as his cycles (metaphorically seen as the seasons) were fairly well known, and not at all fear-inducing (Microsoft Encarta 6). The fact that the early Jews and Canaanites had these two radically different representations of a deity active in their culture assured that there would be splits in the faith. One group inevitably would focus on one of the gods, and the other would focus on another. In this way, the single religion could support multiple types of worship, leading to multiple philosophies and patterns of behavior, which could then focus more and more on their respective niche, widening the gap into a clear cut distinction between religious groups (Encyclopedia Britannica 8).This early time period was generally non-centralized, stemming from the fact that technology was at a very low level and people's life spans were fairly short. These conditions led to a rapid rate of turnover in religious thought and left many factions of people to their own devices. Widespread geographic distribution, combined with poor communication, certainly did not help in holding the many faiths together. The Tribal Period in Jewish history is one of the more splintered eras in the religion, but since these people were all living in the area near Jerusalem, the common thread can be seen clearly through the other less defined elements of the religion (Rich 5).By its very name, it is apparent that the period of Divided Monarchy is host to a great deal of division in the Jewish religion (Hasall 3). As Solomon was king, people began to grow more and more restless. Some objected to worshipping a human king, while others cringed at the oppression of the poor that was going on. Political unrest in this period led to a decisive split in geographic territory, and thus a split in religious views. A group of people left the area of Judah and traveled North to found Israel, where they could be free to practice their own political and religious beliefs (B'nei Sha...
