VIDEO DAVE-VOICE
Egypt was the economic powerhouse of early civilization, and a central player of a biblical account that became the foundation of western religion. When you consider the cultural and economic power of Egypt with its proximity to the promised land, what do you think the probability would be that the biblical creation story we tell ourselves was an Egyptian creation that was given to the Israelites.
I would like you to consider the God mentioned in the Bible in light of the Egyptian Pharaoh God, Amun, and Moses as related to the Pharaoh Ahmose who expelled the Hyksos in the 16th century BC, as well as the later Pharaoh Akhenaten known for his development of a kind of early monotheism, who unified the Egyptian pantheon of Gods under one supreme God, Amun-Ra. Then add to this history the fact that Herodotus, Manetho, Josephus and other classical authors identify the Hyksos with the Hebrews.
When we add this background to the history of the Israelites, the “One God” people of Moses, the Bible, and the Jewish religion has a large potential of being an Egyptian, and later Persian fabrication.
“Thou shalt have no other gods before Me” is one of the Ten Commandments found in the Hebrew Bible at Exodus 20:2 and Deuteronomy 5:6. It is the central tenet of the Abrahamic religions and prohibits the religion’s followers from worshiping gods other than the Lord. We know that the Egyptians were at about the same time in history also considering the single God theory. But you must note, the commandment says “no other Gods,” indicating there are other Gods, so who is this God that is to be singled out for the people of Israel?
If I am saying that religion is an algorithm that produces behavior, then the question of what God is, the one of the old testament, can be seen in the behavior of its people.
In this little creation story of mine… Adam and Eve lived in this perfect land we will call Eden. It was never too cold, plenty of fresh water, with food just waiting to be plucked from the trees. No need for clothes, no need for work, it was a good time until someone eats the wrong fruit.
Egyptian society or any society governed by a tyrant, establishing the authority of its supreme ruler is essential. In the biblical genesis mankind is punished for his disobedience, this creates an archetypal anchor to obedience. The most critical error any servant can make is to disobey. Any religion designed for a master/slave society must require a strong sense of obedience from its subjects, for in Egypt the Pharaoh is God, and must be obeyed.
Adam and Eve will have two sons, Cain and Abel, and Cain will kill Abel. The Cain and Abel account would repeat throughout history. Mankind would continue to kill each other for a variety of reasons, over and over. Nonetheless, the first family grew and multiplied.
Over time many would leave Eden and go east. Those who left would suffer the consequences of leaving Eden. They had to wear clothes to protect themselves from the elements. They made tools to work the land and would cultivate dominion over the beasts. Life was a bit more difficult for them, but what does not kill you makes you stronger, so they prospered as well.
They worked in communities and could talk to each other. They stood upright on two legs. They could outrun all the other beasts and could travel to far off places.
They were the cleverest of all the creatures on earth. They built communities of individuals, with a variety of personalities. The curious ones looked at the stars and would learn when to expect the seasons. These would become the wise men, the priests, who would keep their knowledge secret and pass it on from generation to generation.
They discovered that knowing when the seasons would come was valuable. With their knowledge, they could better provide for, and defend the community. They would gain the trust of the people. These early mathematicians and astronomers would create our first religions and will use religion to govern these early societies.
The difference between slave and master is culturally defined from the intrinsic “will” of a primate's biology. The dominant male ape becomes the Pharaoh, and civilization will consist of tyrants that will control a community made of others enslaved who serve them.
Let us not forget that these are primates that lived in Eden and would remain primates as they populate the world. What I am describing is the creation of our human civilization, which is simply how primates behave when they can talk to each other. No amount of education, or modernization can erase the intrinsic will and nature of the animal we are. Unless we first recognize our true nature, which lies in the motivation that produces behavior, both individual and social behavior will be determined by our basic animal motivation, that which is sexual dominance.
Sexual dominance is ingrained in our ape DNA, and this motivates evolution and determines the nature of human civilization. More aggressive individuals will always enslave the quiet, polite, or meek. Only when we evolve away from a sex driven society will the absurdity end, and the meek will inherit the earth. Our competitive nature will evolve to one of compassion, we will actually produce equal justice, and feel infinite pity for the less fortunate.
Over time an aristocratic ruling class would grow along with the size of the community. In time the educated aristocracy would become God-like to all the others, and all would look to them for protection.
In the first 100 thousand years of human life, we had learned how to read the stars, and predict the seasons to plant our crops. The aristocracy had learned that they could create a “reality” for the people that served them.
Just as animals could be domesticated, they would domesticate people, slavery would become a normal part of life.
You see, even though we know we come from something in the past, we can only remember the past we have personally lived. When each of us is born we start afresh… we have no idea who we are or where we came from. You can tell us any past, or reality you wish, and we will believe that reality.
Rulers had discovered that the history or religion they told their subjects would create their reality. A population could be given any story, and it would become true. Lies would become the truth, and then defended by the very people you have lied to. Imagine that your parents never told you Santa Claus was not true, and made certain you were always fooled. Just like children we want to keep believing.
May I repeat this quote, “History is a set of lies that people have agreed upon,” Napoleon Bonaparte (maybe)
Religion is a standard history you give to everyone in the realm, a story that unifies the community to its ruler. The Egyptian priest class were experts in eternal life, let’s say… If you are a good Egyptian, the Priests can offer you eternal life. For Judaism it was a covenant from God, a chosen people and a promised land. For the Persians it was a struggle between good and evil and the eventual salvation and victory of the good God Ahura Mazda.
