If Paul Johnson's History of the Jews is to be believed, Judaism arose out of a fanatical cult that worshipped the sky-and-war god El, and all the monotheism stuff was a big retcon that evolved out of El insisting that he was the best and strongest god among many gods, not a sole god of everything.
Very true, there are other sources of the same ideas. It's even in the Bible: "You shall have no other gods before me", implying that El is the number 1 god.
Paul Johnson has gone out of fashion but his wide works have stood the test of time.
