Biblical Chronology

[George Jelliss]

I've put some pages on the Science section of the Leicester Secular Society website concerning historical chronology. There's a lot more to be done to get it complete and accurate.

One of the problems I find is that there seems to be no consensus about getting the "history" (or is it all just legend) in the bible to correspond with secular chronology. Or is there? Who, if anyone, is a reliable source?

For instance there is a lot of debate about who was the pharaoh at the time of Moses (if Moses ever existed). Ramses II seems to be popular, but others claim Shishak (Shoshenq I) or Thuthmoses III.

Are there actual dates accepted for the Kings of Israel? Saul, David, Solomon, etc?

My efforts start here:

http://www.leicestersecularsociety.org.uk/ages.htm

As I say, this is far from complete. Work in progress.

[Peter Henderson]

One of the problems I find is that there seems to be no consensus about getting the "history" (or is it all just legend) in the bible to correspond with secular chronology. Or is there? Who, if anyone, is a reliable source?

For instance there is a lot of debate about who was the pharaoh at the time of Moses (if Moses ever existed). Ramses II seems to be popular, but others claim Shishak (Shoshenq I) or Thuthmoses III.

Are there actual dates accepted for the Kings of Israel? Saul, David, Solomon, etc?

I watched this a while ago George and found it very interesting:

http://www.thehistorychannel.co.uk/site ... e_2704.php

http://bligbi.com/2007/05/11/the-bible- ... cumentary/

The scientific position is clear. There is no evidence of any kind for the existence of Abraham (supposedly the Israelites' founding patriarch), Moses, or Solomon. At the time of the Exodus, Canaan -- the Promised Land to which the Israelites were fleeing -- was ruled and firmly controlled by the very Egypt from which they were trying to escape.

The conquest of Canaan by Joshua could not have happened in the way described in the Bible. Most of the towns he is supposed to have conquered either weren't inhabited, didn't exist or were conquered at wildly different times.

Jerusalem, which was supposed to have become the capital of the great unified empire of King David (he of David and Goliath fame), appears to have been tiny and only sparsely inhabited in the relevant period. Many of the great monuments of ancient Israel attributed on the authority of the Old Testament to King Solomon were of a later date.

Though Michael has commented that absence of evidence it not evidence of absence !

[George Jelliss]

Thanks Peter.

I've now included those links (near the end of the "ages" page linked to in my previous post). But I've still left mentions of Moses, Solomon etc in the relevant section for the present.

I suppose a mythical character has to be spread out over an indefinite period, rather than at a definite point, like a quantum object.