Êxodo 5

Êxodo 5

Constable has an interesting quote on labor practices in ancient Egypt taken from Kenneth Kitchen, “Labour Conditions in the Egypt of the Exodus,” Buried History (September 1984): “Exodus 5:1–5 introduces another aspect of labour in Egypt: claims for time off work, and specifically for worship or religious holidays. On this topic, useful background comes from the extensive, fragmentary and often very detailed records kept for the activities of the royal workmen (who lived at the Deir el-Medina village), who cut the royal tombs in the Valleys of the Kings and Queens in Western Thebes, c. 1530-1100 B.C. “Daily notes were kept for the men’s attendances at work or of their absences from it. Sometimes reasons for absence are given. . . . The entire workforce might be off for up to 8 or 14 days, especially if interruptions, official holidays and ‘weekends’ came together. In Ancient Egypt—as elsewhere—major national festivals (usually main feasts of chief gods) were also public holidays. Then, each main city had its own holidays on main feasts of the principal local god(s). Besides all this, the royal workmen at Deir el-Medina can be seen claiming time off for all kinds of reasons, including ‘offering to his god,’ ‘(off) for his feast’; even ‘brewing for his feast’ or for a specific deity. Not only individuals but groups of men together could get time off for such observances. And a full-scale feast could last several days. “What was true in Thebes or Memphis would apply equally at Pi-Ramesse (Raamses). So, when Moses requested time off from Pharaoh, for the Hebrews to go off and celebrate a feast to the Lord God, it is perhaps not too surprising that Pharaoh’s reaction was almost ‘not another holiday! Steven