To truly understand the earliest biblical texts we must travel back in time. To an ancient land in and ancient time.
The land of Canaan.
Canaan sat in the hub of three major civilizations. Egypt to the South. The Hittites to the North and to the East over the Fetile Crescent the Mesopotamian cultures.
To start understanding the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) we must travel back to 1500 BCE in Canaan. Egypt ruled most of the land right up to the Hittie cities in Modern Turkey/Syria. Travel was limited by walking on roads. Most of the Canaanites of the time lived in Egyptian ruled city states along the coast of the Great Sea.
Canaan was quite properous at this time and shared their religion with the Syrians to the north. Here is Canaanite religion at a glance:
Canaanite religion was polytheistic. However this meant in the run that many families would worship their own diety.
The highest god was El.
(El is the root word of Elohim the Hebrew word for GOD. Thus most of the time you see the word God in the Old Testament it is the name of a desert Canaanite god! Shocking!)
El was a curious figure. He seems to have originated far from Canaan. Likely in a migration of desert shepards from the East. Nevertheless he became the head and was a fatherly figure. He was married the the goddess Asherah (at this point) and had many sons and daughters. It should be noted that in some cultures that came later El was refered to as Dagon. Often potrayed as a Bull or Fish. Asherah was portrayed as a very beautiful figure.
For our understanding only a few more deities need be mentioned.
Baal Hadad. This was a son of El however he was prominet in the agrcultural society since he was a storm god. Often potrayed as a Bull.
(It is at this point I will break to explain the earliest text of the bible. Psalm 29. The Psalm is clearly and ancient hymn to Baal that was later made into a hymn for Yahweh. (The Syrian archive of Ugarit shows a text that is almost identical to Psalm 29 only instead of Yahweh it says Baal. Thus Pslam 29 is likely very very early. Possibly composed in the 1300s BCE. However since the text was have recieved it in is a later editation I will deal with this text later.)
Molech or Moloch, was a god of fire and it appears that he demanded sacrifice. He was often portrayed as a bull however with some rather gross add ons.
Yam was a god of the sea and the river as was throught of as a giant snake.
The last god that need be mentioned here was Mot. He was the god of Sheol- The place of the dead.
Offerings were made to many gods but Baal seemed to receive the most for two main reasons.
1. He was a storm god thus brought rain that people needed for food.
2. His stories were epic. Often he was constanly fighting Yam and crushing his head. Or maybe he was killed and brought back to life.
Before we move into the decline of this culture be must tell a very old story. The story of a Hittite rular named Idrimi.
Idrimi was the king of Alalakh in the 15th century BC.
Idrimi was son of Ilim-Ilimma I the king of Aleppo who had been deposed by the new regional master, Barattarna, king of the Mitanni. Nevertheless he succeeded in regaining his seat and was recognized as a vassal by Barattarna. Idrimi founded the kingdom of Mukish, and ruled from Alalakh as a vassal to the Mitanni. He also invaded the Hittite territories to the north, resulting in a treaty with the country Kizzuwatna.
However things took a change.
An inscription on the Statue of Idrimi's base found at Alalakh records Idrimi's story. After his family had been forced to flee to Emar, with his mother's people, he left them and joined the "Hapiru people" in "Ammija in the land of Canaan", where other refugees from Aleppo recognized him as the "son of their overlord" and "gathered around him;" after living among them for seven years, he led his new friends and Habiru allies in a successful attack by sea on Alalakh, where he became king.
This story paralleles Jacob's story in the Hebrew Bible.
1. Emar is near Haran
2. He fleed his home to go to his mother's people.
3. He lived there seven years and gained wealth. (With Jacob this is broken by a double-marriage story)
4. His mother's people were Habiru. (This word is very similar to Hebrew and alot of schoolars recognize a connection) The Habiru were not a single people but the 'have-nots' of society.
5. He returned home and regained his Kingdom with interest.
These events took place in the 1400 BCE. However it must be noted that later northern tribes of what would become Israel would preserve parts of "their lord's" story.
Around 1300 BCE Canaan collapsed. Mainly because Egypt was undergoing collapse.
The city states were left alone often and the Haburi and other groups like the poor class started taking over. Note a letter in the Amarna letters from Abdi-Heba of Jerusalem:
Say to the king, my lord: Message of Abdi-Heba, your servant. I fall at the feet of my lord 7 times and 7 times. Consider the entire affair. Milkilu and Tagi brought troops into Qiltu against me... ...May the king know (that) all the lands are at peace (with one another), but I am at war. May the king provide for his land. Consider the lands of Gazru, Ašqaluna, and Lakisi. They have given them [my enemies] food, oil and any other requirement. So may the king provide for archers and send the archers against men that commit crimes against the king, my lord. If this year there are archers, then the lands and the hazzanu (client kings) will belong to the king, my lord. But if there are no archers, then the king will have neither lands nor hazzanu. Consider Jerusalem! This neither my father nor my mother gave to me. The strong hand (arm) of the king gave it to me. Consider the deed! This is the deed of Milkilu and the deed of the sons of Lab'ayu, who have given the land of the king to the 'Apiru. Consider, O king, my lord! I am in the right!...
Ultimatly many of the middle-lower class Canaanites fled to the highlands. Various other smaller groups fled there too.
By 1250- 1200 BCE or so the people had a new name:
Israel.
Israel means: Contends with or perseveres El.
Meneptah, an Egyptian Pharoah around 1207 BCE. bragged of his conquests in the land of Canaan in an attempt to regain power. He mentioned:
"Israel has fallen... it's seed is not..."
This line has two interpetations.
1. He destroyed a local 'royal line' in the Canaanite highlands.
2. He destroyed literal seeds of crops.
I persoanlly think the second is unlikely given the context of Meneptah's Stele.
The rulars who he put to death were likely rulars of Shecham and the story likely made it into a very very old Israelite hymn found in Judges 9: 10-15
9:10“The trees said to the fig tree, ‘Come and
reign over us.’
9:11“But the fig tree said to them, ‘Should I
leave my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go
to wave back and forth over the trees?’
9:12“The trees said to the vine, ‘Come and
reign over us.’
9:13“The vine said to them, ‘Should I leave
my new wine, which cheers God and man, and
go to wave back and forth over the trees?’
9:14“Then all the trees said to the bramble,
‘Come and reign over us.’
9:15“The bramble said to the trees, ‘If in truth
you anoint me king over you, then come and
take refuge inmy shade; and if not, let fire come
out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of
Lebanon.’
This is likely changed alot from the original sing since it was transmitted oraly for cenuries. Thus I will deal with this piece of text in part later.
The birth of the Israelite tribes meant a lower class of people were forming trial leadership in the highlands of Canaan. The upper middle class and those still able to sustain money on the coast were also fleeing but mostly to Egypt or other areas.
It must be noted that surrounding this areas were numerous other peoples.
To the south of Canaan in the desert were a group of people known as the Edomites. To the south of them in desert were another group called the Shashu tribe. This will be the focus of the next chapter.