'll-IL \l\llLES 0 f \l\10 l\ilEl~ 'll-IE \l\JlLES Of l~ILEl~ SHALOM GOLDMAN The Wiles of Women/ The Wiles of Men The Wiles of Women/ The Wiles of Men: Joseph and Potiphar's Wife in Ancient Near Eastern, Jewish, and Islamic Folklore 2 2/18/2011 9:32:15 AM The Wiles of Women/ The Wiles of Men: Joseph and Potiphar's Wife in Ancient Near Eastern, Jewish, and Islamic Folklore 3 2/18/2011 9:32:17 AM The Wiles of Women/ The Wiles of Men Joseph and Potiphar's Wife in Ancient Near Eastern, Jewish, and Islamic Folklore Shalom Goldman State University of New York Press The Wiles of Women/ The Wiles of Men: Joseph and Potiphar's Wife in Ancient Near Eastern, Jewish, and Islamic Folklore 4 2/18/2011 9:32:18 AM The author gratefully acknowledges the following for granting permission to quote from previously published material: The Jewish Publication Society for excerpts from Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures. Used by Permission. Princeton University Press for excerpts from James Pritchard, Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament. Used by Permission. Simon and Schuster, Inc. for excerpts from The Koran Interpreted by A. J. Arbeny, translator. Copyright by George Allen and Unwin, Ltd. Used by Permission. The University of Chicago Press for excerpts from The Riad ofH omer, R Lattimore, translator. Used by Permission. The illustrations are from a seventeenth-century Persian manuscript of Firdawsl's YU.suf and Zuleikha (Dartmouth College Library, Special Collections, Hanover, NH) Published by State University of New York Press. Albany © 1995 State University of New York All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic. electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical. photocopying. recording. or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher. For information, address State University of New York Press. State University Plaza. Albany. NY 12246 Production by Cynthia Tenace Lassonde Marketing by Bernadette LaManna Library of Congress Cataloging-iu-Publicatlou Data Goldman, Shalom. The wiles of women/the wiles of men : Joseph and Potiphar's wife in ancient Near Eastern, Jewish, and Islamic folklore I Shalom Goldman. p. em. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7914-2683-1 (he: alk. paper). -ISBN 0-7914-2684-X (pb: alk. paper) 1. Joseph (Son of Jacob)-Legends. 2. Potiphar's wife (Biblical figure)- Legends. 3. Legends, Jewish-History and criticism. 4. Legends-Middle East- History and criticism. 5. Middle Eastern literature-Relation to the Hebrew Bible. I. Title. BS580.J6G55 1995 398'. 35-dc20 95-17220 CIP 10 9 8 7 6 54 3 2 I The Wiles of Women/ The Wiles of Men: Joseph and Potiphar's Wife in Ancient Near Eastern, Jewish, and Islamic Folklore 5 2/18/2011 9:32:21 AM In memory of my mother Judith Goldman 1924-1995 The Wiles of Women/ The Wiles of Men: Joseph and Potiphar's Wife in Ancient Near Eastern, Jewish, and Islamic Folklore 6 2/18/2011 9:32:24 AM The Wiles of Women/ The Wiles of Men: Joseph and Potiphar's Wife in Ancient Near Eastern, Jewish, and Islamic Folklore 7 2/18/2011 9:32:26 AM Contents Illustrations viii Acknowledgments ix Introduction Joseph, Comparative Folldore, and Questions of "Influence" xi The Texts The Bible, The Qur'an, Ancient Egyptian Literature, and the Iliad XXV 1. The Centrality and Significance of the Joseph Narratives 1 2. The Spurned Woman: Potiphar's Wife in Scripture and Folklore 31 3. The Egyptian Background of the Joseph Story 57 4. A Portrait of Joseph 79 5. The Women of the Joseph Story 93 6. Joseph's Bones: Linking Canaan and Egypt 119 Summary and Conclusions 145 Notes 149 Bibliography 169 Index 179 The Wiles of Women/ The Wiles of Men: Joseph and Potiphar's Wife in Ancient Near Eastern, Jewish, and Islamic Folklore 8 2/18/2011 9:32:28 AM Illustrations l. Joseph with His Father and His Brothers X 2. The Women of the City at Zuleikha's Banquet xxiv 3. The Pharaoh's Dream xxxiv 4. Joseph and Potiphar's Wife 30 5. Joseph Led into Prison 56 6. Zuleikha Pursues Joseph 78 7. Zuleikha Complains of Joseph to Her Husband 92 8. A Repentant Zuleikha Meets Joseph 118 9. Jacob Blessing the Sons of Joseph 144 The Wiles of Women/ The Wiles of Men: Joseph and Potiphar's Wife in Ancient Near Eastern, Jewish, and Islamic Folklore 9 2/18/2011 9:32:31 AM Acknowledgments I am indebted to colleagues who read and commented upon the manuscript. among them Alan Tansman and Barbara Kreiger of Dartmouth College, Michael Cooperson of UCLA, Harvey Goldberg of the Hebrew University, and Ktziah Spanier of The New School for Social Research. Adel Allouche provided valuable information on the Arabic sources. and Charles Stinson of Dartmouth provided guidance in the use of Christian sources. My brother Art Goldman brought his usual good judgment to bear on questions of style and the use of Rabbinic texts. For all errors. I alone bear full responsibility. My students at Dartmouth College, The New School for Social Research, and the 92nd St. Y Jewish Omnibus Program provided me with feedback and inspiration. My teacher Cyrus Gordon and his wife Connie Gordon encouraged me to complete this long-term project. Ted and Cynthia Arenson of Sunny Oaks provided me with a "summer world" in which I could write and pursue my research. My wife. Liora Alschuler, and my son Daniel Goldman, were my frrst and best readers and editors, and it is to them that I owe the greatest todah mikerev halev. The Wiles of Women/ The Wiles of Men: Joseph and Potiphar's Wife in Ancient Near Eastern, Jewish, and Islamic Folklore 10 2/18/2011 9:32:33 AM