Friday, April 30, 2004
Backtracking…
April 28, 2004
I happened upon the recent issue of Mental_Floss (Vol. 3, Issue 2) while visiting my local bookstore, and chuckled upon seeing the cover. Albert Einstein holding the tablets from the 1956 Cecil B. DeMille film (with same errors). I wrote to the editor.
April 27, 2004
In response to my request, George George Grena sent digitized photos of the Fraternal Order of Eagles 10 commandments monument in Redondo Beach California. It is clear that the paleo-Hebrew on these tablets includes the commandment omitted from the tablets in DeMille’s 1956 film.
I will try to find out if the first tablet, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, carries the exact same illustrations.
March 26, 2004
On the web page advertising the CD, iLumina, Moses holds the 1956 DeMille tablets (though dark letters on a lighter stone)—with the same errors, except that the stone on the left facing the viewer is flipped so that it is a mirror image. Messages to the company have not yet (as of 4/30) been answered.
April 28, 2004
I happened upon the recent issue of Mental_Floss (Vol. 3, Issue 2) while visiting my local bookstore, and chuckled upon seeing the cover. Albert Einstein holding the tablets from the 1956 Cecil B. DeMille film (with same errors). I wrote to the editor.
April 27, 2004
In response to my request, George George Grena sent digitized photos of the Fraternal Order of Eagles 10 commandments monument in Redondo Beach California. It is clear that the paleo-Hebrew on these tablets includes the commandment omitted from the tablets in DeMille’s 1956 film.
I will try to find out if the first tablet, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, carries the exact same illustrations.
March 26, 2004
On the web page advertising the CD, iLumina, Moses holds the 1956 DeMille tablets (though dark letters on a lighter stone)—with the same errors, except that the stone on the left facing the viewer is flipped so that it is a mirror image. Messages to the company have not yet (as of 4/30) been answered.
Friday, April 02, 2004
I wrote today to Gad B. Sarfatti of Bar Ilan University, in reaction to his chapter, “The Tablets of the Law as a Symbol of Judaism,” in The Ten Commandments in History and Tradition (English version).
His chapter on the tablets made reference to Ruth Mellinkoff’s 1974 article, “The Round-topped Tablets of the Law: Sacred Symbol and Emblem of Evil.” (I have had some correspondence with Ms. Mellinkoff on this subject.) He, like Mellinkoff, suggests that the medieval artists based their shape of the tablets on tabula rassa or Christian diptychs.
I mentioned to Sarfatti that there are those who firmly believe that the arched-topped tablets of the Decalogue are not "authentically Jewish," and that flat-topped tablets are a more accurate representation. I also commented that Ms. Mellinkoff’s article is sometimes used by others as evidence that arched-topped tablets are of Christian design and therefore do not represent the "original" shape.
I asked him to respond to the theory that the arch-top came down to medieval artists via its use in Christian church architecture, and that the early Christian’s used this arch because of their familiarty with its use and symbolism on monumental tablets. So, though the artists may not have been aware that their tablet design was similar to tablets created in the Ancient Near East, they carried on the tradition, none-the-less.
His chapter on the tablets made reference to Ruth Mellinkoff’s 1974 article, “The Round-topped Tablets of the Law: Sacred Symbol and Emblem of Evil.” (I have had some correspondence with Ms. Mellinkoff on this subject.) He, like Mellinkoff, suggests that the medieval artists based their shape of the tablets on tabula rassa or Christian diptychs.
I mentioned to Sarfatti that there are those who firmly believe that the arched-topped tablets of the Decalogue are not "authentically Jewish," and that flat-topped tablets are a more accurate representation. I also commented that Ms. Mellinkoff’s article is sometimes used by others as evidence that arched-topped tablets are of Christian design and therefore do not represent the "original" shape.
I asked him to respond to the theory that the arch-top came down to medieval artists via its use in Christian church architecture, and that the early Christian’s used this arch because of their familiarty with its use and symbolism on monumental tablets. So, though the artists may not have been aware that their tablet design was similar to tablets created in the Ancient Near East, they carried on the tradition, none-the-less.
I was told today by the archivist at BYU that he did not remember anything in the production files on this film that relate to DeMille's relationship to Freemasonry, or attempts to use the film to promote Freemasonry in any way. So, the appearance of Samaritan script on DeMille’s 1924 tablets remains a mystery…for now.
I heard that Main Line Reform Temple Beth Elohim in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, has a display of the tablets of the Ten Commandments which has on it ancient Hebrew letters. I wrote an administrator at the temple yesterday, and was informed today that I would be sent via e-mail a photo of the tablets as soon as soon as possible. I also requested the date they were made and the name of the artist. It will be interesting to see if anyone knows the answers to those questions, as well as how soon “as soon as possible” is…
Thursday, April 01, 2004
Wrote again to the archivist at Brigham Young University to see if he knew anything about the Masonic connection to the tablets used in DeMille's 1924 version of The Ten Commandments.
(I had discovered the the script used on those tablets are shown on a chart in The Jewish Encyclopedia, and are Samaritan circa 1210 BCE. Samaritan script is used in the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry. It has been suggested that Samaritans believe their script was the same as that which appeared on the original tablets carried by Moses.)
Also resent the message on the same subject to Shawn Eyer, an adjunct professor in the philosophy and religion program at John F. Kennedy University. He is currently the Senior Warden of Orinda Lodge no. 122, F&AM California. He also serves as the Orinda Lodge webmaster and chair of the lodge's education committee. His Masonic affiliations include the Southern California Research Lodge, the Grand College of Rites, the Oakland Valley of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, S.J., the Scottish Rite Research Society, and the College of the Consistory.
(I had discovered the the script used on those tablets are shown on a chart in The Jewish Encyclopedia, and are Samaritan circa 1210 BCE. Samaritan script is used in the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry. It has been suggested that Samaritans believe their script was the same as that which appeared on the original tablets carried by Moses.)
Also resent the message on the same subject to Shawn Eyer, an adjunct professor in the philosophy and religion program at John F. Kennedy University. He is currently the Senior Warden of Orinda Lodge no. 122, F&AM California. He also serves as the Orinda Lodge webmaster and chair of the lodge's education committee. His Masonic affiliations include the Southern California Research Lodge, the Grand College of Rites, the Oakland Valley of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, S.J., the Scottish Rite Research Society, and the College of the Consistory.
I wrote to snopes.com about clearing up an urban legend that appears on the Web regarding "The Heston Identity." It is a trigonometry formula that supposedly appears on the back of one of the tablets in the 1956 film, The Ten Commandments. In fact, it is a myth that was created by a high school math teacher (now retired). I wrote to him and he informed me of the circumstances. Initially, I had checked snopes.com and found nothing. Hopefully, they will now post something.
Wrote to Main Line Reform Temple Beth Elohim, to follow up on Rabbi Max Weiss' comment that the temple has (or had) a display of the tablets of the Ten Commandments which had on it ancient Hebrew letters. The response also came today-- it will be investigated.
