The Exodus Decoded

Last updated
The Exodus Decoded
Exodus Decoded DVD Cover.jpg
DVD cover art
Genre Documentary
Religion
Created by Simcha Jacobovici
James Cameron
Written bySimcha Jacobovici
Directed bySimcha Jacobovici
Country of origin Canada
Egypt
Greece
Original languageEnglish
Production
ProducerJames Cameron
Running time92 minutes
Original release
Network The History Channel
ReleaseApril 16, 2006 (2006-04-16)

The Exodus Decoded is a 2006 documentary film by "investigative archaeologist" and filmmaker Simcha Jacobovici and producer/director James Cameron. It aired on April 16 on The History Channel. The documentary proposes naturalistic origins for the plagues of Egypt as described in the Book of Exodus.

Contents

Premise

The documentary deals with The Exodus, the founding myth of the Israelites. While few mainstream historians would consider the Book of Exodus as a reliable narrative, Cameron and Jacobovici present a speculative question as to whether the events as described, particularly relating to the plagues of Egypt, could be explained naturalistically. Central to its thesis is the volcanic eruption of Thera/Santorini.

A suggested date of 1500 BC is made for the Exodus, during the reign of pharaoh Ahmose I. The "palpable darkness" described as the 9th plague, is hypothetically attributed to the cloud of volcanic ash caused by the Minoan eruption, which is identified as the events described in the Tempest Stele. A conjectural limnic eruption in the Nile Delta, similar to that of the Lake Nyos disaster in 1986, is explored as a further source of mass death.

The documentary first aired on Discovery Channel Canada on April 16, 2006.

Reception

As a popular history documentary, The Exodus Decoded attracted few critiques from mainstream scholars. The Washington Post described the use of CGI as "stunning", [1] a view shared by The New York Times , which placed the documentary's content firmly in the realms of conspiracy theory. [2] A review in The Jerusalem Post noted that none of the arguments made in the film were accepted by mainstream archaeology and that film-maker Jacobovici freely admitted his lack of academic credentials. [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

The Book of Exodus is the second book of the Bible. It is a narrative of the Exodus, the origin myth of the Israelites leaving slavery in Biblical Egypt through the strength of their deity named Yahweh, who according to the story chose them as his people. The Israelites then journey with the legendary prophet Moses to Mount Sinai, where Yahweh gives the 10 commandments and they enter into a covenant with Yahweh, who promises to make them a "holy nation, and a kingdom of priests" on condition of their faithfulness. He gives them their laws and instructions to build the Tabernacle, the means by which he will come from heaven and dwell with them and lead them in a holy war to conquer Canaan, which has earlier, according to the myth of Genesis, been promised to the "seed" of Abraham, the legendary patriarch of the Israelites.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santorini</span> Greek island of the Cyclades in the Aegean Sea

Santorini, officially Thira and Classical Greek Thera, is an island in the southern Aegean Sea, about 200 km (120 mi) southeast from the Greek mainland. It is the largest island of a small circular archipelago, which bears the same name and is the remnant of a caldera. It is the southernmost member of the Cyclades group of islands, with an area of approximately 73 km2 (28 sq mi) and a 2011 census population of 15,550. The municipality of Santorini includes the inhabited islands of Santorini and Therasia, as well as the uninhabited islands of Nea Kameni, Palaia Kameni, Aspronisi and Christiana. The total land area is 90.623 km2 (34.990 sq mi). Santorini is part of the Thira regional unit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crossing the Red Sea</span> Part of the biblical narrative of the Exodus

The Crossing of the Red Sea or Parting of the Red Sea is an episode in the origin myth of The Exodus in the Hebrew Bible.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ahmose I</span> Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt

Ahmose I was a pharaoh and founder of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, classified as the first dynasty of the New Kingdom of Egypt, the era in which ancient Egypt achieved the peak of its power. He was a member of the Theban royal house, the son of pharaoh Seqenenre Tao and brother of the last pharaoh of the Seventeenth Dynasty, Kamose. During the reign of his father or grandfather, Thebes rebelled against the Hyksos, the rulers of Lower Egypt. When he was seven years old, his father was killed, and he was about ten when his brother died of unknown causes after reigning only three years. Ahmose I assumed the throne after the death of his brother, and upon coronation became known as Nebpehtyre, nb-pḥtj-rꜥ "The Lord of Strength is Ra".

