The God’s aesthetics: material exchanges in the theological construction of the idea of divinity in ancient Israel

Abstract

The characterization of the sacred space in ancient Israel makes it possible to highlight the dimensions of the religious phenomenon, and thus identify the divinity of the place. Using the literary sources of the Hebrew Bible and images we will demonstrate that space was constitutive of divinity; moreover, the foundational institutions of the people are based on ritual practices. This paper presents evidence of the process of objective elaboration of the divinity – its presence – considering the peculiarities of ancient Israel. Our hypothesis is that in ancient Israel, religious presentness should be researched in the context of multicultural relations – almost always conflicting – between northern Israelites and the Arameans peoples. Theoretically, Yahweh’s aesthetics, originating from warrior deities, exalts the monarchical period. During this period, political conflicts have the same intensity as conceptual conflicts involving cultural agents. Thus, situated in symbolic environments, ritualistic art stands out strongly.