The Exodus QuestBy Will Adams
Harper Collins 2008
Two years ago I read and reviewed a novel called The Alexandria Link. It posited a theory that after the Jews left egypt (the exodus) they settled down in Arabia, and NOT in Palestine. This book puts all the facts together and comes up with a logical and credible account of how and why the exodus happened.
In this book, Daniel Knox, an archaeologist,makes a discovery that will redefine jewish history.
The Essenes or Gnostics were thought to have been just one sect and made up of only one group located at Qumran. Daniel discovers proof that there were other gnostic groups in Egypt at the same time. Two of these gnostic groups in Egypt were the Therapeutae and the Carpocratians. The large jars found in Qumran that held the Dead Sea Scrolls had only ever been found at Qumran.
Daniel found the lid to one of these jars in Alexandria. It came from an archeological site near Lake Mariut, just outside of Alexandria. When Danile tries to investigate, he is blocked at every turn and refused permission to search their site.
Daniel continues to investigate, and eventually finds the proof of the jewish origins. But not before he is shot at, loses his memory, is abducted, recovers his memory and is almost drowned. Finally he finds the tomb of the real Adam. Ahkenaten's tomb.
Excerpt of the Exodus Quest
You've got to understand that the Bible isn't historical. It's a collection of folk-tales designed to convince the Jews that they had broght their Babylonian exile and the destruction of the Temple upon themselves. Thats why so many of the stories follow the same basic moral path.
Man makes covenant with god. Man breaks covenant. God punishes man.
Exactly. One explanation is that person or people who put the bible together, actively looked for stories that fit this pattern. But there is another possibility.
Take Adam and Eve for example. The first man and woman right? But even the Bible tacitly admits that there were other humans around. Cain was branded for killing Abel, so that others would know not to harm him. Which others? He married and had a son named Henoch who founded a city, which you cant exactly do if you are alone in the world. So maybe Adam and Eve weren't the first humans being in a biological sense, but only in a spiritual sense. That is, maybe they were the first to understand the true nature of God.
Ahkenaten and Nefertiti.
Think about it. Here you are living in Amarna. It's your paradise, your Eden, your promised land. You are certain that nothing can go wrong because this is the home on earth of the one true god, and you are under his protection.
But something does go wrong. You're expelled, forced to flee in the night, then to leave Egypt forever. How is this possible? Surely the only explanation is that you made your god angry in some way, failed him in some manner. You vow to never let that happen again. You renew your covenant and in return, God leads your people to a new Amarna, a new promised land. But not in Egypt this time. In Canaan.
Decades pass, centuries. The people of the exodus splinter into different tribes. Each tribe has their own identity, their own stories, but they all have the common bond of flight from Egypt. They pass their stories down from father to son to grandson, down through the generations. Hundreds of years later all the stories are blurred and unrecognizable from what really happened.
Then the Babylonians arrive. (600 BC) They defeat the Israelites in battle, they destroy the temple and take the Israelites into exile.
Once again the Israelites wonder how such a calamity could have overtaken Gods chosen people. They look to their heritage, gather all the different traditions together and begin weaving them into a single narrative about Adam and Eve, Abraham. Issac, Moses and Joseph, all those journys back and forth between Egypt and Canaan. But in fact these stories were not about numerous patriarchs, and ages and places at all. They are all about one patriarch, one age, one place. They are about Akhenaten and Amarna.
SOURCE - Michael Rivero from What Really Happened
Reliable archaeologists, after examining excavations that contain pottery shards and buildings, concluded that archaeological finds don't substantiate the biblical history of Jerusalem and its importance during the eras of a united Jewish kingdom under David and Solomon.
Egypt is literally littered with the ruins of the ancient temples and palaces of her rulers. As much as has been found, it is estimated that only 1/3 of Egypt's archeological wonders have been uncovered to date. A newly discovered temple was uncovered while digging a sewer line, and a cache of finely preserved mummies was literally stumbled over by a cow in a pasture.
Iraq's ancient heritage was enshrined in its ancient sites and museum. As a result of the war, many of those sites have been damaged or destroyed. Part of the ancient city or Ur now lies underneath a US air base runway. The treasures of the museum have only partly been recovered. The treasures from the looted archaeological sites have been scattered to the world.
Likewise, Iran has a rich archaeological heritage marking its place in history.
All of this wealth of archaeological treasures must of course annoy Israel. We are raised from birth with Old Testament tales of the greatness of the ancient Israelites, of the powerful kingdoms of Solomon and David and the first temple. Yet Israel, while rich in antiquities, is almost totally devoid of artifacts from this supposedly glorious time in her history. The existence of the fabled First Temple was supported with just two artifacts, a carved staff ornament in the shape of a pomegranate and the Jehoash tablet. Both of these artifacts have been exposed as frauds. We are told that once there was a magnificent temple on that hill, but it "all went away." The wonders emerging from the soil of Egypt, Iraq, and Iran serve as a constant reminder that ancient buildings of such a scale as we are told the First Temple was simply do not vanish without a trace.
There is considerable reason to suspect that the tales told in the Old Testament are just that; tales. The Bible is not science, it is the collected stories of a primitive tribal people reminding each other how important they are. And like fishermen talking about the one that got away, or Ramses with his temple carvings of the did-not-really-happen victory over the Hittites at Kadesh, the writers of the ancient testaments assumed that the people they were telling stories to had no way to verify the claims for themselves. So "embellishment" was a low-risk activity.
We do know from the available archaeological evidence that the Exodus probably actually happened to the Hyksos, not the Israelites. We know that the story of Moses is suspect because no Egyptian princess would hide a Hebrew child inside Pharaoh's household, then give the kid a Hebrew name
"Moses" is actually an Egyptian title meaning "Prince" and is included in the names of many Pharaoh's names such as Tut-Moses, Ah-Moses, Ra-Moses (Ramses) etc.
Likewise, the story of Masada may be less than accurate. The remains found on the mountain were buried with pig bones, something no proper Jewish funeral would tolerate, which suggests that the bodies found and venerated as heroes of ancient Judea were actually those of dead Roman Soldiers.
But a good story is a good story and the writers of the ancient texts were probably not thinking much further into the future than the guys who pen the "Celebrity dates space alien" stories you see at supermarket checkout lines. The fact that the celebrity is a real person does not prove the space alien exists. It's just a story.
Given enough time, even a simple story written in jest can take on a life of its own. Scientology began as a bet between two science fiction writers; look how wide spread that has become in just a short time.
But, over time, entire religions with attendant wealth and power structures have been built on the premise that these old testament stories really happened exactly as written. And today, here in the 21st century world, science has started to catch up with these ancient legends and call many of them into doubt.
So, for a nation that justifies its existence on the writings of the Torah, the plethora of sites and artifacts confirming the ancient histories of Egypt, Iraq, Iran, etc. etc. etc. must seem a dire political threat for a nation whose own ancient history seems to have left little if any traces at all.
Sources on Akhenaten
Ancient Egypt online
Akhenaten
Akhenaten the Heretic
Akhenaten and Nefertiti
Akhenaten
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