frosbel: ^^^^

The time you spend thinking and talking about this MYTH is commendable.

Accept my congratulations !!

Sad. Is this how you deal with the painful truth that your religion is fairytales?

mock the messenger?

Yawn!
Ihedinobi, Goshen, Anony.
Are you guys on sabbaticals?

Hey, how about Ijawkid and Frosbel?
Any Takers?
Yawn!

I swear menn.


Without Anony the christian arguments are just too boring.


Anony at least tries to escape. The rest just fall into traps set by their own illogical thinking.

Logicboy03: I swear menn.


Without Anony the christian arguments are just too boring.


Anony at least tries to escape. The rest just fall into traps set by their own illogical thinking.

Tell me about it!
I'm just eager to hear their spins on this topic, especially when I have the bible,not Dawkins, as my evidence..

plaetton:

Tell me about it!
I'm just eager to hear their spins on this topic, especially when I have the bible,not Dawkins, as my evidence..

plaetton:

First, yahweh, as you know is not the name of any god. The hebrew god decided not to reveal his name or identity to the israelites. Yahweh/jehovah is just an improvised abbreviation for the words," I am who I am ", which literally means, "Never mind".
Therefore one cannot expect to find the name yahweh in canaanite lore.
But by his own clear words and actions, along with clear passages from psalms 82, Deut.32:9 and others, we see that Yahweh,whatever else he was called in Canaan, was just one of many.
Do you dispute psalms 82 and Deut. 32:9?

Good, so in that case, since He did not give a "name", your claim that He was one of the many deities of polytheist Canaan now becomes even less valid. He is definitely not one of the Canaanite gods as you are trying to claim. We can now discard that claim as unfounded.

Now let us look at the bible: I have noted the bible verses you raised (you've misinterpreted them by the way) and I will address them. One thing I wouldn't want us to do however is to fling verses at each other out of context because that way, we miss the story and get lost in a quote-and-spin shouting match.

Let us start from the beginning. From Genesis 1, we see God creating everything. Now, your issue is that God said "let us...." a few times. This to me just goes to show that God's nature is Trinity. There are a number of verses to prove this but I really don't want to go down the line of Trinity in this thread. Some others say that God refers to Himself as "us" using what is known as "the royal we".
There is another issue with the word "elohim" is that it's translated meaning includes God, gods, kings, spirits and angels. I don't have any ability in understanding ancient Hebrew so i will try to stick to the English translations I have.

Your claim is that there is a council of gods of which El is the boss and Yahweh is one of his sons. The bible never makes this claim anywhere. . . .and I have challenged you to show this from your Summerian and Babylonian texts yet you have not. ......All you have done is start with that assumption and then interpret bible verses based on that assumption.

But then anyway, it is irrelevant to us if there was a pantheon of gods floating around somewhere, what is relevant to us is if the ancient hebrews held this belief according to the old testament.....and on this note we come to the bible:

Throughout scripture, we see a God who chose Israel as His own. He made it quite clear that He is the only one that exists.

You have brought up Deuteronomy 32:9. I'll like us both to read the full chapter instead of just cutting out a verse, pasting an interpretation on it and spitting it out.

To provide you with some context: Deuteronomy 32:9 is part of a song that was sung by Moses and Joshua to the Israelites. According to you, there are two characters in that song: the most high refers to El and the Lord refers to Yahweh. I will now paste the full song in my next post and all you have to do is substitute the titles for the names for example, verse 8-9 would read:

When El divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel.
For the Yahweh's portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.

Mind you, I hold that it is all about one God. However, for the sake of this debate, we will treat El and Yahweh as two entirely different people

So here goes....

