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YAHWEH: Before God Was God
Who was Yahweh before he became the one true God of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam?
In Before God Was God, historian and archaeologist Noam Cohen uncovers the astonishing story of how a little-known desert storm god rose to dominate the religious imagination of half the world. Drawing on archaeology, ancient inscriptions, and the oldest layers of the Hebrew Bible, Cohen reveals Yahweh not as a timeless, unchanging deity, but as a god with a history—a biography.
We meet Yahweh in his earliest a fierce warrior god from the deserts of Edom and Sinai, worshipped by nomads and miners. We watch him merge with the high god El, battle the storm-god Baal for supremacy, and share a throne with the mother goddess Asherah before a violent “divorce” reshaped Israel’s faith. Finally, in the fires of Babylonian exile, we witness Yahweh’s most radical his reinvention as the one, universal, transcendent God.
This book is not theology, but history—a journey through the ruins, tablets, and myths of the ancient Near East. With vivid storytelling and groundbreaking research, Cohen brings to life the world where gods were born, fought, married, and died, and where Yahweh himself was forged into the God we know today.
For readers of Karen Armstrong, Bart Ehrman, and Israel Finkelstein, this is a gripping exploration of religion’s deepest roots and the boldest idea ever one God for all.
Discover the forgotten past of the world’s most influential deity—and the human story behind the divine.
In Before God Was God, historian and archaeologist Noam Cohen uncovers the astonishing story of how a little-known desert storm god rose to dominate the religious imagination of half the world. Drawing on archaeology, ancient inscriptions, and the oldest layers of the Hebrew Bible, Cohen reveals Yahweh not as a timeless, unchanging deity, but as a god with a history—a biography.
We meet Yahweh in his earliest a fierce warrior god from the deserts of Edom and Sinai, worshipped by nomads and miners. We watch him merge with the high god El, battle the storm-god Baal for supremacy, and share a throne with the mother goddess Asherah before a violent “divorce” reshaped Israel’s faith. Finally, in the fires of Babylonian exile, we witness Yahweh’s most radical his reinvention as the one, universal, transcendent God.
This book is not theology, but history—a journey through the ruins, tablets, and myths of the ancient Near East. With vivid storytelling and groundbreaking research, Cohen brings to life the world where gods were born, fought, married, and died, and where Yahweh himself was forged into the God we know today.
For readers of Karen Armstrong, Bart Ehrman, and Israel Finkelstein, this is a gripping exploration of religion’s deepest roots and the boldest idea ever one God for all.
Discover the forgotten past of the world’s most influential deity—and the human story behind the divine.
286 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 28, 2025
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December 23, 2025
great!
Great book which is about how the idea of God developed over many years. Highly recommend to be read by all!
Great book which is about how the idea of God developed over many years. Highly recommend to be read by all!
Displaying 1 of 1 review