5- The Biblical prophet Daniel lived during the same century as the Chinese philosopher Confucius.
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8 – Noah’s son Shem was still alive when Abraham was born =Abraham could have learned the history of the world from Shem. Who learned about Adam on down from his grandfather and then passed it to his great-great-great (8 greats) grandson Abraham.
9- Who came first? Queen Esther or Daniel?
They both lived during the Babylonian captivity. Esther’s book is first in the Bible, but she lived nearly a century after Daniel – toward the end of the captivity.
10 – The Greek poet Homer lived about the same time as King Solomon.
What have you learned from the Bible Timeline that you didn’t know before? Share your discoveries with a comment below. 🙂
The years of Israel’s three first kings fall into the late Bronze Age collapse. This is listed on the Bible Timeline between 1104 BC, and 979 BC. It was at a time of great upheavals and their combined reigns span more or less 122 years. During this, the Sea People raided the coasts of the Mediterranean. The Mycenaean, and Hittite kingdoms had also collapsed, and trades routes across the Levant were disrupted. Few kingdoms remained intact during this period, but it also saw the rise of Israel as a unified nation.
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After the death of Joshua, the Israelites were a confederation of tribes which had no central authority. They were beset by hostile neighbors, and on one occasion, descended into civil war, as shown in the last chapters of Judges. This continued until the time of Samuel, Israel’s last significant judge, and the appointment of Saul as their first king. This was after the leaders of the tribes asked for someone to rule over them.
Samuel, however, warned them against forming a kingdom and having a king rule over them (1 Samuel 10). He cautioned them that installing a king would mean conscription (1 Samuel 8:11-12), enslavement (1 Samuel 8:12-13), and taxation (1 Samuel 8:14-18).
Samuel’s ambivalence toward the kingship was evident in the succeeding chapters (1 Samuel 10:17-19 and chapter 12), and his warnings would ring true during and after Solomon’s reign (1 Kings 12). But the Israelites were adamant on having a king and Saul was later on proclaimed as such. Making the nation’s structure of government similar to Canaan, Mesopotamia, and Egypt.
“Saul threatening David, by José Leonardo.”
Saul (42 or 40 years; 1 Samuel 13:1 and Acts 13:21)
Saul was first anointed as king by Samuel and acclaimed as king by the drawing of lots at Mizpah. Then proclaimed as king by the people after the battle with the Ammonites.
His reign started out as promising but went downhill after his disobedience during the war with the Philistines and Amalekites. It was marked with constant skirmishes and all-out wars against Israel’s neighbors, as well as a struggle between him and the future King David.
He was undoubtedly a courageous leader in battle and a good military strategist, but he was also known as someone who was mentally unstable. His erratic behavior and paranoid tendencies caused him to lose kingship. He reigned approximately 42 years (or 40 years), and it ended when he, along with his sons, died in the battle of Mount Gilboa against the Philistines.
David (40 years; 2 Samuel 5:4)
Saul was rejected by the Lord for his disobedience after he failed in purging the Amalekites by sparing King Agag and keeping the booty. Samuel mourned for Saul, but the Lord commanded him to anoint David as a replacement. The shepherd boy from Bethlehem was also a talented harpist and started out in Saul’s court playing for the tormented king to soothe him during his irrational fits.
David became well-known when he killed the giant Philistine warrior Goliath. A struggle for power between David and Saul ensued after David’s military successes and growing popularity. Saul made repeated attempts at ending David’s life. David also had many opportunities when he could easily have killed Saul but did not. David was proclaimed as king of Judah after Saul’s death, but the northern tribes of Israel remained loyal to the house of Saul until the assassination of his son Ishbosheth.
David first ruled in Hebron for seven years and six months. He also ruled in Jerusalem for thirty-three years after capturing the city from the Jebusites (2 Samuel 5). He made significant military victories against the Philistines, Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, and Arameans (2 Samuel 8). These military victories paved the way for economic prosperity which heightened during the time of Solomon’s reign.
However, he was also known by civil war and strife in his own household. Such as his adultery with Bathsheba, the murder of Bathsheba’s husband Uriah, Amnon’s rape of his half-sister Tamar, and two of his sons’ attempt at usurpation of the throne. David’s legacy was his poetry, music, military skills, and political shrewdness. Solomon, with the help of his mother Bathsheba and the prophet Nathan, was appointed as king when his father died.
