Critique of Dr. Singleton's Lecture Concerning the Dating of the Exodus
Recently, a Christian brother reached out to me with a critique of one of my lectures. Although I disagree with his findings, he did a good job explaining his position. I thought that my readers would do well to see his brotherly response and to compare his findings with my own interpretation of the date of the Exodus. Enjoy this guest article written by Michael Smith. My response will soon follow.
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Dating the Biblical Exodus to the 15th century B.C. results in a number of misalignments between Biblical events and the historical and archeological record.
Hazor in particular presents a problem for an early date for the Exodus and Conquest. There is in fact no evidence of destruction at Hazor during either the MB IIC (c. 1650 - 1550/1500 BC) or LB I (c. 1550/1500 - 1400 BC) phases that matches the account in Joshua 11:10-11.
Concerning Hazor
According to Shlomit Bechar, the current co-excavator of Hazor, there is no destruction seen at Hazor during MB IIC other than a localized destruction of building 6200 in Area C of the Lower City, nor is there is evidence of destruction in LB I other than a localized destruction of the gate in Area P of the Lower City, as well as a localized destruction of the southern casemate wall (but not the northern casemate wall or the gate) near the gate in Area K of the Lower City (Bechar 2022: 45, 51, 54). There is no evidence of any widespread destruction, only evidence of these small-scale, localized conflagration events.
Also, there is no evidence of destruction anywhere on the Upper City prior to the 13th century BC destruction. According to Shlomit Bechar and Ammon Ben-Tor et al:
"However, in the 30 seasons of renewed excavations, no trace of destruction prior to the one that finally ended Late Bronze Age Hazor was found on the acropolis" (Bechar, et al 2021: 67).
This is very odd if the LB I city was destroyed by Joshua and the Israelites, considering the command in Deuteronomy 12:2-3, which states the following:
"You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations whom you are going to dispossess serve their gods, on the high mountains, on the hills, and under every leafy tree. And you shall tear down their altars and smash their memorial stones to pieces, and burn their Asherim in the fire, and cut to pieces the carved images of their gods; and you shall eliminate their name from that place.” (NASB)
Joshua was continually faithful in carrying out God's commands. It should be expected, therefore, that an attack on Hazor would result in significant destruction on the Upper City where many of the cultic areas and temples were located. In fact, only the LB IIb city (13th century B.C.) was destroyed in a manner consistent with Israelite practice during the Conquest, as there are traces of widespread destruction on both the Upper and Lower cities, including the burning of temples and the decapitation of cultic statues (cf. Amon Ben-Tor and Sharon Zuckerman 2008; Hoffmeier 2007: 245).
It is often claimed that if the LB IIb city was the city destroyed by Joshua and the Israelites, there would be no Hazor at the time of Deborah and Barak. However, this is no longer an issue. There is evidence to suggest that following the destruction of the LB IIb city (Stratum XIII/1b according to the proposed Model A) the Lower City (but not the Upper City) was re-occupied for several decades as Stratum 1a (Bechar, et al 2021: 52, 67).
Interestingly, Hazor is mentioned on a topographical list of Ramesses III, h-d--<w>-r is No. 5b on list XXXIII (Simons 1937). It is spelled the same way on topographical lists of Seti I and Thutmose III. This suggests occupation of the site continued into the early 12th century B.C.
It is this resettled Lower City (Stratum 1a) that I suggest is the Hazor that existed during the time of Deborah and Barak as well as Ramesses III.
Also, as James Hoffmeier has discussed, the battle against the forces of Jabin and Sisera in Judges 4 took place by Mt. Tabor, about 25 miles from the city of Hazor and there is no reference in the Biblical text to any attack on the city (Hoffmeier 2007: 244).
Concerning Jericho
Regarding Jericho, according to the most recent findings and reports from Lorenzo Nigro, the current excavator of Jericho, in the Late Bronze Age a mud-brick wall was built atop the surviving crest of the surviving MB III Cyclopean wall, and the site was still occupied in the LB IIb period (Nigro 2020: 202).
