Swammerdami
Squadron Leader
Let us first keep in mind that the Cushitic-speaking Qement people of Ethiopia once practiced a religion with parallels to the Jewish religion too strong to be coincidental. While the Israelite people were Semitic speakers from Canaan, there is a good possibility that the Israelite religion derives to some extent from ideas at the fulcrum of Canaan-Ethiopia: Egypt!
The story should begin with our earliest knowledge of the Jewish people, but when is that? Canaan towns in the Early Iron Age did not eat pork; this is a diagnostic to distinguish Israelite towns from Philistine towns — the Philistines were Sea People who brought their own swine from the Aegean region. (The Philistine language is unknown; most likely they were Indo-European speakers who switched to Semitic in their new home.) But the Levant had advanced cultures and complicated history before the Iron Age. The Iron Age is a few centuries after the story of Moses, or any factual basis it might have. Pharaohs of the 18th dynasty in the Late Bronze Age include Akhenaton the famous monotheist, and Tutankhamen (Akhenaton's son or half-brother). What do we know about the Jewish people during the 18th Dynasty of Egypt (1st dynasty of the "New Kingdom")?
Not much. Nobody dares link the many archaeological sites of Bronze Age in the Levant with the Israelites. To guess a glimpse at earliest Israel we must turn to Egypt. The story of Exodus is probably HUGELY distorted but there's likely some basis and we should try to guess it.
Egypt was a powerful Empire; it competed with the Hittite Empire (and to a lesser extent with easterly rivals like the Assyrians) to subjugate Caanan into vassal micro-states. The sons of chiefs were often brought as hostages to the Egyptian capital. Not only did this make their fathers more loyal to Pharaoh, but these future Chiefs were tutored in Egyptian language, law and crafts. A less distorted "Moses" might well fit this model.
Another important clue is the story of Cain and Abel. This story was obviously written by a shepherd! The geography of Semitic-speaking country is relevant: To the southeast of the Levant lies Edom with its magnificent buildings at Petra. There are good candidates for biblical mountains like "Sinai" very close to Petra. Esau of the Edomites was brother of Jacob of the Israelites, according to Genesis, and it seems fair to assume these tribes were close kin. If shepherds/raiders invaded the fertile Jordan valley from the desert-like Edom region, the biblical narrative would fit closely.
A people known as Habiru or 'Apiru were known in the Levant, Sumeria and Egypt from the Middle Bronze Age, or Egypt's Middle Kingdom. I think it is almost certain that this word is cognate to "Hebrew" but it does not necessarily follow — though it does seem rather plausible — that the people referred to as "Hebrew" in Genesis or Exodus are the same people as the Apiru of the Middle Bronze Age. (Note that the writers of Moses' books refer to themselves as Israelites; "Hebrew" is the designation used by Egyptians.)
Complicating the matter is that the term Apiru is sometimes used as an ethnic group, and sometimes, disparagingly, as an occupation: mercenary, raider or outlaw. Egyptian records show that the Apiru were a threat, and Pharaoh drove them out of Egypt on occasion. (If you were the Apiru turning such a tale into religious scripture, would you depict yourself as criminals being banished? Or as a noble people fleeing of your own accord?)
I am afraid the above may seem disparaging to Jews, but that is not my intent. (The story outlined is centuries before any historic Jews.) I've not even mentioned the Ark yet, but I think I'll stop the story here for now, and see if there is TFT interest.
The story should begin with our earliest knowledge of the Jewish people, but when is that? Canaan towns in the Early Iron Age did not eat pork; this is a diagnostic to distinguish Israelite towns from Philistine towns — the Philistines were Sea People who brought their own swine from the Aegean region. (The Philistine language is unknown; most likely they were Indo-European speakers who switched to Semitic in their new home.) But the Levant had advanced cultures and complicated history before the Iron Age. The Iron Age is a few centuries after the story of Moses, or any factual basis it might have. Pharaohs of the 18th dynasty in the Late Bronze Age include Akhenaton the famous monotheist, and Tutankhamen (Akhenaton's son or half-brother). What do we know about the Jewish people during the 18th Dynasty of Egypt (1st dynasty of the "New Kingdom")?
Not much. Nobody dares link the many archaeological sites of Bronze Age in the Levant with the Israelites. To guess a glimpse at earliest Israel we must turn to Egypt. The story of Exodus is probably HUGELY distorted but there's likely some basis and we should try to guess it.
Egypt was a powerful Empire; it competed with the Hittite Empire (and to a lesser extent with easterly rivals like the Assyrians) to subjugate Caanan into vassal micro-states. The sons of chiefs were often brought as hostages to the Egyptian capital. Not only did this make their fathers more loyal to Pharaoh, but these future Chiefs were tutored in Egyptian language, law and crafts. A less distorted "Moses" might well fit this model.
Another important clue is the story of Cain and Abel. This story was obviously written by a shepherd! The geography of Semitic-speaking country is relevant: To the southeast of the Levant lies Edom with its magnificent buildings at Petra. There are good candidates for biblical mountains like "Sinai" very close to Petra. Esau of the Edomites was brother of Jacob of the Israelites, according to Genesis, and it seems fair to assume these tribes were close kin. If shepherds/raiders invaded the fertile Jordan valley from the desert-like Edom region, the biblical narrative would fit closely.
A people known as Habiru or 'Apiru were known in the Levant, Sumeria and Egypt from the Middle Bronze Age, or Egypt's Middle Kingdom. I think it is almost certain that this word is cognate to "Hebrew" but it does not necessarily follow — though it does seem rather plausible — that the people referred to as "Hebrew" in Genesis or Exodus are the same people as the Apiru of the Middle Bronze Age. (Note that the writers of Moses' books refer to themselves as Israelites; "Hebrew" is the designation used by Egyptians.)
Complicating the matter is that the term Apiru is sometimes used as an ethnic group, and sometimes, disparagingly, as an occupation: mercenary, raider or outlaw. Egyptian records show that the Apiru were a threat, and Pharaoh drove them out of Egypt on occasion. (If you were the Apiru turning such a tale into religious scripture, would you depict yourself as criminals being banished? Or as a noble people fleeing of your own accord?)
I am afraid the above may seem disparaging to Jews, but that is not my intent. (The story outlined is centuries before any historic Jews.) I've not even mentioned the Ark yet, but I think I'll stop the story here for now, and see if there is TFT interest.