Originally published 1945 | ||
Similar Mystery of the Long Lost 8th, The Sword of Moses, Sixth and Seventh Books of, Greek Magical Papyri, Grimoire of Armadel | ||
The Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth Books of Moses are grimoire texts attributed to Moses, and popularized by pseudo author Henri Gamache.
Contents
Publicization
First published in 1945, Gamache's Mystery of the Long Lost 8th, 9th and 10th Books of Moses examines an expansion of lost mosaic works beyond the Torah. These works were known for its magic, attributed written works to Moses and used only by him and kept secret from the common populous.
Gamache argued that all Western religions were philosophies developed from Africa. He describes Moses as, "The Great Voodoo Man of the Bible," and a man of both of medical and miracle capabilities. Gamache also argued that Moses was the founding influential basis of religious ideology such as Judaism, Voodoo, Christianity and Hoodoo.
Content overview
Gamache subdivided thirteen chapters into three sections:
Leyden Papyrus
The Eighth Book of Moses was discovered on a papyrus found in Thebes at the beginning of the 19th century. Known as Leyden papyrus X, the document was known for its magical content. An alternative title was given because of its content known as the Magical Papyrus or Le Papyrus Magique. The text itself displays the title Eighth Book of Moses.
Greek Magical Papyri (PGM)
A modern translation of another manuscript known as Greek Magical Papyri (PGM) was published by biblical scholar Hans Dieter Betz. It consists of an initiation ritual where the magician attains communion with a god in order to perform various magical feats, such as resurrecting the dead, invisibility, and other uses. Through examination of the magical procedures, Hans Betz notice an exact similarity between Hermes Trismegistus's book called Wing and the Eighth Book of Moses. To have the god spiritually converse with the summoner, the preparation of seven specific incense had to be present. The exact seven incense Hans found in Hermes's book Wing became the basis of his conclusion that Hermes plagiarized.
Sword of Moses
In poor condition, a manuscript called the Sword of Moses contains magical formulas dating to the 13th through 14th century AD. The manuscript itself presets the titles Ninth and Tenth books of Moses, and was written in Syrian Rabbinical characters, a mix of Hebrew and Aramaic. The manuscript's origin is designated from Palestine, and not from Moses himself. The Sword of Moses was first published by Jewish scholar Moses Gaster in 1896, and according to Gaster, the manuscript is based on an even older text. A more recent translation by Israeli historian Yuval Harari was published in 2012.