Canaanites, Amorites, and Hittites in History and the Bible

Discussion about the Hebrew Bible, Septuagint, pseudepigrapha, Philo, Josephus, Talmud, Dead Sea Scrolls, archaeology, etc.
Post Reply
Kunigunde Kreuzerin
Posts: 2110
Joined: Sat Nov 16, 2013 2:19 pm
Location: Leipzig, Germany
Contact:

Canaanites, Amorites, and Hittites in History and the Bible

Post by Kunigunde Kreuzerin »

A very interesting post from our Tenorikuma
Canaanites, Amorites, and Hittites in History and the Bible

The Old Testament is full of names used to describe various ethnic groups of the Promised Land and the lands they occupy. Some of these names are well-attested from other archaeological and historical sources; others are obscure and remain a mystery to this day.

Throughout the Pentateuch and historical books, the Promised Land is frequently referred to as Canaan, and its non-Israelite inhabitants as Canaanites. Other terms used fairly often for the land’s indigenous inhabitants, though less frequently than “Canaanite”, are “Amorite” and “Hittite”.

What, in historical terms, was a Canaanite, a Hittite, an Amorite? How did ancient sources outside the Bible use these labels, and what comparisons can we draw with the Bible? The answers may help us to understand the times and places in which the biblical authors wrote, as well as the idealogical framework they were working from.
outhouse
Posts: 3577
Joined: Fri Oct 04, 2013 6:48 pm

Re: Canaanites, Amorites, and Hittites in History and the Bi

Post by outhouse »

It was a decent article.


I think its safe to say if one is interested in any aspect of the real history one should not open a bible.


If one really wants to be fascinated, it is to understand why the bible wrote what it did in each book regarding these people that were gone before Israelites even evolved. I love looking at how the oral and written traditions had changed in mythology so far away from what really took place.

The pseudohistory that developed 500-700 years later base on monotheistic redaction is very interesting.


I also love to use this time as evidence of how only man defines gods at will to mirror cultural changes.
Robert Baird
Posts: 52
Joined: Fri Oct 23, 2015 9:52 pm

Re: Canaanites, Amorites, and Hittites in History and the Bi

Post by Robert Baird »

Kunigunde Kreuzerin wrote:A very interesting post from our Tenorikuma
Canaanites, Amorites, and Hittites in History and the Bible

The Old Testament is full of names used to describe various ethnic groups of the Promised Land and the lands they occupy. Some of these names are well-attested from other archaeological and historical sources; others are obscure and remain a mystery to this day.

Throughout the Pentateuch and historical books, the Promised Land is frequently referred to as Canaan, and its non-Israelite inhabitants as Canaanites. Other terms used fairly often for the land’s indigenous inhabitants, though less frequently than “Canaanite”, are “Amorite” and “Hittite”.

What, in historical terms, was a Canaanite, a Hittite, an Amorite? How did ancient sources outside the Bible use these labels, and what comparisons can we draw with the Bible? The answers may help us to understand the times and places in which the biblical authors wrote, as well as the idealogical framework they were working from.
Is it fraud when a priest who has studied for many years and knows the Bible is borrowed myths doesn't tell his sheople?
The figure of Eve is based upon much older mythology and may be traced back to the ancient Mother Goddess or World Mother and the serpent cults of the pre-biblical period. Closer examination of the name ‘Eve’ revealed her serpent origins, for the Hebrew for Eve is havvah, meaning ‘mother of all things,’ but also ‘serpent.’ Likewise, the Arabic words for ‘snake,’ ‘life,’ and ‘teaching,’ are closely related to the word or name “Eve.’
— Philip Gardiner (See his comment on my work under Amazon books and Mystical Physicists or elesewhere. He has used my research often.) and Gary Osborn / The Serpent Grail (quoted by Michael Tsarion)

Here we have words from the author of The Jefferson Bible who counted his separation of church and state initiative as his greatest act or joy. Unfortunately he also understood how it would be circumvented and abused - so he did not get a whole lot of joy.
Single acts of tyranny may be ascribed to the accidental opinion of a day; but a series of oppressions, begun at a distinguished period and pursued unalterably through every change of ministers, too plainly prove a deliberate, systematic plan of reducing [a people] to slavery.
Thomas Jefferson

Now we get input from a very different source - but telling much truth. The Nazis used the occult for nefarious purposes but they would not have had that kind of success if people were knowledgeable. Here it is highlighted but please consider reading more of this vast site.

