At what point in Jewish history do the Jews become more strictly monotheistic? My current understanding (that I want to see alternatives too) is that Judaism was polytheistic, until after the Babylonian captivity when the Torah was composed--and after an encounter with a more monotheistic culture (Zoroastrianism, even though it is a dualistic system). Is it this encounter with the Persians that made the Jews monotheistic?

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Also, when do the Jews see themselves as different than other Semitic tribes and cultures? When do they see themselves as special, elect, and chosen by their God and thus different from the cultural context which they emerge from? For example, most Semitic cultures practiced human and child sacrifice, and so did the Jews, but isn't it the case that they gradually abandoned that process and saw themselves as different?