this post was submitted on 01 Oct 2025
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History Memes

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[–] stevedice@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

It had always baffled me how "fast" humans can be. You could walk from Mexico to Canada in less than a year while keeping a healthy diet and sleep schedule. It doesn't make any sense.

[–] PugJesus@piefed.social 3 points 1 day ago

The real issue is keeping supplied along the way!

And not getting lost.

[–] melsaskca@lemmy.ca 1 points 22 hours ago

"You go yahweh and I'll go my way" said Alexander the Great, probably.

[–] AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world 12 points 2 days ago (1 children)

All this while leaving absolutely no archaeological trace whatsoever, be it in Egypt or in the desert.

[–] krooklochurm@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 day ago

They burned their trash. Hence the burning bush.

[–] Live_your_lives@lemmy.world 36 points 2 days ago (4 children)

You might already know this, but that's kind of the whole point of the story in the Bible. Based on what I've read, their trip should have, ironically, only taken 11 days. The problem was that most of them lacked faith that God could help them do what he told them to do, so instead God made them wander the wilderness so that the younger generation would learn from the additional trials of their parents that God provides a way.

[–] Aqarius@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago

Also, "40" is supposedly a number that's meant to signify "long enough to get the job done", which is why it rains 40 days and nights, why Jesus is in the desert for 40 days...

[–] DaddleDew@lemmy.world 11 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

So they just kept following that one guy who has an abysmal sense of direction but who is also freakishly good at convincing everyone that he knows what he is doing. Then he died of old age and someone just went "hey look, the exit sign is right there"

[–] krooklochurm@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 day ago

Wait, are you implying that religion is..... stupid? Couldn't be. All the magic and hatred.

[–] Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works 6 points 2 days ago

The real strength of Yaweh is that It kept the Jews corralled for 40 years. (I've decided to start using It for deities. What's It gonna do, smite me?)

[–] blazeknave@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago

I love the Caligula type scene in 10 Commandments to demonstrate their lack of faith. Women flailing togas as they roll around golden calf idles. Classic.

[–] protist@mander.xyz 26 points 2 days ago

The deification of Macedonian monarchs perhaps began with the death of Philip II, yet it was his son Alexander the Great who unambiguously claimed to be a living god. As pharaoh of the Egyptians, he was already entitled as Son of Ra and considered the living incarnation of Horus by his Egyptian subjects (a belief that the Ptolemaic successors of Alexander would foster for their own dynasty in Egypt). However, following his visit to the oracle of Didyma in 334 BC that suggested his divinity, he traveled to the Oracle of Zeus Ammon (the Greek equivalent of the Egyptian Amun-Ra) at the Siwa Oasis of the Libyan Desert in 332 BC to confirm his divine status. After the priest there convinced him that Philip II was merely his mortal father and Zeus his actual father, Alexander began styling himself as the 'Son of Zeus.'

Alexander the Great: "I am God."

[–] Gladaed@feddit.org 21 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Don't trust times from the Bible. There used to be lunar years and shite.

Also the creation story has days before there was earth. I.e. just a random period where stuff happened. You could justify that time flows differently for God but that's not relevant to your point.

[–] FlexibleToast@lemmy.world 14 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (2 children)

It also says night was separated from day before stars were created... I don't know how you have day without the sun.

Edit: The Christian apologetics are coming out of the woodworks for this one.

[–] hakase@lemmy.zip 8 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

I mean, English also distinguishes the sun from the stars in non-technical language. "You can't see any stars during the day, because the sun is too bright," for example.

"Thumb" and "fingers" show a similar relationship. In some contexts the odd one out belongs to the set in question, and in others it doesn't.

Edit: you're right - this point is moot because the sun wasn't created until Day 4 anyway.

[–] FlexibleToast@lemmy.world 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Sure, but it doesn't say he created the sun. It says he created light. Then only later he fills the sky with stars.

[–] Samskara@sh.itjust.works 5 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Kind of tracks with the big bang. First there’s a high energy concentrated field including photos and light, then stars form later on.

[–] FlexibleToast@lemmy.world 0 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Not even close. The earth didn't exist before light from the big bang.

[–] idiomaddict@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Yeah, but that’s a different point. Light did exist before stars, and both of them, as well as the day/night cycle (elsewhere), existed before earth.

[–] FlexibleToast@lemmy.world 0 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

No, it's the exact same point. You can't separate night from day without an earth for there to night and day on (in the context of the Bible).

[–] idiomaddict@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Other places have similar rotations around stars though. We’re not the first planet with a day/night cycle.

[–] FlexibleToast@lemmy.world 0 points 2 days ago

And those planets aren't what the Bible is talking about. That's completely irrelevant.

[–] shalafi@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

"Let there be light." Solar ignition.

[–] Fisherswamp@programming.dev 12 points 2 days ago

At the time they were Hebrews, not Jews. Also no one says YHWH, it is a poor transliteration of unpronounced letters

[–] alaphic@lemmy.world 11 points 2 days ago

"What? A guy can't want to take the scenic route for a change?" -Yahweh, probably

[–] Samskara@sh.itjust.works 7 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

One of the greatest generals, a living god, with superior military technology and tactics goes on a long conquest.

A refugee population following one god wandering around the desert. Macedonians had other gods as well.

The Jews were so poor, they only had one god.

[–] nokturne213@sopuli.xyz 3 points 2 days ago
[–] Nanook@lemmy.zip 3 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Soldiers marching vs a population of old, young and everything in between. So just 3,6x faster. Seems normal

[–] PugJesus@piefed.social 7 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Uh, but the Macedonian route is also much, much longer.

[–] Nanook@lemmy.zip 5 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

47 days, from Egypt to Mount Sinai, then they were wandering around for the remaining 40 years.