Solomon (40 years)
Israel experienced a golden age during Solomon’s reign. Which he reaped from the military victories of his father. His period was marked by prosperity and relative peace. Solomon was known for his wisdom and writings which were recorded in Proverbs and Song of Songs. His kingdom’s success meant that he could afford to build great architectural projects, and he did this by building lavish palaces for himself and a temple for the Lord.
Solomon was known to have taken many wives including the daughter of the Pharaoh. This formed an important alliance with Egypt and Israel. In 1 Kings 11, he had 700 wives and 300 concubines from Israel and neighboring nations who led him to worship other gods. This angered the Lord, prompting Him to break the covenant He had with David and dividing the kingdom during the reign of Solomon’s son Rehoboam. Solomon also had minor adversaries in Hadad of Edom and Rezon king of Damascus.
Jeroboam, one of Solomon’s officials, rebelled against him during the last years of the king’s reign. After Solomon had attempted to kill Jeroboam and the latter’s exile in Egypt, Jeroboam returned and successfully ruled over the 10 tribes of Israel, leaving Rehoboam to rule over Judah.
Saul’s dethroning is recorded on the Bible Timeline Chart around 1050 BC. However, to fully understand his story, let us start from the beginning in 1 Samuel 8. This was when the disgruntled leaders of Israel met with Samuel in Ramah to insist on him appointing a king over them. Samuel was now well into old age and his sons Joel and Abijah whom he appointed as judges were deemed unfit because of their greediness for money. He was displeased with their request for a king but acquiesced after consulting the Lord, who gave him permission to grant it. Saul, from the tribe of Benjamin, was later on anointed as king over Israel.
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Saul started out strong, but his rash character and poor decisions ended his promising future as Israel’s king. The first instance was during the war with the Philistines when the troops of Israel were routed after a battle. Saul was at Gilgal and his impatience drove him to sacrifice the burnt and peace offerings when Samuel himself instructed him to wait for seven days (1 Samuel 10:8). The burning of the offering was a task delegated exclusively to priests (in this case, Samuel who was descended from the tribe of Levi) because of the degree of purity and holiness they were attributed to. Making Saul’s actions a severe offense to God and Samuel (1 Samuel 13).
“David and Saul”
The next example of Saul’s poor decision-making was during the war with the Amalekites. Through Samuel, God directed Saul to purge all the Amalekites including, their livestock. This was because they refused to allow the Israelites passage through their territory after they were freed from Egypt. Saul, however, failed in this task by sparing the Amalekite King Agag and keeping the livestock for himself and his men. Destroying only those that are of poor quality (1 Samuel 15:1-9).
The Lord was disappointed with him when he kept the plunder and Samuel admonished Saul for his disobedience. Saul added to his sins when he said that that he kept the livestock so he could sacrifice them to the Lord. This incident pushed Samuel to find a replacement for Saul as king of the new nation.
Mental Illness and Attempts at David’s Life
It has been proposed that Saul exhibited severe mental disturbance that may have contributed to his unstable personality and failed leadership. In 1 Samuel 16:14, the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul altogether, and an evil spirit tormented him. He may also have suffered from depression or post-traumatic stress disorder. Probably, as a result, of the violence he experienced during the war with the Ammonites, Amalekites, and the Philistines. David helped soothe Saul during these episodes by playing his harp.
As Saul’s behavior became increasingly erratic, he exhibited paranoia and jealousy toward David’s success and popularity. This would later drive him to make several attempts at killing David. These repeated attempts at murder would forever mar his reputation. It can even be said that he lost the kingship over Israel long before his demise. His death along with his sons on Mount Gilboa during a battle with the Philistines was the end of his reign. After his violent death, Saul was mourned by David and memorialized in a lament (2 Samuel 1:17-27).
Aftermath and Saul’s Legacy
Further violence erupted, and the young nation descended into civil war as Judah supported David as king while the northern tribes of Israel stayed loyal to the house of Saul. Particularly his son Ish-bosheth who ruled in Israel for two years. Ish-bosheth was later murdered by Recab and Baanah, his own tribesmen and leaders of his raiding band. David ruled over a united Israel and Judah after his death (2 Samuel 2-5).