As has been demonstrated by John Bimson as well as the current excavator, the destruction of Jericho City IV occurred at the end of MB IIC/III, not LB I (cf. Bimson 2005: 79-93; Bimson 2018: 85-99; Bimson in prep; Nigro 2020: 201). The LB I pottery found at the site is from a later stratum, City V.
Uncalibrated radiocarbon dates for Thutmose III are out of range of the destruction of Jericho City IV, as the typical average uncalibrated radiocarbon date for Thutmose III & Hatshepsut (cf. Ramsey 2010) dates to 3199 Before Present (B.P.).
Radiocarbon date for the destruction of Jericho City IV, based on multiple measurements from short-lived samples found in situ, date to 3311 B.P. +/- 8 years (as reported in Nature 1996, Bruins et al).
These raw radiocarbon (RC) dates place Thutmose III about a century later than the destruction of MB III Jericho, and there is evidence of a destruction of LB II Jericho. According to Kathleen Kenyon:
“Jericho was destroyed in the Late Bronze Age II. It is very possible that this destruction is truly remembered in the Book of Joshua, although archaeology cannot prove this. The subsequent break in occupation that is proved by archaeology is, however, in accord with the biblical story. There was a period of abandonment, during which erosion removed most of the remains of the Late Bronze Age town and much of the earlier ones” (Kenyon 1993: 680; See also Kenyon 1957: 263, “this is fully in accord with the Biblical record").
This was, however, before Lorenzo Nigro uncovered evidence that the LB II city was walled. And the text of one of the slides which briefly appears in a 2022 video presentation by Nigro reads as follows:
"Also the Late Bronze Age ends in a fierce destruction, which is, however, not clearly documented, as it was excavated by the first two expeditions in a non-reconstructable way" ("Tell es-Sultan, Ancient Jericho: Urban Diversity in Palestine," Lorenzo Nigro (youtube.com), 2022: 1:41:47).
Thus, only in the LB II period were there destruction events at both Hazor and Jericho, consistent with the Conquest narratives.
Additional Issues
There are other chronological and historical problems with a 1446 B.C. Exodus:
Issue #1
A 1446 B.C. Exodus date presupposes a literal interpretation of I Kings 6:1. It needs to be first demonstrated that the 480 years were intended to be interpreted literally.
The number 480 is an idealized number that is a multiple of two "perfect," theologically significant numbers (40 and 12), intended as an Israelite Distanzangabe ("designation of distance"). Distanzangaben are always related to temple construction or restoration work, hence religious architecture. In the case of Distanzangabe in 1 Kings 6:1, it links two priestly institutions, the Tabernacle and the Temple (Alan Dickin, "Did Joshua Really Fight the Battle of Jericho? A Reassessment of the ... Evidence," YouTube, 47:07). Therefore 480 is an idealized number and not a literal span of consecutive years (Hoffmeier 2007: 236).
Issue #2
There was clearly an Egyptian administrative and military presence in Canaan from the time of the conquests of Thutmose III through the reign of Akhenaten.
Burna-buriash II, king of Babylon, even wrote to Akhenaten in El Amarna (EA) 8 "Canaan is your country and its kings are your servants" (Moran 1992: 16).
EA 162, sent by Akhenaten to Aziru of Amurru, shows that Akhenaten had significant Egyptian military forces to send to the Levant if the need arose or if he chose to do so:
"If for any reason whatsoever you prefer to do evil, and if you plot evil, treacherous things, then you, together with your entire family, shall die by the axe of the king.....So perform your service for the king, your lord, and you will live. You yourself know that the king does not fail when he rages against all of Canaan.....And know that the king is hale like the Sun in the sky. For his troops and his chariots in multitude, from the Upper Land to the Lower Land, the rising of the sun to the setting of the sun, all goes very well" (Moran 1992: 249-250).
Yidya, the ruler of Ashkelon, writes to Akhenaten in EA 324 the following:
“I have indeed prepared food, strong drink, oil, grain, oxen, sheep, goats, before the arrival of the troops of the king, my lord. I have [s]tored everything for the troops of the king, my lord" (Moran 1992: 352).
