The Middle East's Sea of Islam's Time Before Mohammad and Judaism

 Nadene Goldfoot                                              

Jacob, 3rd of the Jewish Patriarchs; and the younger of the twin sons of Isaac and Rebekah, who bought brother Esau's birthright for him for a mess of pottage, gained father's blessing.  He lived before the Exodus. He married 2 sisters, Leah and Rachel and then their 2 handmaidens.  He had 12 sons and 1 daughter.  The 12 tribes come from him.  It so happens that Jacob's name turned into Israel.  Thus, the 12 Israelite tribes.  

First of all, King David of Israel lived from 1010 to 970 BCE, with Judaism's beginning coming from Moses and his teachings found in the 5 Books of Moses-first part of Tanakh/Old Testament. Judaism comes from their 12th state of Judah, where they were from, with a few from Benjamin and a few from Simeon.   Judaism survives.  

1. Judaism:  Before Moses, born in Egypt to an Israelite, became an adopted son of the Princess, the religion in Egypt was polytheistic, meaning the Egyptians worshipped many gods and goddesses. Some of the major gods included: Re (also Ra): The sun-god, and Osiris: The god of the underworld and the dead . The Egyptians believed that gods and goddesses were present and in control of the world. They depicted these gods and goddesses in many forms, including human, animal, and hybrid.  Then there were the the pharaohs who were believed to be divine rulers who could communicate with the gods and maintain cosmic order.  The Egyptians believed that each person had a soul, or ka, that might continue into the afterlife. After death, the Egyptians believed that a person's heart would be weighed against a feather to determine their fate. If the heart was lighter than the feather, the person would go to Osiris in the afterlife. If the heart was heavier, it would be eaten by Ammit, a demon part crocodile, part lion, and part hippopotamus.                                                 

                                    

 In the broader sense, the historical region of Mesopotamia also includes parts of present-day Iran, Turkey, Syria and Kuwait. 

2. Before the arrival of Islam, the primary religion of Persia-Iran was Zoroastrianism. Zoroastrianism is a monotheistic religion that believes in one God, Ahura Mazda, who is the creator of the universe:

Zoroastrianism is one of the oldest monotheistic religions in the world, and was established over 3,000 years ago. The prophet Zoroaster, also known as Zarathustra, is considered the founder of the religion.  The Avesta, the Zoroastrian holy book, was written between 600 and 1000 BCE, but the traditions it is based on are even older.  That was when King David of Israel (1010-970 BCE) lived and reigned.  Could the Avesta  had borrowed from Judaism the idea of one G-d?                                   

  3. Saudi Arabia the people of Mecca where Mohammad was born  believed in a mixture of religious ideas. " Until about the fourth century CE/AD, almost all inhabitants of Arabia practiced polytheistic religions at which point pre-Islamic Arabian monotheism had begun to spread. From the fourth to sixth centuries, Jewish, Christian, and other monotheistic populations developed. Until recent decades, it was believed that polytheism remained the dominant belief system in pre-Islamic Arabia, but recent trends suggest that henotheism or monotheism was dominant from the fourth century onwards."  Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, was born in Mecca around the year 570 CE. Orphaned before he had reached the age of six, he was raised under the protection of his uncle Abu Talib.

4. Syria:  "Prior to the Muslim conquest of the Levant in 634 CE/AD, Syria was a center of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, the state religion of the Byzantine empire. Christianity entered their land after Jesus died, in about  the 1st century CE/AD,  and it replaced the traditional ancient Mesopotamian religion of the Aramaic-speaking indigenous communities. Christianity became the dominant faith in Syria before Islam arrived in the seventh century (600s-699s CE/AD)" .   Hmmm.  Jews went from speaking Hebrew to speaking Aramaic, so some Jewish thoughts could have entered their new Christianity.  Western Aramaic is still spoken by the Christian and Muslim Arameans (Syriacs) in the towns of Maaloula and nearby Jubb'adin in Syria. 

