Moses and Monotheism - by Sigmund Freud Part 1

This book was first published in 1939. My Mom just gave me a copy and I find it interesting .  Moses was a central figure in three of the world's "great" religions - Judaism, Christianity and Islam. I will give a thumbnail sketch of the first of the three chapters.

Moses an Egyptian

The Birth of Moses - Traditional Approach 
By way of background, Wikipedia gives the following text concerning the birth of Moses:

In the Exodus account, the birth of Moses occurred at a time when an unnamed Egyptian Pharaoh had commanded that all male Hebrew children born be killed by drowning in the river Nile. Jochebed, the wife of the Levite Amram, bore a son and kept him concealed for three months.^[6][8][9] When she could keep him hidden no longer, rather than deliver him to be killed, she set him adrift on the Nile River in a small craft of bulrushes coated in pitch.^[8] Moses' sister Miriam observed the progress of the tiny boat until it reached a place where Pharaoh's daughter (Bithiah^[6],Thermuthis ^[10]) was bathing with her handmaidens. It is said that she spotted the baby in the basket and had her handmaiden fetch it for her. Miriam came forward and asked Pharaoh's daughter if she would like a Hebrew woman to nurse the baby.^[6] Thereafter, Jochebed was employed as the child's nurse. He grew up and was brought to Pharaoh's daughter and became her son and a younger brother to the future Pharaoh of Egypt. Moses would not be able to become Pharaoh because he was not the 'blood' son of Bithiah, and he was the youngest.
Exodus and Flavius Josephus do not mention whether this daughter of Pharaoh was an only child or, if she was not an only child, whether she was an eldest child or an eldest daughter. Nor do they mention whether Thermuthis later had other natural or adopted children. If Rameses II is the Pharaoh of the Oppression, as was traditionally thought, identifying her would be extremely difficult as Rameses II is thought to have fathered over a hundred children. The daughter of Pharaoh named him Mosheh, similar to the Hebrew word mashah, "to draw out".

In the Moses story related by the Quran, Jochebed is commanded by God to place Moses in an ark and cast him on the waters of the Nile, thus abandoning him completely to God's protection. Pharaoh's wife Asiya, not his daughter, found Moses floating in the waters of the Nile. She convinced Pharaoh to keep him as their son because they were not blessed with any children.   (source Wikipedia)

Freud's Approach: Moses an Egyptian

Freud's approach was that Moses was not a Jew, but an Egyptian - and he supports this approach with three arguments:

1) The name "Moses" does not fit properly into the story. It was supposedly given to him by the Egyptian princess who found him and is usually attributed to being from Hebrew where it is written as  Mosche.  Freud quotes from Judisches Lexikon , "The Biblical interpretation of the name: 'He that is drawn out of the water' is folk etymology; the active Hebrew form itself of the name (Mosche can best mean only "the drawer out" [Moses as a baby was drawn out of the water - he wasn't the "drawer" - JSM] ) cannot be reconciled with this solution."  Freud continues "This argument can be supported by two further reflections; first that it is nonsensical to credit an Egyptian princess with a knowledge of Hebrew etymology, and, secondly that the water from which the child was drawn was most probably not the water of the Nile."

2) Instead of being from Hebrew, the name Moses is most likely related to the word "mose" in Egyptian, meaning "child". It is usually preceded by the fathers name. We see a similar pattern in the names of Egyptian kings such as Ramses (Ra-mose or child of Ra) or Thotmes (Thut-mose - child of Thut).

3) Freud's third argument relies on a concept he refers to as the "average myth" and it relates to the "fact" that most peoples develop myths around their most important heroes, kings religious figures etc.. This is a very interesting idea and is very similar to those of Joseph Campbell in his writings on mythology. I will note the Freud does not take credit for this idea.

The Average Myth

• the hero's true parents are from the highest station (such as a king)
• The hero's conception is hindered by difficulties such as abstinence or temporary sterility [I think virgin birth qualifies here - but that is a different story]. During the pregnancy an oracle or dream warns the father of danger related to the child's birth
• The father figure gives the order that the baby be killed or exposed to extreme danger. In most cases the baby is usually placed in a casket and delivered to the waves.
• The child is saved by animals or common people and suckled by a woman of humble birth.
• When grown, the hero rediscovers his noble heritage, has strange adventures, takes vengeance on his father and attains fame with his people.

Freud expands on this framework and gives a long list of mythological and historical figures that fit within it.  Freud states that in the average myth, it is the first family, the one that exposes the child to danger, that is usually a fiction created by the myth. The lowly family into which the child is adopted is his real family.

In this case, Moses of myth was born of lowly Jewish parents and was adopted into a noble household. The Egyptian family (the second family in the myth) was the real family. Moses was an Egyptian from the very start and that the part about the Jewish mother was a myth created to support his later stature in the Jewish culture.

Freud concludes the first section conceding that the evidence of Mose's Egyptian birth is far from proof - but that the entire story is shrouded in religious mystery.  He certainly believes that it is a reasonable argument - and if it is true, it sheds a completely different light on the story of Moses and the Jewish faith. His next chapter is If Moses Was an Egyptian.

Random Thoughts
I find it interesting that Freud, the father of psychoanalysis, looked into cultural beliefs (the mind of society)  as though he were looking into an individual's mind.  There is an implied idea that society is a consciousness.

I also find it interesting that Freud, a Jew, would even take on this topic - And he notes in the book that he does so with some reservation. But he did it anyway and it sounds like from the many references he quotes in the book, he wasn't the only one.
Finally, I find it interesting that my Mom, a Christian, would pass this book on to me. But I believe that if faith rests in the heart rather than in religious doctrine, the mind is free to explore.