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Who Created God?
By Skeptic
All three Abrahamic religions - Judaism, Christianity and Islam - testify there is but one god, so the Hebrew god YHWH is often referred to simply as "God," or "Allah" (Arabic for god).
The Hebrew Tanakh (old testament) is not so clear on this point and refers to several gods and their female consorts - most notably in the versions of the Commandments given at either Mount Sinai or Mount Horeb, and detailed in Exodus 20,2 and Deuteronomy 5,6, both of which refer to plural Hebrew gods.
The Hebrew god YHWH is actually an amalgam of gods and goddesses; deities of the Mesopotamians and Hittites, the Syrians and Phoenicians, the Egyptians, and most notably, the Canaanites. Titles, powers and attributes of these deities were eventually conferred on the sky-god, YHWH-Elohim when he became the one god of the Hebrews.
Hebrew prophets and psalmists were as uninterested in the polytheistic origins of their god as the Hebrew priests (kohenim) were about practicing "heathen" rituals or using heathen temples in YHWH's service.
As political fortunes shifted with the rise and fall of various ancient Mesopotamian city-states, older gods were simply absorbed by the more powerful ruler's gods.
When Babylon wielded supreme political power, their city-god Marduk, Son of Ea, assumed the authorities, titles and attributes of at least 50 other gods. Then, when Assyria conquered Babylon and "appropriated" the Babylonian national epic Enuma Elish, they made their god Asshur the supreme protector deity of Babylon. Marduk simply joined the ranks of the other 50 lesser gods, as an avatar of Asshur.
The early Hebrews were polytheists. They worshiped many powers, with Baal (Baalzebub) and Astaroth (Astarte, Ishtar) as their major male/female deity. Baal-zebub and Astaroth were effectively demonized, as you may have read in the Bible.
But not before Baal and his "hieros gamos" Astarte were praised by Hebrews from Samaria to Judah, even after the Babylonian captivity of 605 BCE.
Eventually, Baal was renamed YHWH Elohim, with Asherah remaining as his consort. This is why Genesis sometimes uses the divine plural "We."
When the Hebrews first settled in Canaan, the local gods and goddesses' powers and titles were absorbed by the Hebrew's god Baal, who was renamed YHWH Elohim or simply El. The Bible lists numerous YHWH-Elohim titles, such as El Shaddai, El Ohim, El HaNe'eman, El Yisrael, El HaShamayim, El De'ot, El El-yon and dozens of others, all of which were originally Canaanite titles. In the Canaanite and Hebrew religion, El became the supreme god, Son of God , Father of Mankind, and loving companion of Asherah.
This is well attested by the clay tablets which date from 1300 to 1200 BCE. The tablets were discovered by archaeologists in the ruined library of Ugarit (modern Ras Shamra, Syria).
Baal(im), is Canaanite for "Lord" or "Master", and together with Baal-zebub or Beelzebub ("Baal The Prince") they became major Semitic deities. Baal, Son of El, (sometimes married to his sister Anat) was an agricultural deity, responsible for sex, fertility and propitiating the sun (Shamash). When Baal was murdered and dismembered by the god Mot, Baal's sister/wife Anat killed and dismembered Mot (the Egyptian Isis, Osiris & Set) in revenge. Somehow, this magically resurrected Baal, who was "reborn" from the parts of his own dismembered body.
Baal was eventually dropped as a distinct god in a polytheistic pantheon and even as an honorific title for the Hebrew supreme god. The Tanach/Old Testament tells of YHWH-El informing his people of his desire for exclusivity:
"On that day", said Adonai, "you will call me ishi (My Husband) you will no longer call me Ba'ali (The Baal, the god). For I will remove the names of the ba'alim (plural for the Baal, the gods) from her mouth; they will never again be mentioned by name." [Hosea 2:16-17]
In this way the Hebrew priests prevented potential rivals to their "jealous god" YHWH by dismissing the title Baal and denying the consort Astheroth altogether. They were no longer "Baals" or gods. They were pronounced "heathen" idols of wood and stone. YHWH inherited their powers.
YHWH's primeval narrative is itself an example of myth-borrowing from earlier Mesopotamian scriptures, such as Atrahasis and Gilgamesh. This reveals that Hebrew priest-scribes were intimately familiar with the mythology and traditions of their neighbors, and probably even practiced them occasionally.
The Hebrews borrowed myths from others heavily but generally added elements of their own to create a unique Hebrew primeval myth. Elements of Genesis are obviously borrowed from the Gilgamesh Epic, which describes the primal human Enkidu, who is made aware of his humanity via a sex marathon with a "kedeshah," (sacred-sex female) Discovering his nakedness afterward, he covers himself. Gilgamesh also contains the earliest version known of the great flood myth, complete with the ark and the animals.
Sumeria, in today's Iraq, was the location for many of the events and stories we know from the Old Testament. As often as Biblical apologists have tried to avoid or cloud the issue of the origin of the Old Testament, the historical frecord clearly shows that its antecedents are firmly embedded in the valley of Mesopotamia, along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah, and Abraham were all Mesopotamian.
We often forget (or ignore) that the god YHWH of the Bible originated in Iraq. His first appearance to Abraham was not in the Sinai, but in the city of Ur in Lower Mesopotamia. Thus Iraq is, for the sake of biblical myth, the "birthplace" of YHWH; the place where YHWH was created.
YHWH, at least as a Creator god, was viewed very differently by early Christians, especially the gnostics:
"This gloomy ruler has three names: "The first name is Yaldabaoth (YHWH). The second is Saklas (Fool). The third is Sama-el (Blind God).
He is wicked because of the mindlessness that is in him. For he said, 'I am God, and there is no other God besides me,' since he did not know from where his own strength had come." (Apocryphon Iaonnes)
YHWH has now become the arrogant, myopic, delusional son of Sofia ("Wisdom" or "Holy Spirit") in the continuing Jewish/Christian myth.
But Christianity is another story for another day.