And in EA 367 Akhenaten writes to Endaruta, ruler of Aksapa, this:
"And may you prepare before the arrival of the archers of the king food in abundance, wine (and) everything else in abundance. Indeed he (Hanni, Akhenaten's stable overseer in Canaan) is going to reach you very quickly, and he will cut of the heads of the enemies of the king" (Moran 1992: 365).
Akizzi ruler of Qatna writes to Akhenaten in EA 55:
“The whole country has been in fear of your troops and your chariots” (Moran 1992: 12).
This would have been a very odd statement to make if this was during or shortly after the Israelite Conquest.
Egypt maintained a hegemony throughout this period and there's no room for an Israelite conquest at any point between the reigns of Amenhotep II and Akhenaten.
Issue #3
The Apiru of the Amarna letters do not fit the Israelites. A thorough reading of the relevant vassal correspondence letters makes it clear that the Apiru refer to indigenous, displaced/outcast groups considered rebels and traitors to Egyptian administrative authority, often hired by various Levantine rulers as auxiliary forces and operating as far north as Sumur and Irqata. The Israelite Conquest didn’t extend this far north and neither the Conquest nor Judges narratives make any references to Israelites hiring themselves as mercenaries in the service of various Canaanite rulers.
Issue #4
The reference to Pithom and Rameses in Exodus 1:11, to be identified with the Ramesside cities of Pi-Ramesses (modern Qantir) and Per-Atum (modern Tel el-Retaba), respectively, both built (or in the case of Per-Atum, built up with fortifications) during the reign of Ramesses II. While Avaris was incorporated into the urban landscape of Pi-Ramesses, Avaris and Pi-Ramesses were still separate and coexisting sites separated by 2 km. And Avaris was used as a separate toponym as late as Dynasty 20 (Bietak and Van Ruden 2018: 18).
Per-Atum (Biblical Pithom) has been positively identified as the site of ancient Tell el-Retaba. This has been confirmed by inscriptions found at the site and the 2017 excavations by the Polish-Slovak team revealed that the site was first fortified, with a temple of Atum and mudbrick storage facilities added, during the reign of Ramesses II (Hudec and Hulková, et al 2020). The identification has also been acknowledged by Manfred Bietak and James Hoffmeier. Prior to the reign of Ramesses II, this site wouldn't qualify as the "strong/storage" city of Exodus 1:11.
Issue #5
Relevant Amarna texts reveal that cities which are said to have been destroyed (Hazor) or defeated (Jerusalem, Lachish) by the Israelites under Joshua were tribute-paying vassals of Egypt.
Abdi-Heba, ruler of Jerusalem, wrote several correspondence letters to Egypt. He writes in EA 286 the following:
"neither my father nor my mother put me in this place, but the strong arm of the king brought me into my fathers house" (Moran 1992: 326).
But according to Joshua 10 the Israelites defeated the Jerusalem coalition led by Adoni-Zedek, who was killed along with the four kings who were his allies. But now a king of Jerusalem has been reinstated by either Amenhotep III or Akhenaten? This is another mismatch.
A king of Hazor wrote two letters to Pharaoh (either Amenhotep III or Akhenaten), EA 227 and EA 228. Had the Israelite Conquest been a recent event then there must have been a quick rebuild of the city of Hazor, which then immediately resumed correspondence with Pharaoh.
It is highly unlikely that Hazor would have been rebuilt so quickly following a destruction by the Israelites under Joshua, regained its status, and resumed correspondence with Egypt as if nothing had happened. There’s nothing in EA 227 or EA 228 to indicate that Hazor had recently been destroyed, and in EA 148 the ruler of Hazor is said to have aligned himself with the Apiru (the opposite of what occurs in the Conquest narrative). Read within the context of other vassal correspondence letters EA 148 most likely indicates that the ruler of Hazor had hired Apiru as mercenaries (giving them land and/or payment in return for military service).
Issue #6
A high chronology for the 18th Dynasty is required if one assumes Amenhotep II was the Exodus Pharaoh in 1446 BC. But this is not possible due to synchronisms with Babylon.
