The Isthmus of Corinth connects mainland Greece in the north to the Peloponnese Peninsula in the south.  Situated on a plateau overlooking the Isthmus of Corinth, the city of Corinth was one of the most strategically located centers of the ancient world.  The unique topography made for a place that was easily defended from would-be intruders.

Corinth was to become the capital city of the Roman province of Achaia.  Having held such an advantageous piece of ground, it did have a former life in the Grecian empire.    However, in 146 B.C. Corinth was breached and razed by Lucius Mummius, the Roman consul at that time; it seemed that the area’s power was growing too great for the tastes of the Roman Empire, so it had to be stopped.  Since Mummius was actually able to take the city, he did a very thorough job of wiping it clean. The male inhabitants were killed and the women and children were sold into slavery.   The area lay desolate until Julius Caesar issued a decree to rebuild in 44 or 46 B.C.  The ruins that have been found in the area are all Roman, nothing of the Greek era remains.  During this earlier period, the city was named Ephyra, which meant “lookout” or “guard”.  Since Julius Caesar decreed that it should be rebuilt, he added his own touch to the name:  Colonia Laus Julia Corinthiensis; meaning, “Corinth, the praise of Julius”.

The new colonists were freedmen from Italy and in a short time, Greeks, and many Jews moved into the city.  The revived metropolis became prosperous, mainly because of its position between two ports on either side of the isthmus.  It controlled the ports of Lechaion on the Gulf of Corinth (on the Western side, with easy access to Italy) and Cenchreae on the Saronic Gulf (on the Eastern side with easy access to Asia).   For centuries, sailors had to travel an extra 185 nautical miles between the Gulf of Corinth and the Saronic Gulf. The reason for this extra distance was a thin strip of land only about 4 miles across.  Whether it was to save time or to avoid the dangerous passage around Cape Malea at the southern tip of the Peloponnesus, the idea of a canal between the two gulfs had appealed to the various rulers throughout the centuries.  Due to the inadequate technology needed to execute the idea and the fear of opposing the wishes of the Greek sea god Poseidon (which was said to also play a role in preventing the construction), the canal was not cut into the land until the late 19^th century.  Instead, the ruler Periander (during Greek times) built an alternative:  the “Diolkos”—a limestone path on which a wheeled vehicle could be pulled. The Greeks lifted ships onto the vehicle and pulled them across the path. Ships that were too big to take advantage of the Diolkos instead had the cargo unloaded and transported across the land.  The cargo was then reloaded on another ship waiting on the other side.

Corinth Canal

During this new Roman period the city became a place of great wealth and indulgence.   The saying, “to live as a Corinthian” came into existence at this time and what it meant was to live in luxury and immorality.  With port cities, often there is the potential for bad behavior and Corinth; having two ports seemed to embrace this potential with everything she had!  (Paul mentions the sins of the people of Corinth in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11)

Corinth offered all vices to all her visitors as well as her locals.  The temple of Aphrodite was located on a high point called the Acrocorinth and it was here that the goddess of love was worshiped.  There were more than a thousand temple priestesses that offered themselves to would-be worshipers of Aphrodite.  There is some controversy as to whether they should be called prostitutes or not, since their function was technically to facilitate worship of this Greek goddess (Venus to the Romans).  However, most who look back on what was going on can call it prostitution, even if the people at the time didn’t think of it as a vice, but as an act of worship.  An interesting factoid is that Aphrodite was also thought to be the protector of sailors, so worship of this goddess in the method she prescribed meant a safe passage on the seas.   An important thought for a city that was full of sailors from its two ports.

Corinth had a large marketplace (agora), many temples to various gods and goddesses, fountains-including the famous Peirene), theatres, and the “bema”, a large raised platform in front of the residence of the proconsul.  Many of these ruins have been uncovered in excavations done by the American School of Classical Studies at Athens.  It is interesting to note that some of the places Paul mentioned in the book of Acts have been uncovered.  The bema seat area has been located (Acts 18:12) where Paul was taken by the mob to appear before Gallio.

