“That changed between 500 BCE and 300 BCE — a time known as the “Axial Age” — when new doctrines appeared in three places in Eurasia. “These doctrines all emphasized the value of ‘personal transcendence,’” the researchers write, “the notion that human existence has a purpose, distinct from material success, that lies in a moral existence and the control of one’s own material desires, through moderation (in food, sex, ambition, etc.), asceticism (fasting, abstinence, detachment), and compassion (helping, suffering with others).”
I’m pretty sure the bulk of the old testament was written down before 500 BC. So it’s a little difficult to put Judaism and Jehovah on this list.
King David lived 5 centuries before that time period; Moses 9 centuries. What sort of religion do the authors suppose they practiced?