1 Give ear, ye heavens, and I will speak; And let the earth hear the words of my mouth:
2 My doctrine shall drop as the rain, My speech shall distil as the dew; As the small rain upon the tender grass, And as the showers upon the herb:
3 For I will proclaim the name of the LORD: Ascribe ye greatness unto our God.
4 The Rock, his work is perfect; For all his ways are judgment: A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, Just and right is he.
5 They have dealt corruptly with him, they are not his children, it is their blemish; They are a perverse and crooked generation.
6 Do ye thus requite the LORD, O foolish people and unwise? Is not he thy father that hath bought thee? He hath made thee, and established thee.
7 Remember the days of old, Consider the years of many generations: Ask thy father, and he will shew thee; Thine elders, and they will tell thee.
8 When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, When he separated the children of men, He set the bounds of the peoples According to the number of the children of Israel.
9 For the LORD'S portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.
10 He found him in a desert land, And in the waste howling wilderness; He compassed him about, he cared for him, He kept him as the apple of his eye:
11 As an eagle that stirreth up her nest, That fluttereth over her young, He spread abroad his wings, he took them, He bare them on his pinions:
12 The LORD alone did lead him, And there was no strange god with him.
13 He made him ride on the high places of the earth, And he did eat the increase of the field; And he made him to suck honey out of the rock, And oil out of the flinty rock;
14 Butter of kine, and milk of sheep, With fat of lambs, And rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, With the fat of kidneys of wheat; And of the blood of the grape thou drankest wine.
15 But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: Thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art become sleek: Then he forsook God which made him, And lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.
16 They moved him to jealousy with strange gods, With abominations provoked they him to anger.
17 They sacrificed unto demons, which were no God, To gods whom they knew not, To new gods that came up of late, Whom your fathers dreaded not.
18 Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, And hast forgotten God that gave thee birth.
19 And the LORD saw it, and abhorred them, Because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters.
20 And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: For they are a very froward generation, Children in whom is no faith.
21 They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; They have provoked me to anger with their vanities: And I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.
22 For a fire is kindled in mine anger, And burneth unto the lowest pit, And devoureth the earth with her increase, And setteth on fire the foundations of the mountains.
23 I will heap mischiefs upon them; I will spend mine arrows upon them:
24 They shall be wasted with hunger, and devoured with burning heat And bitter destruction; And the teeth of beasts will I send upon them, With the poison of crawling things of the dust.
25 Without shall the sword bereave, And in the chambers terror; It shall destroy both young man and virgin, The suckling with the man of gray hairs.
26 I said, I would scatter them afar, I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men:
27 Were it not that I feared the provocation of the enemy, Lest their adversaries should misdeem, Lest they should say, Our hand is exalted, And the LORD hath not done all this.
28 For they are a nation void of counsel, And there is no understanding in them.
29 Oh that they were wise, that they understood this, That they would consider their latter end!
30 How should one chase a thousand, And two put ten thousand to flight, Except their Rock had sold them, And the LORD had delivered them up?
31 For their rock is not as our Rock, Even our enemies themselves being judges.
32 For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, And of the fields of Gomorrah: Their grapes are grapes of gall, Their clusters are bitter:
33 Their wine is the poison of dragons, And the cruel venom of asps.
34 Is not this laid up in store with me, Sealed up among my treasures?
35 Vengeance is mine, and recompence, At the time when their foot shall slide: For the day of their calamity is at hand, And the things that are to come upon them shall make haste.
36 For the LORD shall judge his people, And repent himself for his servants; When he seeth that their power is gone, And there is none remaining, shut up or left at large.
37 And he shall say, Where are their gods, The rock in which they trusted;
38 Which did eat the fat of their sacrifices, And drank the wine of their drink offering? Let them rise up and help you, Let them be your protection.
39 See now that I, even I, am he, And there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I have wounded, and I heal: And there is none that can deliver out of my hand.
40 For I lift up my hand to heaven, And say, As I live for ever,
41 If I whet my glittering sword, And mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine adversaries, And will recompense them that hate me. 42 I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, And my sword shall devour flesh; With the blood of the slain and the captives, From the head of the leaders of the enemy.
43 Rejoice, O ye nations, with his people: For he will avenge the blood of his servants, And will render vengeance to his adversaries, And will make expiation for his land, for his people.
44 And Moses came and spake all the words of this song in the ears of the people, he, and Hoshea the son of Nun. 45 And Moses made an end of speaking all these words to all Israel: 46 And he said unto them, Set your heart unto all the words which I testify unto you this day; which ye shall command your children, to observe to do all the words of this law. 47 For it is no vain thing for you; because it is your life, and through this thing ye shall prolong your days upon the land, whither ye go over Jordan to possess it.
48 And the LORD spake unto Moses that selfsame day, saying, 49 Get thee up into this mountain of Abarim, unto mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that is over against Jericho; and behold the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel for a possession: 50 and die in the mount whither thou goest up, and be gathered unto thy people; as Aaron thy brother died in mount Hor, and was gathered unto his people: 51 because ye trespassed against me in the midst of the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah of Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because ye sanctified me not in the midst of the children of Israel. 52 For thou shalt see the land before thee; but thou shalt not go thither into the land which I give the children of Israel.

