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43-735: The lower Canaanite settlement and the upper Israelite citadel are now part of the Tel Arad National Park , which has begun projects to restore the walls of the upper and lower sites. It was first identified in modern literature in 1841 by Edward Robinson in his Biblical Researches in Palestine , on account of the similarity of the Arabic place name, Tell 'Arad, with the Harad in the Book of Joshua . Elitsur observes that although

86-615: A drier region where frequencies of human activity depended upon oscillations toward wetter climate conditions. The Early Bronze IB (c. 3300/3200–3050/3000 BCE) the city of Tel Arad Stratum IV flourished. There was an amount of Egyptian pottery found indicating trade. Climate . The Southern Levant during the EB IB was dominated by very humid climate conditions. In the northern part of the Southern Levant there were higher levels of arboreal Mediterranean tree pollen and olive pollen. This

129-719: A joint Italo-Syrian team, have cast more light on the early Canaanite religion. Yohanan Aharoni Yohanan Aharoni ( Hebrew : יוחנן אהרוני ; 7 June 1919 – 9 February 1976) was an Israeli archaeologist and historical geographer , chairman of the Department of Near East Studies and chairman of the Institute of Archaeology at Tel Aviv University . Born to the Aronheim family, in Germany on 7 June 1919, Aharoni immigrated to Mandatory Palestine in 1933. He studied at

172-662: A result, the accounts contained within the Bible represented almost the only sources of information on ancient Canaanite religion. This record was supplemented by a few secondary and tertiary Greek sources: ( Lucian 's On the Syrian Goddess , fragments of the Phoenician History of Philo of Byblos, and the writings of Damascius ). More recently, detailed study of the Ugaritic material, of other inscriptions from

215-492: The Baal Cycle , Ba'al Hadad is challenged by and defeats Yam using two magical weapons (called "Driver" and "Chaser") made for him by Kothar-wa-Khasis . Afterward, with the help of Athirat and Anat, Ba'al persuades El to allow him a palace. El approves, and the palace is built by Kothar-wa-Khasis. After the palace is constructed, Ba'al gives forth a thunderous roar out of the palace window and challenges Mot. Mot enters through

258-685: The Hebrew Reali School in Haifa , and later at the Mikve Yisrael agricultural school. He married Miriam Gross and became a member of kibbutz Alonim , where he lived until 1947. Aharoni studied archaeology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and began to teach there in 1954. By 1966, he became a professor at the university. However, in 1968, he moved to Tel Aviv University and replaced Shemuel Yeivin as chairman of

301-516: The Ugaritic texts and the Hebrew Bible , have provided most of the current knowledge about Canaanite religion. The religion had a significant influence on neighboring cultures and later religious traditions, including ancient Israelite religion and Phoenician religion. Canaanites believed that following physical death, the npš (usually translated as " soul ") departed from the body to

344-554: The 9th century BC onward. After the conquest of these regions by the Roman Republic in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC, Punic religious practices continued, surviving until the 4th century AD in some cases. Throughout the Hellenistic period , in the non- Jewish parts of Canaan, Greek religion grew alongside pre-existing Canaanite traditions rather than replacing them. From the ancient Canaanite practice of outdoor worship,

387-635: The Ancient Near East Canaanite religious beliefs were polytheistic , with families typically focusing on veneration of the dead in the form of household gods and goddesses, the Elohim, while acknowledging the existence of other deities such as Baal and El, Mot, Qos, Asherah and Astarte. Kings also played an important religious role and in certain ceremonies, such as the hieros gamos of the New Year , may have been revered as gods. "At

430-564: The Department of Near East Studies. Together with his student Moshe Kochavi , his academic staff from his archaeological projects, and the teaching staff of the Department, Aharoni established the Tel Aviv University Institute of Archaeology , with the purpose of conducting archaeological fieldwork and research. Aharoni participated in many excavations, including Ramat Rachel , Tel Arad , Tel Be'er Sheva , Tel Hazor and Lachish . He also studied ancient roadways in

473-613: The Earth with rain. A group of deities in a four-tier hierarchy headed by El and Asherah were worshipped by the followers of the Canaanite religion; this is a detailed listing: Archaeological investigations at the site of Tell es-Safi have found the remains of donkeys, as well as some sheep and goats in Early Bronze Age layers, dating to 4,900 years ago which were imported from Egypt in order to be sacrificed. One of

