The Exchanges Between Israelite And Egyptian In The Biblical Time

Egypt and Palestine have a long history of exchange.As early as Middle Kingdom's period,Egypt had begun to rule over the region of Palestine economically, or at least agriculturally.During the period of their settling in Egypt,Hebrews married with Egyptians which lead to the enlargement of their population.After the establishment of Hebrew Kingdom,exchanges between Hebrews and Egyptians developed day by day.Egypt not only married its princesses to Israelites to serve political ends but also provided refuge for generals or even enemies of Hebrew Kingdom.In the time of prophets,the number of pro-Egypt Israelites increased gradually,some of which even migrated to Egypt in large scale.After the collapse of Hebrew Kingdom,a part of Israelites established communities in northern Egypt.Israelite concept of monotheism was probably borrowed from the achievements of Akhenaton religious reform.In face of Egyptian oppression,the position of Israelite god YHWH was quickly lifted from clan god or tribe god to god of the whole Israel people. However,Egyptian tradition of polytheism still left some impact on it.Even after Judaism took shape and Israelite had their own unique god,they didn't give up the worship of Golden Calf until later.The folk literature and legends of Egypt provided bountiful nutrition for biblical myths and legends.The struggle between Esau and Jacob in the bible had its prototype in Egyptian folk stories.The book of proverbs,the book of Job and the book of Psalms were inevitably influenced by the parallel literature of Egypt.Moreover,there were many words and usages in Hebrew which were borrowed from Egyptian.The mode of Egyptian administration also had some impact on Hebrew kingdom.Yet the representatives of Egyptian influence on Israel people in the respect of social custom were circumcision and anointment.