Hobbit
Senior Member
I just saw this documentary on the History Channel last night. It was made by James Cameron and an archeologist who has found hard evidence confirming the biblical account of the Exodus, and may even have found a previously overlooked image of the Ark of the Covenant! Since I don't have a link to the info, here are the highlights.
1. After examining the sequencing of events and the timeline of the Hebrew people, the archeologist concluded that the Exodus did not occur during the rule of Ramses II, as was previously thought. Instead, the entire story happened under 2 pharohs. The first was the one whose daughter took Moses in. The second was more Moses' age. Examining the history of that time, the pharoh's name was "Ahmose," (ach - moe - say) which means "Brother of Moses." Given that timeline, a new time was assigned to the arrival of Joseph, so of Jacob. Nine ring seals were found in an excavation of the ancient Egyptian capitol from around that period, appearing to belong to a royal figure and his staff. They all bear the name, printed alphabetically, not in heiroglyphics, "Yakov," which means "Jacob." The timeline was further supported by the Exodus of the Hyksos, which was recorded by Egyptian paintings. This happened at about the new time given for the Exodus. There was also a heiroglyphic stone tablet found from this time talking about a great and terrible storm caused by "God," in the singular. The Egyptians, who were the only ones writing in heiroglyphics, believed in numerous gods.
2. The slavery of the Hebrew people was also proven, as a carving was found within an ancient Egyptian Turquoise mine. The carving is probably the oldest or second oldest alphabetic sentence ever made, alphabetic, not heiroglyphic. It simply says, "El, help me!" 'El' is the ancient Hebrew name for God.
3. The new timeline places the Exodus near the time of the Santorini eruption, which wiped out the Minoan civilization and caused intense seizmic activity across the Mediterranean. There is evidence that the eruption caused all ten plagues
I. A fault runs all along the Nile Delta. Activity along this fault, combined with the area's geology, likely caused a gas leak. A similar leak happened before in Camaroon. The leak also released iron into the lake it happened under, turning the entire lake blood red.
II. With all this nasty water, the only animals that can get out jump out in mass numbers. Those animals would be...frogs...lots of frogs. This also happened at the event in Camaroon.
III. With the dead animals in the nasty water (it killed anything that couldn't breathe air, as the oxidizing iron sucked out all the oxygen), it attracted bugs that eat dead flesh, namely lice...
IV. And flies.
V. The plague on the livestock was also seen in Camaroon. The rotting flesh attracted all manner of bacterial pestilence, killing the livestock.
VI. The plague of boils was also seen in Camaroon. While I don't fully understand what caused it, the pictures were quite graphic and fit the biblical description.
VII. This is where it gets good. The hail was of fire and ice. This was confirmed by an Egyptian papyrus from the same time period. What happened, as has happened since, is that debris from the Santorini eruption (and ash and pumice from said eruption have been found in Egypt) went high into the atmosphere and quickly decended. The outside of the pieces cooled and ice formed on them, while the inside remained quite hot. When the balls of ice hit the ground, they broke open and started fires. Thus, it was a hail of fire and ice.
VIII. The climate changes brought about by the eruption would have been more than enough to bring about swarms of locusts.
IX. The ash cloud formed by the Santorini eruption was likely over 200km in diameter and the wind would have blown it straight at ancient Egypt, plunging the entire country into utter blackness for a few days.
X. The vexing aspect of the tenth plague was the selectivity of it. How did only the Egyptian firstborn males die? Well, there was something unique about them. They slept on small beds close to the ground, a privilege reserved only for the heirs to the family. The adults slept in larger, higher beds, and the other children slept wherever they could find room, such as in lofts, on roofs, and in carts. The Hebrews were all awake and upright, with most of their bodies far from the ground. The way this killed the male children can also be seen from the Camaroon gas leak. The gas leaked was CO2, which is heavier than air and travels along the ground. In Camaroon, anyone sleeping on or near the ground was killed. It was the same in Egypt. This plague was confrimed by the fact that a mass grave was found near the ancient Egyptian capitol that contained only young, male bodies. Ahmose's son was also found (elsewhere, of course), mummified at around age 12.
4. The "Red Sea" in the Bible is actually a mistranslation. It's the "Reed Sea," a body of water which no longer exists, thanks to the Suez Canal. It was a freshwater body (hence the reeds) that mingled with the Mediterranean. When the Santorini eruption occured, a lot of tectonic pressure was released, and the entire African plate moved quite a bit, but first it lurched upward several meters, draining much of the Reed Sea and leaving a land bridge for the Hebrews to cross, but not a firm enough one to give chariots an easy time. Before long, the plate resetteled, reflooding the sea and drowning the Egyptians.
5. Using Biblical descriptions of its location and properties, they have pinpointed the only mountain that could be Mt. Sinai. It is near a Mideanite settlement, and within the ranged given to Egypt and Canaan in the Bible. It also has a plateu which could camp hundreds of thousands, several shrines, and the remains of a natural spring.
Many of the other highlights included revelations that some Minoans lived in Egypt and likely left with Moses, but returned to Minoan territories (what was left of them). Depictions of the parting of the sea and what could very well be the Ark of the Covenant have been found among Minoan ruins.
