YHW the God of Heaven: An interpretatio persica et aegyptiaca of YHW in Elephantine

What is it about?

Was the deity YHW(H) a unique deity, totally different from all other gods? Or could he be translated into a transregional, or even universal, deity that several cultures had a stake in? In antiquity, Judaeans/Jews may not have formulated the question in this way. Nevertheless, various Judaean textual sources dating to the Achaemenid (Persian) period (550–330 BCE) and onwards seem to resonate with such issue. The sources for the Judaean community in Elephantine (Egypt) in the 5th cent. BCE provide scholarship on Israelite religion with material reflecting one particular way of answering the question. There, the Judaeans and their interlocutors identified YHW with the God of Heaven (ʾlh šmyʾ)._x000D_ The article discusses the background and implications of the title “the God of Heaven” used as an epithet for YHW. It argues that one should look for the background in the winged symbol used in both Achaemenid and Egyptian iconography. In the Achaemenid–Egyptian context, the title “the God of Heaven” worked as a transmedial, textual reference to the winged symbol that was common to both Achaemenid and Egyptian visual art. In Egypt during the Achaemenid period, the reference of the winged symbol and the title “the God of Heaven” was ultimately the Achaemenid dynasty god Ahuramazda and perhaps the Egyptian king-protector deity Horus-Behdety. In the identification of YHW with “the God of Heaven,” we witness an identification of YHW with the supreme gods of the Achaemenids and the Egyptians.

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