited certain religious traditions from the Canaanites as well. Canaanite religious beliefs were polytheistic, with families typically focusing worship on ancestral household gods and goddesses, while honoring major deities such as El, Ashera, Baal, Anat, and Astarte at various public temples and high places. Kings also played an important religious role, especially in certain ceremonies, such as the sacred marriage of the New Year Festival, and may have been revered as gods. The Canaanite pantheon was conceived as a divine clan, headed by the supreme god El; the gods collectively made up the elohim. Through the centuries, the pantheon of Canaanite gods evolved, so that El and Asherah were more important in earlier times, while Baal and his consorts came to fore in later years. Many of the Canaanite deities found their way into the Greek and Roman pantheon. For example, the characteristics of both El and Baal may be seen in Zeus, while Astart resembles Aphrodite, Anat is similar to Athena, Yam to Poseidon, and Mot to Hades or Thanatos. Some of the deities listed below are mentioned only briefly in the Canaanite texts, while others were important locally or nationally—such as Chemosh—but not throughout the region. Still others, such a Moloch, are known mainly from Hebrew texts

Anat—goddess of war, ever-virgin sister-wife of Baal, honored as a protector, agent of vengeance, and bearer of life

Asherah—early semitic Mother goddess, “Lady of the sea,” consort of El, also called Athirat, the mother of 70 gods

Astarte—goddess of love and fertility, sometimes the consort of Baal/Hadad

Baalat or Baalit—the chief deity of Byblos, also identified with Astarte and Aphrodite

Ba’al—meaning “Lord,” god of rain, thunder, and fertility, sometimes synonymous with Hadad; also used as a title prefixing the names of local deities

Baal-Hammon—god of fertility and renewal in the Phoenician colonies of the Western Mediterranean

Chemosh—the national god of Moab, referred to in both Moabite and Hebrew texts

Dagon—god of crop fertility, sometimes identified with Hadad

El—the chief deity, god of the sky, father of many lesser gods and ruler of the divine assembly, also worshiped by the Israelites

El Elyon—Special title of El as “God most High”

Eshmun—Phoenician god of healing

Kathirat—a group of goddesses appearing in the Ugartic texts as divine midwives

Kothar—full name Kothar-wa-Khasis, the skilled, clever god of craftsmanship and weapon-making

Lotan—the seven-headed sea serpent or dragon, the pet of Yam or Yam’s alter ego, related to the biblical Leviathan

Melqart—also called Baal-Melkart, the god who is king of the city, the underworld, and the cycle of vegetation in Tyre, also the patron of the Israelite queens Jezebel and Athaliah

Moloch—title for the god who is “king,” probably identical with Milcom and known mainly from the Hebrew Bible as the deity to whom child sacrifices were offered

Mot—god of the underworld, sterility, death, and the waterless desert

The eastern Canaanite prophet Balaam is represented in the Bible as a worshiper of the Hebrew god Yahweh, as were the Shashu, a people located in the land of Edom.

Nikkal—goddess of fruit and orchards, married to Yarikh

Qadeshtu—the Holy One, goddess of love, also a title given to Asherah and related to the Egyptian goddess Hathor

Resheph—God of plague and healing

Shalim and Shachar—twin gods of dusk and dawn

Shamayim—the god of the sky or the heavens

Shemesh—Mesopotamian god of the sun also worshiped in Canaan, meaning “sun” in Hebrew possibly related to the hero, Samson

Tanit—Phoenician lunar goddess, worshiped as the patron goddess at Carthage, and sometimes identified with Astarte or Anat

Yam—god of the sea

Yarikh—god of the moon, after whom the city of Jericho was named; Lord of the sickle, provider of nightly dew; married to the goddess Nikkal

Yahweh—The Israelite god, worshiped not only by the Hebrews but also by eastern Canaanites such as the prophet Balaam (Numbers 22) and the Shashu of Edom

