Out of Egypt: A Memoir

Customer Reviews:

Growing up Jewish in Alexandria.......2007-07-12

REVIEW OF "OUT OF EGYPT" for Amazon.com July 12, 2007

Andre Aciman describes his colorful and complicated life (and family)in
Alexandria in the 1960s. Childhoods like that are often the preparation
for a life of writing. The child absorbs all the peculiarities as part of
normal life without knowing they are peculiar until much later. Then they
need to make sense of it all.
All this is heightened by the fact that the Acimans are Jewish, in a
Muslim country still resonating with the after effects of British rule.His
experiences in the theoretically best school in Alexandria, run by
British teachers, would be funny if they weren't so awful. For complete
cognitive dissonance,his parents force him to learn Arabic to survive.
Reading about those lessons alone is worth the price of this book. At
home they speak Ladino, the Sephardic Yiddish, among themselves.
His beautful mother was born deaf. When provoked she can produce a
high-pitched scream. used to good effect at the butcher's. Once she has
made her point they are all quite happy. The butcher has to give the package
to her Arab servant. She never touches an Arab's hand.
The Acimans and Andre's maternal relatives live in a state of mutual
scorn, but when faced with the threats of Pan-Arab nationalism pull together very
efficiently. Eventually they all flee, the sedate Sephardic merchants
and the shady international adventurers too.
Two other writers come to mind when reading this book. Laurence Durrell
evokes something of the same atmosphere in his Alexandria Quartet and Elias
Canetti grew up in a large Sephardic family in Bulgaria. That society has
completely disappeared. Without Canetti's memoirs one would not know it had ever
existed.
This is an eloquent and elegiac account of that love and absurdity
known as a family.

lovely childhood memoir.......2007-07-06

Aciman wrote this book not only being 'Out of Egypt' like Blixen was 'Out of Africa', but as well being "Out of Childhood'. So the grown-up is looking back and remembers his extended family with live-in servants and longtime friends. Whoever loves family stories will enjoy this well-written book.

Having myself spent some summers in Egypt I would say that his kind of Egypt isn't gone completely - there is still, beneath the noise of the traffic and industries, the chit-chat of the doorkeepers, sharellas and nannies. Or the difference of daily lives in regular, in summer, during the ramadan. Egypt still works as a time machine.

Wonderful writing, wonderful memoir.......2007-01-30

This memoir is the very best I've read. It takes the author from his earliest years as part of a large Jewish family which moved from Turkey to Alexandria (he was born in 1951), through the air raid sirens during Suez war with France and England, to the expulsion of the Jews by Nasser in the late 1950s, and then on to his adulthood in America and his return to Egypt following his marriage. After a lengthy opening section dating roughly from age 5 or 6, the narrative skillfully skips back and forth in time. The descriptions of the boy's exotic world and his dysfunctional extended family are priceless, as are the re-invented conversations and arguments among the adults who surround him. There is something Proust-like in the writing, a love of detail for the texture it creates, and something Nabokov-like as well, in the hooded humor and artful language. I found it utterly captivating and written with love, especially for his mother, who was born deaf. I heartily recommend it to anyone who contemplates or is writing a memoir.

Nostalgia for the Alexandria tram and beaches.......2006-08-15

Andre Aciman's Out of Egypt is an amazing book, I found it very hard to put down. At a time of increased hostility in the middle east it is heartwarming to read of a time when Jews lived in peace with their Muslim and Christian neighbors in Alexandria. Not a whiff of anti Jewish sentiments was reported by Aciman until after the Suez War. Aciman and his family left Egypt in the sixties.

Aciman, like many "Egyptian" Jews preferred to hold European nationalities and in some cases some were French or Italian without ever setting foot in these countries. Europeans had their own courts in Egypt and did not fall under Egyptian Laws. For Aciman, born and raised in Egypt and in many ways no different than many affluent Alexandrians life became unbearable after the waves of Nationalization in the early 60's.

Aciman writes of an Alexandria that no longer exists not just for Egyptian Jews. The population explosion in Egypt has transformed Alexandria beyond recognition; hence Aciman's beautiful writing of Alexandria, its beaches and its tram will bring floods of memories for anyone who's known Alexandria.

Affluent Egyptian Jews who left Egypt in the fifties and sixties are not immediately thought of as refugees and there is little discussion on their issues of identity and affiliation in Egypt and elsewhere. Aciman through his acute sensitivity to the people and events around him and his wonderful story telling skills has produced beautifully written and very touching book that subtly challenges many assumptions on all sides.

