>
> picking up on carrol's point, this tendency in the west can be traced
> back to the garden of eden story, which is to say a long way back --
> at least 10th century bce, and the story's probably much much older
> than that. interestingly, though, many of the biblical writers
> understood the early behavior of the hebrews/israelites as negative
> examples -- they're "stiff-necked" and always doing stupid things like
> making golden calves.
> ----
>
> The "the country is going to hell" motif was a recurring theme in
> Ancient Egyptian literature, the so-called "literature of pessimism,"
> alongside love poetry and religious writings. It's not just
> Judeo-Christian.
>
absolutely. certainly there's a wide array of influences on biblical literature. i would probably argue, though, that any pre-modern influence in the west from ancient egyptian literature is largely felt through biblical lit. maybe even exclusively. but that's not to argue it wasn't there . . .
j