Moshe's Birth and the Legend of Sargon/0

Moshe's Birth and the Legend of Sargon

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Introduction

Many legends from both the ancient and classical periods share the motif of a hero being abandoned at birth, recalling the story of Moshe's infancy in Shemot 2.¹ Of these, the closest parallel is probably the Mesopotamian legend retelling the birth of Sargon, founder of Akkad.²  In both stories a mother places her a baby in a basket and sets it on the river.  The baby is drawn from the water by another, adopted, and later grows to become a heroic figure.  A comparison of the two tales serves to highlight both the unique aspects of the Biblical episode and some of the difficulties in the story.

Content Parallels and Contrasts

	Parallels	Contrasts
Parents	Moshe's mother is from the Levite tribe, and Sargon's mother is a priestess.3 In both stories, the father does not play an active role.	While Sargon's father in unknown, Moshe's father is identified. Moreover, while Sargon loses contact with his mother, Moshe's mother continues to nurse him.
Baby Left in River	Moshe and Sargon are both placed in a basket covered in bitumen and set in the river.	Sargon's mother "cast" him into the "river", suggesting abandonment.  In contrast, Moshe is "placed" in the "reeds", with his sister standing guard.
Background for Abandonment		Yocheved's actions are prompted by Paroh's decree to kill all male babies.  No reason is given for Sargon's mother's actions.4
Salvation	Moshe is drawn from the water and adopted by Paroh's daughter, and Sargon is adopted by Aqqi, the water drawer.	Moshe is saved by a member of the nobility while Sargon is saved by a commoner. This enables Moshe, born a slave, to move up in status, while Sargon, born to a higher class, moves down.
Unknown Identity	Both Sargon and Moshe's full identity are unknown to their saviors.	Moshe's Israelite origins are immediately apparent to Paroh's daughter.
Naming		Moshe is named by the daughter of Paroh, and his name reflects her drawing him forth from the water.  Sargon's name means "the legitimate king" which might suggest that it was an epithet he gave to himself; the legend does not speaks of its origin.
Interim Profession	Before assuming leadership roles, both engage in more common professions.	Moshe is a shepherd and Sargon is a gardener.
Rise to Power	Both are commissioned by a deity to become leaders of their respective peoples.

Analysis

• Degree of similarity – 
• Distinctive phrases – 

Conclusions

Placement of basket –The contrast between Sargon's casting of her child in the water versus Yocheved's placing him in the reeds makes the reader wonder about the motives of each.  N. Sarna⁵ suggests that Sargon's mother was likely protecting herself rather than the baby.  Being a priestess, she was expected to be chaste and thus had to rid herself of her illegitimate child.  Yocheved, in contrast, was reacting to a decree of death.  Nonetheless, the text leaves her intentions unclear.  When hiding Moshe in the bullrushes, was she hoping for him to stay hidden or be found?  Was this an act of despair or hope?

Familial Involvement – A comparison of the stories highlights the continued involvement of Moshe's family in his welfare.  His sister stands guard to discover his fate, and later his mother herself is able to nurse him.  This raises the question of the extent of Moshe's continue relationship with his family even after he moves to the palace.  How much did he know of his Israelite origins?   Did he have a connection to his siblings?  The fact that Aharon comes to greet him after he has moved to Midyan suggests that they did.

Change in status –

¹ Elements common to many of these tales include: a baby of noble status, abandonment and explanation thereof, unusual nursing or protection of the infant, discovery and adoption, and finally, a list of exploits of the hero.  For an extensive comparison of such legends, see D. B. Redford, "The Literary Motif of the Exposed Child," Numen 14 (1967): 209-228 and Brian Lewis, The Sargon Legend: a study of the Akkadian text and the tale of the hero who was exposed at birth (Massachusetts, 1980).

² Sargon ruled over Mesopotamia in the 24th-23rd century BCE, but the earliest surviving fragments of the legend date to the much later Neo-Assyrian period (7th century BCE).  This has led to the proposal that the legend may have actually first been been written by the 8th century Assyrian king, Sargon II, who took the name of and identified himself with the original monarch. [See, for example, James K. Hoffmeier, Israel in Egypt: The Evidence for the Authenticity of the Exodus Tradition (Oxford University Press, 1999): 137.]

³ This is the translation in the later editions of ANET.  Earlier versions read "changeling".  The Akkadian "enitum" could be connected to the word "enu" meaning change, or to "entum", one of the priestly classes banned from having children.

⁴ See, though, the suggestion of N. Sarna, Exploring Exodus, (New York, 1996): 30, below that she was motivated by a desire to protect herself rather than her son.

⁵ See Exploring Exodus, (New York, 1996): 30