| Hey, thanks for the reply! I can't believe I totally overlooked Sumer, when a little research shows how prevalent this influence to Judaism seems to be.
Although Sumer is technically a polytheistic religion, it does heavily stress a particular god, Anu. Much of the sumer mythology, particularly involving demons, can be found in the Hebrew bible, such as Lilith the first wife of Adam. The two religions also share the symbol of the tree of life.
One scholar seems to be linking Sumer to Judaism, claiming that sumerian 'haibrus' were driven west from mesopotamia during the Akkadian (sumerian) conquest. Hmm, 'haibru' sounds very similar to 'hebrew.'
And you are right, the old testament does seem to claim that Abraham's predecessors come from Sumer.
I wonder if Sumer can be linked to Zoroastrianism or the Vedic religion. It does seem to link easily to Ancient Egypt, supporting the idea of the Aten cult influence. |