Tempest is a synonym for a storm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plagues of Egypt</span> Ten disasters inflicted by God on Egypt in the story of the Exodus

The Plagues of Egypt, in the account of the book of Exodus, are ten disasters inflicted on Biblical Egypt by the God of Israel in order to convince the Pharaoh to emancipate the enslaved Israelites, each of them confronting Pharaoh and one of his Egyptian gods; they serve as "signs and marvels" given by God to answer Pharaoh's taunt that he does not know Yahweh: "The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD". The Ten Plagues are recited during the Passover Seder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ahmose-Nefertari</span> Ancient Egyptian queen consort

Ahmose-Nefertari was the first Great Royal Wife of the 18th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt. She was a daughter of Seqenenre Tao and Ahhotep I, and royal sister and wife to Ahmose I. Her son Amenhotep I became pharaoh and she may have served as his regent when he was young. Ahmose-Nefertari was deified after her death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Exodus</span> Founding myth of the Jewish people

The Exodus is the founding myth of the Israelites whose narrative is spread over four of the five books of the Pentateuch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Egyptian chronology</span>

The majority of Egyptologists agree on the outline and many details of the chronology of Ancient Egypt. This scholarly consensus is known as the Conventional Egyptian chronology, which places the beginning of the Old Kingdom in the 27th century BC, the beginning of the Middle Kingdom in the 21st century BC and the beginning of the New Kingdom in the mid-16th century BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Va'eira</span> Fourteenth portion in the annual Jewish cycle of weekly Torah reading

Va'eira, Va'era, or Vaera is the fourteenth weekly Torah portion in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the second in the Book of Exodus. It constitutes Exodus 6:2–9:35. The parashah tells of the first seven Plagues of Egypt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minoan eruption</span> Major volcanic eruption around 1600 BCE

The Minoan eruption was a catastrophic volcanic eruption that devastated the Aegean island of Thera circa 1600 BCE. It destroyed the Minoan settlement at Akrotiri, as well as communities and agricultural areas on nearby islands and the coast of Crete with subsequent earthquakes and paleotsunamis. With a Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) of between 6 and 7, it resulted in the ejection of approximately 28–41 km3 (6.7–9.8 cu mi) of dense-rock equivalent (DRE), the eruption was one of the largest volcanic events in human history. Since tephra from the Minoan eruption serves as a marker horizon in nearly all archaeological sites in the Eastern Mediterranean, its precise date is of high importance and has been fiercely debated among archaeologists and volcanologists for decades, without coming to a definite conclusion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simcha Jacobovici</span> Canadian film director

Simcha Jacobovici is a Canadian-Israeli journalist, documentary filmmaker and New York Times best-selling author.

Hashem El Tarif is a mountain on the Sinai Peninsula, now in northeastern Egypt. It is one of several candidates for the biblical Mount Sinai, where the Abrahamic prophet Moses received the Ten Commandments. It stands 881 meters tall.

The Tempest Stele was erected by pharaoh Ahmose I early in the 18th Dynasty of Egypt, c. 1550 BCE. The stele describes a great storm striking Egypt during this time, destroying tombs, temples and pyramids in the Theban region and the work of restoration ordered by the king.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minoan chronology</span> Measure of the phases of the Minoan civilization

Minoan chronology is a framework of dates used to divide the history of the Minoan civilization. Two systems of relative chronology are used for the Minoans. One is based on sequences of pottery styles, while the other is based on the architectural phases of the Minoan palaces. These systems are often used alongside one another.

<i>The Lost Tomb of Jesus</i> TV series or program

The Lost Tomb of Jesus is a pseudoarchaeological docudrama co-produced and first broadcast on the Discovery Channel and Vision TV in Canada on March 4, 2007, covering the discovery of the Talpiot Tomb. It was directed by Canadian documentary and film maker Simcha Jacobovici and produced by Felix Golubev and Ric Esther Bienstock, while James Cameron served as executive producer. The film was released in conjunction with a book about the same subject, The Jesus Family Tomb, issued in late February 2007 and co-authored by Jacobovici and Charles R. Pellegrino. The documentary and the book's claims have been rejected by the overwhelming majority of leading experts within the archaeological and theological fields, as well as among linguistic and biblical scholars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Akrotiri (prehistoric city)</span> Bronze age archeological site on Santorini

Akrotiri is the site of a Cycladic Bronze Age settlement on the volcanic Greek island of Santorini (Thera). The name comes from the nearby village of Akrotiri.

The Parting of the Sea: How Volcanoes, Earthquakes, and Plagues Shaped the Exodus Story is a book written by Barbara J. Sivertsen in 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pharaohs in the Bible</span> Pharaohs mentioned in the Bible

The Bible makes reference to various pharaohs of Egypt. These include unnamed pharaohs in events described in the Torah, as well as several later named pharaohs, some of whom were historical or can be identified with historical pharaohs.

The Exodus is the founding myth of the Israelites. The scholarly consensus is that the Exodus, as described in the Torah, is not historical, even though there may be a historical core behind the Biblical narrative.

References

  1. Gillies, Judith s. (August 20, 2006), "Unearthing Clues to the Exodus", The Washington Post, retrieved April 28, 2021
  2. Heffernan, Virginia (August 19, 2006), "'The Exodus Decoded': A Biblical Theory in Video Game Graphics", New York Times, retrieved April 24, 2021
  3. Lefkovitz, Etgar (July 3, 2006), "Documentary sets new date for Exodus", The Jerusalem Post, retrieved April 28, 2021