"The entire Bible is an extremely powerful subliminal tool full of occult numbers, messages, allegories, and stolen material, which has been corrupted from ancient religions. In addition, this book has been infused with psychic energy and power to instill fear and to make it believable. When one's eyes are opened and one has the necessary knowledge, the *spell* will no longer be effective. The entire underlying theme of the Judeo/Christian Bible is the establishment of the fictitious history of the Jewish people in the mass mind. What the mass mind believes has power and the energy to make manifest in reality as thoughts are energy

There are vacuum-sealed vaults in the Vatican library containing thousands upon thousands of ancient esoteric books from around the world that have been stolen and hoarded over the years and kept out of public circulation. The Catholic Church, which is the root of the Christian religion, is controlled by a secret society that has abused occult power to enslave the masses. The end goal is the total enslavement of humanity, which they have worked towards relentlessly and ruthlessly.

All of this has directly affected each and every one of us. Humanity has suffered unnecessarily because of the denial of this knowledge. People have been coerced over the centuries into paying for their own damnation to the tune of billions and billions of dollars to keep this lie prospering and continuing strong. The survival and prosperity of this vicious hoax on humanity requires only ONE thing- A LACK OF KNOWLEDGE!

Contrary to what most people have been indoctrinated with, Judaism, Christianity and Islam are relatively new religions. Humanity goes back tens of thousands of years. These three have worked relentlessly to keep us from spiritual/occult knowledge and using this power, of which all of us have.

These so-called "religions" are built upon murder, torture, and lies and the only way any lie of this magnitude can survive is to create more and more lies and destroy the peoples who know the truth. Christianity is nothing more than a program. There is nothing religious or spiritual about it. Millions of people suffer depression, hopelessness, and confusion about life. The soul needs light and very few know this or actively practice the power meditation that will literally "save" their own souls. Because of a lack of knowledge and ignorance of the occult, Humanity as a whole has been placed under a powerful spell using occult power and indoctrinated not to question, concerning these three so-called "religions." This has been reinforced by centuries of Christians being duped into supplying their psychic energy and souls to be channeled into perpetuating this lie, which in the end, will only benefit a select few."


http://see_the_truth.webs.com/

As this author says (somewhat tongue in cheek) all books of the Bible and this cult are corrupt. Savior = save your ($$)

http://www.truthcontest.com/insights...s-dogma/#page2
Last edited by Robert Baird on Sat Oct 31, 2015 11:40 am, edited 2 times in total.
Robert Baird
Posts: 52
Joined: Fri Oct 23, 2015 9:52 pm

Re: Canaanites, Amorites, and Hittites in History and the Bi

Post by Robert Baird »

Why is it hard for academics to read something they don't want to have to learn which threatens all they have been brainwashed to believe. In many cases they are not religious people at all, so we can't use that excuse. Could it be religion has gotten inside academia for many millennia and controlled all knowledge buy burning books and destroying stelae? Nah!

