The Bible: A History

Some, but certainly not all. For example, there's no proof there ever was a conquest of Canaan and no proof of a large slave population in Egypt.



Well, let me recommend “The Oxford History of the Biblical World,” edited by Dr. Michael D. Coogan, director of publications for the Harvard Semitic Museum and expert in Near Eastern languages and literatures. The book is excellent on Syria-Palestinian archeology.
The following will shed light on the question.

The end of the thirteenth century BCE saw major disruptions in the civilizations of the Near East, Cyprus and Greece for unclear reasons (possible major droughts). “Many populations appear to have migrated….Egypt was attacked by groups called ‘Sea Peoples.’ They were repelled from Egypt, but the Egyptians could not stop them from taking over the Canaan coast. The Philistines …were among the Sea Peoples.”
“…the Philistines did not occupy the coast of Canaan until the twelfth century BCE…”

“Not long before, another group had appeared in the land of Canaan…This group called itself Israel…The Egyptians maintained some control over parts of Canaan until just after the death of Rameses III in 1153 BCE….[including] Canaanites, Egyptians, Israelites, and the mysterious ‘Sea Peoples,’ of whom the Philistines are the best known. The settlement process in highland Israel began a generation or two before the Sea Peoples arrived on the coast…The displacement and migration of the tribe of Dan from the central coast to the far north is symptomatic of …this event.”

“This movement is documented by a variety of written sources in Akkadian, Ugaritic, Egyptian, and Hebrew, by Egyptian wall reliefs and by archeology.”
“The Philistines bequeathed their own name to Philistia (and later to all of Palestine).”
“Cypriot archaeologists invoke the Achaeans or Danaoi of Homeric epic as the agents of culture change in Cyprus; in the Levant, the same change is ascribed to the Sea Peoples. Both agents participated in the event recorded by Rameses III and should be related to the same confederacy of Sea Peoples, or Mycenaean Greeks, who invaded the coastlands of (Cyprus) around 1185-1175.”

Further evidence of the origin of the Philistines can be seen in biblical texts, which indicate expert bowman, “chariot-warriors,” and “chariots of iron,” (I Samuel 31.3, Judg. 1.18-19) and pottery which show warriors armed like the Mycenaean warriors depicted on the famous “Warrior Vase” found in Mycenae. The description fits Goliatath, as in I Samuel 17.5-6.
Under King David, first quarter of the tenth century, the Philistines were driven back to their original coastal cities.

Perhaps we can arrange a 'cage match' between Dr. Michael D. Coogan, and yourself....Pay-per-View.

Winner take all.

Where in all that is there proof that a large group of slaves left Egypt and conquered Canaan? I just don't see it. The fact that the Philistines are "Sea Peoples" is interesting, but irrelevant to the Exodus story.



"For example, there's no proof there ever was a conquest of Canaan..."

So....you're retracting this part?



And...this guy is Dr Michael D. Coogan's trainer:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rwOpf7QmZg]John Hansen Demonstrates How to do a Barbell Shrug - YouTube[/ame]
 
There's a big difference between the Bible having a history and being literal history, itself. The Bible is many documents. Besides its decidedly moral and historical components, its also a work of political propaganda. A narrative was needed to unite the Israelites after the Babylonians captivity and legends were cobbled together to justify their ownership of Canaan. While some of the Exodus and conquest stories may have occurred in some form, archaeology provides very little evidence of any of them.

My, what a wonderful application of modern thinking to an ancient text. Do you think they consulted a PR firm, too?
 
There's a big difference between the Bible having a history and being literal history, itself. The Bible is many documents. Besides its decidedly moral and historical components, its also a work of political propaganda. A narrative was needed to unite the Israelites after the Babylonians captivity and legends were cobbled together to justify their ownership of Canaan. While some of the Exodus and conquest stories may have occurred in some form, archaeology provides very little evidence of any of them.

My, what a wonderful application of modern thinking to an ancient text. Do you think they consulted a PR firm, too?

Who needs PR when you've got archaeology that, A) shows no large slave population in Egypt, B) demonstrates no major differences in the pottery between Canaanite and Israelite communities and C) can find no evidence of destruction of Canaanite towns and cities due to an outside invasion?
 

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