Readers will see the very same Alexandria in Leila Ahmed's Border Passage and in parts of Ahdaf Souief's In the Eye of the Sun. Enjoy

A portrait of ethnic cleansing in Egypt.......2005-08-25

As another reviewer noted, it takes a while for the reader to get his/her bearings about the ties of blood and marriage among the characters in Aciman's memoir. The beautifully written book then becomes an elegy for a lost way of life as the cosmopolitan city that Alexander the Great had founded and that remained significantly Greek through the time of Cavafy, but underwent "ethnic cleansing" by Nasser's United Arab Republic.

It seems to me that Aciman considered himself an Alexandrian, and that he could not be "Egyptian." To say that he was a poor student of Arabic without noting that the Arabic textbooks he was supposed to use and memorize from were filled with demonization of Jews (as the first reviewer here did) is deeply tendentious. Yes, the young Aciman lived a life of privilege in a colonial (British) state (and in the kingdom of the playboy King Farouk), but post-World War II Arab states (with the Saudis supplying the kind of propaganda demonizing Jews at which Aciman bridled) did not treat "peoples of the book" as the Ottomans had. The discourse of racism documented by Aciman's memoir is of Islamist Jew-hating. Perhaps the reviewer did not actually read the book despite passing as "a reader"?

That said, Marcel Bénabou's more difficult _Jacob, Menahem, and Mimoun_ provides an account of expulsion of Jews from another Arab ethnic cleansing (in Morocco) with more geopolitical detail and similar colorful relatives for those more interested in macro history than the micro history of which Aciman supplies an exquisite slice.

The Lost World of the Egyptian Jews: First-person Accounts from Egypt's Jewish Community In the Twentieth Century

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Fascinating history
A touching memorial

The Lost World of the Egyptian Jews: First-person Accounts from Egypt's Jewish Community In the Twentieth Century
Liliane S Dammond
Manufacturer: iUniverse, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0595399304

Book Description

Jews lived in Egypt without interruption since Biblical times. The community knew an apogee in the first half of 20th century. Political events during the second half of the 20th century caused the Jews to leave Egypt and disperse throughout the world. This book contains 28 interviews of middle class Egyptian Jews describing their life in Egypt in their own voices just before their final departure. They bring to life the charm and diversities of the lives they led with its many contradictions. A cosmopolitan life they shared with many other groups living in Egypt at that time.

"As a professional historian, I found the material of immense potential scholarly value. As a Jew who left Egypt during the 1956 Suez crisis, it touches me in a deep and personal way. I recommend this book to anyone interested in the forces that affect cultural dynamics, political conflict and, last but not least, human nature."

-Jean Marc R. Openheim, PHD

Teachers College, Columbia University

"We have been given an extraordinary gift in this compilation of poignant memories of an Egypt of long ago. These oral histories not only capture the rich way of life of Egyptian Jews, but they also inform of their caring for this land and its people."

-Nimet Habachy

Author, Broadcaster (WQXR)

Customer Reviews:

Fascinating history.......2007-04-11

The world of the Egyptian Jewish community would be lost to us if it were not for Lilliane Dammond's efforts to preserve their memories. Like it's authors, it reflects the emotions, issues and foibles relating to families, friends, and identity. I highly recommend it.

A touching memorial.......2007-03-31

In the first half of the 20th century the "foreign" communities in both Cairo and Alexandria had developed into a sophisticated, well educated group.
Following the creation of Israel in 1948, Arab nationalism expulsed and dispossesed this entire class of people. Many of these were Jews who were forced to leave, without their livelihood and savings.
More than a generation later, Lilianne Dammond has interviewed some of those who were obliged to create new lives for themselves in many new countries. These individuals recount their memories in the first person, lending a touch of pathos and affection to their wistful recollection of a country which ejected them.
It is a touching work, which I heartily recommend.

The Moses Mystery: The African Origins of the Jewish People

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Despite the misleading subtitle???
On the search for the historical Moses
Bible Folklore does not Render its Historical Message Void
Old speculative story
Greenberg takes the Mystery out of the biblical Moses

The Moses Mystery: The African Origins of the Jewish People
Gary Greenberg
Manufacturer: Carol Publishing Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1559723718

Customer Reviews:

Despite the misleading subtitle???.......2007-08-02

Library Journal review said: Despite the misleading subtitle???

I guess the Library Journal isn't breaking any laws for lying to the people. There is nothing misleading about the title of this book. It's called the The African Origins of the Jewish People for one reason. It happens to be the truth and this book as well as The African Origin of Modern Judaism, by Jose V. Malcioln and many many others makes it very clear. Don't let them fool you!

On the search for the historical Moses.......2007-05-29

Who was the historical Moses?

Using writings from the second century BCE Egyptian priest of Thoth Manetho and some deductive reasoning, Gary Greenberg thinks he's found him.

Best known for his fascinating book 101 Bible Myths, Greenberg an attorney and amateur biblical scholar is always good reading and can always be counted on for providing interesting speculation in answering bible mysteries. His strength is bringing solid legal reasoning to biblical speculation and his weakness is bringing solid legal reasoning to biblical speculation.

