The Half-Life of Oral Tradition

C

ConsequentAtheist

Registered Senior Member
The current issue of BAR contains an article by Manfred Bietak (somewhat dishonestly) entitled "Israelites Found In Egypt" and which contained the following statement:
Ancient philology indicates that the historical reliability of oral tradition can be sustained for only about three to six generations -- say 200 years at most. After that the historical picture fades into mythical darkness.

- see Biblical Archaeology Review, pg. 82
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I thought it an interesting piece of information.
 
Genealogical lists are the exceptions; they can be reliable for a much longer period.

- same paragraph and article
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Which could explain the preference to link genealogies with historical information in the Bible. It was a mind-mapping technique. It's easier to remember something if you can put a name and a lineage to it. The genealogies act like tree branches from where the rest is hung. Some have said that this is one of the reasons why we should not look for a wife for Cain. He was necessary for that part of the story, but his wife wasn't.
 
Cain's wife?

Originally posted by Jenyar
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Some have said that this is one of the reasons why we should not look for a wife for Cain. He was necessary for that part of the story, but his wife wasn't.
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(Then why does this question always come up? If the Bible was a true genealogical account, then the identity of Cain's wife should be included. In all your wisdom, dancing Jenyar, what does the "Land of Nod" mean? Why was Cain's "marked" by God for killing his brother? Why should he be allowed to live? After all, your Bible clearly names the few family members that existed at the time. How do we know for sure Cain had a wife and children? Who were they? Where did their descendants go? It's pretty pathetic that the "first family" God created was so dysfunctional.)
 
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