Saul’s reputation as king and as a person overall was tarnished due to his unstable character and bad decisions. But he was also a mighty warrior who gave Israel some of its most important victories against its enemies during a time of chaos. He was then used by God to pave the way for David and future kings of the nation.
The actual date of the Pyramid’s construction is still widely under speculation. This event, however, is listed on the Bible Timeline around 1904 BC. Ziggurats in Mesopotamia preceded Egypt’s pyramids by several hundred years. So it is hypothesized that the pyramids’ design was based on these ancient high-rise buildings. The earliest pyramids were step pyramids that resembled their Mesopotamian counterparts. Receding tiers or mastabas were built on top of the other to form a proto-pyramid structure. The perfect example of this was the pyramid of the 3rd Dynasty pharaoh Djoser in Saqqara. It was built around 2630 BC and rose to a height of 204 feet.
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Egyptians were in a transition during this period. They were on their way of perfecting the design of the pyramids as shown in the Bent Pyramid of Sneferu. And later the predecessor of ‘true’ pyramids, the Red or North Pyramid built by the same pharaoh. By circa 2500 BC, Egyptians have perfected the art and engineering of the now smooth-sided pyramids of Giza, also known as the Great Pyramids.
“The reconstructed facade of the Neo-Sumerian Great Ziggurat of Ur, near Nasiriyah, Iraq”
True Pyramids of the Old Kingdom’s 4th Dynasty
Khufu, Sneferu’s son, built Egypt’s largest and first true pyramid at Giza, which is located south of Cairo. The chosen site was the high end of a natural plateau to ensure the visibility of the pyramid. It once had an original height of 481 feet but was reduced to 455.2 feet when the pyramidion was stolen. Khafre’s pyramid sits right beside his father Khufu’s and is the second largest at 448 feet while Menkaure’s pyramid is the smallest at 215 feet.
Khufu’s Great Pyramid
The pyramid had a perfect orientation to the points of the compass and was designed with precise dimensions. The south shaft of the King’s chamber of the Great Pyramid was aligned to face Orion and the other shaft in the Queen’s chamber was aligned to Sirius. There are still debates whether these are for astrological purposes as Orion was associated with Osiris, god of the underworld or for a practical reason such as an air shaft.
Thousands of tons of granite, limestone, as well as mortar were quarried from Aswan, Tura, and surrounding areas and transported to Giza. The Great Pyramid weighs 6.5 million tons with each block of stone averaging about 2.5 tons and covers an area of 756 feet (13 acres). Each side measures 5.5 acres, and it has 203 level of steps toward the summit. The interior chamber blocks and casing stones (Tura limestones) were cut with high precision, but many of these casing stones were loosened after a massive earthquake in early 1300 AD. So what remains today is the original interior blocks. The loosened casing stones were later on carted off mid-1300 AD as materials to build a mosque in Cairo.
Khufu’s pyramid was built by thousands of men. The Greeks hypothesized that it took 20 years to finish the Great Pyramid, and approximately 100,000 slaves were employed seasonally to build it. But there is evidence that up to 20,000 skilled craftsmen were employed and worked in the area on a permanent basis.
Pyramids were built throughout the 6th Dynasty, but these generally fell out of fashion later on. The high cost of building these royal tombs contributed to their halt and succeeding dynasties switched from pyramids to carved cliff-side tombs to reduce looting by grave robbers.
Laban was the son of Bethuel and Milcah and brother to Rebecca. He was Isaac’s cousin, and later he became Isaac’s brother-in-law after Rebecca’s marriage. Laban was also the father-in-law and uncle to Jacob through marriage to Leah and Rachel. He can be found on the Bible Timeline around 1829 BC.
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Laban was first mentioned in the Bible after Abraham’s chief servant set off to Paddan Aram (Aram Naharaim) to do his master’s bidding of finding a suitable wife for Isaac from his own kin. After the servant’s initial meeting with Rebecca by the town’s well, she rushed back to her family and told them about a man who gave her a gold nose ring and gold bracelets. Laban played a crucial role in Isaac and Rebecca’s marriage. He acted as the head of the family as Abraham’s servant asked for Rebecca’s hand in marriage on behalf of Isaac. Laban and his father Bethuel did not consent nor decline but acknowledged that the matter “is from the Lord” (Genesis 24:50).