All in all, it was very interesting and I would recommend it to anyone.
1. After examining the sequencing of events and the timeline of the Hebrew people, the archeologist concluded that the Exodus did not occur during the rule of Ramses II, as was previously thought. Instead, the entire story happened under 2 pharohs. The first was the one whose daughter took Moses in. The second was more Moses' age. Examining the history of that time, the pharoh's name was "Ahmose," (ach - moe - say) which means "Brother of Moses." Given that timeline, a new time was assigned to the arrival of Joseph, so of Jacob. Nine ring seals were found in an excavation of the ancient Egyptian capitol from around that period, appearing to belong to a royal figure and his staff. They all bear the name, printed alphabetically, not in heiroglyphics, "Yakov," which means "Jacob." The timeline was further supported by the Exodus of the Hyksos, which was recorded by Egyptian paintings. This happened at about the new time given for the Exodus. There was also a heiroglyphic stone tablet found from this time talking about a great and terrible storm caused by "God," in the singular. The Egyptians, who were the only ones writing in heiroglyphics, believed in numerous gods.
2. The slavery of the Hebrew people was also proven, as a carving was found within an ancient Egyptian Turquoise mine. The carving is probably the oldest or second oldest alphabetic sentence ever made, alphabetic, not heiroglyphic. It simply says, "El, help me!" 'El' is the ancient Hebrew name for God.
3. The new timeline places the Exodus near the time of the Santorini eruption, which wiped out the Minoan civilization and caused intense seizmic activity across the Mediterranean. There is evidence that the eruption caused all ten plagues
I. A fault runs all along the Nile Delta. Activity along this fault, combined with the area's geology, likely caused a gas leak. A similar leak happened before in Camaroon. The leak also released iron into the lake it happened under, turning the entire lake blood red.
II. With all this nasty water, the only animals that can get out jump out in mass numbers. Those animals would be...frogs...lots of frogs. This also happened at the event in Camaroon.
III. With the dead animals in the nasty water (it killed anything that couldn't breathe air, as the oxidizing iron sucked out all the oxygen), it attracted bugs that eat dead flesh, namely lice...
IV. And flies.
V. The plague on the livestock was also seen in Camaroon. The rotting flesh attracted all manner of bacterial pestilence, killing the livestock.
VI. The plague of boils was also seen in Camaroon. While I don't fully understand what caused it, the pictures were quite graphic and fit the biblical description.
VII. This is where it gets good. The hail was of fire and ice. This was confirmed by an Egyptian papyrus from the same time period. What happened, as has happened since, is that debris from the Santorini eruption (and ash and pumice from said eruption have been found in Egypt) went high into the atmosphere and quickly decended. The outside of the pieces cooled and ice formed on them, while the inside remained quite hot. When the balls of ice hit the ground, they broke open and started fires. Thus, it was a hail of fire and ice.
VIII. The climate changes brought about by the eruption would have been more than enough to bring about swarms of locusts.
IX. The ash cloud formed by the Santorini eruption was likely over 200km in diameter and the wind would have blown it straight at ancient Egypt, plunging the entire country into utter blackness for a few days.
X. The vexing aspect of the tenth plague was the selectivity of it. How did only the Egyptian firstborn males die? Well, there was something unique about them. They slept on small beds close to the ground, a privilege reserved only for the heirs to the family. The adults slept in larger, higher beds, and the other children slept wherever they could find room, such as in lofts, on roofs, and in carts. The Hebrews were all awake and upright, with most of their bodies far from the ground. The way this killed the male children can also be seen from the Camaroon gas leak. The gas leaked was CO2, which is heavier than air and travels along the ground. In Camaroon, anyone sleeping on or near the ground was killed. It was the same in Egypt. This plague was confrimed by the fact that a mass grave was found near the ancient Egyptian capitol that contained only young, male bodies. Ahmose's son was also found (elsewhere, of course), mummified at around age 12.
4. The "Red Sea" in the Bible is actually a mistranslation. It's the "Reed Sea," a body of water which no longer exists, thanks to the Suez Canal. It was a freshwater body (hence the reeds) that mingled with the Mediterranean. When the Santorini eruption occured, a lot of tectonic pressure was released, and the entire African plate moved quite a bit, but first it lurched upward several meters, draining much of the Reed Sea and leaving a land bridge for the Hebrews to cross, but not a firm enough one to give chariots an easy time. Before long, the plate resetteled, reflooding the sea and drowning the Egyptians.
5. Using Biblical descriptions of its location and properties, they have pinpointed the only mountain that could be Mt. Sinai. It is near a Mideanite settlement, and within the ranged given to Egypt and Canaan in the Bible. It also has a plateu which could camp hundreds of thousands, several shrines, and the remains of a natural spring.
Many of the other highlights included revelations that some Minoans lived in Egypt and likely left with Moses, but returned to Minoan territories (what was left of them). Depictions of the parting of the sea and what could very well be the Ark of the Covenant have been found among Minoan ruins.
All in all, it was very interesting and I would recommend it to anyone.
