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- [Tim] I never thought
I would he caught up
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in a story such as this,
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because I live on the
other side of the world.
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On one hand, it's exciting
to be making a film
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that searches for the
truth about the Exodus.
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On the other hand, I must admit,
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I'm a reluctant participant.
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I never wanted to go to the Middle East.
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I never wanted to be
involved in controversy
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because it means taking on the giants
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of archaeology, religion and tradition.
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But what I've found might
shock and surprise you.
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You can decide if it will change you,
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like it has changed me.
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- [Voiceover] The Exodus
of the children of Israel
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from Egypt and their
journey to the Promised Land
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is one of the most influential
and important stories
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in all of world history.
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- [Benjamin] The stories in the Bible
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are the most powerful
narratives ever told.
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It's not a coincidence
that this book has held
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the imagination of mankind
for thousands of years
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because the stories are remarkable.
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- It's the most amazing
book, if you think about it.
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It's a book that covers
about 4,000 years of history
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and it really is the first history book
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until the time of the Greeks.
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Herodotus was supposed
to he the first historian
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but in fact I think Moses was.
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- [Shimon] He remains,
without any competition,
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the greatest legislator of all time.
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And as for the Ten Commandments
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that he brought down from Sinai,
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it is the foundation of our civilization.
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Take away the Ten Commandments
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and we are out of business.
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- [Voiceover] Yet, against the idea
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that the biblical account is true,
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voices across our culture
and around the world
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are raised in protest.
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These voices say that
the biblical narrative
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is nothing more than a myth, a fairytale.
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And their antagonistic
claims appear to he supported
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by the findings of modern archaeology.
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- [Israel Finkelstein] The Exodus did not happen
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in the way that it is
described in the text
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on the background of the 13th century BC.
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- I don't believe there was a single event
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that we can call the Exodus,
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archaeologically or historically.
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- [Michael] It's 24 minutes past the hour
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on the Michael Medved show,
your daily dose of debate,
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and right now, debating
some of the most important
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questions with Rabbi
David Wolpe, who leads
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one of America's largest
Jewish congregations.
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In 2001, Rabbi Wolpe
created a national furor
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when his Passover sermon challenged
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the historical reality of the Exodus.
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Rabbi Wolpe, what did you say?
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- I said that the Exodus
certainly didn't happen
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the way the Bible depicted
it, assuming that it was
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a historical event in any description.
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I think that if you look
at it scientifically,
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it's virtually indefensible
to make the Bible's case.
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But you also have to
understand that your faith
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isn't based on splitting
seas or archaeological digs;
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it's based on something much deeper.
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- But if these are not facts,
if this is a fairy story,
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if this is fabricated somehow,
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doesn't that undermine
the religious meaning?
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In other words, doesn't
that change things?
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- The extent to which
it has a historical core
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is very hard to say, but my
deeper conviction about it
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is that it's a story that,
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whether it was true, it is true,
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and those are two different things.
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- That seems to he evading --
- Well, in other words,
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things that aren't facts can he truths.
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- What part of the Torah
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would you grant
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to be based upon historical reality?
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- I can't tell you. I don't know.
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I don't know and, although it
may irk people, I don't care.
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- [Voiceover] If the
leading scholars agree
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with the most outspoken
atheists and agnostics,
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if even some rabbis agree
with the most skeptical
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archaeologists that
there's no evidence at all
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that the Exodus ever really happened,
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then what are the rest
of us supposed to think?
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If none of it happened,
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then the two religions of the Bible,
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Judaism and Christianity,
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are both based on a gigantic lie.
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It was the type of question that troubled
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a filmmaker from Minneapolis
named Timothy Mahoney.
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As he probed more deeply,
little did Mahoney realize
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how far his journey would take him.
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- [Tim] The more I looked into the Exodus,
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the more I realized its significance.
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I knew I had to investigate
this story for myself,
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and the first step was to
explore whether there was
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any hard evidence for the Exodus at all.
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I began my journey by
traveling to the very place
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the Bible says it happened:
the ancient land of Egypt.
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I was raised as a Christian
and I remember hearing
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amazing stories from the Bible as a child,
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and I believed them.
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Stories about an ancient
family of shepherds,
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the sons of Jacob, who came
from a foreign land to Egypt.
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They were enslaved by the pharaoh,
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then miraculously delivered out of Egypt
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and journeyed across the desert
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to conquer the Promised Land.
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But, as I grew older,
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I was challenged to lose those beliefs.
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Now I just wanted to know the truth.
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- [Voiceover] The Exodus is
believed by most scholars
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to have occurred in the
reign of Ramesses II.
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Ramesses was Egypt's
greatest builder king.
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Were these mighty monuments
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built on the sweat and
toil of Hebrew slaves?
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- [Tim] If experts say there's no evidence
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during the time of Ramesses,
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why do they think he is
the Pharaoh of the Exodus?
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I'm no historian, so I had
to find a way to visualize
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how the history of ancient Egypt
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related to the events of the Bible.
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The thought came to me
to imagine a Wall of Time
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extending back to the earliest
moments of civilization.
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On the first level, Egyptian history,
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and above it the events
recorded in the Bible,
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and at the bottom, a
timeline of absolute dates,
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an immovable base to gauge
the events of history,
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with great pylons marking
every thousand years.
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- [Voiceover] Over the
course of 2,000 years,
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Egypt experienced three
great periods of power.
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It began with the Old Kingdom,
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with its great pyramids of stone.
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Then came the Middle Kingdom,
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the highpoint of art and literature.
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Finally, the New Kingdom,
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with its vast empires that
dominated foreign lands.
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These great periods of power were followed
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by dark periods of disunity and weakness.
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Ramesses II was a pharaoh
of the New Kingdom
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who ruled a grand empire
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and filled Egypt with his monuments.
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There is one crucial passage in the Bible
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that leads many to chain the Exodus event
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to the time of Pharaoh Ramesses,
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in what is known as The
Ramesses Exodus Theory.
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-A key to that theory is the building
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of the city of Ramesses
mentioned in Exodus 1:1 I;
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the Hebrews are making bricks
to build the city of Ramesses,
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or the storage facilities of Ramesses.
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- [Voiceover] Professor James Hoffmeier
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is one of the few Egyptologists
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who has written extensively
on the biblical Exodus.
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- This important city, which
we know Ramesses II built,
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it's being excavated even as we speak
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and continues to he studied.
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This city has a very brief history.
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By around 1100 BC, the city's gone.
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It has a very narrow history
of no more than 200 years.
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So, the question is, if
this building project
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that the Israelites are involved in,
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is Ramesses ||'s Delta residence,
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then we have no escape but to say
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this is an important chronological marker,
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and that can only be somewhere
in the 13th century BC.
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- [Tim] Dates in the BC period
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can be confusing to work
with because they move
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in the opposite direction
to modern AD dates.
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The farther back you go in
time, the bigger the BC number.
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So the Ramesses Exodus
Theory places the Exodus
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about 250 years before 1000 BC,
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or at about 1250 BC.
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I wanted an Egyptian perspective,
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so I went to see Mansour Boraik,
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director general of antiquities for Luxor,
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one of Egypt's most important
archaeological sites.
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I asked Mansour if he was in agreement
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that there was no evidence
for the early Israelites
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or the Exodus in Egypt.
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- [Tim] Well it wasn't as if
I hadn't heard this before,
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but I was still hopeful
of finding something
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in the ruins of this
magnificent civilization.
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What I really needed,
though, was physical evidence
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of the cultural group that
the Israelites were a part of:
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Semites, coming down to live in Egypt
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from a land called Canaan.
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- [Voiceover] The problem is
that no archaeological evidence
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has turned up for these Semites
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in the city built by Ramesses II.
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- Him] But then, I heard of something
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that seemed astonishing.
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New archaeological discoveries
of a city and a people
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that appeared to match the biblical story,
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made at the very location
of the city of Ramesses,
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where the Bible places the Israelites.
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- [Voiceover] Mahoney
would he interviewing
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one of the world's most
respected Egyptologists.
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Professor Manfred Bietak
and his Austrian team
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have been digging in Egypt's delta
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for over 3|] years at the site of Avaris.
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Avaris lies directly
below the southern sector
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of the city of Ramesses.
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- [Tim] I asked Manfred to tell me
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about these exciting new finds.
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- [Tim] This sounded
exactly like the Bible.
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Pharaoh gave his blessing by
allowing the early Israelites
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to freely settle in
the best part of Egypt.
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Once there, they and their flocks
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prospered and multiplied greatly.
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This was just what I was looking for.
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So I asked him,
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could these foreigners
he the early Israelites?
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- [Tim] I was stunned when Manfred said
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it was a weak affair.
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Why couldn't these he the Israelites
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when they match the Bible's story so well?
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- [Tim] What Manfred was telling me
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is that the physical
evidence of these people
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is centuries too early to be connected
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to the events of the Exodus.
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This is profound,
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because no Israelites in
Egypt means no Exodus,
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and no Exodus means that the foundation
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of Judaism is a myth.
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And for Christians, it means Jesus Christ
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and the writers of the
New Testament got it wrong
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because they all accepted the reality
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of Moses and the Exodus, and
built their teachings on them.
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I returned home from Egypt.
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I wanted to be open-minded,
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but as I replayed the
interview in my thoughts,
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a cold chill came over me.
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All my life I had believed the
Bible's stories to be true.
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I know some people say
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you don't need any
evidence, just have faith.
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But if there's no hard
evidence for any of it,
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had I been believing
in a lie all this time?
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And what about my kids and grandkids?
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What should they put their faith in?
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Whether you believe these stories or not,
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isn't it important to
know what's really true?
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The more I thought about it,
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the more I realized I couldn't stop now,
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no matter how hard it would he.
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I made a decision.
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I had to go back to Egypt.
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00:17:20,323 --> 00:17:21,657
- [Voiceover] Mahoney
arranged to meet with one
253
00:17:21,657 --> 00:17:25,994
of America's leading Egyptologists,
Professor Kent Weeks.
254
00:17:25,995 --> 00:17:29,298
He rediscovered KV5, the tomb of the sons
255
00:17:29,298 --> 00:17:32,529
of Ramesses II in the Valley of the Kings.
256
00:17:33,669 --> 00:17:35,637
He brought up a crucial issue
257
00:17:35,638 --> 00:17:38,231
when considering the
problems with these events.
258
00:17:38,974 --> 00:17:41,209
-[Kent] Ramesses II as
the Pharaoh of the Exodus,
259
00:17:41,209 --> 00:17:43,311
how can we prove that?
260
00:17:43,311 --> 00:17:45,413
Chronology doesn't really help.
261
00:17:45,413 --> 00:17:48,974
The chronology of Egypt
is still a bit ambiguous.
262
00:17:49,718 --> 00:17:51,919
Correlations between Egyptian chronology
263
00:17:51,919 --> 00:17:53,887
and that of other cultures
264
00:17:53,888 --> 00:17:56,949
in the ancient Near East
is even more confusing.
265
00:17:57,658 --> 00:18:00,093
We don't know precisely
when the Exodus happened.
266
00:18:00,094 --> 00:18:02,096
Some people say it was Ramesses II.
267
00:18:02,096 --> 00:18:04,765
It makes nice theater because he was
268
00:18:04,765 --> 00:18:08,168
a great powerful ruler,
everybody knows his name,
269
00:18:08,168 --> 00:18:10,470
he built fantastic monuments.
270
00:18:10,471 --> 00:18:12,105
Everything really is appealing
271
00:18:12,106 --> 00:18:14,942
to have him he the one to choose.
272
00:18:14,942 --> 00:18:18,078
- Because he'd be a very
large opponent, wouldn't he?
273
00:18:18,078 --> 00:18:19,345
- He would he indeed.
274
00:18:19,346 --> 00:18:22,248
So, yeah, pick Ramesses II
as the pharaoh of the Exodus,
275
00:18:22,249 --> 00:18:24,484
but other Egyptologists disagree.
276
00:18:24,485 --> 00:18:26,954
Almost any pharaoh could he
the pharaoh of the Exodus,
277
00:18:27,688 --> 00:18:30,824
if we can prove there even was an Exodus.
278
00:18:30,824 --> 00:18:33,960
- [Tim] But if Ramesses wasn't
the pharaoh of the Exodus,
279
00:18:33,961 --> 00:18:35,360
then who was?
280
00:18:36,230 --> 00:18:38,365
Looking for the Exodus in a different time
281
00:18:38,365 --> 00:18:41,034
or reign could be the solution.
282
00:18:41,035 --> 00:18:43,163
Maybe Ramesses is the problem?
283
00:18:44,071 --> 00:18:46,733
I found Mansour's openness refreshing.
284
00:19:19,807 --> 00:19:22,504
- [Tim] It was clear, I
needed a new approach.
285
00:19:23,611 --> 00:19:27,247
What might even he considered
a scientific approach,
286
00:19:27,247 --> 00:19:29,515
beginning by taking a closer look
287
00:19:29,516 --> 00:19:31,985
at the details of the biblical story.
288
00:19:33,787 --> 00:19:35,855
- [Voiceover] The oldest
accounts of the Exodus
289
00:19:35,856 --> 00:19:38,057
were written down in Hebrew,
290
00:19:38,057 --> 00:19:41,823
in the first five books of
the Bible known as the Torah.
291
00:19:42,662 --> 00:19:44,497
- [Tim] I asked Rabbi Manis Friedman,
292
00:19:44,497 --> 00:19:47,166
a member of Judaism's Orthodox branch,
293
00:19:47,166 --> 00:19:49,334
to recount the ancient
stories of the Bible
294
00:19:49,335 --> 00:19:51,670
from these sacred scrolls.
295
00:19:51,671 --> 00:19:54,106
In order to test
the Exodus fairly,
296
00:19:54,107 --> 00:19:56,906
I wanted to know what the
story was actually claiming.
297
00:19:58,010 --> 00:20:00,178
- [Manis] The story of the Exodus
298
00:20:00,178 --> 00:20:03,443
begins before the Israelites leave Egypt.
299
00:20:10,922 --> 00:20:12,757
It begins with Abraham
300
00:20:12,758 --> 00:20:14,760
when God brings him to the land of Canaan
301
00:20:14,760 --> 00:20:16,895
and makes a covenant with him
302
00:20:16,895 --> 00:20:20,627
and, in that covenant,
spells out the entire Exodus.
303
00:20:24,803 --> 00:20:28,899
The Lord said to Abraham,
“All this land you see
304
00:20:29,741 --> 00:20:33,574
“I will give to you and
your offspring forever.
305
00:20:34,978 --> 00:20:38,681
“Go, walk through the length
and breadth of this land,
306
00:20:38,682 --> 00:20:40,843
“for I am giving it to you.”
307
00:20:43,252 --> 00:20:45,954
On that day, the Lord made a covenant,
308
00:20:45,954 --> 00:20:48,723
a formal promise to Abraham.
309
00:20:48,724 --> 00:20:52,957
He said, "To your descendants,
I give this land."
310
00:20:58,032 --> 00:21:01,835
God led Abraham outside and He said,
311
00:21:01,836 --> 00:21:05,829
"Look up to heaven and
count the stars, if you can.
312
00:21:07,273 --> 00:21:10,334
"So numerous will your offspring be."
313
00:21:14,780 --> 00:21:18,984
And God said, "Your
descendants will he foreigners
314
00:21:18,984 --> 00:21:21,519
"in a country not their own.
315
00:21:21,520 --> 00:21:23,750
"They will he enslaved and oppressed.
316
00:21:24,523 --> 00:21:27,759
"But I will judge the
nation they serve as slaves,
317
00:21:27,760 --> 00:21:29,660
"and afterward they will come out
318
00:21:29,661 --> 00:21:33,188
"with great possessions and return here."
319
00:21:36,234 --> 00:21:37,902
- [Voiceover] According to the text,
320
00:21:37,902 --> 00:21:41,634
the events of the Exodus were
not a historical accident.
321
00:21:42,340 --> 00:21:44,775
They were directed by the God of Abraham
322
00:21:44,776 --> 00:21:46,403
every step of the way.
323
00:21:49,180 --> 00:21:51,182
- [Tim] As my team and
I looked more closely
324
00:21:51,182 --> 00:21:53,417
at this account, we could see that
325
00:21:53,418 --> 00:21:56,254
these biblical events formed a sequence,
326
00:21:56,254 --> 00:21:59,451
a sequence that could guide
the entire investigation.
327
00:22:00,959 --> 00:22:04,262
I imagined the six steps
of the biblical sequence,
328
00:22:04,262 --> 00:22:06,764
the major events of the Exodus story,
329
00:22:06,765 --> 00:22:10,769
running parallel to Egyptian
history, starting with:
330
00:22:10,769 --> 00:22:13,932
the arrival of Abraham's
descendants in Egypt,
331
00:22:14,706 --> 00:22:16,834
their tremendous multiplication,
332
00:22:17,809 --> 00:22:19,537
their descent into slavery,
333
00:22:20,511 --> 00:22:22,980
the judgment of the
nation that enslaved them,
334
00:22:23,914 --> 00:22:26,679
their deliverance and exodus out of Egypt,
335
00:22:27,618 --> 00:22:29,353
and, finally, in Canaan,
336
00:22:29,353 --> 00:22:31,514
their conquest of the Promised Land.
337
00:22:33,122 --> 00:22:35,424
If the Exodus really happened,
338
00:22:35,424 --> 00:22:38,160
there are elements in
the story that are so big
339
00:22:38,161 --> 00:22:40,129
that you'd think some remnants of evidence
340
00:22:40,129 --> 00:22:43,793
would've been left behind,
somewhere in Egypt's history.
341
00:22:45,201 --> 00:22:46,936
We knew science solved problems
342
00:22:46,936 --> 00:22:49,471
by looking for patterns of evidence
343
00:22:49,472 --> 00:22:53,209
and a truly scientific approach
looks for those patterns,
344
00:22:53,209 --> 00:22:55,303
no matter where they exist.
345
00:22:57,647 --> 00:22:59,447
I set out to see whether a pattern
346
00:22:59,447 --> 00:23:02,016
matching this sequence could he found,
347
00:23:02,017 --> 00:23:03,815
starting with the first step,
348
00:23:04,519 --> 00:23:07,614
the "arrival" of the Israelites in Egypt.
349
00:23:10,791 --> 00:23:13,192
- The book of Genesis tells us
350
00:23:13,193 --> 00:23:17,230
that the first descendant of
Abraham to arrive in Egypt
351
00:23:17,230 --> 00:23:20,825
was his great-grandson,
Joseph the son of Jacob.
352
00:23:21,501 --> 00:23:23,970
Joseph's brothers had sold him as a slave,
353
00:23:23,970 --> 00:23:27,497
to a caravan of traders who
brought him down to Egypt.
354
00:23:29,909 --> 00:23:32,544
Then, in an amazing turn of events,
355
00:23:32,545 --> 00:23:35,714
he rises to become the
highest official in Egypt,
356
00:23:35,715 --> 00:23:38,217
he saves the country
from a terrible famine,
357
00:23:38,218 --> 00:23:41,120
enables his father, Jacob,
and his entire family
358
00:23:41,120 --> 00:23:43,455
to settle in the best part of the land,
359
00:23:43,456 --> 00:23:45,116
a place called Goshen.
360
00:23:47,359 --> 00:23:50,862
- [Tim] My objective was to
see if any specific evidence
361
00:23:50,863 --> 00:23:53,398
had been uncovered of
this Semitic family-group
362
00:23:53,398 --> 00:23:56,868
arriving in Egypt, as told in the Bible.
363
00:23:56,869 --> 00:24:00,505
So, far I had none.
- So far, not.
364
00:24:00,505 --> 00:24:05,466
We only know we have some
evidence of shepherds --
365
00:24:07,713 --> 00:24:09,681
So far, not.
366
00:24:10,349 --> 00:24:11,717
- [Tim] I was stuck.
367
00:24:11,717 --> 00:24:14,453
But that was soon to
change, when suddenly,
368
00:24:14,453 --> 00:24:16,988
something was telling
me to go to my library
369
00:24:16,989 --> 00:24:19,891
and search out a book
given to me a year earlier,
370
00:24:19,892 --> 00:24:21,484
that I had never read.
371
00:24:34,105 --> 00:24:37,241
What startled me was that
this author had answers
372
00:24:37,241 --> 00:24:40,836
to the very doubts that
Beitek had raised in me.
373
00:24:43,547 --> 00:24:46,750
He had spent his whole life
exploring the Middle East,
374
00:24:46,751 --> 00:24:49,453
a man familiar with the
mysterious inscriptions
375
00:24:49,453 --> 00:24:51,251
and hieroglyphs of the pharaohs,
376
00:24:52,156 --> 00:24:54,818
and what they might reveal
about the biblical stories.
377
00:24:58,629 --> 00:25:00,797
- [Voiceover] David
Rohl, author, historian
378
00:25:00,798 --> 00:25:04,034
and Egyptologist is an agnostic,
379
00:25:04,035 --> 00:25:07,436
someone who remains unconvinced
of the existence of God.
380
00:25:08,138 --> 00:25:10,907
Yet, he clearly sees
archaeological evidence
381
00:25:10,907 --> 00:25:14,243
of the biblical Joseph,
Jacob and the early Hebrews
382
00:25:14,244 --> 00:25:16,645
in the Nile Delta region of Egypt.
383
00:25:18,814 --> 00:25:21,283
Rohl believes that many Egyptologists
384
00:25:21,283 --> 00:25:22,917
have missed evidence for the Exodus
385
00:25:22,918 --> 00:25:24,718
because they have been looking for it
386
00:25:24,719 --> 00:25:26,778
in the wrong time period.
