Dear Double Vision,
The first culture to embrace monotheism (the belief in one God) was
the Hebrews.
You could read more about it here: "What separates the religious
beliefs of the Hebrews from the belief systems of Egypt or Mesopotamia
was clearly their monotheism. The Hebrews regarded God as fully
sovereign – He ruled all and was subject to no laws Himself. Unlike
Near Eastern gods, Jehovah was not created – God is eternal and the
source of all creation in the universe. He created and governed the
world and shaped the moral laws that govern humanity." (Source: "The
Akkadians, Egyptians and the Hebrews" History Guide,
http://www.historyguide.org/ancient/lecture4b.html).
However, some dissent this view, and it might be important to
acknowledge opposing views, even if their accuracy is not clear:
"Monotheism can be found as far back as ancient Khamet under the rule
of Ankhenaton, who it's extremely possible influenced Moses' views on
monotheism. The Khammahu (Ancient Egyptians) were no strangers to the
practices of monotheism, reason being that their ancient meroitic
Sudanese and Ethiopian ancestors practiced it first! Moses' views on
monotheism may have very well come from Khamet, because that's who
taught and rised him. While some may have practiced polytheism, some
did not. Ankhenaton didn't just conjure up these views on his own,
and everyone knows that in Khamet there were two schools of religion
taught in Khamet. One mystery school was taught to the masses, while
the higher mysteries were only taught to the elite and those
qualified. Moses, according to the Bible, was an elite, being groomed
under the ranks of the Pharoah. And while his Hebrew folks where
taking part in polytheism, he was being taught the higher mysteries.
Some proof can be found in this.. When the Hebrews came into Khamet
they were 70 shepards in number, but when leaving after 400 years they
were 600,000 strong. Not only did they leave 600,000 strong, but also
they left with majority of khamet's culture and religious creeds. One
of these creeds being monotheism, and the masses of them only
gradually accepted that (refer to the golden calf story)." (Source:
"Yhwh Or Jhvh", http://amunpage.virtualave.net/reltab/godofthebible.html).
I hope that answered your question. Although I knew the answer, I also
searched the Internet with keywords such as "first culture" and
"monotheism". Please contact me if you need clarification on this
answer. |
