If you have a solid ethnic in with the Egyptians or Jews
Physical appearance isn’t the whole story—cultures change, and I’m not sure how hard it would be for a modern person, even with the appropriate appearance, to be accepted solidly as an insider.
A very cogent point, and one I took too lightly. I do see two causes for hope:
You have Mad Oratory Skills, and so have some scope to set fashions of behavior.
News travels slowly, so you can field-test your approach in small communities before the big show.
It might be smart to start in another country, so that none of your eventual targets see you make your newbie mistakes. It’s not as good as being born in Egypt/Judea/wherever, but as you point out that’s really hard to fake.
Physical appearance isn’t the whole story—cultures change, and I’m not sure how hard it would be for a modern person, even with the appropriate appearance, to be accepted solidly as an insider.
A very cogent point, and one I took too lightly. I do see two causes for hope:
You have Mad Oratory Skills, and so have some scope to set fashions of behavior.
News travels slowly, so you can field-test your approach in small communities before the big show.
It might be smart to start in another country, so that none of your eventual targets see you make your newbie mistakes. It’s not as good as being born in Egypt/Judea/wherever, but as you point out that’s really hard to fake.
I think the cultural differences are one reason that people might choose the Prophet path. Prophets are supposed to be weird anyway.