#buried in scripture ; text

[bowtiepastabitch]

Deeply Transgender and Vividly Pornographic: a deep dive into what makes a fic queer

This is a response to the wonderful @ineffabildaddy making this post, which it was originally going to just be a reblog to but once I started approaching a thousand words it was a bit unwieldy so we're just going all the way. If second base is reading their fics and third base is actually talking to your mutuals, I have no clue what this is.

Here's the prompt text that started it all:

Alright, well I am nothing if not a scientist (narrator voice: they were, in fact, a humanities major), so I spent several hours of my weekend putting this together because I'm a burnt out academic and this is the enrichment in my enclosure. Readers, this is going to contain experpts of some very spicy stuff, so stop here if you're not interested. Me bringing porn? To your tumblr dash? It's more likely than you think.

All fics and such referenced will be linked at the bottom of the page.

~~~

Heteronormativity and cisnormativity, while unfortunately the dominant norm for mainstream pornography, make little appearance within the fandom writing spaces I myself spend time in. That's not to say I haven't read my fair shair of painfully straight smut in my lifetime, but simply that I have taste and am lucky to be neck deep in a fandom with very little of it. Nonetheless, as a card-carrying queer and writer myself, I consider myself quite familiar with the distinctive traits and patterns of queer and cishet pornographic writing. Beyond merely a focus on non-male pleasure or the subtle presence of queer or trans characters, the characterization of queer fanfiction is distinct and has entirely different mannerisms in dealing with conceptions of the body and pleasure. I'll primarily be citing Ineffabildaddy's work, for the sake of a focused analysis, who I will henceforth be referring to as Sam for the sake of pseudo-academic flow.

There are certain linguistic patterns that tend to distinguish heterosexual and heteronormative depictions of sex from queer ones. For instance, "cunt" is utilized sparingly within heteronormative contexts for its vulgarity and added obscenity, whilst queer writers use it pretty universally and without the same subtext. Throughout his writing, Sam works with this queer-coded vocabulary pretty consistently. In "Strawberry Scripture" (F/M), he describes how "Crowley's cunt... was damn-near swollen" and how Aziraphale has to resist "Bury[ing] his face in it immediately." No cis-het man has ever thought about eating pussy that way, and if you find one I'll eat my fucking hat. Likewise, vocabulary for the phallic tends to veer in the direction of "cock" over anything else. Interestingly, this creates a set of contrasting pairings. Heteronormative slang, from my obvervation, is more likely to use 'dick' and 'pussy', and, especially in conjunction, it creates a very distinctive mouthfeel that separates the two and poses them as opposites. 'Pussy', in particular, has a much more feminized feel when juxtaposed against 'dick', favoring much softer consonants and the english diminutive 'y' ending. 'Cock' and 'cunt', in comparison, have a very similar sound and feeling to them, distancing itself from hetero-cis-normative gender dualism of the language. There is, of course, plenty of nuance to this and the use of a variety of language in subverting cisnormative ideas about the sexed body as well, with phrases like 'boypussy' and 'girldick' being rather essential to the way many trans people describe their own bodies. "Fandom's Pornagraphic Subset," (yes I'm stealing sources from my research paper on monsterfucking, suck my dick) an article published in 2021 by Silja Kukka, describes how the "fleshy, hyperbolic descriptions of sex" that characterize this kind of writing are essential to what she dubs the "[creation of] a new genderqueer place outside of the gender dichotomy"(57). If you read enough smut, you know exactly what this is talking about. For example, in "Despite Knowing Better,"(F/M) we get vivid imagery to describe the way "streaks of her spit oozed from her mouth even as Aziraphale fucked it"(Ch5) and of "her walls quivering and clenching around him."(Ch3) This level of graphic sexual depiction goes beyond what would be considered 'tasteful' or 'sexy' in a heteronormative concept of pornography.

In terms of tropes, let's do a deep dive into "Strawberry Scripture"(F/M) to find what makes it queer beyond it's apparently straight pairing. To preface, this fic involves both foodplay and monsterfucking, but we're only gonna analyze one. The inherent queerness of monsterfucking is actually something I've written an entire academic paper on, so I suppose I'll start there. There's something very queer and often very trans about subverting the standard playbook of sexual acts, and while kink itself can easily be heterosexual, most monsterfucking falls far outside that category no matter what genital configuration those involved have. Monsterfucking tends to reject the phallocentrism of heteronormativity and mainstream kink by subverting the concept of the human body itself, giving inhuman and monstrous qualities to characters usually for sex appeal or general kinky shenanigans. While there's an argument to be made for heteronormativity still being able to creep into certain spaces, that certainly isn't true for this fic. There's something intrinsically transgressive about creating an erogenous zone out of a feature that would largely be considered horror or 'gross' in any other form of media, which is exactly what Sam does here as he describes the "cool, satiny sensation that the plates of her scales against his tip engendered." The scales are not merely called apon for their invocation of the unusual but to give them an eroticism in and of themselves, with Crowley reaching orgasm through their stimulation. We also slide gently into Monsterfucker territory in "Close (well you couldn't get much closer)" (M/M), where an argument could be made that the most trans-coded element isn't even Crowley's T-dick but instead the presence of a magic angel dildo. (sentences I never thought I'd fucking say but here we are.) There's something deeply transgender about the deconstruction of genital purpose in sex that recontextualizes the gendered body's role in pleasure. It falls into the same semiotic revolution and reclaiming of the body as the changes in language used by trans folks to rename and reidentify the literal physicality of the body by ones own standards (ie T-dick).

Another major trademark in departing from heteronormatized porn is the shift in narrative focus away from penetrative sex. That is, even in paragraphs where the main sex event is penetration, it rarely takes up even half the prose. The majority of narration is focused on surrounding or tangential actions: "the flowing movement of ... hips was sedate and wanton and lusciously provocative,"(1) "watching the muscles which resided there tense and relax alternately with pleasure,"(2) "his tongue stole past his teeth and slid over them,"(3) and "he whispered, his voice aching and curling and stretching for her"(4); all excerpts pulled from moments in which penetration is taking place, yet the concentration is anywhere but. Likewise, the act of penetration itself only takes up a small portion of physical sex acts in the grander scheme of Sam's writing. Instead, we as readers are presented with a vast spread of cock-sucking, pussy-eating, fingering, teasing, frottage, kissing, and more. Contrast this with the cis-hetero norm, where penetrative sex is the endgoal, and any other action is shucked aside to play second fiddle as mere foreplay. It's the reason virginity as a concept is directly tied to the mystical hymen and one's experience with penetration; a straight girl can suck dick a thousand times and still consider herself a virgin. As such, in a piece of pornographic writing where I have significant trouble finding lines to pull specifically and exclusively describing penetration (seriously, try it out yourself), the heterosexual influence is negligible. And yes, I'm talking about all of them. I had to restructure an entire argument that focused on comparing lines from different works because it was so difficult to find them.

So, in conclusion, Sam, love, there is not an ounce of heteronormativity in even the "straightest" of your writing. Congratulations.

Links, in order of reference:

Strawberry Scripture (3)

Fandom's Pornographic Subset, article by Silja Kukka and a great read

Despite Knowing Better... (4)

Close (you couldn't be much closer)

Many Different Ways to Eat an Oyster (1)

I'm Beginning to See the Light (2)

Author's notes, and then I promise I'll leave y'all alone: Hi! This started as a short analysis but quickly became a three(?)(maybe more?) hour labor of love analyzing the things I love most about both Sam's writing and the writing in this community as a whole. Please please please ask me questions, I'm an autistic little bitch and I like knowing things. My ask box? Open. Comments? Open. Reblogs? Open. If you've read this far, I fucking love you and I am kissing you on the mouth right now. Don't worry, my gender is just queer so it's gay no matter what. <3<3<3

#good omens #good omens fanfiction #ineffable husbands #good omens fandom #nerd shit #why do any of you follow me #gomens

[hellenicrisis]

Does Hellenism have a Holy Book? Or like a Bool with Rules,Customs,Offerings etc?? Kinda like a Bible :>

Hey there, sunshine! ☀️

Hellenic paganism doesn't have one single piece of holy scripture like Abrahamic religions do. Our texts are a little more scattered. We have the Homeric Hymns and the Orphic Hymns, each are a collection of hymns and prayers to the gods. There is also Hesiod's Theogony, an epic 1000+ line poem that details the genealogies of the gods, and also Hesiod's Works and Days, which is more on the subject of morality and farming, but includes good lessons on how to interact with the gods.

You can buy these online in the forms of physical books, but there should also be free pdf versions of them out there, as well as websites that have the entire collection of hymns written out.

As for a text that gives instructions regarding customs and offerings, there isn't one set, singular text that I know of. We learn from historical and archaeological research, from writings like those listed above, and from each other. There are modern books on Hellenic paganism and its practices written by scholars that you could look for. Some are expensive though, and if you do enough digging on the internet yourself, you should be able to come up with some information.

I could teach you a couple basics right now.

1. Be clean when praying

There is a line in Hesiod's Works and Days that reads, "Never pour a libation of sparkling wine to Zeus after dawn with unwashen hands, nor to others of the deathless gods."

This line refers to the custom of washing our hands before giving offerings or libations to the gods. There is a water we make, I think with burnt herbs in it, called khernips that is used to clean our hands. You don't have to use it though (I don't) and simply washing your hands normally works just as well. I believe it also symbolises being generally clean. Being ready for your day and in a good state when presenting yourself to the gods is important, I think.

2. How to pray

Here is a post I found about how to pray in Hellenic paganism. I found it very helpful and I've been pagan for years now, so I think it could help you. (Link)

Also a note, we have a version of "amen" that can be said at the end of prayers, if that sense of closing off makes prayer easier for you. I know it did for me. The word is "khaire", and as I understand it, it means "blessings" or "good wishes". You can say it to someone or to close a prayer.

EDIT: "Khaire" or "khairete" can be used. They both mean "hail" or "farewell" or "blessings". "Khaire" is to address one, and "khairete" is to address a group.

3. Ouranic and chthonic

Quick run down on ouranic and chthonic. Ouranic means celestial, and it is how we refer to gods who live on the surface and in Olympus. These include Zeus, Hera, Apollo, Aphrodite, etc. Chthonic means underground, and it is used to refer to gods who live in the Underworld. These are Hades, Persephone (half the year at least), and Thanatos.

In Ancient times, offerings to ouranic deities were either libations poured to them in a bowl or cup or the smoke of burning food. It is believed that the essence of the food would be carried up to the gods through the smoke. Looking at this in modern day, incense smoke is an excellent offering and we can leave food offerings and libations out on the altar along with a lit candle.

Offerings to chthonic deities usually went in the ground, so that it may be absorbed through the earth and reach the gods in the Underworld that way. Usually libations were poured out on the ground and food offerings buried in a dug hole. If you have a garden or pot plants and your offerings are safe for them then the practice can be replicated that way. I've also seen people use boxes on the altar, putting offerings inside and closing it, symbolising burying it.

Or you can simply treat chthonic deities the same as ouranic deities when giving offerings. Whatever works best for you, but this is what was done traditionally.

4. Read the myths

Read the myths of the gods you wish to worship. You learn a lot and can come to your own conclusions about your worship by learning about their stories and roles in society.

This may all seem like a lot now, and not having one singular piece of decisive scripture can be challenging if you're used to having one, but it does get easier. You'll settle and find your feet. Knowing these things will become second nature, and you will build your own practice based on them. No one's worship looks the same, especially with paganism, and that's as it should be.

Thank you so much for asking, sunshine! So sorry for the long response, but I figured I'd rather leave you with some starting points and things to investigate. Please feel free to send another ask or dm me in future if you have any more questions.

Khaire! ☀️

#answered asks #asks #pagan #hellenic pagan #paganism #hellenic paganism #helpol #hellenic polytheism #hellenic polythiest #polytheism #polytheist

[ouroborosorder]

Hi! As someone newer to ak, I would actually really love a “rawest Ak lines” list if u don’t mind sharing!

Okay so if I *did* run this, I would have to crowdsource some, because I haven't read everything, and I don't always remember to update my document when I do read shit. So my list is extremely biased, extremely incomplete, and very all over the fucking place. Do not take this as a comprehensive list, but rather just some of my favorites:

Patriot: "Rhodes Island. I will advance." A classic. A legend. A salsa that everyone at the table can enjoy.

Rosmontis: "You didn't want to die alone. You want to be remembered by me, and live on within me. But no. I came here just to watch you die. And now, I've forgotten you."

Eblana: "You'll remember me, shapeshifter. Your long and refractory memory will have chapters that belong to me." (not the official translation but I'm using this one because it goes SOOOO much harder)

Andoain: "I would rather be the torch that burns by the feet of those who are freezing to death. Even if its flame will soon be extinguished."

In game boss description text for Kristen Wright: Egotist. Betrayer. Seeker. Loner. Pioneer. Goodnight, Terra.

