Suspicions about Palestine (14)
Were the Israelites the first to introduce monotheism to Palestine?
The issue of monotheism is considered
one of the most important points of pride in the biblical narrative in general,
which claims that the Israelites were the first monotheists and the ones solely
credited with introducing the nations to the idea of the one God. According to
this view, they were the first to bring monotheism to the Holy Land, whose
early peoples were said to be immersed in a sea of idolatry and the worship of
statues, stones, and wood.
This condescending view appears in
many writings and interpretations that deal with the indigenous inhabitants of
this land, whom the biblical narrative claims were, in fact, pagans.
The Canaanites before the Israelites:
The Truth of History
Followers of this narrative hold on to
this point as a fallback argument, using it to respond to those who reveal that
there were peoples living in this land, especially Jerusalem, before
the arrival of the Israelites.
It is well known today that many
promoters of the biblical narrative begin recounting the history of this land
only from about 3,000 years ago, when the Israelites entered the region and
their kings ruled there, giving the impression that the land was empty before
that. However, when confronted with the fact that there are Canaanite remains
in this land dating back more than 4,500 or even 5,000 years, they resort to
the argument of monotheism, claiming that the Israelites were the first
monotheists on this land.
But the reality revealed by historical
evidence actually contradicts this claim. The Canaanites, whom the biblical
narrative and its modern promoters describe as pagans and idol worshippers,
were in fact monotheists in their original existence. This point is even
reflected in the Torah itself, which states that when Abraham, peace be upon
him, entered the city of Jerusalem, he was received by its king, Melchizedek,
who was righteous. The biblical account clearly indicates that this king was a
monotheist who welcomed the Prophet Abraham, peace be upon him.
This is from a historical perspective
as mentioned in the text of the Torah, regardless of whether one accepts or
rejects the authenticity of the accounts contained in it.
The First Jerusalem Built by the Arab
Canaanites
In reality, we find further
indications of this through studying the form and nature of the first Jerusalem,
built by the Arab Canaanites.
Human settlements have always been established around water sources, either in
a circular pattern around springs and wells, which are usually at the center of
the settlements, or along riverbanks in cases where cities were built near
rivers.
In the case of Jerusalem, however, we
notice something different. The city has only one water source, the ‘Ayn Silwan
spring, located about 500 meters south of the southern wall of the Blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Therefore, one would expect the first Canaanite Jerusalem to have been circular
around this spring. Yet, archaeological excavations carried out by the
occupiers in Silwan have shown that the first Canaanite Jerusalem, built at
least 1,500 years before the arrival of the Israelites, was rectangular. It was
situated between ‘Ayn Silwan at the far south and the walls of the Al-Aqsa
Mosque at the northern edge of the city.
In my view, this indicates that the
original builders of Jerusalem the Arab Canaanites knew the value of the
Al-Aqsa Mosque and respected it. They therefore built their city between
Al-Aqsa to the north and the water source to the south, including no structures
within Al-Aqsa except places of worship. This can only be understood in the
context of their awareness of the sanctity of this site. They desired to live
nearby while meeting their water needs, which forced them to construct their
city in this unusual rectangular shape for ancient cities not for any other
reason than that they were monotheists who venerated Al-Aqsa long before the
Israelites.
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