In Ugarit, the gods were called ‘ilhm (elohim), or the children of El, a probable parallel to the biblical “sons of God.” The chief god, a progenitor of the universe, was El, also known as Elion (biblical El Elyon), who was the father of the divinities. In the Urgaritic material, El is the consort of Ashera, who is described as the “mother of 70 gods.” In the Urgaritic Baal cycle, Baal, the god of storms and fertility, earns his position as the champion and ruler of the gods by defeating the tyrannical Yam, the god of the sea, and later triumphing over Mot, the god of death. Yam had been placed over the other gods by El but ruled them tyrannically. Asherah offered herself as a sacrifice if Yam will ease his grip on her children. He agreed, but Baal boldly declared that he will defeat Yam, despite Yam’s being endorsed by El. With the aid of magical weapons given to him by the divine craftsman Kothar-wa-Khasis, Baal is victorious. However, the god of death and the underworld, Mot, soon lures Baal to his own death in the desert, spelling drought and ruin for the land. Baal’s sister/wife Anat retrieves his body and assaults Mot, ripping him to pieces and scattering his remains over the fields. El, meanwhile, has had a dream suggesting that Baal would be resurrected, which indeed takes place. However, Mot, too, had revived and mounted a new attack against Baal. After their titanic but indecisive battle, Mot finally bows before Baal, leaving Baal in possession of the land and the undisputed regent of the gods. Thus, Baal came to replace even El as the most important deity, although El himself remained theoretically supreme. In practice, temples to Baal were fairly common in Canaanite culture, and many ritual objects devoted to Astarte and Anat have also been uncovered. Even the Israelites honored Baal and the “asherim,” the latter term referring to poles, standing stones, and even trees devoted to a goddess and accompanying altars to both Baal and Yaweh/El. In the Greek sources describing Canaanite religion, the union of El Elyon and his consort bore Uranus and Ge, Greek names for the “Heaven” and the “Earth.” Biblical scholars see a parallel between this and the opening verse of Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning Elohim created to the Heaven and the Earth.” A further parallel is seen with the story of the Babylonian creation myths. The Greek sources also describe El as married to Beruth. This marriage of the divinity with the city seems to have biblical parallels with the stories of the link between Melkart and Tyre, Yahweh and Jerusalem, Chemosh and Moab, and both Tanit and Baal Hammon with Carthage. El Elyon is called “God Most High” in Genesis 14.18–19 as the God whose priest was Melchizedek king of Salem. Psalm 78:35 appears to identify El Elyon and the Hebrew God, Elohim, also called Yahweh (the Lord). The earliest Canaanite places of worship were simple stone or brick altars usually located at a high place. Sacred groves are also indicated, especially in Israelite texts, which speak of fertility rites practiced under trees: “Have you seen what faithless Israel has done? She has gone up on every high hill and under every spreading tree and has committed adultery there” (Jer. 3:6). Bronze Age Canaanite temples usually consisted of a large room, together with a porch and courtyard. A stone altar for sacrifices is often found outside the entrance to the inner temple. Later examples sometimes contain inner sanctums within the main temple, referred to as a “Holy of Holies.” Sacred objects unearthed include incense altars, sacrificial offering stands, tables for drink offerings, bronze statuettes, numerous nude clay figurines of goddesses, vessels for oil and wine, seals, and standing stones. El is seen in Canaanite religious art as a seated male figure, often with arms raised in blessing. Asherah—and later Ba’al and Astarte or Anat—was associated with a cult of fertility. Asherah’s sacred animal was the lion, and Astarte is sometimes associated with a serpent. Priests or priestesses clothed and sometimes “fed” the deity through various rituals and offerings. In cities, the king had a particularly important relationship with the local patron deity. Family devotions, especially to the female deity, are indicated by large numbers of goddess figurines found in private homes, as well as by biblical references such a Jeremiah’s: “The children gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough and make cakes of bread for the Queen of Heaven. They pour out drink offerings to other gods to provoke me to anger.” (Jeremiah 7:18). Although the biblical writers cast Canaanite religion as the antithesis of Israelite monotheism, historians of religion tend to view the early Israelite religion as largely evolving out of Canaanite culture, of which it was once part. The Book of Genesis itself describes the patriarch Abraham as a worshiper of El—also called El Shaddai and El Elyon—building altars, offering sacrifices, and paying tithes to him. Exodus indicates that the Hebrews knew God only as El Shaddai until the time of Moses, who learned God’s true name, Yahweh (the Lord), at Mount Sinai: “I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty (El Shaddai), but by my name the Lord I did not make myself known to them” (Exodus 6:3). Certain passages in the Bible imply that Israelite religion was once polytheistic. For example, Deuteronomy 32:8-9 indicates a moment when El Elyon assigned Israel to Yahweh: When the Most High (Elyōn) divided to the nations their inheritance, he separated the sons of man… the Lord’s portion is his people, Jacob his allotted inheritance. Similarly, Psalm 82:1-6 says that “God (Elohim) presides in the great assembly; he gives judgment among the gods… I said, ‘You are gods; you are all sons of the Most High (Elyon).’ But you will die like mere men; you will fall like every other ruler.” What may be described in these verses is a process of El and Yahweh merging into the one supreme God and then reducing the other Canaanite deities into something less than gods altogether. Indeed, some versions of Psalm 82 render the word “gods” as “heavenly beings” or even “angels.” Similarly, Job 1:6 states that “One day the sons of God (also sometimes translated as “angels”) came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them.” According to many historians of religion, the angels of later Jewish mythology were once members of the divine assembly consisting of El and the ben-elohim (sons of God), who were originally the lesser deities described in the Canaanite pantheon. Such a divine assembly appears several times in the Canaanite texts. The Hebrew prophets not only denounced Canaanite religion for its polytheism and idolatry but also for its sexual immorality and practice of human sacrifice. That the Canaanites practiced the rite of hieros gamos, involving ritual sex between the king or priest, representing a god, and a woman or priestess, representing a goddess, seems well attested—even if it was not as common as the prophets claimed. The practice of human sacrifice also seems to have occurred among the Canaanites, as it once did among the Israelites in the case of Jephthah’s daughter, for example (Judges 11). In the time of Jeremiah, Israelites still offered their children as sacrifices, a practice apparently intended to satisfy Yahweh Himself, who insists through the prophet that He never commanded such a thing, “nor did it ever enter my mind” (Jeremiah 7:31). Jeremiah similarly denounces the common practice of Israelite families of offering honey cakes to the Queen of Heaven. Archaeological evidence also supports the fact that not only Canaanites, but Israelites as well, kept figurines of goddesses in their homes at least until the time of the Babylonian exile. Whether one sees Israelite religion as growing out of Canaanite religion or being perverted by it, the reality seems to be that Israelite religion did not completely separate from its Canaanite counterpart until the return of the Jews from Babylon or later. Joshua 24:11 – And ye went over Jordan, and came unto Jericho: and the men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and I delivered them into your hand. Judges 3:3 – [Namely], five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites that dwelt in mount Lebanon, from mount Baalhermon unto the entering in of Hamath. Deuteronomy 20:17 – But thou shalt utterly destroy them; [namely], the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee. Their final fate, too, was a puzzle. The Hebrew text offers one explanation for the destiny of the Canaanites: annihilation. The Israelites, per Deuteronomy 20:16-18, were commanded to “utterly destroy” the cities of various tribes including the Canaanites. Those who survived fled or became servants. A fragment of a painted limestone relief dating to about 3,400 years ago from Thebes in Egypt depicts defeated Canaanites. For three centuries, Egyptians ruled the land of Canaan. Armies of chariots and 10,000 foot soldiers under the pharaoh Thutmose III thundered through Gaza and defeated a coalition of Canaanite chiefdoms at Megiddo, in what is now northern Israel, in 3,458 years ago. The Egyptians then built fortresses, mansions, and agricultural estates from Gaza to Galilee, taking Canaan’s finest products—copper from Dead Sea mines, cedar from Lebanon, olive oil and wine from the Mediterranean coast, along with untold numbers of slaves and concubines—and sending them overland and across the Mediterranean and Red Seas to Egypt to please its elites. As with many colonial ventures before and since, military conquest led to a new cultural order in the occupied lands. Across Israel, archaeologists have found evidence that Canaanites took to Egyptian customs. They created items worthy of tombs on the Nile, including clay coffins modeled with human faces and burial goods such as faience necklaces and decorated pots. They also adopted Egyptian imagery such as sphinxes and scarabs. For the Egyptians, Canaan was a major trophy. Artists in Egypt carved and painted narratives on the stone walls of temples boasting about vanquished subjects and depicting Canaanite prisoners naked and bound at the wrists. Yet Egypt’s presence in Canaan ended sooner than the pharaohs might have expected. With Canaan under assault from seaborne invaders and hit by drought so severe it caused food shortages, Egypt’s colonial rule began to crumble around 3,200 years ago, starting in the north and gradually spreading south. Egypt did not fall alone. The eastern Mediterranean’s two other great powers of the day, the Hittites in central Turkey and the Mycenaeans in Greece, saw their capitals sacked and their governments fail. They all toppled in the pan-Mediterranean Late Bronze Age collapse of the 3,200 years ago. Egypt’s 2,000-year-old dynastic system survived, but it lost its trade ties throughout the Mediterranean and its valuable outposts in Canaan. At the port of Jaffa, on Tel Aviv’s south side, archaeologists Aaron Burke of the University of California, Los Angeles, and Martin Peilstöcker of Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz are finding that the fall of Egypt’s rule came the way Hemingway famously described bankruptcy—gradually, and then suddenly—and was at least partly due to homegrown factors. The Egyptian outpost at Jaffa had an uneasy relationship with the locals, and it apparently met a fiery end. Burke and Peilstöcker have found evidence of two catastrophic blazes, ten years apart, that destroyed Jaffa, the second one occurring in about 3,125 years ago. That fire, Burke believes, marked the end of Egypt’s presence not just in Jaffa, but in all of Canaan. “Jaffa was the only Egyptian outpost that was purely military. This was their last line of defense, and once it fell, any remaining Egyptian centers in Canaan would have been cut off from Egypt,” says Burke. Egypt and Canaan were neighbors whose histories of war, trade, and migration intersected and intertwined over millennia. Egypt’s powerful centralized government ruled along the Nile, where pharaohs built the pyramids of Giza and reigned like gods over people who worshipped them. In contrast, Canaan was a land of warring city-states and hill tribes, spread out over what are now Israel, Lebanon, southwestern Syria, and the West Bank. At Canaan’s peak, there were about 20 such city-states in the southern area alone. Their culture was rustic, their power decentralized and weak. Canaan had great mineral and agricultural wealth—and the Egyptians coveted it. As early as around 3,000 years ago, the Egyptians established busy trading posts in the coastal city of Ashkelon and in Gezer in the center of the region to buy up exotic products and transport them to Egypt on donkeys, which had only recently been domesticated. A few centuries later, the Egyptians began trading by ship with the seaport of Byblos on the coast of modern Lebanon, bypassing southern Canaan, whose ties with Egypt languished. Over time, Canaan’s states strengthened and, around 3,700 years ago, they invaded northern Egypt with a devastating innovation—the horse-drawn chariot—followed by settlers who built cities in the marshy Nile Delta. Known as the Hyksos, a Greek version of an Egyptian phrase that meant “foreign rulers,” they maintained their cultural habits and clashed with Egyptian rule to the south. Ultimately, the Egyptian state, reunified under the pharaoh Ahmose (3,550–3,525 years ago), expelled the Hyksos and sent them back to their homeland around 3,540 years ago. A century later, newly self-confident and thirsty for expansion, the Egyptians found the right agent for their ambitions in Thutmose III (3,479–3,425 years ago). His lithe, commanding figure can still be seen today smiting Canaanite masses in temple carvings in the old dynastic capital of Luxor. To the south, Nubia fell under Egypt’s military might, too. “Egypt now saw itself as the center of the universe, and all its neighbors were considered enemies and targets for invasion,” says Daphna Ben-Tor, former curator of Egyptian archaeology at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. Egypt was at the threshold of the New Kingdom (1550–1070 years ago), the artistic golden age of Hatshepsut, Akhenaten, and Tutankhamun. “As it became richer and reunified,” Ben-Tor says, “its appetite grew for the kinds of high-status goods that Canaan offered, such as copper, turquoise, and high-quality wood.” At Hazor, one of ancient Canaan’s largest cities, a team from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem recently found part of a sphinx made of gneiss, a valuable stone used by the Egyptians for statues of gods and rulers. The sphinx bears an inscription to Menkaure (r. 2490–2472 years ago), a pharaoh who was originally interred in one of Giza’s pyramids. Yet the layer of the excavation in Hazor where the statue was found dates from centuries later in the 3,500 years ago. The sphinx had probably been imported from Egypt to lend status to a temple, a relic from the old days meant to lend prestige to Egypt’s new colony. Egypt’s power wasn’t felt only in mighty sculptures. It also wielded a strong cultural pull on Canaan’s elite, who were attracted to Egypt’s graceful jewelry and symbols. Archaeologists have found hundreds of Egyptian-style objects in Canaanite burials, including alabaster, glass, and carnelian jewelry, scarabs decorated with sphinxes and hieroglyphs, and clay pots. Wealthy Canaanites liked to stock their tombs with imitations of Egyptian ushabti, figurines of people who would tend to the dead in the afterlife. “There was an Egyptianization, so to speak, of Canaan’s material culture,” says Ben-Tor. “The Canaanites were burying their dead with objects imported from Egypt or with local imitations of them.” Around 5,000 years ago, the Canaanites now generally recognize as Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. The Canaanites created the first alphabet, established colonies throughout the Mediterranean, and were mentioned many times in the Bible. But who were they and what ultimately happened to them? Were they annihilated like the Bible says? Over 90 percent of the genetic ancestry of present-day Lebanese was derived from the Canaanites referenced from the genomes of five Canaanite individuals who lived almost 4,000 to 3,700 years ago, one in a large jar burial along with genomes representing people from modern-day Lebanon, in addition a small proportion of Eurasian ancestry that may have arrived via conquests by distant populations such as the Assyrians, Persians, or Macedonians. An estimate that new Eurasian people mixed with the Canaanite population about 3,800 to 2,200 years ago at a time when there were many conquests of the region from outside. “The Bible reports the destruction of the Canaanite cities and the annihilation of its people; if true, the Canaanites could not have directly contributed genetically to present-day populations. However, no archaeological evidence has so far been found to support widespread destruction of Canaanite cities between the Bronze and Iron Ages. We show that present-day Lebanese derive most of their ancestry from a Canaanite-related population, which therefore implies substantial genetic continuity in the Levant since at least the Bronze Age.” the study read.  In this study, we sequenced five whole genomes from around 3,700-year-old individuals from the city of Sidon, a major Canaanite city-state on the Eastern Mediterranean coast. We also sequenced the genomes of 99 individuals from present-day Lebanon to catalog modern Levantine genetic diversity. We find that a Bronze Age Canaanite-related ancestry was widespread in the region, shared among urban populations inhabiting the coast (Sidon) and inland populations (Jordan) who likely lived in farming societies or were pastoral nomads. This Canaanite-related ancestry derived from mixture between local Neolithic populations and eastern migrants genetically related to Chalcolithic Iranians. We estimate, using linkage-disequilibrium decay patterns, that admixture occurred 6,600–3,550 years ago, coinciding with recorded massive population movements in Mesopotamia during the mid-Holocene. We show that present-day Lebanese derive most of their ancestry from a Canaanite-related population, which therefore implies substantial genetic continuity in the Levant since at least the Bronze Age. In addition, we find Eurasian ancestry in the Lebanese not present in Bronze Age or earlier Levantines. We estimate that this Eurasian ancestry arrived in the Levant around 3,750–2,170 years ago during a period of successive conquests by distant populations. The Near East, including the Levant, has been central to human prehistory and history from the expansion out of Africa 50–60 thousand years ago,1 through post-glacial expansions and the Neolithic transition around 10,000 years ago, to the historical period when Ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Phoenicians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Romans, and many others left their impact on the region. Aspects of the genetic history of the Levant have been inferred from present-day DNA, but the more comprehensive analyses performed in Europe have shown the limitations of relying on present-day information alone and highlighted the power of ancient DNA (aDNA) for addressing questions about population histories. Unfortunately, although the few aDNA results from the Levant available so far are sufficient to reveal how much its history differs from that of Europe, more work is needed to establish a thorough understanding of Levantine genetic history. Such work is hindered by the hot and sometimes wet environment, but improved aDNA technologies including use of the petrous bone as a source of DNA14 and the rich archaeological remains available encouraged us to further explore the potential of aDNA in this region. Here, we present genome sequences from five Bronze Age Lebanese samples and show how they improve our understanding of the Levant’s history over the last five millennia. The Near East, including the Levant, has been central to human prehistory and history from the expansion out of Around 4,000 to 3,000 years ago, in the Levant, a distinctive culture emerged as a Semitic-speaking people known as the Canaanites. The Canaanites inhabited an area bounded by Anatolia to the north, Mesopotamia to the east, and Egypt to the south, with access to Cyprus and the Aegean through the Mediterranean. Thus, the Canaanites were at the center of emerging Bronze Age civilizations and became politically and culturally influential. They were later known to the ancient Greeks as the Phoenicians who, 3,500 to 2,300 years ago, colonized territories throughout the Mediterranean reaching as far as the Iberian Peninsula. However, for uncertain reasons but perhaps related to the use of papyrus instead of clay for documentation, few textual records have survived from the Canaanites themselves and most of their history known today has been reconstructed from ancient Egyptian and Greek records, the Hebrew Bible, and archaeological excavations. Many uncertainties still surround the origin of the Canaanites. Ancient Greek historians believed their homeland was located in the region of the Persian Gulf, but modern researchers tend to reject this hypothesis because of archaeological and historical evidence of population continuity through successive millennia in the Levant. The Canaanite culture is alternatively thought to have developed from local Chalcolithic people who were themselves derived from people who settled in farming villages 10,000 to 9,000 years ago during the Neolithic period. Uncertainties also surround the fate of the Canaanites: the Bible reports the destruction of the Canaanite cities and the annihilation of its people; if true, the Canaanites could not have directly contributed genetically to present-day populations. However, no archaeological evidence has so far been found to support widespread destruction of Canaanite cities between the Bronze and Iron Ages: cities on the Levant coast such as Sidon and Tyre show continuity of occupation until the present day. Ref Ref Ref Ref Ref Ref Ref

A Blasphemer’s Genealogy of YHWH?