and of course, Woodrow: "May this bullet forgive what my heart cannot."

and then of course, Stultifera Navis, which has so many it was basically a contest to see who got the coolest line before the event ended. I have literally 8 lines in my notes document, my favorites being:

Irene: "You have not sinned in any way. The Holy Scriptures do not even mention your existence. Right now it is only I, as an Iberian, who is handing down this verdict. The scourge of the seas must be wiped out. You have no right to live. In the name of Iberia."

Carmen: “You, and your pathetic ideas, will be buried in Iberia. Before your last breath, be sure to pass on our thunderous roar to your kin. ‘The sea faces an ancient enemy called civilization, one you stand no chance of overcoming.'”

Captain Alfonso: “Remember this well, Irene! Return to land and sing the praises of Alfonso's feats! The last monster that Alfonso slew... was himself!”

Ulpianus: “If you care about the word of God, then so be it. The Seaborn are not gods, nor are their forefathers. I have seen how your gods die, their screams coursing through the currents, their flesh and blood smeared across abyssal ravines.”

I think for the sake of the hypothetical bracket, I'd probably want to limit it to one line per event before the entire thing is consumed entirely by just Stultifera Navis

#arknights

[a-big-apple]

Gideon, Harrow, and "Wedding Vows"

i frequently see the interpretation that this:

"The land that shall receive thee dying, in the same will I die: and there will I be buried. The Lord do so and so to me, and add more also, if aught but death part me and thee," said Gideon. (GtN 438)

plus this:

"If I forget you, let my right hand be forgotten," her mouth was saying. "Add more also, if aught but death part me and thee." And, unsteadily: "Griddle." (HtN 360)

plus this:

It didn't even matter when Kiriona said, "Sure, Cam. Marry a moron, then die. I get the urge." (NtN 372)

equals Gideon and Harrow are married! crying face emoji!

i'm not disparaging that interpretation, i think it's valid and has some basis in the text, and even if it wasn't/didn't, i think fans should have all the fun they want. but for me, it doesn't fully capture the complexity of what Gideon and Harrow are to each other, and i want to explore a slightly less straightforward reading.

Catholic weddings, vows, and Ruth under the cut ;)

Gideon and Ninth House traditions

let's start with Gideon quoting Ruth. i've seen folks repeating the idea that this is a wedding vow. it's more accurate to say that this is a verse often used as a wedding vow, in other denominations of Christianity, and secularly as well. but in a (traditional) Catholic wedding, the couple can't write or choose their own vows--the Celebration of Matrimony has specific text, with one or two variations, that is always used.

now, we haven't seen a Ninth House marriage ceremony. if we do see such a thing in AtN and discover that Ruth 1:17 is part of that tradition, i will cry a million happy queer tears about it. but i think it's somewhat likely that Gideon has never even seen a Ninth House wedding, given how small and trending elderly the population is, and that we know no couples in her lifetime have had kids other than the Reverend Parents.

what i'm getting at here is that this quotation from Ruth doesn't seem, to me, to represent something that's religiously or traditionally binding in Ninth House culture. it uses some similar language to Catholic marriage vows, "until death do us part" etc, but i don't think these are words that make them married in the eyes of the Ninth or the Houses at large, i think these are words Gideon has chosen as a specific expression of her devotion. and where does she get them from, if not some Ninth House ceremony or scripture?

well, this is a slightly longer stretch, but at the point in the story when Gideon says this, she's already dead. Harrow has begun to absorb her--and thanks to "The Unwanted Guest," we know that souls are porous, permeable, and rub off on each other when they're in contact. Gideon's soul is at this moment being integrated into Harrow's; Harrow has certainly read all kinds of books on the Ninth ranging from usual to totally heretical, some of them probably extremely old, and it's not unreasonable to think writings from before the Resurrection might have been copied and recopied into something Harrow could access. And speaking of soul permeability, Harrow's had Alecto's soul clinging onto hers for seven years, and Alecto's soul is in intimate contact with John's soul--there are so many ways for this bit of scripture to make its way into Gideon's non-corporeal mouth. the STI (Soulfully Transmitted Infection) of biblical knowledge.

Ruth in context

now let's talk a little about Ruth, the book of the Bible and also the character of the Bible, and Naomi, who she is swearing her devotion to. tl;dr, Naomi and her husband and two grown sons are Israelites who immigrate to Moab, a "pagan" nation, to escape famine. Naomi's two sons marry Moabite women; then the sons both die, as does Naomi's husband. Naomi, having lost everything, decides to return home where she'll be penniless and have a bad life but at least she'll be among her people; she tells her two daughters-in-law to go back to their families. One of them goes.

The other, Ruth, refuses, and swears beautiful devotion to Naomi, as we've heard Gideon quote: "She answered: Be not against me, to desire that I should leave thee and depart: for whithersoever thou shalt go, I will go: and where thou shalt dwell, I also will dwell. Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God. The land that shall receive thee dying, in the same will I die: and there will I be buried. The Lord do so and so to me, and add more also, if aught but death part me and thee."

in a biblical context, this has nothing to do with a wedding vow. Ruth is promising to leave the comfort of her own people, religion, and homeland to stay with her mother-in-law Naomi, even though the connection they had (Naomi's son, Ruth's husband) is gone, and all they have to look forward to is a terrible life of grief and bitterness. this is frequently interpreted as a parallel to Jesus, who (in the religious perspective) made the sacrifice of leaving his place with God and becoming human out of devotion to humanity, in order to live and suffer and redeem us. woof, this is giving me flashbacks to CCD.

of course, many Christians resist interpreting what passes between Ruth and Naomi as resembling a wedding vow for homophobic reasons too--making it about Jesus is a way to make it less queer--but i think the point still stands that this is a more complicated, and less marriage-related, expression of love than it seems taken on its own.

Harrow's lamentation

when Harrow later echoes it back, she conflates it with a different biblical quotation: "On the willows in the midst thereof we hung up our instruments. For there they that led us into captivity required of us the words of songs. And they that carried us away, said: Sing ye to us a hymn of the songs of Sion. How shall we sing the song of the Lord in a strange land? If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand be forgotten. Let my tongue cleave to my jaws, if I do not remember thee: If I make not Jerusalem the beginning of my joy."

it's a lament, an expression of mourning, a longing for home from someone who has been forcibly removed from it. when combined with the Ruth quotation, in which Ruth is giving up her home in her devotion, this really reads to me as both Harrow's grief, immediate and overpowering, and a realization that Gideon is her home, and failing to acknowledge that is as disabling as the loss of a hand or of the power of speech. Gideon is the beginning of her joy, and Harrow is, in this moment, putting Gideon above the Ninth House in her devotion. above Alecto. above everything.

and again, i'm not saying all of that can't be about marriage, but it's about a relationship much more complicated than marriage can encompass in the context House cultural norms.

Kiriona Gaia, saddest girl

this brings me to Kiriona, and "marry a moron, then die." consider the context of this, and the tone. Kiriona's deeply, deeply hurt. the saddest girl in the universe. she died for Harrow, avowed her devotion to Harrow, and then (from her perspective) was rejected; buried; excised from Harrow's brain and then from her body. Kiriona, as she did when she was Gideon, covers her emotions with humor and sarcasm. i suspect she's even less able to handle being vulnerable as Kiriona than she ever was before. she's making light of Canaan House and what happened there, and it's only in sarcastically downplaying what she's been through that she recounts her relationship to Harrow as a marriage--something she has almost no positive examples of, something that is in her experience frequently political and joyless. also notably, she frames it as a marriage that occurred before she died.

Their actual vow

what Gideon (and Kiriona) really wants--she tells us over and over again--is to be a true cavalier.

and what does Gideon's ghost repeat right before she devastates us with Ruth 1:17?

"One flesh, one end," said Gideon, and it was a murmur now, on the very edge of hearing. Harrow said, "Don't leave me." (GtN 438)

it's taken me a dozen paragraphs just to propose that this is their vow. "One flesh, one end" are the actual words that need to be spoken, in Gideon and Harrow's cultural context, to bring them into an official union with each other; a union that is arguably more fundamental in the Houses, and certainly more complicated, than a marriage. a union Gideon specifically wants, and has seen in action.

in the pool, they vow to each other as cavalier and necromancer. in the moments before Gideon's death, she forgives Harrow again, and exposes her heart: "'You know I only care about you,' she said in a brokenhearted rush" (GtN 430). then she repeats their oath again, acknowledges the pain she's about to cause for Harrow, and rededicates herself to the Ninth--a place she never really belonged, Harrow's home and people more than her own, as Ruth dedicated herself to Naomi's home and people. Gideon "married" her moron in the pool, and now she dies to fulfill that vow.

and as we saw above, after Gideon's death, she reminds Harrow again of their union--of its importance, of how she's fulfilling what she has interpreted to be her whole purpose as a cavalier--and it's in response to Harrow's "don't leave me" that Gideon offers a final reassurance of her devotion. in her mind, this sacrifice is its ultimate expression, the most inextricable and undeniable union two people can achieve.

Gideon believes she'll be part of Harrow forever.

#the locked tomb #the locked tomb meta #i stayed up way too late last night writing this

[asksythe]

I read your tweet on how Wei Ying’s Guidao is orthodox cultivation based on real Guidao and that it’s descended from Bashu witchcraft. I’m very interested in that. Can you elaborate on it? What parts of WWX’s Guidao are based on real-life folklore? I’ve also seen people talk about how his cultivation is bad because it locks souls in their dead bodies. That doesn’t sound too credible to me, but I don’t know enough to be sure. 

Hmm… I’m not sure what you want me to elaborate on exactly. It’s a lot of materials to cover. Dry materials at that.

In any case, Guidao 鬼道 (Path of the Dead, Ghost Path) is a real-life orthodox cultivation. WWX’s Ghost Path, aside from sharing the name, has two main aspects that draw directly from real-life basis: 1/ the summoning, nurturing, and utilizing of ghosts or wraiths (in the novel, those would be the ghost lady and the ghost child that killed Wang Lingjiao and Wen Zhuliu. In the Donghua, they are represented as ghost brides), and 2/ commanding fierce corpses.

These two aspects are drawn from two different sources.

I. Maoshan Sect’s Guidao:

As I mentioned in the tweet, the ghost path belongs to one of the three main fulu orthodox schools of Daoism: the Maoshan Sect (the other two being Quanzhen and Zhengyi)

The earliest mentions of Ghost Path are in Han and Jin history records as well as the Three Kingdoms: Zhang Lu biography texts. These texts talk of a Daoist named Zhang Lingzhi, whose Daoism is called Guidao 鬼道. Zhang Lingzhi taught the people the way of ghosts and dao and raised an army. His soldiers and generals were called ghost soldiers and ghost generals. Zhang Lingzhi’s Daoism was itself descended from Bashu ethnic group witchcraft. Zhang Lingzhi founded the 天师道 Tianshidao School.

(Citation: Sichuan Academy of Social Sciences - “巴蜀的“鬼道”如何变成了道教?” - How did Bashu’s ghost path become Taoism? http://www.sass.cn/912/default.aspx If you want to dig deeper, you can contact the academy directly for their research paper.)

Tianshidao School underwent several name changes over the year. To this day, they are known under the name (or descended, as some would say) Maoshan Sect in Jiangsu Province.

Maoshan sect has four major specialties: talisman, array, sorcery, and the nurturing of ghost familiars. After the cultural revolution, Maoshan sect lost a lot of its scriptures and relics. But it has been around for literally thousands of years. So there are still things there. It’s not the titan it used to be, but it’s still very much a cultural icon. There are numerous movies, books, and games that draw from Maoshan history and legends. One of them happens to be a movie cited as MXTX’s inspiration for aspects of MDZS in the recent Subaru magazine.

(Mr. Vampire, the movie cited in Subaru magazine features the adventure of a Maoshan Daoist)

II. Tujia 土家族 ethnic group’s stiff corpse driving sorcery - Hunan:

The other aspect of WWX’s ghost path: the commanding of dead corpses by a warlock. In the same Subaru interview, MXTX also talked of folk legends of Jiangshi (stiff corpse, or commonly translated as Chinese hopping vampire) serving as the basis for her fierce corpse, ranging from things like general abilities, toxicity, and tricks like using rice gruel to cure their poison.

Jiangshi has been around since the Ming dynasty, but tales of warlock with the ability to command them originate from the Tujia ethnic group in Hunan.

A jiangshi warlock process the corpses, plaster them with paper talismans to restrain their ferocity, tie them in a row, and leads them using a bell that the warlock continuously rings.

(Hoppy hoppy! It's edgiest conga train!)

Well, I don’t think I need to point out the similarity between the real-life Tujia warlock and WWX’s corpse commanding ability.

This specific sorcery was created in a time of war, when young men died in far-off lands. Their families, wanting to bury them in their home soil, would pay a warlock to go fetch their corpses and walk these corpses all the way back to their home province.