“Laban and Jacob make a covenant together, as narrated in Genesis 31:44–54”
Laban once again became part of the story when his nephew Jacob fled his family after stealing his twin brother’s birthright. Laban gave his nephew refuge in Paddan Aram, and Jacob worked for him for seven years after meeting and falling in love with Laban’s daughter Rachel. The relationship between Laban and his son-in-law soured after a series of frauds which included the switching of brides during Rachel’s supposed wedding night, Laban’s dishonesty in the division of flocks, and changing of Jacob’s wages ten times. Jacob summed up the injustice he experienced with Laban in the passage below.
“I have been with you for twenty years now. Your sheep and goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten rams from your flocks. I did not bring you animals torn by wild beasts; I bore the loss myself. And you demanded payment from me for whatever was stolen by day or night. This was my situation: The heat consumed me in the daytime and the cold at night, and sleep fled from my eyes. It was like this for the twenty years I was in your household. I worked for you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks, and you changed my wages ten times. If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, you would surely have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my hardship and the toil of my hands, and last night he rebuked you.” Genesis 31:38-43 NIV
Both, later on, agreed on a covenant and parted on good terms.
After 17 years in Egypt, Jacob fell ill and the time of his death drew near. He gathered all his sons after blessing Manasseh and Ephraim and gave most of them blessings while some were a recipient of admonitions and curses befitting their deeds while they lived in Canaan. This event is listed on the Bible Timeline around 1670 BC. These were given first to the sons of Leah, then to the sons of his concubines Bilhah and Zilpah, and last to the sons of Rachel (see Genesis 49).
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Judahwas the first son to receive blessings from his father. Jacob said that his brothers shall praise him while enemies and his brothers will bow down before him (Genesis 49:8). He was also likened to a lion (v 9) and his role as the family’s leader was established by Jacob (v 10). King David and Jesus were also descended from Judah. Additional blessings in the form of material prosperity were also bestowed upon Judah (v 11, 12).
Issachar’s ‘blessing’ started off as positive with him being described as a “rawboned (strong) donkey lying between saddlebags” (v 14) and inheriting a good land. But when he saw “how pleasant the land was, he worked too hard and became a slave” (v 15 CEV).
Zebulun, Leah’s youngest son “will live by the seashore and become haven for ships” (v 13).
Joseph: Apart from Judah, Jacob’s blessings for Joseph is one of the longest and probably, the most eloquent. Jacob recounted his son’s suffering and eventual triumph in Egypt (v 22-24), as well as reiterated God’s help during his trials.
Benjaminwas described as a ravenous wolf who was set to devour the prey and divide the plunder (v 27). The future tribe’s reputation will be that of warriors starting from Ehud (Judges 3:15) to Saul, who later on would become Israel’s first king.
Dan: Jacob said that this handmaid’s son “will provide justice to his people” (v 16), but “will be a snake by the roadside… that bites horse’s heels” (v 17).
Naphtali: Bilhah’s son “is a doe set free that bears beautiful fawns” (v 21).
Gad: Zilpah’s first son “will be attacked by a band of raiders, but he will attack them at their heels.” (v 19)
Asher: Jacob blessed Zilpah’s second son with prosperity, saying that “Asher’s food will be rich; he will provide delicacies fit for a king (v 20).
“Joseph with his father Jacob and brothers in Egypt”
Sons Who Received Admonitions and Curses
Reuben was Jacob’s firstborn by Leah, but his birthright was forfeited because of his sexual involvement with his father’s concubine Bilhah (v 3-4).
Simeon and Levi were lumped together for admonitions and curses (v 5-7) for their acts of violence against the men of Shechem after the rape of their sister Dinah (Genesis 34). Jacob’s curse against the two was explicitly stated in Genesis 49: 7.Cursed be their anger, so fierce, and their fury, so cruel! I will scatter them in Jacob and disperse them in Israel.
