Before reaching the thousand that Israel conflict secular, it must be pointed out that one of the biggest headaches of Moses were not the Egyptians, and its passage through the Red Sea, or the famine in his people and was able to overcome thanks to the rain of "mana " miraculous or forty years wandering in the desert of the Sinai peninsula, but by the bull.
not forget that the two great leaders of Israel, Abraham and Moses, were people, like the crowds that followed, most, not born in Israel, with large and important experiences in societies accustomed to treatment Tauric of their gods and therefore can not rule out the dent, loan or cultural influence of such symbols among the Israelites. Since long ago, the Hebrew patriarchs worshiped the Canaanite god El, represented by a bull, which was banned later by Moses.
The Israelites, as we shall see, were originally the Sumerian and therefore, descendants of these and used Tauric treatment of their gods.
But what was the cause of that family migration of the Bible tells us nothing. It is very probable that they were fleeing for safety, the constant attacks and riots of the Amorites that, aided by Elamites and Semites from the steppes of Iran, came, attacked and looted Ur by 2003 BC, when, with some overtones of probability event to which we refer.
With regard to religion, it is documented that the chief Sumerian god, or the Employer, the city of Ur (in times of Abraham and later), was Nanna or Zu-en (another name Nanna " Lord of knowledge "), known as" El Brillante , a moon god which was depicted as a bull beard of lapis lazuli. " Nanna was the father of the goddess Inanna (the "Lady of heaven " Goddess of Love and War) and son of Enlil (the most important god of the Sumerian polytheism, say they came to have about two thousand gods, who invoked as "Great bull ", "Toro powerful," "Mighty Toro" etc.). In a Sumerian hymn dedicated to Zu-in, his mother Ninlil (wind Lady ") was referred to it by talking softly as follows:" ... l Ucides calf, grown on my knees and pure ... ... Novillo me ... your name is prized in all countries ... Lord of the holy stable " (1). In Babylon was known as the moon god Nanna WITHOUT ("God's Calendar") , who is also invoked in another Babylonian hymn as "bull horn Fiero thick, perfectly proportioned, with a beard lapis lazuli, full of virility ... "(2).
lead us to believe that Abram lived in Ur until the age of twenty or thirty years and comply with the rites and ceremonies dedicated to the gods of his hometown. Same habits and religious customs, we presume, follow in Harram, during the forty or fifty years he lived in his adopted city as: "... Leaving Haran Abram was seventy-five years ... in the direction of the land of Canaan, and came ... the place of Shechem, to the oaks of Moreh " where the Lord appeared to him a second time. (Gen, 12 , 4-8)
also know from the biblical text, Abram sent for a wife for his son Isaac to Padan Aram (that is Harram tell) and was elected Rebecca, granddaughter of his brother Nahor and sister of Laban and daughter of it, Leah and Rachel, married his cousin Jacob, son of Isaac and grandson of Abraham. This behavior is inbreeding classic tribal peoples very own organized into tribes.
Another event that we discover the Bible is the possible Laban polytheism, when he went in pursuit of Jacob and also of blame to go away from home with their wives (daughters) without saying goodbye, he complains: "Why did you steal my gods? "(Gen, 31 ,30-31). The domestic images of family gods were called terafim "and the perpetrator Raquel theft before leaving the parental home:" ... and Rachel stole her father terafim. "(Gen, 31 ,19-20).
These figures, terafim, most likely represent the Sumerian, Babylonian gods, among whom there would Nanna, Sin, Enlil or Marduk (Bel in the Bible, invoking as Novillo Sun ") and so on., in the form of figures of bulls. Arriving
Abraham to Canaan (now would be Israel, the Gaza Strip and West Bank) the Canaanites who inhabited the area worshiped the gods EL and Baal, among others (the latter, largely fought in the era of the Prophets), who were represented by a bull.
