SEDER OLAM - Revisited

Cult of the Dead

Hanoch eventually got himself into trouble with the rulers of Egypt who were ruling from Abydos or Thinis, near the Nile river.[1] The ancient Egyptian religion was first established and Egyptian cosmology invented. They even asserted that their land was where the Garden of Eden had been located. Hanoch was unwilling to believe in their new idol gods and to believe in their way of rewriting the Creation to better fit their purpose of god-made rulers. He could no longer live among the Egyptian people with his rebellous attitude. His ultimate fate was unique:

The text doesn’t state that Hanoch actually died: it is God who took him away in Hebrew year 987 (2773 BCE). This means that his soul was removed from his body but his body remained intact, meaning not being physically altered after his soul departed. It was as if Hanoch did not actually (physically) die. This occurrence must have had a strong influence on the Egyptian people who, unlike other ancient civilizations, became obsessed with death and idea of an afterlife. Some historians even go as far as claiming that the entire Ancient Egyptian civilization was based upon a "death cult".[2]

It was not by chance by this particular practice of embalming and of preparing the dead for the afterlife became much more sophisticated in Egypt compared to all other ancient civilizations. The Egyptian Book of the Dead is a compilation of these funeral rites and traditions that date back from the Old Kingdom, which started with the Third Dynasty, about 2700 BCE. Not surprisingly, this dynasty was founded by Pharaoh Djoser who was first to build a pyramid in Egypt (he reigned from about 2690 BCE).

Djoser pyramid in Saqqara, Egypt

This is because they could witness the body of a dead man, Hanoch, staying intact and not being destroyed by death. So they thought that what was true for Hanoch could be achieved for other men, and their next ambition was to maintain the body of the dead as intact as in his moment of death to reach eternity. Because, since the extraordinary fate of Hanoch, the Egyptians believed that death was just a transition, not an end:

Eternity needed to at least have the appearance of eternity, so they developped and improved over time the techniques of embalming. 

Cult of the Dead in Egypt

There may also be a second reason for the Egyptians to see Hanoch as an example of life beyond death: he died at the age of 365 years, according to the Bible, which echoes the 365 days of the year (solar system, followed by the Egyptians). In other words, death was just the end of one cycle of life, an idea from which they built the belief in the afterlife. 

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Corruption of mankind

In Canaan, Seth lived until Hebrew year 1042 (2718 BCE) and was of great influence over Metushalach keeping him in the path of God. Because of his father Hanoch's short life, God made Metushalach live to the longest old age, for a total of 969 years. Just after Metushalach died, God exacted the Flood, a punishment over mankind. The reasons for God’s decision are given in Genesis 6 where the reader can find an account of the perversion of morals in mankind:

At the turn of the first millennium, mankind fell to its lowest level, as expressed by the word nephilim [נְּפִלִים] which means the fallen ones. This term refers to the decadence of mankind and is identical to Cain’s countenance which also fell [נָפְלוּ] after the murder of Abel (Genesis 4:6). The parallel of the two texts is particularly striking because of the similarity of the numbers of these two verses, as if one echoes the other: Genesis 4:6 for Cain who fell and Genesis 6:4 for the Nephilim. And, as the text mentions that these mighty people were forever men of fame, it is generally assumed that they survived the eradication that God was aiming to do: the Flood. But the animals were destroyed too, as they had also been corrupted by mankind through practices of abomination. 

But, because of the character of Metushalach and of Noah, God postponed the time of punishment, and also decided to spare His Creation. However, He decided to reduce the lifetime of man on earth:

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Birth of Noah

Noah was born to Lemech in Hebrew year 1056 (2704 BCE). He was a righteous man and so was his wife Naamah, who had left the land of her Sumerian parents in order to escape the fate of many of the women of these times, being the prey of men and of Nephilim. The name Noah (נֹחַ) is derived from comfort: his father named him so because he hoped that this new son would bring them comfort from all the hardship of working the earth, as God had ordered since Adam’s original sin.

But, when Adam died in Hebrew year 930 (2830 BCE), 800 years after having begot Seth, those who followed his path may have believed that the world would probably come to an end soon after his death. They were fast approaching the first millennium since the Creation. God was not showing His presence anywhere on earth and mankind had badly turned away from His path: the few righteous people surely expected some divine punishment, much worse than the one that Adam had brought to himself with the original sin. Thus the spirits were low after Adam’s death. But, at the time of Noah's birth  in the new millennium when the earth had not been destroyed, people probably thought that the fears were unfounded and this may explain the name of Noah, derived from comfort. And there was another reason for hope with Noah because, while Adam died when Lemech was 56-year old, Noah was born to Lemech 56 years after the start of the new millennium. Lemech may have felt that the birth of Noah, which occurred at a coincidental time, may be a sign that God will eventually accept the redemption from Adam’s curse, in another word it will be the sign of a comfort from the hardship they endured since Adam’s sin.

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