Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Maps Of War


Check out this really cool site that allows you to see the history of empires of the Old World going back to 3000 BC. One interesting thing to note as it begins is that the Kingdom of Egypt around 2,000 - 1,000 BC controlled the land of Israel - showing you that the Old Testament stories of the Jewish Exodus is nonsense - the Egyptians already controlled the land of Canaan (Israel), so the Jews could not have fled there to evade them.

www.mapsofwar.com


Spread of ancient near-eastern empires:



Spread of world's major religions:

12 comments:

  1. It is more accurate to state that Canaan was under the influence of Egypt rather than "controlled" by Egypt during the period in question. Archaeological evidence indicates that the region of Canaan was comprised of many small fortified city-states during this time period. This is consistent with the old testament account of the exodus.

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    1. Archaeology shows no military conquest of Canaan as far as I know. Only a slow resettlement over many hundreds of years. The evidence shows that the Jews were Canaanites who separated from them and developed a distinct culture.

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  3. That's one interpretation of the pottery fragments, ruined buildings, and occasional inscription. There are others. Archaeology is not a "hard" science like physics or chemistry. There is much room for alternate interpretations of the discovered artifacts of ancient peoples.

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    1. Agreed. It's interpretive. But there isn't any physical evidence as far as I know for a 40 year desert wandering in Sinai. The kingdom of David is also in question. I personally believe that there is some truth to the Bible, but it is lavished with embellishment and myth, and therefore is not meant to be taken as a historical book.

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  4. Interesting that you mention David, as there was an article this week about the discovery of ruin that is allegedly affiliated with him.

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  5. http://www.foxnews.com/science/2013/07/18/archaeologists-say-uncovered-king-david-palace/

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    1. Fox News! The most trusted, unbiased, fair and balanced source of news ever! More trustworthy than the actual Bible itself!

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  6. Its on a lot of other news outlets. That's the first link that popped up on my search. Fox is no worse in its bias than any of the other "news" outlets. I read them all, without prejudice, including Al Jazeera, BBC News, Russia Today.

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  7. One of the interesting fragments from the past that may be evidence of the Israelites invading Canasn are the Amarna letters, diplomatic dispatches to Akhnaten that send warning of the Habiru raiders who were wreaking havoc in Canaan. There are other ways to interpret these letters, obviously, but this could be clear evidence of the Israelite invasion of Csnaan.

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    1. I will eagerly await the news of this new evidence for David's kingdom and see how the experts and critics respond. My disbelief in the Bible being divinely inspired does not rest on any one story being true or false. Even if the kingdom of David was real, or if a Canaanite conquest did happen, that would be no reason to suddenly proclaim the Bible as the word of god.

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    2. Frank, why is it reasonable to think that the Habiru are the Israelites, given the generally poor mapping of the biblical record of this period with the archaeology (things like many of the cities the Israelites supposedly conquered either being abandoned or not not existing at the time)?

      Is it only people who are already committed to the historicity of the bible who make this claim (biblical maximalists) or are there more reasonable voices who agree with them?

      Ps. Even if David existed, the archaeological record doesn't allow for his supposedly glorious kingdom to have existed, since at the time the hill country appears to have been rather sparsely populated :-)

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