387
00:25:28,556 --> 00:25:30,324
While most scholars think that the events
388
00:25:30,325 --> 00:25:33,027
of the Exodus happened in the New Kingdom,
389
00:25:33,027 --> 00:25:34,527
David Roh|'s view would put the Exodus
390
00:25:34,528 --> 00:25:36,929
in an entirely different period,
391
00:25:36,929 --> 00:25:38,997
the earlier Middle Kingdom,
392
00:25:38,998 --> 00:25:41,990
where he claims evidence
for the Exodus can be seen.
393
00:25:44,737 --> 00:25:46,805
- [Tim] I wanted him to
explain why he had come
394
00:25:46,806 --> 00:25:49,809
to such a different
conclusion than Manfred Bietak
395
00:25:49,809 --> 00:25:52,778
about Joseph and the early Israelites.
396
00:25:54,212 --> 00:25:56,146
Tell me, who is Manfred Bietak?
397
00:25:56,848 --> 00:25:58,348
- Manfred Bietak is probably
398
00:25:58,349 --> 00:26:00,918
one of the greatest
archaeologists alive today
399
00:26:00,918 --> 00:26:02,953
and he's dug up one of
the most important sites
400
00:26:02,953 --> 00:26:05,354
in the eastern delta,
a city called Avaris,
401
00:26:05,355 --> 00:26:08,324
which is in the land of Goshen,
which the Bible calls it.
402
00:26:08,324 --> 00:26:09,458
And I believe this is the place
403
00:26:09,459 --> 00:26:11,327
where Joseph and his brethren lived.
404
00:26:11,327 --> 00:26:13,227
- Well, I went to see Manfred Bietak
- [David] Right.
405
00:26:13,228 --> 00:26:14,996
- and that's not what he said.
406
00:26:14,997 --> 00:26:17,699
He said there's no evidence of
this at the time of Ramesses.
407
00:26:17,699 --> 00:26:19,434
- Exactly right. Most scholars will say,
408
00:26:19,434 --> 00:26:21,068
if you look at the city of Ramesses,
409
00:26:21,069 --> 00:26:23,538
there are no Asiatics there,
there are no western Asiatics
410
00:26:23,538 --> 00:26:25,238
living at that particular city.
411
00:26:25,239 --> 00:26:27,107
But dig down a hit a little bit deeper
412
00:26:27,108 --> 00:26:29,043
and you do find a city full of Asiatics.
413
00:26:29,043 --> 00:26:30,377
- Yeah, but the Bible says it happened
414
00:26:30,378 --> 00:26:32,046
at the time of Ramesses.
- [David] Uh-huh.
415
00:26:32,046 --> 00:26:33,180
- What are you saying?
416
00:26:33,180 --> 00:26:35,182
- [David] I'm saying that
this particular mention
417
00:26:35,182 --> 00:26:37,783
of the city of Ramesses,
the building of Ramesses,
418
00:26:37,784 --> 00:26:39,786
is what we call an "anachronism".
419
00:26:39,786 --> 00:26:40,853
It's something that's been added
420
00:26:40,854 --> 00:26:43,089
into the text later by an editor.
421
00:26:43,089 --> 00:26:45,091
So what the editor is basically saying is,
422
00:26:45,091 --> 00:26:48,327
this is the place where the
Israelites built the store city
423
00:26:48,328 --> 00:26:49,928
and we know it today as Ramesses.
424
00:26:49,928 --> 00:26:51,996
Well, in the ancient times,
it was called Avaris.
425
00:26:51,997 --> 00:26:55,233
- Okay, so the people would
know the area, the region --
426
00:26:55,234 --> 00:26:57,635
- The people of the Bible would've known
427
00:26:57,635 --> 00:26:59,937
where Ramesses was, and where therefore
428
00:26:59,937 --> 00:27:02,372
their ancestors actually built the city.
429
00:27:04,541 --> 00:27:07,443
- [Tim] I also found that the
Bible in the book of Genesis,
430
00:27:07,444 --> 00:27:09,813
uses the word "Ramesses" hundreds of years
431
00:27:09,813 --> 00:27:13,382
before Pharaoh Ramesses
or his city existed,
432
00:27:13,382 --> 00:27:16,351
to describe the land where
Joseph's family settled.
433
00:27:17,085 --> 00:27:19,153
So, if the name Ramesses in Genesis
434
00:27:19,154 --> 00:27:22,923
does not refer to the time
of Pharaoh Ramesses II,
435
00:27:22,923 --> 00:27:24,958
then why should the mention of Ramesses
436
00:27:24,958 --> 00:27:28,227
in the book of Exodus be any different?
437
00:27:28,228 --> 00:27:29,996
- [David] Now, this Avaris is the city
438
00:27:29,997 --> 00:27:32,798
which lies under the biblical Ramesses.
439
00:27:32,799 --> 00:27:34,534
Ramesses of the New Kingdom,
440
00:27:34,534 --> 00:27:37,670
Avaris of the Middle
Kingdom, the 13th Dynasty.
441
00:27:37,670 --> 00:27:41,373
It lies underneath the city
that's mentioned in the Bible.
442
00:27:41,374 --> 00:27:43,476
So, when Bietak digs up a huge population
443
00:27:43,476 --> 00:27:46,812
of Semitic speaking peoples
with Semitic culture,
444
00:27:46,813 --> 00:27:49,549
living in this city of Avaris
for several hundred years,
445
00:27:49,549 --> 00:27:53,185
and then, at the end of the
period, these Semites all leave,
446
00:27:53,186 --> 00:27:55,855
depart with their belongings
and abandon the city,
447
00:27:55,855 --> 00:27:58,090
whatever Manfred says, that to me
448
00:27:58,091 --> 00:28:00,252
sounds awfully like the Israelites.
449
00:28:01,992 --> 00:28:05,195
- Well what he told me was
that there was no connection.
450
00:28:05,196 --> 00:28:08,065
- [David] Well, look at the
evidence that you've got here.
451
00:28:08,065 --> 00:28:09,499
Right at the beginning, at the heart
452
00:28:09,500 --> 00:28:12,135
of this community at the
end of the 12th Dynasty,
453
00:28:12,136 --> 00:28:14,071
we see a Syrian house appear.
454
00:28:14,071 --> 00:28:16,872
The Austrians call them Mittelsaal houses.
455
00:28:16,873 --> 00:28:19,308
This type of house is
found in North Syria,
456
00:28:19,309 --> 00:28:21,344
the area where Abraham came from.
457
00:28:21,344 --> 00:28:22,978
It's exactly the same style of house
458
00:28:22,979 --> 00:28:26,115
you'd expect Jacob to
build for himself in Egypt.
459
00:28:26,116 --> 00:28:28,118
And we know that the
Israelites sought their brides
460
00:28:28,118 --> 00:28:30,453
from Harran in that region.
461
00:28:30,453 --> 00:28:33,456
They all went back to get
their brides from there.
462
00:28:33,456 --> 00:28:35,256
So, the culture that turns up in Egypt
463
00:28:35,257 --> 00:28:36,891
at the end of the 12th Dynasty
464
00:28:36,892 --> 00:28:39,623
seems to have come from
North Syria originally.
465
00:28:40,529 --> 00:28:43,365
- [Tim] So, what is the
connection with Joseph at Avaris?
466
00:28:43,365 --> 00:28:45,734
- Well after this house of
Jacob, if we can call it that,
467
00:28:45,734 --> 00:28:48,737
is built, eventually it's flattened,
468
00:28:48,737 --> 00:28:51,673
and on top of it an Egyptian
palace is constructed,
469
00:28:51,673 --> 00:28:53,641
Egyptian architecture this time.
470
00:28:53,642 --> 00:28:55,838
However, the occupant was not Egyptian.
471
00:28:57,412 --> 00:29:01,883
The palace had courtyards,
colonnades, audience chambers.
472
00:29:01,884 --> 00:29:04,119
There was even a robing room.
473
00:29:04,119 --> 00:29:06,955
it obviously belonged to
some high official of state,
474
00:29:06,955 --> 00:29:09,290
who was very, very
important to that state,
475
00:29:09,291 --> 00:29:11,326
because when somebody
gets a palace like this
476
00:29:11,326 --> 00:29:13,226
given to them, it means
they've been honored
477
00:29:13,227 --> 00:29:15,093
for what they've done for the state.
478
00:29:15,897 --> 00:29:17,899
Now, in the garden behind the palace,
479
00:29:17,899 --> 00:29:20,868
the archaeologists found 12 main graves
480
00:29:20,868 --> 00:29:23,503
with memorial chapels on top of them.
481
00:29:23,504 --> 00:29:25,539
- [Tim] You have 12 graves?
- [David] We have 12 graves.
482
00:29:25,540 --> 00:29:27,340
- But why would that be significant?
483
00:29:27,340 --> 00:29:30,843
- Well, think about it: how
many sons did Jacob have?
484
00:29:30,844 --> 00:29:32,344
- He had 12.
- How many tribes were there?
485
00:29:32,344 --> 00:29:33,678
- Twelve tribes.
- Exactly.
486
00:29:33,679 --> 00:29:36,815
And what's also amazing is
the palace had a facade,
487
00:29:36,815 --> 00:29:39,250
a portico with 12 pillars.
488
00:29:40,252 --> 00:29:44,751
So you've got 12 sons, 12
tribes, 12 pillars, and 12 tombs.
489
00:29:45,190 --> 00:29:47,750
- Interesting.
- Yeah. Is that all coincidence?
490
00:29:48,793 --> 00:29:51,695
Now, one of these 12
graves was very special,
491
00:29:51,696 --> 00:29:53,964
because it was a pyramid tomb.
492
00:29:53,965 --> 00:29:56,801
This in itself is extraordinary
because only pharaohs
493
00:29:56,801 --> 00:29:59,637
and queens had pyramid tombs at this time.
494
00:29:59,637 --> 00:30:03,374
Yet the person buried in
this tomb was not a king.
495
00:30:03,374 --> 00:30:06,139
Even so, he was honored
with a king's burial.
496
00:30:07,045 --> 00:30:10,538
And, inside the chapel of
the tomb, was a statue.
497
00:30:11,316 --> 00:30:14,885
What we know from the statue
is that this man had red hair.
498
00:30:14,885 --> 00:30:16,753
He had pale yellow skin,
499
00:30:16,753 --> 00:30:19,322
which is how Egyptians depict northerners.
500
00:30:19,323 --> 00:30:21,924
He had a throw stick across his shoulder,
501
00:30:21,924 --> 00:30:25,560
a unique symbol of office
made for this Asiatic official
502
00:30:25,561 --> 00:30:27,461
living in the land of Goshen.
503
00:30:28,231 --> 00:30:30,099
And on the back of his shoulder,
504
00:30:30,099 --> 00:30:33,068
we see the faintest remains of paint,
505
00:30:33,069 --> 00:30:36,272
colored stripes from a multicolored coat.
506
00:30:36,272 --> 00:30:37,640
And that matches exactly
507
00:30:37,640 --> 00:30:39,775
with the story of Joseph in the Bible.
508
00:30:39,775 --> 00:30:41,710
The multicolored coat is a gift,
509
00:30:41,711 --> 00:30:44,880
which shows that he was
the favorite of the father.
510
00:30:44,880 --> 00:30:47,949
And it almost becomes
his insignia, this coat.
511
00:30:47,950 --> 00:30:50,619
It’s the thing we remember
about him most of all.
512
00:30:50,620 --> 00:30:52,922
- Do you know of any other statues
513
00:30:52,922 --> 00:30:55,357
of a Semite of this kind in Egypt?
514
00:30:55,358 --> 00:30:57,193
- There is nothing else like this
515
00:30:57,193 --> 00:30:59,958
in the whole of Egyptian
history, nothing at all.
516
00:31:00,796 --> 00:31:02,864
- [Voiceover] David
Rohl is not the only one
517
00:31:02,865 --> 00:31:05,701
to see a connection with Joseph at Avaris.
518
00:31:05,701 --> 00:31:08,502
Mahoney went to see
Professor Charles Aling,
519
00:31:08,503 --> 00:31:11,138
an Egyptologist who has also investigated
520
00:31:11,139 --> 00:31:14,242
the events of the Exodus
and its connection to Egypt.
521
00:31:14,242 --> 00:31:16,811
- Would it be unusual for
a tomb to have a statue!
522
00:31:16,811 --> 00:31:18,979
- No. It's unusual to have one this large.
523
00:31:18,980 --> 00:31:21,148
This would he probably twice
524
00:31:21,149 --> 00:31:23,117
the size of a normal human being.
525
00:31:23,118 --> 00:31:25,887
- [Tim] What does that tell
you when the statue's larger?
526
00:31:25,887 --> 00:31:27,989
- That it's a very important person.
527
00:31:27,989 --> 00:31:31,726
Now of course, this is not a
pharaoh’s tomb or a palace,
528
00:31:31,726 --> 00:31:33,994
but the man who lived
there, you can identify
529
00:31:33,995 --> 00:31:37,798
his nationality by looking at
the fragments of the statue.
530
00:31:37,799 --> 00:31:40,234
Three things: the hairstyle he has,
531
00:31:40,235 --> 00:31:42,737
which we often call
the mushroom hairstyle;
532
00:31:42,737 --> 00:31:44,705
and then, secondly, the weapon he carries
533
00:31:44,706 --> 00:31:46,941
over his shoulder, called a throw-stick,
534
00:31:46,941 --> 00:31:50,411
which we would associate with
like an Australian boomerang;
535
00:31:50,412 --> 00:31:53,615
and then the coloration of
the skin, the skin is yellow.
536
00:31:53,615 --> 00:31:55,383
All those things indicate that this would
537
00:31:55,383 --> 00:31:57,718
have been a Syro-Palestinian.
538
00:31:57,719 --> 00:32:00,855
- [Tim] Dr. Aling, do
you think this is Joseph?
539
00:32:00,855 --> 00:32:03,891
- Either it is Joseph,
or it's somebody that has
540
00:32:03,892 --> 00:32:07,495
a career remarkably
the same as Joseph did.
541
00:32:07,495 --> 00:32:09,395
It's just an incredible thing
542
00:32:09,396 --> 00:32:12,229
to find this at this time period.
543
00:32:29,650 --> 00:32:31,050
- [Voiceover] The Exodus was a story
544
00:32:31,050 --> 00:32:33,385
about the birth of a nation.
545
00:32:33,386 --> 00:32:35,878
It was time for Mahoney
to go to Israel.
546
00:32:38,891 --> 00:32:40,993
This gave him the unique opportunity
547
00:32:40,993 --> 00:32:44,329
to meet with Israel's
president, Shimon Peres,
548
00:32:44,330 --> 00:32:47,533
and hear his perspective
about the character of Joseph
549
00:32:47,533 --> 00:32:51,333
and his rise from slavery to
governing Pharaoh's court.
550
00:32:52,772 --> 00:32:54,973
- [Tim] If you look at the
way the story is written,
551
00:32:54,973 --> 00:32:56,941
God chose him for a mission!
552
00:33:31,076 --> 00:33:35,013
- [Manis] With God's help,
Joseph was able to save Egypt
553
00:33:35,013 --> 00:33:38,516
by warning of a coming calamity.
554
00:33:38,517 --> 00:33:40,619
Seven years of plenty would he followed
555
00:33:40,619 --> 00:33:44,155
by seven years of terrible famine.
556
00:33:44,156 --> 00:33:46,725
Pharaoh is so impressed
that he puts Joseph
557
00:33:46,725 --> 00:33:49,928
in charge of preparing for the famine,
558
00:33:49,928 --> 00:33:53,455
and makes him second in command
over the entire country.
559
00:33:54,899 --> 00:33:56,667
- He managed to achieve
this by foretelling
560
00:33:56,667 --> 00:33:58,567
or explaining the dreams of Pharaoh
561
00:33:58,568 --> 00:34:01,571
about cattle coming out
of the water of the Nile.
562
00:34:01,571 --> 00:34:04,507
First of all as seven fat
cows and then seven lean cows
563
00:34:04,507 --> 00:34:06,876
come out and devour the fat cows.
564
00:34:06,876 --> 00:34:09,378
It's an extraordinary story,
but the clue here is that
565
00:34:09,379 --> 00:34:11,381
these cows are coming out of the Nile.
566
00:34:11,381 --> 00:34:13,081
It's the Nile itself which is the cause
567
00:34:13,081 --> 00:34:15,516
of both the plenty and the famine.
568
00:34:16,485 --> 00:34:18,720
- [Tim] If David's
interpretation is right,
569
00:34:18,720 --> 00:34:21,589
then the regulation of
the Nile may have been key
570
00:34:21,590 --> 00:34:23,649
in planning for the coming famine.
571
00:34:24,560 --> 00:34:26,595
- [David] There's a canal, or a waterway,
572
00:34:26,595 --> 00:34:28,930
that connects the Nile to the Fayum basin,
573
00:34:28,931 --> 00:34:32,500
which is a large lake area,
which has the name Bahr Yusef,
574
00:34:32,500 --> 00:34:34,168
which means the waterway of Joseph.
575
00:34:34,168 --> 00:34:36,703
This goes back thousands of
years, as far as we can tell.
576
00:34:36,704 --> 00:34:39,039
- Why do you think that
that canal has that name!
577
00:34:39,040 --> 00:34:40,440
- Because I think he made it.
578
00:34:40,440 --> 00:34:42,108
I think it was under his instructions,
579
00:34:42,108 --> 00:34:44,443
as vizier of Egypt,
that that canal was cut.
580
00:34:44,444 --> 00:34:46,612
And it was cut to divert half the water
581
00:34:46,613 --> 00:34:48,881
from the Nile into the Fayum basin.
582
00:34:48,882 --> 00:34:50,582
You then get back to the situation where
583
00:34:50,583 --> 00:34:53,819
the water levels are just
right for growing crops.
584
00:34:53,819 --> 00:34:56,020
- Can you see it today?
- It's still in use today.
585
00:34:56,020 --> 00:34:58,455
And the construction of
this water diversion system
586
00:34:58,456 --> 00:35:00,124
is dated to the same period
587
00:35:00,124 --> 00:35:02,525
as the early settlement at Avaris.
588
00:35:04,461 --> 00:35:06,862
- Joseph gathers up all the grain
589
00:35:06,863 --> 00:35:09,999
during the seven years of plenty in Egypt.
590
00:35:09,999 --> 00:35:12,559
He gathered as much as
the sand of the sea.
591
00:35:15,671 --> 00:35:19,474
And then the famine comes
to the entire region,
592
00:35:19,475 --> 00:35:22,211
and only Egypt has hread.
593
00:35:22,211 --> 00:35:26,876
So everyone comes to Joseph for
what they need for survival.
594
00:35:26,949 --> 00:35:30,552
When their money runs out,
they sold their animals.
595
00:35:30,553 --> 00:35:33,322
When that ran out, they sold their land,
596
00:35:33,322 --> 00:35:35,586
and eventually they sold themselves.
597
00:35:36,325 --> 00:35:38,994
So Pharaoh, hy the end of the seven years,
598
00:35:38,995 --> 00:35:41,521
owns everything in Egypt.
599
00:35:46,702 --> 00:35:48,136
- [Voiceover] Mahoney wanted to know
600
00:35:48,137 --> 00:35:50,338
if there ever was a time in this era
601
00:35:50,338 --> 00:35:52,206
when a dramatic shift of wealth and power
602
00:35:52,207 --> 00:35:55,666
occurred between the people
of Egypt and the pharaoh.
603
00:35:56,845 --> 00:35:58,079
He went to Pennsylvania
604
00:35:58,079 --> 00:36:00,748
to see an archaeologist
who's spent many years
605
00:36:00,749 --> 00:36:02,843
studying the Exodus and the Conquest.
606
00:36:03,718 --> 00:36:05,652
His name is Dr. Bryant Wood.
607
00:36:06,588 --> 00:36:08,579
- [Bryant] When we look
at Egyptian history,
608
00:36:09,291 --> 00:36:11,660
we find something very significant
609
00:36:11,660 --> 00:36:14,663
happened at this exact time.
610
00:36:14,663 --> 00:36:18,466
Egypt was divided up
into areas called nomes,
611
00:36:18,466 --> 00:36:21,435
kind of like districts,
all over the country.
612
00:36:21,436 --> 00:36:24,338
And the leaders of these nomes
613
00:36:24,339 --> 00:36:28,209
had tremendous wealth
and tremendous power.
614
00:36:28,209 --> 00:36:30,644
We get to a point in Egyptian history
615
00:36:30,645 --> 00:36:33,614
when suddenly that all changes,
616
00:36:33,615 --> 00:36:38,576
and all the wealth is
concentrated with the pharaoh.
617
00:36:39,321 --> 00:36:41,790
What on earth happened here?
618
00:36:41,790 --> 00:36:44,391
If you read the Egyptian history books,
619
00:36:44,391 --> 00:36:46,393
there is no explanation for it.
620
00:36:46,393 --> 00:36:49,129
They don't know what
happened, how it happened.
621
00:36:49,129 --> 00:36:52,799
I mean this was a tremendous
socio-economic change.
622
00:36:52,800 --> 00:36:54,368
- Well, what do you think happened?
623
00:36:54,368 --> 00:36:57,133
- [Bryant] Well, we have
the answer in the Bible,
624
00:36:58,005 --> 00:37:00,007
and it's Joseph's famine policy,
625
00:37:00,007 --> 00:37:03,343
and he brings the wealth into Pharaoh,
626
00:37:03,344 --> 00:37:06,439
and it fits exactly with Egyptian history.