These legends might seem very fantastic but the corpse walking part is a very real job that still existed until the last 50 years. It’s featured in Liao Yiwu’s real-life journalism record “The Corpse Walker”

(It's a really thrilling read. I got the physical copy over 13 years ago while I was in my last year at university. I recommend it.)

III. How does Tujia warlock (and WWX) supposedly command corpses?

Regarding the whole, did WWX lock people’s souls inside their dead bodies. Uh…. I don’t think so.

Why?

Because Chinese beliefs about souls are different from Western beliefs. In Chinese lore, a person has three souls and seven spirits (三魂七魄). The three souls represent the positive aspects of a person, with one soul literally being a divine spark. The seven spirits represent earthly taints and degradations and are bound to the body. When a person dies, the three souls will go to the heavens, the next life, and the underworld, respectively. The seven spirits, on the other hand, dissipate after death after 49 days.

This belief is shared in other Sinosphere nations as well and is featured in other media franchises. If you read Inuyasha, you will remember the Jewel of Four Souls and the Four Souls concept being a close relative to three souls seven spirits. In Vietnam, there is folklore of Ba Hồn Bảy Vía and rituals on how to call a person's soul home.

It’s these seven spirits that create Jiangshi. If the spirits do not completely dissipate, the corpse turns into a Jiangshi, a literal life vampire that has only the worst aspect of the dead person and who is forever hungering for life energy. It is these seven spirits that a Tujia warlock (and WWX) controls.

When you have this context, you can put the creation of Wen Ning in a different perspective, and why is it that it's such a big deal he retains his consciousness as a corpse.

(Citation: https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%83%B5%E5%B0%B8/80733

#ask sythe #mdzs #mo dao zu shi #wei ying #wei wuxian #Ghost Path #Guidao

[pocarinapyon]

Happy Father's Day to the fathers, to those you consider fathers, and to those who will become fathers! 🤩

Speaking of fathers... 👑/🖥️ Just another random thought about the SAGAU / Reverse Isekai idea I had...

🌶️🌶️ What if the boys found out that they can stay in your world forever if they got you pregnant? Or in the case of the female characters, if they get pregnant? Like... They found some kind of scripture / ancient text / legend / whatever that says something about being able to retain themselves once they sire / bear your children (How many are children we talking about? IDK). Just imagine how eager the boys would be to get you pregnant!! 🤤🥵

So, again with my favourites!!

Starring : Albedo, Alhaitham, Childe, Kaveh (Separate)

Tags / Warnings : 🌶️🌶️ [Chilis] Actual seggs; The boys being obsessed with you; Petnames (if it bothers you); Contains stray cuss words; Usage of potions; A little dramatic in Kaveh's part; 👑/🖥️ [SAGAU/Reverse Isekai] Based on the SAGAU / Reverse Isekai concept linked below but spicy; Concept used if original / glitch varies

Links : Pinned Post, SAGAU/Reverse Isekai original concept, SAGAU/Reverse Isekai glitch concept, Anon's awesome concept about sleepmasks, 🌶️🌶️ JJ version A1(Albedo / Childe / Venti / Zhongli) Separate, 🌶️🌶️ JJ version Venti solo, 🌶️🌶️ JJ version A2 (Albedo / Childe / Venti / Zhongli) GangB., 🌶️🌶️ JJ version B1(Bennett / Diluc / Kaeya / Kazuha) Separate

Target audience is female (bodied) reader.

To whoever is reading, please enjoy.

---------------

Now just because Albedo was a homunculus doesn't mean he'd stop trying. In fact, he was even more inspired; even more dedicated to create new life inside your womb so he could be with you forever. As an artificial being, would he be able to get you pregnant? He wasn't sure yet but if he wasn't able to, he would find ways or die trying.

When he materialized in your room, he immediately drugged you into a deeper sleep. That way, he could experiment on you all night long without worry of waking you up and dematerializing back to Teyvat. And since he already fed you a slumber potion, why not go far as to give you something for your fertility and libido?

.

"Ahh...! My love, you're taking me so well. That's impressive," Albedo huffed as he pistoned his cock in and out of your abused pussy. "Ah...! Princess...!"

Albedo snapped his hips onto you and released another load of cum deep inside your already full womb. In turn, your slumbering body instinctively milked Albedo's manhood for more.

"Heh... Hehe... You really want it, don't you, my princess? I just love how you tighten around me and squeeze my cock," the alchemist sighed in contentment as he recovered from another orgasm.

"Ah, shit...! More... More! Fuck, you're so tight!" uncharacteristic cuss escaped from the Chalk Prince's lips. It felt so good to be buried deep inside you that the usually calm and poised Chief Alchemist couldn't help it.

White essence had long stained your sheets, an indication that Albedo had been assaulting you for a long time. But he wasn't done, no. He wanted to keep you as his beloved princess and if getting you pregnant was needed for this dream of his to come true, then he would gladly fuck you until your womb is full.

Alhaitham was probably the one who discovered the scriptures. Unfortunately, he was with a certain someone when he found out about the legend. It was a shame he couldn't stop the word from spreading. No worries. You usually keep Alhaitham active in your party so there was an insignificant chance his competitors could materialize in your world and get you pregnant.

Now that he was transported to your world, he must commence his plan. He stoically stared at your computer / Playstation (let's assume that's what you use to play) and carelessly unplugged the device, shutting it down abnormally. This made him glitch and stay in your world but only temporarily. Of course, he'd prefer to be in this state forever which was why he must proceed to the next step of his plan.

.

"Alhaitham, please stop...!!" your tongue was already lolled out while you plead for the virile scribe to be gentler with your wanton pussy.

"Oh? Don't act all shy and reserved now. You're clearly enjoying this because if you didn't-"

Alhaitham paused his movements and chuckled from seeing how your head quickly snapped in his direction. Your glossy eyes begged him to fuck you more and it proved just how much you wanted his cock.

"-well, you wouldn't be tightening around me and creaming all over me, right?"

"H - Haitham, you're being unfair...!" you cried from being on edge. "J - just make me cum already!!"

Alhaitham snickered before pressing onto your erected clit, making you squirm beneath his hard toned body. He did not move and only kept himself buried deep inside you while tinkering your sensitive little nub. The stimulation was enough to make you orgasm and convulse from the pleasure, milking Alhaitham and begging to be filled with his essence.

The Haravatat scholar knew how to push your buttons. Every time you masturbated to him, he observed you and etched in his mind how you wanted to be pleasured.

He also knew this won't stop you from playing Genshin Impact and using him as the main character. In fact, he assumed you would be more inclined to use him. You were a slut for him and giving you a taste of his sex would make you excited for more.

Now, all he had to do was to ensure you carry his child so he could make you his forever.

An interesting hearsay quickly spread across Teyvat. Word was if the active character that materialized in your world got you pregnant, they would be able to live with you in your world forever. Everyone became envious of the people who had the privilege of realizing this legend and one of these blessed people was the Eleventh Fatui Harbinger, Childe.

Childe couldn't help but feel giddily restless. Just the thought of seeing you pregnant and having a family with you made his cock stiffen in excitement. He wanted to knock you up so bad that he planned meticulously just to make sure you became his lovely wife.

.

"Aw, sweetheart. Don't be like that," Childe cooed at you. His hot breath fanned your ear as he whispered words that cajoled you deeper into depravity, "I know you want me to cum inside you. You feel that, right? How my cock twitches inside you and your pussy begs me to paint it white?"

"G - geez...! Fine! Today is a safe day anyway so I guess it's alright," you concurred. You then began to bounce on his cock once more, "Hehe~ Ah~! Make sure to cum tons, okay~?"

"Of course. Anything for you, my wifey," Childe responded in a husky voice.

"Hehe~ I can't believe you're actually letting me ride you on top today!" you chortled while grinding your hips to feel the Harbinger's hard erected manhood against your snug gummy walls. "Uwaaah~ this feels soooo good!"

With your sleepmask on, you failed to see the dark glint in Childe's eyes. He wanted to focus on your pleasure but it was hard to restrain himself from pinning you down and fucking your brains out. Like a bunny, you looked so adorable hopping up and down his cock that he wanted to make a mess out of you. But if it was true that you would have a higher chance of getting pregnant this way, then he would stop himself.

Patience is key as they say. He needed to tame his dark desires for now so he can reap the rewards later - and that reward was being with you forever.

The sappy architect's eyes glistened in delight. You mean there was a way he could stay with you forever? He could do something so that he wouldn't have to endure and make do with holding you in your sleep? If he got you pregnant, you would be his lover forever? What an interesting information indeed!

Kaveh stood in front of your bed, miserably debating whether to do this or not. His conscience ate at him. He loved you - he was obsessed with you - he wanted to be with you forever, but it was wrong to take advantage of you in your sleep. He sighed in agony and flopped beside you. And as if the higher beings heard his plea, your phone suddenly lit up and displayed a low battery alert before disappearing to reveal something interesting.

---------------

Kaveh smut. Tags: impregnation, cervix kissing, hard-core sex.

He wasn't sure if he could do hard-core but that was all the sign he needed to go with his original plan.

.

"N - nnh... You're so tight...," Kaveh whispered. He slowly dragged his cock deeper and penetrated you. "Mmh... Do you like that?"

Kaveh planted a kiss on your lips. He was being as gentle as he could in fear of waking you up.

"You're so gorgeous; nothing could compare to you. You are the embodiment of all that is beautiful," Kaveh praised you in a soft voice.

He continued to massage your snug walls with his veiny cock. A satisfied sigh escaped his chest when your warmth spasmed and clenched onto his manhood.

"Hehe. It seems you like this as much as I do," Kaveh mentioned with a proud smile.

He made love to you in the most romantic way. You were treated like a queen - a goddess who deserved all the love the world had to offer. Your pleasure was his priority, and he made sure to give every inch of you love and attention.

It was his first time doing this (with) to you, and he would be glad if he could have the chance to do more. All he hoped was for you to accept him should he manage to get you pregnant and stay in your world. After all, you were deprived of the privilege to decide if you wanted him or not.

Three among those four are triple crowned. Can you guess who's not triple crowned?

To whoever read this, thank you for your time. Here, have a pet bun-bun 🐇.

Again, happy father's day!!

Links : Pinned Post, SAGAU/Reverse Isekai original concept, SAGAU/Reverse Isekai glitch concept, Anon's awesome concept about sleepmasks, 🌶️🌶️ JJ version A1(Albedo / Childe / Venti / Zhongli) Separate, 🌶️🌶️ JJ version Venti solo, 🌶️🌶️ JJ version A2 (Albedo / Childe / Venti / Zhongli) GangB., 🌶️🌶️ JJ version B1(Bennett / Diluc / Kaeya / Kazuha) Separate

#Genshin Impact #genshin imagines #Genshin SAGAU #Genshin Reverse Isekai #Genshin Alhaitham #Genshin Childe #Genshin Tartaglia #Genshin Kaveh #Genshin Albedo #Genshin Smut #Genshin Alhaitham Smut #Genshin Childe Smut #Genshin Tartaglia Smut #Genshin Albedo Smut #Genshin Kaveh Smut

[wanderingsorcerer]

Incantation bowl

These wonderful bowls are beautiful and while not used anymore provide a snapshot into history and Babylonian Spiritual Beliefs

Originating from Ancient Mesopotamia, now the Middle East, they were popular in antiquity with the Jewish, Christians, and Ancient Babylonians in the Area. Over 2000 have been found in Archeological digs, bringing to light a popular folk practice of the time.

They work as protective charms which were thought to trap demons, the bowls were usually inscribed in a spiral, beginning from the rim and moving toward the center. They were buried face down, commonly placed under the threshold, in courtyards, the corner of the homes of the recently deceased, and the entrance to graveyards.

Important Wikipedia Excerpt

A subcategory of incantation bowls is those used in Jewish and Christian practices. Aramaic incantation bowls are an important source of knowledge about Jewish occult practices, mainly the nearly eighty surviving Jewish incantation bowls from Babylon during the rule by the Sasanian Empire, primarily from the Jewish diaspora settlement in Nippur. These bowls were used in magic to protect against evil influences such as the evil eye, Lilith, and Bagdana. These bowls could be used by any community member, and almost every house excavated in the Jewish settlement in Nippur had such bowls buried in them. The inscriptions often include scriptural quotes and quotes from rabbinic texts. The text on incantation bowls is the only written material documenting the Jewish language and religion recovered from the period around the writing of the Babylonian Talmud. Scholars say that the use of rabbinic texts demonstrates that they were considered to have supernatural power comparable to that of biblical quotes. The bowls often refer to themselves as "amulets" and the Talmud discusses the use of amulets and magic to drive away demons.

The majority of recovered incantation bowls were written in Jewish Aramaic and while not commonly used anymore it is a cool folk practice that can be found branching across cultures.

