Ancient Israel's Faith and History: An Introduction to the Bible in Context Review

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(More customer reviews)George E. Mendenhall has been described by eminent students of the Bible as one of the most creative American scholars of the ancient Near East in the twentieth century. Yet his fundamental work is largely unknown outside the guild of professional historians, philologists, and archaeologists. Now a comprehensive account of his reconstruction of the history of ancient Israel is available in a beautifully edited, attractively produced form. It can be understood and appreciated even by those who haven't mastered the technical tools of the professional scholar.
His pre-eminent interest, studied over a period of some six decades, has been the origins of ancient Israel. In Mendenhall's view, it is in Israel's origins that we find the essential clues to the interpretation of all subsequent Israelite history-including the appearance of Jesus of Nazareth and the early Christian Church some 1200 years after the time of Moses. A brief review such as this cannot hope to do justice to the enormous wealth of material in this superb book. I will attempt only a sketchy summary of each chapter.
Introduction
First he posits several illuminating general principles for understanding the phenomenon of religion, which are applied throughout the following chapters to Israel's particular historical phases.
Abraham to Moses
Then Mendenhall surveys the later part of the Bronze Age (2500-1200 B.C.) in the Eastern Mediterranean, covering the rise and fall of empires. He also characterizes (the main thrust of the chapter) the emergence, from at least 2000 B.C. onward, of numerous groups of "Apiru"--people who altogether disavowed political loyalties. He cites linguistic reasons for associating "Apiru" with "transgressor" or "outlaw." Apiru groups, lacking any legal protection, survived via banditry, mercenary militarism, or by converting agricultural assets to movable livestock and escaping to uninhabited regions inaccessible to political authorities. The less fortunate among them were prey to enslavement as state laborers--as were thousands of Apiru in Egypt.
Moses and the Exodus
Moses' leadership of the "exodus" of a few hundred Apiru from Egypt is tied in Biblical tradition (correctly, in Mendenhall's view) to two revolutionary religious innovations: monotheism in which the defining characteristic of God ("Yahweh") is ethical concern; and the use of a new form for the mediation of this Yahwism--the Covenant, derived by analogy from the forms and functions of international suzerainty treaties in use already for a millennium.
The Twelve-Tribe Federation
Mendenhall continues his historical reconstruction to the formation in two stages of the Twelve-Tribe federation of ancient Israel, created and sustained by the Mosaic Covenant, which put into practice the seemingly exotic notion of a state-less society.
David and the Transition to Monarchy
The federation functioned for about two centuries; pressure by Philistines accelerated the decline in morale and prompted desires for the institution of a political state capable of dealing more effectively with them. Samuel himself foresaw this move as the repudiation of Yahweh and the Covenant. Mendenhall illuminates the ingenious strategy then employed by David and the pagan bureaucrats inherited from the defeated Jerusalem to construct a synthesis of Yahwism and paganism, for which he adopts the term "Yahwisticism".
The Legacy of King Solomon
With King Solomon the "re-paganization of Israel" reached new heights. Mendenhall relates how Solomon's building program--involving the imposition of the corvée labor from which the Apiru slaves had escaped with Moses!--provided a new Phoenician Temple for the theologians and a swell Hittite palace for the king. "Yahweh," once the repudiator of coercion, had become merely the new "Baal," the Bronze Age hypostasis of state legitimacy and power. Mendenhall limns the intricate, unscrupulous struggles among Solomon's successors, and correlates the poetic oracles of Hosea and Amos to the ongoing upheavals of state, bringing into relief their invocation of the old covenantal elements.
Josiah Reforms the Imperial Religion
Mendenhall next turns to the fate of the kingdom of Judah and the biblical literature catalyzed by its history. He presents the historical preparation for Josiah and the latter's reforms. He also offers insights into the perverse consequences of the failure of Sennacherib's siege of Jerusalem during Hezekiah's reign (the unwarranted confidence that Yahweh's highest priority was the protection of Jerusalem and its Temple).
Destruction and Exile: The Creative Reform of Yahwism
The destruction of Jerusalem predicted by Jeremiah (and Ezekiel) was a catastrophe for Israel-as-Davidic-Dynasty and produced enormous suffering for countless hapless individuals. Meditations on it by some of the greatest religious geniuses of history are enshrined in various Biblical writings, especially Jeremiah and Ezekiel; Job (the book is worth having for this section alone); and "Second Isaiah." But the universalizing re-expression of Israel's covenant faith by these writers was just one response to the Exile. With the return of the exiles to Palestine under the Persian Cyrus, Ezra and Nehemiah wrote another new chapter in the evolution of Yahwism.
Jesus and the New Testament Reformation
Reading the New Testament in the light of the Old Testament makes it clear that Jesus' message hearkens back to the Covenant faith and the inspired re-expressions and adaptations of it by the great prophets. In a word, it was a creative reformation movement within the tradition of Israel's faith. Mendenhall throws a flood of light on "the Kingdom of God," "Messiah," "Law," and on "covenant" itself as it reappears in the Christian Eucharist.
Summary
This magnificent book by one of the towering figures in Biblical scholarship throws an arresting new light on the universal significance of the ancient ethical-religious vision of Moses and pre-monarchic Israel. It shows how, despite the ever-changing vicissitudes of Israel's history, this vision reappears, creatively readapted, in the prophetic legacy, in the Exile, in Jesus and the early Church. It is well worth having just for the fascinating word-studies to be found throughout the text. No one who takes its insights seriously can look at either the Bible or the surviving religious institutions in the same way. I believe it should be read and deeply pondered by all who are committed to the life of faith.

