101 Myths of the Bible: How Ancient Scribes Invented Biblical History

# In the earlier creation story of "The Book of Genesis" God created the world in seven days not in six and that there was no day for God to rest

# Moses, who is widely believed to have written the first five books of the Old Testament, describes, in the book of Deuteronomy, his "or Moses" burial and that the location of his grave is unknown unto this day

# King David's bodyguard, not David, killed Goliath

# Noah's Ark did not land on Mount Ararat

# Samson did not pull down a Philistine temple

# There are at least two versions of the Ten Commandments

# The walls of Jericho were destroyed 300 years before Joshua arrived there

# Sodom and Gomorrah were mythical cities that never existed

# The story of Esther had nothing to do with the Jews of Persia

# And much, much more

Gary Greenberg, the author of 101 Myths of the Bible is a renowned biblical scholar and an Egyptologist. In his startling book, Greenberg exposes the reality behind the greatest story ever told, revealing how the ancient editors of the Bible used the myths and legends of neighboring cultures to build the foundations of the monotheistic religions of today.

Greenberg shows the contradictions embedded in many of the tales and events in the Bible, exploring the story behind the story to determine what really happened. He draws on arguments endorsed by most biblical scholars and provides new insights into questions that have puzzled the academic community for years.

101 Myths of the Bible is a riveting and controversial book that provides a new dimension of biblical studies for believers, historians and anyone who has ever wondered about the facts behind the legends. By looking deeper into history, the author shows that the true story makes the Hebrew Bible more interesting than ever imagined!

Greenberg showed how Egyptian mythology and literature strongly influenced much of the early biblical history, especially with regard to Creation and the flood as well as the patriarchal narrative, a subject that has been irresponsibly ignored. The lack of attention to Egyptian influences on the Old Testament by both biblical scholars and Egyptologist is unfortunate. A conscious and deliberate effort exists to keep the two spheres separate, yet the Hebrew Bible shows a long and continuous relationship between ancient Israel and Egypt.

While myths often are based on erroneous or fictional history, they are literary artifacts. Just as artifacts from different layers of an archaeological site show us the historical and cultural development of a people, the existence of mythological layers tells us something about the people who believed in those myths. In 101 Myths of the Bible, we will look at the layers of mythological artifact and see what the stratifications reveal about how biblical history and culture came to be.