101 Myths of the Bible: how ancient scribes - Conscious Evolution TV

88 101 Myths of the Bible
sition claim had to be based on both theological and political arguments. Theologically,
Herakleopolis had to show that its kings, not those of Memphis, continued the
line of Horus. Politically, they had to have a reasonable basis for making such a claim.
The unity of the theological and political arguments would most likely arise from a
marriage between members of the Herakleopolitan and Memphite ruling families.
The children from that marriage would provide a basis for a political and theological
challenge to any alternative successor favored by Memphis.
This brings us to Genesis, which places the flood and its preceding era of wickedness
during Egypt’s First Intermediate Period (c. 2300 B.C.–2040 B.C.). Genesis 6:5
indicates God’s desire to destroy humanity because of its wickedness. Immediately
prior to this verse, Genesis provides an introductory passage to explain why things had
gone wrong. The“sons of God” had married the“daughters of man” and they had children.
As a result, the offspring had become corrupt and wicked.
Who were the sons of God and the daughters of man? The traditional explanation
holds that the sons of God were the descendants of Seth (the third son of Adam and
Eve, and the ancestor of the Hebrew people) and the daughters of man were the
descendants of Cain. This created a bloodline mixing the cursed and the blessed. But, if
we look at the story in an Egyptian context, another interpretation makes more sense.
The sons of god would be the sons of a ruling pharaoh, i.e. the sons of Horus. The
daughters of man would be the daughters of a non-royal family. In the First Intermediate
Period, Herakleopolis challenged Memphis for the right to rule. Behind that
challenge would have been a marriage between a son of the Memphite royal family
and the daughter of the Herakleopolitan ruling family. When the pharaoh died, various
factions from Memphis and Herakleopolis would have jockeyed for position as
the legitimate successor. The power vacuum resulted in competing claims to the
throne, a period of widespread corruption and chaos, and civil war. The events of this
time found their way into Genesis as the story of the sons of God and the daughters
of man.