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0Moses’ mom, Jochebed, though she may have had good intentions, probably was not fit to look after a child. What kind of mother hides her newborn baby boy by floating him on the Nile river? Sure, you saved him from being drowned by the Pharaoh’s goons, but that river isn’t exactly famous for its peaceful wildlife. All I can say is, it’s a damn good thing Moses had the G-man on his side or he’d have been a tiny snack for a crocodile!
Of course, I’m sure there were plenty of other ladies that tried the same trick and didn’t get so lucky. Maybe the wildlife was just full by the time Moses made his way to the water.
Out of so many comics, it’s kind of surprising I haven’t done more jokes about Moses considering what an iconic figure he is for so many world religions. I’ve really got to step up my game here.
Moses was born at a trying time in the mythological history of the Hebrew people. A new pharaoh had risen to power and he noticed an alarming increase in the Hebrew population in the lands that he controlled. Worried, that these people might rise against him, the leader of the Egyptians declared that all newborn Hebrew boys be drowned in the Nile. Moses’ mother placed him in an ark and hid him near the riverbank. In the Biblical account, Moses’ older sister, Miriam, is sent to watch over him but she was only seven years old! Luckily for Moses, being a chosen child of Yahweh, he does not get devoured by crocodiles before the story even gets going.
Moses is eventually found by the Pharaoh’s daughter and raised in their household. Again, the incredible power of Yahweh melts the heart of this woman (but doesn’t stop Pharaoh from presumably drowning all those other babies that weren’t Moses) who has been conditioned to despise the Hebrew people. Pharaoh’s daughter rescues the boy and sends one of her servants to find a nurse for the child and, wouldn’t you know it, the woman brings back Moses’ own mother. She nurses her son until he is old enough, then gives him over to the Pharaoh’s daughter to raise as her own son. Moses, as a member of the royal household, learns science and math from the Egyptians and learns everything he would need to become Pharaoh himself.
It is only later in his life that Moses turns down the path that would set himself as one of the greatest leaders in Biblical mythology. Moses, inspecting the kingdom, begins to feel sympathy for the Hebrew people after witnessing their plight. When he witnesses a slave master mercilessly whipping some Hebrew slaves, he murders the fellow in cold blood and hides the body in the sands. When Moses finds out that this dark deed has been discovered by others (specifically that Pharaoh might know) he flees into the desert, giving up his former life forever.
It is in the desert that Moses encounters the burning bush and learns the name of God. In the desert he starts to become the great leader that would free the Hebrews from bondage and the one to deliver them to the promised land.
Good thing he survived the Nile!
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So I was wondering why in the comic and blog (also in a few other bits and pieces I’ve read) is the Pharoah referred to as simply Pharoah? We don’t use just King, or Chieftan, or Emperor like this, at least not that I’ve noticed. Must be some sorta historical reason, no doubt.
I actually have no idea and I’ve wondered the same thing. When I first wrote the blog post for this strip I had “the” in front of Pharaoh but I ended up feeling really weird about it so I mimicked the Bible for consistency haha
Unlike kings or emperors, the Pharaoh of ancient Egypt was more than the titular ruler. The religious belief was that each holder of the title was the reincarnation of a god, and thus “Pharaoh” designates a deity, not a man. You wouldn’t write “the Zeus.”
I can answer that for you: (or you can read the full text: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharaoh )
It means literally “Great House” and means the palace in which the King lived. From some time on it was not usual to call the King by his name, so he was reffered to by the place where he lived: the palace, the “Great House”, the Pharaoh
Since rivers usually have rapids and bends, wouldn’t the basket have a very high chance of capsizing? Also, what happened with the website yesterday? The bits and scraps I found on twitter indicates that the server went ka-blooey.
The site was acting very weird indeed. it’s funny how I check this site daily while the updates only come twice a week at fixed days xD
I have to say. I look forward to these comics all the time. I get bummed out, I just hit random and laugh. You do an amazing job Scott!
If your gonna make cute comics on Moses – kudos, but your comments made me cringe – Moses was a Hebrew not a Jew – Judah was one of twelve of the Hebrew tribes. Moses was from the tribe of Levi. Please quite referring to God’s Scriptures as mythology – if you don’t have faith fine – but you are catering to the internet, try offending less.
My comics don’t cater to anyone but myself, judging by your tone you think I should cater to YOUR personal beliefs rather than speaking about topics in a more neutral tone. Just because you believe in something does not make it any less fanciful in my eyes. As I’ve explained in other comments, this site is not here to promote your or anyone else’s personal beliefs, but rather to discuss mythology and religion from the source texts and to crack jokes about them.
If you’re terribly offended, feel free to go elsewhere, the comics and posts are probably not going to get any better for you.
The point you missed in your comments, apparently, was your inaccuracy. The Jewish people was one tribe out of twelve – the last one standing today. If you do more comics pre 700BC use the term Hebrew, as is relevant even today. If your comics cater to just you, then stop publishing them on a medium reaching billions. Sheesh.