@Plaetton and @Logicboy, you guys bore me.

Ihedinobi: @Plaetton and @Logicboy, you guys bore me.

is that all you can say?

You sure need more training from your senior colleague, anony

Ihedinobi: @Plaetton and @Logicboy, you guys bore me.

Really?


Like Cyrexx said, go and learn from Anony.


Anony is hardly around and so, I think I will take a break from NL.

@Anony:

This easier than I thought.

First,I wonder where you get your information. It is certainly not from your bible, unless ofcourse, you are reading from the Jimmy Swaggart version. lol.
Contrary to your claims,Deuteronomy is not DUET hit song by Moses and Joshua. No no no.
The KJV says at the beginning of Deuteronomy that Moses (alone) wrote this book(not song) between 1410BC and 1406 BC. Ok?

Wiki even says more.

Book of Deuteronomy


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


The book of Deuteronomy (from Greek Δευτερονόμιον, Deuteronomion, "second law"; Hebrew: דְּבָרִים‎, Devarim, "[spoken] words" is the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible, and of the Jewish Torah/Pentateuch. The Hebrew title is taken from the opening phrase Eleh ha-devarim, "These are the words..."; the English title is from a Greek mis-translation of the Hebrew phrase mishneh ha-torah ha-zoth, "a copy of this law", in Deuteronomy 17:18, as to deuteronomion touto - "this second law".[1]

The book consists of three sermons or speeches [/b]delivered to the Israelites by Moses on the plains of Moab, shortly before they enter the Promised Land. The first sermon recapitulates the forty years of wilderness wanderings which have led to this moment, and ends with an exhortation to observe the law (or teachings); [b]the second reminds the Israelites of the need for exclusive allegiance to one God and observance of the laws he has given them, on which their possession of the land depends; and the third offers the comfort that even should Israel prove unfaithful and so lose the land, with repentance all can be restored.[2]


While traditionally accepted as the genuine words of Moses delivered on the eve of the occupation of Canaan, a broad consensus of modern scholars now see its origins in traditions from Israel (the northern kingdom) brought south to the Kingdom of Judah in the wake of the Assyrian destruction of Samaria (8th century BCE) and then adapted to a program of nationalist reform in the time of King Josiah (late 7th century), with the final form of the modern book emerging in the milieu of the return from the Babylonian exile during the late 6th century.[3]


One of its most significant verses is Deuteronomy 6:4, the Shema, which has become the definitive statement of Jewish identity: "Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God, the LORD is one.(woops! he forgot the other two?)" Verses 6:4-5 were also quoted by jesus in mark.12:28-34 as part of the great commandment.

Mr_Anony:

Good, so in that case, since He did not give a "name", your claim that He was one of the many deities of polytheist Canaan now becomes even less valid. He is definitely not one of the Canaanite gods as you are trying to claim. We can now discard that claim as unfounded.

Bs. The claim is well founded.
In Exodus 6:3, when Moses first spoke with God, God said, 'I used to appear to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as El Shaddai, but I did not make myself known to them by My Name YHWH.' When Moses heard the name of God he realized that since he had a speech impediment as a result of what he called "uncircumcised lips" (Ex 6:12), he was unable to pronounce it accurately.

