Great Courses: Creation Stories in the Ancient World by Joseph Lam

In these 12 lectures, Professor Lam compares and contrasts the ancient creation myths of the Fertile Crescent and Mediterranean.  He explores myths of the Sumerians, Babylonians, Hittites, Egypt, Greece and Israelites and discusses how they reflect different life experiences and philosophies of the different regions. He comments on several striking similarities between the myths and speculates on the causes of the similarities. 

I am a bit of an Old Testament nerd and I found this series fascinating. Lam seems to be knowledgeable and has done projects for academics and the popular media on this topic. I have read the Old Testament and had heard about Baal, Asherah, Molech and others, but I didn't really know much about them.  This series gave me a lot of background and helped me understand the fundamental tensions between the Israelites and their neighbors during Jewish history. It made me ponder why the religion of the Israelites persisted until modern time while the others he discussed have not. I don't know if this series would be particularly interesting to anyone who is not into this kind of thing.  Lam's delivery is very academic and sounded like a lecture someone would give at a symposium. That suited me fine, but others might find him dry. (6 hrs. 2023)

P.S.To read my musings on the Old Testament, check out my other blog: deeexegesis.blogspot.com.