Exodus Decoded
Encyclopedia
The Exodus Decoded is a 2006 History Channel documentary
created by Israel
i-Canadian filmmaker Simcha Jacobovici
and the producer/director James Cameron
. The documentary explores evidence for the Biblical account of the Exodus
. Its claims and methods were widely criticized both by Biblical scholars and by mainstream scientists.
Jacobovici suggests that the Exodus took place around 1500 BC, during the reign of pharaoh Ahmose I
, and that it coincided with the Minoan eruption. In the documentary, the plagues that ravaged Egypt
in the Bible are explained as having resulted from that eruption and a related limnic eruption
in the Nile Delta
, similar to what occurred in the 1980s at Lake Nyos
in Cameroon
. While much of Jacobovici's archaeological evidence for the Exodus comes from Egypt, some comes from Mycenae
on mainland Greece, such as a gold ornament that somewhat resembles the Ark of the Covenant
.
The documentary makes extensive use of computer animation and visual effects made by Gravity Visual Effects, Inc., based in Toronto
. It runs for 90 minutes and was first aired in Canada
on April 16, (Easter Day) 2006 (Discovery Channel Canada
). Shown in the US
on August 20, 2006 (History Channel US), UK
on December 23, 2006 (Discovery Channel UK
) and Spain
on December 25, 2006 (Cuatro).
The documentary ends by posing the question of whether the Exodus was just a natural event or "the Hand of God," implying that it is for the viewer to decide.
In his review of the documentary, Dr. Ronald Hendel, Professor of Hebrew Bible and Jewish Studies at the University of California, Berkeley
. writes:
"The made-for-TV documentary, The Exodus Decoded, begins with some excellent special effects and a short excerpt from the Steven Spielberg
-George Lucas
thriller, Raiders of the Lost Ark
. This introduction sets the stage for a fast-paced show with high production values and dramatic footage. Unfortunately, unlike the Indiana Jones
movie, this film presents itself as non-fiction. Watching it is reminiscent of an expensive infomercial, in which the actor-salesman makes increasingly exaggerated claims for his product—it makes you lose weight, adds muscle, and makes you rich to boot. In this case, the actor-director is selling a highly dubious bundle of theories about the historical and scientific veracity of the Biblical Exodus."
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
created by Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i-Canadian filmmaker Simcha Jacobovici
Simcha Jacobovici
Simcha Jacobovici is a Canadian film director, producer, free-lance journalist, and writer. He is a three-times Emmy winner for Outstanding Investigative Journalism....
and the producer/director James Cameron
James Cameron
James Francis Cameron is a Canadian-American film director, film producer, screenwriter, editor, environmentalist and inventor...
. The documentary explores evidence for the Biblical account of the Exodus
The Exodus
The Exodus is the story of the departure of the Israelites from ancient Egypt described in the Hebrew Bible.Narrowly defined, the term refers only to the departure from Egypt described in the Book of Exodus; more widely, it takes in the subsequent law-givings and wanderings in the wilderness...
. Its claims and methods were widely criticized both by Biblical scholars and by mainstream scientists.
Jacobovici suggests that the Exodus took place around 1500 BC, during the reign of pharaoh Ahmose I
Ahmose I
Ahmose I was a pharaoh of ancient Egypt and the founder of the Eighteenth dynasty. He was a member of the Theban royal house, the son of pharaoh Tao II Seqenenre and brother of the last pharaoh of the Seventeenth dynasty, King Kamose...
, and that it coincided with the Minoan eruption. In the documentary, the plagues that ravaged Egypt
Plagues of Egypt
The Plagues of Egypt , also called the Ten Plagues or the Biblical Plagues, were ten calamities that, according to the biblical Book of Exodus, Israel's God, Yahweh, inflicted upon Egypt to persuade Pharaoh to release the ill-treated Israelites from slavery. Pharaoh capitulated after the tenth...
in the Bible are explained as having resulted from that eruption and a related limnic eruption
Limnic eruption
A limnic eruption, also referred to as a lake overturn, is a rare type of natural disaster in which carbon dioxide suddenly erupts from deep lake water, suffocating wildlife, livestock and humans. Such an eruption may also cause tsunamis in the lake as the rising CO2 displaces water. Scientists...
in the Nile Delta
Nile Delta
The Nile Delta is the delta formed in Northern Egypt where the Nile River spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of the world's largest river deltas—from Alexandria in the west to Port Said in the east, it covers some 240 km of Mediterranean coastline—and is a rich...
