Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Peter Kirk <peterkirk AT qaya.org>]

On 19/12/2004 01:06, MarianneLuban AT aol.com wrote:

> ...  In the 
> Samaritan tradition, Abraham is dated to as early as 2112 BCE and the exodus to 1682 
> BCE.  These dates were affirmed by a Samaritan scholar with whom I conferred 
> in person at the beginning of this month.  If anything, this tradition harks 
> back to the routing of the Hyksos [shepherd kings] by King Ahmose I, the founder 
> of the 18th Dynasty. ...

This date corresponds better with the Exodus being towards the end of 
the 13th dynasty, as the Middle Kingdom descended into the chaos of the 
Second Intermediate Period. It would thus fit well with the 
archaeological context described by David Rohl, although not with Rohl's 
absolute dates.

> ...  There is really no such thing as a 
> chronology or chronologies of ancient Egypt.  Any that have  been constructed are 
> based on "Sothic sightings" in the reigns of certain pharaohs ...

This is not true of Rohl's chronology, for better or for worse. Rohl 
explicitly rejects Sothic dating in his reconstruction of Egyptian 
chronology, and uses instead eclipse and lunar month data and 
synchronisms with biblical dates.

> ... but each and 
> every one of these astronomical concordances with the Egyptian civil calendar 
> contains severe problems and are based upon more guesswork than the average 
> layman can possibly imagine.  ...

--
Peter Kirk
peter AT qaya.org (personal)
peterkirk AT qaya.org (work)
http://www.qaya.org/