References:
Picture By Painters of Sultan Murad III – Zubdat-al Tawarikh (Illustrated manuscript)http://www.ee.bilkent.edu.tr/~history/Ext/Zubdat.html, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19900596
The Mayans are one of the world’s oldest known civilizations. By 300 BC, (which coincides with the Late Pre-Classic Period) most of their intellectual achievements were realized, including the adoption of a hierarchical society. This event is listed on the Bible Timeline during that period.
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300 BC marks the expansion of the Mayan territories. However, unlike other civilizations, they were not confined to a collaborated single empire. Instead, city-states were built, which scholars thought to have consisted of small family units. These small settlements of people were ruled by a royal household reigned by a king, also called K’uhul Ajaw (roughly translated as “divine Lord”), and his high court.
“Merchants and artisans, though found almost at the bottom of the hierarchy, played a great role in molding the Mayan art ……. including ball courts, pyramids, and roads.”
Due to the surge in population, the Mayan civilization began to evolve into a more complex society. They had to create social mechanisms that could enable them to coordinate, organize, and feed the growing number of their people.
It is at this period that the deepening of social stratification was more evident than ever. People were ranked according to their economic, political, and religious status. Their system of political organizations was divided as follows, King (also known as “ahau), nobles, priests, merchants, artisans, peasants, and slaves.
The royal family had the highest regard in the Mayan community for they were believed to be the intermediaries between the gods and the people and the rest of the “real worlds.” They were also the interpreters of time and celestial events. They dictated all functions of their kingdoms.
Meanwhile, the nobility class consisted of the local magistrates, executives, town counselors, and deputies or assistants to the local kings in running various government affairs, and policemen.
Third in the Mayan bureaucracy, it was the priest’s role that had shaped some of the major and highly-intelligent achievements of the Mayan era. They performed different activities, such as rituals, sacrifices, divination, astronomical observation, and hieroglyphic writings. Additionally, they had a say with regards to politics.
Merchants and artisans, though found almost at the bottom of the hierarchy, played a great role in molding the Mayan art and trade. The artisans were the forefronts of different monumental public works, including ball courts, pyramids, and roads. Mayan art flourished as well because of the artisans who were responsible for stone carvings, painted murals, fine ceramics, and jewelry, among others.
The merchants, on the other hand, enriched a certain kingdom through trade. They were travelers who would go from one city-state to another to negotiate and trade.
At the bottom of the social hierarchy were the peasants, farmers, and slaves. In this class, men were farmers and women had their own household duties. The nobles would decide who among the peasants must become slaves to the royal family.
Milcah – means ‘counsel’ and related to the Hebrew word for ‘queen’ (מלכה – malka) Phonetic Pronunciation: MIHL-kah. She can be found on the Bible Timeline around 1829 BC.
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There are two Milcahs in the Bible. One being the fourth daughter of Zelophehad (Numbers 26:33). The more distinguished is Milcah, the daughter of Haran (Abraham’s oldest brother), wife (and niece) of Nahor, and brother of Lot. As Abraham’s niece, she plays a crucial role in continuing the line of the patriarchs as she is also the grandmother of Rebekah, who will later marry Abraham’s son Isaac, great-grandmother to Jacob and Esau, and one of the matriarchs of the 12 tribes of Israel. She bore eight children to Nahor including Betheul, Rebekah’s father.
Intermarriage between close family members was forbidden in Chaldea where Milcah’s family originated. However, there seems to be an exception between uncles and nieces during that time. The Mosaic Laws were established long after Milcah’s (other patriarchs’ death). These laws mentioned specific prohibitions on and punishments for sexual relations between a number of close relatives in Leviticus 20. Although, the laws do not specifically state and forbid the sexual relations or marriage between uncles and nieces. It has been implied later on that the prohibitions in Leviticus 20 cover this type of relationship as well.
There is little to no information regarding Milcah’s later life and death.
Since the pharaoh, who appears alongside Moses in the Exodus story is nameless, we are left with our best guesses and detective work. One of the most recent guesses comes from a Jewish scholar working in Jerusalem. He suggests that the Pharaoh of the Exodus was none other than King Tutankhamen.
