James > Recent Status Updates

Isaiah really seems to be running over the same ground we've already discussed with nothing new to add ...

"Occasionally people did the right thing for exactly one generation because there was a Cool Guy around and then immediately everyone returned to evil when he died so God punished them for three generations"

Joshua/Judges: Man, Israel certainly is bad at following the word of God unless God has specifically selected a person to beat them over the head with it. So kind of God to pick someone for just that task every now and then so that they are good until that person dies.

Deuteronomy: The promises/threats from God here are so incredibly broad that absolutely any subsequent event aligns with them good or bad. Also, God tells the Israelites not to kill a family for one person's sin, and then immediately orders the killing of Achan's family for his sin at the start of the next book. Crazy that God said to kill every man woman and child West of the Jordan too, surely no political effects.

Numbers: They are all complaining so much and honestly I don't know how Moses has the patience to keep convincing God not to kill them.

Codex Regius Mythological Poems: These Norse mythological poems are quick and colorful while making evident the vast collection of stories which make up the mythological corpus as a whole. Pettit seems focused on maintaining a the original text's character and form even where this might make comprehension more difficult, but provides ample supporting information for readers who are just beginning with the subject.

Pyramids of Neith: Short, and dense with lines more interesting than those in the pyramid of her husband. I suppose the limited wall space for inscriptions necessitated a focus on quality over quantity.
Pyramids of other queens: Fragments are too short to meaningfully comment on, but I am glad they were included.

Pyramid of Pepi II: Largely uninteresting compared to the others. Little in the way of memorable lines despite its length.

Leviticus: While I do appreciate the laying out of rules, most are only on sacrifices, which I find less tasteful than rules on how to live. Some are good sense, others are founded in misunderstanding nature or feel somewhat arbitrary. Some good laws about caring for the poor and strangers, and returning that which had to be sold for survival. Also, deeply sexist.

Merenre's Pyramid holds little that is in variation from those that preceded it, at least in the texts that still exist. The spells for invoking the gods at dawn are nice.

The Pyramid of Pepi I contains the largest of the pyramid texts, and by this nature does carry a large number of striking verses, but the density is lower than that of the previous texts, and there are long periods of relatively uninteresting or repetitive spells which do not do enough to differentiate themselves from those of past rulers.

Exodus: I don't like that God hardens Pharaoh's heart so that He has an excuse to send more plagues - not a good role model. The rest is pretty boring. Also, why do these people have God's favor? They do not follow the rules. It really just feels like some guy said "oh yeah, God says my family is blessed" and occasionally a descendant says "yep, I checked with God, we're blessed", but in reality they all suffer.

The texts of the Pyramid of Teti, although largely having the same purpose as those of Unis, contain many more stories and allegories, which likely require a better understanding of the mythology than I have to fully appreciate. I feel a desire to further develop that understanding, but would have to turn from religious texts to the discussion of religions to do so.

Having read through the contents of the Unis pyramid after switching over from the Mercer collection of translations, I can say that Allen's not only benefit from several more decades of deciphering the language and connecting fragments to texts found elsewhere, but seek to convey allegories that would be missing from a purely literal translation, creating a richer and more enjoyable text on the whole.