The Gods of Israel (El, Baal, Yahweh, Asherah)

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Uploaded: 30 Aug 2025 (12 months ago) · Shared: 23 Sep 2025

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This is a lecture about a chapter of my world history book called: 'In Search of the Sublime - A world history of humanity's relentless pursuit of scientific truth, moral excellence, and

enlightenment.'
Read the book for FREE at:
worldhistorybook.com

Or buy it on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Search-Sublime-relentless-scientific-enlightenment/dp/B0D28FVM8T

Kind regards,
Stephan P. Dinkgreve
MSc Theoretical Physics
Amsterdam

SOURCES:
R. Bellah, Religion in Human Evolution, Harvard University Press, 2011.
R. Hendel, The Book of Genesis. Composition, Reception, and Interpretation, Brill, 2012.
R. Hendel, The Book of Genesis; A biography, Princeton University Press, 2013.
M. Smith, The Early History of God. Yahweh and the Other Deities in Ancient Israel, Eerdmans Publishing, 2002
T. Römer, R. Geuss, The Invention of God, Harvard University Press, 2015

Correction:
09:08 Another theory is that these figures are representation of the Egyptian drawf god Bes, who is often represented with a similar frontal pose, clear genetalia, and a plume, and sometimes as twins (although this figure is more elongated. The god usually with its head between its shoulders). To make this case, it has to be assumed that the text 'Yahweh and his Asherah' written above is not connected to the image, which is possible given the overlap.
Also, the earliest modern drawing of the vague original shows both figures with male genetalia. Further inspection showed this was only the case for one figure.

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Overview & Key Concepts

Who are Stephans History?

Stephan's History of the World. Reclaim the foundational thoughts and deeds of the great ancestors of humanity.

What is The Gods?

Polytheism is the worship of or belief in multiple deities, usually as a pantheon of gods and goddesses. In most religions which accept polytheism

the different gods and goddesses are representations of forces of nature or ancestral principles, and can be viewed either as autonomous or as aspects or emanations of a creator deity or transcendental absolute principle (monistic theologies), which manifests immanently in nature (panentheistic and pantheistic theologies). Most of the polytheistic deities of ancient religions, with the notable exceptions of the Ancient Egyptian and Hindu deities, were conceived as having physical bodies. Polytheism is a type of theism. Within theism, it contrasts with monotheism, the belief in a singular God, in most cases transcendent. Important polytheistic religions practiced today include Chinese traditional religion, Hinduism, Japanese Shinto, and various neopagan faiths.

Who was Asherah?

Asherah in ancient Semitic religion, is a mother goddess who appears in a number of ancient sources. She appears in Akkadian writings by the name of

Asratu, and in Hittite as Aserdu or Asertu. Asherah is generally considered identical with the Ugaritic goddess Atirat. Asherah is identified as the queen consort of the Sumerian god Anu, and Ugaritic El, the oldest deities of their respective pantheons, as well as Yahweh, the god of Israel and Judah. Despite her association with Yahweh in extra-biblical sources, Deuteronomy 12 has Yahweh commanding the destruction of her shrines so as to maintain purity of his worship.

What is Israel?

Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in the Middle East. Located on the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and the northern

shore of the Red Sea. It has land borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the northeast, Jordan on the east, the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip to the east and west, respectively, and Egypt to the southwest.

Who is Yahweh?

Yahweh was the national god of the Iron Age kingdoms of Israel (Samaria) and Judah. His exact origins are disputed, although they reach back to the

early Iron Age and even the Late Bronze: his name may have begun as an epithet of El, head of the Bronze Age Canaanite pantheon, but the earliest plausible mentions of Yahweh are in Egyptian texts that refer to a similar-sounding place name associated with the Shasu nomads of the southern Transjordan. In the oldest biblical literature, Yahweh is a typical ancient Near Eastern "divine warrior", who leads the heavenly army against Israel's enemies; he later became the main god of the Kingdom of Israel (Samaria) and of Judah, and over time the royal court and temple promoted Yahweh as the god of the entire cosmos, possessing all the positive qualities previously attributed to the other gods and goddesses.

Who is Baal?

Baal was a title and honorific meaning 'owner' or 'lord' in the Northwest Semitic languages spoken in the Levant during antiquity. From its use among

people, it came to be applied to gods. Scholars previously associated the theonym with solar cults and with a variety of unrelated patron deities, but inscriptions have shown that the name Baal was particularly associated with the storm and fertility god Hadad and his local manifestations.
 
Known by epithets like 'rider of the clouds' and 'Victorious Baal', he was associated with rain, lightning, wind, fertility, and kingship, and was often depicted in opposition to sea and death deities like Yammu and Mot. Worship of Baal spread throughout the Levant, Egypt, and the Mediterranean.
 
The Hebrew Bible includes use of the term in reference to various Levantine deities, often with application towards Hadad, who was decried as a false god. In the Hebrew Bible, Baal appears frequently as a foreign or rival deity, with prophets like Elijah opposing his cult, while in early Israelite contexts, the title may have sometimes referred to Yahweh.
 
Depiction as a false god was taken over into Christianity and Islam, sometimes under the form Beelzebub in demonology.

Frequently Asked Questions

1.Were the Gods sacrificed?

* Horus - In Egypt, in the Heb-Sed festival, the powers of Pharaoh (Horus incarnate) were tested. If found weak, Horus was expected to sacrifice himself by donating his blood to the soil

* Kronos - A man was sacrified annually at the Phoenician feast of Kronos. Kronos had a son, Ieoud who he sacrificed. Ieoud was known as 'the only begotten son of his Father'

* Tammuz - A popular Syrian saviour-God born of a virgin was killed and rose again every spring. Wherever Tammuz was worshipped a human victim in royal robes was killed and eaten, so his body and blood might bring salvation to the community.

2.Who are the Gods in the Bible?

Historically, the term 'God' was applied to powerful figures, such as leaders and magistrates, who served as representatives on Earth. Emperor Constantine referenced this, citing Psalm 82:6 to remind bishops of their high, albeit human, office.

Emperor Constantine at the opening of the Council of Nicaea (325 AD) quoted Psalm 82:6 to remind the bishops that their high office should raise them above jealousy and party feeling.

The term 'God' was applied to people of power, authority and rule who were considered to have greater nearness to God than others - an appellation which implies that you are God's representatives on earth, and that your decision is, in an important sense, to be regarded as his.

3.Where did the name Yahweh come from?

The name Yahweh is the principal, sacred vocalisation of the Hebrew Tetragrammaton (YHWH), revealed historically to Moses in the Old Testament Book of Exodus as God's personal covenant name. Biblical scholars note its linguistic roots link directly to an archaic Hebrew verb meaning 'To Be,' signifying the eternal, self-existing, and uncreated nature of the Creator.

4.Who was the Babylonian Baal God?

Details of the Babylonion Baal or Bel God were found by German excavators in 1904 at the site of the ancient city of Ashur.

* Details of Baal's capture and his trial in the House on the Mount
* Baal's torture and being led away to his death
* The city broke out in fighting
* Baal's clothes were carried away
* A woman wiped away blood from the weapon thrust into his heart
* A weeping woman came to lament him at the 'Gate of Burial'
* Baal was brought back to life at the spring equinox

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