The Pharaoh of the Exodus: Fairy tale or real history?

What is it about?

For historians, chronology is the backbone of history but, regarding ancient events, they are unable to build an accurate chtonology. For example, several scholars (Finkelstein, Dever and others) posit that the Exodus narrative may have developed from collective memories of the Hyksos expulsions of Semitic Canaanites from Egypt, possibly elaborated on to encourage resistance to the 7th century domination of Judah by Egypt. For these scholars the liberation from Egypt after the “10 plagues”, as it is written in the Book of Exodus, is quite different from the historical “war of liberation against the Hyksos”. For them, “it seems” that several campaigns against the stronghold at Avaris were needed, during at least one decade, before the Hyksos were finally dislodged and driven from Lower Egypt. Finally, Ahmose I, the first pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty of Egypt, won the war against the Hyksos. What are the Egyptian documents underlying this hypothesis: none, and what is the chronology of this mysterious war: nobody knows! Consequently, to know if the pharaoh of the Exodus is a biblical myth or real history a chronological, historical and archaeological investigation is needed.

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Why is it important?

From Herodotus onward, historians tried hard “to reconstruct” a chronology. It was the ancestor of the historical method which then grew richer in information resulting from documents dated in different systems. From the XXth century onward, historians used so-called scientific methods: carbon dating, dendrochronology, astronomy, etc. Although each method has its advantages and its weaknesses, the one which uses eclipses has an indisputable advantage because the movement of celestial bodies can be calculated in retrospect with much precision. It allows a relative chronology to be turned into an absolute chronology either in the case of a total eclipse, or in the case of a set of eclipses accurately described which makes the observed phenomenon unique within a given period. The main interest of the scientific dating is to anchor the historical chronology to pivotal dates. My aim in proposing this method is to show that the interactive combination of historic, calendar and astronomical data allows to increase the number of pivotal dates and to certify them. To illustrate the principle and the advantages of this method of chronological reconstruction, well known events (death of Sesostris III, of Thutmosis III, of Xerxes I, of Herod and of Jesus) the dating of which is debated have been examined.

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