Corinth at the Time of Paul the Apostle

The Apostle Paul made his way to Corinth from Athens during his Second Missionary journey in A.D.52-53.  In Acts 18, Paul’s time in Corinth is recorded.  It was here that he met Aquila and Priscilla, who had recently left Italy due to the decree by Claudius, the emperor of the Roman Empire (Claudius came to power after his nephew Gaius, a.k.a. Caligula was murdered).

Paul remained in Corinth for a year and six months after hearing from the Lord in a vision:  “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent; for I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city.” Acts 18:9-10   Paul had begun his evangelizing the way he always did, he reasoned in the synagogue and there was no doubt a large population of Jews in the city.  But when they resisted him, he made it a point to preach to the Gentiles.  He did however make a convert of Crispus, the leader of the synagogue and his household.  But those resistant Jews tried to bring charges against Paul to the proconsul of the Roman province of Achaia, Gallio.  The Jew’s charges fell on deaf ears-Gallio was simply not interested in the religious affairs presented to him that day.  Soon after this encounter, Paul did leave Corinth to minister in other cities as directed by the Lord.

Judgment Seat in Corinth

As stated before, Corinth was a very large city with a very cosmopolitan population.  The Isthmian Athletic Games were played there every two years.  Paul uses this fact in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 to illustrate a spiritual truth.  “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize?   Run in such a way that you may win.  And everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things.  They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we, an imperishable.  Therefore, I run in such a way, as not beating the air; but I buffet my body and make it my slave, lest possibly, after I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified.”  Like our Lord, Paul used the familiar things to illustrate spiritual truths and certainly the Isthmian Games would have been a very familiar event to the Corinthians.

As you may well imagine, not only was Corinth a place where many people worked hard to keep their bodies in shape for the competition in the Isthmian Games, they loved to listen to music and to great orators.  There were poets and artists abounding in the arts in Corinth.  The city was full of worshipers of Greek and Roman gods and many of the shops were selling the objects needed for the worship of these gods.  Remember Paul’s mention of the meat market in 1 Corinthians 10:25?  People were sacrificing animals to idols in Corinth, then selling the meat in the market.

Ruins of Corinth with Acrocorinth in the background

The heart of this city was filled with temples and shrines to the Roman emperor and to various members of his family, built alongside temples to Greek gods such as Apollo. Apollo’s son, Asklepios, the god of healing, had a shrine there as well. Whatever or whomever a person living in Corinth desired to worship; opportunity to do so was there!  This is the backdrop to the church in Corinth.  The temptation to remain in idol worship of all kinds was on every street, literally.  The pull of the world was very strong there and the means to fulfill any fleshly desire would have been readily available. It is no wonder the church was having the troubles it was having.  Worldliness and an unwillingness to keep themselves from the pagan, immoral ways caused the serious problems Paul addressed in the letters he wrote to them.

The Corinthian Church

When you think of where the church in Corinth met for worship, do you think of a large church building, something like where churches meet today?  Why is this a point we should even bother to ponder?

Although it is not mentioned specifically, it is widely thought that the church met in a home.  It may have been either the home of Sosthenes or Crispus (both were leaders of the synagogue) or maybe even Aquila and Priscilla’s home or perhaps they rotated where they met.  What we can be sure of is that they did not have a building with pews and stained glass!  The reason we need to think about these things is so we are able to grasp what it was like to live as a Christian in A.D. 52 or 53 and better understand the struggles of our brothers and sisters, which led to the letters the Apostle Paul sent to them.  I know that I have often only thought of how the letters applied to current churches (or to myself) and feel that I have missed much in so doing!  Closing the history gap is so critical to arriving at the original intent of what was written, it helps so much with interpretation and then with application.

We do find in Romans that Paul asks the church to greet those meeting in different house churches and all the churches of Christ sent their greetings to those in Rome.  Gaius was named as one who had a church in his house, and so were Aquila and Priscilla.  In Colossians, Paul asks that Nympha and the church in her house be greeted.  The letter to the Galatians was not to one church, but to
“the churches of Galatia”, which certainly must have met in homes.  So, it is interesting to make note of this in the mind as we read through the different epistles, they often were meant to be shared throughout the areas where they were sent.  II Corinthians was addressed “to the church of God which is at Corinth with all the saints who are throughout Achaia.”  Again, another example of a letter being sent to groups of believers meeting in houses around a specific area.

