Moses and the Volcano

In 1990 I was commissioned by Isaac Shepher of Los Angeles to make a biblical painting of Moses.

My previous reading of Moses story was not enough for me, so I opened the Bible and started reading it literally.

Israeli Jew perspectives.

As a child I was fascinated with biblical stories, mostly because of works by great artists from the past like Dore.

The honesty of the Bible writers that told stories without polishing the characters or the events.

For example: characters, events, and morality were portrayed in positive and negative ways, and that is realism!

I remember taking with me the blankets a flashlight and Gustav Dore Illustrated Bible.

This Bible was adorned with a beautiful brass inlay of Jerusalem's David Tower, it's a shocker and a delight for me!

Captured my imagination and start up my interest in the art of painting!

 

 

I wanted to describe Moses as truthful as possible and as realistic as possible

like going back and back in time to the events themselves. The key to that is knowledge from all possible sources.

My Stepfather was the chief editor of the Israeli army magazine "Bamahane".

Israel History and culture and the knowledge how to find these information

Because I was a member of the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) library.

I could investigate archeology in the Middle east and Israel, inscriptions of the artifacts and culture.

My first mission was to pin point the time Moses was around!

Joseph the Son of Jacob and King David (about 1000 BC)

But the time of Joseph life was tricky. So I had to use the Bible as reference to look for clues!

After the death of Joseph the Bible.

It is a mention of the city of Raamses. Academic sources indicated that this city was occupied 1783- 1550 BC.

Now I had a timeline between 1783- 1000 BC when Moses could possibly lived.

The second clue was "the new king". In 1570 BC a new kings 16th dynasty)

originated in lower Egypt or today's Sudan and they were black in complex.

They drove away the previous Dynasty of the Hyksos kings that had light complex and originated in Canaan or today Israel-Syria-Turkey.

scholars are disputing Moses life period between 1450-1280 BC.

The major inscriptions that were available to Moses from my timeline were the Pictorial Egyptian, Phoenician, or Assyrian.

Modern Hebrew and Aramaic were introduced only after 1000 BC.

Phoenician variation was used in early Israeli coins, stamps, stela's and clays.

Israel was a neighbor to the Phoenician (today Lebanon) and had a close relationship with Israel

And the building of the Temple of Solomon, it made me believe that the inscriptions on Moses tablets were the one

that most Israelies / Hebrew in general can read.

 

 

My intentions in the first place were not scholaric but artistic

so i was concentrating my study on the time Moses delivered the tablets.

Pharaoh had a problem of "forigners" over growth.

The forignes mostly came from canaan and Syria to Egypt at times of famine.

Joseph a foriegner himself turned to a prince, got fame and fortune by understanding

the cycle of plenty and famine in Egypt, and by that at the time of famine

when foreigners came to Egypt to trade any assets they have for grains to survive!

Pharaoh uses Joseph igenuity to built his empire.

But when a "new" Pharaoh came to rule Egypt he wanted to subdue the previous residents by killing

any Hebrew newborn males and keeping their females to breed.

The males were becoming slaves to build a slave.

Moses the newborn was hidden by his family and was captured by Egyptian princess.

But there was a problem, Moses was white, and the ruling dynasty were black in complex.

 

This issue is to Moses revelation that is actually Hebrew

He had probably early problems in the Pharaoh court that escalated to murdering a guard for being cruel to "his" people.

Moses became a fugitive, wanted for murder and escaped to the Sinai desert and to his new destiny.

Hebrew slaves. The Hebrew slaves

and what sarcastically ask by one of them if he goes to murder them too ...

Reading, writing, literature, arts, fighting skills,

the land and it's resources, etc. is now in the desert running for his life and looking for any help to survive.

In the next scene Moses became involved.

He found he was in the desert but shepherds males refused to lift the heavy skirt from it

of different clan to use it. The male shepherds are said to be plural, so when they are not to deal with Moses and retreat

it's a strong indication of Moses physical power and / or demeanor.

His clothing may also be played a part, if he was dressed as a prince and what is armed.

Moses helped the girls to access the water and they introduced him to their father.

Jethro her father probably came from the Egyptian court. Moses brother AAron and sister Miriam were punished by God for display of racism. .

Moses married Jethro's daughter Zipora and started new life as a shepherd.

One day, Moses and his hear were by the "holy mountain" and he saw an amazing sight

The Bible called this phenomenon "Sneah" and the description of that is "a substance that is burning without refreshing itself".

This word never goes back to my knowledge and by many attributed to a "bush"

but a bush is a word that is not here !!! Only Sneah! (Exodus 3,3)

Moses what impressed with the Sneah that took his shoes off as an act of respect

and from that moment on Moses became a man of God and believed that God through these miracles

is assigning him to the deliverance of his people from the Egyptians slavery.

 

Moses need to talk to his people and convince them that God sent them to Canaan the promised land.

