Canaanite pantheon and Israel's Polytheistic roots

[shunyadragon]

Hi,
I am the artist who painted the above image depicting the wall painting showing King Zimri Lim's investiture in Courtyard #106 in the Mari Palace.
Not only did you use my painting without my permission but it is not even credited to me. My name is Balage Balogh and my website is ArchaeologyIllustrated.com where the
original is to be found. I'll be happy to supply you with a small res. watermarked image to replace this one. Please contact me at my website.

Welcome to Tweb!! looking forward to hearing more from you on the subject.

[showmeproof]

Hi,
I am the artist who painted the above image depicting the wall painting showing King Zimri Lim's investiture in Courtyard #106 in the Mari Palace.
Not only did you use my painting without my permission but it is not even credited to me. My name is Balage Balogh and my website is ArchaeologyIllustrated.com where the
original is to be found. I'll be happy to supply you with a small res. watermarked image to replace this one. Please contact me at my website.

My apologies. Happy to hear from the artist. I'll contact you directly and work with the TWEB admins in order to replace the photo with the watermarked photo with full credit given to you. Absolutely fabulous artwork.

Would you perhaps be willing to share your interest in Mari?

[showmeproof]

It has been awhile since I last posted on this topic. I've been reading science books lately. However, the other day while reading from The Ancient Near East: An Anthology of Texts & Pictures (ANET) I came across an intriguing translation of a document from Ugarit. On page 198 we find a document concerning the manumission and marriage. A slave owner is freeing his woman servant in order that she might be married.

"As of this day, before witnesses, Gilben, chamberlain of the queen's palace, set free Eliyawe his maid-servant, from among the women of the harem, and by pouring oil on her head, made her free, (saying:) 'Just as I am quit towards her, so is she quit towards me, forever." Further, Buriyanu, the namu, has taken her as his wife, and Buriyanu, her husband has rendered 20 (sheckels) of silver into the hands of Gilben. Four witnesses.

Inscribed on seal:) Should Buriyanu, tomorrow or the following day, refuse to consummate (his marriage) with Eliyawe-"

No commentary is offered in ANET regarding this document; only the translation. I should wonder if it was written in Ugaritic or one of the other languages known from Ugarit. To my current confounding I can't find much regarding this document. So I'll just point out what strikes me about this document- The maid servant appears to have a yahwistic theophoric name-Eliyawe -coupled with El...similar to Elijah (possibly a feminine form of the same name?).

Anyone have insight into the commonality/difference between the freeing of the servant to wed with payment of a dowry?

[showmeproof]

Apparently it was written in Akkadian. The official politcal language.

[showmeproof]

In previous posts I brought up the inscription from Kuntillet Arjud that says "May X be blessed by Yahweh of Samaria and by his Asherah." I've recently found out additional information about other inscriptions from the same place. They include other Hebrew inscriptions that mention El, Baal, and Asherah. One interesting thing about all these convergences of religious inscriptions is the location and time frame. They are dated to the 8th century B.C.E. and are found at Kuntillet Arjud which is in the south (South of Gaza and Southeast of Kadesh Barena).

The practice of syncretism this far south is just a neat observation. I originally read about this new (to me) information in William Dever's What Did the Biblical Writers Know & When Did They Know It? But the hyperlink is to an article written by one of the excavators.