According to Josephus and Artapanus, ancient Israelite commentators, the Jewish diaspora in the hellenistic period was forced between two worlds, on one side, the values of the Graeco-Romans, and on the other the Mosaic law. Hence, in conformity with the Graeco-Roman period producing the most changes in Judaism, Josephus and Artapanus hellenized their biblical historical narratives as a provenance of advertising Greek culture on ancient Jewry. While Josephus attempted to earn the respect of the educated Romans, Artapanus focused on reproducing history by making liberal use of the Septuagint. Therefore, Josephus’ and Artapanus’ portrayal of Moses as a leader greatly differed since Josephus’ antiquities did not go into great detail in terms
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Moreover, Thermuthis and Pharaoh promised to keep Moses safe and so Moses gladly accepted the task and his position as general. Josephus furthered his narrative by stating that Moses’ position as general and his leadership skills gave the Hebrews the ability to foresee a possibility of escape from Egyptian bondage, as well as contributed to Ethiopian admiration; hence, during the Ethiopian war, the Ethiopians demonstrated “servitude and complete extirpation to Moses”. Furthermore, as a token of the Ethiopian people's appreciation, Moses was prompted by the ruler of Ethiopia to marry his daughter, Tharbis.Tharbis, according to Josephus, was believed to have been Moses’ first Ethiopian wife. After the war ended, Moses returned to Egypt only to learn that the very Egyptians saved by him during the invasion conceived a hatred for him because of his successions. Therefore, Moses fled from Egypt and found himself at Raguel’s flock, married to his daughter Zipporah, and adopting her son as his own. One day, after having led the flocks to graze on the mountain called Sinai, Moses witnessed an amazing prodigy, “…a fire in flames on a bramble-bush, yet had left its ventures of green and its bloom in tact…” in which changed his life …show more content…
While this passage is problematic and corrupt, Artapanus may have been using plausible Egyptian names for Joseph and Jacob to recount the story of Exodus (898). Having said that, Artapanus furthered his unique historical narrative by claiming that the temple was already built and active in Heliopolis (898). Thus, different from Josephus’s narrative, the first temple existed prior to the Judaic empire. Moreover, Artapanus, variant to the name Josephus chose to call the daughter of Pharaoh, named the princess of Egypt ‘Merris’ (898). According to greek methodology, Merris was considered to be a worshipper of Isis whereas Thermuthis was the name of a Greek wet nurse g-ddess; hence, Artapanus may have tried to establish some sort of indirect association between Moses and the traditions of Isis (898). Furthermore, Josephus understood Moses’ prestigious name by simply conferring to the compounds of the words ‘water’ and ‘saved’ in the Egyptian language whereas Artapanus changed Moses’ name altogether to Mousaues since greek methodology alleged that Mousaues was a “mythical singer often associated with Orpheus, the legendary founder of Orphism” (898). Thus, Artapanus indirectly made Moses a cultural hero for the Greeks, Jews and the Egyptians. In addition to Moses superior cultural
Moreover, Thermuthis and Pharaoh promised to keep Moses safe and so Moses gladly accepted the task and his position as general. Josephus furthered his narrative by stating that Moses’ position as general and his leadership skills gave the Hebrews the ability to foresee a possibility of escape from Egyptian bondage, as well as contributed to Ethiopian admiration; hence, during the Ethiopian war, the Ethiopians demonstrated “servitude and complete extirpation to Moses”. Furthermore, as a token of the Ethiopian people's appreciation, Moses was prompted by the ruler of Ethiopia to marry his daughter, Tharbis.Tharbis, according to Josephus, was believed to have been Moses’ first Ethiopian wife. After the war ended, Moses returned to Egypt only to learn that the very Egyptians saved by him during the invasion conceived a hatred for him because of his successions. Therefore, Moses fled from Egypt and found himself at Raguel’s flock, married to his daughter Zipporah, and adopting her son as his own. One day, after having led the flocks to graze on the mountain called Sinai, Moses witnessed an amazing prodigy, “…a fire in flames on a bramble-bush, yet had left its ventures of green and its bloom in tact…” in which changed his life …show more content…
While this passage is problematic and corrupt, Artapanus may have been using plausible Egyptian names for Joseph and Jacob to recount the story of Exodus (898). Having said that, Artapanus furthered his unique historical narrative by claiming that the temple was already built and active in Heliopolis (898). Thus, different from Josephus’s narrative, the first temple existed prior to the Judaic empire. Moreover, Artapanus, variant to the name Josephus chose to call the daughter of Pharaoh, named the princess of Egypt ‘Merris’ (898). According to greek methodology, Merris was considered to be a worshipper of Isis whereas Thermuthis was the name of a Greek wet nurse g-ddess; hence, Artapanus may have tried to establish some sort of indirect association between Moses and the traditions of Isis (898). Furthermore, Josephus understood Moses’ prestigious name by simply conferring to the compounds of the words ‘water’ and ‘saved’ in the Egyptian language whereas Artapanus changed Moses’ name altogether to Mousaues since greek methodology alleged that Mousaues was a “mythical singer often associated with Orpheus, the legendary founder of Orphism” (898). Thus, Artapanus indirectly made Moses a cultural hero for the Greeks, Jews and the Egyptians. In addition to Moses superior cultural