The origins of the 10 commandments
It would appear that after spending time in Egypt the Israelites plagerised the 10 commandments (and other parts of Hebrew law) from the Egyptian book of the dead, (Papyrus of Ani), (The Papyrus of Nu, Brit. Mus. No. 10477, Sheet 24) and (The Papyrus of Nebseni). After reading the book of the dead I was surprised to discover that the rules and laws contained in them are almost identical to the 10 commandments, apart from obviously the first commandment that refers to God (i.e there's only one God).
The book of dead was a guide on how to enter the after life used by ancient Egyptians. For example these are some of things that must be said before being allowed to enter the afterlife: "I have not committed sin" , "I have not committed robbery with violence", "I have not stolen", "I have not slain men and women", "I have not uttered lies", "I have not committed adultery", "I have not lain with men", "I have not blasphemed", "I have not cursed God", "I have not opposed my family and kinsfolk", "I have not borne false witness". The language it is written in is very similar to the old testament and Torah.
This is proof therefore that these laws do not originate from Exodus and God but actually predate it. In fact these type of laws have probably been around since the very first civilizations.
The book of dead was a guide on how to enter the after life used by ancient Egyptians. For example these are some of things that must be said before being allowed to enter the afterlife: "I have not committed sin" , "I have not committed robbery with violence", "I have not stolen", "I have not slain men and women", "I have not uttered lies", "I have not committed adultery", "I have not lain with men", "I have not blasphemed", "I have not cursed God", "I have not opposed my family and kinsfolk", "I have not borne false witness". The language it is written in is very similar to the old testament and Torah.
This is proof therefore that these laws do not originate from Exodus and God but actually predate it. In fact these type of laws have probably been around since the very first civilizations.
posted by David at 8:33 am
7 Comments:
What's the dating on the book of the dead? Regardless, the paperyus of the original source from which the texts were originally copied predates it, thus, Egypt copied the Israelites.
See how easy it is to make blanket statements :) Seriously, this is interesting. Hi, by the way...
This is not a blanket statement but a theory [1] [2] with evidence to back it up. I should probably have included this additional information in the original post.
This version of The Papyrus of Ani is dated 1240 BCE [3] some of the earliest versions are known to have originated from other Egyptian texts before 3000 BCE [4] other sources includes the Pyramid Texts (ca. 2600 BCE-2300 BCE) [5]
Other versions are believed to have been written (ca.) 1800 BCE [6] [7].
"The Schofield Reference Bible estimates that the Hebrew Exodus from Egypt and the provision of the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai occurred in 1491 BCE., some three centuries later. Thus, many religious liberals, historians, and secularists have concluded that the Hebrew Scripture's Ten Commandments were based on this earlier document, rather than vice-versa." [6]
Other work has suggested that the 10 commandments were actually written in the 1st century BCE [8]. There are also similarities with Hittite and pagan texts dating 14th-13th centuries" BCE. [9]
This is just one theory, which has been proposed, the original post was mealy highlighting this alternative theory to the origins of the 10 commandments. I do not necessarily agree with the theory, while it is certainly possible that the 10 commandments were plagiarized from other civilizations it is also just as likely that all the civilizations in question came up with these ideas separately. The purpose of the post was to show that ideas behind the 10 commandments had been thought of by other civilizations without the aid of God and possibly before the 10 commandments were written.
References
[1] " The Ten Commandments" http://www.crystalinks.com/tencommandments.html
[2]Wikipedia. "Ten Commandments" 2006. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Commandments
[3]http://www.touregypt.net/bkofdead.htm
[4] (http://www.sacred-texts.com/egy/ebod/ebod03.htm
[5]Wikipedia "Book of the Dead" February 2006. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_the_Dead
[6] B.A. Robinson "THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (A.K.A. THE DECALOGUE) The possible origin of the Ten Commandments". 2006. by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance. http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_10cl.htm
[7]Knops Boekrestaurati Time-table (chronological)," , 1998. URL: http://www.xs4all.nl/
[8] Myers Peter. "The Ten Commandments" 2002. http://users.cyberone.com.au/myers/ten-commandments.html
[9]"THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (A.K.A. THE DECALOGUE)Who wrote them? Were they original, or were they based on earlier material?Who wrote the Decalogues?" 2006. by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance. http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_10ck.htm
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"This is proof therefore that these laws do not originate from Exodus and God but actually predate it."
I'm not arguing with you in the slightest, although I just know that someone angry and devout is about to tell you that nothing pre-dates God....
Religions and belief systems throughout history have shared a lot of points in common if you think about it - for instance, take the idea of the ethic of reciprocity ("do as you would be done by") which is found all over the place:
**Do not to your neighbour what you would take ill from him. (Pittacus, 650 BCE)
**Do not unto another that you would not have him do unto you. Thou needest this law alone. It is the foundation of all the rest. (Confucius, 500 BCE)
**Avoid doing what you would blame others for doing. (Thales, 464 BCE)
**What you wish your neighbors to be to you, such be also to them. (Sextus the Pythagorean, 406 BCE)
**We should conduct ourselves toward others as we would have them act toward us. (Aristotle, 384 BCE)
**Cherish reciprocal benevolence, which will make you as anxious for another’s welfare as your own. (Aristippus of Cyrene, 365 BCE)
**Act toward others as you desire them to act toward you. ( Isocrates, 338 BCE)
**This is the sum of duty: Do naught unto others which would cause you pain if done to you. (From the Mahabharata (5:1517), 300 BCE)
**What is hateful to you, do not to your fellow men. That is the entire Law; all the rest is commentary. ( Rabbi Hillel 50 BCE)
**Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. (From the Bible, Leviticus 19:18 1440 BCE)
**Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them. (Jesus of Nazareth, circa 30 CE)
Nothing new on Earth! Still, reduce re-use recycle is as good a mxim as any...!
Thanks, by the way, it's an excellent and thought provoking blog!
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