Accoding to wiki.,

The term El-shaddai may mean "God of the mountains," referring to the Mesopotamian divine mountain.[1] The term was one of the patriarchal names for the tribal god of the Mesopotamians.[1] In Exodus 6:3, El Shaddai is identified explicitly with the God of Abraham and with YHWH.[1] The term appears chiefly in the Torah. This could also refer to the Israelite camp's stay at Mount Sinai where God gave Moses the Ten Commandments.

Shaddai was a late Bronze Age Amorite city on the banks of the Euphrates river, in northern Syria. The site of its ruin-mound is called Tel eth-Thadyen: "Thadyen" being the modern Arabic rendering of the original West Semitic "Shaddai." It has been conjectured that El Shaddai was therefore the "God of Shaddai" and associated in tradition with Abraham, and the inclusion of the Abrahamic stories into the Hebrew Bible may have brought the northern name with them (see Documentary hypothesis).





According to wiki, the follwing were the pantheon gods of the Canaanites.


A great number of deities were worshiped by the followers of the Canaanite religion; this is a partial listing:

Anat, virgin goddess of war and strife, sister and putative mate of Ba'al Hadad
Athirat, "walker of the sea", Mother Goddess, wife of El (also known as Elat and after the Bronze Age as Asherah)
Athtart, better known by her Greek name Astarte, assists Anat in The Myth of Ba'al
Baalat or Baalit, the wife or female counterpart of Baal (also Belili)
Ba'al Hadad (lit. master of thunder), storm god.
Baal Hammon, god of fertility and renewer of all energies in the Phoenician colonies of the Western Mediterranean
Dagon, god of crop fertility and grain, father of Ba'al Hadad
El Elyon (lit. God Most High) and El; also transliterated as Ilu
Eshmun, god, or as Baalat Asclepius, goddess, of healing
Ishat, goddess of fire. She was slain by Anat.[1][2][3]
Kotharat, goddesses of marriage and pregnancy
Kothar-wa-Khasis, the skilled, god of craftsmanship
Lotan, the twisting, seven-headed serpent ally of Yam
Marqod, God of Dance
Melqart, king of the city, the underworld and cycle of vegetation in Tyre
Molech or Moloch, putative god of fire[4]
Mot or Mawat, god of death (not worshiped or given offerings)
Nikkal-wa-Ib, goddess of orchards and fruit
Qadeshtu, lit. "Holy One", putative goddess of love.
Resheph, god of plague and of healing
Shachar and Shalim, twin gods of dawn and dusk, respectively
Shamayim, (lit. skies) the god of the heavens
Shapash, also transliterated Shapshu, goddess of the sun; sometimes equated with the Mesopotamian sun god Shemesh[5] whose gender is disputed[6]
Yaw (lit. sea-river) the god of the sea and the river,[7] also called Judge Nahar (judge of the river).[8][9][10]
Yahweh may exist as an ending of some Amorite male names,[11] though the only Canaanite mention of Yahweh, found on the Mesha Stele, refers to the God of Israel contrasted with Chemosh.[12]
Yarikh, god of the moon and husband of Nikkal

Ihedinobi: @Plaetton and @Logicboy, you guys bore me.

@ihe
Y u no come let us thrash u again? Y?

How've you been?

Logicboy03:

Really?


Like Cyrexx said, go and learn from Anony.


Anony is hardly around and so, I think I will take a break from NL.

I thought you'd got over the whipping you gave yourself attacking the Bible on genetics. Still smarting? Or is it your recent admissions to theism?

cyrexx:

is that all you can say?

You sure need more training from your senior colleague, anony

Shouldn't you be sniffing after frosbel to learn his Christless Christianity, whatever that means?

wiegraf:

@ihe
Y u no come let us thrash u again? Y?

How've you been?

I been good and busy, man. How're you?

Sorry, I'm in no mood for puerile and stale arguments, that's why I'm sitting this one out.

Ihedinobi:

I thought you'd got over the whipping you gave yourself attacking the Bible on genetics. Still smarting? Or is it your recent admissions to theism?



Shouldn't you be sniffing after frosbel to learn his Christless Christianity, whatever that means?



I been good and busy, man. How're you?

