Yahweh
Sign in to saveYahweh was an ancient Semitic deity in the southeastern ancient Levant that became the national god of the Iron Age kingdoms of Israel-Samaria and Judah. Although there is no clear consensus regarding the geographic origins of the deity, most modern scholars favor a southern origin hypothesis. The worship of the deity goes back to at least the early Iron Age and apparently to the late Bronze Age.
AI overview
Yahweh was an ancient Semitic deity who became the national god of the Iron Age kingdoms of Israel-Samaria and Judah, with worship dating back to at least the early Iron Age and possibly earlier. Though scholars debate the deity's exact geographic origins, most favor a southern origin, and Yahweh's significance lies in being the central religious figure of these ancient Near Eastern societies.
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Key facts
- Deity.type
- Canaanite
- Deity.name
- Yahweh
- Deity.script_name
- Paleo-Hebrew
- Deity.image
- File:Zeus Yahweh.jpg
- Deity.caption
- God on the Winged Wheel coin
- Deity.alt
- A coin showing a bearded figure seating on a winged wheel, holding a bird on an outstretched hand.
- Deity.symbol
- Winged sunWinged wheel
- Deity.ethnic_group
- CanaanitesIsraelites
- Deity.abode
- EdomSinai
- Deity.adherents
- Yahwists
- Deity.cult_center
- Jerusalem
- Deity.parents
- El (tentative, period dependent)
Article
19 sectionsContents
- Name
- History
- Periods
- Late Bronze Age origins (1550–1200{{nbsp}}BCE)
- Early Iron Age (1200–1000{{nbsp}}BCE)
- Late Iron Age (1000–586{{nbsp}}BCE)
- Monolatrous movements (9th–1st centuries{{nbsp}}BCE)
- Worship
- Festivals and sacrifice
- Temples
- Portrayal
- Greco-Roman syncretism
- See also
- References
- Notes
- Citations
- Sources
- Further reading
- External links
Yahweh was an ancient Semitic deity in the southeastern ancient Levant that became the national god of the Iron Age kingdoms of Israel-Samaria and Judah. Although there is no clear consensus regarding the geographic origins of the deity, most modern scholars favor a southern origin hypothesis. The worship of the deity goes back to at least the early Iron Age and apparently to the late Bronze Age.
In the oldest biblical texts, Yahweh possesses attributes that were typically ascribed to deities of weather and war, fructifying the Land of Israel and leading a heavenly army against the enemies of the Israelites. The early Israelites likely engaged in polytheistic practices that were common across ancient Semitic religion, because the Israelite religion was a derivative of the Canaanite religion and included a variety of deities from it, including El, Asherah, and Baal. Yahweh likely became conflated with El in later centuries, taking his place as the head of the pantheon in the Israelite religion. El's consort Asherah became associated with Yahweh, and El-linked epithets, such as (), came to be applied to him alone. Characteristics of other deities, such as Asherah and Baal, were also selectively absorbed in conceptions of Yahweh.