Biblical Egyptology

Week two What arises out of this week's reading is not necessarily the xenophobia, or the religious/national wars as explained.  Rather I would like to zero in on the list of `Deities'.  As you explore the Egyptian Pantheon, similar patterns emerge, an omnipotent deity, virgin birth, sun/son imagery, a fallen/darker god that is a tempter.  Within these religious systems similar patterns are found emergent in the Judeo-Christian-Islamic world, but also within indigenous religions. As noted in other writings where universal stories and patterns emerge (the flood, creation, origin of language and diversity, etc)...we are noting the rise and fall of different systems of thought, belief, that eventually grows into a system of polarity.  This shows the circularness of history, but also the eternal truths that speak through the many different wells that the Holy Mystery manifests itself to humanity throughout the ages. Shalom, Ty Ragan, DD, PhD., Psy.D. A Robin Hood's Musings (http://www.tyragan.wordpress.com) ******************************************** To ordain yourself with the Universal Life Church, for free, for life, right now, click on the Free Online Ordination link. Rev. Long created the ULC seminary site to help ministers learn and grow their ministries. The Seminary offers a huge catalog of materials for ministers of the Universal Life Church, as well as an online seminary program and a chaplaincy program.

Biblical Egyptology

The study of any historical context is a decent pursuit for us, through the dialogue of learning about the past we can inform our present and dream our futures.  That is a nice way of stipulating that it is through the revelation and learning of the socio-historical context, the story of Exodus not only serves as a historic-metaphor and/or a meta-narrative that speaks to a self-selected group of monotheistic believers, but it can then be used as a bridge for dialogue between those who believe in one God, those who believe in many, and those who believe in none because it removes it from the realm of just the sacred or just the secular, and brings it into the realm of both and, the opener of a dialogue for all the children of the Holy Mystery who should be students of our family line. Shalom, Ty Ragan, DD, PhD., Psy.D. A Robin Hood's Musings (http://www.tyragan.wordpress.com) ******************************************** To ordain yourself with the Universal Life Church, for free, for life, right now, click on the Free Online Ordination link. Rev. Long created the ULC seminary site to help ministers learn and grow their ministries. The Seminary offers a huge catalog of materials for ministers of the Universal Life Church, as well as an online seminary program and a chaplaincy program.

