The Bible equates YHWH and El, and the metallurgical attributes of the Levantine El confirm this identification. These elements suggest that YHWH was formerly the secret name of the god attributed to his esoteric cult, whereas El/Elohim, a public designation, articulated his ascendancy over the official religion. In this religious system, the goddess Asherah enjoyed the status of mediator of the super-god rather than his wife. The ambivalence of the figure of El in Ugarit reflects the erosion of his super-god dimension and his reduction to the rank of father/procreator of gods involved in the promotion of Amorite beliefs. The rehabilitation of the former status of El in the Early Iron Age corroborates the renewed prestige of metallurgy in the Southern Levant. It also resolves the conundrum between the biblical claim of YHWH honored among nations and his anonymity outside Israel.

Biblical indications suggest that the first Israelites participated in a broad movement of emancipation from Amorite hegemony in the Southern Levant. It included all the newly emerging nations in a “fraternal alliance” of solidarity and mutual non-invasion. The polemic around the Israelite conquest of the Amorite kingdom of Heshbon that originally belonged to the Moabites exemplifies this alliance and its duties. Further indications – as well as traces of YHWH’s presence in Midian, Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and even Philistia – reveal that this god sponsored the whole alliance. YHWH was therefore the great deity promoting the movement of emancipation from Amorite hegemony. Consequently, despite Amorite affinities emanating from a few biblical sources, YHWH apparently belonged to the pre-Amorite indigenous horizon.

The two foremost and challenging innovations of Israelite theology – the idea of divine intervention in history (evidenced by the Exodus), and the transformation of Israel into the people of YHWH (following the Sinai covenant) – are reanalyzed here. Concerning the Exodus, the Song of the Sea (Exodus 15) develops an interpretation of the miracle of the sea inspired by the purifying process of cupellation. The Sinai covenant appears as the climax of a process of metamorphosis of the Israelites beginning with the first Passover celebration, which is inspired by the rites of passage traditionally integrating the young petitioner within the esoteric society of metalworkers. In the Exodus epic, this initiation-like process culminates with the Decalogue apparently borrowed from esoteric metallurgical traditions. These findings confirm the reuse of the metallurgical traditions of ancient Yahwism in the construction of the Israelite identity and its early theology.

The former worship of YHWH among the metalworkers (Qenites/Kenites) and his special affinities with mining areas clarify why this god sponsored the movement of emancipation. His metallurgical attributes and his volcanic theophany both identify him as formerly being the South Levantine smelting-god, the deity overseeing and protecting the production of copper from ore. This craft enjoyed a prestigious status before the Amorite conquest, which became rehabilitated in the Early Iron Age. At the same time, the smelting-god recovered his transcendent status of super-god, the creator of the deities. The metallurgical skills attached to the first Israelite leaders, the volcanic context of the Sinai theophany, and the metallurgical symbols in the Jerusalem temple all betray a substantial preservation of this original dimension of YHWH among the Israelites.

The similarities between the Timna tent sanctuary and the Israelite tent of meeting corroborate the Midianite ascendancy over the early Israelite religion related in the Bible. The Arabian origin of the volcanic theophany attached to YHWH in the Bible and the representation of the Garden of Eden (and the temple of YHWH) as an oasis both support this conclusion. These interactions demonstrate a desert influence on the two foremost singularities of the Israelite theology: (i) the idea of man–god closeness and even interdependency free of the metallurgical traditions and inspired by the oasis-shaped representation of Eden and (ii) the idea of YHWH intervening on earth by means of explosive and destructive events related to the volcanic activity in Northwestern Arabia.

The end of the metallurgical renewal in the ninth century BC in the Southern Levant implies that the many biblical sources referring to this reality necessarily carry the memory of original events relative to the period of the emergence of Israel. It means that the super-god dimension of YHWH still existed in early Israel, and that it founded the official religion. The subsequent collapse of the copper industry and demise of the copper network probably stimulated the gradual prominence of the Exodus–Conquest ideology upon Integrative Yahwism and the relegation of metallurgy to the rank of craft devoid of religious dimension. This metamorphosis enabled the emergence of modern forms of Yahwism freed from the metallurgical heritage, including monotheism.

The Exodus–Conquest ideology was probably introduced in early Israel by southern newcomers identified as the Ephraimites. However, an alternative theology in early Israel appears here through an analysis of the Song of Deborah, the plot exposed in the Book of Exodus, and the story of Elijah on Mount Carmel. Here defined as Integrative Yahwism, this alternative combines the approach of YHWH as a distant deity (super-god) with his closeness to the Israelites and his public acknowledgement. Conflicts between these two trends are visible in the Bible, especially concerning the question of the divine intervention in history. The parallels between the Elohist source and Integrative Yahwism, as well as the Yahwist source and Exodus–Conquest ideology, acknowledge the perpetuation of this theological duality for centuries in ancient Israel.

The affinities of the biblical with the historical Amorites lead to interpreting the biblical narrative of the emergence of Israel as a movement of emancipation from the authority of the Egyptian empire and its local Amorite vassals. A contrasting message is promoted in Genesis, which approaches Abraham, the father of both Israel and the concomitant newly emerging nations in the Southern Levant, as an Amorite leader installed in Canaan. The same contrast affects the status of the serpent in the Bible. This creature is identified as the archenemy of YHWH in some sources, thus promoting a Baal-like identity for the god of Israel. Others, however, approach the serpent as the holy emissary of YHWH and refer to the local pre-Amorite background. Pro- and anti-Amorite positions coexist in the Bible regarding the birth of Israel and the former identity of YHWH.

The Early Iron Age was a period of global recession in the Near East. At this time, however, the Southern Levant experienced a wave of urbanization and economic development that led to the emergence of new political entities, including Israel. This abnormal resilience apparently resulted from the renewal of the Arabah copper industry. This activity stimulated the emergence of two networks of metal transportation and working, around which emerged Moab, Ammon, the Philistines, Judah, and the early core of Israel. Copper metallurgy became, therefore, a material support for the movement of emancipation and the cooperation between the newly emerging political entities affiliated with the fraternal alliance.