Taking the time to get acquainted with the places mentioned in the New Testament, as well as the people brings us a little bit closer to the One who inspired the writing.  God wanted these things written to us; He wanted us to know about these places and these people.  He is purposeful in what He does and getting to dig a bit into the subjects mentioned in the Bible is both an honor and a privilege!

Most of the people were involved in farming, but there were also craftsman, scribes and a small group of nobles. Scribes learned to read and write hieroglyphs and hieratic (a quicker, shorter form of hieroglyphs). They had two main duties, to read and write the sacred hieroglyphs that would appear on temples and tombs and to keep government records as well as completing correspondence for the pharaohs. Egyptian farmers grew grain, mostly wheat and were the first people to use the ox-drawn plow. Because of the scarcity of grazing lands, most of the peasant class subsisted on ground wheat and whatever vegetables they could grow. Fishing in the Nile would’ve provided a meal, provided you did not revere the fish as a god. In some places in Egypt, fish were considered sacred and therefore not eaten.

Food was cooked either over open fires or in clay ovens. Kitchen utensils were found in tombs and were not unlike what we use today. Pots, whisks, storage jars, bowls, ladles and sieves were all in common use. The average family used dishes made with clay, while the wealthy favored dishes made of gold, silver or bronze.

Family

Family life was important in ancient Egypt and children were considered to be a great blessing from the gods. People married quite young though marriages were generally polygamous, with husbands having several wives. This was especially true in the royal families. In most cases there was a senior or favored wife, but it appeared that husbands were fond of all their wives. Divorce was permissible, but not prevalent or very common.

Clothing/Jewelry

Clothing was usually made of linen ranging from a coarse to a fine texture. Men usually wore a short kilt; women, a straight fitting dress held up by straps. The wealthy men wore pleated kilts, noblewomen sometimes wore beaded dresses. When doing hard work, men wore a loin cloth, and women wore a short skirt. Children usually ran around nude during the summer months.

In the winter, wraps and cloaks were worn. Everyone wore jewelry; rings and amulets were worn to ward off evil spirits and injury. Both men and women wore earrings, bracelets, armlets, and anklets.

Cosmetics/Hair

The Egyptians were clean people; they bathed daily either in the river or in a basin in their home. They did not use soap, but used a cleansing cream, made from oil, lime and perfume. Living in a harsh climate, the Egyptians found ways to take care of their skin. They rubbed themselves daily with perfumed oil to help keep the skin from drying out. Everyone wore cosmetics; men, women, children, of all classes. They even had highly polished copper or silver mirrors to help with the application of their makeup.

Eye shadow was made from green malachite, and galena — a gray lead ore. Both were ground into a powder and mixed with oil to make eye color called Kohl. It was kept in jars and applied to the eyes with a small stick. The upper and lower eyelids were painted with the kohl that extended in a line out to the sides of the face. The Egyptians believed the makeup had magical, healing powers and some even believed that wearing it would restore poor eyesight. It was also used to fight eye infections and reduce the glare of the sun.

The common person wore their hair short. The younger girls wore pigtails and the boys had shaved heads. Men and women also wore wigs made of sheep’s wool or of human hair. These wigs were worn both for decoration and for protection from the heat and usually for parties or at official functions. Hair pieces were also popular for enhancing one’s own head of hair. When not in use, the wigs were stored in boxes or on stands in the home.

Religion

Cults were the structure used by the people to worship the Egyptian gods and this structure included the priests who carried out rituals associated with the gods, who were frequently manifested in the form of statues, within the temples. The center of the Egyptian cult was the temple, a sacred area enclosed by a wall that was built to exclude the profane.

Rituals centered on offerings made to the gods, but there were many other rituals, including daily functions such as tending to the clothing the gods (or at least the statue of the gods) wore. Other rituals took the form of celebrations or perhaps processions when, one statue of a god might be taken to visit the temple of another, and it was during these festivals that average Egyptians probably came closest to their gods, because generally they were prohibited from the inner part of the temple that housed the cult statues.

