Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Dave Washburn <davidlwashburn AT gmail.com>]

On Mon, Apr 8, 2013 at 7:46 PM, Will Parsons <wbparsons AT alum.mit.edu> wrote:

On Mon, 8 Apr 2013 10:03:59 -0700, K Randolph <kwrandolph AT gmail.com> wrote:
>
> In the antebellum South, special laws were passed making it illegal for
> slaves to be taught to read and write, because literate slaves were more
> difficult to deal with. But even those laws didn't stop it. So why not
> slaves in Egypt being literate?

I agree.  And unlike the African slaves in early America, the Israelite
slaves may very well have had a tradition of writing using the quite
simple alphabet, and with a cohesive society, a tradition of literacy
could well have been continued.

In addition, according to the story, the Israelites didn't start out as slaves in Egypt. They weren't enslaved until they became too numerous. There is no reason not to suppose that they had a writing system before they were enslaved, and managed to keep it during the captivity years.

--
Dave Washburn

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