Legend of Sargon....
 

How much truth is there to the Moses story?

Was his childhood and birth lifted from the foundation myth of Sargon of Akkad?

Anyone studied this extensively? I know there isn't much information other than Sargon himself ruled circa 2300 B.C. and his story may have been the genesis of the Moses story just like other Mesopotamian and Sumerian stories that possible are the basis for the Torah.

The story of the "foundling" who eventually learns his real identity as royalty and becomes a great leader is a common one in western tradition: Sargon, Moses, Paris, Oedipus, Cyrus [there are undoubtedly others that aren't coming readily to mind]. These stories, while probably not literal, employ established paradigms intended to establish and reinforce the status of their protagonists. Telling a story in a certain way, with a certain patterned structure, conveyed a wide array of meanings to the listening audience. Using this pattern for Moses led the audience to understand Moses' role in the foundation of Israel, just as it conveyed the importance of Sargon or Cyrus to their kingdoms.

One of modern society's biggest problems is reading the bible too literally (in my opinion), since many portions were clearly not meant to be understood literally.

King Arthur, and in a sense Aeneas and Achilles (respectively, you might say, foundners of Rome and Greece). You also forgot Jesus.

I think only portions of modern society have this problem. Most educated people don't. The problem was greatest from the fifth to thepre-seventeenth century.

Yeah. I should have put "modern Christian religion" or something close.

I actually don't think most Mormons have a problem with seeing archetypal elements in narratives like Moses or even the birth of Jesus. Of course, there are limits to how far you can push the argument and how you present that argument matters a great deal. Still, I have employed archetypal thinking to some degree in gospel doctrine and most people really liked it. Here is a snippet of what I did in a lesson on the gospel of Matthew:

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• Is the connection between Jesus and Moses unintentional perhaps?
  
  
• Always a possibility but the similarities are not superficial. Matthew seems to explicitly evoke Exodus imagery. Notice, that Matthew only partial quotes from Hosea 11:1:. The full verse reads as follows:
  
  Quote:

  (1) When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.

• More Moses Jesus parallels: Notice the similarity of language in Exodus 4:19-20:
  
  Quote:

  (19) And the LORD said unto Moses in Midian, Go, return into Egypt: for all the men are dead which sought thy life. (20) And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt: and Moses took the rod of God in his hand.

• Brown points out following about the angels’ instruction:
  
  Quote:

  `those who were seeking your child's life are dead' is almost a verbatim repetition of the Greek form of the Lord's words to Moses in Exod 4:19, pertaining to the Pharaoh's death.

• Is the Moses imagery confined just to these verses or is it pretty constant throughout this chapter and beyond? Think about the first 5 chapters in rough outline:
  
  1. A male child is miraculously born.
  2. A evil or least pretty bad tyrant rules the land.
  3. The child is protected from harm in Egypt.
  4. The child leaves Egypt.
  5. He passes through the waters (of Baptism).
  6. He is tested in the wilderness for 40 units of time.
  7. He delivers God's law on a mountain (mount).
  
  
• Why does Matthew compare Jesus with Moses? What does Matthew want us as readers to realize?
  
  
• Why does Matthew maximize the Moses and Jesus parallels in his narrative as opposed to the other gospels?
  

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And Joseph Smith. Beats typhoid fever as a kid, survives a surgery, raises from obscurity to a man of prominence and great power.

I think it's wise to view tradition, ritual, and history as three parallel lines that coexist but are not be intertwined.

Thanks pelagius for the Moses/Jesus reminder, I read an article about the Moses vs Jesus connection:

Both knew not their biological father
Both hid in Egypt as children
Both spoke directly to God
Both fasted for 40 days
Both lead groups of 12 (tribes/apostles)
Both controlled water
Both fed their congregations with little resources

both tempted directly by the devil's visitation.

Excellent repost, thanks.