of which is typical of IIIA:2 in general, but its later stage in particular; a pyxis (from Tomb 8065) of the IIIA:2 variety, the decorative pattern of

I would have occurred five years later, in Year 23 (ca. 1484 BC), the same year in which he besieged Megiddo for seven months before overtaking the city (Redford, Egypt, Canaan, and Israel, 156–157). What reason would he have had for completely obliterating Hazor, a city that was clearly a key player in his economic monopoly, and through which great wealth and prosperity was siphoned to Egypt from afar, especially considering how Hazor strategically guarded the Great Trunk Road, the main traffic artery from Egypt to Mesopotamia? As Yadin notes, “[T]he spade revealed that Hazor attained an unprecedented prosperity during the 15th century” BC (Yadin, The Head, 6).82. Donald B. Redford, “The Coregency of Tuthmosis III and Amenophis II,” Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 51 (Dec 1965), 109–110. Redford provides several additional reasons for dating Papyrus Hermitage 1116A to the reign of Amenhotep II.83. For a discussion of the number and years of Amenhotep II’s Asiatic campaigns, see Petrovich, “Amenhotep II,” 94–97.84. James K. Hoffmeier, “James Weinstein’s ‘Egypt and the Middle Bronze IIC/Late Bronze IA Transition’: A Rejoinder,” Levant 23 (1991), 120.85. Yohanan Aharoni and Michael Avi-Yonah, The Macmillan Bible Atlas (New York: Macmillan, 1977), 34. For a lengthier discussion of the inexplicable decline of Egyptian power and its possible relationship to the loss of the Egyptian army at the time of the exodus, see Petrovich, “Amenhotep II,” 100.86. Claude Vandersleyen, L’Egypte et la Vallée du Nil, vol. 2 (Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1995), 341.87. Ibid., 333. Horemheb reigned from ca. 1335–1307 BC.88. Amarna Letters, ed. Moran, 183. Being that the Amarna Letters include correspondence that may date as early as Year 30 of Amenhotep III (ca. 1379 BC), the evidence from EA 109 is consistent with the early-exodus theory, since the decimation of the Egyptian army—which included “all the horses and chariots of pharaoh, his horsemen, and his army” (Exod 14:9), not one of which was spared from being “shaken off” by Yahweh in the sea after they vainly attempted to overtake the Israelites that had passed through the sea on dry land (Exod 14:27–28)—early in the latter half of the 15th century BC would have loosened Egypt’s tight grip on Canaan almost completely. Canaanite client-kings no longer would need to fear and dread their Egyptian overlords, when no massive or mighty army could be dispatched to Canaan to strike fear into the despots who craved autonomy or considered plotting against pharaoh. Such a thorough extermination of Egypt’s fighting force may have crippled their imperialistic prowess for a lengthy period.89. For photographic evidence of this occupational gap, see http://exegesisinternational.org/index.php?option=com_deeppockets&task=contShow&id=3&Itemid=30 90. Bienkowski, “Role of Hazor,” 54.91. Hoffmeier unwisely criticizes Wood for associating the apiru with the Hebrews of the 14th century BC



The Exodus Controversy
Tags: minimalism, maximalism, absence of evidence, arguments from silence, exodus--> This article was published in the Spring 2003 issue of Bible and Spade.It seems that every year, especially around the spring Passover season when Jews and many Christians commemorate Israel’s deliverance from Egypt, newspapers and magazines publish articles questioning the validity of the Biblical account of the Exodus.In 2001, for example, The Los Angeles Times ran a front-page story reporting that a liberal rabbi in the Los Angeles area caused quite a stir when he shocked his congregation by stating he had his doubts that the Exodus ever took place. “The truth is,” explained Rabbi David Wolpe,that virtually every modern archaeologist who has investigated the story of the Exodus, with very few exceptions, agrees that the way the Bible describes the Exodus is not the way it happened, if it happened at all (Watanabe 2001).Perhaps you have read such articles and wondered whether you can believe the Bible. After almost 200 years of archaeological research in Egypt and Israel, why do so many challenge the Exodus account? The stakes are not small, as the critics well know. If the narrative of the Exodus is not factual, then the trustworthiness of Biblical revelation is indeed seriously undermined. Therefore it is essential that our evaluation of the evidence be accurate and fair.Christ Affirms the ExodusFirst, let’s make sure we have a clear picture of the Biblical perspective. We find that Jesus Christ affirmed the Biblical account of the Exodus as true, and He based some of His teachings on it. Reminding His countrymen that God had miraculously provided food for them during 40 years in the wilderness, He said:Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven (Jn 6:49—51).Jesus staked His reputation, authority, and credibility on the Exodus account’s reliability—on His confidence that the Israelites actually did eat manna in the desert as the Scriptures describe. If this account were not true, then Jesus was wrong, and so are some of His teachings.We should not be surprised, then, that some critics have focused so much attention on this fundamental event in the Bible. They try to discredit the story of the Exodus to undermine its historical validity.Biblical historian Eugene Merrill describes the importance the Exodus has for the rest of the Bible:The exodus is the most significant historical and theological event of the Old Testament because it marks God’s mightiest act in behalf of his people...To it the Book of Genesis provides an introduction and justification, and from it flows all subsequent Old Testament revelation...In the final analysis, the exodus served to typify that exodus achieved by Jesus Christ for people of faith, so that it is a meaningful event for the church as well as for Israel (1996:57–58).Limits of ArchaeologyMany critics who doubt the historicity of the Exodus share a problem: over-reliance on what archaeology can prove. Archaeology is, in fact, a limited and imperfect area of study in which the interpretation of findings, as archaeologists readily admit, is more of an art than a hard science.Archaeologist Edwin Yamauchi points out the limits of this science when he explains: (1) little of what was made or written in antiquity survives to this day; (2) few of the ancient sites have been surveyed and a number have not even been found; (3) probably fewer than 2 percent of the known sites have been meaningfully excavated; (4) few of these have been more than scratched; and (5) only a fraction of the fraction that have been excavated have been published and data made available to the scholarly world (1972: chapter 4).Considering not only the limits but also the positive side of archaeology, it is remarkable how many Biblical accounts have been illuminated and confirmed by the relatively small number of sites excavated and Rosetta Stone Spanish