As early as the 10th century BCE, Israelite and Judean religion began to emerge within the broader West Semitic culture, otherwise known as Canaanite culture. Between the 10th century and the 7th century BCE, ancient Israelite and Judean religion was polytheistic. The polytheism, though, was counterbalanced by devotion to one or two primary deities, a practice known as henotheism. Henotheism is the recognition and worship of many deities; however, the primary worship revolves around a single deity. Within Judean and Israelite communities, primary devotion was oftentimes towards Yahweh. As both Judah and Israel were emerging states, Yahweh was the national deity, an idea tjat finds its origins in religious practices from the Bronze Age.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original article at https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1097/ancient-israelite--judean-religion/.
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- How do you think family religion helped shape early Israelite identity?
- Why do you think many people kept honoring more than one deity at first?
- Do you think ethics or sacrifices were more important in this religion, and why?
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