Anat's influence or non-influence in the religious milieu of Ancient Israel

Abstract

The motivation and purpose of this research revolved around the goddess Anat and the possible influence or effect that she might have had on the religion of the ancient Israelites. This led, to the ancient city of Ugarit, on the western coast of the Mediterranean Sea in what is now, Syria. The excavations that were begun in 1928, after the chance discovery of a funeral vault by a farmer, who was plowing his land when his plow struck a stone from a vault. The excavations has delivered a most remarkable treasure trove of history, unknown languages and religious mythologies that has astounded both archaeologists as well as biblical scholars during the past century. Unravelling the culture, art, customs, and cults from Late Bronze Age Ugarit has been a fascinating adventure to the student who discovered how interwoven all the kingdoms of that time was with their correspondence, and trade. The discovery of the mythological texts of the Baal Cycle and Anat and Aqhat led to the study of authors like Oden and Albright. The discovery of the goddess Anat in the Ugaritic mythology led to question the influence, if any, this war goddess might have had on the religion of ancient Israel. The study of Anat, as war goddess led to comparisons between the Ugaritic mythologies and the Hebrew Bible. The many times the other gods and goddesses were mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, for instance the god Baal and Asherah, led the student to wonder about the war goddess Anat. The Hebrew Bible was the product of a nation called Israel, which led to the investigation of ancient Israel: her oregen, her culture and especially her religion. Who and what was ancient Israel? Where did they come from and how did their religion originate? Investigation into ancient Israel as portrayed in the Hebrew Bible and the study of the archaeology of the Levant led to the realization that there was a discrepancy between the two. Archaeology was the one thing that could enlighten the puzzle of the origin of ancient Israel. The student joined a team of excavators at Hazor in upper Israel to broaden her knowledge of archaeology. Excavating at Hazor in Upper Galilee taught the value of pottery in its revelation of a time and a place and a people in history. After examining the archaeological results from excavations such as Jericho (by Kathleen Kenyon 1960) and the city of Ai and realising that much of the historicity of the book of Joshua was disputed, the research continued to the religion of ancient Israel. The discovery was made that there were two religions; the one archaeologically discovered about the people of Israel and their daily lives and the other the religion of Israel as portrayed in the Hebrew bible. Archaeologists, such as Amihai Mazar, Israel Finkelstein and William Dever helped to unravel the mystery of ancient Israel and her religion. In biblical research, authors such as van de Mieroop, Albertz and others were studied concerning the settlement of the Israelites in the land of the Canaanites. This brought about a Canaanite cultural and religious influence on the religion of Israel. The prophets condemned the Canaanites and their religious cultic activities, but archaeology brought to light that the ancient Israelites’ way of worship was very much like that of the Canaanites. The question then arose: why was there such a discrepancy between the way the ancient Israelites really worshipped and the biblical narrative? This led to the identification a group of historians, the Deuteronomists, and their direct influence on the biblical narratives. In returning to the goddess Anat, as she is portrayed in the Ugaritic mythologies in the Baal Cycle, the search of her was extended to her possible presence in the Hebrew Bible and in extra biblical proofs. She was found in personal names and public place names in the biblical account as well as in a temple at Beth-Shean in Israel where she was worshipped as a deity.