In Genesis and Exodus, Moses tells the story of the God of Abraham who is the one and only God. This doctrine is accepted by Jews, Christians and Muslims. In the Hebrew text, the name of God is considered so sacred, it is hidden, and meant to be unspoken. The most accepted transliteration of the name of God is YHWH. The Jehovah’s Witnesses use the more pronounceable version “Yahweh”. Is the Genesis account really the first account of the God who Moses calls YHWH? In the book of Genesis, Terah, Abraham’s father, along with Abraham and Lot made a journey from the city of Ur to Canaan. If YHWH is the God of Abraham, could it be that YHWH is also the God of Terah? If so, how did Terah come to worship YHWH? To answer these questions, let’s develop some background on the city of Ur. Ur was one of the twelve cities. It survived through the Babylonian times into Terah’s time. In Sumerian mythology, each city had a patron god. The patron god of the city of Ur was NANNA who is the heavenly moon. Later, the Semites named NANNA as SIN. Sumerian mythology is ancient. Scholars place the time at around 3500 BCE to 2500 BCE. This time estimate is highly uncertain because the astronomical and carbon dating observations are so sketchy. If we accept this time estimate, we can conclude that historically speaking, the Sumerian myths are as far away from the time of Moses as we are from the time of Moses. Many of the Sumerian myths are inferred from cuneiform tablets. Our interpretation of these writings is no doubt less certain than our interpretation of modern writing or greek manuscripts of the gospel about Jesus Christ. In spite of these uncertainties, these texts give us a faint clue of what people believed so many years ago. I propose that they give us a clue as to the genealogy of YHWH. Because of the fragmentary state of the material, I will only refer to portions of the myth which, in my opinion, are relevant to YHWH’s genealogy. In Sumerian mythology, there is a transcendental god named ANU, who is considered the god of the heavens. His wife ANTU is at his side in their heavenly abode. Because of their transcendental nature, ANU and ANTU generally are not involved in day to day affairs of the world. The day to day job is delegated to ENLIL (god of the firmament), the god of the heavens and the earth. To compare the organization with our modern day corporate structure, ANU would be the Chairman of the Board, and ENLIL would be the President and Chief Executive Officer. ENLIL has a younger brother named ENKI (god of the earth) whose role appears to be as chief scientist of the gods. The EN prefix in their names classifies these gods as having universal powers. So although they may actually be patron gods of some of the cities, their domain includes all 12 cities and other areas like the heavens and the oceans. ENLIL is finds his mate in SUD(“the nurse”). The following cuneiform fragment describes ENLIL’s desire: The shepherd Enlil, who decrees the fates, The Bright-Eyed One, saw her. The lord speaks to her of intercourse; she is unwilling. Enlil speaks to her of intercourse; she is unwilling: “My vagina is too small [she said], it knows no copulation; My lips are too little, they know not kissing.” Different fragments show different versions of how SUD becomes ENLIL’s wife. One version implies that after consulting with his chamberlain NUSHKU, ENLIL hatches a plan to persuade SUD to go sailing with him. Once they were alone in the boat away from the shore, ENLIL rapes SUD. Later, a repentant ENLIL sends NUSHKU to find SUD and ask her mother for the girl’s hand. The mother agrees and that is how SUD becomes the wife of ENLIL. After the marriage, SUD’s name is changed to NINLIL (“lady of the airspace”). When the gods learn of ENLIL’s misdeed, he is punished (but no detail is available). Long after the marriage, it is discovered that the truth of the matter is that SUD was bathing naked in the stream near the path where ENLIL takes his daily walk on her mother’s instructions, with the hope that ENLIL will notice SUD and “forthwith embrace and kiss you.” From this episode came NANNA the moon god, as hinted in this dialogue from another fragment:

• NINLIL: “True, Enlil is thy king, but I am thy queen.”  ENLIL: “If now thou art my queen, let my hand touch thy … NINLIL: “The ‘water’ of thy king, the bright ‘water’ is in my heart, the ‘water’ of NANNA the bright ‘water’ is in my heart.” ENLIL: “The ‘water’ of my king, let it go toward heaven, let it go toward the earth.” Enlil as the man of the gate lay down in the …, He kissed her and cohabited with her, The ‘water’ of … Mestamataea he caused to flow over (her) heart. ENKI (the Serpent, and god of the Earth), being the Chief Scientist of the gods, was the actual formulator of man. Man was needed by the gods because they needed labor to help produce food and other economic goods. The first experiment was a collaboration between NINHURSAG (ENKI’s sister, and maybe wife). In the following quote from the 12th Planet: … according to Sumerian texts, Man was ncreated by Ninhursag following processes and formulas devised by Enki. She was the Chief Nurse, and one in charge of the medical facilities; it was in that role that the goddess was called NINTI (“lady of life”).

Some Scholars read in Adapa (the model man of Enki) the biblical Adama, or Adam. The double meaning of the Sumerian TI also raises biblical parallels. For TI could mean both life and rib, so that NIN.TI’s name meant both “lady of life” and “lady of the rib.” The biblical Eve — whose name meant “life” — was created out of Adam’s rib, so Eve, too was in a way a “lady of life” and a “lady of the rib”. As the actual “inventor” of Man, ENKI was constantly trying to improve Man by teaching him. ENKI was also in constant rivalry with ENLIL, who was the all-powerful being. The Hebrew god YHWH is probably NANNA, the son of ENLIL and rival of ENKI; because observer that the Hebrew calendar is a lunar calendar in honor of the moon god, the name YHWH is almost YHRH which in Hebrew means “moon”, and n the me of the holy mountain considered to be YHWH’s place is SIN.AI meaning SIN (Semitic for NANNA) AI (place). At this point, the reader may asking: “So what?” Well, if SIN is the God of Abraham, then all the stories pertaining to NANNA in the Sumerian myths also refer to SIN. This means that YHWH is the Sumerian god NANNA who is a descendant of ENLIL and NINLIL. According to Sumerian and Babylonian Myths NANNA is not the creator/formulator of Man. As a mater of fact, ENKI and NINHURSAG who are the creators of Man, are rivals of ENKI and NINLIL. Moses was rewriting the Sumerian myth to turn NANNA into the creator of Man. However, from the context of Sumerian myth we can interpret Man’s fall from grace with less guilt. NANNA, in collaboration with ENLIL, banished Man from the Garden of Eden because they were angry at ENKI for teaching too much knowledge to Man (eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil). Consider this in Genesis 3:22: “And YHWH said: ‘The man has now become like one of us knowing good and evil …” I would say, YHWH was genuinely concerned that if ENKI would have continued providing the lessons, Man will have improved towards becoming just like God. Maybe the story about the fall from grace is simply an account of a political maneuvering involving pretty “heavy” hands. Ref

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology’s New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts, involves leading scholars Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman who draw on recent archaeological research to present a dramatically revised portrait of ancient Israel and its neighbors. They argue that crucial evidence (or a telling lack of evidence) at digs in Israel, Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon suggests that many of the most famous stories in the Bible—the wanderings of the patriarchs, the Exodus from Egypt, Joshua’s conquest of Canaan, and David and Solomon’s vast empire—reflect the world of the later authors rather than actual historical facts. What they argue, in chapter after chapter, is that these books of the Bible make the most sense as coming out of a seventh-century (BC) context. A lot of the Bible is royal and elite propaganda to justify empire expanding through conquest. Overall the differing archaeology evidence and the complete lack of any confirming archaeology evidence is devastating to all the Abrahamic religions. Ref

Historians mostly agree that only the Kingdom of Israel and life in Jerusalem (roughly from King David onward) represents any actual possibility for history.

Some stories in the Bible were meant to be history, others fiction. But modernity has obscured the original distinction between the two kinds of biblical writing, depriving readers of the depth of the text. Perhaps surprisingly, this confusion lies at the heart of the History Channel’s miniseries “The Bible,” which continues the pattern of blurring history and fiction, and thereby misrepresenting the nature of the Bible to its viewers. One way to understand the difference between history and fiction in the Bible is through the Old Testament’s natural division into three parts:

1. The world and its nature (Adam to Terah).
2. The Israelites and their purpose (Abraham to Moses).
3. The Kingdom of Israel and life in Jerusalem (roughly from King David onward).

Even a cursory look reveals a clear and significant pattern. In the first section, characters live many hundreds of years, and in the second, well into their second century. Only in the third section do biblical figures tend to live biologically reasonable lives. For example, Adam, in the first section, lives to the symbolic age of 930, and Noah lives even twenty years longer than that. Abraham, from the second section, lives to be 175, his son Issac to 180, and Jacob “dies young” at the age of 147. But the lifespans from King David onward, in the third section, are in line with generally accepted human biology. Furthermore, historians mostly agree that only the third section represents actual history. The reasonable ages in the third section of the Bible, and, in particular, the wildly exaggerated ages in the first, suggest that the authors of the Old Testament intended only the third part as history. Underscoring this crucial difference, some of the lifespans in the first two sections are so absurd as to defy literal interpretation. These hugely advanced ages are central clues about the point of the stories. The Old Testament contains a wide range of texts in addition to stories: laws, prayers, moral codes, and more. But even the stories come in more than one variety. Noah and the Great Flood are not in the same category as Moses and the Ten Commandments, and both are different than King David and the First Temple. History and fiction mingle throughout the Old Testament, so these divisions are just rough guides. Jeremiah’s historical description of the siege on Jerusalem is not the same as Ezekiel’s non-historical vision of the dry bones, just as there are historical elements (like the invention of fire-hardened bricks) even in the non-historical account of the Tower of Babel. The interesting point here is not that some of these stories happened and some didn’t (though that’s almost certainly true). The point is that the Bible itself portrays them differently, only presenting some of them as having happened. In other words, sometimes “believing the Bible” means believing that a story in it didn’t happen. The situation not unlike a modern newspaper, which combines news with opinion, puzzles, comics, etc. The news can be accurate even if the comics are not. The same is true for the different parts of the Bible. The New Testament similarly offers more than just stories, and, as with the Old Testament, only some of the stories in the New Testament were meant as history. Others were intended to convey things like theology and morality. The account of Jesus’ life in the Gospels is not the same as the beast in Revelation or Adam’s life in Genesis. (The issue of different categories for Jesus and Adam is a matter of fierce modern debate because of its potential theological significance and its interaction with the theory of evolution.) All of this is important for people who want to believe, for instance, that a man named Jesus was crucified in ancient Jerusalem (as described in the Gospels) even if they don’t believe that a donkey spoke aloud (Numbers); or that Jews lived in Jerusalem during the first millennium BC (Kings, for example) even if they didn’t leave Egypt 600,000 strong (Exodus). Ref

