robison@eosp1.UUCP (Tobias D. Robison) (01/09/84)
The really striking thing about the possible relationship betweens Jews and Egyptians in ancient times is how different their cultures were. If they had no contact, one might argue that they would have few customs in common. Actually the lack of commonality is exteme, and hard to explain unless one (or both) cultures made a conscious effort to be unlike the other. I believe that the two societies were so different that the ancient Jews must indeed have been in, and escaped from, Egypt. The King Tut exhibit at the Met was a revelation of totally foreign attitudes to me. The emphases on embalming, animal gods, rich goods stored in a tomb, mummifying, customs regarding royalty, and artistic bent, are (with one or two remarkable exceptions) wholly alien to the Judaism that is described in the bible. - Toby Robison decvax!ittvax!eosp1!robison or: allegra!eosp1!robison (maybe: princeton!eosp1!robison)