"Tarshish (Hebrew: תַּרְשִׁישׁ‎) occurs in the Hebrew Bible with several uncertain meanings. One of the most recurring is that Tarshish is a place, probably a city or country, that is far from the Land of Israel by sea where trade occurs with Israel and Phoenicia. The Septuagint, the Vulgate and the Targum of Jonathan render this as Carthage. But other biblical commentators read it as Tartessos in ancient Hispania (Iberian Peninsula).[1] William.F. Albright (1941) and Frank M. Cross (1972) suggested Tarshish might be or was Sardinia because of the discovery of the Nora Stone or Nora Fragment, which mentions Tarshish in its Phoenician inscription. Christine M. Thompson (2003) identified a concentration of hacksilber hoards dating between c.1200 and 586 BC in Israel and the Palestinian Territories (Cisjordan). This silver-dominant Cisjordan Corpus is unparalleled in the contemporary Mediterranean, and within it occurs a unique concentration in Phoenicia of silver hoards dated between 1200 and 800 BC. Hacksilber objects in these Phoenician hoards have lead isotope ratios that match ores in Sardinia and Spain.[2] This metallic evidence agrees with the biblical memory of a western Mediterranean Tarshish that supplied Solomon with silver via Phoenicia. Assyrian records indicate Tarshish was an island, and the poetic construction of Psalm 72 points to its identity as a large island in the west -the island of Sardinia.[3]"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarshish

But if Tarshis is in Portugal as even they admit it might be, and Solomon kept a fleet there with his cousin Hiram (both being Phoenician) why would Wikipedia allow this idiot to post this trash saying Sardinia is where the silver came from - without some evidence of mining there? Surely the posting person has read about the Americas or Atlantis myths being that island. Why not comment on the over 9,000 medieval castles on Sardinia or the DNN (Greek) and Keltoi encampments there even before the castles (See Jacquetta Hawkes' Atlas of Archaeology) which were built by Phoenicians of Carthage and before Carthage even existed? Don't they want to know who the settlers or founders of Etruria, Sybaris and so many other places are?

Solomon had mines in Africa as we see in movies but he also went to the Amazon or sent his sailors there as the Paraiba Stones tell us. The amount of emerald's in the Old World did not come from the single known mine in Egypt - they came from the upper Amazon.

Egypt was colonized by the Phoenicians or ancient ones termed Keltoi or Ogygia. I have created numerous threads tying the DNN into this fact.

The Druidic sun-worship referred to in Paine's posthumous publication which he dared not expose while alive is part of the mix. He says that is the origin of Masonry. Homer correctly said the DN or DNN colonized Greece and they definitely gave alphabets to all their colonies in the Mediterranean. Probably I do not need to point out that heliopolitanism is sun-worship and son-worship.

Before Druids we have other heliopolitan origins for certain and now that we have evidence of Denisovan interbred Neanderthal near the Europod/Asian Ainu I am inclined to think a lot more truth will soon become apparent. D'Ainu minus vowels is DN and DNN is one step of difference from the origins geographically speaking (code). Heliopolis is Byblos in Lebanon but also BBL or Babel where the BBL (Bible) says the tower provides the origins of languages. That is a simple summary. This shows the Horus and Jesus myth connections.

http://www.philvaz.com/apologetics/HORUS.htm

In case anyone thinks most of what I put in these forums is from my books - it is not. Most of what I post is confirmations which come after having written nearly 100 books. Confirmation and further research which confirms rather than disproves (as is the case with most academic and almost all Biblical authorship). Here is a quote (I rarely do.) from one of my books.

At the beginning of my book Merovingians - Past and Present Masters (No longer available but I will happily assign rights to a person willing to update and take back to market through Ingram where other books also languish and perhaps some revenue also.) we have a quote from Dyonysius of Susiana, A. D. 3

And yes, the Sea Peoples of Gasten Maspero was a mere glimpse of truth later beaten back by Empire academics of Classical History. And the crap from Sitchin and the Anunnaki or other alien NONsense such as Oannes the fish-man is about Phoenicians. The Sumerian records say they were colonized out of Dilmun where the World Book Encyclopedia has the Phoenicians selling ships in 2850 BCE to their colony in Egypt and yet the same book talking about Phoenicia shows them in the normal Bible Narrative clinging to Tyre and Carthage. All the knowledge given by Oannes including language is proven to have come from the Phoenicians. It is widely (even universally) accepted in linguistics, but that is where academia stops and no doctoral program exists on the Phoenicians.

