The Exodus Story as Jewish Mnemohistory

[1] The birth narrative of Sargon, who established the first empire in Mesopotamia around 2300 B.C.E., directly influenced that of Moses, as details such as Sargon’s mother placing him in a basket in the river to save him clearly demonstrate. See “The Birth Legend of Sargon of Akkad” as translated by Benjamin R. Foster in William W. Hallo (ed.), The Context of Scripture Volume One: Canonical Compositions from the Biblical World (Leiden / Boston: Brill, 2003) p. 461.

[2] A prophecy foretold that Oedipus would kill his father and marry his mother. Hence, he was exposed as a baby to the elements but rescued by a kindly shepherd. Needless to say, according to the legend he unintentionally did exactly what had been foretold. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oedipus.

[3] This story, recounted in the works of Herodotus (Histories I.107ff as translated by A. D. Godley [Cambridge. Harvard University Press. 1920] and archived athttp://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001) tells how the king wanted to kill his daughter’s son, Cyrus, who was destined to rule in his place. However, the boy was rescued and became the founder of the Persian Empire.

[4] Since, according to Christian theology, Moses is a prefigurement of Jesus, much of the Jesus birth narrative as recounted in Matthew 1-2 is based on the Moses story, including the threat to his life. See also Dale C. Allison, Jr., “Jesus Christ,” The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible 3:261-293, esp. pp. 269f.

[5] See “The (Israel) Stela of Merneptah” as translated by James K. Hoffmeier in William W. Hallo (ed.), The Context of Scripture Volume Two: Monumental Inscriptions from the Biblical World (Leiden / Boston: Brill, 2003) pp. 40-41.

[6] See, e.g., Carol Meyers, Exodus (NCBC; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005) p. 6.

[7] Ha-‘Am is here addressing the non-Jewish historians of his day. If he had been writing at a later time, he would have included Jewish historians who call Judaism’s foundational narratives into question as historical sources.

[8] Ahad Ha-‘Am, “Moses,” in Leon Simon (trans. & ed.), Selected Essays of Ahad Ha-‘Am(New York: Atheneum, 1970; reprint of Jewish Publication Society, 1912, 1939) pp. 308-309.

[9] For more on mnemohistory and how it can be used by modern Jews to understand biblical historiography, see part 5 of Zev Farber’s TABS essay, “Avraham Avinu Is My Father.”

[10] See Jan Assmann, Moses the Egyptian: The Memory of Egypt in Western Monotheism(Cambridge, Mass. / London, U.K.: Harvard University Press, 1997); and idem, The Price of Monotheism (Trans. Robert Savage; Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 2010).

[11] Assmann, Moses the Egyptian, p. 2.

[12] Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi, Zakhor: Jewish History and Jewish Memory (Seattle, Wash. / London, U.K.: University of Washington Press, 1982).

[13] Ibid., p. 13.

[14] Ahad Ha-‘Am, “Moses,” p. 308. Again, were he writing today, he would also include Jewish critics among his historical agnostics.