Other facts lead us to think that Abraham's house were they not strange taurica these representations of the gods. Do not forget that the habit of adjectives to their gods with nicknames as compared with the bull, not assumed, " per se an act essentially idolatrous. It was a way to pontificate the importance of the potential of their gods, such as strength, power, creativity, justice, virility, fertility, aid, protection, rain, etc. etc. In Genesis
33, 20 is told that Jacob (meaning "deception " or "which supplants ", or "heel " since he was born clutching the heel of his brother Esau: Gen, 25 ,26-27), after the meeting and reconciliation with his brother Esau, to get to Shechem: "... raised an altar, which he called" Israel Elohe The " ( The God of Israel) (Ge, 33 -20)
Other information could be given the respect, always scanning the biblical text, which show the familiarity of the people of Israel with Tauric nicknames to refer to their god. Do not forget that one of the customs in time and later time Moses was the rule should not Yhvh the tetragrammaton (Yahweh) in their invocations, being too sacred and in prayer using the name of Adonai, meaning "The Lord " (and appears around 300 times in the OT). Even today, in Judaism teaches that: "Instead of pronouncing YHVH during prayer, Jews must wear Adonai."
Other events that lead us to think about possible, call it, Taurica pollution, is the continued presence of Jewish settlements in Egypt, especially in the Nile Delta first heard we have, in the presence of nomadic pastoralists in the area of \u200b\u200bthe Nile, is the descent from Abraham to Egypt, where the Bible shows us that Sara was still, despite his age, a woman of alluring beauty. Abraham tells his wife: "Look that you are a woman beautiful, and when the Egyptians see you say:" Is your wife "and they will kill me, and you will leave your life gave you, therefore, I Please, you're my sister, so that I try it for yourself and for your sake I save my life. " (Gen, 12 ,11-14 et seq.).
precisely and with a desire to eliminate any contamination that idolatry that drew the people of Israel from its origins, but the gained during his stay in Egypt, so God prescribes the principle of the Decalogue ( Ten Commandments) on Mount Sinai: "Thou shalt not ... sculptures or any image of what is on top of heaven, or what is down on earth, or what is in the water under the earth ... "(Ex 20 ,4-5), even later tells Moses that even people make images of Him: "... me not ye gods of silver or gods of gold for yourselves ..." (Ex 20 ,23-24). This paragraph is where was founded the iconoclastic movement, especially in the eighth century AD, with behaviors such as the Byzantine Emperor Leo III, the " Isaurian ", who ordered the destruction of all statues and religious images in the AD 730, until the Second Council of Nicaea in 787 AD, reaffirmed the veneration of icons.
But to return to resume contact with the people of Israel and, in particular, to accompany the Exodus people to understand their worries and hardships, as well as knowledge of their religious practices and totemism associated with the bull.
Only these two passages, the second book of the Pentateuch, show that the years lived by the people of Israel in Egyptian lands were not in vain, and that involved the adoption, or perhaps the syncretism of certain Egyptian religious beliefs on those theophany (Greek theos = God, and Faino = appear, not to be confused with the plural " theophanies " parties were held at Delphi in honor of Apollo, at the beginning of spring), by which a god appears to the faithful in various ways.
One of the latest findings, the American archaeologist Ron Wyatt, was the discovery, apparently, of the altar erected by Aaron at Mount Sinai to the Golden Calf in the pedestal have been discovered engravings of bulls, as shown in the images shown, found on the Internet and supports the veracity of the existence of the biblical passage.
these passages were a fact occasional or isolated, the people of Israel or the people of the Exodus?. Would not appear so, according to the data extract below.
Despite the outburst of Moses, it is curious to see how this makes use of the term Patriarch Tauric to bless the twelve tribes of Israel, on the plains of Moab, before climbing to Mount Nebo, where he died without pressing the "promised land . " Thus, addressing the tribe of Joseph, said: "... fall on the head of Joseph, on the foreheads of the elect among their brothers. Firstborn bull, he glory. "(Deut. 33 ,16-17) In this
metaphors spoken by Moses, referring to the tribe of Joseph, shows an analogy with the treatment they gave the Sumerians in the third god of the cosmic triad Enky , which was known as "bull son", ie son of the supreme Sumerian god An , who called "Toro Father." Therefore, in the allegory " firstborn bull" can imply that the degree Taurica which Moses, and presumably attributed to the Lord, was not something arbitrary or casual.
