Scholars
increasingly regard Hebrew and Jewish traditions within the context of Mediterranean culture as
a whole, rather than in terms of a unique and independent identity. Although the Jewish tribes
of the Bible had a very strong sense of ethnic and religious identity which gave them strength
in times of persecution, they shared many characteristics with neighboring groups.
First, the Hebrew, Egyptian, and Mesopotamian cultures shared a belief in the
importance of literacy, education, and reading. All three cultures produced impressive bodies of
written work on religious and philosophical subjects, including much poetry that was beautiful
as well as profound. In addition to popular and personal topics, all three cultures produced
cultural artifacts that mixed art and spirituality. There seems to have been a great deal of
sharing and influence among these three culturesfor instance, with the narrative of the flood in
Gilgamesh being strikingly similar to biblical accounts.
All three cultures were patriarchal (with men dominating) and theocratic (with
religious and secular power intertwined). Slavery was accepted in all three cultures. All three
cultures had formal written law codes which included both civil and criminal law, including some
defense of the rights of the weak against the impunity of the powerful. It is difficult to
decide whether these are due to parallel evolution or mutual influence.
As is
recounted in Exodus, the Jews endured captivity in Egypt as part of their founding myth and
during that period of captivity had the opportunity to assimilate certain elements of Egyptian
culture. Later, in the Hellenistic period, there was a thriving Jewish culture in Alexandria,
and the Old Testament was translated into Greek. Many of the great works of Jewish history and
theology were written in Greek by Jewish writers living in Greco-Roman Egypt.
Many Hebrew literary traditions were grounded in cultural interchanges with
Mesopotamia, as were culinary traditions.
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