Moses and Monotheism
1939 book by Sigmund Freud / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Moses and Monotheism (German: Der Mann Moses und die monotheistische Religion, lit.ā'The man Moses and the monotheist religion') is a 1939 book about the origins of monotheism written by Sigmund Freud,[1] the founder of psychoanalysis. It is Freud's final original work and it was completed in the summer of 1939 when Freud was, effectively speaking, already "writing from his death-bed."[2][3] It appeared in English translation the same year.
Author | Sigmund Freud |
---|---|
Original title | Der Mann Moses und die monotheistische Religion |
Translator | Katerine Jones |
Language | German |
Subject | Egyptology Monotheism |
Publisher | Hogarth Press |
Publication date | 1939 |
Published in English | 1939 |
Media type | |
Pages | 223 (first edition) |
OCLC | 1065146858 |
221.92 | |
LC Class | BS580 .M6 |
Preceded by | Civilization and Its Discontents |
Original text | Der Mann Moses und die monotheistische Religion at Project Gutenberg |
Translation | Moses and Monotheism at Internet Archive |
Moses and Monotheism shocked many of its readers because of Freud's suggestion that Moses was actually born into an Egyptian household, rather than being born as a Hebrew slave and merely raised in the Egyptian royal household as a ward (as recounted in the Book of Exodus).[4][5] Freud proposed that Moses had been a priest of Akhenaten who fled Egypt after the pharaoh's death and perpetuated monotheism through a different religion,[6] and that he was murdered by his followers, who then via reaction formation revered him and became irrevocably committed to the monotheistic idea he represented.[1]