History of the Canaanite Religion Research Paper

History of the Canaanite Religion - Research Paper Example During this time, the Egyptians were the ones who governed and controlled the entire area of Canaan. During this period, there came the Egyptian Execration Texts, which lists people and princes of the area who owe their allegiance to Egypt. Canaan also related to other violent tribes other than Egypt. A group known as Amorite invaded the area in 2000B.C, which migrated through the Fertile Crescent from Southern Mesopotamian Valley. The Canaanites faced attacks and affected by the Hyksos, who once took control of Egypt from 1720 until 1570. In the sixteenth century, Egyptians succeeded in driving off the Hyksos tribe, which gave the Egyptians a way of extending their power over the Canaanites (Albright, 72). The Egyptian power was somehow weak, and this caused fights among various nations in the area. During the fourteenth century, there was around 350 written letters showing the correspondence of the Egyptian Court at Tell el-Amarna and a number of Canaanite cities. These letters wer e indications of some Canaanite principalities socially and politically. Before the Israelites could enter into Canaan, the people in Canaan only organized around the major cities. This Egyptian form of settlement resulted in a no central defense, which made it easy for the Israelites to succeed in settling in Canaan. Genesis 9:1-2 indicate that although the kind tried to form a defense coalitions there existed no power to unite all the Canaanites against Israelites. Judge Deborah made an effort to fight against Canaanites due to struggling against each other, and as a result, the Canaanite and Israelite finally melded together. This phenomenon finally ended by the time of King David’s Rule. There were findings of the cuneiform tablets, which remained in the royal library and temple in Ugarit. These tablets portrayal and religious perspective was a representation of the Canaanite thought. During this period, worshiping a god by the name Pantheon of deities took place in Ugari t. Each deity had its own duty assignment and fluidity flowed in the deity perception. Canaanites fully engaged in the practice of worshiping gods The Israelites lived in a culture where worship of many gods was into practice. Despite the understanding of the first Commandment by the Israelite-You shall not have any other god before me; the Canaanites challenged this monotheism form of worship-worship of only one God. This worshiping of gods by Canaanites appeared to be perfect according to many Israelites, and they finally forgot all the good things Yahweh was doing to them and started worshiping the gods of Canaan (Douglas, 100). Israelites also had another complain that Yahweh was invisible since no one has ever seen God; another factor why Israelites engaged in the practice of Canaan gods is that they became intolerant. According to Bible these gods worshiping refers to detestable. Although the Israelites were aware that God had demanded them not to worship any other god, the Ca naanites taught them all the detestable, that these gods did to them, and this made Israelites forget their Almighty God. The Canaanites and Israelites depended on rainfall for their survival, and it was a clear belief of them that it rained due to the divine powers of the god who assured human and animal fecundity. Physical Security provided by the gods during times of war was another factor that led the Israelites to begin worshiping gods. The Israelites complained that they should worship a visible god who they can easily access. Some of the gods worshiped by the Israelites One of the gods wors