, similar to what occurred in the 1980s at Lake Nyos
Lake Nyos
Lake Nyos is a crater lake in the Northwest Region of Cameroon, located about northwest of Yaoundé. Nyos is a deep lake high on the flank of an inactive volcano in the Oku volcanic plain along the Cameroon line of volcanic activity...
in Cameroon
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...
. While much of Jacobovici's archaeological evidence for the Exodus comes from Egypt, some comes from Mycenae
Mycenae
Mycenae is an archaeological site in Greece, located about 90 km south-west of Athens, in the north-eastern Peloponnese. Argos is 11 km to the south; Corinth, 48 km to the north...
on mainland Greece, such as a gold ornament that somewhat resembles the Ark of the Covenant
Ark of the Covenant
The Ark of the Covenant , also known as the Ark of the Testimony, is a chest described in Book of Exodus as solely containing the Tablets of Stone on which the Ten Commandments were inscribed...
.
The documentary makes extensive use of computer animation and visual effects made by Gravity Visual Effects, Inc., based in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
. It runs for 90 minutes and was first aired in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
on April 16, (Easter Day) 2006 (Discovery Channel Canada
Discovery Channel Canada
Discovery Channel is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel devoted to nature, adventure, science and technology programming. Discovery Channel is currently owned by CTV Specialty Television Inc...
). Shown in the US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on August 20, 2006 (History Channel US), UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
on December 23, 2006 (Discovery Channel UK
Discovery Channel UK
Discovery Channel operated by Discovery Networks Western Europe produces an English speaking channel which targets the United Kingdom and Ireland. The channel's programming is based on programming produced by Discovery Networks Europe, Discovery Channel Canada and Discovery Channel from the US.It...
) and Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
on December 25, 2006 (Cuatro).
Jacobovici's Egyptian Arguments
- The Hyksos Expulsion, contemporaneous Egyptian records of the driving out of the mysterious HyksosHyksosThe Hyksos were an Asiatic people who took over the eastern Nile Delta during the twelfth dynasty, initiating the Second Intermediate Period of ancient Egypt....
people. Jacobovici suggests that the Hyksos and the Hebrews were one and the same, a thesis he supports with Egyptian-style signet rings uncovered in the Hyksos capital of AvarisAvarisAvaris , capital of Egypt under the Hyksos , was located near modern Tell el-Dab'a in the northeastern region of the Nile Delta, at the juncture of the 8th, 14th, 19th and 20th Nomes...
(30°47'14.71"N, 31°49'16.92"E) that read "Yakov/Yakub" (from Yaqub-her), similar to the Hebrew name of the Biblical patriarch JacobJacobJacob "heel" or "leg-puller"), also later known as Israel , as described in the Hebrew Bible, the Talmud, the New Testament and the Qur'an was the third patriarch of the Hebrew people with whom God made a covenant, and ancestor of the tribes of Israel, which were named after his descendants.In the...
(Ya'aqov).
- The Ahmose stele, also called the Tempest Stele pieces of this stone tablet were unearthed in KarnakKarnakThe Karnak Temple Complex—usually called Karnak—comprises a vast mix of decayed temples, chapels, pylons, and other buildings, notably the Great Temple of Amun and a massive structure begun by Pharaoh Ramses II . Sacred Lake is part of the site as well. It is located near Luxor, some...
by Henri Chevalier in 1947. In it an unknown god incurs one of the same plagues described in the Biblical account (darkness, also described as "a great storm"). The Exodus Decoded official website quotes the stele, "How much greater is this the impressive manifestation of the great God, than the plans of the gods!" An alternative reading is "Then His Majesty said 'How these (events) surpass the power of the great god and the wills of the divinities!'".
- Ahmose IAhmose IAhmose I was a pharaoh of ancient Egypt and the founder of the Eighteenth dynasty. He was a member of the Theban royal house, the son of pharaoh Tao II Seqenenre and brother of the last pharaoh of the Seventeenth dynasty, King Kamose...