Burna-buriash II king of Babylon wrote a letter (EA 6) to Amenhotep III, and Burna-buriash II reigned from 1359 - 1333 B.C. His dates are secure and cannot be raised any higher. This is supported by the Assyrian King List (Middle Assyrian kings are synchronized with Middle Babylonian kings) and Babylonian King List A, and supplemented by other primary documentation, which provides a reliable sequence of Babylonian rulers with attested reign lengths back to Kadashman-Enlil I (1374 - 1360 B.C.). Since Amenhotep III overlapped with Burna-buriash II (1359 - 1333 B.C.) the standard dates for Amenhotep III of 1390 - 1352 BC are correct. Amenhotep II could not have been reigning in 1446 B.C., his dates are 1427-1400 B.C.
I will end with a Bible verse which I believe highlights the awkwardness that results from placing the Israelite Conquest in a period during which Egypt maintained a Levantine hegemony. According to Joshua 5:9:
"Then the Lord said to Joshua, 'Today I have rolled away the shame of Egypt from you.' So the name of that place is called Gilgal to this day." (NASB)
Works Cited
Bechar, Shlomit, Amnon Ben-Tor, Ido Wachtel, Daphna Ben-Tor, Elisabetta Boaretto, and Philipp W. Stockhammer. “The Destruction of Late Bronze Age Hazor,” Ägypten und Levante / Egypt and the Levant. Austrian Academy of Sciences Press, QWERTY Vol. 31, 2021, pp. 45-7.
Bechar, Shlomit. Political Change and Material Culture in Middle to Late Bronze Age Canaan, University Park, PA: Eisenbrauns, 2022.
Ben-Tor, Ammon, Sharon Zuckerman. "Hazor at the End of the Late Bronze Age: Back to Basics.” Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research No. 350 (May, 2008), pp. 1-6: 6 pages. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Bietak, Manfred and Constance Van Ruden, "Contact Points: Avaris and Pi-Ramesses," 2018.
Bimson, John. Keine Posaunen vor Jericho? (2005), pp. 79-93.
Bimson, John, in Zerbst and van der Veen eds., 2018, 85–99; Bimson in prep.
Dickin, Alan. “Did Joshua Really Fight the Battle of Jericho? A Reassessment of the ... Evidence”. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MQvUwLp8frw&t=2239s&pp=ygUaQWxhbiBkaWNraW4gam9zaHVhIGplcmljaG8%3D
Hoffmeier, James K. “What is the Biblical Date for the Exodus? A Response to Bryant Wood.” JETS 50/2 (June 2007) 225–4.
Hudec, Jozef; Hulková,Lucia; Dubcová, Veronika; Wodzińska, Anna (2020). "Formation of an Empire. Results of the Season 2017 in Tell el-Retaba." Ägypten und Levante) Ägypten und Levante XXIX Egypt and the Levant XXIX (austriaca.at).
Kenyon, Kathleen, 1957, in Eero Junkkaala, “Three Conquests of Canaan: A Comparative Study of Two Egyptian Military Campaigns and Joshua 10-12 in the Light of Recent Archaeological Evidence, 2006, p. 253.
Moran, William L. The Amarna Letters. Edited and translated by William L. Moran. Baltimore and London: The John Hopkins University Press, 1992.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Nigro, Lorenzo. Tell es-Sultan, Ancient Jericho: Urban Diversity in Palestine, 2022. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0MqZq_f6lWU&pp=ygUaTG9yZW56byBuaWdybyBKZXJpY2hvIDIwMjI%3D
Nigro, Lorenzo. “The Italian-Palestinian Expedition to Tell es-Sultan, Ancient Jericho (1997–2015): Archaeology and Valorisation of Material and Immaterial Heritage,” Digging Up Jericho, 2020, p. 202.
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[This is a critique of a lecture written for the course 'HIST 262: History of the Ancient Near East,' taught Spring 2024 at God's Bible School and College, a regionally accredited College in Cincinnati, Ohio.]
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