"More accurate dating of Egyptian history"

Joseph, Moses, Ramasses: names familiar to everyone. Scripture often mentions them. The famous Rosetta Stone opened Egyptian history as the ancient Egyptians understood it. Kings and place-names differ in ancient Egyptian and Hebrew. Scholars, with much guesswork, matched only four dates to generally known events. Based on the four dates, known as pillars, they tried to date other events mentioned in Egyptian hieroglyphics. They then tried to match the dates with Biblical events. Surprised to see so little confirmation of Biblical events, many historians viewed the Biblical events more as myth than history. In 1952, Immanuel Velikovsky, in his AGES IN CHAOS, proposed that some Egyptian events mismatched the Biblical accounts of the same events by almost six centuries. Some pharaohs appear more than once, and at different times, in the accepted Egyptian history.

Forty-three years later, David Rohl, an eminent Egyptologist, published PHARAOHS AND KINGS. Rohl spent twenty years examining the four commonly accepted dates in Egyptian history. He concluded that some dynasties that should have been considered parallel, but with different names for the rulers, had been considered sequential. This caused much repetition in Egyptian history. Of the four commonly accepted dates, only one is correct. The misdating amounted to several centuries and is the reason Biblical events do not match the same events as described by ancient Egyptians. Examining a steep stone bank inscribed with marks and dates showing how high the Nile crested each year, Rohl saw that there were, indeed, seven years of plenty (because the Nile crested high), and seven years of famine (because the Nile crested low, bringing too little water and loam into the Nile valley where the crops were grown). This happened in 1682-1668 B.C. Rohl dated when Joseph arrived in Egypt to around 1682 B.C. when Amenenhat III was pharaoh.

As we know from Scripture, the pharaoh empowered Joseph to be magistrate or vizier administering the storage and distribution of grain. From Egyptian accounts, Rohl learned that Amenenhat III had a palace built for Joseph at Tel-el-Daba, Area F. Rohl found Joseph's tomb. It was empty, of course, because the Israelites took Joseph's bones when they fled Egypt. Rohl also found a statue of Joseph at the tomb, but the statue was defaced by angry Egyptians. Finding a solid date for Joseph, Rohl concluded the Exodus occurred around 1417 or 1450 B.C. when Dudimose was Pharaoh. This intriguing book has many illustrations, photos, and charts that take the reader step-by-step through the historical evidence. Rohl, a highly qualified scientist, has written an easy-to-understand and fascinating book. PHARAOHS AND KINGS is a must read for anyone in ancient Egypt and the sojourn of the Israelites in Egypt.

Reviewed by Maurice A. Williams
Posted November 23, 2003

Summary

Rohl shows that a readjustment of Egyptian chronology puts the findings of archaeology in a new light and leads directly to the living world of biblical narratives. Pharaohs and Kings unveils the historical reality of such biblical personalities as Moses, David, and Solomon, and such archaeological wonders as the desecrated statue of Joseph in his coat of many colors. Basis of a series on The Learning Channel in January 1996. Photos.