I also source ancient magical texts from a miscellaneous variety of places. The following – a solar invocation – I discovered from reading a novel called Master of the Temple by Eric Ericson. Despite being a work of fiction, the author had obviously done his homework, as it contains a lot of authentic background information on Aleister Crowley, Sex Magick, contemporary occult orders – and ancient Babylonian invocations.
The following dates (according to Ericson) to around 2000BC. This was inscribed on a ceremonial pillar which depicts King Hammurabai receiving his authority from the Babylonian Sun-god, Shamash. Incidentally – note this – the name of the Babylonian Sun-god is the same word as the Hebrew word for the Sun – “Shemesh.” This leads me to suspect that prior to their return from captivity – if indeed they had ever been away in the first place – the Hebrew people were a lot more “pagan” than the Bible likes to admit.
Sol
I who am a perfect King
To the people entrusted to me by God;
I who am by God’s command their shepherd
Have never tarried, never rested.
I was called by the Great Gods,
Wherefore I became the good shepherd
Whose staff is straight and strong.
My shadow has stretched out across this city;
I have gathered my people into my arms
That they may thrive under my protection.
I shield them in my peace
And protect them in my wisdom.
Here in this city I have spoken my word
And have erected my image as King.
Sol Ascendans - The Website of Alex Sumner 
The Bible does admit they are “pagan”, if you care to use such a word in its modern definition in favor of “monotheistic” or “abrahamic” (all the same thing imo), as the omnipresent One God can be nothing else than what pagans also worship. It might be translation, but moreover, it is the people and the arguments about what that means over the millenia- when people start to argue God as separate from the sun et al, in direct contradiction with the truth behind the scriptures. It is the people who deny they are “pagan”- and thus miss out on the glorious bounty available to them in God- not the Bible. To me, there is no difference in the first place. To others, though, I suppose there is a difference from true god to true god, and that is their delusion. A shame.
Just my thoughts after reading this.
In essence, yes – although there are other issues of which I was thinking. Scholars – including Jewish ones – admit there is no historical basis for a distinct Hebrew religion prior to the founding of the “second” temple. There is not even a historical basis for saying that there was a deportation to or return from Babylon. Some scholars even go so far as to claim that there is no historical basis for the Hebrew religion prior to the Maccabean revolt.
The implication would be that at one point the Hebrew people were indistinguishable from the other people of the region, and all shared a common religion.
Other occultists have noted the striking similarities between the Bible and the Babylonian religion. E.g. Tabatha Cicero writes extensively on this point in “Self Initiation in the Golden Dawn.”
Thank you for your comment. 🙂
Thank you for elaborating upon that for me too- I’m not as up on my Hebraic history as I should be… I only took a few semesters of such courses and study on the internet occasionally. 🙂