Sorry, I'm in no mood for puerile and stale arguments, that's why I'm sitting this one out.

the 'whole world' can now see you for what you are , follow follow , no original thought !!

Ihedinobi:

I thought you'd got over the whipping you gave yourself attacking the Bible on genetics. Still smarting? Or is it your recent admissions to theism?

.

lol? Whipping?


Abeg, bring Anony back jo,

I tire of theses fake apologists. Only Anony can at least try to escape from the illogical mess that christianity leaves him in

frosbel:

the 'whole world' can now see you for what you are , follow follow , no original thought !!

Lmao.. That stung, frosBEE

Logicboy03:




lol? Whipping?


Abeg, bring Anony back jo,

I tire of theses fake apologists. Only Anony can at least try to escape from the illogical mess that christianity leaves him in

hehehehe.........make e no de pain you. If you form intellectual, pray make you no jam correct intellectual wey go help you fall ya hand wella.

Ihedinobi:

hehehehe.........make e no de pain you. If you form intellectual, pray make you no jam correct intellectual wey go help you fall ya hand wella.

sharaap and bring Anony.


I dont deal with aprentices

frosbel:

the 'whole world' can now see you for what you are , follow follow , no original thought !!

Coming from Nairaland's premier copypaster, I'm not sure this is not a compliment. In any event, I can't expect honest appraisal from you, now, can I?

Logicboy03:






sharaap and bring Anony.


I dont deal with aprentices

Meh, the "apprentice" burns your hands all the time and you want the master? You must be a sucker for punishment.

Ihedinobi:




Meh, the "apprentice" burns your hands all the time and you want the master? You must be a sucker for punishment.

When have you ever debated on NL?

All you do is follow Anony about

Logicboy03:


When have you ever debated on NL?

All you do is follow Anony about

You don't want me to lay out the thread on which you humiliated yourself going against the Bible on genetics, do you? Or you want a link to your tacit declaration of theism, do you?

Anyway, stop hating. Go find your own twin.

@Ihe
Good to hear that, ja, ja. I'm good as well, procastinting less

Train, ihe, train. Time permiting we'll spar again

Ihedinobi:

You don't want me to lay out the thread on which you humiliated yourself going against the Bible on genetics, do you? Or you want a link to your tacit declaration of theism, do you?

Anyway, stop hating. Go find your own twin.

Is there genetics in the bible?


Who wants Anony as a twin? All I need is to debunk him.

Logicboy03:






Is there genetics in the bible?


Who wants Anony as a twin? All I need is to debunk him.

JEEEEEEALOOOOOUUUSSSYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!

Ihedinobi:

JEEEEEEALOOOOOUUUSSSYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!

Homie, you gay?

Logicboy03:


Homie, you gay?

Homie, you an orphan?

Ihedinobi:

Homie, you an orphan?

Here we go.
i tried posting earlier but I was temporarily banned , I assume due to the size of my post.

@Anony:

This easier than I thought.

First,I wonder where you get your information. It is certainly not from your bible, unless ofcourse, you are reading from the Jimmy Swaggart version. lol.
Contrary to your claims,Deuteronomy is not a DUET hit song by Moses and Joshua. No no no.
The KJV says at the beginning of Deuteronomy that Moses (alone) wrote this book(not song) between 1410BC and 1406 BC. Ok?

Wiki even says more.

Book of Deuteronomy


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


The book of Deuteronomy (from Greek ?e?te?µ, Deuteronomion, "second law"; Hebrew: ?, Devarim, "[spoken] words" is the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible, and of the Jewish Torah/Pentateuch. The Hebrew title is taken from the opening phrase Eleh ha-devarim, "These are the words..."; the English title is from a Greek mis-translation of the Hebrew phrase mishneh ha-torah ha-zoth, "a copy of this law", in Deuteronomy 17:18, as to deuteronomion touto - "this second law".[1]

The book consists of three sermons or speeches delivered to the Israelites by Moses on the plains of Moab, shortly before they enter the Promised Land.
The first sermon recapitulates the forty years of wilderness wanderings which have led to this moment, and ends with an exhortation to observe the law (or teachings); the second reminds the Israelites of the need for exclusive allegiance to one God and observance of the laws he has given them, on which their possession of the land depends; and the third offers the comfort that even should Israel prove unfaithful and so lose the land, with repentance all can be restored.[2]