'Upon the Tsurian sea the people live
Who style themselves Phoenicians...
These were the first great founders of the world--
Founders of cities and of mighty states--
Who showed a path through seas before unknown.
In the first ages, when the sons of men
Knew not which way to turn them, they assigned
To each his first department; they bestowed
Of land a portion and of sea a lot,
And sent each wandering tribe far off to share
A different soil and climate. Hence arose
The great diversity, so plainly seen,
Mid nations widely severed."

https://isthatinthebible.wordpress.c...and-the-bible/
shunyadragon
Posts: 32
Joined: Fri Oct 23, 2015 6:50 pm

Re: Canaanites, Amorites, and Hittites in History and the Bi

Post by shunyadragon »

There are some good archeological evidence concerning the origins of the Hebrews as originally minor pastoral Canaanite tribes in the hills of Judea. The earliest known scripture of the Pentateuch including the Psalms are found in Canaanite, and pre-Babylonian cuneiform tablets. The Hebrew evolved from Canaanite and began to become a separate language ~1000-800 BCE. The Old Testament has many parts that are polytheistic and henotheistic indicating the Canaanite heritage of Judaism. Archeological finds indicate there were female God totems commonly found in the homes. The evidence indicates that the Pentateuch, Psalms, and parts of other books in the OT have Canaanite. pre-Babylonian, and Babylonian roots, and evolved into what we call the OT today between ~1000 BCE to ~400 BCE. The exile period clearly played a role in the development of the scripture, and may influenced the trend in Judaism from polytheism to monotheism.

I may submit more references in later posts.
go with the flow the river knows . . .

Frank

I do not know, therefore everything is in pencil.
outhouse
Posts: 3577
Joined: Fri Oct 04, 2013 6:48 pm

Re: Canaanites, Amorites, and Hittites in History and the Bi

Post by outhouse »

shunyadragon wrote:There are some good archeological evidence concerning the origins of the Hebrews as originally minor pastoral Canaanite tribes in the hills of Judea. The earliest known scripture of the Pentateuch including the Psalms are found in Canaanite, and pre-Babylonian cuneiform tablets. The Hebrew evolved from Canaanite and began to become a separate language ~1000-800 BCE. The Old Testament has many parts that are polytheistic and henotheistic indicating the Canaanite heritage of Judaism. Archeological finds indicate there were female God totems commonly found in the homes. The evidence indicates that the Pentateuch, Psalms, and parts of other books in the OT have Canaanite. pre-Babylonian, and Babylonian roots, and evolved into what we call the OT today between ~1000 BCE to ~400 BCE. The exile period clearly played a role in the development of the scripture, and may influenced the trend in Judaism from polytheism to monotheism.

I may submit more references in later posts.
Sounds about right.

it is sort of what we know as the article implies.
shunyadragon
Posts: 32
Joined: Fri Oct 23, 2015 6:50 pm

Re: Canaanites, Amorites, and Hittites in History and the Bi

Post by shunyadragon »

This part of a series of posts on Theologyweb.com concerning the topic of this thread. The discussion was led by 'showmeproof' who did considerable research on this subject. His Biblical references are enlightening. Enjoy.