Biblical Egyptology Course

Universal Life Church - Biblical Egyptology By: John Francis Cavener Doctor of Biblical Egyptology Course About the Exodus Out of Egypt I have greatly enjoyed the challenges presented in this course. There are many questions and fascinating discoveries surrounding the events depicted in the Bible. I am most intrigued by the "Exodus" of the Israelites out of Egypt. Among Egyptologists there is much controversey over the alleged great Biblical Exodus of Israelites out of Egypt under the leadership of Moses. Some Egyptologists point to the critical lack of evidence that the event ever occurred and speculate that what may have happened, was that there possibly could have been a relatively small migration of Israelites who fled Egypt during a period of depression. The difficult times of drought or famine quite possibly may have been a result of a series of unfortunate natural disasters, such as the Santorini volcanic eruption; thus leading to assigning of blame for the events to the Israelites. The events, some believe, were then greatly embellished in later generations to add far more drama and luster to the story. One of the more curious details about the whole Exodus story is one rarely mentioned or discussed, but may in fact be the one detail that hints at what may have actually ignited the rapid rush out of Egypt and the subsequent pursuit of the Pharaoh after the Israelites. The book of Exodus chapter 12 verses 35 and 36 states: "And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver and jewels of gold, and raiment (Holy Bible, Exodus 12:35):" "And the LORD gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians (Exodus 12:36)." This tells us that this was done in obedience to earlier instructions from Moses as supposedly predicted by God: "And I will stretch out my hand, and smite Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in the midst thereof: and after that he will let you go (Exodus 3:20)." "And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians: and it shall come to pass, that, when ye go, ye shall not go empty (Exodus 3:21):" "But every woman shall borrow of her neighbor, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and ye shall spoil the Egyptians (Exodus 3:22)." This allegedly fulfills an earlier prophecy found in the book of Genesis chapter 15:13-14 that reads: "And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them  four hundred years (Genesis 15:13);" "And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance (Genesis 15:14)."   The great marauding and plundering that supposedly takes place on the last night, the eve of the Exodus, was also the night all of Egypt's first born children are killed by God during the first Passover. The story goes on to tell us that Pharaoh was so upset and distraught, he commanded the Israelites to leave Egypt because it appeared as if their presence seemed to have brought a terrible curse upon Egypt. What happens next is somewhat peculiar; consider the following events. Exodus 14:5 indicates that word reached Pharaoh that the Israelites had fled the land which, if we recall, was ordered by the same Pharaoh. Here he seems stunned that they actually left and it is even more surprising when you consider the large number of Israelites that left Egypt according to the Bible. If Exodus 14 is to be believed, it's as if the Pharaoh was completely oblivious to this. As a result, we are told that Pharaoh has "a change of heart" and amasses an army to go after the Israelites to bring them back into slavery. That Pharaoh having a change of heart is puzzling considering he gave the order for them to leave Egypt in the first place. Considering that in a superstitious world, it would be very easy to believe that as long as the Israelites remained in the land, Egypt would continue to suffer from one disaster after another while the Israelite groups in the Goshen area of Egypt were unaffected by the plagues. Why would Pharaoh want to bring them back knowing the disaster their presence brought? What some scholars have suggested is, the 'mixed multitude' of Israelites actually marauded and plundered as opposed to borrowing Egyptian items on their migration out of Egypt as indicated in Exodus 12: 35-36. The theory is that Pharaoh was actually pursuing the Israelites to take back and return what was stolen from and rightfully belonged to the Egyptian people. The rest of the Exodus story, they posit, is highly propagandized and/or embellished to sanitize it in favor of the Israelites while simultaneously demonizing the Egyptians and Pharaoh.  It leaves me asking the question as to why would the Egyptians and Pharaoh have been so sympathetic toward the Israelites and in such a giving and generous mood when it was quite evident the Israelites were responsible for all the ills and despair Egypt had suffered compounded by the deaths of all their firstborn. The much, so much more to explore and learn about humanity's past. How we evolved and developed through the ages. How we humans learned and explored our environment and our inner being guided by a spark of curiosity, awe, faith, and mystery. How we learned to socialize, grow and develop fantastic civilizations and beliefs as we continue to occupy this planet. We all still have much to learn as we continue our quest to learn who we are. Thank you for a great course. Work(s) Cited The Holy Bible. Authorized King James Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers,         1987. Best Wishes, John Francis Cavener ******************************************** To ordain yourself with the Universal Life Church, for free, for life, right now, click on the Free Online Ordination link. Rev. Long created the ULC seminary site to help ministers learn and grow their ministries. The Seminary offers a huge catalog of materials for ministers of the Universal Life Church, as well as an online seminary program and a chaplaincy program.

Biblical Egyptology Course

Universal Life Church - Biblical Egyptology

This course is a rigorous introduction to the field of Biblical Egyptology and explores in some detail questions concerning the historicity of Moses and the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. It provides the student with an overview of Egyptian history beginning with the Predynastic period which began about 4000 BCE and ending with the Graeco-Roman period. It discusses difficulties and controversies concerning dating and transparently explores the opinions of various scholars and schools of thought. It goes beyond merely regurgitating information to explore the sources of information such as the various king’s lists and the problems with those sources. It also provides a brief overview of the gods of Egypt and theories concerning the origin of the Egyptian hieroglyphics. 

A major portion of the course is concerned with the evidence concerning Moses and the historicity of the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt as described in the Bible. Various theories are mentioned including Graham Phillips’s belief that Thutmose IV was Moses or rather, one of two “Moses” personalities. 

One of the more interesting theories is that Moses was originally a priest at Heliopolis named Osarseph who changed his name to Moses when he joined with his own people according to Manetho who was the Egyptian High Priest of the Sun God. This is particularly interesting because of the name change under Akhneton which would have caused Osarseph to become Ramoses – which the author points out would have been represented in hieratic as simply ms. I find this theory particularly intriguing since we read about Joseph marrying the daughter of the high priest of On (Heliopolis) where the sun god, Ra, was worshiped.