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516-532: The Egyptian god Set , (Sutekh or Seth) and was considered identical. Iconographically henceforth, Baal was shown wearing the crown of Lower Egypt and shown in the Egyptian-like stance, one foot set before the other. Similarly Athirat (known by her later Hebrew name Asherah), Athtart (known by her later Greek name Astarte), and Anat henceforth were portrayed wearing Hathor -like Egyptian wigs. From

559-674: The Greek custom of worshipping Zeus on a simple altar atop Mount Ida or Olympus cannot have appeared all that odd. The new masters conferred Greek names on the ancient Canaanite deities. Canaanite religion was influenced by its peripheral position, intermediary between Egypt and Mesopotamia, whose religions had a growing impact upon Canaanite religion. For example, during the Hyksos period, when chariot-mounted maryannu ruled in Egypt, at their capital city of Avaris , Baal became associated with

602-565: The Iron Age water system. Canaanite religion Canaanite religion was a group of ancient Semitic religions practiced by the Canaanites living in the ancient Levant from at least the early Bronze Age to the first centuries CE. Canaanite religion was polytheistic and in some cases monolatristic . It was influenced by neighboring cultures, particularly ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian religious practices. The pantheon

645-779: The Levant and also of the Ebla archive from Tel Mardikh, excavated in 1960 by a joint Italo-Syrian team, have cast more light on the early Canaanite religion. According to The Encyclopedia of Religion , the Ugarit texts represent one part of a larger religion that was based on the religious teachings of Babylon. The Canaanite scribes who produced the Baal texts were also trained to write in Babylonian cuneiform, including Sumerian and Akkadian texts of every genre. Archaeological excavations in

688-593: The Mountain(s)". Harriet Lutzky has presented evidence that Shaddai was an attribute of a Semitic goddess, linking the epithet with Hebrew šad , 'breast', as "the one of the breast". The idea of two mountains being associated here as the breasts of the Earth, fits into the Canaanite mythology quite well. The ideas of pairs of mountains seem to be quite common in Canaanite mythology. The late period of this cosmology makes it difficult to tell what influences (Roman, Greek, or Hebrew) may have informed Philo's writings. In

731-641: The Persian period. Stratum IV (Hellenistic): It is believed that several citadels were built one upon the other and existed in the Hellenistic and Roman periods. Herod even reconstructed the lower city for the purpose of making bread. The site lasted until the end of the Bar Kokhba revolt 135 CE. Tel Arad lay in ruins for 500 years until the Early Islamic period , when the former Roman citadel

774-682: The center of Canaanite religion was royal concern for religious and political legitimacy and the imposition of a divinely ordained legal structure, as well as peasant emphasis on fertility of the crops, flocks, and humans." Robert G. Boling argues that there was no "local pantheon" in Canaan. Instead, the Canaanites selectively worshipped the "most important and interesting deities" from their neighbors, gave them multiple names and omitted their geographic origins. Like language, their gods also varied over time. Boling finds this unsurprising because Canaan

817-667: The coast, as Phoenicians. More recently, the term Canaanite has been used for the secondary Iron Age states of the interior (including the Philistines and the states of Israel and Judah ) that were not ruled by Arameans —a separate and closely related ethnic group. The DNA of the modern Arab and Jewish people matches the DNA of the ancient Canaanites. Canaanite religion was strongly influenced by their more powerful and populous neighbors, and shows clear influence of Mesopotamian and Egyptian religious practices. Like other people of

860-767: The copper industry in the Arabah and trade towards Egypt in the Old Kingdom . With the Collapse of the Late Bronze Age, the Fall of the Egyptian New Kingdom during the 20th Dynasty saw its control over polities in the Southern Levant decline. Stratum XII: The site was resettled from the 11th century BCE onwards, initially as an unwalled area defined as an official or sacred domain was established on

903-578: The deceased and to feed the "npš" (the origin of the Hebrew word ״נפש״ and usually translated as soul) as it moved on to Mot, the land of death. Rituals to honor the deceased included offerings of incense , libations , music , the singing of devotional songs, and sometimes trance rituals, oracles, and necromancy. Excavations in Tel Megiddo have offered greater insight into Canaanite funerary practices. A large number of wine vessels have been found in