Basic Premise: The Israelites were not originally monotheistic. They were polytheists, and then went through periods of monolarity, and then finally towards monotheism.
Monolarity is basically the belief that there are other gods, but you worship the best. Usually a nationalistic God which is exactly what Yahweh is in the OT
Polytheism in Israelite history had a long run until under Hezekiah and then later Josiah destroyed the temples, idols and altars of other gods. Josiah's reign is one of monolarity pushing towards monotheism which doesn't fully take root until after the exile.
This shouldn't sound too surprising as a cursory glance at the Old Testament frequently has the Israelites worshiping other deities. It is argued that there are many factors that led to the progression from polytheism to monotheism and they include both domestic and foreign politics. Consider first the foreign politics; Israel was a small nation which had really large neighbors: Egypt, Babylonia, Assyria, Phoenicia. Israel went through many periods in which it attempted to court treaties with Egypt, Babylon and Assyria which amounted towards vassalage. Israel didn't have a bargaining chip and had to pay high tribute to which ever country dominated during a certain time. This created a domestic xenophobic environment in which Israelites were almost always in zero sum relationships and they realized it and resented it. As a result much contempt stirs towards the aggressor of the day in the writing of the major and minor prophets including the great disparity between the Israelite elite and poor. One exception might be Solomon's reign which prospered under a strong international policy including the marrying of foreign wives whom are derided by the bible as having turned Solomon's heart by influencing him to acknowledge or at the very least tolerate their home countries gods.

Furthermore, Archaeology is revealing that the Israelites were merely nomadic Canaanites that lived in the hill country...not a vast exodus of slaves from Egypt that forcibly took Canaan. These nomadic tribes may have included assimilated surviving members of the Shasu whom are mentioned on the Merneptah Stele as being from Yhw (a place which happens to be the hill country). Part of the assimilation included some traditions of the Shasu being transmitted into the nomadic Canaanites and vise versa...thus the exodus.

So back to the Canaanite pantheon. This included El the creator god and father of all gods, Baal, Mot, Dagon, Ashtar, Astarte, Lotan, Melqart, Resheph, and others. These of course make appearances in the bible, but are found in Ugaritic Texts preserved in clay. Yahweh is included as well, as a son of El. Yahweh has many encounters with these characters in the bible and is said to rise above them often paralleling feats accomplished by Baal.
Lets look at a few bible verses to see this interaction.

Exodus 6:2-3 - God also said to Moses, “I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty (El Shaddai) but by my name the Lord (YHWH) I did not make myself known to them.”

Deuteronomy - 32:7-9 - “Remember the days of old; consider the generations long past. Ask your father and he will tell you, your elders, and they will explain to you; When the Most High (El Eloyn) gave the nations their inheritance, when he set up the boundaries for the peoples according to the number of the sons of God (EL). For the Lord’s (YWHY) portion is his people, Jacob his allotted inheritance.”

Psalm 89:6-10 - For who in the skies above can compare with the Lord? Who is like the Lord among the heavenly beings (gods)? O Lord God Almighty, who is like you? You are mighty, O Lord, and your faithfulness surrounds you. You rule over the surging sea; when its waves mount up, you still them. You crushed Rahab like one of the slain; with your strong arm you scattered your enemies.

Psalm 74:12-17 - “But you, O God, are my king from of old; you bring salvation upon the earth. It was you who split open the sea by your power; you broke the heads of the monster in the waters. It was you who crushed the heads of Leviathan and gave him as food to the creatures of the desert. It was you who opened up springs and streams; you dried up the ever flowing rivers. The day is yours and yours also the night; you established the sun and the moon It was you who set all the boundaries of the earth ; you made both summer and winter.”

Psalm 82:1 - “God presides in the great assembly (council of El) he gives judgment among the gods.”

These verses are clarified by the Ugaritic texts which explain the Canaanite pantheon. It isn't merely the sea or river, or moon or sun or day or night, these are gods which he is said to rise above. There are many places where Yahweh is spoken of as one of, but not the only god. There are also places where it is emphatic that he is the only one. However, the earlier Canaanite traditions include Yahweh as a son of El (as does the bible), and furthermore the Phoenician pantheon bears many resemblances as does some of Babylonian traditions.

To summarize: There is much evidence that the Israelites were originally polytheistic and Yahweh was only one of the gods in their pantheon, but being their national god he became the prominent figure and eventually the only one to survive in the Israelite tradition due largely to both foreign and domestic political pressure. Israelite religion is a product of its neighbor's religion and changed over time...cultural evolution in action.
go with the flow the river knows . . .

