The Southern Home of Yahweh and Pre-Priestly Patriarchal/Exodus Traditions from a Southern Perspective

JUAN MANUEL TEBES

Biblica

Pontificio Istituto Biblico

Lugar: Roma; Año: 2018 vol. 99 p. 166 - 188

0006-0887

The southern arid regions of the Levant were central for the development of the ancient traditions of Israel and Judah. Their history is inextricably linked with the history of settlement, contacts and trade of the Negev, Sinai and Edom during the Late Bronze/Iron Ages. This article will investigate the configuration of the varied desert cultic practices during this period that may have contributed to the emergence of the Yahwistic cult and to the development of the Patriarchal and Exodus narratives, adopting an interdisciplinary methodology that draws from the biblical and extra-biblical data. This investigation has the aim of analyzing big historical questions of the historical memory of Israel and Judah, particularly how were the religious experiences shaped by the interactions between the desert cultic traditions and the Israelite/Judaeans sanctuary cults that penetrated from the agricultural lands, and to the much wider debate of the role played by trade and cultural interconnections in the diffusion of religious ideas.