Thank you for being here with me and having tea with me on the other side of the Great Divide :)

#occult #occultism #occultist #demons #ars goetia #solomonic magick #magick #witchcraft #folklore #folklorist #magi #magus #grimoire #grimoires #witch #witchblr #witches #witchythings #witchlife #pagan witch #Avatar #WanderingSorcerer

[venticuliao]

loose theory about temple of silence

im just basically grasping straws but its hoyoverse's fault for not offering lore crumbs 🗿

warning: mention of corpses

Cyno has a strong connection with death because of the Anubis inspiration from egyptian mythology, and we know the spirit is named after the syncretism (the practice of combining different beliefs) with greek god Hermes.

on that note, his name's possible etymology is also from greek, meaning dog.

coincidentally, dogs in zoroastrianism (ancient persian religion that a lot of sumeru's lore is based on) are associated with death in a positive sense as well. they guard the bridge where souls are judged before entering the afterlife.

Chinwad Bridge to Heaven is said to be guarded by dogs in Zoroastrian scripture, and dogs are traditionally fed in commemoration of the dead. Ihtiram-i sag, "respect for the dog", is a common injunction among Iranian Zoroastrian villagers.

in addition, dogs are considered to possess spiritual virtues in detecting and driving off daevas (demons), including that of the corpse matter demon Nasu.

in zoroastrianism belief, when a person dies their body is immediately possessed by this demon upon losing consciousness, and their corpse is therefore contaminated. if a living person comes into contact with it, they will also spend their entire lives spiritually contaminated (which is what dogs are used for in detecting and purifying it from the person).

for this reason, their funerary rites are conducted by two specific people instructed on the job, nobody else is allowed to touch the corpse.

zoroastrians believe the elements are sacred creations of their god, so burying, burning or throwing the contaminated corpses into rivers is prohibited. they instead have these two designated people transport the bodies to the top of a tower where scavenger animals will consume them over time. afterwards, the bones are hidden in the bottom.

They shall lay [the corpse] down on earth, over which the corpse-devouring dog or the corpse-devouring bird may certainly know him.

the name of this construction is Tower of Silence

the only information available about the Temple of Silence at the moment (besides the fact Cyno is affiliated to it and the staff knows Alhaitham) is this note found in the desert:

"by order of the Temple of Silence, all machines from Khaenri'ah shall be sealed in accordance with the Revelatory Monument's format"

using the zoroastrian tower as a parallel, and considering the contents of this note, maybe the khaenri'ah machines are under Temple of Silence's jurisdiction the same way the Tower of Silence stores corpses?

now on the realm of making shit up:

the term "Revelatory Monument" in chinese (说法处) and korean (설법처) seem related to buddhism, sort of like a place where the buddha imparted his teachings.

"temple" gives the organization a religious connotation, which is why the buddhism term might have been borrowed in the original text, so translating it as "revelatory" could have been done with the same intention (like bible revelations, the final book of the new testament). perhaps it means some kind of specific teachings or ?? a department with authority within the temple.

we know khaenri'ahns first used azosite (pure elemental energy) to power their machines, but then turned to abyssal energy which could explain why a specialized organization like the Temple of Silence would have to keep them under watch and seal their power.

if that's so, then maybe the so called Revelatory Monument "format" could be something like what Cyno used in the comic to seal the god in Collei's body.

and i mean since it's spoken words maybe alhaitham as a haravatat scholar has been involved in it idk maybe that's deshret script who knows

#genshin lore #genshin impact lore #cyno #temple of silence

[nahalism]

peace be unto you!

how do you hear the voice of your intuition or the most high? or divine messages? how do you trust your own decisions?

most times when i make decisions, i second guess it and always seek validation to solidify the final decision made by someone else. it’s making me lose my power and firmly believing in myself.

i have a degree in education but i’m not qualified to be a class teacher yet- because i have to retake my science gcses. that’s the last thing i want to do rn. but looks like that’s the only thing left for me to make my dreams of being a teacher come true. (i have so many dreams aside that btw). my family wants me to get my pgce. do i want it? yes but the process is long but not so long and i’m seriously not so ready for educational studies rn. mmmh.

i now have to cancel my flight to ja so i can just do this which in all, it will take me two years to complete everything :’(.

i had to type the latter part of the text for context. anyway !

no pressure in replying.

<3

<3 hey love. we all hear the voice, as you said, its a matter of recognising it and trusting it when it arises. i believe that when we ask questions, we get answers. whether we receive them or not depends on if we make ourselves available to see the signs and listen to what they are communicating to us. so the biggest help is setting intention to open that line of communication from you to you and doing the work to let that part of yourself be vulnerable with you — you must trust that you're a safe space to house and embody your deepest desires, that you wont judge yourself or denigrate yourself for what you truly want, and that when that voice makes itself known to you, you wont just listen, but will act on what it directs you to do.

a huge part of this is also working on your self esteem. if that inner voice shows you a vision of yourself beyond your belief of what you can be/what you can achieve, and you haven't done the work to heal things that tamper with your self image, you will doubt that vision and probably bury it deep deep down out of fear. — i say this as someone who is still doing the work and still combatting my own fears and self doubt. — so ill list some things/concepts i practice that really help me not just discern what to do but actually receive the fruits of that discernment :: ♡

1) all things are from god. so in order to find what is righteous & meant for you on your path, its helpful to identify by process of elimination. (knowing what is not for you helps you identify what is). to do this, i study. i read scripture & comb through multiple texts of different practices. do my best to be mindful of practicing what they teach me & do other things like mind the company i keep, what i consume (whether thats food, media, people, environments, substances). ive found that doing this feeds my mind & heart with those things i wish to draw closer to and so keeps me on track, accountable & strengthens my discernment.

2) i force myself to remember every time i felt bitterness or resentment because i had an instinct i didn't follow and 'missed out' as a consequence. it helps me understand the pattern of how i doubt myself, why i doubt myself & when that doubt comes in. it also helps me differentiate where that voice is coming from. is it inspiration or doubt? sometimes the inspired voice makes me feel challenged, other times it feels expansive. the doubting one usually feels minimising, or neutral/keeps me in my comfort zone.

3) i take account of all parts of myself i've quietened or all the times i silenced my inner voice to be 'dutiful' to others or fit into a mould that let me hide amongst the crowd/be easily accepted, then i put myself in those same situations or revisit them mentally to challenge myself to show up authentically in them or at least understand what that would look like. since i had taught myself over time to ignore or not even hear my intuition, i had to correct that habit by allowing my self to feel my feelings, be exposed, and face those situations and my fears authentically. this really helps when it comes to acting on what ur intuition tells you to do, & being tapped into urself in the midst of fear/discomfort.

if i can think of anything else ill reblog & add it but this is prob already long enough — all of this can be easier said than done so just know that if your heart is willing, help will find you to strengthen & direct you in ways that bridge the gap between where you are and where you want to be. no matter the obstacle that presents itself keep going forward. (ALSO THERE IS MORE THAN ONE WAY TO BE A TEACHER. unless your dream is to teach in a school (in which case ignore me) u may do well to consider other ways to teach? who knows, in 20 years the education system may not be what it is now)

i know this is super long hopefully it wasnt so long its unreadable. sending u my love. peace 2 u always <3

#ask

[cjoatprehn]

Happy Escapril! I hope everyone’s having a good day so far. I’m dropping my 3rd poem this month with @adventurerswritingguild third Escapril prompt combined with an AWG specific prompt from their lists! Day 3 is “Eye Contact” with “hand / god / knife.” I shocked myself once more with my writing. There was such emotion this nearly became a short story than just a poem. I channeled several songs and a Rick and Morty quote for inspiration.

Songs and Episode Playing:

Dynasty by MIIA

VILLIAN by Neoni

Freaks by Jordan Clarke

Randy McNally (No Love Like Christian Hate) by TX2

Heaven Was Full (I'm Headed Straight to Hell) by TX2

Step Over a Body by TX2

Rick and Morty S03E06: Rest and Ricklaxation

Trigger Warnings

Religious Imagery

Death mention

Biblical Scripture

Familial Abuse

Christianity Indoctrination

Animal Death Euphemisms

Zombies mention

If There’s (a) God…

By CJOAT

Will update with spoken poetry video later today. 👍🏽

9:01 PM: Updated with a clearer stitched screenshot with Alt text. Dropping the spoken poetry video below:

[#escapril Spoken Poetry] If There’s (a) God… by CJOAT for @adventurerswritingguild’s Escapril

Please leave a like and/or comment on my videos—it helps knowing I’m not getting buried and some people enjoy them.

For my work to cause such a viscerally deep reaction in a relatable or impactful way is my whole drive for creating. When I was younger, it was just to create things that mashed folks smile, like Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Night did for me. Now, since I’m aware of many difficult and often traumatizing concepts that folks go through but it kept being swept under the rug or shunned for any reason—I want my work to provide the space for discussion of the uncomfortable.

“Art disturbs the comfortable, and comforts the disturbed.”

That’s my main goal with my work. A driving force to not only comfort but build for better in society.

This deviated from the point of this update as it’s now 9:15PM; but I’m happy to have vocalized it. Today was rather turbulent, so I wanted to get it out.

#escapril #adventurerswrite #shyprompts #christianity mention #Eye contact #hand #god #knife #cult #poetry #wolf #sheep #undead mention #familial abuse #Christian indoctrination #religious trauma #religious imagery tw #death mention tw #biblical scripture #17th century #hudibras #animal death euphemism #Spotify #Youtube #neoni #tx2 #jordan Clarke #rick and morty #miia #writing

[santmat]

Hidden Christianity: Forgotten Scriptures, Ignored Saints, Misplaced Mystics

"Contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the Saints." (from the Book of Jude)

The Septuagint Greek translation of the Jewish scriptures, made for the Library of Alexandria, was literally "The Bible" of early Christianity, and it included several additional texts (Apocrypha) not found in other Bibles. A translation of it in contemporary English has been published.

Aramaic Was the Language of the Original Jesus Movement: There are impressive Aramaic-Syriac manuscripts of the New Testament that have been translated into English, and even older Aramaic-Syriac manuscripts of the four gospels. Discover the Peshitta, and the Old Syriac Gospels (Evangelion da-Mepharreshe) from Codex Sinaiticus.

Divine Light in the Dead Sea Scrolls: We next turn our attention to the Dead Sea Scroll discovery of Qumran, and hear selections of hymns (psalms) composed by the enigmatic prophet, who was the founder of this community in antiquity, known only as "The Teacher of Righteousness". Also mentioned is the Book of First Enoch, quoted by Jude in the New Testament, and a popular text at Qumran.

The Psalms of Early Christianity Are Back: The book where the Messiah perhaps for the first time begins to materialize, makes his first literary appearance in the first century A.D., is the Book of the Odes. This mysterious collection of ancient hymns written in Syriac, a dialect of the Aramaic language, has been described as "some of the most beautiful songs of peace and joy that the world possesses." These mystical poems and prayers remind me of Rumi and other Sufi poets. Sometimes I refer to the Odes as 'the would-be book of New Testament psalms', and I find the Odes to be a very spiritual book, one of the finest examples of a "lost book of the Bible" that got misnamed, misfiled and misplaced somewhere along the way. And, yes, it was viewed to be scripture in some places, such as Asia Minor, Syria/Mesopotamia and Egypt.

"The Lord has directed my mouth by His Word: he has opened my heart by His Light. He has caused His immortal Life to dwell in me, and permitted me to speak of the fruit of His peace — to restore the souls of those who desire to come to Him, and to lead a good band of captives into freedom." (Book of the Odes)

"Yeshua said, Come to me, for my yoke is easy and my mastery gentle, and you will find rest for yourselves." (Gospel of Thomas)

The Author of the Gospel of Luke Said "Many" Had Already Composed Gospels Before He Wrote His: We learn about Sayings Gospel Q, a collection of the sayings of Jesus. Quotes from it were included in several early Christian gospels. We also explore a translation containing over twenty gospels and surviving fragments of gospels from the early centuries A.D.

The Gospel of Thomas, A Wisdom Gospel or Gospel For Contemplative Mystics Seeking A Present-Tense Kingdom of God Here and Now: The Gospel of Didymus Jude Thomas the Twin, a collection of the sayings of Jesus, went missing for almost two millennia until three copies of it were almost miraculously discovered several decades ago: two sections of it written in Greek found at Oxyrhynchus, Egypt, and a more complete edition in the Coptic language discovered near a monastery not far from Nag Hammadi in Upper Egypt buried under the sands of time in a clay storage jar. This important lost book has been found again. Practically predicting it’s own rediscovery the book of Thomas says: "Know what is before your face, and what is hidden from you will be revealed to you. For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor anything buried which will not be raised." (Saying Five) Also mentioned is the possible inclusion in the Gospel of Thomas of a few sayings of Yeshua from another early Christian scripture known as the Gospel of the Hebrews.