627
00:37:07,214 --> 00:37:09,182
- [Tim] David believes
these events occurred
628
00:37:09,183 --> 00:37:12,752
during the reigns of two
important Middle Kingdom pharaohs.
629
00:37:12,752 --> 00:37:15,187
- [David] This key time
is during the co-regency
630
00:37:15,188 --> 00:37:19,192
between Senuseret III and
his son, Amenemhat III.
631
00:37:19,192 --> 00:37:21,527
I believe this is the time of the famine
632
00:37:21,527 --> 00:37:24,189
and that Amenemhat was Joseph's pharaoh.
633
00:37:24,831 --> 00:37:27,733
Amenemhat is depicted with worry lines.
634
00:37:27,734 --> 00:37:30,369
His ears are turned out
so that he can listen
635
00:37:30,370 --> 00:37:32,270
to the concerns of the people.
636
00:37:33,006 --> 00:37:35,675
He's not depicted in the
usual bland way that you see
637
00:37:35,675 --> 00:37:38,844
on all the other statues of
past and future pharaohs.
638
00:37:38,845 --> 00:37:42,515
And I think this is an
indication that, in his time,
639
00:37:42,515 --> 00:37:45,348
Egypt was experiencing serious problems.
640
00:37:46,119 --> 00:37:48,554
And, guess what! He builds his pyramid
641
00:37:48,554 --> 00:37:52,718
right next to Bahr Yussef,
the "Waterway of Joseph".
642
00:37:58,731 --> 00:38:00,399
- [Voiceover] The amount
of archaeological evidence
643
00:38:00,400 --> 00:38:04,003
matching the first step of
Arrival in the biblical sequence
644
00:38:04,003 --> 00:38:06,097
seemed overwhelming to Mahoney.
645
00:38:07,707 --> 00:38:10,242
The syrian-styled house
that appeared in the Delta
646
00:38:10,243 --> 00:38:13,112
along with a palace fit for royalty
647
00:38:13,112 --> 00:38:15,647
whose occupant was a high Semitic official
648
00:38:15,648 --> 00:38:19,312
from the Canaan area, who
wore a multicolored coat.
649
00:38:20,820 --> 00:38:22,288
The Waterway of Joseph,
650
00:38:22,288 --> 00:38:24,655
contemporary with the rise of Avaris.
651
00:38:26,659 --> 00:38:30,462
The end of influence and wealth
for the regional governors
652
00:38:30,463 --> 00:38:33,592
as the power of Pharaoh
reached new heights.
653
00:38:34,700 --> 00:38:36,835
Yet these events converged at a time
654
00:38:36,835 --> 00:38:38,770
when the statues of the
pharaohs were depicted
655
00:38:38,770 --> 00:38:41,072
in a unique care-worn way,
656
00:38:41,073 --> 00:38:44,008
the tell-tale signs of
a kingdom in distress.
657
00:38:48,046 --> 00:38:50,915
- Well, why is it we've
never heard of these finds?
658
00:38:50,916 --> 00:38:53,451
- [David] Because in the
scheme that's used by scholars
659
00:38:53,452 --> 00:38:56,188
to date all these events,
they're way too early.
660
00:38:56,188 --> 00:38:58,054
They're much too early to he Israelites.
661
00:38:58,857 --> 00:39:01,849
I'm basically saying, why
not call a spade a spade?
662
00:39:03,195 --> 00:39:05,864
- [Voiceover] At the
pyramid tomb of Avaris,
663
00:39:05,864 --> 00:39:10,363
excavations revealed one other
important piece of evidence.
664
00:39:10,468 --> 00:39:12,136
- [David] The crucial clue for me,
665
00:39:12,136 --> 00:39:13,470
which says to me that this man
666
00:39:13,471 --> 00:39:15,406
with the multicolored coat is Joseph,
667
00:39:15,406 --> 00:39:17,170
is found in the story of Exodus.
668
00:39:19,877 --> 00:39:21,745
When Joseph is on his death bed,
669
00:39:21,746 --> 00:39:23,947
he tells his brethren
that when they leave,
670
00:39:23,947 --> 00:39:26,746
they must take his body with
them to the Promised Land.
671
00:39:27,717 --> 00:39:30,186
What matches the story
even more incredibly
672
00:39:30,186 --> 00:39:31,921
is that pyramid tomb was empty
673
00:39:31,921 --> 00:39:33,321
when the archaeologists found it.
674
00:39:33,322 --> 00:39:35,523
There was nothing in it at all apart from
675
00:39:35,523 --> 00:39:37,525
a few fragments of this smashed statue.
676
00:39:37,525 --> 00:39:39,693
There were no bones,
there were no mummy beads,
677
00:39:39,694 --> 00:39:42,425
no coffin wood, nothing.
It was cleaned out.
678
00:39:43,797 --> 00:39:45,665
- [Tim] So it was a grave robber!
- Not a grave robber.
679
00:39:45,665 --> 00:39:47,929
What grave robber is
going to take the bones?
680
00:39:48,935 --> 00:39:51,136
Bones are intrinsically
of no value whatsoever
681
00:39:51,137 --> 00:39:52,671
and nobody takes the bones.
682
00:39:52,671 --> 00:39:53,971
Only people who are treating the body
683
00:39:53,972 --> 00:39:55,632
with reverence take the bones.
684
00:39:56,440 --> 00:39:58,074
The body was taken out
685
00:39:58,075 --> 00:39:59,743
and all the grave goods were taken out.
686
00:39:59,743 --> 00:40:01,845
I think this is the tomb of Joseph,
687
00:40:01,845 --> 00:40:03,179
the pyramid tomb of Joseph,
688
00:40:03,180 --> 00:40:05,949
honored by Pharaoh with a colossal statue,
689
00:40:05,949 --> 00:40:09,786
that when Moses decided to
take the people out of Egypt,
690
00:40:09,787 --> 00:40:12,122
he made sure he fulfilled
that promise to Joseph,
691
00:40:12,122 --> 00:40:14,891
to take the body out of the
tomb and take it to Shechem
692
00:40:14,892 --> 00:40:16,451
and bury him in the Promised Land.
693
00:40:20,030 --> 00:40:23,233
- [Voiceover] This location,
photographed in the 1800’s,
694
00:40:23,233 --> 00:40:25,168
is where many believe Joseph's hones
695
00:40:25,169 --> 00:40:26,569
were finally laid to rest
696
00:40:26,569 --> 00:40:28,970
in the ancient town of Shechem in Canaan.
697
00:40:30,840 --> 00:40:34,577
The city is known today as
Nablus on the West Bank,
698
00:40:34,577 --> 00:40:36,612
where this tomb has been at the center
699
00:40:36,612 --> 00:40:39,637
of much political and religious tension.
700
00:40:42,750 --> 00:40:43,950
- [Tim] The Exodus is surrounded
701
00:40:43,950 --> 00:40:46,319
hy controversy on many levels.
702
00:40:46,319 --> 00:40:49,688
Even David Rohl suggesting
specific evidence of Joseph
703
00:40:49,688 --> 00:40:52,323
and the early Israelites‘ arrival in Egypt
704
00:40:52,324 --> 00:40:54,925
is archaeologically controversial
705
00:40:54,926 --> 00:40:56,394
because he looks earlier in time
706
00:40:56,394 --> 00:40:58,886
than what is conventionally accepted.
707
00:41:00,932 --> 00:41:02,559
But, at this stage, I didn't care.
708
00:41:03,467 --> 00:41:05,202
I was determined to
stick with the guidelines
709
00:41:05,203 --> 00:41:09,172
of the investigation, looking
for a pattern of evidence
710
00:41:09,172 --> 00:41:11,038
wherever it might exist.
711
00:41:14,143 --> 00:41:15,911
- [Voiceover] Then David
Rohl began to tell about
712
00:41:15,911 --> 00:41:18,747
the remarkable expansion
that happened at Avaris,
713
00:41:18,747 --> 00:41:21,316
which fits the next step of the sequence.
714
00:41:21,317 --> 00:41:23,319
What the Bible describes as
715
00:41:23,319 --> 00:41:26,220
"exceedingly great multiplication."
716
00:41:29,291 --> 00:41:30,525
- [Manis] So Joseph dies,
717
00:41:30,526 --> 00:41:32,927
and his brothers and
their entire generation.
718
00:41:33,896 --> 00:41:36,965
The Israelites are multiplying
and they're fruitful,
719
00:41:36,966 --> 00:41:40,369
exceedingly, until they fill the land.
720
00:41:40,369 --> 00:41:44,439
- We see a virgin land
with no population at all
721
00:41:44,440 --> 00:41:48,710
and suddenly a small group of
Semitic people settle there,
722
00:41:48,711 --> 00:41:52,548
a dozen houses or so, about
70 or 100 people, all told.
723
00:41:52,548 --> 00:41:54,983
And over a period of maybe
three or four generations,
724
00:41:54,984 --> 00:41:56,584
it becomes a very large city,
725
00:41:56,584 --> 00:41:58,916
and it's one of the largest
cities in the ancient world.
726
00:42:01,256 --> 00:42:05,326
This city is a city of
foreigners in the Egyptian delta
727
00:42:05,326 --> 00:42:07,727
and it's been allowed
by the Egyptian state.
728
00:42:07,728 --> 00:42:10,564
At this stage, there's
no slaves involved here.
729
00:42:10,564 --> 00:42:13,199
We're talking about
Semitic peoples coming in,
730
00:42:13,200 --> 00:42:16,436
living here, bringing their
flocks with them and surviving
731
00:42:16,436 --> 00:42:19,205
in such a way that they
become quite rich and wealthy.
732
00:42:19,206 --> 00:42:21,041
- We do know that there was a large
733
00:42:21,041 --> 00:42:23,410
Semitic-speaking population,
734
00:42:23,410 --> 00:42:26,646
probably came in from Syria, Canaan
735
00:42:26,647 --> 00:42:30,416
sometime in the early part
of the second millennium BC.
736
00:42:30,416 --> 00:42:33,085
Their remains have been
found at a number of sites.
737
00:42:33,085 --> 00:42:37,155
We have tombs that are clearly
those of foreigners, Semites.
738
00:42:37,156 --> 00:42:40,092
We can tell this by the
pottery, by the kind of weapons.
739
00:42:40,092 --> 00:42:42,094
These are not Egyptian-type daggers.
740
00:42:42,094 --> 00:42:44,396
They have donkeys, in some
cases, buried with them.
741
00:42:44,397 --> 00:42:46,332
This was not an Egyptian practice.
742
00:42:46,332 --> 00:42:48,967
We can't say for sure that
any of these were Hebrews,
743
00:42:48,968 --> 00:42:51,537
but we probably couldn't
distinguish a Hebrew
744
00:42:51,537 --> 00:42:55,098
from a Canaanite in Egypt,
culturally speaking, anyway.
745
00:43:07,153 --> 00:43:09,421
- [Voiceover] Mahoney
traveled to Bristol, England
746
00:43:09,422 --> 00:43:11,424
to meet with a scholarwho had information
747
00:43:11,424 --> 00:43:14,627
about the expansion of
these people in the Delta.
748
00:43:14,627 --> 00:43:17,363
John Bimson is a
Professor of Dld Testament
749
00:43:17,363 --> 00:43:19,564
at Trinity College, Bristol.
750
00:43:19,564 --> 00:43:21,499
He specializes in biblical history
751
00:43:21,499 --> 00:43:23,567
and its related archaeology.
752
00:43:23,568 --> 00:43:25,603
Bimson sees a clear connection between
753
00:43:25,603 --> 00:43:27,705
the growth of Semitic sites in the Delta
754
00:43:27,706 --> 00:43:29,874
and the biblical account.
755
00:43:29,874 --> 00:43:31,876
- [Tim] How many sites
would there have been!
756
00:43:31,876 --> 00:43:35,579
- You've got a good many
settlements, 20 or more,
757
00:43:35,580 --> 00:43:37,180
which would fit the land of Goshen,
758
00:43:37,181 --> 00:43:39,616
where the Bible says the
Israelites were settled.
759
00:43:39,616 --> 00:43:42,852
Many of these have not
been fully excavated yet.
760
00:43:42,853 --> 00:43:44,553
- [Tim] That are similar
to the Avaris site‘!
761
00:43:44,554 --> 00:43:46,222
- [John] We don't know
whether they're as big.
762
00:43:46,222 --> 00:43:48,823
Until people start digging there,
763
00:43:48,824 --> 00:43:50,792
the Avaris site, of course, no one knew
764
00:43:50,792 --> 00:43:53,159
how big that was until excavation began.
765
00:43:53,962 --> 00:43:56,898
So there could be a lot
of stuff in the ground
766
00:43:56,898 --> 00:44:00,501
waiting to be discovered and
to throw a lot more light
767
00:44:00,502 --> 00:44:03,403
on this period of Asiatic settlement.
768
00:44:04,839 --> 00:44:06,507
- [Voiceover] The only
time that the archaeology
769
00:44:06,507 --> 00:44:10,177
shows massive numbers of
Semites living in ancient Egypt
770
00:44:10,177 --> 00:44:13,408
is in this earlier period
around the Middle Kingdom.
771
00:44:14,382 --> 00:44:15,750
This is strikingly different from
772
00:44:15,750 --> 00:44:18,419
the New Kingdom and the time of Ramesses,
773
00:44:18,419 --> 00:44:20,654
when there is no evidence of this.
774
00:44:20,654 --> 00:44:21,087
when there is no evidence of this.
775
00:44:21,088 --> 00:44:23,457
- [Tim] The question is,
does the Middle Kingdom
776
00:44:23,457 --> 00:44:25,725
also contain evidence for the next step
777
00:44:25,726 --> 00:44:28,821
of the biblical sequence: "slavery”?
778
00:44:38,072 --> 00:44:39,372
- [Voiceover] Cecil B. DeMille portrayed
779
00:44:39,372 --> 00:44:41,941
this slavery in two of his famous films,
780
00:44:41,941 --> 00:44:44,308
both called The Ten Commandments.
781
00:45:01,528 --> 00:45:03,128
Although Hollywood likes to focus
782
00:45:03,128 --> 00:45:06,097
on the Israelites moving
large blocks of stone,
783
00:45:06,098 --> 00:45:08,157
the Bible never mentions this.
784
00:45:12,070 --> 00:45:13,805
- [Manis] A new pharaoh arises,
785
00:45:13,805 --> 00:45:15,603
and he doesn't remember Joseph.
786
00:45:16,774 --> 00:45:19,743
He enslaves the people
because they're becoming
787
00:45:19,744 --> 00:45:22,545
too numerous and becoming a threat.
788
00:45:22,546 --> 00:45:25,815
So he puts them to work
and embitters their lives
789
00:45:25,816 --> 00:45:30,153
building store cities
of Pithom and Ramesses
790
00:45:30,153 --> 00:45:34,590
and makes them create
bricks out of mud and straw.
791
00:45:46,069 --> 00:45:47,569
- [Tim] It was intriguing to see this type
792
00:45:47,570 --> 00:45:50,198
of construction in
different parts of Egypt.
793
00:45:52,208 --> 00:45:53,542
Were any of these bricks
794
00:45:53,542 --> 00:45:55,977
molded by the hands of Israelite slaves!
795
00:46:00,916 --> 00:46:03,818
However, Mansour was quick to remind me
796
00:46:03,819 --> 00:46:06,020
that these types of mud bricks are present
797
00:46:06,020 --> 00:46:07,920
throughout Egypt's history
798
00:46:07,921 --> 00:46:10,652
and don't prove any
connection to the Israelites.
799
00:46:12,592 --> 00:46:14,460
But is there any slavery evidence
800
00:46:14,460 --> 00:46:16,661
matching the Bible at Avaris,
801
00:46:16,661 --> 00:46:19,289
the older city beneath Ramesses?
802
00:46:22,134 --> 00:46:23,768
David, what does the archaeological record
803
00:46:23,768 --> 00:46:25,568
reveal at this location?
804
00:46:25,569 --> 00:46:27,770
- [David] We've got a
situation of prosperity
805
00:46:27,770 --> 00:46:31,467
followed by a lack of prosperity
and a shortage of life.
806
00:46:32,441 --> 00:46:35,377
We begin to see in the
graves of these people
807
00:46:35,377 --> 00:46:36,677
Harris Lines in the bones,
808
00:46:36,677 --> 00:46:39,312
which indicate shortage
of food and nutrients.
809
00:46:39,313 --> 00:46:41,648
These people suddenly
have become impoverished
810
00:46:41,649 --> 00:46:43,417
and they're dying at an age typically
811
00:46:43,417 --> 00:46:45,652
of between 32 and 34 years.
812
00:46:45,653 --> 00:46:47,321
So how do we explain that?
813
00:46:47,321 --> 00:46:50,557
What is the mechanism
that we would understand
814
00:46:50,558 --> 00:46:52,660
why these people only
lived to such a short age?
815
00:46:52,660 --> 00:46:54,762
And the obvious answer is slavery.
816
00:46:54,762 --> 00:46:57,424
- The descriptions of slavery
817
00:46:58,732 --> 00:47:02,066
was so horrible,
818
00:47:03,336 --> 00:47:04,895
downhearted.
819
00:47:06,206 --> 00:47:09,075
To take a whole people and make from them
820
00:47:09,075 --> 00:47:11,942
an inhumane group of men,
821
00:47:12,846 --> 00:47:14,370
working so hard.
822
00:47:15,414 --> 00:47:19,247
They wanted to free themselves.
823
00:47:21,019 --> 00:47:23,287
- The Bible then tells us that the more
824
00:47:23,288 --> 00:47:26,991
the Hebrews were oppressed,
the more they multiplied
825
00:47:26,991 --> 00:47:30,188
and the more they spread
throughout the land of Egypt.
826
00:47:31,462 --> 00:47:33,230
Pharaoh gives the order
827
00:47:33,231 --> 00:47:36,500
for all the baby boys who are born
828
00:47:36,501 --> 00:47:39,562
to be thrown into the
river by the Egyptians.
829
00:47:43,708 --> 00:47:46,944
It was during this time Moses is born,
830
00:47:46,945 --> 00:47:50,848
and in fear for his life, his
mother hides him in a basket
831
00:47:50,848 --> 00:47:54,617
and floats it among the
reeds of the river Nile.
832
00:47:54,618 --> 00:47:56,252
(baby cries)
833
00:47:56,253 --> 00:47:58,984
But God is watching over baby Moses,
834
00:47:59,957 --> 00:48:03,360
and Pharaoh's daughter comes
down to bathe in the Nile.
835
00:48:03,360 --> 00:48:07,859
She finds him, adopts
him, and names him Moses,
836
00:48:07,930 --> 00:48:10,729
which means, "drawn from the water".
837
00:48:12,568 --> 00:48:15,169
- [Tim] Is there anything
in Egyptian archaeology
838
00:48:15,170 --> 00:48:18,306
that might reflect this biblical detail,
839
00:48:18,306 --> 00:48:20,866
the killing of Hebrew infant boys?
840
00:48:23,043 --> 00:48:24,878
- [David] At this particular
point, we start to see
841
00:48:24,878 --> 00:48:27,881
an increase in the number of
infant burials at the site.
842
00:48:27,881 --> 00:48:31,718
Now normally, in a typical
Middle Bronze Age cemetery,
843
00:48:31,719 --> 00:48:35,522
we'll get something like
25% of burials of infants.
844
00:48:35,522 --> 00:48:37,422
In this particular case,
the figure jumps up
845
00:48:37,423 --> 00:48:39,118
to an extraordinary figure.
846
00:48:40,293 --> 00:48:43,496
-[Tim] David directed me to
the dig reports from Avaris,
847
00:48:43,496 --> 00:48:46,232
where Bietak’s team referred
to what they called,
848
00:48:46,232 --> 00:48:49,969
"an extremely high
mortality rate of newborns."
849
00:48:49,969 --> 00:48:51,869
When all the children's graves
850
00:48:51,870 --> 00:48:54,505
aged 10 and younger were identified,
851
00:48:54,506 --> 00:48:57,041
it was found that nearly 50% died
852
00:48:57,042 --> 00:48:59,238
in the first three months of life.
853
00:49:00,012 --> 00:49:02,848
Okay, maybe this was just an epidemic
854
00:49:02,848 --> 00:49:05,112
that hit the newborns especially hard.
855
00:49:06,051 --> 00:49:08,019
But when the graves of those who made it
856
00:49:08,020 --> 00:49:10,756
to adulthood were examined, it was seen
857
00:49:10,756 --> 00:49:14,818
that there were 60% females to 40% males.
858
00:49:15,661 --> 00:49:17,161
The reduction appears to have been
859
00:49:17,161 --> 00:49:20,030
in the male side of the population.
860
00:49:20,031 --> 00:49:22,933
So could this massive
increase in infant burials
861
00:49:22,933 --> 00:49:25,402
at Avaris be evidence for the killing
862
00:49:25,403 --> 00:49:28,100
of the male Israelite children?
863
00:49:32,810 --> 00:49:34,141
It's an intriguing thought,
864
00:49:34,979 --> 00:49:37,641
but it made me sad to think
of what it could have meant,
865
00:49:38,482 --> 00:49:41,008
the murder of thousands of innocent boys.
