CYPSER The Creation The Creation of Kindness of Kindness KIM PATHWAYS i Cora E. Cypser Copyright © 1994 by Cora E. Cypser. All rights reserved. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 94-065060 ISBN: 0-9625774-3-X Hard Cover Printed in USA Covers designed by Cora E. Cypser Opinions expressed in this book are not necessarily the views of the publisher. More information from: KIM PATHWAYS 16 Young Road Katonah NY 10536 ii CONTENTS PROLOGUE ...................................................................................... IX I CREATION ...................................................................................... 1 1.1 On Direction ....................................................................................... 1 1.2 The Beginning .................................................................................... 2 Eras-2, Ice Ages-4, Plate Tectonics-7, Meteorites-10, Continental Biological Evolution-11 1.3 The Human Being ............................................................................. 14 Homo Erectus-16, Homo Sapiens-18, Humans in The Ice Ages-21, God’s Part in This-23, Life On The Indian Plate-24, Migrations-27 1.4 Selection in Species .......................................................................... 30 Creative Survival-33 1.5 Events of Religious Significance ...................................................... 34 Food Taboos-35, Liturgies-37 1.6 Beginnings of The Human Soul ....................................................... 38 Learning from The Dinosaurs-41, Learning from Pollution-41, Reflective Thought-42 II THE GROWTH OF COMMUNICATION ............................................ 45 2.1 Language .......................................................................................... 45 Language Divisions-46, Mergers-48 2.2 Dating ............................................................................................... 48 Explosion of Thera-50 2.3 Megaliths .......................................................................................... 52 Stones as Memorials-52, Widespread Megaliths-53, Signs of Travel-54, Astronomi- cal Knowledge-55, Spiritual Aspects-56, Seen from Above-57 2.4 Writing .............................................................................................. 58 Intermixing of Multiple Systems-59, Egyptian Writing-60, Statuettes-62 2.5 People Who Traveled ....................................................................... 63 Ancient Jericho-64, Clues to Migrations-64, Disease and Plague-66, Effects of The Flood-67, Tools-68 2.6 Boats ................................................................................................. 68 III CIVILIZATION ........................................................................... 71 3.1 In The Indus Valley .......................................................................... 71 Early Turmoil-71, Climatic Changes-72, Remote Migrations-73, Town Sites-74, Early Worship-75, Harappan Culture-76, Folk Tales-77 3.2 The Sumerian Civilization ................................................................ 77 Artisans and Traders-78, Sargon I-79, Nineveh and Other Restorations-80,Geogra- phy of Early Peoples-81, Growth of An Empire-82, Naram-Sin-83, Babylon-86 3.3 Legends Associated with Sargon ...................................................... 87 Greek Legends-87, Egyptian Ties-87, Legends Associated with Sargon’s Daughter-88, Arthur Legends-89, Other Legends-90 3.4 Other Cultural Contributions..........................................................91 iii Contents (continued) 3.5 The Egyptian Civilization ................................................................. 91 City Gods-92, Date Keeping-93, The Sphinx-94, Pyramid Building-95, The Hyksos-97, Temple Builders-97 3.6 Egyptian Stories - Tale of Sinuhe ..................................................... 98 3.7 Early God Stories............................................................................ 101 3.8 The Soul and The Community........................................................ 102 IV HEROES AND HEROINES, ABRAHAM TO JOSEPH ...................... 107 4.1 Myth and The Hebrew Historians .................................................. 108 Prototypal People-108, Beauty in The Message-108, Biblical Dates-109, The Authors-110 4.2 Creation, Garden, and Flood........................................................... 111 Settlements-113, Biblical Prototypes-114, The Flood and Noah-116, Genealogy- 116, Babel and Language-119 4.3 Abraham and Sarah ........................................................................ 120 Indian Possibilities-121, Sara-121, Abram’s Migration-122, Brahmanism-124, Leaving “Ur”-124, Lot-125, Promised Land-127, Longing for An Heir-127 4.4 Relatives of Abraham ..................................................................... 