This book is an excellent case in point for showing the limits of using legal reasoning to comprehend bible mysteries. Greenberg builds his case that there really was an Exodus and that it really did take place in Egypt by showing similarities between ritual practices in Judaism and those in Egyptian religion (for example, circumcision and not eating with foreigners). However circumcision was practiced far and wide in antiguity including the fijians and samoans of Polynesia, some peoples in Australia, and even among the ancient Assyrians and Phoenicians. Likewise, variant dietary practices are known and have been known not only in the west but the east as well.

Next, Greenberg looks to Manetho a second century BCE priest of Thoth assigned by Ptolemy II to write a history of Egypt from its inception to the time of Alexander the Great. In writing his history, Manetho recounted an Egyptian version of the Exodus wherein he called Moses by the name of Osarseph and placed him around the time of Ahknaten, the renegade Pharoah who suppressed all but his religion of Atenism or sun worship. According to Greenberg Moses was himself a holdover priest of Thoth who was forcibly expelled from Egypt with his followers following the downfall of Ahknaten and the discrediting of Atenism. Again, though the theory no doubt has an ostensible plausibility it flies in the face of the way ancient historians plied their task. They didn't deny the fanstastic allegations of other writers, but merely rephrased them in way to strip their opponents claim of merit. A case in point is the second/third century debate between Celsus an anti christian and Origen a Christian proponent. For his part Celsus explained Jesus' lack of a father by naming a Roman solider Pantera as being his true but historically suppressed father. This process of rephrasing a minimization was common in ancient times and was in play when Manetho recounted his version of the Exodus.

What's more, Greenberg eschewed actual biblical archeological evidence in drawing his conclusions. Specifically, he failed to acurately weigh the lack of physical evidence in appraising the fact or existence of the Exodus. This would had a big effect on his work too because there is and has been a strong concensus in the biblical archeological community respecting the lack of factual evidence for the historical occurence of the Exodus.

Despite these failings, Greenberg has still managed to produce an interesting and thought provoking book. For those interested in perhaps a similar and more thorough treatment of the Isreal in Egypt position read Israel in Egypt by James Hoffmeier.

Bible Folklore does not Render its Historical Message Void.......2005-12-31

"There's a lot of myth that contains history. There's a lot of history that's mostly myth. .. I was starting to do some independent study, and it resulted in looking at some early parts of the Bible." Gary Greenberg

Novel Old Notions:
For a curious, learned reader of a book of this genre, to know that the Hebrew Bible stories are tinted with Ancient Mideast folklore and legend, are not novel notions. Archaeologists have long emphasized that there is no physical record of many ancient locations mentioned in the Bible, while there are conflicting dating issues of some Hebrew Bible events. Egyptian roots for the 'biblical' Hebrews were mentioned by Herodotus and some other ancient historians. Recent African origins of Western Civilization debate, revived the 19th century Hebrew origins speculations. Professor T. Meek of Toronto university wrote two related books; Hebrew origins,& Primitive monotheism and the religion of Moses. (Published by Harper& Row from 1936 to 1960) Professor Jan Assmann, one of the most eminent Egyptologists wrote; The Search for God in Ancient Egypt & Moses the Egyptian, Harvard, 1997, analyzing many of the problematic issues which Greenberg argued.

Hebrews' Egyptian Rroots:
In his 'The Bible Myth: African Origins of the Jewish People,' (originally printed in 1997 as: The Moses Mystery), Greenberg repeated the arguement that there was no archaeological support for most of the stories of the Old Testament, and that no documentary evidence is founf for the Genesis accounts; Abraham journey from Ur, the four centuries of Hebrew sojourn in Egypt, the Exodus, or years of Sinai desert wandering, considering them as myths. The Hebrews' Egyptian roots which has undisputed extant ancient references, is expanded by Greenberg who supports a proposition that the Hebrews were Egyptian who followed Akhenaten's monotheism, while Moses was Aten high priest who fled Egypt, after King Akhenaten's death and the violent elimination of his religion.

Debated Biblical Accounts:
Greenberg's term of Bible Mythic Fables, in support of the literary influence of other ancient traditions, following the oral Hebrew era, and his reference to the quotations within the books of the Hebrew Bible, especially of Egyptian wisdom is supported by most Biblical scholars, and defended by many Jewish experts. Greenberg describes the Pentateuch, of today, as 'a mosaic of several ancient documentary sources, patched together, over the centuries, edited by the EJPD redactors. The Bible Creation accounts, he says are copies of older Egyptian creation myths, in one variant, Creation begins with a word from the deity Amen, just as in Genesis. The story of the Flood similarly involves suspicious resemblance to older flood myths by the Assyrians and the Egyptians. What 'is called' the Ten Commandments are commonsense prohibitions against murder, adultery, thievery, etc., quoted in several different ways, in different books of the Torah. Greenberg criticizes the whole 'confusing story' of how God gave Moses those commandments, written in stone as a good example of how it is patched-together fable. There are actually two non consistent versions of the Ten Commandments, one in Exodus, and a rather different list in Deuteronomy. The result, he claims, is that much of what you read in the Bible stories are illogical legends of contradictory rendering.

