Exodus Chronology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Exodus
Years between the Temple and the Exodus:
There is little scholarly agreement as to even the century in which the Exodus should be placed[citation needed]. If one accepts a plain reading of 1 Kings 6:1, then the Exodus occurred 480 years before Solomon began to build the Temple in the 4th year of his reign; and he completed it seven years later (1 Kings 6:37-38). The consensus of most experts dates this dedication in the range of 960-970 BCE[citation needed]. The date derives from the end of his reign overlapping the beginning of the reign of the biblical Pharaoh Shishaq, who is then identified with the Pharaoh Sheshonq I (945–924). (The Biblical Minimalist school of interpretation challenge the historicity of Solomon and thereby the date of the Temple.) If Solomon (970-928) dedicated the Temple in year 966, we arrive at an Exodus date of approximately 1440 BC. Unfortunately this date remains unsatisfactory for several reasons:
Some perceive other biblical data to conflict with this 480 years between the Exodus and the Temple.
* In the era of the Judges, if one adds their reigns, they exceed 480 years, thus suggesting an earlier date for the Exodus. Alternatively, if judges are understood as leaders of various localities, who rule contemporaneously, the time may be less than 480 years[citation needed].
* Some understand the citation of 450 years by Paul in the New Testament (Acts 13:16-20), to refer to the period of the Judges. After adding the duration of the reigns of the kings Saul and David, a period of 580 years is given for the entire period from the exodus to the temple. This is supported by Josephus, who gave 592 years as the time between the Exodus and the Temple. However a plain reading of Acts 13:16-20 suggests that the figure of 450 years was intended to include the 400 years spent by the Israelites in Egypt prior to the Exodus, plus the 40 years wandering in the wilderness, plus the years it took to subdue the nations of Canaan. In that understanding, no reference is made to the duration of the period of the Judges.
The derivative date of around 1440 BCE for the Exodus seems to pinpoint a Pharaoh whose Egyptian records may not match the biblical description.
* 1446 falls in the reign of Thutmose III, whether his reign is dated according to earlier High Chronology or the later more-conventional Low Chronology. From archaeology, records about him do not mention him expelling Hyksos, Hebrews, Beduins, Asiatics, or any group that can be identified with Israel[citation needed]. Perhaps oppositely, he was said to capture Canaanite prisoners in battle to bring them to Egypt as slaves[citation needed]. Admittedly, the Pharaoh of the Exodus also chased the Israelites to try capture them as slaves.
An Exodus date of 1440 BC, followed by a 40-year Wandering, would result in a Conquest date of 1400 BC, which seems to match nothing in the archeology of Israel. There are many places with destruction layers dating to around 1200 BCE (and to around 1550 BCE), but little around 1400 BCE[citation needed].
* At Hazor, a destruction layer is at the transition from the Canaanite Bronze Age to the Israelite Iron Age, dating to around 1200 BCE ± 50 years. This date corresponds to the Merneptah Stele that mentions Israel in this area around year 1208. A similar layer at Lachish is dated to 1150, and at Megiddo to 1145 BCE. Other “Joshua” cities have transition layers around 1250 BCE. Even so, some “Joshua” cities don’t have destruction layers at all[4].
* If the 1200 BCE destruction layers evidence the activity of Israelites under Joshua, either the biblical figure of 480 years must be discounted, or Egyptian chronology must be radically revised, or biblical chronology must be radically revised. A number of scholars have attempted to revise Egyptian chronology[citation needed], but so far such revisions cause more problems than they solve.
Interpretation:
The findings of modern archaeologists may present a challenge for Orthodox Jews and fundamentalist Christians. The Exodus and the subsequent Conquest of Canaan that the chronologies of the archaeologists seem to plainly diverge from those that may be derived from known versions of the Bible, at least in overall terms of centuries and populations.
The strong negative reaction to leading Conservative Rabbi David Wolpe’s 2001 Passover speech, where he plainly stated that the Exodus did not happen, indicates that this is still a controversial issue even in the liberal Jewish movements.
We are at the boundary between verifiable history and the earlier, harder-to-verify histories of the Bible. Such reasoning is possible because the Israelite chronologies seem secure back through the time of Solomon, and those of Egypt much farther back. It would appear we have what may reasonably be described as proto-Israelite material culture transitions which can be dated with reasonable accuracy, and occur at unexpectedly late dates.[citation needed] Now, since only 40 years separate the Exodus and the Conquest in the biblical narrative, if we are talking about a Late Conquest, we are talking about a Late Exodus as well. Thus, conservative scholars[who?] within Judaism and Christianity by and large still attempt to maintain Biblical chronologies in keeping with I Ki. 6:1, rabbinical materials, or Josephus, i.e. early Exodus chronologies, whereas less literalist scholars within these traditions as well as most scholars outside of them by and large subscribe to Late Exodus chronologies.
Most archaeologists[who?] working on the territories of ancient Israel now support chronologies differing from the biblical Conquest of Canaan by some centuries, and if it turns out they are right, we may have to revise our historical view of the Exodus accordingly. In spite of what appears to be a discrepancy of archaeology with the Bible, the work of archaeologists does suggest the reality of the overall ‘sweep of events’ – e.g. an arrival in Canaan by this proto-Israelite material culture some centuries before the time that Solomon and David are believed to have lived, and Egypt had been known to enslave Semites.[8] Egyptologists have even discovered various Exodus-like events that could well correspond to events such as those that may have given rise to the biblical Exodus narratives.[citation needed] Although nothing has been found to substantiate the presence of Egypto-Israelites wandering in the Sinai so as to fix the date of the Exodus, neither has anything like a direct, unambiguous record of Joshua and his attacks ever been found.
Many rabbis in the Talmud[who?] stated that one should not always interpret certain Torah verses literally. Later rabbis, such as Maimonides, taught that when reality contradicts a current understanding of the Gemara, we must re-interpret that Gemara in accord with science.[citation needed] For many traditional rabbis,[who?] this did not apply to the Torah, and such a position would count as heresy.[citation needed] This view exists today within Conservative Judaism, Reform Judaism, and parts of Modern Orthodox Judaism.[citation needed]