Then there are also the ideas that Senmut, vizier to Hatshepsut or Thutmoses III, was the historical Moses. (Although some have proposed him as Solomon but the dates do not work out right.) And the idea that Sinhue may have been Moses is supported by the parallels between the story of the two men. According to Berkeley, Sinhue was Ra-hotep which would have been the equivalent of Moses. And then there is the amazing analysis and commentary of the Star Priest statue with the conjecture that it might actually represent Moses.

I find all of this information fascinating. The course opens the door to a number of fascinating questions and issues including the nature and origin of writing, the relationship of the Egyptians and Hebrews with other ancient people, questions of Egyptian history, and questions of Biblical history. He also provides the student with an impressive bibliography for further research. This course is well worth the tuition and effort for anyone who is seriously interested in ancient Egypt or the early Biblical period.

It does raise for me three specific questions or areas of inquiry. These concern the language of the Egyptians and Hebrews, the identity of the Hebrews and the role of Mesopotamia, and the question of the relevance of this information theologically.

As for language, the author mentioned two points that I found particularly interesting. He mentions that Moses may have written the Pentateuch in cuneiform and he notes the absence of any bilingual dictionaries.

The idea that Moses may have written the Pentateuch in cuneiform is fascinating because it points again to the importance of Mesopotamia in the origin and development of the Biblical teachings. But it also points to a greater role of Mesopotamian culture in Egypt than is usually given by most authors who tend to treat Egypt as a totally separate culture that arose without the influence of other societies. Of course we know from archaeology that there were cities and significant cultural development in southwest Asia that preceded the Predynastic period of Egypt. The archaeological evidence from Jericho in Palestine and Catal Huyuk in what is now Turkey shows cities with domesticated animals, grain storage, and religious shrines many thousands of years prior to Predynastic Egypt. Similarly, the Sumerian civilization (which itself was lost to memory until modern times) has revealed through the libraries of cuneiform tablets found in the late nineteenth century that it had a sophisticated system of schools, economics, justice, and writing prior to the rise of the Egyptian civilization. It seems likely that these ancient cultures played some role in the development of Egypt and it is clear that Mesopotamian culture played a role in the development of the Hebrew culture and religion. This is evident in such parallels as the story of Utnapishtim with that of Noah. 

The Mesopotamian evidence on the Hebrew culture and religion is also explicit in the Biblical text where we find that the patriarchs of the Hebrew people – Abraham and Eber – came from Mesopotamia. Abram came from the Mesopotamian city – Ur of the Chaldees and it seems that his ancestors were resident there or in other Mesopotamian cities. One of his ancestors, Eber, was apparently recognized as the ancestor of the Hebrew people – some of them preceded Abraham to the Levant where he would become known as a Hebrew. It would be several more generations before a portion of his descendants would become known as Israelites.

In any case it seems likely that the writing method of Mesopotamia – cuneiform would have been a likely method for the original writing of the Hebrew scriptures. The Aramaic alphabet which would later become the source of most of the world’s alphabets including those of the Greeks, Phoenicians, Hebrews, Arabs, and later even the Romans and the Copts. But prior to the rise and spread of Aramaic (which did not occur until the late Babylonian and early Persian period) cuneiform was used to produce libraries of clay tablets that included business records, religious texts, medical references, material medica, literature, legal texts, and a large number of divinatory texts. Given that the Sumerian developed the oldest form of writing so-far discovered and that it was influential to the Indus River and even in China, it seems likely that it was influential on the development of the sacred writing of the Egyptians and among the literate classes who conducted business and diplomatic relations with the cultures of Anatolia and Mesopotamia.

As for the absence of dictionaries I have no clear answers but I do have some thoughts. It is not surprising to me that there would be no bilingual Greek-Egyptian dictionaries. The Greeks in their arrogance never at any time expressed any interest in the languages of non-Greeks. They never acknowledged their debts to other cultures including the Sumerians and Persians, even when those borrowings were significant as with the teachings and practices at the temple of Asclepius. In fact, it would be surprising to find any evidence of Greek interest in the languages of the rest of the world. 