In the first century, for the Roman empire and its newly conquered Greek states the appropriate religion will be Christianity. Christians will get a combination of all the religions of the newly conquered Roman empire by Caesar, the Roman “Son of God,” Pontifex Maximus, Caesar Divi Filius Augustus. Christianity would not come from Augustus, nor any of the subsequent Julian family Caesars, but rather the clever successor of Nero, Vespasian who established the Flavian dynasty in 69 AD.
The Christian Logos incorporates its Trinity and Soul from the Greek Platonists, eternal life from the Egyptians, the struggle of good and evil along with Satan and an apocalyptic end time from Zoroastrian Persia, and finally central to the religion will be the Messianic call from the Jewish Torah. Christians will get forgiveness from sin, and salvation as long as they accept Christ, and the Logos as written.
I am getting ahead of myself, I will return to the start of civilization and the purpose of religion … those that knew this trick would be the most powerful of all, they would become the priest class. These priests would hold the truth of the past secret and would keep it to themselves. They would create a fitting illusion of reality for the others, a reality tailored to make them willing servants. Entire civilizations could be put in their hands. They would keep civilizations in an illusion. Like Plato explains in his allegory of the cave, we become so trusted in our illusion that we would kill anyone that would bring us the truth.
The ruling class would be very cautious as to whom they would share knowledge with. They created elaborate initiations, and stages to go through to test if applicants were trusted to keep secrets and were worthy of truth and knowledge. That’s why, “the truth will set you free”.
Ten thousand years ago, the people of the land of Eden were the Egyptians, and their river was the Nile. Further east of Eden would be the Sumerians, and Babylonians of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. To the North, nothing but barbarians. We make the mistake of overlooking the North when we consider early civilization, but those Barbarians must not be left out, for they will become the ultimate rulers, the true chosen people.
A calendar of the cosmos would be deciphered. Gods would be seen as the celestial bodies, becoming the central hallmark of all early civilizations. They studied and interpreted the universe and its God-Stars, which they believed controlled their reality.
The Chinese, the Indians of India, and the Indians of America, no matter where these wise men would go they would take their knowledge, given to them by their forefathers. They would govern their people as slaves and their people would love them as Gods. They would prosper from the ignorance of others. They knew they only had this power because of the ignorance of their subjects; therefore, they must enforce ignorance. Secret societies and mystery religions would become the norm.
Most archaeologists say humans came out of Africa. Rivers are the easiest way to travel, especially if you go downstream. The most powerful early civilization was from the river where all humans had come, the Nile, in Egypt, they were the Egyptian Pharaohs. The High Priest-Pharaoh would be created in the image of his particular reality. This reality would then be given to the slaves, they would live and worship the Pharaohs reality. Time would begin with the Pharaohs’ reign. Then the slaves would be told of the fantastic mythical and heroic deeds of the Pharaoh. The slaves would love the greatness of the Pharaoh and call him God. They would till the soil for him and would fight battles against other rulers from far off lands.
Although these Pharaohs were Gods to the slaves they governed, they knew that they did not create themselves. The Pharaohs had their own private belief. To them order was life, and chaos was what opposed life and they were who dictated the order on earth. They believed the greatest and most heroic of them were the personification of order and must surely be touched by the Gods. Given the time and place, all this would make perfect sense to these people, great men would of course be seen as Gods. Even today, it’s not difficult to feel superior when you are better educated, have more money, or power, you tend to see yourself as a superior breed. Then as today, power tends to make us think that all the other people on earth are here to serve us.
As great civilizations arose, their leaders would see themselves as the central cause of their civilization. Their domination of others, would of course, be the proof of their divinity. They were the closest to God, sons of God, maybe heroes of virgin birth, or engendered by Gods that would come from above to have their way with beautiful women. Fantastic accounts would reinforce the notion that God had put all the other people on earth to serve them.
This will be the standard by which the world works, until the time of the Greeks and their short-lived Democracy.
We don’t know why, but around 500 BC, throughout the world there was a radical new change in thinking. In Greece the pre-Socratics created philosophy, and the first ideas for a democracy began. Confucius in China teaches kindness and equality to others, and places family above the state, and the Buddha will teach moderation and asceticism to India.
A transition in thought is occurring yet will never really take hold. Advocates of freedom and justice like Jesus Christ, and Socrates are killed. The old primitive primate code of justice never changes… Justice is to be loyal and defend your allies, your troop, nation, or clan, all while harming all others. This is the code that will produce tyrants and empires… for empire after empire!
This barbaric notion of justice has remained, the divine right of kings is still something we contemplate, and little girls are still taught to want to marry a prince.
The entire methodology behind modern government stems from evolutionary conditions. All language, history and theology is constructed from basic animal desires, motivation, and behavior. The dominant ape was once called the Pharaoh and has evolved into the concept of Pope or President. The names may change but the “will” that makes us behave as we do has remained unchanged.
The truth is something very few people concern themselves with, only a minority care for anything beyond the quality of eating, shelter, and sex. Leaders have no incentive to provide higher education to a slave class, so the unfortunate aspects of slavery still persist although under the illusion of freedom.
The truth will transform our society. If Socrates said, “the un-examined mind is not worth living,” then would not the same apply to the un-examined society. All our problems rest on the fact that we are more concerned about what is for dinner, than why we eat and exist in the first place, and if we do wonder about our existence, we have a religion that tells us a lie.
I wrote this history because I believe we are currently positioned to truly step into a new society and have developed a method for direct democracy. If we use the internet and social media for targeted education, and we manage our economy as an open transparent direct democracy, we will eliminate the need for an alpha male, and tyrants will be no more. We could then actually live within a society that provides equal justice for all; a reality similar to what we have only imagined as utopia.