He finds two chronological clues in the Bible: 1) the Israelites worked with mud-brick, not stone (5:7-8); 2) the Israelites spent 430 years in Egypt (from Joseph to Moses) (Ex. 12:40). These events are listed on the Bible Timeline Chart. PRO: A Building of Mud-Brick
Most building projects in Egypt (the pyramids and temples) involved stone-work. The one major mud-brick building project was the city of Akhetaten. Akhenaten built this city as a new religious center for the worship of one god, Aten.
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“Stripped of all its jewels, the mummy of Tutankhamun remains in the Valley of the Kings in his KV62 chamber”
One God
His new program of radical monotheism was not very popular among the Egyptian religious and political establishment. This meant he had to work quickly. The choice of mud-brick as the building material for this new city helped with that very short timeline. They completed the entire city in six years. Eight years later, Akhenaten died, and the city was evacuated. Reference to Plagues
Since the pharaoh who built the city with Israelite labor died before the Exodus events (Ex. 2:23), his son Tutankhamen would then be the Pharaoh of the Exodus. In his article in the Jerusalem Post, you would think the Egyptian stela was talking directly about the Exodus. In talking about the stele, Rosenberg cites the following curses: 1) Hapi, god of the Nile, will make it undrinkable; 2) Kermit, goddess of fertility, will release her frogspawn; 3) Osiris, god of corn, will allow locusts to eat the grain; 4) Ra, the sun god, will refuse to shine. CON – Plagues not actually listed
Unfortunately, things that look too good to be true usually are. The only thing the restoration stele of Tutankhamen says is that the gods turned their back on the land. It does not give any specifics about curses. It does not even mention the specific gods by name. It is Rosenberg, who took the plagues recorded in the Exodus and linked them with specific Egyptian deities. Question of Dates The Hyksos from 1720 – 1550 BC
Rosenberg also makes a follow-up point. He points to the Hyksos, a Semitic people group. They entered Egypt in large numbers around 1750 BC. They became so dominant that they ruled Egypt for close to 200 years (1720-1550 BC). Josephus was a Jewish historian and a contemporary of Jesus. He thought that the Israelites entered Egypt with this group.
Remember the high position Joseph held in the Egyptian government? This made perfect sense during this period of Semitic rule in Egypt. This was followed by a stark shift in power between the 15th and 18th dynasty. The Semites lost power whereas the native Egyptians regained it. Could this help explain the shift in attitude on the part of the Egyptian government towards Israel? Israel thrives as a minority under Joseph. But the Pharaoh “who did not know Joseph” turns them into an oppressed minority. Rosenberg points out that Jews and Christians alike ignore the specific information on Israel’s time in Egypt (Exodus 12:40). Even the Amazing Bible Timeline follows Bishop Ussher in assigning 130 years to this period rather than 430. His dates restore this original figure. The City and Pharoahs Ramses
But there is good reason Rosenberg is practically alone in arguing for King Tut as the Pharaoh of the Exodus. He ignores the two primary pieces of evidence that most commentators cite. One is a chronological note in 1 Kings 6:1. The second is the reference to the city Rameses.
Most Christian and secular scholars today base their arguments on the city of Rameses. Ramses is a personal name meaning “son of Ra.” 11 different pharaohs bore this name. They ruled between the 13th and 12th centuries BC. Regardless of the identification of this city, it should be one named after one of these kings. Not only that, there happens to be a city called Per-Ramessu (Pi-Ramesse). It happens to be located in the Nile Delta, where the Bible situates it. It was also built with slave labor. The name of these slave laborers was the ʿApiru’. Many scholars connect this word with the Hebrew word for “Hebrews.” It was Ramses II who orchestrated this building project. This city functioned as the seat of Egyptian power throughout the 19th and 20th dynasties. Moses does make a reference in Genesis to Joseph living in “the land of Rameses.” But one can easily explain this as a reference to the area Moses knew by this later name. A Difference in Spelling?
Critics of this position argue that there is no reason to identify Rameses the city with the pharaoh’s name Ramses. Their main argument is that the two names are spelled differently, Raamses as opposed to Ramesses. This is a difficult position as the Bible only mentions the place Rameses and not the pharaoh. The Hebrew contains the letters resh-ayin-mem-samekh-samekh (rʿmss). The Egyptian uses the letters r-ayin-m-s2-w (rʿmśśw). The final /w/ indicates the vowel u and Hebrew lost all final short vowels. But this is the crux of the rebuttal.
