Customer Reviews

The Riddle of the Exodus

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I watched the video of this material last week and just finished reading the book. While I am Jewish and have always personally believed the story of the Exodus, I find that my faith has been increased many-fold by the extraordinary documentation in Riddle of the Exodus. I cannot imagine subject matter that could be any more relevant to concretizing the religious beliefs of both Jews and Christians - and my guess would be that a very large percentage of both of these groups currently believe that the story of the Exodus is mythical.

A year ago, a Rabbi in Los Angeles told his congregation (during Passover) that there was not a shred of evidence to prove the historical reality of the Exodus - which is the cornerstone for Judaism. Jim Long has found more than enough evidence from both Egyptian and Jewish sources - and their comparative data, to satisfy hard-core skeptics! While there is no lack of Jewish
Scholarship in the world and while one would imagine that proving the historicity of the Exodus would be a high piority for the academic community - it is interesting to me that this extraordinary documentation has been done by a non-Jew and a self-taught archeologist! The book is simply written, but the material is powerful enough to start a spiritual revolution.

In The Riddle of the Exodus, the author explores the biblical story of the Exodus, and successfully argues the truth of the story by examining all available sources of Hebrew and Egyptian history--including hieroglyphics, archaeological finds, biblical passages and commentaries, historians, and geographical research.

With this subject, it would be easy to become burdened with details, but the author does an amazing job pulling his original information together in a way that is easy to understand and fun to read. I couldn't put this book down!

The author's personal knowledge and interest in this subject is impressive. To his credit, the author doesn't force his opinions on the reader--he leaves it up to the reader to draw his or her own conclusions from the material presented. The author appears to tie together and factually confirm the stories of the plagues, the parting of the sea of reeds, and the almost instantaneous fall of Egypt as a world power by comparing the ancient writings of the Hebrews and Egyptians in a way that is most convincing. The research on the timelines of the Egyptian pharohs is fascinating.

This book is of major historical importance, and should not be overlooked by anyone interested in the story of the Exodus.

The author's site can be found at:
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Long's book is a real treat to read! In a concise and logical way, he picks apart the apparently shoddy scholarship supporting the traditional Egyptian chronology.

Long has certainly made a prima facie case that the Exodus triggered the demise of Egypt's Golden Age and the end of the Sixth Dynasty. Three years have passed since this book was written. To my knowledge there has been no rebuttal. I suspect the skeptics would prefer to ignore this powerful challenge, because they cannot win a debate on the merits.

It is a shame that so many have allowed their faith to be shaken by the dogmatic pronouncements of liberal "scholars" who are afraid to engage in public debate.

James Long is mainly concerned to make a case for Joseph, Moses and the Exodus taking place in the 6th Dynasty of Egypt (other current writers advocate the 18th dynasty or the end of the 12 dynasty for the Exodus). His case for adjusting the chronology of Ancient Egypt is good, and has been made by a number of others. He just takes it farther than all the others, without any clearer reason other than Talmudic legend offers some clues that (read in one way) might point in this direction. His discussion about the parting of the Red Sea is about the best yet, and also the possible location(s) of the real Mt Sinai. Probably the most tenuous links are those between the rulers at the end of the 6th dynasty and the artefacts concerning the Exodus, though his exposition of the Ipuwer papyrus is excellent (it just doesn't necessarily link up to his chronology - Ted Stewart makes a similar case for this same document in respect of a 12th Dynasty Exodus, and similar evidence for the closing sequence of Pharaohs!). The one area I struggled with was the "traditional Jewish dating", which if taken to its logical conclusion means that Thiele's master work (the Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings) needs a couple of centuries extracting from its timelime somehow in order for James Long's thesis to hold up. I suspect that if this dating (with respect to the dates of the Patriarchs) was adjusted by a couple of centuries, and the Egyptian timeline dealt with in a similar way, then more clarity could appear. Much good information, very well written, dodgy arguments!

This clearly written comparative study will engage your attention, interest and startle you with the abundance of existing archaeological and literary records that show how much genuine history is contained in the Hebrew Scriptures. The author has a wonderfully, clear, easygoing style that makes him a great tour guide through records and sites from ancient Egypt, Assyria, Moab that reveal memorable parallels to stories and individuals from the Old Testament.
Long's discussion of the various Egyptian sources relating to Joseph and the Ten Plagues from Exodus is memorable and clear; his review and insights about the chronology of the Egyptian dynasties is solid and important world history. He clears away alot of outworn theory...

All high school and college ancient history classes should be studying this book with its discussion of records like "The admonitions of an Egyptian Sage", the Moab stone inscription about the tribe of Gad and Israelite dynasties of Omri and Yehu to see how much basic knowledge there is readily to be had.
This book has a friendly style whose eye-opening discussion could change education, history and even impact politics in a healthy way.
A very important and beautifully designed book.

Is the current theophobic version of Egyptian history built on quicksand? Has a bigoted view of the Biblical record hamstrung this important field lo these many years?

The author's thesis seems to be on quite solid ground ... you will feel chills down your spine when you compare the written records of the "wrong" Dynasty alongside the Exodus account. Unless there is some serious mistranslation going on, the parallels are eerie and unmistakable. "The King is carried off by poor men ... the river is blood ..." (or something quite like it) and so on. Seems a good theory to account for the sudden collapse of this great Dynasty - something orthodox Egyptology cannot provide.

With what appears to be excellent research and a very good working knowledge of the book of Exodus, the author challenges traditional archeologists to review their data. I have always felt that the dismissal of the story of the Exodus as just another Biblical story was wrong and that that dismissal was the work of Biblical revisionists. The author, James Long, makes sense of a chronology that too often has been twisted to fit other agendas. This is a fascinating read.

Jim Long's book was a wonderful read. He provided well-documented information on this topic of the Exodus. His material helped me sort out the many conflicting accounts of Egyptology and Biblical sources regarding this time period. As a homeschooling father, it was a wonderful addition that helped me make sense out of ancient history. Although his material is well documented, it is sure to raise eyebrows in the circles of Egyptology and some religious seminaries in that it challenges some of the entrenched dogma. Although I enjoyed it, the material did not line up with the standard party line when I shared the content with my pastor. If you are a thinking person, who loves to dig for truth, you will enjoy this book. If you are someone who does not want their theology, Bible timelines or Egyptology challenged, then you need to avoid this volume, since it will shake them all up.

After reading this book, I became aware of the smokescreen that often occurs in Egyptology. I also became aware of how various groups have destroyed or limited access to artifacts that do not line up with the party line. Most of us want to think that our version of history is correct and close our mind to anything that would challenge our assumptions with facts. This book has the facts, artifacts and information that challenges the status quo of ancient Biblical studies. If you want facts, get this book. If you are happy with the status quo and do not want your sacred cows to be bothered, avoid this volume.

I have enjoyed it so much, that after having lent out one copy, I had to purchase a second one for myself, that will not be loaned out.

Jeffrey MurrahThe Confederate Primer

Very well documented and critical yet captivating like a detective novel, I strongly recommend this book. It's just a wonderful reader on archeological findings and research pertaining to the Old Testament. GKlein

This book solves the problem of correlating Jewish and Egyptian histories to show evidences of the Exodus in the histories of both nations.