פרויקט החשיפה

  The Solar Cult in Jerusalem as a Layered System: Shamash, Ra, and YHWH between Myth, Cult, and Emerging Monotheism The solar cult in Jerusalem should not be understood as a marginal or isolated phenomenon, but rather as a window into the deeper dynamics of ancient Israelite religion, situated between emerging monotheism and the broader cultural field of the ancient Near East. Biblical sources, especially Second Book of Kings and Book of Ezekiel, describe practices associated with sun worship: horses and chariots dedicated to the sun, as well as scenes of sun veneration within the temple itself. This indicates that we are not dealing with a peripheral cult, but with practices capable of penetrating the institutional religious system. In the Mesopotamian context, the deity Shamash represents not only the sun but also justice, law, and all-encompassing vision. The sun functions here as a metaphysical guarantor of order: it “sees everything” and thereby ensures the moral and judicial...