Most Egyptians could only hope that the pharaoh and/or priests took their religious duties seriously, otherwise they might expect to suffer famine or disasters or be unable to have the chance at an afterlife. But as time passed, religion became more available to the common man, so that in later Egyptian history, ordinary Egyptians had their own means of worshipping and being accepted by their gods. Egyptians built within their homes shrines for their own personal worship, and public shrines where they could worship and pray together. However, in all of Egyptian history, the common people were limited as to the scope of worship in which they could participate in the official cult centers.

Gods

The Egyptian religion had a plethora of gods and goddesses. They were truly polytheistic in their worship; in fact the sheer volume of gods and goddesses fairly defines the word polytheism. There were the animal gods, the gods of the afterlife, gods of the home, the sun god; the god of the moon, the goddess of war, the goddess of the Nile, the goddess of music and dance, the goddess of moisture, the goddess of weaving, the goddess of writing and measurement, the goddess of funerals, the goddess of scorpions and snakes, indeed there seems to be a god for every letter of our alphabet and I am not kidding! Only one pharaoh tried to get Egypt to worship one god called Aten, and his attempt failed.

Pharaoh Akhenaten and family (including his son Tutankamun) worshipping Aten.

]]> http://biblicalhistory.wordpress.com/2009/08/10/life-in-ancient-egypt/feed/ 0 alfredanasmith Life in Ancient Egypt-Nile Plowing in Egypt Egypt Aten http://biblicalhistory.wordpress.com/2009/08/08/egypt/ http://biblicalhistory.wordpress.com/2009/08/08/egypt/#comments Sat, 08 Aug 2009 19:58:09 +0000 alfredanasmith http://biblicalhistory.wordpress.com/?p=3 ]]> It is difficult to determine the exact time of the Israelites’ sojourn in Egypt. It was simply not in the best interest of a proud nation to proclaim the exploits of a non-Egyptian second-in-command pharaoh, who claimed to know the one true God (Who was NOT one of the Egyptian gods). Adding insult to injury, many scholars believe that while Joseph was in Egypt, the area where he lived was under rule by a foreign pharaoh, not a native-born Egyptian.

It would be as if the United States elected a foreign president who then was, through the wisdom he received from God, able to correct all the current financial problems our nation is experiencing at present. Would historians be kind enough to give credit where credit is due? A cursory glance at the revisionist history being taught in schools today gives you an idea of the answer to that question. An emphatic “NO”!! It is not in the interest of many people, let alone governments to give credit to God concerning anything!

And then there is the matter of the Exodus four hundred thirty years after Joseph. What self-respecting government of sun worshippers would admit to such a huge supernatural defeat as is recorded in the Book of Exodus? Never mind that your Egyptian gods couldn’t out-do Jehovah, the Jewish slaves’ God in a battle of the plagues! These events give further reasons for the scarcity of extra-biblical documentation.

With all of this in mind, what will be proposed here is simply the best of our ability to piece together (through research and study of those who have gone before us) an attempt to shed some light on the melding of the biblical record to those incomplete records of ancient Egypt. While we know that the Bible is true, we feel that by gaining an understanding of what was going on in the world at that time, we are aided in our search for the understanding of scripture and the application of the same.

We present:

EGYPT

The Way in and the Way Out

Scripture tells us that Jacob and his family entered Egypt 430 years before the Exodus, which then places Joseph in what archeologists call the 12^th Dynasty, the Middle Kingdom period of Egyptian history. This would then position Moses and the final years of Israel’s slavery there in Egypt during the 18^th Dynasty or the New Kingdom period. Following these dates, Joseph would have been vizier over Egypt during the time when Egypt was ruled by the Hyksos people.

The Hyksos were not Egyptian, but were foreign conquerors of mixed Semitic race, one source said possibly Hittite or Hurrian, but this has never been confirmed. They did bring with them some of their own gods, but honored the Egyptian gods as well. They probably thought it best to cover all bases when it came to appeasing various deities. The Hyksos ruled during a period of confusion in Egypt and in fact never controlled the entire country. They introduced the horse, chariot and composite bow to the country and this actually contributed to their eventual expulsion from Egypt. When it came time for them to go, their own weapons were used against them. (Not literally, but in the sense that they were the ones who introduced these new weapons to Egypt)

Ahmose I was the pharaoh who first began to free Egypt of this foreign rule. It is thought that next succession of pharaohs (leading up to the pharaoh who is thought to be the pharaoh of the Exodus; Amenhotep II) continued the expulsion of the Hyksos rulers.