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The author's magisterial survey leaves no scholarly stone unturned and no discipline disregarded. Findings from anthropology, archaeology, linguistics, historical analysis and social theory are all combined to paint a complete picture of Ancient Israel - a picture that is detailed and nuanced, yet presented in an accessible style. While careful not to move beyond the comprehensive evidence he has assimilated, the author does not shy from providing an account of the theological dimensions of both of Israel's history and the beginnings of the Christian faith.

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The Creation of History in Ancient Israel Review

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(More customer reviews)This book examines the process of the creation of history in the Hebrew Bible. Brettler sets out to "show what various biblical authors were `trying to do' when they wrote" their respective works.
The author begins with a strong survey of the history of historical criticism, followed by a presentation of what he believes to be the "four central factors responsible for the production of ancient Israelite biblical texts:" the use of typologies, the interpretation of earlier texts, literary shaping, and ideological influence. During an introductory discussion of `history,' `ideology,' and `literature,' Brettler suggests that what has classically been understood as `history' should actually be called `historiography' or `history writing,' while history should be understood simply as, "a narrative that presents a past." Along the same lines, `ideology' is best considered "a specific set of beliefs," which Brettler differentiates from `propaganda,' which is the method used to disseminate those beliefs. Finally, the author discards the word `literature' as an accurate description of the biblical text, arguing that "literary works are determined by the community, not by their authors." Therefore since the author did not consider his work to be literature, but rather a history, we too should refrain from calling the narrative `literature.' Brettler does concede that there are various rhetorical or literary devices and genres employed within the biblical text, but since the author employed these devices with the intention of writing a narrative history, we too should refrain from referring to the results of his literary endeavors as `literature.' This is a fine hair to split and will certainly be criticized by future respondents.
Brettler then presents his evidence in a series of six chapters that increase in degree of redaction-critical difficulty. This section is cleverly bracketed by a discussion of Chronicles (chapter 2) on the front end, in which we have the extant sources (Samuel and Kings) used by the Chronicler in his redaction, and concluding with "Text in a Tel" (chapter six), a detailed discussion of redaction-criticism that uses the multi-layered redactions of 2 Kings 17 as the literary ground in need of excavation.
Brettler's indebtedness to his teacher, Michael Fishbane, is evident the moment Brettler begins his intrabiblical exegesis of the text (chapters 2-7). This is a strength of the book, in that the author highlights many textual examples essential to any survey of redaction-criticism methodology, and in seeking an explanation of each highlighted redaction, the author tells the story of the creation of the history of Israel.
Brettler's best work is with his treatment of Chronicles. He states, "The Chronicler...provides an incontrovertible example of the flexibility of the past in the hands of one biblical historian." But Brettler ultimately leaves open for debate the question of whether the Chronicler felt he was correcting earlier scribal errors or whether he was the historian "of a totalitarian regime, attempting to control the ideology of the population." This is an important question to say the least, for its answer determines whether the Hebrew Bible was composed as multiple redactions of early oral and written themes and histories, or was composed late in history solely from the ideological imagination of the Deuteronomistic Historians.
The author then proceeds with his analysis, suggesting that the repeated promotion of Judah over the firstborn Reuben in the Genesis narrative illustrates the biblical author's use of typologies within the text. In Deuteronomy, Brettler offers a classic treatment in which he substantially demonstrates a revision of history on the behalf of the Deuteronomist. The author's treatment of the Ehud-Eglon story as satire was a surprisingly compelling argument. Here, Brettler suggests that the purpose of this genre is to increase the life span of the story's moral by using mocking, sexual, and scatological references towards Israel's Moabite enemies. Finally, Brettler discusses ideology, using the book of Samuel as a vehicle that promotes David and offers an apology for the royal ideology of the Davidic line.
Brettler ends his book with a healthy discussion of whether it is possible to reconstruct actual history. Following R. G. Collingwood, Brettler offers an analogy to the American legal system which discusses the two tests that are used in determining the validity of an argument: the unanimity rule of criminal courts that requires something be "beyond a reasonable doubt," and the less stringent majority rule of a civil court that only requires a "preponderance of evidence." Holding up Lionel Grossman's view as a model, Brettler concludes that "history cannot be objective in the sense of `ontologically founded,' but can be `something like rationally justifiable or defensible, not arbitrary, and open to criticism.'" Inasmuch, one can never be certain that one has recreated the actual past, because the past, especially a narrative one, is never fully recoverable. The responsible scholar should accept this reality and "decide which of the alternative reconstructions of the Israelite past best fits the evidence." Brettler concludes, "Biblical historical texts reflect a combination of genuine interest in the past, strong ideological beliefs and refined rhetorical devices."
With the exception of the persistent denotation of possessive plurals with a double apostrophe (or is it a quotation mark?), a practice never before encountered by the present reviewer, Brettler's work is well written, well argued, and is a great addition to the library of the biblical scholar or historian interested in the narrative history of Israel.

