Pharaohs and Kings (Paperback)

~ David Rohl (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This volume, a companion to the current Learning Channel TV series of the same name (first known in Britain as A Test of Time: The Bible from Myth to History), intends to upend current chronology as it pertains to the Middle East. By re-examining the reigns of the pharaohs and concluding that some ruled simultaneously, Egyptologist Rohl has shifted the established scheme of things by several centuries. Along the way, he claims to have found better and/or possible historical matches for such biblical characters as Joseph and Moses, who continue constantly to disappear into the land of legend for lack of archeological evidence. Despite its simplicity and first-person familiarity, Rohl's prose does not sacrifice substantive content. Overflowing with high-quality illustrations, charts and maps and with a running glossary, the volume (as well as the series) will appeal to a broad public.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

British Egyptologist Rohl has produced a sumptuous popular summary of his ten-year "search for historical truth." Claiming no religious presuppositions, he has made a strong defense of the historicity of the Hebrew Bible by radically revising the traditional Egyptian chronology from the Middle Kingdom until the sacking of Thebes in 664 B.C. His "new chronology," combined with his new identifications of a few pharaohs encountered by the Hebrews, leads to the correlation of Saul and David with the Amarna period of Pharaoh Akhenaton and the dating of the Exodus to the reign of Rameses II. The new Exodus date produces a close correlation to the cultural conditions and destruction levels in Palestine. This is an excellent introduction to a topic that will surely be debated in the scholarly literature. Including end notes and an extensive bibliography for the reader who can handle the literature, the book is enhanced by exceptionally clear, helpful black-and-white photos; three groupings of color plates; numerous clear maps, charts, and diagrams; and an excellent glossary. Recommended.?Eugene O. Bowser, Univ. of Northern Colorado, Greeley
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press (June 24, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0609801309
• ISBN-13: 978-0609801307
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 7.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #338,862 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Required Reading for Egyptologists, February 9, 2001

By	Jonathan Bailey (Lawton, OK USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

To say the very least, this book is an enlightening read. The author attempts to design a new chronology of Egypt based on a number of archaeological observations he made which pointed to certain anomolies in the standard chronology of the Third Intermediate Period of Egyptian history. The TIP is one of those points in history where information is scanty and there is much room for error in interpreting existing archaeological evidence. Rohl posits that the 21st and 22nd pharaonic dynasties were at least partly contemprary in a period of balkanization of Egypt, contrary to the conventional chronology's view that they were successive. He therefore shifts the entire preceding dynastic histories downward from 200 to 300 years. That is, what we previously though to occur at 1250 BC actually happened at 1000 BC according to Rohl. In so doing Rohl has done much to synchronize Egyptian chronology with the chronology of the bible.

Rohl claims that the Amarna letters were not to be compared to Joshua's conquest of Canaan, a period where they clearly do not fit, but rather tell the tale of Saul's and David's claiming of Israel from Phillistine Egyptian vassals. He synchonizes Ramesses II's conquests of Asia Minor with the biblical invasion of Shishak. Also, he identifies the Egyptian 'Hyksos' with the Amalekites of the book of Exodus. There are many other enlightening points of connection with the bible that Rohl makes, but my point here is not to explain them all.

The true value of this book for any egyptologist, student of biblical history, or any student of the ancient world at all, is this book's popular presentation of the field of archaeology and ancient history. So rare are books that actually connect a lay reader with the methodologies and evidence upon which researchers base their works. In order to show a need for a revision of Egyptian chronology, Rohl shows how the entirety of Egyptian chronology depends on all but of a handful of archaeological finds, many of them of dubious reliability. Even if Rohl's opponents find more pieces of evidence supporting the standard chronology, the number will still be very small and they will quite likely be as subject to interpretation, as are the ones that Rohl has pointed out. Rohl goes to great lengths to show the history of the observations that scholarship has made, thereby showing us where they may have gone wrong. (As a popular book, I must confess that parts of Rohl's historical narratives depict events in which one expects to find Indiana Jones) Next, when building his own chronology, Rohl puts us close to the texts and archaeological evidence upon which he bases his theories. Rohl's conclusions are in many cases impressive, but in some cases I had to shake my head and come to the conclusion that he was grasping at straws. For instance, I believe that his work in astronomical retrocalulations to find the dates of eclipses recorded in ancient texts is pretty shaky. I even doubt that the text that he is talking about is even mentioning an eclipse. This information has proved to be incredibly valuable to me, however, as I now know that astronomy based chronology, something I though would give absolute and undisputable dates, is as foggy an area of research as any.

