Images of Egypt in Early Biblical Literature

Images of Egypt in Early Biblical Literature
Author: Stephen C. Russell
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
Total Pages: 301
Release: 2009
Genre: History
ISBN: 3110221713

This book suggests a regional paradigm for understanding the development of the traditions about Egypt and the exodus in the Hebrew Bible. It offers fresh readings of the golden calf stories in 1 Kgs 12:25-33 and Exod 32, the Balaam oracles in Num 22-24, and the Song of the Sea in Exod 15:1b-18 and from these paints a picture of the differing traditions about Egypt that circulated in Cisjordan Israel, Transjordan Israel, and Judah in the 8th century B.C.E. and earlier. In the north, an exodus from Egypt was celebrated in the Bethel calf cult as a journey of Israelites from Egypt to Cisjordan, without a detour eastward to Sinai. This exodus was envisioned in military terms as suggested by the nature of the polemic in Exod 32, and the attribution of the exodus to the warrior Yahweh, Israel's own deity. In the east, a tradition of deliverance from Egypt was celebrated, rather than the idea of a journey, and it was credited to El. In the south, Egypt was recognized as a major enemy, whom Yahweh had defeated, but the traditions there were not formulated in terms of an exodus. While acknowledging the reshaping of these traditions in response to the exile, Images of Egypt argues that they originated in the pre-exilic period and relate to Syro-Palestinian history as it is otherwise known.

Early Christian Books in Egypt

Early Christian Books in Egypt
Author: Roger S. Bagnall
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 128
Release: 2021-07-13
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1400833787

For the past hundred years, much has been written about the early editions of Christian texts discovered in the region that was once Roman Egypt. Scholars have cited these papyrus manuscripts--containing the Bible and other Christian works--as evidence of Christianity's presence in that historic area during the first three centuries AD. In Early Christian Books in Egypt, distinguished papyrologist Roger Bagnall shows that a great deal of this discussion and scholarship has been misdirected, biased, and at odds with the realities of the ancient world. Providing a detailed picture of the social, economic, and intellectual climate in which these manuscripts were written and circulated, he reveals that the number of Christian books from this period is likely fewer than previously believed. Bagnall explains why papyrus manuscripts have routinely been dated too early, how the role of Christians in the history of the codex has been misrepresented, and how the place of books in ancient society has been misunderstood. The author offers a realistic reappraisal of the number of Christians in Egypt during early Christianity, and provides a thorough picture of the economics of book production during the period in order to determine the number of Christian papyri likely to have existed. Supporting a more conservative approach to dating surviving papyri, Bagnall examines the dramatic consequences of these findings for the historical understanding of the Christian church in Egypt.

God's Library

God's Library
Author: Brent Nongbri
Publisher: Yale University Press
Total Pages: 416
Release: 2018-08-21
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0300240988

A provocative book from a highly original scholar, challenging much of what we know about early Christian manuscripts In this bold and groundbreaking book, Brent Nongbri provides an up-to-date introduction to the major collections of early Christian manuscripts and demonstrates that much of what we thought we knew about these books and fragments is mistaken. While biblical scholars have expended much effort in their study of the texts contained within our earliest Christian manuscripts, there has been a surprising lack of interest in thinking about these books as material objects with individual, unique histories. We have too often ignored the ways that the antiquities market obscures our knowledge of the origins of these manuscripts. Through painstaking archival research and detailed studies of our most important collections of early Christian manuscripts, Nongbri vividly shows how the earliest Christian books are more than just carriers of texts or samples of handwriting. They are three-dimensional archaeological artifacts with fascinating stories to tell, if we’re willing to listen.

Ancient Egypt: Her Testimony to the Truth of the Bible, Being an Interpretation of the Inscriptions and Pictures Which Remain Upon He

Ancient Egypt: Her Testimony to the Truth of the Bible, Being an Interpretation of the Inscriptions and Pictures Which Remain Upon He
Author: William Osburn, Jr.
Publisher:
Total Pages: 268
Release: 2008-06
Genre:
ISBN: 9781436777162

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

An Ark on the Nile

An Ark on the Nile
Author: Keith Bodner
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 217
Release: 2016-07-22
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0191086819

