Source of, and possibly better than, the Ten Commandments?

Question

From ancient Egypt... the 42 Declarations of Purity, spoken to the Gods in the afterlife in order to gain access to immortality. Apparently they predate the Ten Commandments by a couple of thousand years.

Do any of them look familiar?

THE 42 DECLARATIONS OF PURITY

I have not killed, nor bid anyone kill.
I have not committed adultery or rape.
I have not avenged myself nor burned with rage.
I have not caused terror.
I have not assaulted anyone nor caused anyone pain.
I have not caused misery.
I have not done any harm to man or to animals.
I have not caused the shedding of tears.
I have not wronged the people nor bear them any evil intent.
I have not stolen nor taken that which does not belong to me.
I have not taken more than my fair share of food.
I have not damaged the crops, the fields, or the trees.
I have not deprived anyone of what is rightfully theirs.

I have not borne false witness, nor supported false allegations.
I have not lied, nor spoken falsely to the hurt of another.
I have not used fiery words nor stirred up any strife.
I have not spoken nor acted deceitfully to the hurt of another.
I have not spoken scornfully against others.
I have not eavesdropped.
I have not ignored the truth or words of righteousness.
I have not judged anyone hastily or harshly.
I have not disrespected sacred places.
I have caused no wrong to be done to any workers or prisoners.
I have not been angry without good reason.
I have not hindered the flow of running water.
I have not wasted the running water.
I have not polluted the water or the land.
I have not taken God's name in vain.
I have not despised nor anger the gods.
I have not stolen from god.

I have not given excessive offerings nor less than what is due.
I have not coveted thy neighbor's goods.
I have not stolen from nor disrespect the dead.
I have remembered and observed the appointed holy days.
I have not held back the offerings due to the gods.
I have not interfered with sacred rites.
I have not slaughtered with evil intent any sacred animals.
I have not acted with guile or insolence.
I have not been unduly proud nor acted with arrogance.
I have not magnified my condition beyond what is appropriate.
I have done no less than my daily obligations require.
I have obeyed the law and committed no treason.

SOURCE:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ma%27at
which also cites numerous other sources

So the question is: could these have been the source of the Ten Commandments, and are the 42 Declarations of Purity possibly a better guide to living a moral life?

royal racer, the earliest known versions of The Book of the Dead (from which the Declarations are drawn) hail from the 16th century BCE, so yes, it's possible that the Declarations are quite old indeed.

Additional link re: the origins of the Ten Commandments and The Book of the Dead, with relevant dates for comparison:

http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_10cl.htm

Answer 1

SO much better! Wow, watch the Christians have a hissy fit over the idea that what is written in their book may have been taken from something before it. Woo hoo! Let the flaming begin!

Oooh! Oooh! NOW bring up the fact that Jesus wasn't the first person who was claimed to be of virgin birth! They used that one a few times before he came along, too.

Answer 2

I definitely think you're on to something here. In the Budge translation of the Egyptian Book of the Dead, I don't recall the exact page of text, the entire Genesis story is told, but with Atem/Atum as "God". It can also be found in The Hermetica: Lost Wisdom of the Pharoahs.

So with regard to this question - I prefer the 42 Declarations of Purity myself.

Answer 3

What are you trying to say? That Nimrod's gods and goddesses which were third generation from Noah and worshiped in Egypt with Egypt's many false gods wrote the 42 declarations of purity. These sayings belong to the good side of Noah and not the bad side of Noah. Shem is the good side of Noah. However, Ham was cursed and Ham's grandson was Nimrod whose name means "Let Us Revolt." Nimrod rebelled against God.

If the truth be known Joseph wrote the 42 Declarations of Purity during the Hyksos pharaohs of 1786-1550 B.C. The high priesthood god Amen-Re had a long reign in Egypt. However Egypt had many gods Osiris, Ptah, Apis bull,to name a few. Egypt was a pagan nation and Abraham was in Egypt in 2700-2200 B.C.

Psalm 104 is similar to Amarna Age hymn and Proverbs 22 has a parallel to wisdom literature in Amen-em-ope Instructions.

Answer 4

I'm sorry to say that you're mistaken sir. Because you see, the Bible tells us about the beginning of creation all the way forward. And if this were the case, the "42 Declarations of Purity" would be talked about in the Bible, which they are not.

Scientists are wrong. Very often in fact. Just because someone says something dates back to a certain time doesn't mean it does if you don't have the proof. My theory is this. Maybe the 42 Declarations of Purity were derived from the 10 Commandments and someone just felt the need to add on to them..

Answer 5

The 10 Commandments still predate this. The Egyptians didn't appear until shortly after the Flood, and they would have retained the knowledge of God's Commandments from Noah, who was righteous in God's eyes only because he obeyed God. Obeyed what? God's Laws. The 10 Commandments weren't written down in stone until Moses, but they existed long prior to that.

Answer 6

no one says that the ten commandments is the be all and end all. I am sure if their were 42 commandments many of those would be included as well.

as for the source, its quite possible, but I see more biblical roots in other Semitic cultures. The Bible tends to be adverse to anything Egyptian.

Answer 7

It is thought the 42 principle of Ma'at are the basis for the Ten Commandments. If you look at them many of them are repetative and combined into one commandment.

Answer 8

That would be a way better guide! It teaches to respect the environment!

Answer 9

That would make them roughly 8500 years old....Are you absolutly sure about being 2,000 years older?

Answer 10

Those people will all go to hell for stealing the ten commandments and they had the nerve to add some, sinners.