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The Creation of History in Ancient Israel demonstrates how the historian can start to piece together the history of ancient Israel using the Hebrew Bible as a source.

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The Hebrew Pharaohs of Egypt: The Secret Lineage of the Patriarch Joseph Review

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(More customer reviews)Drawing on the Bible, the Koran and various ancient Egyptian sources, the author places the events of Exodus in the time of Ramses I. This new interpretation of history may be compared with the work of Velikovsky although their conclusions are not the same; Velikovsky identifies Ramses I with Necho I of the end of the 7th century B.C.
I don't know who is correct, but Osman certainly provides a great read in this book as he identifies the biblical Joseph with Yuya, grand vizier of the 18th dynasty pharaoh Tuthmose IV. From this follows the introduction of monotheism by queen Tiye and her son Akhenaten. This explains the animosity shown towards Akhenaten and his religion by the later pharaoh Horemheb, whom Osman identifies as the oppressor king of the book of Exodus.
This book consists of two parts: A Father To Pharaoh which details the aforementioned history, and Notes And Sources, which contains the evidence and an interesting chapter on the name of Joseph/Yuya. This fascinating work concludes with a bibliography and index.
I also recommend The House Of The Messiah by this author plus the books of Immanuel Velikovsky, like Ages In Chaos, Oedipus And Akhnaten an Ramses II And His Time.

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A reinterpretation of Egyptian and biblical history that shows the Patriarch Joseph and Yuya, a vizier of the eighteenth dynasty king Tuthmosis IV, to be the same person' Uses detailed evidence from Egyptian, biblical, and Koranic sources to place Exodus in the time of Ramses I' Sheds new light on the mysterious and sudden rise of monotheism under Yuya's daughter, Queen Tiye, and her son AkhnatenWhen Joseph revealed his identity to his kinsmen who had sold him into slavery, he told them that God had made him 'a father to Pharaoh." Throughout the long history of ancient Egypt, only one man is known to have been given the title 'a father to Pharaoh"--Yuya, a vizier of the eighteenth dynasty king Tuthmosis IV. Yuya has long intrigued Egyptologists because he was buried in the Valley of Kings even though he was not a member of the Royal House. His extraordinarily well-preserved mummy has a strong Semitic appearance, which suggests he was not of Egyptian blood, and many aspects of his burial have been shown to be contrary to Egyptian custom. As The Hebrew Pharohs of Egypt shows, the idea that Joseph and Yuya may be one and the same person sheds a whole new light on the sudden rise of monotheism in Egypt, spearheaded by Queen Tiye and her son Akhnaten. It would clearly explain the deliberate obliteration of references to the 'heretic" king and his successors by the last eighteenth dynasty pharaoh, Horemheb, whom the author believes was the oppressor king in the Book of Exodus. The author also draws on a wealth of detailed evidence from Egyptian, biblical, and Koranic sources to place the time of the departure of the Hebrews from Egypt during the short reign of Ramses I, the first king of the nineteenth dynasty.

