Awards

• Winner of 2019 Best First Monograph Award from the International Society for the Study of Early Medieval England 2019

Overview

In Moses the Egyptian, Herbert Broderick analyzes the iconography of Moses in the famous illuminated eleventh-century manuscript known as the Illustrated Old English Hexateuch. A translation into Old English of the first six books of the Bible, the manuscript contains over 390 images, of which 127 depict Moses with a variety of distinctive visual attributes. Broderick presents a compelling thesis that these motifs, in particular the image of the horned Moses, have a Hellenistic Egyptian origin. He argues that the visual construct of Moses in the Old English Hexateuch may have been based on a Late Antique, no longer extant, prototype influenced by works of Hellenistic Egyptian Jewish exegetes, who ascribed to Moses the characteristics of an Egyptian-Hellenistic king, military commander, priest, prophet, and scribe. These Jewish writings were utilized in turn by early Christian apologists such as Clement of Alexandria and Eusebius of Caesarea. Broderick's analysis of this Moses imagery ranges widely across religious divides, art-historical religious themes, and classical and early Jewish and Christian sources. Herbert Broderick is one of the foremost historians in the field of Anglo-Saxon art, with a primary focus on Old Testament iconography. Readers with interests in the history of medieval manuscript illustration, art history, and early Jewish and Christian apologetics will find much of interest in this profusely illustrated study.

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9780268102050

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Reviews

This is a fascinating, innovative, thoughtful, and thought-provoking work, which makes a useful and timely contribution to the developing historical consideration of ongoing cultural relations between East and West. It is well-written and accessible to both its intended academic audience and to readers outside the academy. - Michelle Brown, professor emerita of medieval manuscript studies, University of London No doubt this publication will create a vivid discussion in different fields of the academic world. I hope that Egyptologists will also take note of this inspiring work. - Dietrich Wildung, director emeritus, Egyptian Museum and Papyrus Collection, Berlin

This is a fascinating, innovative, thoughtful, and thought-provoking work, which makes a useful and timely contribution to the developing historical consideration of ongoing cultural relations between East and West. It is well-written and accessible to both its intended academic audience and to readers outside the academy. - Michelle Brown, professor emerita of medieval manuscript studies, University of London No doubt this publication will create a vivid discussion in different fields of the academic world. I hope that Egyptologists will also take note of this inspiring work. - Dietrich Wildung, director emeritus, Egyptian Museum and Papyrus Collection, Berlin

Author Information

Herbert R. Broderick is a professor of art history at Lehman College of the City University of New York, and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London.

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