. Jacobovici suggests that the name of the Pharaoh at the time of the Exodus may have been a pun (paronomasia). Jacobovici states that in Hebrew, the Egyptian name Ahmose would mean "Brother of Moses." Yet in Egyptian, "Mose," "Moses," "Mes," etc. means "son of." and "Ah" is a common part of Egyptian royal names referring to the moon god Iah. The documentary also examines the mummy of Ahmose's son, [Ahmose Sapair], who appears to have died at the age of 12. In the Bible, the pharaoh loses a son to the Plague of the Firstborn.
- Serabit el-KhadimSerabit el-KhadimSerabit el-Khadim is a locality in the south-west Sinai Peninsula where turquoise was mined extensively in antiquity, mainly by the ancient Egyptians...
turquoise mine, a labour camp in the Sinai with a Semitic alphabetic inscription that reads "O ElEl (god)is a Northwest Semitic word meaning "deity", cognate to Akkadian and then to Hebrew : Eli and Arabic )....
, save me from these mines." He argues that the use of "El" suggests that it was written before the alleged revelation at Sinai, supporting the thesis that Hebrews were enslaved in Egypt, although this inscription was undated.
Jacobovici's Mycenaean Arguments
- Gravestones. Jacobovici suggests that three of the stones marking the wealthy tombs of Grave Circle AGrave Circle A, MycenaeGrave Circle A in Mycenae is a 16th century BC royal cemetery situated on the southeast of the Lion Gate, the main entrance of the Bronze Age citadel of Mycenae, southern Greece...
in MycenaeMycenaeMycenae is an archaeological site in Greece, located about 90 km south-west of Athens, in the north-eastern Peloponnese. Argos is 11 km to the south; Corinth, 48 km to the north...
depict the parting of the Sea of Reeds. The stones, Jacobovici claims, show a man on a chariot in pursuit of a man on foot carrying a long, straight object. Jacobovici proposes that the man on the chariot is Ahmose I, the man on foot is Moses, and the long, straight object is the staff of Aaron. Above and below the scene are rows of swirls which, in Jacobovici's interpretation, represent the parting waters. He admits, however, that archaeologists have typically interpreted the scene as a chariot race, with the long, straight object being a spear or sword.
- A GoldGoldGold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
ornament excavated from one of the tombs in the Grave Circle is believed by Jacobovici to show the Ark of the CovenantArk of the CovenantThe Ark of the Covenant , also known as the Ark of the Testimony, is a chest described in Book of Exodus as solely containing the Tablets of Stone on which the Ten Commandments were inscribed...
against a background of the tabernacle altar. However, when you compare the photo of the gold ornament to the Biblical story of God telling Moses how to build the Ark, the descriptions differ in several ways. Jacobovici suggests that members of the Tribe of DanTribe of DanThe Tribe of Dan, also sometimes spelled as "Dann", was one of the Tribes of Israel. Though known mostly from biblical sources, they were possibly descendants of the Denyen Sea Peoples who joined with Hebrews...
may have emigrated to Mycenae after the Exodus. This, the documentary suggests, is why HomerHomerIn the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
refers to the buried at Mycenae as "Danaoi." The Greek myth states, however, that the Danaoi were descended from the ArgosArgosArgos is a city and a former municipality in Argolis, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Argos-Mykines, of which it is a municipal unit. It is 11 kilometres from Nafplion, which was its historic harbour...
ites under the matriarch DanaëDanaëIn Greek mythology, Danaë was a daughter of King Acrisius of Argos and Eurydice of Argos. She was the mother of Perseus by Zeus. She was sometimes credited with founding the city of Ardea in Latium....
.
Theology
The documentary claims that most historians consider the Exodus a "fairy tale," and it also claims that others reject scientific explanations that are not explicitly miraculous. Jacobovici reminds viewers that God, according to the Judeo-Christian description, manipulates nature, having an intimate understanding of it. His miracles may therefore be an efficient and timely exploitation of natural cycles and logic.The documentary ends by posing the question of whether the Exodus was just a natural event or "the Hand of God," implying that it is for the viewer to decide.
Credibility
Jacobovici's assertions have been extensively criticized both by archaeologists and religious scholars. The criticism addresses each of Jacobovici's claims, as well as his methods in general. Critics point out, among the following:- Jacobovici uses circular logic for his assertions. In the absence of any other evidence, Jacobovici attempts to find a real-world explanation for a Biblical phenomenon. Then, from the fact that a phenomenon could be caused by a certain event, Jacobovici surmises that a Biblical phenomenon was caused by exactly that type of an event.
