From Newsgroup: uk.religion.christian

The headline is that a drowned city containing a statue of the pharaoh mentioned in the Bible story of the Exodus has been found.

Archaeologists have certainly found a drowned city in Egypt. They have certainly found multiple statues and one of them is, very likely, of the pharaoh Rameses II. But Rameses II is not named in the Bible and is
almost certainly not the pharaoh of the Exodus.

The mistake comes from the fact that the Bible states that the
Israelites were forced to build "treasure cities", one of which was
named Rameses. It is assumed that the city was named after the reigning pharaoh though strangely, no such assumption is made about the other
city, Pithom.

If the city was named after the reigning pharaoh, then Rameses II would
have to be it. Rameses I was a bit of a non-entity who only reigned for
a couple of years, Rameses III comes after the Merneptah stele which
carries the only reference to Israel in all of Egypt and clearly shows
that by then Israel was more or less settled down in Palestine.

There are two problems with Rameses II, though. The first is that he is
one of the better known pharaohs and it is impossible to fit the Bible
story of plagues and devastation into what we know of his reign. Plus,
as one of the stronger pharaohs, it is highly unlikely that any slaves
escaped from Egypt under his rule, let alone a huge crowd as described
in the Bible.

The second is that Rameses is dated to around 1280 BC whereas the Bible
states that the Exodus happened 480 years before Solomon built the
temple, which equates to 1445 BC. In other words, Rameses is 165 years
too late for the Exodus.

There are additional problems in Palestine. If there is no indication of slaves leaving Egypt in 1280 BC there is even less indication of a mass immigration into Palestine in 1240 BC (or any time that century).
Jericho was in ruins - and had been for several centuries - as was Ai,
and there was no widespread destruction or change of culture in Palestine.

Unfortunately the same can be said of Palestine in 1405 BC, which must
call into question either the whole Biblical story of the Exodus or the claimed date for that event. In addition, in 1445 BC the reigning
pharaoh was Tutmoses III, arguably Egypt's strongest pharaoh, under whom
a mass escape of slaves is almost unthinkable.

It is claimed that the entry of the Israelites into Palestine ushered in
the Iron Age (Iron I), which would seem to be supported by the somewhat breathless references to iron in the Exodus story. The lack of evidence
has led some to suggest that the "exodus" was no more than few migrants wandering across the Jordan into Palestine.

I have two books on my shelves. One is by Dame Kathleen Kenyon,
describing her excavation of Jericho. The other is by Margaret Wheeler,
wife of Sir Mortimer Wheeler, who worked with Kenyon at Jericho. Both
devote a chapter to the Early Bronze Age, which was a time of great
prosperity in Palestine.

The following chapter in both books describes how the EB was swept away
by an invasion of nomads, who destroyed Jericho - whose walls bear clear
signs of earthquake destruction - and virtually every other large city
in Palestine and then settled down to camp among the ruins. There is
evidence that these people were divided into tribes which followed
differing burial customs. After a period variously known as MBI or Intermediate Bronze, these nomads settled down and built substantial
kingdoms of their own.

Based on the archaeological evidence, I would have to say that the
Exodus is almost certainly to be identified with MBI. That is some 600
years too early to fit with the 480 years mentioned in 1 Kings -
provided that the dates presently assigned to Middle Bronze are correct.

Those dates are based on the chronology of Egypt, but contrary to most people's perception, Egyptian history is not as settled as they think
(or as Egyptologists claim). Only a year or so ago there was a newspaper report of some new discovery that would lop 500 years off the date of
Menes, the first king of united Egypt and "Centuries of Darkness", an influential book by Peter James, calls for a reduction of 200 years
during the Bronze Age.

Time will tell, but meanwhile, no pharaoh is named in the Bible in
connection with the Exodus and therefore his statue has not been found
in a drowned city. But it makes a good headline.

God bless,
Kendall K. Down
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