There is another group of scholars who emphasize a different piece of evidence. They focus on 1 Kings 6:1. It states that Solomon broke ground on the Temple in Jerusalem 480 years after the Exodus. Scholars vary in the dates they assign the temple construction. Recent scholars have placed the date as low as 958 BC. The Amazing Bible Timeline gives a date of 1011 BC for this event. Adding 480 years would place the Exodus at the beginning of the 15th century BC. This corresponds to the 18th dynasty of Egypt. These two pieces of evidence were easy to reconcile for scholars in the 17th century like Bishop Ussher. The Greek histories of Egypt easily placed Ramses II in the 15th century. Archeological excavations in the 19th and 20th centuries changed all that. We now have direct access to the Egyptian language and thousands of Egyptian texts. Possible Reconciliation of View Points
Critics of this position point to a number of concerns. The number 480 is a very round number. It corresponds to 12 generations of 40 years. The authors of the Biblical text were not saying 480 years exactly. Rather they were using a standard number to indicate 12 generations. Adjusting the length of a generation still preserves the integrity of the Biblical text. Another way to do it is to add up the years given for events from the Exodus to the temple. This method produces a period of 510 years plus 3 periods of unknown length. This suggests that these events may overlap in ways the Bible does not bother explaining.
Wherever we locate the events of the Exodus, they clearly had a significant impact on how Israelites viewed themselves. It was also central to their view of God.
What do you think? Was King Tut the Pharaoh of the Exodus? Comment below.
According to historians, the fall of Western Rome was linked to numerous causes including the frequent attacks from invaders. Inefficiency of the political administration and several other factors that eventually resulted in the decline in power of the Roman Empire. This event can be found on the Bible Timeline with World History around 500 AD. While there were some attempts to prevent the empire’s decline, the lack of power caused the division of its territory.
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One of the primary causes of the Roman Empire’s decline was the inability to enforce its rule. Whether it is via civil administration or by using armed forces. For instance, when Odoacer took charge after the removal of Emperor Romulus, there was an evident lack of efficient military and political power throughout the empire and its territory. Invaders were able to hold power over several parts of Western Rome. Their influence lasted for centuries, and it contributed to the empire’s difficulty in rising from their fall.
Rome was established in 753 BC by Romulus. It grew into a rich and powerful city during the next few hundred years before its decline.
In 410 AD, Alaric led the Visigoths toward invading the empire’s capital. Which was a successful attempt on the part. They forcefully found their way in Rome, and once they were in the city, it was easy for them to loot, destroy, burn and sack the entire area. This grim event in the history of the Roman Empire went on for three days, and it was the very first time in about a thousand years that the city fell int the hands of invaders. While this was the initial successful attempt to seize the capital of the Roman Empire, there were more invasions that occurred which contributed to its decline.
Another factor that has led to the decline in Western Rome’s power was the spread of Christianity. This was the opposite of the polytheistic or the Romans’ traditional religion. In fact, the rise of Christianity resulted in the persecution of people who have converted to this new religion. Specifically the poor citizens of Rome. However, Constantine the Great, a Roman emperor, put an end to the sufferings of Christians by imposing tolerance for this religion. It did not take long before Christianity spread to different parts of the empire.
Traditionally, Romans looked up to their Emperor as their god. This was different from Christianity. Since in this religion, there is one God whom they should worship. This caused the people to believe that “God” is not the emperor, which caused the empire’s supreme ruler to lose credibility and authority over time.
Aside from the introduction of a new religion, Constantine decided to split the Roman Empire into two areas. It was in 330 AD when the empire was divided into west and east. And while the western part had Rome as its capital, the eastern section’s seat of power was in Constantinople – named after Emperor Constantine. There were major differences in these two empires such as the religion practiced and the language spoken. However, during the western empire’s decline, the East continued to thrive and remain in existence for centuries even during the establishment of the Byzantine Empire. On the other hand, Western Rome experienced a significant reduction in its production of agricultural products, massive trade deficit, inflation, and attacks from invaders such as the Vandals, Ostrogoths, Franks, Visigoths and Saxons. This put an end to the empire’s power.