While traditionally accepted as the genuine words of Moses delivered on the eve of the occupation of Canaan, [b]a broad consensus of modern scholars now see its origins in traditions from Israel (the northern kingdom) brought south to the Kingdom of Judah in the wake of the Assyrian destruction of Samaria (8th century BCE) and then adapted to a program of nationalist reform in the time of King Josiah (late 7th century), with the final form of the modern book emerging in the milieu of the return from the Babylonian exile during the late 6th century.[3]

Ggam gbam!

One of its most significant verses is Deuteronomy 6:4, the Shema, which has become the definitive statement of Jewish identity: "Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God, the LORD is one.(woops! he forgot the other two members of the trinity?)" Verses 6:4-5 were also quoted by jesus in mark.12:28-34 as part of the great commandment.




My claim that Yahweh is among the Canaanite pantheon is well founded, i will easily prove it.

In Exodus 6:3, when Moses first spoke with God, God said, 'I used to appear to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as El Shaddai, but I did not make myself known to them by My Name YHWH.' When Moses heard the name of God he realized that since he had a speech impediment as a result of what he called "uncircumcised lips" (Ex 6:12), he was unable to pronounce it accurately.

So, we see, and I hope you will agree about what is coming from yahweh's own mouth, that indeed, he was Known as El-Shaddai in earlier times.


Accoding to wiki.,

The term El-shaddai may mean "God of the mountains," referring to the Mesopotamian divine mountain.[1] The term was one of the patriarchal names for the tribal god of the Mesopotamians.[1] In Exodus 6:3, El Shaddai is identified explicitly with the God of Abraham and with YHWH.[1] The term appears chiefly in the Torah. This could also refer to the Israelite camp's stay at Mount Sinai where God gave Moses the Ten Commandments.

Shaddai was a late Bronze Age Amorite city on the banks of the Euphrates river, in northern Syria. The site of its ruin-mound is called Tel eth-Thadyen: "Thadyen" being the modern Arabic rendering of the original West Semitic "Shaddai." It has been conjectured that El Shaddai was therefore the "God of Shaddai" and associated in tradition with Abraham, and the inclusion of the Abrahamic stories into the Hebrew Bible may have brought the northern name with them (see Documentary hypothesis).

So having estalished that Yahweh was known as El-Shaddai in earlier times, then follow me as we go searching for El-Shaddaih in Canaan.
Shall we? C'mon.

Please read.
This is from a christian school of theology.

http://www.theology.edu/ugarbib.htm

I will highlight the salient points below.

1. Introduction.

The ancient Canaanite city-state of Ugarit is of utmost importance for those who study the Old Testament. The literature of the city and the theology contained therein go a very long way in helping us to understand the meaning of various Biblical passages as well as aiding us in deciphering difficult Hebrew words. Ugarit was at its political, religious and economic height around the 12th century BCE and thus its period of greatness corresponds with the entry of Israel into Canaan.

Why should people interested in the Old Testament want to know about this city and its inhabitants? Simply because when we listen to their voices we hear echoes of the Old Testament itself. Several of the Psalms were simply adapted from Ugaritic sources; the story of the flood has a near mirror image in Ugaritic literature; and the language of the Bible is greatly illuminated by the language of Ugarit. For instance, look at M. Dahood’s brilliant commentary on the Psalms in the Anchor Bible series for the necessity of Ugaritic for accurate Biblical exegesis. (N.B., for a more thorough discussion of the language of Ugarit, the student is advised to take the course titled “Ugaritic Grammar” offered by this institution).

In short, when one has well in hand the literature and theology of Ugarit, one is well on the way to being able to comprehend some of the most important ideas contained in the Old Testament. For this reason it is worthwhile that we pursue this topic.

