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Summary: Comprehensive and fascinating theory of the Exodus
Review: This is an exhaustively detailed analysis of the historical basis of the biblical Exodus account.The author shows why Egyptian Sothic chronologies are wrong and unfixable and examines hundreds of aspects of the literature and archaeology. He finds 436 points of agreement between Biblical accounts and present-day archaeology, once the chronology is matched to uncalibrated radiocarbon dating and an eclipse. He compares his analysis with the consensus view and theories of Courville, Ailing, Rohl, Kitchen and Velikovsky. Most (but not all) archaeologists reject the historicity of the Exodus account. The walls of Jericho "fell 300 years before Joshua", there is "no evidence of Israel in Egypt or the Exodus", etc. Although this leaves the history of Israel practically inexplicable, many have found such scholarly declarations persuasive; reason enough to doubt the Biblical record and fall away from their faith. After 24 years of studying the problem, the author demonstrates the discordance is due to systematically
incorrect times being assigned to Egyptian dynasties #1-20. For much of its history, Egypt had a 365 day/yr calendar. Using observations of astronomically fixed risings of the star Sirius (recorded in Egyptian literature with calendar dates), a "Sothic" dating system was constructed. This provided the framework for Egyptian history, which itself became the source chronology for most of the region. Problem is, there were at least two times when Egypt switched between 360 and 365 day systems. There were also periods of 354/355 day calendars. This renders the Sothic system useless, a problem Egyptologists seem unaware of. For every year spent under a 360 day/yr calendar system, Sothic dates shift 20 years (compared to a 365 day/yr result). Since many decades were recorded under different calendars, and the switch points aren't known, Sothic dates actually spin through complete cycles, like a roulette wheel. There were many hints something was wrong; radiocarbon dates of wood in tombs were off. Since the astronomically fixed Sothic system was trusted as absolute, radiocarbon dates were adjusted ("calibrated") to agree. But when dates are moved backward 300 years (to match the unadjusted (unfudged) radiocarbon dating and an eclipse), the author finds 436 points of agreement between Biblical history and the 12th Dynasty history of Egypt and Mid-East. He identifies Sesotris I as Pharaoh of Joseph, Sesotris III as Pharaoh of the Oppression, Amenemhet III who drove Moses into exile and Amenemhet IV the Pharaoh whose crown now lies on the bottom of the Red Sea. The 12th dynasty was a peak of power for Egypt, but ended under obscure circumstances. Amenemhet IV has no pyramid or tomb. He vanishes from record and his wife Soboknefru ascended to the throne (not his first-born son) in a period of great turmoil for 3 years until she was deposed. For a description of the time, there is the Leiden Papyrus 344, the writings of Ipuwer, a 12th Dynasty priest of the sun god Ra at Heliopolis. He laments social chaos in Egypt, describing 8 of the 10 plagues recorded in the Bible as well as a king "killed by pouring water". One of many interesting lines: "Lo, the hot-tempered say 'if I knew where god is I would serve him'..." As a pagan sun-worshipping society, Egyptians would know where their "god" was ... unless this is not a reference to their god ... Professional Egyptologists say this papyrus is non-historical. Why? As the translator puts it, it's fiction because it is inherently contradictory. On the one hand, the land is said to suffer from total want; on the other hand, the poor are described as having become rich. The translator says this contradiction is "historically impossible". So that's that! Never mind the Biblical Exodus account explains it. Secular archaeologists start with the assumption that any document describing miracles or the supernatural is fictional. They reject the content to construct an alternate naturalistic version to explain it away. Instead of following the evidence, like the Leiden Papyrus, they discount it because it does not fit their anti-supernatural bias. They will instead tell you to your face there is no Egyptian record of the Exodus. In truth, even if such people witnessed the Exodus, there would be many who would deny it the next day, let alone 3500 years after the fact. Evidence of the truth the Exodus, an intervention of God in history not amenable to naturalistic explanation, undermines pride-and-power conceits of humans. The author, unlike myself, wisely refrains from such polemic interludes and the book's material is presented neutrally, if enthusiastically. The book could have used an editor; there is substantial repetition. The calendar discussion could be much clearer; if you don't know much about calendars and astronomy, you won't figure it out here. Being a key point, that's too bad. There is no index (but 100s of references to Egyptological literature). The book emphasizes documents. I recommend also "The Exodus Case" by Moller. This high-quality book has hundreds of photos relevant to the archaeology of the Exodus, such as from the floor of the Red Sea. Published in Sweden, Amazon does not sell it. Web searching will reveal the U.S. distributor in Wisconsin. A single point of history, or artifact, is subject to interpretation. But when you have hundreds of them, they tend to fit together only one way, like a puzzle. Stewart may well have solved it, even if some details over-reach. It may take majority-archaeology years or decades to come to grips with this
material, but there is no reason for you to wait...
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