His Conclusion:
What is the grand lesson to be taken from this? The lesson, says Greenberg, basically, is to understand the book as a product of its times, attempting to explain what everybody understood to be history from a particular point of view. Greenberg allegation that, 'It's not a divinely inspired book,' comes from his narrow definition of revelation as a mechanical dictation. The Bible is not intended to be a historical record or an archeological archive. Greenberg's apology, that by exposing errors in the Bible, he is rescuing it from theologians, should be understood in the light of the former statement.

Gary Greenberg:
Greenberg, a trial lawyer, uses some of his interrogation techniques and gives a lot of attention focusing on the word: myth. In this sense, Greenberg asserts himself as a controversial biblical scholar, who while participates in related academic conferences to earn good publicity. The New York Times wrote him as an eccentric writer, while Egyptologists and biblical scholars, resented an amateur's attempt to delete the barriers between their distinct areas of scholarship.

The Biblical Archaeology Society:
Based in New York City, is a non-sectarian educational group that meets monthly to hear lectures on Ancient Egypt, and presents a number of lectures each year on aspects of ancient Near Eastern archaeology, history and literaturea. Gary Greenberg is its current president.

Old speculative story.......2005-04-27

This is an old story and uses a classical fallacy of rhetoric, namely that since the idea cant be debunked, it must be true. It is sort of like saying "the Missing link did exist but no fossil remains exist" its nice because you cant disprove it and by writing a book on it, it seems to cast doubt on something. This book wants to cast doubt on the Bible and the question of where monotheisim originated and in another retelling of a typical debunking exersize, we are told it originated with AKhanotons cult in Egypt. The problem is their is no evidence of this, just as their is almost no evidence that the Jews or Israelites or Hebrews were ever in Egypt. Its the irony that this book wants us to suspect one part of the Bible, namely the question of Sinai and the question of G-ds role with Abraham, while at the same time not questioning the authenticity of the entire Bible. How can one pick and choose? How can this book argue that the part about Sinai and the revelation is innacurate, but the part about being slaves in Egypt is true. It doesnt add up, either one accepts the Bible, or they dont, thats a matter of faith and no amount of psuedo-archeology will prove or disapprove the unprovable.

Seth J. Frantzman

Greenberg takes the Mystery out of the biblical Moses.......2002-03-25

There really IS a lot of mystery about the biblical Moses. For example,...Why did Moses even GO into the desert for 40 years????? It never made sense to me.
Mr. Greenberg postulates a reasonable answer to my question.
He postulates that Moses was the High Priest of Pharoah Akhnaten's new monotheistic religion,...Aten worship. Historians know that the old Amun worship was persecuted by Pharoah Akhnaten,...and when Akhnaten died the Amun priests returned to power once more and persecuted the Aten worshippers,...probably enslaving them.

According to Greenberg,..(in MY words) Moses went into the desert for the same reason that Ayatollah Khomeini went to France for 15 years,....Both had religio-politico reasons for being a persona non grata in his homeland.
And BOTH, after their periods of exile, RETURNED to their homelands,...but here is where their experiences diverge. Whereas the Ayatollah succeeded in re-establishing himself at home and became prominent once more,...the opposite happened to Moses. Moses returned to Egypt, where he used to be High Priest of the Aten Monotheitic religion, but faced hostility and failure,...to the extent that he once more had to leave Egypt,...this time taking his people with him saying "Let my people go."

Greenberg goes quite deeply into Egyptian history showing how the biblical Moses existed at the very same time that Akhnaten. He also mentions the lack of archelogical evidence to support the biblical story of a "Hebrew" people from Palestine having been enslaved in Egypt.

This is a very interesting book with lots of historical back-up. Unfortunately a Peter Temes of the NW Times gave the book the kind of review one would expect from someone who is not able to let go of bible stories he has known from childhood. He just summarily pooh-poohs the whole idea,...a not very intelligent approach.

Book Description

Essays on memory by the author of Out of Egypt.

We remember not because we have something we wish to go back to, nor because memories are all we have. We remember because memory is our most intimate, most familiar gesture. Most people are convinced I love Alexandria. In truth, I love remembering Alexandria. For it is not Alexandria that is beautiful. Remembering is beautiful.