- Biblical scholars further criticize Jacobovici's method of first assuming that the Biblical description was an embellished description of a real world event, followed up with claims that his explanation is "exactly as the Bible describes," whereas in reality his explanation diverges from the Biblical description.
- Chris Heard, Associate Professor of Religion at Pepperdine UniversityPepperdine UniversityPepperdine University is an independent, private, medium-sized university affiliated with the Churches of Christ. The university's campus overlooking the Pacific Ocean in unincorporated Los Angeles County, California, United States, near Malibu, is the location for Seaver College, the School of...
on his Web site called "Higgaion" claims that while a single supposition is not an invalid tactic, Jacobovici uses a chain of suppositions to support each subsequent claim, often using commercial breaks to move from "it could be possible that" to "now that we've established that," a misleading rhetorical trick. - Chris Heard also claims through carbon dating evidence that the SantoriniSantoriniSantorini , officially Thira , is an island located in the southern Aegean Sea, about southeast from Greece's mainland. It is the largest island of a small, circular archipelago which bears the same name and is the remnant of a volcanic caldera...
eruption happened some time between 1550 BC and 1650 BC, narrowed to between 1627-1600 BC, with a 95% probability of accuracy. - Jacobovici puts the Exodus in 1500 BC. However, it is believed that the pharaoh AhmoseAhmose IAhmose I was a pharaoh of ancient Egypt and the founder of the Eighteenth dynasty. He was a member of the Theban royal house, the son of pharaoh Tao II Seqenenre and brother of the last pharaoh of the Seventeenth dynasty, King Kamose...
ruled decades earlier, in 1550–1525 BC. Jacobovici does not address the issue, and simply moves Ahmose's rule 50 years to the future in order to fit his theory, without presenting any evidence or support for his claims. - As in Hebrew the word 'Ah' means brother, and 'Mose' means Moses, Jacobovici claims that the word Ahmose can be understood as 'brother of Moses'. This however is incorrect, as actual hieroglyphics in the pharaoh's name read Yahmes. 'Ahmose' is a mangled obsolete misreading of the name, still used traditionally. Yahmes has nothing to do with Hebrew Ah Mose, and means 'moon born' or 'moon is born'. Furthermore, Moses is an English version of the Greek variant of the traditionally Hebrew Mosheh. Egyptian would have differentiated between 's' and 'sh' in Mose / Mosheh.
- Chris Heard further claims that the mechanism of the Lake Nyos eruption and subsequent events is cardinally different from what would have happened in a river such as the Nile. Build-up of gas, or high concentrations of iron in the deep waters, would only be possible in a deep lake with still water; not in a shallow river with flowing water.
- There's no archeological evidence, or any supporting evidence presented by Jacobovici, to support the claim that Egyptian first-born slept in beds, while all others slept on roofs. Jacobovici's explanation for the 10th plague as being caused by carbon dioxide, this does not account for the Biblical description of deaths of firstborn cattle.
- Chris Heard on his "Higgaion" website claims that while Jacobovici talks of a palpable ash cloud in Egypt, 800 kilometers from the volcanic eruption, later on in the documentary a geologist backs up the claim that ash reached Egypt by showing that only a microscopic amount is found in the soil, which would not only not create a palpable cloud, it would be altogether invisible to the naked eye.
- Jacobovici's claim of a shelf collapse, leading to a decrease in water levels, immediately followed by a second natural disaster, a tsunamiTsunamiA tsunami is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, typically an ocean or a large lake...
, leading to a restoration of water levels, has absolutely no geological evidence, whereas such a calamity would have led to widespread devastation across the entire region, not just localized to one lake, and it would have left a huge geological footprint. It would have likely also been recorded by eyewitnesses. There's no record of anything of this magnitude happening anywhere. Also, while Jacobovici claims that his explanation is 'exactly as the Bible describes', the Bible actually describes a wall of water on each side of the Hebrews, which is the exact opposite of Jacobovici's explanation. - Jacobovici presents the Beni Hasan tomb painting as proof of Jewish migration into Egypt. However, Jacobovici ignores the fact that the tomb painting is actually signed by the author, identifying the caravan as a merchants (not migrants); coming from the land of Shut, which is not in the area of modern Israel; and dated to the reign of pharaoh Senusret IISenusret IIKhakeperre Senusret II was the fourth pharaoh of the Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt. He ruled from 1897 BC to 1878 BC. His pyramid was constructed at El-Lahun...
