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PEOPLES OF THE SEA.

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First published in 1952, Ages in Chaos was the first of six volumes covering the period from the Exodus (end of the Middle Kingdom) to Alexander the Great. Based on his booklet "Theses for the Reconstruction of Ancient History", Ages in Chaos preceded Oedipus and Akhenaten, Ramses II and His Time, People of the Sea, and the unpublished volumes Dark Age of Greece and The Assyrian Conquest (the first one and the last two are available online).

This first volume spans the period from the Exodus to Akhenaten. Biblical scholars and evangelists appear for the most part to be unfamiliar with it. The connections Velikovsky shows between Biblical events and Near Eastern history are at other times attacked or derided by believers, perhaps because they've been burned by false claims. Perhaps this attitude stems from a misplaced trust in blind belief.

Velikovsky's attention to detail and sheer erudition continue to awe and inspire. Lesser works have come and gone before and after Ages in Chaos. None have built such a convincing case. Those interested in building some heretical chronology of their own would do well to study Velikovsky's works if only to save themselves time.

His studies of the roots of various beliefs by other historians, including those of ancient times, are fascinating, and his finding synchronisms between the Old Testament and the ancient history of surrounding people and places are monumental and revolutionary. Had he published Ages in Chaos before Worlds in Collision, his impact might have been greater. Those with longtime familiarity with his chronology are certain that he will have greater impact in the future, if not directly then indirectly.

The existing consensus pseudochronology grew out of 19th century (and earlier) nonsense beliefs such as freemasonry, but remains the consensus through rejection of commonplace scientific dating techniques. As it loses credibility with each passing year, one wonders why so much venom has been expended against Velikovsky's chronology -- particularly those who have actually read the works.

See also Velikovsky's other works (new and used), David Rohl's "Pharaohs and Kings", Peter James' "Centuries of Darkness", Ryan and Pitman's "Noah's Flood", Mary Settegast's "Plato Prehistorian", and Robert Schoch's "Voices of the Rocks".

One of a set of four books covering ancient history,astronomy,geology,sociology,and psychology,Dr.V.covered the catastrophic history of the world,and the evidence for cometary impact on earth within historical times, decades before the current scientific interest in the subject.His conclusions require a complete rethinking and re-correlation of thoughts concerning evolution, scriptures of the various cultures, mythology,and how they should be re-considered,in a scientific approach. All of the books should be considered as a unit and added to a knowledge of his other books on the middle east--Oedipus and Akhnaton, The Sea Peoples & Ramses II,in addition to the other three of the main group, Earth In Upheaval, Worlds In Collision and Mankind In Amnesia, as well as that book which was written by him as an answer to his critics, Stargazers and Gravediggers. A large segment of the academic community attempted to suppress his books in the 50's,by putting pressure on his publisher to not print them,by threatening to refuse to buy from their textbook division if they did so. Many critiques of his work are based on distorted and inaccurate portrayals of what he said. However,Albert Einstein, after becomming acquainted with him and engaging in long debates with Dr.V., came to agree with him concerning his views. Read the books,not just the critiques.

In searching for links between the Biblical stories of the Exodus, Judges and Kings, and the annals of Egypt, Immanuel Velikovsky came to the startling conclusion that one of the two histories is off by some 600 years! Ages in Chaos reads like a mystery, with the author attempting to find the link, the place where the two histories come together. With a breathtaking depth of research, he places the Exodus at the end of the Middle Kingdom, and connects the Biblical stories with events known from Egyptian history. Most fascinating is the author's conclusion as to the identity of the Queen of Sheba, and the Hyksos.

I found the book highly convincing, and highly readable. I enjoyed every page of it and recommend it wholeheartedly.

Ramses II And His Time takes up the story from the end of Velikovsky's book Oedipus And Akhnaton, but can also be read by itself. In this book the author revises the period of the Chaldean or Neo-Babylonian empire. He makes a rather convincing case that these Chaldeans were not indigenous to the city of Babylon and that they were really the Hittites of Asia Minor. He draws parallels between the emperors of Babylon and the Chaldean kings. At the same time in Egypt, Velikovsky identifies the 19th dynasty of Seti and Ramses with the 26th dynasty of Psamtik, Necho and Apries.

This period in Velikovsky's revised history starts with the first confrontation between what the author considers the contemporaries Ramses II and Nebuchadnezzar and ends with the Persian conquest of Libya and Egypt, from where the story continues in the aforementioned book Peoples Of The Sea. In between there are informative discussions of the origin of the alphabet, the pictographic script of the Hittites, the ruins of Yazilikaya and other monuments of Asia Minor, the Israel stele of Mernepthah and the lamentations of Jeremiah.

