Early Forces

The religious practices and thoughts elicited through ancient monotheistic thought to the modern world are astounding in nature and in beginnings. It is what shaped these beginning that has affected much of current Western, European, and middle eastern thought. Because of their impact, the importance of understanding these factors cannot, and should not, be undermined by the ease of simple daily activities and thoughts. The thoughts that guided great biblical heroes, such as Abraham, Moses, and the entire Judean nation still resonate through to the modern status quo of Jewish, Christian, and Islamic practitioners. The understanding of the factors that molded ancient monotheists, primarily that of the Israelites, should progress chronologically, starting with the ancient civilizations that surrounded them and progressing to those of the later eras.
Even though the basic structure of the ancient Mesopotamian religion was vastly different from early monotheistic thought and belief they shared several ancient social and religious practices that were the products of Abraham’s Mesopotamian foundation, and the location of his people. The first of these can be found when comparing the creation stories of each religion. The biblical story tells of the earth being a “formless void” covered in water, while the “Mesopotamian Creation Epic” explains the creation of the world in terms of a battle between a primordial god, and her children (Genesis 1, The New Oxford Annotated Bible; Pritchard, 1973). The victory over the primordial god is followed by her destruction through which the world is born. This may seem by no means close to the biblical rendering of creation, but their relationship is made more clearly with an understanding of wh...

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