Protohistoric Developments of Religion and Cult in the Negev Desert1

Abstract

The Negev Desert has a rich variety of cult types that can be dated back as long as 9,000 years ago. The article focuses on the types that were dominant in the seventh to third millennia BCE, including standing stone maṣṣebot, open-air sanctuaries, burial grounds and ‘Rodedian’ sites. Descriptions and interpretations of where these cult types enable a comprehensive view in which desert societies reveal intensive cultic activity and fully-developed creeds signifying that they were not only the forerunners of religious concepts but actually influenced theological development in the settled lands of the ancient Near East.