I have read frequently in posts here about the Babylonian Exile possibly directly or indirectly causing Judaism to shift from polytheism to monotheism. I also remember hearing something about the story of the Egyptian slavery period being written during the Babylonian Exile to sort of say "See, we've survived this before, we can do it again!", along with the lack of archaeological evidence to completely discredit Exodus. Yesterday, listening to the BBC's In Our Time podcast on calendars, one scholar mentioned that the 7 day week, and resting on the 7th day, came from Babylonian traditions (they thought that the seventh day was unlucky, so you shouldn't do anything on it). He also mentioned that "shabbat" or "sabbath" came from the Babylonian word for "full moon".
Are either of these last two points true? What other effects did the Babylonian Exile have on the Jewish/Israelite religion? Already these seem like seismic shifts.
Yesterday, listening to the BBC's In Our Time podcast on calendars, one scholar mentioned that the 7 day week, and resting on the 7th day, came from Babylonian traditions (they thought that the seventh day was unlucky, so you shouldn't do anything on it).
This may be correct--I lack the expertise to say definitively. However, it's important to note that something being Babylonian doesn't mean it's exilic. There was lots of cultural exchange in this region, so such an idea being transmitted earlier would make sense too. And while dating portions of the bible is a can of worms in itself, most dating schemes would place some biblical references to the Sabbath in pre-exilic times.
He also mentioned that "shabbat" or "sabbath" came from the Babylonian word for "full moon".
This is unlikely. It comes from the Hebrew verb meaning "to cease, to rest, to desist". That's the etymology the bible gives, anyway, and since the verb for of "to observe the Sabbath" is that verb above, it's pretty unavoidable (it's also the definition in my available biblical Hebrew lexicons). It's possible, however, that the terms are cognate, since the Babylonians would've also spoken a Semitic language at this time.