128 Terah-128, Hagar-128, Ishmael and Isaac-129, Esau and Jacob-131 4.5 Joseph ............................................................................................. 132 The Religious Milieu-133, Gifted Viziers-134, Third Dynasty-134, Fifth Dynasty-134, Fifteenth Dynasty-135, Eighteenth Dynasty-137, Joseph’s Land- 138, Taxes-138, Prototypal Joseph-139 V THE WAY OUT OF EGYPT ........................................................ 141 5.1 The Person, Moses .......................................................................... 141 The Bible As History-141, The Exodus Setting-142, Baby Moses-142, The Name, Moses-143, The Palace Household-143, Mixed Marriages-144 5.2 Comings and Goings of Peoples ..................................................... 144 5.3 The Exodus Under Moses............................................................... 145 5.4 An Exodus Related to Sea People .................................................. 147 Sixth Dynasty-146, Twelfth Dynasty-146, Nineteenth Dynasty-147,149, Twentieth Dynasty-150, Dating-151 5.5 The Parting of The Waters.............................................................. 151 5.6 Holy Mountains .............................................................................. 153 Visiting “Mount Sinai”-153, Mount of The Burning Bush-154, Mount of The Ten Commandments-155 5.7 The Ten Commandments ................................................................ 157 Egyptian Sources-158, Mesopotamian Sources-158, Thou Shalt Not Kill-160 5.8 Joshua and Jericho .......................................................................... 161 Conquests-161, Other Peoples in Palestine-162, Joshua, Son of Nun-163 5.9 The Ark of The Covenant ............................................................... 164 Articles of Worship-164 iv Contents (continued) VI THE OTHER GODS .................................................................. 169 6.1 Religion in The Indus Valley.......................................................... 169 Aspects of God-170, God In All Creation-170, Earliest Writings-171 6.2 Power and Love in Mesopotamia ................................................... 171 Earliest Ideas-172, Local Views of God-173, The Supreme God Concept-173, Exports and Derivations-173 6.3 Beliefs of Ancient Hebrews ............................................................ 174 Abraham-174, Isaac and Jacob-176, Jeremiah-177, Pulling It All Together-178 6.4 The Theology of Egypt ................................................................... 179 Early Diversity-179, The One God of Egypt-180, Infusion of Egyptian Ideas-181, The Exodus-182 6.5 Gods In The Wilderness ................................................................. 182 6.6 Mythical Heroes and Heroines ....................................................... 185 VII DAVID, THE ECUMENIST ........................................................ 187 7.1 The Rising Star ............................................................................... 187 Anointed by God-187, The Giants-188, Early Developments-188 7.2 Contemporary Politics .................................................................... 189 7.3 Justifying A Kingship ..................................................................... 190 The Need for Mythology-190, The Promised Land-190, God’s Promise to All-191 7.4 Many Tribes.................................................................................... 192 Ancestral Roots-192, The Tribe of Judah-193, Benjamin and Judah-195, The Tribe of Dan-195, The Complexity of Complexions-198 7.5 Interpreting The Biblical Author .................................................... 199 The Underlying Messages-199, Social Norms-200 7.6 The Priestly Connection ................................................................. 202 The Paying of Tithes-203, The Ark-204 7.7 Our Debt to David .......................................................................... 205 7.8 Our Debt to The Biblical Author .................................................... 206 Insight and Interpretation-206, The Jahwist Author-207, Blood Relations-207, Prototypal Names-207 VIII OTHER PIECES OF THE MOSAIC .......................................... 209 8.1 Developments After David ............................................................. 209 8.2 Zoroaster ......................................................................................... 211 Ancient Polytheism-211, The Man, Zoroaster-212, Esther-212, Dualism-213, Other Beliefs and Practices-214, Scriptures-214 8.3 Developments in China and Japan .................................................. 215 Chinese Early Gods-215, Confucius-215, Sun Gods-215 8.4 Buddha ...........................................................................................