866
00:49:50,227 --> 00:49:52,195
- [Voiceover] For
generations, the Exodus story
867
00:49:52,196 --> 00:49:54,498
has given hope to people around the world
868
00:49:54,498 --> 00:49:56,899
in their quest for liberation,
869
00:49:56,900 --> 00:49:59,068
inspired by the freeing of the slaves
870
00:49:59,069 --> 00:50:01,662
from the most powerful nation on earth.
871
00:50:03,906 --> 00:50:06,208
But were the hopes and
dreams of all those people
872
00:50:06,208 --> 00:50:08,336
merely based on a myth?
873
00:50:10,545 --> 00:50:11,913
- [James] Who would invent a story
874
00:50:11,913 --> 00:50:14,849
about our ancestors were slaves?
875
00:50:14,849 --> 00:50:18,218
I, that, just, just, you know, I
can see people saying,
876
00:50:18,218 --> 00:50:20,253
“Our ancestors were princes.
877
00:50:20,253 --> 00:50:22,288
“Our ancestors were great merchants.
878
00:50:22,289 --> 00:50:25,158
“Our ancestors were something wonderful
879
00:50:25,158 --> 00:50:26,993
"and glorious and noble,"
880
00:50:26,993 --> 00:50:30,496
But, ‘We were slaves.”? Why?
881
00:50:30,497 --> 00:50:31,965
I mean, if you are going
to dream up a story,
882
00:50:31,965 --> 00:50:34,126
surely you'd come up with
a better one than that.
883
00:50:36,001 --> 00:50:37,535
- [Tim] And if none of it happened,
884
00:50:37,536 --> 00:50:39,871
how do you explain an Egyptian papyrus
885
00:50:39,872 --> 00:50:42,241
with a list of slave
names that seem to come
886
00:50:42,241 --> 00:50:44,573
right out of the pages of the Bible?
887
00:50:47,213 --> 00:50:49,614
- There's one particular
document which is quite amazing.
888
00:50:49,614 --> 00:50:52,015
It's called the Brooklyn
Papyrus and this actually
889
00:50:52,015 --> 00:50:55,984
is a list of domestic
servants from one estate.
890
00:50:55,985 --> 00:50:59,853
We have maybe up to 100 people
listed as slaves in Egypt.
891
00:51:00,690 --> 00:51:02,058
When we look at those names,
892
00:51:02,058 --> 00:51:04,493
70% of them are Semitic names,
893
00:51:05,361 --> 00:51:08,397
and you can literally pick
off Israelite names in there:
894
00:51:08,398 --> 00:51:12,268
Menahem; Issachar and Asher, the names
895
00:51:12,268 --> 00:51:14,403
of two of the tribes of Israel;
896
00:51:14,404 --> 00:51:18,508
Shiphrah, one of the Hebrew
midwives in the Exodus story,
897
00:51:18,508 --> 00:51:20,977
a name that appears in this document.
898
00:51:22,412 --> 00:51:25,248
These are Hebrew, Israelite slaves
899
00:51:25,248 --> 00:51:28,484
and they're in a papyrus
from the 13th Dynasty.
900
00:51:28,484 --> 00:51:30,752
Not from the 19th
Dynasty, not from the time
901
00:51:30,753 --> 00:51:33,088
of Ramesses II in the New Kingdom,
902
00:51:33,089 --> 00:51:37,026
but from the 13th Dynasty,
the Middle Kingdom.
903
00:51:37,026 --> 00:51:38,861
- What does this mean to you?
904
00:51:38,861 --> 00:51:40,295
What does it say?
905
00:51:40,296 --> 00:51:43,198
- This is real evidence for the time
906
00:51:43,199 --> 00:51:46,735
when the Israelites
were in Egypt as slaves.
907
00:51:46,736 --> 00:51:48,704
It's when you get a text,
908
00:51:48,704 --> 00:51:50,372
suddenly you've got history.
909
00:51:50,373 --> 00:51:52,241
Archaeology, you have to interpret.
910
00:51:52,241 --> 00:51:55,108
When you have a text, this
is something very different.
911
00:51:55,945 --> 00:51:59,181
- [Voiceover] This slave
list is predominantly female,
912
00:51:59,182 --> 00:52:01,879
which matches the grave
evidence from Avaris.
913
00:52:04,520 --> 00:52:07,321
- [Manis] The fact that
they continued to multiply
914
00:52:07,322 --> 00:52:10,058
despite the oppression,
despite the slavery,
915
00:52:10,058 --> 00:52:12,627
despite the boys being killed,
916
00:52:12,627 --> 00:52:16,797
it just shows that there was
a divine plan here at work
917
00:52:16,798 --> 00:52:19,324
and that this whole event was miraculous.
918
00:52:25,540 --> 00:52:26,807
- [Tim] The thing that I'm puzzled by is
919
00:52:26,808 --> 00:52:30,812
why so many Egyptologists
ignore the Brooklyn Papyrus.
920
00:52:30,812 --> 00:52:32,480
- Although everybody recognizes
921
00:52:32,481 --> 00:52:34,882
that this list is a
list of Semitic slaves,
922
00:52:34,882 --> 00:52:37,150
and everybody recognizes that
the names appearing in here
923
00:52:37,151 --> 00:52:40,454
are also Israelite names,
these can't be the Israelites,
924
00:52:40,454 --> 00:52:42,054
because it's the wrong time period.
925
00:52:42,055 --> 00:52:43,955
The Israelites are much later in history.
926
00:52:43,956 --> 00:52:45,256
So these people we're seeing here
927
00:52:45,256 --> 00:52:48,192
in this Brooklyn Papyrus
cannot be the Israelites.
928
00:52:48,192 --> 00:52:49,992
- So that's why they disregard it?
929
00:52:49,993 --> 00:52:51,661
- So they put it to one side
930
00:52:51,661 --> 00:52:54,028
and say it's another coincidence.
931
00:53:00,370 --> 00:53:02,472
- [Voiceover] So there
appears to be strong evidence
932
00:53:02,472 --> 00:53:05,308
matching the Multiplication
and Slavery steps
933
00:53:05,308 --> 00:53:07,208
of the biblical sequence.
934
00:53:08,478 --> 00:53:10,346
Indication of a rapid expansion
935
00:53:10,347 --> 00:53:13,316
of the Semitic population at Avaris,
936
00:53:13,316 --> 00:53:15,885
the only time in Egyptian
history that there is evidence
937
00:53:15,886 --> 00:53:18,787
of Semites dominating the Delta like this.
938
00:53:19,623 --> 00:53:23,126
These Semites begin free,
powerful and prosperous,
939
00:53:23,126 --> 00:53:26,426
but then succumb to
impoverishment and malnutrition.
940
00:53:27,364 --> 00:53:30,600
There is a sharp rise in the
number of infant burials.
941
00:53:30,600 --> 00:53:33,401
Near the end of this period
comes a list of slaves,
942
00:53:33,402 --> 00:53:35,370
many with Hebrew names.
943
00:53:36,938 --> 00:53:39,974
And all this occurring 400 years earlier
944
00:53:39,974 --> 00:53:43,035
than would be expected
with the Ramesses Exodus.
945
00:53:44,913 --> 00:53:46,281
- [Tim] But what if all these finds
946
00:53:46,281 --> 00:53:48,750
in the Middle Kingdom
are not a coincidence
947
00:53:48,750 --> 00:53:50,785
and the Exodus actually did happen
948
00:53:50,785 --> 00:53:53,888
much earlier than the reign of Ramesses?
949
00:53:53,888 --> 00:53:55,356
To see if that's the case,
950
00:53:55,356 --> 00:53:56,990
I would need to look more closely
951
00:53:56,991 --> 00:53:59,693
at the details of the
biblical story concerning
952
00:53:59,694 --> 00:54:03,297
the next step of the sequence;
the judgment of Egypt
953
00:54:03,298 --> 00:54:06,097
and the Israelites‘
deliverance from bondage.
954
00:54:15,043 --> 00:54:16,443
- [Voiceover] The Bible records that Moses
955
00:54:16,443 --> 00:54:18,343
fled to the land of Midian.
956
00:54:20,247 --> 00:54:22,579
After 40 years of living as a shepherd,
957
00:54:23,417 --> 00:54:25,613
Moses first encountered God.
958
00:54:30,390 --> 00:54:32,892
- [Manis] Moses sees a
bush from the distance,
959
00:54:32,893 --> 00:54:36,261
and it's on fire, but
it's not being consumed.
960
00:54:37,264 --> 00:54:41,167
So, curious, he approaches
to see what's going on
961
00:54:41,168 --> 00:54:43,670
and God says, “Don't come any closer.
962
00:54:43,670 --> 00:54:47,538
“Remove your shoes, for
this place is a holy place.”
963
00:54:50,811 --> 00:54:53,814
God said, “I have surely
seen the oppression
964
00:54:53,814 --> 00:54:56,015
“of my people who are in Egypt,
965
00:54:56,015 --> 00:54:58,517
“and I have also heard their cry.“
966
00:54:58,517 --> 00:55:02,187
like a shepherd rescuing his
sheep, God commands Moses
967
00:55:02,188 --> 00:55:05,324
to go back to Egypt and tell Pharaoh,
968
00:55:05,324 --> 00:55:08,487
“Let My people go, so
that they may serve Me.“
969
00:55:10,162 --> 00:55:11,762
Moses comes to Pharaoh.
970
00:55:11,763 --> 00:55:16,262
Pharaoh does not listen,
refuses to let the people go,
971
00:55:16,300 --> 00:55:18,869
and God sends the first of a series
972
00:55:18,869 --> 00:55:22,566
of spectacular plagues
against the land of Egypt.
973
00:55:36,486 --> 00:55:37,653
- James] In Exodus chapter 5,
974
00:55:37,654 --> 00:55:40,323
the God of Israel says,
“Let my people go.“
975
00:55:40,323 --> 00:55:41,757
Pharaoh says, “Who is the Lord‘!
976
00:55:41,758 --> 00:55:43,726
“Who is Jehovah, who is Yahweh
977
00:55:43,726 --> 00:55:45,160
“that I should listen to him!”
978
00:55:45,928 --> 00:55:49,398
And so we have setting
up there this contest.
979
00:55:49,399 --> 00:55:51,634
Who really is the god to be obeyed?
980
00:55:51,634 --> 00:55:54,303
Who is the one in control of things?
981
00:55:54,303 --> 00:55:56,103
And, in the Egyptian view of things,
982
00:55:56,104 --> 00:55:58,406
Pharaoh was the god of the Egyptian state.
983
00:55:58,407 --> 00:56:00,709
He was responsible for cosmic order.
984
00:56:00,709 --> 00:56:03,344
He was responsible for the
proper flow of the Nile,
985
00:56:03,345 --> 00:56:04,979
the rising of the sun,
986
00:56:04,980 --> 00:56:07,649
the fertility of the fields and so on.
987
00:56:07,649 --> 00:56:11,052
And now we have the God of
Israel, the God of Creation,
988
00:56:11,053 --> 00:56:13,355
of the Bible, who's saying,
“Now, wait a minute.
989
00:56:13,355 --> 00:56:14,789
“That's not what you do.
990
00:56:14,790 --> 00:56:17,225
“I’m the one who controls
all these things.“
991
00:56:17,225 --> 00:56:18,859
So He begins with the Nile
992
00:56:18,860 --> 00:56:21,495
and ends in the ninth plague with the sun.
993
00:56:21,496 --> 00:56:24,665
And these two things that
Pharaoh is said to control
994
00:56:24,666 --> 00:56:26,930
are completely outside of his control.
995
00:56:28,737 --> 00:56:30,572
- [Manis] God protected
the children of Israel
996
00:56:30,572 --> 00:56:33,274
from these plagues, while
the rest of the land
997
00:56:33,275 --> 00:56:35,577
was being devastated by them.
998
00:56:35,577 --> 00:56:39,514
To where Pharaoh's servants
themselves pleaded with him,
999
00:56:39,514 --> 00:56:42,650
saying that this was the finger of God
1000
00:56:42,651 --> 00:56:44,953
and that Egypt was being ruined.
1001
00:56:44,953 --> 00:56:47,055
But Pharaoh would not relent.
1002
00:56:47,055 --> 00:56:48,723
He knew that Egypt depended
1003
00:56:48,724 --> 00:56:51,284
on the work of these foreign slaves.
1004
00:56:57,031 --> 00:56:59,232
- [Voiceover] In Israel,
Mahoney also had the privilege
1005
00:56:59,232 --> 00:57:01,734
to speak with the Prime Minister.
1006
00:57:01,735 --> 00:57:04,336
Although seen by most
as a political figure,
1007
00:57:04,336 --> 00:57:07,038
Benjamin Netanyahu was also an author
1008
00:57:07,039 --> 00:57:09,541
and historian, like his father.
1009
00:57:09,541 --> 00:57:12,377
- [Tim] Tell me about the
effect the Exodus has had
1010
00:57:12,377 --> 00:57:16,876
upon civilizations in
the last 3,000 years.
1011
00:57:17,081 --> 00:57:20,684
- Moses was the greatest
revolutionary of all time.
1012
00:57:20,685 --> 00:57:23,988
Remember that in antiquity
there were grand empires
1013
00:57:23,988 --> 00:57:28,487
that were based on one
principle and that is slavery,
1014
00:57:28,992 --> 00:57:32,622
and Moses challenged that twice.
1015
00:57:33,263 --> 00:57:37,066
He challenged it by taking
his people who were slaves
1016
00:57:37,067 --> 00:57:39,868
in bondage in Egypt and freed them
1017
00:57:39,869 --> 00:57:42,070
and took them to their Promised Land.
1018
00:57:42,070 --> 00:57:45,273
But he also challenged
it by providing a code,
1019
00:57:45,273 --> 00:57:47,708
a moral code for mankind that said
1020
00:57:47,709 --> 00:57:51,678
that it is not the king or the emperor
1021
00:57:51,678 --> 00:57:54,313
that decides the law, there's a higher law
1022
00:57:54,314 --> 00:57:57,113
and these were absolutely
revolutionary ideas.
1023
00:58:02,890 --> 00:58:04,790
- [Voiceover] The text
then says that God sent
1024
00:58:04,791 --> 00:58:08,624
the tenth and final plague
to force Pharaoh's hand:
1025
00:58:09,661 --> 00:58:14,189
the death of the firstborn
of man and beast.
1026
00:58:18,470 --> 00:58:20,772
The Lord told the Israelites
1027
00:58:20,772 --> 00:58:23,469
that each household
was to slaughter a lamb
1028
00:58:24,442 --> 00:58:27,742
and mark the doorposts
with the blood of the lamb.
1029
00:58:30,015 --> 00:58:31,883
And on that horrible night,
1030
00:58:31,883 --> 00:58:35,683
death passed over all the
homes marked with blood.
1031
00:58:38,523 --> 00:58:41,025
But in every home that wasn't marked,
1032
00:58:41,026 --> 00:58:43,862
all the firstborn males died.
1033
00:58:43,862 --> 00:58:44,962
(loud crying and wailing)
1034
00:58:44,962 --> 00:58:48,830
There was crying and wailing
in every Egyptian home
1035
00:58:49,767 --> 00:58:53,168
because each family had lost someone.
1036
00:58:55,271 --> 00:58:57,039
- [Manis] The tenth plague,
1037
00:58:57,040 --> 00:58:59,771
the death of the firstborn,
affected everybody.
1038
00:59:00,510 --> 00:59:04,947
Even Pharaoh's firstborn died that night,
1039
00:59:04,948 --> 00:59:07,517
and the will of the people, the Egyptians,
1040
00:59:07,517 --> 00:59:09,041
was completely shattered.
1041
00:59:10,985 --> 00:59:15,055
The tenth plague broke
Pharaoh's defiance of God,
1042
00:59:15,056 --> 00:59:18,151
and he finally let
Moses and the people go.
1043
00:59:19,594 --> 00:59:21,896
But then, Pharaoh changes his mind,
1044
00:59:21,896 --> 00:59:24,565
pursues the Israelites with his army,
1045
00:59:24,565 --> 00:59:28,035
and, at the sea, God parts the waters
1046
00:59:28,035 --> 00:59:30,836
so that the Israelites can escape,
1047
00:59:30,837 --> 00:59:33,238
while it destroys the
entire Egyptian army.
1048
01:00:16,449 --> 01:00:18,551
- [Voiceover] Every year, Jewish families
1049
01:00:18,551 --> 01:00:21,320
from around the world
celebrate the deliverance
1050
01:00:21,321 --> 01:00:25,087
of Israel from Egypt
during the Passover feast.
1051
01:00:29,829 --> 01:00:32,131
Records confirm that
the Passover
1052
01:00:32,132 --> 01:00:34,567
has been observed for
thousands of years.
1053
01:00:35,468 --> 01:00:37,203
Many believe it is
difficult to explain
1054
01:00:37,203 --> 01:00:39,438
the origin of Passover if there were
1055
01:00:39,439 --> 01:00:42,101
no real event on which it was based.
1056
01:00:57,756 --> 01:00:59,758
While in Jerusalem, Mahoney went to speak
1057
01:00:59,758 --> 01:01:01,593
with Rabbi David Hartman,
1058
01:01:01,593 --> 01:01:04,394
the founder of the
Shalom Hartman Institute.
1059
01:01:04,395 --> 01:01:06,330
- [David] Each year, we celebrate
1060
01:01:06,331 --> 01:01:08,527
the Exodus as if we were there.
1061
01:01:09,200 --> 01:01:10,968
We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt
1062
01:01:10,969 --> 01:01:14,738
and we dramatically
celebrate the Passover Seder
1063
01:01:14,738 --> 01:01:17,339
as if we are participants.
1064
01:01:17,340 --> 01:01:20,943
So there's always a renewal,
always a renewed giving,
1065
01:01:20,943 --> 01:01:24,675
a new spirit into the
Passover Exodus story.
1066
01:01:26,482 --> 01:01:28,150
Because in remembering the Exodus,
1067
01:01:28,150 --> 01:01:32,649
we remember that in the
dark conditions of history,
1068
01:01:32,821 --> 01:01:36,624
God, the Lord, had in
some way made possible,
1069
01:01:36,624 --> 01:01:39,184
through Moses, our liberation.
1070
01:01:40,595 --> 01:01:41,995
- [Voiceover] But what about those
1071
01:01:41,996 --> 01:01:44,589
who think the Exodus never happened?
1072
01:01:46,099 --> 01:01:49,402
Noted Israeli archaeologist,
Israel Finkelstein,
1073
01:01:49,402 --> 01:01:53,606
specializes in the ancient
history of the land of Israel.
1074
01:01:53,606 --> 01:01:56,609
In his infiuential book,
The Bible Unearthed,
1075
01:01:56,609 --> 01:01:59,078
he has argued that the
Exodus did not happen
1076
01:01:59,078 --> 01:02:01,308
in the manner described in the Bible.
1077
01:02:02,048 --> 01:02:05,217
He proposes that it was based
on vague memories of events,
1078
01:02:05,218 --> 01:02:08,621
written down for political
motives centuries later.
1079
01:02:08,621 --> 01:02:11,022
- Do you believe in
celebrating the Passover?
1080
01:03:09,182 --> 01:03:10,850
- [Tim] What do you say to people
1081
01:03:10,850 --> 01:03:12,818
who are concerned with the idea
1082
01:03:12,819 --> 01:03:15,720
that these stories didn't
happen as they were written?
1083
01:03:31,604 --> 01:03:33,038
- [Tim] Rabbi Wolpe has said
1084
01:03:33,039 --> 01:03:35,041
that Professor Finkelstein's work
1085
01:03:35,041 --> 01:03:37,343
has greatly influenced his thinking.
1086
01:03:37,343 --> 01:03:39,712
- The idea of the Exodus
and the Revelation,
1087
01:03:39,712 --> 01:03:40,879
however you configure it,
1088
01:03:40,880 --> 01:03:43,182
it is central to the Jewish tradition.
1089
01:03:43,182 --> 01:03:46,451
But I think that doesn't
mean that you have to believe
1090
01:03:46,452 --> 01:03:49,955
that the Torah gives a
historical account of it.
1091
01:03:49,956 --> 01:03:53,259
I don't think the Torah
is a book of facts.
1092
01:03:53,259 --> 01:03:55,057
It's a book of meaning.
1093
01:03:57,196 --> 01:04:00,399
- [Jim] However, John Bimson
shared a very different view.
1094
01:04:00,399 --> 01:04:01,599
- John] History and theology
1095
01:04:01,600 --> 01:04:04,035
are tightly intertwined in the Bible.
1096
01:04:04,035 --> 01:04:06,937
If you took away the historical basis,
1097
01:04:06,938 --> 01:04:09,073
then you've really deprived it
1098
01:04:09,074 --> 01:04:11,242
of a lot of its theological truth.
1099
01:04:11,243 --> 01:04:14,112
So much of what the Dld Testament says
1100
01:04:14,112 --> 01:04:17,181
about the character of
God and His purposes
1101
01:04:17,182 --> 01:04:19,851
in calling Israel are intertwined
1102
01:04:19,851 --> 01:04:24,350
with this story of these
people coming out of Egypt
1103
01:04:24,388 --> 01:04:26,220
and entering the Promised Land.
1104
01:04:26,991 --> 01:04:28,125
So history and theology
1105
01:04:28,125 --> 01:04:30,093
are tightly intertwined in the Bible.
1106
01:04:32,530 --> 01:04:34,554
- [Tim] After more than
a decade of searching,
1107
01:04:35,398 --> 01:04:37,666
this is what it comes down to.
1108
01:04:37,667 --> 01:04:39,795
Is the Bible's account true history,
1109
01:04:40,570 --> 01:04:43,870
or is it simply the
traditions of a devout people?
