All Men Created Equal    in Opportunity Overview

• Language: Hieroglyphics

• Province: Egypt

• Date: 2000 BC

• Purpose: Explain how the gods made all men equal

• From 4 wooden coffins from el-Bersheh

pg. 7

The sun-god proclaims that, by the four good deeds that he did before coming up in the horizon, he freed his heart from the serpent:

1. he made the four winds for all men to breathe the same air.

2. he made the great flood [of the Nile?] for poor men to have the same rights as great men.

3. he made everyone equal and told them to do good, but they disobeyed and did evil. This is similar to the Hebrew Scriptures, which recount God making humans to do good, and humans choosing evil for themselves.

4. he reminded them of their local gods, so they too might receive their sacrifices and eat them. The sun-god here reminds his humans to sacrifice to them so that they can eat, but the prophets of the Hebrew Bible frequently not only associate idol-worship with injustice and unfair treatment of the poor, but even call out those who sacrifice without doing justice.

5. he made the four gods with his sweat and men with the tears of his eyes.