Ancient Near Eastern Index – Parashat Beshalach

Shemot 14:9-10 depicts the Israelites’ terror at seeing Pharaoh’s horses and chariots. 

• See The Chariot: A Weapon that Revolutionized Egyptian Warfare, by Dr. Richard Carney, to understand the significance of ancient chariots.  As Dr. Carney writes, “The effect of these chariots on the Egyptian army has been compared to that of the tank on twentieth-century warfare.”    
• See Horses in Ancient Egypt, by the Garstang Museum of Archaeology, for information about attitudes toward horses in ancient Egypt as a symbol of “royal power.” 
• For images of Egyptian wall reliefs featuring Egyptian chariots, see Olam HaMikra on Shemot 14.

The Song at the Sea has characteristics that set it apart from ancient epic poems.  

• See Robert Alter’s From Line to Story in Biblical Verse for comparison and contrast of Biblical poetry with other instances of ancient poetry.  Alter writes: “Perhaps the greatest peculiarity of biblical poetry among the literatures of the ancient Mediterranean world is its seeming avoidance of narrative.  The Hebrew writers used verse for celebratory song, dirge, oracle, oratory, prophecy, reflective and didactic argument, liturgy, and often as a heightening or summarizing inset in the prose narratives -- but only marginally and minimally to tell a tale.”  Alter explores this difference, along with other characteristics of Biblical verse, including analysis of the Song at the Sea.
• See Was There an Exodus?, or watch יציאת מצרים בראי הארכאולוגיה ומשמעות שירת הים, both by Rabbi Dr. Joshua Berman, for analysis of the Song at the Sea in light of ancient Near Eastern sources. He compares the song to inscriptions and poems about the Egyptian victory at the battle of Kadesh, noting similar content, tropes, and imagery, including mention of a "mighty arm". R. Berman suggests that the Israelites might have culturally appropriated a song familiar to them, borrowing from its raw materials, with the goal of showing how their God had far surpassed the achievements of the human Paroh.

Biblical descriptions of war against Amalek can be better understood in light of ancient rhetorical conventions relating to warfare. The following books dicuss the topic:

• Ancient Conquest Accounts: A Study in Ancient Near Eastern and Biblical History Writing by K. Lawson Younger Jr. 
• Joshua and the Rhetoric of Violence: A New Historicist Analysis by Lori L. Rowlett

• See Sefer Shemot: Archaeology, by Nachliel Selevan, for discussion of scholarly approaches to the question of when the slavery and Exodus took place in Egyptian history. 

• See Tanakh and the Literature of the Ancient Near East (3), by R. Amnon Bazak, for analysis of the claim that ancient Mesopotamian literature contains parallels to the institution of Shabbat. R. Bazak demonstrates the significant differences between the Biblical and Mesopotamian institutions.¹ While the latter were very much related to the lunar calendar and considered days of bad luck, appeasement to the gods, and meant for only a small segment of society, the Biblical Shabbat is unrelated to the lunar cycle, is considered a day of blessing and affirmation of faith in Hashem as creator, and is an egalitarian institution applying to everyone from servants to rulers.