Hi,
While just about everyone agrees (Catholic, Jewish and Protestant)
that the Bible lists the "ten commandments" in chapter 20 of the book
of Exodus, the passage located there lists more than 10 imperative
statements, and in Jewish law, each imperative is a representation of
a separate commandment, so they total 14 or 15 in all. Many scholars
also believe that there were more than 10.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Commandments) ... so it is very
possible that 10 is not a significant number to begin with, but
rather a convenient one later on.
Moses didn't just receive the "10 commandments" on mount Sinai. He was
up there a long time (perhaps weeks). He was given instruction for ;
the ark of the covenant, clothing of the high priests, instructions on
numerous rites, a temple that would be built, much of the Tora, and
much more that we find out about later.
Before arriving at Mount Sinai, the people of Moses have a war with a
tribe called the Amalekites. There is no mention of the Amalekites
people in Egyptian or Babylonian records, so we don't really know who
they were. Apparently, however they will battle with the Amalekites
for two more centuries until the time of Saul, who wipes them out.
The main powers of this period are Babylonia, and Egypt. Egypt is
having trouble with "the people of the sea", and in fact is only just
managing to fight them off. This is recorded in great detail in Egypt
and other sources. These "people of the sea" have caused Egypt to
loose hold of Canaan and established themselves as the Philistines on
the southern coast of Canaan. This is the first time since Thutmose I
(three centuries) that Egypt has lost hold of Canaan.
Merneptah is most likely the Pharaoh of the Exodus. Of course this
admittedly throws some of the timeline dates off, but he's still the
best bet.
The Jews travel from Rameses to Succoth. It is widely debated where
Succoth was located. Many believe it was located close to Pithom (or
might even have been Pithom). If this is the case then when the Jews
left Egypt, they were heading East. (*Note: Succoth is also the name
of a Jewish Harvest Festival. It begins on the 15th day of the Hebrew
month of Tishri, which is usally in September or October and lasts for
7 days.)
A letter of Burna-Buriash king of Babylon about 1380 BC speaks of
disaffection among the vassal kings of Canaan in the time of
Kurigalzu, his father, probably about 1400 BC
1400 BC: Israel is ruled by judges - not kings
A very complete book on not only this period by the rest of the Bible
with historical and social research is Asimov's Guide to the Bible.
Gottwald, Norman K.., and Chaney, Marvin L.
1983 "Ancient Palestinian Peasant Movements and the Formation of
Premonarchic Israel". In David N. Freedman
and David F. Graf (Eds.) , Palestine in Transition: The
Emergence of Ancient Israel (The Social World of
Biblical Antiquity Series 2). Sheffield: Almond Press.
Links of Reference:
Kenyon, Kathleen M.
1957 Digging Up Jericho. London: Ernest Benn.
Breasted, James Henry
1988 Ancient Records of Egypt.
Moses
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moses
The Ten Commandments
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Commandments
The Merneptah Stela
http://www.mystae.com/restricted/streams/thera/stela.html
MereptahI
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10208b.htm
Merneptah's Mortuary temple
http://www.ancientworlds.net/aw/Article/436538
Babylonia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylonia
Egypt: Sites and Excavations:
http://www.ancientneareast.net/egypt.html
Israel: Sites and Excavations:
http://www.ancientneareast.net/israel.html
Ancient History Timeline 1400 - 1300 BC
http://www.bible-history.com/timeline/timeline_1400_1300_bc.html
The Bible and Spade
http://www.katapi.org.uk/BAndS/ChVIII.htm
http://www.katapi.org.uk/BAndS/ShortContents1.htm
Jericho by Don Jaques
http://www.seminary.georgefox.edu/courses/bst550/reports/DJaques/Jericho.html
From the Start of the 12th Dynasty to the 18th
http://www.specialtyinterests.net/joseph.html
Anthropology and the Bible
http://cc.usu.edu/~fath6/TableofNations.htm
List of Battles before AD 601
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_battles_1400_BC-600_AD |
