William Durand-Poor

Also, perhaps influenced by another monotheism which precedes it, which is Zoroastrianism.

Because we have sinned.

And one of the things we've done that is sinning is by worshipping a sharer.

So there's two different things that happen at this point, if I understand it right.

One is that the old books get re-edited.

Old traditions.

The kind of Yahweh of... He hasn't got a girlfriend, he hasn't got a court, he's on his own.

Angels, seraphim, cherubim, all these things that we see in the Old Testament.

But he's lost his rivals.

Baal is out of the picture.

El is out of the picture.

And he's lost his...

So look, we've left Akhenaten way behind this.

So let's two questions.

Again, big ones.

The Israelites are in Babylon, which is in modern Iraq, which is in the wider Persianate world.

The first thing I want to ask is, tell me about Zoroastrianism, because that is also a monotheism, often said to be the first monotheism.

by those that don't like this idea of Akhenaten.

Is that an influence?

You've got all these Israelite religious figures moved by force from the Temple in Jerusalem to the heart of the Zoroastrian world.