Gods, Goddesses, and Images of God: In Ancient Israel

by Othmar Keel, Christoph Uehlinger

Overview

Winner of Biblical Archaeology Society AwardBest Scholarly Book on ArchaeologyHow were male and female deities understood in ancient Canaan and Israel? Did Yahweh, the God of Israel, ever have a divine consort or partner? How was the Yahweh cult affected by religious and political features of Egypt, Assyria, and Canaan? Vindicating the use of symbols and visual remains to investigate ancient religion, the authors reconstruct the emergence and development of the Yahweh cult in relation to its immediate neighbors and competitors.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780800627898
Publisher:	1517 Media
Publication date:	11/23/1998
Pages:	480
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 9.50(h) x 1.50(d)

About the Author

Othmar Keel is Professor of Old Testament and Biblical Studies at the University of Freibourg, Germany.

Table of Contents

Preface to the English Edition

Preface to the German Edition

I. Starting Point

The Problem

The Current State of the Question

Archaeology and the Religious History of Palestine/Israel

II. Points of Departure

Symbols and Symbol Systems

The Sources: Texts and-More Importantly-Images

Methodology of the Iconographical Approach: Myth, Iconicity, Constellations

Periodization of the Archaeology of Palestine/Israel

Why this Survey Begins with Middle Bronze Age IIB

III. Equality of the Sexes: Middle Bronze Age IIB

Caprids and Lions

The Hippopotamus Goddess and the Symbol

Naked Goddess, Goddess Heads, and Trees

The Iconography of the Cult Installations at Nahariyah and Gezer

The Iconography of the Middle Bronze Age Temples of Tel Kitan and Megiddo

The Weather God and His Consort

The Falcon-Headed Figure

The Ruler with Male and Female Worshipers

CouplesSummary

IV. Eqyption Colonialism and the Prevalence of Political and Warrior Deities: Late Bronze Age

Hazor, or the Continuity of the Northern Syrian and Indigenous Traditions

Megiddo: From the Gold Pendants of the Vegetation Goddess to the Dominance of Warriors

Lachish and Egyptian-Canaanite Syncretism in Southern Palestine

Beth-Shean or the Egyptian State God and His Officials Summary: Excursus: The Late Bronze and Early Iron Age So-Called "Astrte Plaques"

V. The Hidden God, Victorious Gods, and the Blessing of Fertility: Iron Age I

The Amun Temple in gaza and the Widespread Presence of the Hidden God

Gods in Triumph and Domination: Seth-Baal, Reshef, and Horus

The Conqueror, Who Triumphs over His Enemies

Goddess Idols, Lyre Players, and Female Mourners: Elements of Philistine Iconography

The Prosperity of Plants and AnimalsSummary

VI. Anthropomorphic Deities Recede and Are Replaced by Their Attribute Animals and Entities: Iron Age IIA

The General Decline of Anthropomorphic Representations of the Gods

Phoenician and Northern Syrian Influences in Glyptic Art

Icons of Blessing and the Substitution of the Goddess by Entities through which She Worked

The Iconography of the Cultic Stands from Taanach and other Terra-Cotta Image-Bearing Artifacts

The Iconography of the Jerusalem TempleSummary

VII. Baal, El, Yahweh, and "His Asherah" in the Context of Egyptian Solar and Royal Imagery: Iron Age IIB

"Lord of the Animals" and Animal Images in the Near Eastern Tradition

Israel: God and Bull and Other baal Figures

Isolated Anthropomorphic Images of a Goddess

Theophoric Personal Names with Inscriptional Documentation

Tell Deir Alla: El, Shagar, Ashtar, and Shaddayin

Kuntillet 'Ajrud, Khirbet el-Qom and "Yahweh's Asherah"

Solar Symbolism and Winged Protective Powers in Phoenician/Israelite Speciality Crafts

Symbols of Royal/Courtly Rule

Judah: From the Provincial Reception of Egyptian Royal Iconography to the Integration of Religious Solar SymbolismSummary

VIII. The Astralization of the Heavenly Powers, the Revival of the Goddess, and the Orthodox Reaction: Iron Age IIC

Assyria, Aram and the Astralization of the Heavenly Powers

The Local Reception of Astralization Tendencies: The Crescent Moon Emblem of Haran, the Moon God in a Boat and the Asherah Once Again

Distant and Close Heavenly Powers and the Significance of the Cult

Terra-Cottas of Doves, Goddesses and Riders

Egyptian and Egyptianized Amulets and Seals and the End of Solar Symbolism

Contours of a New OrthodoxySummary

IX. An Era Ends: Iron Age III

Symbols of Changing Foreign Domination

The Phoenician Economy

Old and New in Northern Arabian and Edomite Forms

Judah: Exclusivity

X. Summary and Conclusion

Word and Picture

A New Undertaking

Focal Points for the Individual Periods

Open Questions

Theological Perspectives

Chronological Table for Palestinian/Israelite Archaeology in the Second and First Millennia

Source Index of Illustrations

Abbreviations

Bibliography

Index of Ancient Sources

Index of Subjects

The Authors