Did hieroglyphics constitute idolatry ?

[Prince_Hal]

I was listening to Tim Gray’s talks downloaded from EWTN on The Exodus. In it he said that hieroglyphics were considered by the Jews as idolatry. Apparently the pictures captured and symbolised their gods. This was one of the prime considerations in "thou shalt not make any graven image. Consequently, the Jews would never use the Egyptian hieroglyphic language.

Anyway, does anyone have any evidence that might support this ?

God bless,

Hal.

 

[Sonic]

Anyway, does anyone have any evidence that might support this ?

I believe there is considerable evidence for this. Many ancient religions held the belief that the deity was present in the symbols associated with the deity. Any well researched book on Ancient Egyptian mythology should give you a rudimentary feel for what the Egyptians believed.

In my personal possession, I’ve got these texts…

The Routledge Dictionary of Ancient Egyptian Mythology by George Hart

The Handbook of Ancient Egyptian Mythology by Geraldine Pinch

Page 171 - 228 of Ancient Egypt for Dummies by Charlotte Booth will give you a good general overview about the Ancient Egyptian religion and their use of Hieroglyphs. There’s tons of resources out there. Happy hunting!

 

[Mintaka]

Certainly a lot of the hieroglyphs did refer to Egyptian gods, and those that didn’t were generally referring to religious concepts. Also, since the hieroglyphs were developed by priest scribes primarily for religious and magical purposes, there really wasn’t much other reason for Hebrews to use them. But then, you pretty much had to go to an Egyptian temple school to learn anything more than rudimentary hieroglyphics.

There were other simpler versions of Egyptian writing developed later, and these may not have been as big a concern for Jews.

But all in all, I’m sure they were glad that the Phoenicians came along and developed the alphabet out of Sumerian signs.

 

[MarkBrown]

what about paleo hebrew? The Aleph appeared to look like a cow’s head and other letters looked like a man and some other representations of life. Now my hebrew class was many years ago, but I do remember the class on paleo-hebrew and the students did comment on how some of it reminded us of hieroglyphics.

Fr. Mark

 

[MarkBrown]

I was listening to Tim Gray’s talks downloaded from EWTN on The Exodus. In it he said that hieroglyphics were considered by the Jews as idolatry. Apparently the pictures captured and symbolised their gods. This was one of the prime considerations in "thou shalt not make any graven image. Consequently, the Jews would never use the Egyptian hieroglyphic language.

Anyway, does anyone have any evidence that might support this ?

God bless,

Hal.

But they put angels on the Ark of the Covenant? What is idolatry? Is it not anything that takes the place of our reliance upon God? What we put before God?

I think it is a stretch to equate hieroglyphics to idolatry. Paleo Hebrew may have some Egyptian influences. We do know that the Children of Israel did adopt some pagan ideas when they came to the promised land.

Also, they would not use hieroglyphics, but an image of a serpent on a staff is ok?

It is not the image, but what you do with it that can lead to idolatry.

my 2 cents

Fr. Mark

 

[Sonic]

what about paleo hebrew? The Aleph appeared to look like a cow’s head and other letters looked like a man and some other representations of life. Now my hebrew class was many years ago, but I do remember the class on paleo-hebrew and the students did comment on how some of it reminded us of hieroglyphics.

I don’t think the Old Testament Jews ever believed the symbols of the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet constituted avatars of God, ie. they didn’t believe the symbols were God. Therefore, that form of hieroglyph would not be considered an idol.