5.  Iraq-Formerly, Mesopotamia:  In the broader sense, the historical region of Mesopotamia also includes parts of present-day Iran, Turkey, Syria and Kuwait. 

Pretty much all of Mesopatamia spoke Aramaic, so you had to know Aramaic if you were Jewish.  Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day   Before Islam became the dominant religion in Iraq around 634 C.E., the majority of the population was Christian. Other religions practiced in the area included  Zoroastrianism which was a dominant religion in Northern Mesopotamia before Islam. It is currently an officially recognized religion in Iraqi Kurdistan and Iran.  The Sumerian religion which was One of the earliest recorded religions, practiced in what is now central Iraq. The Sumerians are credited with inventing civilization, including the first cities, farming, the wheel, writing, mathematics, and the 60-minute hour.  Mandaeism was a Gnostic sect that some scholars believe originated in the first three centuries CE/A.D. Mandaeans believe that God delegated the creation of the world to deputies, and that salvation is the transition to the world of light after death.

6. Turkey: Before Islam, Turkey was home to a variety of religions, including: Tengrism: The old Turkic religion, which was practiced by most Turkic peoples and involved the worship of the sky god Tengri . Manichaeism: A religion practiced by some Turkic peoples .Nestorian Christianity: A religion practiced by some Turkic peoples .Buddhism: A religion practiced in Turkey before Islam . Islam in Turkey dates back to the 8th century (700s), when Turkic tribes fought alongside Arab Muslims against Chinese forces at the Battle of Talas in 751 A.D. Spurred by the influence of ruling dynasties, many people converted to Islam over the next few centuries. Islam began to establish itself in the region that is now Turkey in the late 11th century when the Seljuks expanded into eastern Anatolia. The Turks converted to Islam after being conquered by the Muslim Empire from modern-day Iran. The influx of Islam also introduced many of Turkey’s stunning cultural practices. The most famous of these is the whirling dervishes performing their ancient Sufi dance.Even with the growing popularity of Islam, Turkey still maintained an incredible level of religious tolerance. Islam arrived in the region that is now Turkey in the 7th century (600's). For instance, the Jewish communities with roots in Anatolia and those that immigrated from Spain and Portugal were autonomous in their domestic affairs. The same applied to the Christian communities, which consisted of Roman Catholics, the Assyrian Orthodox church, and small groups of protestants. This tolerance resulted in large thriving communities of non-Muslim Turkish citizens in the country.  In the 19th century, this relatively peaceful coexistence was put under threat with the coming of ethnic-religious nationalism.  Therefore, many non-Muslim Turkish citizens emigrated to Bulgaria, Israel, Greece, and Armenia: leaving small minorities in Turkey.   The influence of ruling dynasties led to many people converting to Islam over the following centuries. 

7. Kuwait:  Before the arrival of Islam, the religion practiced in Arabia was polytheism, with most people worshipping tribal deities. The Kaaba, a sanctuary in Mecca, housed around 360 idols, including the chief god Hubal, the Syrian god of the moon, and his three daughters, Allāt, Al-'Uzzá, and Manāt. The history of Kuwait is thought to have begun in the early 18th century when the Al Aniza tribe migrated from Najd to the northern Gulf shore. The Al Sabah clan eventually became the dominant clan and were established as rulers in 1756. 

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https://www.pbs.org/empires/islam/profilesmuhammed.html#:~:text=Muhammad%2C%20the%20prophet%20of%20Islam,of%20his%20uncle%20Abu%20Talib.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moses#:~:text=The%20Roman%20historian%20Tacitus%20(c,and%20without%20a%20clear%20image.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Kuwait#:~:text=Oil%20spill,-Main%20article:%20Gulf&text=Smoke%20plumes%20from%20several%20Kuwaiti,oil%20spill%20in%20recorded%20history.

https://madeinturkeytours.com/religion/#:~:text=Islam%20may%20be%20the%20dominant,sects%20like%20Tengrism%20and%20Manichaeism.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_Syria#:~:text=Prior%20to%20the%20Muslim%20conquest,religion%20of%20the%20Byzantine%20empire.