Changes in Types of Belief, Religious Practice, and the Nature of Gods over Time Majid Al Jaafari HUM2051 Dr. Justin Niemeier 2/15/2024 Changes in Types of Belief, Religious Practice, and the Nature of Gods over Time Introduction The beliefs, religious practices, and nature of gods among the ancient Near Eastern people has undergone tremendous changes over time. These changes are well-documented and can be identified from the second and first millennium B.C.E. religious texts, including the Enuma Elish, the Great Hymn of Aten, and the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament. Additionally, the people had varying understanding of their relationship with the divine and spiritual world, further driving the changes in beliefs, religious practices, and nature of gods Puthoff, 2020). This paper explores these changes and the people’s understanding of their relationship with the divine or spiritual world by drawing on three main religious texts of the second and first millennium B.C.E., the Enuma Elish, the Great Hymn of Aten, and the Hebrew Bible. Enuma Elish and the Mesopotamian Beliefs The Enuma Elish is an ancient Babylonian creation chronicle. It provides insights into the way ancient Near Eastern people understood their relationship with the divine. According to Gill (2018), the text narrates how gods lived among humans, both sharing the world and each playing a special role in maintaining order in the universe. According to Enuma Elish, humans depicted godlike nature. The text also tells a story of a great battle between the gods Marduk and Tiamat, which resulted in the creation of the Earth and mankind. The Enuma Elish portrays Marduk, the chief deity of the Babylonians as a powerful figure who establishes order in the universe. The text depicts a hierarchical structure of the gods in the Mesopotamian beliefs. Power and authority played a central role in the relationship between people and the divine or spiritual world. The religious practices, belief, and nature of the gods was polytheistic among the Babylonians. The people had special reverence for the deities, as well as Marduk who was declared the chief god in the Babylonian religion (Gill, 2018). The Great Hymn of Aten and the Shift in Egyptian Beliefs Another religious text that describes the relationship between the ancient Near Eastern peoples and the divine or spiritual world is the Great Hymn of Aten. The text was composed during the reign of Pharaoh Akhenaten in the 14th century BC. It marks one of the most significant shifts in the religious beliefs and practices of the ancient Egyptians. The text, structured as a hymn-poem, was dedicated to Aten, the sun disk deity. Dodson (2019) posits that the people considered this as a powerful expression of the new religious belief introduced by Akhenaten in ancient Egyptian society. Pharaoh Akhenaten, originally known as Amenhotep IV (Holbert, 2023), radically transformed the traditional beliefs and practices of Egyptian religion. He replaced the traditional forms of religion with the Atenism. The new form of religion depicted Aten as the solar disk, emitting rays which terminated in human hands (Dodson, 2019). The Pharaoh placed himself as the sole intermediary between the deity Aten and the Egyptians. This emphasized a direct connection between him and the divine or spiritual world. In addition to shifting from the traditional beliefs and practices of Egyptian religion, the new religion under Akhenaten also moved from the traditional polytheism to monotheism. This brought about radical transformations in the Egyptian society, both socially and politically. For instance, the Pharaoh moved the capital to the city of Akhetaten, dedicated to worshiping Aten. He also made attempts to replace the traditional priesthood with a more centralized religious and political power in the Egyptian society (Holbert, 2023). Hebrew Bible and the Monotheistic Beliefs Nearly all of the Near Eastern people practiced polytheistic religions. However, the ancient religion of the Hebrew as depicted in the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament was quite different. The Hebrew people practiced monotheistic beliefs and religion. They had a covenant relationship between themselves and God (Woollard, 2018). The text also depicts a prophetic tradition which emphasized on ethical and moral laws in the Hebrew society. The Hebrew Bible presents a monotheistic worldview where Yahweh is the sole deity to be worshiped. Over time, the worship of Yahweh morphed into the monotheistic religions of Judaism. According to Putthoff (2020), the text also lays emphasis on a covenant relationship between God and the Hebrew people. This covenant stands out an integral theme of the Hebrew Bible. It forms the foundation for the idea of the Jews as God’s chosen people. Another key feature that defined the relationship between the Hebrew people and God as depicted in the Hebrew Bible was numerous ethical and moral laws. The laws were based on the holy nature of God and aimed at promoting the welfare of Jews. In addition to the ethical and moral laws, the text also contains other law codes, including the Deuteronomic Code, the Covenant Code, and the Priestly Code (Laden, 2023). All these laws and codes were central in defining the relationship between the people and the divine or spiritual world. They stipulated the beliefs, religious practices, and nature of God among the Hebrew people (Putthoff, 2020). Comparative Analysis of the Texts Generally, the three main religious texts discussed in this paper describe the people’s relationship with the divine or spiritual world; as well as some significant changes in belief, religious practice, and the nature of gods over time. However, a comparative analysis of these texts reveals significant differences and shifts over time among the ancient Near Eastern people. First, the Enuma Elish, a prolific Babylonian chronicle, depicts a polytheistic worldview where gods and humans coexisted and shared responsibilities. Further, the text portrays gods as personified natural forces, with their interactions with humans representing the cosmic order (Gill, 2018). Looking at the Great Hymn of Aten, there is a significant shift from traditional polytheism to Atenism, a form of monotheism, in the Egyptian religion. Aten is represented as the sun disk deity and the Egyptians worship him as the sole god (Holbert, 2023). The Pharaoh takes an intermediary role between the people and Aten, the sole god. Finally, an analysis of the Hebrew Bible shows the existence of a monotheistic worldview. In this worldview, Yahweh is the sole deity worshipped by the Hebrews. The text further emphasizes on a covenant relationship between the Hebrew people and God (Woollard, 2018), as well as ethical and moral laws, and a prophetic tradition in Hebrew society. Conclusion The three ancient religious texts, the Enuma Elish, the Great Hymn of Aten, and the Hebrew Bible, describe how the ancient Near Eastern people understood their relationship with the divine or spiritual world in different times. The texts also reflect different social, political, and cultural changes brought about by the beliefs and religious practices of the ancient Near Eastern people during respective periods (Putthoff, 2020). Notable changes such as the shift from polytheism to monotheism, changes in religious practices, and evolving conceptions and nature of the divine and gods highlight the dynamic nature of ancient Near Eastern religions. References Dodson, A. (2019). Akhenaten (Amenhotep IV ). The Encyclopedia of Ancient History. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah15023.pub2 Gill, N. S. (2018, May 13). Enuma Elish: The oldest written creation myth. Learn Religions. https://www.learnreligions.com/enuma-elish-the-oldest-written-creation-myth-117858 Holbert, H. (2023). Amenhotep IV (Akhenaton). Osu.edu. https://ehistory.osu.edu/biographies/amenhotep-iv-akhenaton Laden, J. (2023, October 31). When did monotheism emerge in ancient Israel? Biblical Archaeology Society. https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-topics/bibleinterpretation/when-did-monotheism-emerge-in-ancient-israel/ Putthoff, T. L. (2020). Gods and humans in the ancient near east. Cambridge University Press. Woollard, W. (2018, April 4). The five key covenants God makes with humans in the bible. BibleProject. https://bibleproject.com/articles/covenants-the-backbone-bible/ 
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