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Judeophobia: Attitudes toward the Jews in the Ancient World Review

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(More customer reviews)The author places the roots of classical anti-Semitism in Egypt, and although the texts he quotes are mostly in Greek, he clearly points the finger at the Egyptian natives, not the colonizers, as the source of the prejudice. The first pogrom against a Jewish community in the diaspora occurred in Egypt in the 5th century, when a Jewish place of worship was burned down in a riot instigated by Egyptian priests assisted by renegade Persian overlords. Five hundred years later in Alexandria there was another pogrom, destruction of synagogues and Jewish homes and property, and herding of Jews into a ghetto, by native Egyptians with the support of renegade Greek overlords. The author recognizes that there are anti-Semitic passages in the Roman authors too, but says the situation there is more "complex," and not as serious. In my view, the author places too much weight on the niceties of specific texts, and ignores the fact that those renegades responsible for the pogrom in Alexandria were executed, while in pagan Rome within two centuries two official decrees exiled either the entire Jewish community in the city or significant parts of it. Which is more anti-Semitic, an official decree that exiles an entire community, or a riot by renegades that meets with severe official punishment? The responsibility for anti-Jewish agitation in the ancient world is wider than the author wants us to believe. Nevertheless this is a well written book by a scholar of Judaism with a bent for classical languages that is unusual in this field.

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Stairway to Heaven: Chinese Alchemists, Jewish Kabbalists, and the Art of Spiritual Transformation Review

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(More customer reviews)It is easy to look at the mysticism of the ancients and see nothing but unintelligible mumbo-jumbo. But while we are free to reject myth and mysticism as incorrect, we would be foolish to dismiss them as nonsense. There is simply too much articulation, sophistication, and structural rigor to these systems of practice and belief. Scientology they ain't.
But what were the ancients doing? Why did they devote so much time to the stars, the human body, and the connections they believed existed between them? The notion that myth encodes astronomical information was first advanced by Santillana and von Deschend in Hamlet's Mill: An Essay Investigating the Origins of Human Knowledge And Its Transmission Through Myth. Levenda takes their work a step further by identifying in the various seven-step spiritual traditions of the world's religions a reference to the seven stars of the Big Dipper.
We in the modern West just don't look at the night sky very often. But in our ancestors' "world lit only by fire," the sky was much more important to daily life. For bronze age people sitting around the campfire, the celestial procession must have been a lot like television. Certainly they gave the stars at least the same depth of narrative significance we today find in Lost, the Hills, and professional wrestling. But was there more going on?
If you live in the Northen Hemisphere, Polaris is the fixed point around which the night sky rotates - the crown of the "axis mundi." In a world changed by the weather, the seasons, and inexplicable catastrophes, the Pole Star was the only constant. For people who took the notion of "heaven" literally, the Pole Star was an obvious candidate for the seat of God (or gods, or whatever). Levenda argues that the ancients of all (or many) cultures understood the seven stars of the Big Dipper as the seven-step "stairway to heaven." And he finds in their seven-step rituals a means of transcending the world of impermanence, achieving immortality, and ascending to communion with the Supreme.
This is pretty groundbreaking stuff and Levenda makes his argument in a very precise and scholarly way. This is, however, not the Jerry Bruckheimer-style thrill ride that readers of Sinister Forces-The Nine: A Grimoire of American Political Witchcraft (Sinister Forces) may be anticipating. Like Hamlet's Mill, this is a fairly dry book about one seriously mind-opening idea. Unless you are interested in the details of archaic wisdom traditions and the "connective tissue" between them, you may find yourself skimming. But there's no flakiness here either. This is a book that will be read by serious people for some time to come.

