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Edfu and Exodus
Abstract: In this essay John Gee draws a connection between the Egyptian “Book of the Temple” and the book of Exodus, both in structure and topic, describing the temple from the inside out. Gee concludes that both probably go back to a common source older than either of them.
[Editor’s Note: Part of our book chapter reprint series, this article is reprinted here as a service to the LDS community. Original pagination and page numbers have necessarily changed, otherwise the reprint has the same content as the original.
See John Gee, “Edfu and Exodus,” in Temple Insights: Proceedings of the Interpreter Matthew B. Brown Memorial Conference, “The Temple on Mount Zion,” 22 September 2012, ed. William J. Hamblin and David Rolph Seely (Orem, UT: The Interpreter Foundation; Salt Lake City: Eborn Books, 2014), 67–82. Further information at https://interpreterfoundation.org/books/temple-insights/.]
Matthew Brown wrote many books on a variety of topics,1 but the one topic that held his interest and to which he kept returning was the temple. He invited me to give this paper only a couple of days before his untimely passing.
Exodus
The first Israelite temple was the portable temple in the wilderness, better known as the tabernacle, whose description is provided in the book of Exodus. This description begins in the twenty-fifth chapter and runs through the twenty-eighth chapter.2 It first describes the ark of the covenant3 — a portable shrine carried on staves by priests (see Exodus [Page 272]25:10–22)4 — followed by the table for the shewbread (see Exodus 25:23–30),5 the lampstand (see Exodus 25:31–40),6 the curtains (see Exodus 26:1–7), their coverings (see Exodus 26:7–14), the boards (see Exodus 26:15–30),7 the veil (see Exodus 26:31–32),8 and the arrangement of the holy of holies (see Exodus 26:33–37). Next the altar is described (see Exodus 27:1–8), followed by a description of the courtyard (see Exodus 27:9–19). Finally, the garments of the priests are described (see Exodus 28:1–43).
A number of features of the description of the tabernacle compare with Egypt. These include the “gilded wooden frames socketed together and covered with curtains,” a description that “was based directly on long-established Egyptian technology.”
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Abstract: In this essay John Gee draws a connection between the Egyptian “Book of the Temple” and the book of Exodus, both in structure and topic, describing the temple from the inside out. Gee concludes that both probably go back to a common source older than either of them.
[Editor’s Note: Part of our book chapter reprint series, this article is reprinted here as a service to the LDS community. Original pagination and page numbers have necessarily changed, otherwise the reprint has the same content as the original.
See John Gee, “Edfu and Exodus,” in Temple Insights: Proceedings of the Interpreter Matthew B. Brown Memorial Conference, “The Temple on Mount Zion,” 22 September 2012, ed. William J. Hamblin and David Rolph Seely (Orem, UT: The Interpreter Foundation; Salt Lake City: Eborn Books, 2014), 67–82. Further information at https://interpreterfoundation.org/books/temple-insights/.]
Matthew Brown wrote many books on a variety of topics,1 but the one topic that held his interest and to which he kept returning was the temple. He invited me to give this paper only a couple of days before his untimely passing.
Exodus
The first Israelite temple was the portable temple in the wilderness, better known as the tabernacle, whose description is provided in the book of Exodus. This description begins in the twenty-fifth chapter and runs through the twenty-eighth chapter.2 It first describes the ark of the covenant3 — a portable shrine carried on staves by priests (see Exodus [Page 272]25:10–22)4 — followed by the table for the shewbread (see Exodus 25:23–30),5 the lampstand (see Exodus 25:31–40),6 the curtains (see Exodus 26:1–7), their coverings (see Exodus 26:7–14), the boards (see Exodus 26:15–30),7 the veil (see Exodus 26:31–32),8 and the arrangement of the holy of holies (see Exodus 26:33–37). Next the altar is described (see Exodus 27:1–8), followed by a description of the courtyard (see Exodus 27:9–19). Finally, the garments of the priests are described (see Exodus 28:1–43).
A number of features of the description of the tabernacle compare with Egypt. These include the “gilded wooden frames socketed together and covered with curtains,” a description that “was based directly on long-established Egyptian technology.”