1110
01:04:48,745 --> 01:04:52,114
If the judgment happened
as described in the Bible,
1111
01:04:52,114 --> 01:04:55,550
Egyptian society would have collapsed.
1112
01:04:55,551 --> 01:04:59,954
Loss of their agriculture,
loss of their first-born sons,
1113
01:04:59,954 --> 01:05:03,822
loss of their slave-force,
and the loss of their army.
1114
01:05:05,426 --> 01:05:08,695
In fact, Moses recorded that
Egypt was still suffering
1115
01:05:08,696 --> 01:05:12,291
from defeat 40 years after the Exodus.
1116
01:05:26,847 --> 01:05:28,215
- [Voiceover] Critics
are quick to point out
1117
01:05:28,216 --> 01:05:30,284
that there is no such record from Egypt
1118
01:05:30,284 --> 01:05:33,453
of supernatural judgment and devastation.
1119
01:05:33,454 --> 01:05:35,823
But others believe there
is an Egyptian document
1120
01:05:35,823 --> 01:05:38,325
that actually gives an eyewitness account
1121
01:05:38,326 --> 01:05:41,125
of the plagues and chaos
surrounding the Exodus.
1122
01:05:42,229 --> 01:05:43,463
Mahoney went to Holland to meet
1123
01:05:43,463 --> 01:05:45,932
the curator of the Leiden Museum,
1124
01:05:45,932 --> 01:05:48,924
where this significant papyrus is housed.
1125
01:05:49,836 --> 01:05:52,805
But Egyptologist Maarten
Raven sees no evidence
1126
01:05:52,806 --> 01:05:56,676
for the Exodus in this
document or anywhere else.
1127
01:05:56,676 --> 01:06:00,112
- The story of the Exodus is
described in the Old Testament.
1128
01:06:00,113 --> 01:06:02,748
It's part of the national history
1129
01:06:02,749 --> 01:06:05,852
of the Jewish people, or so they say.
1130
01:06:05,852 --> 01:06:08,719
We have no independent evidence
1131
01:06:09,556 --> 01:06:12,525
that this is a real historical event.
1132
01:06:12,525 --> 01:06:16,094
We can believe it because
we believe in the Bible?
1133
01:06:16,095 --> 01:06:20,064
There are no Egyptian
sources that describe it.
1134
01:06:20,064 --> 01:06:21,498
There are no other documents.
1135
01:06:21,499 --> 01:06:23,767
There are no archaeological sources
1136
01:06:23,768 --> 01:06:28,467
that could prove this took
place as a mass exodus.
1137
01:06:34,078 --> 01:06:35,712
- [Voiceover] Raven's position, again,
1138
01:06:35,713 --> 01:06:38,341
is that of most Egyptologists today.
1139
01:06:39,917 --> 01:06:41,717
But there are some scholars who suggest
1140
01:06:41,718 --> 01:06:44,754
that descriptions found
in this Egyptian document
1141
01:06:44,755 --> 01:06:48,391
bear a remarkable resemblance
to the plagues of the Bible,
1142
01:06:48,392 --> 01:06:51,417
only from an Egyptian point of view.
1143
01:06:52,828 --> 01:06:56,031
Written by a scribe named
Ipuwer, the papyrus known as
1144
01:06:56,032 --> 01:06:59,068
“The Admonitions of an Egyptian Sage“
1145
01:06:59,068 --> 01:07:01,537
poetically describes
a series of calamities
1146
01:07:01,537 --> 01:07:04,006
and the chaos that followed.
1147
01:07:05,741 --> 01:07:08,076
- [Maarten] Ipuwer, we
don't know who he was,
1148
01:07:08,077 --> 01:07:10,913
but he was obviously
somebody in a position
1149
01:07:10,913 --> 01:07:14,449
to address his majesty, the king.
1150
01:07:14,450 --> 01:07:17,251
There's only one copy
of this specific text
1151
01:07:17,252 --> 01:07:19,954
and that is here in the Leiden Museum.
1152
01:07:19,954 --> 01:07:24,453
It's a very, very vivid report,
1153
01:07:24,491 --> 01:07:28,928
or would be report, of
what happens to Egypt
1154
01:07:28,929 --> 01:07:31,694
when the central power falls away.
1155
01:07:33,934 --> 01:07:36,569
- [Tim] Many believe a
collapse of Egypt's power
1156
01:07:36,570 --> 01:07:38,939
is exactly what would have happened
1157
01:07:38,939 --> 01:07:41,708
due to the plagues of Exodus.
1158
01:07:41,709 --> 01:07:44,211
And as I compared the book of Exodus
1159
01:07:44,211 --> 01:07:46,313
to the writings of Ipuwer,
1160
01:07:46,313 --> 01:07:49,146
I too was intrigued by the similarities.
1161
01:07:50,350 --> 01:07:52,719
-To convince Pharaoh, God says,
1162
01:07:52,719 --> 01:07:57,056
“Take some water from the Nile
and pour it on the ground,
1163
01:07:57,056 --> 01:08:00,287
“and as it hits the ground
it will turn into blood.“
1164
01:08:03,629 --> 01:08:06,565
- [Egyptian voice] Behold, Egypt is fallen
1165
01:08:06,566 --> 01:08:08,830
to the pouring of water.
1166
01:08:09,702 --> 01:08:12,838
And he who poured water on the ground
1167
01:08:12,839 --> 01:08:16,469
seizes the mighty in misery.
1168
01:08:18,344 --> 01:08:21,547
- [Manis] And all the water
in the Nile turned into blood.
1169
01:08:21,547 --> 01:08:25,784
And the fish of the Nile
died, and the Nile reeked,
1170
01:08:25,785 --> 01:08:29,346
so that the Egyptians could
not drink water from the Nile.
1171
01:08:30,722 --> 01:08:33,291
- [Egyptian voice] The River is blood.
1172
01:08:33,291 --> 01:08:37,790
If you drink of it,
you lose your humanity,
1173
01:08:37,895 --> 01:08:40,364
and thirst for water.
1174
01:08:43,467 --> 01:08:46,169
- [Manis] All the livestock
of the Egyptians died.
1175
01:08:46,170 --> 01:08:48,696
(thunder cracks)
Fire ran down from heaven
1176
01:08:49,573 --> 01:08:53,176
and the Lord sent hail upon the land.
1177
01:08:53,177 --> 01:08:56,044
Even the flax and the barley were smitten.
1178
01:08:58,048 --> 01:09:00,884
- [Egyptian voice] Gone is
the barley of abundance,
1179
01:09:00,885 --> 01:09:03,377
food supplies are running short.
1180
01:09:04,088 --> 01:09:06,955
The nobles hunger and suffer.
1181
01:09:07,625 --> 01:09:11,295
Those who had shelter are
in the dark of the storm.
1182
01:09:11,295 --> 01:09:12,995
(thunder rumbles)
1183
01:09:12,996 --> 01:09:17,495
- I see no connection
between the papyrus of Ipuwer
1184
01:09:17,966 --> 01:09:21,602
and the story of the Plagues of Egypt.
1185
01:09:21,603 --> 01:09:26,370
It is, in a way, in a very indirect way,
1186
01:09:27,443 --> 01:09:31,079
an eyewitness report
of a historical period.
1187
01:09:31,079 --> 01:09:35,209
It pretends to be such a
report, but in fact it isn't.
1188
01:09:37,586 --> 01:09:40,322
- At midnight, the Lord struck down
1189
01:09:40,322 --> 01:09:42,991
all the firstborn in the land of Egypt,
1190
01:09:42,991 --> 01:09:46,728
from the firstborn of Pharaoh,
sitting on his throne,
1191
01:09:46,728 --> 01:09:50,358
to the firstborn of the
captive in the dungeon.
1192
01:09:51,900 --> 01:09:55,495
- [Egyptian voice] Behold,
plague sweeps the land,
1193
01:09:56,738 --> 01:10:01,403
blood is everywhere, with
no shortage of the dead.
1194
01:10:02,244 --> 01:10:06,044
He who buries his brother
in the ground is everywhere.
1195
01:10:07,082 --> 01:10:10,051
Woe is me for the grief of this time.
1196
01:10:12,186 --> 01:10:13,453
- And there was a great wailing
1197
01:10:13,454 --> 01:10:15,289
throughout the land of Egypt,
1198
01:10:15,289 --> 01:10:18,384
for there was not a
house without its dead.
1199
01:10:20,160 --> 01:10:22,795
- [Egyptian voice] Wailing
is throughout the land,
1200
01:10:22,796 --> 01:10:25,128
mingled with lamentations.
1201
01:10:26,500 --> 01:10:28,502
- All the time we have
to convince ourselves
1202
01:10:28,502 --> 01:10:30,770
that this person can't have seen all this.
1203
01:10:30,770 --> 01:10:35,269
He imagined it, or he had
received this information
1204
01:10:35,341 --> 01:10:39,645
from other similar
propagandistic literature.
1205
01:10:39,645 --> 01:10:41,313
- Because it's so fantastic?
1206
01:10:41,313 --> 01:10:43,148
- [Maarten] Yes. It's very fantastic.
1207
01:10:43,148 --> 01:10:46,151
But he hasn't seen it,
he just imagined it.
1208
01:10:46,151 --> 01:10:49,280
Don't confuse this with
the message of the Bible,
1209
01:10:50,022 --> 01:10:53,759
the Ten Plagues. That's
quite a different story.
1210
01:10:53,759 --> 01:10:56,394
Whether this happened
or not is irrelevant.
1211
01:10:56,395 --> 01:10:59,231
It's a beautiful literary document,
1212
01:10:59,231 --> 01:11:02,133
and again, yes, God was angry
1213
01:11:02,134 --> 01:11:04,236
and punished the Egyptians,
1214
01:11:04,236 --> 01:11:09,197
but this is just a literary cliche.
1215
01:11:12,310 --> 01:11:14,378
- [Voiceover] The
influential Egyptologist,
1216
01:11:14,379 --> 01:11:16,179
the late Miriam Lichtheim,
1217
01:11:16,179 --> 01:11:18,948
ruled out the possibility
that the papyrus,
1218
01:11:18,949 --> 01:11:21,084
The Admonitions of Ipuwer,
1219
01:11:21,084 --> 01:11:23,381
referred to a real national calamity.
1220
01:11:24,053 --> 01:11:26,818
Agreeing with other scholars,
she stated the following:
1221
01:11:27,757 --> 01:11:30,860
- [Miriam] The description
of chaos in the Admonitions
1222
01:11:30,860 --> 01:11:33,429
is inherently contradictory,
1223
01:11:33,429 --> 01:11:35,921
hence, historically impossible.
1224
01:11:37,165 --> 01:11:41,502
On the one hand, the land is
said to suffer from total want;
1225
01:11:41,503 --> 01:11:45,607
on the other hand the poor are
described as becoming rich,
1226
01:11:45,607 --> 01:11:49,176
of wearing fine clothes,
and generally of disposing
1227
01:11:49,176 --> 01:11:52,009
of all that once belonged to the masters.
1228
01:11:53,113 --> 01:11:56,216
- [Iim] However, when you
read the biblical account,
1229
01:11:56,216 --> 01:11:57,984
it becomes clear how this apparent
1230
01:11:57,985 --> 01:12:00,511
contradiction could have happened.
1231
01:12:02,055 --> 01:12:05,324
- [Manis] Moses told the
Israelites to ask the Egyptians
1232
01:12:05,325 --> 01:12:08,556
for silver and gold
jewelry, and for clothing.
1233
01:12:10,596 --> 01:12:12,963
- [Egyptian voice] People
are stripped of clothes.
1234
01:12:13,665 --> 01:12:16,200
The slave takes what he finds.
1235
01:12:16,201 --> 01:12:20,038
Gold, lapis lazuli, silver and turquoise
1236
01:12:20,038 --> 01:12:23,702
are strung on the necks of female slaves.
1237
01:12:25,077 --> 01:12:26,611
- [Manis] The Lord gave the people favor
1238
01:12:26,612 --> 01:12:28,212
in the sight of the Egyptians,
1239
01:12:28,212 --> 01:12:30,747
so they gave them whatever they asked.
1240
01:12:30,748 --> 01:12:33,410
Thus, they plundered the land of Egypt.
1241
01:12:37,088 --> 01:12:39,056
- [Tim] The very point that
Miriam Lichtheim viewed
1242
01:12:39,056 --> 01:12:43,060
as “contradictory“ and therefore
“historically impossible“,
1243
01:12:43,060 --> 01:12:45,395
is the very point that most specifically
1244
01:12:45,396 --> 01:12:47,698
matches the biblical text,
1245
01:12:47,698 --> 01:12:50,067
but Maarten remains unconvinced.
1246
01:12:50,067 --> 01:12:51,967
He revealed to me the main reason why.
1247
01:12:52,770 --> 01:12:54,037
- It's out of the question that
1248
01:12:54,038 --> 01:12:57,074
this can refer to one and the same event.
1249
01:12:57,074 --> 01:12:59,275
Conventional chronology has it
1250
01:12:59,275 --> 01:13:03,512
that the Exodus took place somewhere
1251
01:13:03,513 --> 01:13:06,616
during the Ramesside Period in Egypt,
1252
01:13:06,616 --> 01:13:09,919
maybe around 1200 BC.
1253
01:13:09,919 --> 01:13:13,956
Whereas our papyrus, when
you look at the grammar
1254
01:13:13,957 --> 01:13:17,926
and the literary figures,
1255
01:13:17,926 --> 01:13:20,461
et cetera, there's no question
1256
01:13:20,462 --> 01:13:23,932
that it was composed in the Middle Kingdom
1257
01:13:23,932 --> 01:13:27,095
and it is 600, 700, 800 years earlier.
1258
01:13:29,071 --> 01:13:31,506
- [Tim] But I realized
that all the other evidence
1259
01:13:31,507 --> 01:13:34,142
I had looked at was also converging
1260
01:13:34,143 --> 01:13:37,477
in the Middle Kingdom,
not the time of Ramesses.
1261
01:13:38,447 --> 01:13:40,549
And was it just another coincidence
1262
01:13:40,549 --> 01:13:42,918
that this document was originally composed
1263
01:13:42,918 --> 01:13:45,119
in the only period when Egypt's delta
1264
01:13:45,119 --> 01:13:47,781
was dominated by large numbers of Semites?
1265
01:13:54,128 --> 01:13:56,230
It became obvious to me and my team
1266
01:13:56,230 --> 01:13:58,498
that if people look at
the wrong time in history
1267
01:13:58,499 --> 01:14:01,764
for evidence of the Exodus,
they won't find any.
1268
01:14:02,470 --> 01:14:05,239
So Ramesses is a giant,
standing in the way
1269
01:14:05,239 --> 01:14:07,901
of connecting this
evidence with the Exodus.
1270
01:14:08,910 --> 01:14:11,607
And for over 50 years, all the books,
1271
01:14:12,346 --> 01:14:14,046
all the television programs,
1272
01:14:14,047 --> 01:14:15,982
and all the university
professors who've been
1273
01:14:15,982 --> 01:14:18,684
convincing the world to dismiss the Bible
1274
01:14:18,685 --> 01:14:21,988
have been doing so based
mainly on this one issue,
1275
01:14:21,988 --> 01:14:25,291
chronology, the dates
assumed for the Exodus,
1276
01:14:25,292 --> 01:14:28,989
and the lack of evidence
at the time of Ramesses II.
1277
01:14:29,795 --> 01:14:31,963
But if it happened long before his time,
1278
01:14:31,964 --> 01:14:34,199
then it means they're all wrong.
1279
01:14:34,200 --> 01:14:35,668
Wrong about the pharaoh,
1280
01:14:35,668 --> 01:14:39,605
and perhaps wrong about
the Exodus never happening.
1281
01:14:47,346 --> 01:14:49,146
- [Voiceover] Rohl took
Mahoney to see the replica
1282
01:14:49,147 --> 01:14:51,115
of a monument erected just a few years
1283
01:14:51,116 --> 01:14:54,484
after Ramesses‘ death,
by his son Merenptah.
1284
01:14:55,186 --> 01:14:57,086
It's important because
it shows that Ramesses
1285
01:14:57,087 --> 01:14:59,789
could not be the pharaoh of the Exodus
1286
01:14:59,790 --> 01:15:03,426
because in his time, Israel
was already a nation,
1287
01:15:03,427 --> 01:15:05,486
established in the land of Canaan.
1288
01:15:06,597 --> 01:15:08,966
- [David] So this is the
famous Merenptah Stela,
1289
01:15:08,966 --> 01:15:11,234
or what we call the Israel Stela.
1290
01:15:11,235 --> 01:15:13,670
And it actually belongs
to the King Merenptah.
1291
01:15:13,670 --> 01:15:16,673
Up there at the top you can
see him, facing the god Amun.
1292
01:15:16,673 --> 01:15:18,775
And he lists, in a poetic form,
1293
01:15:18,776 --> 01:15:20,076
all the different conquered nations,
1294
01:15:20,076 --> 01:15:21,976
the nations that are at peace.
1295
01:15:21,977 --> 01:15:25,046
But right at the bottom, we
have three crucial lines,
1296
01:15:25,046 --> 01:15:27,606
because this is where we
find a link to the Bible.
1297
01:15:30,151 --> 01:15:32,186
Let's read it together, okay?
1298
01:15:32,186 --> 01:15:35,822
We have the two reeds, that's
the sound “yee“ or “ee“, okay?
1299
01:15:35,823 --> 01:15:40,027
Then a bolt, which is
“s“, an “r“, a mouth,
1300
01:15:40,027 --> 01:15:44,398
an “e“, an “ah“, and an “l”, Is-ra-el.
1301
01:15:44,398 --> 01:15:45,966
- [Tim] Israel.
- Israel.
1302
01:15:45,966 --> 01:15:48,969
This is the only time
that we see this name
1303
01:15:48,969 --> 01:15:50,869
on an Egyptian monument.
1304
01:15:50,870 --> 01:15:52,838
After the name “Israe|“
are these two figures here,
1305
01:15:52,839 --> 01:15:55,174
these two seated figures
of a woman and a man
1306
01:15:55,175 --> 01:15:56,709
and three strokes underneath.
1307
01:15:56,709 --> 01:15:58,143
These three strokes mean plural.
1308
01:15:58,144 --> 01:16:00,511
So it means the people
or nation of Israel.
1309
01:16:01,347 --> 01:16:02,681
And then this is the interesting bit.
1310
01:16:02,682 --> 01:16:07,181
It says, “Fekty bin peret f.“
1311
01:16:07,653 --> 01:16:11,757
“Israel is laid waste,
his seed is no more.“
1312
01:16:11,757 --> 01:16:13,457
- [Tim] Well, does it mean that
they were literally no more?
1313
01:16:13,457 --> 01:16:15,559
- No, it's a sort of
poetical way of saying
1314
01:16:15,560 --> 01:16:17,728
they'd been overcome, defeated.
- [Tim] Or pacified?
1315
01:16:17,728 --> 01:16:21,264
- Yeah. All these phrases
here above are like that.
1316
01:16:21,265 --> 01:16:23,100
It's a poetical phrase, effectively.
1317
01:16:23,100 --> 01:16:24,968
- [Tim] How significant is this then,
1318
01:16:24,969 --> 01:16:26,569
to the story of the Exodus?
1319
01:16:26,570 --> 01:16:27,938
-Well, for me it's very important,
1320
01:16:27,938 --> 01:16:31,174
because if we're talking
about Ramesses II or Merenptah
1321
01:16:31,174 --> 01:16:34,043
being at the time of the
Exodus of Moses and Joshua,
1322
01:16:34,044 --> 01:16:35,739
this just does not fit the pattern.
1323
01:16:36,646 --> 01:16:39,281
It's not tribes wandering
around the Sinai,
1324
01:16:39,282 --> 01:16:40,850
lost in the desert or, you know,
1325
01:16:40,851 --> 01:16:43,753
during the wandering
periods of Moses and Joshua.
1326
01:16:43,753 --> 01:16:45,812
They seem to be a political entity.
1327
01:16:47,056 --> 01:16:49,024
- [Voiceover] This monument
doesn't fit the idea
1328
01:16:49,024 --> 01:16:51,459
of Ramesses being the
pharaoh of the Exodus
1329
01:16:51,460 --> 01:16:53,895
because it was written
shortly after his death
1330
01:16:54,597 --> 01:16:57,700
and it recognizes Israel
already existing in Canaan
1331
01:16:57,700 --> 01:17:00,169
as one of the significant
powers of the day.
1332
01:17:00,936 --> 01:17:04,072
And that shouldn't be
because the Bible says
1333
01:17:04,073 --> 01:17:07,676
that the Israelites did not
even begin to conquer Canaan
1334
01:17:07,676 --> 01:17:10,111
until 40 years after the Exodus.
1335
01:17:10,846 --> 01:17:12,414
So Ramesses could not have been
1336
01:17:12,414 --> 01:17:15,611
the pharaoh who let the Israelites go.
1337
01:17:17,887 --> 01:17:20,549
Then Mahoney got a lead
about another inscription.
1338
01:17:21,657 --> 01:17:24,026
Charles Aling brought
him to see his colleague,
1339
01:17:24,026 --> 01:17:27,629
historian Clyde Billington,
who has extensively researched
1340
01:17:27,630 --> 01:17:29,999
this newly-discovered find.
1341
01:17:29,999 --> 01:17:31,199
- Besides the Merneptah Stela,
1342
01:17:31,199 --> 01:17:33,467
there's another reference to Israel.