Pagan Yahwism: The Folk Religion of Ancient Israel

The Bible imagines the religion of ancient Israel as purely monotheistic. And doubtless there were Israelites, particularly those associated with the Jerusalem Temple, who were strict monotheists. But the archaeological evidence (and the Bible, too, if you read it closely enough) suggests that the monotheism of many Israelites was far from pure. For them, Yahweh (the name of the Israelite god) was not the only divinity. Some Israelites believed that Yahweh had a female consort. And many Israelites invoked the divinity with the help of images, particularly figurines. I call this Israelite religion pagan Yahwism. The archaeological evidence we will look at comes mostly from Judah in what is known in archaeological terms as the Assyrian period, the span from 721 B.C.E., when the Assyrians destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel, until 586 B.C.E., when the Babylonians conquered Jerusalem, destroyed the Temple and brought an end to the Davidic dynasty in Judah. This period, to put it into perspective, is several centuries after King Solomon built the Jerusalem Temple in about 950 B.C.E. So the archaeological evidence we are about to discuss documents a level of Israelite paganism long after Solomon built an exclusive home for Israel’s god. While Yahweh was the god of the Israelites, other nations had their own national gods. The chief god of the Phoenicians was Ba‘al. For the Philistines, the chief god was at first Dagon and later also Ba‘al (Judges 16:23; 2 Kings 1:2). For the Ammonites it was Milkom. For the Moabites, Chemosh. For the Edomites, Qos. And for the Israelites and Judahites—Yahweh. Except for the Edomite god Qos, who appears only in the archaeological record, all of these gods are mentioned in the Bible (1 Kings 11:5, 7, 33). Interestingly, while each nation’s chief god had a distinctive name, his consort, the chief female deity, had the same name in all these cultures: Asherah or its variants Ashtoreth or Astarte. (As we shall see, this was even true of Yahweh’s consort.) Not only was the female consort the same, the various nations used the same cult objects, the same types of incense altars made of stone and clay, the same bronze and clay censers, cult stands and incense burners, the same chalices and goblets and the same bronze and ivory rods adorned with pomegranates. It was easy to take cult vessels of one deity and place them in the service of another one—and this was commonly done. Ref

How Should We Study Ancient Israelite Religion?

If we propose to study the history of the religion of ancient Israel, we must be governed by the same postulates that are the basis of modern historical method. Our task must be a historical, not a theological, enterprise. We must trace the origins and development of Israel’s religion, its emergence from its West Semitic, particularly Canaanite, past, its continuities with the past, its innovations, individual or peculiar configurations, its new emergent whole, and its subsequent changes and evolution. In the past historical questions of “origins” or “emergence” of the ancient Israelite religion could not be answered satisfactorily and indeed were rarely addressed. Today, thanks to the archaeological exploration of Israel and neighboring lands, the history of Israel has become part of the history of the ancient Near Eastern world. Israel’s ancient literature can be viewed increasingly as evolving out of the genres of kindred literatures. We possess Northwest Semitic epic literature from a century or so before Moses. The religion of Israel can now be described in its continuities with, and in its contrasts with, contemporary Near Eastern and especially West Semitic mythology and cult. Ref

Accurate Account on how did Christianity Began?

Have biblical archeologists traditionally tried to find evidence 

that important events in the Bible really happened?

William Dever: From the beginnings of what we call biblical archeology, perhaps 150 years ago, scholars, mostly western scholars, have attempted to use archaeological data to prove the Bible. And for a long time it was thought to work. [William Foxwell] Albright, the great father of our discipline, often spoke of the “archeological revolution.” Well, the revolution has come but not in the way that Albright thought. The truth of the matter today is that archeology raises more questions about the historicity of the Hebrew Bible and even the New Testament than it provides answers, and that’s very disturbing to some people. Ref

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Traces of Totemism In Judaism  

Totemism (theoretical belief in a mythical relationship with powers/spirits through a totem item). Believe in spirit-filled life and/or afterlife can be attached to or be expressed in things or objects (you are a hidden totemist/Totemism: an approximately 50,000-year-old belief system)

“A totem is any species of plants or animals thought to possess supernatural powers. Each group within the society may have its own totem, including associated ceremonies. Totemic beliefs may not be as foreign to the Western mind as first expected; many Westerners have totems. School mascots, symbols, and emblems all constitute totems.” Ref

“The investigation of totemism is strictly the work of the anthropologist. Its mention in a study of this kind is necessitated by the fact that some maintain that the idea of a god was evolved from the idea of a totem and that honors to a god were but a form of magnification of honors to a totem. The eating of a sacrifice offered to a god was accordingly explained upon the basis of eating the god and thus incorporating his qualities. It is maintained by some and contested by others that every tribe of people has retained vestiges of original totemism and that therefore totemism is a true ancestor of religion. Scholars differ upon the thesis of the universality of early totemism. Totemistic practices are widely variant and totemism itself is a social philosophy rather than a religious tenet. Moreover, it is not necessary to suppose that the social and religious development of every people has been mechanically identical. After the entrance of human intellect and will upon the scene, it is impossible to make an accurate prediction of the succession of stages of progress, unless one is in possession of all the factors of choice. All that we can say is that totemism is a social state in which many peoples have once probably lived and some have surely lived. It is certainly one form which the eating of the sacred meal may have taken. It seems, however, to have been a sort of social excursion rather than a definite step in religious development. Since it was preceded by earlier social forms of life, it cannot be regarded as the origin of religion or of anything else.” Ref

Excerpts from the book Orpheus: A General History of Religions

By Salomon Reinach

The Hebrews abstain from killing or eating animals such as the pig, whose ancestors (wild boars) had been the totems of their forefathers. These animals are designated either as sacred or unclean, two over-precise terms, which, if traced back to their origins, will be reduced to the idea of taboo, or prohibition. At a much later period it is suggested that the flesh of these animals was unwholesome, or that those ‘-who Rte it might contract vices of character. The Mosaic law merely formulates prohibitions which were already ancient; the Jews themselves believed these prohibitions to have been anterior to the Flood, for when Noah is about to take refuge in the Ark, the Eternal orders him to take with him two couples of every unclean beast and seven couples of every clean beast, without explaining what these words meant (Gen. vii. !!). Another evidence of the sacred character of the animals described 88 unclean was the clandestine custom reprobated by Isaiah (\xvi. 17): “They that sanctify themselves and purify themselves in the garden … eating swine’s flesh, and the abomination and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the Lord.” Here we have evidently the survival of one of these periodic sacrifices of totems, in which men sought to sanctify themselves by eating some sacred meat, the general use of which was forbidden. I will not insist on those names of men and tribes which are compounded of the names of animals, for it may always be objected to that these were merely nicknames; but the worship of that these were merely nicknames; but the worship of the bull and of the serpent among the Hebrews is an indubitable survival of totemism. It seems very probable that Jehovah was long represented by a bull. Portable gilded images of bulls were consecrated by Jeroboam (1 Kings, xii. !e8); the prophet Hosea inveighed against the worship of the bull in the kingdom of Israel (Hos. viii. 5; x. 5). The famous golden calf of the Israelites, the object of Moses’ anger, had nothing to do with the bull Apis, which was a live animal; it was a totemic idol of are compounded of the names of animals, for it may always be objected that these were merely nicknames; but the worship of the ‘bull and of the serpent among the Hebrews is an indubitable survival of totemism. It seems very probable that Jehovah was long by a bull. Portable gilded images of bulls were consecrated by Jeroboam (1 Kings, xii. !e8); the prophet Hosea inveighed against the worship of the bull in the kingdom of Israel (Hos. viii. 5; x. 5). The famous golden calf of the Israelites, the object of Moses’ anger, had nothing to do with the bull Apis, which was a live animal; it was a totemic idol of Isrealites, the object of Moses’ anger, had nothing to do with the bull Apis, which was a live animal; it was a totemic idol of a kind commonly found in the land of Canaan, where the bull “as the symbol, that is to say, the incarnation of a Baal. Although the law of Moses was hostile to every kind of idolatry, the worship of the serpent was practiced by Moses himself, who transformed his magic wand into a serpent (Ex. vii. 9-U) and made a brazen serpent to heal the people of the bites of serpents (Numbers xxi. 9). A brazen serpent, perhaps a totem of David’s family, was worshipped in the temple of Jerusalem and was only destroyed by He7.ekiah about 700 B.C. (2 Kings, xviii. 4). The prophetess Deborah, whose name means a bee, was no doubt like those priestesses of Diana of Ephesus who were called (melimii), the ministrant of a totemic worship of this insect. Samson, the lion.slayer, was probably a lion, whose strength.. lay in his luxuriant tawny mane. This lion was strength lay in his luxuriant tawny mane. This lion was identified with the SUD, as in Babylonia, hence the analogy of Samson’s name with that of the Babylonian solar god, Slumuuh. I might multiply these examples, and speak of Balaam’s eloquent ass, which may be compared with the Greek tradition of an ass- I headed god worshipped by the Israelites possibly those of Samaria-and the >part played by the ass in Zechariah ix. 9, and in the account of Christ’s entry into Jenlsalem. The dove which descended from Heaven upon Jesus at his baptism was also an ancient Syrian totem. I have already mentioned the fish, a Syrian totem adopted by the Jews, and the early Christians (p. iO). Of course, the Jews were unconscious totemists. Like all other peoples, they must have ceased to be totemists, in the strict sense of the word, as soon they owned domestic animals. Totemic worship is generally incompatible with the possession of cattle. SO. In opposition to the heathen races who surrounded Israel and whose practices were constantly alluring them, the Jewish priesthood, the authors of the Old Testament, were Jewish priesthood, the authors of the Old Testament, were hostile to all magic, and also to the popular belief in a future life, which was likely to result in the evocation of the dead or necromancy. But this strategy of animism is so natural to man that the Bible nevertheless contains numerous instances of it. Moses and Aaron were magicilUls who rivalled Pharaoh’. magicians (Ex. vii. 11-00). Balaam was a magician who pronounced incantations against Israel, and afterwards passed over to the service of Jehovah (Numbers xxii. et 8eq.; Micah vi. 5). Jacob resorted to a kind of sympathetic magic to procure the birth of speckled sheep (Gen. xxx. 89). Divination, which is the use of magic to discover the will of spiritual beings, was practiced by means Urim and Thummim , a kind of dice enclosed in a sacred receptacle called an ephod. “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live it is written in Exodus xxii. Fatal words which the Christian Churches have obeyed only too faithfully! They offered at once an affirmation of the reality of witchcraft, and a tendency which still survives even in these days to look upon witchcraft as an appanage of the weaker sex. Both churches and secular tribunals have burnt favorite witches than wizards. The herem, or vow of destruction, tabooed everything; hence the sin of preserving anything in Jericho (Joshua vii). Some think that the notion of unclean animals was brought from Egypt with the rite of circumcision. This rite was probably part of a tribal initiation-ceremony, afterwards performed at an earlier time of life, but it was not a Semitic heritage, as it is unknown to the Eastern Semites and to the Philistines.’ The worship of stones, trees, wells, and serpents may have been agricultural or nomadic.· So too of such traits as fasting (Neh. ix. I); absence of the lex talionis (Gen. iv. 23); the practice of the Rechabites (Jer. xxxv.); the use of bitter water as an oracle; the scape-goat, etc. These are primitive, but whether nomadic or not is uncertain.’ The ark may well have been a survival of nomadic life. It’ served as an oracle and was taboo to the touch (I Sam. ivviL). It is said to have contained (meteoric?) stones. The ark of Shiloh may have been the home of the Lord of the practice of the Rechabites (Jer. xxxv.); the use of bitter water as an oracle; the scape-goat, etc. These are primitive, but whether nomadic or not is uncertain.’ The ark may well have been a survival of nomadic life. It served as an oracle and was taboo to the touch (I Sam. ivvii.). It is said to have contained (meteoric?) stones. The ark of Shiloh may have been the home of the Lord of Shechem, Baal-Berith, afterward identified with Yahweh. Ref

