George A. Barton

MOSES AND THE EXODUS

The Legend of Sargon of Agade; Its Resemblance to the Story of Moses. The Pillar of Merneptah; The Only Appearance of the Name “Israel” Outside of the Bible.

1. The Legend of Sargon of Agade.

The following legend[449] contains a story of the exposure of an infant on a river, strikingly like that told of Moses.

1. Sargon, the mighty king, king of Agade am I,

2. My mother was lowly; my father I did not know;[450]

3. The brother of my father dwelt in the mountain.

4. My city is Azupiranu, which is situated on the bank of the Euphrates.

5. My lowly mother conceived me, in secret she brought me forth.

6. She placed me in a basket of reeds, she closed my entrance with bitumen,

7. She cast me upon the river, which did not overflow me.

8. The river carried me, it brought me to Akki, the irrigator.

9. Akki, the irrigator, in the goodness of his heart lifted me out,

10. Akki, the irrigator, as his own son ...... brought me up;

11. Akki, the irrigator, as his gardener appointed me.

12. When I was a gardener the goddess Ishtar loved me,

13. And for four years I ruled the kingdom.

14. The black-headed[451] peoples I ruled, I governed;

15. Mighty mountains with axes of bronze I destroyed (?).

16. I ascended the upper mountains;

17. I burst through the lower mountains.

18. The country of the sea I besieged three times;

19. Dilmun[452] I captured (?).

20. Unto the great Dur-ilu I went up, I ..........

21. .......... I altered ..........

22. Whatsoever king shall be exalted after me,

23. ..............................

24. Let him rule, let him govern the black-headed peoples;

25. Mighty mountains with axes of bronze let him destroy;

26. Let him ascend the upper mountains,

27. Let him break through the lower mountains;

28. The country of the sea let him besiege three times;

29. Dilmun let him capture;

30. To great Dur-ilu let him go up.

The rest is too broken for connected translation.

It is thought by some scholars of the critical school that the parallelism between the secret birth, the exposure, the rescue and adoption of Sargon, and the account of the secret birth, exposure, rescue, and adoption of Moses in Exod. 2:1-10 is too close to be accidental. Conservative scholars, on the other hand, hold that, if the legend of Sargon is historical, it merely affords an example of a striking coincidence of events in two independent lives.

2. The Pillar of Merneptah.

In the fifth year of King Merneptah, who ruled from 1225-1215 B. C., and who is thought to be the Pharaoh of the exodus, he inscribed on a pillar an account of his wars and victories. The inscription concludes with the following poetic strophe:[453]

The kings are overthrown, saying: “salaam!”
Not one holds up his head among the nine bows.[454]
Wasted is Tehenu,[455]
Kheta[456] is pacified,
Plundered is the Canaan[457] with every evil,
Carried off is Askelon,
Seized upon is Gezer,
Yenoam[458] is made as a thing not existing.
Israel is desolated, his seed is not;
Palestine has become a widow for Egypt.
All lands are united, they are pacified;
Every one that is turbulent is bound by King Merneptah, who gives life like Ra every day.

This inscription contains the only mention of Israel in a document of this age outside the Bible. It is, for that reason, of great importance. It should be noted that Israel is mentioned along with peoples and places in Palestine and Phoenicia. The Israel here referred to was not, accordingly, in Egypt. Israel, on the other hand, may not have been more than a nomadic people. The Egyptians used a certain “determinative” in connection with the names of settled peoples. That sign is here used with Tehenu, Kheta, Askelon, Gezer, and Yenoam, but not with Israel.

As Merneptah has been supposed by many to be the Pharaoh in whose reign the exodus occurred, the mention of Israel here has somewhat puzzled scholars, and different explanations of the fact have arisen. At least one scholar holds that the exodus occurred in Merneptah’s third year, and that he afterward attacked the Hebrews. Others have supposed that not all the Hebrews had been in Egypt, but only the Joseph tribes. Still others have thought that the Leah tribes had made their exodus during the eighteenth dynasty, and that it was these with whom Merneptah fought, while the Rachel tribes made their exodus under the nineteenth dynasty. Opinions vary according to the critical views of different writers. All scholars would welcome more information on these problems.