Another curiosity of the same chapter of the Bible and is translated into a lifelong habit for Islam is that when people see the shining face of Moses was afraid to approach him, but he called out: " When Moses had finished speaking, he put a veil over her face ... " (Ex 34, 33) . So in all pictorial, Muslims always play to Muhammad with the face covered by a veil as a sign of respect.
said, too, that the episode of the golden calf was not a specific event or isolated in the history of Israel since last time, after about 300 years since the Exodus from Egypt (around 1220 BC approx.), there was another episode of similar characteristics.
idolatrous These facts did not become extinct with the death of Jeroboam, and that remained unchanged over time. During the reign of King Omri of Israel (886-875 BC) states that: "... in central place of worship in Samaria was already a golden idol in the form of a bull, which Jeroboam had set up as an image of worship for Jews. "(4)
The cult of the calves continued until the demise of the kingdom of Israel, and its conversion into Assyrian province by Shalmaneser V in 722 BC, refusing to pay taxes and ask for help Egypt Hosea (730-722 BC), last king of Israel, who was blinded and taken captive to Assyria, together with most of the population was deported and replaced by Aramaic and Chaldean. This mass deportation tribes got diluted among the Assyrians, so that henceforth they were called " Ten Lost Tribes of Israel ." As punishment
Throughout the entire existence of Israel as a kingdom, there are many statements, the offensive and fight held various prophets against these idolatrous practices of the "Golden Calf ." Among others, we quote the prophet Elijah , who lived in the s. IX BC, which is said to be in confrontation with the prophets of Baal: "... came to kill the priests of Baal with his own hands, at the foot of Mount Caramel " (5). The Bible describes it: " And Elijah said:" Seize the prophets of Baal, without letting any escape. " Apresáronlos them, and Elijah brought them to the river Kishon, where beheaded. "(1 Kings, 18 -40) Another prophet
fighting against the idolatry of Israel is Amos (c. 750 BC), whose book we realize that there was an earthquake at that time: "... and in the days of Jeroboam II (784 -753 BC), son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake ... "(Amos, 1, 1). The prophet encouraged to follow the Lord and predicts otherwise the punishment will be subjected: "... I will avenge the altars of Bethel and will be demolished and the horns of the altar fall to the ground ..." (Amos 3 , 14)
Isaiah (eighth century BC) dedicated his ministry to speak out against the abominations of Israel: "... but Israel does not know, my people do not know ... ( Isa, 1, 3). The wicked, sinners, all to be broken, the defectors will be annihilated Lord "(Isa, 1, 28) while also rails against the Samaritans labeling them drunk," And they stagger from wine and spirits hesitate. Priests and prophets stagger for liquors, drown in wine ... "(Isa, 28 ,7-8). All this happened under the reign of Manasseh (king of Judah 697-642 BC), against whom also faced by Assyrian cults allow and tolerate, even in the temple of Jerusalem. They say she died sawed in half. According to legend, Isaiah, trying to escape the wrath of Manasseh, hid in a hollow tree and Manasseh ordered the tree cut inside Isaiah. In this event seems to be referred to in (Hebrews 11, 37). In Isaiah we find perhaps the first description of the roundness of the Earth: "It is The sitteth upon the circle of the earth " (Isa, 40, 22). This concept was disclosed later by the Greek philosopher Anaximander (610-545 BC)
Another interesting character, which also reveals such idolatry is Tobias, who was held captive in Nineveh, the Assyrian king in times Senaqerib (705 - 681 BC), who relates in his book, he confesses his father Tobit and highlights the cults practiced by his people: "When I was young (says his father), lived in my homeland in the land of Israel, and the whole tribe of Naphtali, my father had departed from the temple of Jerusalem ... All the tribes, which had an apostate, sacrificed to Baal, the calf, and also the house of Naphtali my father. "(Tob, 1, 4-6 )
And finally, there is the suspicion that certain practices of paganism remained in force in Samaria, Jesus times, although during the Babylonian exile, the Israelite people, and after the return of the , priests strove to unify the worship and belief in one God, Yahweh. There is a significant fact that recounts the evangelist Matthew, which demonstrates the existence of certain idolatry, perhaps residual, when Jesus sends the apostles and gives them the quality of healing, reviving, healing lepers etc. but advised: " These twelve Jesus sent, making the following recommendations: Do not go to the Gentiles or Samaritans penetréis in town, go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel ..." (Mat, 10 ,5-6) Spacious and abundant
1 .- Federico Lara Peinado, "Sumerian Hymns," page 25. Edicc. Tecnos
2 .- Federico Lara Peinado, "Babylonian Hymns", p.7. Edicc. Tecnos
3 .- Manfred Claus, "Ancient Israel", p.16. Edicc. 2001 Accent
4 .- Idem, p.58.
5 .- Idem, pag.61.
6 .- Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason. The Rule of Four. Rock Ed 2004
Vulgate Bible, Ed Ocean
Bible "Shell-Colunga, Ed BAC