Plenty of other people enjoy them, I publish them to entertain and humor those individuals but I write what I write because I want to write it. Like I said, if they make you so upset, there’s plenty of other places you can visit on the internet that will echo your beliefs and keep you safe and snug from any potentially offensive material.
Hardly upset, you are a good artist and your stuff is interesting. If you were to comment about baseball and say that hitting a ball out of the park was a ‘touchdown’, you would get criticism then as well – all I’m trying to get across is when you comment be ‘accurate’. Even if you believe it’s myth it’s still off. just saying. And no, you don’t write for yourself – you engage others with interesting quips with a good visual comic as well – things that inspire and you try to get it across for others to consider – and kudos to you for doing so.
Gotta (kind of) agree with bstacy here. Moses was a Levite and not a Jew in any sense of the word.
I’ve read all, and enjoyed most of your comics, but I don’t remember you referring to Islam as a mythology. I did a quick Google search and found one post where you refer to it as a faith http://www.happletea.com/comic/genieus/ and you seem to do that as well when you lump all Abrahamic religions together. I’m not offended, and don’t think bstacy should be either because I know Christians are “not of this world” (John 18:36). And I understand where you come from after reading your comics, so I know what I’m getting into. I’ve just noticed a general trend on the “left” side of the cultural divide to show more favoritism to Islam despite being atheist/agnostic. But while i find hypocrisy in that outlook, in some ways prefer it to jingoists on the “right” who mold my faith into some badge to wear for whatever reason.
Anyway, I’ve gone off topic. My basic rule of thumb is to refer to religions who have a large serious following today as a religion, and ones that don’t as myths…and take grey areas case by case.
Referring to Islam as a faith rather than mythology is more to do with my own personal development with regards to how I speak about these topics (though I am aware of the world’s generally delicate handling of Islam). Saying Islam is a faith and then referring to stories from Judaism or Christianity as mythology is not an intentional shift in tone but rather an evolution in my own understand and modes of speaking/writing. I apologize for the lack of clarity there. Also, the reason I tend to discuss the Abrahamic faiths together is because they share many common traits, that’s why we call them the “Abrahamic faiths”. That said, I have tried to be more nuanced in my approach with regards to discussing them as individual belief systems as time has gone on. The art in this comic changes and so do my stances on topics and the way I write.
The problem with discussing mythology vs religion/faith here is with individual perception. As a person that does not subscribe to any particular religion, I’m in a difficult position. To me, modern religion is made up of mythology (stories that explain why things are the way they are) that is currently widely believed. I don’t feel a particular need to differentiate just because it might offend some peoples’ sensibilities. I respect the right for individuals to believe as they do but I do not respect the idea that we have to tip toe around a discussion just because someone might get upset. I will say that I at least try to be pretty respectful when relating the actual stories and I certainly don’t go out of my way to offend for the sake of offending (though if you read some of the early comics, I certainly did), as that strikes me as rather counter productive. I also try to make sure I am not persecuting people for any beliefs they may hold, but rather choose to poke fun at the beliefs themselves.
I’m glad that you take a more nuanced approach to this kind of content, it’s something that I think opens your world up a lot more and allows us to have a respectful conversation and for that I thank you. I certainly understand your position and why you feel the way you do about the mythology vs religion thing.
Also I’m not sure where I posted that Moses was Jewish, I’d initially posted a version of the blog where I referred to the slaves being whipped as Jewish (which is also inaccurate) but then edited that about an hour later before any comments went up because I realized it wasn’t correct. I do talk about him as being a part of the mythological history of the Jewish people, but that is factually correct. He is indeed a Levite but the Torah is a part of the Judaism.
*Edit – Eh, I edited “mythological history of the Jewish people” to “Hebrew people” just for clarity, though I think either is technically correct in this particular case.
I gotcha; it -has- been four years since that commentary. And yea, I understood your use of “Abrahamic” (I too refer to Islam as Abrahamic), I was just using it to contrast your use of “faith” in the past.
And thanks, about seven years ago my beliefs were pretty much in line with yours, and I know foaming at the mouth would only make me laugh…heck, it still does. And speaking of art, I’ve enjoyed watching you improve over the years.
Also, I’d just like to say that if I were catering or pandering to the internet, I’d probably be doing really stupid video game comics instead of doing comics about mythology.
I found this hilarious.
Go read the Bible guys.
i’ll stay here an continue to laugh my ass off and not get caught up in silly details.
Hey – great comic! Love how worried little Moses looks in the last picture! I think the animated film The Prince of Egypt demonstrates just how treacherous his journey down the Nile might have been. Sorry about the others who were offended by your blog, it must be hard to write about mythology as well as current religion without offending anyone :/ I did cringe a bit when you said about Biblical mythology though (just because I think it’s a bold thing to say) haha but to each his own
Whole story goes like this:
Sunday school.
Teacher asks little Dan “Who was Moses’ mother?”
Dan: “The daughter of pharaoh.”
Teacher: “No, you misunderstood. She only found him at the river banks.”
Dan: “Well … this is what she said.”