Something random-
I've been reading up on ancient Canaanite religion recently, and it is a very interesting subject. Particularly when you look at it as the precursor religion to what would eventually become Judaism.
A lot of the god names are maintained in Hebrew- which is, itself, a Canaanite language- the only living (Although you could say resurrected) Canaanite language. Yam (long A, Yaam) for instance is one that is super easy to spot because the word, in Hebrew, for ocean is still yam.
It's a very interesting thing to study for me, as a Jewish person and a secular Zionist who ascribes to the notion that the Jewish people are the aboriginal people to the region of the world I've chosen to make my home.
However, from a history standpoint it's particularly interesting to see where my culture and the religion associated with said culture came from and evolved from.
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@Surasanji I am not jewish but I love geeking over Hebrew and other religions. While I know far less than an expert ont he subject Hebrew /Judaism is one of my favorite topics, particularly when discussing it in the form it had a few thousand years ago.
@freemo It's a really interesting thing, but I'm biased due to my personal connection.
Of particular interest is that at one point, before the Babylonian captivity, the religion that would later become Judaism was most likely monolatristic . That is to say that they worshiped one god over all the other gods- they still had a polythestic pantheon. The king was the head of the religion, and had the divine right thing going.
You can see this in some of the wording which even survives until today. References to foreign gods 'The gods of Egypt' or how the ten commandments is often translated 'No other gods before me'.
The Babylonians roll in, though, and take into captivity all the movers and shakers- the priests, the wealthy, the nobility- and the religion undergoes a major change in those years.