The epilogue is devoted to the counterarguments that Velokovsky expected from the critics. The pieces here include titles like Tanis And Sais, How Long Did Seti And Ramses II Reign?, Two Suppiluliumas, Bronze And Iron, Scarabs And Stratigraphy. The synchronical tables that follow lays out his revised history of this era for Egypt, Judah, Chaldea, Lydia-Phrygia, Media-Persia and Greece.

There are 30 black and white illustrations including the Steles of Essarhaddon and Ramses II at Nahr El Kelb, the sarcophagus of Ahiram, The Lion Gate Of Hattussas, The Israel Stele Of Merneptah and The Mummy Of Ramses II. The book concludes with a thorough index.

The fact that Ramses II lived at the end of the 7th century BC and was the same person as Pharao Necho II of the Scriptures may not be widely accepted, but Velikovsky's brilliant writing style certainly sparked a renewed interest in ancient history and still provides great reading pleasure. I recommend this classic of alternative history to all readers who are interested in the ancient history of the Middle East, Egyptology and biblical archaeology.

While his theories are inescapably controversial, Immanuel Velikovsky's genius has to be recognized. In this book, he pulls together Talmudic, Babylonian, and Egyptian texts, amongst others, to show that Ramses II of Egypt was actually a contemporary of Nebuchanezzar, King of Babylonia. In the process, he seeks to demonstrate that the entire known history of the Hittite Empire is a mistake, that there was no such civilization, and that our modern take on history is false. Sound like hogwash? Maybe, but it is presented very well, and addresses all of the issues as they arise. You may not agree with the theory, but poking holes in it will be tough. A challenging read, and by the end you have the feeling of having been through a good mystery book...you will spend hours thinking about the time frame in efforts to disprove the book. Highly reccommended.

This book should be read by anyone about to read anything regarding the Hittites, by Bible students, or anyone interested in ancient Egypt or ancient history in general. Ramses II is one of the best known names from the New Kingdom, and has an entirely undeserved role in most attempts to synchronize the Old Testament with what passes for the conventional chronology of the ancient Near East.

This volume of the multivolume "Ages In Chaos" discusses the identical nature of the 19th and 26th dynasties of Egypt's New Kingdom. The basic framework is "Theses for the Reconstruction of Ancient History", published in 1945 and available online. Lesser lights have tried to revise the nineteenth century's version of the dynasties -- the pseudochronology still in use today -- but only succeed where they follow Velikovsky.

Perhaps the lapse of decades after the 1952 publication of "Ages In Chaos" caused this later volume to be poorly received, but it could be read first without any disorientation. All of Velikovsky's books are available on the used search engines, and it is generally only a matter of time before they become available again.

See also Velikovsky's other works (new and used), and:

-:- The Synchronized Chronology by Roger Henry
-:- A New Approach to the Chronology of Biblical History from Abraham to Samuel by Gerald E. Aardsma
-:- Pharaohs and Kings by David Rohl
-:- Centuries of Darkness by Peter James et al
-:- Murder of Tutankhamen by Bob Brier
-:- Giving Goliath His Due by Neal Bierling (suffers from the author's reliance on the conventional pseudochronology, available online)

In this book Mr Velikovsky compared the Bible's historical events with those evidenced in particularly Egyptian sources but also other Middle East sources. The author seemed to do an excellent and exhaustive job of finding parallels that, according to his conclusions, showed that the contemporary historical time charts were out of kilter by about 600 years. It takes some serious powers of concentration to get thru this book and keep up with all of the names and comparisons used by the author (this is not light reading).

In searching for links between the Biblical stories of the Exodus, Judges and Kings, and the annals of Egypt, Immanuel Velikovsky came to the startling conclusion that one of the two histories is off by some 600 years! Ages in Chaos reads like a mystery, with the author attempting to find the link, the place where the two histories come together. With a breathtaking depth of research, he places the Exodus at the end of the Middle Kingdom, and connects the Biblical stories with events known from Egyptian history. Most fascinating is the author's conclusion as to the identity of the Queen of Sheba, and the Hyksos.

I found the book highly convincing, and highly readable. I enjoyed every page of it and recommend it wholeheartedly.

Greetings from across the pond. Velikovsky, apparently much abused is the only one who really tells you where it may have been at. The depth of research and bibliography is truly astounding,it leaves the rest of the wass' in the field standing in the cow pats. If Velikovsky was good enough for ole Albert then it's good enough for me.

A must read archive of information for anyone interested in ancient Middle-Eastern history. Velikovsky succeeds in correlating historical writings from several different cultures to resolve many of the problems related to dating events in ancient Egypt.