, circa 1890 BC and not Jacobovici's claim of 1700 BC. - Prof. Heard claims that presenting a ring signed Jacob-har and linking it to the Biblical JosephJoseph (Hebrew Bible)Joseph is an important character in the Hebrew bible, where he connects the story of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in Canaan to the subsequent story of the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt....
, Jacobovici ignores the fact that Yaqub-Har is a well-attested to Egyptian pharaoh of the Second Intermediate Period; and Yakov and variants are common SemiticSemiticIn linguistics and ethnology, Semitic was first used to refer to a language family of largely Middle Eastern origin, now called the Semitic languages...
(not just Hebrew) names from the period. Furthermore, Jacobovici provides absolutely no explanation as to why Joseph would have a signet ring with the name of his father Jacob, and not his own, which is a modern-day equivalent of signing legal contracts with a signature of one's father. - Chris Heard states that inscriptions at Serabit el-Khadem, which refer to ElElEL, El or el may refer to:* El , a Semitic word for "God"; also a senior god mentioned in the Ugarit and Ebla texts found in ancient Syria.* El , a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet* El , the letter L...
, are not necessarily proof that Hebrews worked in the mines. El is a common SemiticSemiticIn linguistics and ethnology, Semitic was first used to refer to a language family of largely Middle Eastern origin, now called the Semitic languages...
(not just a Hebrew) word that means god (for example, see BaalBaalBaʿal is a Northwest Semitic title and honorific meaning "master" or "lord" that is used for various gods who were patrons of cities in the Levant and Asia Minor, cognate to Akkadian Bēlu...
); and the word El in the Bible is often used to refer to gods other than the Hebrew God. Altogether, the word El appears in the entire TanakhTanakhThe Tanakh is a name used in Judaism for the canon of the Hebrew Bible. The Tanakh is also known as the Masoretic Text or the Miqra. The name is an acronym formed from the initial Hebrew letters of the Masoretic Text's three traditional subdivisions: The Torah , Nevi'im and Ketuvim —hence...
226 times, often referring to other gods; whereas the word YHVH appears 6,800 times and it refers exclusively to the God of Israel. Furthermore, the actual inscription shown in the documentary does not contain the word El at all; two other El inscriptions from the mine are known, but they are not shown in the program. - Altogether the connection of the Serabit el-Khadem mines to the Exodus is suspect, since the Bible tells of Moses liberating Hebrew builders from the Nile delta, not miners from 400 kilometers to the South.
- The composition of the Admonitions of IpuwerIpuwer papyrusThe Ipuwer Papyrus is a single papyrus holding an ancient Egyptian poem, called The Admonitions of Ipuwer or The Dialogue of Ipuwer and the Lord of All. Its official designation is Papyrus Leiden I 344 recto...
, a papyrus that according to Jacobovici describes a plague of hail and fire, is in fact dated to ca. 1850 BC - 1600 BC, at least 100 years before Jacobovici's Exodus date of 1500 BC. The papyrus also refers not to current events but, most likely, to the First Intermediate Period of ca. 2134 to 2040 BC, five to six centuries before Jacobovici's Exodus. - The El-Arish granite shrine dates to nearly a thousand years after 1500 BC, and the symbols Jacobovici refers to as the 'parting of the red sea', two knives and three waves, mean nothing of the sort. The claim is akin to saying that the name RamessesRamesses IMenpehtyre Ramesses I was the founding Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt's 19th dynasty. The dates for his short reign are not completely known but the time-line of late 1292-1290 BC is frequently cited as well as 1295-1294 BC...
, based on hieroglyphics used to write it, means sun-fox-skins-folded-cloth-sedge-quail-chick. Altogether, the text in the stele is mythological, and none of the things Jacobovici refers to from the stele are actually found in any known translations of the text. - Chris Heard claims that while speaking of the 3 Greek stelae, Jacobovici only shows stelae 2 and 3 from Grave Circle A, and does not show stele 1, which clearly shows a hunting scene with chariots, and not Moses and the pharaoh. Instead of stele 1, Jacobovici shows a different stele from a different find, with a hole in the middle. The actual stele is shown only briefly, and is then replaced by a CGI version, with the hole filled in. Figures on the actual stele, which have tails curved up and are instantly recognized as lions, are replaced with CGI versions with tails turned down, now identified as horses.
