num_pages: 582
description: The biblical figure of Moses has been the center of fascination for over 2000 years but what do we actually know about him? Was he a real person? Did the Exodus truly happen? Or is the story in the Pentateuch a mythical account written centuries after the alleged events?Why does Moses's story resemble that of other older lawgivers and legendary predecessors? Why are there so many elements of sun and wine god myths in the tale of Moses? What does the focus on the serpent in his story signify? Who were Yahweh and the Elohim?Did Moses Exist? includes: Maps and 126 illustrations Extensive bibliography table of contents and index Hundreds of footnotes and citations from primary sources in multiple languages Best modern scholarship from credentialed authorities Did Moses Exist? provides a massive amount of information from antiquity about the world's religious traditions and mythology including how solar myths wine cultivation and fertility cults have shaped the Bible and Judaism. This book may be the most comprehensive study to date using the best scholarship and state-of-the-art research methods.In the citations and bibliography appear numerous ancient sources such as the Bible Anacreon Apollodorus Aristides Aristophanes Arrian Cicero Clement of Alexandria Diodorus Euripides Eusebius Herodotus Hesiod Homer Josephus Justin Martyr Megasthenes Origen Ovid Pausanias Pindar Plato Plutarch Porphyry Seneca Strabo Varro Virgil and others often in the original languages mostly Greek Hebrew and Latin. Also discussed are texts and words in Akkadian Arabic Assyrian Babylonian Canaanite Phoenician Ugaritic and other Semitic languages along with Egyptian Sumerian Vedic and Sanskrit. The existence of Moses as well as the veracity of the Exodus story is disputed amongst archaeologists and Egyptologists with experts in the field of biblical criticism citing logical inconsistencies new archaeological evidence historical evidence and related origin myths in Canaanite culture. --Moses WikipediaThere is no historical evidence outside of the Bible no mention of Moses outside the Bible and no independent confirmation that Moses ever existed. --Dr. Michael D. Coogan lecturer on the Old Testament at Harvard Divinity SchoolWe cannot be sure that Moses ever lived because there are no traces of his earthly existence outside of tradition. --Egyptologist Dr. Jan Assmann Moses the EgyptianThe life of Moses contains elements--canonical and apocryphal--that mark him as a true mythic hero and certainly he is Judaism's greatest hero and the central figure in Hebrew mythology. --Dr. David Leeming The Oxford Companion to World Mythology...the stories of the creation of the flood of Abraham of Jacob of the descent into and the exodus from Egypt of the career of Moses and the Jews in the desert of Joshua and his soldiers of the judges and their clients are all apocryphal and were fabricated at a late period of Jewish history. --Dr. Thomas Inman Ancient Faiths and ModernTable of ContentsList of IllustrationsPrefaceIntroductionWho Wrote the Pentateuch?Was Moses an Egyptian Pharaoh or Priest?The Exodus as History?The Exodus in Ancient LiteratureHyksos and LepersWho Were the Israelites?The Exodus as MythThe Lawgiver ArchetypeThe Dionysus ConnectionThe Life
language: English
title: Did Moses Exist?: The Myth of the Israelite Lawgiver
publisher: Stellar House Publishing