Canaanite religion and the decline of Israel and Judah

Canaanite religion refers to the group of ancient Semitic religions which were practiced by the Canaanites who were living in the ancient Levant from the early Bronze Age. Canaanite religion was polytheists and in some of the instances it was monolatristic. There are several salient features of Canaanite religion which are discussed below.

Pantheon

There are a large number of deities which were worshipped by those who followed the Canaanite religion. In spite of a constant flux of the gods that were worshiped by Canaanites there were a few of them that were termed as the major gods that were stable throughout the iron and bronze ages. The gods of Canaan are arranged in four -- tier hierarchy which are patron gods, cosmic gods, gods of daily life and the slave gods termed as messengers. The gods of the first and second tiers were El who was the most high god who created cosmos and overseas his creation with a lot of benevolence and wisdom. He is an elderly god that delegates the divine patrol of the underlying mighty storm god Baal. Athirat, Ashirta and Asherah was El's wife that gave birth to several gods at the same time nursing human royal heirs .Baal/Haadad / Adada was referred to as a cloud rider .he was the storm god that brought and withheld fertility in this land he was thus one of the most popular gods of Canaan where agriculture was the main occupation. Anat was the young and wild virgin refers erred to as the lady of high heavens. Astarte is an enigmatic figure an evening star and the planet Venus during sunset. Gods of the third and fourth tier of the Canaanite pantheon were most. These include Ugarit, god of craftsmanship, Kothata the seven goddesses of child birth ( Noll, 2006)

Rituals and daily life

There were three levels of religious experience within the Canaanite religion. The king, divine patron and his cosmic retinue was central.at the villages and extended families level the divine patron was a significant part of the daily lives but attention was to the gods that helped wit practical aspects of life as well as those issues that were raised through social interactions. A third and very significant level of religious experience was within the nuclear family. Ancestral gods used to be venerated; there was reception of offerings at family tombs as well as household gods that protected any form of evil or misfortune.

Sacrifices and offerings

There were temples meant for receiving and processing of food offerings. They also stored wealth for kings as well as being rudimentary banks. Domestic animals used to be slaughtered at the temples by priests as part of religious rituals. Some meat was offered to god as a form of thanks giving while most of it was consumed by people with little or no wastage. Paying taxes was also one reason for making sacrifices to gods. Therefore within the divine mercy ritual sacrifices were meant to give communion between human and the divine (Noll, 2006)

Human sacrifice

This took place within the Canaanite religion in certain occasions. These sacrifices normally took place at the time of war.

Sacred sexual rites

In the Canaanite society fertility of animals, crops and humans was central concern. There were some rituals that were performed which ensured fertility of the land.

Role of Canaanite religion in the history of the divided kingdoms

The Canaanite religion played a significant role in the history of the divided kingdom. This religion had a very great impact on Israelites especially during the period of the divided kingdoms. This gave rise to the dived kingdom whereby the southern kingdom was to be known as Judah its capital being Jerusalem and David's descendants as the king. The northern kingdom would be known as Israel. This religion gained entry into the life of Israelite's especially under the policies and program of Jeroboam, who was the first king of the Northern kingdom or Israel. But under the reigns of Ahab and Jezebel that Canaanite religion was practiced and was a treat to yahwism. Canaanite religion influenced Israel's religion in both positive and negative ways. However early prophets rejected the life and faith of the Israelites and they insisted that they should worship Yahweh alone.

Prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel on Canaanite religion