Nadene Goldfoot
Canaanite religion and Yahwism
Second Temple Judaism and Rabbinical Judaism are emphatically monotheistic. However, its predecessor, the cult of Yahweh (used as a name for G-d) as it was practiced in ancient Israel during the 8th and 7th centuries BCE (Yahwism)
Many words denoting G-d are not names proper but circumlocutions or epithets used instead of a name. The most important are: El, occurring in all Semitic languages. This is an element in proper names, as Eleazar, Nesthaanel, Eloah. The plural is Elohim which is used both in the plural for gods, idols, etc and singular-God. YHVH is the Tetraurammation of Shem ha-Mepherash, the particular name of the G-d of Israel and occurs nearly 7,000 times in the Bible. Its original pronunciation is unknown. Yahweh as been conjectured. By the 2nd BCE it was no longer pronounced except by the high priest on the Day of Atonement, but read as Adonai (My Lord). Today, HaShem is used (the name).
Yahwism—has been described as henotheistic or monolatric, meaning believing that one g-d out of a group of 3 or 4, etc, is the one to believe, a step towards monotheism.
For example, the Moabites worshipped the god Chemosh, the Edomites, Qaus, both of whom were part of the greater Canaanite pantheon, headed by the chief god, El.
Chemosh was the national deity of the Moabites whose name most likely meant "destroyer," "subduer," or "fish god." While he is most readily associated with the Moabites, according to Judges 11:24 he seems to have been the national deity of the Ammonites as well. His presence in the Old Testament world was well known, as his cult was imported to Jerusalem by King Solomon (1 Kings 11:7). The reason he had done this was because at the time he had 700 wives who were noblewomen and 300 concubines, and his wives swayed his heart. So it was that when Solomon grew old, his wives swayed his heart after the gods of others. He had finally weakened. His heart was not as complete with Hashem, his G-d, as it had been like the heart of his father, David. The fact was that though every one of Solomon's spouses converted, he committed 2 offences. A king should not marry many wives, and as mentioned in the Tanakh, even a commoner is not permitted to marry an idolater.
The Hebrew scorn for his worship was evident in a curse from the scriptures: "the abomination of Moab." King Josiah destroyed the Israelite branch of the cult (2 Kings 23).
The Moabite Stone or Mesha Stele, was a monument bearing an inscription commemorating the c. 860 B.C.E. endeavors of King Mesha to overthrow the Israelite dominion of Moab. The vassalage had existed since the reign of David (2 Samuel 8:2), but the Moabites revolted upon the death of Ahab, King of Israel (876-853 BCE).
Chemosh seems to have also had a taste for blood. In 2 Kings 3:27 we find that human sacrifice was part of the rites of Chemosh. This practice, while gruesome, was certainly not unique to the Moabites, as such rites were commonplace in the various Canaanite religious cults, including those of the Baals and Moloch. Mythologists and other scholars suggest that such activity may be due to the fact the Chemosh and other Canaanite gods such as the Baals, Moloch, Thammuz, and Baalzebub were all personifications of the sun or the sun's rays. They represented the fierce, inescapable, and often consuming heat of the summer sun (a necessary but deadly element in life; analogs may be found in Aztec sun worship). (Eleventh-century Jewish commentator, Rashi, quotes a tradition that Solomon's wives built the temples to Chemosh and other deities, and that Solomon is considered responsible for not stopping them.) On the Moabite stone, Mesha (2 Kings 3:5) ascribed his victories over the king of Israel to this god, "and Chemosh drove him out from before me.
Chemosh and the Moabite Stone seem to reveal something of the nature of religion in Semitic regions of the period. Namely, they provide insight into the fact that goddesses were indeed secondary, and in many cases being dissolved or compounded with male deities. This may be seen in the Moabite Stone inscriptions where Chemosh is also referred to as "Asthor-Chemosh." Such synthesis reveals the masculinization of Ashtoreth, a Canaanite goddess worshiped by Moabites and other Semitic peoples. Biblical scholars have also noted that Chemosh's role in the Moabite Stone inscription is analogous to that of Yahweh in the book of Kings. Thus, it would seem that Semitic regard for respective national deities operated similarly from region to region.
