I'm still not completely convinced of the role of the Hyksos Invasion of Egypt in David Rohl's dating scheme. Is it that the Hyksos invaded and subdued Egypt following a collapse (ten plagues and the Exodus)? Is it that the "new pharaoh" that "rose over Egypt and knew nothing of Joseph" was a product of the Hyksos invasion? Were the proto-Israelites actually one in the same with the Hyksos? Some questions need to be answered, by people far more knowledgeable than myself, before understanding this. Also, I am curious to know if there is any remotely plausible etymological correlation between the Egyptian town of "Kahun" and the Jewish "Kohanim." Thank you all for any thoughts you provide.
Hi dmlosson,
Good questions. There is more information on this issue in our book and there will be some time devoted to it in the extended edition box set that we are currently developing. Please note that the main focus of the film is not validating the details of David Rohl's dating scheme, but rather highlighting a pattern of evidence that fits the Exodus account. Rohl's chronology is only one possible solution, however it is a very promising one.
In Rohl's system, the new pharaoh who had not known Joseph (and enslaved the Israelites) was from early in the 13th Dynasty - a new Egyptian dynasty (Joseph's pharaohs were late in the 12th Dynasty). The Hyksos came in and took over about a century later. In Rohl's interpretation, they took over an Egypt devastated by plagues and the Exodus. So the Hyksos proper were not the Israelites, and were never in Egypt when the Israelites were there.
One point of potential confusion is that the "Hyksos Period" is often depicted as one monolithic period of Asiatic/Mediterranean infiltration and then control in northern Egypt. However, a closer look at this era shows that there were distinct phases involved, and painting with too large a brush blurs these distinctions. If we look at Avaris, there was an initial phase where Asiatics from the Syria/Canaan area came in by permission of the Egyptian state and prospered and grew in numbers. Then there was an Egyptian quarter that developed nearest the river and a severe drop in fortunes of the Asiatic community. Then we see an abandonment of the main Asiatic mound at Avaris followed some time later by a new influx of Asiatics who over time become ruled by an upper class that seems to have strong connections to Crete or Cyprus. It is only this final phase that is rightly called "Hyksos" and they dominated much of Egypt for more than a century before being kicked out at the beginning of the 18th Dynasty by an Egyptian military campaign. By calling this whole period (from end of the 12th Dynasty to the beginning of the 18th Dynasty) "Hyksos" it hides the fact that the early half was characteristically very different to the final phase.
So Rohl's scheme has the benefit of lining up 3 very important and distinct factors:
1) Within the only period of massive Semitic/Asiatic settlement in Egypt's Delta.
2) The only collapse of Egyptian society in a thousand years (between about 2150 - 1150 BC). Egypt's oldest historian Manetho wrote that "God smote us" and that an obscure race was able to walk in and take over Egypt "without striking a blow." He wrote that this happened during the reign of a pharaoh at the end of the 13th Dynasty - which matches the archaeological evidence for this Egyptian collapse associated with the takeover by the Hyksos kings.
3) The only time when the conquest cities mentioned in the Bible were thriving and protected by high walls. They then were all destroyed in one short period. For the rest of the Second Millennium BC, the majority of these cities were empty ruins with no walls - not fitting the biblical narrative at all.
I do not know of any linguistic connections between Kahun and Kohanim. I think "Kahun" was a name coined by Egyptologists to distinguish it from Lahun, the site of the pyramid and associated building projects that the workers from the nearby compound worked on.
In your next film will you explore the Gulf of Aqaba where pillars have been found that would seem to commemorate the Jews' landing there? Also show us the real Mt. Sinai? Can't wait!
I subscribed to a Bible archeology magazine once. I was so enraged to find that, when they do find in a dig some incredible artifact that points to the Bible, how many pages they would write to discredit it, even while the piece would be staring you in the face as... what else could it be?
Oh well, " the world hated me before it hated you".