It is interesting however that there are no bilingual dictionaries with Egyptian and languages recorded in cuneiform. We know that the Egyptians used cuneiform in their diplomacy and trade. I think there might be several possible explanations for the absence of dictionaries. First, the sacred writing of the Egyptians was just that – sacred and it probably never occurred to them to translate these writings into a secular form. What would be the point? Secondly, there is the reality that only a minority of the Egyptians would have been literate and most of those would have been priests with no interest in translation or writing in other tongues. Those literate in cuneiform would have comprised an even smaller number and they probably learned cuneiform from Mesopotamian clerks who even at that early date were members of guilds who learned writing in a very formalized manner in schools. This same approach would have been used to teach their Egyptian students and consisted of learning the cuneiform syllabary by rote on some sort of erasable tablet. In other words, the Egyptian users of cuneiform may have not felt the need for dictionaries. After all, dictionaries are not commonly found among any ancient cultures.

On the other hand it is a little surprising that there are not some sort of dictionaries or word lists found among the libraries of ancient Mesopotamia. And, there may be some sort of dictionaries to compare the multiple languages of southwest Asia which included Akkadian, Hittite, Mitanni, Elamite, and Old Persian. The problem here is that the impressive libraries of that area have only recently been rediscovered and there were undoubtedly many which remain lost. We know that Alexander the Great (or the Accursed if you were one of the victimized cultures) destroyed over 10,000 volumes of sacred writings at Persepolis. We also know that the Persians from Cyrus the Great until after the rise of Islam had schools and teaching hospitals and they made great efforts to collect and translate the writings of other cultures. Their libraries held millions of volumes in Samarqand, Bokhara, Baghdad, Tabriz, and elsewhere. Unfortunately many of these books were lost in the destructives wars of the Mongols, Timurlane, and the Arabs. A similar loss of culture can be seen in Egypt where the production of hieroglyphs and the practice of the ancient religion quickly declined under the rules of the Greeks and Romans. In fact, we can see from Coptic writings that Greek culture largely replaced that of Egypt in that the greatest portion of Coptic writings now known are either versions of the Illiad or commentaries on the Illiad.

Even at that I have to hope that there still lie more under the sands of the desert which like the Coptic writings at Nag Hammadi, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Persian writings of the Gobi desert will shed still more light on our understanding of ancient history.

It is clear that the ancient Hebrews and other Semites lived in a world that was much more complex and sophisticated than is sometimes supposed. The eastern end of the Mediterranean was connected by trade and conflict with Egypt, Anatolia, and Mesopotamia. The author mentions how Jerusalem was a vassal state of Egypt by the mid-1330s BCE. The Bible mentions how the Israelites were conquered by the Babylonians and later ruled by the more benign Persians. Each of these great civilizations influenced the Hebrews and Israelites and each of them also interacted with each other as allies, enemies and partners in trade. But the identity of these various groups of people is not always clear from the historical record.

The author mentions the Saka were called by the Babylonians Gimirri and by the Assyrians Khumri and speculates that they may have been the Lost Ten Tribes. The speculation then leads to the Welsh Celtic Kumery since the Welsh were Khumru or Cymry which may in turn may be connected to Kimmeroi or Cimmerian. Certainly there seems to be some connection between the Welsh and the Iranian people known as Cimmerian especially when we remember that Saka was the most common term for those Iranian nomads who would become known as Scythians in Europe. A Celtic-Iranian Scythian connection has been shown by archaeology as well as by linguistics, legend, and history. But what does this have to do with the Lost Ten Tribes?

