dg:
OK, I re-watched the show.  Simcha Jacobovici is a very sincere-sounding and smooth talker, and James Cameron (who has made some great films but is hardly a brain trust) made sure they had flashy SFX.  The first thing to note is that when you start out with a premise (e.g., the Exodus as described in the OT was a historical event as described) and then start looking for "evidence" to support your pre-conceived notion, that's not science, that's religion.  So this program is religion pretending to be science.  He has about 10 seconds of Israel Finkelstein saying "there's no evidence for this" (no details) and then blows on by.  Finkelstein, one of the top archaeologists in Israel, has written a book called The Bible Unearthed which lays out in detail the problems with reconciling the OT with archaeology.  Simcha OTOH is a self-professed "investigative journalist".  Who does he give face-time to again and again?  "Dr." Charles Pellegrino, who worked on another biblical project for the Discovery Channel with....Simcha and Cameron; who had publication of a recent book stopped because he falsified some of the content; and who apperently never did get his doctorate.  Other legitimate authorities make very short appearances, like Redford, who was given little time to expand on what  he was saying, and Dever, who says we can't play with Egyptian chronology - only to be disappeared and then we see Simcha say essentially "but we have to".  Exactly.  The data are tortured until they confess. 

The rest of the program is redolent with the wildest speculation on the flimsiest of "evidence".  Large numbers of Hebrews went to Mycenaean Greece?  Really???  My degree is in Ancient Civilization and I've been interested in ancient history for over 45 years and I've never heard of such a thing being even hinted at.  How about this - the Greeks have always used geometric patterns on their pottery and sculpture - why does it have to be the parting of the Red Sea this time?  He says the guy in the picture is Moses carrying a staff - not just a Mycenaean ground-pounder being chased down by a noble in his chariot (as the guy who actually works in the museum suggests).  But only Simcha can see all of these connections and make the right interpretations.  Same thing with the piece of jewelry representing the Ark.  And the symbol of water and two daggers which he at least qualifies as "might mean" the parting of the sea.  The date of the eruption of Thera is disputed; let's just go with the one that fits our storyline.  The painting of the ships in the harbor found in Akrotiri was a map of Egypt?  I've only ever seen it described as a picture of the harbor of Thera before the volcanic eruption.  Joseph's seal in Avaris?  The place was the capital of the Hyksos, from which they ruled the Delta and up the river well into Upper Egypt for 150+ years.  The Hyksos were apparently Canaanites as were the Hebrews, so what, nobody else of Semitic extraction had the name Yakov?   Seals at the time were used to "sign" documents.  One of the more annoying things he said was that perhaps Seqenenre Tao was one of the very pharaohs who'd "oppressed the Hebrews" and that "maybe they hit his mummy in the head with an ax on the way out".  smiley: mad  According to the history books the Hyksos were invaders who introduced advanced weapons into Egypt such as the chariot, the composite bow, and the penetrating ax (which was what appears to have caused the wounds to Seqenenre Tao's head).  Seqenenre Tao was one of the first of the Theban princes to begin the revolt against the Hyksos, after starting to adopt the new weaponry. His mummy is in bad shape because he was killed when he was defeated on the battlefield and they could not retrieve his body very quickly, so decomp had begun before they could mummify him.  Ahmose (founder of the 18th Dynasty) is the evil pharaoh who was forced to "release" the Hebrews according to Simcha.  And his name means "brother of Moses" according to Simcha.  Again he leaves out an inconvenient fact - Seqenenre Tao was succeeded by Kahmose, who also died in the revolt and who was succeeded by his brother - Ahmose.  Wouldn't it be more likely that Ahmose means brother of his actual brother, Kahmose?

The evaluation of the plagues was interesting but the one it always falls flat on is killing the first-born.  Only the first-born slept on beds on the first floor?  Ridiculous. He also says people would say he'd explained away God and then dismisses the notion.  But that is exactly what he did. 

Other things that are not mentioned.  After the expulsion of the Hyksos Ahmose harried them back into Palestine, seized two fortresses on the border, and continued to attack Palestine.  Canaan was under Egyptian control for centuries thereafter.  Where exactly did the Hebrews go?  The first mention of them (and then only as a people, not a nation state) is on the Stela of Merneptah from about 1208 BC.  Funny thing, the OT doesn't mention this run-in with Merneptah.   The OT says that the Exodus happened X-number of years before Solomon (IIRC it works out to mid-1400's).  So in this case, apparently, the Bible cannot be relied upon.  Apparently only Simcha knows which portions of the OT are accurate.  But on his timeline the Hebrews just disappear for a few centuries.

He also doesn't mention that the Exodus is more commonly ascribed to the reign of Rameses II of the XIXth Dynasty a couple of hundred years later.  In fact, as chance would have it, the Green Channel just ran a show the other day called Rameses: Wrath of God or Man?  in which somebody had advanced the theory that a skull he'd found was that of Rameses II's heir apparent who never succeeded to the throne (because God killed him in the Red Sea).

So, as you may have surmised, I remain unconvinced. smiley: wink


"Be polite. Be professional. But always have a plan to kill everyone you meet."