Eccles Posted June 14, 2007 Share Posted June 14, 2007 I am an Egyptologist and get the Ancient Egypt Magazine. This question with answer appeared in the latest issue and should settle the issue of the fictitious bible myth for ever: Dear AE, I have a question which you can hopefully answer. At the time Rameses ruled Egypt (around the time of the Hebrew Exodus) is there any evidence if a “day” would be measured as twenty-four hours as we do today and if not how long would it have been? The same question would be for a “year”. Would it be 365 days as today or how many of today’s days would be in their year? Irwin Millinger, New Jersey, U.S.A. REPLY: There is no Egyptian evidence at all for the Exodus actually having happened; if it did, there is great debate about when it might have taken place. There are other contenders than Rameses II. However, the Egyptians at all periods divided their days into twenty-four hours ... but into twelve hours of daylight and twelve of darkness. This means that the length of the “hours” was variable, in that they could be longer or shorter depending on the time of the year. The year was split in to 365 days, but by not allowing the extra quarter day to be taken into account (as we do with leap years every four years), the ancient Egyptian civil year would gradually shift from the agricultural year (which started on the 19th July, when the dog-star Sirius rose, signalling the start of the inundation). It would take 1,400 years to get back into step again. Ed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwc Posted June 14, 2007 Share Posted June 14, 2007 Seems that the editors just want to cover up the truth. So sad. Why won't they just release all the mountains of evidence that exist for the Exodus so we can all worship as were designed to do? mwc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandpa Harley Posted June 14, 2007 Share Posted June 14, 2007 Best blank in history contender for Pharaoh of Exodus would be (by my reading) Akhenaten... Expunged from history by , close in time to a big natural disaster that would have made lower Egypt hell on earth... He's a better candidate than any of the Ramses... But even then, I doubt Exodus, if it happened at all, was much like the Penteuch's take. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwc Posted June 15, 2007 Share Posted June 15, 2007 My vote goes to the Hyksos with Ahmose "leading" them back to the promised land after Thera went *boom*. Sit and let simmer for some time, after the Egyptians finally leave your land they put you on (but don't mention it of course), and then rewrite for nation building and you've got most of the story of Exodus. Finish by just adding Canaanite poetry to taste. That's a darn good story. mwc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qadeshet Posted June 15, 2007 Share Posted June 15, 2007 My vote goes to the Hyksos with Ahmose "leading" them back to the promised land after Thera went *boom*. Sit and let simmer for some time, after the Egyptians finally leave your land they put you on (but don't mention it of course), and then rewrite for nation building and you've got most of the story of Exodus. Finish by just adding Canaanite poetry to taste. That's a darn good story. mwc The pillar of cloud by day and fire by night was almost certainly the eruption of Thera-the greatest cataclysm in recorded history. This great event was probably conflated with the expulsion of the Hyksos by Ahmose I. Both events occured roughly in the mid 15th century BCE. Dating the Exodus The story of the Exodus, as described in the Bible, never occured. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwc Posted June 15, 2007 Share Posted June 15, 2007 The pillar of cloud by day and fire by night was almost certainly the eruption of Thera-the greatest cataclysm in recorded history. This great event was probably conflated with the expulsion of the Hyksos by Ahmose I. Both events occured roughly in the mid 15th century BCE. Dating the Exodus The story of the Exodus, as described in the Bible, never occured. Hmmm...I doubt the explosion of Thera would have been visible from Egypt due to the curvature of the Earth. Google Earth isn't the best tool for this but it seems to show this to be the case. I have read some things that show the Egyptians used a signaling system that involved alternating pillars of smoke/fire by day/night similar to the story that could be reworked in the myth. This, to me, seems to be a better fit as the Egyptians in Canaan would have more than likely used the same system and the locals would have been familiar with it. mwc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandpa Harley Posted June 15, 2007 Share Posted June 15, 2007 This covers some Santorini fallout stuff... http://www.heardworld.com/higgaion/?m=200609 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trashy Posted June 15, 2007 Share Posted June 15, 2007 I remember the first time it dawned on me that the whole 'pillar of fire/smoke' thing was referring to a volcano. It is SO obvious in hindsight but I never once heard someone draw that conclusion before during my believer days. However, after exploring various real-world historical events and attempting to match them up to Biblical events, I finally came to the conclusion that it is futile. Canaanite scribes attempted to create a history out of whole cloth while in captivity in Babylon. That's the one scenario that explains it all, IMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evolution_beyond Posted June 15, 2007 Share Posted June 15, 2007 Akhenaten tried to introduce a form of monotheism into ancient Egypt - fact During the period that he reigned, Egypt occupied land in the Canaan region - fact The first accounts of the Exodus weren't written down until probably Solomon's reign - fact How do we even know that the whole thing happened? Could it be that the Israelites were a nomadic people in the Canaan region, they were inspired by Akenaten's monotheism and developed their own form of monotheism with the God Yahweh? The exodus story is then a religious allegory that acknowledges the role that Egypt played in their religious development and also that they probably were slaves to the Egyptians while the Egyptians were ruling over them. Interestingly the rule of Egypt over the Canaan region began to decline following (and possibly during) Akhenaten's reign. