Hebrew Cosmology

A simplified version of the ANE universe as reflected in the Hebrew Bible Daniel Sarlo

As the sun god travels in the upperworld and underworld each day, he is seen as the chief god and king of the universe. He observes everything as he passes through these realms. In this respect, he is the ultimate judge. His knowledge of the activities of the underworld also allows him to know the future, as it is in the underworld where the fates are devised. Thus, the sun god’s exit from the underworld represents the birth of fate and the realization of the future.1 The name Yahweh is likely a reference to this constant state of being and becoming.2 The winds are thought both to propel his vehicle and ignite him as he rises up from the underworld in the morning, providing a steady flame until he begins to dim as he approaches the western horizon and as he is smothered by the mouth of the underworld.3 Ultimately, he is recognized as victorious when he emerges triumphantly out the other side. Piotr Steinkeller, “Of Stars and Men: The Conceptual and Mythological Setup of Babylonian Extispicy,” in Biblical and Oriental Essays in Memory of William L. Moran (ed. A. Gianto; Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute, 2005), 34– 37. 2 That is, accepting the etymology provided in Exodus 3:14, ‫אהיה אשר אהיה‬, “I am he who comes into being.” (Exodus 3:14). The Egyptian sun god is also given the name, ḫpr, “the one who becomes.” 3 This was first argued by Wolfgang Heimpel in “The Sun at Night and the Doors of Heaven in Babylonian Texts,” Journal of Cuneiform Studies 38.2 (1986): 142. The theory has more recently been defended by Steinkeller in “Of Stars and Men,” 44–45, and by Christopher Woods in “At the Edge of the World: Cosmological Conceptions of the Eastern Horizon in Mesopotamia,” Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions 9.2 (2009): 198. 1