고대 근동 다신교의 문화 전략과 유일신교의 발달: 아텐과 야훼를 중심으로 = Cultural Strategies of Polytheism and the Development of Monotheism in Ancient Near East: Focusing on Atenism and Yahwism

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This paper understands the phenomenon of monotheism in the ancient Near East as a variant of a polytheistic worldview. The monotheisms that arose in ancient Egypt and Western Asia were the result of polytheistic cultures adapting polytheistic cultural strategies to adapt to specific political and social crises. The Aten and Yahweh religions, which are considered revolutionary monotheisms that destroyed the polytheistic worldview, are no exception to this rule. While there are valid reasons for calling them revolutionary, it is still a matter of debate whether they truly rejected the polytheistic worldview. The Yahweh monotheists, not to mention the Aten monotheists, could not have ignored the polytheistic societies of the nations in which they were embedded. The priestly version of Israel’s monotheism under the Persian patronage is not far removed from the Henotheism of Assur, Marduk, and Amun-Re. Nevertheless, it is clear why Aten and Yahweh monotheisms are called “revolutionary”: They were abstractly redefining the divinity of a monotheistic god and were hostile to other gods. And the reason that Aten and Yahweh religions have such a revolutionary character is not exhausted by the political and social context in which they arose, because inclusive monotheisms, like henotheism, are also special forms of polytheism that responded to political and social conditions. The individuality and religious creativity of thinkers cannot be ignored in the development of revolutionary monotheisms. If one were to make a comparison, the Israelite religion of Yahweh seems to be a more specialized phenomenon than the Athenian religion. Unlike other monotheistic religions, where monotheism emerged at the height of national power, Israel's monotheism emerged in the context of state collapse. It is also interesting to note that it was not the work of a single individual, but rather the collaboration of a diverse group of intellectuals. Above all, the continuous documentation of monotheistic ideas (Josiah's Deuteronomic Code, Deuteronomic History, prophetic writings, and priestly texts) seems to be a crucial reason why the monotheistic religion of Yahweh survived in a polytheistic society and remains influential to this day.