If You Don't Want Your Saints and Mystics, We'll Tak'em! In the West, they might not be known, are not usually quoted, and their names are never spoken. Today we remember a few of the "orphan" saints and "homeless" mystics of Christianity, including those from the almost unknown community called "The Church of the East". Shared are excerpts from the out-of-this-world prayers of Joseph the Visionary.

This Spiritual Awakening Radio podcast includes a list of recommended reading: translations of the scriptures referring to above, anthologies of apocryphal writings, and also mentioned is the book, Disciples, by Keith Akers, a scholarly, rather thorough and impressive documentation of the vegetarianism of the Jesus Movement (Ebionites or Hebrew Christians).

Podcast: Hidden Christianity: Forgotten Scriptures, Ignored Saints, Misplaced Mystics -- Fragments of a Faith Forgotten -- Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcast: https://youtu.be/uMjTEDdllHI

In Divine Love, Light, and Sound, James Bean Spiritual Awakening Radio https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

#hidden christianity #christian mystics #christian mysticism #apocrypha #dead sea scrolls #Aramaic #greek #odes of solomon #gospel of thomas #christianity

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

Christopher Hitchens on Islam

I can't shake what I heard, saw once on the BBC from someone whose career in London I followed. Don't know if you know him, you wouldn't like him: Anjem Choudary. A very well-known noise maker around London, complaining about secularism, Judaism, this kind of thing, been trouble with the law a few times.

And was interviewed on BBC, went on about how nothing would change until the green flag of Islam was flying over Downing Street and Buckingham Palace, and so forth.

And was asked, I thought quite mildly by BBC interviewer, said, well if this is the way you feel about Sharia, about the total Islamic rule, wouldn't you feel happier moving to a country where they already had it?

Which is a polite question, a rather cheap one, I mean, but still. Didn't prepare me for the answer, which Choudary looked straight at the guy and straight into camera, said what "makes you think this is your country?"

In Islam, humans have the right to govern human societies and manage the affairs of humans.

... until they are offered Islam.

As far as Islam is concerned, the world already belongs to Allah. And it’s not merely the case that only Allah may be worshipped (per the shahada), but also only Allah may rule. Humans can form their little governments and make their little rules while they don’t know better. Until Islam comes to save them from the tyranny of human laws, so they can be freed to submit to Allah instead, who is already in charge of everything, the people just didn’t know.

In theocracies like Iran, they don’t really “make” laws. All the laws, everything humanity will ever need has already been given to them by Islam. These theocratic governments don’t actually create laws, they find them in the scripture. Allah has already told them whether ringtones are haram or halal, his human agents just need to be pious enough to recognize his wisdom.

That’s why an Islamist lunatic like Anjem Choudary can deadpan say “what makes you think this is your country?” He already knows that it’s Allah’s land.

Well now, just you transfer yourself to Somalia last week.

A girl of 13, probably out for the first time unsupervised in her life. Things must have been very bad if she was allowed out without male supervision to begin with. But there's enough chaos to explain that. She's immediately pounced upon by a group of older men and very thoroughly raped and sodomized and beaten.

And she goes to the religious court for redress, and the religious court knows its business. And it knows its texts very well, and it says "we don't know that it's true what you say, that men abused you in this manner. But we can tell you've had sex. In fact, judging by your injuries, we can tell you've had a great deal of sex lately. But you're not married, so you're guilty of adultery."

So now, before your wounds have stopped hurting, you're going to be buried up to your waist in hot sand and laughing men will now take part in the only other cultural activity that gratifies the male sex in that part of the world, which is stoning that young woman to death.

The people who did this knew exactly what they were doing, and they were in perfect conformity with their holy books, and they absolutely do not believe that anything happens randomly. They are not under the illusion that heaven is indifferent. They're not under the illusion that we are biologically created, that we're here because of the laws of natural selection and random mutation. They don't believe anything of the sort.

They're utterly consoled by the idea that heaven intervenes and cares about every action, otherwise they wouldn't put themselves to the trouble of raping, torturing and murdering a thirteen-year-old whose last moments you might want to take just a few seconds to imagine.

#Christopher Hitchens #islam #islam is totalitarianism #totalitarianism #religion of totalitarianism #islamic supremacy #sharia #religion #religion is a mental illness

[athingofvikings]

A Thing Of Vikings Chapter 138: Deus Vult

Chapter 138: Deus Vult

Perhaps the most illustrative example of the difference between the orthodox nature of Christianity and the orthoprax nature of Judaism and Islam is the examination of their respective statements of faith, which structure their relationship with the divine.

In Judaism, the statement of faith is known as the Shema; found in the text of the Torah, it reads simply as, “Shema Yisrael, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Echad.” “Hear O Israel, The Lord is our God, The Lord is One.” In this simple passage, the nature of the Hebrew god is defined as being the Lord of the people of Israel, and a singular entity. While there is more to the text of the prayer in liturgical use, this single phrase is the structural core of the Jewish statement of faith in their god, their relationship to that deity, and that deity’s singular oneness. The rest of Jewish law concerns fulfilling the commandments of their Lord. No further professions of faith are strictly necessary beyond this, so long as the deeds and actions of the individual Jew stay on the path dictated by their deity.

In Islam, the statement of faith is known as the Shahada; found in the text of the Koran in various combinations, it also reads simply, “Ašhadu ʾan lā ʾilāha ʾilla -llāhu, wa-ʾašhadu ʾanna muḥammadan rasūlu -llāh.” “There is no deity but God, and I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of God.” In this simple passage, again, the nature of the Islamic god is defined as monotheistic, and being specifically the deity on whose behalf Mohammad acted as prophet. And while the formulation of the statement is not found precisely as-is in the text of the Koran, it is directly derived from it, and anchors the religious structure of the Islamic faith—they worship one singular god as Mohammad instructed them to, with the instructions being found in the text. Again, as another orthoprax religion, the instruction of faith is singular and focuses on singular points, with the rest of religious observance being defined by actions.

In contrast, Christianity, as an orthodox religion, has two statements of faith, the Nicene Creed and the Apostles’ Creed, both of which are lengthy, detailing the full beliefs of what it means to be Christian with twelve distinct articles of faith, in the Nicene Creed reading:

“I believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.

I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages. God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father; through him all things were made.

For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man.

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, he suffered death and was buried, and rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.

I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.”

In this text, the full orthodoxic nature of Christianity comes through, detailing the specificity of belief that makes one a Christian. Further, this statement does not come from the Christian holy texts, but was instead compiled centuries later at various religious councils, as the early Christian faith struggled to define itself solely through belief; even later, as the Apostles’ Creed came into general use, due to its shorter nature, significant portions of the statement of faith require inclusion…

—Divine Light Through The Gem Of Man: Studying The Many Facets Of The Holy, Waterford University Press, 1692

AO3 Link

#a thing of vikings #httyd fanfiction

[orthodoxydaily]

Saints&Reading: Saturday, october 28, 2023

october 15_october 28

VENERABLE EUTHYMIUS THE NEW OF THESSALONICA, MONK OF MT ATHOS (889)

Saint Euthymius the New of Thessalonica and Mt Athos, in the world was named Nicetas, and he was a native of the city of Ancyra in Galatia. His parents, Epiphanius and Anna, led virtuous Christian lives, and from childhood their son was meek, pious and obedient. At age seven he was left fatherless and he soon became the sole support of his mother in all matters. Having entered military service, Nicetas married, on the insistence of his mother. After the birth of a daughter, he secretly left home in order to enter a monastery. For fifteen years the venerable Euthymius lived the ascetic life on Mount Olympus, where he learned monastic deeds from the Elders.

The monk went to resettle on Mount Athos. On the way he learned that his mother and wife were in good health. He informed them that he had become a monk, and he sent them a cross, calling on them to follow his example. On Mt Athos he was tonsured into the Great Schema and lived for three years in a cave in total silence, struggling with temptations. Saint Euthymius also lived for a long time as a stylite, not far from Thessalonica, instructing those coming to him for advice and healing the sick.

The monk cleansed his mind and heart to such an extent that he was granted divine visions and revelations. At the command of the Lord, Saint Euthymius founded two monasteries in 863 on Mount Peristeros, not far from Thessalonica, which he guided for 14 years, with the rank of deacon. In one of these his wife and mother received monastic tonsure. Before his death he settled on Hiera, an island of Mt Athos, where he reposed in 898. His relics were transferred to Thessalonica. Saint Euthymius is called “the New” to distinguish him from Saint Euthymius the Great (January 20).

THE MONK MARTYR LUCIAN, PRESBYTER OF ANTIOCH (312)

The Hieromartyr Lucian, Presbyter of Antioch, was born in the Syrian city of Samosata. At twelve years of age he was left orphaned. Lucian distributed his possessions to the poor, and went to the city of Edessa to the confessor Macarius, under the guidance of whom he diligently read Holy Scripture and learned the ascetic life. For his pious and zealous spreading of Christianity among the Jews and pagans, Lucian was made a presbyter.

In Antioch Saint Lucian opened a school where many students gathered. He taught them how to understand the Holy Scriptures, and how to live a virtuous life. Saint Lucian occupied himself with teaching, and he corrected the Greek text of the Septuagint, which had been corrupted in many places by copyists and by heretics who deliberately distorted it in order to support their false teachings. The entire Greek text of the Bible which he corrected was hidden in a wall at the time of his confession of Christ, and it was found during the lifetime of Saint Constantine the Great.

During the persecution of Diocletian, Saint Lucian was arrested and was sent to prison in Nicomedia, where for nine years he encouraged other Christians with him to remain steadfast in their confession of Christ, urging them not to fear tortures or death.

Saint Lucian died in prison from many terrible tortures and from hunger. Before his death, he wished to partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ on the Feast of Theophany. Certain Christians who visited him brought bread and wine for the Eucharist. The hieromartyr, bound by chains and lying on a bed of sharp potsherds, was compelled to offer the Bloodless Sacrifice upon his chest, and all the Christians there in prison received Communion. The next day the emperor sent people to see if the saint was still alive. Saint Lucian said three times, “I am a Christian,” then surrendered his soul to God. The body of the holy martyr was thrown into the sea, but after thirty days dolphins brought it to shore. Believers reverently buried the body of the much-suffering Saint Lucian.

Saint Lucian was originally commemorated on January 7, the day of his death. Later, when the celebration of the Synaxis of Saint John the Baptist was appointed for this day, the feast of Saint Lucian was transferred to October 15.

Although he was only a priest, sometimes Saint Lucian is depicted in the vestments of a bishop. The Stroganov Guide for Iconographers was published in Russia in 1869, based on a 1606 manuscript. There Saint Lucian is depicted wearing a phelonion and holding a Gospel. He does not wear the omophorion of a bishop, however. Another handbook, the Litsevoy Podlinnik, states that Saint Lucian is to be depicted with the omophorion.

It may be that the Russians thought of Saint Lucian as a bishop because of his importance to the Church, and so that is how they depicted him. Similarly, Saint Charalampus (February 10) is depicted as a priest in Greek icons, and as a bishop in Russian icons.

Source: Orthodox Church in America_OCA

2 CORINTHIANS 3:12-18

12 Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech 13 unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away. 14 But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. 15 But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. 16 Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

JOHN 5:24-30

24 Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. 25 Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, 27 and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. 28 Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice 29 and come forth-those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. 30 I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.

#orthodoxy #orthodoxchristianity #easternorthodoxchurch #originofchristianity #spirituality #holyscriptures #gospel #bible #wisdom #saints

[trudith]

My Invaluable Treasure

Scripture Text: Ephesians 2:1-13

Definition of Invaluable - according to the online Merriam Webster dictionary, something is invaluable when it is valuable beyond estimation, i.e. priceless. It goes on to say, that the word invaluable describes something so precious that one cannot assign a price to it.

Just the thought of this makes me joyful. Now, how do we care for something of great value to us? Do we just put it down in any random place, or do we have a specially designated area for it? Do we allow it to get dusty or dilapidated, or do we polish it and do what we can to make sure it remains in pristine condition.

Imagine the Imperial state crown worn by the royal family in Britain, now worn by King Charles, passed down to him through the years. It must be the most significant relic to him, based on the fact that it signifies that he is the king of Britain and the commonwealth. That crown is not kept on his bedside table or the vanity in his chamber. When not in use, the Imperial State Crown is on public display in the Jewel House at the Tower of London, under armed guard.

Back in the day when we'd watch films where treasure was found, we notice that the treasure was usually locked in a heavy chest with a huge lock to ensure that the treasure couldn't be washed out at sea or be subject to damage of any kind.So we have a basic understanding of how we treat things we deem valuable and have laid a foundation for where we want to go. Let us now look at the treasure we have in our possession.

Because of the shed Blood of Jesus Christ we can boast that our lives were never the same; we became rich, when we repented of our sins, and were buried with Him in water baptism (in the name of Jesus Christ) and we were taken to an even higher level we received the Holy Spirit in our souls that will lead us in all truth, a wonderful “treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. (2Cor. 4:7)”.