Celebrated as one of the most poignant stylists of his generation, Andr Aciman has written a witty, surprising series of linked essays that ponder the experience of loss, moving from his forced departure from Alexandria as a teenager, through his brief stay in Europe, and finally to the home he's made (and half invented) on Manhattan's Upper West Side.

Customer Reviews:

Inward bound.......2007-07-26

André Aciman's collection of essays on place and nostalgia is as absolutely gorgeously written as his superb family memoir OUT OF EGYPT, and covers the amazing array of places he's lived and left: Alexandria (first and foremost), Rome, Paris, and New York, with side visits to sites important to his sense of himself, Illiers-Combray (Proust's village) and Bethelhem. At his best, Aciman is funny, incisive and extraordinarily clever; his best essays involve sites where he can focus more on other people than just himself, and he can allow his wit and empathy to emerge. Since his topic is always nostalgia here, it is inevitable that much of his critical focus should be himself (as he points out repeatedly and intelligently, the urge towards nostalgia is always as much a yearning for one's self and one's memories as it is for a particular place). There are times, however, when his interest in his self tends more towards a carefully nurtured narcissism than an incisive self-critique and when you want to roll your eyes at the insufferably precious delight with which he can regard himself.

a stylist of the first order.......2007-04-10

Andre Aciman is our contemporary Proust--the same elegance, the same penetrating eye, the same love for memory and its cinematic clarities.

mediocre, banal and self-righteous.......2001-12-11

I found Mr.Aciman's essays suffering from a infatuation with his own self-righteousness. Preachy, bigoted and too often innacurate, he bakes a quite dull mixture of bloated prose and shallow, prejuciced view about many subjects one suspects he knows little or nothing about. The books distils the grandiose retorique of cocktail-party chatter and leaves the reader with a sad sense of having wasted his own time. My advice would be to seriously check it out at a public library before devoting time and money to this thing. Life's too short for this kind of drivel.

Residues of Exile.......2000-09-01

Andre Aciman is an astoundingly gifted writer. When I first read his memoir "Out of Egypt" five years ago, I was amazed by its wit and wisdom, its precious and seamless blend of irony and deep feeling. Having followed his career in writing ever since, I am thrilled by the recent publication of "False Papers," a magnificent compilation of fourteen of his best essays from the past few years. These pieces can be seen as a kind of sequel to "Out of Egypt," an extension of its central theme of exile in new, often unexpected directions. In "Out of Egypt" Aciman vividly reminisced about his childhood years in Alexandria up to their dismal end, when amid the virulent anti-Semitism of Nasser's Egypt he and his family were expelled. The essays of "False Papers," by contrast, pertain more to the intellectual and emotional residues of exile-in particular the "confused, back-and-forth, up-and-around" way of thinking, remembering, desiring, and relating to oneself and to others that exile seems to foster. Aciman writes poignantly but analyzes ruthlessly: he may be one of the most introspective of current writers, and at a time when memoirs and confessions line the shelves, but refreshingly, he is also one of the least self-indulgent and complacent. Complexity does not faze him. He excels at finding a concrete metaphor, typically from far afield, to convey some paradox of memory or desire: for instance, his surprisingly apt use of the financial term "arbitrage" to illustrate how one might "firm up the present...by experiencing it from the future as a moment in the past," much like an arbitrageur might trade securities in different markets to benefit from different prices. He can qualify thoughts and impressions without diluting them into a muddle, and even, occasionally, cast doubt on the relevance of his most reliable figures and tropes-to wit, exile-without sacrificing any of his writing's underlying pathos. Few, in short, can match Aciman when it comes to a grasp of the fitful economy of the soul, and even fewer could hope to write about it so deftly and affectingly.

Those, like myself, who have already read and enjoyed Aciman's essays on their first appearance in print will want to own a book that brings them all together. Those who have not are to be envied the opportunity to read them in "False Papers" for the first time.

These essays will haunt you.......2000-08-03

I found myself thinking of these essays throughout the day. The writing is beautiful and brilliant. Aciman explores the meaning of memory, and the poignancy of nostalgia. They are sad, and sweet, and their power will stay with you for a long, long time.

Poverty and Charity in the Jewish Community of Medieval Egypt (Jews, Christians, and Muslims from the Ancient to the Modern World)

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Poverty and Charity in the Jewish Community of Medieval Egypt (Jews, Christians, and Muslims from the Ancient to the Modern World)
Mark R. Cohen
Manufacturer: Princeton University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The Voice of the Poor in the Middle Ages: An Anthology of Documents from the Cairo Geniza (Jews, Christians, and Muslims from the Ancient to the Modern)

ASIN: 0691092729

Book Description

What was it like to be poor in the Middle Ages? In the past, the answer to this question came only from institutions and individuals who gave relief to the less fortunate. This book, by one of the top scholars in the field, is the first comprehensive book to study poverty in a premodern Jewish community--from the viewpoint of both the poor and those who provided for them.

