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THE BIBLE UNEARTHED: THE MAKING OF A RELIGION -- ILLUSTRATED SCREENPLAY & SCREENCAP GALLERY |
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In the Museum of Israel in Jerusalem, we can see two amulets dating from about 600 B.C.,
discovered southwest of the old city of Jerusalem.
These pieces are covered in an archaic Hebrew text which says, "May Yahweh bless and keep you.
May Yahweh shine his face upon you."
It is the oldest text ever discovered that is similar to a Biblical verse.
[Thomas Romer, University of Lausanne] It's clear that Yahweh was the national god. Yahweh was worshipped like a national god, just as the Ammonites worshiped Milcom, the Moabites worshiped Kamesh, and so on. But worshipping a national god does not exclude the worship of other divinities. On the contrary. The national god is important for the protection of the people, and leading the king and his people to war, but when it comes to matters of fertility, for example, or storms, other gods can be called on. For fertility, it's primarily goddesses. YOU HAVE TO IMAGINE THAT IN JUDAH THERE WAS A SMALL PANTHEON SURROUNDING YAHWEH, WHICH WAS ALSO UNDOUBTEDLY THE CASE IN ISRAEL.
[Narrator] Let us now review the situation.
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