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946-580: The deceased with supplies for the afterlife. The Levant region was inhabited by people who referred to the land as 'ca-na-na-um' as early as the mid-second millennium BC. There are a number of possible etymologies for the word referred. The etymology of "Canaan" is unknown. While " Phoenician " and " Canaanite " refer to the same culture, archaeologists and historians commonly refer to the Bronze Age , pre-1200 BC Levantines as Canaanites; and their Iron Age descendants, particularly those living on

989-404: The discovery of its Bronze Age archive of clay tablets written in an alphabetical cuneiform , modern scholars knew little about Canaanite religion, as few records have survived. Papyrus seems to have been the preferred writing medium, but whereas in Egypt papyrus may survive centuries in the extremely dry climate, Canaanite records have simply decayed in the humid Mediterranean climate . As

1032-466: The duress of military crisis, human sacrifice was offered to the divine patron of a besieged city, as well as the sacrifice of prisoners of war to the victorious god. Ronald Hendel believes the Israelites disparaged the Canaanite religion because they wanted to disassociate themselves from their Canaanite ancestors and form a new national identity. Canaanite religious practice had a high regard for

1075-703: The duty of children to care for their parents, with sons being held responsible for burying them, and arranging for the maintenance of their tombs. Canaanite deities such as Baal were represented by figures which were placed in shrines, often on hilltops, or 'high places' surrounded by groves of trees, such as is condemned in the Hebrew Bible, in Hosea (v 13a) which would probably hold the Asherah pole, and standing stones or pillars. Funerary rites held an important role in Canaanite religion and included rituals to honor

1118-458: The earth-circling ocean, thereby bounding the earth. W. F. Albright , for example, says that El Shaddai is a derivation of a Semitic stem that appears in the Akkadian shadû ('mountain') and shaddā'û or shaddû'a ('mountain-dweller'), one of the names of Amurru. Philo of Byblos states that Atlas was one of the elohim, which would clearly fit into the story of El Shaddai as "God of

1161-493: The graves there, as well as vessels of beeswax, animal fat, olive oil, resin, and even vanilla. These grave goods may have been used as part of a funerary feast, as offerings to the dead, or both. Additionally, evidence of opium use was found at "a Late Bronze Age site in the southern Levant". The presence of grave goods may suggest similarities between Canaanite practices and the Ancient Egyptian custom of providing

1204-552: The land of Mot (Death). Bodies were buried with grave goods , and offerings of food and drink were made to the dead to ensure that they would not trouble the living. Dead relatives were venerated and were sometimes asked for help. None of the inscribed tablets found since 1928 in the Canaanite city of Ugarit (destroyed c.  1200 BC ) has revealed a cosmology . Syntheses are nearly impossible without Hierombalus and Philo of Byblos ( c.  64–141 AD ) via Eusebius , before and after much Greek and Roman influence in

1247-422: The last few decades have unearthed more about the religion of the ancient Canaanites. The excavation of the city of Ras Shamra (1928 onwards) and the discovery of its Bronze Age archive of clay-tablet alphabetic cuneiform texts provided a wealth of new information. Detailed study of the Ugaritic material, of other inscriptions from the Levant and also of the Ebla archive from Tel Mardikh, excavated in 1960 by

1290-635: The other direction, Jean Bottéro and Giovanni Pettinato have argued that Ya of Ebla and the more familiar Yah (or Yahweh ) were related to the Mesopotamian god Ea during the Akkadian Empire . In the Middle and Late Bronze Age, there are also strong Hurrian and Mitannite influences upon the Canaanite religion. The Hurrian goddess Hebat was worshiped in Jerusalem , and Baal

1333-429: The region. According to the pantheon, known in Ugarit as 'ilhm ( elohim ) or the children of El , supposedly obtained by Philo of Byblos from Sanchuniathon of Berythus ( Beirut ) the creator was known as Elion, who was the father of the divinities, and in the Greek sources he was married to Beruth (Beirut meaning 'the city'). This marriage of the divinity with the city would seem to have Biblical parallels too with

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1376-411: The sacrificial animals, a complete donkey, was found beneath the foundations of a building, leading to speculation this was a 'foundation deposit' placed before the building of a residential house. It is considered virtually impossible to reconstruct a clear picture of Canaanite religious practices. Although child sacrifice by the Canaanites was known to surrounding peoples. According to K.L. Noll, under

