Egyptian Religion and Culture through Rabbinic Vision

Egypt and Egyptians are mentioned in the Hebrew Bible more than any other foreign land or nation, in fact, no fewer than 680 times.¹ This amount is approximately as much as the mentions of Assyria, (150x), Babylonia (287x), Aram (133x), and Edom (112x) altogether (total, 682x).² Several stories of Israel's patriarchs, particularly Abraham and Joseph (Gen 12:10-20; 37-50), took place in or against the Egyptian background. A number of biblical laws were defined in contrast to the Egyptian customs (e.g., Exod 8:22; Lev 18:3; Deut 4:15-19; Ezek 20:7), and the rational for some others was the Israelite slavery in Egypt.³ A nature-hymn (Psalm 104) engages with the hymn to Sun god (Ra') written by Akhnathen (Amenophis IV), and some biblical wisdom literature (e.g., Proverbs 22:17-24:35) is related to the teaching of Amen-em-apt. There are also many prophecies on Egypt and Egyptians in the Hebrew Bible (e.g., Isaiah 19; Jeremiah 46; Ezekiel 29-32). Nonetheless, without a doubt, the narrative about the Israelite experience in and the Exodus from Egypt (Exod 1-15) have the greatest impact on the Israelite/Jewish collective memory, every generation, even as of today. It became the symbol of God's direct interaction in defense of His chosen people. That is to say, He Himself interfered and defeated the evil oppressors and their deities and saved Israel. No wonder, therefore, that scholars in all times and places, Jews and non-Jews, devoted numerous works on the Exodus and the ancient Israelite literary heritage and its encounters with that of the Egyptians.⁴

Yet, although Egypt and Egyptians are mentioned in rabbinic literature much less than in the biblical literature, there are plentiful Egyptian elements in the various branches of the rabbinic literature.⁵ The knowledge of Egypt and Egyptian culture among the rabbis was based not only on biblical texts, but also on their own visits to Egypt, particularly the large Jewish Diaspora of Alexandria, and visits of Egyptians, particularly Jewish traders, scholars, and tourists, to the Land of Israel. Even though, except for a few essays on the encounter of the Egyptian religion and literature with rabbinic sources,⁶ there is not even a single monograph that systematically and comprehensively discusses this interesting theme. How could such a situation be explained? Seemingly, this state of the research does not stem only from the quantity and quality of the biblical material on Egypt and Egyptians in comparison to rabbinic sources. Rather, it stems also from the fact that the biblical and ancient Israelite history and literature—as part of Jewish and Christian canons—were and are predominant among Christians, and to some extent also among Jews, in all times and places. In contrast, rabbinic literature was almost exclusively studied and researched by Jews. Moreover, none of the important Egyptologists was or is engaged with rabbinic literature, and, vice versa, none of the rabbinic scholars was familiar with the Egyptian sources. The rare combination of an excellent scholar in rabbinic literature and well-trained Egyptologist is perfectly encompassed in Rivka Ulmer's work. Thus, evidently, the monograph under review should be considered as a pioneer work and unique contribution to rabbinic studies as well as Egyptology.

Egyptian Cultural Icons in Midrash is large in quantity and rich in substance, insights, and methods. It investigates various tannaitic and amoraic sources, generally midrashic, that related to Egyptian religion, culture, language, and literature against their historical setting in the Greco-Roman world. Although the rabbis did not focus on historical analyses, often the construction of Egypt in rabbinic texts strikingly matches with what we currently know concerning the ancient Egyptian religion. Ulmer shows that Jews were engaged with the Egyptian cultural heritage far beyond the biblical literature and biblical period as well as beyond their own defined Jewish cultural sphere. The rabbis of late antiquity (and early medieval period) used Egyptian concepts and images in order to define the Jewish identity in contrast to that of Egyptians. They used also Egyptian material to strengthen...