Egyptian influences in the Hebrew Bible

It is generally accepted that some of the texts of the Hebrew Bible have precedents in earlier (Bronze Age) Ancient Near Eastern religions and mythology, especially Mesopotamia (see Panbabylonianism), but to a lesser extent also Ancient Egyptian. For instance, material from the Book of Proverbs derives directly from the Instruction of Amenemope.

The religion of the ancient kingdom of Judah was an amalgamation of local Canaanite traditions. Yahweh is believed to be by some modern scholars in origin a Canaanite deity, Jerusalem was in origin a Jebusite city with the tutelary deity Tsedek. These Canaanite traditions which gave rise to Israelite and ultimately ancient Jewish religion were in turn influenced by older Mesopotamian and possibly also Egyptian traditions.

See also

• Akhenaten#Akhenaten and Judeo-Christian monotheism
• Canaan#Late Bronze Age
• Habiru#Habiru and the biblical Hebrews
• History of the Jews in Egypt
• Moses and Monotheism
• Origins of Judaism
• Osarseph

Further reading

• See The Guide for the Perplexed By Moses Maimonides, translated and introduction by Julius Guttmann, Daniel H. Frank
• edited by Andreas Höfele, Werner von Koppenfels
• (The Hebrew Mysteries or The Oldest Form of Freemasonry) under the pseudonym Decius