1343
01:17:33,468 --> 01:17:35,236
It's called the Berlin Pedestal.
1344
01:17:35,236 --> 01:17:38,138
It's in the State Museum
in Berlin, Germany,
1345
01:17:38,139 --> 01:17:39,939
and this is something that's just now
1346
01:17:39,940 --> 01:17:42,432
being studied and discussed by scholars.
1347
01:17:43,443 --> 01:17:45,745
- [Voiceover] On the base
of this Egyptian statue,
1348
01:17:45,746 --> 01:17:47,380
they showed Mahoney name rings,
1349
01:17:47,381 --> 01:17:50,283
each representing an
enemy defeated by Pharaoh
1350
01:17:50,284 --> 01:17:52,019
in the region ofCanaan.
1351
01:17:52,019 --> 01:17:54,187
- [Tim] So would these
have been captured people?
1352
01:17:54,187 --> 01:17:56,988
- Realize that pharaohs
all the time exaggerate,
1353
01:17:56,989 --> 01:17:58,289
to say the very least.
1354
01:17:58,290 --> 01:17:59,758
- [Tim] So is he b_ragging?
- He's bragging.
1355
01:17:59,758 --> 01:18:00,958
- [Tim] Okay.
- He's bragging.
1356
01:18:00,958 --> 01:18:02,358
He's saying, “I’ve conquered these people.
1357
01:18:02,358 --> 01:18:03,525
“I control these people.“
1358
01:18:03,526 --> 01:18:06,161
This is the one that's
caused all of the excitement
1359
01:18:06,162 --> 01:18:08,763
because you have, again, a bound enemy,
1360
01:18:08,764 --> 01:18:10,098
so telling you that these people
1361
01:18:10,098 --> 01:18:13,434
are enemies of the Egyptians,
and the name down here,
1362
01:18:13,435 --> 01:18:15,470
that while it's partially broken away,
1363
01:18:15,470 --> 01:18:18,271
has been reconstructed,
and it's the name “Israel“.
1364
01:18:18,272 --> 01:18:21,608
And this dates to around 1360.
1365
01:18:21,609 --> 01:18:25,178
This makes the late date of
the Exodus an impossibility.
1366
01:18:25,178 --> 01:18:26,978
This is 100 years earlier.
1367
01:18:26,979 --> 01:18:29,247
- [Charles] This is a very crucial
1368
01:18:29,248 --> 01:18:30,840
evidence that we see here.
1369
01:18:31,916 --> 01:18:33,216
- [Voiceover] This name ring demonstrates
1370
01:18:33,216 --> 01:18:35,484
that Israel had already left Egypt
1371
01:18:35,485 --> 01:18:37,385
and was in Canaan as Egypt's enemy
1372
01:18:37,386 --> 01:18:40,655
a century before the Ramesses Exodus date,
1373
01:18:40,656 --> 01:18:43,392
so obviously Ramesses could not have been
1374
01:18:43,392 --> 01:18:45,190
the pharaoh of the Exodus.
1375
01:18:48,931 --> 01:18:50,831
As another test to see whether Ramesses
1376
01:18:50,832 --> 01:18:53,100
really was the Pharaoh of the Exodus,
1377
01:18:53,101 --> 01:18:55,536
Mahoney would need to find
out if there were any signs
1378
01:18:55,537 --> 01:18:58,473
of major problems during
this famous king's reign,
1379
01:18:58,473 --> 01:19:00,541
such as a sudden collapse of power,
1380
01:19:00,542 --> 01:19:03,678
that would match the
biblical judgment of Egypt.
1381
01:19:03,678 --> 01:19:05,278
- I don't see any evidence that during
1382
01:19:05,279 --> 01:19:07,414
the reign of Ramesses II there was
1383
01:19:07,414 --> 01:19:11,913
a significant decline in
the strength of the army,
1384
01:19:12,185 --> 01:19:15,054
_ in the economic
well-being of the country.
1385
01:19:15,054 --> 01:19:16,254
I don't see anything in the
1386
01:19:16,254 --> 01:19:18,489
succeeding reign of Merenptah either.
1387
01:19:18,490 --> 01:19:19,790
- [Tim] So you're saying
there was some type
1388
01:19:19,790 --> 01:19:21,625
of stability that was formed?
1389
01:19:21,625 --> 01:19:23,927
- There was a great deal of
stability during this period,
1390
01:19:23,928 --> 01:19:26,795
had to have been for a lot of
these things to have occurred.
1391
01:19:30,968 --> 01:19:32,768
- [Tim] But there's more.
1392
01:19:32,769 --> 01:19:35,204
It came to my attention
that the Bible itself
1393
01:19:35,205 --> 01:19:38,608
contains a passage that's
been largely ignored.
1394
01:19:38,608 --> 01:19:41,811
It gives a date for the
Exodus hundreds of years
1395
01:19:41,811 --> 01:19:44,847
before Pharaoh Ramesses ruled.
1396
01:19:44,848 --> 01:19:48,184
Yet it clearly says it was 480 years
1397
01:19:48,184 --> 01:19:50,286
from the building of Solomon's temple
1398
01:19:50,286 --> 01:19:53,051
backto the time of the Exodus.
1399
01:19:53,723 --> 01:19:55,958
- [Voiceover] Most scholars
agree that King Solomon
1400
01:19:55,959 --> 01:20:00,920
began his reign in 970 BC,
so 480 years before this
1401
01:20:01,164 --> 01:20:04,600
would place the Exodus around 1450 BC,
1402
01:20:05,502 --> 01:20:08,095
200 years before the Ramesses date.
1403
01:20:08,804 --> 01:20:11,205
Yet the popular view continues to be
1404
01:20:11,205 --> 01:20:13,941
that the Exodus occurred
in the time of Ramesses.
1405
01:20:13,941 --> 01:20:16,342
- [John] It's a date that is based on
1406
01:20:17,478 --> 01:20:20,514
very flimsy indicators, but this is where
1407
01:20:20,515 --> 01:20:25,043
the majority of scholars look,
almost out of habit really.
1408
01:20:25,653 --> 01:20:29,757
Earlier periods have just
dropped off their radar.
1409
01:20:29,757 --> 01:20:31,592
- [Tim] And would you say
that's the bottom line
1410
01:20:31,592 --> 01:20:33,460
of why they don't find any
evidence for the Bible?
1411
01:20:33,461 --> 01:20:36,726
- I would, and I find it
deeply ironic. (laughs softly)
1412
01:20:41,169 --> 01:20:43,604
- [Tim] If I'm going where
the evidence is strongest,
1413
01:20:43,604 --> 01:20:47,240
then I've got to look beyond
the Ramesses Exodus Theory.
1414
01:20:47,241 --> 01:20:49,176
And that's really encouraging,
1415
01:20:49,177 --> 01:20:51,978
because it means that
the events of the Exodus
1416
01:20:51,978 --> 01:20:54,470
can be shifted 200 years earlier.
1417
01:21:07,661 --> 01:21:09,429
But my challenge isn't over,
1418
01:21:09,429 --> 01:21:13,928
because this new biblical
date, around 1450 BC,
1419
01:21:13,966 --> 01:21:16,001
still leaves the events separated
1420
01:21:16,001 --> 01:21:19,130
from the Egyptian pattern by 200 years.
1421
01:21:22,041 --> 01:21:24,442
I was determined to
find an answer for this,
1422
01:21:24,442 --> 01:21:27,445
and to do so, I would continue
to explore the pattern
1423
01:21:27,445 --> 01:21:30,038
that seemed to exist
in the earlier period.
1424
01:21:31,514 --> 01:21:34,416
- [Voiceover] Is there any
indication in the Middle Kingdom
1425
01:21:34,417 --> 01:21:36,818
of the next step of the Bible's sequence:
1426
01:21:36,818 --> 01:21:39,219
a massive and sudden exodus
1427
01:21:39,220 --> 01:21:42,019
following the death of the firstborn?
1428
01:21:43,523 --> 01:21:45,858
Rohl told Mahoney about something amazing
1429
01:21:45,859 --> 01:21:47,794
that was found at Avaris.
1430
01:21:47,794 --> 01:21:49,522
- We find an extraordinary thing happens.
1431
01:21:50,262 --> 01:21:51,997
The archaeologists who've
been digging this area
1432
01:21:51,997 --> 01:21:54,364
suddenly find lots of pits in the ground.
1433
01:21:55,200 --> 01:21:57,068
And in these pits are bodies,
1434
01:21:57,069 --> 01:21:58,869
and they've been tossed into these pits.
1435
01:21:58,870 --> 01:22:00,538
They're not buried formally.
1436
01:22:00,538 --> 01:22:03,073
They have no grave goods
or anything like that.
1437
01:22:03,074 --> 01:22:05,242
These bodies are tossed
on top of each other.
1438
01:22:05,243 --> 01:22:06,510
They're lying strewn.
1439
01:22:06,511 --> 01:22:08,171
You have hands and legs crossing over.
1440
01:22:08,979 --> 01:22:11,505
What is happening here? What is going on?
1441
01:22:12,382 --> 01:22:13,916
Bietak thinks its actually
1442
01:22:13,917 --> 01:22:15,817
some sort of plague that's happened.
1443
01:22:15,818 --> 01:22:17,486
A dramatic event where suddenly
1444
01:22:17,486 --> 01:22:19,321
they have to bury people very quickly
1445
01:22:19,321 --> 01:22:22,257
because of contamination
of the living population.
1446
01:22:22,258 --> 01:22:24,693
So it's an emergency burial.
1447
01:22:24,693 --> 01:22:26,593
And then, all of a sudden,
1448
01:22:26,594 --> 01:22:29,563
all these Semitic peoples
who were living there
1449
01:22:29,564 --> 01:22:31,666
suddenly get up, they pack their bags
1450
01:22:31,666 --> 01:22:34,465
and they leave and the
whole mound is abandoned.
1451
01:22:35,136 --> 01:22:38,205
And we don't know for how long,
and it just falls to ruin.
1452
01:22:38,206 --> 01:22:41,231
Now, isn't that just
like the story of Exodus?
1453
01:22:47,915 --> 01:22:50,784
- [Voiceover] 120 miles
to the south of Avaris,
1454
01:22:50,784 --> 01:22:52,352
another similar abandonment
1455
01:22:52,352 --> 01:22:55,688
was uncovered at the town of Kahun.
1456
01:22:55,689 --> 01:22:58,992
Excavators found a walled
and guarded settlement,
1457
01:22:58,992 --> 01:23:02,495
which supported a large
Semitic population.
1458
01:23:02,496 --> 01:23:05,089
They also found documentation of slavery.
1459
01:23:05,831 --> 01:23:08,266
Mysteriously, the inhabitants here
1460
01:23:08,267 --> 01:23:10,895
seemed to have disappeared overnight.
1461
01:23:12,471 --> 01:23:14,773
According to Professor Rosalie David,
1462
01:23:14,774 --> 01:23:18,836
the town's abandonment was
“sudden and unpremeditated“.
1463
01:23:19,879 --> 01:23:21,479
Their goods were found in the streets
1464
01:23:21,479 --> 01:23:25,149
and houses of Kahun exactly
where they were left,
1465
01:23:25,150 --> 01:23:29,087
before being buried by the
sands of the desert so long ago.
1466
01:23:31,389 --> 01:23:34,291
- [David] One of the great
moments in Egyptian history
1467
01:23:34,292 --> 01:23:37,028
is the collapse of Egyptian civilization.
1468
01:23:37,028 --> 01:23:40,297
When these foreigners
invade, these Hyksos rulers,
1469
01:23:40,298 --> 01:23:43,601
come in and destroy the land
and the Egyptian native rule
1470
01:23:43,602 --> 01:23:47,138
is completely suppressed,
Egypt is on its knees.
1471
01:23:47,138 --> 01:23:49,507
That's what we see in the
archaeological evidence
1472
01:23:49,507 --> 01:23:52,308
of this period and it only happens once
1473
01:23:52,309 --> 01:23:55,040
in 1,000 years of Egyptian history.
1474
01:23:56,747 --> 01:24:00,316
If we can link this to
a very famous tradition
1475
01:24:00,316 --> 01:24:03,419
told to us by an Egyptian
priest called Manetho,
1476
01:24:03,419 --> 01:24:06,288
he wrote a history of Egypt
in the 3rd century BC,
1477
01:24:06,289 --> 01:24:08,658
and what we end up with
is a story like this:
1478
01:24:08,658 --> 01:24:11,360
in the reign of a king called Dudimose,
1479
01:24:11,361 --> 01:24:13,363
one of the last kings of the 13th Dynasty,
1480
01:24:13,363 --> 01:24:16,866
in his reign, God smote the Egyptians.
1481
01:24:16,866 --> 01:24:20,369
And God here is singular;
you would expect to see
1482
01:24:20,370 --> 01:24:23,139
“and the gods“ smote the
Egyptians, but you don't.
1483
01:24:23,139 --> 01:24:25,975
You see “God“ smote the Egyptians.
1484
01:24:25,975 --> 01:24:29,741
And then, because of the
smiting, whatever the smiting is,
1485
01:24:30,546 --> 01:24:32,714
foreigners, “people of obscure race“,
1486
01:24:32,715 --> 01:24:36,084
invade Egypt from the north
and they conquer the land,
1487
01:24:36,084 --> 01:24:38,786
“without striking a blow“ is the term.
1488
01:24:38,787 --> 01:24:41,790
Now why? Because God smote the Egyptians.
1489
01:24:41,790 --> 01:24:43,925
Something had happened to devastate Egypt,
1490
01:24:43,925 --> 01:24:46,661
which made them unable
to defend themselves
1491
01:24:46,662 --> 01:24:49,164
and these marauding hordes
took over the whole country.
1492
01:24:49,164 --> 01:24:50,932
And we call this the Hyksos period
1493
01:24:50,932 --> 01:24:52,867
and they enslaved the Egyptians.
1494
01:24:52,868 --> 01:24:55,469
But the point is they could
have defended themselves,
1495
01:24:55,469 --> 01:24:56,803
they had a mighty army,
1496
01:24:56,804 --> 01:24:59,796
except for the fact that God
had smitten the Egyptians.
1497
01:25:06,080 --> 01:25:07,280
- [Voiceover] The earlier
pattern of evidence
1498
01:25:07,280 --> 01:25:10,483
for the Judgment and
Exodus steps includes:
1499
01:25:10,483 --> 01:25:13,352
a Middle Kingdom papyrus
that describes events
1500
01:25:13,353 --> 01:25:16,322
remarkably similar to
the biblical plagues;
1501
01:25:17,256 --> 01:25:20,089
grave pits filled with
bodies, hastily buried;
1502
01:25:21,060 --> 01:25:24,029
mass abandonment at
Semitic sites in Egypt;
1503
01:25:24,996 --> 01:25:26,896
an Egyptian source, outside the Bible,
1504
01:25:26,897 --> 01:25:30,466
stating that a powerful god
acted in Egypt's history,
1505
01:25:30,466 --> 01:25:31,934
delivering a deadly blow,
1506
01:25:31,934 --> 01:25:34,164
which led to an invasion by foreigners;
1507
01:25:35,938 --> 01:25:38,373
and all this coinciding
with the only collapse
1508
01:25:38,374 --> 01:25:41,639
of Egyptian society in 1,000 years.
1509
01:25:42,578 --> 01:25:45,379
- [David] You look for a
collapse in Egyptian civilization
1510
01:25:45,380 --> 01:25:48,179
and that's where you'll
find Moses and the Exodus.
1511
01:25:52,320 --> 01:25:55,056
- [Tim] But what about the
final step of that sequence,
1512
01:25:55,056 --> 01:25:57,291
the conquest of Canaan,
1513
01:25:57,292 --> 01:25:58,559
the land that had been promised
1514
01:25:58,560 --> 01:26:00,895
to Abraham and his descendants?
1515
01:26:00,895 --> 01:26:02,563
Would the earlier pattern of evidence
1516
01:26:02,564 --> 01:26:04,588
continue there as well?
1517
01:26:15,743 --> 01:26:18,344
- [Manis] The children
of Israel leave Egypt.
1518
01:26:18,344 --> 01:26:22,548
They travel to Mount Sinai
where they received God's law
1519
01:26:22,548 --> 01:26:24,880
and made a covenant to be His people.
1520
01:26:26,084 --> 01:26:29,020
Then, after 40 years of
wandering in the wilderness,
1521
01:26:29,020 --> 01:26:32,289
Moses transferred his authority to Joshua
1522
01:26:32,290 --> 01:26:35,091
and ascended the heights of Mount Nebo,
1523
01:26:35,092 --> 01:26:36,890
and there he died.
1524
01:26:37,928 --> 01:26:40,096
The Israelites had been waiting centuries
1525
01:26:40,097 --> 01:26:42,399
for the promise to be fulfilled,
1526
01:26:42,400 --> 01:26:45,569
and now it was Joshua who would lead them
1527
01:26:45,569 --> 01:26:47,560
in their conquest of Canaan.
1528
01:26:51,409 --> 01:26:52,476
- [Voiceover] The land of Canaan
1529
01:26:52,476 --> 01:26:54,411
was very different from Egypt.
1530
01:26:54,412 --> 01:26:56,914
It was a land ruled by many
independent city-states
1531
01:26:56,914 --> 01:27:00,817
with names like Hazor,
Jericho, Hebron, and Arad.
1532
01:27:01,685 --> 01:27:03,520
The history of these
cities has been divided
1533
01:27:03,521 --> 01:27:06,957
into two major time periods:
the Middle Bronze Age,
1534
01:27:06,957 --> 01:27:08,757
matching Egypt's Middle Kingdom,
1535
01:27:08,758 --> 01:27:11,523
when they were thriving and
fortified by high walls.
1536
01:27:12,495 --> 01:27:15,698
Then a sudden destruction and
burning came upon the land,
1537
01:27:15,698 --> 01:27:17,498
leaving those cities in
ruins and bringing in
1538
01:27:17,499 --> 01:27:20,435
a new period known as the Late Bronze Age,
1539
01:27:20,436 --> 01:27:22,871
matching the time of Egypt's New Kingdom.
1540
01:27:25,374 --> 01:27:27,209
Archaeologist Norma Franklin
1541
01:27:27,209 --> 01:27:30,712
represents a large group of
scholars that sees no evidence
1542
01:27:30,712 --> 01:27:33,781
for a biblical conquest
of the Promised Land.
1543
01:27:33,782 --> 01:27:35,850
- As an archaeologist, I
hate to disappoint people,
1544
01:27:35,851 --> 01:27:39,487
but we have no evidence
for a single mass migration
1545
01:27:39,488 --> 01:27:43,124
of people from one country,
over a period of 40 years,
1546
01:27:43,125 --> 01:27:45,651
wandering and coming into another country.
1547
01:27:46,528 --> 01:27:50,331
There is destruction,
amazing destructions.
1548
01:27:50,332 --> 01:27:53,068
None of them actually fit one another.
1549
01:27:53,068 --> 01:27:58,029
They all happened within 100
years, but not overnight.
1550
01:27:58,207 --> 01:27:59,741
Not what you'd expect in --
1551
01:27:59,741 --> 01:28:01,375
You know, Joshua didn't live that long,
1552
01:28:01,376 --> 01:28:03,811
(laughs) if he existed, okay?
1553
01:28:30,939 --> 01:28:33,340
- [Tim] This is a serious
problem for the Conquest
1554
01:28:34,076 --> 01:28:36,978
if it really happened
in the Late Bronze Age.
1555
01:28:36,979 --> 01:28:38,981
But, again, what if it happened
1556
01:28:38,981 --> 01:28:41,649
in the earlier Middle Bronze Age?
1557
01:28:41,650 --> 01:28:43,685
It seemed only logical to begin
1558
01:28:43,685 --> 01:28:46,286
by looking at the key site of Jericho,
1559
01:28:46,287 --> 01:28:49,416
the first city the Israelites
are said to have destroyed.
1560
01:28:50,157 --> 01:28:52,819
And we know exactly where that was.
1561
01:28:54,427 --> 01:28:58,063
- [Voiceover] Major archaeological
excavations at Jericho
1562
01:28:58,064 --> 01:29:00,599
began with a German
team in the early 1900s,
1563
01:29:00,600 --> 01:29:02,295
led by Ernst Sellin.
1564
01:29:03,370 --> 01:29:04,838
This was followed by a British team,
1565
01:29:04,838 --> 01:29:07,705
headed by John Carstang, in the 1930s.
1566
01:29:08,775 --> 01:29:11,744
At the time of their digs,
both Sellin and Carstang
1567
01:29:11,745 --> 01:29:14,114
believed they had uncovered
a layer of destruction
1568
01:29:14,114 --> 01:29:16,446
that matched the biblical story.
1569
01:29:17,950 --> 01:29:20,052
However, things took a dramatic turn
1570
01:29:20,052 --> 01:29:24,256
when Kathleen Kenyon dug
at Jericho in the 1950s.
1571
01:29:24,256 --> 01:29:26,691
She demonstrated that
there was no evidence
1572
01:29:26,692 --> 01:29:30,095
for a destruction of Jericho
matching the biblical account
1573
01:29:30,095 --> 01:29:33,554
because she dated the demise
of the city much earlier.
1574
01:29:35,634 --> 01:29:37,402
A wave of skepticism began to sweep
1575
01:29:37,403 --> 01:29:40,004
across the field of archaeology.
1576
01:29:40,004 --> 01:29:42,873
In an instant, Kenyon's
discoveries at Jericho
1577
01:29:42,874 --> 01:29:46,139
had undermined the entire Exodus story.
