Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Walter R. Mattfeld" <mattfeld12 AT charter.net>]

Sameer wrote:

"A related question -- what do you guys think about
Michael S. Sanders (biblemysteries.org)?  I have spent
a long time on the Internet trying to corroborate his
data re: the Exodus etc. and have had a hard time
evaluating his credentials/credibility on matters
archaeological -- sorry this is a bit off topic, but I
know that a lot of you are competent in this area and
could give me a heads up."

Dear Sameer,

Michael S. Sanders' Exodus articles employ sources that are written by 
amateurs. He cites at times from an amateur, Herman L. Hoeh's _Compendium of 
World History_ (which I have in my collection), which is basically a 
"hodge-podge" of data drawn from Late Medieveal period composed histories of 
Ireland, Scotland and Wales as well as Europe, trying to relate tribes and 
nations mentioned in the Bible to European nations. Most professional 
scholars would view this "Medieval speculation" as untrustworthy (for 
example Scyths mentioned in ancient Greek sources are suppossedly Scots in 
the Medieval Histories).

Sanders understands the Exodus occurred at the interval between the Early 
Bronze and Middle Bronze Age, like Hoeh, the MB I being Joshua and the 
Judges,at the end of the 13th Egyptian Dynasty, dating the Exodus to ca. 
1452 BC, but Professional Egyptologists date the end of the 13th Dynasty to 
ca. 1650 BCE (cf. p. 90. Peter A. Clayton. _Chronicle of the Pharaohs, The 
Reign-by-Reign Record of the Rulers and Dynasties of Ancient Egypt_. London. 
Thames & Hudson.1994). He has Mount Sinai being a volcano in Saudi Arabia 
south of Mecca, which he accepts as being Kadesh Barnea on the authority of 
Emmanuel Velikovsky, who's research on the Bible is regarded as dubious by 
many professional scholars (However, Hoeh argues Kadesh is Petra in Jordan 
and that the "lost tribes of Israel" are the inhabitants of the British 
Isles. Hoeh's 18th Dynasty under Ahmose I begins ca. 1076-1051 BC whereas 
professional Egyptologists date him ca. 1560-1520 BCE).

Sanders' has "a following" due to his popularized TV productions on "the 
Bible and Archaeology," (or "Bible Mysteries") but most professional 
archaeologists and bible scholars would regard his ideas (as well as Hoeh's) 
as "fringe" and not to be taken seriously.

As regards Sanders' arguments for a 13th Dynasty Exodus at the interval of 
the Early Bronze-Middle Bronze period I would suggest that you read William 
H. Stiebing Jr's. _Out of the Desert ? Archaeology and the Exodus/Conquest 
Narratives. Amherst, New York. Prometheus Books. 1989. paperback, available 
at www.prometheusbooks.com

Stiebing covers ALL the different periods of time proposed for the Exodus, 
INCLUDING the interval between the Early Bronze and Middle Bronze and notes 
the archaeological anomalies for this period.

Alternately, you might consider visiting my website, www.bibleorigins.net 
and under the OT and Geography Menus read the articles on the Exodus noting 
the archaeological problems for ALL periods.

Regards,

Walter Reinhold Warttig Mattfeld y de la Torre, M.A. Ed.
mattfeld12 AT charter.net