Our salvation should be our invaluable treasure! Our diplomas, our degrees and other certificates are good while we occupy until the Lord comes, but it's our salvation that will take us beyond our occupation on Earth. It is appointed unto man once to die and after that comes the judgement, so we have to ensure that everyday we are maintaining our salvation. We have to ensure that we are connected to the true vine which is Jesus Christ. This is how we get life...if we are separated from the vine, we as the branches will wither and die from a lack of substance. Our lives will become meaningless and we'd be full of regrets. Regret and guilt go hand in hand and that leads to misery, sadness, depression and so on.

Maintain your treasure wherever you go. Some of you have just started university, some are continuing high school, maintain your faith, maintain your belief in Jesus Christ and the truth, don't be quick to accept any other belief system. Don't be quick to hand over your treasure to the pirates we encounter in our lives. You must be willing to fight for it. We are charged to earnestly contend (fight) for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. There is ONE Church, which speaks to the reason why we are admonished to earnestly contend for the Apostles (Apostolic) doctrine (the faith). Ephesians 4:4-6 reiterates this, " There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

Always pray and ask the Lord to cover your mind when attending religious-based classes and clubs, because some of these teachers and other students are crafty and have devised ways to indoctrinate those who are unaware of their schemes. Stand up for what you believe in. Girls, don't shun wearing your skirts to school, this is how the Lord will use you to tell someone about Him and to share the Gospel message. When someone asks you if you don't wear pants, it's now easy for you to say, I'm a Christian, I go to an Apostolic church, we believe in baptism in the Name of Jesus Christ and females don't wear pants. If they laugh or say mean things after that, its fine, at least you got to share in brief about the Gospel and chances are, you'll get another opportunity to say more to that person. That person will probably tell their friend what you said, when they come, repeat what you said and add more if time allows. Who knows, they may go home and share this with their relatives and that makes you a trendsetter, you would have started something powerful by planting a seed for the Lord to water.

Males, I have not forgotten you. When the guys introduce you to certain topics, you too have the perfect opportunity to say that you are not into that kind of thing and state the reason why. Tell them straight up that church is your thing and that you're on a different level. Someone is going to ask what you mean. Don't be afraid to start a trend, tell them you're baptised in Jesus name and you don't do certain things.

How do you feel when you lose something or someone we deem as valuable? It's not the best feeling. As it is in the natural, so it is in the spiritual, if we sell out our treasure that we have sought after for so long, how do we survive? The prodigal son wasted his money, how did he end up. If he didn't come to his senses, he would have died out there. When we see others out there, seemingly flourishing, kindly note that what you see is temporary, your treasure is eternal. Matthew 6:19-20 reminds us, Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal, But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. Don't be like those who have sold out their treasure to fit in with the World. Sometimes they are craving the peace they once had, the sleep they once had, the joy they once had, but feel so ashamed. Learn from these situations, don't make them your own.

Our treasure is being targeted by the enemy of our souls every day. But don't hand over your treasure. What did Naboth, Job and Daniel have in common? These 3 men decided that they would not yield their treasure to the enemy. Naboth refused to sell his land to Ahab the evil king. He lost his life standing up in his conviction, but that makes him a hero. He did not get flustered or distracted by who was asking him to give up his land, so we too must stand up for what we believe in. When Job was challenged by all his losses and his skin condition, he was told to "curse God and die" by his wife, but Job's faith in the Lord was unwaivering, nothing could shake it. Daniel was sent to the Lion's den because he refused to yield to the king's command, how could he forsake the precepts of his God?

Maintain your treasure, this hope that we cherish not in vain, the salvation of our souls.

#Apostolic #Truth #Bible #Scripture #Pentecostal #pentecostalism #Holy spirit #Worship #Jesus Christ #God #Sober #Religion #christians #Faith #faith in jesus #Health #Spiritual

[wanderingthedesertalone]

Finding and Identifying Archeological Antisemitism

It’s bewildering that seemingly intelligent men believe that Jews never were enslaved in Egypt when oral traditions, which do have some validity although not ultimately, and historic records demonstrate a Jewish population in a land where slavery was the norm. Certainly, like all immigrants, this migrant population was given, unless they came with coins in hand, less desirable career options, to understate the milieu of exiled Jews during the Middle to Ptolemaic periods of Egyptian history (2040–30 BCE). I will do my best to demonstrate that there was slavery in Egypt, which isn’t disputed, and Jews were among those who were enslaved.

It’s believed, in antisemitic archaeological circles, that there’s a lack of evidence for Jewish slavery in Egypt during the Middle (2000–1700 BCE) and Intermediate Period (1700–1550 BCE), the era that scholars believe that Exodus is making reference to(14). However, a dearth of findings doesn’t rule out Jewish slavery, this hypothesis can’t be disproved until there is concrete evidence to say that there weren’t any Semitic slaves in Egypt. The onus of this lays on scholars to prove inequivalently that lack of certain materials, that may yet to be unearthed, such as Judaic coins (I highly dispute the notion that slaves would have been buried with coinage or rituals object), demonstrates that there wasn’t an enslaved Jewish population in Egypt.

As a note, I’m not looking into anything later than 2000 BCE, the written record before this time has mostly, if it existed at all, been lost to the sand of time, not to mention this era may predate the ability for the Israelites to explore any further than Assyria and Mesopotamia.

If not slaves, what were Jews in ancient Egypt? Free and dangerous. Unsurprisingly, many scholars are quick to believe that there was an influential Jewish population in Egypt during the Middle and Intermediate Period (1700–1550 BCE) who tried to overthrow the government, left with stores of gold in hand and returned to bring war upon the Egyptians but no Jewish slavery(17). These scholars come to this conclusion through the same method they claim to be inaccurate, a few written records, namely Exodus 12:36 and the Histories of Manetho. However, The Torah isn’t our guide as to the facts, merely a pointer in the right direction. I would be remiss to base any evidence solely on the Torah, a document that is flawed by generations of a game of telephone, before scribes wrote the passages down, and a mixture of magico-folklore and historical record. Scripture alone, to the chagrin of many Rabbis, can’t be solely relied on as proof of slavery in Egypt, research must use the art of synthases. Returning to the point at hand, this notion echoes of 1860’s America, freed black would become the Black Brute, lurking in the shadows and waiting for any opportunity to inflict violence on the white man or foster the fall of civilization.

What if the Torah is completely inaccurate or outright lying about the exodus from Egypt? It’s noted that passages that refer to Exodus were written hundreds of years after the fact. For instance, Song of the Sea, one of the oldest passages in the Torah that refers to the Exodus was written around 1000 BCE(3), yet, the Exodus is considered, by Jewish historians, to have happened around 1400(14) BCE. Four hundred years is a long time for a story to evolve, however, the natural evolution of folklore doesn’t imply lying on part of the culture that retells that story nor does it imply that that specific narrative is void of truth. There’s been many cases where a piece of text that remains in the collective unconscious has been used to find the truth it hides, notably, the Gullah people of South Carolina identified their African roots through a funeral dirge.

Most importantly, even if Jews are wrong about their sojourn in Egypt, they aren’t, no ill intent is implied.

What about an alternative theory to a monolithic exodus? Although I don’t doubt Semitic slavery occurred in Egypt, I, for one, don’t believe that 600,000 Semites exited Egypt at once. Slavery was, and continues to be in countries like Mauritania and Saudi Arabia, ongoing in the region and perhaps exodus happened in waves. In the Jewish collective unconscious these waves are recollected and cause an insistence that exodus was a monolith and happened in 1400 BCE. It could be that the Song of the Sea refers to one wave and other passages refer to other waves in the continual Semitic exodus, something that, in many ways, continues until this very day. Yet, this is purely a hypothesis.

Something that rarely comes in up these discussions is that Jews were, according to a number of tablets and papyri like the Lachish relief(25), Sennacherib’s Annals(27), Nebuchadnezzar’s Chronicles(25) and ETC enslaved in Assyria, a region that may have been conflated with Egypt due to the plastic nature of folklores before scriptures were committed to tablets or papyri becoming cannon and the habit of scribes accidentally copying the notes of Rabbis into scripture or other mistakes that can alter Hebrew. Simply, Rabbis may have scribbled notes in the margins of scrolls comparing events and those notes could’ve been copied into later addition of scripture binding what was previously known to be waves in exodus into one event. This doesn’t suggest that Jews never were enslaved in Egypt, just that

The aforementioned tablets and papyri were written between 700–400 BCE, much after scholarly consensus on the date of The Exodus. Considering these events happened after The Song of the Sea had been committed to tablets and papyri, it certainly couldn’t have been what the author was referring to when they wrote this portion of scripture. Despite Rabbis attesting that the Torah was written at once by Moses, it’s an anthology of writing and some Linguists have noted that, based on the various ways in which YHWH is spelled in manuscripts of Exodus, portions of it could’ve been written as recent as 750 BCE(28).. It could be that Jews were enslaved in Egypt as well as other places and Exodus, existing in many iterations prior to the Council of Jamnia, the council that set the writings of The Torah in stone, combined a number of writings from different times and authors to construct the text. The fact is, folklore is plastic and dates details change over retelling of a narrative. Nonetheless, an outright denial of Semitic slavery in Egypt remains an act of antisemitism.

So, what is the point of going against scripture to find evidence of a downtrodden Jewish population in Egypt? And, I am aware that I’m bucking the system with these theories. It’s not that I strongly desire that my ancestors were enslaved idol worshippers, I simply desire to establish that it’s antisemitism that blinds archaeologists from considering the evidence. Without a doubt, contextual evidence suggests that Jews were among those enslaved in Egypt, giving credence to the fact that a Semitic people hail to the region and possess ancestral rights to land.

Upon examination, it’s easy to see antisemitism brewing among those who work with histories of the region, whether they be archaeological, religious or socio-political figures, so many organizations attempt to silence any talk of Jews legitimately making claims of homestead to the Middle East, Asia or North Africa. The plain fact is that even among members of the UN:

“Israel routinely faces more criticism and condemnation at the United Nations than any other country, including those that systematically kill their citizens or deny them the most basic human rights. Even today, both the [UN] General Assembly and Security Council continue to pass one-sided resolutions that single out and condemn the Jewish State(22).”

Not to mention, an overwhelmingly powerful bloc of Arab nations promotes a slanderous docket meant to isolate Israel that has met little resistance. What influence the politics or the region have over archaeological inquiry is yet to be discovered. However, influence over the general western zeitgeist can be seen in a shift in the ways in which Israel is portrayed in media(8). Jews are considered the oppressor and Palestinian and Muslims the oppressed. Certainly, this is cause for cognitive bias among archaeologists.

To be clear on the subject of the widespread subjectivity of Jews in Egypt when it comes to archaeology, especially when it comes to the past there’s not much we can be sure of, neither history nor the archaeological record can exist unadulterated by politics and human perception. The entirety of our knowledge of historical events is filtered through human interpretation and politics. As many have noted, the winners write the history books. In the milieu of 2023 all sympathy goes to the Islamic world, so much so that geopolitical histories have been revisioned, by many, to exclude Jews as the inhabitants of their homeland, demonstrating that antisemitism has become the norm. Or, as Alexander Cudsi, Professor Emeritus on Middle East Politics states “history finds no evidence of any people, race, tribe or culture known as Palestinian who attempted at any time to reclaim any lost land to any domestic or foreign colonizer. The anthropological miracle called the Palestinians only came into existence in the 1960’s.” Today’s Palestinians are invaders from Greece and the Philistines, not an indigenous group who predated the Canaanites(2). These invaders first arrived in the region around 500 BCE. Despite this, the narrative and general zeitgeist, at least among westerners, has shifted. Nowadays, Palestinians have been granted the role of the oppressed and Jews the villains.

Archaeological antisemitism has been long in the works, so long it’s a reflex for many. Cudsi also notes that the The Roman Emperor Hadrian, after ransacking Jerusalem, believed that renaming the area after the Jews’ immortal enemy, the Philistines, would be the ultimate act of hostility(2). Yet, this fact has been intentionally forgotten, almost reflexively. It has been quietly swept under the rug that the region was renamed by a man who destroyed The Second Temple, banned circumcision and reading of the Torah(10) and possibly encouraged the migration of the Greek to the Palestinia as a means of erasing Jews from the archaeological record and memory. Why not, based on this washing of history, for political reasons, deny Jews were enslaved in Egypt as well as deny their right to a homeland? Antisemitism is so ingrained in the current milieu, those so inclined to believe that Jew weren’t enslaved in Egypt and consequentially have no right to lands in Israel never consider their actions or words to be those of hatred.

Originally, the attempt at removal of Jews from the archaeological record and denying rights to the region was enacted through destruction of toparchies (administrative districts made up of central towns and the rural areas surrounding them, a system that dates back to the reign of King Solomon)(19), razing of The Second Temple and etymology. Yet, not even Emperor Hadrian was completely successful at this. The fact is thus, the typology of ceramic shards found in Palaestina, although there are few intact pottery shards, are glazed with Northwest Semitic epigraphy(26). However, this is ignored as a fluke in the archaeological record just like those papyri, written as inventories of slaves owned, are dismissed as too vague.