1578
01:29:47,845 --> 01:29:49,713
- [John] She was expecting
that if there was
1579
01:29:49,714 --> 01:29:51,514
any evidence there at all it would be
1580
01:29:51,515 --> 01:29:53,750
in what we call the Late Bronze Age
1581
01:29:53,750 --> 01:29:55,852
and it simply isn't there.
1582
01:29:55,852 --> 01:29:58,053
If the Israelites had
arrived in the 13th century,
1583
01:29:58,054 --> 01:29:59,754
they would have found almost nobody there,
1584
01:29:59,754 --> 01:30:01,722
no walls to collapse.
1585
01:30:01,723 --> 01:30:04,826
It just wouldn't have fitted
the biblical narrative.
1586
01:30:04,826 --> 01:30:08,629
So her excavations helped to compound
1587
01:30:08,630 --> 01:30:10,999
this very negative view
that was developing,
1588
01:30:10,999 --> 01:30:13,798
not just from Jericho, but
from other sites as well.
1589
01:30:15,002 --> 01:30:17,403
- [Tim] Is there a time
when Jericho was destroyed
1590
01:30:18,138 --> 01:30:20,129
where the walls fell
down or it was burned?
1591
01:30:34,888 --> 01:30:37,657
- [Tim] But David Rohl
sees things differently.
1592
01:30:37,658 --> 01:30:39,826
- If people are telling us
that there was no Jericho
1593
01:30:39,827 --> 01:30:42,428
at the time that Joshua
conquered the Promise Land
1594
01:30:42,428 --> 01:30:44,496
and therefore Joshua is a piece of fiction
1595
01:30:44,497 --> 01:30:46,332
and therefore the Conquest
is a piece of fiction
1596
01:30:46,332 --> 01:30:49,535
and then probably Exodus is
a piece of fiction as well,
1597
01:30:49,535 --> 01:30:51,970
if that's the case, why don't
we ask the simple question,
1598
01:30:51,971 --> 01:30:53,739
“Well, when was Jericho around?
1599
01:30:53,740 --> 01:30:55,808
“When was Jericho destroyed?“
1600
01:30:55,808 --> 01:30:57,799
and start from that point of view.
1601
01:31:00,380 --> 01:31:01,714
- [Manis] The Conquest began
1602
01:31:01,714 --> 01:31:04,411
with the Israelites
crossing the Jordan River.
1603
01:31:05,418 --> 01:31:07,512
Joshua sent men to spy out
1604
01:31:08,321 --> 01:31:10,756
the massively walled city of Jericho,
1605
01:31:10,757 --> 01:31:13,886
and there they met a harlot named Rahab,
1606
01:31:14,661 --> 01:31:18,197
who reported that all
in the land had heard
1607
01:31:18,197 --> 01:31:20,499
what God had done for the Israelites
1608
01:31:20,500 --> 01:31:22,735
and they were terrified.
1609
01:31:22,735 --> 01:31:27,036
Rahab hid the spies and aided
their escape to the mountains.
1610
01:31:29,776 --> 01:31:32,678
-What evidence do you see
matching the conquest at Jericho?
1611
01:31:32,679 --> 01:31:34,013
- [Bryant] First of all, we're told
1612
01:31:34,013 --> 01:31:36,782
that Jericho was fortified.
1613
01:31:36,783 --> 01:31:39,318
When the archaeologists dug the city,
1614
01:31:39,318 --> 01:31:40,852
particularly Kathleen Kenyon,
1615
01:31:40,853 --> 01:31:42,821
when she did her work in the '50s,
1616
01:31:42,822 --> 01:31:46,025
discovered that the tell
that the city's built on
1617
01:31:46,025 --> 01:31:49,655
was surrounded by a great earthen rampart.
1618
01:31:50,596 --> 01:31:52,664
- [Voiceover] Excavators
found that Jericho
1619
01:31:52,665 --> 01:31:55,934
was protected by a
brilliant defensive system.
1620
01:31:55,935 --> 01:31:58,203
At its base was a stone retaining wall
1621
01:31:58,204 --> 01:32:01,907
more than 15 feet high, with
a defensive extension wall
1622
01:32:01,908 --> 01:32:04,400
of mud bricks rising higher still.
1623
01:32:06,679 --> 01:32:09,715
Beyond this was the rampart, a steep slope
1624
01:32:09,716 --> 01:32:12,685
covered with a slick
surface of white plaster,
1625
01:32:12,685 --> 01:32:14,485
where attackers would have been exposed
1626
01:32:14,486 --> 01:32:16,955
to arrows and sling stones from above.
1627
01:32:18,355 --> 01:32:21,124
At the top of this rampart
was the main city wall,
1628
01:32:21,125 --> 01:32:23,025
also made of mud-brick,
1629
01:32:23,026 --> 01:32:27,122
this one more than 25 feet
high and 10 feet thick.
1630
01:32:28,530 --> 01:32:29,690
- [Manis] Imagine the dread
1631
01:32:30,765 --> 01:32:33,666
and the desperate panic
of the people of Jericho.
1632
01:32:34,736 --> 01:32:37,872
Day after day, for six
days, the people of Israel
1633
01:32:37,872 --> 01:32:41,536
are walking around their city
with the Ark of the Covenant
1634
01:32:42,310 --> 01:32:44,745
and the sounding of ram's horns.
1635
01:32:44,746 --> 01:32:46,214
Then, on the seventh day,
1636
01:32:46,214 --> 01:32:48,449
they encircle the city seven times,
1637
01:32:48,449 --> 01:32:50,440
and the priests give a
long blast on their horns.
1638
01:32:52,220 --> 01:32:54,621
The people let loose with a mighty shout.
1639
01:32:57,258 --> 01:32:59,522
The walls come tumbling down,
1640
01:33:13,207 --> 01:33:16,008
allowing the Israelites
to climb up into the city,
1641
01:33:16,009 --> 01:33:18,144
taking it and commencing
1642
01:33:18,145 --> 01:33:20,409
the conquering of the land of Israel.
1643
01:33:24,117 --> 01:33:26,385
- [Bryant] Well, when
the city met its end,
1644
01:33:26,386 --> 01:33:29,722
these mud brick walls collapsed
1645
01:33:29,723 --> 01:33:32,759
and they actually fell down
1646
01:33:32,759 --> 01:33:35,820
to the base of the stone retaining wall.
1647
01:33:35,896 --> 01:33:39,099
Kenyon describes it very clearly
1648
01:33:39,099 --> 01:33:41,968
and in detail in her excavation report.
1649
01:33:41,968 --> 01:33:45,768
And then we're told they
set the city on fire,
1650
01:33:46,673 --> 01:33:48,808
and that's exactly what we find:
1651
01:33:48,809 --> 01:33:51,676
Jericho was massively destroyed by fire.
1652
01:33:52,746 --> 01:33:57,050
Kenyon said it was very
clear that within the city,
1653
01:33:57,050 --> 01:34:00,753
the walls of the buildings
had fallen as well
1654
01:34:00,754 --> 01:34:04,491
and she says that the walls
1655
01:34:04,491 --> 01:34:07,426
fell before the fire.
1656
01:34:08,594 --> 01:34:12,197
And so we have the sequence
that we read in the Bible:
1657
01:34:12,198 --> 01:34:14,733
first the fallen walls,
1658
01:34:14,733 --> 01:34:19,170
and then the city being set
on fire by the Israelites.
1659
01:34:22,141 --> 01:34:23,809
- [Voiceover] Excavations
at the site uncovered
1660
01:34:23,809 --> 01:34:26,945
clear evidence for a
massive destruction by fire
1661
01:34:26,946 --> 01:34:30,246
with a very thick burn layer
of extremely high temperatures.
1662
01:34:31,050 --> 01:34:33,152
This caused Kenyon to
attribute the burning
1663
01:34:33,152 --> 01:34:35,320
to an enemy attack and not fires
1664
01:34:35,321 --> 01:34:37,618
that would result solely
from an earthquake.
1665
01:34:38,890 --> 01:34:41,621
- She claimed that the city was destroyed
1666
01:34:42,527 --> 01:34:46,496
around 1550 BC by the Egyptians.
1667
01:34:46,496 --> 01:34:48,697
Well, there's absolutely no
evidence that the Egyptians
1668
01:34:48,698 --> 01:34:52,498
were ever in the Jordan
Valley at this time period.
1669
01:34:53,302 --> 01:34:56,438
- [Tim] So because Kenyon dated
the destruction of Jericho
1670
01:34:56,439 --> 01:35:00,443
150 years before the Israelites
were supposed to be there,
1671
01:35:00,443 --> 01:35:01,977
she made no connection between
1672
01:35:01,978 --> 01:35:04,208
the destruction and the biblical account.
1673
01:35:04,981 --> 01:35:06,983
But, once again, this date fits
1674
01:35:06,983 --> 01:35:09,042
the earlier pattern I'd been seeing.
1675
01:35:10,118 --> 01:35:14,155
- Within the city, a very
unique discovery was made.
1676
01:35:14,155 --> 01:35:16,790
Both Carstang and Kenyon found
1677
01:35:16,791 --> 01:35:19,392
in the houses that they excavated
1678
01:35:19,393 --> 01:35:23,730
many jars, full of grain,
that were stored there.
1679
01:35:23,731 --> 01:35:26,300
- [John] The store jars in
the city were pretty full.
1680
01:35:26,300 --> 01:35:27,868
That suggests the harvest
1681
01:35:27,868 --> 01:35:30,437
had only recently been gathered in.
1682
01:35:30,437 --> 01:35:32,972
And the details in the biblical account
1683
01:35:32,973 --> 01:35:36,542
point to an event that happened
sometime in the spring.
1684
01:35:36,542 --> 01:35:38,176
And, down there in the Jordan valley,
1685
01:35:38,177 --> 01:35:40,012
spring is when the
harvest was gathered in,
1686
01:35:40,013 --> 01:35:41,848
the grain harvest.
1687
01:35:41,848 --> 01:35:44,317
- When the Israelites crossed the Jordan,
1688
01:35:44,317 --> 01:35:47,720
the first thing they did
was celebrate Passover.
1689
01:35:47,720 --> 01:35:49,188
Well, when is Passover?
1690
01:35:49,188 --> 01:35:50,988
Again, the spring of the year.
1691
01:35:50,989 --> 01:35:52,889
- [Voiceover] The full jars also indicate
1692
01:35:52,890 --> 01:35:56,360
that if this was a
siege, it was very short,
1693
01:35:56,360 --> 01:36:00,092
unusual for a strong fortified
city such as Jericho.
1694
01:36:00,898 --> 01:36:03,033
- And that matches the biblical account
1695
01:36:03,034 --> 01:36:05,903
because the siege was only seven days,
1696
01:36:05,903 --> 01:36:08,872
otherwise the people
inside would have consumed
1697
01:36:08,873 --> 01:36:12,209
a lot of that grain if it
dragged out for months.
1698
01:36:12,209 --> 01:36:13,877
- Was the grain found all over the city?
1699
01:36:13,878 --> 01:36:16,479
- Yes. In every house that was excavated
1700
01:36:16,479 --> 01:36:18,811
they found jars of grain.
1701
01:36:20,417 --> 01:36:22,185
- [Voiceover] There was
one other intriguing detail
1702
01:36:22,185 --> 01:36:25,821
at Jericho that fits the
Bible remarkably well.
1703
01:36:25,822 --> 01:36:28,415
It had to do with the
promise made to Rahab.
1704
01:36:29,258 --> 01:36:31,760
- She actually lived in the city wall,
1705
01:36:31,760 --> 01:36:33,995
and after hiding the
spies, they promised her
1706
01:36:33,996 --> 01:36:36,231
that she and her family would be protected
1707
01:36:36,231 --> 01:36:39,800
when they attacked the city,
and they kept their promise.
1708
01:36:39,801 --> 01:36:42,570
She had marked her home
with a scarlet cord,
1709
01:36:42,570 --> 01:36:44,436
which she hung out the window.
1710
01:36:45,707 --> 01:36:49,177
- [Voiceover] But if her house
was built into the city wall,
1711
01:36:49,177 --> 01:36:50,872
how could it have survived?
1712
01:36:53,113 --> 01:36:56,015
- [Tim] I came across the
actual archaeological report
1713
01:36:56,016 --> 01:36:58,451
that the German excavator of Jericho,
1714
01:36:58,452 --> 01:37:01,045
Ernst Sellin, had published in 1913.
1715
01:37:02,221 --> 01:37:05,891
He was the first to conduct a
major excavation of the site,
1716
01:37:05,891 --> 01:37:08,894
and I could see that
his work was impressive,
1717
01:37:08,894 --> 01:37:10,862
but now seemed to have been forgotten.
1718
01:37:13,366 --> 01:37:15,868
Here were detailed plans and photographs,
1719
01:37:15,868 --> 01:37:17,768
including one part of the site,
1720
01:37:17,769 --> 01:37:21,399
which echoed the Rahab
story in an unexpected way.
1721
01:37:22,774 --> 01:37:26,444
- The Germans found that
in this one short stretch
1722
01:37:26,444 --> 01:37:28,879
on the north side of the city,
1723
01:37:28,880 --> 01:37:32,116
there were houses built on the rampart,
1724
01:37:32,117 --> 01:37:35,987
between the lower city wall
and the upper city wall,
1725
01:37:35,987 --> 01:37:38,055
and some of those houses were built
1726
01:37:38,056 --> 01:37:41,219
right up against the lower city wall.
1727
01:37:42,394 --> 01:37:47,195
They found that the city wall
did not fall in this area.
1728
01:37:48,233 --> 01:37:51,869
So that provides an
explanation for how the spies
1729
01:37:51,870 --> 01:37:53,905
could have saved Rahab and her family
1730
01:37:53,905 --> 01:37:55,805
because God brought the wall down
1731
01:37:55,806 --> 01:37:58,975
everywhere else except
where her house was,
1732
01:37:58,976 --> 01:38:01,968
and we have archaeological
evidence to back that up.
1733
01:38:02,780 --> 01:38:05,048
- [Tim] What if people say,
“Well, you're biased.“?
1734
01:38:05,049 --> 01:38:07,551
- I think everybody in
the field is biased,
1735
01:38:07,551 --> 01:38:09,653
(laughs softly) one way or another.
1736
01:38:09,653 --> 01:38:11,421
I admit my bias.
1737
01:38:11,422 --> 01:38:14,191
However, I cannot make up the evidence.
1738
01:38:14,191 --> 01:38:16,392
I cannot plant it in the ground.
1739
01:38:16,392 --> 01:38:19,428
I have analyzed it and
compared it to the Bible
1740
01:38:19,429 --> 01:38:22,832
and I see, wow, it matches exactly.
1741
01:38:22,832 --> 01:38:25,534
That's science: look at your evidence
1742
01:38:25,535 --> 01:38:28,061
and come to a conclusion
based on the evidence.
1743
01:38:34,677 --> 01:38:36,779
- [Voiceover] Archaeologists
have uncovered:
1744
01:38:36,779 --> 01:38:40,816
a city with high fortification
walls that fell down;
1745
01:38:40,817 --> 01:38:42,785
evidence that the city was intentionally
1746
01:38:42,785 --> 01:38:44,513
burned after the collapse;
1747
01:38:45,587 --> 01:38:47,655
storage jars filled with charred grain,
1748
01:38:47,656 --> 01:38:50,148
evidence of a short siege in springtime;
1749
01:38:51,326 --> 01:38:54,962
and a section of houses within the wall,
1750
01:38:54,963 --> 01:38:59,025
miraculously preserved, just
as in the biblical account.
1751
01:39:00,268 --> 01:39:02,168
According to the biblical account,
1752
01:39:02,169 --> 01:39:04,370
Joshua spoke a curse against anyone
1753
01:39:04,370 --> 01:39:06,805
who would rebuild the city of Jericho,
1754
01:39:07,674 --> 01:39:10,475
and the archaeology shows
that, after the destruction,
1755
01:39:10,476 --> 01:39:13,639
the city of Jericho was indeed
abandoned for centuries.
1756
01:39:16,415 --> 01:39:18,215
But, of course, this is all happens
1757
01:39:18,216 --> 01:39:21,152
in the wrong time in the
view of most scholars.
1758
01:39:21,152 --> 01:39:22,586
Bryant Wood believes that Kenyon
1759
01:39:22,587 --> 01:39:24,487
misdated the pottery at Jericho,
1760
01:39:24,488 --> 01:39:26,456
resulting in a wrong destruction date.
1761
01:39:27,556 --> 01:39:29,558
He, along with Charles
Aling, believed that
1762
01:39:29,558 --> 01:39:32,694
the Conquest occurred around 1400 BC,
1763
01:39:32,695 --> 01:39:35,494
using the conventional
dates for Egypt and Canaan.
1764
01:39:36,732 --> 01:39:41,135
However, David Rohl and John
Bimson have a different idea.
1765
01:39:41,136 --> 01:39:44,139
They propose that Kenyon came
to a wrong destruction date
1766
01:39:44,139 --> 01:39:46,407
at Jericho because the dates assigned
1767
01:39:46,407 --> 01:39:49,543
to the Middle Bronze Age are not correct
1768
01:39:49,544 --> 01:39:52,707
and these dates for history
need a major adjustment.
1769
01:39:54,149 --> 01:39:56,918
Regardless, all these
scholars agree that Jericho
1770
01:39:56,918 --> 01:39:58,920
was destroyed in a manner that matches
1771
01:39:58,920 --> 01:40:01,719
the story of Joshua and the Israelites.
1772
01:40:06,594 --> 01:40:09,763
But there's more to the
conquest than just Jericho.
1773
01:40:09,764 --> 01:40:13,634
Spies had reported that
Canaan was a beautiful land,
1774
01:40:13,635 --> 01:40:16,436
flowing with milk and honey.
1775
01:40:16,436 --> 01:40:19,539
But it was also filled with
great, fortified cities
1776
01:40:19,540 --> 01:40:22,175
that had walls reaching up to heaven.
1777
01:40:22,176 --> 01:40:26,009
One by one, they would fall to Joshua.
1778
01:40:37,623 --> 01:40:39,625
- [Manis] Then Joshua turned north
1779
01:40:39,625 --> 01:40:41,559
and headed for the city of Hazor.
1780
01:40:42,395 --> 01:40:44,363
Jabin, king of Hazor,
1781
01:40:44,363 --> 01:40:47,094
gathered all the kings of
the region against Israel.
1782
01:40:47,967 --> 01:40:52,104
Joshua captured Hazor and
struck its king with the sword
1783
01:40:52,104 --> 01:40:55,597
and Joshua destroyed Hazor by fire.
1784
01:40:57,209 --> 01:40:59,311
- [Voiceover] Israeli
archaeologists at Hazor
1785
01:40:59,311 --> 01:41:00,711
found a massive burn layer
1786
01:41:00,711 --> 01:41:03,146
from the same time as
Jericho's destruction.
1787
01:41:04,381 --> 01:41:06,213
They also found something else.
1788
01:41:06,917 --> 01:41:09,452
- We found tablets in the
Middle Bronze Age palace
1789
01:41:09,453 --> 01:41:11,253
belonging to a king called Jabin,
1790
01:41:11,254 --> 01:41:13,022
and that's the name of
the king that Joshua
1791
01:41:13,022 --> 01:41:16,890
actually stuck his
sword into in the story.
1792
01:41:16,960 --> 01:41:19,429
- [Voiceover] This is the cuneiform tablet
1793
01:41:19,429 --> 01:41:21,164
containing the name of Jabin,
1794
01:41:21,164 --> 01:41:24,634
found in remains of the
palace in ancient Hazor.
1795
01:41:24,634 --> 01:41:25,868
- [Tim] So you have a connection
1796
01:41:25,868 --> 01:41:27,970
between the Bible story and these tablets?
1797
01:41:27,971 --> 01:41:30,039
- We have a name that's identical.
1798
01:41:30,039 --> 01:41:32,207
We have a tablet coming out of the ground
1799
01:41:32,208 --> 01:41:34,777
with the name Jabin on it,
and in the story of Joshua,
1800
01:41:34,777 --> 01:41:38,236
Joshua killed King Jabin of Hazor.
- Wow.
1801
01:41:43,253 --> 01:41:44,953
- [Voiceover] But, when
looking for the Conquest
1802
01:41:44,953 --> 01:41:47,255
in the expected time period,
1803
01:41:47,256 --> 01:41:49,657
archaeologists have found no evidence.
1804
01:41:50,726 --> 01:41:53,462
In fact, many of these
sites were not even occupied
1805
01:41:53,462 --> 01:41:56,298
throughout the entire Late Bronze Age;
1806
01:41:56,298 --> 01:41:58,926
no high walls; no massive destructions;
1807
01:41:59,901 --> 01:42:02,598
only a series of
burned-out and empty ruins.
1808
01:42:04,538 --> 01:42:07,474
This has been a key factor
in the current skepticism
1809
01:42:07,475 --> 01:42:10,240
over the biblical account of the Conquest.
1810
01:42:12,813 --> 01:42:15,614
- [Tim] Again, maybe they've
been looking in the wrong time
1811
01:42:15,615 --> 01:42:18,651
for evidence of the
Israelites entering Canaan,
1812
01:42:18,652 --> 01:42:21,588
because when you look earlier
in the Middle Bronze Age,
1813
01:42:21,588 --> 01:42:23,656
all these cities were occupied,
1814
01:42:23,657 --> 01:42:26,226
and they were guarded by high walls,
1815
01:42:26,226 --> 01:42:29,395
and, amazingly, they all
suffered major destructions
1816
01:42:29,396 --> 01:42:33,924
in the same short period, just
as described in the Bible.
