zhivago6 t1_j3teqa3 wrote
Reply to comment by Makaneek in Deciphering ancient texts with modern tools, Michael Langlois challenges what we know about the Dead Sea Scrolls and biblical archaeology by MeatballDom
That is correct, you can invent any silly story you want and pretend it is true just like people do with the Exodus myth.
Makaneek t1_j3tkste wrote
Adjectives aside, its explanatory power makes "pretending" a lot more like "assuming". I believe u/TamerSpoon3 already mentioned the abundance of Egyptian loanwords in the Torah but I know of no reason why events of an important story having roots in some foggy part of history should be a taboo idea.
The modern era got so enlightened that "bible bad" hardly flies anymore.
zhivago6 t1_j3u4ma9 wrote
If you read the bible, and then read the historical documents from other kingdoms and cultures who lived in the middle east, it becomes very clear that the bible is a combination of copied Mesopotamian myths and a fictionalized history of Iron Age Hebrews. Anyone in who reads it in the modern era can figure out its not bad, it's just like any other myth.
Makaneek t1_j3u8ulf wrote
Ah that's what you mean. I raise you the absence-of-evidence thing again, copying is a poor explanation for a picture better fit by a common cultural context. Huge differences abound in any example you can pick, so the best assumption is that the variations are derived from older versions of the stories with different cultures remembering what they found relevant:
zhivago6 t1_j3ug4qo wrote
Noah is a cheap copy of the far older Akkadian Altrahas. The 8 patriarchs correspond to the 8 ancient Sumerian kings. Moses' birth story is a variation of the far older Sargon of Akkad's birth. Moses commandments are a lesser copy of the far older Hammurabi's code. Solomon is a copy of Amenhotep III. After David it might be an actual record, a very loose one with lots of embellishments and some editing of prophecies, Egyptian style. But millions of clay tablets and monument inscriptions very clearly show that Israel was a tiny political entity with little significance to the events of the wider world.
Makaneek t1_j3ukdxo wrote
I can answer some more with this video and this one. But where does the count of 8 patriarchs come from? Or any specific resemblance between Solomon and Amenhotep? Insisting on plagiarism seems a bit cherry picked and self fulfilling.
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