(a) Nature in Arabia is monotonous and its aspect unfavorable. Desert beneath, and the wide sky above, the whirling wind and frequent storm, the burning sun, the infrequent oasis, the scanty means of subsistence—all tend to produce few nature-gods, to connect those with the air and the heavens, and to place particular emphasis upon the stern side of nature in its relation to man. The most widely-known divine name among the Semites is 11, "the Strong One," or "the High One," found in almost all Semitic languages (Assyrian, //ii; Hebrew, El; Pliceni clan, Alen; Arabic, Allah, etc.). Hence the at titude of deity toward man is that of absolute power, of authority arbitrary, irresistible, and in evitable. The attitude of man is that of de pendence, submission, unquestioning obedience, and devotion. This is expressed most clearly in that extensive Semitic practice of human sacri fice even of which almost every Semitic religion bears evidence more or less clear. It is shown likewise in those names of worshipers which Phoenician inscriptions have preserved, containing a divine name compounded with abd, "slave," or kelb, "dog," c. g., kalbicl, "dog of god." (b) Contrasting with the comparatively narrow range of the nature influence is the intimate rela tion of this religion to the social organization of the Semitic nomads. The center of life is the tribe to which the individual is subordinate, in which his individuality is swallowed up. The essential element of tribal organization is blood kinship. This makes the tribe a unity. This unity is maintained by the common meal, and manifested in the assembly for war—two essen tial dements of tribal membership. Religion ex ists in this unity, and sanctions it. The god is the protector. father, ruler of the tribe. The common meal is not enjoyed without him; he, too, partakes in it. It is the primitive sacrifice in which the compact, the blood fellowship, human and divine, is revived and strengthened. On such occasions alone flesh is eaten, the flesh of a sacred animal, by which the bond of deity and worshipers is cemented yet more strongly. Thus divine power and favor enter into the very heart of the community. The god lives in it, fights for it, protects and blesses it. This tribal conception of deity was held by the Semitic nomads with ex traordinary intensity, as the sense of tribal unity was highly developed among them. This was characteristic of desert life, where the sum of varied external interests is small. The rela tions of man become more important than the aspects of nature. The latter are significant chiefly as they affect his life and that of his flocks and herds. Worship must be simple and the objects of worship portable.
(3) The Agricultural Religion. When the Semite passed over into the more fertile regions of the Mesopotamian plain or the Syrian hills and valleys, a new series of experiences modified his religious life. He came face to face with a very different world, with rivers and green hills, groves, fountains, and grottos, luxuriant vegeta tion, the haunts of innumerable wild animals. It was the opposite of the dreary and monotonous waste of the desert. Now Nature greeted him in her benignant mood and welcomed him to the en joyment of her free gifts or rewarded him for the labor of his hands. The tribal organization is broken up by settlement. The tribal god must find
a resting place in the land. Hence local religion is the characteristic mark of this stage of develop ment. Every hill, every grove, every stream, every fountain, every locality which possesses some pe culiar characteristics has its deity, who is the lord of the place and the dispenser of its gifts, the em bodiment of its fertility. Thus appears the old Semitic idea of power localized and personified in the local Baal, "Lord." He is objectified some times in the animals of the place, or in a tree or stone which marks the spot. Sometimes an arti ficial mound or pillar (masseba) is provided for the god to dwell in. As lord of the place and giver of its blessings, his worship consists in bringing the first-fruits of the ground or of cattle, in anointing the stone or pillar with blood or oil.
His worshipers gather at the stated seasons of the year, in spring or autumn or winter, for fes tivals in his honor, where the old idea of com munion sacrifice is revived in the common meal with the god. Though joy and thanksgiving give the keynote to the spring and autumn feasts, the coming of winter is the signal for grief and dis tress, for the god is dead or be has forsaken his worshipers, and no gift or sacrifice can be too great to win him back. Indeed, he may and some times does claim even the first-fruits of the womb and infants are slain to his glom children become his property, maidens sacrifice their chastity in his honor. By his side there often stood his consort. Astarte, who received a separate worship as a mother goddess, queen of fertility and abounding life, in symbols (of which the aslicra, a tree or stake, was most common) and forms often rude and sensual. Such was the religion of the Agri cultural Canaanites of Palestine with which the Hebrews came in contact and by which they were so affected.
(4) State Cults, Moabites, Phoenicians. A higher stage of social and political organization follows for the Semites where the wealth of agri cultural communities increases, or where com• 'tierce, trade, or industry takes an important place. This development culminated in the great em pires on the Tigris and Euphrates, or, in a lesser degree, in the western kingdoms of Israel and Judah, or Moab, Edom and Ammon, or the com mercial cities of Phoenicia. In such cases religion becomes an affair of the state; the cult is devel oped and ennobled; religious officials arc ap pointed and paid; splendid temples are built ; the local or tribal deity becomes the god of the state and its divine king. The whole affords, how ever, a striking illustration of the survival and in tensification of primitive Semitic ideas of relig ion.
The chief monument of the Moabite religion is the sick set up by Mesha, king of Moab, in com memoration of his victory over the king of Israel. Chemosh is the god of Rloab, and is lord and pro tector of the state. His name signifies, perhaps, the "Overpowering" one. Under his leadership victory is gained. King and citizens are his ser vants. The spoil of victory is his. The war of Moab and Israel is the struggle of Chemosh with Jehovah. The fanatic dependence on the deity characteristic of this cult is seen in that strange narrative of 2 Kings, chap. iii. Deliverance must be secured, though it costs the life of the Icing's son. The god must be appeased.