TOTEMISM:

By: Joseph Jacobs

A primitive social system in which members of a clan reckoned kinship through their mothers, and worshiped some animal or plant which they regarded as their ancestor and the image of which they bore tattooed on their persons. It was suggested by J. S. Maclennan (in “The Fortnightly Review,” 1870, i. 207) that this system existed among the early Hebrews; and his view was taken up by Robertson Smith (in “The Journal of Philology,” 1880), who based his theories upon the researches of J. G. Frazer on totemism. Robertson Smith later connected this view with his theory of sacrifice, which he regarded as originally a method of restoring the blood covenant between the members of a clan and its totem. The following are the chief arguments in favor of the existence of totem clans among the ancient Israelites:

I. Animal and Plant Names: Arguments in Favor of Totemism.

A considerable number of persons and places in the Old Testament have names derived from animals or plants. Jacobs (“Studies in Biblical Archæology,” pp. 94-103) has given a list of over 160 such names, including Oreb (the raven) and Zeeb (the wolf), princes of the Midianites; Caleb (the dog), Tola (the worm), Shual (the fox), Zimri (the chamois), Jonah (the dove), Huldah (the weasel), Jael (the ibex), Nahash (the serpent), Kezia (the cassia), Shaphan (the rock-badger), Ajalon (the great stag), and Zeboim (the hyena). Many of these, however, are personal names; but among the Israelitish tribes mentioned in Num. xxvi. are the Shualites, or fox clan of Asher; the Shuphamites, or serpent clan of Benjamin; the Bachrites, or camel clan; and the Arelites, or lion clan of Gad. Other tribes having similar names are the Zimrites, or hornet clan, and the Calebites, or dog tribe. In the genealogy of the Horites (Gen. xxxvi.) several animal names occur, such as Shobal (the young lion), Zibeon (the hyena), Anah (the wild ass), Dishan (the gazel), Akan (the roe), Aiah (the kite), Aran (the ass), and Cheran (the lamb). The occurrence of such a large number of animal names in one set of clan names suggests the possibility that the Horites, who were nomads, were organized on the totem-clan system.

II. Exogamy

is the system under which any member of a clan may not marry within his own clan, but must marry a member of a kindred clan. Smith deduces the existence of such clans among the Horites from the mention of Anah clans and Dishan clans in the list. He also draws attention to Shimeis among the Levites, Reubenites, and Benjamites. Female descent is the only means of tracing kinship in exogamous clans; and Smith sees a survival of this in the case of the marriage of Abraham and Sarah, who were not of the same mother, while Abimelech appealed to his mother’s clan as being of his flesh (Judges viii. 19), and Naomi told Ruth to return to her mother’s house (Ruth i. 8).

III. Ancestor and Animal Worship:

Smith attributes the friendship between David and Nahash, King of the Ammonites, to the fact that they were both members of a serpent clan spread throughout Canaan. That animals were worshiped among the Hebrews is well known, as is shown by the legends of the golden calf and the brazen serpent. The second commandment prohibits this. Smith draws attention to the case of animal worship in Ezek. viii. 7-11, where Ezekiel sees “every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed upon the wall round about,” and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah ben Shaphan (the rock-badger), “with every man his censer in his hand, and a thick cloud of incense went up.” Here there is animal worship connected with the name of a person who appears to be connected with an unclean beast, the “shaphan.” See also Ancestor Worship.

IV. Forbidden Food:

Members of a totem clan did not eat the totem animal. As such totems gradually spread throughout the nation, a list of forbidden animals would arise which might be analogous to the list of forbidden animals given in Lev. xi. and Deut. xv. Jacobs, however, has shown that in the list of animal names given by him forty-three are clean as against forty-two unclean.

V. Tattooing and Clan Crests: Absence of Historic Connection.

A totem is tattooed on the skin of the totem worshiper; and there is evidence in Lev. xix. 28 that the Israelites were forbidden to make tattoo-marks, while an allusion to this practise may be contained in Isa. xliv. 5 and in Ezek. ix. 4. The mark of Cain may perhaps have been a tattoo-mark. In none of these instances, however, are there indications that the tattoo-marks were in an animal form or connected with animal worship. The tribes of Israel when on the marchhad standards (Num. i. 52, ii. 2 et seq.); and rabbinic literature gives details of the crests (see Flag), which were derived from the blessings of Jacob (Gen. xlix.) and Moses (Deut. xxxiii.). In these most of the tribes are compared to an animal: Judah to a lion; Issachar to an ass; Dan to a serpent; etc. In Moses’ blessing, however, Dan is compared to a lion’s whelp, which seems to show that the tribes were not arranged on a totemic system.

VI. Blood Feud:

The practical side of the totem system insured the existence of relatives scattered throughout a tribe, who would guarantee the taking up of the blood feud in case one of the members of the totem clan was injured or killed. The existence of the blood feud can be recognized in Israel (see Go’el), but there is no evidence of a connection with totemism. Altogether, while traces and survivals are found of institutions similar to those of the totem clan, there is not sufficient evidence to show that it existed in Israel during historic times, though it is possible that some such system was found among the Edomites. Ref

Anthropomorphic cult statues were a major focus of religious practice in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Levant. These images provided a focal point for worshippers to experience the deity ‘face-to-face’ in the context of religious festivals and temple service. Deities were thought to be manifest in their cult statues, where they could taste and smell votive offerings and hear worshipper’s prayers. There was no one biblical understanding of divine images. The various law codes, for example, prohibit different things:

Decalogue Exod 20:4 = Deut 5:8 “You will not make a hewn image (pesel) whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above or on earth below or in the waters below the earth.” [Only hewn images are prohibited.]

Covenant Code Exod 20:23 “You will not make gods of silver alongside me (ˀittî) nor will you make gods of gold for yourselves.” [This verse seems to suggest that Yahweh had the exclusive right to be represented in cult statues]

Holiness Code Lev 19:4 “Do not turn to idols (hā-ˀĕlîlîm) nor make cast images of gods (ˀĕlōhê massēkâ) for yourselves!”

Holiness Code Lev 26:1 “You will not make idols (ˀĕlîlîm) or a hewn image (pesel) for yourselves. And you will not erect a standing stone (maṣṣēbâ) for yourselves or put a figured stone (ˀaben maśkît) to worship it.”

Covenant Curses Deut 27:15 “Cursed be the man who makes a hewn image (pesel) or cast image (massēkâ), abhorrent to the lord, the work of the hands of the artisan and sets it up in secret.”

‘Ritual’ Decalogue Exod 34:17 “You will not make cast images of gods (ˀĕlōhê massēkâ) for yourself.”

These laws are normative.  The proliferation of prohibitions suggests that images continued to be made, which fits archaeological and biblical data.

Excavators found a bronze bull figurine dated to ca. 1200 b.c.e. at Dothan near Samaria in what is believed to be a cult site.  It is unclear, however, whether this site was Israelite at this time period. Nevertheless, the figurine recalls the bull statues that Jereboam installed in Dan and Bethel (1 Kgs 12:28-29).  Ref

Excavators at Hazor found two male figurines made of metal dated to the 11^th and 9^th centuries b.c.e. The 11^th century figure is of the ‘enthroned god’ type known from Ugarit. It is unclear which of these visual representations would have been prohibited in the different law codes. In DH, Hezekiah and Josiah don’t eliminate all visual representations, only the ones considered non-Yahwistic by Dtr (e.g., the Asherah pole and the bronze serpent).  Akhenaten also eliminated certain forms of visual representation during his reform.  So there may be a correlation between religious reform and the prohibition/elimination of specific visual representations.  SSpecifically anti-cult image rhetoric doesn’t appear until the Exilic period where it occurs alongside monotheistic rhetoric as a reaction to Mesopotamian religious practices:

e.g., Jer 10; Jer 50:2; Ezek 22:3-4; Hab2:18-20; Isa 44:19; Isa 42:7

Exilic editors of the DH could have projected these biases back onto earlier periods.  This can be seen most clearly in the story of Micah (Jud 17:1-5).  Nothing in the story itself suggests that Micah’s image (pesel û-massēkâ) were considered improper, but the later insertion of the monarchic refrain in Judges 17:6 does. Ron Hendel summarizes the typical scholarly reasons given for Israelite Aniconism as follows:

1) Yahweh cannot be magically manipulated (Zimmerli).

It is unclear how divine images facilitate magical manipulation.  Hendel suggest that Zimmerli had divination in mind, but divination is more concerned with discerning the divine will than coercing divine action.

2) Yahweh is transcendent (von Rad).

Mesopotamian deities were also thought to be transcendent (i.e. beyond the ken of mortals) and could still be represented visually.

3) Yahweh is the god of history and representing him visually would imply constraints on his power to act (ˀĕlōhê massēkâ). Marduk, Asshur, and other deities act in history, but are still depicted visually.

4) The use of images is a Canaanite religious practice that the Israelites rejected (Keel).