The truth is that we do not know for certain how the various ethnic groups and nations of the ancient world developed. We know that they spoke different languages. The Hittites, Mitanni, Medes, Persians and other Iranian people spoke Indo-European languages akin to modern Persian. The Babylonians, Arameans, Arabs, and Hebrews spoke Semitic languages similar to those of modern Arabic, Aramaic, Hebrew, and Amharic. We know there were cultural differences in clothing and customs but there was also extensive interaction between cultures especially during the rule of the Persians. In at least one case we know of a sophisticated urbanite, Abram, who took his family to live a pastoral existence. The opposite probably occurred many times as well just as we know that Hittites lived in Egypt and Israel, Israelites and Greeks in Persia, and merchants connected everyone from Egypt to India.

The development of the Semites who in turn gave rise to the Hebrews who in turn gave rise to the 12 tribes of Israel and the 12 tribes of Ishmael left little if any record. The relationship of these ancient peoples with others is scarcely mentioned in any record. We can of course explore the records including those of Egypt and attempt to understand the history and development of these people – including the story of Moses and the Exodus but at this point it is like a giant complex jig saw puzzle which is missing many parts. I think it is a fascinating realm of inquiry that is well worth pursuing although perhaps not possible without much more information than we now have available.

Finally I have to ask, Does it really matter? Do we need to know the identity of Moses from historic records? Do we need to know the details of the formation of the Hebrews and Israelites? I think we as humans need to ask and need to search for answers and that is just part of being human. But it is important theologically? Do we need to prove the historic validity of the Biblical record as ministers? I don’t think so. The historical truth of the Bible does not have any bearing for me on the importance or meaning of the teachings of the Bible. The historicity of Moses or Noah has no bearing on the wisdom of their respective covenants or laws. In fact, while I think it is an important and valid intellectual pursuit to explore theses questions of history, sociology, and anthropology, I can see that when taken to the extreme they distract from the core issues of Biblical teachings. Far too many people treat the Bible as a history or science text and focus far too much energy on “proving” the Bible by fighting evolution, archaeology, and other scholarship rather than adding wisdom to wisdom. They are focused on what is truly trivial when compared with the profound teachings of justice, compassion, grace, sacrifice, and wisdom that form the core of the Biblical teachings. I don’t think this course has taken this lesser road however and recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about the background of the Holy Scriptures.

Rev Robert Nelson

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To ordain yourself with the Universal Life Church, for free, for life, right now, click on the Free Online Ordination link.

Rev. Long created the ULC seminary site to help ministers learn and grow their ministries. The Seminary offers a huge catalog of materials for ministers of the Universal Life Church, as well as an online seminary program and a chaplaincy program.

Biblical Egyptology Course

Universal Life Church Biblical Egyptology
By Rose 

This has been a great course. Thanks for all of the great information and for inspiring me to ask more questions and to look for my own answers.

Assignment 22: Final Essay

Pick any topic from the course.

Akhenaten’s variety of Monotheism

It’s the 18th dynasty; Pharaoh finally succumbed to the powerful Hebrew God and gave Moses permission to lead the Hebrews out of Egypt. Pharaoh’s decision not only influenced Pharaoh’s royal court and the master builder but affected the everyday citizen as well.

The traumatized Egyptians witnessed the most spectacular supernatural events in history. Not only did a once prince of Egypt come back, out of the desert, after being gone for 40 years, but he brought with him proof of the most powerful god the world has ever seen. And this God happened to be the God of the Hebrews, the people whom they’ve mistreated for so many years.

Yes, Pharaoh did let the Hebrews go after enduring tremendous calamities, but what happened to the Egyptians afterwards? Their own faith in shambles, they realized that their Gods were too weak to protect them; the people were looking for answers. The Egyptian priests wondered if they could promote their religious beliefs and rituals. For the first time, the Egyptian people began to lose faith in the Gods of their ancestors and started to seek the truth. Who is the God of the Hebrews? How was this one god more powerful than all of theirs?

As the years went on, these questions beleaguered the priests and the people of Egypt. But without truthful answers to their questions, the priests continued to preach what they have preached for thousands of years and the people continued to worship the gods of their lineage. What of the Egyptian Royal Court, what did they think? Did they secretly doubt the gods? Was this doubt bred into the children of the pharaoh and his royal court?

A hundred or so years later, what may have started as a small doubt in their minds may have led to the biggest change to the Egyptian religious philosophy, the revolutionary new belief that there was only one true God and not a pantheon of gods.