2. The Discovery of Ugarit and the Ugaritic Texts.

In 1928 a group of French archaeologists journeyed with 7 camels, one donkey, and some burden bearers towards the tel known as Ras Shamra. After a week at the site they discovered a cemetery 150 meters from the Mediterranean Sea. In the graves they discovered Egyptian and Phoenician artwork and alabaster. They also found some Mycenean and Cypriot materials.

After the discovery of the cemetery they found a city and a royal palace about 1000 meters from the sea on a tel 18 meters high. The tel was called by the locals Ras Shamra which means “fennel hill”. There also Egyptian artifacts were discovered and dated to the 2nd millennium BCE.

The greatest discovery made at the site was a collection of tablets carved with (a then) unknown cuneiform script. In 1932 the identification of the site was made when some of the tablets were deciphered; the city was the ancient and famous site of Ugarit.

Ugarit experienced a very long history. A city was built on the site in the Neolithic period around 6000 BCE. The oldest written evidence of the city is found in some texts from the nearby city of Ebla written around 1800 BCE. At that time both Ebla and Ugarit were under Egyptian hegemony, which shows that the long arm of Egypt extended all along the west coast of the Mediterranean Sea (for Ugarit is located in modern day Syria roughly dead east of the NE coast of Cyprus on the coast of Syria). The population of Ugarit at that time was roughly 7635 people. The city of Ugarit continued to be dominated by the Egyptians through 1400 BCE.

All of the tablets found at Ugarit were written in the last period of its life (around 1300- 1200 BCE). The kings of this last and greatest period were:

1349 ‘Ammittamru I

1325 Niqmaddu II

1315 Arhalba

1291 Niqmepa 2

1236 Ammitt1193- Niqmaddu III

1185 ‘Ammurapi


I have highlighted Ammurapi because we know as a fact that King Hammurapi to be a historical figure.

4. The Ugaritic Pantheon.

The prophets of the Old Testament rail against Baal, Asherah and various other gods on nearly every page. The reason for this is simple to understand; the people of Israel worshipped these gods along with, and sometimes instead of, Yahweh, the God of Israel. This Biblical denunciation of these Canaanite gods received a fresh face when the Ugaritic texts were discovered, for at Ugarit these were the very gods that were worshipped.

El was the chief god at Ugarit. Yet El is also the name of God used in many of the Psalms for Yahweh; or at least that has been the presupposition among pious Christians. Yet when one reads these Psalms and the Ugaritic texts one sees that the very attributes for which Yahweh is acclaimed are the same for which El is acclaimed. In fact, these Psalms were most likely originally Ugaritic or Canaanite hymns to El which were simply adopted by Israel, much like the American National Anthem was set to a beer hall tune by Francis Scott Key. El is called the “father of men”, “creator”, and “creator of the creation”. These attributes are also granted Yahweh by the Old Testament.

For instances, read KTU 1. 2 I 13-32 and compare it to many of the Psalms. Also, read Ps 82:1, 89:6-8mn!).

In 1 Kings 22:19-22 we read of Yahweh meeting with his heavenly council. This is the very description of heaven which one finds in the Ugaritic texts. For in those texts the “sons of god” are the sons of El.

Other deities worshipped at Ugarit were El Shaddai, El Elyon, and El Berith. All of these names are applied to Yahweh by the writers of the Old Testament. What this means is that the Hebrew theologians adopted the titles of the Canaanite gods and attributed them to Yahweh in an effort to eliminate them. If Yahweh is all of these there is no need for the Canaanite gods to exist! This process is known as assimilation.

Besides the chief god at Ugarit there were also lesser gods, demons, and goddesses. The most important of these lesser gods were Baal (familiar to all readers of the Bible), Asherah (also familiar to readers of the Bible), Yam (the god of the sea) and Mot (the god of death). What is of great interest here is that Yam is the Hebrew word for sea and Mot is the Hebrew word for death! Is this because the Hebrews also adopted these Canaanite ideas as well? Most likely they did.

Tadaaahhhh!
Bingo!

So we have located El or El Elyon, as well as El-Shaddai in Canaan.
So El-Shaddai aka Yahweh (by his own words) was well known and worshipped among the other members of the pantheon or heavenly council in Canaan.