Mark Cohen mines the richest body of documents available on the matter: the papers of the Cairo Geniza. These documents, located in the Geniza, a hidden chamber for discarded papers situated in a medieval synagogue in Old Cairo, were preserved largely unharmed for more than nine centuries due to an ancient custom in Judaism that prohibited the destruction of pages of sacred writing. Based on these papers, the book provides abundant testimony about how one large and important medieval Jewish community dealt with the constant presence of poverty in its midst.

Building on S. D. Goitein's Mediterranean Society and inspired also by research on poverty and charity in medieval and early modern Europe, it provides a clear window onto the daily lives of the poor. It also illuminates private charity, a subject that has long been elusive to the medieval historian. In addition, Cohen's work functions as a detailed case study of an important phenomenon in human history. Cohen concludes that the relatively narrow gap between the poor and rich, and the precariousness of wealth in general, combined to make charity "one of the major agglutinates of Jewish associational life" during the medieval period.

The Exodus Chronicles: Beliefs, Legends & Rumors from Antiquity Regarding the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt

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Wonderful introduction to Exodus dating controversy
An important new book on The Exodus

The Exodus Chronicles: Beliefs, Legends & Rumors from Antiquity Regarding the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt
Marianne Luban
Manufacturer: Pacific Moon Pubns
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Binding: Paperback

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Riddle of the Exodus: Startling Parallels Between Ancient Jewish Sources and the Egyptian Archaeological Record

ASIN: 0972952403

Book Description

Groundbreaking study of the history behind the Biblical Book of Exodus

Customer Reviews:

Wonderful introduction to Exodus dating controversy.......2005-07-28

I must say, this book was a very pleasant read. Marianne's style is warm and clear as she shares her own wonderment and conclusions regarding the Exodus saga. A must for researchers on this topic since she discusses the views of many others. She knows this subject well and I personally got a lot of new research threads from this book making it very worthwhile for me. Her approach to the topic is inviting not pushing, a pleasnt contrast to others writing on controversial ancient Biblical history topics. I also enjoyed her personal sketches of some of the pharoahs, consistent with the warmth you feel from the author when reading her work. Thanks, so much Marianne, for sharing your viewes, research and artistic talents. Highly recommended.

Larry L. Wilson, Biblicalist/Biblical chronologist

An important new book on The Exodus.......2003-04-27

Marianne Luban's important new book, "The Exodus Chronicles," is a tremendous step forward in researching and understanding the Exodus.

Book Description

This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 1888 edition by J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia.

The Voice of the Poor in the Middle Ages: An Anthology of Documents from the Cairo Geniza (Jews, Christians, and Muslims from the Ancient to the Modern)

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The Voice of the Poor in the Middle Ages: An Anthology of Documents from the Cairo Geniza (Jews, Christians, and Muslims from the Ancient to the Modern)
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They are voices that have been silent for centuries: those of captives and refugees, widows and orphans, the blind and infirm, and the underclass of the "working poor." Now, for the first time, the voices of the poor in the Middle Ages come to life in this moving book by historian Mark Cohen. A companion to Cohen's other volume, Poverty and Charity in the Jewish Community of Medieval Egypt, the book presents more than ninety letters, alms lists, donor lists, and other related documents from the Geniza, a hidden chamber for discarded papers, situated inside a wall in a Cairo synagogue. Cohen has translated these documents, providing the historical context for each.

In the past, most of what we knew of the poor in the Middle Ages came from records and observations compiled by their literate social superiors, from tax collectors to the inquisitor's clerk, from criminal judges to the benefactors of the helpless, from makers of Islamic waqf deeds to authors of Arabic chronicles, and in Judaism, from Rabbis who wrote responsa to compilers of Jewish-law codes.

What distinguishes this book is that it contains the voices of the poor themselves, found in documents heretofore largely ignored. Because an ancient custom in Judaism prohibited the destruction of pages of sacred writing, the documents were preserved, largely unharmed, for as many as nine centuries.

The Voice of the Poor in the Middle Ages provides access to the attitudes and philanthropic activities of the charitable, alongside the dramatic writings of the poor themselves, whether penned in their own hands or dictated to a scribe or family member. The book also allows a rare glimpse into the women of the Middle Ages, as well as into the world of private charity--an area long elusive to the medieval historian. For researchers and students alike, this book will be an invaluable social history source for years to come.