The Israelites were Canaanites, so it is still necessary to explain why they rejected an earlier practice. Hendel suggests that the Israelite aniconism stems from Israel’s ambivalent attitude toward kingship.  According to him, the image of the enthroned god that was popular in Late Bronze Age Canaan was based on the image of the enthroned king.  Because the early Israelites were egalitarian, they rejected both royal and divine imagery at the same time.  Hendel’s theory does not explain the prohibitions on images in general. According to Thomas Levy, the Israelites prohibited ‘molten gods’ to distinguish themselves from the Edomites, who were master coppersmiths, in the process of ethnogenesis.  His theory may explain the prohibition on cast images of god (massēkâ).  Mettinger argues that the Israelite’s use of standing stones (maṣṣēbôt) evolved into a more general aniconism.  But standing stones are iconic—they are a visual representation of the deity.  Furthermore, standing stones existed alongside other forms of visual representation in both Israel and other Ancient Near Eastern cultures, such as Mari.  They did not represent a distinct stage in a move toward aniconism.  Aniconism is the absence of material representations of the natural and supernatural world in various cultures, particularly in the monotheistic Abrahamic religions. It may extend from only God and deities to saint characters, all living beings, and everything that exists. The phenomenon is generally codified by the religious traditions and as such becomes a taboo. When enforced by the physical destruction of images, aniconism becomes iconoclasm. Monotheist religions – Aniconism was shaped in monotheist religions by theological considerations and historical contexts. It emerged as a corollary of seeing God’s position as the ultimate power holder, and the need to defend this unique status against competing for external and internal forces, such as pagan idols and critical humans. Idolatry was seen as a threat to uniqueness, and one way that prophets and missionaries chose to fight it was through the prohibition of physical representations. The same solution worked against the pretension of humans to have the same power of creation as God (hence their banishment from the Heavens, the destruction of Babel, and the Second Commandment in the biblical texts). Ref

A number of verses in the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) refer to prohibitions against the creation of various forms of images, invariably linked directly with idolatry. The strongest over-all source is based on what Judaism counts as the second of the Ten Commandments:

Do not have any other gods before Me. Do not represent [such] gods by any carved statue or picture of anything in the heaven above, on the earth below, or in the water below the land. Do not bow down to [such gods] or worship them. I am God your Lord, a God who demands exclusive worship. Where My enemies are concerned, I keep in mind the sin of the fathers for [their] descendants, to the third and fourth [generation]. But for those who love Me and keep My commandments, I show love for thousands [of generations]. (Exodus 20:3-6)

This prohibition is widespread. For instance, Leviticus 26:1 reads:

[Therefore,] do not make yourselves false gods. Do not raise up a stone idol or a sacred pillar for yourselves. Do not place a kneeling stone in your land so that you can prostrate yourselves on it. I am God your Lord.

Similar injunctions appear in Numbers 33:52, Deuteronomy 4:16, and 27:15; in all cases, the creation of the image is associated with idolatry, and indeed, the words commonly translated as “image” or some variant thereof (פסל pesel, שקוץ shikuts) are generally used interchangeably with words typically translated as “idol” (e.g., אליל elil). (An important exception is צלם tselem, used in such verses as Genesis 1:26: “let us make man in our image”. This word was not associated with idols.) Based on these prohibitions, the Hebrew prophets, such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos and others, preached very strongly against idolatry. In many of their sermons, as recorded in the biblical books bearing their names, the prophets regarded the use of religious images as a negative sign of assimilation into the surrounding pagan cultures of the time. Despite the semantic association with idols, Halakha (“Jewish law”) as taught by the Shulkhan Arukh (“Code of Jewish Law”) and still practiced and applied by Orthodox Judaism today, interprets the verses as prohibiting the creation of certain types of graven images of people, angels, or astronomical bodies, whether or not they are actually used as idols. The Shulkhan Arukh states: “It is forbidden to make complete solid or raised images of people or angels, or any images of heavenly bodies except for purposes of study”. (“Heavenly bodies” are included here because the stars and planets were worshipped by some religions in human forms. Astronomical models for scientific purposes are permitted under the category of “study.”)Although the prohibition applies mainly to sculpture, there are some authorities who prohibit two-dimensional full-face depictions. Some base this upon their understanding of the Talmud, and others based it upon Kabbalah. Of note is the portrait of Rabbi Tzvi Ashkenazi (known as “the Hakham Tzvi”), which is housed in the Jewish Museum in London Based on his interpretation of this prohibition, the Hakham Tzvi refused to sit for his portrait. However, the London Jewish Community wanted a portrait, so they commissioned the portrait to be done without the Hakham Tzvi’s knowledge. The Hakham Tzvi’s son, Rabbi Jacob Emden, says it was a perfect likeness. Additionally, there is one type of representation, namely, bas-relief or raised representation on a flat surface, that is particularly problematic. Rabbi Jacob Emden discusses a medal struck in honor of Rabbi Eliezer Horowitz that features Horowitz’s portrait. Emden ruled this violated the injunction against depictions. Furthermore, many hold that such representations in the synagogue either violate this injunction or are not permitted, as they give the appearance of violating this injunction. Most notably, Rabbi David ibn Zimra and Rabbi Joseph Karo hold that carvings of lions (e.g., representing the Lion of Judah) are inappropriate in synagogues. On the other hand, some authorities hold that Judaism has no objection to photography or other forms of two-dimensional art, and depictions of humans can be seen in religious books such as the Passover Haggadah, as well as children’s books about biblical and historical personages. Although most Hasidic Jews object to having televisions in their homes, this is not related to prohibitions against idolatry, but, rather, to the content of network and cable programming. Hasidim of all groups regularly display portraits of their Rebbes, and, in some communities, the children trade “rabbi cards” that are similar to baseball cards. In both Hasidic and Orthodox Judaism, taking photographs or filming are forbidden on the Sabbath and Jewish holy days, but this prohibition has nothing to do with idolatry. Rather, it is related to the prohibition against working or creating on these days. Ref

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Raqefet Cave

13,000-year-old stone mortars offers the earliest known physical evidence of an extensive ancient beer-brewing operation.

“The find comes on the heels of a July report that archaeologists working in northeastern Jordan discovered the charred remains of bread baked by Natufians some 11,600 to 14,600 years ago. According to the Stanford scientists, the ancient beer residue comes from 11,700 to 13,700 years old. Through laboratory analysis, other archaeological evidence found in the cave, and the wear of the stones, the team discovered that the ancient Natufians used species from seven plant families, “including wheat or barley, oat, legumes and bast fibers (including flax),” according to the article. “They packed plant-foods, including malted wheat/barley, in fiber-made containers and stored them in boulder mortars. They used bedrock mortars for pounding and cooking plant-foods, including brewing wheat/barley-based beer likely served in ritual feasts ca. 13,000 years ago,” the scientists write. “It has long been speculated that the thirst for beer may have been the stimulus behind cereal domestication, which led to a major social-technological change in human history; but this hypothesis has been highly controversial,” the Stanford authors say. “We report here of the earliest archaeological evidence for cereal-based beer brewing by a semi-sedentary, foraging people.” ref

“Beer making was an integral part of rituals and feasting, a social regulatory mechanism in hierarchical societies,” said Stanford’s Wang. The Raqefet Cave discovery of the first man-made alcohol production, the cave also provides one of the earliest pieces of evidence of the use of flower beds on gravesites, discovered under human skeletons. “The Natufian remains in Raqefet Cave never stop surprising us,” co-author Prof. Dani Nadel, of the University of Haifa’s Zinman Institute of Archaeology, said in a press release. “We exposed a Natufian burial area with about 30 individuals, a wealth of small finds such as flint tools, animal bones and ground stone implements, and about 100 stone mortars and cupmarks. Some of the skeletons are well-preserved and provided direct dates and even human DNA, and we have evidence for flower burials and wakes by the graves.” ref

“And now, with the production of beer, the Raqefet Cave remains provide a very vivid and colorful picture of Natufian lifeways, their technological capabilities, and inventions,” he said. Stanford’s Liu posited that the beer production was of a religious nature because its production was found near a graveyard. “This discovery indicates that making alcohol was not necessarily a result of agricultural surplus production, but it was developed for ritual purposes and spiritual needs, at least to some extent, prior to agriculture,” she said. “Alcohol making and food storage were among the major technological innovations that eventually led to the development of civilizations in the world, and archaeological science is a powerful means to help reveal their origins and decode their contents,” said Liu. “We are excited to have the opportunity to present our findings, which shed new light on a deeper history of human society.” ref

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Damien Marie AtHope’s Art 

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Damien Marie AtHope’s Art 

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Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night.

• By day the “Bible God” was in a cloud pillar.
• By night the “Bible God” was in a fire pillar.

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Low Gods “Earth” or Tutelary deity and High Gods “Sky” or Supreme deity

“An Earth goddess is a deification of the Earth. Earth goddesses are often associated with the “chthonic” deities of the underworld. Ki and Ninhursag are Mesopotamian earth goddesses. In Greek mythology, the Earth is personified as Gaia, corresponding to Roman Terra, Indic Prithvi/Bhūmi, etc. traced to an “Earth Mother” complementary to the “Sky Father” in Proto-Indo-European religion. Egyptian mythology exceptionally has a sky goddess and an Earth god.” ref

“A mother goddess is a goddess who represents or is a personification of nature, motherhood, fertility, creation, destruction or who embodies the bounty of the Earth. When equated with the Earth or the natural world, such goddesses are sometimes referred to as Mother Earth or as the Earth Mother. In some religious traditions or movements, Heavenly Mother (also referred to as Mother in Heaven or Sky Mother) is the wife or feminine counterpart of the Sky father or God the Father.” ref

“Any masculine sky god is often also king of the gods, taking the position of patriarch within a pantheon. Such king gods are collectively categorized as “sky father” deities, with a polarity between sky and earth often being expressed by pairing a “sky father” god with an “earth mother” goddess (pairings of a sky mother with an earth father are less frequent). A main sky goddess is often the queen of the gods and may be an air/sky goddess in her own right, though she usually has other functions as well with “sky” not being her main. In antiquity, several sky goddesses in ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the Near East were called Queen of Heaven. Neopagans often apply it with impunity to sky goddesses from other regions who were never associated with the term historically. The sky often has important religious significance. Many religions, both polytheistic and monotheistic, have deities associated with the sky.” ref

“In comparative mythology, sky father is a term for a recurring concept in polytheistic religions of a sky god who is addressed as a “father”, often the father of a pantheon and is often either a reigning or former King of the Gods. The concept of “sky father” may also be taken to include Sun gods with similar characteristics, such as Ra. The concept is complementary to an “earth mother“. “Sky Father” is a direct translation of the Vedic Dyaus Pita, etymologically descended from the same Proto-Indo-European deity name as the Greek Zeûs Pater and Roman Jupiter and Germanic Týr, Tir or Tiwaz, all of which are reflexes of the same Proto-Indo-European deity’s name, *Dyēus Ph₂tḗr. While there are numerous parallels adduced from outside of Indo-European mythology, there are exceptions (e.g. In Egyptian mythology, Nut is the sky mother and Geb is the earth father).” ref

