David RohlCritiques

I really don't understand why Rohl isn't believed. His slotting of the greater Exodus story, from the Sojourn to the Exodus to the Wanderings to the Conquest, into Egyptian and Levantine archaeology fits so perfectly. Joseph and the Hebrews fit in with the ruins of Avaris. The excessive floodings of the Nile in the time of Amenemhat III square up perfectly with Joseph's career in the Bible. Pharaoh Khaneferre Sobekhotep IV is the Khenephres that Artapanus says adopted Moses. Dudimose II is (via Josephus) Manetho's Tutimaios, pharaoh of the Exodus. Israel's conquest of Canaan under Joshua fits in with the widespread destruction of cities like Jericho, Ai, and Hazor in the Middle Bronze Age. The archaeology fits the biblical narrative so perfectly. For instance (pp. 315-319), the Bible implies Shiloh, the site for the Ark and Tabernacle (before the building of Solomon's Temple), was built anew on virgin ground. Well, in the standard archaeology, the site was built in the Middle Bronze Age II period, when the Israelites should only show up in Iron Age I. In the standard archaeology, this is more proof that the Bible is a failed document of myths; in Rohl's revision of chronology, it fits perfectly.

So, what gives?

Rohl's downdating of Egyptian chronology amounts to this in two short nutshells: (1) Ramesses II is moved from the 1200s to the 900s, becoming the biblical character known as Shishak, so the 18th and 19th dynasties move down about 300 years; (2) before the Second Intermediate Period, dates are only down-dated by about 150 years, so, for example, the 12th Dynasty starts about 1985 BC conventionally and 1803 BC for Rohl. Rohl believes that this down-dating gets rid of some anomalies in Egyptian chronology and history, with the added benefit of making Bible history all of a sudden work (Exodus, Conquest, etc.).

Frankly, reading all of Rohl's corpus, as a historian and a Bible believer, I wholeheartedly believe he is on to something. Everything fits so perfectly. This book is another that shows how with just a couple of downdatings in Egyptian chronology, the Bible and archaeology match up.

This book is written in Rohl's signature accessible style, though it seems a tad more explanatory and long-winded because it is written for a wide American audience and links with a movie called Patterns of Evidence about the Exodus and Bible. It has fewer chapter endnotes and no bibliography. No index either. It is copiously illustrated with tables, charts, and images. For readers of other Rohl works, it mostly rehashs old territory, but in a fresh new way. It does cover some new ground (especially on the route of the Exodus and Wandering in the Wilderness). It also spends several chapters demolishing the Ramesses theory of the Exodus (held by many scholars, if they even believe an Exodus happened, as many such scholars think it a founding myth) and the 18th Dynasty theory of the Exodus (which many Christians hold to, based on the 480 years of I Kings 6:1).

A good book.

The author makes a persuasive case for re-setting the Egyptian sojourn and the Exodus to a date far earlier than the "orthodox" chronologies, which place it in the time of Ramses II the Great. Based on archeological finds that match the Biblical record, Rohl discards the time-lines derived from (in his view) a mis-identification of place and person in attempting to match Biblical names to actual locations and people.
My biggest complaint is the organization of the book, and the jumbled way in which evidence is presented. Rohl (among many, many others) gives us maps which don't show the places he talks about (some are better than others), assumes the reader has a knowledge of Egyptian dynasties and timelines equal to his own and doesn't present any "grounding" data before going off on his own hypotheses, repeats himself and loops back and forth among chapters, asserts the thing to be proven before assembling all the evidence, etc etc etc.
Nevertheless, I think he has some good data in his favor, and the pictures are superior.

This is a very interesting book on Egyptian archaeology. It contains many beautiful illustrations and charts. Rohl did extensive research on a group of mummified Apis bulls. From the hieroglyphics on their coffins, Rohl was able to connect which pharaohs reigned when the bulls were alive. From his work, he realized that much of Egyptian history has been misdated. He provides a more accurate chronology, one that intermeshes with Biblical events much better than the previous chronology. He pinpoints a correct date for Joseph's arrival into Egypt and for the Exodus. He discovered Joseph's tomb and a statue of Joseph near the tomb.