I do not know if I will eventually embrace Rohl's ideas or not, or if partially. I do know that reading this book has shown me the types of reasoning and observations that old world historians make, and can now make an informed decision about how firm our grip on dating events of the past is. My conclusion: if somebody tells you some biblical event did not happen because the dates don't line up with scientific knowledge, don't be disheartened. We have a LONG way to go before we can truly be confident about such statements, if indeed we will ever arrive at that sort of knowledge. This uncertainty that I have gained from Rohl's book is corroberated by the "Oxford History of Ancient Egypt" which provides wonderful information on Egyptian chronology.

Everyone who wants to study ancient history, whether it be Egyptian, biblical, Middle Eastern, or even Chinese for that matter, should read this book, so the next time they read somewhere that 'such and such happened at 3200 BC', they will know to take that statement with a grain of salt. Whether Rohl is right or not, I am forever indebted to him for showing me how chronologists operate.

Lastly, I would like to say, after all this talk about archaeology and methodology of Egyptologists, that this book is very readable and comprehensible to the lay reader. Though a smattering of knowledge of biblical and/or Egyptian history will make the book more interesting to the reader, no such knowledge is required in order to understand the book or find value in it. It is truly a popular book intended for the average interested person. I recommend it to all.

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Stunning Revision of Ancient History, August 30, 1997

By	[e-mail] (London, England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pharaohs And Kings: A Biblical Quest (Hardcover)

David Rohl's "Pharaohs and Kings" (released in some countries it would seem as "A Test of Time") has to be one of the most interesting and readable archaeology/history books around.

Stunningly illustrated with excellent diagrams, colour photographs and maps, this book catalogues the chronological problems Egyptgologists have created by sticking to three somewhat tenuous biblical synchronisms made with Egypt during the last century.

Rohl disects the currently accepted chronology, demonstrates its flaws and then reconstructs an alternative using only the physical archaeological record.

The results are startling. Far from breaking the synchronisms between the Bible and Ancient Egypt, Rohl finishes up confirming that many of the Biblcial stories are based on real events. These are backed up with physical objects excavated from sites such as Tell el-Amarna and Tanis.

Rohl's own position, an essentially atheistic one, makes his discoveries all the more exicting as there is no religious angle to his work - just clear conclusions drawn from well presented evidence.

Seemingly, he has received widespread support from the younger members of the accademic community for his work while the 'old brigade', who have been teaching the flawed conventional chronology for years, can't bring themselves to re-examine the facts.

Rohl's style is unusual for a serious accademic - the book is written with humour and humanity, and easily readable. The whole layout, text, notations and illustrations make this a very attractive book. By the end of the book, you are amazed at how much you have understood and how obvious the conclusions are.

A five star read - NOT TO BE MISSED - and a fabulous Christmas present.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An important re-evaluation, March 23, 1999

By A Customer

David M. Rohl would have us believe that several hundred years have been mistakenly added to the conventional chronology of our established history. He claims this mistake has prevented archaeology from finding any clues as to the existance of Old Testament characters. I have had this book three years, and have re-read it five (I think) times. Such is the wealth of data contained in this book that I defy anyone (save those who make this subject their career) to read it once, and come to a reasonable conclusion. Rohl presents arguments backed by data that, in the absence of alternate theories - many of which he provides - are hard to refute. Classical Egyptology has poured scorn on this work. I urge readers to tackle traditionalist treatments of the same data (e.g by the respected English scholar Kenneth Kitchen), and then draw their own conclusions. For myself, I feel David Rohl has made an argument at least as convincing for his thesis, as those made by mainstream Egyptologists.