ANTH 9 Lecture Notes - Lecture 24: Negev
14 Aug 2020
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Document Summary
Exodus tradition: israelites/hebrews in egypt, group size (est. >1 million: route avoids traditional roads, 40-year wanderings, historical vagueness. Archaeology and texts: no evidence, demographically implausible, n. sinai road (ways of horus) normal, no footprint in sinai, pharaohs were conspicuous and well-known. Collection of plausibilities for israel in egypt, route of exodus. Extensive evidence for egyptian presence in canaan, but not for israel in egypt. Exodus as cultural memory an emerging consensus. Memory of liberation: song of the sea (exodus 15:1-18: song of liberation, oldest hebrew text, no reference to israelite exodus, no tribes identified, emphasis on throwing egypt"s horse and rider into the sea. Then moses and the israelites sang this song to yahweh. 1250 bc: lived under egyptian rule in canaan, rebelled against egypt"s rule, comprised a loose, political collective of different groups. Israel may have included some who: fled egypt, journeyed to canaan. Thesis: levite tribe might have embodied egyptians living among israel after egypt"s departure.
