Heckl, Raik2013-10-222013-10-222013-09-05Heckl, R., 2013, ‘“Deep is the well of the past”: Reconsidering the origins of the Exodus motif in its cultural context’, Verbum et Ecclesia 34(2), Art. #806, 6 pages. http://dx.DOI.org/ 10.4102/ve.v34i2.8061609-9982 (print)2074-7705 (online)10.4102/ve.v34i2.806http://hdl.handle.net/2263/32116Dr Raik Heckl is a research associate of the Department of Old Testament Studies, Faculty of Theology, University of Pretoria.The article shows, that the stories of the Patriarchs as well as the Exodus-story are allochthonous traditions of origin. We find comparable stories in the neighboring cultures of Israel. Egypt as origin of human culture was of utmost importance in the Levant. Herodotus reports a myth of origin of the Phoenicians which is of particular interest in this respect. As far as it can be seen there are affinities between this tradition and the Exodus motif from the Hebrew Bible. This raises the question if we should read the Biblical traditions as part of the comprehensive cultural context of the Levant.en© 2013. The Authors. Licensee: AOSIS OpenJournals. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License.Allochthonous originHebrew BiblePhoenicians and the Syrians of PalestineHerodotusHecataeus of AbderaMyth of the origin of people from EgyptBible. Old Testament -- Criticism, interpretation, etc.Article