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4.0 out of 5 stars
Exodus' Revealing Supplementary Reading, May 6, 2006
This review is from: Exodus: The True Story Behind the Biblical Account (Hardcover)
"Wilson weaves the geological details with the historical to create a fascinating account of how and why the Exodus story took place." Mary Gerrity
Hebrews Exodus from Egypt:
There is perhaps no other scriptural tradition so central to the recontruction of Israel's history ...than the Exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt. ... Yet to the historian it remains the most elusive of all the salient events of Israelite history. The event is supposed to have taken place in Egypt, yet Egyptlan sources know it not.
"Current Egyptology and Archaeology deny that there was an Exodus. Instead, they say that this is a confused memory of the Expulsion of the Hyksos from Egypt. Archaeologists Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman agree with Egyptologist Donald B. Redford that there was no Exodus. Redford and Finkelstein say that the geographical place-names in Biblical accounts are reliable for the 7th & 6th centuries BC, but not for earlier times, showing that it cannot be regarded as a "history" of those earlier times." Peter Myers
Exodus in Egypt's Memory:
The author of the earliest non-biblical account of the exodus is by Hectaeus, a Hellenist who came to Alexandria about 320 BCE, according to Jan Assmann. The Egyptian version begins with a ravaging plague in Egypt, interpreted by the priesthood as a divine punishment for the presence of aliens, whose rites and customs has infiltrated worship. They were expelled under their leader Moses.
Lysimachos, 2nd century BCE, begins his story with a famine, that the priestly oracle ordered the Pharaoh to cleanse Egypt from impious settlers, a reference to the Jews who sought refuge from leprosy. The Pharaoh gave orders to drown the lepers, and expel the Hebrews, who gathered around Moses into the desert.
Chaeremon, Alexandrian pedagogue and Nero's tutor, gives another version of the story, as expelling the Asiatic and purging Egypt of their associated lepers.
Wilson's Account:
The exodus biblical account has been, most probably written centuries after, the memory of the event itself may have taken religious folkloric meaning. Due to the limitations of the oral tradition, according to Assmann, it might have been embellished over time as well. The story of the Exodus was probably based on events of sorts, but that the account sounds so extreme, that the evidence of its actual happening in the minute details of the miracles was remotely possible. Wilson investigation makes them sound probable.
Wilson explores recent arguments relating to the historical basis of the Biblical Exodus account, and puts together archaeological accounts supporting them. Using such contemporary evidential assumptions from the study of Mount St. Helens eruption, Wilson's imaginative speculation is advanced through a wide range of modern investigations, with attempts to identify the probable locations of the Biblical terrain for the whole episode; the date of the Hebrews' arrival in Egypt, and the suspected ruling pharaoh at the time of the Exodus.
Exodus fact & Fiction:
Wilson fascinating story, discusses the account both from Egyptian records and the biblical story. He persuasively draws from biblical archaeology a sense of evidence used in revisionist ways to justify a conclusion rather than academic views (ex. Assmann). Yet, he brings old traditions and piece them together with recent scientific thesis to shed light on the events of a great mystery.
Wilson's representation is masterful, a wealth of graphic evidence, aerial and satellite pictures, photographs of papyrus fragments and Egyptian tablets and statues, joined with recent excavations in Jericho, and analysis of volcanic eruptions to help his argument to support his version of the Exodus. Very compelling!
A Journal's Review:
"Whether or not Wilson's carefully crafted account is the true story behind the Biblical account, this well-illustrated volume makes revealing supplementary reading about historical and religious subjects." Mary T. Gerrity, Queen Anne School, MD. (School Library Journal)
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