The Tree of Life in Ancient Egypt and the Book of Proverbs

Since the mid-twentieth century, scholars have highlighted the similarities between the book of Proverbs and wisdom texts from ancient Egypt, the most recognized being “The Instruction of Amenemope” (ca. 1100 bce). Consequently, some have asserted that this relationship points toward a likely Egypti...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of ancient Near Eastern religions
Main Author: Osborne, William R. 1980- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Brill 2014
In: Journal of ancient Near Eastern religions
Year: 2014, Volume: 14, Issue: 1, Pages: 114-139
Further subjects:B Tree of life Proverbs New Kingdom Lady Wisdom Nut
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
Description
Summary:Since the mid-twentieth century, scholars have highlighted the similarities between the book of Proverbs and wisdom texts from ancient Egypt, the most recognized being “The Instruction of Amenemope” (ca. 1100 bce). Consequently, some have asserted that this relationship points toward a likely Egyptian provenance and origin of biblical concepts like the Tree of Life in Proverbs 3:17–18; 11:30; 13:12; 15:4. Recognizing the undisputable contact with ancient Egypt, the present work argues through the method of comparative study that the Tree of Life in the book of Proverbs should not be interpreted with an ideological antecedent of a divine tree goddess in the New Kingdom period of ancient Egypt.
ISSN:1569-2124
Contains:In: Journal of ancient Near Eastern religions
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/15692124-12341259