★★★★★ 5
Exciting reinterpretation of ancient history.
Format: Paperback
In "Pharoahs And Kings", author David Rohl offers the reader a stunning new interpretation of the events of the ancient world in Egypt and the Levant. In doing so, he ties in Biblical events to their proper place in history. This is a stunning reordering of events and personalities and brings both Egyptian and Biblical history to a much closer synchronization.
The book begins in Egypt where Rohl lays out his evidence for condensing the chronology of Egypt. Though we use AD/BC as a method of numbering our years, the ancients did not do so and used regnal dates ("In the third year of Pharoah So-And-So's reign, something happened."). By counting all Pharoahs and their reign lengths, historians felt they had a handle on when, according to our dating system, things happened. When they did so, they discovered the events portrayed in the Bible didn't match. When they date Solomon's reign in Israel to the Iron Age, for example, they find economic development to be poor - a far cry from the Biblical accounts of Solomon's reign as a flowering of culture and rich in trade. Likewise, Jericho's walls did not fall in the time period most historians would place the Exodus and entrance into the Levant of the Hebrews. Therefore, the Biblical accounts are simply myth, nothing more.
David Rohl is a historian, not a religious believer and his point of view is as a historian. His focus is to find a more accurate timeline for the events in the ancient Middle East. He begins in Egypt because that is his area of expertise and he gives convincing arguements for re-ordering the events of Egypt. The clincher, for me, was the tombs of Tanis (among other inconsistencies in the conventional dating such as the number of Apis Bulls) in which the tomb of Psusennes I cuts into the tomb of King Oskoron II and was obviously built after the tomb of Oskoron II. The problem? Oskoron II was from the 22nd dynasty while Psusennes was from the 21st! It is quite obviously reversed! Rohl's conclusion is that two dynasties were contemporary and that about 140 years needs to be removed from the timeline of Egypt.
When this is done, events in the Levant match the events in the Old Testament very closely. In the New Chronology, Jericho falls just when the Hebrews are entering Canaan according to the Bible. Solomon's Israel is now placed in the Late Bronze Age where there is evidence of prosperous cities and flourishing trade. There is evidence of mentions of both Saul and David in the Amarna Letters.
This was a page turner and Rohl's work, although controversial, is backed up by fact and evidence. There is less evidence for some of his conclusions than others (in my mind), but it is well researched and never strays from a scholarly interpretation of the evidence written and on the ground.
I actually enjoyed this book! David Rohl writes in a very engaging fashion, often using humor. His writing skill keeps subjects that may seem dull very frsh and exciting. He often uses humor and engages the reader, challenges the reader and forces the reader to think. This is not the usual dry tome on archeology that puts you to sleep! He assists the reader with many and high quality photos and drawings of the evidence and includes "side bars" with definitions and explanations in the margins to help the layman navigate the technical aspects of history and archeology without getting bogged down and overwhelmed.
This is a fine book and more than deserving of five stars. It's a very eye-opening and interesting read that doesn't seem like a college textbook. Instead, he challenges the reader while entertaining at the same time. I recommend this book with five stars!
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Reviewed in the United States on September 29, 2012