He continued on the speculation that Egyptian history is misdated that was first proposed by Immanuel Velikovsky, but added a lot more detail and added his own impressive credentials as a well-known professional archaeologist.

Move some things around and the Bible becomes a history book? Velikovsky tried it, but engaged in silly flip-flops and dual-named kings, not mention the weird cosmic catastrophism. Rohl, who has some credentials in history, makes an excellent case that the chronology of Egypt is fouled up, and when set aright, suddenly snaps the history of biblical Israel into place. An excellent book whose ideas need to be worked upon.

When I spotted this at the library it was a must read. Looking at how myths and legends can be tied to a real chronological account of ancient history David Rohl has written a successful thesis. Taking in to account archaeology; linguistics and original sources Rohl presents a picture of the past that is worth revisiting. The migrations; wars and lives of a past that has been seen as legendary is presented in a new context.

Back in the nineteenth century it was decided that the dating system based on Egyptian records was the way to date the ancient world. This led to the idea of the Greek Dark ages and dating the Trojan war to the 12th century BC. A reinterpretation of that has led Rohl and others to the conclusion that this is a basically flawed idea.

I have some reservations about the way he has presented his ideas; mainly in the way he writes — not in the actual interpretation of the data he uses. If you are interested this is a fascinating subject and well worth reading.

This is a very difficult book to review. It questions the ancient time line of Egypt and, by association, the Bible.

Prior to the birth of Christ, or more accurately, a few hundred years later, years were not measured from a fixed zero, but as the xth year of King Y. Archaeologists have found evidence of Egypt's royalty and, by sticking the ten years of King Fred to the twelve of King Bill, they have calculated back.

Everybody seems to accept that this is a bit hit and miss - what about interregnums for example? But, the consensus view is that the Bible stories do not fit in with the established order.

Rohl argues in what appears, to the outsider, to be a rational manner, that the Egyptian time line is in error. As a Christian, I want to believe him (although it is not essential to my faith) but, I have to take into account the scepticism of many of his learned colleagues. I had just decided that Mr Rohl must be a convincing crank, when I looked at his web site. This contains the latest information upon his theory but, and to me much more convincing, was the fact that he has included the doubting comments of his detractors. In my experience, most frauds have nothing but contempt for those who prick their bubble. I, therefore, conclude that he genuinely believes his theory. Without years of study, I could not possibly draw a worthwhile conclusion as to which side is correct and, knowing God's sense of humour, we will probably find out eventually that both views are totally erroneous!

A thought provoking read and a timely reminder that homo sapiens may not be quite as all knowing as we like to assume.

A brilliant book by David Rohl that buttresses his New Chronology in several ways. Rohl is picking up, in essence, where his ex-colleagues Peter James, et al., left off. Namely, that there is no Greek Dark Ages. The archaeology of Greece is tied to the over-extended chronology of Egypt, which means that Greek cities are occupied, then unoccupied for three hundred years or so, then occupied again by people who are oddly similar to the guys from three hundred years ago. He also shows how a whole bunch of Greek myths, fables, and histories all of a sudden match up with Hittite, Mesopotamian, and Egyptian, and even biblical, records when the chronology of Greece is lowered. The Trojan war in the 800s makes more sense as it relates to stratigraphy, the founding of Rome, the Sea Peoples, the collapse of Minoan civilization, the eruption of Thera, the Dorian invasions, et cetera. Figures like Inachus, Cecrops, Pelops, Mopsus, Aeneas, Tuecer, and on and on and on now fit into history, and actually, many times, have actual counterparts in the written historical records. An essential entry.

Move some things around and the Bible becomes a history book? Velikovsky tried it, but engaged in silly flip-flops and dual-named kings, not mention the wierd cosmic catastrophism. Rohl, who has some credentials in history, makes an excellent case that the chronology of Egypt is fouled up, and when set aright, suddenly snaps the history of biblical Israel into place. An excellent book whose ideas need to be worked upon.

Rohl's thesis extended backward in time to the opening pages of Genesis and history. Although I don't agree with all of his theories in this book, it is an excellent book.

Though unfootnoted, it is well-researched and has an extensive bibliography. An excellent narrative retelling of Israel's history according to the New Chronology model.