Findings of pottery shards in North America, for example, are used to identify which tribe inhabited the examined region. But somehow this, along with papyri and oral tradition, falls short when establishing Palestine as the Jewish homeland. Still today there are many who attest that Jews never inhabited the region and that the region had been inhabited by a non-semitic tribe called the Palestinians. A desire to completely remove Jews from the region, dating back to the time of Emperor Hadrian and continuing into the modern era of Muslim theocracies, denying Jews any claims to a homeland in the Middle East or North Africa, may be the original motivation behind archaeological antisemitism.

Most dishearteningly, antisemitism is perpetuated by today’s media. A growing Western love of all things Islam perpetuates this prejudice, as I’ve noted. This symptom, which without a doubt effects at least American born archaeologist, has been exacerbated by the Black Lives Matter movement, member of can be seen, during the protests of 2020, demanding that Jews who showed up to the demonstration as an act of solidarity “get the [expletive] out of here, this isn’t your fight, Revelation Two and Nine synagogue of Satan(16).” Hatred is casually baked into the western zeitgeist affecting archaeologists and everyone in equal measure. I, for one, have experienced both overt and covert antisemitism, made to feel as though I should apologize for being a “Zionist” to other members of my political party.

Despite an attempt to erase Jews from Egypt and the surrounding lands, pottery fragments found in Tell El-Dab’a were chemically derived from Palestine(20). The fragments dated to between 1663–1555 BCE and demonstrate that a population who hailed from Palaestina was at least in Egypt during the Intermediate Kingdom (1700–1550 BCE), if not enslaved, as merchants. It’s known that trade between Israel and Egypt has been going on since the beginning of the Middle Period, around 2000 BCE. To demonstrate, the tomb of the high priest Khnumhotep II depicts a Semitic traders bringing offerings to the dead(1). There isn’t much dispute of a Semitic population in Egypt during the Intermediate and Middle Kingdoms, history has, as a small consolation prize, awarded a consensus that the burial and religious practices of Tell El-Dab’a were influenced by Canaanites. I guess in the antisemitic mind it’s somewhat OK if Jews were there as long they were nothing more than Bedouin, if they were landowners or enslaved, they might have ancestral rights to the region’s land.

How did the majority of Jews end up in Egypt? I feel that the best answer is in the book Egypt and the Exodus. Some arrived as family units, some were brought to Egypt as captives, as indicated by Harris I Papyri (a document that calls Jewish slaves The Sea People and numbers them in the thousand), during the reign of Ramesses III. Most were exploited as a ready labor force in the Nile’s eastern Delta. Interestingly, The Harris I Papyri is undisputed, a document that accounts for 2000 slaves, yet archaeology continues to deny the existence of Semitic captives in Egypt(3). Too often, those who’ve lived in the dark refuse to see the light, the light, after such a long sojourn in the dark, hurts their eyes.

What’s most fascinating about the migration pattern noted in Egypt and the Exodus, which I find to be more plausible than Exodus’s account, all Jews in Egypt descending from Jacob (Exodus 1:1–1:3), is that the Jews entered Egypt in waves, among them were both free men and slaves, creating a socio-cultural system that contained both free and enslaved Semitic peoples. In sum, both arriving at and leaving Egypt happened in waves. Those who entered, entered for a number of reasons, both reputable and nefarious (ancient Jews were, afterall, human) and as various socio-economic classes.

This notion is certainly supported by Egyptian customs. Egyptian slavery is identified as corvée labor(29), a system in which a workforce is organized for specific projects from among the available people, which could include both locals and foreigners.

Although it’s debated whether or not Jews were enslaved during Egypt’s Middle (2000–1700 BCE) and Intermediate Period (1700–1550 BCE) there exists plenty of records documenting slavery in Egypt. According to Dr. Mark Janzen the Satire of the Trades outlines the dangers and misfortunes that accompany seemingly every occupation but that of the scribe.” Various phrases referring to a types of forced labor are found in the Satire:

w Hr bAk.f (“drawn/made to work”),

w Hr bAk.f mni.ti (“made to work in the fields”),

tw.f m Ssm 50 (“beaten with 50 lashes” for a day’s absence), etc(23).

Although these terms don’t directly name Semitic peoples as slaves, possibly as a form of dehumanization or the fact that details about the lowest of socio-economic status are typically left out of the annals of antiquity (consider the burial practices of women in orthodox Islamic countries that continue till this very day). These terms do establish that there was slavery in Egypt during the aforementioned period. Interestingly, a reference is made to “Western Asiatics” in The Satire of Trades which is possibly a translation of Hyksos, Manetho’s term for Semitic peoples. There’s little to no dispute whether or not slavery occurred in the ancient world. It’s simply a question of where Jews enslaved there and why would anyone in this day and age care if they were.

The Hyksos(17), whose history was written down by the scholar Manetho, although hundreds of years after the fact, gives an alternate story of the Jews in Egypt. Manetho claims that the Hyksos established a capital in Tell el-Dabʿa, the eastern Delta and controlled the Nile Valley as far south as Hermopolis. Although this is most likely a revisionary history by an armchair scholar, most of the Hyksos personal names are west-semitic(17). However, this only states that names of Canaanite origin were known during the lifetime of Manetho, the reign of Ptolemy I. The only other point of interest in The Histories of Manetho is that early archaeological antisemitism can be seen. The document states that the Hyksos inherited their religion from a leprous Egyptian priest and insinuates that the Jews were the Black Brute of their day. Just as the Torah is disregarded as solid evidence, The Histories of Manetho should be as well, after all, they are merely a record of folklore.

Moreover, I’m not here to dispute the origins of Judaism, but in short, I’m certain that concepts were borrowed from regional folklore, Baalism and Zoroastrianism, not handed down by a sickly Egyptian Magi. Yet, there are some who believe that the tetragram YHWH originated with the Edomites, descendants of modern Jordan, and migrated to Israel ``Edomites split from the main body of Edomites, moved northwest, and became one of the tribes of the Israelites, taking their god YHWH and YHWH became the G-D of the Israelites(21). Although I find this disagreeable, I am certain that, despite biblical and Talmudic edicts against it, Jews of antiquity practised exogamy(5) and adapted customs from other cultures along the way.

Lastly, The Brooklyn Papyri gives an interesting inventory of Asiatic slaves captured during war:

[O]f the seventy-nine servants presented in the list on the verso side of the Brooklyn Papyrus as belonging to a single owner, at least thirty-three were Egyptians(23)!

Taken as a whole, both native-born Egyptians and foreigners could be compelled into slavery. Yet, the trouble with defining a “slave” status in ancient Egypt and thus declaring concrete evidence of Jewish slaves is that there is no consensus as to the precise legal statuses of those called “slaves/servants” (Hm.w) or “workers” (bAk.w)(23). Just as women in conservativity Islamic countries are buried in unmarked graves, those without rights weren’t often described in depth in legal documents, legal documents typically boiling down to ‘a nameless slave was sold to so and so.’

Aside from circumstantial evidence, what proof of Jewish slavery do archaeologists intend to find in the Egyptian sands? What would be concrete evidence? Archeologically speaking “any notice of slavery was done through historical written records. It was believed to be the only way of seeing slavery, that there was no way to know that slaves existed unless you knew they were there. Ropes deteriorated over time, and chains were often repurposed(11),” not to mention, the sands of Egypt are a monster with a voracious appetite, the pyramids were engulfed by sand for thousands of years. Moreover, the desert may be an excellent environment for preserving papyri, but so much is lost beneath the sand and anything of value was pillaged by the intermediate years between burial and archaeological excavation. What remains in the ground are objects that most considered to be useless or cursed. Finally, the places in which Jewish slaves inhabited, the east bank of the Nile, was prone to seasonal flooding, water, like sand storms, is a destructive force that man is useless in fighting against.

If any artefacts of Jewish slavery remain, where would they be found? The setting described in Exodus is most likely Egypt’s east Delta, on these fertile grounds, the Nile floods yearly. Although, as I mentioned, the desert readily preserves objects, even naturally mummifying the dead, the shores of the Nile do not. Perennial flooding destroys almost everything not buried. Moreover, the area has no source of stone, and mud-brick structures, the kind that would’ve housed slaves, fortified merchant tombs and were used to make storehouses, melted back into the mud and silt from which they were formed(9). Besides the lack of available material, slave quarters, as they are globally known to be, wouldn’t have been made of lavish or durable materials. Heavy limestone was used to construct pyramids, not the houses of peasants. At best, archaeologist may find hearths, sacrificial pits or other circumstantial evidence that more than anything else points to habitation along the east banks of the Nile or scrolls, like the Papyrus Bologna 1094, from the Ramissede Period (1292 BC to 1189 BCE). Papyrus Geneva D 187(30) tells how two workers fled their taskmaster because he beat them. On its own, not the most compelling evidence. Moreover, due to damage, the papyrus is largely unreadable, but some speculate that it is referring to Semitic slaves. All in all, it seems that little concrete evidence of slavery exists under the Egyptian sands. Worst of all, no other culture is expected to produce concrete evidence of slavery because asking for these artefacts is like asking for a shoehorn with teeth, it just doesn’t exist. But, this is the ever changing nature of antisemitism.

Perhaps, graves of Jewish slaves are yet to be discovered, where DNA testing can be conducted, but slaves may have been thrown into the Nile as a final insult. For these reasons, and the repurposing of tools of slavery along with pillaging of graves (though slaves were most likely not buried with tools or ritual items if they were buried at all) no physical evidence of slaves working along the east Delta is likely to have survived the ravages of millennia seasonal flooding and man’s need to repurpose objects that are no longer of use. I feel no need to defend the notion of continual repurposing aside from this one note, even temples in the region were recommissioned to serve new deities with the coming and going rulers and religious customs.

Besides, what trinkets were the Jewish slaves allowed, bits of cloth to cover their nakedness and a few Shekels? In 1981, Mauritania became the world’s last country to abolish slavery. But, it wasn’t until 2007 that the government passed a law allowing slaveholders to be prosecuted(7). Yet, the ownership of slaves continues to this very day. In this land, there’s an unknown quantity of slave graves. Perhaps, archaeologists should inspect the slave graves of Mauritania to find if the region’s downtrodden are buried with anything more than the clothes they were wearing upon death. My hypothesis is that the slaves are buried in shallow graves, against local Islamic custom, without the mandatory funeral shroud(12). At least no one denies that ex–slaves rest beneath the sand of Mauritania.

Why exhume the slave graves of Mauritania? Mauritania is relatively close to Egypt, shares a commonality in dialect of Arabic spoken (many speak Arabic in an Egyptian fashion), is known for burial rites as rich as those practised during the Egypt’s Middle Period (both regions are known for cultural heteronomy) and these peoples culturally and biologically share ancestry along with a long history of slavery with Egypt(15). Degraded peoples have little or no belonging and what they did possess may be lost to the sands of time. Looking at the slave graves of Mauritania will demonstrate that expecting to find concrete evidence of slavery is either an oversight by archaeologists or antisemitism disguised as a dilemma in archaeological practices. As noted before, archaeologically speaking, any notice of slavery has been gathered through historical written record, which, when it comes to Jews in Egypt, there is a plethora of.

Furthermore, to say that a lack of physical evidence of a denigrated people inequivalently proves that said people never inhabited the region or fell to servitude there is remiss. In fact, it seems counterproductive to not rely on both documentary and archaeological sources to find the remains of people who were treated as subhumans. As I’ve noted, remains might not have been interred with either the Judaic or Egyptian burial traditions. To reiterate, it’s a false sense of intellectualism and modernism that says that oral traditions have no validity and, although admittedly flawed, of no use in scientific inquiry. In man’s collective unconscious heroes become gods and exact dates become obscured but free men don’t become slaves. It is our human, and especially Jewish, nature to celebrate those, even if small, victories that have kept our ethno-religious group extant. After all, we are purportedly the founders of The Protocols of Zion and the murders of the only incarnation of the Abrahamic G-D. Thus being, we are villainized by all, including both of the dominant political parties of America (see Beri Weiss: How to Fight Antisemitism) and large portions of the Islamic world, we have more than enough reason to celebrate those small victories over those who wish another holocaust upon us. For a reference, apocryphal writings, those texts, like the Maccabean Revolt and Enoch, in which the Jews were victorious over an almost unstoppable force, in the above cases the force being a Roman invasion and death demonstrate that Jews, like all peoples, create heroes of the fallen not slaves. This just goes to show that among the downtrodden, formidable enemies may become nepheline, but again free men don’t become slaves in the annals of history, not when those free men control the narrative. There certainly wasn’t a global flood, as it’s said in the Torah, but a number of events noted in other folklores, notably, The Fires of Queensland have been demonstrably proven. There is a kernel of truth to Jewish slavery in Egypt, it’s contemporary media enforced antisemitism that continually denies this truth and resists further inquiry.