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The Early History of God: Yahweh and the Other Deities in Ancient Israel (Biblical Resource Series) Review

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(More customer reviews)This book is not an introduction to ancient Israel's religion or history, or to the Hebrew Bible. It shouldn't be your first book on the topic. (For your first book, try something by Friedman. In this book Smith will not review or attempt to prove source theory, Israel's Canaanite origins, and so on.) But it is about the evolution of Yahweh through his encounters with Canaanite deities on his way to becoming the "One God" of post-exhilic Judaism.
Smith's thesis is that the development of monolatry (which preceeded monotheism) in Israel began with a process of convergence and differentiation. "Covergence," he writes, "involved the coalescence of various deities and/or some of their features into the figure of Yahweh" (7). And differentiation was the process of Israel rejecting its Caananite heritage, creating a separate identity (8).
So, he writes, "The issue is not one of identifying the earliest instances of monolatry; rather, the old question of explaining monotheism becomes a new issue of accounting for the phenomenon of convergence, a stage in Israelite religion older than the appearance of monolatry" (197).
The deity Yahweh apparently came to Israel from Edom or another southern location (Smith discusses this in another book, "The Origins of Biblical Monotheism"). He was incorporated into Israel's pantheon, which was Canaanite: it featured the deities El, Baal, Anat and Asherah prominently. Smith has a lot of experience with the Ugaritic texts, which record Canaanite religion similar to what Israel must have inherited, so he has the ability to find ways that Yahweh has taken over the features of Canaanite gods. (Unfortunately, no one knows what Yahweh was like before he came to Israel.)
Smith naturally begins with Yahweh's convergence with El, which must have been complete by the time of the earliest texts: "there is no distinct cult attested for El except in his identity as Yahweh (35)." Then Smith examines the similarites between Ugaritic El and Biblical Yahweh, such as descriptions (aged patriarchal god with a heavenly court and a kindly disposition to humanity, and so on), epithets (Berit, Shaddai, Elyon), and iconography (bearded, enthroned).
Next Smith turns to Baal. There was a transition at some point from Baal being worshipped alongside Yahweh without controversy, to a struggle between their cults, to the final emergence of Yahweh's cult alone. This transition included Yahweh's taking over Baal's imagery as storm god (which may not have been part of his Edomite character), bull, warrior and fertilizing deity. Smith analyzes material in Judges and the historical texts, concluding that the conflict must have arisen (or at least intensified) because of Ahab's and Jezebel's attempt to elevate a foreign god, Baal Shamem of the Phoenicians (distinct from Baal of Canaanite/Israelite heritage). Smith covers the ways that Yahweh's cult adopted Baal's epithets, iconography, descriptions and mythology in the process of replacing him. However, Smith admits that all the evidence indicates that Baal remained a popular deity to the end of the southern kingdom.
In this chapter, Smith also looks at Yahweh's acquiring of Anat's martial imagery.
Next, he turns to Asherah, where his analysis is probably most controversial. Smith acknowledges that most scholars believe some goddess, probably Asherah, was worshipped during the period of the monarchy; but he believes she may have been forgotten already by the period of the judges. Her symbolism was obviously incorporated into Yahweh's cult (and later purged from it). Smith focuses on textual analysis, not on the ubiquitous figurines that most scholars believe demonstrate popular Asherah worship. He points to various forms of plausible uncertainty--"Yet scholars have long suspected that these figurines represent Astarte, and given the maternal imagery for her in Phoenician, this is as plausile an identification as that with Asherah. Moreover, these figurines may not represent any deity (111)."
A few scholars agree with Smith, but most continue to believe that Asherah was worshipped during that period. Moving on, Smith examines the ways that Yahweh's cult absorbed Asherah's. He analyzes gender language for Yahweh and comparison in this respect to other near eastern deities. He looks at the decline of anthropomorphic imagery in general for Yahweh. Finally, he also considers the figure of Wisdom as a continuation of many of Asherah's features in a way acceptable to monolatrous Yahwism.
Smith next briefly looks at solar imagery applied to Yahweh, concluding that on the whole it was an inovation of the monarchy of Judah, under the influence of Egypt's New Kingdom. He also looks at the rejection of this imagery by some Biblical authors.
A final chapter looks at transitions in some prominent Israelite cultic practices: the high places, practices associated with the dead, and the Molech sacrifice.
All in all: a fine coverage of the covergence of Canaanite deities and Yahweh. The presentation of evidence in some places could be more well-structured, but that is only my opinion. Here is a good book on Israelite religion, suitable for undergraduate students with a little experience, or armchair scholars. (For serious scholars, of course, it is essential.)
In addition to this book, Smith himself recommends Zevit's "The Religions of Ancient Israel." If you are considering this book or Smith's "The Origins of Biblical Monotheism," I recommend this one first.