Frank

I do not know, therefore everything is in pencil.
shunyadragon
Posts: 32
Joined: Fri Oct 23, 2015 6:50 pm

Re: Canaanites, Amorites, and Hittites in History and the Bi

Post by shunyadragon »

More from showmeproof on Tweb:

Quick correction from the OP. The Shasu are not mentioned on the Mernetaph stele, but rather on the Moabite stone. The Mernetaph stele is the earliest Egyptian reference to a specific people known as the Israelites, and speaks of the pharaoh's triumph over them "Israel's seed is not". He mistakenly thought he wiped them out.

The Shasu are however thought to be nomads of the levant. Many scholars reject the idea that they are the one and same Israelites due to their depiction on the steele being incongruent with Hebrew attire, and culture. However, other scholars argue the Shasu from Yhw indicates a possible influence (by assimilation?) on the Hebrews whom were originally also nomads from the Levant. The import of the Moabite stone is that it is one of the earliest sources of a reference to Yhw, and in the context used it is a place (which could be named after a god).
Just wanted to make sure I addressed this error.

Post #8
Henotheism works. I used Monolarity because this is how Wright deals with it. As far as I am aware they are synomynous.
I think it is pretty cool how the traces of theological borrowings from Phonecian, Canaanite, and Babylonian myth remain in the bible itself. I just touched on some of the common ones.

I'll look up the exact reference tomorrow, but while in exile a group that worshipped the Queen of Heaven complains to Yahweh worshipers that while they were giving sacrifices to her they prospered, but when it was forbidden Israel was conquered and the exile began.

Post #10
The three in one god is much later. Earlier they were polytheists and didn't have to hide the fact through the melding of three persons in one.

El in the general sense is the generic for God, however it is also a specific God. So when El is used as by Jacob in the naming of different altars "El Elohe Israel". This is translated as El, the god of Israel...or god the god of Israel. We have a strong case to argue for the former.

El is supposed to be the father of all the other gods, as for the angels I'm not sure. The bible even confirms Yahweh being a son of el in Deuteronomy 32:7-9. El divides the borders of the nations up according to his sons. Yahweh's allotment is Jacob (and his people).

It is also telling that during the reign of Josiah in 2 Kings 23:4, Hilkiah the priest is ordered to remove the idols from the temple which included Yahweh...Baal and Asherah among them. The temples were generalized temples for the pantheon and after the pulling out of all the other idols, Yahweh was the sole occupator left and thus it was Yahweh's temple. In other words it does history disservice to say that these temples were originally set up for solely for Yahweh worship and then became dessicrated by the slow infiltration of other gods due to the people's fickle nature. Josiah needed to control the northern and southern kingdoms and bring them under united rule because he faced stiff international pressure from both Egypt and Babylon at the time. Yahweh was chosen because he was the national god he needed to unite people behind the nation, just as today when we are in times of war we rally around the flag and become more patriotic. He then said that there are not Yahwehs of this place or that place, there is only one Yahweh...he centralized the Yahweh worship in his capitol of Jerusalem so he could unite his power at his doorstep. He had to unite the kingdoms under one god, otherwise he faced domestic challengers in the numerous priests of Baal, or the worshipers of Asherah and indeed had the priests of these gods killed. Josiah largely failed and ended up getting killed in battle by Egypt. Within a few decades Babylon sweeps in and takes Jerusalem.
Now there are two scenarios that are offered here. One must either admit that the god of their captors is greater (Baal), or they must formulate it that Yahweh used the followers of Baal to punish Israel thus making Baal subserviant to Yahweh. The Israelites upon their return from exile had successfully established the later. This is not unique in Canaanite history as the Moabite Stone indicates their God Chemosh was not above punishing his followers by allowing their subjugation and defeat in battle.
go with the flow the river knows . . .

Frank

I do not know, therefore everything is in pencil.
Post Reply