Tutelary deity

“A tutelary (also tutelar) is a deity or spirit who is a guardian, patron, or protector of a particular place, geographic feature, person, lineage, nation, culture, or occupation. The etymology of “tutelary” expresses the concept of safety and thus of guardianship. In late Greek and Roman religion, one type of tutelary deity, the genius, functions as the personal deity or daimon of an individual from birth to death. Another form of personal tutelary spirit is the familiar spirit of European folklore.” ref

“A tutelary (also tutelar) in Korean shamanism, jangseung and sotdae were placed at the edge of villages to frighten off demons. They were also worshiped as deities. Seonangshin is the patron deity of the village in Korean tradition and was believed to embody the Seonangdang. In Philippine animism, Diwata or Lambana are deities or spirits that inhabit sacred places like mountains and mounds and serve as guardians. Such as: Maria Makiling is the deity who guards Mt. Makiling and Maria Cacao and Maria Sinukuan. In Shinto, the spirits, or kami, which give life to human bodies come from nature and return to it after death. Ancestors are therefore themselves tutelaries to be worshiped. And similarly, Native American beliefs such as Tonás, tutelary animal spirit among the Zapotec and Totems, familial or clan spirits among the Ojibwe, can be animals.” ref

“A tutelary (also tutelar) in Austronesian beliefs such as: Atua (gods and spirits of the Polynesian peoples such as the Māori or the Hawaiians), Hanitu (Bunun of Taiwan‘s term for spirit), Hyang (Kawi, Sundanese, Javanese, and Balinese Supreme Being, in ancient Java and Bali mythology and this spiritual entity, can be either divine or ancestral), Kaitiaki (New Zealand Māori term used for the concept of guardianship, for the sky, the sea, and the land), Kawas (mythology) (divided into 6 groups: gods, ancestors, souls of the living, spirits of living things, spirits of lifeless objects, and ghosts), Tiki (Māori mythology, Tiki is the first man created by either Tūmatauenga or Tāne and represents deified ancestors found in most Polynesian cultures). ” ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref

Mesopotamian Tutelary Deities can be seen as ones related to City-States 

“Historical city-states included Sumerian cities such as Uruk and Ur; Ancient Egyptian city-states, such as Thebes and Memphis; the Phoenician cities (such as Tyre and Sidon); the five Philistine city-states; the Berber city-states of the Garamantes; the city-states of ancient Greece (the poleis such as Athens, Sparta, Thebes, and Corinth); the Roman Republic (which grew from a city-state into a vast empire); the Italian city-states from the Middle Ages to the early modern period, such as Florence, Siena, Ferrara, Milan (which as they grew in power began to dominate neighboring cities) and Genoa and Venice, which became powerful thalassocracies; the Mayan and other cultures of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica (including cities such as Chichen Itza, Tikal, Copán and Monte Albán); the central Asian cities along the Silk Road; the city-states of the Swahili coast; Ragusa; states of the medieval Russian lands such as Novgorod and Pskov; and many others.” ref

“The Uruk period (ca. 4000 to 3100 BCE; also known as Protoliterate period) of Mesopotamia, named after the Sumerian city of Uruk, this period saw the emergence of urban life in Mesopotamia and the Sumerian civilization. City-States like Uruk and others had a patron tutelary City Deity along with a Priest-King.” ref

“Chinese folk religion, both past, and present, includes myriad tutelary deities. Exceptional individuals, highly cultivated sages, and prominent ancestors can be deified and honored after death. Lord Guan is the patron of military personnel and police, while Mazu is the patron of fishermen and sailors. Such as Tu Di Gong (Earth Deity) is the tutelary deity of a locality, and each individual locality has its own Earth Deity and Cheng Huang Gong (City God) is the guardian deity of an individual city, worshipped by local officials and locals since imperial times.” ref

“A tutelary (also tutelar) in Hinduism, personal tutelary deities are known as ishta-devata, while family tutelary deities are known as Kuladevata. Gramadevata are guardian deities of villages. Devas can also be seen as tutelary. Shiva is the patron of yogis and renunciants. City goddesses include: Mumbadevi (Mumbai), Sachchika (Osian); Kuladevis include: Ambika (Porwad), and Mahalakshmi. In NorthEast India Meitei mythology and religion (Sanamahism) of Manipur, there are various types of tutelary deities, among which Lam Lais are the most predominant ones. Tibetan Buddhism has Yidam as a tutelary deity. Dakini is the patron of those who seek knowledge.” ref

“A tutelary (also tutelar) The Greeks also thought deities guarded specific places: for instance, Athena was the patron goddess of the city of Athens. Socrates spoke of hearing the voice of his personal spirit or daimonion:

You have often heard me speak of an oracle or sign which comes to me … . This sign I have had ever since I was a child. The sign is a voice which comes to me and always forbids me to do something which I am going to do, but never commands me to do anything, and this is what stands in the way of my being a politician.” ref

“Tutelary deities who guard and preserve a place or a person are fundamental to ancient Roman religion. The tutelary deity of a man was his Genius, that of a woman her Juno. In the Imperial era, the Genius of the Emperor was a focus of Imperial cult. An emperor might also adopt a major deity as his personal patron or tutelary, as Augustus did Apollo. Precedents for claiming the personal protection of a deity were established in the Republican era, when for instance the Roman dictator Sulla advertised the goddess Victory as his tutelary by holding public games (ludi) in her honor.” ref

“Each town or city had one or more tutelary deities, whose protection was considered particularly vital in time of war and siege. Rome itself was protected by a goddess whose name was to be kept ritually secret on pain of death (for a supposed case, see Quintus Valerius Soranus). The Capitoline Triad of Juno, Jupiter, and Minerva were also tutelaries of Rome. The Italic towns had their own tutelary deities. Juno often had this function, as at the Latin town of Lanuvium and the Etruscan city of Veii, and was often housed in an especially grand temple on the arx (citadel) or other prominent or central location. The tutelary deity of Praeneste was Fortuna, whose oracle was renowned.” ref

“The Roman ritual of evocatio was premised on the belief that a town could be made vulnerable to military defeat if the power of its tutelary deity were diverted outside the city, perhaps by the offer of superior cult at Rome. The depiction of some goddesses such as the Magna Mater (Great Mother, or Cybele) as “tower-crowned” represents their capacity to preserve the city. A town in the provinces might adopt a deity from within the Roman religious sphere to serve as its guardian, or syncretize its own tutelary with such; for instance, a community within the civitas of the Remi in Gaul adopted Apollo as its tutelary, and at the capital of the Remi (present-day Rheims), the tutelary was Mars Camulus.” ref 

Household deity (a kind of or related to a Tutelary deity)

“A household deity is a deity or spirit that protects the home, looking after the entire household or certain key members. It has been a common belief in paganism as well as in folklore across many parts of the world. Household deities fit into two types; firstly, a specific deity – typically a goddess – often referred to as a hearth goddess or domestic goddess who is associated with the home and hearth, such as the ancient Greek Hestia.” ref

“The second type of household deities are those that are not one singular deity, but a type, or species of animistic deity, who usually have lesser powers than major deities. This type was common in the religions of antiquity, such as the Lares of ancient Roman religion, the Gashin of Korean shamanism, and Cofgodas of Anglo-Saxon paganism. These survived Christianisation as fairy-like creatures existing in folklore, such as the Anglo-Scottish Brownie and Slavic Domovoy.” ref

“Household deities were usually worshipped not in temples but in the home, where they would be represented by small idols (such as the teraphim of the Bible, often translated as “household gods” in Genesis 31:19 for example), amulets, paintings, or reliefs. They could also be found on domestic objects, such as cosmetic articles in the case of Tawaret. The more prosperous houses might have a small shrine to the household god(s); the lararium served this purpose in the case of the Romans. The gods would be treated as members of the family and invited to join in meals, or be given offerings of food and drink.” ref

“In many religions, both ancient and modern, a god would preside over the home. Certain species, or types, of household deities, existed. An example of this was the Roman Lares. Many European cultures retained house spirits into the modern period. Some examples of these include:

• Brownie (Scotland and England) or Hob (England) / Kobold (Germany) / Goblin / Hobgoblin
• Domovoy (Slavic)
• Nisse (Norwegian or Danish) / Tomte (Swedish) / Tonttu (Finnish)
• Húsvættir (Norse)” ref

“Although the cosmic status of household deities was not as lofty as that of the Twelve Olympians or the Aesir, they were also jealous of their dignity and also had to be appeased with shrines and offerings, however humble. Because of their immediacy they had arguably more influence on the day-to-day affairs of men than the remote gods did. Vestiges of their worship persisted long after Christianity and other major religions extirpated nearly every trace of the major pagan pantheons. Elements of the practice can be seen even today, with Christian accretions, where statues to various saints (such as St. Francis) protect gardens and grottos. Even the gargoyles found on older churches, could be viewed as guardians partitioning a sacred space.” ref

“For centuries, Christianity fought a mop-up war against these lingering minor pagan deities, but they proved tenacious. For example, Martin Luther‘s Tischreden have numerous – quite serious – references to dealing with kobolds. Eventually, rationalism and the Industrial Revolution threatened to erase most of these minor deities, until the advent of romantic nationalism rehabilitated them and embellished them into objects of literary curiosity in the 19th century. Since the 20th century this literature has been mined for characters for role-playing games, video games, and other fantasy personae, not infrequently invested with invented traits and hierarchies somewhat different from their mythological and folkloric roots.” ref

“In contradistinction to both Herbert Spencer and Edward Burnett Tylor, who defended theories of animistic origins of ancestor worship, Émile Durkheim saw its origin in totemism. In reality, this distinction is somewhat academic, since totemism may be regarded as a particularized manifestation of animism, and something of a synthesis of the two positions was attempted by Sigmund Freud. In Freud’s Totem and Taboo, both totem and taboo are outward expressions or manifestations of the same psychological tendency, a concept which is complementary to, or which rather reconciles, the apparent conflict. Freud preferred to emphasize the psychoanalytic implications of the reification of metaphysical forces, but with particular emphasis on its familial nature. This emphasis underscores, rather than weakens, the ancestral component.” ref

“William Edward Hearn, a noted classicist, and jurist, traced the origin of domestic deities from the earliest stages as an expression of animism, a belief system thought to have existed also in the neolithic, and the forerunner of Indo-European religion. In his analysis of the Indo-European household, in Chapter II “The House Spirit”, Section 1, he states:

The belief which guided the conduct of our forefathers was … the spirit rule of dead ancestors.” ref

“In Section 2 he proceeds to elaborate:

