Culture Influences Culture
As we think about each of the cultures that have influenced Jerusalem and shaped it into what it is today, it is important to remember how those cultures do not exist in isolation. Each culture has an impact on the ones that come after it, and each culture has a response to the cultures that came before.
Jerusalem: One City, Three Faiths, by Karen Armstrong, is interested in explaining the cultures that have come through Jerusalem. One of the things Armstrong notes about these cultures is how their religious practices were often very similar. One example of this is the deity El. The name El was used for many different gods around the area of ancient Isreal. Melchizideck was the high priest of El Elyon, a name that would later be used for Yahweh. There was also Baal El Elyon, and El Shaddai, the god Abraham worshipped (Armstrong, 30). Each of these El deities is associated with a different culture, but the traditions surrounding them are often similar. In ancient times, would the people who worshipped these gods be concerned about how their god wasn't distinctly different from other gods? Armstrong would probably point out that it may not have mattered to them. When discussing how El appears in many religions of this time, Armstrong explains that "The gods were not seen as solid individuals...When people arrived in a new place, they would often merge their own god with the local deity" (Armstrong, 30). The similarities in ancient religious practices often came from how the cultures would intentionally merge.
This merging creates a complex tradition of many cultures who all impact one another until you cannot always tell who thought of what first. We can see this in stories in the Hebrew Bible, such as Jacob having a dream about the sacredness of the place he is sleeping in, and setting up a matzevot, a stone standing up to mark something divine, which was a Canaanite tradition that later Isreal would condemn (Armstrong, 27). We can see from this how Caananite tradition was merged with Isreal's culture.
However, Isreal's reaction to this merging later becomes more hostile. They begin to reject the cultures that had influenced their formation. We see this in 1 Kings where God directly tells Solomon that if the people of Isreal begin to worship other gods, then their country will be completely ruined (1 Kings 9:6-9). In Deuteronomy, it lists how Isreal is supposed to destroy the sacred places dedicated to every god other than their own (Deuteronomy 12:2-4). We can see from history that Isreal adopted the traditions of other cultures, but in their writings, they completely reject those same cultures.
In a way, that dichotomy is still present in modern-day Jerusalem. There are multiple cultures all existing in a small space, and those cultures have influenced each other and learned from each other. However, those cultures are also now hostile to each other and reject one another, despite how they've learned from each other.
Jerusalem: One City, Three Faiths, by Karen Armstrong, is interested in explaining the cultures that have come through Jerusalem. One of the things Armstrong notes about these cultures is how their religious practices were often very similar. One example of this is the deity El. The name El was used for many different gods around the area of ancient Isreal. Melchizideck was the high priest of El Elyon, a name that would later be used for Yahweh. There was also Baal El Elyon, and El Shaddai, the god Abraham worshipped (Armstrong, 30). Each of these El deities is associated with a different culture, but the traditions surrounding them are often similar. In ancient times, would the people who worshipped these gods be concerned about how their god wasn't distinctly different from other gods? Armstrong would probably point out that it may not have mattered to them. When discussing how El appears in many religions of this time, Armstrong explains that "The gods were not seen as solid individuals...When people arrived in a new place, they would often merge their own god with the local deity" (Armstrong, 30). The similarities in ancient religious practices often came from how the cultures would intentionally merge.
This merging creates a complex tradition of many cultures who all impact one another until you cannot always tell who thought of what first. We can see this in stories in the Hebrew Bible, such as Jacob having a dream about the sacredness of the place he is sleeping in, and setting up a matzevot, a stone standing up to mark something divine, which was a Canaanite tradition that later Isreal would condemn (Armstrong, 27). We can see from this how Caananite tradition was merged with Isreal's culture.
However, Isreal's reaction to this merging later becomes more hostile. They begin to reject the cultures that had influenced their formation. We see this in 1 Kings where God directly tells Solomon that if the people of Isreal begin to worship other gods, then their country will be completely ruined (1 Kings 9:6-9). In Deuteronomy, it lists how Isreal is supposed to destroy the sacred places dedicated to every god other than their own (Deuteronomy 12:2-4). We can see from history that Isreal adopted the traditions of other cultures, but in their writings, they completely reject those same cultures.
In a way, that dichotomy is still present in modern-day Jerusalem. There are multiple cultures all existing in a small space, and those cultures have influenced each other and learned from each other. However, those cultures are also now hostile to each other and reject one another, despite how they've learned from each other.
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