The opening sector of the book of Exodus is a powerful narrative and a striking example of the artistic qualities of the Pentateuch, a facet of the text that occasionally is neglected in high-level scholarship. Exodus 1-2 is finely choreographed work that compresses a vast amount of material onto a limited textual canvas, creating a story that appeals to readers of every age. Resuming where the book of Genesis leaves off-the last image of Genesis 50 is a coffin in Egypt, primed for a sequel-the first two chapters of Exodus combine a fast-moving plot with some unique shades of characterization: Israel's growth in Egypt, the rise of a malevolent new king, the birth of a hero and early experiences of adversity for the main character in the story to come. The burden of slavery and miracle of salvation are introduced in this sector of text, and become paradigmatic examples of divine redemption that reverberate throughout the Hebrew Bible and beyond. An Ark on the Nile: The Beginning of the Book of Exodus is a close-reading of Exodus 1-2 that analyzes the story as a reasonably self-contained unit, but suggesting that major plot movements in the book of Exodus are foreshadowed and anticipated here. Applying a number of insights from literary theory, Keith Bodner offers an illustration of further integration of biblical studies with cross-disciplinary narrative interpretation.

Ancient Egypt and the Old Testament

Ancient Egypt and the Old Testament
Author: John D. Currid
Publisher: Baker Academic
Total Pages: 280
Release: 1997-11
Genre: History
ISBN:

An enlightening guide to Egyptian influences on Israelite history. Includes illustrations.

Israel's Exodus in Transdisciplinary Perspective

Israel's Exodus in Transdisciplinary Perspective
Author: Thomas E. Levy
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 580
Release: 2015-03-28
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 331904768X

The Bible's grand narrative about Israel's Exodus from Egypt is central to Biblical religion, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim identity and the formation of the academic disciplines studying the ancient Near East. It has also been a pervasive theme in artistic and popular imagination. Israel's Exodus in Transdisciplinary Perspective is a pioneering work surveying this tradition in unprecedented breadth, combining archaeological discovery, quantitative methodology and close literary reading. Archaeologists, Egyptologists, Biblical Scholars, Computer Scientists, Geoscientists and other experts contribute their diverse approaches in a novel, transdisciplinary consideration of ancient topography, Egyptian and Near Eastern parallels to the Exodus story, the historicity of the Exodus, the interface of the Exodus question with archaeological fieldwork on emergent Israel, the formation of biblical literature, and the cultural memory of the Exodus in ancient Israel and beyond. This edited volume contains research presented at the groundbreaking symposium "Out of Egypt: Israel’s Exodus Between Text and Memory, History and Imagination" held in 2013 at the Qualcomm Institute of the University of California, San Diego. The combination of 44 contributions by an international group of scholars from diverse disciplines makes this the first such transdisciplinary study of ancient text and history. In the original conference and with this new volume, revolutionary media, such as a 3D immersive virtual reality environment, impart innovative, Exodus-based research to a wider audience. Out of archaeology, ancient texts, science and technology emerge an up-to-date picture of the Exodus for the 21st Century and a new standard for collaborative research.

“Did I Not Bring Israel Out of Egypt?”

“Did I Not Bring Israel Out of Egypt?”
Author: James K. Hoffmeier
Publisher: Penn State Press
Total Pages: 350
Release: 2016-05-12
Genre: History
ISBN: 1575064308

The Hebrew Scriptures consider the exodus from Egypt to be Israel’s formative and foundational event. Indeed, the Bible offers no other explanation for Israel’s origin as a people. It is also true that no contemporary record regarding a man named Moses or the Israelites generally, either living in or leaving Egypt has been found. Hence, many biblical scholars and archaeologists take a skeptical attitude, dismissing the exodus from the realm of history. However, the contributors to this volume are convinced that there is an alternative, more positive approach. Using textual and archaeological materials from the ancient Near East in a comparative way, in conjunction with the Torah’s narratives and with other biblical texts, the contributors to this volume (specialists in ancient Egypt, ancient Near Eastern culture and history, and biblical studies) maintain that the reports in the Hebrew Bible should not be cavalierly dismissed for ideological reasons but, rather, should be deemed to contain authentic memories.

Letters from Ancient Egypt

Letters from Ancient Egypt
Author: Edward Frank Wente
Publisher:
Total Pages: 296
Release: 1990
Genre: History
ISBN:

This book provides translations of most of the letters that have survived reasonably intact from the Old Kingdom through the Twenty-first Dynasty of ancient Egypt. An introduction provides information relating to ancient Egyptian epistolography and discussion regarding the transmission of letters. The organization of the book is basically chronological, with separate sections devoted to royal letters and letters sent by and to the vizier. Also included are several model letters that were used in the education of the Egyptian scribe.--Publisher description.