but illiterate goat herders tend not to leave behind written records.
Indeed.
I don't think I said or implied that. My claim was that the oral tradition was composed by illiterates, which is the reason for the creation of oral mythology. Oral traditions can be passed down for millennia before being written down.
The simplest example I can think of is of one culture I've actually studied formally; Australian aborigines have the oldest culture on earth, at ca 50,000-years. This is a rich complex culture, with an ancient and equally rich oral mythology. (aborigines had no written language)
The 'bronze age' comment is not something I really want to argue. It's pedantic and not central to my position, which is that at the time of concoction/cobbling together the future Israelites were an illiterate people. I may be wrong with this notion, and will accept evidence to the contrary.
Indeed.
I don't think I said or implied that. My claim was that the oral tradition was composed by illiterates, which is the reason for the creation of oral mythology. Oral traditions can be passed down for millennia before being written down.
The simplest example I can think of is of one culture I've actually studied formally; Australian aborigines have the oldest culture on earth, at ca 50,000-years. This is a rich complex culture, with an ancient and equally rich oral mythology. (aborigines had no written language)
The 'bronze age' comment is not something I really want to argue. It's pedantic and not central to my position, which is that at the time of concoction/cobbling together the future Israelites were an illiterate people. I may be wrong with this notion, and will accept evidence to the contrary.
