There are numerous books and article written on the errors of Bible history but, for the most part, they quote and misquote three authors. Every one of those authors has personal motives for what they do. Those motives are not to expose the truth but to change history. Israel Finkelstein, Donald B Redford and Neil Asher Silberman have all proposed moving the history of Israel forward to the 7th or 8th century bc.The idea was first proposed by Ze'ev Herzog. Most of those who followed Him ge their opinions from Him. It is not realistic and is rejected by other archeologists. Self made Bible critics who use their information to disprove Bible history are not very familiar with archeology or ancient Near Eastern history. To believe what they have written is to believe that every archeologist has been wrong about the dates of the ancient history of Canaan and Egypt.
Israel Finkelstein has been quoted as saying that there never was an Exodus or a conquest when what he said was that they certainly did not happen in the relevant period. He is right. Historians have given the Exodus a date in the 12th century bc which is not correct. It was agreed on because of Bible scholars and Theologians who claimed the Ramesses of the Bible had to have been Ramesses the Great. Finkelstein has written that there was no King Ramesses prior to that. Ramesses the Great was tagged Ramesse II. It doesn’t take years of study to realize that if there is a II there had to be a I. That was one mistake Finkelstein made. He also made the claim that there were no Philistines at the time of the Biblical Patriarchs. When Finkelstein wrote that in a hundred years of searching,archeologists have never found any evidence of an Exodus, it became apparant that His evidence was based on discoveries made a hundred years ago. If He had been aware of more updated archeology he would have known that the theories about theess that a thousand years. The truth is that the camel was being domesticated prior to 3000 bc, but for the sake of extensive use, 3000 bc is a good place to start. It is not clear why anyone would expect camels to have left a record showing how extensive they were at a given time, but the fact that they were not written about in official records means nothing. The horse was not written about in the records of Egypt other than in records of military exploits. The camel was not used by the military The Egyptians had large herds of cattle but to read their history one would think domesticated cattle were not used extensively.
It has also been argued that many of the cities mentioned in the book of Judges either did not exist or were small insignificant cow towns at the time. That is another thing that archeologists disagree with Those working in the Levant know without a doubt that most of those mentioned in the Bible, as well as some that were not, were large cities with walls and were being used by the city state kingdoms as garrisons. Some were manned by Egyptian troops. One of the reasons they may not have been significant in the 13th century bc was because they had been destroyed in the 15th century bc. That is apparent by the Amarna letters discovered in Egypt. For the same reason the cities of Jericho was in ruins at the “relevant” time, which was the 13th century bc. During that period a city that covered 12 acres was considered average. Cow towns were not nearly that big. Gerar was 38-acres during the Middle Bronze Age (2000–1750 BC). Jerusalem was mentioned in the Egyptian execration texts from the 19th century bc. as being an enemy of Egypt. The Execration were rituals meant to curse the enemies of Egypt. The Egyptians had no reason to fear insignificant cow towns. The first wall around Jerusalem was built around 1800 bc. It was 26 feet high made from five ton boulders. It was not a cow town even in 1800 bc.
Critics of the Bible have very little to go on and tend to look to Egypt for their proof. The archaeologist Nelson Glueck wrote:
"It may be stated categorically that no archaeological discovery has ever controverted a Biblical reference. Scores of archaeological findings have been made which confirm in clear outline or in exact detail historical statements in the Bible. And, by the same token, proper valuation of Biblical descriptions has often led to amazing discoveries"
(Rivers in the Desert: A History of the Negev, 1959, p. 31). Another well respected pioneer of archeology, Alan Gardner,summed it up very accurately.
“What is proudly advertised as Egyptian history is merely a collection of rags and tatters.”
Gardiner, A., Egypt of the Pharaohs, 28.continued in archeology and The Bible below
Archeology and The Bible
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