Biblical Hebrew Forum

[MarianneLuban AT aol.com]

In a message dated 11/19/2004 1:07:59 PM Pacific Standard Time, 
mattfeld12 AT charter.net writes:


> The "finest" book on ALL the various dates proposed for the Exodus is in my 
> 
> estimation, Professor William H. Stiebring Jr's. _Out of the Desert ? 
> Archaeology and the Exodus/Conquest Narratives_. Amherst, New York. 
> Prometheus Books. 1989. (available in paperback at 
> www.prometheusbooks.com). 
> 
> He notes the archaeological problems for EVERY proposal ever made, by 
> professional scholars, both Conservative and Liberal, as well as informed 
> amateur scholars.His bibliography is extensive, citing not only books but 
> articles as well in professional journals

That is nice--but 1989 is not exactly yesterday.  I do the same thing in my 
2003 "Exodus Chronicles" but was limited to under 300 pages, so not only had 
to 
stop at the end of the 19th Dynasty (cutting the rest of my discussion) and 
had no room for 
an index, much less a bibliography.  Are there any rumors for an exodus after 
the 19th Dynasty--well, yes!


> 
> For an Exodus ca. 1446 BCE as favored by many Conservative scholars on the 
> basis of 1 Kings 6:1, I recomend an "out-of-print" book, Professor Charles 
> F. Aling. _Egypt and Bible History From Earliest Times to 1000 BC_. Grand 
> Rapids, Michigan. Baker Book House. 1981, reprinted 1984 (paperback). He 
> critiques other scholarly proposals and advances his reasons for favoring a 
> 1446 BCE Exodus. You may be able to obtain this on an Inter-library loan 
> (ask your librarian), or perhaps purchase a used copy via the many book 
> dealers advertising used books on the internet.
> 
> For an in-depth argument for a Ramesside Exodus under Ramesses II by an 
> Egyptologist, cf. Professor James K. Hoffmeier. _Israel in Egypt, the 
> Evidence for the Authenticity of the Exodus Tradition_. New York. Oxford 
> University Press. 1996 (paperback). Another Egyptologist on the same 
> subject 
> 
> is Professor Kenneth A. Kitchen. _On the Reliability of the Old Testament_. 
> Grand Rapids, Michigan. William B. Eerdmans. 2003. (Hardback).

Everyone has a right to his theories, of course.  That is understood.  But 
the fact is that the ancient historians all knew about Ramesses II.  They 
could 
hardly help it.  He is still the most visible king in Egypt even today.  But 
not a single one of them ever suggested he may have presided over an exodus.


> 
> For views both pro and con for an Exodus, cf. Ernest S. Frerichs & Leonard 
> H. Lesko, editors. _Exodus, the Egyptian Evidence_. Winona Lake. Indiana. 
> Eisenbrauns. 1997 (Hardback). This is a series of papers presented by 
> professional scholars at a symposium arguing for and against an Exodus 
> based 
> 
> on their understandings of the archaeological evidence within Egypt for the 
> event.
> 
> If what you want is _strictly_ data on ONLY the 18th Dynasty you will have 
> to study it in bits and pieces from various books written by Egyptologists 
> exploring various aspects of culture, architecture and religion. I, myself 
> would be interested in knowing if a book exists "exclusively" on the 18th 
> Dynasty in ALL its aspects. James Henry Breasted's _History of Egypt_ 
> (1912) 
> 
> although dated, has a lot of  info on the 18th Dynasty from a historical 
> point of view. The 3 volume _Oxford Encylopedia of Ancient Egypt_, edited 
> by 
> 
> Donald B. Redford is excellent for ALL things Egyptian, but it is not 
> exclusively 18th Dynasty (New York. Oxford University Press. 2001).
> 
> By the way, I summarize the findings of all of the above books, which I 
> have 
> 
> in my personal collection, in various articles on the Exodus at my website, 
> www.bibleorigins.net under the OT Menu and the Geography Menu.
> 
> For me, Steibing says it best, "There is NO PERIOD from Early Bronze Age to 
> Iron I (Egyptian Dynasty 6 to Dynasty 20)that "in toto" archaeologically 
> supports the Exodus. EVERY proposal is faced with numerous archaeological 
> anomalies, which he covers in detail.
> 

Well, you are very much interested in the archaeological evidence.  
Certainly, there is scant archaeological evidence to support an exodus--yet 
it is known 
that groups of people came *into* Egypt and even conquered her.  But where is 
the archaeological evidence of those "entrances"?  By that I mean, people 
bring stuff with them when they come in--not just when going out.  These 
groups 
didn't fly in on magic carpets, some of them being entire armies.  But people 
continue to bemoan why there is nothing left of the people "exodus"--as 
though 
the roads into and out of Egypt hadn't been a revolving door for centuries 
even before the Common Era.  Where are the houses, the pottery?  Tents are 
not 
houses and some people don't even a "ware"--that is a specific type of 
pottery.  
Water can be carried in skins and dishes can be wooden ones, too, or of 
metal.  Nomads don't make pottery.