I love that your film showed at the end that the dark time not adding up with the other nations timeline, may force these 'academics' to move the timeline much, much against their arrogant wills.
Thank you Tim. This has been a great boost to my faith, in the which, I very much needed.
Fantastic film! Excellent investigative journalism by Tim Mahoney!!
A twelve year adventure with a real treasure at the end of the rainbow!
We always knew it was true, but now many others will see this and it will rock their paradigms!!
The only sad thing about the film was the archaeologists attitude.
In many cases these men and women are educated through our tax dollars, and the least these people could do is keep their personal "reputations" out of it completely.
Because of these arrogant few, this story will have to reach as many people as is possible!!
Because they will never get the truth and the real facts from the arrogant condescending group we saw in this film. That was truly disturbing.
Thank you very much for all the years of hard work, and dealing with the "elite" kings and queens of archaeology who guard their reputations, which are far more precious to them than the truth.
J. Von Bronzesnake
Keswick, ON, Canada
I suggest actually reading The Annals of the World by James Ussher written in 1650. This would have clarified all of the dates at the onset of filming the documentary. Obliviously, theistic evolutionists and supporters of uniformitarianism, as well as non-believers, outright reject Ussher’s marvelous work! Ussher;s dates:
1,728 BC Joseph arrives in Egypt
1,706 BC Jacob and family arrive in Egypt
1,635 BC Joseph Dies
1,571 BC Moses Born
1,491 BC Exodus
1,451 BC Joshua begins the Conquest of Promised Land
Hey Preacher thank you for the info.
In the end the "proper" dates based off the Biblical accounts, which I put all confidence in, above all other "scholarly" sources, is diametrically opposed to the arrogant, and secular rulers of historical "truth" and so I don't place very much hope that even the most powerful evidence is ever going to be taken very seriously by those in such "historically elite" positions from which all pre authorised, and approved scientific and historical "facts" come from!
Unfortunately, anything attached to Biblical history, or sciences threatens strongly held paradigms which pretty much creates the foregone conclusion that we will very likely never hear the truth from the deeply secular infiltrated "kingdoms" of approved textured knowledge.
Our reality makes it all the more important for Christians to support the kind of work by Tim Mahoney and all the people who work behind the scenes to make this information available for all of us.
What an awesome, powerful resource for all Christians and ministries
Thank you all.
J. Von Bronzesnake
Canada
Ussher's chronology is wrong, we are not in the year 6020. His dates are based on the KJV which is based on the Masoretic, and we know the Masoretes screwed with the dates so as to make it look like Yahushua haNotsrim was not the Messiah, because with the changed dates the specific time-stamped prophecies (such as 70 weeks) that pointed exactly to haMaschiach's annointing did not make sense. Behold, the first anti-missionaries.
This is why the Jewish calendar is off by 2 centuries, and why Ussher's chronology is inflated by approximately 25-40 years. You also have to take into account we don't actually know several things for certain, such as how they counted regnal periods in the case of a partial year (did it count as a full year in the dating mechanism? Some scholars say yes, some say no, some say that particular authors of particular books chose one method and some chose another, making it impossible for us to pinpoint things with any certainty). Were there any co-regencies that are not directly attributed in the text that can screw up the dating? Not to mention scribal errors in the Bible and differences between some of the Septuagint dates and some of the Masoretic dates throw any exact chronology like Ussher's into doubt. The truth is, we don't know, and if this present World-System is only going to last for 6000 years with a 1000 year reign by Messiah, it's going to happen soon or not at all. For all we know, we could be in the 40.000 year and there could be whole sections of the Bible that we are missing.
Great film! Well done to all concerned, especially Tim. I like the way that you don't shy away from opinions that differ and you let each scientist or historian have a fair hearing. Regarding the authenticity of the Biblical text and ancient records etc., have you looked at the ideas of P.J. Wiseman who proposed that Moses may have had access to ancient records written on clay tablets?