This course is a study of the worship of Yahweh and the other deities -- El, Baal, Asherah, Astarte, etc. -- in ancient Israel with special attention to tracing the development of monotheism from its inception in the early sources to its full expression centuries later.

The central question of the course is this: Why did the Israelites eventually reject these other deities as 'foreign gods' and regard their images as 'idols', even though the same deities were originally native members of the Israelite cult and contributed much divine imagery to the way Yahweh came to be understood? A related issue is the question of how and when this process of 'alienation' or 'differentiation' took place. A special feature of the course will be the examination of the feminine imagery which the ancient Israelites applied to Yahweh, even though the goddesses Asherah and Astarte from whom much of the imagery was drawn, were ultimately rejected.

We shall examine recent epigraphic and archaelogical discoveries along with the evidence of the biblical texts and other materials from the ancient Near Eastern world. The course concludes by probing a major scholarly book on Israelite religions and examining a number of "hot" topics in current scholarly discussions.

GOALS OF THE COURSE

At the end of the course students should be able to demonstrate:

• Knowledge of major methodological issues and approaches to the study of Israelite religion;
• Knowledge of major biblical texts and artifacts that depict the divine realm in ancient Israelite thought and practice;
• Awareness of why historical and social contexts are important for understanding the variety of religions and representations of Yahweh and the gods in ancient Israel;
• Knowledge of some of the major scholarly issues in the interpretation of Israelite religion; and
• Ability to set forth and defend personal views on the emergence of monotheism and aniconism in ancient Israel's religion.

CLASS FORMAT AND REQUIREMENTS

A lecture-discussion format, with occasional slides, will be used. You will write three essay exams, including the final, and one research paper of approximately 15-20 printed pages. You will also lead one regular class session toward the end of the semester. Regular class attendance is expected. The course grade will be determined as follows:

TEXTBOOKS

Required:

• Mark S. Smith, The Early History of God, 2nd Edition (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2002);
• David H. Aaron, Biblical Ambiguities: Metaphor, Semantics, and Divine Imagery (Boston and Leiden: Brill, 2002)
• Saul M. Olyan, Rites and Rank: Hierarchy in Biblical Representations of Cult (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000)
• Karel van der Toorn (ed.), The Image and the Book: Iconic Cults, Aniconism, and the Rise of Book Religion in Israel and the Ancient Near East (Leuven: Peeters, 1997)
• Ziony Zevit, The Religions of Ancient Israel: A Synthesis of Parallactic Approaches (New York: Continuum, 2001) selected chapters

Recommended: • The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocryphal/Deuterononical Books, New Revised Standard Version (Oxford, 1991).

SCHEDULE

	PART I: BACKGROUND
week 1	•	Introduction
	•	Issues and Methods in the Study of Israelite Religion	S:1-18
	•	Recent Discussion of Issues	S: xii-xxxvi
	PART II: ISRAEL'S DEITIES IN THE PERIOD OF THE JUDGES
week 2	•	Israel's Canaanite Heritage	S:19-31
	•	Yahweh and El	S:32-43
week 3	•	Yahweh and Other Deities	S:43-54
	•	Early Israel's Religion in Comparative Perspective	S:54-64
week 4	•	FIRST EXAM
	PART III: ISRAEL'S DEITIES IN THE MONARCHIC PERIOD
	•	Jeroboam's 'Golden Calves'	1 Kgs 12-14; Ex 32
week 5	•	Baal Worship in Israel	S:65-79
	•	Imagery of Baal and Yahweh	S:80-91
week 6	•	The Monarchy's Influence on Divine Imagery	S:91-101
	•	Asherah in the Bible	S:108-111
week 7	•	The Symbol of the Asherah	S:111-118
	•	Asherah -- Inscriptional Evidence	S:118-125
week 8	•	Once More: Asherah - An Israelite Goddess?	S:125-133
	•	Imagery of Asherah; Gender Language for Yahweh	S:133-147
week 9	•	SECOND EXAM
	•	Yahweh and the Sun	S:148-162
week 10	•	Practices associated with the Dead	S:162-171
	•	Child Sacrifice	S:171-181
PART IV: THE ORIGINS AND DEVELOPMENT OF ISRAELITE MONOTHEISM
week 11	•	Overview; the Period of the Judges	S:182-185
	•	First Half of the Monarchy	S:182-185
week 12	•	Second Half of the Monarchy and Exile	S: 189-199
	PART V: ISRAELITE RELIGIONS - NOT ONE BUT MANY
	•	Zevit's Method	Ch. 1
week 13	•	Zevit on Cult Places and Israel's Origins	Ch. 2
	•	Zevit on "Tangible Belief": Texts and Artifacts	Ch. 4
week 14	•	Zevit on Religions in Israel's Historical Traditions	Ch. 6
	•	Zevit's "Parallactic Synthesis"	Ch. 10
	PART VI: DIVINE IMAGES, ANICONISM, AND ISSUES OF INCLUSION/EXCLUSION
week 15	•	Divine Images, Aniconism, and Book Religion Reading: van der Toorn (ed.), The Image and the Book	GS Report
	•	Metaphor, Semantics, and Divine Imagery Reading: Aaron, Biblical Ambiguities	GS Report
week 16	•	Inclusion/Exclusion in the Israelite Cult Reading: Olyan, Rites and Rank	GS Report
	•	Review
week 17	•	FINAL EXAM