One day a young pharaoh had a vision. He saw a sun disk between two mountains. God was guiding him to create change within Egypt. He was shown God, the Aten, as a sun disk with light rays emanating down from the sun. The Aten meant disk of sun in Egyptian. But, to Amenhotep IV, the Aten was different; it wasn’t a mere sun disk, but a living representation of God.

At first, Amenhotep IV allowed his God, the Aten, to be personified in the form of a man with a falcon head. It’s possible that he thought that if he humanized the Aten like the other gods in the Egyptian pantheon that he could obtain more support from the Egyptian priests and people. That characterization ceased abruptly and subsequently the Aten was represented by the hieroglyphic symbol of a disk with radiating rays that terminated in hands, which held the ankh, the symbol of life.

During the early years, Amenhotep IV allowed the traditional gods to coexist with the Aten, although they were reduced in status compared to the Aten. In the fifth or sixth year of his reign, Amenhotep IV further displayed his adoration and reverence for the Aten by changing his own name. Amenhotep IV would shed his name, which means “Amun is satisfied”, to Akhenaten, which means “he who is of service to Aten”.

At the same time, Akhenaten began searching for a suitable new capital that he could dedicate to the Aten. He found a patch of desert between Thebes and Memphis that hadn’t been utilized by anyone ever before. He named the new capital Akhetaten, which means “horizon of the Aten”.

Situated on the east bank of the Nile, the city was positioned north to south along a “Royal Road”. The Royal residences were to the north, with a central administration and religious area and the residential suburbs were located to the south. The entire city was surrounded by 14 boundary stele that described Pharaoh Akhenaten's rationale for the creation of the new capital.

One of the Boundary steles states: “His Majesty mounted a great chariot of electrum, like the Aten when He rises on the horizon and fills the land with His love, and took a goodly road to Akhetaten, the place of origin, which [the Aten] had created for Himself that he might be happy therein. It was His son Wa'enre (i.e. Akhenaten) who founded it for Him as His monument when His Father commanded him to make it. Heaven was joyful, the earth was glad every heart was filled with delight when they beheld him.”

After four years of construction, the new capital was ready to be occupied. However, before Pharaoh Akhenaten left his palace in Thebes, he decreed that all Egyptians would only worship the Aten. In addition, all citizens were required to change their names as the Pharaoh had done.

Once Pharaoh Akhenaten was completely transferred to the new capital, squads of workers were sent out to remove Amun-Re from all monuments, walls, and temples throughout Egypt. The statues of Amun-Re were destroyed, the Amun-Re temples were closed, and the assets that were amassed in the name of Amun-Re were confiscated.

Pharaoh Akhenaten started to lose sight of his governmental responsibilities and allowed corruption to slither into the Egyptian bureaucracy. At every level of his administration, officials were blinded by greed and self-indulgence while the pharaoh pressed his religious crusade.

Government in decline, other nations recognized Egypt’s weaknesses. The Hittite kingdom sent their warriors down through the Egyptian Empire and eventually captured a large portion of the Egyptian empire.

Pharaoh Akhenaten died in the seventeenth year of his reign and the religion of the Aten died with him. The traditional religion was slowly reestablished by the priests. Amun-Re was restored to supremacy by the priests. The capital city Akhetaten was systematically torn down; blocks of masonry were transported for use in reconstructing the temples of Amun-Re. The pharaoh’s statues were demolished and his name was removed from the history of Egypt.

Several years later, Pharaoh Akhenaten was referred as “the enemy” in archival records. Pharaoh Akhenaten was lost to history until the 19th century, when his capital Akhetaten was discovered by Egyptologist, Flinders Petrie.

Egypt would not welcome monotheism again until the early centuries AD with the acceptance of Christianity.

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To ordain yourself with the Universal Life Church, for free, for life, right now, click on the Free Online Ordination link.

Rev. Long created the ULC seminary site to help ministers learn and grow their ministries. The Seminary offers a huge catalog of materials for ministers of the Universal Life Church, as well as an online seminary program and a chaplaincy program.