1817
01:42:35,368 --> 01:42:37,392
- When you put those cities side by side,
1818
01:42:38,270 --> 01:42:40,305
the biblical account and the archaeology
1819
01:42:40,306 --> 01:42:42,174
match extremely well.
1820
01:42:42,174 --> 01:42:45,542
I think we have enough
destroyed and abandoned cities
1821
01:42:46,278 --> 01:42:49,447
to say this fits the sequence of events
1822
01:42:49,448 --> 01:42:51,116
the Bible is describing.
1823
01:42:51,116 --> 01:42:52,816
There's a high probability
1824
01:42:52,817 --> 01:42:55,013
that we're looking here
at Joshua's Conquest.
1825
01:42:56,321 --> 01:42:58,221
- [David] The whole
thing, from the beginning
1826
01:42:58,221 --> 01:43:01,157
of the sojourn in Egypt, to slavery,
1827
01:43:01,158 --> 01:43:03,759
Moses and the Exodus, the
Conquest of the Promised Land
1828
01:43:03,759 --> 01:43:07,752
is all there in one nice neat
line, but it's way too early.
1829
01:43:10,031 --> 01:43:11,899
- [Voiceover] Rohl, Bimson
and others suggest that
1830
01:43:11,900 --> 01:43:14,269
this problem didn't start with the Bible,
1831
01:43:14,269 --> 01:43:16,537
it began with Egypt.
1832
01:43:16,538 --> 01:43:18,373
They propose that early scholars
1833
01:43:18,373 --> 01:43:20,842
developed its dating incorrectly,
1834
01:43:20,842 --> 01:43:23,010
and that new information requires
1835
01:43:23,011 --> 01:43:26,481
that the events of Egypt's
history be shifted forward
1836
01:43:26,481 --> 01:43:28,677
on the timeline by centuries.
1837
01:43:29,584 --> 01:43:31,252
- [David] And all of
a sudden, these things
1838
01:43:31,252 --> 01:43:33,320
that are too early become contemporary
1839
01:43:33,321 --> 01:43:35,089
with the events in the Old Testament.
1840
01:43:35,090 --> 01:43:37,354
They sync up again.
Everything links together.
1841
01:43:38,193 --> 01:43:41,329
- [Tim] I was so excited to
hear of this possibility.
1842
01:43:41,329 --> 01:43:43,297
It would explain why all the evidence
1843
01:43:43,298 --> 01:43:46,034
has been consistently earlier.
1844
01:43:46,034 --> 01:43:48,835
But could the history
scholars created for Egypt
1845
01:43:48,836 --> 01:43:50,736
really be off by centuries?
1846
01:43:51,672 --> 01:43:55,475
- [James] I'm very much against
chronological revisionism.
1847
01:43:55,476 --> 01:43:57,478
Very good, very competent historians
1848
01:43:57,478 --> 01:44:01,081
have been working for decades and decades
1849
01:44:01,081 --> 01:44:04,417
on Egyptian chronology and
Near Eastern chronology.
1850
01:44:04,418 --> 01:44:06,018
There's still more work to be done,
1851
01:44:06,018 --> 01:44:10,389
but I don't see a possibility
of moving things centuries.
1852
01:44:10,390 --> 01:44:12,492
- I'm not into this business at all,
1853
01:44:12,492 --> 01:44:15,228
and I think that we
know enough to say that
1854
01:44:15,228 --> 01:44:17,463
we maybe wrong 10 years
here and 10 years there,
1855
01:44:17,463 --> 01:44:21,333
but there's no way to
change, to shift centuries.
1856
01:44:21,334 --> 01:44:23,669
I mean, forget it. I think
that we are on solid ground,
1857
01:44:23,669 --> 01:44:26,900
so there's no need to look
for different centuries.
1858
01:44:34,279 --> 01:44:36,611
- [Tim] What was I supposed to do now?
1859
01:44:37,915 --> 01:44:41,084
Hoffmeier and Finkelstien
represent mainstream opinion,
1860
01:44:41,085 --> 01:44:43,076
and I can't simply ignore it.
1861
01:44:45,823 --> 01:44:48,525
The fact is, the majority of scholars,
1862
01:44:48,526 --> 01:44:51,629
even believers in the Bible,
won't allow the evidence
1863
01:44:51,629 --> 01:44:54,098
I've seen to be connected to the Exodus.
1864
01:44:54,865 --> 01:44:56,333
It's just too early.
1865
01:44:57,067 --> 01:44:59,268
This is the biggest giant of all,
1866
01:44:59,269 --> 01:45:01,670
standing in the way of
solving this problem.
1867
01:45:03,173 --> 01:45:05,842
But the biblical pattern was so strong
1868
01:45:05,842 --> 01:45:07,776
that I just couldn't let it go.
1869
01:45:14,451 --> 01:45:16,351
- [Voiceover] Mahoney's
researchers uncovered a lead
1870
01:45:16,351 --> 01:45:18,479
that led him to Oxford University.
1871
01:45:19,555 --> 01:45:22,424
Dn St John's Street is
the Griffith Institute,
1872
01:45:22,424 --> 01:45:23,758
one of the greatest storehouses
1873
01:45:23,759 --> 01:45:26,228
of Egyptological documents in the world.
1874
01:45:27,996 --> 01:45:29,196
He was here to review the writings
1875
01:45:29,197 --> 01:45:31,699
of the late Sir Alan Gardiner,
1876
01:45:31,699 --> 01:45:34,234
perhaps the greatest specialist
in reading hieroglyphs
1877
01:45:34,235 --> 01:45:37,471
in the 20th century
and he had a great hand
1878
01:45:37,472 --> 01:45:39,600
in uncovering what we know today.
1879
01:45:46,280 --> 01:45:48,977
- [Tim] I was moved as I looked
through his personal notes.
1880
01:45:49,984 --> 01:45:52,486
In some ways, I was following a path
1881
01:45:52,487 --> 01:45:54,683
that he had helped to clear.
1882
01:45:55,723 --> 01:45:59,159
After a lifetime of searching,
Gardiner wrote something
1883
01:45:59,160 --> 01:46:03,063
that directly impacted the
question I was dealing with.
1884
01:46:03,064 --> 01:46:05,966
- [Sir Alan] It must never
be forgotten that we are
1885
01:46:05,967 --> 01:46:10,171
dealing with a civilization
thousands of years old
1886
01:46:10,171 --> 01:46:13,300
and one of which only tiny
remnants have survived.
1887
01:46:14,141 --> 01:46:16,910
What is proudly advertised
as Egyptian history
1888
01:46:16,911 --> 01:46:19,437
is merely a collection
of rags and tatters.
1889
01:46:26,888 --> 01:46:29,957
- [Tim] If all we have
are rags and tatters,
1890
01:46:29,957 --> 01:46:32,358
how sure can we be about the dates?
1891
01:46:35,095 --> 01:46:37,564
Alan Gardiner said that what
we have is rags and tatters.
1892
01:46:37,564 --> 01:46:40,466
Is that still true today or
do you think that's changed?
1893
01:46:40,467 --> 01:46:42,535
- No, I think that basically is true.
1894
01:46:42,536 --> 01:46:44,905
What's interesting about
the source material
1895
01:46:44,905 --> 01:46:48,575
from ancient Egypt, though,
is that those rags and tatters
1896
01:46:48,575 --> 01:46:51,277
are more numerous and
of a more varied kind
1897
01:46:51,278 --> 01:46:54,679
than almost any other civilization
on the face of the Earth.
1898
01:46:55,514 --> 01:46:57,214
You name it, every kind of material
1899
01:46:57,215 --> 01:46:59,149
imaginable has come down to us;
1900
01:46:59,984 --> 01:47:04,251
not complete, but
tantalizing rags and tatters.
1901
01:47:04,989 --> 01:47:07,691
And it's a wonderful thing
to have all of this material,
1902
01:47:07,692 --> 01:47:10,093
but it's also extremely
frustrating because it means
1903
01:47:10,093 --> 01:47:12,562
there's that much more room
for argument and doubt.
1904
01:47:14,164 --> 01:47:15,798
- [Tim] Kent Weeks made no indication
1905
01:47:15,799 --> 01:47:18,434
that he'd be in favor of anything as major
1906
01:47:18,435 --> 01:47:21,304
as shifting Egypt's history by centuries.
1907
01:47:21,305 --> 01:47:25,375
But the reality is, a shift
wouldn't just affect Egypt,
1908
01:47:25,375 --> 01:47:27,710
because the archaeological
dates for Canaan
1909
01:47:27,711 --> 01:47:29,211
and the surrounding region
1910
01:47:29,211 --> 01:47:32,480
are all dependent on Egypt's history.
1911
01:47:32,481 --> 01:47:33,949
- [Kent] When all is said and done,
1912
01:47:33,950 --> 01:47:36,953
it's the Egyptian
chronology that underpins
1913
01:47:36,953 --> 01:47:38,853
everything else that's being done
1914
01:47:38,853 --> 01:47:40,988
throughout the rest of the known world.
1915
01:47:40,989 --> 01:47:43,390
It's a big responsibility
and it's one of the reasons
1916
01:47:43,390 --> 01:47:45,090
that people look at it so closely
1917
01:47:45,091 --> 01:47:47,760
because in terms of
reconstructing ancient history,
1918
01:47:47,760 --> 01:47:49,888
a lot hinges on the answers.
1919
01:47:53,967 --> 01:47:55,735
- [Tim] So if Egypt's historical dates
1920
01:47:55,735 --> 01:47:58,838
are not that certain and need adjusting,
1921
01:47:58,838 --> 01:48:01,140
then Canaan's history would also require
1922
01:48:01,140 --> 01:48:05,210
the same kind of shift,
because they’re connected.
1923
01:48:05,211 --> 01:48:06,445
But a lot of people don't want to do that.
1924
01:48:06,446 --> 01:48:09,182
- [John] No, no, no,
because Egyptian chronology
1925
01:48:09,182 --> 01:48:12,118
has been assumed to be fixed now
1926
01:48:12,118 --> 01:48:13,986
for a very long period of time.
1927
01:48:13,987 --> 01:48:18,486
So the whole idea of taking
it apart and starting again
1928
01:48:18,624 --> 01:48:20,792
is an anathema to most Egyptologists.
1929
01:48:20,792 --> 01:48:22,160
- [Tim] Uh-huh, because it would undo
1930
01:48:22,160 --> 01:48:23,528
a lot of their books, wouldn't it?
1931
01:48:23,528 --> 01:48:26,063
- Well it certainly would, yes. (laughs)
1932
01:48:26,064 --> 01:48:27,331
- [Voiceover] But
there's mounting evidence
1933
01:48:27,332 --> 01:48:29,767
that the current reconstruction
of Egyptian history
1934
01:48:29,768 --> 01:48:34,267
has major problems that have
nothing to do with the Bible.
1935
01:48:34,605 --> 01:48:37,274
- There's a whole host of
reasons for being skeptical
1936
01:48:37,274 --> 01:48:40,176
about the current Egyptian chronology,
1937
01:48:40,177 --> 01:48:42,712
and some of them to do with Egypt itself,
1938
01:48:42,713 --> 01:48:44,681
but a lot of them from outside Egypt,
1939
01:48:44,682 --> 01:48:47,515
which a number of people
are beginning to look at.
1940
01:48:48,219 --> 01:48:49,587
- [Voiceover] Other good scholars maintain
1941
01:48:49,587 --> 01:48:51,988
that you don't need to
change Egypt's timeline
1942
01:48:51,988 --> 01:48:54,890
in order to see evidence for the Exodus.
1943
01:48:54,891 --> 01:48:57,593
James Hoffmeier believes
textual clues in the Bible
1944
01:48:57,594 --> 01:48:58,928
point to the Exodus happening
1945
01:48:58,928 --> 01:49:02,264
at the 1250 BC Ramesses date.
1946
01:49:02,265 --> 01:49:04,333
Bryant Wood and Charles Aling believe
1947
01:49:04,334 --> 01:49:07,737
the Exodus occurred around 1450 BC,
1948
01:49:07,737 --> 01:49:10,906
using the conventional
dates for Egypt and Canaan.
1949
01:49:10,907 --> 01:49:13,075
They believe a case can
be made for Israelites
1950
01:49:13,076 --> 01:49:16,145
living in Egypt prior to that time,
1951
01:49:16,146 --> 01:49:19,349
and later Israel appearing
as a nation in Canaan.
1952
01:49:19,349 --> 01:49:22,910
So an Exodus of some kind
must have taken place.
1953
01:49:24,621 --> 01:49:26,489
- [Tim] But the only
place that I saw a pattern
1954
01:49:26,489 --> 01:49:29,558
matching all the steps
was in the Middle Kingdom,
1955
01:49:29,559 --> 01:49:31,394
not the New Kingdom.
1956
01:49:31,394 --> 01:49:33,094
And if that's not a coincidence,
1957
01:49:33,095 --> 01:49:35,860
it would require some
kind of major change.
1958
01:49:36,765 --> 01:49:39,834
Either the Exodus
happened long before 1450,
1959
01:49:39,835 --> 01:49:42,860
or the dates for Egypt's timeline are off.
1960
01:49:44,706 --> 01:49:45,973
- [Voiceover] The debate over the dates
1961
01:49:45,973 --> 01:49:48,675
of ancient history is intensifying.
1962
01:49:48,676 --> 01:49:50,511
While the conclusions of those who support
1963
01:49:50,511 --> 01:49:53,013
major adjustments differ in their details,
1964
01:49:53,014 --> 01:49:54,582
they're all of the same mind that
1965
01:49:54,582 --> 01:49:57,351
these things are worth investigating,
1966
01:49:57,351 --> 01:50:01,720
and that chronology is not yet
fixed and is not yet final.
1967
01:50:03,156 --> 01:50:04,756
Researchers like Rohl and Bimson
1968
01:50:04,757 --> 01:50:06,657
believe the main problem lies in these
1969
01:50:06,658 --> 01:50:09,694
lesser-known dark periods of Egypt's past.
1970
01:50:09,694 --> 01:50:12,295
They think scholars have
miscalculated their lengths,
1971
01:50:12,296 --> 01:50:13,764
causing distortions in the dates
1972
01:50:13,764 --> 01:50:15,698
for everything before them.
1973
01:50:16,700 --> 01:50:21,004
The biggest suspect is this
very long third dark period,
1974
01:50:21,004 --> 01:50:22,772
which new information suggests
1975
01:50:22,773 --> 01:50:25,308
has been over-inflated by centuries.
1976
01:50:25,309 --> 01:50:28,078
If it were reduced, the history of Egypt
1977
01:50:28,078 --> 01:50:30,274
would need to move forward in time.
1978
01:50:33,016 --> 01:50:34,951
- [Tim] For many years, I was intimidated
1979
01:50:34,952 --> 01:50:37,487
by the giant of Egypt's dating.
1980
01:50:37,488 --> 01:50:39,823
But what made me take
a second look was when
1981
01:50:39,823 --> 01:50:42,826
I learned that it's been
necessary to insert gaps
1982
01:50:42,826 --> 01:50:46,162
into the histories of all
the surrounding civilizations
1983
01:50:46,163 --> 01:50:49,599
in order to match the dating
of Egypt's third dark period.
1984
01:50:50,400 --> 01:50:52,268
Yet the archaeology of these cultures
1985
01:50:52,269 --> 01:50:55,338
does not seem to support such gaps.
1986
01:50:55,339 --> 01:50:57,205
Something was wrong.
1987
01:50:58,976 --> 01:51:00,376
- [Voiceover] What might history look like
1988
01:51:00,376 --> 01:51:02,411
if the dark periods were adjusted the way
1989
01:51:02,411 --> 01:51:05,812
that some scholars believe
the evidence demands?
1990
01:51:14,990 --> 01:51:17,625
- [David] What's not changing
is the Bible timeline,
1991
01:51:17,626 --> 01:51:19,394
because that's not affected by it.
1992
01:51:19,394 --> 01:51:21,863
If you're changing the Egyptian timeline,
1993
01:51:21,863 --> 01:51:24,632
you're moving it against
the Bible timeline.
1994
01:51:24,633 --> 01:51:27,135
So, all of a sudden, things that were not
1995
01:51:27,135 --> 01:51:29,736
in the right time period between the two
1996
01:51:29,737 --> 01:51:32,399
are suddenly lining up in a different way.
1997
01:51:33,407 --> 01:51:34,641
And that's the exciting bit,
1998
01:51:34,642 --> 01:51:36,042
because that's when we suddenly start
1999
01:51:36,042 --> 01:51:38,033
to find evidence for the biblical story.
2000
01:51:39,445 --> 01:51:40,612
- [Tim] It's startling to think
2001
01:51:40,613 --> 01:51:42,308
how significant this could be.
2002
01:51:43,116 --> 01:51:46,619
Because chronology, the dates
assigned to these events,
2003
01:51:46,619 --> 01:51:49,688
is the thing being used
to convince the world
2004
01:51:49,689 --> 01:51:52,021
that the Bible is just a fairy tale,
2005
01:51:53,125 --> 01:51:54,853
but look at the pattern:
2006
01:51:55,560 --> 01:51:57,028
evidence matching Joseph
2007
01:51:57,028 --> 01:51:59,621
and the early Israelites‘
arrival in Egypt;
2008
01:52:00,430 --> 01:52:02,454
their tremendous multiplication;
2009
01:52:03,465 --> 01:52:05,331
their descent into slavery;
2010
01:52:06,268 --> 01:52:08,396
the judgment and collapse of Egypt;
2011
01:52:09,205 --> 01:52:12,368
the deliverance and exodus
of the Semitic population;
2012
01:52:13,409 --> 01:52:16,178
and finally, in Canaan, evidence matching
2013
01:52:16,178 --> 01:52:18,306
the conquest of the Promised Land.
2014
01:52:20,549 --> 01:52:23,985
I know there's a lot of
disagreement over the dating,
2015
01:52:23,986 --> 01:52:26,088
but what strikes me is that if you
2016
01:52:26,088 --> 01:52:29,191
put all the dates to
the side for a moment,
2017
01:52:29,191 --> 01:52:32,127
what emerges from the
archaeology is this pattern
2018
01:52:32,127 --> 01:52:35,630
that matches the Bible
every step of the way,
2019
01:52:35,631 --> 01:52:38,862
and doesn't that deserve
to be taken seriously?
2020
01:52:40,502 --> 01:52:44,305
But for now, those who hold
to established conventions
2021
01:52:44,306 --> 01:52:48,139
will not allow these
connections to be made.
2022
01:52:59,220 --> 01:53:02,245
I'm not an Egyptologist, I'm a filmmaker.
2023
01:53:03,090 --> 01:53:06,359
And I'm not endorsing any
one dating theory out there.
2024
01:53:06,360 --> 01:53:08,419
I'm just searching for the truth.
2025
01:53:10,497 --> 01:53:13,199
Because isn't that what
the pursuit of both science
2026
01:53:13,200 --> 01:53:17,330
and faith should be, a search for truth?
2027
01:53:18,938 --> 01:53:21,507
- [Mansour] At the end, the audience,
2028
01:53:21,507 --> 01:53:23,708
the people themselves, they will judge.
2029
01:53:23,708 --> 01:53:27,244
They will know if you
are a scientific man,
2030
01:53:27,245 --> 01:53:29,747
a logical theory, or you are exaggerating
2031
01:53:29,748 --> 01:53:33,241
or you have some story from your own mind.
2032
01:53:35,153 --> 01:53:38,556
- [Tim] Are these findings
just an exaggeration?
2033
01:53:38,556 --> 01:53:41,759
Or is looking for the
Exodus at the earlier date
2034
01:53:41,760 --> 01:53:43,961
the key step in bringing the Bible
2035
01:53:43,961 --> 01:53:45,996
out of the shadows of myth
2036
01:53:45,996 --> 01:53:48,556
and into the light of true history?
2037
01:53:50,367 --> 01:53:53,470
People wonder why they haven't
heard about this before,
2038
01:53:53,470 --> 01:53:54,870
but what I found out was that
2039
01:53:54,871 --> 01:53:56,873
a lot of people don't
want to talk about it.
2040
01:53:56,873 --> 01:53:59,642
Archaeologists, people in the media,
2041
01:53:59,642 --> 01:54:01,710
no one's willing to
actually tell this story,
2042
01:54:01,711 --> 01:54:04,413
and I had to ask that
same question of myself:
2043
01:54:04,414 --> 01:54:07,383
was I willing to follow this
story to where it really led?
2044
01:54:08,483 --> 01:54:10,518
But there is something
to these ancient stories
2045
01:54:10,519 --> 01:54:12,521
and we just felt that, “You know what?
2046
01:54:12,521 --> 01:54:14,888
“We just have to let people
know what the truth was.“
2047
01:55:35,537 --> 01:55:37,805
- [Voiceover] After the
Israelites left Egypt,
2048
01:55:37,806 --> 01:55:41,109
it is written they miraculously
crossed a mighty sea
2049
01:55:41,109 --> 01:55:43,344
and traveled on to Mount Sinai.
2050
01:55:43,345 --> 01:55:46,280
No trace of their journey
has ever been found.
2051
01:55:47,883 --> 01:55:50,852
But, if there really was an Exodus,
2052
01:55:50,852 --> 01:55:54,720
then the mountain was somewhere out there.
159002
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