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Religious Diversity in Ancient Israel and Judah Review

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(More customer reviews)This new volume from T&T Clark, edited by Francesca Stavrakopoulou and John Barton, combines essays from a diverse and international field of scholars focused on the diversity of religious belief and practice in ancient Israel and Judah. A number of concerns guide the volume's contributions. It seeks primarily to combat the traditional notion of a monolithic Israelite religion, and, as the title suggests, finds value in evaluating religious diversity within the separate kingdoms of Judah and Israel. The social contexts of religious belief and expression play a large role in these analyses. Of considerable significance is the book's opposition to the presumption of a division between "official" religion of the biblical authors, and the "popular" religion of the apostate factions. This distinction is shown to be artificial and derived from an uncritical acceptance of the value judgments of the biblical authors. There are a number of valuable contributions within this volume, but the identification of that false dichotomy alone should make this book required reading.
The volume is divided into four sections entitled "Conceptual Diversities," "Socio-Religious Diversities," "Geographic Diversities," and a "Postscript" by John Barton. The papers in the first section address broad approaches to the complexity of religious diversity. Susan Niditch's contribution engages the experiential within Israelite religion. Three categories of texts provide case studies: descriptions of visits to the divine realms, descriptions of earthly visions, and descriptions of the underworld and of contact with the dead. I found some of Susan's syntheses a bit strained. The topic of Herbert Niehr's paper is the false dichotomy between Israelite and Canaanite religion. The Hebrew Bible paints a picture of stark contrast between Israel and the indigenous "Canaanites," but does this contrast exist outside the propaganda of the biblical authors? Niehr addresses historical, literary, and religio-historical aspects of the distinction and concludes with a discussion of Judahite and Israelite religion as a subset of West Semitic religion. Similarly, Francesca Stavrakopouou's article takes direct aim at the scholarly presumption of a division between the "official" religion of the biblical authors and the "popular" religion of apostate factions. This presumption, the author argues, is largely an attempt to "'manage' biblical and archaeological indications of religious diversity in ancient Israel and Judah" (p. 37). Stavrakopoulou evaluates theological and social-scientific constructs of this view of Israelite religion and highlights its inadequacy as a framework for the religious diversity of ancient Israel and Judah. The latter two papers are, in my opinion, the highlights of this volume.
The second section, "Socio-Religious Diversities," is a more focused approach to the theme of the preceding section. It is the largest section of the book and seeks to "demonstrate that the religions of ancient Israel and Judah can best be understood as a series of spectra, rather than in terms of either/or distinctions" (p. 4). In the first article Nicolas Wyatt examines the nature of ancient Judahite royal ideologies. While presented in the Hebrew Bible as a heavily adapted foreign importation, Wyatt argues the normal elements of Syro-Palestinian royal religion are detectable within the Judahite ideology of kingship. This ideology should be viewed as genetically related to those of surrounding cultures. The king's participation in ritual as subject and object, his divinity in life and death, and his relationship to Asherah are all evinced to some degree or another in the biblical text and by analogy with surrounding cultures. Diana Edelman follows, presenting biblical and artifact evidence for "Cultic Sites and Complexes beyond the Jerusalem Temple." The Hebrew Bible makes numerous references to cultic sites outside of Jerusalem, but they are vaguely defined and are polemicized by the text's authors and editors. Material remains confirm the existence of a wide range of cultic sites throughout the time period of the Bible, and show a sharp decline in number in the Persian Period and later, but do not provide enough data to pinpoint the introduction of cultic worship or its centralization.
