History of the Canaanite Religion - Research Paper Example

History of the Canaanite Religion. Introduction Canaan was not a Semitic but emerged from a merchant designation. In Zechariah 14:21 Canaan refers to traders or merchants (Albright, 112). Additionally, the word Canaan relates to the special colored dye. Canaan settlement began from Paleolithic times with some of its best cities showing Semitic influences being Jericho, Megiddo, Byblos, and Ugarit. During this time, the Egyptians were the ones who governed and controlled the entire area of Canaan. During this period, there came the Egyptian Execration Texts, which lists people and princes of the area who owe their allegiance to Egypt. Canaan also related to other violent tribes other than Egypt. A group known as Amorite invaded the area in 2000B.C, which migrated through the Fertile Crescent from Southern Mesopotamian Valley. The Canaanites faced attacks and affected by the Hyksos, who once took control of Egypt from 1720 until 1570. In the sixteenth century, Egyptians succeeded in driving off the Hyksos tribe, which gave the Egyptians a way of extending their power over the Canaanites (Albright, 72). The Egyptian power was somehow weak, and this caused fights among various nations in the area. During the fourteenth century, there was around 350 written letters showing the correspondence of the Egyptian Court at Tell el-Amarna and a number of Canaanite cities. These letters were indications of some Canaanite principalities socially and politically. Before the Israelites could enter into Canaan, the people in Canaan only organized around the major cities. This Egyptian form of settlement resulted in a no central defense, which made it easy for the Israelites to succeed in settling in Canaan. Genesis 9:1-2 indicate that although the kind tried to form a defense coalitions there existed no power to unite all the Canaanites against Israelites. Judge Deborah made an effort to fight against Canaanites due to struggling against each other, and as a result, the Canaanite and Israelite finally melded together. This phenomenon finally ended by the time of King David’s Rule. There were findings of the cuneiform tablets, which remained in the royal library and temple in Ugarit. These tablets portrayal and religious perspective was a representation of the Canaanite thought. During this period, worshiping a god by the name Pantheon of deities took place in Ugarit. Each deity had its own duty assignment and fluidity flowed in the deity perception. Canaanites fully engaged in the practice of worshiping gods The Israelites lived in a culture where worship of many gods was into practice. Despite the understanding of the first Commandment by the Israelite-You shall not have any other god before me; the Canaanites challenged this monotheism form of worship-worship of only one God. This worshiping of gods by Canaanites appeared to be perfect according to many Israelites, and they finally forgot all the good things Yahweh was doing to them and started worshiping the gods of Canaan (Douglas, 100). Israelites also had another complain that Yahweh was invisible since no one has ever seen God; another factor why Israelites engaged in the practice of Canaan gods is that they became intolerant. According to Bible these gods worshiping refers to detestable. Although the Israelites were aware that God had demanded them not to worship any other god, the Canaanites taught them all the detestable, that these gods did to them, and this made Israelites forget their Almighty God. The Canaanites and Israelites depended on rainfall for their survival, and it was a clear belief of them that it rained due to the divine powers of the god who assured human and animal fecundity. Physical Security provided by the gods during times of war was another factor that led the Israelites to begin worshiping gods. The Israelites complained that they should worship a visible god who they can easily access. Some of the gods worshiped by the Israelites One of the gods worshiped in Canaan was Baal who was the son of El. Baal being El’s successor was living on a lofty mountain the far northern heavens, which led to the consideration of him as being the god of heavens. He was the god of rains and storm whose voice came reverberating from the heavens in the thunder. Canaanites knew Baal as the one who prevails, and it was their belief that he was the god of drought and adversity. Beside all these, Baal was also the god of justice and the terror of evildoers (Bluedorn 45). Anat depicted in the Bible as Anath joined Baal in his work being as both sister and consultant of Baal. Anat was both god of love, the perpetual virgin, and the goddess of warfare. Since Baal was El’s successor, all those associated with the worship of El naturally joined Baal. El was also another god worshiped in Israel. In Canaan, he represented the Canaanite deity and was the leader of the pantheon. El married three wives who were also his sisters (Timothy, 150). During the time of escapades and crime, these three could step down immediately to be the heroes. El’s behavior and acts made other gods have fear on him. He dethroned his own father, murdered his beloved son, and killed his daughter by cutting her head. Despite all these evil deeds, El got consideration as the father of years, father of man, and father of bull. He was the father of men and gods. Additionally, Asherah who was the wife of El was the goddess known as Athirau-Yammi meaning one who walks on the sea. Ashera was the god of Tyre and bore the appellation holiness. Mot was the god of death who had all the powers that opposed life and fertility a character that created enmity between him and Baal. Mot was the son of El and a great enemy of Baal and this brought seasonal wars among the two, this led to the death of mot, who was finally killed by Baal’s sister Anath. Anath a combination of both a spouse and a sister of Baal was among the three gods whose character describes the morals to which Canaanite cults sank. The rest were Astarte and Asherah and three were the gods of sex and war. Anath representation was images of naked woman bestride a lion with one hand and a huge snake in the other hand. This was a real representation of sex appeal and fertility. Astarte was the god of the evening star who had likeliness of Anath and Asherah concerned with sex and war (Timothy, 35). He was not only a mother goddess but also a divine courtesan. Another god was Reshep who was the god of the plague and the underworld. Reshep combined Anath and bablylonian god called Nergal. He was the god of war which made him be presented as a man with a beard who on his head stood a tall and pointed headdress with a goat’s or gazelle’s head, brandishing an ax, and on the other hand holding a shield. Other gods included Shulman who was the god of health who’s name means peace and prosperity, and Koshar the god of arts and crafts a name fit or proper. Idolatry among Israelites made them ignorant and turn away from God. They even tested God when they insisted that He satisfy their lust. Israelite played moral hide-and-seek, which refers to hypocrisy and worshiped Him only it reached a moment they could not escape Him. This idol worshiping resulted in all Israelites wiped away from the land of Canaan by God to an exile land of Medes and Assyria and they is still in exile. Work cited Albright, William F. Yahweh and the Gods of Canaan: A Historical Analysis of Two Contrasting Faiths. Winona Lake, Ind: Eisenbrauns, 1978. Print. Bluedorn, Wolfgang. Yahweh Versus Baalism: A Theological Reading of Gideon-Abimelech Narrative. Sheffield: Sheffield Acad. Press, 2001. Print. Douglas, J D, Merrill C. Tenney, and Moise?s Silva. Zondervan Illustrated Bible Dictionary. Grand Rapids, Mich: Zondervan, 2011. Internet resource. Pierce, Timothy M, and E R. Clendenen. Enthroned on Our Praise: An Old Testament Theology of Worship. Nashville, Tenn: B & H Academic, 2008. Print. Read More