Pre-Semitic religion

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The primordial Semitic religion describes the reconstruction of the religious ideas of the primitive Semites aimed at by scholars of religion and linguistics .

Reconstruction difficulty

Although the Semitic peoples have an older literature than the Indo-European peoples, the reconstruction of a postulated ursemitic religion is difficult. One reason is that the traditions mostly only consist of lists of gods and short dedicatory inscriptions, although the function of the named deities is not always clear. Myths are known almost exclusively from Mesopotamia and Ugarit . In addition, the monotheistic religions , which are of Semitic origin, have suppressed or covered up old polytheistic ideas . Werner Daum undertook an interesting, albeit controversial, attempt to reconstruct an ursemitic religion , based on comparisons between Yemeni fairy tales and customs, Islamic pilgrimage ( Hajj ) and Jewish cult customs and festivals.

Pantheon

On the basis of the most famous gods, a pantheon can be assumed on a linguistic basis that has astral character. The lack of an earth goddess is striking.

(. AKK Akkadisch- Babylonian ; ug. Ugaritic ;. phon Phoenician ;. Hebrew Hebrew , Arabic. Arabic ; OSA. Old South Arabian ;. ethereal Ethiopian )

  • * ʔIlu "God" (main god: akk. Ilu , ug. Il , Phön. ʔl / Ēlos , Hebrew Ēl / Elohim , OSA. ʔl ). The Arabic name for God, Allah , originated from al-ʔilah "The God". In Judaism and Islam it means the only God.
  • * ʔAṯiratu (Ilus wife: ug. Aṯrt , Hebrew. Ašērāh , OSA. ʔṯrt ). The meaning of the name is unknown.
    • Another name of hers is: * ʔIlatu "goddess" (akk. Ilat , Phön. ʔlt , Arabic. Allāt ).
  • * ʕAṯtaru (fertility god: ug. ʕṯtr , OSA ʕṯtr , äth. ʕAstar )
  • * ʕAṯtartu (fertility goddess: akk. Ištar , ug. ʕṯtrt , Phön. ʕštrt / Astarte , Hebrew. ʕAštoreṯ ). The name is not related to ʔAṯiratu! Its meaning is unknown, but because of the word formation, an animal name is suspected. It is controversial whether the connection between Ishtar and the morning star dates back to the ursemitic times.
  • * Haddu / * Hadadu (weather god: akk. Adad , ug. Hd , phön. Adodos ). The name probably means "thunderer".
    • Another name of this god is * Baʕlu "man, husband, lord" (akk. Bel , ug. Bʕl , phön. Bʕl / Belos , Hebrew Baʕal ).
  • * Śamšu "sun" (sun goddess: ug. Špš , OSA: šmš , on the other hand male is akk. Šamaš ).
  • * Wariḫu "moon" (moon god: ug. Yrḫ , Hebrew. Yārēaḥ , OSA. Wrḫ ).

Semitic polytheistic religions

  • Mesopotamian religion ( Akkad , Assur , Babylon ). The oldest evidence comes from the pre-argon era and has a clear astral character. Later elements from different cultures mixed in, especially the influence of the non-Semitic religion of the Sumerians was strong.
  • Amurrian religion : Only theophore personal names of the Amurrites are known.
  • Eblaite religion : Theoldest Semitic written material comesfrom Ebla , including some religious texts. They contain Sumerian elements.
  • Ugaritic religion :Most of the myths have been passed downfrom the small state of Ugarit , which perished around 1200.
  • Phoenician religion : Only a few religious inscriptions are known from the Levant, the homeland of the Phoenicians, the Punic religion of Carthage is better.
  • Old Canaanite Religion : Thereare passages in the Old Testament that briefly describe the practice of the old polytheistic religion.
  • Altaramaic religion : The Arameans had a mixed religion with Canaanite, Mesopotamian and partly Persian elements.
  • Old Arabic religion : The pre-Islamic polytheistic religion of the Arabs is poorly transmitted.
  • Old South Arabian religion (Sabaeans, Mineans, Himyars): Usually only the names of gods are passed down, but epithets and context allow the meaning of the gods to be recognized quite well.
  • Axumite religion : The pre- Axumite religion in Ethiopia is strongly influenced by the Sabaean religion, while in the texts of the pre-Christian axumite kings sparse evidence of an independent religion emerges.

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