Quote:On a related basis, what evidence do you have that Ra (the Egyptian sun god) was not real in jewish theology.
Asking for evidence that something did not happen or did not exist is a rather pointless exercise.
Neither I nor you can provide evidence that "jesus" was not merely a trumpet player in a mariachi band in Judaea. We can point to the date when the trumpet was invented and when mariachi became a particular style in Mexico but to someone who insists he was such a musician on the basis of 'faith' there is no tangible evidence against it. That does not make it true or the believer less delusional. Probabilities have to enter the equation at some point.
The archaeological evidence we do have points to an indigenous origin for the cultures which ultimately became the polities of "Israel" and "Judah" in Canaan. They seemed largely indistinguishable from any other Canaanites. They had the same pantheon of gods and spoke dialects of the same language. These cultures began to arise as Egypt began its millennium long slide into oblivion which came at Actium in 31 BC.
Archaeology has largely dismissed any of the Exodus stuff as much later bullshit. It is far more likely that it was the Babylonians and Persians who were the main role models for what later came to be known as Temple Judaism.
I would recommend Donald Redford's Egypt, Canaan, and Israel in Ancient Times as well as Israel Finkelstein's The Bible Unearthed.
