It comes down to Sumer, whose foundational role in Western civilization was largely forgotten with knowledge of its language, until the latters relatively recent rediscovery. I once had an English professor who essentially argued all Western narratives are just recapitulations of the Epic of Gilgamesh, but if there is nothing new under the sun, every thought had an origin, however ancient. Whether or not Abraham or Gilgamesh are more than mythical figures, they embody Sumerias seminal role in contributing many of Western monotheisms (at least) 4000 year old fundamental principles.

Abrahams own founding role in the three great Western religions is inextricably linked with his place in the Wests founding civilization. Unfortunately, most reassessment I have seen of Abraham and Judeo-Christian literature through that lens consists of fringe conspiracy theories that homo sapiens and Sumeria are both products of extraterrestrial genetic engineering. Many seem to feel interstellar contact with ancient Earth more plausible than divine contact, but that ultimately just replicates rather than resolves the problem, dulling rather than applying Occams Razor.


I had not consciously considered an ontological-iconoclastic link, but in retrospect it is rather unavoidable. The transitory passive nature of created objects argues any deity requires a more robust transcendant nature.


Indian philosophical thought strikes me as a mostly independent parallel development, but its antiquity and Western proximity make it hard to distinguish what originated where. If East met West in Mesopotamia, West met East in India, which is historically documented at least as far back as Alexander. Hinduism consequently evolved an amazingly diverse eclectic character over millennia, in which panentheism, pantheism, animism, polytheism, agnosticism and monotheism can each find a home in one sect or another. Hinduism as a whole might be called the ultimate agnostic religion, allowing room for virtually any spiritual belief.

I must note in passing that I am not aware of explicitly or actively atheist Buddhist positions. That may be merely my ignorance, but my understanding has always been that Buddhism argues (much as the first logical positivists did) that whether any deities exist is a fundamental unknowable and therefore practically irrelevant question. There is a critical difference between saying inaccessible deities may well exist and saying no deities can exist. Obviously that distinction can be lost (as it often has been in later generations of logical positivists) but represents a basic misunderstanding of the core philosophy rather than a development of it.


I did a little more online reading after we discussed this, and it seems probable Hebrew ontological and iconoclast arguments (slightly) predate even pre-Socratic ones. There are competing archaeological schools of analysis, but the prevalent view in all but a few schools is that the Torah, as well as Joshua, Judges, I&II Samuel and I&II Kings, were first written at some point in the century or so following the 8th Century Assyrian conquest of Israel, as a result of politics in Judah and the natives comingling with Israelite refugees. The clearest and strongest ontological arguments (such as "I am 'I AM'") mostly lie there, while the purely iconoclastic arguments are mostly in the Prophets, whose chronology ranges from the 8th Century (most notably Isaiah, which is rich in iconoclasm) to the 6th (or even 5th in a couple cases.)

The critical point is the Tanakh (with Jeremiah and Daniels significant exceptions) existed in written form prior to the 586 BC fall of Jerusalem and destruction of Solomons Temple. While it is worth noting significant post-Exilic revisions are widely acknowledged, that "pre-pre-Socratic" date is generally accepted. Calling that a pivotal era is almost understatement; it not only saw the start of the Greek Golden Age, but Jerusalems fall perfectly coinciding with the Babylonian emergence of monotheistic Zoroastrianism. While Daniel is generally considered a 2nd Century BC pseudoepigram, it is hard to imagine TWO distinct monotheists in Babylons polytheistic court, and Josephus claims Alexander was presented with a copy of Daniel (and its famous prophecy of Alexander) upon Alexanders 4th Century arrival in Jerusalem. Many Christians (myself included) consider the eras MOST pivotal event Daniels prophecy dating the Messiahs arrival five centuries after the order to restore Jerusalem and its temple (there seem to have been several such orders, but the text is generally agreed to refer to the Edict of Cyrus ca. 530 BC.)


Well, that is the problem with innovative philosophies in ancient cosmopolitan cultures: Tracing a particular source among the myriad millennia dead possibilities is almost to accomplish with any certainty, further complicated by oral traditions frequently existing for centuries before being recorded. Cross-pollination IS all but certain, facilitating the spread of both Christianity and Gnosticism (where ontology and iconoclasm were as integral, if less militant, as in Judaism and Christianity.) Akhenaton merits a thread of his own, because once again, the popular contention the Pentateuch was, like Daniel, a fictional retcon makes the monists pharaohs presence at almost exactly the moment the bible claims Joseph arrived in Egypt an odd coincidence.


No worries; if this were a dissertation I would edit far more as well. And to paraphrase Fat Tony Damico, "I don't get tired; I get wordy...."