Philip Davies authors the next article, which explores the distinction between urban and rural religion. The exploration is encumbered by the biblical and material bias toward urban contexts. The Bible largely polemicizes rural religion and idealizes urban religion, but some inferences and tentative conclusions can be made. Davies concludes with a caution against presuming a rural origin for the biblical texts. Carol Meyers' article treats the topic of household religion. She begins with a description of the Israelite household, followed by sources for its investigation. The third section of her chapter discusses those manifestations of household religion that can be extrapolated from the biblical text and from comparative anthropology. These practices are categorized according to their regularity. Some were seasonal, monthly, or weekly; others were dictated by the human life cycle; and still others were predicated upon situations requiring divine intervention. Tying them all together were concerns for the sustaining of life, for group identity, and for humanity's relationship to the divine.
Rainer Albretz's chapter is entitled "Personal Piety," and it aims to isolate within the context of folk religion the religious situation of the individual. Albretz identifies three available sources of information from which this situation may be reconstructed: theophoric personal names, individual lament and thanksgiving psalms, and proverbial material. The first two sources manifest a deep-rooted concern for the relationship of the deity to the individual, celebrating and lamenting events which are treated as highly personal acts of God. The last category shows concern for the ethos of the individual vis-à-vis the deity. A short final section evaluates developments in personal piety from the Deuteronomic reforms through to the Second Temple Period.
The last section of this volume examines the geographic dynamic of religious diversity. Jeremy M. Hutton authors the first chapter, which aims to dispel the geographic homogenization of Israelite religion and delineate the religious expression of the north, the south, and Transjordan. Hutton first draws upon archaeological and onomastic evidence to show the degree to which diversity is evident. He moves on to evaluate the Deuteronomic history as a possible source for northern religious practices, producing a great deal of detail from Dtr's polemic. The most interesting section of Hutton's paper is his discussion of the archaeological evidence for a distinct Transjordanian religious identity. Using Deir `Alla as a point of reference, the author produces a picture of religious variegation and tension. He concludes with a preliminary synthesis which sees micro-religions tied together under a macro-religious identity developed largely through literary and editorial manipulation. Lester Grabbe's contribution looks for, but doesn't find indications of Yhwh worship outside of Israel and Judah. A variety of locales are investigated, and Grabbe's essay provides a great deal of information.
Barton's postscript reflects on the broader issues discussed in the book and raises two questions which remain: (1) How did monotheism ever arise within a culture that tolerated and promoted such diverse views on God and the gods, and (2) "why did Judaism, the heir of all these ancient Israelite and Judahite religious practices, become a religion of the book?" He concludes with a warning about treated early Israelite religion as exclusively orthopraxic, rather than orthodoxic. As this volume shows, there was a great deal of reflection and innovation in the theology and religiosity of early Israel and Judah.


