Israelite Religion

The origins and development of ancient Israel's religious beliefs, rituals and cultic institutions will be considered from an historical and contextual (i.e., wider West Asian) perspective. Topics include method in reconstructing religion; myth, epic and history; the identity of Yahweh, Israel's national god; covenant; Yahweh and other deities (monolatry and monotheism; angels; a consort of Yahweh?); temples, their iconography and ideologies; festivals and sacrifice; purity; death and afterlife; religious specialists (priests, prophets, mediums, professional mourners). No prerequisites.