Monotheism is assumed to have first emerged around 500 BC, but there is an overwhelming amount of stunning evidence monotheism emerged thousands of years ago and may precede all other forms of religion.
A special thanks to James Middleton - ““ for building to the open.
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So a couple of things to note:
The first is I would encourage everyone to watch to the end as I will push back on some of Lang and Schmidt’s conclusion and actually disagree with them on some things. This is not a video arguing for original monotheism. This is a video on ancient monotheism. That will be made clear at the end.
The second issue is there is a debate among scholars if the epic, “Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta“ should be translated to reflect a time in the past. It might be referring to a future event, but for the purposes of this video, it is mainly being used as a hook, not part of my main thrust of evidence.
Third, Schmidt argued the pigmy tribes in central Africa were one of the most, if not the most, primitive culture out there. Many of these tribes have turned out to be polytheistic, but some, like the Batwa, do seem to be monotheistic.
Fourth, the terms, monotheism, and polytheism, are probably not the best terms to describe any religion, but they are overwhelmingly accepted by the culture we live so I am working within those parameters. This is why in the video I try to use the term “monotheistic“ more than saying they were strict monotheists. I hope this becomes clear when you use catholicism as an example.
Sources:
Samuel Noah Kramer - The Babel of Tongues: A Sumerian Version (1968)
Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta-
Andrew Lang - The Making of Religion
A. W. Howitt - The Native Tribes of South-East Australia
Wilhelm Schmidt - “The Origin and Growth of Religion,“ and, “High Gods In North America“
Winfried Corduan - In the Beginning God
Mircea Eliade - The Quest: History and Meaning in Religion
Aboriginal ’memories’ of Australia’s coastline go back more than 7,000 years
Early human occupation of southeastern Australia: New insights from 40Ar/39Ar dating of young volcanoes
Alfred Radcliffe-Brown - Structure and Function in Primitive Society, Essays and Addresses
Lester Hiatt - Arguments about Aborigines
Lloyd Warner - A Black Civilization
Geza Rohiem - Australian Totemism
Arthur Lehmann & James Myers - Magic, Witchcraft, & Religion
K. Langloh Parker - The Euahlayi Tribe
Blake Grangaard & David Noss - A History of the World’s Religions
Edward Gifford - The Cultural Position of the Coast Yuki
Jay Miller - High-Minded High Gods in North America
Edward Curtis - The North American Indian, Vol 14
Roland Dixon - Maidu Texts
The Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (1977)
C.R. Coulter & P. Turner - Encyclopedia of Ancient Deities
Edward Lenik - Making Pictures in Stone
Keith Carlson - The Power of Place, The Problem of Time
Mary A. Robison - Mi’kmaw Religion in Eskasoni, Nova Scotia
Terry Leblanc Lecture -
Edward Mann - The Aboriginal Inhabitants of the Andaman Islands
Pursenla Ozuku - Theistic & Animistic Beliefs of the Supernatural
Gwinyai Muzorewa - African Origins of Monotheism
W.E. Abraham - The Mind of Africa
John Mbiti - Concepts of God in Africa
Rukwaro & Maina - Transformation of Maasai Art and Architecture
W.S. & K. Routledge - With a Prehistoric People
David P Crandal- The Place of Stunted Ironwood Trees
Michael Gelfand - The Shona Religion
Molefi Kete Asante & Ama Mazama - Encyclopedia of African Religion
Tobias Haller - The Contested Floodplain
Steadman, Lyle B., et al. The Universality of Ancestor Worship
Jordan Paper - The Deities Are Many
Edward Surman - Mobile People, Mobile God
Scott Littleton & Peter Conner - “Inca” Gods, Goddesses, and Mythology, vol. 6
Gordon Brotherston - Latin American Traditional Religions
Juliet Clutton-Brock - The Walking Larder
J. Howland Rowe - Eleven Inca Prayers from the Zithhuwa Ritual
Tarmo Kulmar - On Supreme Sky God From the Aspect of Religious History
Jeremy Black - The Literature of Ancient Sumer
Jean Bottero - Mesopotamia: Writing, Reasoning, and the Gods
T.J. Meek - Hebrew Origins
Marvin Pope - El in the Ugaritic Text
Karel Van Der Toorn - Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible
Henryk Simon - Wilhelm Schmidt’s Theory of Primitive Monotheism
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