Pharaoh's Daughter: A Novel of Ancient Egypt

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Pharaoh's Daughter: A Novel of Ancient Egypt
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Release Date: 2002-02-05

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In his introduction to this engrossing novel of ancient Egypt, Julius Lester says, "It is difficult not to see Charlton Heston when one thinks of Moses." But not in this book. Lester's Moses is a bungling teenager, scared and confused as he tries to find the courage to decide who he is and what he believes in. Raised as the pampered grandson of Pharaoh, he enjoys the attentions of three mother figures: Yocheved, his birth mother, who constantly implores him to return to his own people; Almah, his older sister, who has left her traditions to dance naked as a priestess of the goddess Hathor; and Batya, Pharoah's daughter, who saved him from death when he was a baby. But now his anger at his unresolved split identity has goaded him into a terrible act of violence--an act that will have a vast impact on history.

Julius Lester, a distinguished African-American writer best known for his Newbery Honor Book To Be a Slave, startled the literary world in 1981 by converting to Judaism. In Pharaoh's Daughter he follows the time-honored Jewish tradition of Midrash--a way of exploring a sacred text through the use of one's imagination. Armed with an impressive knowledge of the Hebrew language and the history of ancient Egypt, he jolts us out of our expectations and brings a fresh and richly detailed perspective to the Exodus. As Moses flees with his father's blessing--"You must go and come back and teach us all to be free"--we can only hope that Julius Lester plans to tell the rest of the story. (Ages 12 and older) --Patty Campbell

Book Description

I saved my brother from the soldiers,
but the princess says he is hers now.
Abba and Ima will never trust me again.

In ancient Egypt, there lives a girl named Almah who will do anything to ensure the safety of her baby brother, Mosis.

She will leave her enslaved family and assume the role of Egyptian princess. She will change her identity if it means winning health and freedom for her brother.

Mosis, however, does not feel completely free. His identity has been changed against his will, and he longs to find himself. And when he does, he will do anything in his power to see that justice is served.

Customer Reviews:

References to nudity in this book.......2007-08-26

As an Adult, I didn't like this book at all. It seemed too mature for the ages suggested of 12 and up. There were numerous references to nudity in this book and at the end of the book there was more nudity but there was no warning in the jacket cover regarding this. It was mentioned by the author after the story, not in prelude. At the end of this book, it does not say anything about her brother and her family. This book will hurt women and girls a lot. Out of all the books that I had read, this is the worse one that I have read. This book made me sick to my stomach after I read it. Do not waster your money on getting this book and do not waster your time reading it. It is not worth it at all. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone at all.

brea-lynn pharaoh's daughter.......2006-11-20

I like the book Pharaohs Daughter because it is about a young girl who is going through a tough time and then somthing life changing has happened to her. Part of the book was confusing because it switched to a different charecter half way through the book but then i got it after a while. i would reccomend this book to people because it is an educational book and it is a good read.

brea

.*Pharoahs Daughter*........2006-11-17

Pharaohs daughter was a good book. when I was reading this book I really couldn't stop reading it I really liked it I wanted it to go on forever. I like the part when Alamh meets the princess and wants her to live with her and be her younger sister. Also I like the part when mosis figures out what his real family is i think he made a good choice by going to Goshen . I think the author of this book is a realy good writer and has a good imagination. -CourtneyHowe

What a Great Book!!!!.......2006-11-02

I thought the Pharaoh's Daughter was a great book. It was entertaining and well written. I loved how there was two parts to the story, it made the book not get too boring. You should totally read this book!!!!!

Home School Book Review -- Ancient Egypt.......2006-07-11

The Bible does not name the sister of Moses who watched him while he hid in a basket on the Nile, but the Hebrew word used describes a woman of marriageable age. Could Moses have had another sister? Julius Lester uses the viewpoint of this imagined--but very possible--sister to tell the story of the Habiru (Hebrew) and Khemetian (Egyptian) peoples during the time of Mosis' (Moses') upbringing in the court of Ramesses II.

The author uses ancient Egyptian and Hebrew words and names whenever possible to remove images of The Ten Commandments and Prince of Egypt from readers' minds. He asks us to consider that the story we've been told was from the view-point of the Hebrews, embittered by years of slavery; he asks us to consider the Egyptians anew.

The author attempts to give an historically accurate view of the New Kingdom of Egypt. In order to keep the story as authentic as possible, he has Mosis speak in an unusual way, attempting to create his "heavy of mouth and heavy of tongue" description from the Old Testament.

Stories are even more subtle than non-fiction and evoke even more emotion and can therefore be even more persuasive, especially to young minds that have not moved into the final stages of development, so this book should only be read by children who have entered the third and final stage of mental development (as discussed in _The Well-Trained Mind_.)

To Christian parents, this is a Biblical story told from a non-Biblical perspective. The point-of-view for most of the book is Mosis' sister, Almah, who embraces the gods and goddesses of Egypt, even becoming a priestess of Hathor. There is nudity in religious circumstances and lust is discussed briefly. Many characters argue in favor of many gods and the strongest believer in Ya (the Biblical God) is portrayed in a negative light.

