Category Archives: Ancient Egypt

The elusive biblical timeline

Posted on July 1, 2021 by theoutwardquest

1 Kings 6:1 puts the coming out of Egypt of the “children of Israel” 480 years before the beginning of Solomon’s temple. If the “children of Israel” is a metaphor for the people Moses led out of Egypt (literally, the … Continue reading →

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Millgram-Joseph disinherited

Posted on August 25, 2020 by theoutwardquest

I have read Rabbi Hillel Millgram’s, The Joseph Paradox: a Radical Reading of Genesis 37-50. Previously I had read his The Elijah Enigma. The Joseph Paradox is a thought-provoking examination and rethinking of the story of Joseph. Millgram does not … Continue reading →

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Exodus, confusion, and collapse

Posted on May 26, 2020 by theoutwardquest

Putting a primary exodus event at the end of Egypt’s 19th dynasty or the beginning of the 20th is both a problem and a possibility. It is a problem because we know so little about the state of affairs in … Continue reading →

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Add Bietak to the list

Posted on May 20, 2020 by theoutwardquest

This is a brief update to my last post. I mentioned some scholars who support a 12th century, twentieth dynasty exodus event: Malamat, Lipovsky, and Knohl. I should add to those Manfred Bietak, the Austrian archaeologist who has done so … Continue reading →

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Room for Israel-the breakdown of Hazor and Egypt

Posted on May 15, 2020 by theoutwardquest

The late Bronze Age Collapse took place over a period of time both before and after the -1177 date that Eric Cline uses in his book title:  1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed. (See my posts about Cline, beginning here.) … Continue reading →

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A twelfth century exodus

Posted on May 12, 2020 by theoutwardquest

The ancient Egyptians give us a primary example of how governments officially distort history. It still happens a lot, as with the Chinese Communist Party’s narrative about Covid-19. A practice in Egypt and other ancient societies was to try to … Continue reading →

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The multiple pharaohs of the exodus

Posted on May 8, 2020 by theoutwardquest

The Bible does not name a specific Pharaoh as king of Egypt at the time of the Exodus. In 1 Kings 14:25 the Pharaoh who attacked after Solomon died is specifically named. It was a Pharaoh called Shishak, which corresponds … Continue reading →

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Some exodus background in geography and geopolitics

Posted on May 6, 2020 by theoutwardquest

The time around -1200 is the focus of my understanding for an exodus event and the beginning of the settlement of Israel. This was also a dividing point in history. It marked the end of the Bronze Age and the … Continue reading →

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Some issues concerning the exodus as an event in time

Posted on March 2, 2020 by theoutwardquest

It seems to me very likely that the exodus from Egypt of Semitic people who became identified with Israel actually happened. It may have happened more than once. But the account that we have in the Bible is a saga … Continue reading →

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Wilderness wandering and settlement of the land at the same time?

Posted on February 12, 2020 by theoutwardquest

Graham Hagens has written the article “Exodus and Settlement: A Two Sojourn Hypothesis.” It is online here. Hagens has explored a solid possibility for the Exodus. He dates the Exodus to the junction of the 19th and 20th dynasties without … Continue reading →

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