- The swirls motif on the stele, which Jacobovici identifies as water, is very common in Mycenaean art of the period, and often appears in context that clearly excludes its identification with water.
- The Higgaion site claims that Jacobovici greatly distorts the Biblical description of the Ark of the CovenantArk of the CovenantThe Ark of the Covenant , also known as the Ark of the Testimony, is a chest described in Book of Exodus as solely containing the Tablets of Stone on which the Ten Commandments were inscribed...
, and the TabernacleTabernacleThe Tabernacle , according to the Hebrew Torah/Old Testament, was the portable dwelling place for the divine presence from the time of the Exodus from Egypt through the conquering of the land of Canaan. Built to specifications revealed by God to Moses at Mount Sinai, it accompanied the Israelites...
, in order to present the Greek pendant as a representation of the Ark. The pendant does not resemble the biblical description.
In his review of the documentary, Dr. Ronald Hendel, Professor of Hebrew Bible and Jewish Studies at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
. writes:
"The made-for-TV documentary, The Exodus Decoded, begins with some excellent special effects and a short excerpt from the Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
-George Lucas
George Lucas
George Walton Lucas, Jr. is an American film producer, screenwriter, and director, and entrepreneur. He is the founder, chairman and chief executive of Lucasfilm. He is best known as the creator of the space opera franchise Star Wars and the archaeologist-adventurer character Indiana Jones...
thriller, Raiders of the Lost Ark
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Raiders of the Lost Ark is a 1981 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, produced by George Lucas, and starring Harrison Ford. It is the first film in the Indiana Jones franchise...
. This introduction sets the stage for a fast-paced show with high production values and dramatic footage. Unfortunately, unlike the Indiana Jones
Indiana Jones
Colonel Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr., Ph.D. is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Indiana Jones franchise. George Lucas and Steven Spielberg created the character in homage to the action heroes of 1930s film serials...
movie, this film presents itself as non-fiction. Watching it is reminiscent of an expensive infomercial, in which the actor-salesman makes increasingly exaggerated claims for his product—it makes you lose weight, adds muscle, and makes you rich to boot. In this case, the actor-director is selling a highly dubious bundle of theories about the historical and scientific veracity of the Biblical Exodus."
See also
- Passage of the Red SeaPassage of the Red SeaThe Crossing of the Red Sea is a passage in the Biblical narrative of the escape of the Israelites from the pursuing Egyptians in the Book of Exodus . This story is also mentioned in the Qur'an in Surah 26: Al-Shu'ara' in verses 60-67...
- Mount SinaiMount SinaiMount Sinai , also known as Mount Horeb, Mount Musa, Gabal Musa , Jabal Musa meaning "Moses' Mountain", is a mountain near Saint Catherine in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. A mountain called Mount Sinai is mentioned many times in the Book of Exodus in the Torah and the Bible as well as the Quran...
(The modern one; for the biblical mountain see Biblical Mount SinaiBiblical Mount SinaiThe Biblical Mount Sinai is the mountain at which the Book of Exodus states that the Ten Commandments were given to Moses by God...
) - Thera (Santorini) eruption Association with the Exodus
- Plagues of EgyptPlagues of EgyptThe Plagues of Egypt , also called the Ten Plagues or the Biblical Plagues, were ten calamities that, according to the biblical Book of Exodus, Israel's God, Yahweh, inflicted upon Egypt to persuade Pharaoh to release the ill-treated Israelites from slavery. Pharaoh capitulated after the tenth...
- Digging for the TruthDigging for the TruthDigging for the Truth is a History Channel documentary television series. The first three seasons of the show focused on host Josh Bernstein, who journeyed on various explorations of historical icons and mysteries. Bernstein is the president and CEO of BOSS and has a degree in anthropology and...
, showcased a similar special in 2006 concerning the inhabitants of Atlantis. - Lost WorldsLost Worlds (television)Lost Worlds is a documentary television series on The History Channel produced by Atlantic Productions that explores a variety of "lost" locations from ancient to modern times. These locales are revealed through the use of archaeological evidence, interviews with relevant experts, and CGI...
- Biblical archaeologyBiblical archaeologyFor the movement associated with William F. Albright and also known as biblical archaeology, see Biblical archaeology school. For the interpretation of biblical archaeology in relation to biblical historicity, see The Bible and history....
- John Allegro