Understanding Ancient Near Eastern Religions. Biblical Hebrew Traditions and Creation Accounts

Essay from the year 2023 in the subject Theology - Historic Theology, Ecclesiastical History, grade: 90, Nations University (Nations University), course: Ancient Religions, language: English, abstract: This text aims to provide an insightful examination of the relationship between Ancient Near Eastern religions and Biblical Hebrew traditions, highlighting their similarities and distinctions, particularly in the context of creation accounts. The Biblical world, in which persons and traditions are documented in the Hebrew Bible, dates from the third millennium B.C.E through the intertestamental period in Jewish literature. If Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha are to be included, the Hebrew Bible settings must finish with Persian history. The setting of the Ancient Near East, Mediterranean, and North Africa served as a historical, social, and theological backdrop from which Biblical traditions and literature arose. This paper endeavors to address presumptions related to the ancient Near East, focusing on God and man; the assessment of Ancient Near Eastern religion found in the Hebrew scriptures, by analyzing some of the important traditions, rituals, and beliefs held by those communities; and the critical points of difference between Ancient Near Eastern and Biblical Hebrew when looking at the creation accounts.