Primary Menu
5 stars based on
40 reviews
In this Viewpoints interview by Ryan Cochrane, one scholar relates his controversial 'New Chronology' and how it supports the historicity of the biblical Exodus. D avid Rohl is a British Egyptologist with a reputation for the controversial. He regards himself as an agnostic, yet he argues for a historical Bible.
He accepts that he is a heterodox who does not accept orthodoxy simply because it is the consensus view. Rohl is a fully trained scholar with a degree in Egyptology, ancient history, Levantine archaeology, and the history of ancient Greece, whilst his post-graduate research concentrated on the complex and rarely studied chronology of the Third Intermediate Period in Egypt.
He would disagree with the last sentiment, arguing that most scholars who dismiss his work are not themselves familiar with the material and have not understood his evidence, since they have not actually read his books. Here Rohl discusses the question of the historical basis for the Exodus story, given the renewed interest engendered by two new films on the subject released in the last twelve months.
Biblical epics have always been a part of the movie scene, almost from the birth of Hollywood just before the advent of the First World War. The original great patterns of evidence the exodus book amazon was Cecil B. The biblical epic genre has tended to come and go in cycles. The reason for this resurrection seems to be the popularity of fantasy movies, whether it be vampires and werewolves, super heroes or hobbits, elves, orcs and golden rings … and, of course, because Hollywood now has the new toy of CGI Computer Generated Graphics to make the mighty miracles of Genesis and Exodus even more impressive for the demanding moviegoer.
The thing is that the Bible stories are patterns of evidence the exodus book amazon much a part of our heritage — within both Jewish and Christian communities — and, of course, Hollywood was virtually created by Jewish filmmakers and producers imbued, through the annual Passover meal, with the legend of their ancestral and religious origins.
But the academic disciplines of archaeology patterns of evidence the exodus book amazon ancient history have moved on, far ahead of Hollywood, in the sense that, over the past fifty years since Charlton Heston parted the waters of the Red Sea, scholars have conclusively demonstrated that there is no evidence of a large population of Semites sojourning in Egypt at the time of Ramesses, nor an Exodus from Egypt in his reign, and especially no military conquest of the Promised Land i.
Does this mean the Bible can be viewed as a kind of history book? I concur completely with the view that there was no Exodus and Conquest during the 19th Dynasty. The evidence is perfectly clear on that. Where I disagree is in treating the Old Testament narratives as a work of fiction. I prefer to view the stories as legendary narratives based on genuine historical events. In other words, archaeologists have been looking in all the right places for the Sojourn, Exodus and Conquest stories but in entirely patterns of evidence the exodus book amazon wrong time.
I read that you regard yourself as an agnostic, yet, as you say, you believe there are some historical truths in the patterns of evidence the exodus book amazon books of the Bible. I treat the biblical text like any other ancient document.
Ramesses II claims to have won the Battle of Kadesh with the personal support of his god Amun, literally by his side. Why then should we treat the biblical text differently? So I analyze the narrative, looking for potentially historical elements not miracles or personal details that have no hope of being seen in the archaeological record.
If I observe a pattern of evidence in the archaeology which matches the biblical narrative, then I can conclude that the narrative has a basis in history. If there is no match at any point in the historical timeline, I conclude that the story is not based on real events.
I would approach any ancient document in exactly the same way. As you say, in our current scholarly climate, even if historians do not believe the Exodus occurred, they still choose to place it hypothetically in the time of Pharaoh Ramesses II. Then, when archaeologists look for evidence for these events in that time period, they find nothing, which seems to confirm their view that the Exodus is nothing more than a myth.
Then, when they examine the archaeology, they find no evidence for these events. They then use the Bible to construct the entire chronology of the Egyptian dynasties! But, as I and other scholars have pointed out, the campaigns of Shishak and Patterns of evidence the exodus book amazon are completely different. So the campaign of Shoshenk is the complete opposite of the campaign of Shishak.
I believe Shoshenk is not Shishak and we must look for Shishak in the identity of another historical pharaoh who is much more famous.
So … and this is the important point … we use the Bible to date the 22nd Dynasty and, from that, working backwards, we arrive at the dates for Ramesses II BC. Having done so, scholars then find that there is no evidence for the Exodus in this era, and so dismiss the Bible as fiction. Can you see the methodological circularity here? Egyptian history is dated by a book which is subsequently regarded as a work of fiction!
What are the origins of the New Chronology and what does it set patterns of evidence the exodus book amazon to do? The New Chronology is my attempt at restructuring the ancient timeline of Egypt using only the Egyptian internal evidence not relying initially on any biblical datingplus retro-calculable astronomical events recorded in the ancient documents which can be tied to actual historical events.
I then use that new chronological framework to see how it synchronizes with other ancient civilisations, such as the Bronze Age Greeks and Anatolians, and the biblical narratives. That research has been underway now for over forty years, since I first noticed anomalies in the Egyptian timeline back in the s.
The conclusion that arises out of this re-examination and reworking of Egyptian chronology is that scholars have artificially stretched out the pharaonic timeline, making it around three centuries too old.
With the three centuries removed from the timeline, the dates for the Egyptian Middle Kingdom and New Kingdom are lowered younger in time and therefore align quite differently with the timeline of the Bible. Patterns of evidence the exodus book amazon basically, if we look several centuries further back in time from the reign of Ramesses everything begins to fit together?
