Yahweh and the Origins of Ancient Israel
Insights from the Archaeological Record

Promotes a new understanding of the emergence of early Israel, founded on the previously ignored metallurgical background of ancient Yahwism.

Nissim Amzallag (Author)

9781009314763, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 1 June 2023

350 pages
26.2 x 18.5 x 2.5 cm, 0.86 kg

In this book, Nissim Amzallag offers new perspectives on the birth of ancient Israel by combining recent archaeological discoveries with a new approach to ancient Yahwism. He investigates the renewal of the copper industry in the Early Iron Age Levant and its influence on the rise of new nations, and also explores the recently identified metallurgical context of ancient Yahwism in the Bible. By merging these two branches of evidence, Amzallag proposes that the roots of YHWH are found in a powerful deity who sponsored the emancipation movement that freed Israel from the Amorite/Egyptian hegemony. Amzallag identifies the early Israelite religion as an attempt to transform the esoteric traditions of Levantine metalworkers into the public worship of YHWH. These unusual origins provide insight into many of the unique aspects of Israelite theology that ultimately spurred the evolution towards monotheism. His volume also casts new light on the mysterious smelting-god, the figure around which many Bronze Age religions revolved.

Part I. The Movement of Emancipation in the Southern Levant: 1. Baal and the Amorite hegemony
2. Israel and the Amorites
3. The fraternal alliance in the Southern Levant
4. The substratum of the movement of emancipation
Part II. The Primeval Identity of YHWH: 5. The metallurgical background of ancient Yahwism
6. YHWH and El
Part III. The Conception of Israel: 7. The Israelite singularity
8. The exodus-conquest ideology
9. Integrative Yahwism.

Subject Areas: Judaism [HRJ], History of art: ancient & classical art,BCE to c 500 CE [ACG]