Lexington Books / Fortress Academic
Pages: 240
Trim: 6¼ x 9½
978-1-9787-1431-1 • Hardback • October 2022 • $100.00 • (£77.00)
978-1-9787-1432-8 • eBook • October 2022 • $45.00 • (£30.99)
Daniel Sarlo (Ph.D. in Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations, University of Toronto) is currently an independent researcher.
Introduction
Part 1—Yahweh, the Storm God?
1. Yahweh’s Storm Characteristics
2. The “Solarization” of Yahweh
Part 2—Yahweh, the Sun God
3. Sun Gods of the Ancient Near East
4. Yahweh’s Solar Characteristics
5. Proof of Concept: An Ancient Yahwistic Mountain Epiphany (Deut 33:2–3)
6. Conclusions
Daniel Sarlo clearly understands the necessary task of reassessing orthodoxies that creep into the study of ancient texts. He also takes into account contextual understandings of what are currently termed natural phenomena. This combination attests to the utility of his work. The field of ancient West Asian religions has long suffered under schools of interpretation that gloss over what close reading reveals. Sarlo here demonstrates the many benefits of turning over rocks and describing what lies beneath.
— Steve A. Wiggins, author of A Reassessment of Asherah and Weathering the Psalms
The Solar Nature of Yahweh is a monograph that unveils the erudition of its author, Daniel Sarlo, and the audacity of his analysis. It successfully achieves three important goals. First, it challenges the common view that YHWH was originally a storm god. Second, it rehabilitates the ancient theory of the solar origin of YHWH, strengthening it with new observations. Third, it identifies YHWH as a great god from the very beginning of his cult. These accomplishments are welcome. They will undoubtedly contribute to modify our current representation of early Israel and its religion.
— Nissim Amzallag, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva