Moses and Monotheism
| Moses and Monotheism | |
|---|---|
 Der Mann Moses und die monotheistische Religion, first edition, 1939 | |
| Author | Sigmund Freud |
| Original title | Der Mann Moses und die monotheistische Religion |
| Language | German |
| Genre |
Psychoanalysis Cultural studies Religious studies |
Publication date | 1937 |
| ISBN | 978-0-394-70014-4 |
Moses and Monotheism (German: Der Mann Moses und die monotheistische Religion) is a 1937 book by Sigmund Freud, published in English translation in 1939. In it Freud hypothesizes that Moses was not Hebrew, but actually born into Ancient Egyptian nobility and was perhaps a follower of Akhenaten, an ancient Egyptian monotheist, or perhaps Akhenaten himself. The book consists of three parts and is an extension of Freud's work on psychoanalytic theory as a means of generating hypotheses about historical events. Freud had similarly employed psychoanalytic theory to history in his much earlier work, Totem and Taboo. As well as in his ever-expanding library on the subject, Freud's interest in Egypt manifested itself in an impressive collection of ancient Egyptian artefacts. A selection of the smaller bronzes was permanently on display on his desk both in Vienna and London.
In Moses and Monotheism, Freud contradicts the Biblical story of Moses with his own retelling of events claiming that Moses only led his close followers into freedom during an unstable period in Egyptian history after Akhenaten and that they subsequently killed Moses in rebellion and later combined with another monotheistic tribe in Midian based on a volcanic God. Freud explains that years after the murder of Moses, the rebels regretted their action thus forming the concept of the Messiah as a hope for the return of Moses as the Saviour of the Israelites. Freud said that the guilt from the murder of Moses is inherited through the generations; this guilt then drives the Jews to religion to make them feel better.
See also
- Atenism
- Joseph and His Brothers
- Judaism and ancient Egyptian religion
- Osarseph
Further reading
- Assmann, Jan (1998), Moses the Egyptian: The Memory of Egypt in Western Monotheism Harvard University Press.
- Chaney, Edward (2006). 'Egypt in England and America: The Cultural Memorials of Religion, Royalty and Religion', Sites of Exchange: European Crossroads and Faultlines, eds. M. Ascari and A. Corrado. Amsterdam and New York: Rodopi.
- Chaney, E, 'Freudian Egypt', The London Magazine (April/May 2006), pp. 62–69.
- Chaney, E, 'Moses and Monotheism, by Sigmund Freud’, 'The Canon', THE (Times Higher Education), 3–9 June 2010, No. 1,950, p. 53.
- Rice, E. (1990) Freud and Moses: The Long Journey Home. Albany, New York: State University of New York.
- Yerushalmi, Y. H. (1991) Freud's Moses. New Haven: Yale University Press.
- Paul, Robert A. (1996) Moses and civilization: The meaning behind Freud's myth ISBN 0-300-06428-4
- Rice, Emanuel (1999) Freud, Moses, and the Religions of Egyptian Antiquity: A Journey Through History Psychoanalytic Review, 1999 Apr;86(2):223-243. PMID 10461667
- Edmundson, Mark (2008) The Death of Sigmund Freud: The Legacy of His Last Days Bloomsbury United States ISBN 1596914300
External links
- Moses and Monotheism text at archive.org
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