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This volume of essays draws together specialists in the field to explain, illustrate and analyze religious diversity in Ancient Israel. Our understanding of the religious beliefs and practices of the ancient Israelites has changed considerably in recent years. It is now increasingly accepted among scholars that the biblical presentation of Israelite religion is often at odds with the likely historical realities of ancient Israel's religious climate. As such, the diversity inherent within ancient Israelite religion is often overlooked - particularly within university lecture halls and classrooms. This volume of essays draws together specialists in the field to explain, illustrate and analyze this religious diversity. Following an introductory essay guiding the reader through the book, the collection falls into three sections. The first focuses on conceptual diversities. It seeks to deconstruct common assumptions about Israelite religion and reconstructs Israelite perceptions of the nature of the religious world. The second section examines socio-religious diversities.It studies the varied social contexts of ancient Israelites, exploring the relationship between worshippers' social locations and their perceptions and experiences of the divine. The third section deals with geographical diversities. It seeks to understand how geographical distinctions may engender certain characteristics within Israelite religion and impact upon religious perceptions.

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The Bible Myth: The African Origins of the Jewish People Review

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(More customer reviews)Gary Greenberg's research and analysis of biblical history is interesting but not new. Much of what was presented has already be speculated by the english scholar Gerald Massey who wrote extensively on the orgins of Jewish ancient history and the relationship of that history to the ancient Kemet people during the late 1800's. Gerald Maasey's work was banned in much of the United States. He wrote the following books: Book of the Beginnings Vol 1 and 2 Egypt: Ancient Light of the World Vol 1 and 2 Historical Jesus and the Mythical Christ These books have ben republished by A&B Books (Brooklyn) and Black Classic Press (Baltimore). Gary Greenberg does probe deeper into the theory by making comparisions between the Old Testament and what is know of the various Egyptian Dynasties. Much deserve propers are given attributed to the ancient pharoah Ankhaten, the first true contributor to monotheism. He and his followers gave the world the 42 Negative Affirmations of Ma'at which were precusors to what is known today as the 10 Commandments. Unless you have a thorough background in Ancient Egyptian history and religion, his dissertation could be very difficult to follow. As a prerequisite to reading the Bible Myth, I strongly urge the novice to read Anthony Browder's Nile Valley Contribution of Civilization. Using modern text book and teaching techniques, Browder provides an excellent foundation to allow you to decipher much of what Greenberg is presenting. Other scholars who has done an enormous amount of research in the these areas are: Josef Ben-Jochanan African Origins of Western Religions Civilization or Barbarism We, the Black Jews Chiek Ante Diop Precolonial Black Africa African Origins of Western Civilzation

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The Moses Mystery: The Egyptian Origins of the Jewish People Review

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(More customer reviews)This is an excellent book but not new on the subject in any way. The original title of the book was, The Moses Mystery: African Origins of the Jewish People. Gary Greenberg did a great with this book. The African Origin of Modern Judaism, by Jose V. Malcioln is another great book on the topic. It's amazing that so many people these days are finally interested in indigenous African history and the origins of today's religions. After centuries of oppression, demonization and censorship of the history of Dark hued people, the truth is re-awakening. Like it was said, "Three things cannot be hidden for long: the sun, the moon, and the truth."
"Colonialism is not satisfied merely with hiding a people in its grip and emptying the native's brain of all form and content. By a kind of perverted logic, it turns to the past of the oppressed people, and distorts, disfigures and destroys it."
- Frantz Fanon
"They must find it difficult, those who have accepted authority as truth, rather than the truth as authority."
- Gerald Massey, Egyptologist

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A Brief History of Ancient Israel Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a short, concise and readable introduction to the history of Jews, from Genesis to Alexander. I want to emphasize that the organization directly considers Israelite history in relation to the content of the Bible. However, Matthews also makes extensive use of recent archaeology data and scholarly papers. This is meant to be an 'up-to-date' history, and in this aspect it succeeds. Reading is aided by several tables to simplify information. I dare say this is the perfect textbook for an impatient student.

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This is a brief history of ancient Israel.

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Manetho: A Study in Egyptian Chronology : How Ancient Scribes Garbled an Accurate Chronology of Dynastic Egypt (Marco Polo Monographs, 8) Review

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(More customer reviews)Informatively written by ancient history, mythology, and Biblical studies expert Gary Greenberg, Manetho: A Study In Egyptian Chronology explores how ancient scribes may have misinterpreted the chronology Egyptian history, and offers a carefully researched survey of the landmark events of Egyptian history. Straightforward writing adds life to the trek through years and centuries, in this fascinating study of dynasties, war, achievements, and lasting cultural legacy. Also available in a hardcover edition, Manetho is a thoughtful and iconoclastic contribution to the field of Egyptology and is very highly recommended reading for academia as well as the non-specialist general reader with an interest in ancient Eypgtian history.

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Ancient Egyptian Mysticism and Its Relevance Today Review

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(More customer reviews)I have always been interested in ancient Egypt, but I hadn't read anything new for many years - until a few months ago, when I started reading on the subject again.
So far I've found that many of the books on this topic are quite dry - with a few glaring exceptions, this being one of them.
This author looks at the evidence in spiritual and mystical terms - and I must say, his interpretations seem to make quite a lot of sense! For instance, he shows evidence that the ancient Egyptians were not polytheistic - in fact, they were quite adamant that there was only one "true source".
I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the topic, & who is ready to look at the evidence from a fresh perspective. This book is ideal for those interested in spirituality.

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From the creation story to the mythological tales of the gods of Egypt, the author weaves together the wisdom of ancient Egypt with insights from the Edgar Cayce readings. Van Auken explores the secrets of the Great Pyramid and the hidden mysteries of the Egyptian Book of the Dead, and recounts the story of Ra Ta (Edgar Cayces earlier life as a high priest of Egypt), including the events that, according to Cayce, led to the building of the Great Pyramid as a place of initiation. Also covered is the expected discovery of the Hall of Records predicted by Cayce.

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