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  • From: MarianneLuban AT aol.com
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Ramases
  • Date: Fri, 30 Jul 2004 12:27:23 EDT

I take the point about the names in the Tanakh. But, addressing some other
points, the Book of Exodus is a story. It, by itself, has all the hallmarks
of
a typical ancient Egyptian novel. Again, I repeat that pure fiction was
almost an unknown concept back then and most tales were tied to some actual
history. The stories were more on the order of apocryphy. To give an
example,
there is the "Tale of Sinuhe". This man is a harem servant under Amenemhat
I. He
overhears a plot to assassinate the pharaoh and, fearing he might be
implicated, decides to flee Egypt. He takes what is considered the "southern
route"
(as opposed to the easier northern route near the Mediterrean seacoast).
Bedu
came and went from that route but others avoided it because water was scarce.

The route was in the area of the Bitter Lakes at the northern tip of the Red
Sea. The exhausted Sinuhe is dying of thirst, but then he meets some Bedu
who
had just left Egypt, too, the chief of which recognizes him!
For me, this is quite a significant thing. This is the 12th Dynasty, ca 1980
BCE. The Fall of Ur of the Chaldees had taken place not long before. And
what great Bedu chieftain went to Egypt and had his wife temporarily taken
into
the harem of the pharaoh? Abraham, of course. Anyway, the Bedu give Sinuhe
the Egyptian some milk and take him with him into Asia. He lives among them
for many years, marries and his children--like Moses. He even has a showdown
with an Asiatic champion, reminiscent of the story of David and Goliath.
Sinuhe
wins. When he is an old man he decides he wants to be buried in Egypt.
Amenemhat I was, indeed, murdered and his son, Senusret I, is now the king.
Sinuhe goes to ask the latter if he might remain in Egypt, explaining why he
left
in the first place. The pharaoh is clement because he is influenced by the
pleas of his chief wife, the queen, and her children. The queen of Egypt,
the
daughter of the late ruler, recalls very well her former servant and retains
much affection for him. She has told her children all about him and they
want
Sinuhe around, too. So the pharaoh decides to make Sinuhe one of his
"companions" (presumably being interested in hearing the adventures of the
man in the
"wilds" of Asia) and rewards him with a house and nice things. So it ends.

The ingredients of a typical Egyptian novel are the following:ro

1. A hero
2. A pharaoh (sometimes unnamed)
3. Magical occurences--on occasion the hero, himself, performing the feats
of magic. Some stories feature a renowned magician who may or may not be the
hero of the story.

The Book of Exodus contains them all. My own impression is that it was
written by someone who knew all the older Egyptian stories, which were
ever-popular
and copied by many people. After all, if a story contains dialogue and is
written much after the fact of a certain true event, the dialogue, itself, is
going to contain a certain license because there were no tape-recorders in
ancient times. In the main, nobody got to talk to the king of Egypt except
his
retainers, his main officials and priests, and his family. Except on one day
in
the month of Khoiak, when the king held open court and any Egyptian might
come
to him to plead his cause. Sinuhe was able to talk to the pharaoh because he
had cared for the queen as a child and doubtless had sent her a message.
Moses was able to get into the presence of the pharaoh because he had grown
up
with him. Everyone in the court of Senusret I had assumed Sinuhe was dead
and
were shocked at his wild appearance. The same can be assumed about Moses.
Both had lived in a place where men did not shave their beards as the
Egyptian
men did and were dressed in woolen clothes that looked strange to the
Egyptians,
who dressed in linen. The waters of the Nile used to be full of crocodiles
and hippos. It was no place for a Hebrew mother to put her baby if she
wanted
him to be saved. Yes, it is true Moses was supposed to be put in a safe
place where the women came to bathe, but I doubt an Egyptian royal lady came
to
bathe in the Nile. Women did not swim in ancient Egypt and royal ladies took
their baths in much more private places. Othewise, who is to say that some
men
in a boat passing on the river wouldn't be watching? The Book of Exodus
stresses slavery of the Hebrews--but many people of foreign extraction held
high
positions in Egypt. And, yes, even worked in the pharaoh's court. Some of
the kings of Egypt even had foreign mothers--like the Siptah I mentioned in
another post. If Moses was really adopted by a pharaoh's daughter, it was
because
she already knew him or his parents. But, since such a circumstance would
serve to point out the assimilation of some of the Hebrews into Egyptian
society--as of course would have been the case--it was better to place Moses
in a
reed basket on the river--and have the royal lady there to find him.





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