[was: [PEN-L:22722] Re: RE: Question on the term "loan"] I wrote:>> it seems to me that a bureaucratic system like that of Pharaonic Egypt would need writing for non-commercial purposes, i.e., administration. It's true that the dominated classes could simply be pushed around, but didn't the Pharaoh make public declarations, etc.?<<
Rob writes: >They also wrote about important stuff, though. Highly erotic loveletters have been found ... And there's this famous little ditty, too - from before 1000 BC, but timelessly resonant, I think (even if the voluptuous charm of 'heavy buttocks' has been out of fashion in the west for thirty-five years or so).< the Song of Solomon? >>BTW, my 11 1/2 year-old son Guthrie thinks that ancient Egypt was very "cool" and one of the things he likes is its lack of money. (I thought his opposition to money was a proto-socialist attitude until I figured out that he equates "money" with "limited toys for me.") He likes Egypt even though it oppressed the Jews and he goes to a secular Jewish Sunday school. There are contradictions...<< >Is there really much evidence that the Pharoahs were particularly nasty to this particular tribe of Canaanites (see below)?< I don't think the issue is whether or not the Pharoahs were nastier to the Hebrews than to anyone else. The point is that they were nasty to them. BTW, the article you give us says that "Israel, Judah and Samaria were simply Canaanite States that arose out of indigenous Canaanite culture and not from the invasion of a mythical people called the Hebrews." Maybe, but it's possible that the Hebrews simply came in and replaced the existing ruling class while maintaining existing class relations, rather than being a full-scale invasion. Perhaps they were deviant Egyptians? JD