Despite all the possible drawbacks, this book shines fresh light on the struggles Moses and his family must have gone through in his early life. It is also a great discussion starter. Have your mature thirteen or fourteen year old child read this along with a study on ancient Egypt, then discuss family relationships, different viewpoints (is one always right and one always wrong), can a god meet a woman's needs (or does she need a goddess to understand her), etc.

The author includes an author's note and a glossary in the back of the book. Read the glossary BEFORE you read the book; save the author's note for afterwards. In the author's note, Lester explains his purpose, some of the efforts he went through to be accurate historically, and the textual reasons he made some of the decisions he made. Very informative.

Summary: Mosis' part in the dialog may make this book seem poorly developed or for a younger age group at first--until you realize that Mosis is supposed to speak poorly and it is intentional. Instead, this is a great story told in an engaging way from a refreshing viewpoint which I recommend, but only for mature thirteen year olds and older. A sort of _The Red Tent_ for teenagers, without all the sexuality. This book touched me and I became misty-eyed towards the end.

Average customer rating:

Old Testament Chronology is Essentially Correct
Rohl's Saul/David section is the clincher
THE challenge
Great Book for Its Time: It Is About Time
An incredible find!

Pharaohs and Kings
David Rohl
Manufacturer: Three Rivers Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Early Civilization | Ancient | History | Subjects | Books

Egypt | Middle East | History | Subjects | Books

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0609801309
Release Date: 1997-06-24

Book Description

Pharaohs and Kings reveals the Old Testament to be a true account of the history of the Jewish people. Illustrated throughout, it will appeal to the vast audience for revisionist archaeology and history as well as to the many Christian and Jewish readers who accept the historical validity of the Bible. Pharaohs and Kings was made into a highly acclaimed television series produced by The Learning Channel.

Customer Reviews:

Old Testament Chronology is Essentially Correct.......2007-03-17

David Rohl has essntially demolished three of the four pillars upon which conventional Egyptian chronology is based. Then from astronomical data he shows that a corrected Egyptian Chronology agrees with Old Testament Chronology. Using the redated archaeological findings he identifies Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Saul, David, Solomon and the historical records of their activiies as found in Egypt and Palestine. The historical Joseph was vizier of Egypt during the 12th dynasty. The historical Moses commanded the Egyptian Army under Pharaoh Khaneffere. The Exodus took place in the 13th dynasty. Israelite conquest of Canaan was in the Middle Bronze Age. This book is a must read.

Rohl's Saul/David section is the clincher.......2005-06-29

Rohl takes us on a fascinating journey through the worlds of biblical and egyptian archeology and chronology.

As good as the entire book is, it does not compare to the clarity of evidence demonstrated in the middle sections on Saul, David and Solomon.

This book is for everyone. But for anyone that knows their Bible pretty well you will be shocked at the absolutely undeniable existence of numerous (about a dozen) Saul and David stories recounted in letters between egyptian and Cananite Kings including Saul himself. We can read extra-Biblical accounts in Saul's own words!

If you know your Sunday school stories of that period you can read these diplomatic letters quoted in the book and identify the well known Saul/David events yourself.

Even Rohl gets excited in these sections and I agree when he states:

"It is remarkable that this has not been noticed before - but then I suppose that any comparison was quite out of the question before the New Chronology came along". (end of Ch 10)

THE challenge.......2003-08-25

For the advanced scholar, especially if you want to draw parallels between ancient Egypt and Christinity...........unfortunately Rohls findings have mostly been refuted in the past five years........nothing like it though to challenge the historic belief of timelines in the middle and new kingdom.....

Great Book for Its Time: It Is About Time.......2002-12-21

Dr. David Rohl is shaking up the world of archeology. This books connects ancient Egyptian chronology and Iraeli chronology. I don't think it is perfect, but it is perhaps the
most accurate book of its type (ever written).
I believe Dr. Rohl reports an erroneous Ugarit solar eclipse, which he took from Mitchell. I believe the correct solar eclipse is in 1078 B.C. (rather than 1012 B.C.). I was in personal communication with Mr. Mitchell via e-mail, and he was very helpful.
In summary, if you want a book to enlighten you about Egytian history (with reference to Pharoah Akenaten and Tutankamen), this controversial book will HELP.

An incredible find!.......2002-11-01

I was wondering why the Egyptian calendar, the Hebrew calendar and the Gregorian calendar differ so much. I knew that the Hebrew Calendar and Gregorian calendar differ because the Gregorian starts with the birth of Jesus (Yeshua). But why would the Egyptian and Hebrew differ so much? An acquaintance suggested this book. And was that person right on the money!! This book helps to calibrate the two calendars and poses some significant information about the Pharoahs mentioned in the Bible. This was like finding the Rosetta Stone! A must have!

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