Most believe that it was a foreign Hyksos pharaoh whom Joseph stood before as an interpreter of dreams. This makes sense and is consistent with both the timeline found in Scripture and what is known from Egyptian history. It does explain on a human level why a Hebrew would be able to rise to such an elevated office in a country where most rulers were Egyptian-except in this particular time period when a foreign race had succeeded in conquering part of the land. We can see how a Semitic ruler would find Joseph palatable as a co-regent and can understand how Joseph’s family would be treated well by the pharaoh who would have empathy toward some of the same (Semitic) race as he. We can comprehend such favor especially when we consider Joseph’s wisdom in oneiromancy, which is what the practice of interpreting dreams is called; and the fact that both Egypt and Babylon developed a profession of dream interpretation. They truly believed that dreams determined the future. We do read in Deuteronomy that such practice was part of ancient religion and should be avoided by God’s people, especially if the interpretation of a dream led one to idolatry. Joseph gave God the credit for his ability to give meaning to pharaoh’s dreams; he did not take the credit himself.

As we go on with Israel’s history during the sojourn in Egypt and read about a pharaoh “who knew not Joseph”, we can understand that with the expulsion of the foreign rulers came the native born princes of Egypt as pharaohs and the mistrust of the Semitic people who started out as a small group, but had exploded into a multitude as time had passed. Not insignificant was the fact that Egypt had grown to the point of great strength in the region, economically, diplomatically and militarily. The setting for Israel’s departure is thought to be during the period after Thutmose III (aka, “Napoleon of Ancient Egypt”) was the sovereign who had expanded Egypt beyond its former borders.

Then we come to Moses and find that he would have been growing up during the reign of Thutmose I and II and Queen Hatshepsut for his first 40 years. He would then have been in exile in Midian for the next 40 years and returned to Egypt when the pharaoh Amenhotep II was in power.

In growing up during this 18^th Dynasty time period, Moses would’ve been schooled in reading, writing, arithmetic and the languages of Canaan. He would have participated in various outdoor sports, such as archery, horseback riding and probably the martial arts of the day. Though Moses would have been granted special privileges commensurate with his title of “son” of the daughter of pharaoh, he never relinquished his native origin. It is interesting that Queen Hatshepsut was the eldest daughter of Thutmose I and succeeded in ruling by relegating her husband (who was also her younger half-brother who married her to gain better positioning to the throne-his mother was a lesser wife of Thutmose I than was Hatshepsut’s mother) Thutmose II to the background during his short reign. Thutmose II had other wives and Iset is the wife with whom he fathered Thutmose III. Hatshepsut continued in power as regent to Thutmose II’s son Thutmose III until he was old enough to be named pharaoh. Many think Hatshepsut was the pharaoh’s daughter who adopted Moses. She ruled well and developed the resources of Egypt. After Thutmose III came to power, she was regarded as a king rather than a queen and often wore a false beard. After her death, Thutmose III obliterated all references to her on Egypt’s monuments. Below is a picture of a statue of Hatshepsut.

After Moses killed an Egyptian and went into hiding in Midian, Egypt continued to grow, and the pharaohs noted that the Hebrews were rapidly multiplying in number. Knowing that they were a Semitic people and having just rid themselves of Semitic rule from the Hyksos, they were afraid this large “nation within a nation” would rise up and be a real threat in the land. The answer was to enslave them to control the danger and to have them build storage cities. The pharaohs also thought that population control was in order, so they ruled that the male children should be put to death. (This is interesting in light of the final “death of the firstborn” plague that was to come)

The storage cities of Pithom and Raamses are the ones most scholars believe were built by the Hebrew slaves. Both provisions and military hardware would have been stored in the edifices painstakingly constructed by the Hebrews. As their plight grew worse and worse, their collective cries to God were heard and answered. God promised to deliver His people from oppression.

Moses is called into action by God as he is shepherding his father-in-law’s flock in Midian. After arguing with God about his lack of ability to deliver the nation out of bondage, it seems God gets through to Moses that He is interested in Moses availability to do His will that matters most. God in fact, would do the delivering, Moses would be His messenger.