Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Jack Kilmon" <jkilmon AT historian.net>]

----- Original Message -----
From: Polycarp66 AT aol.com
To: Biblical Hebrew
Sent: Sunday, March 25, 2001 11:08 PM
Subject: Out of Egypt

>In view of the well-known proscription of pork among Jews, the nest (ark?)
in
>which the child is hidden. and Redford's surmise that mesopotamian culture
>was transmitted to Egypt by PEOPLE, is it possible that this is the basis
for
>the exodus myth?  Might the Israelites be the descendents of some who fled
>the "heretic king" who attempted to establis the worship of Seth?  Might
the
>aversion to pork be explained as a result of their aversion to this god who
>was represented by the boar?  The eagle and kite were also prohibited.  Cf.
>Lev. 11.13-18

>13The following you shall abominate among the birds—they shall not be
eaten,
>they are an abomination: the eagle, the vulture, and the black vulture;
14the
>kite, falcons of every variety; 15all varieties of raven; 16the ostrich,
the
>nighthawk, the sea gull; hawks of every variety; 17the little owl, the
>cormorant, and the great owl; 18the white owl, the pelican, and the
bustard;
>19the stork; herons of every variety; the hoopoe, and the bat. (TaNaK,
Jewish
>Publication Society, 1985)

I cant comment on the origins of the patriarchal accounts and the exodus or
other cultures
that could have contributed.  On the matter of the proscription against pork
I think
common sense health concerns contributed much to the kashrut.  Pathological
examinations of
Egyptian mummies universally demonstrate trichinosis and other parasitic
diseases.
Birds of prey could transmit a number of endoparasites and although bats are
known to
carry rabies, histoplasmosis and encephalitis are also transmitted.  If the
Egyptians were
not offended by pigs because of the Osiris legend, why should the "Hapiru?"

Jack Kilmon