1419-622: The site remained uninhabited for 1,100 years, the name has endured, preserved by nomads. Stratum V: The site is divided into a lower city and an upper section on a hill. In the Late Chalcolithic (c. 4000 BCE), the lower city was settled for the first time. In the Early Bronze Age, Tel Arad (str. IV-I) was occupied in the Early Bronze I–II and took part in the Beersheba Valley copper trade. In general Tel Arad lies in

1462-590: The stories of the link between Melqart and Tyre ; Chemosh and Moab ; Tanit and Baal Hammon in Carthage , Yah and Jerusalem . The union of El Elyon and his consort Asherah would be analogous to the Titans Cronus and Rhea in Greek mythology or the Roman Saturnus and Ops . In Canaanite mythology there were twin mountains, Targhizizi and Tharumagi, which hold the firmament up above

1505-645: The tripartite division between the Olympians Zeus , Poseidon and Hades , mirroring the division between Baal , Yam and Mot , and in the story of the Labours of Hercules , mirroring the stories of the Tyrian Melqart , who was often equated with Heracles. Present-day knowledge of Canaanite religion comes from: Until Claude F. A. Schaefer began excavating in 1929 at Ras Shamra in northern Syria (the site historically known as Ugarit ), and

1548-537: The upper hill, and then later as a garrison-town or citadel. Tel Arad now became a fortified stronghold of the Kingdom of Judah . The temple at Arad was uncovered by archaeologist Yohanan Aharoni in 1962 who spent the rest of his life investigating it, dying there in the mid-1970s. In the holy of holies of this temple two incense altars and two possible stele or massebot or standing stones were found. Unidentified dark material preserved on their upper surfaces

1591-454: The window and swallows Ba'al, sending him to the underworld. With no one to give rain, there is a terrible drought in Ba'al's absence. The other deities, especially El and Anat, are distraught that Ba'al had been taken to the underworld. Anat goes to the underworld, attacks Mot with a knife, grinds him up into pieces, and scatters him far and wide. With Mot defeated, Ba'al is able to return and refresh

1634-581: Was a land bridge between Asia and Africa, where cross-cultural exchange was frequent. Punic religion in the western Mediterranean was a direct continuation of the Phoenician variety of the polytheistic ancient Canaanite religion. However, significant local differences developed over the centuries following the foundation of Carthage and other Punic communities elsewhere in North Africa , southern Spain, Sardinia , western Sicily , and Malta from

1677-523: Was a proto-urban period where settlements spread and population grew, also spreading human activity into the Negev region. The Early Bronze II (c. 3050/3000–2750/2700 BCE) saw rich remains at Tel Arad Stratum III (EB IIA) and II (EB IIB). The Early Bronze III (c. 2750–2350 BCE) saw Arad abandoned. This may have been associated with the rise of central trading sites in the Negev Highlands related to

1720-710: Was closely considered equivalent to the Hurrian storm god Teshub and the Hittite storm god, Tarhunt . Canaanite divinities seem to have been almost identical in form and function to the neighboring Arameans to the east, and Baal Hadad and El can be distinguished amongst earlier Amorites , who at the end of the Early Bronze Age invaded Mesopotamia . Carried west by Phoenician sailors, Canaanite religious influences can be seen in Greek mythology , particularly in

1763-502: Was headed by the god El and his consort Asherah , with other significant deities including Baal , Anat , Astarte , and Mot . Canaanite religious practices included animal sacrifice , veneration of the dead , and the worship of deities through shrines and sacred groves . The religion also featured a complex mythology , including stories of divine battles and cycles of death and rebirth. Archaeological evidence, particularly from sites like Ugarit , and literary sources, including

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1806-450: Was rebuilt and remodeled by some prosperous clan in the area and functioned for 200 years until around 861, when there was a breakdown of central authority and a period of widespread rebellion and unrest. The citadel was destroyed and no more structures were built on the site. The upper and lower areas of Tel Arad were excavated during 18 seasons by Ruth Amiran and Yohanan Aharoni between 1962 and 1984. An additional 8 seasons were done on

1849-552: Was submitted for organic residue analysis and THC, CBD, and CBN (which derive from cannabis ) were detected on the smaller altar. The large one had many chemicals associated with frankincense. While the use of frankincense for cultic purposes is well-known, the presence of cannabis was novel, if not shocking. It represents the "first known evidence of hallucinogenic substance found in the Kingdom of Judah ." Cannabis has been found at another religious archaeological site, Deir Alla , as hemp fibre. Stratum V: The settlement beloning to

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