hinder the people at their work, evidently looked upon their as seeking to organize a strike.
The reference of Exodus to the laver of brass being made of the mirrors which the women brought to the Tabernacle had hitherto been rejected by the critics, as brass mirrors were unknown from such an early period, but excavations in Egypt had brought to light dozens of such mirrors including some of exquisite make from the New Kingdom, the very period of Israel’s sojourn in Egypt.
The account in the Bible of the honors conferred on Joseph, showed an intimate acquaintance, he said, with things Egyptian, some of which had been preserved to this day. Thus the expression “Abrek”, meaning in Egyptian “Attention”, recorded in the Bible as used by the runners who preceded Joseph’s chariot was still used by drivers in Cairo in Arabic to warn pedestrians. He had been able to identify a great number of expressions and phrases come down from ancient Egyptian into Arabic.
In the tomb inscriptions of Rekh-Mi-Re, the vizier of Thothmosis 3rd, 15th century B.C.E. they had a description of his installation so vividly reminiscent of the Joseph narrative that it could be regarded as an authentic confirmation. Among Joseph’s titles mentioned in the Pentateuch was that of “father to Pharoah”. This was another reproduction of the Egyptian, and Joseph, like other viziers was elevated to high priestly rank. The real title was “Father of God” — Pharoah being regarded as a god — but the monotheistic author of the Pentateuch modified it.
Dr. Yahuda suggested that Joseph’s advent to power must have been a little earlier than the Hyksos usurpation of Egypt, for it was not conceivable that a shepherd king would tolerate shepherds being “an abomination to the Egyptians”.
The fact that the names of the kings of Egypt were omitted in the narrative, whereas in later books of the Bible kings of Egypt were mentioned by name, so far from proving the legendary character from the narratives was a valuable piece of evidence for their contemporaneous authorship, since it was usual in Egyptian narratives of the period to speak of the king as Pharoah and not mention his name.
The name Moses, Dr. Yahuda said, had long been recognized as Egyptian, but had not been rightly explained. It meant “Child of the Nile”. The story of the finding of the infant Moses was so permeated by the Egyptian spirit that it could not have happened, nor even been invented in any country but Egypt. The Ark in which the child was placed was a kind of shrine used by the Egyptians for images of the gods sometimes carried in processions on the Nile. The mother of Moses thought the Princess would be sure to recover such a shrine and trusted that when she found there not an image but a living child, her tenderness would be roused. The scheme succeeded. Dr. Yahuda showed that the Hebrew word used for “ark” was of Egyptian origin.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
