Discussing the ancient hebrews and AT LEAST one other ancient culture - Essay Example

This paper focuses mainly on the creation stories of the Hebrews, and compares it to the creation stories of the Greeks and Egyptians. The creation stories of these cultures are discussed and analyzed from their different historical contexts. The Hebrew culture is one of the major ancient cultures in the world. The early history of the Hebrews is recounted in the Bible in the form of patriarchal legends about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. These are considered the descendants of the Hebrew people.

Nonetheless, the 12 sons of Jacob are considered the ancestors of the 12 tribes of Israel (see Genesis 29:31-30:24 and 35:16-18 and Exodus 1:1-7). The Hebrew Bible, which is the Old Testament comprises different Hebrew texts, which were collected and assembled by major Jewish scholars between the seventh to tenth centuries A.D. These were collected from codices and scrolls. Nonetheless, the old testament comprises two major creation stories of the Hebrew people. This is quite normal, as it is not a strange thing for one culture to have different accounts of creation stories.

The two creation stories of the Hebrews are entirely different, and these are recounted differently. The creation story of the Hebrews is from Genesis 2:4 to 3:24 of the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament. Different extensive analyses of the style and content of the Bible has led to the conviction that the first creation story in the Bible might have been written about the tenth Century B.C. This was around the time of the reign of King Solomon. During this period, the nation of Israel was strong and stable.

On the other hand, the creation story of Genesis 1:1 to Genesis 2:3 was written three to four centuries later and under different circumstances2. The author of the creation story of Genesis 2:4 to 3:24 is known to scholars as "J.” There is no clarity whether the same author wrote all the two creation stories or whether it was two different authors, including J and P. Nonetheless, “J” is considered the most primitive or rural author of the creation stories of the Hebrews. In addition, the exact characteristic of “J” is not well known by the Bible scholars.

While some think that J might have been a poet, others consider J to have been a priest. It is also thought that J was probably recording his or her people's oral traditions in written form. Therefore, lack of clarity of the author of the Hebrew creation stories is quite a challenge. Similarly, since Hebrews have two different accounts of creation stories, people might find it challenging or confusion to believe both the creation stories. As the stories of creation of the Ancient Hebrews addressed the creation of human beings and the earth, other Ancient cultures too had creation stories, which addressed the origin of various phenomena, including humans and the earth, among others.

First, the “Pericles' Funeral Oration” written by Thucydides can be considered a form of creation story among the Ancient Greek. Although this does not explain the origin of earth or humans, it qualifies as a creation story, as it explains the rebuilding of Athens after a major war with Persia, which had devastated the country, as well as the people therein, including the effects of a major plaque that killed many Athenians. Nonetheless, this is a historical account, which is however important in explaining how Athens got itself back together after a devastating situation. The