But to reach Canaan there are hundreds of miles of rough terrains and hostile desserts

with no food and water sources that the Egyptian army are not guarding.

The other issue is a possible language barrier Moses was speaking Egyptian mainly and was not fluent with Hebrew

Aaron as his voice over the Hebrew

(Moses was a "heavy speaker",

in the Jewish Agada the story

and an angel directed him to the hot coal

I like to remove from my analysis). (Exodus 4:10)

When asked by Pharaoh Moses answered "Yeheyeh"

meaning whatever turned to Yeheva then ... Yehovah .for good reason! (Exodus 3:14)

Moses instructions were therefore to borrow clothing and jewelry from the Egyptian neighbors not to return them back.

And to follow him to the "holy" mountain were God will have a covenant with them.

Moses took his brother to the lake to see the "miracles" in there and to get his father's blessings to go back to Egypt

after he was informed that his enemies died

Moses asked Pharaoh for permission to deliver God in the desert He told you no vacation for lazy people!

After a series of plagues there was "darkness" over Egypt, Hebrew rebelled and killed their neighbors

after their own doors for identification, preparing unleavened breads for the trip not to be spoiled,

(Passover) Then they fled to the desert to the northwest part of Sinai

 

 

were Moses led them from Raamses to Sukot to Hirot between the sea and Magdul before baal zfon

a place were the Egyptian army chasing them with chariots they have trouble they went thru a narrow

land going into the sea when in times of tide or else wants to be flooded and impassable!

And there they sunk into the mud and water !!!!! After the Egyptian Army got stuck in Elam at Oasis in the desert

at the end of the land strip going into the mediterranean sea and back to sinai desert and from there

to Refidim in central Sinai with no water around but he found water after a while calming the people

Amaleqim were enlisted by Egypt to counter from the North

So Moses lead them back to the "holy" mountain were his father in law security assured for a while.

Meeting his father in law what the beginning of the "Torah".

In a complete chapter dedicated to Jethro his father in-law

systematically explaining Moses the need for the law to govern his people !!!

And basically told him to be honest and to write down the laws for them and the people. And so Moses did!

 

 

After preparing the people to receive the laws from "God" and make them vow not to go up the mountain for their life,

on the third day of the mountain with a blue sky

 

 

And I cried the mountain is Volcano !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and LAVA? Is the "Sneah"!

Now another decription of the mountain start to make sense .. "Mount Horev" Horev in Heberw, meaning, desolation !!! At this point I decided to call "expert" to find out what he think!

 

 

I called Professor Yeshayahu Leibowitz in Jerusalem Israel

 

Professor Leibowitz what outspoken, often controversial, opinions on Judaism, ethics, religion and politics.

I introduced myself as to an Israeli Artist in Los Angeles, trying to understand these events and I told him my suspicions ...

He answered me: "Mr. Eshkol I'm a religious man and as I can not accept this theory" ...

Ok, so I went back to UCLA Library trying to find more evidence of a Volcano in Sinai.

I found a book that was printed in Israel by Geological Survey and published by the Israeli Defense Department

Stating clearly that "Jabel Musa" or Moses Mountain have

 

 

 

A kilometer of deep old lava from Moses timeline !!!!! Hahaahaa!

Helen and the local Indians described their mountain almost in the same way !!!!!

Katia and Maurice Krafft, a world expert in volcano and dare devil photographers, have been interested in Volcano for a while.

to better understand volcano.

 

So darkness after Volcanic eruption What's the same in Moses Egypt?

Earthquakes and tidal waves that could stop the Egyptian Army? mmmm ....

Back to Moses I had the Inscription for the tablets and the mountain now!

Moses was a big powerful man educated and trained as a prince white in complex

Iraq / Kuwait (Ur Cashdim) origin as most of the people in Canaan at that time,

Sara came from there (The Hebrew are from the same origin as Abram and His wife Sara).

Now I needed clothing. Because Moses was a prince he had a red dress and jewelry

similar what been found and what is available in Egypt and Canaan 1280 BC

Posing was the moment Moses meet Joshua back from the mountain realizing that his people

found a visual form of the God that delivered them from Egypt !.

Moses coming down from the mountain, his face were radiating (from the heat of the mountain? Tanned?)

 

 

in Hebrew !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Exodus 34:29)

Another issue was the shape of the tablets

Tablets were used in ancient times for treaties and covenants!

They were looking at a deal between people and people, looking like today tombstones with arced top.

It was said that the ten commandments were written on them, on both sides. That means 4 faces (Exodus 32,15)

I divided the ten commandments into 4 section and showed only the first face written in Proto Sinai inscriptions

Familiar to Moses and the Hebrews.

 

 

Just before Moses went to the Covenant

by the age as representing God 12 abraham tribes and pored the blood from the

old blood container on the tablets to symbolize the covenant between the two (Exodus 24: 4)