That is not quite the right way to see it. He is now a king of the tenth century BC and therefore a contemporary of Solomon whose patterns of evidence the exodus book amazon have not shifted. It is then interesting to discover that Ramesses had a patterns of evidence the exodus book amazon or short-form of his name used throughout Canaan. He was called Shisha … does that remind you of a certain pharaoh who plundered the Temple of Solomon in BC? It was at this time that we find a huge city, lying underneath the 19th Dynasty capital of Pi Ramesse biblical Raamsesknown in the contemporary texts as Avaris.
And this Middle Bronze Age city, patterns of evidence the exodus book amazon in the land of Goshen, was teaming with Semites who had initially migrated from Canaan into the Egyptian delta. They then abruptly abandon the city and disappear.
About half a century later the city of Jericho is violently destroyed, its walls falling down in an apparent earthquake. Jericho is then burnt to the ground and abandoned for nearly years. Recreated depiction of the Israelites leaving Egypt and heading into Sinai during the dramatic events of the Exodus. What has been the response of religious believers to your New Chronology?
To what extent does the New Chronology challenge or reinforce what they already believe? It has been patterns of evidence the exodus book amazon mixed reaction. The general public in both the Jewish and Christian communities has welcomed it with open arms and people are genuinely excited by the discoveries resulting from the time shift. Evangelical Christian scholars, on the other hand, tend to be very much against it.
They take their stance from the high priest of Egyptian chronology, Professor Kenneth Kitchen, who is also an evangelical Christian. When my first book A Test of Time published in the USA as Pharaohs and Kings came out in patterns of evidence the exodus book amazon, it went straight to the top of the bestsellers list, supported by a three-part TV documentary series.
The effect was dramatic within evangelical scholarship. His letter was circulated throughout the evangelical world … I even received five copies myself from different sources — sympathetic scholars who thought I had better be made aware of what was happening.
So Kitchen effectively generated a strong negative reaction within Christian academia which took his decree on faith. Sadly that negativity still persists, even though Kitchen has gone a considerable way towards retracting his initial patterns of evidence the exodus book amazon response.
That admission has not been widely disseminated among Christian scholarship. Why do you think Egyptologists have not embraced the New Chronology? In effect, the Conventional Chronology has been set in stone and there is simply no appetite to re-examine it from the foundations upwards. The film has created a new momentum within the religious communities and, now that they have seen the compelling evidence, even among leading authorities within evangelical academia.
How does your upcoming book Exodus — Myth or History? The movie, by its very nature, can only really highlight the evidence for this new biblical research. A film has a different role to play, involving storytelling, drama and emotion; it primarily has to be a medium for entertainment.
My new book Exodus — Myth or History? It is a tough read … but full of fascinating detail. It lays out the entire case for placing the Sojourn, Exodus and Conquest in the Middle Bronze Age … and now it is up to both academia and the public to determine if I have done a decent job and made a strong enough case for a re-examination of the question.
Why is it important that we know the truth about the Exodus? First because we should always be in search of historical truth, wherever we find it; and second because, if my work supports a historically based Bible, then I am happy to offer that biblical reality as a patterns of evidence the exodus book amazon of faith in a world where skepticism is so fashionable and opinions are so deeply entrenched. The video and book, Patterns of Evidenceare available from the web site www.
David was born in Manchester, England, on September 12 and has spent much of his life exploring the Middle East, from the high valleys of the Zagros mountains in Azerbaijan, Kurdistan and Luristan in search of the legendary land of Edento the vast expanses of the Egyptian desert in search of the origins of pharaonic civilisation.
David Rohl is also famous some would say notorious for his radical revision of the ancient Egyptian timeline. This interview was conducted by Ryan Cochrane. David Rohl in the Egyptian Eastern Desert at one of the predynastic rock art sites.
You can patterns of evidence the exodus book amazon our more in-depth articles about new discoveries and developments in archaeology and anthropology with a premium subscription to Popular Archaeology Magazine. Find out what Popular Archaeology Magazine is all about. In addition, the latest Popular Archaeology ebook is now available. Participate in one of our archaeological projects, help us conserve archaeological sites in Belize, live in a Maya village, or tour the Maya world with our researchers as we explore the spectacular and breathtaking world of the ancient and modern Maya.
For more information, please see www. SpringViewpoints. Become a Popular Archaeology Member! Recent Articles 78, year cave record from East Africa shows early cultural innovations Scientist to lead group to visit human origins sites in Africa Engraved Crimean stone artifact may demonstrate Neanderthal symbolism New evidence pertaining to expansion of the kingdom of David and Solomon uncovered Scientists Confirm Earliest Use of Fire and Oldest Stone Handaxe in Europe.
Advertise in Popular Archaeology. Subscribe to Popular Archaeology Premium. Join us on a dig at the Haynie site, a Chaco outlier! Our volunteers support our mission of archaeological research, education programs, and partnership with American Indians. Crow Canyon is a c 3 not-for-profit organization located near Mesa Verde in southwest Colorado. Learn more at www. The Maya Research Program is a US based c 3 non-profit corporation that sponsors archaeological and ethnographic work in Middle America.
An anthology of the best feature articles in Popular Archaeology about human evolution.