Mark Stratton John Matthew Smith is an American ancient historian, theologian, biblical scholar, and professor, and argues that Yahweh underwent a process of merging with El and that acceptance of cults of Asherah was common in the period of the Judges. 2 Kings 3:27 has been interpreted as describing a human sacrifice in Moab that led the invading Israelite army to fear the power of Chemosh. "The King of Moab took his 1stborn son, who was to reign after him, and sacrificed him as a burnt-offering upon the wall, and a great wrath took effect against Israel, so they turned away from Mesha and returned to the land." For his own act, he blamed Israel.
Asherah-below
The Canaanite pantheon consisted of El and Asherah as the chief deities, with 70 sons who were said to rule over each of the nations of the earth. These sons were each worshiped within a specific region.
Kurt Noll states that "the Bible preserves a tradition that Yahweh used to 'live' in the south, in the land of Edom" and that the original god of Israel was El Shaddai.
Several Biblical stories allude to the belief that the Canaanite gods all existed and were thought to possess the most power in the lands by the people who worshiped them and their sacred objects; their power was believed to be real and could be invoked by the people who patronized them. There are numerous accounts of surrounding nations of Israel showing fear or reverence for the Israelite God despite their continued polytheistic practices.
For instance, in 1 Samuel 4, the Philistines fret before the second battle of Aphek when they learn that the Israelites are bearing the Ark of the Covenant, and therefore Yahweh, into battle. The Israelites were forbidden to worship other deities, but according to some interpretations of the Bible, they were not fully monotheistic before the Babylonian captivity. Mark S. Smith refers to this stage as a form of monolatry.
Going north to Syria, At 3rd-millennium Ebla the most important god was Dagan, “Lord of Gods” and “Lord of the Land.” Other gods of Ebla included El, Resheph, the storm god, Ishtar, Athtart, Chemosh, and the sun goddess. The gods of the city included several referred to by their Sumerian names.
199 Gods of Phoenicia found in a shipwreck
The Israelites would face another set of gods of another pantheon in Babylonia, as they had been attacked and forcibly taken there.. Babylonia mainly focused on the god Marduk, who is the national god of the Babylonian empire. However, there were also other gods that were worshipped. They would live there for 70 years before they could return to Jerusalem. Marduk, in Mesopotamian religion, the chief god of the city of Babylon and the national god of Babylonia; as such, he was eventually called simply Bel, or Lord. Marduk. Originally, he seems to have been a god of thunderstorms. The Israelites have been exposed to so many gods. It is amazing that they will stick with their one unseen god.
Canaanites believed that following physical death, the npš (usually translated as "soul") departed from the body to the land of Mot (Death). Bodies were buried with grave goods, and offerings of food and drink were made to the dead to ensure that they would not trouble the living. Dead relatives were venerated and sometimes asked for help.
It is considered virtually impossible to reconstruct a clear picture of Canaanite religious practices. Although child sacrifice was known to surrounding peoples, there is no reference to it in ancient Phoenician or Classical texts. The biblical representation of Canaanite religion is always negative.
Canaanite religious practice had a high regard for the duty of children to care for their parents, with sons being held responsible for burying them, and arranging for the maintenance of their tombs.
Canaanite deities such as Baal were represented by figures which were placed in shrines often on hilltops, or 'high places' surrounded by groves of trees, such as is condemned in the Hebrew Bible, in Hosea (v 13a) which would probably hold the Asherah pole, and standing stones or pillars. Canaan had fertility cults. Only recently have scholars begun to unravel the complex religious rituals of Israel's Canaanite neighbors. Much of our knowledge of the origins and character of these fertility cults remains tentative and widely debated. What we do know reveals dark, seductive practices that continued to entice the people God had chosen to be his witnesses. One had to be stiff-necked for sure to ignore all that!
Resource;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henotheism
https://robincohn.net/el-shaddai-the-god-with-breasts/
https://www.metmuseum.org/blogs/metkids/2020/solomons-temple-model-judaica
The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
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