David Rohl is the champion of a cause. It may be a very specific area and one seemingly fairly irrelevant to modern life, but if he is correct in his theories, then his findings may cause us to review our whole understanding of ancient near eastern history, or to put it another way, the Old Testament. His focus in this book, and a thread common to most of his writing, is what is known as the New Chronology. The basic tenant of the New Chronology is that our understanding of the relative order of events and the placing of those events in a proper historical sequence is flawed. What Rohl's mission is throughout his books, is to present evidence to establish a well-supported alternative to our current understanding of history and in this book he focuses on the Old Testament.
To understand the need for a review of the situation requires an understanding of the development of archaeology from its earliest days. Egyptology, as the plaything of wealthy Victorian gentlemen, was the first avenue of modern archaeological exploration to be developed. However in the 19th century history could only be accepted as fact if it was supported by what was found in the Bible. Because of this a number of assumptions and leaps of faith were made in trying to harmonise the two sets of evidence. Then with time and due to the seemingly infallible nature of those early pioneers, Egyptology and the historical order of events has also become carved in stone. The problem this created was that since those days there has been a stubborn refusal by those in control of the facts to admit that there is any possibility of doubt cast over their valued historical interpretations. All Rohl is suggesting is that those historical time lines be re-examined with the light of more recent discoveries rather than coming up with convoluted theories to justify bolting on new threads of evidence. The reality of the Old Chronology is very few dates and events can be established without doubt, and those that can relate only to the later periods.
After undermining the wisdom of four of the basic foundations of the Old Chronology Rohl brings the perceived wisdom of the past crashing down allowing him to re-build an alternative history based on newer discoveries and revisions of the older ones. But just when you think that Rohl is going to discard the Old Testament writings in favour of more scientific methods he surprises the reader by using it as the foundation of his new thrust. Much like in his previous book, Legend, he uses the Bible to underpin his arguments. As you will see it is not that the stories of the Bible do not contain historical documentation, they do, but you have got to know how to read what is put in front of you. One of the big problems with recorded history, particularly ancient history, is people's names. There has long been a very direct argument that there is no written or archaeological evidence to support either Solomon or David, two of the best known characters of the Old Testament. That's because their names are really titles, Solomon comes from the root word meaning peace and David from the word beloved. So instead of looking for the actual names as found in the Bible, you should be looking for a king or leader who unified the kingdoms and was well loved by his people and his son who ruled through a time known for peace. When this method is applied the corresponding historical players are easily identified and the likes of Saul, Samuel, Jonathan, David and Solomon spring to life in full glory. Once these characters are tied down in history to a known point the method can be used to push back in time to locate the earlier patriarchs, Joshua, Moses and Joseph.
All the time two methods of supporting these theories are used. Archaeological evidence is used to tie in these new ideas to physical support, such as the destruction of Jericho to help locate the historical place for Joshua. But a bigger supporting factor is written evidence. Using the Bible alone is not enough to fix the historical realities that Rohl is trying to establish here and so he uses contemporary writings to cross-reference his findings. There is a wealth of information in the diplomatic correspondence of Egyptian Pharoahs, in particular the El-Amarna letters of Akhenaten, and from this various characters can be recognised, if not by name but by their actions and political positions. As if this were not enough, very inflexible historical factors such as solar eclipses, floods, famines and other natural disasters further tie in defined points in history until his theories seem to stand very strongly on their own foundations.
David Rohl stands in a very fortunate position from which to launch his theories. He is an insider from the point of view of the establishment; he is working in established areas, even if his is attempting a complete overhaul. Whereas the likes of Andrew Collins and Graham Hancock are based in completely new territories and therefore are viewed with disdain by the halls of academia, Rohl is probably seen as misguided, but still one of their own. His books stand somewhere between populist products and accepted academic theory and so has gained support on both sides of the fence.
For any interested in ancient history and particularly biblical history but are put off by the high brow and inaccessible style of many writers working in that area, then Rohl makes a good bridge between the two worlds. It could be argued that for a more balanced book he should have undertaken to examine some of the counter arguments and theories that give support to the Old Chronology. Rohl however is content to concentrate on his own ideas and use the space in the book to pile evidence on top of evidence to build his own theories up, rather than spend too much time knocking others theories down. Space also becomes a factor in that his theories alone have taken nearly 600 pages to lay out, taking on other people's theories as a counter argument would need a whole other book.
There is a lot of information in the book, and it might require a second read to garner the full wealth on offer here, but the effort is well rewarded and Rohl's theories continue to break new ground. With all religious interpretation removed, the historical value of the Bible becomes clear. The Bible it would seem is back in business.