The Development of Monotheism

The Development of Monotheism 

While aspects of monotheism emerged in a variety of places and times including in Egypt under the Pharaoh Amenhotep IV in the mid 1300s BCE and in Persia after growth of Zoroastrianism in the 600s BCE, monotheism reached its most complete and enduring form among the Hebrews starting around 1250 BCE.

The Development of Monotheism 

These beliefs, recorded in the Hebrew Bible, begins with the Hebrew people (led by Moses) entering into a covenant with God in which God promises to protect His chosen people in exchange for their exclusive obedience to Him. The basic tenants and Judaism, including monotheism, were established in this period as the Ten Commandments. 

The Development of Monotheism

The Hebrew people established a kingdom on the eastern Mediterranean in about 1020 BCE which split into two Kingdoms in 920 BCE. The concept of monotheism became more formalized during this period and was spread to other areas by the Jewish diaspora that began with the conquest of the northern Kingdom of Israel by the Assyrians in 721 BCE and the deportation of many Jewish leaders to Babylonia in 587 BCE. While in Babylonia, the institution of the Synagogue was established and in about 450 BCE Judaism as a monotheistic faith was fully developed with the completion of the Hebrew Bible.