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heimdall Posted June 15, 2007 Share Posted June 15, 2007 Actually, there is no evidence for (1) the Exodus (2) the Conquest (3) the United Kingdom (4) David or (5) Solomon. You might want to get ahold of the various works of Finklestein and Silberman, they postulate that the Israelites were actually refugees from the collapse of the various city states as a result of the Great Myceanean Dought (culminating in 1250 BCE). They point out that Israelite cultural artifacts are no different that those of the Cannanites, that the original god and goddesses worshipped by the Hebrews were the same as any other Cannanite culture. Israel seems to have been founded first and about 50 to 70 years later Judea came into being. Ever notice that all these diplomatic letters between the various Empires and nations of that time don't include any letters to a David or a Solomon, even though they supposedly had a sizeable Empire? All this BS recorded in the OT is nothing more than bogus history inserted into the nascent bible by Yahwehist scribes when they created in during the Babylonian Exile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texmex2003 Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 On the subject of the eruption of Thera, I just recently watched a program in the last few weeks about this eruption. I do not remember the name of the program and it was probably on the Science or Discovery Channel. It was talking about this subject being related to the Exodus. What I remember of this program is that the volcanologists believed that this eruption was colassal. It was 100s of times bigger than the eruption of Krakatoa. I believe they did state that the eruption column would have been so large that it could have been visable from Egypt. I guess I will need to do a search on this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwc Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 The first accounts of the Exodus weren't written down until probably Solomon's reign - fact Fact? mwc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwc Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 This covers some Santorini fallout stuff... http://www.heardworld.com/higgaion/?m=200609 I saw "Exodus Decoded" on this page on thought you'd lost your mind. mwc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwc Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 Actually, there is no evidence for (1) the Exodus (2) the Conquest (3) the United Kingdom (4) David or (5) Solomon. You might want to get ahold of the various works of Finklestein and Silberman, they postulate that the Israelites were actually refugees from the collapse of the various city states as a result of the Great Myceanean Dought (culminating in 1250 BCE). Except Finkelstein does hold out that a David did exist even if he was just a ruler of some small tents on a hill somewhere...which does leave the door open for a Solomon (which he's less confident in). I've read the theory that Thutmose III did many of the "big" things that David got credited with (in abstract like uniting the region and setting up shop in Jerusalem, etc.) and his name transliterates to David. I don't know enough about the two languages to say if it does or not but, if so, then it could be that Thutmose III could be the David we're looking for since he'd have the power and glory that the biblical David was supposed to have. I don't know how this fits in with the Tel Dan Stele and the House of David that was later toppled though since it seems that they would know better although perhaps the origin was long forgotten by then? mwc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandpa Harley Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 This covers some Santorini fallout stuff... http://www.heardworld.com/higgaion/?m=200609 I saw "Exodus Decoded" on this page on thought you'd lost your mind. mwc I tried to find another site that had the prevailing winds... but I couldn't... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandpa Harley Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 Based on the way Egyptians moved from their faith, Moses (Moshe) could well be an Egyptian called <something>mosis who dropped the god honorific.... We're not that certain of Egyptian pronunciation... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ouroboros Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 Just as fictitious as Oz, Moses. They just "sucked" up the stories from the other cultures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evolution_beyond Posted June 17, 2007 Share Posted June 17, 2007 The first accounts of the Exodus weren't written down until probably Solomon's reign - fact Fact? mwc well, ok - the fact is that the the accounts of the Exodus in the OT were written many centuries after the events they are supposed to be relating. When exactly they were written and whether Solomon even existed are very much matters for debate. But my point is the same in any case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwc Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 well, ok - the fact is that the the accounts of the Exodus in the OT were written many centuries after the events they are supposed to be relating. When exactly they were written and whether Solomon even existed are very much matters for debate. But my point is the same in any case. Ahh. I see. Thanks for clarifying I appreciate it. mwc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neverclear5 Posted June 27, 2007 Share Posted June 27, 2007 However down I get about my country, its always nice when something like this is written (I believe the magazine is British right?). On the internet you can get stuck in the religious climate of the US and forget that most intelligent, educated people over here will just say "nah, thats bollocks" when the religious raise their heads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandpa Harley Posted June 27, 2007 Share Posted June 27, 2007 That's only if we're outraged. Usually we 'tut' loudly and roll our eyes at each other Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neverclear5 Posted June 27, 2007 Share Posted June 27, 2007 That's only if we're outraged. Usually we 'tut' loudly and roll our eyes at each other I've always been a fan of a sarcastic "of course you are" and turning away. It even worked when some bloke was trying to threaten me in a club. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandpa Harley Posted June 27, 2007 Share Posted June 27, 2007 Aye... that works too... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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