It is thus certain that the worship of deceased ancestors is a vera causa, and not a mere hypothesis. …

In the other European nations, the Slavs, the Teutons, and the Kelts, the House Spirit appears with no less distinctness. … [T]he existence of that worship does not admit of doubt. … The House Spirits had a multitude of other names which it is needless here to enumerate, but all of which are more or less expressive of their friendly relations with man. … In [England] … [h]e is the Brownie. … In Scotland this same Brownie is well known. He is usually described as attached to particular families, with whom he has been known to reside for centuries, threshing the corn, cleaning the house, and performing similar household tasks. His favorite gratification was milk and honey.” ref

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

ref, ref

Hinduism around 3,700 to 3,500 years old. ref

 Judaism around 3,450 or 3,250 years old. (The first writing in the bible was “Paleo-Hebrew” dated to around 3,000 years ago Khirbet Qeiyafa is the site of an ancient fortress city overlooking the Elah Valley. And many believe the religious Jewish texts were completed around 2,500) ref, ref

Judaism is around 3,450 or 3,250 years old. (“Paleo-Hebrew” 3,000 years ago and Torah 2,500 years ago)

“Judaism is an Abrahamic, its roots as an organized religion in the Middle East during the Bronze Age. Some scholars argue that modern Judaism evolved from Yahwism, the religion of ancient Israel and Judah, by the late 6th century BCE, and is thus considered to be one of the oldest monotheistic religions.” ref

“Yahwism is the name given by modern scholars to the religion of ancient Israel, essentially polytheistic, with a plethora of gods and goddesses. Heading the pantheon was Yahweh, the national god of the Israelite kingdoms of Israel and Judah, with his consort, the goddess Asherah; below them were second-tier gods and goddesses such as Baal, Shamash, Yarikh, Mot, and Astarte, all of whom had their own priests and prophets and numbered royalty among their devotees, and a third and fourth tier of minor divine beings, including the mal’ak, the messengers of the higher gods, who in later times became the angels of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Yahweh, however, was not the ‘original’ god of Israel “Isra-El”; it is El, the head of the Canaanite pantheon, whose name forms the basis of the name “Israel”, and none of the Old Testament patriarchs, the tribes of Israel, the Judges, or the earliest monarchs, have a Yahwistic theophoric name (i.e., one incorporating the name of Yahweh).” ref

“El is a Northwest Semitic word meaning “god” or “deity“, or referring (as a proper name) to any one of multiple major ancient Near Eastern deities. A rarer form, ‘ila, represents the predicate form in Old Akkadian and in Amorite. The word is derived from the Proto-Semitic *ʔil-, meaning “god”. Specific deities known as ‘El or ‘Il include the supreme god of the ancient Canaanite religion and the supreme god of East Semitic speakers in Mesopotamia’s Early Dynastic Period. ʼĒl is listed at the head of many pantheons. In some Canaanite and Ugaritic sources, ʼĒl played a role as father of the gods, of creation, or both. For example, in the Ugaritic texts, ʾil mlk is understood to mean “ʼĒl the King” but ʾil hd as “the god Hadad“. The Semitic root ʾlh (Arabic ʾilāh, Aramaic ʾAlāh, ʾElāh, Hebrew ʾelōah) may be ʾl with a parasitic h, and ʾl may be an abbreviated form of ʾlh. In Ugaritic the plural form meaning “gods” is ʾilhm, equivalent to Hebrew ʾelōhîm “powers”. In the Hebrew texts this word is interpreted as being semantically singular for “god” by biblical commentators. However the documentary hypothesis for the Old Testament (corresponds to the Jewish Torah) developed originally in the 1870s, identifies these that different authors – the Jahwist, Elohist, Deuteronomist, and the Priestly source – were responsible for editing stories from a polytheistic religion into those of a monotheistic religion. Inconsistencies that arise between monotheism and polytheism in the texts are reflective of this hypothesis.” ref

Jainism around 2,599 – 2,527 years old. ref

Confucianism around 2,600 – 2,551 years old. ref

Buddhism around 2,563/2,480 – 2,483/2,400 years old. ref

Christianity around 2,o00 years old. ref

Shinto around 1,305 years old. ref

Islam around 1407–1385 years old. ref

Sikhism around 548–478 years old. ref

Bahá’í around 200–125 years old. ref

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

Expressions of Atheistic Thinking:

• Around 2,600 years ago, Ajita Kesakambali, ancient Indian philosopher, who is the first known proponent of Indian materialism. ref
• Around 2,535 to 2,475 years ago, Heraclitus, Greek pre-Socratic philosopher, a native of the Greek city Ephesus, Ionia, on the coast of Anatolia, also known as Asia Minor or modern Turkey. ref
• Around 2,500 to 2,400 years ago, according to The Story of Civilization book series certain African pygmy tribes have no identifiable gods, spirits, or religious beliefs or rituals, and even what burials accrue are without ceremony. ref
• Around 2,490 to 2,430 years ago, Empedocles, Greek pre-Socratic philosopher and a citizen of Agrigentum, a Greek city in Sicily. ref
• Around 2,460 to 2,370 years ago, Democritus, Greek pre-Socratic philosopher considered to be the “father of modern science” possibly had some disbelief amounting to atheism. ref
• Around 2,399 years ago or so, Socrates, a famous Greek philosopher was tried for sinfulness by teaching doubt of state gods. ref
• Around 2,341 to 2,270 years ago, Epicurus, a Greek philosopher known for composing atheistic critics and famously stated, “Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him god?” ref

This last expression by Epicurus, seems to be an expression of Axiological Atheism. To understand and utilize value or actually possess “Value Conscious/Consciousness” to both give a strong moral “axiological” argument (the problem of evil) as well as use it to fortify humanism and positive ethical persuasion of human helping and care responsibilities. Because value-blindness gives rise to sociopathic/psychopathic evil.

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

The “Atheist-Humanist-Leftist Revolutionaries”

Cory Johnston ☭ Ⓐ Atheist Leftist @Skepticallefty & I (Damien Marie AtHope) @AthopeMarie (my YouTube & related blog) are working jointly in atheist, antitheist, antireligionist, antifascist, anarchist, socialist, and humanist endeavors in our videos together, generally, every other Saturday.

Why Does Power Bring Responsibility?

Think, how often is it the powerless that start wars, oppress others, or commit genocide? So, I guess the question is to us all, to ask, how can power not carry responsibility in a humanity concept? I know I see the deep ethical responsibility that if there is power their must be a humanistic responsibility of ethical and empathic stewardship of that power. Will I be brave enough to be kind? Will I possess enough courage to be compassionate? Will my valor reach its height of empathy? I as everyone, earns our justified respect by our actions, that are good, ethical, just, protecting, and kind. Do I have enough self-respect to put my love for humanity’s flushing, over being brought down by some of its bad actors? May we all be the ones doing good actions in the world, to help human flourishing.

I create the world I want to live in, striving for flourishing. Which is not a place but a positive potential involvement and promotion; a life of humanist goal precision. To master oneself, also means mastering positive prosocial behaviors needed for human flourishing. I may have lost a god myth as an atheist, but I am happy to tell you, my friend, it is exactly because of that, leaving the mental terrorizer, god belief, that I truly regained my connected ethical as well as kind humanity.

Cory and I will talk about prehistory and theism, addressing the relevance to atheism, anarchism, and socialism.

At the same time as the rise of the male god, 7,000 years ago, there was also the very time there was the rise of violence, war, and clans to kingdoms, then empires, then states. It is all connected back to 7,000 years ago, and it moved across the world.

Cory Johnston: https://damienmarieathope.com/2021/04/cory-johnston-mind-of-a-skeptical-leftist/?v=32aec8db952d  

The Mind of a Skeptical Leftist (YouTube)

Cory Johnston: Mind of a Skeptical Leftist @Skepticallefty

The Mind of a Skeptical Leftist By Cory Johnston: “Promoting critical thinking, social justice, and left-wing politics by covering current events and talking to a variety of people. Cory Johnston has been thoughtfully talking to people and attempting to promote critical thinking, social justice, and left-wing politics.” http://anchor.fm/skepticalleft

Cory needs our support. We rise by helping each other.

Cory Johnston ☭ Ⓐ @Skepticallefty Evidence-based atheist leftist (he/him) Producer, host, and co-host of 4 podcasts @skeptarchy @skpoliticspod and @AthopeMarie

Damien Marie AtHope (“At Hope”) Axiological Atheist, Anti-theist, Anti-religionist, Secular Humanist. Rationalist, Writer, Artist, Poet, Philosopher, Advocate, Activist, Psychology, and Armchair Archaeology/Anthropology/Historian.

Damien is interested in: Freedom, Liberty, Justice, Equality, Ethics, Humanism, Science, Atheism, Antiteism, Antireligionism, Ignosticism, Left-Libertarianism, Anarchism, Socialism, Mutualism, Axiology, Metaphysics, LGBTQI, Philosophy, Advocacy, Activism, Mental Health, Psychology, Archaeology, Social Work, Sexual Rights, Marriage Rights, Woman’s Rights, Gender Rights, Child Rights, Secular Rights, Race Equality, Ageism/Disability Equality, Etc. And a far-leftist, “Anarcho-Humanist.”

I am not a good fit in the atheist movement that is mostly pro-capitalist, I am anti-capitalist. Mostly pro-skeptic, I am a rationalist not valuing skepticism. Mostly pro-agnostic, I am anti-agnostic. Mostly limited to anti-Abrahamic religions, I am an anti-religionist. 

To me, the “male god” seems to have either emerged or become prominent around 7,000 years ago, whereas the now favored monotheism “male god” is more like 4,000 years ago or so. To me, the “female goddess” seems to have either emerged or become prominent around 11,000-10,000 years ago or so, losing the majority of its once prominence around 2,000 years ago due largely to the now favored monotheism “male god” that grow in prominence after 4,000 years ago or so. 

My Thought on the Evolution of Gods?

Animal protector deities from old totems/spirit animal beliefs come first to me, 13,000/12,000 years ago, then women as deities 11,000/10,000 years ago, then male gods around 7,000/8,000 years ago. Moralistic gods around 5,000/4,000 years ago, and monotheistic gods around 4,000/3,000 years ago. 

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

Damien Marie AtHope (Said as “At” “Hope”)/(Autodidact Polymath but not good at math):

Axiological Atheist, Anti-theist, Anti-religionist, Secular Humanist, Rationalist, Writer, Artist, Jeweler, Poet, “autodidact” Philosopher, schooled in Psychology, and “autodidact” Armchair Archaeology/Anthropology/Pre-Historian (Knowledgeable in the range of: 1 million to 5,000/4,000 years ago). I am an anarchist socialist politically. Reasons for or Types of Atheism

My Website, My Blog, & Short-writing or Quotes, My YouTube, Twitter: @AthopeMarie, and My Email: damien.marie.athope@gmail.com