A piece of Gugu Badhun folklore, an Aboriginal people, has been passed down through 230 generations. A tape recording made in the 1970s documented an elder talking of a huge explosion shaking the land, followed by the forming of a massive crater. An acrid dust swept through the skies and if people walked into the haze, they were never seen again(6). It was later found that a meteor had struck Queensland and such a fire did occur. Is it just a coincidence that the Gugu Badhun mentions a fire and a fire occurred? I’m not here to say, but most oral traditions include tales of fire, famine and flood because throughout human history these events have occurred and these tales serve to warn that these events will occur again.

It is antisemitism that causes archaeology to find the folklore of Oceania and Asia as endearing and worth investigating, but dismisses Jewish oral traditions. It’s antisemitism that causes archaeology to declare that “there’s substantial evidence to suggest that the Gugu Badhun oral tradition is about an actual fire but Jewish slavery is a myth, when there is enough evidence to at least admit the possibility that among the inhabitants of Egypt there were both free and enslaved Jews and those Jews assisted in constructing large scale projects. Those who worked on these projects, granaries and palaces, may have been a combination of out of work farmers, free and enslaved Jews. For a project this size, this is a plausible explanation.

Transitioning from folklore to written text, Exodus makes two basic assertions, Jews were forced to make mud-bricks and they built “supply cities.” There exists documentation of forced Semitic mud-brick making, Louvre Leather Roll 1274(13), from the time of Ramses II, between 1279–1212 BCE, reads “Paherypedjet son of Paser is one of the brickmakers who fails to deliver his quota of 2,000 bricks.” This scroll predates Semitic references to Exodus, the oldest verse about the Exodus, The Song of the Sea, was written between 1125 and 1000 BCE. The date of The Song of the Sea was derived via textual considerations, the historical and cultural context presented in the hymn. This may not be the strongest piece of evidence, but as a piece of the whole, the fact that this does mirror the Torah, the inventories of Asiatic or Hyksos slaves and, murals that depict slave life in Egypt (especially those that present Jewish slaves as smaller than their Egyptian counterparts) and text that mention a Semitic forced labor population.

It must be antisemitism that causes an irrational denial of Jews being in the region and some of the Jew having been forced into labor. If they didn’t contribute to building the pyramids, which may have been nothing but a Hollywood trope and isn’t supported in scripture, it was other projects at least, palaces, storehouses and works made of, As Jews in Egypt were noted to work with, mud-brick. It’s no stretch of the imagination that texts that predate the oldest known portions of Exodus and collaborate with the Torah, combined with other evidence, stands as fairly sound evidence. It’s simply personal incredulity that causes archeologists to deny Jewish slavery in Egypt with absolute certainty.

The second assertion of Exodus 1:11, as mentioned above, is that the Jews must build supply cities. Archaeologists had been puzzled by the potential location of the biblical supply city, properly known as Pithom, until it was identified by E. Naville. The city is just as expected to be, a group of granite statues representing Rameses II standing between two gods, a city wall encircled the compound, a ruined temple and the remains of a series of brick buildings with very thick walls that contained rectangular chambers of various sizes and opened only at the top and without any communication with one another were unearthed at the site(18). However, archaeologists continue to refuse to find this compelling evidence on the grounds of lack of implements of slavery, this is simply antisemitism, again, what would they expect to find? Shackled remains holding a shekel?

Evidence like The tomb of vizier Rekhmire, circa 1450 BCE, shows foreign slaves fashioning bricks for the workshop-storeplace of the Temple of Amun at Karnak in Thebes as well as building a ramp. They are labelled “captures brought-off by His Majesty for work at the Temple of Amun(9).” Yet, antisemitism continues to act as a blinder in the archaeological community. Even more textual evidence, The Harris Papyrus I, a writing from the reign of King Ramses III, during the Middle Period reads:

“I brought back in great numbers those that my sword has spared, with their hands tied behind their backs before my horses, and their wives and children in tens of thousands, and their livestock in hundreds of thousands. I imprisoned their leaders in fortresses bearing my name, and I added to them chief archers and tribal chiefs, branded and enslaved, tattooed with my name, their wives and children being treated in the same way(3).”

The author refers to the conquered people as the Sea People. They are those who hail from Israel. It’s not just scrolls and folklore that indicate Jewish slavery in Egypt. As I’ve noted, pottery fragments found in Tell El Dab’a are of Palestinian origin, murals depict Semitic slaves and a recent discovery, a mass grave, may contain the remains of Jewish slaves.

In Akhenaten’s City, two biblical era workmen mass burial grounds have been unearthed, the South and North Tombs Cemeteries. The graves contain youths of 3–25 years old and “paint a picture of poverty, hard work, poor diet, ill-health, frequent injury and relatively early death,” stated Archaeologist Mary Shepperson. The South Tombs Cemetery has almost no grave goods for the dead and only rough matting used to wrap the bodies, exactly what one might expect to find in the graves of Semitic slaves. However, the origins of the inhabitants of these tombs are debated, but the debate is one of the most transparently antisemitic arguments for not investigating if the remains are of enslaved peoples. Shepperson stated that as far as I’ve seen, the inhabitants of the tomb are heterogeneous, the type of population one might find in a metropolitan, according to bone structure, so none of the interred could be of Jewish descent(4). This just goes to show how blinded even archaeologists are by their biases. In the end, only DNA testing can inequivalently determine origin. Sure, Anthropology, by examining skull bones may take a stab at a person’s origin, but it’s not a perfect science and the results, especially in this instance, may be obscured by interpreter bias.

Pottery fragments, oral tradition, papyri and murals made for pharaohs all attest that Jews were enslaved in Egypt. When combined with the writings of Manetho, we see that there was a socio-economic system that contained both free and enslaved Jew in Egypt between 2000–1000 BCE. Why would any intelligent man who is able to extrapolate data based on synthesizing findings deny there were Jewish slaves in Egypt along with the free, those who either lead a revolt or simply left with gold and silver, I can only attribute to the antisemitism the began with Emperor Hadrian and continues, through the media, to be disseminated until this very day. It seems that fools will only coincide to an enslaved population in Egypt if shekels and shackles are found, two things most likely pillaged and reused, not the type of artifacts left in the unceremonious burials of second class citizens. Most frustratingly, this is not the standard applied to other cultures when it comes to proof of historical servitude.

One final piece of evidence of Jewish slavery in Egypt is the presence of a four room house(3), dating back to Ramses III or IV, built in a Jewish style. However, I don’t find this as compelling as others do. Architectural styles change and the genesis of an aesthetic may pop up in several cultures at about the same time, notice how many cultures claim “we invented the number zero.” Yet, I do find documents like The Harris Papyrus I to be undeniable proof of Jewish slavery in Egypt. Unlike other writers, the author of this papyrus had no intention of telling a good story, it’s simply an inventory of what Ramses III believed to be his, thousands of Semitic slaves. Those who deny the proofs either have something to gain by it or themselves are slaves to the media which has been on a smear campaign since the time of Emperor Hadrian.

Was there an enslaved Jewish faction who were compelled to build the storehouses of mud-brick. I’m sure there were. Were there Jews who led a rebellion against the Pharaoh, I’m certain that this happened as well, although they were freedom fighters not villains not the villainous murderer, intent on grabbing as much power and gold as they can, that Manetho makes them out to be . Most likely, just as there were free Blacks and enslaved blacks before 1865 in the US there were both enslaved and free Jews in Egypt.

As I’ve noted, folklore makes everything bigger. The role of a storyteller is to tell a good tale, not accuracy and so when looking into the past through folklore we must carefully pull apart the feasible from the magical. I do believe that we’ve broken down the facts and established that Jews were compelled into labor in ancient Egypt. In the end, the Jewish collective unconscious recollects waves of entering and exiting Egypt, conflating these collective memories with the story of exodus. However, it’s archaeological antisemitism, caused by a long history of politically based hatred, that causes the archaeologist to outright dismiss that Jews were ever enslaved in Egypt.

Bibliography

1 Articles de Presse. (n.d.). ARCHEOLOG-HOME /INDIana-UNIversitas. http://www.archeolog- home.com/pages/content/were-hebrews-ever-slaves-in- ancient-egypt.html

2 Baum, P. (2021, October 22). History finds no evidence of any people, race, tribe or culture known as Palestinian. BLiTZ. https://www.weeklyblitz.net/opinion/history-finds-no-evidence-of-any-people-race-tribe-or-culture-known-as-palestinian/

3 Bietak, M. (n.d.). Egypt and the Exodus.

4 Borschel-Dan, A. (2017, June 9). In ancient mass graves, archaeologists find child slaves of biblical Egypt. Times of Israel. https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-ancient-mass-graves-archaeologists-find-child-slaves-of-biblical-egypt/

5 Bryn Mawr Classical Review. (n.d.). https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2002/2002.07.37

6 Cadet-James, Y., James, R. P., McGinty, S., & McGregor, R. (2017). Gugu Badhun: people of the Valley of Lagoons. In Aboriginal Studies Press eBooks. https://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/49419/

7 Campbell, G. B. F. J. (2016, October 14). The State of Slavery in Mauritania. Council on Foreign Relations. https://www.cfr.org/blog/state-slavery-mauritania

8 Cornish, A. (2021, May 21). Liberal American Attitudes Are Starting To Shift On Israelis And Palestinians. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2021/05/21/999241551/liberal-american-attitudes-are-starting-to-shift-on-israelis-and-palestinians

9 Dospěl, M., & Dospěl, M. (2023, June 7). Pharaoh’s Brick Makers — Biblical Archaeology Society. Biblical Archaeology Society -. https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/ancient-cultures/ancient-egypt/pharaohs-brick-makers/

10 Hudson, M. (n.d.). What was Hadrian’s relationship with his Jewish subjects? Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/story/what-was-hadrians-relationship-with-his-jewish-subjects

11 Kmulvehill. (2017a, April 24). The Archaeology of Slavery | Real Archaeology. https://pages.vassar.edu/realarchaeology/2017/04/24/the-archaeology-of-slavery/

12 Lagdaf, S. (2017). The cult of the dead in Mauritania: between traditions and religious commandments. The Journal of North African Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/13629387.2016.1269230

13 Leather Scroll: Quota for Brick-making, 1274 BCE : Center for Online Judaic Studies. (n.d.). https://cojs.org/leather_scroll-_quota_for_brick-making-_1274_bce/

14 Marotta, K. (2020, October 19). When did the Exodus happen? https://www.wednesdayintheword.com/when-did-the-exodus-happen/

15 Mauritania | History, Population, Capital, Flag, & Facts. (2023, May 24). Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/place/Mauritania/Plant-and-animal-life

16 New York Post. (2020, October 29). BLM mob violently chases Jewish men showing ‘solidarity’ at Philadelphia protest | New York Post [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1bBmeagZAI

17 Pinpointing the Exodus from Egypt. (n.d.-a). Harvard Divinity Bulletin. https://bulletin.hds.harvard.edu/pinpointing-the-exodus-from-egypt/

18 PITHOM — JewishEncyclopedia.com. (n.d.). https://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/12192-pithom

19 Schiffman, L. H. (2022). The Land of Israel Under Roman Rule. My Jewish Learning. https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/palestine-under-roman-rule/

20 Sons of Jacob — New Evidence for Presence of Israelites in Egypt — Associates for Biblical Research. (n.d.). https://biblearchaeology.org/research/patriarchal-era/3317-the-sons-of-jacob-new-evidence-for-the-presence-of-the-israelites-in-egypt

21 The Name Yahweh in Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts. (2010, March 8). https://biblearchaeology.org/research/topics-by-chronology/exodus-era/3233-the-name-yahweh-in-egyptian-hieroglyphic-texts

22 The UN Relationship with Israel. (n.d.). Copyright 2023. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-u-n-israel-relationship

23 What We Know about Slavery in Egypt — TheTorah.com. (n.d.). https://www.thetorah.com/article/what-we-know-about-slavery-in-egypt

24 Wikipedia contributors. (2023a). Assyrian conquest of Egypt. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assyrian_conquest_of_Egypt

25 Wikipedia contributors. (2023b). List of inscriptions in biblical archaeology. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_inscriptions_in_biblical_archaeology

26 Wikipedia contributors. (2023c). Levantine archaeology. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levantine_archaeology

27 Windle, V. a. P. B. B. (2020, July 3). Sennacherib: An Archaeological Biography. Bible Archaeology Report. https://biblearchaeologyreport.com/2020/07/03/sennacherib-an-archaeological-biography/

28 The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (1998, July 20). Exodus | Definition, Summary, & Facts. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/event/Exodus-Old-Testament

29 Wikipedia contributors. (2023c). Corvée. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corv %C3%A9e

30 Wente, E. F. (1967). Late Ramesside Letters.

#archeology #antisemitism #judaisim #History #israel