FACT #8: THE JUDAH KING’S LIST
If we take the Biblical King’s list, and trust that the number of years each of the Judahite king’s reigned is correct, and if we assume that 587/586 BC is an indisputable date for the Babylonian Captivity, we can estimate what year the temple was built and from there calculate the date of the Exodus. Let’s take a look:
Because only the number of years are documented for the Kings of Judah, whose reigns were marked at the beginning of Tishri, we may have a extra months that, over the course of 22 kings, would add up into additional years making 1,503 BC only an estimated time-frame.
1,503 BC falls within the same century as the Hyksos who reigned c. 1650-1550, but possibly as late as c. 1530.
Ahmose I, who conquered the Hyksos died in c. 1524 BC. Examinations of the mummy, suggest the pharaoh died around thirty-five years of age, supporting a twenty-five year reign.
Pharaoh Ahmose I reign is regarded as chronologically correct--or at least, as correct as it can be in ancient Egyptian history.
During the 9th year of his successor Amenhotep’s reign, the heliacal rise of Sothis was observed on the ninth day of the third month of summer. If the observation was made at Memphis or Heliopolis, modern astronomers claim that the observation could have only been made in 1537, while if the observation was made at Thebes, the Sothic cycle would have been observed in 1517.
Many have criticized the use of the Sothic Cycle, and claim that it isn’t a reliable source for dating the ancient world. Some problems regarding the Sothic cycle are: determining the exact latitude of observation; a heliacal rise will occur on the same day for four years straight; and lack of proper knowledge of the Egyptian calendar and whether it had been altered since its first inception.
Marc Van de Mieroop believes that a bulk of historians would agree in that it is impossible to put forth precise dating before the 8th century BC.
Scientists used the reliable, but somewhat imprecise method of radiocarbon dating to determine the start of the New Kingdom, which began with Ahmose I, and received dates varying between 1570-1544.
If we take the Biblical King’s list, and trust that the number of years each of the Judahite king’s reigned is correct, and if we assume that 587/586 BC is an indisputable date for the Babylonian Captivity, we can estimate what year the temple was built and from there calculate the date of the Exodus. Let’s take a look:
- 1 Kings 6:1 “And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month Ziv, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the LORD.”
Because only the number of years are documented for the Kings of Judah, whose reigns were marked at the beginning of Tishri, we may have a extra months that, over the course of 22 kings, would add up into additional years making 1,503 BC only an estimated time-frame.
1,503 BC falls within the same century as the Hyksos who reigned c. 1650-1550, but possibly as late as c. 1530.
Ahmose I, who conquered the Hyksos died in c. 1524 BC. Examinations of the mummy, suggest the pharaoh died around thirty-five years of age, supporting a twenty-five year reign.
Pharaoh Ahmose I reign is regarded as chronologically correct--or at least, as correct as it can be in ancient Egyptian history.
During the 9th year of his successor Amenhotep’s reign, the heliacal rise of Sothis was observed on the ninth day of the third month of summer. If the observation was made at Memphis or Heliopolis, modern astronomers claim that the observation could have only been made in 1537, while if the observation was made at Thebes, the Sothic cycle would have been observed in 1517.
Many have criticized the use of the Sothic Cycle, and claim that it isn’t a reliable source for dating the ancient world. Some problems regarding the Sothic cycle are: determining the exact latitude of observation; a heliacal rise will occur on the same day for four years straight; and lack of proper knowledge of the Egyptian calendar and whether it had been altered since its first inception.
Marc Van de Mieroop believes that a bulk of historians would agree in that it is impossible to put forth precise dating before the 8th century BC.
Scientists used the reliable, but somewhat imprecise method of radiocarbon dating to determine the start of the New Kingdom, which began with Ahmose I, and received dates varying between 1570-1544.