Ancient Semitic religion
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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The term Ancient Semitic religion encompasses the polytheistic religions of the Semitic speaking peoples of the Ancient Near East and Northeast Africa. Its origins are intertwined with Mesopotamian mythology. As Semitic itself is a rough, categorical term, the definitive bounds of the term "Ancient Semitic religion" are likewise only approximate.
These traditions, and their pantheons, fall into regional categories: Canaanite religions of the Levant, Assyro-Babylonian religion strongly influenced by Sumerian tradition, and Pre-Islamic Arabian polytheism.
A topic of particular interest is the possible transition of Semitic polytheism into the contemporary understanding of Abrahamic monotheism by way of the god El, a word for "god" in Hebrew and cognate to Islam's Allah.
See also
- Religions of the Ancient Near East
- Mesopotamian mythology
- Abrahamic religions
- Arabian mythology
- Ancient Egyptian religion
- Panbabylonism
- History of Judaism
- Names of God in Judaism
- Proto-Indo-European religion
- Prehistoric religion
- Semitic Neopaganism
