Title: The parting of the sea : how volcanoes, earthquakes, and plagues shaped the story of Exodus /
Authors: Sivertsen, Barbara J., 1949-
Publisher: Princeton University Press,
Year: 2009
Subjects: Bible stories, English Exodus; Bible and geology; Exodus, The; Bible stories, English Exodus.; Epidemics history
Abstract: "For more than four decades, biblical experts have tried to place the story of Exodus into historical context--without success. What could explain the Nile turning to blood, insects swarming the land, and the sky falling to darkness? Integrating biblical accounts with substantive archaeological evidence, The Parting of the Sea looks at how natural phenomena shaped the stories of Exodus, the Sojourn in the Wilderness, and the Israelite conquest of Canaan. Barbara Sivertsen demonstrates that the Exodus was in fact two separate exoduses stemming from two volcanic eruptions. Over time, Israelite oral tradition combined these events into the Exodus narrative known today. Skillfully unifying textual and archaeological records with details of ancient geological events, Sivertsen shows how the first exodus followed a 1628 B.C.E Minoan eruption that produced all but one of the first nine plagues. The second exodus followed an eruption of a volcano off the Aegean island of Yali almost two centuries later, creating the tenth plague of darkness and a series of tsunamis that "parted the sea" and drowned the pursuing Egyptian army. Sivertsen's brilliant account explains inconsistencies in the biblical story, fits chronologically with the conquest of Jericho, and confirms that the Israelites were in Canaan before the end of the sixteenth century B.C.E."--Jacket.
Contents: Dating the Exodus -- The coming of the Hyksos -- The Minoan eruption -- The plagues, the Exodus, and historical reality -- Moses and the mountain of God -- The sojourn in the wilderness -- Meanwhile, back in civilization -- The destruction of Jericho -- The conquest and settlement of Canaan -- Back to Egypt -- The formation of the Exodus tradition.